What Comes Next?

Chapter 17: Planning and Shit

*over in Arendelle*
Anna's PoV:
Being Queen of Arendelle was really hard and a lot of work. Like gosh, I don't know how our parents and Elsa handled this. To be fair Elsa wasn't Queen for very long and we weren't even in the kingdom for a good portion of her reign. But, still I praise them because this is difficult. However, I still enjoyed every waking moment of it. I also really enjoyed finally being married to Kristoff.
     Truly, as stressful as being Queen was, my life was a dream come true. Sure I missed my sister and brother in law, but I knew they were needed in the enchanted forest. Not to mention I still had Olaf and Sven here. Plus; my nephew, my daughter, and my soon to be son in law... Geeze, there were a lot of people living here.
But yes, on the bright side among my other duties, I also had a wedding to help plan! And, it's not like there was much to do as Queen, other than help plan festivities and make a few minor decisions. Arendelle was a fairly easy kingdom to run.
I was so beyond excited to have this happen! I know that Kristoff was a bit less excited, but with the kids living here in the palace he had his chance to "watch" Prince Aiden. I think that made him feel a bit better.
       Currently I was sitting in my office on the phone with Belle. We shared many extensive conversations these days and I loved them all. Mostly we discussed the wedding, but other times we would talk about our families that would soon be one and about how the kingdoms would help one another.
      "Will Katherine be joining us on the phone call this morning?" She asked me sweetly. I laughed in response at first.
     "I'd like to say yes. She and Aiden are taking their morning stroll the rough the town right now." There was so much joy in my voice when I spoke of those two.
"Oh yes of course. Speaking of my eldest son, how is he doing there?" I heard the same amount of joy and love in her words.
"Oh Belle, He's doing so well. I see him and Katherine continue to help each other grow and flourish. I do believe when the time comes he will make a fine king."
After I said that I was joined by my daughter. Katherine Bowes to me, which was weird because I was her mother, and greeted Belle over the phone. She was more than happy to sit and talk about wedding details with myself and her future mother-in-law. We got through colors and such. Actually we got a lot planned thankfully since the wedding would be this November, only a few months away. No doubt we'd still have full attendance.
At first, when Katherine had told Belle and I of the date she and Aiden had chosen she had been shocked that neither of us argued it. I understood that they wanted to marry quickly. Life was crazy and things could change or happen at any minute. They just wanted to be together and be happy. Who were we to stop or question that? I know that I wanted to marry Kristoff the very moment he proposed so I certainly wasn't one to judge. Plus, I'd only ever wanted for our daughter to be happy and I know that Aiden made her the happiest I'd ever seen her.
      When we were done with the majority of plans my daughter gracefully left my office. I'm not sure where she got her gracefulness. I was the most clumsy person I know. But, then Belle and I were alone to continue chatting.
      "Are you sure you don't need to go your highness? I'd hate to keep you from anything." She sounded apologetic over the phone.
     "Oh pssshhh. Nonsense." I made the hand motion and Ben though she couldn't see me. We both laughed. "I have very little to do. Nothing bad happens here unless it has to do with angry element spirits and my sister handles that in the Enchanted Forest." We shared another laugh.
      "I wish Auradon were that easy to run. But, Ben and Mal seem to be handling things the best they can." Her voice held a sense of sadness when she mentioned her daughter-in-law. "Is everything alright over there? I did notice a sense of distancing and coldness when we met Queen Mal. My whole family did in fact..." It wasn't something I had wanted to mention but it was still true.
     "Well her pregnancy is progressing normally as far as I know. She's become quite secretive. She doesn't seem very excited to talk about the fact that she's carrying the royal heir or that she's going to be a mother in general. And, from what Ben tells me she spends the majority of the day locked in her office. It hurts my heart, but it sounds like their marriage is not what he was expecting. And, I hate to say it, but it sounds like she's reverting back to her old ways..." She took a deep breath. I barely knew the young girl and the King. But, this also hurt my heart.
    "I'm so terribly sorry Belle. I do wish that there was more that we could do to help." And that was the honest truth. But, there was very little I could do for many reasons.
      "Hopefully things will get better soon see rather than later. All we can do is pray, keep our fingers crossed, and hope for the best." She took another deep breath filled with worry.
     After that conversation, we said our goodbyes and ended the call. I was now feeling a bit down and wearing a heavy heart. I had to be able to do something. I went to go find my husband in order to gain some hopeful words of wisdom and some for sure laughs.