Chapter Text
Gravel crunched beneath Anna’s feet as she marched down the garden path. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her face was a contortion of worry. “Oh no, oh no, oh no…” she whispered to herself, head shaking, “I can’t believe I did that...”
She was going to be in so much trouble when Elsa found out. Anna was supposed to be ruling Arendelle, taking over her duties. Doing everything just as if Elsa were still queen, it’s what was best for Arendelle.
The young queen paused to briefly turn back to the palace. Nobody was following her. Good.
“Okay,” she continued to whisper, “Maybe it’s not such a big deal. I am queen. I can do what I want.” Anna knew this wasn’t really true. She was the queen of Arendelle, that part was correct, but doing what she wanted?
Anna looked up beyond to garden walls toward the North Mountain.
No. She couldn’t do what she wanted.
It was supposed to be simple. She was just supposed to be planning a party. A party for foreign dignitaries to come and extol the attributes of some young prince or duke to marry. Anna hadn’t been excited about that part, but it might have been fun to decide decorations or desserts. Instead it was a seating chart. Every seat was a political move and every person represented a political history and every suggestion Anna made to simplify (What was wrong with just letting everyone pick a spot?) was met with derision by the party planning assistant. Did Elsa really have to deal with all this? How did she do it?
Even worse than the meeting there were interruptions. Anna had gotten used to most of them, they were usually just reminders of lessons she was missing or letters labeled as URGENT which were almost never important. This time the interruption was something different. A robin had flown by the window. It was the first robin Anna had seen all spring. She had been pleased to have spotted him at first, but her heart sank when she realized it was June. Snow had been melted everywhere for months, and Anna had only just now seen her first bird.
That’s when Anna did it. She simply stood up and walked out the many castle hallways and doors to the outside. Not a word of goodbye.
That’s not so bad, right?
Queen Anna sighed to herself. Elsa had made everything look so easy. She still made everything sound easy when she sent reminders and instructions from afar.
Well, she’s not here now, is she? Anna continued her march through the gardens with no set goal until she rounded a bend and again spotted the peaceful green mountains which called to her.
A slight nod to herself, and Anna spun on one boot, headed down to the stables.
---
“Her Royal Majesty, Queen Anna, approaches!” shouted a groom.
Commotion erupted within the old wooden walls walls as all occupants jumped to attention. Men grabbed empty buckets off the walls and pantomimed pouring water into already full troughs. Stable hands grabbed brushes and started to hastily groom horses skittish in the unexpected din.
Kristoff had been playing absently on his lute in Sven's stall, but peered his head out to see the ruckus. A fellow stable hand paused from pointlessly sweeping dirt back and forth long enough to throw a dry, dirty rag at him. “Wipe something!” he shouted.
Kristoff glanced past Jonas to the massive doors at the head of the barn. A beautiful and fiery young woman was excitedly discussing something with the stable master.
So that's what royalty looks like.
His stomach dropped when she turned her head and caught his eye. She was a smile.
“Don't stare too long,” Jonas advised as he swept, “or Karl will probably assign to you whatever extra work Her Majesty is likely requesting of him.”
Kristoff grunted in reply and tried to look down but it was too late, Karl saw Kristoff a moment later and motioned for him to cross the barn toward them.
Kristoff was about to be standing in the vicinity of, listening to the commands of, and fulfilling the wishes of a queen. His mottled past certainly hadn’t prepared him for this.
“Yes, Karl?” Kristoff gulped upon his arrival.
“You used to be an ice harvester, right boy?”
Kristoff nodded, he had been an ice harvester, before Queen Elsa had single handedly removed all demand for his services. Now he cast a quick surveying glance at Her Royal Majesty, Queen Anna of Arendelle beside him. Her arms were crossed over her elegant silken gown and her bright eyes were narrowed in burning indignation. What surprised Kristoff most, however, was just how young she seemed.
“Right,” Karl continued, “Her Majesty here needs an escort in the mountains. She wants to go riding but we can't let her out alone. Kristoff, I need you to just go with her and make sure she doesn't get lost.”
Kristoff nodded, but the young queen protested, “I already told you that I don't need an escort and I don't need a guide. I just need Kjekk readied within the hour so that I may ride him.”
Kristoff, who had worked with burly bragging ice harvesters for most of his life and now the boastful stablemen, knew when someone was putting on airs of confidence for their audience. This queen was certainly angry, and certainly loud, especially considering her frame, but perhaps not fully confident in her command. Poor thing.
“Your Majesty, I'm operating under orders of the royal guard,” Karl said, “You're free to ride out but not alone. I can either give you Kristoff or an entire retinue.”
Kristoff felt the queen’s searing eyes on him, sizing him up. He stood as straight as he could and tried to offer a confident nod. His heart raced despite himself. A queen.
“You'll do,” she surmised after a moment's scrutiny, “Prepare a ride for yourself as well.”
Her petticoats swirled angrily as she spun to leave and to change into her riding habit.
“What am I supposed to do?” Kristoff asked Karl as they watched her retreat.
“Stay close to her. Do what she wants but don't let her get into any trouble. Don't let her get lost. Don't come back after dark.”
Kristoff nodded seriously, hoping to hide how nervous he suddenly felt, “Okay, but what's she going to want?”
“Hell if I know. Castle doors have been closed most of the time I’ve worked here. I just met her same as you did.”
---
“That's your horse?” The queen’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead as she watched Kristoff lead Sven to the mounting block.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, he's a reindeer, not a horse.”
For a moment, the young queen paused, taking in what he had said. Kristoff braced himself for a scolding or even a request for a more suitable escort, but he was surprised to see a smile as it crossed her lips. Her Majesty laughed softly to herself.
Kristoff liked that.
---
They rode silently at first.
Queen Anna sat stiff in her saddle, with her back straight, eyes forward, and firm hands gripping the reins. She could hear the heavy plodding of her escort's reindeer behind her almost as clearly as she could feel the prying eyes of castle servants and guests watching her walk her horse toward the forest. Soon though, she would be alone.
Well, mostly.
---
Kristoff watched as Her Majesty’s shoulders immediately relaxed the moment they entered the forest. A sigh waterfalled through her body like a secret when the dappled shade touched her skin. He gulped at the strange and sudden intimacy of the moment, realizing that he was now completely alone with the queen of Arendelle.
He felt like an intruder following her. In his years harvesting ice in the mountains he had learned the pleasure of being alone. Sometimes he felt the call of the mountains pulling him. He wondered if the queen did too.
---
The unlikely pair were less than a mile up a gently sloping trail when Her Majesty abruptly turned and announced, “You know, I don't need an escort.” Her voice was proud.
“Huh,” Kristoff grunted, “Sure you don't.” He was about to follow his sarcasm by rolling his eyes when he remembered to whom he was speaking. “Uh, I mean...Your Majesty, I was ordered to be here.”
Oops.
To his great surprise, the queen didn't respond to his sarcasm with contempt. She didn't reply haughtily or sentence him to the dungeon. As before, when she had first met Sven, she laughed.
“You clearly didn't grow up in the castle, did you?” Her voice was punctuated by laughter.
“No. I was an ice harvester.”
The queen giggled again, thinking of her sister, “Ooh, that's a rough business to be in right now.”
Kristoff grunted, hoping that the queen's silence meant she regretted the barb.
They walked on.
The queen tried to start conversation again after several moments. “So, if you were an ice harvester, does that mean you've been up the North Mountain?”
“Yes.”
“Me too,” said the queen, “I’ve even entered the enchanted forest.”
Kristoff couldn't help but let a derisive chuckle escape. “I doubt that,” he said.
“No, really. I've been on adventures.”
“That deep into the mountains?”
The queen sat up confidently on her horse and slowed her pace so that she was right beside Kristoff and Sven. She beamed proudly. “Yes. Haven't you heard the stories?”
The blond man shook his head, and Queen Anna began to tell him an exciting tale of adventure, danger, talking snowmen, wolves, waterfalls, rock giants, magic, and near-death experiences. As she spoke, Kristoff recognized some of the terrain features she described from his own adventures through these mountains. He told her about the time he was thrown out of Oaken's Trading Post (and Sauna). He told her about how he was also chased by wolves along the lower end of the trail.
They compared stories, and much to Kristoff's surprise, he was having a fluid, fun, and even interesting conversation with the queen of Arendelle.
“I can't believe you were always scared of that ravine and that I jumped over it!” Anna grinned after Kristoff finished a story.
“I wasn't scared of it,” corrected Kristoff, “I said I'm cautious around it. Maybe that's the reason you really do need an escort.” He was teasing the queen of Arendelle! Only this morning he wouldn't have imagined himself getting away with this.
His companion laughed. It was the sound of bells in the air. “I'm fine on my own. Don't forget that I outran a giant snowman!”
“Okay then,” said Kristoff, pulling Sven to a halt and goading the queen further, “Show me how we get home from here.”
“Easy,” she grinned, “We just turn around and follow the trail back the same way we came.”
Kristoff turned and looked over his broad shoulder at the sky behind them. It was late afternoon, but the sun hadn't disappeared behind the mountaintops yet. They had plenty of daylight for a misadventure.
Recklessly, he chose the undignified route of mocking the queen further. “You lead the way,” he announced, following her Majesty once again.
The pair talked companionably for a bit longer, but soon returned to what was now a comfortable silence. As the sun sank and the shadow of the mountain finally reached them, the queen eventually slowed Kjekk's pace to a stop and turned to glare at Kristoff.
“You tricked me,” she accused. Her voice was angry but her eyes were glinting with a smile.
“Your Majesty,” Kristoff said, amazed at his own daring, “I would never trick a royal queen. I merely asked you to lead the way home.”
She pointed at a fallen tree. “We've been going in circles for over an hour. I've seen this tree at least twice. How do we get home?”
“I don't know,” he lied.
Queen Anna's face fell. Her gaze darted around the darkening forest fearfully and she clutched her horse's reins with whitening knuckles. “We're really lost?”
Kristoff was worried that he had gone too far. Is there an official dungeon for foolish men who flirt with queens?
“No, Your Majesty,” he quickly reassured, “We're not lost. I know the way home. Right now we're on a loop but there's a couple offshoots we could take.”
“Oh,” her shoulders lowered as visible relief swept over her body, “Thank goodness.” Her smile was back again and she fixed it on him. The effect gave Kristoff the confidence for one more tease.
“I'll lead us back,” he paused, “If you admit that you really do need an escort.”
The queen gasped in mock astonishment, then laughed musically once more.
Kristoff didn't move.
A pause.
“Oh fine! I do need help. Now please take me home.” Again, her voice was angry but a smile betrayed her. “Perhaps next time I won't request you to be my escort.”
And even though Kristoff knew that there would be extra work waiting for him at the stables when they returned, he found himself hoping that she didn't mean what she had said, because he was looking forward to possibly spending time with the interesting queen again.