Thawing Together Chapter 1

A/N With Anna going away on her honeymoon with Kristoff, who will help Elsa keep her power under control? Sometimes the help you need comes from an unexpected source. Sometimes it can even change your life. This is a sequel to "Frozen Together." Elsa xOC, some little bits of Kristanna. Rated K-plus; the language is all K.

o

The biggest wedding Arendelle had seen in decades was just a few weeks away. Anna's preparations were all set; she was leaving nothing to chance, from her dress to the flowers to the chapel and the bishop. Kristoff, of course, was ready months ago, because men don't have to do much wedding planning. As long as his suit fit and the best man had the rings, all was well.

Queen Elsa had volunteered to help in any way she could, especially in the decorations for the reception in the ballroom. But she had just thought of one more special preparation, and this one was just about the only thing Anna hadn't thought of in advance.

"Anna, who's going to help me stay focused while you're on your honeymoon?"

Elsa had learned a lot in the past year about controlling her power, rather than letting her emotions control it for her. But there were still some troublesome areas of her life where her control wavered, and she still leaned hard on her sister to help her get through those rough spots. One of the roughest spots was meeting and dealing with strangers. Her people skills had essentially gone on vacation for most of her childhood and adolescence, because she never had to meet any strangers (or any familiar people, for that matter). Now that she was the Queen, she had to meet with diplomats, envoys, dignitaries, and nobles of all kinds on a regular basis. Some of them were less than friendly. All of them sorely tested her self-control. Knowing that Anna was nearby, ready with a distraction or a word of encouragement, was often the only difference between a mildly strained social event and a humiliating international incident involving indoor snowstorms and flying icicles.

Now Anna was preparing for a month-long honeymoon. Who would help Elsa deal with the special stresses that went along with being the queen?

Anna blocked out some time to think about the problem. Who would be the best… umm... what should she call this position? Royal Pacifier? No. Official Calmer-Downer to the Queen? Whatever she called the job, the candidate had to be someone Elsa already knew fairly well, or she'd never be able to relax around that person. It had to be someone noble, so he or she could sit in the Nobles' Council as they advised Her Majesty on matters pertaining to her kingdom. A woman would obviously be preferable. As Anna considered all the duchesses and countesses in Arendelle, she had to cross their names off, one by one.

Count Basi's wife was still fearful of Elsa's power; she would make the Queen more nervous, not more relaxed. Count Nelsen's wife was a hopeless gossip who couldn't keep Council secrets if her life depended on it. The Duchess of Potet was too ambitious; she'd see this unofficial position as some kind of a promotion, and she'd make all the other nobles and their wives miserable with her gloating. Every single noblewoman in the realm had some serious disqualifier. None of them would do. Reluctantly, Anna turned to the noblemen of Arendelle to see if any of them could fill her shoes for four weeks.

Again, she had to eliminate one after another from consideration. The Duke of Erl's wife was too jealous; it could ruin his marriage if he had to spend extended amounts of time near Elsa. Count Nelsen would love to spend extra time near Elsa, or any other pretty girl he could find – Anna didn't trust the man as far as she could throw him, and she would not inflict him on her sister. Count Duku was mostly concerned with his own lands and the revenue they brought in, and wouldn't be willing to leave them for four whole weeks, not even for the sake of the Queen.

When she got to the end of the list, she was quite surprised to realize that there was one man who might – repeat, might – be able to help Elsa. Anna sighed. Didn't it just have to be Baron Anders?

Of course, there was nothing actually wrong with Anders; he was a perfect candidate for the job in many ways. As the only baron in a Noble's Council filled with counts and dukes, he was at the bottom of the pecking order, so none of the rank-conscious noblemen saw him as a threat. His quiet demeanor concealed a high intelligence, a habit of understatement, and a sarcastic wit that went right over the heads of the other nobles. He held Elsa in the highest respect, disagreeing with her only when he really felt strongly about it, and being extraordinarily polite even then. His appearance wouldn't intimidate anyone; he was of average height, thin, neither handsome nor ugly, and beginning to go prematurely bald.

No, the only problems with Baron Anders were that he was a year older than the Queen and that he, alone among the nobles of Arendelle, was single. Elsa was sure to think Anna was matchmaking again.

Anna was right. "Seriously, Anna? The only bachelor in the Nobles' Council is the only one you could come up with? What will people think? What were you thinking?"

"It's only for formal meetings, Elsa. He's not going to be your dancing partner at royal balls or anything like that. And it's only for a month, until Kristoff and I get back from our honeymoon."

"There isn't one woman in all my kingdom who could be a help to me?"

"Not among the noblewomen, no. I've really thought this over, Elsa, and I think he's the best choice for a sensitive job like this. You already know him from all those Nobles' Council meetings; it's not like I'm dumping a stranger on you. He's smart, he's discreet, he reveres you, and I think he's more sensitive to your moods than most people. There have been times when he seemed to know you were getting stressed when everyone else except me was oblivious."

Elsa thought about that. When her stress level rose, she tended to focus on Anna to the exclusion of all else. But she could recall a few times when she was growing tense in a Council session, and the Baron would suddenly suggest that everyone take a quick break from the meeting. He never made such suggestions at other times; in fact, it was uncommon for him to speak in the Council at all.

"What does he think of this idea, Anna?"

"I haven't told him about it, of course – I had to talk to you about him first. If you approve, I'll arrange an audience between you and him, and I'll… uhh… train him in what he has to do."

"Train him? You make it sound like you're presenting me with a lap dog or something!"

"Elsa, face it – not everyone has the knack for helping you stay focused. Even Mother and Father never figured it out. I just made it up as I went along, and I still do. It wouldn't be fair to throw Anders into a role like this and not give him some guidance on what works and what doesn't."

Elsa sighed. "Fine. Arrange an audience. If it works out, then tell him what he needs to know. But please don't call it 'training.' He's a baron, not a beagle."

The Queen wasn't quite sure what to make of her audience with the baron. He was polite, almost to the point of obsequiousness, but he seemed very sincere in his desire to serve his Queen. He appeared to be taken aback when he realized the implications of what Elsa was asking of him. His final remark was, "If it pleases you for me to serve in that way, Your Highness, then I'll do the best I can."

"What did you think of him?" Anna asked eagerly afterward.

"He needs to lighten up," Elsa replied. "I mean, he's a nice guy, but he's too intense. I don't look at him and think of words like 'relax'."

"I'll see if I can get that across to him," Anna replied lightly.

The "training" session was quite awkward in places. When Anna demonstrated the hands-on-arm-and-shoulder position that Elsa found most comforting, Anders nearly jumped out of his boots.

"Sorry," he said in embarrassment. "I guess I'm not used to pretty girls touching me."

"You'd better get used to it, because the Queen is a very pretty girl," Anna said firmly. "Of course, she isn't used to men touching her, either. I'd suggest doing this only as a last resort, and only once she's gotten more used to you. Still, it's something you might need to know." She explained the general idea of getting Elsa to think happy thoughts, and the ways to tell if she was getting stressed without waiting until the snow began to fall indoors. She also tried to encourage him to lighten up a bit.

"I'll try," he said earnestly. "I live to serve the Queen. If that's what she needs from me, then I'll find a way."

"Now you're stressing-out over being relaxed," Anna fussed. "This thing may not work out."

"Sorry," Anders said again. "I'm just kind of overwhelmed. I've been a total nobody all my life, and now, all of a sudden, I'm a personal advisor to the Queen! Very personal! I usually do okay during the actual Council meetings, don't I, Your Excellency?"

"Yes, and that's why you were chosen for this... task," Anna nodded. "You've shown that you can think on your feet and adjust to changes, which is more than a lot of the hereditary nobles can do. I think you'll do okay." She rested a hand on his shoulder; he flinched for just a moment. She went on, "For the past four years, I've been Elsa's lifeline. There were times when I had to be the big sister for her. We still go back and forth on that role now and then. She's not a child; she doesn't need supervision, just a little help from time to time. I'm entrusting that role to you. You don't need to be a hero or anything.

"Just take care of my sister."

o

A/N In case anyone is curious, these are the conventions this story uses for handling the nobility. Most of them are historical facts; I took some liberties with a few of them, just for the sake of the story.

A kingdom is an independent nation, ruled by a king or a queen. A duchy is a smaller chunk of land, ruled by a duke or a duchess. Some duchies were big enough to be independent nations; others were parts of larger kingdoms. A county is the next step down in size; it is ruled by a count or a countess. The smallest land division in Norway would be a barony, which was ruled by a baron or a baroness. All these titles were handed down from the ruling parent to the oldest son, or to the oldest daughter if the ruler had no sons. The title and the land would remain in the family, no matter who married whom. I did some research and I know that Norway's real-life nobility included counts and barons; I could find nothing on dukes, but the movie says there was at least one duke (Weselton), so I'll take that and run with it.

Kings and queens are addressed as "Your Majesty" on formal occasions, or as "Your Highness" on other occasions. If the hereditary ruler of a kingdom is a queen, her husband is called a Prince-Consort rather than a king. He outranks all other princes and nobles in the realm, and is addressed as though he were a king, but he is not eligible to reign.

All royalty and nobles aside from the reigning sovereign are addressed as "Your Excellency" by those of lesser rank. Higher-ranking nobles are permitted to address lower-ranking nobles by name or by title.

I have placed Arendelle in the location of modern-day Arendal, on the southern coast of Norway, even though the geography is wrong. It is a small kingdom, containing several duchies and counties, and a handful of towns and villages, in addition to the capital city. The duchy of Glauerhafen is to the east, somewhere between Arendelle and Oslo; the Southern Isles are part of modern-day Denmark; Weselton's exact location is unimportant; the other place names are real, and you can look them up on a map if you're curious. The name Glauerhafen is a Nordicized version of Prince Eric's line from "The Little Mermaid" – "You're not still sore because I didn't fall for the princess of Glowerhaven?"

This might seem like a ton of useless details, but they will help explain a lot of what goes on in future chapters.