The Young Diplomat [Frozen II post-canon]

Unredeemable

Queen Elsa approached the tiny house next to the harbor. Kai had told her where she would find it. Gerda had given her a plain cloak that would cover her almost completely, and she left quietly through a side door of the castle and walked into town, unnoticed. She knocked at the door which was barely tall enough for someone her height to enter comfortably.

A woman dressed all in black opened it. "Yes?"

"May I come in?" Elsa pulled down the hood of her cloak just enough for her face to be visible.

"Your Majesty! Please! We have to be quiet." She gestured at the baby sleeping in its cradle.

"Your name is Margit, yes?" Elsa asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is!"

"I... I heard about your husband. I'm so sorry," the Queen whispered.

"Thank you, but you didn't need to... Why are you here? It's the middle of the night."

"I apologize. I did need to speak to you, though. Gerda, at the castle, I believe you know her at least a little?"

"Yes," Margit affirmed. "When I was younger, she would hire me for occasional mending work, after my mother died."

"She told me that you came to her this week looking for work, now that your husband..."

The woman sat down in the chair by the cradle and closed her eyes. "Yes. I told her that I need some work, but I have no one to take care of the baby. He's almost weaned. The midwife had suggested waiting til he's at least a year old, but I've seen plenty of children do fine younger. I need the money, your Majesty, but I want to work for it. I don't want to be reduced to begging. Or worse..."

"How old is your child now, Margit?" Elsa asked gently.

Margit looked at the sleeping child with a sad smile. "He'll be seven months next week."

Elsa paused, thinking. "His birthday will be in March, correct?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"I... I may have a solution for you." The Queen somehow looked both relieved and nervous.

"Your Majesty?"

"If... if you find the terms agreeable, you would be well compensated."

"What terms?"

"Absolute silence and discretion. We... someone..." Elsa thought about her words carefully. "There will be need of a wet nurse."

Anna faced Elsa, who hadn't answered her question. "Elsa," she repeated. "Who is Margit Nilsen? Is that why I got the letter from Corona?"

"I think you know," her sister sighed. "And you're the one who asked me not to tell you."

"You're right, I did..." Anna murmured, sitting down by the window.

"Did Inga say something?" Elsa asked.

"Not exactly, I mean, she did. She was surprised that I didn't already know Mrs. Nilsen. But it was his birthday. Until then, I think I was in denial. After all, you hadn't actually told me the baby was a boy."

"Elsa?" Rapunzel knocked at the door of the study. "Is everything okay in there?"

"Are you sure about this?" Anna asked as Elsa walked to the door. "We hardly know her."

"We haven't come up with any other ideas... none that we agree on, anyway. If you're set against the trolls, it can't be here, we have to go abroad... you know that."