Chess Piece

In Sickness and Health, Has It Not Been?

An afternoon tea with her sister was supposed to be something pleasant.

This had been anticipated by the both of them for weeks; to be able to sit and talk with each other, to do something so mundane without duties and responsibilities to attend to, to slowly break the thick wall that she had built between them so that both could feel the sisterly bond that they had thirsted and craved for.

Yet how could she enjoy such calming moment when her stomach had been churning from the morning, when the late night ailment that had befallen her and had prompted her to cough out her dinner had prevent her from even enjoying her breakfast, the sour taste had still lingered in her mouth that she barely had eaten anything. Hans had questioned it to her, had asked if she had been ill, something in which she had brushed away because she couldn't be sick, she had never ever since she was a child.

Anna's voice had come and go as she sat opposite from her, lips moving as she talked, or has it been a ramble, she could not tell; and should she was not silently struggling not to vomit or worse have her entire vision turned dark, she assumed she would found her sister's story to be an interesting one, as from the bits that she could pick up it had seemed that the Princess had met an ice harvester in town by falling into his sled.

"What was his name, again?" It was bad enough that she could barely focus herself on listening to her sister; she did not want Anna to be aware of it too. Thus perhaps asking a simple question would be able to mask it, after all she could not recall any name has been mentioned.

The Princess' words came into a stop as she looked at her older sister, and for a moment Elsa had almost feeling as if she should not have asked that, for she feared that Anna had just mentioned the ice harvester's name right before she had spoken. "Oh, I didn't catch his name." The strawberry blonde haired Princess had shrugged; and the Queen had almost let out a sigh of relief. "He left with his reindeer as soon as I said I was sorry, a little rude if I may say, but Elsa, he has a reindeer as a pet."

She had lifted her cup of tea as she listened; bringing it close to her lips to take a sip, and while the beverage had warmed her insides, her stomach did not come into term with her as once again it had twisted as she tried not to drop her cup.

"Elsa, is there something wrong?" The tone that her sister had given her was enough to tell how bad she may have looked, she could see the Princess' hand reaching out to take hers in an instinct, yet pulled it back away when she had realized the mistake she was about to make.

Her brows furrowed as she tried to focus on anything other than her stomach, or her hands that had started to freeze the insides of her gloves again, or even the slow dropping of the temperature around them. For a moment she forced herself to see Hans in her mind, using him as her rock as she pushed back the bile that had started to risen. "I'm just feeling a little unwell, Anna."

"Do you need a doctor?" Her head shook slowly at the offer, for there was no need to trouble anyone further with something as minor as her feeling nausea. "You need to rest then," she wasn't even allowed to protest as already Anna motioned for the Queen's ladies-in-waiting to come in their direction. "You can't push yourself like this, Elsa; it's not good for you."

A part of her wished to protest, for she had been planning this afternoon tea to be perfect, and yet she was the one who ruined it, the whole purpose of it has been thrown out of the window by her own mistake of feeling sick; yet there was also a part of her, a more rational one she supposed, that just let her have the ladies to escort her back into her bedchamber, the idea of just lying down on her bed felt so tempting not to pass.

As she walked away though, she was still able to catch her sister's voice as she questioned of Hans' whereabouts to female servant that had come after seeing the afternoon had been cut short between the two sisters.

--

"I have heard that you're ill."

Having the last meeting that she was supposed to attend to right before dinner been postponed due to the Queen's requirement to rest to avoid any further ailment that may befallen her, she had spent the rest of her day reading in bed with a warm towel being laid over her stomach by Gerda, as the Governess had told her that it could help soothing her upset stomach.

The dinner brought into her bedchamber had consisted of a bowl of piping hot soup accompanied with a piece of garlic bread and a glass of warm water. On any other circumstances, ones where her stomach had not been so sensitive, she would always have wine for dinner, today had been an exception that she did not even think would come her way.

"It may have been nothing." She had told her husband, who had walked into their bedchamber as soon as dinner had ended, attending in her place despite her knowledge that he would have wanted to be by her side. Gerda had come back to replace the warm towel when she had come to retrieve the food tray. "I'm feeling better already." It may have been her exhaustion that had led her into feeling sick, nothing more.

"It may have been something." Hand had taken a seat at the edge of the bed by her side, taking her gloved hand and placing it against his cheek. "Anna said you looked rather sick, and that you're feeling quite nausea?" When she had nodded, for there was nothing to hide from him if she did not wish for him to only worry more, he had sighed as he pressed a kiss against her palm before letting her hand go to undo his cravat, and her own hands could not help but starting to unbutton his vest. "Are you sure the doctor isn't needed to be called?"

"It'll pass." People do have an upset stomach every once in a while, no one is invincible after all, and apparently even her powers did not exclude her from it. "Come to bed with me, I'm getting tired."

If there was one thing that she would believe would be the cure to her illness, then it would have been his smile, no matter how amused he was the smile that he had on his face could still make her insides fluttered. "That's a first." His chuckled was accompanied with the roll of her eyes as he finally had gotten rid of his shoes, rounding the bed to his side before he pulled her close into his arms, her back pressed against his firm chest while his hand gently rested against her stomach.

"Careful now, husband," she tutted as she let her eyes fluttered close, instead letting her other senses to acknowledge of his presence against her, of how his nose brushed against the skin of her neck through her thick platinum blonde hair or how his heart thumped against her back. "Once I have regained my health, you'll pay for the words that came from that sweetened mouth of yours."

His breath was hot on her skin as he chuckled. "If you are referring to what I have in mind," his whisper was quiet, alluring and sent shiver down her spine. "Then I hardly think that as a punishment, darling wife."