Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "Of course" I said. Anna's smile couldn't get any wider.

  "You're awesome!" she said as she practically jumped on me and attacked my cheek with kisses joyfully, as I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.

  "Okay, okay! I get it, you're happy about it!"

  "Yes, I am!"

  "Although, you probably want to share the room just to borrow my clothes and shoes"

  "Oh, man! That was supposed to be my little secret!" she joked.

  "Now, seriously, get off of me and let's get some sleep"

  "Okay" she said and assumed her earlier position, using my shoulder as a pillow and hugging my waist "Goodnight, Elsa. Love you"

  "Goodnight, Anna. Love you too" I saw Anna close her eyes before turning my head on the other side and closing my eyes. I then felt Anna's hand moving up from my waist to the base of my neck and pulling me closer to her. I turned my head towards her in surprise, but she was already asleep with a content smile on her face. I couldn't do anything but feel a small smile on my lips. I place a small kiss on the top of Anna's head and closed my eyes to finally drift into sleep.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Hans is arriving today… today… WHY TODAY?! How come 4 days pass so quickly?! Could he come in two weeks? A month? A year? NEVER?! I just don't want to see his face ever again! Is that too much to ask?! Anyway, that day, the aristocrats were coming and Elsa and I had to officially greet them. I admit I was kind of excited every time I went out to town. I liked walking among my people, I loved to see the smiles on their faces, the kids playing around, especially the kids. They would mostly come greet me and give me a little flower or talk to me and Elsa… Elsa… who would have thought she had a way with kids? Every single one of them loved her and always asked her to do her magic and even if their mothers would scold them telling them not to bother the queen, she would just smile telling them it was fine and did the magic. While the little girls would come to us, little boys always went to Kristoff. The people actually love him and young boys would always go to him as he was known as 'The Mountain Man who helped save Arendelle'. He had now a sort of small town hero reputation other than, well… the Princess' partner, to make it sound formal. Anyway, the aristocrats wouldn't be here for the next couple of hours or so, so Elsa, Kristoff, and I were walking around town while waiting for them to come. It was Friday, but for some reason Elsa gave Kristoff some sort of sepecial permission, so that he didn't have to go to the mountains today. I was waltzing down the streets, happily looking around and talking to people when I lost sight of Kristoff and Elsa, when I found them, I saw them talking in front of a shop. I walked towards them but didn't make out what they were saying because of the noise. When I got close enough I managed to catch something.

  "… good job, Kristoff" Elsa said raising her hand to pat him on the shoulder, slightly opening her arms.

  "Thanks" he said lowering with his arms open when Elsa abruptly leaned back raising her hands in surrender and Kristoff mimicked her gesture with a confused face. Maybe I'm imagining things, but it looked like she pulled back when she saw me… or maybe she just won't let Kristoff hug her to keep up the Protective-Big-Sister façade. Whatever.

  "What do you think you're doing?" she said glaring at him.

  "Uhm… I-I thought you were going for a hug" he replied

  "Nooo" Elsa replied slowly lowering her hands as my boyfriend did the same. I let out a small laugh.

  "You two look like an old couple of in-laws" I commented. Kristoff and Elsa let out a laugh that looked kind of like… nervous? Oh, whatever.

  "I don't get it. Why can't I hug you?" Kristoff complained.

  "Because I'm the Queen of Arendelle and I'm not allowing you to, plus, you're my little sister's boyfriend. It's my job to give you a hard time" Elsa replied.

  "I can give you a hug if you want, Kristoff" I said opening my arms for him.

  "But I want a hug from the queen!" Silence. I then dramatically sniffed and pretended to cry as I went to Elsa who had her arms opened for me and was trying hard not to laugh as I theatrically 'cried', burring my face in the crook of her neck.

  "Now look what you've done!" Elsa said playing along hugging me.

  "But I just wanted a hug from the queen! You never hug me!"

  "If you want to be hugged so much, hug your girlfriend!" she replied. I laughed for real this time and so did Kristoff. I got out of Elsa's embrace and went to hug Kristoff as he planted a kiss on my cheek.

  "Anna, Kristoff and I have some uhm… business to attend to" Elsa said eyeing Kristoff.

  "Oh, right! Yeah! Uhm… business" he said.

  "But it's a special Friday! Kristoff has time off!" I complained.

  "Sorry. We could do this later, but Kristoff insisted on doing it as soon as possible" Elsa said giving him a look.

  "Well, I insisted because it is important" he answered giving her the same look.

  "What kind of business is it?" I asked

  "Some boring… ice harvesting and delivering stuff that could be delayed" Elsa said not taking her eyes off of Kristoff

  "Yes, boring ice harvesting and delivering stuff that can't be delayed for me" he replied not breaking eye contact with her. I looked between them suspiciously. There's something fishy going on here.

  "Excuse me, you two" I said slowly "What are those 'plotting faces'?"

  "Plotting faces? What 'plotting faces'?" Kristoff said.

  "Your 'plotting faces'" I accused pointing at them.

  "Just your imagination, sweetheart" He's hiding something. He never calls me that unless he's hiding something, like the surprise party he and Elsa organized for my 18th birthday.

  "Don't you 'sweetheart' me. What are you two hiding, Bjorman?" I used his last name to let him know he's in trouble.

  "Nothing!" he said a little too quickly.

  "Yes, you are!"

  "No, I'm not!"

  "Anna, dear" Okay, there is definitely something going on. Elsa calls me 'dear' only when she's either stressed out, which is not the case or she's hiding something. "Kristoff and I have stuff to do, would you mind to go check if any of the aristocrats are here yet?" she said turning me around and pushing me away.

  "Yes, I do mind" I replied.

  "No, you don't. Go check"

  "They won't be here for at least the next two hours"

  "Then do what you're best at"

  "And that is?"

  "Waltz around, sing, make friends, try not to make a mess and come back at least in an hour"

  "Half an hour"

  "Fine. Just find something to do"

  "But I want to know what you two are doing! I could help"

  "NO!" both her and Kristoff shouted

  "Calm down! Don't get all on the defensive, Jeez"

  "Just go around town, Anna"

  "Please?"

  "No"

  "Pretty please?"

  "No"

  "Pretty please with cherry on top?" I said giving her my best puppy dog eyes.

  "No, nice try though"

  "Oh, come on! I want to come with you!"

  "Anna, go somewhere and find something to do before I freeze your royal behind"

  "You wouldn't"

  "Try me" she said as her hand glowed with an ice blue color as the magic flowed to her hand. Her face impassive… hm… okay… maybe I should drop this.

  "You know, I think I'm gonna take a walk around the docks" I said.

  "What a great idea!" Elsa replied with a smirk.

  "Well, then… see you later" I said and walked away quickly. Just as I told them, I took a walk to the docks. It was a beautiful day, the water was splendid and the sky was clear. In a moment I was lost in thoughts and remembered how I met Hans. I met him here, right after the now finished naval shop. What were we going to do with him? We couldn't execute him and we didn't want to. We could send him back to the Southern Isles and let his brothers deal with him. I was so lost in thought that I was knocked out of it when something slammed into me pushing me on a
row boat that was about to fall into the sea, if it wasn't for someone who blocked it, as a piece of kelp got on my face.

  "Seriously?! Again?!" I complained.

  "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" it was a tonic feminine voice. I took the kelp off my face and looked at the person who knocked me over. I looked at her and when I saw the pin with the symbol of Drakora I realized who I had bumped in… and my jaw dropped. OH MY GOD! I was fan-girling in my head. She was riding a beautiful black stallion. She was tall, young, probably around Elsa's age… I think. She had tanned skin, dark auburn hair which she held in a side fish-tail braid, falling on her left shoulder, her bangs perfectly swept on the side. Even though it was well covered by her bangs, I still noticed something that looked like a small scar, cutting on the corner of her left eyebrow. Then I finally saw them, her famous eyes which were of a stunning piercing grey color. I've never seen eyes like that before.

  "H-hi" I said shyly "N-no. I-I'm fine"

  "You sure?" she asked dismounting her horse and getting on the boat. She was not wearing a dress. Instead, she had some sort of military uniform. It was a mid-thigh length black jacket with silverish-white braidings, she had a dark leather belt that showed off her slim waist, with a sword attached to it. White skinny trousers and black leather boots that went just under her knee.

  "Yeah, yeah! I-I wasn't l-looking where I was going b-but- yeah!- I'm great, actually"

  "Oh, that's nice to hear" she said holding out her hand for me with a bright smile. She looked somehow familiar, though and I'm pretty sure we haven't met before. Her smile was familiar. I was still sitting there in awe, not believing who was standing in front of me and was holding out her hand for me. I shook my head knocking myself out of my trance and took her hand as she helped me up.

  "Th-thank you" I said letting go of her hand. Why am I stuttering?! I'm making such a fool of myself!

  "No problem" her smile never left her face. She is probably used to this kind of reactions. Well, but even if she was used to it, she introduced herself.

  "Queen Skylynn I of Drakora" she said with a small bow of the head.

  "Oh! Princess Anna of Arendelle" I said with a curtsy.

  "The Princess? Milady" she said bowing. I didn't have the time to feel uncomfortable as Queen Skylynn – and may I repeat, QUEEN FREAKING SKYLYNN!- bowed to me -ME!- that her horse bowed as well making the boat tilt towards the water making us lose our balance. One moment I was standing, the other I was clinging on Queen Skylynn's jacket, in an attempt not to fall down, when the boat came to a halt, while she had managed to grab the edges of the boat.

  "Oh, hi! Me again" I awkwardly said. Seriously! This again?! First with Hans and now with the queen of Drakora?!

  "Hi" then the boat abruptly tilted back as the black horse steadily put his hoof on it, and I found myself flying onto the queen. "Black!" she scolded glaring at her horse.

  "This is awkward" I said getting off of her "Not that you're awkward! I mean I- thi- this is awkward- I'm awkward… you're my idol- wait- what?!" Nice! Way to make yourself look like an idiot! She smiled instead and helped me up again.

  "I'd like to formally apologize for hitting the Princess of Arendelle with my horse" please, don't end it just like him "and… for every moment after" She did.

  "No, no, no! Don't worry about it! I'm not that kind of princess! If you had hit my sister Elsa, a month ago, it would have been –yeeesh- 'cause, you know…"

  "Yes, stories from Arendelle do reach Drakora, we're not that far, after all" she said with a small laugh as we both got off of the row boat.

  "And so do the stories from Drakora reach Arendelle" then I couldn't contain myself anymore "I heard so much about you! All of your adventures! What you did during the Revolution! You're awesome! I'm a huge fan of yours!" she laughed again.

  "Why, thank you. I'm honored"

  "I still can't believe you're actually here! What do we owe this visit for?" her face darkened for a moment.

  "About that… where can I find Queen Elsa?" she asked.

  "Oh! I'll take you to her! She's here in town, we were waiting for the other aristocrats to come! Come with me!" I said, grabbed her hand as she grabbed her horse's reins, following me. Then I realized what I just did and let go of her hand. "Oops! Sorry- I- I just- well-"

  "It's fine. No need to apologize. You're actually the first person who reacts like this"

  "WHAT?! Really?!"

  "Yeah. In my kingdom, part of my people treat me like an old friend, both commoners and middle class, the latter maybe because most of them used to be peasants. The aristocracy… well, the nobles in my country have mixed feelings for me" she said as we walked through town.

  "Oh… why is that? Didn't most of them fight with you during the revolution?"

  "Keyword: 'most'" as we walked, I noticed a lot of people looking our way in awe as everyone recognized the Queen "Plus, you said you heard so much about me. I suppose you know the story"

  "Of course! You are the heroine of the Drakorian Revolution! You're the commoner girl who helped King Landon regain the throne after his uncle stole it from him and in the meantime in you two fell in love and got married as soon as the rebellion was over, which -by the way- it's just sooo romantic! I heard all about how he didn't want you in his army because you were a girl and of when you saved his life during the camp assault. That was the day he let you in the army. Or the way you brilliantly passed all the tests for the new recruits. Or how you prevented King Landon to fall into his uncle's trap by attaching torches to the bulls' horns and sending out the bulls. The bulls were needed to move the assault tower, but you used them to reveal the trap and won the battle. I also heard of all your solo missions. King Landon had forbidden you to assault the palace, but you still did and stole all the money from the exaggerated taxes King Hugh imposed and gave them back to the people. Or when you took an arrow for King Landon! That was so brave of you! I also heard about what you did when you managed to uncover a scheme against the King , or when you locked up King Landon in his room and took his place in the duel against his uncle because he was wounded and couldn't fight, even though he didn't want you to! Or of how you spared Hugh's life in that duel because you knew, it wasn't your fight, but King Landon's! Don't even get me started on the sea battles you engaged! Like when- umpf!"

  "OKAY! Okay! I get it!" she said putting a hand on my mouth to stop me from talking "You do know a lot about the revolution" she said taking her hand off of my mouth. I rubbed my neck embarrassed.

  "Sorry. My sister keeps telling me that I talk too much, especially about your adventures" I said blushing from the slight embarrassment.

  "I don't know if you can exactly call them adventures; I'd say the whole revolution has been an adventure"

  "Still, you did all those things and even after two years people still talk about it. You were amazing!"

  "It was my duty and…" I looked at her expectantly, but she seemed to change her mind on what she was about to say "It's a long story" she concluded. I didn't push it. She clearly didn't want to talk about it.

  "I suppose King Landon is here somewhere, right?" her face suddenly darkened.

  "No, I came alone"

  "He had to stay behind because of royal duties, right?" She was about to answer when I heard someone calling me. I looked towards where the voices were coming and saw Elsa with Kristoff, calling me "My sister is right there! Come, your Majesty! I'll introduce her to you" I said and ran to Elsa while Queen Skylynn followed behind me, walking next to her horse.

  Elsa's POV:

  I had finally managed to send Anna away, so Kristoff and I could get down to business. As soon as we made sure she was gone, we got inside the jewelry store and, of course, as soon as the shop-keeper saw me and Kristoff looking for a ring… he immediately understood why we were there. It was a good thing the people knew Kristoff and knew he was in a relationship with Anna, at least there weren't any misunderstandings when they saw me and Kristoff like 'Oh, look! The Queen
has found a suitor!' or 'Oh, my goodness! Our Queen is being courted!' things like that. Anyway, Kristoff had seen the perfect ring for Anna. It was a beautiful gold band with a small diamond. Simple but elegant and appropriate and Kristoff had saved just enough to buy it. Anna was going to love it. While Kristoff took care of the ring, I looked around standing next to him.

  "Elsa" Kristoff called.

  "Hm?"

  "Give me a hand"

  "I am giving you a hand" He laughed.

  "No, I meant literally. I need your hand for the size" he said.

  "Oh! Okay, sorry" I said, blushing embarrassed… he noticed.

  "You're blushing"

  "No, I'm not!"

  "You are"

  "No!"

  "Aw, you're not a total icicle, then"

  "Just give me the ring" I said ignoring the pun. He chuckled and handed it to me. I slipped it on my left ring finger and took a look at it.

  "So?" he asked. I slipped the ring back off.

  "It's a bit loose on me and Anna's hands are just a tiny bit smaller than mine" I said

  "So… one size less or does it just need to be tightened a bit?" he asked.

  "Let's try one size less" I said. Kristoff got back to the shop keeper and asked for the same ring but a size less. I walked to Kristoff and the shop-keeper handed us the ring. I tried it on and it didn't fit "No, this size doesn't fit" I said.

  "Would you like me to tighten the other one?" the man asked.

  "Yes, thank you" Kristoff said.

  "How much?" the shop-keeper asked. Kristoff looked at me for the answer.

  "Just a little bit will do" I said.

  "Perfect. You can come back tomorrow and it will be ready"

  "Thank you very much" Kristoff said smiling.

  "Thank you, goodbye sir" I said. He gave me a quick bow.

  "Thank you for coming, your Majesty" he said "And good luck, Mr. Bjorman" Kristoff thanked him back and we got out of the shop. We walked a bit further while waiting for Anna. I asked Kristoff if he had figured out a way to propose and he said he was still working on it. We talked a bit about how he was going to ask Anna, but then I looked at the town's clock tower and saw the time. Luckily for me Anna appeared, and she seemed to be looking for me.