Frozen: A Desire for More

Chapter 18

Elsa felt a satisfying superiority as she watched Rainer’s eyes open wide. He opened his mouth but no words would come out. Folding her arms, she smiled up at him, the corners of her eyes turning downwards. 

The moment he got over his initial shock, Rainer dropped onto his knees. 

“Your majesty!” 

For a moment Elsa simply observed him, enjoying the sensation of the power of a queen returning to her. She watched Rainer bow his head down, his raven black hair hiding his face. In this situation, she had him under complete control. In fact, this made the incident in the royal garden a good thing. Rainer feared the consequences of kissing the queen. With this fear, she could control him and seduce him without losing her position as the Queen of Arendelle.

“You may rise,” she said. 

Rainer rose and watched as Elsa adjusted her sunhat at an agonizingly slow speed. Elsa smiled and her eyes looked up at him. She watched Rainer swallow with panic. She loved this feeling. Gone was the overly confident young Duke from the welcoming ball. But she knew that this position was fragile. Any mistake on her part, and the dynamic of the current situation would change rapidly. 

“Your majesty, I am so sorry. I did not recognize you, I - “ 

Elsa turned her side to him and held up her hand. “Please, let us talk while we walk.” 

They walked out of the sun and back onto the narrow gravel pathway. Walking slightly in front of him, Elsa did her best to suppress the smile on her lips. This was it. With some of Anna’s advice, she had now knew what might cause Rainer’s heart to tremble. 

Carefully, she slowed down until she was side by side with Rainer.

“Your majesty, I want to apologize for what I did yesterday in the garden. I understand if you - “

“What’s done is done,” Elsa cut him off. “What has transcended will stay between us.” 

“Thank you, your majesty,” Rainer bowed his head slightly. 

Judging from her gut feeling, Elsa decided that it time was for her next move. 

“Please, call me Elsa. Outside the castle, I prefer to go without the formal titles.” 

“Alright…Elsa,” Rainer said after a moment of hesitation. 

Elsa bit her lower lip to stop herself from chuckling. She was enjoying this so much. Even as the Queen of Arendelle she had never felt having so much control over something. Anna’s advice had been right; a man was more intimidated by a real woman than a queen. And in this secluded park, she planned on shedding the identity of a Queen and assume the role of a woman. 

“Say, Rainer, what is like for you to be young ruler?” Elsa asked. By using his name, rather than his formal title, she wanted to break the formal royal barrier between them. 

She glanced up at him, and she could see him relaxing. His shoulders weren’t locked into place anymore and his steps became less rigid. Elsa almost laughed, but stopped herself. There was just something about him that made her want to poke fun at him and just to keep him all for herself. 

“It was just really sudden for me,” he answered, his voice devoid of the panic he felt just moments before. “I really didn’t think that my father would die so suddenly. Even though as the heir, I thought I wouldn’t sit on the throne for at least another decade. And then suddenly, one day, my mother personally pulled me out of the bed and told me that I should get ready.” 

Rainer took a breath and let out a laugh. “I asked her ‘get ready for what?’, and she told me ‘get ready to be king.’” 

Elsa’s eyes widened and she laughed out loud. For the first time in forever, she held her arms around her stomach and laughed. She imagined Rainer being dragged out of bed by the Queen of Weselton and being told to get ready to be king. Although the death of his father was supposed to be sad event, the way Rainer told his version of the story made it very amusing to Elsa, who had to face almost the exact same situation.