Elsa could only hear buzzes in her ears as tingling sounds resonated in her head.
How in heaven's name could a woman be extremely vulgar?
Harriet repeated her question which was louder than the first whisper.
She had some sort of glint in her eyes which Elsa noticed when she repeated her question.
Elsa's brother used to say that you could see through a person's heart from their eyes.
Her eyes were cold and lifeless, and Elsa couldn't bring herself to understand.
Harriet smiled softly as if she derived joy from Elsa's discomfort.
A momentary look of discomfort crossed Elsa's face as she gave off a soft, close-tipped smile which suggested Harriet was humouring a conversation she didn't wish to have.
Lines of stress formed on her forehead as she bowed her head and noisily dropped the spoon into the plate of cold soup.
" I... I... I," she stuttered and left her words incomplete.
Her heart stumbled over its own rhythm as she felt trapped in her entire body.
Sweat broke out on her forehead and she let out a shallow exhale.
Words that had been on the tip of her tongue refused to come out when she felt someone take her hand.
His hand was leathery and worn.
His fingers bore the crevices and cracks that only came with age.
Elsa looked up and met Ivan's gaze.
She felt relaxation surge into her body, and the knots in her stomach suddenly disappeared.
He smiled softly at her.
Wait!
Ivan smiled softly at her?!
He held her hand on the table and rubbed his against hers in a soothing manner.
Ivan blazed at his sister.
He knew what she was up to.
He knew she only wanted to instill chaos and destroy the peaceful dinner aura.
" This isn't the right time," he said.
Harriet sneered and cracked roughly.
" Will it ever be?"
" Harriet, you are better than this," the king stated hoarsely and glared at her.
And, for the first time, Ivan felt his racing heartbeat return to its previous tranquility.
Ivan raised his furrowed brows in doubt and glanced at his father.
His father spoke in his defense?!
It had been so long since his father defended him in any situation.
In fact, he had been left to his own devices since he was a child.
The king looked away in an expressionless manner.
Elsa bowed her head and excused herself.
__________
Elsa walked into the room in a drowned state.
She pulled her robe onto her body.
It was raining slightly and she needed to retire to bed early.
She shut the door behind her and walked towards the lantern.
Elsa gasped and held her breath unconsciously.
She hadn't noticed someone's presence in the room, and Ivan's presence startled her.
He had sat on the bed in the darkness as if he belonged to the darkness.
" Are you afraid of the dark?"
Elsa inhaled more air and let it out in a free exhale.
" I'm sorry, your highness. I didn't know you were here... I'll just leave."
Ivan watched her pull out a pillow.
He rose from the bed and turned around with a start.
He pulled Elsa's hand slowly and pulled her closer.
" Elsa."
" Your highness?"
Ivan breathed in and let out a shaky exhale.
" Just call me Ivan."
Elsa looked on inquiringly.
There was just something uncertain about him tonight.
Ivan had a different emotion in his voice, and it was unlike him.
He was the fire lord - the fierce one, and it was only unusual for him to speak softly.
" About dinner...."
Elsa cut him off.
She laughed roughly and waved her hand in dismissal.
" I didn't know she was going to bring up the consummation....."
Elsa suddenly began to feel hot in the frigid room.
She fanned herself with her left hand and turned her gaze away from Ivan.
Now, Elsa wished the ground would open and swallow her.
Here, she stood facing the terror that she had always detested from the first day of the announcement of her marriage.
But, now, she felt emotions other than pain and fury.
She felt as if he needed protection from something she couldn't quite pin down.
Elsa could discern that something haunted him every day and night.
Ivan pulled her from her drowning thoughts when he called her name again.
" Elsa, I promise to treat you right and give you your rights as a wife."
Elsa's breathe hitched.
Wife?
That word sounded weird, and she felt the urge to throw up.
How would she even call him husband?
All her life, she had been groomed for all and all, but not for this.
Her father had made sure that she remained pure until the prince charming comes to sweep her off her feet.
Elsa listened to Ivan's rattling subconsciously.
" And, I promise to wait till you're ready."
Elsa smiled inwardly and nodded obediently in the slight darkness.
She would sleep with ease tonight and hold him to his promise.
She suddenly began to think.
Just maybe he wasn't bad after all.
Maybe he was kind at heart.
Maybe he wasn't all the rumours said.
Maybe he was good enough.
He had spoken in her defense at dinner, and she loved the protective aura he had radiated at that moment.
Ivan gestured her to lie beside him, and with calmness returning to her tensed body - she drifted off in the darkness.
______________
Elsa tightened her eyelids one last time and shot them open to the intense morning sunlight that intruded through the curtains.
Her eyes darted around the room, and she saw her outer robe on the bed.
Ivan wasn't in the room either.
She glanced at her body and realized that she still had her inner array on.
Thoughts plodded into her head, but the immediate knock on the door quickly dismissed those thoughts.
" Come in," she approved and reached out for her robe.
Lydia walked in with a lady trailing behind.
" Greetings, your highness."
Elsa nodded and smiled.
She glanced at the lady behind Lydia.
This lady looked younger, and she wore a hijab underneath her clothes.
Elsa could only see her brown eyes which shook in despair.
This lady continuously hid behind Lydia and refused to face Elsa.
" I'm afraid. We have a problem, your highness," Lydia stated and fixated her gaze on the princess.