“Dear Elsa,


“Sorry I couldn’t make it to your Graduation, but it took place at sunset, and we both know what that means for me! I hope everything went well. It’s been so long since we’ve spoken properly together that I’ve almost forgotten what you look like, but I’m still hopeful that my True Love will show up sooner or later and I’ll finally be free of this awful curse.


“Please write back to me as soon as possible, because it gets to terribly boring stuck up here in this tower with not much to do, like that fairytale about the Princess with the long hair. I’ve got to close now because this bird’s getting agitated, but please send a B-mail to me A.S.A.P and tell me all the latest news.


“Much love, Fiona xxx”


Elsa smiled as she put quill to parchment and made her reply.


“Dear Fiona,


“Thanks for your letter. I was super nervous on the day of Graduation, well, you can imagine, after all now the whole Academy knows about my powers, but thankfully nothing went wrong and I am now a fully Qualified Graduate of Lady Tremaine’s. Doesn’t that sound grand? Rosetta and I had quite a laugh as well when our arch rival, Vidia, fell over her own feet crossing the stage, but thankfully that didn’t happen to either of us.


“I’d really like you to meet Rosetta. I think you two would get along. She’s now had to go back to Pixie Hollow now, back to her boyfriend Sled and a job working in Queen Clarion’s gardens, but she seems happy enough about that. Maybe one day all three of us can get together and hang out.


“As for me, well, I think I’ll probably have a boyfriend myself soon. You see, after I’d graduated (and by that I mean literally the second I’d got off the stage) Father told me that Lord Farquaad, ruler of Duloc, wanted to arrange a meeting with me. Well, you can imagine I was stunned because even in Duloc they’ve heard of what my powers can do. But he wanted to meet me regardless, so my parents arranged for him to come to Arandelle three days after Graduation.


“In all honesty, I didn’t expect to like him as much as I did. I mean, do. After all, I had no idea what to expect when I did meet him, and though at first I thought he was rather haughty and highbrow, I think now that that’s just because of the way he was brought up. After all, people think that I come across as posh just because I’m well-spoken and a Princess besides, and sometimes it’s just hard to shake off what you’ve always been taught, isn’t it?


“Anyway, I did like him. When he arrived, of course I was nervous; in fact I was so nervous that I started wandering around the garden before he and his party arrived, trying to calm myself down. Then, suddenly, I heard a horse approaching and I looked up in surprise to see a man with black hair and a charming face approaching me on horseback. He had a group of soldiers behind him, so I just knew that he was Lord Farquaad before he even introduced himself.


“He said “Forgive me, Princess, for startling you, but you startled me, for I have never seen such a radiant beauty before.” And I didn’t know what to say to that, because what do you say when you’ve never had someone say it to you before? I mean, of course I was flattered, but all I could manage to do was smile and curtsey because I was so nervous. Then he said “I am Lord Farquaad,” and I stopped feeling nervous, and I said “Yes, I know, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” And then Father came out into the garden before we could talk anymore, and after that I barely got any time alone with him but the time we did spend together was enjoyable.


“From what I understand, from what he told me over dinner, Duloc is a small but prosperous town out in the middle of the Open Country, which is somewhere near to your tower, isn’t it? (My Geography’s hopeless, sorry!) And it sounds like a fairly quiet but pretty little place from the way he described it, but I think I’d like to see it for myself before...well, you know. I’m fairly certain that both he and Father are hoping that we’ll get married; Father for political ties and all that, of course, and Farquaad for...well, I don’t actually know why he wants to marry me. Although he did say that he found me charming.


“To be perfectly honest, I found him quite charming too; in spite of his size. Now I do need to mention this to you just so that you’re not surprised in future; he is somewhat shorter than I am, but not a dwarf, before you go saying so. No, he’s taller than that; he comes up to just above my waist, although on horseback he has this armour that makes him look taller. (I didn’t ask if he was sensitive about his size just in case he is.) But he is somewhat handsome in a conventional way, and polite too, very well-mannered and I think that Mother and Father were impressed. From what I can tell he’s a bit older than I am, maybe about thirty at most, I’ve no idea, but then I’m twenty one, so the age gap could be worse. He also said later that he found conversing with me “rather refreshing,” which has to be a good sign, surely?


“Look, I know what you’re probably thinking in reading this; after all we both used to dream about True Love when we were younger, and here I am being the obedient daughter ready to marry the first buyer, but after everything that’s happened to me lately I just don’t want anything else to go wrong in life. If this all falls apart, it’ll be like I’ve let everyone down again and to be honest, I’m fed up with that. So, if Farquaad decides that he likes me enough to propose to me, then I’ll probably say “Yes.” I know it’s probably not what you’d do, but, well, I do like him, and I honestly could see a future for us, if he can too.


“I’ve got to go now as I’ll be seeing him again later tonight. Mother invited him to dinner again and he couldn’t accept eagerly enough, it seemed.


“Write to you soon, love Elsa xxx”


Pulling on her neatest dress, Elsa wondered if she could feel brave enough not to wear her gloves in front of Farquaad tonight, but in the end she decided that it would be better to be safe than to let something happen. After all, if it did, then that might be her last chance at being a “normal” Princess out of the window. Vidia’s torments had made her paranoid of that and it made her shudder to imagine the look on Farquaad’s face were he to find out just how dangerous her powers were.


It just didn’t bear thinking about at all.


Pulling her gloves on, Elsa quickly did her hair and smoothed down her bodice before making her way downstairs. She was greeted with a few murmurs of “Princess Elsa” and bows of respect as she made her way into the dining hall. To her great surprise, Lord Farquaad was already present, talking to her Father and Elsa felt her heart begin to race.


‘Don’t look at me,’ she thought as she stepped quietly into the room, ‘or rather, do look at me, but don’t draw attention...oh, God, am I blushing? I must be! Calm down, Elsa, it’s alright, he’s not seen you. He’s not seen you...he’s turning his head! He’s looking! He’s seen you! Oh, God!’


She was so caught up with concentrating on her thoughts and keeping her eyes fixed on Farquaad that when he suddenly turned his head in her direction, she faltered and stumbled, almost knocking over the nearest chair.


‘Well done, Elsa! So much for poise and grace!’


“Ah, Elsa, there you are,” her Father smiled. “Just your Mother we’re waiting for, then.”


Cheeks burning, Elsa bowed her head and stammered “Lord Farquaad, it’s good to see you again.”


“The pleasure is all mine, Princess Elsa,” Lord Farquaad all but purred in those smooth tones of his.


Elsa felt a small shiver run down her spine although she couldn’t imagine why. Thankfully, though, her Mother came into the room at that moment and all focus quickly went to her. Elsa was able to slide into a seat whilst no one was looking and when Lord Farquaad sat down opposite her, it looked like her brush with the chair had been forgotten.


She had meant what she had said in her letter to Fiona. B-mail, using trained bluebirds to carry letters from the palace in Arandelle to Fiona’s tower, and vice versa, was the only way they could communicate to one another, but it was also easy to lie through letters (not that Elsa ever would lie to her own cousin, of course, but you could never be sure.) But in this case, she had meant what she had said about Lord Farquaad. She did like him. He was rather witty and could make her laugh. And if he was serious about his suit, then she genuinely believed that they could make a marriage work, even if it only was a marriage of convenience in the end.


The meal passed without further incident and embarrassment, and Elsa was grateful for that. Lord Farquaad would often make some witty remark at which she would laugh, politely behind her hand as she had always been taught to do in public, and she noticed that each time she did that, he looked pleased to have been the one to make her laugh. Whenever someone else was talking, she also noticed that he kept looking at her, thoughtfully, as if sizing her up, deciding that she would make a perfect Queen for Duloc. Each time, she averted her eyes politely and glanced back at him only when she was sure that he wasn’t looking at her. Twice she caught his eyes and could only stare, unable to help herself.


There was something about him that made her unable to stop.


After the meal was over, Elsa found herself ushered to a separate room with her Mother, as was custom for the women to retire for a moment whilst the men had a relaxing drink together in the dining hall. She looked back over her shoulder only once to see Lord Farquaad accepting a glass of port from her Father. He caught her eye and raised his glass as if toasting her. Blushing, Elsa managed a smile and a tiny wave, although she wondered afterwards whether that was correct or not, and then followed her Mother into the parlour where they sat down in front of the fire on two comfortable chairs, overstuffed but cosy.


Her Mother took her hands. “Elsa, what do you think of Lord Farquaad?”


Elsa had been expecting something like this, and she had an answer ready. “I like him a lot, Mother. He makes me smile.”


Her Mother looked relieved. “Good, because he seems very taken with you.”


“Is he?” Again, her heart began to race and she wasn’t entirely sure why. “How can you tell?”


“Believe me, Elsa, I can see it,” her Mother smiled, “and, well, he has mentioned it a few times.”


“He has?” Elsa blushed. “Well, when?”


“Well, when he was here last, whilst you were out of the room,” her Mother replied. “He commented on you being, and I quote, “a fine young woman,” and “rather beautiful,” and “quick witted.”


Elsa blushed even deeper. “Do you think he’s going to...propose? At some point?”


“Elsa, why else do you think he wanted to meet you?” her Mother asked. “I think he saw you as a potentially good wife a long time ago and just wants to confirm his suspicions before acting upon them.”


Elsa glanced out of the window, thoughtfully. “Even knowing about my powers?”


“Oh, Elsa, things like that don’t matter to a person when they can see so much more in the one they desire than just their flaws,” her Mother replied, airily. “Believe it or not, some people do have the ability to see past things others just can’t understand.”


“Like when you fall in love, you mean?” Elsa asked, turning her eyes back to her Mother.


“Well, certainly,” her Mother smiled, squeezing her hands. “You’ll say “Yes,” of course, when he does propose?”


“Do I have a choice?” Elsa joked feebly. “Of course I will, if and when he proposes.”


And when the time eventually came, when they were finally left alone together in a room some nights later for more than just a few minutes, he did.


And she did.