Elsa was tired of sitting by herself signing letters and documents. She stared out of the window of the palace library, considering whether abandoning the mountain of paperwork in front of her to find her sister would be worth the trouble of falling behind with her royal duties.
A cold breeze blew through the open window, scattering the papers across the floor. Elsa got to her feet and stretched out her arms, groaning as she gathered up the loose sheets and placed them back on the desk. Today had been slow, and Elsa was thoroughly bored.
She glanced around the empty library, doubting that anyone would even noticed if she left.
Surely just a small break wouldn't hurt . . . ?
A noise came from the corridor outside. It sounded like footsteps followed by a voice, and Elsa hurriedly made her way over to the heavy door, pushing it open and stepping into the hallway.
She smiled when she saw a small white snowman hurrying towards her, "Oh, Olaf, it's you." Elsa knelt down to greet him, but he ran straight past her, as if oblivious to her presence. He was wearing a small waistcoat, from which he pulled out a pocket watch and, examining it as he passed her, exclaimed that he was 'so terribly late'.
"Olaf?" Elsa frowned. She was used to seeing him around the palace, but never before had she seen him dressed like that. She paused for a moment, looking on with curiosity until he rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight.
Standing up and reaching for the hem of her skirt, Elsa ran after him, just in time to see him disappear down the stone steps which led to the servant's quarters. Without even considering whether or not it would be improper for the Queen to enter this part of the palace, Elsa chased after the snowman down the endless spiral staircase. By the time she had reached the bottom, she was completely breathless, but Olaf was still making his way hastily through the palace, constantly muttering about how late he was.
"Your highness, is everything okay?" A member of the kitchen staff approached the flustered queen.
"Have you seen Olaf?" Elsa replied, her eyes darting around, trying to catch a glimpse of him.
"I'm sorry, your highness, but I'm afraid I haven't."
"Oh, well, thank you anyway." Elsa smiled politely before continuing her search. Unlike Anna, she did not know her way around this part of the palace, but she eventually made her way through the maze of stone walls until she reached the kitchen itself.
It seemed alive with the sound of people talking, vegetables being sliced and food sizzling over huge flames. The smell of delicious, exotic foods drifted in the air, distracting Elsa momentarily. This seemed far different from the cold, empty library upstairs.
The servants fell quiet as she entered and bowed their heads respectfully. They were used to seeing Anna down here. Since being young, she would often come and beg the cook to make deserts for her. They were almost always chocolate. However, none of the staff ever expected to see Elsa venturing this far away from the official state rooms of the palace, nor did she expect to find herself here.
She smiled at the servants, slightly embarrassed by the way she had rushed in, but said nothing. The door at the back of the kitchen, which Elsa assumed was where the food was brought in, was opened slightly and through it she noticed Olaf making his way across the courtyard.
"Excuse me." She hurried through the door and out into the courtyard. Fresh snow dusted the stony floor and covered the various crates of food. She followed the round footprints all the way out onto the frozen fjord.
Why would Olaf come all the way out here?
She looked around for him, unphased by the cold, but the footprints seemed to end abruptly. Moving closer, she noticed that there was a large hole in the ice.
"Olaf?" She couldn't see him anywhere.
Bending down, she stared deeper into the dark water, but it was hard to see anything amongst the floating shards of ice. As she leant forward, she placed her hands on the cracked edge of the hole, her face now inches from the water. The ice beneath her began to weaken under her weight, and before she had time to think, the section underneath her hands gave way, causing her to plunge head first into the freezing water.