The green cloth had been squeezed of its water more times than Gerda could count. She handed it to the little girl in her charge, and the child took it in one of her small hands.
"Don't forget to get behind your ears."
Princess Elsa hastily scrubbed the space behind each ear.
"Can I play now?"
Gerda sighed. "Do I need to wash your ears for you again, little miss?"
"No," said Elsa hastily. She rubbed her ears again, more thoroughly this time. "Now?"
"Not yet, dear. Your hair still needs cleaning. Here, I'll soap it up for you."
"No no, I do it! I do it!"
Reluctantly, Gerda gave the bar of soap to the small princess. Elsa held it between her palms and rubbed it over and over until a large collection of suds had formed around her hands. She dropped the bar of soap into the water and began to giggle and splash about, distracted by the novelty of liquefied hygiene.
"Elsa, playtime is later. Right now I need you to wash your hair," Gerda said with as much patience as she could.
"I don't wanna," pouted Elsa, dropping her smile. "I wanna play with Benny."
The princess eyed the rubber duck that sat on the ground outside the tub, just out of her reach.
"You may play with Benny after you have washed your hair. Now please..."
The royal maid retrieved the soap from the water and handed it to Elsa, but she smacked it out of her hand and frowned.
"I want Benny."
"Miss Elsa, I do not want to raise my voice at you. I will give you one more warning. Please. Wash. Your hair."
"I WANT BENNY!" shouted Elsa in frustration. She started to splash about harder than she had before, getting water all over Gerda.
Gerda put her hands on her hips and glared at the child.
"Miss Elsa! Stop these rude shenanigans at once and behave yourself!"
"WWWWWAAHHHHHHHH! I WANT BEENNYYYYYYYY!"
In the midst of her tantrum, Elsa did not notice that the water had changed until she saw Gerda staring at her with a mixed expression of worry, confusion, and fear, her hand clasped over her mouth.
"How...how did you..?"
Elsa didn't know what her babysitter was talking about. She looked down at herself and gasped when she saw the thick layer of ice that went all the way up to her shoulders.
"Wh-wha?"
The princess struggled around, but she was almost completely submerged and could not move. She looked up at Gerda.
"Gerda help! I'm stuck!"
Gerda didn't know what to do. She looked around for something to break the ice with, and found nothing. Even if she had, she doubted she could free the princess from the ice without harming her.
"Help me Gerda!"
The woman frantically stood up and ran for the door.
"Gerda where you going? Help me! HELP!"
The hall immediately outside of the bathroom was completely empty, save for Gerda herself. She ran as fast as she could down it, thinking of the closest person who could help, when it hit her.
The king.
Gerda turned a corner, heading for the room directly at the end of the hall, keeping her skirt up off the ground as she hurried along.
"Your Majesty!" cried Gerda, pushing the door open without knocking.
She found herself staring into the rigid expressions of ten councilmen and her king. Official-looking documents were strewn about the table, and Gerda realized, too late, that she had broken into something important.
"Gerda?"
King Agdar removed his glasses and peered at her, confused.
"Your Highness...um, Your Majesty," said Gerda, curstying. "I...may I please speak with you briefly? It's very important."
"I am in the middle of a very serious meeting right now, I believe it can wait."
"No, it can't! I mean..."
Gerda cleared her throat.
"My king, I think it is vital that I speak with you. Right now. Please."
Agdar looked back at the other officials. "Gentlemen, please excuse me for a moment."
A few councilmen shook their heads at the maid as the two went back into the hall and shut the door behind them.
"Gerda, I am a very busy man. What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself," Agdar said sternly.
Gerda wasted no time.
"Your Majesty, something has happened to the princess. I was bathing her, and...and..."
Gerda was having difficulty revealing what had happened. To her surprise, her king finished the sentence for her.
"...and the bathwater froze?" Agdar said quietly. His demeanor had softened a bit.
"...yes. Yes, it did."
Agdar sighed and shook his head. "I had a feeling this would occur eventually." He collected himself and looked directly into the eyes of his maid.
"Gerda, the princess...my daughter...she was born with a very unique gift. So far I have done my best to keep it under control, and with time I know it will be used for good. But for now...I need you to keep quiet about this. As your king, I order you too."
Agdar put his glasses back on and stared past Gerda.
"I would look after this dilemma myself, but as I said before, I have royal duties to tend to. Gerda...you know where the bedroom is. Please go and wake my wife, and inform her of what has happened."
The maid nodded, and was off. Agdar waited until she was out of sight before heading back to his waiting council.
The princess stared down at her likeness, reflected back at her from the surface of the ice. It showed her a small child with eyes that had turned sore and red from crying.
Elsa looked up when she heard the door open. Gerda had returned, and following with her was Queen Idunn, eyes puffy from being roused from her sleep, disheveled hair hastily tied back into a bun.
Elsa gazed back down at the ice. She would rather have to see her own sad face than have to look at her mother's disappointed one.
Idunn slowly walked up to the edge of the bathtub, the late stage of her pregnancy giving her some difficulty. With assistance from Gerda, she lowered herself to the floor and knelt down near her daughter.
"Elsa..."
The princess started to cry again when her mother's hand touched her shoulder.
"Elsa...look at me."
"Don't wanna..."
"Please look at your mother, Elsa," the queen repeated. Her hand moved from Elsa's shoulder to her face.
Elsa didn't move. Idunn placed her other hand on her daughter's face, and gently turned it so they could see each other properly.
"Just focus on my voice, Elsa. Okay?"
The queen gently wiped away Elsa's tears, then traced her fingers along the smooth contours of her face.
"Focus on my voice, and my eyes. Focus on your mother."
Elsa's sobs went down to light hiccups as she diverted her attention to her mother's kind expression. For the next few minutes Idunn softly caressed her child's face with her thumbs, catching any stray tears that fell from her.
Gerda watched, amazed, as the ice around Elsa gradually cracked and broke apart, thawing until it was nothing but a cold, slushy mixture.
"A towel please, Gerda?"
"Oh, yes." Gerda reached for the towel rack and took the grey linen up off of it. "Here you are."
"Thank you."
A wave of calm washed over Elsa when her mother lifted her out of the tub and covered her with the towel.
Idunn put her arms around Elsa and pulled her in for a hug. The child returned the favor, throwing her own shorter arms around her parent.
"I'm sorry mama, I'm sorry."
"I know, sweetie. Shhh..."
Idunn stroked her daughter's hair reassuringly, and gave her some more time to settle down before breaking their embrace. When she seemed like she was ready, Idunn spoke.
"Now...Gerda tells me that you were misbehaving and acting very rude towards her. Were you?"
Elsa hung her head and nodded.
"That was not very nice of you. Gerda was only trying to look after you, that's her job. And I'm sure she would appreciate your respect."
"Yes mama."
Idunn glanced back at Gerda, who smiled faintly in gratitude.
"A princess is always polite and considerate to others, Elsa. And that is what papa and I expect of you," said the queen. "Now, I want you to go in the corner and think about what you've done. Count out a full five minutes, just like we practiced. Do you understand?"
"Yes," sniffled Elsa. Keeping her towel wrapped tightly around herself, she followed her mother's instruction.
Idunn slowly rose up from off her knees.
"Oh, my Lady, let me help you!"
"It's fine Gerda, I'm fine...oomph."
The queen brought herself up to her full height, putting a hand on her back to help keep it straight.
"I think it's best we get you back to bed, my queen. You need your rest."
"That's all right, Gerda. I still need you to watch Elsa. If I need any help I'll ask Kai."
"But your Highness..."
"I will be fine."
Idunn headed for the door, but before she left, she decided to pass on one last message to her maid.
"Gerda? I recommend you spend more time with Kai and get to know him on more friendly terms."
"...Sir Kai? Whatever for?"
"My husband and I have already informed him in the past of what is going on, and I think he will be a big help in helping you deal with these sorts of things in the future."
At the thought of another knowing about Elsa's abilities, Gerda wasn't surprised in the slightest. She curtsyed. "Of course, my Lady. Have a restful sleep."
When her queen had left, Gerda turned back and looked at the princess, still standing in the corner with her hands over her eyes, quietly reciting the passing seconds to herself.
"47...48...49...50...51..."
Gerda smiled as she admired Elsa's grasp of numbers; she was a bright little girl.
"58...59...60."
Elsa turned to face Gerda. To the maid's surprise, she ran to her, arms outstretched, and gave her a warm hug around the legs.
"I'm sorry Gerda. I wanna be good now."
Gerda's heart melted. "Awww..." She knelt down to Elsa's level and hugged her back.
"Thank you very much for the apology, dear. It's greatly appreciated."
"I'll be good now, I promise."
"I am very happy to hear that, little miss. Now then, I think it's time we get you properly dressed. I brought you a change of clothes, do you think you're ready to dress yourself?"
Elsa smiled. "Yeah, I wanna try!"
She took the blue garments from Gerda's hands, and the maid went for the door.
"I'll be right outside. Let me know when you're finished."
"Okay!"
While Gerda waited out in the hall, Elsa dressed herself in no time at all.
"Look Gerda, I did it all by myself!" the princess said, running out in her teal dress.
"That's wonderful, Elsa! Good for you!"
Gerda glanced back inside the bathroom and surveyed the spots of water. "I'll have to clean that up...but right now, what say we go down to the kitchen and get you something to eat?"
Elsa's eyes lighted up. "Yay! I want chocolate for din-din!"
Gerda gave a bemused grin. "Chocolate is for dessert only, young lady. Perhaps something a bit healthier?"
"I want pasghetti and pah-tat...p-potawt-"
"Spaghetti and potatoes?"
"Yeah!"
The maid giggled. "A bit unorthodox, but I'll see what we can do. Come along, dear."
Elsa took hold of Gerda's hand, and they skipped merrily along toward the kitchen.