Prologue

"No. We'll protect her. She can learn to control it, I'm sure," the King of Arendelle promised Grand Pabbie. "Until then, lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people and keep her powers hidden from everyone - including Anna."

Despite the King's strong statements, there was a distinct difference between giving these directives and actually carrying them out. In order to... accommodate Elsa's ice powers, any staff who was not essential was let go.

Among the staff who could not be so easily let go was a young servant boy named Kit. A peer of Elsa, he had been hired at the tender age of 4 to serve the eldest Princess as a page. In the several years since, he had proven his loyalty to Princess Elsa, becoming a friend and placed in a confidence only equal to Elsa's sister, Anna.

Now, the King could have easily relieved Kit of duty if he really wanted to. But two points stopped him. For one thing, someone had to be on hand to serve Elsa whenever she was not in her room (such as at meals). And for another, the King feared the emotional aftermath of such a scenario - not for his daughter, but for Kit. At the very least, he could keep Kit out of Elsa's room as easily as he could keep out Anna. Kit already knew of Elsa's ice powers, and there wasn't exactly a way to wipe a child's memory a second time. Besides, Kit operated with a discretion very much beyond his eight years; there would be no need to haggle with the boy over obtaining and keeping his silence.

The years passed, and 18-year-old Elsa curtsied for her parents as they prepared to depart Arendelle by ship for a family wedding across the sea in Corona. Her valet and manservant, Kit, stood attentively by her side.

"Do you have to go?" Elsa's fearful eyes searched her father's face.

"You'll be fine, Elsa," the King assured. And he and his wife departed. A crestfallen Elsa felt a hand on her shoulders.

"It's going to be OK." His lips pursed thin in a comforting smile. "You'll see."

Except it wasn't. When the royal couple's ship went down at sea, Kit accompanied Princess Anna to the funeral in Elsa's stead. Upon return to the castle, he let Anna bear news of the service to her sister, knowing his mistress well enough to know that any condolences from him would not be absorbed.

Still, he wished that the eldest Princess's locked door would yield, behind which he was sure would be a weeping snowfall, conjured in grief...