Elsa didn't like her room. Without Anna's big bed at the opposite wall, the place felt empty and barren. Empty and big, but also confining. Sometimes Elsa dreamed about the walls closing in on her, squeezing her to a pulp as she screamed for help. Then she would wake up screaming, and mommy and daddy would run in. Daddy would hold a candle and mommy would pull Elsa into her arms, whispering comforts into her ear. Over her mother's shoulder, Elsa would see tiny Anna peek into the room, then be shuttled away by servants. And Elsa would cry.
Late at night, Elsa couldn't sleep. The moonlight illuminated the room, and Elsa felt her eyes close, dragging her into the darkness. But a jolt of fear would make the little girl's heart race, and a layer of frost would creep across the bed, and the floors and walls surrounding it.
Elsa didn't want to sleep. She didn't want to see the images the troll had conjured for her, of blood-red people hurting her for her magic. She didn't want to see Anna, cold and lifeless in her arms. She didn't want to see herself locked in her room, surrounded by angry voices and faces that pulled her hair and clothes. She didn't want the nightmares to come back.
Shivering, the small girl crept out of bed, her toes crunching in the snow on the floor. Elsa walked to the door, undoing the knob with a shaking hand and peeking out of the doorway. Snowflakes followed her as she sneaked across the hall, her bare feet padding on the wood flooring. No servants wandered the halls, and no voices hummed nearby to warn Elsa away. The ice princess reached her destination, opening the door with a creak that made her flinch, and stepping inside the room.
Anna's new bedroom was smaller, and decorated in rosy pink. They'd moved in Anna's old bed, and toys and drawings littered the floor. Elsa crept towards the bed, walking on her tiptoes to make as little sound as possible. The frost had increased, sending a physical chill into the room. The blond froze as Anna tossed in her sleep, pulling the blankets closer to her as ice covered the walls.
Elsa made her way to the bed, and watched as Anna rolled over in her sleep to face her. Mouth open, drooling and her hair a mess, Anna looked deep in slumber. Elsa smiled softly. She outstretched a hand, longing to cup her beloved sister's cheek. As she reached for Anna's face, the frost retracted, and Elsa didn't feel so afraid.
But before she could touch her sister, footsteps wafted in through the open door, and Elsa gasped. The frost returned, stronger, and Elsa raced out of the room, closing the door behind her and hurling herself into her room. No sooner than Elsa shut her own bedroom door and launched into her bed did the footsteps pass by. When the steps faded away, the ice princess relaxed and exhaled.
Elsa looked at her hands and watched, in horror, as frost spread from her hands to her blankets, and then across her bed.
The ice princess began to cry.
The next morning, as all the servants wondered why puddles of water were all over the hallway floors and in princess Anna's bedroom, Elsa heard her parents arguing again.
Most of the servants were let go after that.