Gothel opened the letter that was sealed shut with the wax mark of Arendelle. She had been intercepting the royal mail for years, ever since she took back her flower from the thieves of Corona. It was a dangerous necessity, but after the princess became the Lost Princess, the royalty of Corona immediately reached out to their allies in Arendelle for support. For three years the good soldiers of Corona and Arendelle were working together to find the princess, who they only name in the letters as "the Lost Princess". This, at least, was good for Gothel, it seemed the King and Queen did not get the chance to name the baby before Gothel took her and named her Rapunzel.
This letter that Gothel had relieved the carrier of, temporarily of course more suspicion would come if the letter were to never arrive, was no different than the others. The King sends his and the Queen's condolences to the Queen and King of Corona. They are truly sorry for their beloved family in these trying times, and still hold them and the Lost Princess in their prayers. Of course, Corona will have the continuous support of Arendelle.
But then it got less formal, moving more from Royal correspondence to the writing of a brother to a sister. The King of Arendelle spoke of how, truly devastated he was for his baby sister. He also wrote of how his own wife was pregnant, and he hoped that there would be one day where she and the King of Corona could come up to Arendelle and visit, once the baby is born.
I want my children to know their Aunt and Uncle, and I miss you.
Gothel lit a stick with the flame of her lantern and gently heated the bottom of the wax seal she was carful not to break. The carrier of the message was knocked unconscious,and she has found that these royal messengers, typically, will not report accidents on the road if it appears the letter wasn't opened. Even though Gothel never really expected any important mail to come anymore, as it has been about three years since she took back her flower.
Gothel took the stairs at the back of the tower up through the floor. Rapunzel would be sleeping, Gothel had to be careful of when she came and left the tower. Eventually Rapunzel herself would be her way in and out, but of course then she couldn't know about the stairs.
She went to bed uneasy, as she had every night for the past three years. She felt if some big news would come, something to discourage the search, then maybe she would find peace.
But this wouldn't come for another 6 months, soon after the winter solstice.
This ease happened quite by accident. Gothel was coming back from the market, it was dark, and she had a very low-lit lantern, so that no one could see her but she could at least see the ground. Maybe that's why the man sprinting through the forest with an equally dim lantern ran into her.
"Pardon, madam, I didn't see you in the dark," he stammered as he lifted himself up before offering her a hand.
"It's alright, young sir, but where are you off to in such a hurry?" Gothel asked, collecting her basket and lantern. The food she had bought that day had scattered in the snow, so she bent back down to gather it all. The young sprinter helped instantly.
"I'm off to the Royal Palace, big news from Arendelle."
"Arendelle?" Gothel asked, shocked and more than a little curious, "what news?"
"Well…" the man paused with a loaf of bread in his hand, and then shook himself out of whatever dream state he fell in, "I guess it's not top secret news. I've been dying to tell someone, as all of Arendelle knows now so it's not real news there anymore. The Royal Majesties have given birth!" the man was smiling wide enough for three people.
"A child? Prince or Princess?" Gothel asked, not with fake interest, but not the same interest that the messenger had.
"A Princess! Princess Elsa, is her name! She has beautiful blonde hair, so pale she could mistaken for an old maid!" he laughed at his little joke of her hair color while depositing some eggs, most of which survived thanks to the snow, into Gothel's basket.
"But madam, I'm sorry, I've gotten so distracted by my message that I didn't ask you what you are doing in the woods at such a late hour. It's not safe for a woman to wander these woods alone," he helped her up once again, and Gothel smiled. He really was a sweet boy.
"Not safe for all women, but trust me, I know my way and I know how to protect myself. One more question before I allow you to run off on your mission; what color hair do the King and Queen of Arendelle have?"
"Why, the Queen has dark brown and the king has light auburn. Why?"
"Just a curiosity of mine, nothing to think about. Go deliver the good news now, I'm sure the King and Queen will be ecstatic to hear of their niece." Gothel waved him off, a motherly smile on her face as she watched him continue to run through the frozen forest. It had started snowing, and it was getting colder, but Gothel didn't notice.
She knew of another girl like this, a girl with hair that made her seem like she wasn't related to those who birthed her. And she turned out to be magic, blessed with healing powers from the sun. Elsa, with hair so pale it could be white, born to two parents with brown and auburn hair…what were the chances that she too was different? Powerful? Rapunzel was born in mid summer, and she had healing powers, warm powers of the sun. Elsa could not have been born long ago, at most a week.
The idea of harsh powers, cold magic, filled Gothel's heart. It would be a powerful magic, one that she could use for defense to protect her and Rapunzel. Arendelle was a few days away by boat, it would take little more than a week to get there and back. She wouldn't linger, it would be a quick kidnapping and back again. But could she leave Rapunzel alone that long?
No, she was only three and a half. This would have to wait for a time when Rapunzel could be independent for at least that long. But time would not wear down Gothel's idea, or her desire. In fact, it would only reassure it.
About a week after the message was received of the newborn princess, most of the Arendelle soldiers were called back to their home. Apparently there were threats surrounding the princess, more guards were needed for her protection. Within a year all the Arendelle soldiers had been recalled. Without the support of their neighbors, the King and Queen told there own soldiers to stop the active search, as there were more important things in the kingdom to attend to.
The recall of the soldiers was all Gothel needed to justify her belief in the magic of the new princess. In her mind it was too much coincidence. A baby girl born, why would they need all soldiers back in Arendelle? To protect one child or to protect a kingdom from her? Gothel guessed the latter. And Gothel would be right.
When Rapunzel was 6, talking and running around the tower, her first drawings of many adorning the walls, Gothel decided it was time to go to Arendelle. The other princess would be 2, nearly 3, and she would have a harder time stealing a child than a toddler. She made Rapunzel a weeks worth of meals and left them in the cabinets, explaining to her which to take at what time. Rapunzel sang for her before Gothel hugged her close and sent her to bed. When Gothel was sure Rapunzel was in her room she snuck through the floor and down the hidden staircase.
Though Gothel would not call herself a witch, she would say that her skills of blending and sneaking were magical. It was easy enough to become a stowaway on a ship heading to Arendelle, and even easier to walk around the city without raising suspicion. The royals here kept their gates open, allowing people to wander in and out of the castle courtyard, and to an extent the inside of the castle itself. Though there were many guards posted, none of them seemed too concerned with Gothel as she wandered the gardens, and when they all became distracted because of a little boy crying to his mother, Gothel didn't hesitate to take the chance to dive into some bushes and wait for night.
The kidnapping itself went much the same way the kidnapping of Rapunzel did. Training for guards like this was pretty basic, once you fooled them once you could fool them again, so long as they didn't figure it out the first time. Toddler Elsa also had her own room, since she was two, which made it easier for Gothel. The Princess was also asleep.
However, she was 2, nearing on 3, and Gothel had to take that into consideration. She didn't worry about Rapunzel having memories of her long lost home. But with Elsa…though unlikely it was still a factor.
Gothel made a choice to deal with it when it came up though, seeing as there was a chance that it wouldn't.
When Gothel touched Elsa, picking her up into a well practiced embrace, she was sure of Elsa's power. She wasn't sure what the power was, how useful it would be, or it's potential to grow, but Gothel knew it was there, and she knew it was strong. No baby could have skin this cold and live.