Author's Note/Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Disney, and I am in no way making any profit other than the enjoyment of playing in the Frozen world. This series of one-shots are loosely based on the time period between the death of the King and Queen and Elsa's coronation. Each "chapter" is taken from a different character's point of view, with the object of creating some character sketches and maybe work up to something a little grander is scale in the future.

It was a warm fall day in Arendelle. It would probably be the last of the season as winter came quickly in the high northern latitudes. The citizens of the prosperous little kingdom's capital city were out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Of course, the kingdom of Arendelle had yet to hear the news…

Within the castle, servants spoke in hushed voices in deference to the tragic events of the morning. The few footmen and maids still in the employ of the Royal Household were getting themselves and the castle properly fitted out in morning. A Coronian vessel had come into the docks very early that moring, with terrible news. T[he Arendellean Royal yacht, the Sovereign Crocus, had been lost in a storm at sea. All hands hand been lost and the only thing that seemed to have survived was the yacht's nameplate and a few yards of mast and rigging.

It was almost two o' clock now, and Elsa's room was a solid sheet of ice. The Crown Princess and heir to the throne of Arendellle sat on the floor, leaning against the door and hugging her knees to her chest. She looked around mournfully at the damage she had caused to her usually pristine bedroom. She had been doing so well. She had even been able to attend chapel services with her family once or twice in the weeks between her eighteenth birthday and the time her parents were called away on the current affairs of state, to visit some of the countries around them and work to forge stronger relationships with their allies and partners. Elsa understood that there were certain obligations the Crown was required to perform, and she knew that her parents loved to travel… At least, her father always came back with amazing stories of places the Crown Princess was certain she would never have the opportunity to see… and it had, after all, been quite a long time since her mother had last seen her sister and a royal wedding was a wonderful excuse…

But then… Her mother… Her father… The Admiral had said there was a storm in the Nordsoen.

Elsa buried her head in her hands once more and choked back a sob. She was trying so hard to control her emotions, to not feel. She would be the perfect girl, the perfect princess, the perfect queen. It was what was expected of her, just like papa had always taught her.

Control.

Conceal.

Don't Feel.

Don't let it show.

A wave of chilly wind wafted through the room, coating all of the flat surfaces with a fresh sheen of pale ice crystals. How could mama and papa have done this to me? She wondered as a few snowflakes started to drift lazily through the chilly air. How could they have left her alone?

Elsa had always known that she was destined for the throne. As the first born and heir she had been preparing for the role as the rightful and undoubted queen and protector of the dominion her whole life. Even before The Accident, she was learning to be Queen of Arendelle. She and papa had talked about it often, or rather, her had talked of it to her, but her ascension had always seemed like such a distant thing… Something that would take place far in the future. When she was ready. When she had completed her studies. When she was able to control The Curse.

Elsa lifted her head with a supreme effort and stared into the middle distance of her now ruined room. She suddenly felt more lonely than ever, huddled up on the herringbone patterned hardwood floor, leaning against the elaborately painted door. Elsa had always been lonely, or at least she had been for the last ten years. The feeling she was experiencing now was a different sort of 'alone.' She was now alone in her room with The Curse that had always been her burden to bear. There were now only three people who knew her secret. She tried to take a deep, steadying breath, desperately attempting to stop the snow from falling. And then…

Three soft knocks on the door in a painfully familiar pattern interrupted her concentration.

"Elsa?"

It was Anna! Elsa sucked in a breath and held it. Her eyes darted around the room in panic. Ice began to seep from her gloved hands into the floor. She froze and she felt that she should hear her heart racing with mingled fear and longing.

"Elsa, I know you're in there." Anna's voice seemed small. Sad. She sounded like a lost child. Well, Elsa considered, I suppose she is. We both are…

The silence stretched between them. "Elsa, please answer me," Anna's voice begged, young and heart wrenching. Elsa clapped her gloved hands over her mouth. She wanted nothing more in the whole world than to be able to answer her sister, to be able to take her in her arms and provide the comfort she ought to. As both a sister and a friend. She could not, however, as the thickening ice creeping up her pale lavender walls and elaborately painted door kept reminding her. She was a monster, and monsters did not provide comfort to poor, lost little girls who had just lost their parents.

Perhaps, Elsa thought, I should send her away to school?

She could, after all. She would still need the approval of the Regent Council, as she would not come of age for almost another three years. As soon as the thought appeared, Elsa squashed it. It was selfish, she knew, but she couldn't bear the thought of sending Anna away. Couldn't bear the thought of being truly alone. Elsa had already isolated herself. Surely, as long as she was careful, Anna would be safe. And maybe Elsa could see her from time to time. Not to talk. Never to talk… that would be too much to even hope for… but… just to see… and to hear…

A loud thump from the other side of the door and the resultant vibration of a large object hitting the wooden barrier that separated Elsa from the world made the young woman jump. Across the room one of her vases full of fresh tulips crusted over in a large block of ice. Elsa looked at it with wide eyes. She curled in on herself. She felt terrible. She not only missed her parents but now she was ashamed of herself for being unable to control her emotions, and ashamed that she couldn't be content with shutting herself in, but she had to keep Anna here as a prisoner as well.

The sound of several sets of footsteps and another voice in the hall distracted Elsa from her solitary despair.

"Princess Anna!" It was Kai, the long-serving, faithful Royal Steward. Elsa released the breath she had not realized she had been holding and her shoulders drooped uncharacteristically. Kai was aware of her curse. She could trust Kai. "Your Highness, you must not sit on the floor," he admonished kindly. They continued to speak back and forth, but Elsa was unable to make out any more of the words. Kai's voice was soothing and comforting. Elsa imagined that Kai was giving Anna the hug and comfort that Elsa could not give herself. A bit of the weight sitting on her chest lightened and she strained to hear exactly what they were saying. She was able to make out a few murmured words in a strange masculine voice Elsa couldn't quite place, then Kai's voice in reply. The exchange seemed to end in several words in sharp feminine indignation. Elsa supposed Kai was sending Anna away. She could hear her sister's faint stomping retreating down the hall in the direction Elsa recognized as being back toward the younger princess's rooms.

Elsa waited, trying to reign in her grief and fear and self-loathing. She was getting physically tired, surely a good thing for controlling her ice. Exhaustion made it so much easier to suppress her emotions. There was another knock on the door, and Kai's kind, caring voice wafted across the barrier.

"Your Majesty?" he asked delicately. She couldn't tell whether the deference was for her feelings or her ice. The new style was odd and tears leaked from her half-closed eyes as she pictured her father's insistent and kind instruction on so many subjects. 'Your Majesty' had always been one of her parents. Her place was as 'Your Highness, the Crown Princess.'

Elsa cleared her throat and tried to clear her mind as she made another valiant effort to get herself under control.

"Yes, Kai?" she finally managed to respond, in what she hoped was a very grown up, regal, emotionless tone. She suspected she actually sounded like a frightened child.

Silence stretched uncomfortably from beyond the confines of the protection of Elsa's room. She could feel sense of panic start to frost through her veins. The prickle of another frigid outburst started to crawl its way up her spine and down her legs.

"Your Majesty," Kai repeated, as if trying to get them both used to the new mode of address. "I have the Duke of Nordhavn, ma'am. He wishes to…" He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts and gathering himself together. "He wishes to speak with you, and to summon the King's… that is, the Regency Council."

The freezing tingling was edging down Elsa's fingertips. She took a breath in. It was even, elegant, regal. She then exhaled, and drawing on everything she had been training for her entire life, it too, was even, elegant, and regal. She swept her room with her eyes, taking in the havoc she had created.

"May we enter, Your Majesty?" Kai asked delicately. The other man, the Duke, grumbled something Elsa couldn't quite make out. Her eyes darted from the frozen vase to the completely iced over walls. She looked up at the ceiling, directly above where she was sitting in front of the door. Even that was covered in thick icicles. A familiar, intricately designed crystalline snowflake pattern seemed to be mocking her in the ice that covered her world. Just as the rosemaling snowflake design that branded everything she owned mocked her.

"NO," she almost yelled, then remembering herself, her position, who she was… she was now Arendelle, after all, and though a regency council would stand in the place of her person until she could legally ascend to the throne on her twenty-first birthday, she was now Arendelle.

"No," she repeated more firmly. She picked herself up off the floor. "I am… not presentable, just now." She cringed inwardly at the gross understatement, but it was the truth. Some of her hair had come out of the neat, braided bun she favored. Her eyes were red and dark purple dress and jacket felt like they were soaked through with sweat and grime. She wanted to wash, needed to wash, to calm herself, to engage in something as mindless and routine as dressing before she could meet with Kai or the Duke, or… she thought with another stab of panic, her Regency Council.

"Shall I send for Gerda, then, ma'am?" Kai asked patiently, kindly, tenderly. Elsa could feel her rapidly beating heart slow down. She shut her eyes again, attempting to block out her frosted surroundings. When she opened them again, there was a new hardness in her expression, a firmness of purpose. She screwed up the little courage she felt herself capable of, her face was sliding back into the unfeeling, regal mask she always wore to hide the swirling storm raging within her breast.

"Yes, Kai. Please allow me a few moments. My dear Nordhavn," she addressed the Duke directly, "I shall be ready in half an hour. Kai…" she paused in her instruction. So far, so good, but there was no way she could accommodate the fourteen members of the Regency Council here. Certainly not in its current state! "Please ready the… library?" she instructed hesitantly, uncertain exactly what she had meant by it.

She frowned deeply and hugged herself nervously as she strained to catch the conversation the two men seemed to be having on the other side of the door.

"Crown Princess Elsa," Kai's soothing voice wafted in again. "I shall send for Gerda, and will return in half an hour to announce you to your Council. His Grace, the Duke, believes that it may be more comfortable for you to meet everyone for the first time in your study."

My study? Elsa thought wildly.

"Are you agreeable to this arrangement, Your Majesty?" The strange voice that she suspected she ought to recognize asked. The Duke sounded like a very polite man.

Elsa began to nod dumbly before realizing that Kai and the Duke of Nordhavn wouldn't be able to see her through the thick door and ice. She recalled herself with a grimace at her own silliness. "Yes," she replied. "I believe that arrangement will do very well," she agreed. This time she was almost able to keep every trace of emotion from her voice.