Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no profit.
Thaw
Chapter 1
Elsa, the Queen of Arendelle ran through the blizzard. It encompassed everything around her. She was afraid of the storm. She couldn't see anything through the snow, and that only made her fear it all the more.
Elsa didn't even know where she was. She knew she was in the harbor, because her cell had overlooked it. But she hadn't put much thought into her escape. Especially not when she'd managed to destroy the wall.
The queen bit her bottom lip at the memory. She certainly hadn't meant to destroy part of the palace. She simply hadn't been able to keep it in. That had shocked her. Typically when her hands were covered she could suppress the powers. But she was too afraid in that cell. Afraid of what would happen to her. To Anna. To Arendelle. And without warning she'd blasted away the shackles, taking a large chunk of the wall with her.
It would be a pain to get it fixed. Her father had discussed the upkeep of the palace with her shortly before their departure to Corona for the wedding. Foundation touchup and basic masonry had come up. Rebuilding a wall hadn't. But it had to be the same general concept.
She shook her head and kept pressing onward. Elsa had no idea why she was worried about fixing the wall. She was, after all, trying to get away from the kingdom. Anna and Hans would be able to take care of it. Well, she suspected Anna would give it a worthy effort anyway. But it was probably best if it was left up to Hans.
Elsa kept pressing through the blizzard. It seemed to intensify with every step she took. But she couldn't stop the storm. She'd tried. But throwing snowflakes and fractals had proven to be very ineffective. She wanted to go north. Her palace was north. She knew it wasn't far enough away. Both Anna and Hans had proven that to her. But it would be a start. She could go further later. But for now her ice palace was her goal.
Her whole body hurt. Probably from almost being crushed by a chandelier. But she knew sleeping on a plank in a cell didn't help. And walking up a mountain probably didn't help either. She did her best to ignore the dull ache in her muscles as she kept walking. But it simply worsened with each step she took.
The tears froze on her face almost immediately as soon as they left her eyes. It stung, so she constantly lifted her arm to wipe her face. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever manage a liquid tear again.
She knew she was lost. But she just kept pressing on. She approached a wooden pillar. It took the queen a moment to realize that it must be a mast to a ship. She looked down and could see the remainder of the ship buried beneath the ice.
The image just brought forth imagined pictures of her what must have happened to her parents all those years ago when they'd left for what should have been such a joyous event. But they hadn't returned. They were rotting beneath the sea, much like the boat stuck in the icy prison beneath her feet.
"Queen Elsa!" a voice yelled, dragging her back to the reality of the blizzard. She looked back over her shoulder only to see Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. He was standing with an arm in front of his face, attempting to shield himself from the weather. A sword dangled from his free hand, as if he expected the weapon to protect him from the storm.
Elsa knew nothing about him. But in their brief encounters he seemed well meaning. He'd certainly done enough to make her sister, Anna, fall for him in a hurry. She liked to think that infatuation wasn't purely based on his looks. But she suspected his handsome face was a large portion of the reason Anna liked him.
But he said he would help her. Elsa knew that she should have probably stayed in the cell and waited for him to convince the other dignitaries that she wasn't dangerous. And Anna had to have made it back by then. They'd only been a few hours behind her in reaching Elsa's ice palace.
And he had tried to help her. His words prevented her from killing two soldiers. She'd been so infuriated by their presence that she hadn't really thought about exactly what she was doing. At least until Prince Hans told her to not be a monster.
Was that all she was? A monster? Certainly no one in Arendelle was better from her presence. She needed to get away. Maybe if she got far enough away everything would simply go back to normal. It couldn't last forever. It just couldn't.
"Take care of my sister!" She yelled back to Hans. The queen immediately turned and kept pushing onward. She could only hope he'd be a comforting presence for Anna. She knew her sister would need someone like that. And it would only help if he was willing cater to her more whimsical nature.
"Queen Elsa! Wait!" she heard Hans yell again. She could him approaching her. He was moving much more quickly through the storm than she was.
"I need to get out of here!" the queen yelled back, her voice cracking as it barely managed to carry over the wind. "Just take care of Anna. Be happy. Make sure she's happy!" Elsa ordered. Hans just stared at her. He looked both shocked and hurt.
"Princess Anna is dead," he said, clutching the sword tighter as he spoke.
"What?" Elsa asked. The storm stopped as the realization sank in, the billowing haze of snow vanishing in an instant to reveal the frozen city around them. Somehow, she knew just how Anna met her fate before Hans spoke again.
"She came back from the mountain weak and cold. She said you froze her heart! You killed her!" Hans said. Elsa couldn't do anything more than collapse to her knees as the words sank in.
"No! I. That can't be! No," but the tears just kept flowing. She just sat in the frozen harbor and cried. Without Anna she didn't know what to do. She could only run because Anna could be queen. Now she couldn't pass that duty off onto someone else. She was all that was left of the royal family. She had to be the queen. There was no other option.
But how could she rule? She lacked the conviction to even haul herself to her feet at that point. Her father would have been so disappointed in her. But she couldn't rise up. Her legs just folded underneath her and they seemed to almost be one with the fjord. And Hans and his sword grew closer by the moment.
"I charge you with the murder of Princess Anna. I charge you with treason against the Kingdom of Arendelle. I sentence you to die for these crimes!" Hans yelled. His voice echoed through the sudden stillness of the harbor.
Elsa watched as he approached her. Her icy dress billowed around her in the frozen harbor. She'd given up. His sword rose into the air and she just closed her eyes, waiting for the coup de grace that would end her reign.
"Elsa, no!" she heard a familiar voice yell. But it seemed pained. She opened her eyes in time to see Anna's from slide in front of her, one arm held up to deflect the sword that was arching down toward her.
The blade shattered as it hit Princess Anna's hand. And in that instant the princess froze. Her body becoming a solid sheet of ice as the shards of the blade fell to the ground around her.
"No!" Elsa yelled. And she found the strength to rise to her feet. But by the time she was up, Anna was gone. In her place was nothing more than a statue. A beautiful sculpture of her younger sibling, a look of concern on her face.
"No!" she yelled again, cupping the face of the statue as she tried everything in her power to get her sister to return. But Elsa could only freeze things. She'd never learned how to thaw. She closed her eyes, sobbing into her sister's frozen shoulder.
She heard a commotion behind her. A scuffle of some sort. But she did not turn to look. Everything around her felt warmer. But she did not have time to concern herself with that detail.
All she could focus on was the fact that she had lost Anna. And it was entirely her fault. If she'd had control, her sister would still be alive. But she had failed. And Anna had paid for that failure with her life.
Elsa broke down right there. She cried and cried. The liquid tears turning solid well before they managed to hit the ground beneath her. Her arms tightly affixed around the neck of her sister's statue. She cried until everything went black.
Elsa woke with a start. Everything was warm, far too warm. And everything felt damp. Where was she? Where was Anna? Was it all just one long, intricate dream? Her breathing sped up as her memories formed more coherent thoughts. She looked around, surveying her surroundings, trying very hard not to hyperventilate. The room itself was unfamiliar. But it was filled with her belongings. It only took her a moment to calm down enough to recognize where she was.
The master bedroom of Arendelle Castle. So it wasn't a dream then. Gerda, the head maid, had reminded her that her belongings would move after the coronation. She should have switched rooms years ago. But she'd refused. She hadn't wanted to move into her parents' room. That made everything seem too final. She'd won the argument with the maid when she was just a princess, but Gerda had been stern that the Queen must sleep in the Royal Quarters. Elsa's best defense had been that it could wait for her wedding night, knowing that such an evening would never come. But Gerda disagreed. All of her furniture and clothing had been transferred during her coronation. But now was the first time she could remember actually being in the room since she was a small child. The palace servants had set it up identically to her old chambers; but there was much more room.
She stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Pondering what she should do. Her mind came up with nothing past Anna's frozen visage, arm outstretched trying to shield her. Anna, she thought to herself, you should have just let the blow land. Then perhaps everything would have thawed.
Thawed. That word rocked through her being. Her entire kingdom, although it seemed off to call it that. But there wasn't anyone else. She was the last scion of Arendelle. Her heart sank with that thought. She bit her bottom lip and decided she needed to get up and see what havoc she'd done to her kingdom.
Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to actually get her up. Even though it was insufferably warm and oddly wet beneath the comforter, she still did not wish to move. Moving meant she had to acknowledge everything that had happened. It meant not allowing herself to be locked in a room once more. It meant facing everything she'd done. And the queen did not think she was strong enough for that.
But duty won out. Because she knew that no one else would do it for her. So she threw the blankets off of her body, scattering them around the darkness of the royal chambers and forced herself to sit up.
She was surprised to find that she was naked. She lit a candle next to the bed and looked at the room in slightly better light. The windows were closed and covered, but her closet door was open and she could see dresses hanging there. Her ice gown was nowhere to be found, though. She wondered if it had melted. That would certainly explain why everything felt damp. But nothing else had melted. Unless...
She shot out of bed and ran to the shuttered windows, ignoring her own indecency as there wasn't anyone there to see her anyway. She threw the windows open, filled with hope at what she may see. But she was immediately disappointing. It was a dark evening, and the clean white snow stood out against the black sky. It wasn't blizzarding anymore, and the air did not have the same biting chill she remembered and enjoyed. But it clearly was not summer.
She ran a hand through her hair out of annoyance. It was a habit her mother had scorned out of her. Or at least scorned her into intricate braids. And with the action she realized the ice fasteners in her braid had melted as well. Her hair simply fell loosely down her back, a white, snowy curtain covering her.
She turned around the room, confused, concerned, and annoyed. But it was too hot for her to think. She needed the cold. The obvious culprit, considering it couldn't have been mother nature, was the fire burning in the fire place. She needed it gone. She swatted in its direction with her right hand and ice engulfed the flames. She stepped back, away from the fire, bringing her hand to her lips to cover her shock.
But that only lasted a minute. Elsa heard her father's voice ringing through her ears. As queen, he'd told her, she would need to be proud of her accomplishments, to remember the good she could and would do for the kingdom. But to never deny her own failures. He'd told her to be transparent in her past and future actions. To help the people of Arendelle.
The irony wasn't lost on her that she was also encouraged to hide every bit of what she was. But now she could not hide. She could control her ice. She couldn't melt it. But she could control when it came. She balled her hands into fists. She would not use her powers for trivial things. But she would not let them rule her.
But now, she needed to do two things. She needed to find Anna and see if perhaps, like her clothing, her sister had melted. Somehow, she knew the Princess hadn't, but she needed certainty. And she needed to find out what she could do for Arendelle. To help her people, if they would let her.
She turned toward the closet only to see herself in the mirror. Her hair was a complete nest. And she looked too thin, too pale, and completely lost. She knew, deep down, she was all three things. But as her mother had said, to act like a queen, one must look like a queen. She stepped toward the closet, deciding that Arendelle needed a queen, a real one, and not some mythic snow monster. Elsa knew she'd have to look the part.
The queen slipped a thin, white shift on over her form. She turned to the closet, but the room didn't stop when she did. A moment later she found herself sitting on the floor. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, taking deep breaths and trying to stabilize herself as her room spun in circles around her.
After a few moments everything settled. She managed to get to her feet once more. It was only a few steps to her vanity and sat at the cushioned chair before the mirror. The vanity was much larger than her old one. She gazed around the table, attempting to understand her new surroundings as she did. Her small collection of jewelry had moved with the rest of her belongings. But next to it was a larger box of fineries with the lid left open. She recognized many of the items in it as her mothers and closed the lid quickly. She didn't notice when the box froze shut.
A lone cushion rested on a shelf above the two jewelry boxes. Elsa ran a hand through her ratty hair. Her hand caught on top of her head and she remembered what usually sat upon it. She could only spare a moment of thought for her crown, though. She tried to not think about how she'd thrown three centuries of Arendelle's history out of her unfinished ice castle. Lecturing herself in her head wasn't helping, anyway.
She picked up the brush from the table and started on her hair, staring into the mirror as she counted the strokes. The monotony was soothing, in a way. At least until the room started to spin once more and her stomach growled.
The queen put the brush down and reached out to her left, out of instinct. She wasn't surprised to find the two small chocolates next to her make-up case. Gerda had starting leaving them years ago, every day. Even the ones where they'd only gotten Elsa out of her room long enough to tidy up and steal her laundry.
But every time Elsa returned, there were always two chocolates resting on a small plate next to her seldom used cosmetics. Gerda had always insisted that she hadn't eaten nearly enough. And the maid was probably right. Either way, she picked up one of the treats and ate it slowly, taking three bites to consume the coin-sized treat.
Her stomach settled, but only a little, so she ate the second one as well. It helped, but she still felt achingly empty. The queen turned her gaze to the clock. It was a quarter past two in the morning. She idly wondered if she could wander down to the kitchens and actually get some food. But she didn't know how to cook. Her meals had always been provided by the staff. And the cooking staff was overly regulated and never at the castle at night. Of course that was when the gates were closed. It was supposed to all be different after her coronation.
She wondered how the staff was taking everything. If she even had a staff left. She knew that the amount of people in the castle had been set to triple once the gates were open. Gerda and her husband, Kai, her parents' two most trusted staff members, had handled all the hiring. Elsa had approved all of the selections, naturally, she'd just signed the papers as they appeared, imagining individualized ways in which they all discovered her secrets.
Of course now everyone knew. She doubted there was any staff left. Well, at least it appeared Gerda had stayed. Although she may have set up the room before she'd fled from the monster as everyone else likely had.
The queen decided she was finished with her hair. She stood and moved toward her closet. She thumbed through the garments hanging in the small addition to her room. She picked the most basic dress she could find, a standard teal and black sweetheart bodice affair traditional of Arendelle. Unlike her coronation dress, this one had no extra embroidery on the skirt, or on her chest. The only embellishment on the fabric was a small crocus embroidered just above her left breast.
It only took her a couple of minutes to dress. She debated just leaving her hair down. But when she looked in the mirror with it cascading down her back, she didn't think she looked like a queen. So she spent a few minutes braiding it into a basic up do. Nothing about it was nearly as elaborate as it probably should have been, but royalty was allowed to be casual too. Especially when they were only interested in a midnight snack.
At least that's the lie she told herself as she walked over to the door. She reached out for the knob before she realized she didn't have her gloves on. She looked back toward her closet, but after a moment shook her head.
She'd built a castle, she scoffed to herself, she could walk around the castle without fear of destroying it. And it wasn't like she had to worry about people discovering her secret now, as the proverbial cat was already out of the bag. It was strangely calming.
She grabbed the knob, squeezing it harder than she probably should have, and opened the door toward her. She was greeted by the blades of two bardiches crossing each other and blocking her doorway.
"What is the meaning of this!" She gasped as she nearly ran into the blades. She stared angrily at the two royal guardsmen outside of her door. They did not move their axes, or even look at her.
"I'm sorry, your Majesty," one of the guards said. "Captain Vay's orders. No one in or out of this room without him present." The guard that spoke nodded to his companion. The second guard turned quickly on his heel and walked down the hallway. Elsa stood in the doorway, feeling annoyed.
"I am the queen," she stated, not succeeding in hiding her annoyance.
"Yes ma'am," The guard said, offering no further comment past his agreement.
"Let me out," she said, sternly.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I cannot do that," the guard said.
"I could force my way out," she stated, wondering how the phrase managed to sound so much more childish aloud than in her head.
"Yes ma'am," the guard said immediately. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "But Captain Vay should not be long." Elsa stared at the man for a moment. But her stomach started to rumble and she didn't wish for the guard to hear it, so she stepped back into her room, sitting on the edge of her bed and staring out the open door.
After a few moments she heard footsteps moving rather quickly down the hallway. She kept her focus on the door.
"She's awake?" a soft voice asked.
"Yes sir," the guard responded.
"Go wake the maid," the first voice ordered.
"Yes sir," the guard responded again. And then after a moment. "What about the princess?" Elsa perked up, she stood, her eyes going wide.
"What about her?" the first voice asked.
"She wanted to be informed when the Queen was awake as well," the guard stated. There was a momentary pause before the first man spoke again.
"I answer to Arendelle, not Corona," he said. Elsa frowned at the realization that the princess they were referring to was not her sister, but likely her cousin.
"Yes sir," the guard said. Elsa heard footsteps again. She kept her eyes trained on the door.
A tall blond man stepped into her room. His hair was cut short and his blue eyes looked rather tired. He couldn't have been much older than her. His age had probably been on the file she'd signed making him the Captain of her Royal Guard, but she hadn't paid much attention to it at the time. He was young for the post, but he'd come with great recommendations from his home country. Elsa couldn't recall his personal details at the moment.
She'd barley shaken his hand when they were introduced about a week before her coronation. He hadn't seemed to mind her brevity, and had immediately gone into planning the security measures for the opening of the gates.
Now she took a closer look at him. He stood before her in just boots, a basic pair of dark pants, and a white t-shirt. He seemed perfectly relaxed yet entirely alert, his right hand hovering near the sword at his hip. She vaguely recalled hearing Gerda and Anna joke about how handsome he was outside her room one evening, and she couldn't help but think they'd been right.
But the queen didn't care about that. At least not at the moment. She was more concerned about figuring out exactly what was going on. But he just stood there, staring at her, and offering no words. It took her a moment to realize that he was waiting for her to speak, following the proper decorum of dealing with a queen. Elsa sighed but spoke.
"Why am I being kept in my room," she said quietly.
"I would have thought that obvious, your Majesty," Mathieu Vay said.
"Enlighten me anyway, Captain," Elsa responded.
"It seemed impertinent to leave you unguarded after Prince Hans attempted to take your life in the fjord," Vay explained.
"So you guard the victim and not the assassin?" Elsa scoffed.
"He's being guarded as well, ma'am," Vay said. "But as the castle is stuffed full of dignitaries who have been unable to leave, and we have been unable to determine if he acted alone or not, it seemed prudent to not leave you alone."
"So I'm going to be held under guard?" Elsa sighed.
"Of course not," Vay responded.
"Then what are we doing here?" Elsa asked. But before the captain could answer her, Gerda burst into the room. The head maid was a large woman with brown hair and eyes. She practically squealed when she saw the queen and rushed forward to embrace her. Elsa just tensed and waited for it to end.
"My queen!" Gerda exclaimed.
"I'd prefer to not wake the entire castle," Vay said stiffly from the corner.
"I'm sorry Captain," Gerda said. She slipped away from Elsa and stared at her. "I am so glad you're alright, your majesty."
"Uhm. Thank you," Elsa said. She held her arms stiffly at her side and stared at the maid. Moments later Gerda rushed back toward her and hugged her once more. She broke away after a few seconds.
"My goodness you're positively icy!" the maid exclaimed. "And the fire went out. I always thought this fireplace died too quickly!" She rushed hastily over to it, prodding at the wet logs with the poker. They didn't relight.
"I'm fine, Gerda," Elsa said quietly. The maid turned away from the fireplace and rushed back to the Queen.
"Well you're looking a bit peckish. When was the last time you ate?" Gerda asked.
"I don't know," Elsa shrugged. "The morning of the coronation?"
"What?" Gerda gasped. "You are far too thin to be skipping meals! To the kitchens at once!" And the maid stormed out of her room. Elsa opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. And the thought of food just made her stomach rumble more. She figured it was best to just follow, as looking for sustenance had been her original excuse to get out of the master suite. She looked toward Captain Vay but he just stared at her expressionlessly. So she trudged out after Gerda, the captain falling into step behind her.
It only took a couple of moments to travel through the castle and to the kitchens. There were only a couple of torches to light their way. The chilly air seemed to have blown out most of them, but there was enough light to ensure the journey was not too treacherous. Elsa noticed guards posted outside of Anna's old room, and her old room. But she didn't speak to question Captain Vay while they walked. Instead she simply allowed herself to be led until Gerda ushered her into a chair at a wooden table in the kitchen.
The maid then proceeded to light a few candles in the room, before the fireplace in the corner. Elsa watched as she filled a pot with water and started to warm it. After a moment, Gerda put her hands on her hips and looked around the kitchen.
"Now to see if there's food," she said.
"I doubt it," Vay scoffed. "Not after Hans gave away most of it."
"The stores are rather low," Gerda frowned, throwing open a cupboard. "But I'll find something to feed her."
"I'll handle that," Vay responded. Gerda looked at him for a moment, but then nodded to him as he stepped into one of the storage rooms. Elsa just sat there, feeling helpless. She watched as Gerda readied a teapot. And in moments she had a cup of the liquid sitting before her. She took a sip, mostly to be polite. It was far too hot. Gerda didn't notice her disgust. Instead the maid simply smiled.
"This brings back such memories," Gerda said as Vay stepped back into the room. He was carrying a frying pan, some bread, and some eggs and wandered over to the fire.
"What?" Elsa asked, watching the captain closely.
"Your mother used to come down at all hours of the morning. Usually we'd just sip some tea and talk. It was always pleasant," Gerda explained.
"Why?" Elsa asked, wondering if it was fitting for a monarch to speak only in one word sentences.
"Your father snored," Gerda said matter-of-factly. "I suspect she simply couldn't always get back to sleep."
"Oh," Elsa responded. Thinking about her parents wasn't something she really wanted to do at that moment. She sipped the tea again, as to not have to continue the conversation. She put the cup down as the warm liquid burned through her center. Almost as soon as she'd put the cup down a plate of food appeared and Captain Vay sat across from her at the table. She looked down at two fried eggs and the chunk of bread.
"You cook?" Gerda asked, looking at the guard captain.
"Just enough to not starve in the field," Vay responded. "It's a bit plain, but it's warm food."
"It's good," Elsa said quietly as she stabbed at an egg with a fork. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, ma'am," Vay responded. And they simply let her eat. Gerda watched her, but Vay didn't. Instead he kept his eyes trained on the entrance and looked rather tense. Shortly after she finished he stood and took the plate from her, moving it to where another pile of dishes waited for the morning staff. Elsa watched him move. Part of her wanted to ask if he'd make more eggs. But a larger part of her didn't want to talk. Still, the silence was uncomfortable.
"We were discussing my imprisonment," she said, attempting levity as Anna would have done. It fell flat.
"You're not being held," Vay said. "Just while there are foreign dignitaries here you will be accompanied by either myself or two of my guards to ensure your safety."
"I dislike the thought of that," Elsa said. She just wanted to be left alone, not to be constantly in the company of armed men.
"I don't care," Vay responded. "It's my duty to protect the Royal Family. That is, for the time being, how I see it happening." Elsa glared when he spoke. And for a moment, she had a villain. It didn't matter that she knew better. If his job was to protect her family, he'd already failed. It was his fault.
"It worked well for Anna I see," Elsa said. It hurt her to say it, as she knew better. But it came out anyway.
"My queen!" Gerda gasped. But Vay didn't respond. Instead he stared at her, his jaw clenched tightly. She expected him to chastise her as Gerda had. But he didn't. After a moment he nodded.
"A failure that I take responsibility for. And one I will be more than willing to answer for once I can ensure your safety. But if you wish to dismiss me now. You are the queen," he spoke perfectly evenly. His icy eyes locking onto hers. They were both silent. After a moment, the queen stood, taking her cup of tea with her and spoke. She did not take her eyes off Vay as she spoke.
"I want to see Anna," she said.
"My Queen, I don't think that's a good idea right now," Gerda said. Elsa ignored the maid and kept her attention focused squarely on the guardsman.
"Take me to my sister," she ordered. Vay hesitated, but stood.
"Yes ma'am," he said, walking toward the exit of the kitchen. The queen followed him closely.
Author's note: This is a departure from my usual fair, and took me much longer to write than I expected. We'll see how it goes, I guess. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.