I apologize for this in advance.
The day Princess Anna of Arendelle died, the entire kingdom felt the loss. She had died far too young at the age 25. She died of an advanced case of pneumonia, they said. She had been riding outside in the middle of a rainstorm for too long. She came home sick an never got better.
The kingdom held a beautiful ceremony for her, all who wish to come were invited. Anna would have wanted it that way. The funeral was long and ornate, as was the custom for the death of a member of the ruling family. The church had been filled with all of Anna's favorite flowers, and the aroma was comforting to those who had known her.
After the ceremony, there was a brief time for family and friends to say goodbye. The first was Queen Elsa. She weeped for the death of her sister and life long friend. She bent over Anna's lifeless body and whispered apologies and broken promises. Her grief had brought a chill to the air, and a thin layer of frost on the floor. Even though she had learned to control her powers over the last seven years, she could not hold all her magic in. Not at a time like this. But no one in the congregation blamed her, or even minded.
Next was Anna's husband of 5 years and now widower, Kristoff Bjorgman. In his arms he carried their two year old daughter, Lily. The little girl was crying profusely, and her father sniffled beside her, trying to stay strong. The villagers pitied this small family. To lose a wife and mother that young was a tragedy indeed.
Then there was a flow of political leaders heavy with condolences, and various other that had been befriended by Anna. All commented that Anna had been such a bright light in the world, and that it was a shame that light had been snuffed out before it's prime. There was no shortage of people stung by the loss of the cheery young princess.
But in the back of the church, identity hidden by a dark green cloak that hid his face, sat a lone mourner. He was hardly noticed by the other people in the church, and no one paid him much mind. He had hardly moved during the service except the the occasional times his shoulders would shake with the effort to control his grief. He wasn't anyone special, at least in their minds, but he grieved all the same.
He grieved for the loss of a young princess, and he grieved for the loss of a friend. But most of all he grieved for the person who had shown him what love was, even if he had turned his back on it. He wept for the loss of the only person in his life who had dared to love him, and he wept for the lost opportunity to earn her forgiveness.
So while he wasn't flashy about his grief, and he stayed in his seat while the procession carried Anna's body out to be buried with her parents, no one grieved Anna like the defeated prince in the dark green coat who sat all alone in the back of the church.
