Despite her powers over the cold, Elsa had always enjoyed summer. It did not last very long in countries as far north as Arendelle, so she cherished every day of it. During her childhood, when her parents had confined her to her room, she would often look out her window at the blue skies, watching the various, colorful birds fly through the air and the trees blow about in the summer wind. At the time though, Elsa could only experience summer as a spectator, never as a participant. In spite of the fact that she was now queen and had free reign to go wherever she liked, Elsa still spent most of her time indoors. The irony was not lost on her.
At the moment, the sun's rays shone through the large window of the castle's study, lighting up the room. Clad in a blue-grey, shortsleeve summer dress, Elsa sat at her desk, surrounded by various papers; trade documents, letters from suitors (she always felt bad when she rejected them), and invitations to events in neighboring kingdoms.
Elsa looked up from her work and eyed the window. She got up, went over to it, and opened it. Sounds of birds chirping and people out in the main town area floated through the window. A wave of warm air washed over Elsa.
That's better, Elsa thought. She went back to her seat and resumed her writing tasks.
As Elsa wrote, she heard a knock at the door.
"Your Highness?"
"Come in."
Her maid, Gerda, walked into the room, carrying a tray with a teapot. She set it down on a table near Elsa's desk, picked up the pot, and poured its hot contents into a small teacup. Gerda set it onto a saucer and placed it near Elsa.
"Your tea, your Majesty."
"Thank you Gerda", Elsa said, looking up at her maid with a smile. "And you don't have to call me that, just 'Elsa' is fine."
"I wouldn't think of it, ma'am," replied Gerda.
"Well, I suppose if that's what you're used to."
Gerda looked over at the open window.
"It is a beautiful day out today," she commented.
"It is. Maybe later we can all go out there and enjoy it, as soon as I can get this tedious paperwork finished."
Gerda smiled. "I wish you luck with that. Will there be anything else you need?"
"No, that will be all for now. Thank you."
Gerda gave a quick curtsy, then left the room, closing the door behind her.
Elsa turned her attention back to her work. She lifted the teacup to her lips and took a sip of the piping hot tea.
Mmm, lemon, she thought.
For the next few minutes, the sounds of Elsa's pen could be heard scribbling about, giving her signature for trade documents and short-but-polite rejections to letters from her would-be suitors. She was just about to sign her name for a seed shipment when a knock came on the door.
"My Queen? If you have a moment?"
The voice was much deeper than Gerda's, but Elsa recognized it immediately.
"Come in, Kai."
The portly manservant opened the door and peered in. "I have a farmer here who would like to see you."
"Can it wait?"
"He says it is urgent."
Elsa gave a small sigh. "Send him in."
Kai moved aside, letting the farmer come into the room, then went in himself, closing the door. The farmer was a tall, wiry man with a thick mustache and large brown eyes. He removed his hat and bowed to Elsa.
"My Lady. Lukas Evensen, at your service."
"To what do I owe this visit, Lukas?"
"Something terrible has happened at my farm, your Majesty. Would you accompany me there?" he replied, a worried expression on his face.
"I'm afraid I don't have the time for that. Why don't you just tell me your problem?"
"It is better that I show you. Please, I am not trying anything funny. It is something you ought to see for yourself."
Elsa thought for a moment. It was a nice day out, and this was a way for her to enjoy the weather without feeling like she was shirking her duties. And she could always finish her paperwork later.
"Very well. This had better be important, though. Kai, if you could file these papers away for me? I will come back to them later."
"Of course, your Highness."
The carriage made its way down the dirt road, Lukas riding his horse beside it. They made their way down past the farmer's home and stopped near his cornfield. Elsa and her two guards stepped out.
"Please stay with the carriage. We should only be here a short time," Elsa instructed to the driver.
Lukas stepped off his horse. He tied it to a fence post and patted its snout a few times, then started to walk towards the cornfield. He beckoned to Elsa and the guards.
"This way."
The three of them followed Lukas through the numerous, still-growing stalks of corn until they came to a large, circular clearing. Elsa looked down at the ground, and saw that the stalks in the area had been flattened, yet each one was still perfectly intact; they had not been broken at all. Lukas noticed the look of curiosity on Elsa's face.
"Strange, isn't it? This is just one area, I've been finding other clearings just like this one. This is the biggest circle, but there's smaller ones nearby. C'mon."
The four of them walked further, leaving the main clearing and moving through a small path of more flattened stalks. At the end, it led out into another clearing, not quite as large as the first.
"I haven't looked through my whole field yet, but I've found five of these in total so far. I went to bed last night and everything was fine, and then these appear when I get up. At first I thought it was all just some damn troublemaking kids, but I didn't find any footprints other than my own out here. There's no way these things are gonna grow anymore. I'm telling you, I've just lost a whole lot of money from all these destroyed crops."
Elsa surveyed the clearing, then looked back at the small path they had just come from.
"Give me a moment, Lukas."
With a wave of her hand, a platform of ice materialized. Elsa stepped onto it and began to manipulate it upwards. It carried her up, up, until she was about a hundred feet above the ground. From her elevated position, Elsa was able to look down on the entire field and see the clearings from the air. Lukas had missed two; there was seven circles in total. The largest circle was in the center of the cornfield, with six smaller ones around it. Two were on top, two were on the bottom, and two more were on either side of the center circle, on the left and right. Each small circle was connected to the large one via a path of flattened stalks, like the one Elsa had just walked through. Whoever had made these patterns must have had knowledge of geometry; each small circle was the exact same size, and the paths on the top and bottom of the large circle formed an exact 33-degree angle.
Elsa made her frozen platform float back down, gently lowering herself to the ground. Once it had finished its descent, Elsa evaporated the platform with another wave of her hand. She turned to Lukas.
"This is all very odd, but why did you feel it necessary to show me this? This sort of issue is more appropriate for my agriculture minister."
"That is not all that's happened, your Majesty. There is...one more thing I have to show you."
Elsa sat back in her carriage, closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She was sitting by herself now, having instructed her two guards to stay with Lukas that night. After the farmer showed her what had happened to his herd of cows, she insisted on it.
In the space of a single night, all of Lukas' cows had been slaughtered. Each one was missing their entire set of internal organs; brain, heart, lungs, liver, everything. Even their eyes and tongues were gone. Every cow had also been completely drained of blood. However, other than that there wasn't a single scratch anywhere on the carcasses. Someone, or something, had somehow managed to remove all of that without making a single cut. It wasn't until after Lukas sliced open a cow's chest that they could even see it was missing its innards. At least the missing organs made it easier for the carcasses to be disposed of, there was less to burn to ashes and bury.
Elsa opened her eyes again and looked out the carriage' window, at the sky. It was starting to get cloudy, and what had been a bright summer day was now shadowy and ominous.