A Princess and A Thief
Chapter 1
Princess Anna Dunbroch of Scotland heaved a heavy sigh as she stared out of her carriage window. With her elbow balanced on the edge of the carriage window and her chin resting upon the base of her palm, Anna drifted into daydream as her mother regaled her with the most fascinating topic of 'Princess Etiquette'. Casting her older sister, the Princess Merida, a glance Anna struggled to keep from giggling as her dear sister struggled to even pretend to be interested in their mother's words. If she were being honest, with the way that Merida could barely keep her eyes open she would assume that the heir to the Scottish throne was close to falling asleep but what made the situation all the more laughable was their mother's utter indifference to the fact that neither of her daughters were paying attention and were suffering from the worst case of boredom known to mankind.
Unable to contain herself a very un-ladylike snort escaped from the young princess, causing both parent and sister to turn their attention to her.
"A Princess should never snort" her mother admonished.
"But mom surely there will be other times ye can bore us with your 'How a Princess should behave' guide. Tell ye what, why don't ye tell us about Arendelle? What's the wintery kingdom really like?" Anna adored her older sister; she was so forthright in a way Anna would never dream of being with their mother.
"A Princess should always conduct herself in a manner that befits her station, one day you will be thankful I bothered to tell you these things" stated the Queen Elinor of Scotland, her tone clipped and a frown on her brow. The two princesses watched as the Queen took a thoughtful pause; a royal invitation had been extended to the Kings and Queens of Arendelle's neighbours and allies to attend a ball though its purpose had yet to be revealed. It put the Queen on edge and she didn't like the idea of attending, so much pain and darkness had befallen the once vibrant kingdom, it made her heart heavy with sorrow as the memories of her beloved friends swam to the forefront of her thoughts. Realising that she had her daughter's undivided attention, the Queen released a heavy sigh, both princesses would've been too young to remember the horrid events surrounding the Southern Isle's occupation of Arendelle.
"For years the Kingdom of Arendelle has been secluded from the rest of the world so I couldn't tell you what it's like now, though it was not always so. There was a time when King Adgar and his wife, Queen Idunn were the talk of every nation. So handsome was the King and so beautiful was his wife, they were the envy of all Royal couples. But most importantly, they were good to their people and Arendelle flourished underneath their careful guidance. They were my friends and I loved them both dearly…." Anna watched as sorrow touched her mother's eyes and her heart ached for the deep sadness found within them.
"….they had a daughter; she would've been just a year older that you Merida, a beautiful girl with eyes of the lightest sapphire and hair softer than snow. They named her Elsa. The Kingdom rejoiced and the celebrations that followed were some of the happiest moments of my life….." a sad smile formed on the Queen's pale face as she recalled how they all drank and danced in celebration of Adgar and Idunn's baby girl, Princess Elsa of Arendelle.
"The years went by and Arendelle prospered. I was pregnant with your brothers when an official letter baring Arendelle's royal seal was delivered to us. Your father brought it to our chambers and together we read that our dear friends had been killed during a coup lead by King Ulfred of the Southern Isles. And just like that, no one could contact Arendelle. No correspondence got in or came out and merchant ships were forced to turn back the moment they docked. For fifteen years Arendelle has been silent. That is until we received this invitation to attend the ball"
"What happened to the Princess? What about Elsa?" asked Anna though the truth was obvious; the princess was surely killed along with her parents.
"The letter said nothing about Elsa but the likelihood is that she perished along with her parents"
Any other questions were interrupted by their carriage coming to a stop. Glancing out of her carriage window, Anna watched as an unknown man stood next to the carriage. By the way he was dressed in a military uniform with his crossbow in his hand Anna summarised that this had to be one of Arendelle's soldiers. But what was he doing here?
"Your majesties, I apologise for stopping you here but we have a serious bandit issue in this region so we are under orders from Prince Hans to escort you from here to the castle. There is nothing to fear" Merida snorted at the implication that they needed protection.
"We Scots are the most ruthless warriors in the world. Ye think a few bandits could get the best of us now do ye? Sounds to me your Prince Hans doesn't think very highly of us, in fact I'm inclined to feel insulted that he should feel the need to send us an escort" she enjoyed how the soldier flushed with embarrassment. Queen Elinor sent her eldest a disapproving look before addressing the fumbling solider as he sputtered out apologies.
"We thank you for providing us an escort. Please lead the way" the soldier nodded before quickly walking back to the front of their party.
"A Princess does not cause trouble for those who are merely doing as they are instructed"
A groan escaped from Merida as the carriage began to move once again and her mother picked up from where she left off on her long list of Princess Etiquette.
Anna shook her head before once again losing herself in a daydream. This time however, she couldn't help but wonder about the strange Kingdom she had found herself in.