Chapter 1

The night had been ruthless with its unforgiving snow storms and ever dropping temperatures. The fire did little to bring warmth back to his frost bitten fingers as Seth desperately rubbed his hands and blew on them and brought them close to the fire in the little cave he had been lucky to find before it had become completely dark. News of Arandelle's eternal winter had spread like wild fire and it got him out of his little workshop a few miles south of the town. He had been travelling one and half days now, to get to the town of eternal winter. Unlike most people who were horrified by the news, the 'cold curse' (as some had come to call it) made him ecstatic. It had brought him immeasurable glee to know of the becoming of a frozen land, for his was a rather unusual job. With his talents and skillful hands, he had chosen to be a carver, not of wood nor of rock but of ice.

Seth the Carver had grown in a carver's home with his father's carving tools and woodwork scattered all around their house. At a young age, his father's job had interested him greatly and Seth spent most of his time learning this fascinating form of art. In a little village such as theirs, art wasn't as important as farming so their family had lived poorly all their lives. Most of their days had been in hunger which made Seth's brothers hate Charles, their father, for his stubbornness in sticking to his wood carving. Over the years they grew bitter towards him and they eventually set out into the world to make their own lives happen with a grave hate for art. They never understood why their father had been so stubborn with what he did when it was never enough to feed them. The ache in their bellies and the dryness of their mouths drove them to hate Charles with a passion which led them to leave him finally. Even Seth's mother who was truly in love with Charles came to be miserable with him. The stale food and the freezing winters finally broke her so that she did not even shed a tear when she closed the door behind her, leaving her three sons bewildered and Charles in tears. She knew that whatever life would throw at her, it was going to be better without her dreamer of a husband. She was disillusioned finally but Charles wasn't and never would be. Love had certainly kept some nights warm but it did not drive away the often recurring stomach aches, which had come to be worse than heartaches.

In the end, Seth and Charles were left alone in their ramshackle house with only the woodwork to keep them company. Seth's brothers tried desperately to persuade him to come along with them but he stubbornly declined and stormed into his room bolting the doors behind him. Charles wasn't a good provider but he tried to be a good father. Seth could see as much and he too could see how Charles was an excellent artist with his smooth and shapely carvings. All he needed was a break and some recognition for the expertise which showed in his work. And that was exactly what Seth was hoping to get as he tread the remaining one mile to Arandelle in the worsening weather conditions. The sky had turned even darker on his third day of travel. The snow storm could have easily blown a small child away into oblivion. But fortunately Seth was not as feeble as one. He stood tall at 5'10 with a muscular build from years and years of carving. It gave him enough strength and weight in his stride to keep him on the ground.

The years of solitude with his father were not easy but it was easier. With only their mouths to be fed, they managed to starve less with what little Charles earned. Seth focused only on the knowledge his father shared and absorbed it like a sponge. Charles taught him everything he knew but he could see that Seth was much more creative than him and that one day soon, the student would surpass the teacher. At sixteen years, Seth was already skilfully chipping away wood and making masterful art.

'Seth' Charles had said one night over their dinner of stale bread and hot tea. 'You are terrific at what you do. Even better than me, I'd say.'

'Thank you father,' Seth replied with a grin, grateful for his father's compliment.

'But,' Seth looked up at him by then. What could the 'but' still be all about? He saw how his father's expression became serious and sad at the same time. 'You mustn't pursue it.'

'But why?' the young child had tears welling up in his eyes as he looked directly into Charles' eyes. He could see how Seth loved his art and it broke his heart to deprive his son of it.

'Because it has brought us to this,' Charles said gently. 'It's just you and me now when we could still have been whole as a family; you, me and your brothers and your mother. I let my passion for carvings consume me so that I completely neglected everything else. I made everyone miserable until they finally left-'

'I'm still here. I stayed.' Seth said in hopeful protest.

'Yes, yes you are.' He smiled at his young son. Seth was still a child despite his excellence in carving. 'But look at us, I can barely get us by.' The guilt and sorrow showed in his eyes and for a moment, Seth thought that Charles looked a lot older than forty-five. The man was already running out of gas and he looked weary sitting across the table from Seth.

'I love carving and I would like nothing more than to show the world the beauty in our work.' He smiled up at his father who still looked miserable. 'I'll show you too,' he said excitedly before finishing his dinner and went off to start on another project.

A few days later, when Charles was gathering wood for their fire (winter was well into its season), he saw Seth running towards him across the field which was covered with a thick blanket of snow. Seth excitedly pulled on Charles back to the direction from which he came.

'Slow down Seth,' he shouted as he broke into a run to keep up with his eager son. They ran a good distance and Charles was breathless when Seth stopped and let go of his hand. When he recovered, he stood straight and saw that they were near the lake which had frozen over.

'Come on!' Seth waved to his father who was a few meters away. Charles walked to where his son stood and then looked at Seth.

'So what is it that you wanted to show me?' Seth giggled then took his father's hand and led him nearer the lake. He stopped again but didn't let go of his father's hand this time. Instead, he pointed toward the lake. Charles gazed at the spot Seth was pointing at and froze. His eyes widened to see the figure of a dear glistening in the gloom of the day. It stood at 5 feet, not including the antlers. It was looking at them as dears normally did when scanning the area. The work on it was exquisite; it almost looked real except that it was glistening and almost transparent. Charles slowly approached the carving and was left in even more awe to see that it was made of ice. He was not familiar with this kind of carving but it was truly magnificent.

He turned to his son who looked at him with glee. He smiled at him and said, 'How did you manage this?'

'I saw a few men cutting ice out here the other day and I asked them to cut me a good sized piece. They were kind enough to do so and I simply did what I always have been doing, I carved.'

Charles stared at Seth with surprise, he never thought that his son had this much talent. And then he felt pride well up from deep inside of him. He kept looking at his son and thought I'm not such a failure after all. He ruffled Seth's hair then turned to the ice sculpture again.

'You certainly showed me Seth. I almost forgot but you showed me.'

'I sure did.' He replied with a smile. They stood there looking at the dear until dusk began to gather then they went home had dinner and went to bed. The next morning, Charles taught Seth more of what he knew and carved a few pieces himself. And not once after that day did Charles ever discourage his son.

His little experiment with the ice sculpture had gotten Seth captivated with the concept. Ice had a quality about it that made his carvings seem even more realistic. The material was a little more delicate than wood or stone, as it was more vulnerable to cracking, but his work shone and glistened with it. For the years to come, he applied his skills into blocks of ice and turned them into true master pieces. Charles was equally fascinated by the ice sculpture but found that the work was far too delicate for his abilities. He would simply watch Seth work on the ice and in the end be left in awe at the beautiful pieces his son made. Seth had always been passionate, but working ice took his passion to another level; he had to be pried away from his work for daily activities such as eating and sleeping. But neither his deprivation from food nor sleep could stop him as he often snuck away even in the middle of the night to chip away some more ice.

His third and last day of travel was the worst since he began. The wind blew even stronger and it became colder as he neared Arandelle. Snow and ice and winter were everywhere even if it was the middle of summer. He now realized that though ice held beauty in it, it could also present itself as a treacherous enemy. It was already noon that day but the winter fury completely blotted out the sun. None of it would be seen for a while he thought. His head was bent low and his arms were across his chest as he wrapped his coat even more tightly around him while he walked on, when he saw something nearly buried in the snow. He thought it was a person for it seemed like a cloak which usually came with the one who wore it. Seth panicked and dropped to his knees as he started to claw the snow away from the cloth. His fingers were numb but he kept digging anyway. When he finally managed to get a foot deep, he yanked the cloth out of the snow. As it turns out, it was just a cloak without its owner. He breathed a sigh of relief then held the cloak in front of him. Even with the lack of light, he could see that it was purple and felt that it was made with fine cotton. He examined it, and then saw a sign embroidered into the cloak. Seth held it closer to him and then gasped. It was the emblem of Arandelle! 'That's unusual' he thought then searched frantically around for a sign of life. There might have been an accident nearby which involved the royalty of the kingdom. After all, the cloak was too fine to belong to a commoner. But, there was no sign of any humans nearby. He once again breathed a sigh of relief then realized it might have just been blown away by the strong wind from when it was being hung to dry. Seth shrugged then walked on. Arandelle was only a kilometer away from him now.

'Are you ready?' Queen Elsa announced to the crowd. This would be the first time in her entire life when she will use her powers in front of everyone. With love on her side, she no longer feared her ability; rather, she embraced it and was now sharing it with her kingdom. A week of the eternal winter she had set off was finally ended and she was able to control her powers. She was no longer afraid of hurting anyone with her abilities. It was not a curse anymore. Queen Elsa saw the beauty within the frozen wonderland she had created as did everyone now. Thanks to her sister Anna's act or true love, Elsa came to understand that the magic she had in her was a gift rather than a curse. She wasn't even nervous when she stomped her foot to freeze the ground and raised her hand to freeze the fountains. Elsa knew she wouldn't be hurting anyone when she did. The crowd started to skate and dance on top of the ice and they seemed to accept their snow queen just as she was. Not a scream of fear or a look of horror came from her audience; only applause and laughter could be heard.

Seth was disheartened to see the ice melt away when he finally reached the square in Arandelle. He had come here to endorse his work but with the blistering sun high up in the sky, his ice sculptures wouldn't even have a chance. He was tired and homesick as he started to turn on his heel to leave but was held back by the cheer of a crowd. He looked back to see the town's people march towards the palace. He had always been curious and the fiasco was of no exception to this. Seth made for the palace instead of the mountains which led back home. Seth found out later, that he had been right to join the crowd. Seth had found another he fancied when he entered the gates of Arandelle's palace!

End Chapter 1

When Disney came out with'The Little Mermaid', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Cinderella', 'Snow White' it was obvious that they wanted to end with 'Happily ever after'. Sure 'Anna' had HER happy ending but I would also like to see Queen Elsa have hers. I just love her too much not to see it happen for her. . . I know, I know, this a bit short for a first Chapter but stick with it for a while. . . I'll try to make the next one a little more satisfying for that 'Happily ever after,'. . . . So do review and leave me one so we can all see it happen! Ciao! 'Till the next one! (Which is soon I hope!)