Anna was far too old to be carried; this was not an opinion, but a fact. Careful about her gloves, Elsa balanced her sister in her arms. She grunted, trying to make sure that she didn't end up breaking her back.
"Elsa," Anna mumbled.
"Huh?" She looked down.
Anna did not respond. Her eyes were sealed shut, her head resting against Elsa's shoulder as if it were a pillow. There was a blanket wrapped around her, bright pink with white trimmings. Elsa had found it wrapped around her when she opened up her door.
"Yes," she mumbled again. "We can play together."
Elsa shook her head. It was just a dream, nothing to worry about.
A few servants eyed her as she walked past, and she knew there would be a few whispers going around the palace after this. Not because Elsa was doing anything wrong, but because she was actually doing something for her sister. None of the servants actually knew about her powers; over the years, Elsa had discovered a number of theories that the servants had about her. Some thought she was incredibly serious, and they tended to admire her. Others believed she had a form of madness, something the king wanted to lock away. Perhaps they were close. Others believed that she was being trained too hard.
Some, however, just thought that she was cruel, cold. There were whispers that she loved no one, that her very heart was as hard as stone.
Maybe this would change their opinions.
A servant could have done this, and they probably often did. For seven years straight, her sister had come to her door. She would knock, ask her if she wanted to do something (usually to build a snowman), and then wait for a response. Most of the time, her sister left right after Elsa told her to leave, giving a simple, sad "Bye". Other times, she waited stubbornly outside the door.
Tonight had been one of those nights.
Elsa herself yawned. It had been a long, hard day in two different ways. Her father had given her another speech on controlling her powers.
"Your hands are growing," he had commented, looking down to her. "Would you like me to get you a new pair?"
"Yes!" Elsa had replied. Those were all she had, all that she could trust.
Then there had been her lessons. Most of them fascinated her. Books were something she could usually touch just fine, and over the years she had learned to deal with never being allowed to touch the pages. In books, things turned out fine. Elsa could go to whole worlds. Today she had gone over history, impressing her father with all that she had learned. Still, it had left her quite tired.
Anna leaned in further to her shoulder. She continued mumbling, though by now Elsa could not understand what she was saying.
The door, fully open, was all too familiar. Elsa could still remember sharing a room with her sister. There were many nights where she had been awoken and a strange hour, pulled into one of Anna's schemes (until it all went wrong).
She entered the room, lit only by moonlight coming in through the window. Elsa was careful to not trip on any toys. Anna's room, she noted, was far from the fairy tale idea of a clean room. Toys were scattered everywhere.
"Sleep well," Elsa whispered, then leaned in to kiss her cheek. She stopped before she could reach it, however. Already, she had touched her sister (a risk in and of itself) for a good few minutes. What if she caused even more damage?
Quickly, she ran out into the hallway, then to her room. She shut the door behind her.
Her room was exactly as she had left it, her books still on her desk. She yawned.
"One more chapter," she whispered to herself.
With a sigh, she sat back down. That was certainly a disturbance in her routine; still, she couldn't let it get to her.
It wasn't like she would be allowed to ever let anything like that happen again.
