The news
Footsteps echoed in the corridor like raindrops falling on a rainy day. In the essence of the place one could clearly sense the nervousness and concern coming from the woman who had been waiting for hours to know every detail of what was happening outside, not so far from her home, but she knew it was a storm. This time was only the calm before what she had feared most since she had accepted such a burden on her head and had given her nightmares every single night, happened.
And it all started when such a simple object like a crown had been placed in her bright hair, which now was in a messy braid, badly done because of her lack of sleep and a despair that never before had consumed her such as the events of which today she had to take charge.
The silver moonlight was coming from a window in the middle of the long corridor, and interestingly it reflected even more the intensity with which the light dress she wore shone like diamonds made of ice: cold, but certainly beautiful that contrasted perfectly with the soft white skin of the woman. Her garment went from her shoulders, on which a clear coat adorned with delicate snowflakes inspired an air of sophistication and grace around the princess; a calm air totally different from what she was suffering inside her skin.
Her shoes were made of glass, and yet, in the midst of the dark night it easily looked like the whole dress was made of magic, powerful magic that could kill millions of people at once; but in the same and strange way there was also a spark of pure kindness and goodness in it, and if it was treated carefully, it could flourish, despite all the destruction that it could cause.
A sound suddenly came to her ears from the other side of the aisle, and her skin froze. She stopped moving his hands desperately on each other and all that went through her head seconds ago vanished.
From the darkness around, a few meters ahead, a shadow emerged and slowly became clear. The queen thought for a second that it was one of the servants of the castle, but her eyes focused on the heavy uniform that only men who served the army used.
The black in her eyes faded, and the azure color of her eyes went wide. If someone important like a soldier came, it could only mean one thing. What was going on far beyond the seas surrounding the island of Arendelle couldn't be any good.
The man walked toward her, and the only light in the hallway of the castle illuminated him completely. The first thing Elsa noticed was his eyes: blue, like those of hers, except the tone, they were darker. However, she was surprised by the brilliance they emitted, although they were a dull, sad blue. The man had messy black hair and his skin was not that white; it had a hint of tan on it.
Watching him completely, she noted that he was not a man. He was just a boy that could not get past the age of eighteen, according to her. That left her with an open mouth. What was he doing here? He couldn't find out all the events that were taking place, it was a lot for a child of his age. And what made her feel worse, he was not only witnessing what was happening, he was part of it, he was part of the army of Arendelle, carrying the distinctive blue uniform with red epaulettes, characteristic of the kingdom. How could someone send that poor boy to something as terrible as war?
She sighed, and a small tear ran down her cheek. She glanced at the boy's eyes for the second time, hoping to hear that everything was in order, but she knew it was impossible.
The boy noticed the concern in her eyes-he did not know if was obvious or he had the talent to read people-but clearly the queen was not at all well, and was eager to learn the words he was about to tell her, that the only thing they would do was to worsen the mood of the queen.
"A letter arrived". It was all that escaped his lips. No, he had not the courage to tell her who sent it, or where it came from. He had walked toward her sure of himself, but seeing the sad eyes of the queen, her soul torn completely.
Elsa frowned.
"Who sends it?" She asked.
The soldier looked at her straight in the eyes, worried.
"Better see it for yourself" he said, handing her a yellowed envelope that all this time he had been carrying.
Elsa looked at him warily, confused. They had no allies, Westergard had left them since the incident with the magic of the queen, and the other two they had were in a crisis in which Arendelle could not help this time.
She took the letter and looked at the back of it. It was parchment paper, and on it was written in blue ink the words she least expected.
"The Southern Isles" she read and read again, unable to believe that what her eyes were seeing was true, when she realized her hands were shaking and on the sides of the envelope had begun to appear small ice caps.
The boy seemed to notice this detail.
"Calm yourself, Your Majesty. Everything will be alright" he said. And knew seconds after he was being silly, but he couldn't think of anything else. He did not know what it was like to have powers out of his control when he had strong emotions. Still, he wanted to help. It was his queen, after all, and he didn't like to see her that way.
Elsa glanced at him, her eyes denoted surprise and a bit of anger mixed with concern.
"I'm fine" she declared in a tone of voice that the young man did not like.
"No, you're not" He stepped closer and looked into her eyes, staying calm with a soft tone in his voice. "You can not keep pretending that way, my queen".
"You don't know what it is like…!" she stopped in midsentence. She had also begun to freeze part of the velvet carpet on the corridor. She needed to calm down. She sighed. "I ... I'm sorry ... for talking you like that. With your permission."
Elsa walked briskly away from the boy, desperate to find her room. Each step she took a beautiful snow mixed with ice appeared and created a pattern to her room.
She opened the white door, entered and closed it. All in a somewhat violent manner.
She rested her head in the door and sat down on the frozen ground. It was long ago when she had last done it: sit around and bury her head in her knees, hugging herself. To be exact, the sadness that filled her for eighteen years in which she was not allowed to see her sister, had not invaded her until now. She felt terribly alone. This was a responsibility that she should never have accepted. She should have stayed in her huge ice castle that she had made with her own hands, in which she would not lose control over her powers, and everything would be much quieter in the mountains.
But unfortunately, she was the older sister. All of the habitants of the kingdom depended on her actions. Not forgetting, of course, her family. If she made a wrong move during those cruel times, there was a high probability that she no longer see them again.
Her eyes watered, and it was inevitable that the tears came out badly.
She did not want to mourn, not at a time like this, in which a letter had arrived and she had to read it, she had to fulfill his duties as a queen and stop being... weak. If she was assigned the task of taking care of the kingdom, she had to. But right now she could not lift her face up and make things right.
She stayed like that, lying on the floor, and slowly closed her eyes. Yet she still felt her cheeks wet because of her crying. At least in dreams, people weren't crying in the streets begging for food. At least, in her sleep, she did not see a thing; and her mind rested from reality for a few but precious hours.
"¡Elsa, Elsa!" A female voice from the other side of the door woke her up.
She opened her eyes slowly. Minor knocks resounded in the room, clearly desperate for her to open the door.
Elsa put her hands on her eyes to rub them, and that is when she saw it. There, between her fingers, was the envelope, frozen even more than what she expected. She gasped, she had fallen asleep and hadn't read the letter. It could have been something important to be answered today, and knowing the Southern Isles, it definitely could not be good news. It was just impossible, if taking into account that the prince had tried to end the queen's life and steal the crown of Arendelle.
"¡Elsa, Open the door! It's urgent!" said Anna, with clear emotion in her voice.
She would read the letter as soon as her sister leave her alone. She seemed anxious to tell Elsa something, and she had never heard her so happy and excited.
Elsa stood up and opened the door. As soon as she did this, the redhead rushed at her with such force that almost caused Elsa to fall. She hugged her, and Anna kept shouting.
"Easy, Anna" Elsa told her with a smile "What is it that has you so happy?"
Her sister kept jumping of emotion, and Elsa started to feel a little uncomfortable, but happy to see her sister that way. Slowly, Anna reassured and separated herself from Elsa.
Elsa saw a twinkle in her eyes that she had never seen in her before. Those aqua blue eyes, were full of hope that Elsa lacked; but there was something else she could not identify. Desire, maybe? She had not seen anyone so full of joy around since the problems in Arendelle began, and yet there was her sister, almost crying of joy. Elsa smiled.
"Come on, tell me" she said. The excitement of Anna had passed on to her, and she forgot for a moment everything that had to do with what was happening around the world.
"Kristoff ... Kristoff ..." Anna began. She took a deep breath. "Kristoff asked me to marry him".
All the happiness that lasted several seconds in Elsa's heart fell completely, and panic filled all her body.
"What?" She asked. Her smile faded, and she replaced it with obvious concern and anguish.
The redhead frowned, and her lips were dashed to denote confusion for the reaction of her sister.
"Kristoff asked me to marry him" she repeated, afraid of what Elsa was about to tell her. "And I said yes".
Elsa's eyes widened. She fought to stay calm.
"No" she said in a whisper. She would break Anna's heart. This would be the second time she was going to deny her being with someone she loved. No, correction, this would be the first time her sister truly wanted to be with someone, and that someone corresponded her and likewise wished her to be with him. Elsa was about to deny a marriage with Anna's true love, and that would destroy her sister. Elsa knew her very well, despite being only three years without barriers between Anna and her, because of her ice powers, and this time would be as much as she could bear. Her sister's soul that was so cheerful, she would destroy it completely.
It hurt Elsa, it hurt more than anything in the world to deny the opportunity of a lifetime to Anna. She would not endure what was about to happen. But she had to. If Elsa accepted, it would be very dangerous and the possibility that the kingdom suffered an attack would be more than ninety percent. It was to protect her sister from any damage.
Elsa looked up at Anna's eyes and firmly, without any trace of doubt, she told her:
"You're not getting married."
Anna opened her lips, shocked, but most of all, disappointed. Her beautiful eyes were now wet and all traces of joy that she inspired moments ago were gone.
"What?" She asked, incredulous.
"You heard me. There won't be any marriage." said Elsa. Despite the sadness that filled her inside to see the tears go by the freckles and soft tanned skin of the redhead, she could not let the marriage happen.
Her soul fell when she heard Anna talk to her more desperate and with a broken voice Elsa had never heard.
"Why?! We were starting to get closer and spend more time together! I'm not going back to the old times, Elsa. I want to live my life, but you always interject with some excuse! Nothing has changed since the accident with your powers! When are you going to let me be part of your life, or when are you going to let me be who I am? Stop believing you are mom and dad, because you're not! And I'm not a child!"
With that said, she went out the door at fast and decisive step, with clenched fists of the fury and sadness she felt.
How in hell the slightest idea of marriage had crossed Kristoff's brain? Of course he knew about the crisis Arendelle was going through, he wasn't blind. Anna was also aware of what was happening around. How, for god's sake, had they even considered the idea of marriage? Elsa needed to talk to Kristoff, he'd surely understand the reason why she opposed to the marriage and she needed him to calm down her sister. What she less needed now was a second separation with the redhead, she was the one who lit the cold days Elsa was living at that time, and the thought of losing Anna again made her shiver.
She pushed everything that was tormenting her, and concentrated in the letter. She closed the door of her room, and sat on the bed.
Elsa delicately opened the envelope, took out the letter that was adorned with a fire red ribbon, and began to read the parchment paper.
Your Majesty,
Queen Elsa of Arendelle.
You must think it is strange to receive a letter from the kingdom whose thirteenth descendant tried to kill you in a not so friendly way three years ago.
You have no idea how sorry I am. Hans has already received his punishment, and is in the island's prison. However, even though he has served his sentence, I'm sure it will not be enough for you. Therefore, I ask you in the most sincere way to forgive me. If you do not mind, I made a space on Wednesday for a dinner at midnight here, at the Royal Palace of the Southern Islands. I hope you don't deny or object to this request, because I find no other way to apologize for the actions of my brother. I'm afraid to say that everything is already settled, and I'll be waiting. If you don't come, I will send soldiers to go for you. You do not want to put together a stir in Arendelle as times are now, do you?
It would be better not to tell anyone about this letter, and to leave the kingdom as cautious as possible, without anyone, not even your sister, learning of your departure.
You're smart, you know how things are done. I'll be waiting.
Best wishes,
King Edward of the Southern Isles.
No, she was not a fool. As the letter said, Elsa was smart. She had more than clear that this was a threat, and that if she did not go to the Southern Isles, they will kill Anna mercilessly.