She smiled as yet another suitor bowed to her where she sat in her throne embellished with icy patterns. If this one was different from the other stuff-shirts she'd had to put up with she'd eat her crown in one swallow.
"It's so nice to meet you, Prince Garrett," she said as nicely as she could in her current mood. It was a good thing she'd put her gloves on half an hour ago, when she'd started to feel tetchy.
Why did they all have to be so unoriginal in the choices of compliments? Did they really all have to dress in shades of blue? Did they think it would impress her? Were they really that desperate? Weren't they supposed to be Princes, or did they just want to be with her for the power it would give them?
"Oh, look at me, I'm married to the Ice Queen!" Men! Who said she'd need them anyway? Her advisors, that's who.
Bloody idiots, she should fire them... But what did she know about running a kingdom? She hated to admit it, and some of their advice was pretty stupid, but she did need them.
"It's Prince Eric, your Highness," he told her, still on one knee before her. It had to be uncomfortable, what with the way the ice was spreading across the floor as her ire rose.
"Oh, is it? There's so many of you it's hard to remember them all correctly. Please do forgive me?" She asked, picking idly at a fingernail, trying to think of Anna so she could stop the spread of the ice.
"Like you'll forgive my brother, Hans," he fired back, clearly still annoyed with himself for never seeing that propensity for evil within his youngest brother and the havoc it had wrought upon her own kingdom.
She raised an eyebrow regally. Choosing to ignore his rude question she told him he may rise, using an imperious gesture and helping him along a little with a snowy breeze, if his knees had frozen up due to an extended period of contact with the icy floor she was trying to rein in.
Perhaps it was time Olaf was brought in from his walk in the palace gardens? She hated to burden him, but she needed his happy demeanor right now, it would cheer her right up, and hopefully get rid of this darned ice! Why was she still incapable of keeping her powers under control?
"I am sorry for his actions, Your Majesty. If there's anything I can do to compensate you for any pain he caused you or your sister, please just ask. I am at your service," with this he again bent at the waist to show his subservience, even though they both knew it was a load of poppycock. As soon as his father died, he would be king. So why would he want to be second best to any one else, least of all a woman? Lord knows she knew how it felt, if no one else did.
"You weren't to know," she reassured him absentmindedly, while gesturing for an attendant to come closer.
She whispered to him to summon Olaf immediately, as she thought her guest was getting a little chilly, especially dressed as he was in his summer clothes. And what nice clothes they were, she thought to herself, glad that she had long ago learned to keep her facial expression blank so it wouldn't show her female appreciation of those deliciously tight breeches, and the laced up shirt, with just the tiniest amount of masculine chest hair peeking out at hair as if to say...
"Hallo," came a cheerful voice from the right arm of her throne.
At first Queen Elsa thought she was going mad, but then she realised it was just the joyfully childish voice of her and Anna's personal snowman, Olaf.
"Olaf, how lovely it is to see you," she smiled genuinely to his cheery little face, with his carrot poking out from where his ear would be if he had one. "Let me just fix that for you."
The smile still stretching her lips into an expression she was gradually becoming used to, she gently coaxed the accompanying happy emotion into her magic and the ice still slowly spreading across the floor of the throne room. She redirected it to above Olaf's head, where his snow flurry was still functional, but well, it could never hurt to have a little extra snow for her favourite little guy. Seriously, why couldn't all men be as sweet as he was?
"So it's true," Prince Eric murmured in awe, his eyes as large as saucers and his jaw very nearly hitting the floor.
She turned to him, her smile fading. "So your brother told you of what I am," she didn't even question, knowing that what she spoke was the truth.
"Why would he not? To him you're a monster and he thought you..." his voice trails off when he realises there's no diplomatic way of saying what he was thinking.
"Olaf, I'd like for you to meet Prince Eric, he's here today to cool off from the summer heat. Perhaps you'd like to show him around a bit. No one knows the palace like you do," she pleaded with her eyes, then winked at him.
Olaf looked at her perplexed for a moment, then he smiled and shuffled off, giving Prince Eric the whole Olaf treatment as they waddled off together.
Elsa found the happiness in the smile on her lips, sending it over to warm the floor and air around Prince Eric, recycling the cold air closer to herself, considering it didn't bother her.
Though her bottom was starting to freeze over with that certain coldness a prolonged period of sitting brings about.
She rose gracefully to her feet, somewhat vainly admiring the drape of her ice-created gown and cloak that trailed behind her as she walked.
As she walked past the guards standing at attention just outside the large doors that in the past she had often found imposing, telling them that she needed a moment before she would be seeing the next suitor scheduled for that afternoon.
Without waiting for permission, after all, she was their Queen, she waltzed off humming quietly to a haunting tune that had been stuck in her head for months.
She again contemplated how the same palace she'd been looking at for her whole life could look so different in such a short space of time. Not only now was it filled with happy, living, breathing people, but the fear she'd once felt at losing control of her powers was gone. The resentment she'd felt for her parents, her sister, every other "normal" person who might be slightly envious of her powers now, but a few months ago her only companion had been fear. And when she'd tried to run away from it all, she'd discovered that she couldn't run from her problems. She had to face them head on. She knew that now, considering it had been her sister that had saved her in the end.
Another thing to resent her for, Elsa thought bitterly, enjoying the clack of her icy high heels as she walked, no wait, was she sliding? Okay, make that ice then. She was sliding on ice.
Come on, Elsa, think of Olaf and his cute smiling face. Think of Anna, anything but your resentment!
It wasn't working, and she was disappointed and embarrassed to feel that the coldness and ice was spreading up the walls and up to the ceiling. If she didn't get a hold of herself, she'd end up losing all the trust she'd only just regained from her people. "A good queen possesses nothing, because she gives it all to her people." Elsa was trying to live by that edict, but it was hard when you were the only one with magic powers, especially ones that could manifest themselves in such dangerous ways.
Imagine the terrified expression on Prince Eric's face if he could see you now, losing control! He's already half convinced you're a monster, do you really want him to return home with stories of the Evil Queen of Arendelle?
She pictured his face in her mind, except the image that formed behind her eyelids seemed strange in some way, but she wasn't quite sure what. She wasn't going to argue with herself right now if it was helping to spread the warm feelings she felt deep inside to melt the ice she'd inadvertently created. She needed to be constantly on guard with that.
"Conceal, don't feel," she chanted quietly to herself as she felt the ice receding, melting into the uneven stones beneath her feet.
One small victory, another million to go!
Don't think like that, Elsa! She scolded herself, knowing that the more negative she was, the more often that negativity would manifest itself through her magic, without her even realising it. She needed more time to herself to practise her control, now that she knew how. She needed to be able to shut herself off from the power when she didn't need it.
It did come in handy, that's true, but it was also a huge responsibility. What with the responsibility of ruling a kingdom all by herself, with no one to help her except those pesky advisors and the endless parade of charming suitors who only wanted her for what she could give them: her kingdom. She almost didn't want to marry at all, if it meant giving over everything that kept her on the straight and narrow to someone who didn't understand. If it wasn't for those childish dreams of handsome Princes and damsels in distress she'd give up on the whole foolish business.
But right now she had a Prince to thank, no matter how silly he would think it, she needed to express her gratitude that she'd found someone else who gave rise to powerful enough emotions inside her to calm her magic and put it to sleep.
After having paced back and forth throughout her thinking bout, she spun on one heel, driving the pointed icicle into the stone floor with a grinding noise, she set off once again. She had herself a mission to complete.
A/N: I hope you guys like this. I saw the movie recently, and loved it so much, I had the crazy idea to write a fanfiction about it. This is set after the events of the movie, so if anyone hasn't seen it yet, it does contain a few spoilers. Anna got her romance, but I thought it was sad that poor Elsa didn't! This is my attempt to create one for her. I won't be writing another chapter of his for a while, so if you like it, it'll have to tide you over for a while! ;) Download the soundtrack or something to soothe your cravings ;)