My Glove
By Concolor44
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Author's Note: Anyone who has seen the movie will have to admit that those around Elsa who were supposed to act as her support staff really screwed up at her coronation ball. It truly was inexcusable. Here is my version of How It Should Have Ended. Truly, it wouldn't have made nearly as gripping a movie … but then most of us prefer life when it ISN'T quite so gripping.
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Chapter One
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Everyone in the Ballroom was watching as the drama played out between Princess and Queen.
"Give me my glove!"
"Elsa, please, please, I can't live like this anymore!"
The Queen stared at the Princess for two breaths. "Then leave." She turned, shoulders slumped, and walked away.
Panting in frustration, Anna gasped, "What did I ever do to you?
"Enough, Anna."
"No. Why? Why do you shut me out?" she pleaded with her sister's retreating back, "Why do you shut the world out? WHAT are you so AFRAID of?"
"I said," responded Elsa with force, "ENOUGH!" She threw out her arm in a gesture of finality … and jagged spars of ice sprang from the floor in a bristling semicircle between her and everyone else.
Anna backed away, along with anyone who happened to be close to the threatening ring of ice. Hans looked from the ice to the Queen in shock. The Duke of Weselton muttered, "Sorcery! I knew there was something dubious going on here!"
Anna's face demonstrated her utter confusion and concern as she whispered, "Elsa?"
The Queen, her composure shattered beyond recovery, turned and fled the Ballroom. Anna could only stand and stare at where she'd been.
Hans came up to stand at her side, taking her hand in a much more tentative manner than he had earlier. "Anna … did you know …"
"No." Her voice still muted in shock, she added, "She never … never said anything. Nothing at all." Turning haunted eyes to Hans, she asked, "Why? Why wouldn't she have said anything?"
The Duke and his bodyguards edged around the field of frigid spikes and gained the door. "She mustn't escape!" he declared.
That jarred Anna from her stasis. "What?" she called after him. "What do you mean, escape? Queens don't have to escape their own castles!"
But the Duke paid her no attention, following his men out the door. One of his guards asked, "Which way'd she go?"
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Which way, indeed.
Elsa darted through the Ballroom's Entrance Hall and out into the main hallway that led from the Courtyard all the way through the castle to the Rear Gate. She took a hesitant step toward the front …
A firm hand gripped her forearm. "Your Majesty."
She all but shrieked, spinning around and yanking her arm free. "Who … Kai?"
"Please, Your Majesty, this way." He held an arm out toward an open door just down the hall. "We haven't much time."
"But … Kai … I …"
"Yes. Now everyone knows."
"Wait, what? You knew?"
"And Gerda. And Admiral Naismith and Bishop Torvik." Sounds of running boots reached their ears. "Please, Majesty, this way!"
In her current mental state she was desperate to grasp at something – anything –that smacked of normalcy, and followed Kai through the door. He locked it behind them and hurried her toward the dim outline of another door several paces away. When that one was locked behind them as well, Elsa took a look around. "What is … I've never seen this before. What is this room?"
"This is the Butler's Preparatory Room."
"… Preparatory for what?"
"Serving wine to large groups of guests. Given the complete lack of revelry in the castle prior to today, it has been out of general use for quite some time."
She looked around the room, noting the shelves, the mixing equipment, and the various bins that could be used to cool magnums of champagne. She also noted another door. "Where does that lead?"
"To a part of the servants' quarters. But don't worry about that. It is hardly ever used, and I imagine that hall is quite dusty." He moved across the room and examined a small stove, then set tinder and kindling in the firebox. "I am going to prepare you some tea."
"… Tea." She closed her eyes and leaned her back against the wall. Tea sounded normal. Ordinary. She liked tea. "That would be good." Her mind was in such a whirl of contradictory thoughts and feelings, dread and regret that she couldn't latch onto any single one for more than a few seconds. One thought kept popping to the front, though: Kai knew. Kai had always known. And Gerda. And … did he say Admiral Naismith? He had been a good friend to Papa. And someone else? And how many more? She'd never suspected. She'd been such a fool …
Kai left her alone with her thoughts for the present. Nothing more was said for a few minutes while the stove heated and he readied the kettle. Nodding to himself, he said, "It won't take long. We should be safe here until things settle a bit."
At the word 'safe', Elsa's face crumpled. She sank into one of the small chairs and dropped her head into her hands. "I've ruined everything."
"No."
"Yes. Yes, I have. And Anna hates me, and I'll lose the kingdom and …"
"You'll do no such thing."
Her puzzled gaze sought his. "What?"
Taking the few steps over to stand in front of her, he assumed an air of command and stated, "I made my views known to your father at the time, but he was always one to trust his own counsel over anyone else's. I felt then, and I still feel, that he did you a grave disservice by locking you in your room and keeping everyone away."
"But he didn't …"
"On the contrary, Your Majesty, though you maintained your isolation on your own, it was on his advice and guidance that you took up the practice in the first place."
"But he was right! I AM dangerous!"
"Poppycock. You are untrained. Nothing more nor less."
Pointing in the general direction of the Ballroom, she exclaimed, "Ice spikes? Did you even SEE that ring of spikes I made? How is that even safe at all?"
"I did not say you were 'safe'. I said you weren't dangerous … and you aren't. You are powerful. All you require is some time to practice your abilities." His eyes darted for an instant to the second door. Elsa didn't notice. Allowing himself a small and fleeting smile, he raised his voice ever so slightly. "You were coming along quite nicely until that unfortunate incident with Anna. Your father took that opportunity to completely lose his calm and his perspective."
"But I hurt her! I almost killed her!"
His heartfelt sigh got her attention. "My Queen … accidents happen."
"But …"
"No. With all due respect, everyone over-reacted. Accidents – and what happened to Anna was nothing but a simple accident – are a feature of childhood. Most of us survive, however. Anna survived. Anna would have been able to help you learn how to control your powers. She would have been glad to do it. Instead …" His sigh this time was much deeper. "Instead, the two of you had your sibling relationship stolen and your childhoods corrupted."
She could only stare at him in shock at his brutal assessment.
"And so now we have come to this pass. Rather than your coronation being a celebration of your powers – which it very well could have been if cooler heads had prevailed thirteen years ago – we have a powerful and highly superstitious Duke turning the castle upside down looking for a 'sorceress'." Giving his head a shake, he clasped his hands behind his back. "As if that has any basis in reality at all. As if an infant could bargain with the Underworld for power. Such nonsense. That you could manipulate ice and snow, control the temperature around you, douse fires at will … these all could have been things to be proud of."
"How can you even say that? These powers are a curse!"
"Only because the late King designated them as such." Gaining her full attention, he emphasized, "Agdar loved you very much. He thought he was placing your welfare ahead of everything, ahead even of his duty as Monarch, his duty to Arendelle. That's why he trained you so thoroughly in statecraft. He knew you would be Queen, and wanted your reign to be successful. In the face of all evidence to the contrary he always held out the hope that your powers would fade. In his mind, he was doing what he could to assure you a peaceful rule, and to keep Anna safe. But he simply did not understand – refused to understand – the deep and terrible costs associated with his methods."
"But what else could he have done? I was a danger to-"
"Had you ever hurt Anna before?"
"No!"
"Indeed. After the accident, would you have been more careful?"
"Of … course." Shaking her head in frustration, she stood and began to pace. "What a ridiculous question! All I ever wanted to do was take good care of her. That's why I stayed away from her! She's my sister … my sweet, silly, wonderful, amazing little sister, who never gave up even when it was tearing her heart in half. It had to be killing her that I wouldn't talk to her. She never lost faith." A sob escaped. "And now … oh, God … tonight I told her … oh, have mercy … I told her to leave." Silvery tracks marred her cheeks. "How could I ever do that?" she wailed. "I can't do this without her! I can't be Queen alone! I need her with me. Kai, she's my sister! I love her!"
The second door opened very abruptly. "And I love you, too, Elsa!"
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End Note: So. Does this seem plausible to you so far? I'd like to think so. Reviews are the way to express your opinion.