Prologue:
"All things truly wicked start from innocence" – Ernest Hemingway
It was a particularly cool winter, but that made no difference to the joyous gathering that was currently occurring inside Arendelle's castle walls. The gathering was to celebrate the upcoming partnership between two of Norway's most prosperous kingdoms; Arendelle and Stavanger. The two Kings had been friends since childhood, and so had their fathers before them. There was an unbreakable bond between the families, or so they thought.
A young princess with platinum blonde hair quietly walked through the candle lit hallways of the castle, cautiously looking around as she did so.
"Anna? Come out, come out wherever you are," she walked further down the hallway. "Found you" she said triumphantly as she opened the helmet on a suit of armour. It was empty. She could have sworn she heard the creaking of armour. The white haired girl looked further up the long hallway, numerous suits of armour stood guard on both sides. There was no way she was going to check them all; there must have been at least two dozen. Anna may not even be here anyway.
Continuing forward, the girl soon approached the double doors that lead to the now vacated banquet room. "Boo!" The girl's pale hand had just clasped the door knob when she felt the weight of Anna latch on to her back followed by excited laughter. Her hand quickly rose to her chest in an attempt to calm her now racing heart. Anna detached herself from the older girl's back.
"Anna you gave me such a fright!" the startled girl said. She gave Anna a quick once over. The poor girl's fiery red hair was a mess; strands of it were sticking out of various places. On top of that her, cheeks had a slight redness to them. Elsa concluded that her young friend must have got rather hot cooped up in the armour for so long.
"Elsa you're so bad at hide and seek. I was in that suit of armour for years," Anna whined.
Elsa knew that she heard armour creak moments before. She smiled to herself. "It was hardly years, Anna."
"It felt like it" she whined. "I thought 11 year olds were supposed to be super smart, but I totally outsmarted you"
"It seems that am no match for your intellect oh mighty Princess of Stavanger. Whatever will I do?" Elsa sighed dramatically, the back of her hand raised against her forehead.
A little while later, the two Princesses were sat on Elsa's bed, happily munching away on chocolate. Elsa's personal maid, Gerda, had managed to sneak them some from the kitchen whilst the rest of the staff cleaned up the banquet room. The elderly woman often did these small favours for Elsa, and they were usually requested when the spirited Princess Anna was visiting. Gerda was very fond of Anna, mainly because of the way she could usually get the reserved Princess Elsa to open up in a way that no one else could. It was obvious how much Elsa adored Anna, and in turn, Anna adored Elsa. The sight friendship always warmed Gerda's heart.
After all the chocolate had been demolished, the young girls sat against the headboard of the bed, Anna's head resting on Elsa's shoulder. The fireplace had been lit at the end of the room at Anna's request, a gentle heat kissing their skin. Anna never understood why Elsa wasn't fazed by the cold.
She shifted her head to look up into Elsa's deep sapphire eyes. "We're always going to be together aren't we?"
Elsa's eyebrows knitted together in confusion "Of course," she clasped Anna's hand in her own, "Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"
"I'm not sure; I just had a bad feeling. I just needed to make sure. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Elsa resituated herself so that she was kneeling on the bed in front of the red haired girl. "Well you don't have to worry about that. I will always be by your side, Anna. Remember that."
Anna raised her pinkie finger to Elsa, "You promise?"
"I promise that no matter what happens, I will never leave you, as long as you can promise me the same," Elsa said wrapping her pinkie finger around Anna's.
"I promise." And they shook on it.
The young princesses smiled softly at each other. Their innocence kept them unaware that this promise was doomed to be broken. No one could have predicted the awful tragedy that befell Stavanger's Royal family 3 months after this night. Anna's mother – the Queen – contracted a serious illness. A few weeks later, she passed away. To say the King and young Princess were devastated is an understatement. The people of Stavanger were also heartbroken.
The heartbreak that follows the death of a loved one is a peculiar thing. The emotions that follow can be so volatile, so destructive, that it can be difficult to control them. Sadness, anger, loneliness – they all change a person. Many people are said to become stronger as a result. Strength is often associated with being a good thing – but is it always?
In just a year the King of Stavanger had become a very bitter and resentful man. His ideals of peace had quickly been dismissed in favour of power and control. He needed power, thrived on it in fact. One could say that not having the power to save his wife had given him a complex. Having an impressive navy behind him only fuelled his dark desires of control. Within the next decade, many kingdoms would fall at his feet – their only options would be to surrender or be destroyed. The King and Queen of Arendelle would try to get through to their lifelong friend, but he would have grown insane with grief, unable to save their friendship.
All ties would be severed, including those joining Anna and Elsa. Two friends, caught in the crossfire. Until a decade later, when fate would bring these two lost souls together again. One of them a newly crowned Queen – terrified of her own power. The other, a Princess who had been broken so long ago, that she had become just as cold and ruthless as her father.
A/N: Hoped you all liked the intro to this story. Don't worry guys, this is an Elsanna fic, just need to set the scene first. But stick with it. Thanks for reading! All criticism/advice welcome! :) x