Elsa paced in her room. The news of one of Hans' brothers arriving in Arendelle had come earlier that afternoon, and it had been in the back of her mind ever since. She had mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, she wanted nothing to do with Hans or anyone related to him. His involvement in the events following her coronation were still fresh in her mind, and she didn't care for any reminders.

On the other hand, she had to be diplomatic. It was important for Arendelle to maintain good relationships with neighboring kingdoms, and there certainly appeared to be no reason to break ties with the Southern Isles. Political support was important, and Hans' actions had been his own.

She had to remind herself that what she knew of Hans was not necessarily reflective of his brothers. She knew nothing of this Gerold that would be arriving, and there was no reason for her to assume his disposition before she met him.

But she could not shake Hans from her mind: how he'd tried to manipulate her and had nearly killed her, how he had manipulated her sister and had left her to die.

The air became cold around her and her breath appeared in mist in front of her face, but she was too engrossed in her thoughts to notice.

How could she trust this man who was coming? How did she know he wasn't like his younger brother? She knew she shouldn't judge prematurely, but she didn't think she could let her guard down. She simply couldn't afford not to be suspicious, even if it wasn't particularly diplomatic of her.

There was a knock at the door, and Elsa jumped. It was then she realized the temperature drop, and she took a moment to calm herself. Even though she'd discovered the key to controlling her powers with The Great Thaw, they still got away from her sometimes in moments when she was nervous or scared.

She opened the door to greet her sister.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked. She had King Einar's letter clutched in her hand, which Elsa had given to her wordlessly before retreating to her room.

Elsa didn't answer, just let her sister into the room, who shivered.

"It's freezing in here," she said, rubbing her arms.

Elsa gave a small shrug. "I might be a little nervous." It was nice to be able to talk to her sister again. She'd spent so much time avoiding her in this room.

Anna gave an encouraging smile. "King Einar seems nice," she said, holding out the letter.

Elsa had to agree that the letter had seemed friendly enough. She took it from Anna and read it again.

Queen Elsa of Arendelle,

I would like to sincerely apologize for the actions of my younger brother, Hans, against you and your sister, Princess Anna. I assure you, his grievances have been taken seriously, and he will be dealt with accordingly.

While I would prefer to apologize in person, matters of the kingdom require that I remain at home. I am sending to you my younger brother, Gerold in my stead. I hope that through meeting with him, you can form some good opinions about our kingdom and your mind will not be clouded by the impressions Hans has left.

I look forward to the future relations of our kingdoms, and I hope we can begin a regular correspondence.

Respectfully,

King Einar of the Southern Isles

Elsa sighed, and let the letter slide from her hand and onto the bed. King Einar did seem nice enough. Though it was hard to understand his true nature through such a brief and diplomatic letter, the fact he'd written at all was somewhat comforting. She'd feel better if it was him she would be meeting.

"How do you feel about this?" she asked at last, turning to her sister. Hans had interacted more with Anna than with herself. In a way, she felt Anna had more cause to be nervous than she did.

Anna took a long breath and shrugged. "Hans has twelve older brothers. They can't all be the same as he."

Elsa nodded and closed her eyes. The logic made sense, but no matter how much she reasoned, she still remained on edge. "I guess we won't know for sure until he arrives," she said, putting her hands together.

Anna reached out her. "Come on," she said, directing her toward the door. "Staying here with your thoughts won't do any good. If you weren't so acclimated to the cold, you'd freeze yourself to death."

Prince Gerold arrived in the evening the next day. Elsa had kept her schedule busy so she wouldn't be in constant anticipation. Her plan worked so well that she'd forgotten all about him until he was announced to her. The realization that the dreaded moment had finally come made her gasp, but she indicated to her attendant to let him into the throne room.

Elsa grasped the arms of her chair as she waited, trying to calm herself. She had to keep in mind that she didn't know this man. He was just as likely to be perfectly amenable as he was to be a manipulative bastard.

Her nerves lessened, however, the moment she saw him. Though he possessed some similar features to Hans in the nose and cheek bones, there was enough difference in his face that Elsa didn't have to directly associate the two brothers.

Gerold had a square face with hazel eyes. And his hair, though red, had a sandy look, being flecked with grey. He had a worn appearance from his skin to his clothes. Elsa had the impression of someone who'd been prematurely aged by stress.

"Your Majesty," he said, bowing as he approached. His voice and movements seemed tired, like he lacked the energy.

"Prince Gerold," she greeted, standing from the throne. She felt she should move. Doing so would calm her further, and she wanted to leave a good impression on this man for the sake of relations between their kingdoms.

She held out her hand, and Gerold took it.

"It's a pleasure," he said, raising her hand to his lips.

"I trust the journey wasn't too taxing," she said, proceeding with the usual pleasantries.

"It was rather pleasant," he told her.

Elsa couldn't imagine any journey by sea being pleasant, but she didn't voice her thoughts.

"I come on behalf of King Einar." Gerold continued. "Who–"

"I received his letter," Elsa told him, not wanting to have another conversation regarding its contents. "A room has been prepared for you. I imagine you'd like to rest after your journey."

He seemed a little taken aback. "Actually, I was hoping we could discuss–"

"I'm afraid I'm booked for the remainder of the evening," she said. "But I have us scheduled for lunch tomorrow. We can discuss matters then."

"Very well," he said graciously.

Elsa waved her attendant over who escorted Gerold from the area and would show him to his room.

As soon as he was gone, Elsa felt relief wash over her. That hadn't seemed so bad. Yes, she'd been a little rude in cutting him off, but she still felt reluctant to discuss any issues right now. She'd just wanted to get a sense of the man, to know if she'd feel safe around him.

And the truth was that she wasn't sure. She didn't feel content, but she didn't feel the need to run either. Gerold was just a man she didn't know. A stranger. And that was perfectly normal, really. Right now, it seemed she had nothing to be concerned over.

But she'd been nervous for two days about this moment, and now that the moment had passed, she could feel her body shaking. All that energy had been pent up, and now it needed somewhere to go.

She fled the throne room to the rear grounds of the castle where she covered the grass and trees in ice. Then she started making ice sculptures – anything at all to release the build up inside her.

"You only met with him for two minutes," said Anna when she found her making an elaborate miniature sculpture of the entire kingdom of Arendelle. "How are you ever going to get through lunch?"