Chapter 4

Elsa and her daughter's relationship had always been strained. Ever since Thalia asked her that simple question when she was five, she had had to explain that her father was not going to be with them. Not now. Not ever.

Everything was supposed to be fine before a letter from Tristan arrived on the day of Thalia's fifth birthday. She was too shocked to hide it from her daughter's view and the recently turned five-year old took it from her hands and saw the card inside.

It was a simple card, one with a sketch of Tristan holding a five-year old Thalia. Elsa recognized the sketch immediately. She remembered Tristan settled somewhere in the castle scratching madly away at his sketchbook. She had to admit, the man was talented. Even without seeing his daughter for nearly three years, he still drew Thalia as though she had modeled for him. It was an identical copy of her daughter.

"Me!" Thalia pointed out as she showed the card to her mother.

Elsa tried to take the letter away from her daughter but Thalia threw a tantrum and she wouldn't shut up until the sketch was given back to her.

She asked who the man was and Elsa had to explain to her about Tristan and his absence. Thalia always told her that her father would come back and Elsa spent all her time trying to get her daughter to drop that thought. She would only hurt herself.

It wasn't easy though. Tristan kept sending her letters with sketches on every single on of them. It only increased in number when Thalia learned how to read and write and she was able to reply.

Elsa disapproved of it at first but there was nothing she could do. Thalia deserved to get to know her father. She did make sure to check each letter for any signs of brainwashing on Tristan's part. Something that would make Thalia hate her and get her to stay with him on Duberick.

She stopped when Thalia was eleven. She found her pouring over one of Tristan's letters without her permission and she made her promise not to touch the letters meant for her.

She had no choice but to relent but that didn't mean that she wouldn't ask her about its contents. But she just absolutely refused to look at the sketches.

(Present time)

Thalia had awoken to her governess' loud knocks to her bedroom door. She had tried to ignore it and she was quite successful with the first few minutes until the sun decided to add to her misery. She swore it hit her eyes squarely as though it had been targeted.

"Princess Thalia! You really must get up! Your mother has been waiting for you to join her for breakfast at the dining table." Britta informed her through the closed door.

Thalia groaned. "I don't wanna hear about my punishment for yesterday…"

"Your highness, I really think you should get up and meet with your mother."

"And I really think you should leave me alone." Thalia countered, burying herself deeper under her covers.

"But, your Highness, the queen told me that a letter arrived for you. She says it's from the King of Duberick."

The princess' eyes flew open in an instant. "PAPA?!" Thalia immediately stood up upon hearing those words. "He sent me a letter?!"

"Er… I believe so, your highness. Her majesty had set it – "

Before Britta could even finish her sentence, a large blue mass had opened the door with a great amount of force and it sped down the hallway towards the dining hall. Britta was wide-eyed while clutching her chest as she stared at the direction the princess had dashed off to. Thalia had really surprised her.

Thalia opened the door to the dining hall so quickly and very forcibly that the occupants jumped in surprise. Heads swiveled towards her direction but the princess didn't care. She resumed running towards her chair beside her mother.

Elsa was staring at her in surprise. Thalia was covered in sweat, still in her nightgown, and was panting as though she had just ran down the North Mountain. "Thalia, what on earth…?

Thalia put up a finger to tell her mother to give her a minute to recover first. She took deep gulps of air and took hold of her chair for support.

"Where… where's the… where's the letter?" she panted as she dropped on her chair.

Elsa's eyebrows rose. "Letter?"

"Yeah. From… from Papa…" Thalia was trying to even her breathing as she desperately fanned herself with her hands. Lesson learned: Do not run from your bedroom towards the dining hall in record-breaking speed.

"Oh… that." Elsa sighed as she shifted through the thick stack of letters at her side. Being Queen, she often got a LOT of mail. It was just pure luck that she had seen her… husband's letter.

"Yes… here it is." She said as she spotted the white envelope addressed to her daughter. With the way she was holding it, it looked like a bomb was inside of it just waiting to blow.

Thalia immediately grabbed it with greedy hands and tore through the lid of the envelope. Elsa rolled her eyes and resumed reading the letter from the Queen of Corona. She remembered her. She was around Anna's age. Her name was Rapunzel Fitzherbert. The surname struck her as odd but she was told that it came from her husband, Eugene Fitzherbert.

Corona was an excellent trade partner and a close ally to Arendelle. Because of that, Arendelle and Corona's rulers often visited each other and this time, it was Prince Consort Eugene's and Queen Rapunzel's turn to visit Arendelle. They said that they were going to arrive by the end of the week.

The last exchange between the two kingdoms had been with the previous king and queen. This was actually the first time the two new rulers would meet each other face to face. They had exchanged letters but never met each other in person.

Elsa wanted to, of course, but she still feared the sea. After her parents died, she never dared set foot on a sea vessel. When other countries invited her over, she would have to excuse herself politely or get them to come to Arendelle instead.

She heard her daughter gasp dramatically beside her and her eyes shifted over to Thalia as she pulled out a piece of paper from inside the envelope.

"Look, Mama! Another sketch from Papa!" she squealed excitedly as her eyes raked over the drawing. "It's a sketch of me! And… there's him behind me… and… there you are! You're beside him!"

A vein popped up on Elsa's head upon hearing that. It was gestures like this from Tristan that really irritated her. He made it clear that he was not coming back to Arendelle, yet he still doesn't pass up the chance to send sketches of them together as a family.

She had a thick pile of letters from Tristan waiting for her slim fingers to open and it was sitting somewhere inside her office, collecting dust. She was sure that those letters contained sketches too and she had an idea on what its subject was.

Her.

She shivered involuntarily at the thought and she quickly shook her head to clear it. Tristan was such a hopeless romantic. If he wanted her to soften up, he should change tactics. Though, it won't be easy. She just hated his guts for leaving them.

But for her daughter's sake, she forced a smile on her lips. "That's great, Thalia."

Thalia nodded and checked the envelope again. This time, she pulled out the letter from her father.

"Let's see what it says…"

Dearest Thalia,

How are you? I'm fine here in Duberick. Well, not really. My adviser's been bugging me. I really wish you could come here. I miss you.

Is your mother well? Is she still mad at me?

"Mama, Papa wants to know if you're still mad at him." Thalia informed her mother, not tearing her eyes away from the letter.

Elsa only huffed and kept her steely blue eyes on the letter on her hand, though some frost had gathered on her fingertips.

She's still mad… right? Oh well… I'll just send her another letter next week.

Anyway, I wanted to ask you about something. Do you remember the sketchbook I sent you the month before? Have you filled it with your drawings yet? If you have, even if it's just one page, can you do your old man a favor and send it over to me? I'd really want to see it.

As for your usual question, No, I don't think I'll be able to attend the Summer Ball there in Arendelle. And, No, I don't know if I can leave Duberick. The kingdom still needs me. You understand that, right? I'm sorry, Thalia. But I promise, I'll always write to you so you won't feel too lonely.

Keep smiling for me, okay? And give your mama a kiss for me. Don't let another guy get close to her. Your Uncle Kristoff and Ivan are fine. But, seriously, keep her away from men. And you too. Stay away from boys.

Lots of love,

Papa

Thalia rolled her eyes and smiled at that last bit but it soon vanished along with her earlier excitement. Her father was not coming to Arendelle this year. She did understand his reasons but she just wasn't satisfied with just sketches of her father. She wanted to meet him in person. To really touch him and hug him…

"Thalia?"

Her mother's voice had broken Thalia out of her thoughts and she saw the queen's worried eyes looking at her.

"What?" she asked a bit defensively.

Elsa reached over and stroked her cheek sadly. "He said he wasn't coming, didn't he?"

Thalia nodded and she slumped in her seat. The Summer Ball was her father's final chance to come to Arendelle. All throughout Autumn to mid-Spring, the weather was too cold for the villagers. Her mother – well, everyone in the castle – was busy during this time. They spent this time by catching up on their private lessons and sometimes, her mother would go with Kristoff up the North Mountains.

But most of the time, Elsa was busy making sure that the kingdom had food that would last throughout the cold winter.

And she was going to be alone again.

"Your Majesty, the duke of Vingriv is here. He is waiting for you in the throne room." Kai's voice suddenly said.

Elsa hesitated a bit as she looked at her daughter, before answering, "Yes, tell him I'll be arriving shortly."

Kai bowed. "Very well, your Majesty."

Elsa turned her attention back to Thalia. She squeezed the princess' hand gently. "I'll have to tell your tutors that your schedule will be delayed today. You'll need some time alone, right?" she whispered to her.

Thalia looked at her mother and gratitude swam in her eyes. "Thank you…"

Elsa smiled and kissed the top of Thalia's head before following Kai out of the dining hall.

Thalia sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time this morning. Her father's letter left her moody. She wasn't sure if she should write a reply or get to sending her already full sketchbook to Tristan. She decided that she should just go back to sleep.

Just as she was about to climb into bed, her door opened and Ivan came in. Thalia raised an eyebrow at her cousin's getup. He was wearing a tightly knitted sweater and winter pants and boots. A thick winter jacket lined with fur was draped over his shoulder and a pair of goggles sat on his head.

"Er… Tell me, are you dressed like that on purpose… or are you just trying to give yourself a heat stroke?" Thalia asked as he came closer.

"On purpose." He replied simply as he set his jacket on her bed.

"And why are you wearing winter clothes in summer?" Thalia asked, crossing her arms out in front of her.

"Because I'm going to take you up on the mountains." Ivan explained.

"You? As in… you? Wait. You're going to take me up on the mountains… with no adult supervising us?"

Ivan nodded.

"You do realize that this might get us killed." Thalia told him.

Ivan nodded again.

Thalia was beyond confused. "Why?"

"I figured you wanted some cheering up. Besides, your lessons have been cleared this morning. Now that we have the chance, might as well grab it, right?"

Thalia was quiet for a while. She was still weighing out her options inside her head. Mope and then go to lessons with a scowl or go with Ivan and have fun (and also get killed when she gets back). She decided to go and have fun.

She moved towards her dresser and pulled out one of her simplest dresses. "We're sneaking out right?" she asked as she made a choice between the green and purple one and the blue one.

"Yep." Ivan said, gathering his things and going out of the door. "I'll be at the stables with Sven II."

"Okay."

"And you're sure this is safe?"

"Pfft… I've done this before. Relax."

Thalia and Ivan were currently up in the wintery woods halfway up the North Mountains. They had successfully snuck out of the castle and out of the town. Just in time too because Thalia had been resisting the urge to faint and to puke.

She hated the summer heat. She was already sporting a massive nosebleed and it wasn't until they had arrived at the other side of the bridge that Ivan had let her use her powers to keep herself cold until they climbed up the mountain.

Right now, they were on a snowy hill where they could see a perfect view of Arendelle. Thalia only wished that she had brought her sketchbook with her.

Meanwhile, Ivan was setting up some sort of sleigh that only went to each foot. He also had two sticks that he said were for supports and for gaining speed.

"Um… Ivan, I'm not so sure that this is safe." Thalia said as he attached a pair to each of her feet.

"Don't worry. I've already tried this out. It works great and it's a LOT of fun." He said, attaching his goggles on his face.

"And uh… what do you call this… thing?" Thalia asked him as she followed him awkwardly towards the top of the snow hill's slope.

"I call it… foot sleds!" Her cousin announced, raising a hand up in the air in triumph.

"Not quite… It needs more impact." Thalia suggested as she looked at the objects she was holding.

"Whatever, I'm calling 'em foot sleds. Alright, here goes! Whoooo!"

"Ivan! Wait!" Thalia yelled after him.

It was too late. Ivan had already slid down the slope and he was gaining speed. She could hear his joyful whoops from below but she felt her stomach churn unpleasantly. It was almost like it was warning her that something bad was going to happen.

Her eyes never left her cousin as he continued sliding down the hill. Her eyes widened. It was only for a split second but she saw him become unbalanced and soon, he was rolling down the hill and he hit a big rock with a dull thud.

"IVAN!"

Without even thinking, Thalia pushed herself off the edge and she slid down the hill with remarkable speed in an effort to save her cousin.

A/N: Okay, suspense! Ivan's hurt! Again, tell me what you guys think, and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE KIND REVIEWERS! I LOVE YOU GUYS! I actually have a surprise for you guys in the next few chaps... or is it the next chap? Oh well, review!