Chapter 4: The Monster That I Am
Morning sunlight filtered through Elsa's closed eyelids willing her mind to return to the land of consciousness. As the sleep-laden haze that clouded her mind slowly dissipated, Elsa felt a wave of happiness wash over her, bringing a smile to her face in her half-sleep state. She had been dreaming, but as the haze cleared she didn't remember exactly what this dream was about. It was an amazing dream she knew, it made Elsa feel happiness, love, pleasure...her eyes fluttered open as the details became clearer. There was nobody else in it except for herself, Elsa remembered, two of herselves in fact. No wait, not two of herself...black hair...it was herself and her twin sister Elise.
Elsa's half-lidded eyes shot wide open. The sleepy haze disappeared in the same instant and the happiness she felt turned into dread. And pleasure? It wasn't just an emotional feeling though, she could feel the dampness between her legs. Elsa held her breath, refusing to move as she searched her memories for more details of the dream. Nothing, all she could remember was pleasure and Elise. A spark of hope suddenly popped up in Elsa's mind.
Elsa gathered her strength and willed her body to move and turned to her still sleeping sister by her side. She took a moment to mentally prepare herself for what she had to do. As if moving on thin ice, Elsa crawled over to Anna, slowly lifting up the blanket as she moved. Elsa paused, was she really going to do this? Yes, she had to know what had caused this feeling. Elsa continued, slowly and cautiously moving a shaking hand to the hem of Anna's nightgown. She started carefully lifting, frost starting to form on the blanket in her other hand. Her heart was beating so loud. Elsa feared it would awaken Anna, but she continued lifting. Elsa closed her eyes when she failed to find what she was looking for. She hurriedly reversed her movements, not daring to release the breath she'd been holding until returning her head to her pillow.
It was the one and only time Elsa wanted to find Anna in an aroused state and she was not. This wasn't the first time Elsa had woken up with this feeling next to Anna. It would happen once in a while when they starting sleeping in the same bed and Elsa hadn't the clue what was causing it. That is until one night she awoke to find Anna sub-consciously grinding up against her while moaning Kristoff's name. Anna didn't know of course because Elsa refused to mention the incident to her sister, instead she threw her off the bed and froze the room citing the cause of doing so on a nightmare. Elsa had hoped this was one of those incidents. It was not.
That left only one option. Elsa had dreamt about sleeping with her twin. Of course she would though, Elsa reasoned with herself. She was a messed up person from a messed up family. Her little not-so-innocent sister was a sexual deviant, as Elsa had concluded over the past four months, who humped her in her sleep and touched herself in front of paintings. Elsa herself was a witch and now an incestuous witch on top of that.
Elsa let go of the frozen bed sheets she had been grasping and hugged her arms around herself as memories of her teenage years came back to haunt her. She had determined during those years that her life was going to end burning at the stake. Recent events had proved that future false, but now Elsa was having her doubts again. She stared at the ceiling as multiple scenarios started playing out in her head—angry crowds storming the castle, an assassin slitting her throat on the throne, the fires, Anna leaving her out of disgust...
"Mmm...Elsa cold," Anna murmured in her sleep knocking Elsa out of her reverie.
Elsa suddenly realized what she was doing. The room was starting to freeze and Anna was stirring awake. She couldn't let Anna see this, she couldn't let Anna know. Elsa closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and got to work. After taking a few moments of reigning in her emotions, Elsa's breathing and pulse slowed and she finally allowed herself to open her eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief when she did. The room was now thawed.
"Nice work," came a voice to her right and Elsa realized Anna hadn't been completely asleep the whole time as she might've thought, "but that doesn't get you off the hook."
Determined to fool her sister, Elsa decided to fake annoyance. She rolled her eyes and turned her head to meet Anna's questioning stare. "It's nothing," Elsa said with just a hint of annoyance.
"Really, because you started freezing the room and you're still holding yourself." Anna propped herself up on her elbow. Her face flushed before continuing at a lower volume. "I wasn't humping you again was I?"
Elsa was removing her arms from her body from the first comment when Anna's question struck her. "What the hell Anna," she exclaimed while jumping out of bed. She made sure to keep her back to the bed so Anna couldn't see her horrified beet-red face.
"Elsa I'm really sorry, I can't help it. I just get these urges and I'm not even awake when I do it. I caught myself doing it one night and I wanted to tell you, but I was so scared of what you might think so-"
"Stop!" Elsa yelled holding her hand out behind her. "That's not the reason and yes, I already knew. Let's just stop talking about that right now though." After taking a few seconds to calm her breathing, Elsa finally turned around to face her sister. Anna was hugging her pillow and staring down at the bed with glistening eyes. Elsa wrung her hands together. "Anna, I'm sorry I yelled."
"No, it's okay, I shouldn't have brought it up. It was bad timing," Anna responded. She smiled and looked up at Elsa. "Let's go get breakfast and put this behind us. I'll go get changed."
Elsa smiled back. "Yes, that's probably a good idea." Elsa should have felt relieved that Anna had so easily dropped both subjects, but the memory of what had caused all this in the first place still nagged at Elsa. She struggled to keep her smile from faltering as Anna made her way to the door. "I'll see you in a little," Elsa finished off with a wave.
Anna left the room, but not before sticking her head back through the doorway with a wicked smile plastered on her face. "Oh Elsa, next time you want to look at my pussy, just ask okay?" she said with a wink.
Elsa could have died.
"So, what was with you this morning and what did it have to do with my you-know-what?" Anna asked once the servants left the dining room.
Elsa stopped her fork midway to her mouth. She stared at it as if it would give her the proper response. "It wasn't anything, just a bad dream," Elsa said, finally finding the words she was looking for. She had allowed herself to calm down from her morning anxiety before breakfast. It was all just a stupid dream after all. It didn't mean anything and Elsa wasn't going to be burning at the stake for being an incestuous witch. That's what she told herself at least, and it worked. Now her sister on the other hand...
"It doesn't sound like a bad dream. It certainly didn't smell like one."
Elsa glared icy daggers at Anna, cheeks turning pink from both anger, shame, and embarrassment. "This is not appropriate table-talk Anna," Elsa said through gritted teeth.
"Psshh, who cares there's nobody around right now this is our private time. Anyway, it's perfectly normal to have those kinds of dreams Elsa." Anna was smiling too wide, it was forced. "You're a grown woman after all. Anyway I have those kinds of dreams all the time." A blush crossed Anna's face and she finally let go of the forced smile, turning back to her food.
"Yeah, I know," Elsa started, but decided to shut up instead of continuing. She looked down at her plate and stirred her food. An uncomfortable silence hung over both sisters for the next few minutes, both their appetites lost.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Anna asked breaking the silence.
Elsa let out a sigh and turned to her smiling sister, eyebrow raised and eyes intense. Anna's smile faltered under the gaze.
"What is it, Elsa?"
"Anna, you need try to be less forgetful. You need to go into town and help with the preparations."
Anna nearly jumped out of her seat with excitement. "Preparations? Oh, I'm so excited!" She was bouncing up and down in her seat then suddenly paused. "Wait, preparations for what?"
This used to surprise Elsa, now she just rolled her eyes. "Preparations for the arrival of the American delegation tomorrow, Anna."
"Oh right, now I remember."
"As soon as we finish up here-," Elsa looked at the clock, it was quarter past nine, "-you're going to go with Kai down to the docks and get the town ready for their arrival. Now you're going to be down there most of the day so I'm probably not going to see you until bed time. Do you understand?"
"Aww, I do Elsa. Well, now I'm excited," Anna said then asked, "what are you up to Elsa?"
"I have preparations to do here and I need to meet with my council as soon as we finish up," Elsa paused, "I also wish to speak to Elise at some point today, too." She winced as she waited for her sister's reaction.
A simple "Oh," was the only response she got. Elsa was suspicious, she expected more. When it was evident that Anna wouldn't speak any more on that matter, Elsa finished up her breakfast and excused herself to go to her council meeting.
"Have fun today Anna and don't get into any trouble," Elsa said to her sister as she walked away the table. Though before Elsa could reach the door, Anna ran up and grabbed her into a hug from behind.
"I will as long as you will. Love you Els." Anna leaned closer to Elsa's ear. "And I will find out who's been plaguing your dreams sister," she whispered.
Elsa could only swallow, all color draining from her face. She broke free of Anna's embrace, mumbled a "Love you too," and made her escape down the hall. She would get back at Anna for this, but for now she had a meeting with her council to catch, a meeting about Elise.
Elsa reached the council chamber doors, but stood outside them. She was running a tad behind, but they could wait. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself. This was not a topic she wanted to discuss with these people, especially after this morning, but it was something she had to do. She donned her regal mask and entered the room.
The seven men that made up her council sprung up and greeted her as she entered. "Good morning, Gentlemen," she greeted in return and made her way to the head of the table. The seven men remained standing until their Queen took her seat.
All seven members of Elsa's council had been appointed by her father and continued to serve Elsa well. Seated to her right was her most trusted councilman, Chancellor Count Yngvi Jakobsen. Count Jakobsen served as her father's Chancellor for most of her life and ruled Arendelle as regent between her parents' death and her coronation. As Crown Princess, Elsa had participated in council affairs during Jakobsen's regency, however her rule wasn't absolute until being crowned Queen. Chancellor Jakobsen was the closest thing to a head of government Arendelle had as well as the closest thing to a family friend of the royal family. To his right sat the Minister of Treasury, Torbjørn Kristoffersen, the oldest member of Elsa's council and in Elsa's opinion the most level-headed and calm. To his right sat the Minister of Commerce and Minister of Agriculture, Halstein Vinter and Caj Nielson. Both were appointed around the time of Elsa's accident and were extremely skilled at their jobs. Elsa knew those two were responsible for her father's success at keeping Arendelle prosperous and well fed and they continued to do so into Elsa's reign. To Elsa's left sat the Foreign Minister, Hallvard Hansen, the newest member of her council. He was appointed just a few months before her father's death and was by far the most liberal member of Elsa's council. As a result, he often butted heads with Chancellor Jakobsen and Minister Kristoffersen, both of whom were strict conservatives. To his left sat the Minister of Army, General Gulbrand Holt, and finally Minister of Navy, Admiral Anved Hoffman. Neither military officer got along with the other, General Holt was a Norwegian nationalist and Admiral Hoffman was a strict Arendelle royalist. Despite his nationalistic views, General Holt's loyalty to the crown was unquestionable and excelled at cost-effective management of the army. His ill relationship with Admiral Hoffman was also useful at keeping the armed forces from ganging up on her other councilmen.
Elsa sat in silence, waiting for one of them to start the meeting. Finally, Admiral Hoffman spoke up.
"Is it true your majesty?" he asked generally intrigued. The councilmen seemed to lean in closer as if the answer was going to be hard to hear.
"It is," she responded never once dropping her bearing. The men leaned back in their seats. "Elise looks exactly like me, there is no doubt she is my identical twin sister." The last part drew a low murmur from the councilmen.
"Twin?" Chancellor Jakobsen asked leaning in close to Elsa, his eyes were wide open in disbelief.
"Yes, Chancellor, my twin." Her security measures were better than she thought if not even they already knew. Elsa continued before anyone else could speak up. "My main concern right now though, is the legitimacy of her claim to my throne. Well Chancellor?"
Elsa was generally shocked when he laughed in her face. "You can't be serious your majesty," he said after his initial outburst then paused to gauge the Queens reaction. Elsa's face remained stoic. "Queen Elsa, Arendelle law of succession states that the first-born is to be next in line to the throne. The survival rate of twins making it to adulthood is so low that the idea of twins was never considered when the laws were written. It was expected that only one would survive to adulthood. I would guess though that the first out of the womb would hold the position of next-"
"We don't know who was first," Elsa interrupted. "And I don't think we ever will," she added her voice slightly lowering. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Minister Kristoffersen raise an inquiring eyebrow.
"Your majesty," Admiral Hoffman spoke up, "the laws of succession don't even apply here. You were the Crown Princess, you were chosen to be your father's successor." Admiral Hoffman had been close friends with her father, Elsa had to remind herself. He still blamed himself for his death.
"You seem to be very sure that we'll never know the details of your birth, Queen Elsa," Minister Kristoffersen interrupted with his typical calm demeanor. "I wonder why that is?" Elsa knew where he was going with this. He had never approved of her fathers' fixation on funneling funds to secret projects, especially after he learned what the money was being spent on four months ago—keeping her powers a secret. It was the one exception from his calm level-headed personality.
Elsa wasn't the only one who knew where the Minister of Treasury was going with this. Admiral Hoffman was on his feet before Elsa could answer Kristoffersen. "What are you implying old man?" His voiced was raised, but not yet shouting.
"Perhaps I am wondering how many more secrets his late majesty was covering up with Arendelle's treasury." Minister Kristoffersen's face was as emotionless as Elsa's. Admiral Hoffman's face on the other hand was turning red with rage.
It was General Holt who had spoken up before Admiral Hoffman could explode. "The business of the royal family is none of your concern Minister Kristoffersen." Not a single person in the room could have predicted that the Army officer would stand up for his naval counterpart. Even Elsa almost let her regal mask slip in surprise. Something must have been troubling him greatly. The shock was certainly enough to convince Admiral Hoffman and Kristoffersen to both back down so General Holt could continue.
"There is a pressing matter here your majesty." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Is she a threat to Arendelle?" The rest of her council looked to each other in confusion. Arendelle Castle was really good at keeping secrets, though how General Holt knew about Elise's powers when the rest of her council was clueless, Elsa could only speculate.
Elsa swallowed. She had hopped she wouldn't have to explain this to them and dreaded the inevitable 'is she a threat' question. Elsa spent the next few minutes going over the events of that night so her entire council was fully up to speed. She made sure to mention the lack of evidence in the records of Elise's existence.
"None of this leaves the room do you all understand?" Elsa finished. They all nodded in affirmation and she turned to General Holt. "As for you question General Holt, I..." Elsa hesitated before continuing. "...at this present time I am still evaluating Elise." She knew this wouldn't put her council at ease. To be honest her council might not even believe that Elise was truly her twin. All they had was Elsa's word that they looked identical.
"Then perhaps you should consider modernizing our aging arsenals," General Holt countered. Elsa knew it, he had been talking with the Captain of her Royal Guard, that's how he knew about Elise's powers. In that case he might be more inclined to believe Elsa's word about Elise now that he had talked with another witness. "Arendelle cannot afford another unexpected winter your majesty."
"I think a more immediate concern is the arrival of the American delegation," said her Foreign Minister.
"I agree," said Chancellor Jakobsen. "Your majesty what do you plan on doing with her while the Americans are visiting? As you must be aware, this visit is extremely important to us."
"Elise will remain in her cell while I continue to evaluate her-" Elsa started.
"Queen Elsa, the Americans won't look too kindly at you if they find out you've been holding your own sister in the dungeons during their stay and God forbid one of the other kingdoms finds out," Foreign Minister Hansen interrupted.
Elsa's mask finally broke. She turned to the Foreign Minister with a snarl. "She's my sister. I'll do what I want," Elsa snapped and stared down at the table below her before she could even register Minister Hansen's shocked face as she realized what she had just done. A silence engulfed the room, no one dared to speak. Elsa had prided herself at remaining fully composed at every council meeting no matter how heated things got. This was the first time she ever lost control. However, she had no idea what had made her snap. It had just happened like an instinct. Maybe Elise was just a really touchy subject for her. In a way so was Anna, but her council knew better than to use Anna against her.
She felt Chancellor Jakobsen's hand on her shoulder now. "Elsa," he whispered so low that Elsa could barely hear it. She looked up to the councilmen staring off in different directions, none of them, but Jakobsen dared to look at her. Then she noticed that she could see their breath.
Elsa composed herself and re-donned her regal mask. She cleared her throat and began. "Under no circumstances are the Americans or anyone to find out about Elise until I have determined that she is no longer threat."
A chorus of "Yes, your majesty" rose up from the councilmen. Only then did she allow the room to return to normal temperature. Hopefully they got the message that Elise was off-limits too. "There is one item I wish to discuss on this subject before we move on. Elise is my twin sister whether you believe me or not and we may have been separated all these years, but she is back now and is part of this family." Elsa paused to let them speculate. "Henceforth, Elise will be known as Princess Elise of Arendelle. Any objections or concerns?" She didn't wait for anyone to speak up. "Good, now let us adjourn this meeting and get to work on the preparations for tomorrow. You all know what you have to do. You're dismissed." Elsa stood up to go.
Hours later, Elsa stood in front of the door to Elise's cell. She had worked all day following the council meeting to make sure Arendelle was prepared for tomorrow, even working through dinner to get to this moment now just as evening was arriving. She had cleared the guards when she first arrived and now she was alone with nothing but the keys to Elise's restraints and a burning lamp in her clenched fists.
She had been standing in front of this door for five minutes now, completely still, not staring at it, but staring through it. Finally, she found her courage and stepped forward. She moved as swiftly as she could through the cell door and closed it behind her before her nerves could get the better of her. Elsa didn't bother donning her regal mask for this visit. In fact she had left her crown back in her room and opted to change into her original ice dress, snowflake-infused braid and swept-back bangs included.
There she was. Elise was sitting on her cot again, facing out the small reinforced window of her cell. Elsa hung the burning lamp and stepped towards her sister.
"Good evening, Elise." Unlike her last visit, this time her twin did turn around though with a scowl transforming into surprise in the process. Elsa figured Elise wasn't in the mood for visitors, but hadn't been expecting the Queen to show up either. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not though. Still unsure, Elsa gave her a soft smile as she waited for a response, but the keys rattling in her fidgeting hands caught Elise's attention instead. Elise looked back up at Elsa with an inquiring eyebrow raised.
"Good evening to you too, your majesty," Elise finally responded dropping the eyebrow and giving a small smirk.
"Oh no, you can just call me Elsa, no formalities here please."
"Well, in that case you can just call me Elise," Elise quickly said. Elsa's smile faltered a little from confusion. What is she talking about...oh right now I get it, the princess thing. Elsa let out a giggle which she managed to politely cover with her hand.
"I bet you were surprised when they started calling you Princess Elise, huh?" Elsa followed up with, but Elise was unamused. Elsa coughed into her hand and continued, "Since you're my sister and all I ordered the guards and servants to make sure to call you Princess Elise on the account that you're a princess and uh..." Elsa trailed off and swallowed. Elise's face had gone from unamused to impatient. Elsa knew so because she recognized the facial expressions as her own.
"What is this visit about? Are you here to let me go?" Elise asked folding her arms as her impatience grew.
"No, not exactly," Elsa whimpered as silently as she could. "I ugh...w-wanted to spend some quality time with my sister," Elsa said more loudly with an unconvincing smile.
"In a prison cell?" Elise asked.
"Well yes," Elsa answered before allowing the question to sink in. When it hit, Elsa started waving her hands back and forth in front of her. "No, no, no. You and only you are responsible for being locked up in here. This was your doing." Elise glared up at her.
"So," Elsa started moving the conversation along as she took a seat next to Elise, "how are your hands and feet feeling?"
"Are you serious?" Elise answered with an annoyed sigh.
"Yes, I am. I thought maybe you would like to take a break from them." Elsa held up the keys in front of her growing smile. Elise was so wide-eyed in excitement that Elsa didn't even need to ask.
"Ah, ah, ah!" Elsa teased hiding the keys behind back and grinning widely. "First you have to swear to behave," Elsa said pointing her other hand at Elise.
Elise's mouth hung open in disbelief at Elsa's sudden change in behavior. But Elsa's change of behavior was only skin deep. On the inside she was terrified. Terrified that Elise would take her playful behavior the wrong way. She was even more terrified though that letting Elise out of her restraints would turn out to be a very bad idea. And then worst of all, Anna would find out.
"So, do you swear it?" Elsa questioned, bringing the keys back out from her back. She could feel her confidence slipping as she waited for Elise's answer.
She didn't have to wait long though. Elise shot her hands up in front of Elsa and pleaded. "Yes, I swear, now please take these damned things off."
Elsa gulped and drew a deep breath. Here goes nothing. She slowly brought the keys down to the manacles around her hands and unlocked them. Elsa was so tense that their impact on the ground startled her. She cowered away from Elise who she assumed was responsible for the noise. Elsa tried relaxing when she found Elise too busy coddling her freed hands instead of attacking her. Elsa shifted and leaned down so she could free Elise's feet.
When Elsa leaned back up, she found Elise eyeing her oddly. Their faces were only a few inches apart. "Uh hi," Elsa blurted out. It was the only thing she could think of. Elise burst into a fit of laughter. Elsa tried laughing along, but found herself too confused.
When Elise finally recovered she explained herself. "You know for a Queen, you're pretty awkward." Elsa flushed and Elise changed her tone. "Thanks anyway for letting me out of these though," she trailed off turning her eyes away from Elsa and out the window to the twilight of sunset. Elsa followed her eyes out the window.
"It's no problem," Elsa said pausing to silently watch the fading light before continuing. "Yeah, I guess I am a little awkward around people when I'm not acting as the composed and regal, reclusive Queen of Arendelle." Elsa drew her legs onto the cot and pulled her knees to her chest. "To be honest, I don't socialize with anyone other than Anna. I'm not really sure how to socialize with people outside of official balls and state parties. I never had a chance to learn. I was too busy studying or trying to keep my powers hidden from Anna."
"Hidden?" Elise questioned, finally turning to look at Elsa. Elsa could see her genuine curiosity through the glow from the lamp. An idea suddenly popped up in her head. It was about time Elise learned about Elsa's own past.
"Elise, let me tell you a story," Elsa began. Elsa spent the next hour and a half retelling the story of her life to her twin making sure to cover the most important details that she could. Elise was listening intently without interrupting once, her face remained stoic the entire time. By the time Elsa had reached the end, tears were flowing freely down her cheeks despite the happy ending. Elsa had never told anyone this in such detail. It was very emotional.
"Wow," was all Elise could say when Elsa finished. Elsa was now sobbing with her head buried in her knees. "That must have been horrible sitting in that room for thirteen years listening to your sister always on the other side. How does one even cope with that?"
"I didn't," Elsa looked up at Elise who was just staring off at a spot on the floor. She was wringing her hands together, a habit that Elsa thought was reserved for herself. "Sometimes I just thought about ending it myself, ending this monster that I am." Elsa sniffled. "But I could never do that to Anna, especially after what happened to our parents."
"Monster that I am," Elsa could hear Elise repeat under her breath. Several minutes passed by as the twins sat in silence. Elsa composed herself and her sobs faded into light sniffling and hiccups. Neither girl neither noticed nor cared that the entire cell was covered in ice. Elsa was unsure how much was her own doing though.
"Sometimes when I was up in the North Pole," Elise started out of the blue. Elsa wiped her eyes one final time before focusing on Elise. "I would hope that one day someone would come knocking at my doors." Elise paused. "But no one ever came."
"Why did you go up there Elise?" Elsa decided it was time to ask.
Elise finally looked up from her spot on the floor and gazed into Elsa's eyes. Her eyes were glazed over. "I was that monster that you feared you were, Elsa." Elise closed her eyes and brought her balled up hands to her face. "I was just so upset that mother and father wouldn't let me go out and play with the other kids that night. They were punishing me because they caught me trying to show off my snow. I was so angry at them and throwing such fit. I barely even remember doing it, they were just yelling and I was yelling back and I slammed my foot down and…and when I open my eyes there was blood everywhere." Elsa's eyes went wide, but she wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Elise grabbed a fist full of her hair and let out a terrifying shriek that made Elsa cower back. "I killed them!" she half screamed-sobbed. "I was so scared I ran out into the village. People were crowding around to see what was going on and I panicked and I just started freezing and freezing and when I was done there was no one left." By the time Elise finished her voiced had dropped to a whisper. "So I ran north until I came to the sea and then I kept on running until there was nothing around me but ice." She kept repeating 'nothing but ice' several times under her breath.
Elsa was in complete shock. Elise had killed all those people and here Elsa thought she was the one who was the monster. No, Elise wasn't a monster either it was just an accident. Elsa couldn't think of her as a monster, not when she sat there nearly ripping her hair out and rocking back and forth with her knees tucked into her body. Her eyes were wide open and looked devoid of life. She looked so broken, even more so than Elsa herself. Elsa knew what she had to do.
Elsa crawled over to Elise and wrapped her arms around her. "It's going to be okay. It was just an accident, Elise. It was in the past, everything is different now," Elsa tried reassuring her. Elise responded by letting go of hair and grabbing onto Elsa as an anchor. With Elsa's support, Elise opened up the floodgates. For the next twenty minutes Elise sobbed in Elsa's arms while Elsa whispered words of reassurance in her ear and caressed her hair. Finally, Elise's sobs too faded into periodic sniffles.
"Is this what it feels like to have a sister?" Elise finally spoke up.
Elsa finally smiled for the first time in over an hour. "Yes, it's wonderful isn't it?"
An affirmative nod was her only response. After a few more minutes Elise moved out of Elsa's embrace, got off the cot, and walked around the cell. Elsa just watched with curiosity. She noticed Elise was muttering to herself. She did that a lot, Elsa realized.
Finally, Elise stopped pacing and turned to Elsa. "I like your dress. It was your original one correct?"
"Yes, and thank you." Elsa was glad for the change of subject. "I like yours too."
"And you said you built your ice palace on your first try? How long did it take you?"
"Uh, only a few minutes actually." Elsa wasn't sure where this line of questioning was going.
"No way," Elise said narrowing her eyes. "You're lying."
"No, it's true," Elsa countered while standing up. "Just watch." Elise stood in amazement as Elsa built a scale model of her ice palace within the cell.
Elise's eyes were wide in wonderment. It reminded Elsa of Anna when she was kid. "It's beautiful." Elsa was delighted. "It took me years to finally build my own perfect palace. Just keeping it from falling down took forever."
"Oh." The reasoning behind her ice building hadn't occurred to Elsa before, but now it did. "Oh, that makes sense."
"What's that?" Elise asked never taking her eyes on off the model.
"Architecture," Elsa answered.
"Architecture?"
"Yes, architecture. And geometry. They were both kind of my hobby when I was growing up." Elsa turned away shyly from Elise's questioning gaze. "I've been drawing designs and sketches since I was ten."
"That explains how you managed to build this so easily." Elise turned back to examining the model. "I like more natural things myself. Animals and landscapes you know? I loved making sculptures, statues, and live ice creatures. Oh, and shaping the landscape."
Elsa was enjoying Elise marvel at her creation. "I see. That reminds me, how did you end up finding about my coronation?" Elsa asked.
"Oh, I'll show you actually," Elise paused and held up her hand. "Do you mind?" she asked looking at Elsa cautiously.
"No, please go on," Elsa had completely forgotten that Elise could have taken the opportunity to kill her or escape for a while now.
Elise whirled her hand around and formed a small ball of deep blue ice. It twirled around in a cloud of magic and ice crystals until it took on an odd snowflake looking shape. Elise sent it slowly over to her twin and Elsa held out her hand to catch it. It never reached her hand, instead it started flying around her head. Elsa managed to get a good look at it now. It looked like some kind of fairy made out of snowflakes.
"I call them Snow Fairies. I can send them anywhere in the world, though not a lot at a time. Through my connection to them I can see, hear, or even feel whatever they do, wherever they are."
"Whoa," Elsa was impressed. Who needs secret police when you had these guys?
"That's how I found out about your coronation. That's how I kept somewhat in touch with the outside world. I was always learning thanks to these guys. It takes a lot of concentration and control though."
"I bet," Elsa said as she stared at the Snow Fairy with fascination. Suddenly, Elise made it disappear. Elsa turned to look at Elise, nervousness creeping up on her.
However, Elise didn't look like she was going to attack. "So, I take it Anna doesn't really like me?"
"I'm afraid not," Elsa gave her a reassuring smile. "You haven't exactly been too kind to her yourself though."
"Yeah, I think I'm starting to realize that." Elise turned her head and refused to meet Elsa's eyes. Was she ashamed perhaps? And speaking of Anna, it was getting late. Elsa had to get to bed soon as much as she wanted to stay up all night talking to Elise.
"Elise, it's getting late. I think I'm going to have to go now." Elsa hadn't noticed Elise attempt to open her mouth first. "I want to visit again, but I'm going to be very busy the next few days. I won't be able to come tomorrow, but I will be able to the next day."
Elise rubbed her arm. "Oh, okay then."
The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Elsa. This was going to suck. How do I go through with this?
"In the meantime I'm going to have to ask you to uhm..." Elsa trailed off as she directed her gaze to the manacles that sat on the floor next to the cot.
"No, I understand Elsa. I'll put them back on without a fight." Elise started walking back to her cot with her eyes to the floor.
Well, that was easy.
Elise held out her hands to be restrained. Instead Elsa wrapped her arms around her. "Goodnight Elise. I'm glad to have you part of my life now." Before pulling away though, Elsa lightly kissed her cheek. She heard her shocked twin mumble something under her breath, but Elsa couldn't make it out. Elsa had a sudden urge to leave as fast as possible. She locked the manacles back on to her hands and feet and turned to leave grabbing the lantern in the process. Before closing the door Elsa looked over her shoulder to find Elise staring back at her.
Elsa was practically running down the corridors away from that cell. The visit had been extremely successful up until the very end. She had felt a strange feeling develop in the pit of her stomach when she had spontaneously decided to hug Elise before departing. She had an idea what this feeling was. All her fears from this morning were starting to come true.
A/N: Thanks to those who helped (Mig and Road) with this chapter. I wanted to get it this out at least yesterday, but whatever it's here now. So my apologies though I did already start writing chapter 4.
Don't worry there will be some action soon I promise. Not gonna say what kind of action though.
Also I changed the genre because. Thanks for reading.