"... I think both our kingdoms would benefit from-" Elliott was saying, but the sound of Andy's loud entrance made him stop mid-sentence to turn and stare at his brother, who was pushing his way through the crowd, with a really beautiful girl with auburn hair in arm.

"Excuse me, coming through, coming... Oh! There he is. Elliott!" Andy bowed slightly, "I-I mean...King. Just me again, um... I'd like to introduce you to Princess Helena from the Southern Isles!"

"Your Grace," the girl, Helena, curtsied and smiled at him charmingly, Elliott was unimpressed, but nevertheless he bowed his head in return politely.

When they did not leave, Elliott realized Andy must have wanted something. He turned to Princess Rapunzel from Corona and her husband, Eugene, and bowed apologetically, "Pardon me, but I'm afraid we'll have to continue negotiations between our kingdoms at another time."

"That's alright, your Majesty," the short-haired brunette smiled kindly and grabbed Eugene's hand, "It's a party after all, so let's enjoy! Come on, Eugene, let's grab some cake."

"Oh you mean that monstrosity with the raw fish sticking out for no reason-" Rapunzel jabbed him hard in the ribs, and he laughed, "just kidding, I'd love some!"

Elliott suppressed a smile as he watched them walk away. Finally, he gave his full attention to Andy, who seemed to be growing impatient with whatever it was he wanted to tell him. "Yes?"

"So," Andy started, suddenly looking self-conscious, "We would like...if you could give us, um..."

Helena sensed him getting cold feet, and jumped to his rescue, squeezing his arm and saying, "Your blessing!"

"My... my blessing?" Elliott repeated, his brows furrowing, "I'm sorry, I'm confused..."

"Of our marriage!" they blurted out at the same time. Andy's doubts seemed to slip away with the bright smile the Princess was giving him, his green eyes wide and excited.

"Huh?" was all Elliott managed. What was his brother thinking? This must have been the girl Andy had mentioned earlier, so that meant... they had met that very day.

"We haven't figured out all the details yet, of course," Andy rushed on, "We'll need a few days to plan the ceremony. But for sure we'll include cake, lots of cake! And also- wait. Would we live here?"

Elliott opened his mouth to say something, but Helena cut him off by enthusiastically replying, "Absolutely!"

"Andy-" Elliott tried again, but his brother was on a roll.

"We can invite all twelve of your sisters to stay with us!" Andy grabbed both her hands and looked into her eyes, "we have plenty of room! We can-"

"Twelve sis- no. No, no, no, no!" Elliott grabbed Andy by the collar of his dress shirt, forcing him to look at his stern expression, "Slow down. No one's sisters are staying here. No one is getting married!"

"What?" Andy had the nerve to look surprised.

Collecting himself and breathing deeply, Elliott let go of Andy's shirt. Don't let them see. His brother could not be serious. Was this just some joke to set him off? Because if it was, it was working.

"May I speak to you, Andy?" Elliott pleaded, and when Helena made as if to move forward, he added, "alone?"

Helena turned to Andy and gave him a hurt look, like a wounded deer. Elliott grit his teeth. This girl was playing Andy like an instrument. Andy hooked his arm through hers and puffed out his chest, "No. Whatever you have to say- you can say it to both of us." They nodded in unison.

"Fine." Elliott said dryly, "You can't marry some woman you just met."

"You can if it's true love!" Andy shot back, surprising Elliott. Andy never got like this. He was the definition of laidback. Elliott was treading unknown ground, which stressed him and scared him- years of not interacting had left him unsure of how to act around Andy. He barely knew how to do it when they were on friendly terms, let alone deal with him when he got like this.

Elliott narrowed his eyes, "Oh, Andy. What do you know about true love?"

"More than you," Andy's eyes were furious now, it looked so out of place from his usually smiling face Elliott felt all his body tighten with dread. Andy was snapping. After years, his brother was finally snapping. "All you know his how to shut people out!"

Wanting to avoid conflict at all costs, Elliott turned his back on them, "You ask for my blessing, brother, but... my answer is no. Now, excuse me," he started to walk away, wanting, needing to get out of there as fast as possible. Their argument had already attracted unwanted attention from the guests.

"Your Grace, if I may-" Helena made a gesture as if to grab the King's arm, but Elliott easily sidestepped her.

"No, you may not, and I-I think you should go." Elliott felt trapped. His poor control over his emotions was slipping so fast it wouldn't be long before his powers did too. And that would be disastrous.

"The party is over. Close the gates," he told the Royal Handler on his way out, walking at a brisk pace to just get out of there. All eyes were on him.

"Elliott, no! No, wait!" in a desperate lunge, Andy managed to grab his brother's hand and roughly pull off the glove from his left hand. That got the King to stop dead in his tracks.

Elliott spun around, his eyes on fire, "Give me my glove!"

"Just one thing, Elliott, all I've ever asked of you is this one thing!" Andy's eyes were just as fierce as is brother's, if not more, "But you won't even give me that. I can't live like this anymore!"

"Then leave," Elliott growled, holding his ungloved hand close to his chest, his breathing becoming more and more agitated. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Conceal. CONCEAL. Control it!

Andy's face crumpled, and the raw hurt in his brother's face was too much for Elliott. He, like he always did, turned his back on Andy and began to walk away, trying to get some sort of control over himself before the worst happened, like it had years ago.

"What did I ever do to you, you stupid jerk!" there was a low gasp from the crowd, their fight sure had everyone's attention now. He'd just insulted the King. But Elliott barely cared, he already felt the familiar tingling in his bare hand. "Won't you even tell me that? How did I offend you, why... why do you hate me so much?"

"Enough, Anders," Elliott gasped, his lungs suddenly needing air. A lot more air. He wasn't getting enough. Was that the beginning of a panic attack? He was almost at the door. He had to be alone, he had to control it.

"No! Tell me why. Why do you shut me out?!" Andy gestured at all the people present with Elliott's glove, "why do you shut the world out? WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF?!"

"I SAID ENOUGH!"Elliott's voice was a roar as he suddenly whipped around, moving his bare hand in a wide arc- with ice shooting out of it, and not just ice, tall spikes that would have impaled Andy had he not jumped back at the last second. The guests cried out in shock, backing away from the terrifying spikes. Elliott's breathing returned to normal after the outburst, like a load had been lifted from his shoulders, but his the worst-case scenario had just come true.

Don't let them in, don't let them know.

"Elliott...?" all anger from a few seconds ago had been completely wiped off Andy's face. Confusion and awe replaced it, and maybe a flicker of understanding, but Elliott didn't linger on that now.

Well now they know.

He opened the door behind him and ran.

•••

Elliott burst out of the castle doors and into the courtyard, where a crowd of people even bigger than the one inside were celebrating his coronation.

"It's the King!"

"Long live King Elliott!"

"Come drink with us!"

Blinded by terror, Elliott ducked through the crowd, holding his bare hand close to his chest in case another unwanted shot of ice escaped and if it did he wanted it to strike him. He didn't know where he was going, all he knew is that it had to be as far away from the party as possible and preferably alone.

But the people were closing in on him, their voices too loud, their faces too bright, until he'd backed away into the courtyard's fountain.

"Your Majesty? Are you alright?" a woman holding two little children approached him, but their presence just made Elliott's head pound harder.

"Please just-" he tried to keep his hand away from them by placing it behind his back, grabbing the fountain's edge; but it froze at his touch, turning the water into a frightening jagged sculpture.

Everyone gasped with shock and fear, and someone screamed. And to make things worse, the Duchess of Sandlane burst through the doors, in hysterics, screaming "Stop him! Stop that monster!"

The last word cut through Elliott like the sharp spikes in the Great Hall, but he continued to back away from the Duchess and everyone else, towards the gates.

"Just stay the hell away from me! I don't want-" he'd been raising both hands as a sign of surrender, but magic shot from his hand, turning the staircase to ice and causing the Duchess to slip and fall.

The apology died in his throat as the crowd began to panic and people poured out of the party, among them Andy, still holding his glove. The Duchess was screaming bloody murder as Helena helped her to her feet.

"Elliott!"

Elliott ignored his brother's cry, and he ran for the gates, which was easy thanks to the ringing in his ears blocking out everything and everyone else but his urge to get away.

"Elliot! Wait, please!"

He made it to the water's edge and his heart sank. There was nowhere to run. Maybe I can just drown myself, his thoughts filled with self-loathing suggested. But the thought of going back to that cage was unbearable. His salvation presented itself when the shoreline began to freeze under his feet.

"Elliott, stop!" Andy had almost caught up, with Helena close behind him.

Elliott tore his gaze away from his brother's desperate face and he stepped over the fjord, and to his immense relief, it froze instantly. He broke into a run, adrenaline making him run faster than he thought himself capable of; and with every step, the water froze creating an icy path.

He did not look back.

• • •

Andy made it to the fjord's ice Elliott's magic- magic! - had created, but all he managed to do was slip and fall, much like the Duchess had done, but he fell on his knees. He had enough time to watch Elliott's maroon cape disappear into the far shore, and up the mountains.

Just the day Andy decided to demand answers, was the day he got them alright. Well that had answered one question, but it just created ten thousand more and just thinking about it made his head pound even worse. But the important thing was...

He finally knew. The reason he'd yearned for ever since he could remember, why he lost sleep at night sometimes. Why he'd felt unloved and rejected by his only brother... Elliott had probably been trying to protect him. Of course noble Elliott would. But why? They were brothers, Elliott would never hurt him with his powers. So why hide? Why isolate himself, and by doing that, kind of isolate Andy too.

So THAT'S why he wore the gloves, Andy thought. He could've just told me!

And that rose up a couple more questions: did their parents know? Of course they did. Every time he had asked his mother about Elliott, she'd got this really sad look on her face and his father just completely avoided the subject. Why did Elliott have powers, anyway? Did one of his parents do, too?

"Andy... Andy, look! The fjord!"

Andy was so distracted by his thoughts he hadn't noticed Helena placing a hand on his shoulder and gasping. He looked up.

The icy path where Elliott had stepped on to get to the other side was spreading alarmingly fast, until the entire fjord was frozen. It was like spreading butter on bread, only that Arendelle was the bread and the ice was the butter. Andy jumped up to see the ice reaching the ships from the other kingdoms; and with an extremely loud creak of wood, the ships tilted to the side and got locked in place.

Andy sneezed as a snowflake landed on his nose.

They were in the middle of June.

• • •

With Elliott gone, Andy decided it was up to him to get some sort of order and calm down the people. He hoped a mob with pitchforks and torches hadn't gathered.

His first instinct was to go after Elliott. Talk things out. Now they had a lot to discuss. But he could not leave Arendelle in this state of panic, without a ruler. He moved through the panicked crowd, Helena clutching his arm, and every snippet of conversation he caught went along the lines of snow? in June? or The King has cursed this land!

Which wasn't good.

"Are you alright?" Helena asked him, eyeing him with a worried glance.

"No," he muttered, still in shock.

"Did you know?" she asked in a low voice.

"No..."

"What the hell are these hideous things falling from the sky?" the shrill voice of the Duchess of Sandlane reached his ears, rising above all others.

"It's snow," Andy said walking up to the Duchess, still surprised by the fact himself, just saying it so casually like it was normal for it to be snowing in July.

Elliott had made it snow. Elliott froze the fjord. He made ice spikes appear with a wave of his hand. Elliott...

The duchess jumped back like Andy was vermin. She glared at the prince, "You!Is there sorcery in you, too? Are you a monster too?" she hissed.

"What?" Andy tried not to flinch at the last part. "No! I'm just... me. I'm nothing special."

"That's right!" Helena said. Andy frowned. "In a good way, of course," she added sheepishly, pecking his cheek.

"And Elliott's not a monster!" Andy felt really defensive of his brother, now that he finally understood. Now that he had time to think back on it, Elliott had looked terrified. All his actions tonight had been an accident, driven by fear.

"He tried to kill me," the Duchess retorted.

"My lady, you slipped on ice." Helena rolled her eyes.

"Ice that he created!" the Duchess huffed indignantly, "if you hadn't been such a lovely girl and helped me up, I would have died right there!"

"Elliott didn't mean to do that! He didn't mean any of this, I... I made him mad. And with good reason," he ignored the pointed look Helena gave him, "He just got scared... I'll bring him back."

"But, Andy-" Helena started to protest.

Andy gave her a reassuring, but dismissive, pat on the arm and stepped on the frozen fountain, looking over the heads of everyone. With a surprising strong voice, he called:

"PEOPLE OF ARENDELLE!"

He didn't expect everyone to immediately drop what they were doing and listen. He was just the useless spare. Who would listen to him? But Helena had proved that wrong, and apparently, the whole town was going to.

"Yes, um, hi. It is me. Prince Anders," he said idiotically. He swallowed his nerves and tried to imitate the thing his father had done when he addressed the people. With empathy and reassurance. They had to think he had a plan, that it was all under control. "I know you're all scared! But so was Elliott. The outburst of the King was my fault. So I'm the one that needs to go after him. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. I'll bring him back, and he'll stop the weather."

That was a weak speech, but it seemed to do the trick. Right away the air got a lot less tense and a bunch of people looked more at peace.

He stepped down and told the Royal Handler to bring him his horse.

"Andy, please. It's too dangerous. How is Elliott even going to thaw the fjord?" Helena said. "He most likely did that on accident."

"Elliott's not dangerous. And don't worry. I got a plan," the last part was true. A solution, the perfect thing had just come to him. All he had to do was find Elliott and the early winter would stop.

The Royal Handler came back with Andy's sandy-colored horse and a travelling cloak. Andy thanked him and took the reins from him.

"I'm coming with you," Helena said, her eyes determined. "I'm an excellent rider and a good shot, I can-"

Andy laughed, "Whoa there. No one's getting shot. I'll bring Elliott back and we'll fix this."

"I didn't mean- like, to protect yourself, Andy. It's still dark, and you don't know what could be out there," Helena insisted, "You don't even know where Elliott went."

"I'll follow the storm... I'll find him. I know I can. Trust me! But meanwhile," he took her hand in his, "I need you here. To look after Arendelle. Yeah?"

She kept his gaze for a few more seconds but eventually she sighed in defeat and kissed his cheek, "Please be careful. I don't want you getting hurt."

Andy beamed at her as he hopped on his horse, "He's my brother. He would never hurt me."

He pulled on his cloak and yelled at whoever cared to hear, "I leave Princess Helena in charge!"

Andy snapped the reins and they sped away.