Elsa knelt outside her parents' bedroom door, listening to them argue. They did that so often, nowadays. A day wasn't a day unless her parents bickered.
"I've received a letter," her father said, his voice muffled by the door. "One of the western kingdoms wishes to send their sons over to meet Elsa."
"...What did you say?" That was her mother.
A sigh. "I haven't said anything yet. I don't know what to do."
Another pause. "It seems a bit early to be sending suitors, if you ask me."
"She's thirteen, dear. In four years, she'll be old enough to marry. I've seen children in other kingdoms be propositioned at a much younger age by much older pursuers."
"...How old are the sons?"
"Fourteen, sixteen and seventeen. There's three that wish to visit."
"And do they know about...her?"
At this, Elsa's heart skipped a beat. Her. What a simple way of conveying so much.
"...No. No one does." A few minutes passed in silence. Her father spoke again. "I'll tell them not to come."
"But what about Elsa? What does she want?" her mother asked.
"I don't know. But if she said she wanted them to come, what do you expect? The girl can't crack a smile for fear of freezing everyone around her. What do you think would happen if she was to fall in love? Would any of these boys be prepared to deal with the consequences if they did marry her? Would any of them want to? And think of the children, Idun. What if one of them inherited her powers?"
"...But what if they did marry her, knowing her and what she is? What if they loved her and accepted her? Have you thought of that?" Her mother sighed. "It's her life, love. You can't protect her from the world forever."
"...I can try."
The definitive tone in her father's voice said the conversation was over. Elsa crept away from the door and back to her room, tears burning in her eyes.
Now, a few months later, Elsa was curled in a ball on her bed, clutching her stomach. She hated these stupid cramps. She'd 'become a woman,' as her mother put it, a few months ago, and she despised every second of it.
"What the point of having a period," she'd said, "if I'm not going to have children?"
Her mother had seemed both saddened and surprised. "What do you mean, Elsa? You don't want children?"
At this, the teenage girl flushed. "Well, I just...never mind."
The conversation of her parents still ached in her mind, following her around day in, day out, torturing her with the cruel reality of her situation. She wondered, in the back of her mind, if her mother understood what she could not say. Her fear, the perpetual fear of being unloved and childless. She was the heir of a kingdom, but unable have heirs of her own. Elsa could never marry or have her own child. And that knowledge pained her beyond words.
But she never dared voice these concerns aloud. She never said anything of her true feelings. Every thought in her mind, every idea and feeling and desire was all stifled inside her. She wore a perpetual mask, blue eyes cold and unrevealing, her hands carefully gloved and clasped in front of her. If you watched her, she never brushed against anything. She never tripped, never fell, never looked anywhere but straight out in front of her. Every move she made was carefully calculated.
Another wave of pain inside her core made the girl groan. She remained very still on her bed. The curtains had been closed, no natural light filling the room so as to distract her. If she didn't move, she didn't hurt nearly so much.
A soft knock at the door made her flinch. "Who is it?" she croaked.
"Your mother," came the gentle reply. The queen opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind her and being careful to avoid the ice that covered the floor. She held a steaming mug in each hand. "I thought you could use some company."
Elsa sat up, her mother taking a seat beside her on the bed and handing her a cup. Elsa gave a happy sigh. "Hot chocolate," she murmured, and lifted the drink to her lips. "With marshmallows."
Her mother stroked her hair as the girl drank, the warm liquid soothing her and making the ice around them disappear. "Oh, Elsa," the queen thought. "I love you, so much. If only things were different..."