Hello, my pretties. I'm back from my brief stay away from here with another chapter for all of you. And I seriously missed this place. I had too many ideas floating in my brain to not write about them. The one-chapter-per-week should be steady for now on, but I'll let all of you know if something comes up.
Oh, and a late Happy April Fool's day to all. Hopefully, you all got though that day without a serious pranker finding you. ;)
And a quick thingy, there is a little symbol that looks like this, 0*0*0. There's two of them and the words between them are kind of a flashback on things Elsa has discovered. But the rest occurs as in the present time. Just so no one gets too confused.
So without further ado, Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Maybe the few OC's that you're going to see in this chapter are mine, but everything else: NOPE.
Chapter 7: Locked Away
As a mark of respect, the late king's and queen's advisors left their respective studies untouched and locked away. At least, that was what was told when Elsa was within their presence. At the time, she thought nothing of the action. She was unable to do many things as her mind, body, and soul were encased in numbing ice.
As the years started to pass, the young princess had begun to grow and thaw. On the fifteenth summer of her life, Elsa could not deny her own growth. Time gave height to her body, length to her hair, and scars upon her heart. She was no longer silent by her nerves. Instead, she watched and analyzed with a steely gaze. And now, Elsa was not so easily swayed.
Hate… it always seemed to be too strong of a word.
Once upon a time, that word was unimaginable to a starry-eyed little princess. She could never imagine herself deliberately saying such harshness onto anyone or anything. Of course, the little princess had learned of dislike and annoyance, which she has felt before.
But that was in the past. Now… she hated the words that stood before her eyes. She hated nearly everything about the old letter down to the crinkly dryness of the paper and the handwriting that the words were written in.
Most of all, she hated the fact that she knew what the words before her had caused.
Right now, Elsa was seated within her late father's study. The air within the room that had been locked away for the past five years was incredible dusty and stale. Several trails of footsteps crisscrossed the floor from previous trips. The newest trail of footsteps was left from her earlier entrance and lead to an old bookcase before turning towards the work desk where she sat at.
The softness of the leather and the wealth of knowledge were ignored by Elsa. All Elsa was truly interested with was of the old letter from Corona.
It was a letter concerning a marriage proposal. More specially, a rejected marriage proposal. Through the longwinded explanations and overly complicated terms, the message was clear: the proposal was rejected. And at the bottom, a name was sign with a steady hand.
Count Xavier Multon of Corona… He was mother's father… My grandfather…
Texts from multiple books and sources suddenly floated into Elsa's mind. Each of the little texts that Elsa had diligently studied over the years added a piece to the portrait of destruction. All of them echoing and reinforcing the same cold fact into Elsa's head.
A dull pain throbbed at her temple, but Elsa knew what to do. After all, splitting headaches were no longer uncommon to the Princess of Arendelle. Her slender fingers carefully folded the old letter of doom and place it upon the desk. Other articles littered the once abandoned surface, however, she paid no attention to them. Leaning back against the leather, she let out a sigh as her eyelids closed. Ignoring the slight tickle on her cheeks from her longer eyelashes, she focused her thoughts on a single path.
0*0*0
At the age of twenty-five, the sole heir and ruler to the throne of Arendelle, King Agdar, began his search for a wife. He hosted a royal ball at the castle, calling out to trading partners and countries far and wide to be merry and feast upon the best of the land's delicacies. This attracted the attention of many considering the reputation of the kingdom's cold-hearted rulers; kings and queens of ice and isolation.
The ball was held in the beginnings of Arendelle's summer to allow enough warmth into the air and a brisk chill at night. And the ball was a success. The many nations who were represented at the ball ate and drank until they could hold no more. All were invited to stay amidst the castle walls and were catered to.
And luck found the young king at who he had met during the many nights of merry and feasting. The usually stoic king's attention was caught by a youthful countess. Warm amber eyes were framed by chocolate brown hair and shone with the spirit of a star. She had captivated many men, young and old, at the ball. Including a certain love-struck king.
Smitten with the countess, he spent time with her and came to know Countess Idun Multon of Corona. Apparently, they were inseparable as the two were clearly seen many times in each other's company. Just like any occasion, the familiarity between the two would have caused some rumors to fly about and circulate the royal and peasant crowds. However, the nights of fun came to an end. The ball ended with the departure of the young countess, but the young King Agdar was not done with the countess.
Letter after letter was sent from the King's chamber to the young countess. Both royals kept a strong connection as an entire year passed. Then, King Agdar had a letter sent to Count Xavier Multon of Corona. It was a proposal to marry his daughter. The Count first attempted to reject the proposal and forget of the matter entirely. But another proposal letter was sent, and after that, another was sent.
It was enough for the Count to realize what his daughter had done and what King Agdar did not know. The Count had to break a hidden truth to the King. At the beginnings of spring, Count Xavier sent a letter with the truth: his daughter was already happily married with a Coronian lord from the house Windhaven and already had a child.
Count Xavier never received a reply. Apparently, the young Countess Idun had stopped receiving letters from the King of Arendelle. No connection or communication had occurred for months between the Royal Family of Arendelle and the House of Multon. However, the silence between the houses was broken at the ending of autumn.
On the days leading to the final harvests, the peasants of Corona found gut-wrenching sights. The houses of Windhaven and Multon were found burning into rubble. Pikes with the Arendelle banner were erected all across the respective grounds with the heads of servants and royals alike. It was concluded that all of the members of House Windhaven and House Multon were murderer. However, closer investigation revealed that one member and several servants of the House Windhaven were unaccounted for.
The Royal Family of Corona was horrified. What made it worse off was the fact that when a meeting was held between the two kingdoms' kings on neutral ground, King Agdar never refuted the claims. It was rumored that the King of Corona grew as pale as snow as the King of Arendelle explained the coup with pride. Everything from the hired sell-swords and their weapons to the boats used to carry his captives away was explained in bone-chilling detail.
What had saved King Agdar from justice was not ignorance or mercy. It was military might. The threat of Arendelle's infamous navy and the inhospitable land locked in ice dissuaded the Coronian Council from seeking justice in such overwhelming odds. However, the King of Corona did not leave empty-handed.
King Gustav immediately cut ties with Arendelle and left the meeting with a single threat: If any of the Royal Family of Arendelle should ever set foot on Coronian soil again, then it would be considered an act of war.
0*0*0
Nearby footsteps jogged Princess Elsa from her musing. Looking up, she was surprised at who she saw. She never heard the door opening or the clang of his armor before now. Nevertheless, she spoke with as much openness as she had allowed herself.
"Hello, Sven." The knight in question bowed low before quietly relaying a message.
"Your Highness, dinner will begin shortly."
"Hmm, yes. Allow me to put these away and I will go to my room to clean up."
Neither of the two questioned the odd location of their meeting or of the documents laid on the table. After the meeting in the stables, Elsa had loss more and more sleep. After confiding in him and Kristoff about nightmares of blood and shadows, Sven and Kristoff gave her everything she needed to know. It was Sven himself who had provided her with the location of the hidden paperwork and the key to the door's lock.
This occurred a year prior, yet Elsa still returned to her father's study quite often. Sven never questioned her about it. He merely watched as she carefully folded and hid the tombs and paperwork in cleverly hidden crevices. The crevices ranged from simple books with an empty space to a hole behind a painting depicting the fjord to a hidden drawer in the work desk. She accomplished her task with a speed that betrayed the number of visits within the room.
Finished, Elsa reached a hand to Sven who linked their arms together and they left. Making sure to lock the door, the two went in the direction of Elsa's bedroom. Along the way, Elsa distracted herself from the quiet by comparing herself and Sven.
She had gained height over the years and the top of her head was just under Sven's shoulder. She had also become rather close to the two cousins and noticed when she had picked up their habits. She now enjoyed carrots and the itchy hay never bothered her. She even noticed when Sven's or Kristoff's eyes would often take a faraway look that would easily match her own.
Once arriving, Sven waited outside as Elsa entered.
Her bedroom had barely changed from any other day. The light blue walls welcomed and mocked her with their familiarity. However, Elsa ignored everything that was not needed to change out of her dusty dress and into more appropriate attire. Years of practice allowed the princess to easily change from the dust-covered dress into a modest, high collared dress.
Tossing the dusty dress away for Gerda to later pick up, she hesitantly looked at the door separating her from the rest of the world. After a short moment and with a shake of her head, she strode towards one of her bedside desks. She carefully kneeled next to the small desk before gently extracting a small key that hung around her neck. Using the key, she opened the bottom drawer.
Inside, the rose mirror glinted with the introduction of the invading light. Next to the mirror sat a pair of silk gloves and a small pouch. Barely hesitating, she took the gloves within her grasp before sliding them onto her hands. Then, she reached for the pouch. With the gloves, she could not truly feel the soft leather of the pouch or the roughness of the binds as she swiftly untied them. And with the softest of nudges, she allowed what was stored inside to slide out.
With a soft clink, two perfect rose petals sat in the palm of her silk covered hand. Setting the pouch down, Elsa handled the two petals with the care of holding a soapy bubble in one's hand. She looked in awe at the petals made entirely out of jewels. Perhaps they were a pair of rubies that were elegantly crafted to be rose petals. But the shade of red did not match the shade of normal rubies. What she did know was where they had come from.
Taking a glance at the rose mirror, she focused on the small ruby rose that sat near the handle. She had made it a habit on counting the petals.
One, two-three, four, and five… and then the two in my hand makes seven.
A sigh that was part relief and part discontent left her lips. She had hope that she had found another secret with the letter, but she was not too hopeful. Part of her knew that her father's study no longer served a purpose.
Looking back at the petals that laid in her palm, she still remembered when Gerda had found them. The day after Elsa found out what her father did to Corona, the young princess slept through the day as Gerda was getting ready to wash the dirty dress. Before doing so, she made sure that all of the pockets were empty of any debris or material.
As she checked one specific pocket, Gerda's hand encountered the warmth of the two missing petals. Quickly realizing what they were, she hid the two jeweled petals in a small pocket in her own dress before continuing on with her duties. Gerda informed Elsa of the discovery as the young girl had woke up for dinner that day.
The presence of the two petals confused Elsa briefly before remembering where they might have come from. After quickly retrieving the rose mirror, she instantly noticed the difference. With her mind clear from the long sleep, Elsa saw the places where the two jeweled petals previously stood on the small rose were now empty. That left the remaining five petals to keep the small rose alive.
Now, Elsa gently handled the pair of petal-shaped jewels as if they were truly fragile petals. She now knew of their significance. Each petal was one of the secrets that the Enchantress warmed her about. And she had discovered only two of them in five years. The wrath that King Agdar had thrown at the two Coronian houses and the envy that fuel King Agdar's will to covet and abduct what he wanted to become his own.
A spasm of fear tickled down Elsa's spine at the thought. The Enchantress never physically hurt her, but Elsa had a very sensible respect and fear for the Enchantress's return should she fail to find all of the secrets before her twenty-first year.
Laying a gentle kiss upon each of the petals, she softly nudged the two jewels into the pouch and watched them as their sparkling gleam continued even as she slowly rebound the pouch. Setting the pouch with its precious cargo into the drawer, she quickly removed the silk gloves before taking one last look at the mirror.
Wavering at the silent call, she gently picked up the mirror. Looking back at her was a girl. This time, the scrawny, defeated child was not looking back at her. Instead, a steady and stern gaze glowed from the mirror and pierced Elsa. The young woman seemed slightly weary and was still thin, but no longer emaciated. A strength seeped from the reflection. A strength that unnerved her, since it reminded Elsa too much of her father's gaze.
Elsa's icy eyes flinched away briefly before returning. She had asked it before so many times. She had to ask. She had to have help. She dreaded becoming as her parents and grasped at anything to prevent herself from becoming them. So, Elsa leaned in and closed her eyes as she whispered her greatest desire to the silent mirror.
"Help me. Help me to be good."
She kept her eyes closed as she set the rose mirror back into the drawer and locked it away. Only when the small click of the lock sounded did she reopen her eyes.
Taking care to hide the small key, she buttoned up the high collar before standing up right. Feeling cautiously content in her moment, she decided to end it as she exited her room.
Sven said nothing as he took back her arm, and led the princess to the dining room. The journey was a quick one as they descended a flight of stairs and walked down a few corridors. But before Sven could turn the corner that led to their destination, he was pulled back as Elsa stopped walking.
Coming to a halt, Sven waited for the princess to speak. But the silence continued as Elsa's blue orbs stared into Sven's chocolate depths. Letting out a quiet sigh, he allowed his free hand to reach into a pocket sown over his heart. He retrieved a small, metal key that was dull and slightly rusted, but the shine that entered Elsa's eyes made up for the key's poor luster. He quickly put the key into a similar pocket that was sown into Elsa's dress.
The glow persisted in Elsa as she took both of Sven's hands within her own and laid a kiss to each one. After the brief touches of soft lips to rough hands had ended, Elsa lifted her head again to look straight at Sven.
"Thank you, Sir Sven."
They both shared a brief, content smile before joining arms once more and continuing on their way to dinner.
AN: Yeah, I like this one. I know that it's not really happy-happy all the time. But I'm working on that. Oh, and the last part was a completely surprise to me. A last minute addition that has me smiling from ear to ear. :D What do you guys think?
As always: comments, concerns, and informed critiques are forever welcomed in the reviews. I glad to be back and typing as I should be.
So, until next time, Au revoir.
