The FROZEN Era

Chapter 6: The Night of the Banquet

The day dragged by and soon guest from other kingdoms start to arrive. It won't be long before the banquet will begin. Roland and Kristoff are going around; making sure the castle is secured.

"All right, men! To your post!" Roland commands, "I want a guard at each door and every window locked!"

"Are you sure this is really necessary?" Kristoff asks his brother-in-law.

"It's the queen's orders."

"You mean your wife's orders?"

Roland chuckles. "I prefer the queen's orders than my wife's orders. Just saying."

"I don't see why women have to be so overprotective."

"It's one of life's greatest mysteries, Kristoff."

Kristoff nods, until another thought comes to mind. "Hey, you don't suppose that there will boys at the banquet, right?"

"Of course, there will. Why'd you ask?"

"Because we both have daughters."

"They're ten-years-old," Roland points out. "They're not teenagers yet. Thank goodness. You're not worried, are you?"

"What? Me? Worried about a boy getting close to my daughter and niece? Don't be ridiculous, Roland."

"I was just asking."

Meanwhile, Elsa and Anna are in the queen's room, getting ready for the party. Elsa is putting Anna's hair into a bun; just like the one she wore for her coronation. The girls weren't in their dresses yet, but in robes; Elsa's is blue while Anna's is pink.

"Ow!" Anna starts to whine, "Hey! Go easy the bobbie pins! Ow!"

"If you hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much," Elsa tells her sister as she puts in the last bobbie pin.

"Ouch!"

"There. Happy now?" Elsa begins to put her braided hair into a bun.

Anna sits down in front of a mirror, putting on her makeup. "You seem a bit tense, Elsa."

"It's Julia. She was driving me crazy during her history lesson."

"Oh, I hate history. It's so boring!"

Elsa chuckles. "That's what Julia said." She looks at Anna with wonder.

Anna turns to Elsa. "What?"

"It's funny that you and Julia are . . . alike."

"Really? Because I was thinking the same thing with Kaley! She's like you except, she's shorter, way shorter. And Kaley has my blonde hair, which I think is cute because it's like she's my little mini me!" Anna then frowns. "But she's very shy and quiet."

"Maybe Kaley can give Julia some lessons on being quiet."

"Elsa, I'm sure she's not that bad."

"Are you kidding me? She's loud, destructive, not to mention she has a lack of manners!"

Elsa looks over to Anna, who is helping herself with some chocolate, getting some on her face. "I don't know where she gets it from," Anna speaks with her mouth full.

Elsa finishes with her bun and walks over to Anna. "I think I have a hunch." She uses a handkerchief to wipe the chocolate off of Anna's cheek. "My point is that we have nothing in common."

"Of course you do!" says Anna, "You both like sleep in, eat chocolate, and you both have icy powers!"

"Don't get me start on that topic." Elsa pulls away from Anna and walks over to the window.

Anna bits the bottom of her lip. Why did she have to bring it up? She walks over to the queen. "They're getting stronger, aren't they?"

Elsa sighs. "She doesn't know what she's capable of. She thinks that it's all fun and games, but it's dangerous. I don't want to see my little girl getting hurt."

Anna sets her hand on her shoulder. "Elsa, I know we're trying your best to protect her. Maybe you should let bygones be bygones. Julia will understand someday, but for now, let her be the child she is."

Elsa makes a face of uncertainty. She wants to keep Julia safe, but she doesn't want to force her to conceal her gift.

"Oh, and also," Anna adds, "You could be a little softer."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, you tend to be a bit harsh."

"Excuse me, Anna, but I am never harsh," Elsa corrects Anna, "Occasionally I do raise my voice."

"Occasionally?"

"Okay, I do it a lot, but it gets my point across."

Anna laughs. "Of course." She holds up Elsa's crown and places it in her sister's head. "Just talk to her about it, okay?"

Elsa and Anna share a sisterly hug. "Thank you, Anna."

The Great Hall is full of guest from nearby kingdom. Kings and queens chat with each other while their heirs play together. Musicians play their music as dancers dance on the dance floor. One royal family is from the kingdom of Buettingham. The king and queen seem to be a nice couple, but their daughter, Bridgette, seems to be the complete opposite. The eleven-year-old has golden curls that bounce with every move she makes and eyes that just spoke evil. Bridgette and her two friends hold fans that match their dresses.

"You look gorgeous tonight, Bridgette," says one of her friends.

"Absolutely gorgeous!" the other compliments.

"Thank you, ladies," says Bridgette, "It's hard to stay this pretty."

A fanfare plays to get the crowd's attendance to the announcer by the throne.

"Presenting her majesty and the royal family! Queen Elsa and Captain Roland of Arendelle! Princess Anna and Sir Kristoff of Arendelle!"

Elsa and Roland enter from right as Anna and Kristoff enter from the left. The couples stand together with the sister side by side.

"The royal children! Prince Evan of Arendelle! Princess Kaley of Arendelle!"

Evan walks over to his parents as Kaley walks over to her parents. Evan is wearing a blue suit like his Roland's and Kaley is wearing a long, magenta pink dress with her hair in a cute ballerina-like bun.

"And finally, Princess Julia of Arendelle!"

All heads turn to the right entrance where Julia is supposed to come out, but she doesn't come out on her cue. Anna looks at Elsa, who feels a bit embarrassed.

The announcer clears his throat. "Umm. Princess Julia of Arendelle! Your highness?"

"How charming," Bridgette says under her breath as her friends giggle.

"Coming!" Julia quickly runs over to join her family, trying to be as poise as possible. "Sorry."

The party resumes as the family watches. Julia avoids eye contact with her mother, fiddling with her fingers. The princess has her brown hair pulled back with a hair band and her dress is a light purple. She is also wearing a pair of white gloves.

"You have to work on your entrance, sweetie," Elsa quietly says to her daughter.

"Oh, right. I um. . . I didn't hear him," Julia lies. Elsa raises her eyebrow. "I'll work on it."

"You look beautiful, Julia," Elsa adds to cheer her up.

"Thanks, Mom." Julia looks at the crowd and sees Bridgette and her friends talking. She makes a face of disgust.

Evan turns to his mother. "Mommy? May I go play please?"

"Yes, you can, Evan. Just stay out of trouble," says Elsa as the six-year-old runs off.

"Kaley, why won't you two go on and dance?" Anna asks Kaley. "It's not fun standing up here with a bunch of grown-ups."

"Okay, Mama. Coming, Julia?" Kaley holds out her hand to Julia.

Julia looks back at Bridgette. She can see her whispering to her friends and has a pretty good guess on what they're talking about. All she wants to do is avoid her as much as possible.

"Julia?" says Elsa, "Is there something wrong?"

"No. Let's go, Kaley," Julia takes Kaley's hand and walks away. "How about we stay on this side of the room?"

"Sure, I guess."

The night goes on and everyone is having fun. Evan is at the buffet table. He takes a whole plate of sweets and goes underneath the table. Olaf and Stella are waiting for the boy and the plate of goodies.

"Here you go, Olaf," Evan offers the snowman a cookie.

"Oh, boy! My favorite!" Olaf is about to take a bit, Stella takes the cookie and gulps it down.

Anna and Kristoff share a dance together. Elsa and Roland soon join in with the other dancers. Julia and Kaley play with some of their close friends from other kingdoms. They play with the statues and portraits, pretending they're real.

"Hello there, sir knight!" Kaley pretends to talk to a suit of armor.

Julia answers for the 'knight' in a deep voice. "Greetings, fair princess! You look lovely, tonight!"

"Thank you, sir knight." Kaley and the other girls laugh.

"Hey, Julia! Can you show us your ice magic?" One girl asks Julia.

"Oh, sorry. I'm not allowed to do magic at parties."

"Is that why you wear those gloves?" Another girl asks.

"Yeah. They help me control my powers." Julia explains to her friends.

"Cool."

"Hey, guys! Look at this painting!" The girls gather around the painting. It's a paint of a woman who is sitting in a chair wearing black clothes. She has a decent smile on her face.

"I like her smile," Kaley comments.

"Well, look who it is?" The girls turn around to see Bridgette and her two girls. "Julia."

"Bridgette," says Julia.

"I didn't mean to intrude on your . . . game. My girls and I wanted to say how lovely you look."

"I'm not falling for that again, Bridgette!"

"Fine. It was funnier the first time, anyway." Bridgette and her friends laugh.

Julia clutches her fists. She is about to take off her gloves, but Kaley stops her. "Julia! Don't!"

"Wow, Kaley! I didn't know you could talk!" Bridgette speaks in sarcasm, "Probably because you're so scared to speak."

"Hey! That's my cousin you're messin' with!" Julia walks to Bridgette, being an inch away from her face. "Why don't you go and be a brat somewhere else!"

"Fine," Bridgette and her friends turn away. Julia walks back to her friends. Bridgette scoffs. "Freak."

Julia stops in her tracks and turns back to Bridgette. "What did you call me?"

"What's wrong, Julia? Can't accept the truth? You're nothing but a freak of nature. That's all you and your cousin will ever be."

Kaley sadly backs away. Julia, on the other hand, is very angry. "Take that back!"

"No!"

"Take! It! BACK!" Julia stomps her foot on the floor.

Ice forms around the two girls and soon ice crawls up Bridgette's legs. The blonde girl lets out a scream, getting people's attention. Evan, Olaf and Stella peek from underneath the table to see what's going on. Anna and Elsa watch as the ice covers the little girls entire body, leaving only her head free.

"That's cool." One of the girls says, impressed.

Bridgette looks down at her body. "See what you did!" Bridgette yells. "You're a monster, Julia!"

Julia looks at what she has done. She looks back at her friends, who stand behind Kaley slightly frighten. She then looks at the crowd staring at her. People start to mummer about the incident. Unable to take it anymore, Julia runs out of the Great Hall. Kaley goes after her.

"My daughter!" Bridgette's mother hurries over to her child. "What happened?"

As Bridgette tells her side of the story, people turn to Elsa, who ignores them and quickly goes after Julia. She is all that Elsa is thinking about

"Julia! Wait!" Kaley tries to stop her cousin. "Julia!"

"No, Kaley!" Anna stops Kaley, "Let your aunt handle this."

They watch as Elsa leaves the Great Hall.