Chapter Seven
I sat in my chair and tried to follow what was being said during the meeting that I was unfortunate enough to participate in. Meetings were generally boring, but this one seemed to be the most boring meeting I'd ever been to. Normally I could at least pay attention enough to know what was going on but I'd been sitting there for hours and I still wouldn't have been able to tell you what was being said. I tried to be polite and sit straight and proper like a queen should, but I didn't seem to have the energy for that and I sat with my elbow on the table on the table and my face resting on my hand.
I just didn't feel like sitting inside at a meeting, was that so bad? What I really wanted to do was go to the village. I wanted to go see all the people, see how things were going. I wanted to spend time with Anna and see the sunset again. I bet the sunrises would be great too, Maybe we could go early in the morning sometime? I smiled, that would be great. I'd have to talk to Anna about it.
"Uh, your highness?" I snapped back to reality. I got a feeling I missed something important.
"E-Excuse me?" I sat up straighter, trying to look like I had been paying attention. "I didn't quite catch that."
"Uh, we just asked what your thoughts were." The Head of the Council said, looking disapprovingly at my lack of attention. I felt my face go red. Why wasn't I able to pay attention when it mattered? It was so unlike me!
"Oh. On what was it, again?" He took a deep breath like he was trying to hold his frustration in. I didn't blame him. What kind of queen was I? Part of me missed when Mama and Papa were here and they would take care of everything. Part of me just wasn't ready to spend my time in meetings and in my office doing paperwork. Now that I had my freedom back for the most part, I wanted to go out and do things.
"We wanted to know if you would be willing to be there when the next shipment of apples go out." The Head of the Council said. "We think it would be good for you to be there to sign the papers and make sure everything's okay before they get shipped out. We thought you might like getting out and participating in more things." I thought about that for a minute, it was almost like he'd read my mind.
"Yes, I would like that." I said. Other than signing paperwork and attending meetings, I didn't do much involving the kingdom. "What does that involve, exactly?" The council members all smiled.
"You'll just need to go down to the Fjord and sign some papers. Basically, just go and oversee everything and make sure it all goes well." The Head of the Council said. I nodded. That sounded easy enough.
"When is it to take place?" I wondered. Maybe Anna and I could go walking around the village again after the shipment was sent off.
"Friday after lunch." He said.
"Do I have any other engagements Friday?" I asked. He pulled a small book from his pocket and flipped through it, settling on a page a moment later.
"No," He said squinting slightly as he read. "You do not have any other engagements on Friday."
"Good, put a note in there not to schedule anything." I told him smiling, "After I go to the Fjord to see the shipment off, I would like to spend the rest of the day with Anna." The Head of the Council nodded, scribbling in the book before snapping it closed and putting it back into his pocket. They let me go after that, and I had to go meet Henrik for some archery. Some practice would be good, then it would be time for supper and I figured I could talk to Anna then to see what she thought about going to the village on Friday. I really doubted that she would say no.
I found Henrik in the archery range already waiting for me. I could see that he'd been shooting, as there were arrows already stuck in the targets, all of them in the center somewhere. It was impressive and I hoped to be that good someday.
"I apologize for being late." I said, looking at the ground.
"Not a problem, Queen Elsa." He said with a slight bow. "Would you like to get started?"
"Yes, please!" I said smiling. Henrik walked over to the targets and began pulling the arrows out. After he collected them all, he walked over to me and handed them over along with the bow. I knocked my first arrow, pulled it up in aim and took a deep breath. After letting it out, I let go of the arrow and watched it fly. I barely hit the target and I was slightly disappointed.
"Please don't worry about it, your majesty." Henrik said, noticing the look on my face. "You're going to get better. It's only your second day, after all."
"I guess you're right, aren't you?" I said with a little shake of my head. It was silly of me to be upset, it would take time. I shot another arrow and watched as it hit the target a little closer to the center than the first one did. I just wanted to hit the center at least once, was that too much to ask? The target isn't even that far away, I thought in dissatisfaction as the next arrow missed the target all together.
After I shot my last arrow, I stood there and stared at the arrows sticking out of the target. None of them made it to the center circle, one of the arrows made it kind of close, sitting at about four or five inches away from it.
"Good job." Henrik said. "Now you can go retrieve the arrows and start again." I walked over to the target and pulled the arrows and came back for more shooting. After a couple hours of perpetual shooting, the sun was starting to set, and it was probably time for supper.
"I think we've had enough for today." Henrik said. " I can take your bow if you want to go have supper." He reached for the bow but I ignored him. I spent hours shooting arrows and still had yet to hit the center. Before I realized what I was doing, ice started growing in my hand. It started out looking like a pole but it kept growing until it was a finely crafted arrow. I aimed the arrow made of ice and shot it.
I blinked and stared at my arrow. It landed in the center. That didn't seem right, I hadn't hit the center at all that day, why now? I rubbed my eyes and looked, it was still in the center. I hadn't imagined it. I chanced a glance at Henrik and the look on his face reminded me of what I had just done. I made an arrow of ice and shot it, hitting dead center. He was probably completely afraid of me. The arrow looked lethal, with a razor sharp point. It was much sharper than the arrows I had been practicing with. Looking at the arrow, I could tell that it went almost all the way through the target. I cringed and started to back away.
"Oh, Henrik. I'm really sorry." I tried to say. "I wasn't thinking. I just did it."
"You hit the center." He said as he stared at the target in wonder. "You just...do it again." I stared at him. I must not have heard him right, it almost sounded like he wanted me to do it again.
"Uh, if you don't mind, that is." He added when he saw my confusion. "I just want to see it again and then you can go." What could it hurt, I wondered after a moment of thought. What if I missed and hit somebody with it though? There was nobody around except Henrik, I remembered.
"Only if you stand behind me." I told him. I couldn't hit him if he was behind me. He agreed, so I formed another arrow out of ice and quickly shot it. I smiled as it hit center, shattering the other arrow and took it's place.
"That's amazing!" Henrik said, making my smile grow. "We can explore that more tomorrow. I'm sure you must be hungry by now."
"Yes, and sore." I added with a small laugh, I flexed my arms. "Thank you, Henrik. I'll see you tomorrow."
When I turned to go into the castle, I spotted Anna leaning against a tree watching me. I wondered how long she had been standing there watching. What did she think of my ice arrows? She didn't look upset, scared, or disgusted.
"How long have you been watching?" I asked when I reached her.
"Just a couple minutes." She said. "You were late for supper so I came out to see what was keeping you."
"I'm sorry, Anna." I responded. "You could have started supper without me." We started making our way towards the castle.
"I'm glad I came out, that was so cool!" Anna said excitedly. "The way you just made those arrows and hit the center, it was so awesome!" She was practically skipping.
"It wasn't really that impressive." I said. "I didn't even think about it when I did it. I did it out of frustration."
"What do you mean?" Anna wondered.
"I was frustrated because I couldn't hit the center." I told her. " So without thinking, I made an arrow out of ice and shot it. It probably only hit the center because I made the arrow with my powers."
"That's still really cool." Anna said. I shook my head with a small smile on my lips. Anna was always so optimistic, I loved that about her.
When we made it to the dinning room we took our spots and began dishing up. I suddenly remembered about the shipment on Friday.
"Do you have anything planned on Friday?" I asked as we began eating the delicious food.
"I don't think so." Anna said, a thoughtful look on her face. "Why?"
"Well, the Council wants me to oversee a shipment of apples at the fjord on Friday and I was wondering if you wanted to go walking around town again afterwards." I said. "I thought maybe we could go back to the bakery and walk around, maybe watch the sunset again."
"That sounds wonderful!" Anna said excitedly. "I can't wait!" I tried to hold back my smile of excitement but I didn't do a very good job. Maybe this time it wouldn't be such a surprise to the villagers.
We ate the rest of the meal in silence. I watched Anna out of the corner of my eye. Anna always ate so quickly, like somebody was going to reach out and take it or it was going to just disappear. Sometimes she gripped the spoon or fork in a fist, instead of the proper way. When I was younger, proper eating etiquette was drilled into me as well as everything else I would need to know to be the queen. I wondered why they didn't drill it into Anna as well. She was just a princess, but it still would have been in their best interest to teach her.
I didn't mind when she used the wrong silverware and held it different, but I would have hated for someone to say something to her if we ever had special visitors staying in the castle. I wasn't sure if I should ever say anything, so I normally kept my mouth shut. What did it matter? We almost never had visitors anyway.
"Maybe you should slow down a little." I said when she almost choked on her food. "It's not good for digestion." Anna suddenly looked angry.
"Sorry."She snapped. I noticed she switched to holding the fork properly and sat up straighter, it was almost like she read my mind. Though, that wasn't what I meant. I just didn't want her to choke.
"No, It's just fine." I said cautiously. "I just want to make sure you're okay. I don't want you to choke or have a stomach ache later because you ate too fast."
"Oh." Anna said, the look of anger melted into despair.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's just... I'm about as graceful as a...as a bear tripping down the stairs!" Tears filled her eyes and she practically wailed. The image of Anna being a bear, tripping down the stairs brought a small smile to my face. I couldn't help it.
"That's not true!" I said, placing my hand over my mouth to hide the smile.
"It is and you know it!" Anna said, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "I don't make a very good princess!"
"Yes you do." I said with a frown. "Why do you say that? Did somebody say something to you about it?"
"No." Anna said. "It's just true though."
"Well, I think you make a perfect princess." I said. "You brighten the whole kingdom with your smile and positive attitude." Anna stopped and looked at me.
"You mean it?" She asked, a smile forming on her lips.
"I would not have said it if it were not true." I said.
"Thank you." Anna said quietly. "Sorry, my emotions are getting the best of me. One minute I'm happy, the next I'm angry or sad or just upset."
"Don't worry about it, Anna." I reassured her. "It's because you're pregnant. Your hormones are all over the place. It will pass once you have the baby."
"I hope so." She said as she picked up her fork again. "It hasn't even been that long of having mood swings, but it feels like forever. I'm getting tired of it, but at least I don't have morning sickness much anymore."
"Yes, that's good." I said to her. She always seemed so miserable, hunched over a bucket being sick. Of course, nobody liked throwing up, but it seemed to happen to her everyday. Sometimes more than once each day, and the time of day didn't seem to matter. I was glad that it seemed to be tapering off.
"I'm excited for Friday." Anna said as we finished our meal. "To be honest, I didn't think we would be able to have another day like that again so soon. I thought it would be awhile."
"Me too." I said with a smile. "I was surprised when they asked if I wanted to do it. I told them not to schedule anything else on Friday so I could have the rest of the day with you."
"Wow, you really did that?" Anna wondered.
"Of course, I always like spending time with you when I can." I said, and noticed the blush on Anna's face.
"You like spending time with me?" She asked.
"Of course, you're my sister." I responded.
"I like spending time with you too!" Anna said. She stood up from her chair and leaned over me. I held my breath as she leaned down closer and kissed me on the cheek.
"I'm going to go paint in my room, you're welcome to come keep me company if you want." Anna said, then skipped out of the room. I touched the spot on my cheek that she kissed, feeling it, and felt myself blush. I could still feel her soft lips there and I got a weird feeling in my stomach. I decided that it was probably best to ignore it so with a smile I got up from my chair and went to go join Anna.