That night I continued talking with Julian while Jack was sitting in front of me. I told Anna to be my proxy for the ball, which essentially meant she would have to say hello to the people who came in and talk to a few others; hopefully she was doing okay.
"Are you alright Elsa?" Julian asked me.
"I'm worried about Anna. I just left her out there." I said getting up to go a check on her.
"Are you sure you're alright to walk?" Julian asked as I got off the bed.
"I'll be fine. I just need to check on Anna." I assured him. He helped me to my feet and wrapped an arm around my waist to give me support as I walked to the ball room.
"Would you like to use my walking stick Madame?" Jack asked. "Or are you going to continue to use the log to hold you up?" I wasn't expecting that, I actually funny enough that I had to hide the twitch of my lips as I walked into the ball room. I searched the crowd to see Anna talking to a Lord of Wellington. She saw me walk in and immediatly excused herself from the conversation.
"Elsa!" she called as she ran to me.
"Hey. How are you holding up?" I asked her.
"I'm okay. I was told a few minutes ago the trade was complete. People are free to go now." She explained. "How are you doing? That's the question."
"Oh I'm okay. I just thought I saw a ghost or something back there." I lied, and Jack snorted.
"Do you have any idea who the ghost could possibly be?" Julian asked.
"I don't know." I lied again. "All I know is that I saw a man's ghost or something."
"Maybe he'll go away soon." Anna laughed.
"Hopefully." I agreed.
"Not a chance." Jack countered. I swept my foot back and kicked his shin with my heel.
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked rubbing his shin. I tried my best to keep my attention on Anna and keep smiling. Thankfully my dress hid my action as the two in front of me didn't suspect a thing.
"Oh, right. I should check my crew to see if everything's okay. We have to head out to another island in the morning before we journey home." Julian excused himself. "Will you be alright?" he asked me.
"I'll be fine. I didn't break my bones, so you don't have to worry about me." I assured him. He turned to Anna.
"I feel the Queen is downplaying her condition. Find me if anything happens." He pleaded.
"Will do." Anna agreed with a few giggles in her response. Before Julian departed, he took my hand.
"You My Queen, I will never stop worrying about." He said looking into my eyes and kissing the top of my hand. Anna tried to contain her joy, but I saw Jack in the corner of my eye making gagging faces. When Julian walked away, Anna let out her excitement.
"Oh my gosh Elsa!" she squealed.
"What?"
"He likes you. Like really, really likes you!" she shrieked as she was freaking out.
"You should have seen him when they were in her room. He liked her more than you'd like to see." Jack teased as he walked around Anna.
"Stop it." I hissed at him. He held up his hands and gave a face saying 'Hey it's true'. Anna on the other hand was still freaking out, so I put my hands on her shoulders.
"Anna, you have to calm down. You're getting excited over nothing." I said in a calm voice.
"What? Why are you saying that finding love is 'nothing'?"
"Anna! Please stop this. I don't love him!" I ensured.
"Ouch. That's gonna be heart breaking for him." Jack said as he twirled his staff. Crap I forgot he was still here.
"Why do you keep shutting people out?" Anna demanded an answer.
"I'm not shutting him out. I'm just saying that it's none of your business and it's just for the best." I said simply.
"Elsa, you won't know until you try." Anna pointed out.
"Anna..." I started to reason with her.
"You've never been with anyone and you're always thinking about the kingdom. The people are thankful of that, but you need to take some time to think about yourself and your own happiness." She reasoned.
"Anna, it's just not that simple."
"Please. Just try for me. I just want you to be happy." Anna pleaded. She put her hands together and gave me her puppy dog face she would always use.
"Anna." I sighed. "Fine."
"Yay!" Anna exclaimed. Jack started laughing so hard he fell on the floor. I shot him a death glare when he got up.
"Elsa? Do you have something against the Prince of Nalgia?" Anna whispered to me.
"What?"
"You're shooting him daggers." She explained.
"I was not." I defended.
"Yes you were." Jack whispered from behind me. I jumped forward.
"I really need to put a bell on you." I told him.
"On who?" Anna asked. "Elsa are you sure you're okay? Do you need to lie down?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I assured her again.
"Worrying about you became my new job, sister. Actually it's been my job since I was old enough to know you were my sister. And you were just saying to nothing that you needed to put a bell on it." Anna explained.
"I- uh, actually you're right. I'm still seeing things; I think I need some fresh air." I suggested.
"You go. I'll stay here and keep things in order." Anna offered.
"Thank you." I said. I made my way to the balcony with, of course, Jack not too far behind me. When we were both alone on the balcony I shut the doors for some privacy.
"Okay, what is up with you?" I snapped and punched Jack in the arm.
"Ow! Do you get pleasure from hitting me or something?"
"Don't change the subject, Frost. You had that coming to you."
"Oh come on! What did I do?" he said chuckling.
"You're making me seem like I'm going crazy in front of all those people."
"Actually, you're making yourself look crazy. I'm just having fun."
"Making me look like I've gone insane." I added.
"Well I'm sorry if I find it funny that your sister has you wrapped around her finger." He admitted.
"She does not."
"Oh you so are. You gave in almost immediately. And you gave in to the generic pouting face of all things." He reasoned, but then started laughing. I tried my best to keep my angry face on, but the more I thought about how right he was, the more I wanted to laugh. I accidentally snorted, which made Jack laugh even harder. I couldn't control my own laughter, so I fell on my knees and began laughing myself. I laughed so hard that my sides and cheeks began to hurt.
"Oh my god, why do I give in?!" I said as we started to calm down.
"I don't know. That's just what happens." He said as he leaned on the railing. We both sat on the balcony in silence for a moment in attempt to calm the laughter down. Oddly enough, this silence was comfortable.
"Um, we should probably get back." I suggested as I stood up.
"Yeah, we should." He agreed.
