For the next five days, the girls recovered from their bout of chickenpox. Unknowing to Jack and Elsa, the girls worked night and day on their dresses, perfecting them for Masquerade Ball. Ellie had the brilliant idea of taking her hands and creating a very, very thin sheet of ice and placing it upon the red spots, making her skin a bit more tolerable, doing the same to Annaleise, who was having the hardest time trying not to scratch. Their red spots were almost gone except for the a few on their faces, which would be easily covered by a bit of foundation powder and their masks. Their bodies recovered amazingly fast from the pox. Usually it would take someone 10-14 days to not be contagious, but lucky them, their unusual healing made them much better quicker.
Today was Thursday, September 5th , the day before the Masquerade Ball. Annaleise put the final touches on her mask, her costume being fire themed (of course), and in lovely hues of red, orange and yellow. Her dress was quite long, somewhat like a long tail that swayed when she walked, almost like was on fire.
Ellie's dress was the same shapewise, the only difference was the color schemes. Blacks, purples and silvers surrounded the body of the dress with a long train as well. "There. Done.: Annaleise wiped her forehead clear of the sweat begining to form on her hairline from working so hard.
"You think they'll like the costumes? Mama and papa haven't asked about them so I assume they might not be too concerned." Ellie plopped on her side of the bed after she hung her dress in the dresser up.
"I don't see why not. Their costumes are pretty hush-hush. I know Aunt Anna and Uncle Kristoff will be reindeer," Annaleise let her hair down out of her ponytail, letting her hair fall down her back. "Obviously."
"Of course they chose a reindeer. Laurence and Anders probably chose something obscure like a peacock, or an exotic animal."
"Knowing them, probably something obscure."
Ellie yawned, took a drink of water from the nightstand and fell back onto the bed. "We've had a crazy week." She said.
"We have. *yawn*. Let's take a sleep…..and….have…..nice *soft snore*"
Should we check up on them?" Jack asked, about to knock on Annaleise's door.
"We might as well, they insisted that they not be bothered for three days, so its been three days. We can." Elsa said.
Jack nodded and softly knocked on the door. "Girls, how're you feeling?" He whispered.
*light snores*
Jack and Elsa stepped into the room, the lights dimmed but bright enough to see well in. Annaleise was in an awkward position on her back, half of her body on the the bed, her legs propped over Ellie's back. Ellie laid stomach down, head turned to the left, black sequins stuck on her cheek from her dress.
"Should we just leave them like this?" Elsa asked, carefully picking the sequins off of Ellie's face.
Jack removed Annaleise's legs off of Ellie's back and laid them on the bed. "I think they're fine." He said.
"Hey, look at these!" Elsa whispered, pointing to two dresses.
"These must be what they were working on." Jack said, carefully picking up the train of Ellie's black and purple gown. "The stitching is perfect. Did you teach them how to sew?"
"I did indeed. How I ever found the time to do it is beyond me. But it did pay off." Elsa examined Annaleise's dress. The bodice was perfectly laced with red and orange crystals. The cape looked like Elsa's ice dress, but it was sleeveless and blended in that the train.
"They really are something else. One minute they're getting into trouble, the next they're sewing ballgowns." Jack quietly laughed.
"Ellie, your hair smells like strawberries." Annaleise quietly said, probably having an odd dream.
"You smell different when you're awake." Ellie quietly giggled.
"We should go." Jack whispered.
Elsa nodded, both walked over to the sleeping girls. Elsa kissed Annaleise on the forehead. Jack gave Ellie a goodnight kiss upon her forehead and heard her whisper, "Of course I'll braid your hair again, Fritz."
"Fritz? Who's Fritz?" Jack wondered. He shrugged and tip-toed to Elsa's side. "Goodnight, troublemakers." He whispered. Closing the door, Elsa look at him in the eyes, her cheeks blushing. "What?" He asked.
Elsa took Jack's hand and gently whispered something into his ear.
"Nothing," She slyly said, a devious grin spreading across her thin lips.
Jack backed up and look at Elsa like, "Wait what?"
Elsa chuckled and flipped her braid back, walking away. She then stopped, turned her torso and laid her hand against her hip with her left hand. With her right hand, she lifted it and made a "come hither" motion with her index finger.
Jack smiled, Elsa winked.
"It's time for bed." She giggled.
Friday finally came and everyone in the palace was preparing the ballroom for the very anticipated Masquerade. Before Elsa and Jack were allowed to have any interaction with the set-up, they had an appointment with Bjørn's grandparents, the King and Queen of Olkstad. Finally meeting for the first time in years to make arrangements with their children, or in this case, and Grandchildren.
"It's been a long time, Elsa. How have things been since we last saw each other?" Alexandra asked, sipping her Earl Grey, her favorite, tea.
"Raising three children, running a country. Sometimes it feels like all I am doing is raising country of children. I swear, some of these laws, the "high up" people…...act just like children." Elsa sighed, squeezing some lemon into her black tea.
"I can agree with that." Stefan chuckled. "How are the children these days? I hear they have grown up to be quite a handful for teenage girls."
"They are…..teenagers. The rebellious stage has always been there, so there's probably no escape from that, ever." Jack said, held Elsa's hand.
"Bjørn is..well, he's not like other princes. He's very well behaved, and we're glad he got his mother's demeanor and kindness. He's the only exception to teenage boys. He isn't girl crazy, which we are relieved about. Now if we're talking boy crazy, let me tell you, Frosts. Alex was...well she was a different breed, I'll tell you that." Alexandra said, placing her hand atop of Stefan's.
"How is she doing, by the way?" Elsa asked.
"She is doing great. She lives a few kilometers from the palace. Her business with the fishing, hunting, and weather gear is doing fantastic, since we have you to thank for that." Stefan replied.
"That's good to hear. Is it just her and Bjørn? What about his father?" Elsa asked.
Stefan and Alexandra looked at each other, not ready to talk about Bjørn's father. "In all honesty, it would be better if we didn't discuss his father. He isn't in the picture, nor will he ever be." Alexandra squeezed her husbands hand.
"No, if you don't want to talk about him, it's fine. I'm just glad to hear that he has been raised well."
"Thank you, we appreciate it. Now, how is your boy? He must have taken Jack's antics up." Stefan asked.
"Laurence? He's doing fi-" Elsa began to say, until she saw him crawl across the ledge of the window of the upper study. "Fine."
"Hmm? What is it?" Stefan turned around, Laurence was gone.
"He, he's good." Elsa's voice got a tad bit higher.
"That's good to hear, when do you-" Stefan's voice began to trail off as Elsa and Jack looked out of the window, seeing a red and black flash past the window. Ellie waved her arms in the air, bent her knees, swung her arms and jumped off of the ledge. Annaleise turned around and noticed Jack and Elsa staring back at her, along with Bjørn's grandparents, whom at the time she didn't realize were his grandparents.
"FAEN." Annaleise mouthed. she took a tiny step back and lost her balance, falling off of the ledge, falling into a mound of snow Ellie had made as a landing pad. She noticed the mound was a bit...hard as she felt the snowy mound.
"Is this how you're going to greet me every single time I see you?"
BJØRNEY BEAR.
Annaleise gasped and quickly sat up.
"Bjørn! Oh no! I'm so sorry!"
"You've got a thing about falling off of things, you know that?" He laughed.
Annaleise blushed, her face turning bright red.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed, fireball."
"Mmmmh." Annaleise growled. "Why are you here so early?"
"My grandparents thought it would be a great idea to talk marriage of all days. I haven't mentioned the fact we've already met."
"Good, neither have I." Annaleise sighed.
"We've gotta make it look like we've just met." Bjørn said, helping her up.
"Yeah, i think we'll do okay at that part." Annaleise smiled.
"Hey sis, the dance starts in three hours. We might want to get our hair and makeup ready." Ellie said, nudging her sister.
"Oh! Right! Um, I'll see you in a couple of hours?" Annaleise asked.
"Of course! What should I do until then?" He asked.
"Laurence and Anders have been wanting to meet you. They need someone to help them with some project or something. Not sure what it is yet."
"Bjørn! Finally get to meet ya!" Laurence ran to Bjørn from around the corner. "C'mon."
"Alright, meet with you girls later!"
"Hold still, now." Annaleise said, brushing the tangles out of Ellie's hair, a bit tangled from her messy braid.
"Ow."
Annaleise tied her sister's hair up on a ponytail, taking chunks of the ponytail and wrapping them in curlers. she twisted her bangs and pinned them back, the twists making her bangs have a whisp once they were let down. "My turn."
Ellie took Annaleise's brush and began to brush her hair.
"So, is Fritz coming tonight?" Annaleise asked.
"He should be."
"What if mom asks where he is from?" Annaleise asked, knowing that would be something Elsa was bound to do.
"That's a good question. Um, well, we'll think of something." Ellie said, going back to the hair brushing. "How do you want your hair done?"
"Let's leave it down and put some the curlers on the bottom."
"Mmhm." Ellie agreed. She took the curlers and wrapped individual chunks of hair with the curlers, letting them fall to her neck.
"Ellie," Annaleise said, taking her sisters hands.
"Hm?" She asked.
"You love him, don't you?" Annaleise smiled, sitting themselves on her bed.
"Him?"
"Fritz, smart one."
"Oh..right. Yeah I guess you can say that." Ellie blushed.
"I'm happy to hear that. I know you'll be happy with him when the time comes."
Ellie smiled at Annaleise and carefully hugged her, making sure her curlers weren't messed with. "After all, I am giving you my blessing early. I know I'm not queen yet, but as my sister, I want you to be happy. These powers that we have, that's one thing. But you, you deserve everything." Annaleise stood up and looked at the clock.
"Two hours. How ab-" Ellie began to cry. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I'M JUST SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU AS MY SISTER!" Ellie sobbed.
"I'm always going to be stuck with you. I'll never escape. You can't make me."
*sniff*
"Your makeup would be ruined if I put it on first, stop crying silly." Annaleise took the hem of her dress and wiped Ellie's eyes. "Now, what are we going to do for two hours?"
"I hid a box of chocolate in the library, how about we ruin our dinner and eat some chocolate?" Ellie sniffed.
"So that's what you've been doing for the past two weeks. Have you been using your allowance?"Annaleise asked, unaware of her sisters antics.
"Fritz. He knows I love chocolate and well, I might have a few unopened boxes under the bed."
"You don't."
"I do."
"You will share, right?"
"Duh!"
Six pm.. The guests had began to arrive, Laurence and Anders greeting everyone as they came in the doors. Laurence's costume was a penguin. Dressed up in black and white attire, a black jacket, white shirt, black pants and a black and white mask. Anders was a polar bear, white jacket and pants, a bear mask upon his face. As everyone gathered in the ballroom, the noise i the air began to quiet down, as Frederick and Ida began to prepare their introductions for the Royal Family."Presenting their Majesties, Queen Elsa and King Jack Frost." Frederick announced in a loud voice.
Jack led Elsa by the hand, Elsa dressed in an ice blue and white chiffon gown, pale blue lace surrounding the bodice, a long ice blue train trailing behind her. Of course, it was made of ice. Jack was dressed in his white royal meeting attire, completed with a dark blue mask, encrusted with frost around the eyes and nose piece. "Their Highness's Princess Anna, Prince Kristoff and Prince Anders of Arendelle." Ida announced.
"And finally, presenting their Royal Highnesse's, Prince Laurence, Princess Elisabeth and Princess Annaleise of Arendelle. Laurence made his entrance as he was supposed to. Standing tall and straight. Many of the pre-teens fawned over him making "ooo" and "he's so cute" whispers.
Elisabeth took her first steps on the stairs, her long black and purple dress trailing behind her. Her mask on her face was that of a raven, feathers decorating the forehead piece, silver paint lining the nose piece. Purple tulle was spread throughout the dress, even on the train, as if she had a raven black and purple tail. Her hair was up and curled, feathers stuck into the ponytail. A smile crept along her face as she saw Fritz, dressed as a fox, smile back at her.
Elsa watched her daughter come down the stairs, noticing her smiling, looking in the direction where she was smiling. "Who in the world is THAT?" She asked herself. Ellie took her place next to her as the crowd commented on how lovely she looked in her raven attire.
Next was Annaleise's turn. She took a deep breath and placed her mask over her face. She took her first steps and gripped the staircase. Coming halfway down, she felt a breeze blow throughout the stairwell, swaying her dress. A Phoenix was what she was dressed as. Representing her fire powers, a great choice to describe her personality. Everyone stood in awe of her dress as she gracefully glided down the staircase. It was if her dress was really on fire.
Annaleise stood next to her sister and nudged her, catching a glimpse of Bjørn, whose attire was that of a wolf. He winked at her, she winked back.
"Welcome everyone. Tonight is the first official dance of the year, saying goodbye to summer and welcoming the season of Fall. Everyone, please enjoy yourselves and have a great time." Elsa happily announced. She nodded to the musicians and they began playing the background music. "You can go mingle now, the boring part is over." Elsa whispered to her children.
They nodded and went together to the boys.
"Elisabeth, your dress is absolutely stunning." Fritz complimented, taking her hand and twirling her.
"Thank you Fritz. Your fox suit is dashing. Well suited for the Fox and the Raven story." Ellie giggled.
"WHO IS THAT?" Elsa whispered to Anna.
"Hmm?" Anna asked.
Elsa tried to not make it obvious, but pointed to Ellie and the young man she had never met before.
"Oh, him. I really don't know Elsa, why not introduce yourself. I think he may have caught a certain princesses eye." Anna teased.
"Fine." Elsa smiled. She had a feeling that Ellie knew him, hence why she spent much of her free time outside of the palace. She calmly smiled and glided over to her youngest daughter standing right next to her.
"Having fun?" She asked.
"Uh huh, lot's of-" Uh oh. Busted. Ellie thought.
"Ellie, would you mind introducing your new "friend"?" Elsa asked, a sly smile on her face.
"Oh, right. This is Fritz. Fritz Thune. Prince of.. Finnnlanddd?" Ellie had a feeling her mother wouldn't buy it, but it was worth a shot.
"Hello Fritz."
Fritz bowed like a gentleman. "Your majesty, it's an honor to meet you."
"He's very polite. It's hard to come by a very polite young man nowadays. I'll leave you two to...chat."
"Where is that girl?" She thought to herself, wanting to introduce Annaleise to Bjørn. There she was. Over with Laurence and Anders, sipping some punch. "Darling, come with me." She sweetly said, Annaleise following her, handing Laurence her punch. "There's someone I would like you to meet." Annaleise looked at Elsa, then ahead. Lo and behold, it was Bjørn. King Stefan and Alexandra walked arm in arm, wearing the typical masquerade masks and attire, leading Bjorn over to the Frosts.
"Annaleise, we would like you to meet Prince Bjørn of Olkstad." Jack chimed in, taking Elsa by the arm.
Annaleise blushed under her mask. Keep your cool, like you've never met him before. "Hello Prince Bjorn, I'm very pleased to meet you." Annaleise curtseyd in her multi-layer Phoenix dress.
Bjørn bowed and took her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, princess." He smiled, "May I have this next dance?"
"Why yes, I will gladly accept your request." Annaleise smiled as Bjørn led her to the dance floor.
"So far, so good." Stefan said, Alexandra resting her head upon his shoulder.
"Well, I guess we should watch them connect from afar, shouldn't we?" Jack suggested, leading Elsa by the arm.
"Of course. I need to know what goes on when we aren't looking." Elsa hugged her husbands arm.
"We did it." Bjørn whispered, getting into the Viennese Waltz position.
"We did." Annaleise replied, letting her prince lead.
"Shall we?" Ellie asked.
"Of course." Fritz replied, leading Ellie by the hand.
"Do you see them?" Elsa loudly whispered to Jack.
""Yes, they never left our sight, Elsa." Jack said, not too concerned about the prince dancing with his eldest daughter.
Bjørn and Annaleise twirled through the dancing crowd, dancing their way to the balcony. They stopped and sat on one of the stone seats, surrounded by moonlight, tables with tiers of chocolate, and hands found each other, intertwining their fingers, giving a light squeeze. The Princess sighed, resting her head upon Bjørn's shoulder. She took her mask off, letting her face breathe. Her spots finally cleared up, thankfully Bjørn wouldn't see them. "It's a perfect night for a masquerade ball." Bjorn softly said.
"Mhmm." Annaleise agreed.
"So, we're betrothed."
"Eeyup."
"That's a good thing. I mean, it will benefit our countries one way or the other." Bjørn nervously.
"You'll be my husband."
"I will be."
"We'll be Queen and King."
"We'll have children."
"At least two. Maybe three."
"Or one. Whichever happens."
Annaleise looked at Bjørn, such love in her eyes. They only knew each other for nearly a year, but it was like they have known each other for a lifetime. "Bjørn?"
"Hmm?" He asked.
"I'll be right back. Want some punch?" She asked.
"Sure. Are you sure you don't want me to get it?" He asked.
"I think I'm pretty capable." Annaleise giggled. Annaleise went inside and began pouring the punch. As she was about to walk back out to the patio, she heard laughing. Not happy laughing, but "as if someone was being bullied" laughing. She set the punch cups down and followed the laughing past the patio into the right courtyard. Prince Oleg, from Sweden pushed Fritz around, taunting him for not being a prince and shoving a snowball into Ellie's face. "Hey, leave my sister alone!" Demanded Annaleise, angrily walking towards the prince and his crew, helping Fritz up off of the ground.
"Cool it, birdie, we only wanted her to make a snowball, that's all." Oleg said, a sickening grin on his face, his group laughing behind him.
"And shoving it back in her face? That's hardly an appropriate way to act in company, prince." Annaleise hissed.
"Oh, and what are you going to do about it? Are you like your sister and gonna freeze me?"
Annaleise growled and grabbed the prince's wrist holding it up to his throat. "Do not. I repeat. DO NOT. EVER. HARASS MY SISTER. AGAIN." Her hand began to turn his wrist red.
"Hey, that hurts let go!" He cried.
"Did you hear me?! I sa-" Annaleise let go of his wrist, backing up. She stared at her hands and looked at Oleg who held his wrist in fear.
"She, she's a freak! She burnt me!" He cried like a little girl.
Annaleise held her hands close to her chest, her heart beating erratically, and ran out of the patio, running to the opposite side of the palace in the gardens, where she sat, beginning to panic. Bjørn saw her run and followed her. He noticed that her fists were clenched, placed firmly on the stone bench, beginning to hyperventilate. He quickly ran to her and pulled out a paper bag where he had stored a present for Annaleise, shoving the contents back into his pocket and sitting next to her.
"Breathe into this." She wheezed, but inhaled slowly, exhaling into the bag. Inhaling slowly, exhaling. After a few breaths, she felt the bag beginning to crumple into embers, falling onto her dress. She looked at Bjørn, petrified, tears streaming down her eyes.
"Mummy, one of the princesses burnt me!" Oleg cried to his mother.
Oleg's mother looked at his wrist. "No one burnt you, you're imagining things."
"But really some-"
"I accidentally spilled my tea on his wrist when I tripped on my dress. It was my fault, and if you want to blame anyone. It's me." Ellie covered for her sister.
"It's alright Princess, you don't have to apologize. It was an accident." Oleg's mother calmly said.
Oleg gave the princess a nasty look, and as his mother turned away, she formed a snowball in her hand, faking a lunge as if she were to throw it at him. He flinched, she "hmphed."
"Annaleise...do you have…"
"Fire powers." Annaleise choked, covering her mouth.
Bjørn held her close, letting her sob into his chest.
"Oh no, I've made a wet spot on your coat."
"Annaleise,"
"Why am I so…..messed up? I can't control it…."
"Hey. Look at me."
Bjørn lifted her chin and looked into her bright blue eyes.
"Listen to me. I don't care if you have powers or don't. Do not let that define who you are. I-I-love you." Bjørn blushed.
Annaleise stopped crying and hiccuped. "Y-you love me?"
"WHAT ARE THEY DOING?" Anna loudly whispered.
"I DON'T KNOW BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE ABOUT TO SNOG." Laurence joked, whispering loudly.
Jack smacked Laurence's head with his staff.
"Elsa, can you see what's going on?" Anna whispered.
"No, i think they went to take a walk."
Anna, Jack and Elsa snuck behind the two lovebirds, following them to the docks. Annaleise and Bjørn walked hand in hand, onto the docks to look at the stars. The group stuck their heads around the cement fixtures and kept a watch on the two. "C'mon! We're almost there. Follow me." Annaleise led Bjørn onto the royal ship, sitting on the edge of the ship. "Look up."
Bjørn looked up, and wondrous lights of greens and blues shone through the skies. An Aurora Borealis. It was early this year. Bjørn's eyes were wide, a smile upon his face for he had never seen the northern lights from this close before. He looked to Annaleise, who was adjusting herself, moving the train from her her legs to the side. "I have a confession to make," Annaleise blushed, taking Bjørn's hands in hers.
"Yeah?"
"I...I love you too," She said, looking directly into his emerald green eyes. She happily giggled, leaning in closer to the prince, the material on her dress beginning to slip on the edge of the boat. "And I think..we should..." She said, feeling a slight jerk of gravity pull her downward, slipping off of the side of the boat into the fjord.
"Fireball!" Bjørn tore off his jacket and dove in after her. Annaleise splashed around, her dress beginning to weigh her down. Bjørn swam over to her as she made her way to shore. They crawled onto the rocky beach, totally drenched, their costumes ruined, Annaleise's makeup running down her face. They looked at each other and laughed at how ridiculous they looked. They shook their arms, legs and hair off.
"Woo! I haven't been this cold since I had chickenpox a couple weeks ago."
Oh Boy.
"Uhm, Annaleise, I have a confession."
"Hmm?"
"Well, you may have gotten it...from someone you know." He put his arm behind his head nervously.
"Who?"
"uhm…...me?"
Annaleise raised her brow, lowering it. She straightened up, pulling her bodice up (heavy with water about to fall down), walked over to him and smiled.
*Whack*
"Payback er en tispe er det ikke?" Annaleise smiled and planted a kiss on his lips.
At this point, Bjorn didn't really care that he was slapped by a girl. He got a kiss. Score.
"Oo. I wonder what he did to deserve that." jack flinched.
"Who cares, she had her first kiss!" Anna excitedly whispered.
"With someone she just met…" Elsa said to herself.
Ellie and Fritz finally had some alone time. They snuck out to the stables and hid behind Sven. Fritz placed his hand on Ellie's cheek and drew her mouth closer to his. Just as they were about to kiss, a particular brother interrupted. "So this is where you two snuck off to." Laurence popped up from Hail's stable.
"Laurence, you mutt! Go bug Annaleise!"
"Woah woah, the little mermaid already is heading inside, so why not bother big sister Ellie?"
Ellie growled, stood up, placed her hand on Laurence's head and froze his hair. "BEAT IT, BOY!"
Laurence and Anders laughed hysterically, running out of the stables.
"Elisabeth, I should get going. I've got an early shift tomorrow." Fritz stood up, taking Ellie's hand and kissing it.
"We have a skills test coming up, and I want you to help me practice. Please come?"
"Of course, my princess." Took her hand and led her out of the stables.
Elsa and Anna were still outside as they saw the two run from the stables.
"Goodbye, Elisabeth." He whispered.
"Night." Ellie sighed happily.
She turned around and met her mother and aunt. "Your prince leaving so soon?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be back," Ellie sighed.
Elsa took her daughter around the shoulders and walked her back to the palace. "The party's over. Time for bed." Elsa said.
"Thank goodness. Where's Annaleise?"
"That's a great question, elske," Elsa began to say.
"You have to see this." Alexandra whispered, motioning for them to come into the downstairs study.
"Aww, look at that."
Annaleise was on the couch, covered in a blanket, sitting up leaning on Bjørn's shoulder. Both were nodding off, Annaleise's head rocking back and forth. Jack floated over and looked to see if they were fast asleep.
"Should we take them to their rooms?" Alexandra asked.
"Bjørn can sleep here, I'll take her up to her room. What time are you all leaving?" Elsa whispered.
"Noon, most likely. The kids deserve a few hours more of sleep." Stefan replied, whispering.
"Godnatt, mor. Godnatt, far" Ellie said as she settled into bed, Elsa and Jack dimming the lights in the doorway.
"Godnatt, elske," Elsa smiled, blowing Ellie a kiss, Jack doing the same.
"To be young and in love," Jack sighed, leading Elsa back to their bedchambers. "It wasn't so long ago that you were in their position."
"Yes, but I was a bit older than they were." Elsa reminded Jack. "And you never once came to a single ball until after my coronation."
"I was busy," Jack reiterated. "Guardian stuff, ya know?"
"Mmhm," Elsa softly sighed, turning the doorknob to their room. "I do know."