Elsa stomped through the snow, her hands curled into fists and her face twisted into a scowl. She was seething, and her powers reflected it. The formally soft snow would harden under her feet as she walked, making it difficult for anyone to walk directly behind her. Tom had tried, but gave up soon after and continued walking with his aunt's family.
Anna had apologized a million times to Elsa, but the older woman refused to listen. Elsa was doing exactly what Anna tried to prevent her from doing. Yes, she did realize that holding Anna at an icy distance because of what she did was unfair, but Elsa was hurt and uninterested in forgiving them so quickly.
The only conversation Elsa had offered up after her little outburst was her opinion on bringing the children.
"I don't want to argue about this right now." She had muttered. "You all won't go home, even if I beg, so I'm not going to waste my breath." She hadn't waited for a response, but instead stalked forward, her anger like a wave vibrating off of her.
"We really are sorry, Mama." Elise had mumbled to Anna, grabbing her mother's arm tightly. Anna gave her brown-haired daughter a weak smile. She really couldn't stay mad at her children. They only wanted to help. Sure, they had disobeyed them, and they'd be in trouble for it . . . but Anna would have done the exact same thing.
The fog that had blocked the castle from view cleared as they neared, and they could almost see it perfectly. The children were obviously amazed by what Elsa had built, though the older three tried to hide it. Sver wasn't as gracious.
"Wow!" He exclaimed, tugging on his father's arm and pointing in the direction of the ice palace. His hair looked closer to a dark red than brown as the sunlight hit it, though hardly any of it was visible at all beneath his hat. "Look Dad! That's the castle Auntie Elsa made?"
He sounded excited, but Kristoff didn't return the boy's joy. He just nodded, and soon Sver followed in his footsteps and quieted down as well. No one really spoke after that.
The usually cheerful Olaf didn't try starting much conversation either; it was like he had absorbed the tension in the air and it shoved him into the same gloomy state that everyone was beginning to feel. Everyone felt bad, but they couldn't do anything about it. Well, not until the found Ina, anyway.
When the upwards path began settling into a smoother coarse and the trees disappeared, the castle quickly rose upon them. And the adults quickly realized something was wrong.
"My powers-" Elsa began.
"They don't look like that." Anna cut her sister off, though she mostly just finished the sentence. Elsa and Anna shared a look, the concern growing between them. The Queen could now see why Anna had wanted to keep this from her. She was still mad, of course, but it at least made a little more sense.
"You built this?" Elise asked in surprise, gazing at the nearing ice palace. She wasn't as impressed as she thought she'd be, though it was an impressive creation. She couldn't believe her aunt could make something like that . . . yes, she had heard about it but she always thought . . . well, she thought it'd be prettier than it was.
Elsa gave one slow nod of her head, and automatically reached towards Tom, who as well had stepped closer to his mother. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders and she starred up at the castle that had obviously been messed with.
The beautiful, majestic palace of ice that Elsa had created twenty-three years ago stood before them, but oh so different from the way they left it. The ice looked dark and dangerous, and wasn't as clear as it had been when Elsa made it. The staircase that led to it was mostly the same, though shattered.
"I . . . I don't . . ." Elsa shook her head, before turning her eyes back up to the tainted ice palace.
"Mom?" Tom asked, concern looping into his voice as well.
"I don't understand . . . did Ina do this?" Elsa questioned, though it was not directed at anyone. No one could know, though it was likely. Elsa was still mad at her family, yes, but she couldn't help feeling protective of them whilst seeing her tortured ice palace. Her worry for her family's wellbeing only led for her to become scared- after all, why would she ever need to protect them from her own daughter?
"Elsa?" Anna inquired. The Queen tore her eyes off her- well, what used to be her ice castle, and put them on her sister. The younger woman's face was drawn tight with concern, and it softened Elsa's stress. Knowing that she had someone to lean on, even when she was mad, was comforting.
"I-" Elsa shook her head, and let her hands fall from Tom's shoulders. "We should hurry. We don't want to miss her."
Then she turned and stalked in the direction of the castle.
"Wow," Olaf exclaimed as the family started following. "Ina's going to be in a lot of trouble, huh?"
Nodding, Sver skipped forward so he could walk with the snowman, while his older siblings fell into step beside each other. Elise glanced sideways at Cyril, and then at her parents in front of them.
"Cy?" Elise leaned forward, tilting her head so she could look at her brother better. His blue eyes flicked to hers as she continued. "Everything's been pretty all over the place lately. And, well . . . I was wondering what you thought about it all."
The young man raised an eyebrow at his baby sister. What an odd question. Of course things were all over the place- they had to deal with a hundred different things at once. It was like having to pack a hundred different outfits into a tiny suitcase.
"What I think of it all?" He repeated. Elise nodded.
"Well," He began, throwing his satchel more comfortably over his shoulder. "I think what happened to Uncle Tomas is awful. I think Aunt Elsa must be going through h-" He caught himself, knowing his baby sister thought the smallest words were swears, and cleared his throat before continuing. "I think Ina's running away happened at the worst time possible and that the winter only adds insult to injury."
"But," Cyril mumbled, trying to smirk playful (though it didn't look very convincing). "That's just my thinking. What do you think about it all, Elle?"
It'd be a lie if Elise said she didn't ask her question because she wanted to answer it herself. "I agree that Uncle Tomas . . . well, what happened to him was awful. I never ever thought that the ship would get caught in the storm. And Aunt Elsa . . ." Elise shrugged. "I can't imagine what she's going through. But Tom and Ina are going through it all too. Tom hasn't been very vocal about it-" She pointed her chin in her cousin's direction as she spoke. "-but maybe that's the way he deals with his grief. I think running might be the way Ina deals with it. And I'm guessing her grief caused the winter. I don't think she meant to. But I do think finding her and letting her and Auntie Elsa figure everything out will be best for everyone."
Her answer may or may not have confused her brother.
"Wait," He stopped, and grabbed Elise's arm to stop her as well. "You think Ina didn't mean to cause the winter? Elle- I saw her. I know she froze the gates, so she must have meant to make the winter."
Elise sighed. She hadn't meant for this to lead to another argument. She considered speeding up and falling into step beside her mother, where Cyril wouldn't dare argue. Instead, Elise toughed it out, and stayed beside her brother.
"Ina's sixteen. She wouldn't try to freeze an entire kingdom. She just . . . ran off to clear her head, and this all happened by accident. The same way Arendelle froze when Aunt Elsa ran."
"Are you making excuses for her?" Cyril hissed, louder than he intended. Anna looked over her shoulder at them, and let her eyes flicker over them. After a moment where she seemed to be calculating them, Anna pointed at Elise, and wiggled her finger to indicate the young girl to come stand beside her. Elise left Cyril's side, grateful to have left before an argument could have broken out, and stood beside her mother.
"Cyril, wanna' race?" Sver called, the little boy's hand clasped in Olaf's twig one. With a glance at his parents, and then at Elsa, for approval, Cyril jogged to meet up with his brother.
"Wait for us when you get to the ice palace!" Kristoff called, just as the boys took off. Cyril was intentionally running slower than Sver, whom was giving it his all.
"We will!" He called over his shoulder, referring to his father's demand. Olaf let out a whoop followed by a laugh and then ran off after them.
Elise linked her arm through Anna's, and reached for Kristoff's hand. A bit surprised, Kristoff wound his hand through his daughter's, and gave it a small squeeze. She wanted to call out to Elsa, whom was still sulking. Tom was walking closer to her though, which somewhat comforted everyone.
"I'll bet we'll be there within five minutes." Kristoff muttered, his eyes basically glazing over at the sight of the nearing structure.
Five minutes. Five minutes until they reached the palace, until they found Ina, and until they either fixed everything of ruined everything. They could only hope they'd be fixing everything.
When Kai had rushed back to the castle to greet the mystery guests, he wasn't a hundred percent sure what to expect. All the servants were rushing about, and a few townspeople lingered around the fireplace, though he didn't give them much mind. His focus was on the large icebreaker that had made its way to Arendelle, and he wanted to know who'd go through the trouble of getting here at such a time.
He didn't expect to find a woman and foreign guards making their way to the study. He intercepted them, and led them to the library (as it was heated while the study was not).
Kai noted that the woman held an air of familiarity. Something in her long dark curls and strong defined jaw tickled the aging servant's memory. She looked to be in her mid-forties, much like the Queen herself, and the mystery woman held herself as if she were a Queen.
"Miss," Kai bowed politely, and motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs by the fire. She remained standing. "I can't believe I remember making your acquaintance before now."
"I don't believe we have, Mr. . ." She drowned off, waiting for him to fill in the blank.
"Kai, please. Just Kai."
"Kai." She repeated, before motioning for her guards to sit. They did, the two red-clad men seating themselves as close to the fire as they could get without burning themselves. "I am Lady Amelie of Leighton."
The woman moved herself closer to the fire, her green dress gliding against the floor as she walked. "You see," She intertwined her fingers together. "My brother, Tomas, married your Queen. Elsa, I believe her name is. He left our home Kingdom to come here, which was quite startling. After I got married myself, our communication all but ceased completely."
Oh, Kai thought, she must have learnt of her brother's demise. But yet . . . what if she hadn't? Kai decided he'd rather not be the one to tell her. "I didn't know lord Tomas had any family. It is nice to see I was wrong."
She made a noise, something one might make when disinterested. "Yes. Well, only a few days ago, I received word that my brother and his wife went overboard on their way home to Leighton." She turned her eyes, so dark they were nearly black, on the old servant.
Kai couldn't help but squirm a little, and it was obvious that the woman noticed.
"Of course," She shrugged, and a sudden knowing smirk crossed her features. "It was much more surprising, as the information came directly from my brother himself."
Whoa! Surprise hiatus! Turns out the last while was really busy for me, due to pretty awful planning on my part. I won't make excuses though- I'm sorry for not posting in a while!
Not a hundred percent happy with this one, but I'm excited about them FINALLY making it to the ice castle in the next chapter (it's taken forever)
Did I already tell you guys about pazgrangers 2nd piece of fanart…? I am now, haha. Check out her profile, I believe there is a link to her Instagram (where you can find the pictures, and others).
Okay- I'll be posting an 'official' announcement of the contest winners on Arendelle Adventures after my next few chapters- I'll be talking to the contest winners a bit before that, but I promise they'll be announced soon!