"What is it, Elsa?" He asked gently, and as she opened her eyes, she saw Anna smiling at her confidently as if she knew what was the problem already, and she felt amazingly reassured. She gave a very weak smile back to her sister, and knew she had to come clean at some point.
"I'm so sorry..." She whispered, as she leaned closer into Odd's body. "I'm pregnant."
blackknght: (This is for your review of chapter 17) I'm very glad that my writing is good enough to show how the characters are feeling, so thanks for mentioning it! As for them having a chance to have a break... well, they've had a sort of break with the trolls, though it hasn't exactly been a great time for Elsa, has it... Thanks so much for the review, it's especially meaningful when I know how busy you've been recently! (For the review of chapter 18) You say about Ayla playing with their mind, I didn't think of that, but then probably not - Mia's the one with the power of mind control, and as it's her speciality, she'd be better than Ayla but she still struggles with it. Perhaps there may be some form of Ayla's power to persuade people to think in a certain way later on, though! (For the review of chapter 19) First off, well done for picking up on the connection between Ayla and Arne! As for how she met Arne... well, there may well be some information on that in later chapters. Now, you mention the connection between Karleif and Corona, and no, Karleif and Ayla (they were siblings, in case you / anyone else reading this forgot) didn't come from Corona originally - however, Karleif and his Mother did have a connection with Corona, which was only hinted upon in the first book. Second, I'm glad that I made your month with the trolls - it makes me happy to make my readers happy. Also, thanks for the vote - you still got your wish of Elsa pregnant and asking Pabbie, who knows with Anna though! She's still open to go either way. Thanks so much for the reviews!
Purple Pizza: Ah, I'm sure you'll manage with french! Although I'm not even going to revise french, to be honest... I need to prioritise biology, I think. Also, as for hoping Anna isn't pregnant... well, only time will tell, but at least she'd be able to cope with it a bit better than Elsa could. See you soon.
Kathy22334 (guest): You're right, Grand Pabbie didn't mention it's age, so yes, there is still the possibility that it's Odd's. If you want to find out, though, you'll have to keep an eye on any pregnancy symptoms Elsa gets and when they usually occur (at what stage during pregnancy), and that might give you a clue as to whose kid it is. Well, either that and wait until it's born, and see if it looks like a different person or not (because let's face it, the 19th century wouldn't have had DNA testing...) Thanks for the review!
Asome (guest): Well, I wish you all the best in becoming an animator! And thanks for the review - as for the story calming down a bit, well, we'll have some happiness soon (but let's face it, you're not likely to be having a whale of a time when someone's trying to capture you to get your children's blood... On that note, Elsa's in extra danger now, she won't be quite so slim in a couple of months, and Anna may not be either...)
KLime (guest): I'm honoured that you're willing to write a review, even when you're busy, because it shows that my work's appreciated - thanks! And if the review is short, no worries - it's the thought that counts, and I love reading all my reviews (well, except the troll reviews, they're a pain), no matter how long or short. As for your warning that you may be a different person next week (so, by the time you're reading this, it'll be this week)... Well, I have no idea what you mean by that, but okay! I'm sure I'll figure it out. As for your comments, I'm glad you liked the bit with Grand Pabbie's head being covered in frost - I thought it was a cute reaction. I'm also happy that you liked the Anna scene and Elsa's dream. And I must say, it makes me happy to know that Grand Pabbie is like a Grandfather-figure, considering I hadn't even realised myself! Oops! And I'm glad my last comments inspired you to review! (Although I can't even remember what they were... better go and check!)
pabulover123: You're right, Elsa was definitely strong for being able to tell Odd that she was pregnant (although I'll give you a hint, it gets a little bit much for her in this chapter). As for Odd, he's certainly going to have a bit of a hard time waiting to find out who's child it is, but he'll just have to put up with any insecurities he may or may not get - and probably have to hide them, too. Elsa would probably end up doing something drastic (like run away) otherwise! Also, I just heard that Kate had given birth this afternoon (it's Saturday as I'm writing this) and I was shocked, I thought she wasn't due for a week or so! (Even though my friend did mention to me that she was due soon at school last week, ah well). It's nice thought that we've got a new little Princess though! Teehee, I love having a royal family - I feel for you Americans without one, I like the novelty of it ;)
Summer loving snowman: Ahaa, yep, perfectly normal to be nervous about the chapter! xD Also, as for who's kid it is... well, you'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to reveal whether it's Odd's or someone else's, but watch out for her pregnancy symptoms if you want to have a guess! (So, what stage during pregnancy would her symptoms arise). As for Anna, no, she won't ask Pabbie, because she doesn't want to find out now; she'd rather find out in her own time. Although she certainly does have her hands full with three kids already!
WildVirus (guest): Ahaa, you say Elsa needs a therapist now, she's an absolute state in this chapter (at least at the start). And you're right, while I didn't realise it as I was writing it, Pabbie is almost acting Grandfatherly towards Elsa - he is quite a grandfatherly figure though, so I'm happy with that :)
spartandestroyr: God, your name is hard to spell xD I always get it wrong first time around! But anyway, thanks for the review - it's true, it is sad for Elsa that she's pregnant, especially for how hard it is for her to deal with. In the review, you made the point of saying that maybe the baby could be more powerful than Elsa and Mia together, but, alas, I'm afraid not; right at the end of book one, Karleif and his mother explained how the magic worked. Karleif, his Mother and Ayla all obtained magic by injecting a dose of a magic-carrier's blood into their bloodstream (a magic-carrier is someone whose blood contains magic, but they cannot harness it, like Anna (although she can channel Elsa's and Mia's powers). A magic-user would be someone like Elsa). It was mentioned that a magic-carrier can have children who can use magic, whereas a magic-user's children will all be unable to use magic, only carry the magic in their blood. The more generations that pass without a magic-user being born, the stronger the magic grows (hence why Mia is stronger than Elsa - she's the next generation. This also explains why a magic-users' children don't have magic - the magic is too weak in them because they are so closely related to someone who uses magic). So, no, Elsa's child will not be able to use magic - the exceptions to the rule are Seth and Eva. Seth has magic because Ayla wasn't born magical, she was made magical later in life - Eva has magic because Rapunzel didn't have magic anymore when Eva was conceived (her hair had been cut). But then, Eva is much less powerful than Rapunzel was.
PeruvianInca: Ahaa, yes, Elsa is pregnant, I'm guessing you expected her not to be ;)
OmegaMarker: Well, first off, I'm glad you liked the chapter, and don't worry about reviewing late- in some ways it's mice, gives me comments to read throughout the week. It makes me feel quite smug when you say that you can sympathise with Elsa's feelings, I'm glad it's decent enough writing to have that effect! As for how the family deal with the child if it lives (you're right, it could still die)- well, it will certainly be interesting. No doubt it might not be such 'love at first sight', no matter whose child it is, considering the harsh memories which would be associated with it. And finally, thanks for understanding about the lateness, and yeah, I do need to sort out my priorities, but oh well. Maybe I can multitask? (I'm female, after all!)
There was a beat of silence, in which Kristoff and Odd stood shocked, looking at each-other quickly in concern, and Anna's eyes trailed down at the ground a little, knowing that she's been right about Elsa's state. She felt so saddened for her sister; if she, herself, got pregnant... Well, she could deal with it, but Elsa was her own person, and completely different to Anna. She'd been stressing about the possibility of pregnancy for days, and it was bad enough that she still felt guilty for allowing Arne's men to take advantage of them, without the added burden of a baby to go along with it.
Odd, meanwhile, was frozen slightly, horrified that she was, indeed, pregnant. It wasn't that it bothered him (too much, at least) that it could be another man's child, rather that he was sickened anyone could have done this to Elsa, and moreover, was concerned for her mental state. She was always an easy person to break - such a disrupted and difficult childhood as hers could do that to anybody. During his own youth, Odd's only goal was to survive, and as such, he had come to be more insensitive to hurtful comments than most people would be. The only time he would ever listen to people's comments was when he felt out of his comfort zone, such when he'd originally come to the castle for the first time, eight years ago now.
Elsa, however, was a different ball game. She'd spent her entire childhood trying to hide away from who she was, terrified of herself and constantly being reminded - even if her parents didn't say so directly - that she was dangerous. It was really no surprise she was so self-conscious, although Odd was definitely amazed, even to this day, that Anna was so trusting of people after her sister locked herself away spontaneously as a child - surely such an event, especially for a five year old, would have made her question people more? Even after Hans' betrayal she still managed to have a lot of confidence in other people, and it just seemed incredible, but then that was Anna; she always did march to a different beat.
"Hey, hey," Odd said once he got over the initial shock as he felt Elsa's body begin to shake, but she wouldn't look at him when he spoke, fearing that he would push her away, be the man in her nightmare who saw her as nothing but a common harlot.
And so he should, she thought bitterly, as she suddenly found strength to duck out of his grip and stumble backwards. I'm pregnant, with a child who could likely be sired by the very people who tortured me - surely you can't get any more disloyal than that!
"Elsa-" Odd began, but the word, spoken so softly, was twisted and warped by her frantic mind, sounding bitter and cold, full of hatred and loathing.
"No!" Elsa yelled, with as much force as she could muster. She held her hands forward, terrified that she would be attacked as she had been before, losing all rational thoughts at the sound of Odd's "repulsed" tone of voice. Would he brand her, as his Father's men had done? Would he beat her until she miscarried, then claim her back as his own? "Get back!"
A beam of ice, brightest blue and glinting dangerously in the morning sunlight, shot out of her palm and, originally directed at Odd, went off course from the gloves she still worse, shooting towards Kristoff instead. His eyes widened in shock and sudden fear; upon the look of horror upon his face, Elsa's mind snapped back to reality, the burst of magic taking some of her anger and terror out of her body along with it, and she began to feel rational again before she realised that it would strike him directly in the heart.
"No!" She cried again, but this time it was in fear for Kristoff, not herself. She stepped forward quickly, as if she could catch the projectile of ice, but then such a feat would be impossible; she watched in horror as the magic drew closer to him every fraction of a second, and heard her sister's equally terrified cry as she jumped over to her husband. Throwing out her hand, she winced as she felt her veins fill with icy coldness as the magic met with her palm and was drawn into her body; spinning around she pointed her finger towards the edge of the valley, and with a gasp, the magic was redirected onto a nearby tree, freezing it completely solid.
Elsa stood, watching in horror at what she'd nearly done, and drew her hands up to her chest to stop herself, as frost climbed up the rocky banks of the valley. She backed up to her little alcove again and tried to climb back in, but Odd ran up to her and grabbed hold of her hands gently. He ignored the way they suddenly went numb as they began to freeze over, and smiled at his wife.
"Shush, shush, Elsa..." He said, looking at her directly in the eyes so that she could see that his words were genuine. "It's okay, calm down..."
And once again, Elsa felt the fragile walls of strength she'd built crumble down as the tears cascaded down her cheeks again. "You ought to hate me, Odd..." She whispered, and she collapsed into him, "Why don't you hate me?"
Odd shook his head at his wife weakly in near-amusement for her misunderstading, as he bent down very slightly and helped Elsa up onto her own feet, putting her left arm over his shoulders and supporting her. "To be honest, if anyone has to hate anyone else, surely you should be hating me, just as Anna should be hating Kristoff." Elsa frowned at this statement, and looked at him in puzzlement, her blue eyes, shining with tears, gazing into his own.
"What?" She asked, taken aback, "You didn't do anything wrong, you couldn't have stopped them. But... now I'm with child - and I checked with Pabbie last night, to be sure, and he said that it's highly likely I am, though there's a tiny chance he was wrong - but chances are, if I am it could easily be someone else's! What sort of wife - what sort of Queen, who should be a role model for her people - would that make me?"
She wished that he would just agree with her, so she could wallow in self pity and make him punish her for being such a bad woman, but of course, he wouldn't do that. "I couldn't have stopped them, and nor could Kristoff, you're right there, but then that doesn't hide the fact that as your husbands, both of us should have protected you. So surely it's our own fault?"
Elsa shook her head desperately, wanting so badly to be able to get the treatment she felt that she deserved. "No, no, it's my fault for not fighting hard enough."
Kristoff stepped forwards at that point, trying not to look wary of her - he wasn't afraid of her, as such, but he respected that she was strong and, moreover, afraid. "Then it's also Anna's fault for not fighting hard enough." He pointed out, crossing his fingers behind his back quickly to show his wife that he wasn't being serious, and as such he managed to miss out on receiving a well-aimed kick in the gut from her.
Elsa looked at Kristoff in frustration, knowing that she'd dug herself into a hole now, as she feebly tried to reply with "Of course not... It was my fault, entirely mine."
Anna snapped now, growing a little annoyed with her sister's refusal to not accept responsibility. "If it's your fault for not fighting hard enough, then it's also my fault for not fighting hard enough. Which is it, already?"
Elsa sighed, and though she couldn't quite manage to say that it wasn't her fault, couldn't quite believe those words, she managed to say quietly, "It's not your fault." Anna was still for a moment, but then nodded slowly at this as she tried to smile warmly, accepting this as close enough to agreeing with her, and she stepped back to Kristoff's side. He, in turn, was happy to pull her close to him, something which she was grateful for; being able to cuddle up next to him made her forget about her own situation, and whether or not she was pregnant.
If only Elsa would do the same with Odd, but then she was too conscious of herself to let go of her troubles as easily as Anna could. The Princess knew how to drift away from her problems, distract herself; Elsa would only let them eat away at her, never able to forget about them. And it was no wonder; the last time she had let go of her troubles was after her coronation, and look how that turned out - she ended up freezing the entire kingdom that she loved so dearly.
"Elsa," Odd said once more, as he wrapped his arm gently back around her waist, again missing the brand, and pulled her closer. He kept a firm grip on one of her hands, and though Elsa stiffened up at first, she quickly relaxed, though she still felt like she didn't deserve such treatment. "I won't lie - this isn't ideal," he began, and Elsa looked away shamefully, expecting him to tell her that she had ruined everything. Instead, she felt him let go of her hand, pull her closer with his arm around her waist, and tilt her chin up so that she wasn't staring in the opposite direction from him. "But it isn't the end of the world, either."
Elsa felt her heart warm up very slightly as she heard those undeserved words, and she him gave a pathetically weak shot at a smile, the corners of her lips barely tilting up at all, but it was an attempt all the same, and Odd's own face brightened a little. "See, there we go!" He said a bit more cheerfully, and his wife's smile grew slightly more discernible at the contagious happiness. "Now, listen to me; this isn't so bad. The baby could be mine, or it could be..." Odd trailed off, and his face momentarily darkened out of anger towards his Father's men for being so selfish - he'd seen many animals more pleasant than those beasts. He also felt a little bitter about the situation himself, wishing that it would be his, but then he couldn't tell Elsa that, and it wasn't such a significant problem in the end. "It could be some other man's." He finished after a second, and Elsa felt her heart drop again at the reminder, but she didn't look away completely this time, her gaze only lowered a little.
"I'm sorry, Odd..." She whispered again, her voice tiny, almost childlike. Odd frowned, thinking that he'd gotten somewhere, but it seemed not.
"You didn't let me finish," he said gently, "Maybe I'd prefer the child to be mine, and what man wouldn't, but I'll be here for you either way. And you know what?"
Elsa looked up at him incredulously as he said that, not wanting to believe that he wouldn't judge her, as she replied in a hushed voice, "What?"
Odd grinned again as he worked out exactly what to say to make her feel better, and he leaned a little closer to her and said in her ear, "No matter who its Father is, this kid's going to have two parents who absolutely love him."
Elsa let out a little breath, and then smiled a little more confidently, still only a half-successful attempt, but miles better than before, and she looked her husband with pure relief shining in her eyes, though a little doubt was tangled in amongst it. "You mean it?" She whispered cautiously, and he nodded, making tears well up slowly in her eyes, but of happiness for once, not pain, and she leaned into him contentedly, hugging him as tightly as she possibly could. In response, he kissed her forehead once, before pushing her off, much to her disappointment and confusion. He chuckled at her expression.
"Come on, you- we'd better get back if we're going to get to Corona anytime soon."
Elsa let out a very slight giggle then, blushing slightly. "Oh... of course." She said, feeling foolish, and then stood up a little straighter. "Let's get back then." Pushing hair out of her face, she took a deep breath and began to walk back, seriously hoping that the tear marks on her face were not too obvious.
As the group had expected, the trolls were all thrilled to see that Elsa had been found and they clamoured around her eagerly to check that she was okay. They noticed the way her eyes were red and puffy, picked up on the slight marks down her cheeks, but when she smiled at them with as much warmth as she could muster they were reassured that she was okay. Within a few minutes the enthusiasm for her return died down and the trolls returned to their daily tasks; only one remained behind to speak with her.
"May I have a word, your Highness?" Pabbie asked respectfully and Elsa, though a little skeptical, nodded in agreement. The wise old troll smiled at her, hoping to reassure some of her obvious nerves about what he could have to say, before he turned to the rest of the group. "We won't be a minute, but may I suggest that the rest of you make any final preparations before you depart? Oh- Kristoff? Bulda asked me to tell you that she has some honey, too, which may help with your daughter's throat. Of course, it may not help her speak properly, but it might ease the discomfort."
Kristoff nodded, as he picked Kari up and went out to search for his 'Mother' troll, with Thomas following him like a faithful puppy, opting to stay with his twin. Anna was left behind with Mia and Odd who quickly set about checking they had everything they needed before departing, and Elsa turned to Pabbie.
"I must say, I am most relieved you are well, your Majesty; you have us quite the scare last night when you ran off and didn't return. But that's beside the point. I just wanted to give you an option about your pregnancy." Elsa, though reassured by Odd, stiffened up at the mention, not at all happy with the situation still. "There is a herb, one which we have a small stock of here in the valley. It can be dangerous in large quantities, but a very small amount regularly - say, a large pinch of powdered root a day, for a week or so - does, sometimes, have the ability to cause your body to miscarry."
Elsa's eyes widened at the statement, and she felt her heart rise; the opportunity to get rid of the problem entirely was so promising, yet at the same time, it seemed a little barbaric.
"Of course, as with all things there is a catch. The herb is not foolproof, and some women have taken it in the past and have not lost the child; in these situations, the infants ended up being born normally, but with birth defects. For example, Mia's young friend many years ago- Arne, I do believe?"
At the mention of the name, Elsa's jaw clenched, before she recalled the little boy Pabbie was referring to, not the monster; the little boy who'd fallen out of Mia's bedroom window and died a horrid death.
"Y-yes, I remember him, but he has passed now." Elsa informed Pabbie, and he sighed.
"Such a shame, such a waste of young life." The elder troll said sullenly, looking down a little for a moment in silence. "But back to the point; his Mother took this herb, and that is why he only had one arm. It caused problems with him." Pabbie paused for a second, and rolled a few metres away, before returning with a very small bag. "Here, take this. It contains some of the herb I referred to, already in powder form. If this pregnancy really causes you distress, then by all means take some of this powder, and you should abort. One pinch a day, for a week; there's enough for your sister there, too, if she should need it."
Elsa nodded stiffly, her body shocked from all the new information. She also couldn't help but wonder how Pabbie knew that Anna, too, could be pregnant, but then he was extremely wise, so he presumably jsut made accurate guesses. "Thank you," she said quietly, nodding her head and turning to leave, before Pabbie called for her to wait.
"One more thing, your Majesty; if you do decide to go through with this, no one would blame you, I'm sure, but give it careful consideration first. If the herb should fail... well, you could end up in an even worse situation than you are now. However, I figured it made sense to give you the choice."
Elsa nodded gratefully for the warning, muttering "Thank you" before leaving to help her family.
The group set off slowly, none really all that eager to leave the paradise of the valley after they had so graciously treated by Pabbie and his family; even now, as they began to leave, the trolls swarmed around them wildly, throwing little tips and reminders back and forth faster than the speed of light, some even rolling over and adding little flowers and charms to the group's saddle-bags for good luck. The sentiment was nice, but in the end everyone was grateful when Pabbie ordered his family to back off to allow the royals to leave - so many friendly gestures were only making doing so more difficult.
"We wish you all the best on your journey," Pabbie said gently, but then rolled a little closer. "However, before you do leave, there is one last gift I wish to give. Queen Elsa - would you be so kind as to give me your hands for one second?"
Slowly, Elsa bent down a little so that she was just leaning over High Flyer's side and she extended her hands cautiously, feeling a little unsteady without holding onto the reins and wondering what Pabbie could want, though a tiny flame of hope began to flicker inside of her chest as he took her gloved palms. Placing them together, he covered them with his own and then closed his eyes, and Elsa felt the strangest of sensations as she felt her magic begin to leave her body through her hands; Grand Pabbie shivered slightly before he grunted, and then drew back from her, opening his eyes and grinning. Elsa looked down at her hands and gasped in shock; the fabric was simply disappearing before her eyes, dissolving at an incredible speed without only a tiny amount of damage to the soft, tender skin which had been below.
"How-" She began incredulously, and the group watched in amazement as the last of the fabric faded from view. Pabbie chuckled a little, looking pleased that his attempt had worked.
"I am the king of the trolls, my dear," he said simply as he gave a small smile, though his eyes looked slightly pained and tired from the effort, "And as such my magic does have, if I may say so myself, the potential to be extremely powerful. Of course, I don't tend to use it all that much; our community can get by easily without it." Elsa watched him with increasing amazement, wondering how he could think that such a statement completely explained how he'd managed to make her gloves dissolve without even harming her skin more than a slight itchiness. If Pabbie picked up on her response, though, he made no attempt to further explain himself.
"Princess Mia - your turn now." He instructed and the young girl slowly encouraged Lysse towards him, looking a little afraid but she did as she was told as Pabbie repeated the action. The magic left her own skin a little worse for wear than Elsa's had been, slightly redder and a tad more irritated, but it was amazing to feel the air on them again, and she smiled despite the discomfort at the welcome sensation.
"There," Pabbie said, a little out of breath now, but he looked satisfied with his work. "I apologise for the state of your hands - I only developed the concept for the spell last night, so I'm not entirely masterful with it. That being said, you should stop feeling the effect within an hour or two."
Elsa smiled at the troll. "It's quite alright," she said, as she tried not to scratch her hands, "It's nice to be free of them. And you got rid of the stitches, too, which I doubt any other doctor could have done."
Pabbie nodded his head. "Exactly," he commented, but clearly wasn't done, "However the main reason I interfered was because you will be needing your powers when you leave. Uncontrollable powers would not have been of much use to you, otherwise I would have left them on. I hate to cause distress, but it was the best way to solve the situation."
Elsa nodded in understanding, then Pabbie rolled back away from the group and glanced up at the brightening sky, studying the sun silently for a few seconds before letting out a little sigh. "It must be nearly eight o'clock, now," he commented, as he made small gestures to his fellow trolls to stay back, "The men chasing you must have gained a fair amount of ground since yesterday, so if you are to stand any chance of getting away with your group intact, I must insist that you leave right away. With luck, you may be able to escape any form of conflict."
Elsa looked around herself at the group and, after noting that they all appeared ready to go, nodded again in response to the instructions; thanking the trolls graciously for all their help, her eyes lingering the longest upon Pabbie for all he'd done for her, she gently pushed High Flyer up into a rapid walk with the rest of her family surrounding her quickly. The rest of the community remained - with much frustration - behind now, but their cheers of 'good luck' and 'safe travels' were easily heard amongst the sobs of the child trolls.
As the haven of the trolls' residence faded from view, the entire group felt the same as the gentle reassurance of safety which had been promised inside the valley began to fade, to be replaced by an unwelcome but horrifically familiar sense of terror and dread.
First thing I'd like to point out is that perhaps Elsa seems to be losing control extremely often recently, and that's because she is. She's terrified that she and her family will be caught again by Arne and dragged back to the underground house where they had been kept; on top of that, she's absolutely exhausted from running for so long, and her body is undernourished anyway. If that wasn't enough, she doesn't feel like she deserves love so often, because of her brands which have 'claimed' her as property of whoever SI is (I'm sure most of you have worked it out by now) and her weakness, and now especially because she's carrying a child who has a 50/50 chance of being one of Arne's men's offspring, rather than Odd's. Not to mention her body will be overrun with loads of sudden new hormones. If that wasn't enough to send her mind into turmoil and justify her losing control, I don't know what is.
And just on a side note... Wooooo! There's a new baby Princess (in real life). Ahaa, it means nothing but I love having a monarchy! (AND SHE HAS THE SAME NAME AS ME, HAPPY DAYS INDEED!)
So, I'll see you next Friday (by which time I'll have done 4 of my exams! Only 500 billion or so to go!)
-SG