The Girl with a Frozen Touch

Chapter Thirty Seven: Study Skills

By: The Firebending Frog

Disclaimer:

I do not own Frozen. It is the sole property of Disney and Disney animation studios.

I felt like quite the idiot when Anna jumped on my bed a week after falling sick and tried to smother me with a pillow claiming I was to learn how to breathe through my toenails sweaty monk dude style. I had no idea what she meant and it was three in the morning so I grumpily kicked her off me. She didn't sleep all that well so I often found myself on the receiving end of her midnight ventures. I probably would've complained but my mother had just recovered from something. She'd been sick too but unlike Anna she basically shook it off in three days.

Things had changed pretty drastically in the week Anna had been sick. For starters there was a pretty nice hand drawn picture in my likeness from the shoulders over the kitchen door that had a big red X over my face. This was clearly Gerda's doing with the help of Guard thirty three. Whenever you called him that he said his name was Jacob and resumed what he was doing. We called him thirty three for fun though. The guy was a skilled sketch artist and now his work had been put to use "keeping me out of the fresh water" which fit into the lie me and my mother had crafted around my sopping wet appearance a week ago.

Secondly there was a strange man in our home. He was taller than any man I'd ever seen and he had glasses with silver frames perched on his nose. We would see him randomly digging in the yard and taking water samples from the falls. He was always with a sketchpad and notebook. Anna and I jokingly referred to him as the bird man as his nose was large and shaped like a bird's beak. The other laughable thing was the fact that the top of his head was bald. He still had hair between the giant bald patch and his forehead which made it even funnier. It was like someone had just cut it that way but we knew better as he had grown the hair on the left side of his head out and combed it over the massive bald spot. So when a wind blew it he looked ridiculous and kinda stupid.

This man's intentions were evolved and refined through our imaginations. He ranged from a soul sucking demon one day to a escaped mental patient who plotted to take the crown. Anna once asked him what his hair was all about and he frowned and walked away without a word. So we actually started to believe he couldn't talk at all. We made theories and drew some terrible pictures in hindsight that at the time were the best sketches in the land to our childish minds. We were pretty bad admittedly. If you looked at them you probably wouldn't assume they were anything out of the ordinary for a five year old and two year old to draw with coloured pencils.

And finally my parents had started walking around the house and smirking when they saw me as if something was up. It was kind of weird and occasionally confused me to the point where I'd randomly realize I had passed my room due to being lost in thought. Of course the only normal one was Anna. She was at least predictable and could be counted on for some sanity in an otherwise wacky week. Of course she always took my mind off anything serious.

"Is you ready?" Anna demanded holding a doll of a knight wearing gray armour and holding a felt sword that just snapped back into place if you bent it.

"It's are you ready Anna." I sighed holding out an identical doll.

"We have a mission!" Anna exclaimed making the arms move and doing a poor impression of my father, "We have to save the queen!"

She pointed the little doll's arm at a dresser where a glass of water held a hat on it with a flowing ribbon. It was guarded by only the most horrendous of imaginary beasts. A pile of pillows that acted as a dragon.

"We have to save her highness from the monster!" Anna exclaimed shaking her arms up and down in excitement. If that little knight had been alive then he'd probably be very dizzy. I felt sorry for him and subconsciously held mine a little bit neater.

"Why did you want to play knights again?" I asked confused by Anna's sudden fascination with princess stories but from the side we weren't on.

"Someday we'll be captured by a dragon!" Anna exclaimed holding her hand out triumphantly and grinning from ear to ear, "its how all relationships start! Mama and Papa's too!"

"Mama how do relationships start?" I demanded looking up at my mother curiously.

"Well it depends, sometimes a father marries you off. Like my sister got married off to the king of Corona. He wanted her and he got her…" My mother explained.

"Did she like him?" I asked.

"Not at first but he was a nice man so they fell in love truthfully after she was betrothed to him," My mother explained.

"Is that how they all start?" I demanded.

"Nope. Ninety percent are not like that at all," She continued, "My father raided my mother's village, slaughtered all the livestock, stole all the gold, and stole her and forced her into marriage. Ten years later she finally accepted he did all the pillaging for her… Isn't that romantic Elsa. When a man destroys everything you love you know he's perfect. Now onto how me and your father got engaged-"

"I have no idea what they told you but that is definitely not how it happened." I muttered while the image of my father dual wielding swords with a bearskin on his back briefly flashed through my head.

"ONWARD!" Anna screamed plowing into the pile of pillows and bumping into the dresser and making queen glass of water fall on her and drench her hair and give her a nice bang on the head.

"Anna…" I sighed lowering my head and walking to my sister with the trembling lip and watery eyes, "Don't cry sis, it'll be okay. It's just temporary."

Anna's lip started to quiver more.

"No," I warned pointing a dominant finger at her, "Do not cry!"

The creak of the door opening should've been noticeable but I was distracted as two figures stood in the shadows with psychotic grins on their faces and light illuminating their eyes. They were completely obscured in shadow and stared at us like we were prey.

"Elsa…" Anna trailed pointing behind me. I turned and almost lost it at the sight of them as they stepped into the light.

"EDUCATION!" My parents screamed jumping into the room like a couple of crazed maniacs. My mother threw some shredded paper at me that if you counted probably contained even amounts of every green, purple, and blue paper shred thrown. They began to laugh and hugged each other like we had just burned down Weselton and no longer required trade with them. They then proceeded to throw a dress at my face which knocked me over.

"PAPER!" Anna laughed holding up her hands. She would think this was about her.

"Guess who gets to spend five to eight hours a day excluding weekends learning new things? Guess Elsa guess!" My mother coaxed. The unnatural look on her face frightened me as if Coffee and nightmares had a baby.

"Ummm…" I started but was unable to finish because she instantly cut me off.

"YOU DO!" She exclaimed pointing at me happily, "You've probably seen your teacher already."

"You mean the bird man." I stated with a smile.

"D-Don't call him that." My mother warned looking left as she said this and holding a nervous smile on her face as she did so.

I was roughly shoved into a room and had the door closed behind me before I could even think about running. I had been shoved into a rather odd dress. It had many uncomfortable and hot layers. Clearly it was meant for keeping me from becoming relaxed. It was a simple blue dress with no detail on it. Overtop of that was a blouse that was white and had some details towards the sleeves but was the covered by a vest with ornate flowering designs. Breathing wasn't exactly easy in this thing. Nether was movement. I don't know why but my hair was put up to prevent it from being anywhere close to my ears as if it was a fear that it'd be a distraction.

I looked around wildly. The room was incredibly weird. Like when Gabe had visited but much more boring. Books lined the shelves. Maps on the walls. A single desk and another larger one shoved in the corner. The entire room smelled of mildew and chalk and it made me feel tired. I couldn't explain it. At the same time the room was incredibly beautiful. I mean the browns and reds of the walls and such just contrasted so perfectly I couldn't help but stare in awe at them. It was like a dream and nightmare in one room.

Then there was my teacher who hadn't turned to face me yet. His nose was like a beak, he had that ugly salt and peppered hair and tiny glasses perched on the edge of his nose which I assumed didn't help him. He walked like he belonged in an art gallery or something. He just radiated old. Not the fun old you see in a nobleman at a party dancing and enjoying himself no matter what. No this was the old guy who would complain about anything. He would probably stub his toe and blame it on the darn kids. Even his suit was several decades out of style like he had been born in a different time period where people hunted witches and were as dirty as the ground they walked upon.

"Hello," I stated awkwardly my face contorted like I was expecting him to hurl a jar at me for speaking out of turn. He just looked at me and snapped his fingers pointing at the desk. I shuffled towards it and sat in it.

"No," He sighed and I stared at him in confusion, "I am to teach you how to say an oath to the people in charge of you. You must do this every day before you are seated."

"We have an oath?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes girl. The same one performed in all of the Arendellian schools. Now repeat after me. My life I give to my country. My life will be given to King Agdar the second and our forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country. With my hands I will craft the future. With my heart I will love what is given. And with my freedom I will better the lives of those after me," He explained and I blinked, "Now repeat that."

"My life I give to… forefathers… mind, something, heart given, crafting, blah, blah, blah…" I trailed and stared at my teacher blankly. He sighed and muttered something about not being paid enough for this and walked to the chalkboard and began scrawling something on it.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to sit or not so I remained standing hoping I was doing what I was supposed to. Every time my heels hit the floor my professor twitched but kept writing. I just watched as he pulled out a paper and his face contorted to a look of surprise. He grabbed a very thin stick used for pointing at things and he turned to face me. On the board was a block of lettering written in a style I physically had a hard time reading. From the first few words I could tell it was that speech.

"You, young lady, are here to learn two styles of study," He explained walking over to me and casting a shadow over me. His breath stank of old coffee and sweat. I now had a picture as to what Dragon's breath smelt like, "One of which is academic…"

He walked behind me and with a thwack he whipped the stick at my ankle. It took all my willpower to not burst into tears or collapse.

"And the other is more regal," He finished as he turned to face me, "If I ever hear you disrespect that sacred oath again I will have no choice but to assign you tasks only a servant should perform. Do I make myself clear?"

I just nodded and stared at him now refraining from motion.

"Now if you do not remember a piece of something do not disrespect it, simply falter to silence. It is to be expected," He explained taking a seat in his chair behind the desk, "Now recite it"

"I-I can't read it." I mumbled.

"It is calligraphy princess, the art of writing. It should not be too difficult to figure out no matter what your intellect level is," He explained, "Now begin."

Despite how crazy I thought most of it was I proved to be a pretty good student. I figured out quickly that proper pose was essential. Randomly I'd be forced to stand and after three times I stopped fidgeting around to avoid the painful stick. It would piece my skin with pain for a few seconds before fading as was the purpose of it I guess. When I complained to my mother about it at dinner she simply said it was good.

I had a huge issue with the more regal side of learning. I don't know why. I guess I just had a lot of childish quirks still leftover. Every day I'd spend at least an hour with one of the maids. A fine young lady who would instruct me on something while my professor watched with his stick. He was so into making me sit and stand properly he would occasionally hit the maid with the stick if she made a mistake. The thing stung but thankfully didn't leave bruises. Although one particular blow to my hand left my knuckles sore for a good two days.

I didn't realize there were so many aspects to sitting and standing properly. They had a delicate pose for everything. Reading, writing, Drinking, and even handing someone something. It was kind of annoying. The harshness increased by the second day where I spent half an hour standing in place in a formal and uncomfortable pose. Any movement or resistance was met with one of three things, the stick, someone clearing their throat, or a yelled order. Walking was most difficult to overcome. I am not joking at how weird it was. Instead of hitting me with a stick the maid and the professor would sit on one side of the room and I'd be forced to walk with a bible on my head. That was the heaviest book we had and there I was being told to balance it and walk at the same time. I'm pretty sure my two teachers were slipping coins to each other as I was walking as if they were gambling on how far I'd make it which was never more than a step before the massive book would fall and slam into my shoulder.

I think lunch was the worst. Lessons didn't stop there either. Apparently there is a specific way to eat soup… And sandwiches, and even to drink water. It was like math but you had to impress people with it! Both the maid and my professor would watch me like vultures to a dying animal and would either laugh and point at me or clear their throats and glare. The worst part was some of these mealtime habits they were teaching would randomly slip into dinner and I'd shake my head and resume normal eating. Much more like Anna.

Now that was where my problems ended. The stick went away and I'd be forced to stand after lunch and recite the oath. The only problem was that the writing changed daily to a new style and I had to quickly decipher it or learn it. I had it down by memory by the end of the week. We'd then discuss mathematics. Probably the most unimaginative subject there could ever be. Take symbols and combine them. The moment I started counting my fingers they were taped to my dress and I had to mentally calculate any equation that appeared. I was okay at best but maybe that was just me. He was pretty impressed.

Sciences were also boring. My eyes would droop as prof droned on and on about how food is digested and I would start sketching him yelling at me on the corner of the page. It was funny how it evolved from a stick person into a little man with nubs for fingers that was basically a bloated stick person. He never noticed because I'd scrawl over it before he could come over. I eventually took to making individual letters become more artsy to entertain me. One time I drew every letter like a bush of thorns curved into tiny shapes and it became somewhat of a habit to do that to any letter in any note but with varying designs per subject usually reflecting my interest. I just saw it as boredom and my professor told me it was spending too much time on my writing.

Literature was where things got interesting. I was just told to read stuff. Usually legends where children failed to listen to authority and drowned in a bog and whatnot and the lesson was to never stab a sibling with a fork or whatever. Then we'd come across really cool stuff like stories about magical kingdoms where they chained their daughters to rocks to sacrifice to a sea serpent because they angered the sea god and then a magical man saves the day with a decapitated head and a sword. I did however question why they wore loincloths instead of armour in these situations as I figured metal plating was stronger than muscles. The heroes were usually bland and one note but the side characters and parents were usually interesting enough to keep me from drifting off.

But tales of Sirens and Giant octopus had nothing on the best subject of all, Geography. I have no idea why but landscapes made me very excited. By the end of the first day I could list every port along the nearby coast like they were members of the family, and some weren't even in Swedish! I loved the maps and the charts and it was the only time I was exceptional at math. By the end of the week I was able to calculate exactly how long it would take a ship to reach Weselton with an error margin of point four. I can't explain it. I actually rarely sailed, mostly because I got seasick very easily and my parents considered me a liability on diplomatic missions. But this felt completely different. For the first time I felt like one of my duties as heir to the throne was actually fun and not lame.

The downside was that Geography was only a fraction of my schooling. Just because I enjoyed it didn't mean I got to do more of it. Instead I spent an equal amount of time waiting in utter pain for the time to run out in mathematics. Unfortunately Math was also the ending to the day which usually left me a little bitter when going back to the room until Anna began franticly demanding to know what I'd been learning about except very specific. If I started talking about Math or anything she'd tell me to move onto something more interesting and when I did she'd make me change the endings and details to stories so they fit her preference. Some of them were pretty dark like this one where a girl drowns in a swamp after being led into it by a strange one legged face with a lamp on its head. She made me change it because the ending was stupid and instead I had to lead her to a land of fairies where she ate clouds and used stars in her drinks as ice cubes… Did I mention Anna had all the creative liberties here?

My parents seemed happy about my schooling. No really happy. Dinner became an awkward staring contest while they waited for me to detail everything right down to the quickness of my breathing.

"And…" My father would coax whenever I paused and I'd have to think really hard about some other mundane detail before conversation resumed. Tonight was no different as apparently one week of sitting before a chalkboard memorizing around ten percent of the information while the rest leaked out my other ear was apparently good enough for a celebration.

Now I'm royalty so a normal night is basically like a normal person's feast. Particularly of late. Trade had started booming due to several mines being opened high in the mountains and everyone was feasting. So by that standard if the town was wealthy we were about a hundred times wealthier. I'd gone through etiquette classes and knew exactly what the display represented. If there was a whole pig carcass on the table you knew the family was either trying to impress someone or there had been a recent culling of pigs. But yeah it was showing off. Showing off to all the guests we had.

Turns out that when the snow melts everybody and their servant wanted to visit Arendelle. Why? Apparently we're one of those ports that has nice cliffs. I'm not joking. I didn't understand what rugged rocks on the side of the ocean had to do with tourism but it attracted a lot of people. Artists especially. They liked painting the fjord. With these artists came merchants and with those merchants came their families. Because of all these ships going in and out of Arendelle for Lumber, ore, or stone a lot of men with tight looking outfits followed around by burly men in varying coloured coats with rifles strapped to their backs and broadswords on their hips. It was the weaponry and uniform of naval soldiers and whenever a large juggernaut with more cannons than men to work them docked in port we always seemed to be at dinner with the captains who ranged from very pudgy looking and talkative to broad shouldered and silent. These were the nights where me and Anna were shoved into tight dresses that basically prevented breathing and made my sister cry.

From what I could gather every single one of this diplomatic seafarers wanted us to let them buy our minerals. My father nodded over and over again to every offer from every man with every accent, and every colour of uniform. Everybody and their mother wanted what we had and I was kind of tired of being shoved into a dress that made me choose between eating and breathing. This had been the case all week and the meal on the Friday after I started schooling was both underwhelming and relieving.

There were four of us and no one to bother us. No giant pig in the center of the table with a rotating fruit shoved in its mouth that made me wonder what the point of all existence was, it was just the four of us with a relatively small meal even by our standards. A simple stew that tasted like if you crossed roast beef and chocolate together but it somehow tasted good. I didn't know how to explain it but the salt in it was in amazingly high concentration.

"… and then I had to walk with books on my head again," I concluded staring at my mother while my stomach punched my lungs begging for me to shut up and start eating.

"It's good for your stance dear," My mother replied with a smile so sweet it made me sour. I wanted nothing more than to imitate her but where would that get me? A pained backside that's where.

Instead I just smiled sweetly and shut my eyes so she couldn't read emotions off them.

"I'm happy to know you're actually learning. We were of course afraid you wouldn't want to and we'd have to wait even longer," My father explained as I shoved lukewarm broth in my mouth with my spoon to quell my angry stomach, "Your friend Lily was much more troublesome."

I was caught by surprise and almost sprayed stew broth out my nose and instead descended into a coughing fit for a few seconds until I sat back and took a deep breath using my hands to emote a calming expression.

"Lily is doing the same thing?" I asked staring at my parents.

"Was…" My mother trailed a look of disgust in her eyes, "It figures Mary would let her child drop out of studies like that. They always did spoil her too much."

"Here here," My father agreed holding up his glass like he did at parties.

My mother was not amused and glared at him from the other end of the table. He cleared his throat and put the glass down.

"Wait a second…" I trailed looking at my mother and father warily. It had just hit me that Lily was older than me. My mother grinned nervously and my father avoided eye contact. Suddenly I had thoughts about Lily's parents bragging about their very lovely and smart daughter to my parents. My eyes widened as I realized exactly why my studies were so difficult, "NO WAY!"

"Elsa-" My mother started.

"I'm smarter than Lily!" I exclaimed cutting her off and laughing, "All her bragging was for nothing!"

"Yeah. That's exactly why we started you so early… Heh Heh," My mother laughed nervously while I thrust my arms in the air one at a time in excitement. The servant who walked past gave me an odd glance before continuing on his way.

"And if I want to find out how long it takes to get from Arendelle to Snowflake isle I just use this little bar here and a ruler and-" I exclaimed picking up the tool before Anna gave a very loud and very inappropriate groan and I turned to face her, "Anna it's rude to sigh when another is talking."

"You like a freaky version of Mama but with weird words." Anna stated blatantly, "Too many words and rules."

"Well that's what I learn all day." I explained pointing at the map above my head and grinning.

"It's a dumb idea for poop heads." Anna commented.

"You see, this is not what I learn all day, this is the opposite. This is what gets me smacked with a ruler." I muttered glaring at my sister.

"You used to be fun and now you're… Not…" Anna muttered.

"Anna I'm not able to do kiddie stuff anymore!" I exclaimed leaping off my chair and landing next to her.

"You're not fun anymore." Anna stated turning around.

"Anna-" I started.

"LALALA! NOT LISTENING TO BORING PEOPLE!" Anna yelled and I covered my face with my hand.

"Anna-" I began again but she just screamed this time until I stopped making noise, "I think-"

She started screaming again until is stopped. I frowned and picked up one of her stuffed animals. A lion and launched it at the back of her head. She turned and the look of death I received was so hateful I could have melted from its intensity.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed moving so quick I couldn't react and tackled me to the ground.

"ANNA!" I yelled throwing her off me and standing up. I was greeted by a stuffed bear to the face and apparently my facial expression was funny or something because Anna giggled and lobbed the lion I'd thrown at me as well. I reached over to my bed and grabbed a pillow. We have two kinds. The soft kind and the really hard and uncomfortable ones that are heavy. I finally realized what the hard ones were for.

The pillow was so heavy I dropped it on Anna and she was trapped under it like a Spider under a shoe.

"NO FAIR!" Anna yelled.

"It's fair." I replied smugly only to havea doll thrown at my face. I was beginning to realize my sister had very good aim, "WHY YOU!"

I leapt into the air and crashed down on my sister and the pillow and she gave a shriek before wiggling her way out and pulling a pillow off her bed and throwing it. It landed between us and I started laughing at her lack of strength. While I was distracted she had climbed on the bed and grabbed another pillow and before I knew it she was in the air and the pillow hit me in the face with the full force of Anna behind it. I was knocked to the ground in no time flat and gave a loud "oof" when I was hit.

"Ge-off!" I yelled while my face was covered.

"Admit you're dumb!" Anna shouted.

"NO!" I yelled kicking with my foot and sending my sister back where she fell on her back and just laid there staring at the ceiling. I walked over and looked down at her, "You okay?"

Her foot made contact with my gut before I knew what was going on and I fell down with a groan.

"I win!" She shouted as if I had given up.

"You're going down. I groaned grabbing one of her stuffed dolls and chucking it at her face. I missed and she laughed. I then grabbed a pillow and she followed suit. She smacked me upside the face with it and my face felt numb so I returned the favour by hitting her over the head with mine until her teeth clattered and she groaned.

"Hah!" I laughed before the door burst open almost giving me a heart attack.

"What is going on in here?" My father demanded glaring at us, "It sounded like you two were being stabbed downstairs! Were you fighting?!"

"…" I looked at Anna and she looked back.

"No." I replied with a smile, "We were playing."

Sorry for the… LONG WAIT. I'm in university and I get to work on this like once a week. I haven't been able to read, or well do anything fun. But it'll be worth it! Anyway introduction of a little bit of a personality development for background characters and of course Elsa and Anna. I love writing for the two. I just enjoy it. I'm going to hate hurting Anna but it must be done. We have a long ways to go and things only get more and more fun from here on out.