Frustration
"Elsa!" Anna sings loudly from the kitchen with a silver tray of chocolate chip cookies on her hands. Half of her hair is tied in a sleek braid; the other half hangs loosely on her back. As soon as she sees how her sister jolts up from the table, her happy face diminishes into a frown.
That happens all the time. Her sister has the habit to overwork herself and fall asleep while doing her queenly paperwork. There's so much to do now that the eternal winter is gone and the rightful queen is finally ready to go on. Elsa's humble and supportive advisor—which also happens to be her godfather, Kai, has been helping her nonstop with the letters, but there are just way too many of them. "You fell asleep again..." Anna bites her lip and places the tray on the drawer right beside the door. She walks deeper into the study and comfortingly rubs Elsa's shoulders. "You really should rest."
"Not until I finish." Elsa weakly smiles and wipes the sleepiness away from her eyes, even though it's a useless effort.
"Right," Anna puts her hand on her hip while scanning the piles of papers situated neatly on Elsa's desk. "But when will you finish?" Elsa shuts her lips and silently grabs her quill. "Exactly," Anna growls. "I want you to rest this instant. The bags under your eyes are getting heavier!"
Elsa hums accordingly and submerges the nib inside the inkwell. "A few more letters."
"You keep saying that until midnight. Every single day."
Elsa looks up to her frowning little sister. "It's okay, Anna. I'm used to this." She weakly smiles before turning back to her duty. Anna crosses her arms and examines Elsa's exhausted face. Her porcelain skin is paler. Her eyes lose some of their sparks. Her smile isn't like the smile she gave her when she thawed the snow, celebrated Anna's big day, built Olaf's snow family, gave Kristoff new ice harvesting tools, sprinkled tiny snowflakes for Sven to lick, or any happy memories they had shared. This smile is one of her miserable ways of concealing her emotions.
Elsa has been facing tons of letters for her to reply to and sign. Arendelle has currently been in its most exceptional success for three years under Queen Elsa's reign. It all started with the small attempt of the queen herself to test her abilities. Elsa tried to put her powers to use by simply creating ice sculptures for business. With her impressive and detailed works, dozens of Elsa's icy creations had been shipped to many parts of the world. Arendelle managed to boost up its economy. The enormous amount of money was used wisely—to raise more crops, provide inn facilities, build various kinds of stores by expanding the Arendelle Plaza, and so much more—as it brought the crocus kingdom to another level of success.
Now, Arendelle is thriving. That achievement attracts the eye of the world. Many clans and countries have been trying to build a partnership with Arendelle; some even strive to take the queen's hand in marriage. Elsa has been having a hard time managing all those proposals, especially those letters with marriage purposes. It doesn't matter how tired she is; the letters just won't stop from coming.
Anna has been standing for quite some time with her eyes watching Elsa work on her tasks delicately—even at her worst state. The strawberry blonde sighs in annoyance and decides to give up, realizing her sister is as stubborn as she is. "At least eat my cookies, okay?" Anna rushes to the tray and places it on the table next to Elsa's study one.
Elsa flashes her a smile and nods. "Thanks, sis."
"It's horrible, Gerda!" Anna whines and hugs her pillows, squeezing it with her dear life. "She looks so lifeless with the amount of work she's having!"
"But it's Her Majesty's duty, Princess Anna." Gerda, one of the oldest maids who has served the royal family for a long time and the sisters' closest figure to a mother, softly caresses Anna's head. The princess previously asked for Gerda's emotional service after she visited Elsa's study a few minutes ago. According to Elsa's daily itinerary, she was supposed to finish her paperwork before the clock strikes nine. But, now, that seems impossible. Tons of dignitaries and trade partners can't seem to keep themselves away from Arendelle. "Her Majesty is one of the best rulers of Arendelle in history. I'm sure she can manage."
"I have no doubt about that." Anna sinks her head deeper into the fluffy object. "I just want her to be happy."
"Her Majesty told me she'd be happy when you are, Princess."
"But I'm certainly not going to be happy if she isn't!" Anna frowns and curls up even more. Gerda stays in silence because she doesn't know what to say anymore. The silence is broken the moment Kai steps inside Anna's room.
"Good evening, Your Highness," Kai, not acknowledging Anna's pitiful state, politely greets the two ladies from the door. Not receiving any slight response from Anna's covered face, Kai looks at Gerda and raises an eyebrow at her. Gerda weakly smiles and gestures Elsa's study. Kai bites the insides of his cheeks—fully knowing Anna's daily stress over Elsa's daily stress—and coughs before his purpose of barging in is out. "I am here to inform that the council meeting will be held first thing in the morning."
"Great. Tomorrow I can't have a peaceful breakfast with my dear sister, again." Anna groans loudly and glares at Kai who's now swallowing his breath. "What does the council want this time, Kai?"
"They need to arrange a few things related to the future King of Arendelle, Your Highness." Kai gulps and glances at Gerda who's looking at him wide-eyed.
"Future...King?" Anna repeats in almost a whisper as the realization hits her like Kristoff's polished sleigh. "THEY ARE ARRANGING A MARRIAGE FOR MY SISTER?"
"Kai, can you at least talk to them?" The trio went further away from Elsa's study to clear things up. They proceeded their way to the dining room as Anna ordered the two to sit down in front of her. Although, Gerda excused herself to the kitchen to grab something, leaving the poor Kai alone with Anna's bursting emotions.
"I—I'm afraid there is nothing we can do, Your Highness."
"You've seen Elsa's condition! Please, don't weigh her shoulders with more of these!"
"The council knows what's best for the kingdom, Your Highness. I believe they're aware of Queen Elsa's state."
"They don't! I know how Elsa feels—I know how she'll react once she finds out about this!" Gerda returns with a hot chocolate—in hopes to calm the raging princess down—with Olaf smiling giddily behind her. His positivism is needed in case the situation goes worse. "We've been through three years just fine. What makes the council come up with the idea anyway?" Anna snorts and lands her forehead on the table.
"It's not my place to question the council's decision, Your Highness," Kai continues to shrink on his seat the longer the conversation goes. Gerda places the royal mug on the dining table as Olaf places himself beside Anna.
Gerda smiles and presents the hot chocolate. "Your Highness—"
"Gerda, shush! She's sleeping!" Olaf puts his twig hand in front of his mouth and places the other on Anna's shoulder. "It's normal for people to fall asleep on the dining table. It is almost our bedtime, after all."
Anna sighs before tilting her head up, resting her chin on the table instead. "What am I gonna do?"
"Oh! She's not sleeping." Olaf exclaims and looks at Gerda. "You can give her the hot choco!"
Gerda awkwardly smiles at Olaf while sliding the mug closer to Anna's spot. The princess perks up a little at the scent of cocoa. "I put some marshmallows in there in case you miss him! You know...figure of speech," Olaf grins while watching Anna take a sip of the hot chocolate. "It seems that you are in a better condition, Anna, and I guess you won't explode or break anything in the castle—as Gerda previously informed me." Olaf hops down from the chair. "Now, if you all excuse me, I need to finish my reading so that I won't be late for a bedtime story with Sven!" And with that, the snowman and his flurry march their way out.
Anna giggles for the first time and shouts Olaf a 'thank you' before he is entirely out of sight. She continues drinking, leaving Kai and Gerda silently watching her in relief. She starts to relax after taking a couple of sips.
Chocolate shall be on top of the grocery list.
Anna takes the final gulp and wipes clean the chocolate mustache between her nose and her upper lip. She gently places the mug on the table then looks back and forth between Kai and Gerda with a tight smile. "I wish to speak with the council before the meeting."
Kai and Gerda blink for a few seconds and stare at each other.
They will need more hot chocolates.
Elsa slumps into her large royal mattress and gives out a long, tiring sigh. Her eyes stare emptily at the ceiling; her mind wanders off to her work—as always.
She completed her work for the day, but, of course, more papers would be presented on her desk tomorrow by dusk. Nevertheless, she's thrilled to see more smiles coming out from her citizens and more visitors willing to sail their ships to stop by. Even though she's pretty much exhausted working on all of these kinds of stuff on her own, the positive responses from the people are more than enough to outweigh the stress.
Suddenly, she wonders how her father managed to do his duties as king on his own. She pulls herself to sit as she rummages through the drawers next to her desk. Her hand slips through several scrolls and documents until it finally reaches something she has been aiming to find.
Papa's sketchbook.
It's a leather sketchbook with a hand-painted white and gold rosemaling of a crocus, Arendelle's official flower. Elsa feels herself smiling as she returns to her seat and flips the pages of her father's beautiful drawings. King Agnarr wielded his pencil as easily as he swung his blade. Whenever he had free time, he would scribble things on his sketchbook. What makes Elsa's heart swells is the fact that her father filled the book with drawings of her, her sister, and her mother. Behind his stern exterior as a king, King Agnarr was a loving father who would try his best to spend time with his family as much as he can. The sketchbook feels more like a journal. She can see flashes of her sweet childhood as she traces her father's beautiful art.
Elsa soon finds a drawing of her and Anna while puffing her cheeks. She remembers how her father made this right when she and her sister were grounded after they were messing with their caretakers. Elsa laughs in memory of her and Anna being two little rebellious troublemakers. Little Elsa would freeze their tutor's tea, and baby Anna would poke their nanny's big behind. Their father would come to take care of the mess they made when their mother was doing the paperwork, and—in return—their mother would come to their aid when their father was attending the meetings.
Then something occurs to Elsa's mind.
They shared their duties and supported each other.
And above all, there was love.
Elsa closes the book and lets out a deep sigh. Yes, she has been receiving letters from plenty of lords boasting about their sons and kings, but plenty she has found wanting. Her answer will always be the same.
Elsa will never be ready for love.
A relationship is and will be the last thing in her mind. She has poured all her love to her sister, her family, her friends, and her kingdom. She has no part left in her heart for anyone else.
And, besides, no one would love the Snow Queen anyway.
Author's Note
Yay, the first part is published! I hope you enjoy it! I had fun writing about these lovely sisters~ BTW, I suck at English so pretty please help me if you notice some grammar mistakes or possibly anything wrong, I really need that, thanks.
AHTOHALLAN
- Kai was the castle's royal handler and keeps things in order inside the palace (he was the one who announced Elsa as queen during the coronation and moved Anna to stand besides Elsa). However, in this story, he is somehow promoted and becomes the queen's royal advisor
- Arendelle Plaza is the name of the kingdom's market square according to the game app 'Frozen Free Fall'
- Gerda is a loyal maid in the castle (during the first seconds of 'For the First Time in Forever', Anna spun her around while shouting "It's coronation day!")
- Kai and Gerda are also Elsa and Anna's godparents here, I want the sisters to still have parental figures
- Elsa's itinerary is based on the book 'Unlocking Arendelle'
- According to one of the Frozen deleted songs 'We Know Better', Elsa and Anna loved to tease their nanny
- King Agnarr loves to sketch and has his own sketchbook based on 'Forest of Shadows'
Thanks for reading this far! And thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I am super new in this platform, so pretty please forgive me if I do anything stupid! New chapter will be out soon!
Warm Hugs,
Reynia