Elsa opened her eyes and noticed she fell asleep during the middle of the day. She quickly fixed herself. She was just seven years old, but she still had to act as if she is older. She is a princess after all, and she will be a queen one day, after her father succeeds her grandfather, she will become the heir to Arendelle. But that day will not come probably until she is in her forties or even fifties, since her grandfather is still strong, and he is not too old, and her father will rule for long. He is a young man, in the middle of his thirties. But even though the day she will wear crown is still far away, she had to act as if it will come tomorrow.
Elsa walked out of her room and was met by (not surprisingly), Anna, who scared, her just as always.
"When will you stop doing that, Anna." Anna couldn't stop laughing.
"When the sun sets in the east." Elsa didn't like that joke.
"Hahaha, very funny. Do you have anything smarter to say?"
"I have. Do magic, Elsa." Elsa shook her head. "Please Elsa!"
"No Anna."
"Please!"
"Anna..."
"Please, please, please, please! Please." Anna's eyes and voice were so appealing that Elsa couldn't disappoint them.
"Oh, okay, Anna." Anna jumped with surprise at that.
"Yes!" she exclaimed. Elsa started to calm her.
"Shh! You must not tell anyone I did it. Especially grandfather." He will be mad if he finds out, Elsa thought.
"My mouth will be shut. Please Elsa." she asked again. Then Elsa looked around to see if anyone is watching them and she then focused her thoughts in her hands. She closed her eyes and could see it-the icy blue light that she would always reach when she wants to use her powers. Elsa then carefully reached out to that light and held it in her hands, knowing that it would be cold to everyone, but it wasn't to her. The cold never bothered her anyway.
When she opened her eyes, the blue light was now in her hands. Anna was happy to see the light and she watched with mouth agape, the icy light clearly reflected in her eyes. Elsa then placed more energy in her hands and the light started to move around the room.
"It's fantastic! Elsa you are great, you really are. I want to be like you!" she was saying while following the light the whole time. Elsa smiled at her comments and she got an idea.
"Let's play a game, Anna." Anna's eyes were full of attention. "We will play tag, and the light will be above the one who is running, so the one chasing will be chasing both the other and the light."
"Agree. I am 'it'." she said.
"But, I am always..."
"No talking, run Elsa!"' Elsa didn't think for even a moment and she just started running, following the game.
She was running through the hall in which they were in, as she didn't want them to make noise in the rest of the castle. She was so concerned with not making noise that she didn't notice Anna tagged her.
"Tag, you're 'it'!" Anna said and started running.
"Oh, I will catch you."
"You can try!" Anna exclaimed and left the hall, the light together with her.
"Anna, don't leave the hall!" she didn't hear the answer. "Anna, come back." Elsa sighed and started running after Anna. She prayed that, if someone will have to see the light, that it will be mother or father or uncle Avnir, or grandmother, or Gerda or Kai or any of the servants, but just not, not, not one of them two.
"Anna come back!" she was still yelling. "Anna..."
In that moment, Elsa felt a pain in her head, caused by something that hit her on her way. Elsa left out a couple of ows and touched her head and got back one her feet.
"Someone is not very careful when running, aren't you, niece?" Elsa heard a very familiar voice, the one that she never liked to hear. In front of her was a giant in comparison to her, as all adults were, but this man was so evil looking that he felt taller than any adult Elsa would see. His reddish brown hair and his fair skin was the only light factor in him. Uncle Aron was dressed in dark brown, with a cloak behind him. His eyes were dark blue and thus normal-except that his right eye had the pupil like a snake. And there was also that scar on his face. Three scars that went like a small, thin line. Nothing bad, but still visible. Elsa never felt good in his presence.
"What is it niece?" he said, with quasi-kind voice, with a scary smile. "You look like you saw a monster." He tried to put his hand on her head, but Elsa moved away from him.
"Elsa, where are you..." Anna said, before noticing Aron was in the room.
"What a coincidence." he said, coming close to Anna. Elsa was afraid. "Both of my sweet nieces are in the same room. My day couldn't go better."
"Anna, Elsa, it's time for you to..." mother appeared, and her voice stopped when he saw Aron. "Aron." she said.
"Ah, Iduna." he said, again with a quasi-kind voice of his. "I am happy to see you. We haven't seen each other in a longer time. Aren't you happy to see me too?"
"Am I?" mother said with courage. Elsa hoped she will be like her when she grows up. "Though you are right, we haven't seen each other in a long time."
"Very good." Aron then placed his hand on Anna's head, because of which Elsa felt some duty to save Anna, but her mother stopped her.
"Anna, leave your uncle alone, he doesn't need to be bothered by you." mother said. Anna tried to, but Aron spoke.
"Oh, my niece doesn't bother me." Aron said, his hand still on Anna's head. "I am an uncle who really wanted to see children of his brother. What is wrong with that? I really missed my nieces."
"Yes, but you need rest, so..."
"What is the reason for all this noise?" another familiar voice said. Then he entered.
Elsa's grandfather, king Arnold, was a man in his late fifties, and although so late in age, still imposing. He was tall, just as tall as Aron, and his stomach was flat. His small beard was golden, even more golden now that it started to go white. His eyes were pale green, and those eyes could sometimes terrify Elsa, even though those were the same eyes her father had. Just like always, he was wearing black. Elsa never liked grandfather much, but she knew he would always stop Aron from anything he planned and this time she was glad, even happy he was here. Until she remembered the icy light she made. When grandfather looked at it, Elsa's breathing slowed down and she made the icy light disappear. Her breathing stopped when he looked at her.
"You used your magic again, child." his voice was so cold, yet anger could be felt behind that Elsa couldn't say anything in her defense. "I told you not to use it. Next time I find out..." then he noticed Aron was there.
"And what are you doing here?" he asked with the same cold voice he talked with to Elsa. Aron just smiled again.
"I am happy to see you too, father." grandfather and Aron were just staring in each other for few moments, until grandfather spoke.
"Iduna, daughter, take the children to their dinner will you?" he said. At that, Aron finally let go of Anna and she run to the mother as if she was running from the devil himself and hugged her tightly. Now Elsa breathed in relief.
"The father and son need to talk alone a little." grandfather said and mother.
"Come on. Let's go, sweethearts." mother said and they left. Elsa however turned just to look a little at Aron. He scared her again. When he smiled with his evil grin.
"Your majesty!" the voice woke Elsa up from her dark memories. She flinched when she heard it. "Your majesty." the voice went on, knocking on the door, but Elsa still didn't come to her senses. "Your majesty?! Elsa, are you alright?" she finally came to her senses.
"Yes, don't worry. I am fine." Elsa really was now fine. "Forgive me Joram, I...I was lost in thought."' Thought? I was almost dreaming? "Come in Joram, why don't you come in?"
"Why don't I come in?" Joram's voice was confused. Why doesn't he simply come in? "Elsa, forgive me, but it wouldn't be very appropriate for me to enter the queen's room-especially a woman's room, wouldn't it?"
Elsa then realized where she was. She was sitting beside her desk, in her room. Am I losing my senses?
"Joram, forgive me, I..." Elsa stood up from her chair and opened the door, leaving the room and now looking at Joram. "I was...really lost." Why didn't I just let him in? What would be really a problem with it, he always came in my room in the time when Aron was still...Aron. She remembered Aron again, and she was in danger to get lost in her mind again.
"Elsa, are you...okay?" Joram's voice woke her again. She was thankful he did.
"Joram, forgive me! Please, I...I don't know what...uh, hell, forget it!" she calmed herself. "Why did you called me? Do you need me?"
"Well, yes. I came to give you some good news finally."
"Is it about Anna and Robin?!" Elsa exclaimed and took Joram's hands. "Did they came back? Are they alive? Are they well?" Elsa was smiling, but the smile quickly disappeared because of Joram's perplexed face.
"Oh, uh...no, Elsa." he said unhappy, almost as unhappy as she was. "It's about lord Damon of Filmar. He said he will come to aid you in the battle."
He came to tell me that? Joram, are you joking with me? "Thank you, Joram." she said, not thinking it. "Please, let me walk alone, if you will."
"Of course Elsa." Joram said and went into opposite direction from the one Elsa wanted to go to. Elsa just sighed and started walking through the hallway.
While she was walking through the hallway, she was thinking about many things. She was thinking about how she hurt Anna when they were little, about how she didn't call Robin to come once she became the queen, about how she left the kingdom like a coward and froze it in her irresponsibility. She was also thinking about Aron, and she was sadly remembering how uncle Avnir used to make her laugh and smile, and how he treated her. He treated her very kindly and...well, familiarly, if that is even a word. He even didn't want to start to eat the dinner until she went down the stairs multiple times, waiting for her. He was one of those people who knew that she hurt Anna, but he wasn't afraid of her...or her powers to be more precise. And then, Aron killed him. Aron destroyed everything. And now her sister and her brother are in danger because of his actions.
While she was walking, Elsa left the hallway, and she noticed that. She was now in the courtyard. In the courtyard, lord Isaiah was sitting on a bench, sharpening his grey sword.
"And when did you damaged that sword that you have to sharper in?" she asked him out of nowhere, which was probably the reason for his confusion at first.
"Queen Elsa." he smiled and looked at his sword again. "Uh, I damaged it while training. I hit the tree with it. I even tried to cut to tree, to see if I could do it. It ended up," he laughed at himself. "I couldn't." he put his sword in it's sheath. Elsa was surprised by his answer.
"Wait, you tried to cut the tree?" she said. He nodded and smiled.
"Well, yes." he rose from the bench. "I thought it was possible. I will need this sword, so I wanted to test it's strength, since it is new, I never used it before. It will be useful in war. War is an awful thing." Elsa couldn't agree more.
"Did you ever fought in a war? Even a small one?" she asked him, to her own surprise.
"I am two and twenty, your majesty. This is the first war I ever fought. Though I hoped it would never come. Not that I had a choice in that matter."
"No one of us ever does." Elsa smiled with a weak smile, more to herself than to him. "The war does not ask: 'Can I come in?'" She shouldn't have said this in front of a man she barely knew.
"No, it doesn't. That is exactly what my father once told me when I was little, your majesty. When he went into war with Idolites."
"I know of that war." Elsa said. "My father sent my uncle Adan to help lord Aramir in battle against the Idolites. He was sent with just few hundred, but that is all my father could send. We had our problems."
"I remember him. I saw him." Elsa raised her eyebrow. "Well, I haven't fought in the battle, but my father allowed me to help with carrying the food and weapons around and giving messages. I was there when the Idolite chieftains agreed to his peace terms."
"My uncle was too. He said you were sitting beside your lord father the whole time during the negotiations." he smiled at that.
"Prince Adan wasn't present all the time during the negotiations, your majesty." he looked down. "After some time, my father told me to go away and that the table was not place for a boy of my age." he laughed at his own suspense, and Elsa just found it hard not to chuckle at that too.
"Uncle Adan said that your father was the bravest man he ever saw." Elsa said to him. He stopped laughing and now he instead had a proud smile on his face.
"Yes, he is. He is the best and most honorable man. I know, I know all children say that about their fathers..."
"Trust me" she raised her hands "not all children say that about their fathers." Elsa believed that for her father as well, but she knew enough young nobles that didn't agree about lord Isaiah's statement. He smiled again.
"My father said that king Agnarr is the most capable ruler he met, your majesty." Elsa smiled at that. "However, he told me that the ruler that surprised him the most with their capability are you." Elsa's eyes widened.
"Me?"
"Yes, queen Elsa. You." he answered. "To be open, he heard many people object to you as being incapable ruler, but he always disagreed with them."
"And that disagreement is based on lord Aramir's first impression of me, if I understand well?" he smiled again.
"My father's first impressions never fail, your majesty." Elsa didn't disagree with that, but rather wondered.
"What was your father's first impression about Aron...my uncle?" lord Isaiah's face went darker.
"Your majesty, I don't think it's..."
"No, no, it's okay, trust me." Elsa tried to convince him. "Just tell me." He was silent for some time and he seemed hesitant to answer.
"He didn't trust him the first time he saw him, your majesty. To be honest, it was what people call hatred at first sight."
"That hatred was mutual, I can tell you. Aron once got drank and said many awful things lies about your father." This is something I shouldn't have said neither. It surprised her that he laughed at that.
"I got used to it. Or rather, my father did. People make up lies about him always. That is what happens to righteous people. There will be more evil lies about them than there would be evil truths about people who are awful. I can already imagine some of them. Let me guess, was one of the insults he said 'the Pagan-Friend'?" Elsa was surprised at this. It was. And she remembered it. That surprised her even more.
"Yes. It is one of those that he said."
"Of course. My father took a former pagan as his personal guard and that is what started those lies. A guard named Eradan. He was once a pagan, but he is no longer. He even got circumcised and gave an oath to the Lord to obey His laws."
Just as I could think. Aron was always the maker of lies. He deserves that name, the Red Snake.
"Not only that. Now my sister and brother are in danger because of him." Elsa realized she said it in front of lord Isaiah.
"So it's true." he said. "I thought it was just a rumour your majesty, but I didn't think that it is true."
"It is very true." Elsa said, being open more than she usually would be. "His sons kidnapped my sister and my brother is now going after them to save her."
Elsa's thoughts then returned back to Anna and Robin. She knew that by now Aron's sons must have come to the Onall coast. Either that or Robin saved her at the very end of the way and is bringing her back, and that journey probably lasts longer. If that is the case, general Simon will find them. He will have to. That was the only hope. Elsa didn't dare to think of the other option...especially the worst one. She prayed to God to deliver them.
Anna, Robin, please come back. I beg Lord to bring you both back, and I beg you two to come back. Please come back Robin and Anna. Both of you. Please!
