The Ice Behind Bars
Chapter V: As It Begins
The sound of footsteps from behind the metal door echoed around the dungeon and inside Elsa's ears. Step….step….step…..step… She quickly shot her head up to face the metal door. The sounds grew louder bit by bit until suddenly, they stopped. When she heard the jingle sounds of keys, she stood up, then her face lit up with hope when she heard the sounds of keys being twisted and locks being opened. Papa came back for me! He came back for me!
The door opened. Her heart raced, and her father appeared. "Papa!" She ran towards him, her arms spread wide, her eyes full with joy and hope, then suddenly, she froze in place and her face fell to confusion when another, strange creepy man appeared next to her father.
He was wearing black shredded robes, a rope tied around his waist to what looked like it was meant to be a belt. He was an old skinny man with grey curly, messy hair covered the sides of his head, leaving a trail of baldness in the middle. His eyebrows were bushy, his lips around his yellow teeth were cracked. Wrinkles overwhelmed his face. He had no beard and no mustache. His nose had a maul that made Elsa lift half her upper lip in disgust.
"Papa…?" She asked confused, still staring at the old thing with wide eyes, then her father's voice snapped her to attention.
"Elsa, this is Mad. He's… A necromancer. He's here to help us control your curse." The king explained.
Mad? Even the name made her feel more concerned.
"You have to understand that what you'll receive, is because of your own actions, Elsa." The king continued, "We have to show Arendelle that we treat criminals equally… Even if criminals were princesses." He said before he gave Mad a nod.
"What?" She asked-more like whispered to herself- feeling confused.
Mad started walking towards Elsa, "Come now, little one." He said with a wicked voice, about to reach her.
Elsa flinched away a little before Mad grabbed her hand and started pulling her to the center of the room.
She didn't understand what was happening at first. She gave her father a confused and worried look, but she only received another nod from him.
When they reached the center of the room, Elsa realized that they were actually heading to the strange shackles. When Mad grabbed one shackle in his left hand, the other still holding Elsa's, the idea settled in her mind. These are for me! Her mind screamed.
"NO!" She yelled pulling her hand away, but Mad quickly grabbed it again and she yelled in fear, "Leave me!"
As she kept struggling to free herself from his grip, Mad was having difficulties trying to keep her put while her hands got colder, "Hold still!" He yelled before he finally closed the shackle around her hand and started reaching for her other hand.
She gasped aloud, then, "Papa! H-Help me!" She cried, and Mad quickly closed the other one, making her wince in pain.
The ice that was starting to form on the ceiling quickly melted.
"We are helping you Elsa." The king said unsympathetically, his eyes not leaving hers and his face blank.
"Please!" She begged, then saw Mad backing away from her saying, "There...that's better"
When he let go of her hands, they quickly fell from the weight of the shackles. Mad went behind the door, and when he reappeared, he was pulling a Mirror? She thought before he placed it at the corner.
Elsa was frightened. She tried to pull but the chains were very strong for her fragile tiny muscles. "You see, Elsa?… No ice." The king stated and she stopped her struggles.
She looked at him with teary eyes, "No… Plea-" She was trying to say as tears ran down her cheeks, but the king continued and cut her off.
"These shackles were made by the best smith in Arendelle, specially for you!… Using Titanium. The strongest metal ever known." The king started walking towards Elsa, his hands clasped behind his straight back, "You see… They are strong and enchanted by Mad himself. They can conceal your monstrous curse, while you receive your punishment." He said, before she collapsed to the ground, crying, her shackled hands on the ground at her sides.
"Papa… I d-didn't mean to h-hurt anyone!" She tried to defend through her sobs, bringing a shackled hand to her eyes to wipe away her tears, but when she felt the metal on her face and remembered that she was trapped, she quickly dropped her hand, eyes wide in shocked realization.
The king reached Elsa, knelt, and lifted her chin with his index, his grey eyes staring at her cyan teary ones. "You didn't mean to hurt or kill them, yet you did! And I cannot allow a monster to roam free around Arendelle." He stood, then motioned for Mad to follow him and started walking out of the room.
Elsa shook her head wildly at him, "NO! Papa, please! D-Don't leave me h-h-here… ALONE!" She tried hard to stand up, then ran towards her father, but the chains pulled her back, nearing making her fall backwards and not allowing her to even come near the door. She quickly glanced back at the chains, horrified as she remembered that she was still trapped, then quickly looked back at her father again, with a frightened face and pleading eyes. Please don't do this to me! She thought instead of saying aloud, because she finally knew her begs wouldn't move any emotions in her father.
The king looked back at her, opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He just looked away and closed the door behind him.
Elsa kept staring at the closed door for minutes, eyes wide, still not believing what was happening around her. She collapsed to her knees, still staring. Caged…? She thought, finally looking around the room, Shackled…? She looked at her shackled hands. Chained…? She looked at the heavy chains around her. Murderer?! She looked at her reflection in the mirror at the corner.
These were the things that referred to one thing, "A monster." She said, defeated, before she curled up in a ball, crying. The sound of her sobs and chain-rattling echoed in her cage. She was alone. Mommy promised… She's going to help me. She promised!
Anna awoke from what looked like an endless sleep. Her eyelids were still heavy and her vision blurry. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, blinked then finally managed to look around. Where am I? Her eyes darted around the room. She was laying on a soft bed. Next to it was a wooden nightstand and a lit candle on top of it. The walls were made of wood. At the end of the room was a window, a book shelve and a desk at the corner, then finally, she saw a mirror at the left side of the room. She slid down from the bed, and rushed to look in the mirror. Her head was pumping inside her skull. She tried to remember anything! But she felt empty. No memories, no dreams, no images, no visions… Blank. Nothing. WHO am I?!
She tried harder to remember as she saw a little girl with strawberry-blonde messy pigtails and blue-grey eyes in the mirror. She closed her eyes and tapped her index on her head, her tongue stuck out at the corner of her mouth, thinking and trying to remember. A… Ann… What? She was snapped out of her thought when she heard mumblings and whispers from behind the door of the room. She tip-toed to reach the door and knelt to see from the key hole.
Behind the door were three people discussing something, and they don't look happy. Two men in black leather outfits, one with a beard and dark brown hair, and the one who looked furious, had a grayed mustache and a bald head. The third figure was a woman, wearing dark green robes, and a dark green hood and she stood in front of the men.
Anna couldn't help her curious spirit so she had to know what they were talking about. She reached for the knob and opened the door ever so slightly so she could lean to hear their conversation.
"… I can't believe what happened!" The old man with the grayed mustache said with a loud voice-but not a yell.
"Tyler, I know you're angry, but… There was nothing I could do!" Said the other bearded man before he sighed then, "The moment she fell to the ground and blood seeping down from her head... I-I knew I had to bring her to Leanna here." He said, pointing at the woman next to him, "S-She was the only one who could have helped but-" He lowered his head in shame, then opened his mouth to continue, but someone spoke first.
"But the bleeding never stopped, and it was too late. She took a big blow, and Brandon and I tried our best." The woman, Leanna, finally spoke with a voice full with both sorrow and severity, pointing at the bearded man and herself.
"I can't believe The Queen died!…W-What about the girl!?... What a-are we going to tell her!?" Tyler nervously asked, "Are you expecting me to just walk in there and tell her that her mother is-" Tyler, the old man, tried to say before he was cut off by Brandon, "Leanna!... H-Her mother is… Leanna." He said crossing his arms.
"Are you crazy!?" Tyler yelled in concern, then, "This is not a game!...This… I-I-It's-" he tried to say before Leanna spoke again.
"The only option we have." She said determinably.
Tyler, looked at Brandon then at Leanna and sighed in defeat, "I hope you know what you're doing." He turned his back to them and walked away without another word, a sad look on his face.
Brandon gave Leanna a concerned look, "Are you sure this plan will work?" He asked his eyes not leaving hers.
"It depends on which one you're talking about." She said her voice always stern.
"Both." He replied.
Leanna sighed, then lowered her head, "This is going to be the only way to make it easier for Anna."
Anna's eyes shot wide and was shocked when she saw tears coming down Leanna's cheeks.
"Hey…" Brandon said sympathetically, putting a hand on Leanna's shoulder. "There was nothing we could do. We had to leave her. Y-You know that."
"No… W-We had a choice." Leanna said weakly, shaking her head, but stopped and turned her back to Brandon, her face now fully viewed by Anna.
Leanna brought her left hand to cover half of her face, "I… I know." She said while more tears came down to meet her cheeks, her eyes closed, her right arm around her middle and her back hunched.
Brandon came closer and rested both his hands on her shoulders. "Come now, we have to tell her." He said, pointing with his chin at the door that Anna hid behind.
Leanna only nodded, wiped the tears with her dark green sleeves and started walking with Brandon towards where Anna was, her eyes not leaving the ground.
Anna gasped. She didn't know what to do. Should she have hid or should she have just opened the door then hugged her Mother? She thought. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to figure out what to do, where to hide, how to react, what to say, then the door opened and Anna only froze in place, eyes wide.
"Anna?!" Leanna and Brandon said in unison, their voices showed confusion.
"You're awake!" Leanna said happily, rushing to hug her.
Anna? Anna thought. She tried to flinch away from the hug, feeling confused, but the woman only squeezed her tighter. "W-Who are you?!... Who's Anna?!" Anna asked, bewildered.
Leanna realized that she didn't introduce herself to the confused little girl in her arms, and she quickly removed her hood to reveal her face, "Oh! I-I'm sorry... I'm… I mean… S-Sweety, your name is A-Anna, and…" She trailed off, then, "I'm your mother!... Leanna!" She said happily. "We were just p-playing, a-and uh…" Leanna tried to say awkwardly, looking from Anna's shoulder to give Brandon a 'Help me!' look but she only received shrugged shoulders from him. Then, her gaze finally settled on Anna's white streak between her strawberry-blonde hair, "W-Well… You got hurt. S-So you just don't remember." She finished, and Brandon facepalmed because of how simple and unconvincing her explanation was.
Anna only looked at them in confusion, still silent. Leanna and Brandon both started to look concerned and their eyes widened as they waited for her reaction, hoping for their plan to work.
They were suddenly relieved when Anna smiled and said, "Oh… Okay then!... I love you Mama!" She said wrapping her arms around Leanna's neck. Brandon let out a loud breath he didn't know he kept, leaned at the table behind him, bringing his hand through his hair. He looked over at Leanna, feeling victorious but she only gave him an awkward and unsure smile. They were both happy and sad, that Anna was too young and innocent, and she just accepted the idea happily, not willing to even argue or ask any more questions. "Don't worry, Sunshine." Leanna said before she broke the hug and kissed Anna's forehead, "You're safe." They shared a smile, then Anna was snapped to attention when Brandon spoke, walking towards her.
"You are one of us now child!" He announced happily and knelt next to her so that his eyes met hers, "We'll teach you to be strong and brave!" He told her as she hopped in excitement.
"I am strong!" She said while trying to flex her barely noticeable biceps, and it made both Brandon and Leanna laugh at her silliness and innocence.
"We'll show you how to ride horses! How to use a bow, a sword and-" Brandon started to say before his enthusiasm was cut off by Leanna's voice.
"Whoaaa there you two!" She chuckled, "There's still time for all that, she is only 4 years old." She said picking Anna up, "Come on, we should all rest now." She said giving Anna a pat on the nose while smiling warmly.
"Actually," Brandon spoke, "How about we introduce her to her family?" He said with a smirk, before taking Anna from Leanna's arms and placed her on his shoulders, making her laugh in glee.
"Yeay! Go horsey go!" She said excited and threw her hands in the air.
"You'll be really happy when you meet Tyler and the others… OH! There's also little Flynn, Rapunzel and Aiden!... They are about your age… Uhhh... But a little older actually." He said before Anna clapped her hands in excitement.
"Woohooo!" Anna squealed in delight.
Leanna giggled at both of them as she watched them walk out of the room, then Anna looked back at her and called, "Aren't you coming, Mama?!" She asked cheerfully.
Leanna gave Anna a warm, reassuring smile and nodded. When Anna and Brandon disappeared from her view, Leanna's smile suddenly dropped. She turned her head to face the window and sighed sadly, holding her tears back from falling. I had no choice… She thought before she walked out of the room, and closed the door. I'm sorry.