Where Magic Flows

M. Lauren

Part Two: In the Air

Elsa couldn't look at her. She couldn't think. Blood rushed to her ears and swarmed her brain. Her palms began to sweat. Elsa's fingers clenched, and a surprising shiver drew up her spine.

She couldn't look at her, but she wanted to. Elsa wanted to see the spark of humour in Honeymaren's eyes, telling her this was all for a laugh. Honeymaren wasn't serious. She couldn't be.

There is nothing worth admiring me for… Elsa decided.

"I, I'm flattered, Honeymaren, really, but-"

"You have feelings for someone else; for Ryder... It's okay. You don't have to explain. I knew what I saw was true."

With wide eyes and raised hands, Elsa continued. "No, no, you misunderstand. This has nothing to do with Ryder. He is a friend to me and nothing more, but I am feeling caught off guard here."

Honeymaren sighed. Her arms wrapped protectively around themselves. "This wasn't supposed to happen this way, or at all, honest. I'm sorry it did… I'm sorry I let my emotions mess things up."

"I think, given some time, you will find that there is really nothing all that special about me..."

"What?" Honeymaren's eyes finally lifted. She tried to catch Elsa's, but she kept them strategically held away from hers.

"You and your brother- you think too highly of me, and I am flattered! I am, but soon you will see, I am not worthy of the infatuation you think I am…"

Her confusion thickened. "I don't understand." Honeymaren took a long step backwards.

Elsa came to sit with her back held into the trunk of a tree. Her hands caught against her knees, and she hugged herself tight.

"I am the fifth spirit now... I imagine that may sound impressive to you, and to your people even; or perhaps in your culture that makes me something to be admired. But I'm not the Queen of Arendelle anymore, and I don't know why I was chose to be the fifth spirit. Deep down, I'm still just Elsa. Soon you will find I'm really quite ordinary, and your interest in me should fade away. Soon, you won't have to worry about this anymore."

Sitting there, Elsa appeared sad. Honeymaren could see Elsa believed what she had said. However, there was little truth in it, and that notion spiked a burst of anger though Honeymaren's chest. She was insulted. Elsa's words were harsh, and they drove Honeymaren to stand, arms crossed, in front of her.

"You believe Ryder and I developed feelings for you because you are the fifth spirit?"

Elsa quickly looked up. Honeymaren's brows were pinched, and her lips pursed tight together. The temperature around them seemed to rapidly decline. Elsa had to wonder if it was her, or if Gale had sensed her distress.

"Yes…" She started slowly. "But I can understand why-"

"-no, Elsa. I don't think you do." Honeymaren cut her off. "I don't believe you understand anything at all! Do you not see how vain, how close-minded that makes me sound?"

Blinking, Elsa reeled back into the tree. "You're angry with me?"

Honeymaren bitterly laughed. "Yes. Yes I am angry! I am embarrassed and I am uncomfortable, but to top it all off, I am angry because you have degraded me so thoroughly. You've made me out to be some shallow, soft-minded Northuldra woman, and that is the furthest thing from the truth! You should know better!"

"What?" Elsa gaped and returned to her feet. "I never said that!"

"Not in those words, you didn't." Honeymaren's teeth grit behind her lips. The wind pulled at her braid. She shivered and pulled in a deep breath. "You believe the only reason my brother or I could care for you, or even like you beyond friendship, is because our people, our families, believe you are a goddess?"

Elsa stepped toward Honeymaren with her hands pleading between them. "No, Honeymaren, no! Of course not. I never meant for it to come across that way!"

"But it did, Elsa. It did come out that way! Me, Honeymaren, I couldn't possibly have any depth to my personality... to my interests. No, I live out here, away from Arendelle and what others would call a civilized life, and when a woman with ice powers comes through- I throw myself at her because my people don't know any better! Because we're blinded by our own beliefs. We don't have any rational thoughts!"

"Stop!" Elsa pleaded with her. "You're taking this too far! I never meant-"

"You didn't even ask me, you know?" Honeymaren began backing away from her. "You didn't ask me why, or when I started feeling this way... You never stopped to think about how it has been dealing with this all on my own! So, please. Don't assume to understand what's going on inside my head!"

She turned her back on Elsa, continuing further away from the village.

"Honeymaren, no, you've got this all wrong! This issue is with me, not with you!" Elsa stumbled as she hurried after her.

"You know, it would have been easier on me if you'd just said you don't feel the same way!" Honeymaren called back, her voice sharp against the growing winds.

As her words hit Elsa's ears, they forced her into a swift halt. Thick in her shock, she watched Honeymaren go on without her.

How I feel? She wondered with an ounce of fear. Her jaw dropped wide as she pondered.

The reality was, Elsa didn't know. She'd never stop to consider others in that capacity before. She had never believed herself capable of being the focus of someone's attention; not like this anyway. Perhaps it was the years of isolation, or even the decades of suppressing every emotion that came to surface, but Elsa never planned for what might happen in this instance.

Yet, this wasn't about a plan, and it wasn't about being someone's interest. This was about Honeymaren and Elsa's feelings towards her.

Prior to coming to Northuldra, Elsa assumed she was meant to live out her years as the sole ruler of Arendelle. There, she would always have Anna and Kristoff at her side. She never questioned this future before the siren's call, and she certainly hadn't hated the idea.

Belonging to herself was comfortable. Elsa had always wanted somewhere to belong, and she found that place within herself. She found happiness in Northuldra, and at Ahtohallan.

However, had that meant she should close herself off to other opportunities where happiness might arrive?

How do I feel about Honeymaren?

Elsa turned to view her hands as if they might hold the answer. Instead, they appeared the same as they always did. They looked the same, but inside- Elsa felt quite different.

As the breeze trickled back in, Elsa released a long sigh.

"What do I do, Gale?"

The wind continued on through out trees.

"I don't know much about feelings, but I do know I don't want to lose my friend. She's too… special to me…"

Gale held little interest in Elsa's words as she moved about the forest. Elsa hadn't noticed, though. She sunk down onto her calves and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Honeymaren likes me…" she whispered.

As the thought settled, her heart finally slowed into a steady rhythm.

From the window to the bed and back again, Anna paced the floors. Adrenaline coursed through her blood. Her eyes held wide, and her head turned erratically.

"Get it together, Anna." she coached herself. "This shouldn't come as a surprise to you. You are excited. Get excited!"

Her hands clenched into fists as she halted. Anna feigned a small grin.

It quickly fell away, and her shoulders slumped. "Why am I not excited?"

A sudden knock pulled Anna back to reality. She winced at the voice that called to her through the door for the tenth time that afternoon.

"Uh, Is everything still okay in there?" Kristoff worried. "Anna, come on, please. I just want to know what's going on!"

"I'm fine!" Anna called back without delay, and with an unconvincing amount of truth. "I mean, everything's fine! I just… need a few more minutes…"

On fast feet, she marched back toward the balcony. She threw open the doors and wrapped her hands around the railing.

"Come on Gale!" She huffed. "What is taking you so long?"

Anna stretched her hand high, a small letter pinched between her fingers. Yet, despite her pleas, Gale did not appear. The air around Anna remained stagnant. She waited, watching in the distance for the trees to bend or sway.

They never did.

Defeated, Anna sunk with her back to the iron bars. Her head pressed against the cool metal, and her knees drew tight into her chest.

"Please, Gale…" Anna softly began to cry. "I need my sister..."

There was no telling how long she sat there. Elsa had been shocked still amongst the forest floor, for more time than she felt passing. It was her brain, Elsa told herself. It failed to offer any clarity. The idea that Honeymaren liked her, it surprisingly both excited and frightened her. And that response made no sense. How could she both enjoy and hate the idea of having Honeymaren's attention?

Suddenly very warm, Elsa stood from the ground. Gale tickled against her skin as she began to pace.

"Honeymaren has feelings for me?" She said it again. "She likes me, and not as a friend..."

Her expression flashed between confusion and curious.

"Wow…" she released a breath. "Honeymaren likes me... She likes me, likes me, and- Woah!" Elsa was pushed forward by an abrupt gust of wind.

Gale had not stopped to listen to her words, but she was intent on making it back up the hill at speed. She whipped through the trees, cutting a dramatic path in and out of the forest.

Elsa looked to the leaves in her grasp. They created a colorful trail for her to follow, and Elsa decidedly did.

She brushed her hands along the top of her dress, leaving a smudge of dirt against the white fabric. Elsa straightened her spine. She grit her teeth, and continued quickly after Gale.

Gale was her spirit guide of sorts in that moment. She was leading Elsa through a sporadic maze of her own creation.

Before Elsa knew it, she was being directed back toward the harvest fields at speed. When she reached the clearing, the women working were now standing off to the side. They huddled together, their hair whipping wildly behind them, as they watched the wind carry in.

In the passing moments, as Gale's speed continued to pick up her pace, Elsa's face pulled low. Her skin prickled in concern. The cold she'd felt before was not from her. It had been from Gale!

She'd been trying to send Elsa a message, to get her to pay attention.

Filled with alarm, Elsa began to run. She ran with Gale, her hair chaotically strewn above her shoulders. She tore between the rows of corn stalks and beans. The worker's eyes were on the sky now, but Elsa refused to stop and see. Gale was carrying her back toward the center village. Elsa wasn't listening before, but she was all ears now.

Gale's maze had directed Elsa to a collection of huts, and waiting outside of their exit, was Yelena.

She was looking to the sky, as were the people around her. They spoke anxiously amongst themselves. Their hands wrung in concern. Yelena and the elders, their eyes brightened when Elsa appeared at their sides.

"What do you know about this?" she asked with a snap.

Elsa pulled in a deep breath, winded from her run. "Nothing," she shook her head. "I know nothing. The wind spirit came through the forest and moved right passed me!"

Yelena frowned. "The wind spirit, too, has stirred. See now, she moves through the village in many directions. She brings chaos with her strength."

Elsa's gaze followed Yelena's finger toward the ground. She watched as the leaves sucked up from the dirt and turned in ungraceful circles. Another pattern of wind ripped in from the west. It shred the leaves into pieces, as if in conflict with itself.

It was erratic, yet amazing to see. "The wind grows angry; confused. As did the fire, the wind now seeks its own revenge."

Increasing in intensity, Gale spiralled up their feet. "Revenge against whom?" Elsa winced.

"The balance in Northuldra has dissipated. This is why you have lost your control! The spirits are searching for you, Elsa, but your presence remains hidden to them."

Yelena waved her arms, directing her people from the clearing.

"But, I am right here, and I am trying to fix this!" Elsa called after her.

"We know this." Yelena promised. She took Elsa's hand in her own, and dragged her with them. "The people know this, however, the spirits do not. Something is keeping them from finding you, stirring their instincts, and driving them from their home."

Elsa watched in fear as a group of children cowered behind their parents' legs. They clung to their pants, faces pressed into the fabric. All the while, Gale moved through the village with force. Tarps pulled from the Goahtis. Laundry snagged itself from the lines, and Elsa huddled herself further into the masses of frightened people around her.

"This is only the beginning." Yelena directed Elsa's attention back to her. "As with Bruni, I have seen these winds before. I have seen the full might of the spirits. Gale will take down our homes, and tear through our crops..." Her eyes found Elsa's. "We must get our people down into the ravine."

Elsa's brows suddenly struck high. "Honeymaren!" she panicked. "The last time I saw her she was headed away from the village!"

Gaze flickering between Elsa and her people, Yelena's fists clenched at her side. "Honeymaren is a smart girl. I helped raise my granddaughter well. She will know how to protect herself from a storm of this size."

Elsa shook her head as Yelena turned her back on her. "I can't leave her out there on her own!" she shouted. "If she comes back here, and we are gone…"

Elsa's voice trailed off into the growing winds.

Yelena was busy prepping the elders. Everyone was looking to her for what to do. In that, Elsa wasn't needed here, and she knew it. She had failed the earth giants. She failed with Bruni, and she would fail with Gale, as well, but she could not fail Honeymaren. Nor could she let down the village that she now called home.

"I will go and get her."

Yelena's eyes circled back quickly to Elsa. "Don't be foolish, Elsa! You musn't."

However, Elsa was shaking her head again. "No. You have your responsibility to your people. You must take them to the ravine, and I will meet you there."

Elsa took a cautious step back from her, and Yelena sighed. Her eyes briefly closed in frustration.

"Do not be reckless, child." When her eyes reopened, Yelena's face was stern. "Take care, and know your limits!"

"I promise you." Elsa assured her.

She gave the villagers a final glance before departing against the heavy winds.

Cheers,

-M.