~Chapter 7~
Elsa
The lightning that touched down was quite the distraction during our journey to the chateau. The carriage driver continued forward along the rocky terrain and I knew the chateau wasn't that much farther. Niklas glanced at me and I at him as I smiled weakly as he grabbed my hand. The voice echoed again drawing my attention away toward the fjord. Niklas stamped on the roof signaling to the driver to stop as we came to an abrupt halt. We both shifted in our seats due to the sudden halt as Niklas poked his head outside.
"Turn around, back to Arendelle," Niklas ordered.
"Yes, your majesty." The driver nodded.
"What? No!" I snapped.
As the carriage jerked in movement again, Niklas squeezed my hand.
"It's alright, Elsa. We can go to the chateau after we figure out what's going on with all these unique circumstances."
His warm eyes locked with mine distracting me for a split second.
"I don't want to worry anyone, especially Anna. You know what too much stress does to her with her fire magic."
"Just like you," He smirked.
"I'm serious, Niklas."
"As am I, Elsa."
Why did happy moments always have to be ruined like this? Even for a king and queen, we couldn't catch a break.
"But it's our honeymoon," I reasoned,
"We have the rest of our lives to be together, whatever is happening with that woman who visited you and her warning is more important."
"How about a compromise?" I offered,
"Intriguing, my queen," Niklas said, with a wry smile, "Please continue."
"Arendelle will and should always come first, but surely we can stay at the chateau a few days, right?" I said, "I know we're both concerned about these strange series of events, but just for a few days, let's just be us. Not king and queen, just Elsa and Niklas."
He raised a brow nodding his approval of my supposed compromise.
"Hard to remember that when we are being driven to a chateau in the middle of the woods along with a small party of guards."
I held back a laugh.
"I didn't think we needed them especially given my ice magic, but Anna insisted."
"Alright, well, I'll follow your lead on this one," Niklas said before leaning toward me pressing his lips to my forehead. He quickly stuck his head out the window again telling our driver to continue on toward the chateau. We circled back toward the chateau and as the sky fell to twilight, I could see it from the distance. Overlooking the fjord, it was probably the same size as the Arendelle palace with large windows covering the layers of stone on the outside. Though as the carriage moved closer, I think this place was more extensive than home. It was magnificent and overwhelming at the same time. White and red roses lined the path up to a courtyard overlooking a garden. Through a small ironclad gate, up stone steps, and finally into the chateau itself.
"Wow," I said as the carriage stopped.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Niklas agreed.
The driver opened the carriage door offering me his hand upon getting out as Niklas came out behind me. This chateau was tall and extravagant. I could see the influence of French architecture. Our bodyguards of four were awaiting us on the stairs going inside. At the top of the stairs, there was a woman in a navy dress with her arm attached to the man beside her. I saw rings on both their fingers.
"Your majesties," She greeted as she and her husband bowed low, "We welcome you to the Chateau de Cavelle. I trust your journey was excellent."
"It was," I nodded.
"Thank you," Niklas added.
"I'm Mrs. Johansen and this is my husband. We're the caretakers of the chateau."
"Nice to meet you," I greeted.
"If you'll follow us your majesties, we'll give you a tour."
Five stories of stone stood before us as we entered into the marbled halls. Crystalline chandeliers hung in every room. Every wall in this place was either covered with an oil painting or some type of wall ornament or tapestry. This place was luxurious for a king and queen, but a bit much for just Niklas and Elsa.
For hours we walked the grounds hand in hand talking. Niklas shared with me his ideas for Arendelle's future. It was equally exciting and sad because sometimes I found changes to be difficult. He compared himself to his father and what kind of ruler he wanted to become which was the exact opposite of his father. I may have had a biased opinion, but I knew my husband was nothing like his father.
"I want you to be proud of me, I never thought I'd rule in my lifetime."
I smiled pushing a loose piece of hair from his eyes.
"I was already proud long before you became king." I nodded.
His mouth tilted into a smile as he leaned down and kissed me.
By the time dinner rolled around all our ventures around the grounds worked up an appetite. Luckily, a Norway classic was served. Lapskaus. A hearty meat and vegetable stew that my stomach only had room for one bowl of while Niklas enjoyed three. Mrs. Johansen brought a delicious pudding known as Rommegrot to the table, but I couldn't indulge in it. I was far too full. Niklas managed one bite, but he regretted it given how much food he had already eaten. We cozied up on the sofa beside the fireplace in the main hall after dinner. If not for our guards nearby, I could imagine that we were alone. I laid against my husband's shoulder as he twirled my blonde hair between his fingers. Highlighting our favorite memories of the day from the ceremony to Anna's firework display.
"I never realized how detail-oriented your sister was," Niklas laughed.
"It was fun watching her plan, but I constantly had to reign her in. She did too much,"
"The day was perfect," Niklas whispered.
Before adjourning for the evening, Mrs. Johansen told us where our suite was. It was apparently the only room on the fifth floor and we were told to follow rose petals from the stairs. Mr. Johansen had already lugged our bags up there. Sure enough, we found our way to the stairs and the plethora of white rose petals weren't hard to miss going up floor to floor until we came to the very top. Niklas with his hand in mine rubbed his thumb across the top of my hand as we both went inside closing the door to our suite behind us.
The next time my eyes fluttered open, it was barely sunrise as I peered out the window. I could hear Niklas breathing deeply as I turned my head slightly to look at his sleeping form. Gone was his slicked back ponytail keeping his long hair at bay. His hair was sprawled out across his pillow giving my sister a run for her money with the comparison of extreme bedhead. His right arm was draped over me snuggly. Always making me feel safe and secure. As the morning sun began to peer through the window, that piercing voice called to me again shoving me away from my blissful reality. Trying to ignore it, I turned over carefully not wanting to wake up Niklas. Whatever I was hearing was bright and beautiful and yet hadn't stopped ringing out since we left Arendelle. It was quite the distraction and while I told Niklas about it yesterday, I played it off like it was no big deal. The magic power inside of me swelled in joy, not foreboding that something was wrong. Giving up on getting back to sleep, I carefully picked up my husband's arm laying it back down between us as I silently got up. Throwing on a silk lavender robe, I left the suite to go downstairs. The morning sunrise was beautiful as it peeked through the glass windows. I couldn't enjoy it fully inside these stone walls, so I rushed downstairs telling the guard detail that I was going out to the fjord. Wanting some time to myself, I insisted they watch from the windows. They had to stay close to the king after all who was still asleep. Without bodyguards, I went out the side door to the back gardens, down stone steps, and the cool waters of the fjord were at my feet. There wasn't much beach to speak of before reaching the water's edge. Freezing a pathway over the fjord, I began walking on top of the water's surface. The sunrise was stunning with colors of blue, purple, pink, and glowing orange as the sun continued moving up on the horizon. The wind in my hair felt great out here in nature. Couldn't beat a morning like this.
Before I knew it, I was probably about a mile out from the chateau and the waters were becoming less still. Stopping myself before going out too far, I sat on the edge of my frozen walkway and stared down into the depths. A mixture of green and blue met my gaze beneath me a combination of algae and who knows what else growing. Before I knew it, something got me in the water, I was swimming though it wasn't a conscientious choice I made to do so. Taking a deep breath, I dove down and I spotted a sunken ruin of stone. Never heard of something so big that lay beneath here before. Already running out of air, I resurfaced again already tuckered out and I didn't even get to explore. Obviously, this was no ruin in Arendelle's jurisdiction, but someone ought to know what lay beneath the fjord. If I had to constantly resurface, I wouldn't get to explore anything. I froze a thin dome of ice around my head to trap some air, so I could breathe. Though going too deep would crack the ice from the pressure. I'd have to be careful and do this quickly. Diving down again, I got closer to the ruin breathing with ease. There were homes made from stone down here. Nothing big or extravagant, but a small town nonetheless. What had made the fjord flood destroying this place? My body began tingling as I heard a voice call to me, but it wasn't the same song that rang out before.
"My treasure you must find if you wish to have them back."
At first, I thought I was imagining it.
"Elsa," The voice bellowed.
I didn't answer, but the voice was deep and raspy, alarming me to my core.
"Find the chest that bears no name and use what you find to change their fate,"
"Who?" I asked in my head answering finally.
"Your parents,"
I had to of been imagining this. This wasn't real, just wishful thinking and I had to silence the longings of them.
"Agnarr and Iduna may indeed live, but it's up to you." The voice said again.
"Who are you?"
He didn't answer as I began swimming further down though it was like my arms were being pulled. I couldn't see much further down into the sunken ruins.
"Let me guide you, Elsa." The voice said.
The ice began to crack as I went pulled into one of the ruined homes. There were no currents down here. The doorway of the home I was led to was mostly blocked as I squeezed through it. More cracks against the ice as water began to drip into my oxygen dome. Barely being able to see, I saw something glimmer nearby by the fireplace covered in algae. Digging whatever it was up was a challenge, but I felt my way around confirming it was the shape of a chest. I fiddled my way around the front feeling a slippery, slimy padlock on it. There was no key, but it didn't matter. I blasted it with my ice and yanked hard breaking the brittle lock easily. Reaching inside the chest, I felt nothing as my hands swiped this way and that until I finally found something small and made of metal. The ice dome broke as I took one last big breath. Scrambling to the surface, I wouldn't make it in one breath. I kicked hard as my lungs were beginning to burn. I slowed as I was about halfway to the top. My vision blurred as I called for aid. The aid of my stallion as I began to drift back down toward the depths passing out.
When I came to, I was laying against the rocky shore as Niklas stood over me and he had been pumping my chest with his hands.
"Elsa!" Niklas cried.
I turned over quickly coughing up water. Niklas rubbed my back as I sat there pathetically trying to clear my lungs.
"Get it all out," He told me.
Once I composed myself, I slowly stood up and began to make my way back to the stairs without a word. Niklas stepped in front of me crossing his arms.
"What was that?"
"I found an old ruin beneath the fjord and thought to explore."
"By yourself?"
"I had it handled," I shrugged.
"Clearly," Niklas mocked.
I sighed heavily feeling immediate guilt knowing how much I must have worried him.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so careless."
"Ever heard of curiosity killed the cat?"
"Most cats don't have ice powers," I winked.
Niklas rolled his eyes before taking off his cloak and draping it around my shoulders without another word about my adventure and near drowning.
"Let's get you warmed up back inside," He insisted.
"You know I'm not bothered by the cold,"
"I'm not taking any chances,"
He let me go first up the stairs as I looked down at my right hand where I had been gripping what I found in the chest. A gold ring. Nothing ornate, but I didn't want to drop it, so I slipped it on my index finger. Making it back to the grounds of the chateau, I needed a change of clothes as wet silk was dragging. We came through the courtyard when we stopped at the sound of hooves and a familiar voice yelling my name.
"Hey Elsa!" Olaf called.
He was riding on Sven as they came closer, Niklas put his arm around me. There could only be one reason why these two were here confirming the strange sense of foreboding I had felt since leaving Arendelle.
"Olaf, what's wrong?" I asked.
"The king and queen are needed in Arendelle,"
Niklas and I exchanged looks as Niklas glanced at our guards.
"Prepare our carriage, we leave for Arendelle immediately."