PROLOGUE - Between past and future

King Runeard. The mighty monarch. The one who had allowed the kingdom to prosper. Who had escaped the Great Threat. Whatever it means. The story was old, at that time even the Prince Agnarr was just a boy, even younger than Anna to this day. The legend had been forgotten, not the statue commemorating the event. It had always been there, enthroned in the middle of the town square, visible even from the castle. The raised sword overlooking Arendelle almost menacingly, something vicious in the eyes of stone of a younger Runeard.

For Anna, he had been an attentive grandfather, someone solid to lean against upon the death of her parents. He had taught her everything, allowing her to follow him in his daily life. Step by step, he had prepared her for the fate that awaited her, for that crown that he seemed to wear with ease. How to be a queen, great like him, tough in politics and fierce in battle. While the princesses of other kingdoms were learning the arts of the court, neglected by the throne, he had made her his heiress.

No matter if she was born second.

King Runeard had a son and this son had two daughters. Elsa, the first born, and Anna, the second, logically the spare. But the natural order had not been respected for long.

Even though she was young at the time, Anna remembered the time when everything had changed. When her sister had become like a ghost haunting the palace. Barely seen around a corridor before disappearing into her room. With the door always locked. Games were no longer shared and, soon, Elsa became a subject that no one really discussed. Anna had tried, at the beginning. She quickly learned not to do it in the presence of the king, his voice rising at the slightest mention of his older granddaughter. Even with her parents, Anna had learned to keep quiet. But not for the same reasons. There were to many tears in their eyes when she was too curious.

Even if Runeard had been good with her, Anna had always feared him a little. That part of him who seemed so hateful of Elsa, even when she was just a kid.

Wiping away a tear, Anna closed her eyes and leaned against the railing. She breathed salt and the smell of the summer sun radiating from the stones. Night was falling, sign that she's been here for too long but nobody came to disturb her. It would probably be the last time that she would know this tranquility. Tomorrow, her time would belong to the kingdom.

She always believed that this moment would come later. At eighteen, she had already known too many deaths. First, three years ago, her father, the heir, and now the actual king, her grandfather. Their disappearances had made her the next in line for the throne.

For the first time in a long, long time she felt alone. Truely alone. She had the feeling that no one really understood her. That complexe pain that she had in her heart. That fear that crushed her belly. She was going to be queen with no one to walk beside her. No one to support her.

Deep inside her, there was this little voice. The one who wondered if she was really the right person. If Elsa wouldn't have been better. After all, Anna was just a thief. She had stolen all her rights to her sister. She felt like a usurper. Even if she hadn't wanted it, it was the truth. The thought had always inhabited her and was all the more present now that Runeard was not there. If only she could have talked to Elsa. Know her feelings. She could have allayed her doubts. Not that she deserved it. Anna had made no effort to talk to her in months. For a year maybe. Everything had accelerated with the death of their passed too quickly. She was ashamed to confess that she didn't even care about Elsa those last few weeks. The report was saddening.

The truth was that her sister was just a stranger now. A truth that remained painful.

"Your Highness ?"

She hadn't even heard Kai's step getting closer. In a sigh, she straightened her spine. From now on she should appear royal, even with the old attendant.

"Yes, Kai ?"

"It's getting late, you will get cold."

She forced herself to smile, her lips stretching but her gaze remaining sad. A burning fire couldn't have warmed her today.

"Thank you, Kai. Just one more minute."

"Of course, your Highness."

As she turned her eyes towards the statue one last time, a flash of courage struck her.

"Kai ?"

"Yes, your Highness ?"

She hesitated for a second, her slightly reddened cheeks giving away her trouble.

"Does my si-" she said, swallowing a word that she hadn't spoken for a long time. "Does the princess Elsa had confirmed her presence tomorrow ?"

She felt like a child, ashamed to hope for something she did not deserve.

"I don't know, your Highness, but I can question Gerda."

Her heart was beating too loudly in the silence who followed. Anna almost refused the tacit offer but the words went beyond her thought.

"Please."

He withdrew after a nod and a bow, leaving her again in that strange loneliness which would be her new normal.