Elsa and Lars sat at opposite ends of the long banquet table in the dining hall. Elsa, of course, always sat at the head of the table. Kai had seated Lars at the far end out of a rigid sense of formality, or possibly revenge. Lars could tell that Kai did not like him, and he knew that calling out the steward for saying "Weasel Town" hadn't made things any better. The distance made conversation difficult, leading them to sip their soup in relative silence as they stared at each other across the table.
"Are you enjoying the soup?" Elsa asked in an attempt to break the awkward silence.
"I'm sorry?" Lars replied. From the opposite end of the table, he hadn't heard her clearly.
"I asked if you like the soup," Elsa said loudly. "It's one of the chef's specialties."
"Oh, yes, it's delicious," Lars said with equal volume.
Elsa was finding the current situation unacceptable. She had invited Lars to join her because she didn't want to be alone, but having to shout across the room just for simple conversation was almost as unbearable.
"This is ridiculous," Elsa said. She motioned to the seat on her right at the corner of the table. "Please, come sit here."
"Well, if you insist," Lars said. He gathered up his place setting and moved to the new seat.
"There, isn't that better?" Elsa asked as Lars sat down.
"Yes, much," Lars said, nervously fumbling with his silverware.
"Are you all right?" Elsa asked.
"I'm fine," Lars replied. "I've just never had dinner with a queen before, let alone one with magical powers. I guess I'm a little nervous."
"There's no need to be nervous," Elsa said reassuringly. "Aside from my powers, I'm completely ordinary."
"Ordinary isn't a word I would ever use to describe you," Lars said. "You're smart, caring, and very beautiful. I'd say you're quite extraordinary."
"Thank you," Elsa said, blushing, "but I'm still far from perfect."
"Prove it," Lars said. "Tell me your story."
"Everyone knows my story," Elsa replied.
"Everyone knows the Snow Queen's story," Lars said. "I want to hear Elsa's story. Tell me something everyone doesn't know."
"Well..." Elsa thought for a second, "I don't know how to swim."
"Really?" Lars asked in surprise. "You live in a castle surrounded by water, and you've never learned to swim?"
"I used to have trouble controlling my powers," Elsa said. "I had to be in the right mood just to be able to take a bath. Learning to swim was out of the question. The fjord would have frozen solid the instant my toes touched the water."
"But you don't have that problem anymore," Lars pointed out. "You could learn now."
"I suppose I could," Elsa said. "I guess I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Now it's your turn, Sir Lars. I assume your title is honorary. How did you get it?"
"I was actually knighted for heroism," Lars replied.
"Aren't you a little short for a knight?" Elsa teased.
"I'm really just a palace guard," Lars said.
"Why are you so modest?" Elsa asked. "If you were knighted for heroism, I'd think that's a story you'd be eager to tell."
"It's really not that great of a story," Lars said.
"Please, tell me," Elsa said, leaning in.
"All right," Lars relented. "When I was a little boy, I read stories with heroic knights who fought monsters and rescued princesses."
"I used to read stories like that, too," Elsa said.
"Did you like them?" Lars asked.
"I liked that the princess always got a happy ending," Elsa replied. "It gave me hope that maybe I could have one too."
"I always dreamed of becoming a knight, just the ones in those stories," Lars said. "I wanted to stand up for what's right and fight against evil."
"But knights like that don't exist anymore," Elsa said.
"Eventually I figured that out," Lars said. "So I did the closest thing I could. I became a guard at the Duke's palace, and I hoped that someday I would have a chance to do something heroic enough that I would be knighted."
"Well apparently you did. What was it?" Elsa asked.
"One day, a few months ago, I was one of the guards assigned to accompany the tax collector's wagon as he made his rounds," Lars said. "We were on our way back to the palace when we were ambushed by robbers. The other guards and I easily fought them off and when they ran we all chased after them. But something about the situation didn't seem right to me. It had been too easy, and I realized we had left the tax collector unprotected. I broke away from the others and turned back and when I got there I found another group robbing the tax collector. The first group had just been a decoy to draw us away. When they saw me they took off in another direction with the tax money, and I had to chase them alone because I would have lost the trail if I'd waited for help."
"The Duke deserves to have his tax money stolen," Elsa muttered bitterly.
"I know what you think of him," Lars said, "but he really does use the tax money to help the people. He funds roads and schools, and his palace employs a lot of people. Sure, he mainly does it to impress foreign visitors he wants to trade with, but the people still benefit."
"Apparently, they don't benefit enough, or they wouldn't want to steal from him," Elsa replied.
"Well, this was after you cut off trade with Weselton, so there wasn't as much tax revenue as there used to be," Lars said. "He did have to cut back, and people weren't happy about it."
Elsa wasn't interested in getting into a political debate with Lars; but she did want to hear how his story ended.
"Just go on with the story," she said.
"Eventually I tracked the robbers to an old cabin in the woods where the first group was waiting," Lars continued. "I didn't know how long they would be there. If I went back for the other guards, they might have been gone by the time we got back. I let them think they had gotten away with it and waited until the middle of the night. While I waited, I rigged my crossbow with a fuse to fire itself. I also made torches, and once it was dark I set up the torches in the woods surrounding the cabin. When I was ready, I lit all the torches and the fuse and then went up and pounded on the front door with my sword drawn. I told them they were surrounded and if they surrendered peacefully they wouldn't be harmed. I knew they could see the torches all around them. One of them opened the door a crack and asked me if they were really surrounded. Then my crossbow fired an arrow into the side of the cabin, and he was convinced. They all surrendered and let me tie them up. I couldn't believe it worked. Only after I had them all in custody did I reveal that I was alone."
"That's incredible!" Elsa exclaimed.
"Yeah," Lars said, "I can still see the faces of the other guards as I single-handedly marched the robbers though the palace gates while carrying the stolen tax money. They were all stunned, and the Duke was so proud. Weselton really needed something to celebrate, so he wasted no time arranging for me to be knighted. The day of the ceremony was the happiest day of my life."
"That is an amazing story," Elsa said. "Why were you so reluctant to share it?"
"The story's not finished," Lars said. He hesitated before continuing. "After the ceremony, it seemed like everyone in Weselton wanted to buy me a drink. I found myself celebrating in a tavern, and there was a barmaid there who kept glaring at me. I'd never met her, but she seemed to be angry at me. Eventually I asked her what was wrong. She told me that her husband was one of the robbers I had captured. It turns out that they weren't simply a gang of outlaws. They were all people whose jobs had disappeared when Arendelle cut off trade with Weselton; and they were just desperate to feed their families." Lars looked away, shamefully. "All of a sudden, the honor I was so proud of had become tainted, because I had gotten it at the expense of the kind of people I wanted to help."
"But they did rob the tax collector," Elsa pointed out. "That wasn't your fault."
"You're right," Lars said, "it's not my fault." He looked Elsa straight in the eyes. "It's yours."
"Wh..wait, what?" Elsa stammered in surprise. The last thing she expected was for Lars to put the blame on her.
Lars immediately regretted what he had said. He hadn't meant to be so blunt. He had come to Arendelle expecting the queen to be cold-hearted and unreasonable, but he had discovered that wasn't the case at all. He liked her. He didn't want to argue with her, but telling his story reminded him why he had come to Arendelle in the first place. He couldn't let his feelings get in the way, but he realized he had overcompensated.
"I'm sorry. That wasn't fair," Lars said apologetically. "What the Duke did was wrong, and you're not wrong to want to punish him, but that doesn't mean what's happened to Weselton is right. So many people have lost their jobs, or can't trade their goods for things they need to survive, and it isn't their fault. They are good people. Not everyone in Weselton is like the Duke. They didn't choose him as their leader. Weselton isn't one of those new democracies where the people can vote out their leaders on a whim when they make a mistake."
Elsa remembered that Lars had started to make a similar argument before, and she had to admit that he had a good point. Still, she had trouble accepting that all of Weselton's supposed problems were the result of her embargo. Arendelle's trade might have been important to Weselton, but she knew Weselton had many other trading partners.
"The loss of Arendelle's trade couldn't have had that much of an effect," Elsa replied dryly.
"It wasn't just Arendelle," Lars said. "You may not realize it, but your powers give you tremendous influence over the affairs of other lands. When Arendelle cut off trade with Weselton, many of our other trading partners either cut us off as well or severely cut back on their trade with us. They don't want you to think they're siding against you."
"They're afraid of me?" Elsa asked.
"Some of them are," Lars said. "Some of them don't know what to think. But, they all know what you're capable of. They call you the Ice Queen."
"I don't like to be called that," Elsa snapped.
"I'm sorry," Lars said. "That is the nicest thing they call you, though. I wouldn't dare say any of the others in front of you."
"I never wanted to be feared," Elsa said. "I'm just trying to do what's right."
"I know," Lars said. "But I've learned that right and wrong aren't always as clear as they were in those old stories. Even though I know I didn't do anything wrong, ever since I found out who those robbers really were, I've wondered if things might have been better if I'd let them get away. If I'd known who they were at the time, would I have still arrested them for robbing the tax collector, or would I have let them go so their families wouldn't starve? I'm not sure what I would've done. I'm not even sure I really deserved to be knighted."
"But you still use the title," Elsa pointed out.
"Yeah, I do," Lars admitted. "I thought about renouncing it, but it's everything I ever wanted. How could I just give it up? I just want to feel like I deserve it. I thought if I could do something for the people of Weselton that would keep anyone else from having to do something so desperate, then maybe that would be enough to make a difference. I doubt restoring trade with Arendelle would be worth a knighthood, but maybe it would make me feel less guilty."
"That's why you came here," Elsa said, understanding. "You wanted to try to make things right."
"Exactly," Lars replied, relieved that Elsa seemed to appreciate how he felt.
For a moment, the two of them simply looked into each other's eyes. Elsa realized that she understood better than anyone what Lars was trying to do. She felt like she had plenty to atone for herself. She wasn't sure if her people had ever truly forgiven her for freezing Arendelle the first time. She wondered if there was anything she could ever do to make up for that. She didn't think anyone else could understand how she felt. But Lars understood.
Elsa eventually noticed that it had been a long time since either of them had said anything. She decided it was up to her to resume the conversation.
"So, the Duke just let you come to Arendelle to try to talk to me?" Elsa asked.
"Oh, he never would have agreed to this," Lars said. "My uncle has no idea I'm here."
Elsa had just dipped her spoon into her bowl of soup when Lars said that, and the soup instantly froze solid. Elsa dropped the spoon, but instead of falling the spoon simply hung in the air, supported by the frozen soup.
"Wait, the Duke of Weselton is your uncle?" Elsa asked in shock.
"Did I not mention that?" Lars asked sheepishly.
"No, you didn't," Elsa said angrily. She stood up from the table and turned away from Lars. "Oh, I knew this was a bad idea," she muttered to herself.
"Okay, yes," Lars said, trying to explain, "my mother is the Duke's sister, but she knew she'd never inherit his title so she lived her own life and married a humble merchant."
"And your father is a merchant?" Elsa asked incredulously. "It's no wonder you want to restore trade with Arendelle. You're just looking out for yourself, just like the Duke."
"That's not true!" Lars protested. "Sure, trade with Arendelle would be good for my family, but that's not the only reason I came."
Suddenly, the doors of the dining hall burst open and a diminutive snowman came running in, gasping for breath.
"Elsa! Elsa!" Olaf shouted between gasps.
"Olaf? Where have you been?" Elsa asked.
"I hid in the sled so I could go with Anna and Kristoff," Olaf said.
"You were with Anna and Kristoff?" Elsa asked. "How did you get back here?"
"We came back to help you, but they couldn't get over the ice wall," Olaf replied.
"Where are they now?" Elsa asked. "I'll go let them in."
"They were captured by soldiers!" Olaf explained. "They said if you ever want to see them again, you have to surrender Arendelle to the Southern Isles by tomorrow."
"What? No!" Elsa exclaimed. She turned toward the windows and looked wistfully out into the distance. "Anna!" she futilely called out in desperation.
The temperature in the room started to drop, but Elsa didn't notice. She knew she had to save Anna. Nothing else mattered now.
"Elsa, no!" Lars said, noticing the look of resignation on Elsa's face. "I know what you're thinking. You can't accept those terms."
"I am the queen of Arendelle," Elsa said. "I can accept whatever terms I please."
"But you can't trust someone who would do something like this," Lars said.
"They have Anna," Elsa said. "I have to save her."
Elsa abruptly rushed out of the dining hall. Lars went after her and the confused snowman followed.
"What about Arendelle?" Lars asked as he chased Elsa down the dimly-lit hallway toward the grand staircase. "What about your people? Are you just going to abandon them and leave them at the mercy of the Southern Isles?"
"If I have to choose between defending Arendelle and saving my sister, I have to save my sister," Elsa replied without looking back as she started up the stairs.
"You can do both," Lars said, looking up from the bottom of the stairs. "You're powerful enough to stop the Southern Isles and rescue your sister."
Elsa stopped at a landing and looked down at Lars.
"And what if I fail?" she asked.
"You won't," Lars said. "I believe in you. Your powers..."
"You don't understand," Elsa said, cutting Lars off. She turned away to look toward a window that was further up the stairs. "My powers are linked to my emotions. Fear makes them hard to control, and I'm afraid that if anything happens to Anna, I'll never be able to stop this winter, and Arendelle will stay frozen forever."
Lars hadn't realized that Elsa didn't have complete control of her powers. He didn't know what to say to reassure her.
"Just go, please," Elsa said sadly as she resumed climbing the stairs. "I'm sure you'll get better trade terms from the Southern Isles than you would from me, anyway. I know that's all you really care about."
Lars watched Elsa in silence until she disappeared up the stairs. Eventually he noticed the living snowman standing at his side.
"Hi! I'm Olaf!" the snowman said, reaching out with one of his stick arms.
"I'm Lars," replied Lars, shaking the snowman's hand and thinking it was probably the strangest thing he had ever done.
"Are you a friend of Elsa's?" Olaf asked.
Lars looked back up the stairs where Elsa had gone.
"I'm not sure what I am," he replied.