The morning sun rose early over Arendelle. In the courtyard of the castle, the soldiers formed their ranks. Word had spread rapidly through the city that Queen Elsa would be making an announcement, and townspeople steadily filtered in, gathering around the edges of the courtyard and waiting anxiously, shivering in the frigid air of the artificial winter. As the morning wore on, more and more of Arendelle's citizens made their way to the palace, and the crowd in the courtyard grew.
Among those who had gathered in the courtyard was Lars. Though a part of him was afraid to find out, he had to know what decision Elsa had made. He just hoped she had made the right one.
Lars recognized many of the faces he saw as he worked his way through the crowd. He couldn't help but think about the fact that just two days ago all of these people had been in the courtyard to celebrate the royal wedding. Now, they had returned, but the atmosphere was completely different, and not just because of the dramatic change in the weather. The people's excitement and exuberance were gone, replaced by doubt and anxiety. The people of Arendelle were afraid. They needed their queen to reassure them. Lars didn't know if Elsa was going to be able to do that.
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Elsa paced nervously back and forth across the study. Every time she approached the window, she could see the growing crowd in the courtyard below. Then she would turn away and see the surrender document sitting on the desk, still unsigned. Elsa knew she had to make a decision, but she still didn't know what she was going to do. She felt paralyzed by the immense pressure of the enormity of the decision she faced.
Suddenly, Elsa was startled by a knock at the door.
"Your Majesty," came Kai's voice from the other side of the closed door, "it is time. Are you ready?"
"Yes, Kai, I, um, I... I just... I just need... another moment," Elsa stammered nervously, realizing she had run out of time.
Elsa slowly walked over to the desk. She stared down at the surrender document. She knew she had to do something. Her hand trembled as she reached for the pen. As she picked up the pen, she hesitated. For a moment, she stood motionless, looking at the pen in her hand and at the document on the desk beneath it. Finally, she willed herself to move again. She took a deep breath and quickly signed her name at the bottom of the surrender document.
Elsa sighed and set down the pen. She rolled up the surrender document and carried it with her toward the door, carefully avoiding making eye contact with her father's portrait. She couldn't bear to face the disappointment she imagined she would see in his eyes.
Elsa opened the door of the study. Kai was waiting for her in the corridor.
"I'm ready," Elsa said.
Kai nodded and silently escorted Elsa to the end of the corridor and the balcony that overlooked the courtyard. Other members of the palace staff had gathered and stood along either side of the hallway. Elsa didn't look at them. She didn't look up at all. She merely looked down at the scroll she clutched tightly in her hands.
Elsa reached the end of the hallway. She paused before taking a deep breath and opening the doors to the balcony. As she stepped outside into the cold morning air, she heard the trumpets announce her with a fanfare. Down in the courtyard, the soldiers stood at attention and the townspeople greeted her with pensive applause. As the fanfare came to an end, Elsa simply looked out over the crowd for a moment of awkward silence. Elsa wasn't quite sure what to say. She hadn't prepared a speech.
"People of Arendelle," Elsa finally began, trying her best to sound as regal as she could, "as I'm sure you all know by now, a fleet of ships from the Southern Isles has come to invade Arendelle."
The people began to murmur among themselves. Elsa couldn't make out anything they were saying, but they sounded nervous.
"I have used my powers to surround the city with a wall of ice to keep the invaders out," Elsa continued. Her regal tone left her as she went on. "I want you all to know that everything I've done, I've done to protect Arendelle, and its people. Unfortunately, my sister, Princess Anna, and her husband, Kristoff, were beyond the perimeter of the wall, and I've learned that they have been taken prisoner by the invaders." Elsa heard gasps from the crowd and the murmuring grew louder. "Last night I received an ultimatum, demanding that in exchange for the lives of Anna and Kristoff, I must surrender Arendelle to the Southern Isles."
The tension in the courtyard sharply intensified as the crowd grew louder, and some people began to shout out of panic. Elsa realized she was losing her people's attention.
"Please," Elsa begged, trying to regain control, "I need you to understand how difficult these last few hours have been as I've tried to decide what to do. In the end, there's only one thing I'm certain of: I must save my sister, no matter what. So, I've made a decision."
A hush suddenly fell over the courtyard as the people nervously awaited their queen's plans. Elsa looked out over the crowd. These people had welcomed her back to Arendelle after what she had done at her coronation. The soldiers who had gathered to await her orders were willing to fight for her, even die for her if necessary. They were all here because they believed in her. She was their queen. She didn't know how she could tell them she was giving up without a fight. She couldn't tell them. She wanted to turn away, to flee back inside the castle, to run...
You can't run from this!
The words from her nightmare that Hans had repeated over and over suddenly returned to her mind. Elsa now understood the meaning of her dream. Arendelle was her responsibility, and she couldn't run from it. Surrendering to the Southern Isles wouldn't protect Anna; not in the long run. Elsa looked down at the scroll she clutched in her hands. She could now see the mistake she was about to make, and she knew what she had to do. But Elsa was afraid. She was afraid of what might go wrong, she was afraid of who might get hurt, and she was afraid of failing and letting everyone down.
Elsa looked back to the sea of faces, desperately waiting for some reassuring words from their queen. The moment seemed to stretch on for eternity as Elsa looked from person to person as she searched for the strength to continue. Then Elsa came across the one face with an expression that was different from all the others in the crowd. Lars had been watching her carefully. He had been worried at first, as he could tell where Elsa's speech had been leading, but he had recognized Elsa's moment of epiphany and now knew she had come to the right decision. As their eyes met, Lars looked back at her with confident reassurance, and smiled. He spoke to her, and even though he was too far away for Elsa to make out his voice over the commotion of the people, she could still read his lips and hear his voice in her head.
"You can do this!"
Suddenly, Elsa felt her fear begin to fade away. It didn't completely disappear, but it was no longer paralyzing. She took a deep breath. She believed. She could do this.
"I'm going to get my sister back," Elsa announced defiantly, "but I can't do it alone. Together, we'll show the Southern Isles that Arendelle will never surrender to fear."
The crowd cheered with relief. Elsa didn't remain for the applause, however. There was something she had to do before she had a chance to change her mind. Her heart pounding, Elsa hurried from the balcony to her bedroom. Once she was safely alone behind a closed door she breathed a sigh of relief. Standing in front of the roaring fire in the hearth, she looked down at the scroll in her hands. She only hesitated for a second before resolutely throwing the signed surrender document into the flames. Watching the fire consume the scroll strengthened her resolve.
Elsa walked over to her dressing table. Her crown from her coronation sat on the table under a glass dome. She had retrieved the crown from the North Mountain but had never worn it again. She removed the glass dome and picked up the crown. If she was going to fight for Arendelle as its queen, she was going to look the part.
Elsa caught sight of her reflection in her mirror. The flowing lines of her delicate blue dress and cape hardly projected the necessary image. She decided she would have to do something about that.