CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BAD NEWS

Jack stared at her in horror, the words she spoke rang clearly in his head, 'Can I be yours for one night?' He shook his head furiously, utterly horrified of the thoughts that flooded through his mind. 'No no no no dammit!'

Elsa gave him the look of desparation. As much as he wanted to accept her offer, he still thought against it. The stakes were too high, even for Jack. If this were a different situation he would've gladly, but the fact that they would both be beheaded wouldn't leave his mind alone.

Jack quickly scrambled to his feet and stared at her with wide eyes and mouth agape. Elsa gave him the look of hurt and embarassment, Jack was too shocked to react differently. The moment lasted more than they had hoped, and when everything had sunk in Jack finally found his voice.

"Elsa... I can't," he muttered. Elsa opened her mouth to speak but was soon cut off by Jack.

"I-if they know what happened they'll kill us," he added. Elsa frowned even more, and if the lighting would allow, Jack would see her face flush with anger and embarassment.

"That's not what I meant you idiot!" The temperature in the room dropped dramatically and Jack was taken aback. But... he assumed she meant... oh pickles! Jack mentally facepalmed himself.

"What?"

Elsa groaned at his stupidity. Boys! Her mind screamed. The cold, feminine voice rang back, 'If you only knew, my dear' followed by a low chuckle. She had been doing her best to shut this voice out, and almost succeeded, if not for her power over Elsa.

"Just leave!" Elsa pointed to the door, eyes burning fierce and brows furrowed, lips pursed.

Jack took a step towards the door, but then stopped and turned to Elsa. "I'm sorry," he said with a regretful look. Elsa shot him a glance of sharp daggers, meaning to see him in pain, although she could never really hurt him on purpose. Although sometimes he was just too much to handle and gets on her bad side, which would be a huge mistake.

Jack was hesitant, but eventually continued to the door. Before he could grab the knob, an idea popped into his head. A wide grin played on his lips and he darted for Elsa and landed a kiss on her cheek. Elsa stared at him in shock. Jack took the chance and savored the moment, cupped Elsa's cheeks in his hands and quickly leaning in and kissed her on the lips.

Before Elsa could react, Jack bolted for the door and quickly shut it behind him. Elsa was left in the dark of the room, in complete and utter shock, with a sliver of relief. A smile crept up her lips and she fell asleep with a little hope on her mind.

The morning came sooner than she had expected, dreading every second of that day. Eunice hadn't shown up to wake her at 7, and since thoughts of last night wouldn't leave her alone she fell asleep pretty late. Elsa sat up and took a glance at the wall clock, 9:18 it read, and the realization that it was late in the morning made her slam herself on her bed. Oh chocolate! She missed her friends' carriage ride home to Burgess. To make matters worse, the fact that she was possibly betrothed to Hiccup put her mind in a frenzy. Where was Eunice when she needed her?

Elsa's world was falling apart, inch by inch the crack on her sanity grew. There was no one beside her now, only her against the whole world, against fate.

'My dear, how could you have forgotten about me? I have been here all this time. I have never left your side. I am deeply hurt', the cold voice echoed in the depths of her mind. Elsa pressed her hands against her ears, as if the noise was coming from outside her. It was a fruitless effort really, but she was desperate.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Elsa screamed. The voice of the Snow Queen was now loud and clear, after days of silence, banishment to the back to Elsa's mind. She could stand no more, she wanted physical form now, and the only thing that was standing in her way was the bloody maid. She was actually more powerful than she let on, and the Snow Queen wasn't entirely sure if Eunice knew the full extent of her powers; they seemed to be deeply buried under a thick façade.

'I am always here and always will be when the world will cast you out. When life would no longer want you. I can help you... just let me complete my transformation'

"No! Never to the likes of you! You- you will hurt the ones I love. I will never give in to you!" Elsa screamed once more. Her muffled voice emanating from her bedroom caught the attention of a passerby. Rapunzel heard Elsa's screams and knocked on the white painted door sketched with blue snowflakes. The screams suddenly stopped, soon followed by a firm, "Go away". Rapunzel pressed on no further and continued on as if nothing had happened, although slightly hurt by the tone in Elsa's voice. She shook it off, she was probably just in a bad mood.

The Queen sat silently in the carriage emersed in a book to pass the time. The King was busy with paperwork although his eyes hurt because of the moving carriage. He had nothing better to do other than stare out the window or try to converse with his wife which, to his disappointment, where neither fruitful. It had only been a day of travel and both were very weary. Around the carriage were ten guards each on horses. Blank expressions plastered on their stern faces.

They broke out of the forest and into wide plains. The captain of the guard, who lead the carriage and the other guards, noticed a small shadow hover above them. He took a second to look up and saw a messenger pigeon ready to land. With an outstretched arm of the captain, the pigeon swooped in and perched itself on the metal braces. With his free arm he reached for the note attached to one of its leg. He unrolled the small piece of paper.

'The Princess Elsa has been spotted outside the castle. Inform the King on what actions must be taken.'

He whipped his arm and the pigeon flew away, the captain turned his horse around and rode beside the King's window in the carriage and handed him the note. "From the castle, Your Highness," the captain said. The King took the paper and read it, his tired eyes turning serious. With a loud, angry tone he said, "Turn us around. We shall go back to Arendelle". The captain nodded and ordered his men and the coach to turn around. The Queen looked at him with puzzled eyes, begging for an explanation. The King merely handed her the note for her to read. He heard her gasp. "Oh no," she muttered. And with the whip of the reigns, they headed back to Arendelle, not even halfway to their original destination.

With the absence of her maid, Elsa started her day with fixing herself up, with a rather gloomy mood. For who she was fixing up for, she didn't know, she was just used to it. Her sorrow made her lose her appetite, so she didn't bother with breakfast and went straight to her book to lose herself in another world. The book itself wasn't a happy one, but the pain she felt because of the book felt better than the real pain she felt. It was a distraction from her problems, and from everything she has been through, she was in need of one.

To her delight, Eunice came knocking on her door hours later, soon followed by apologetic speeches and looks. Elsa was just glad because she came, and she had told her that, but Eunice was feeling guilty of being selfish in her master's time of need.

"I'll fetch you lunch," Eunice declared and went straight for the door. There was no stopping her and Elsa just shook her head with a small chuckle.

After lunch Elsa spent the rest of her day playing board games with Eunice, whom she found out was a real challenge at chess and time seemed to fly while they were enjoying. When they got tired, Eunice began to tell her stories, the stories in the book Elsa had found in Burgess. While Elsa was amused, she couldn't help but develop a spark of intrigue on the book.

"Did you happen to find any blank pages in the middle of the book?" Elsa asked curiously. Eunice quickly shook her head. "No," she confirmed. Elsa glanced at her suspiciously, there was something in her eyes that told Elsa this wasn't the entire truth. She didn't press on, however, feeling that Eunice would say no more on the subject.

Evening came faster than Elsa wanted it to. Nothing out of the ordinary happened that day, supper, books and then sleep. A whole week without her parents meant she could sneak out of the castle, but guards are all over the place watching, observing. She planned on maybe taking a tour around the kingdom, she noticed the progress of industrialism when she spent her time looking out the window. The last time she out in the town she was chasing an oblivious, cheery Anna with Jack in her clutches. She didn't really have the time to stop for a moment and take a look around. Her last few minutes of consciousness were spent on planning her temporary escape from the fortress that was supposed to be her home, before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The morning that followed was even worse than that of yesterday. She was awoken by loud shouts and knocks on her door. She jumped out of bed to open the door and was in utter shock at the sight of her father looming over her with his arms crossed.

"F-father!" Elsa stammered, still unable to fathom how her parents could be back well before a week.

The King stepped in the room and slammed the door shut. Elsa flinched at the sudden loud sound of the door. Kai went straight for the leather arm chair in front of the fireplace. Elsa stood near the door, unsure of how to act. Her father had a grim expression and his eyes were dark, yet, Elsa could still see a glint of his pale yellow eyes. She slowly neared him, but came to an abrupt stop before she could reach 5 ft from him. She was afraid she'd get too close.

"Well, Elsa, I heard the streets of Arendelle are festive this time of year now that the people have finally seen their princess," he said, his voice full of sarcasm. Elsa felt the need to swallow a non-existing lump in her throat. Guilty, she thought, but no, this time she would play the innocent.

"I don't understand, father," she muttered, blue eyes shining in fake innocence. Kai wasn't buying any of it though, his yellow eyes pierced her blue sapphires with an intensity that could kill, if he'd given it the strength.

"Don't play dumb with me! I know you've been sneaking out of the castle. What were you thinking?! Have you forgotten how dangerous you are to the people? You could've hurt someone, no, you could've killed someone!" He thundered furiously. He stood now, looming over Elsa who was too terrified to move a muscle. Her gaze was fixed on the floor, her head bent forward. She could feel his eyes on the back of her head.

Elsa dared not say a word, fearing that the slightest sound would make his anger grow even more. There was a moment of deafening silence before the King spoke again.

"And what were you doing with that filthy peasant?! I told you to stay away from him. His kind does not belong in our family!"

Elsa looked up at him defiantly, a venomous scowl plastered on her face. "He is not filthy! He's my friend. He is everything you're not. He's kind, caring, fun-"

Elsa received a hard slap on her cheek. The King's face was red in absolute and utter fury. His pale yellow eyes glowed bright and fierce to match his anger. Elsa's eyes began to well up, her gaze on the wooden floor. The temperature began to drop and the King eyed her closely. Through gritted teeth she muttered, "I- I love him".

The King pulled back his arm to slap her again, but Elsa's reflexes were faster. She flicked her wrist and a pillar of ice erupted from the floor and trapped the King's hand in its grasp. He bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Guards!"

Seconds later three fully armed guards burst into the room, shocked at the sight of the King's hand frozen in a pillar of ice. They immediately tore their eyes off the incredible sight as the King gave the orders.

"Bring her to the dungeon. Let her sleep there for one night. A lesson should be learned," he growled, narrow eyes eyeing Elsa with great intensity. The guards gave the princess a glance, and Elsa swore that she saw disgust in their eyes; and fear. With slight hesitation, the three guards grabbed hold of Elsa who willingly surrendered and dragged her to the dungeon.

Kai groaned, and tugged endlessely only to miserably fail to free his frozen hand. The ice was only too thick and strong. 'If she would reach the full extent of her powers no one would be safe', the thought sent shivers down his spine and with vigorous movement shook his head. He gave the ice pillar a long generous look and breathed in deep. Careless as he could, released the breath and focused once again on the pillar. He concentrated, although not too hard, his own energy was almost at the tip of his fingers, but much more controlled than Elsa's frequent release of energy0. His eyes glowed yellow, and the ice that buried his hand melted to the floor in a matter of seconds. The King massaged his almost frozen hand with his other, and exited the room as if nothing happened. As he walked in the hallway a maid caught his eye. "Make sure to clean the Princess Elsa's room. I want it to be spotless", his deep authoritative voice scared the maid and she nodded her head nervously. "Yes, Your Highness," she squeaked and scurried away to fulfill her master's wishes.

Elsa pinched her nose, the foul stench of urine, sweat and other gross smells infiltrated the dungeon. She sat on the cold metal bed that hung on the side of the wall. Her hands were in cuffs and her wrists ached. There was a small narrow glass window that gave her a small view of the water; the fjord. A big, heavy wooden door with braces of metal kept her in her cell while two guards stood outside. The door had a square hole at the top lined in bars of metal.

Elsa pursed her lips. She dreaded every second she spent in that wretched cell. How could her father do this to her? Was that how much he hated her? How much he wanted to get rid of her? Elsa's eyebrows knitted together and a prominent scowl plastered on her face. Well she hated him too. She swore she would run away when she got the chance. To where she would go that was obvious, but she wouldn't have to stay long, her father would find her there.

The clanking of the metal door snapped her out of her thoughts and she flinched. Her eyes darted towards the door and she saw a large man carry a tray of food into the cell.

"Breakfast M'lady," he said and rested the tray onto the metal bed beside Elsa. He quickly bowed and soon left, leaving the room silent once more after the metal door squeaked as he shut it.

Elsa gave the tray of so-called food a generous look. She was already in no mood to eat and the gray mush of what looked like porridge looked less than inviting. She pushed the bowl away. A piece of bread could have been nice, it was definitely better than the bowl of mush.

Elsa let out a sigh. What did she do to deserve this? Surely if she'd been given the liberty she wouldn't hurt as many people as her father thought she would. Her mother surely wanted her to have some fun every once in a while, but she didn't seem to have any control nor power. What was happening to the world? Everything seemed to be turned upside down and shaken vigorously as if it were a snowglobe. Elsa closed her eyes. If she were to survive a day in this prison cell, she would have to find some entertainment before she got bored to death.

A/N:

THANK YOU GUYS FOR READING. I HOPE THIS CHAPTER WAS MORE SATISFYING THAN DISAPPOINTING. LOL.

I WON'T PROMISE ANYTHING ANYMORE BUT I HOPE I CAN POST THE NEXT CHAPTER SOON.

~PrincessBTB