The storm is raging, once again.
I am in my room below deck.
The icy water is gushing down the stairs and flooding the hall.
It is raging toward my door with determination.
"Elsa!" I hear the distressed cry of my parents. "Help us, Elsa!"
The water breaks down my door, flaunting it's thalassic powers.
It comes toward me, reaching out to grip me with it's icy fingers.
"Elsa!"
I am completely helpless. There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
It grabs me. A frigid shock overtakes my entire body.
It pins me down in my own bed.
"Elsa!"
I come back to reality.
I flip out of my bed, slamming onto the hard floor below. This sends a terrible stabbing pain through my arms and legs.
I bite back a cry of misery.
I need to get out of here... now.
I stumble to my feet.
I reach for my cloak and wrap it around myself as I stagger out the door.
Slamming into the walls as I go, I make the familiar route down the hall and up the stairs, out into freedom.
As soon as I emerge onto the upper deck, I am pummeled by a wild breeze.
It grasps tendrils of my hair and tangles it as it swirls around me.
I let out a sob of despair.
"Elsa?" I hear Ember's whisper.
I can make out his figure in the moonlight. He is in his usual spot on the railing.
I walk quietly to him and take my place next to him, swinging my legs over the railing and allowing them to hang over the waters.
I admit to you that sitting here like this makes me vastly uncomfortable. I find solace in knowing that if I lose my balance, Ember will surely catch me.
"Are you alright, Elsa?" His eyes burn into me with concern.
"Yes."
He tilts his head slightly, not buying my answer, yet he does not push on.
"Why are you not in your quarters?" I ask him.
"Quarters? They gave me a hammock in the berthing area." He laughs dryly. "I would much rather be out here in the open, with the cool air and water surrounding me."
I cannot help but tremble in the coolness of the night.
Ember notices this.
"You are cold, Elsa." He takes off his cloak and sets it upon my shoulders.
I find it's warmth to be welcoming and I savor the fragrance of burnt pine.
"Thank you." I whisper.
The sound of the sea rises into our ears, demanding our attention. The waves roll across the horizon, like a little puppy showing off a new trick.
We watch and listen, allowing a familiar silence to settle between us.
After a moment, I break this silence.
"Do you have so little control of it, Ember?"
"Of what?" Of course he knows what.
"The fire."
His hangs his head. It seems as if he is battling something very dark within himself.
"I have not told you everything, Elsa."
I remain quiet, allowing him to speak if he wishes to.
He does.
"I told you that I was from a faraway kingdom, but I did not reveal to you that I was actually the prince of that realm.
"Being that I was the firstborn son, the kingdom was to be mine one day.
I spent many years trying to conceal my powers. I tried so hard.
Because of this, I came across as distant, incapable, and otherwise disinterested in the people.
Many wished my little sister Ida would succeed to the throne. I would have given her my place in line in a heartbeat. She would have made a great ruler; much more than I could have ever been.
"One day, I overheard my parents talking about me, referring to me as their 'problem'. They said I was inadequate, incompetent, useless... my own parents." His words shake. "I lost control. I ran through the castle as fast as I could, but I could not contain the fire. It wouldn't stop. It just kept burning, going everywhere.
"Ida tried to get me to calm down. She tried to help me. All she did was touch my shoulder, just barely. She disintegrated before my eyes.
My parents saw this, also. They were horrified. They called me 'monster'.
They chased me out of the kingdom with armed men, banishing me from my own home.
I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Everything burned as I ran away."
Ember's voice breaks. "I killed my own sister."
My mind flashes back to two different times in my life when I myself had hurt Anna with my powers.
I usually try not to think about it.
However, I think about it now and I feel great remorse throbbing in my heart.
Anna almost died because of me. I cannot possibly imagine what it would be like if it had actually happened.
I wipe the haunting memories away.
All that is within me wishes to tell Ember everything.
I yearn to tell him about my powers, to tell him that he is not nearly as alone as I know he feels.
I want so much just to tell him... but at last I cannot.
He is burdened with so much already, it would be unfair to add my own baggage to the weight he already carries.
My body trembles in the bitter cold. I cradle my arms close to me, clinging to Ember's cloak.
"You should go back inside where it is warm." Ember says softly. "I will escort you back to your room."
He swings his legs around and jumps back to the solid floor of the deck. I try to do this as well, but it looks significantly less graceful.
Once we are both standing on the firm boards of the Gerda, he takes me back to my room.
"Quite confined in here, isn't it?" He observes, referring to the small hallway.
"I always feel so trapped down here." I concur.
We reach my door.
"This is yours." I hold out his cloak for him.
He grasps it in his hands. "Sleep well, Elsa."
With that, he turns away and disappears back down the hall.
I feel warmth within me.
Sleep comes surprisingly easy.
I manage to get a few more hours in before it is time to join Aksel in the galley.
He has a rather large pile if turnips prepared for me to cut into pieces.
"Turnips today?" I inquire.
He grunts.
I take the knife in my hand and begin my work.
It doesn't take me long to realize that I am struggling quite considerably with my task today.
The numbness in my hand hinders my skill with the knife. I cannot feel it being grasped between my fingers.
I attempt to slice a turnip in half, but it slips out from under my knife.
The blade slides out of my hand and onto the floor.
"Perhaps you should sit out today, Lassie."
Aksel has noticed my abilities regress with each passing day. I know he has.
I nod sadly and take a seat.
The entirety of both my arms and my legs have been overtaken by the ice.
Conceal. Don't feel.
I spend the morning listening to him tell tales about his mate Ingvar.
After the morning has passed, I take to my suite and lounge around.
I feel much pain in my body.
Hemmin enters my room, not even bothering to knock anymore.
It catches me off guard, but at least she feels comfortable around me.
"We are about to dock in the port of Inuitia." She says this with no enthusiasm.
She plops herself into her customary chair. "Just long enough for some supplies. I suggest you go out and walk around a little... if you think you can." She glances over to where I am sprawled out in bed, aching like you wouldn't believe.
"I can manage." I smile weakly.
A hush comes between us. Hemmin is mending like she always does, and I am staring up at the ceiling; I come to find that I spend much time doing this anymore.
"The crew is getting restless, ma'am." Hemmin's warning thuds out into the room. "I really do recommend we turn back to Arendelle. Inuitia is the last kingdom we will pass if we continue on North. The crew won't be happy if you will them to sail onward."
"Thank you, Hemmin."
An irritated look flashes in her eyes. She says no more on this topic, allowing her focus to return to her chore.
"You seem to spend much time with Ember." She switches subjects on me.
I have nothing to say to this.
"I saw you with him last night."
I do have something to say to this, however.
"You were spying on me, Hemmin?" It comes out more accusative than I had intended.
"No." Just like snowballs crashing into their target. "I was not. I just happened to be awake. I saw you with him. That's all."
"He is a friend."
She grunts.
"Bring her in, boys!" I can hear the excitement erupting above us on the upper deck.
I know we are readying the ship to land.
I leave Hemmin to her work and race out of my room so that I might see what this strange kingdom looks like.
A wall of menacingly frigid air nearly plows me over as I come out onto the upper deck.
I regain my balance, only to find myself losing it again at the sight of what I can only assume is Inuitia.
Inuitia is a kingdom made entirely out of snow.