Anna slammed down her glass on the table. She let go of the cup with stiff fingers. A big net of air was sucked in her mouth as she calmed herself after her second glass of water. Anna closed her eyes and took small swallows of air before slumping her tight shoulders and opening her eyes again. She felt better. Much better actually. Her cheeks were no longer hot from panic and the taut muscles in her back and shoulders turned to dough. After inhaling so many times, Anna delivered a huge amount of exhaled breath back to the air. The Princess of Arendelle placed her hands far apart on the table in front her and chanted as she stared at the wall in front of her eyes.

"I'm good. I'm good to go. I can do this. There's nothing to worry about. I'll just return to Kirsten in the library. Yeah. That sounds good."

Anna pushed herself back up with her spine erect and her shoulders relaxed and her arms at her sides. She grabbed her glass and placed it in a nearby sink before leaving the vicinity of the dining room and kitchen. As she walked through the doorway of the dining room, Anna thought of how she would participate in Kirsten's discussion of reading The Tell-Tale Heart.

Just thinking of the title gave Anna the creeps. She didn't know much about the country people called America, but she knew that Edgar Allen Poe was one weird and dark guy. She wondered what possessed him to write such a morbid story. Anna subconsciously recounted the events of the story and analyzed it. She started to compare her life to the story and her current predicament concerning Elsa tutoring Karen and how she felt about it. All that came to mind was the image of a beating heart underneath a floor board. Bump-bump, bump-bump, bump-bump. That pulsing, that image of a human heart beating on its own. It disturbed Anna. But then she thought of how it was trapped under floorboards, feeling all alone in the darkness as if it was a scared person, a living thing with its own set of feelings crying for help, begging for rescue.

Anna couldn't help but think that she was somehow locking away her own heart keeping it concealed and alone. She shook her head. No way would she want to do that to her own heart. She made she it had always had been open. She was just being paranoid. She wasn't going to let The Tell-Tale Heart creep over her spine, seep into her soul and stroke her heart with a possessive yet unnerving touch. Anna shook her head in disbelief. She definitely wasn't going to let some story bother her. She made sure of that. Yet what she didn't make sure of was not bump into somebody. Anna's head collided with a firm yet smooth chest of a tall figure. Both of them stumbled backwards and landed on the floor on their butts. Anna blinked a few times before taking in her surroundings realizing she was in some hallway. Then she looked over at the unfortunate soul she bumped into. She was both relieved and shocked all at once. She was relieved she didn't bump into Elsa because she didn't know what to do with herself if she bumped into her sister again. She was also shocked to see who was sitting in front of her.

"Kristoff?"

Kristoff gave Anna a casual wave 'hello'. "Hey, Anna."

"What are you doing here?"

Kristoff stood and brushed off his pants before approaching Anna offering a helping hand. Still in shock, Anna took Kristoff's hand and allowed him to hoist her into a standing position. Kristoff flashed her a goofy smile.

"How are you?"

"Kristoff, why are you here? I thought you were busy harvesting ice or something."

Kristoff momentarily frowned a little before bringing his mouth back into a smile.

"I don't need to work for a while. I did my job I had to do when I last saw you, so I decided to pay you a visit. How have you been, Anna? Did you miss me? Because I missed you."

Normally Anna would be swooning at that point with what Kristoff said, but she didn't this time. She couldn't. She was far too concerned why she suddenly felt frustrated with Elsa being with Karen. She shook her head and began to walk away from Kristoff.

"I'm not good, Kristoff."

Kristoff pouted while he caught up with Anna following her wherever she may go.

"Anna, what's wrong?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders before she stole a glance toward Kristoff.

"Honestly, Kristoff, I have no idea. One moment I'm all happy being with Elsa and then I'm not."

"Where is Elsa anyway? I actually came by to see if the two of you would like to come with me to town."

Anna couldn't help grit her teeth and cross her arms at the sudden memory of her sister going off to tutor Princess Karen of Denmark. Stupid Denmark. Stupid Princess Karen.

"She's with Princess Karen practicing using their special powers over water and ice and snow."

Kristoff raised an eyebrow in question at Anna. If he didn't know any better he could hear the disdain in Anna's voice. If the mention of Princess Karen's and Elsa's names were paper then Anna's voice was the blade that cut them.

"Anna, is there something wrong? Are you and Elsa okay?"

Anna snapped out of her rage-induced reverie, dropped her stiff arms and looked at Kristoff like he was crazy.

"What are you talking about, Kristoff. Of course, Elsa and I are fine. Why would you say that?"

"It's just that you seem a little tense. Are you sure everything's fine between you two? Did you and Elsa have a fight or something?"

Anna indignantly blew up so her fringe floated in the air a few centimeters and scoffed a defiant 'no.'

Kristoff was skeptical of his girlfriend's behavior, but decided that it would be wise of him not to bother her about the issue anymore. He decided to take a much safer route around the mysterious and dangerous mountain that was Anna's psyche.

"So, who's Princess Karen?"

Anna screwed her face at the mention of the name before relaxing the muscles in her face realizing she needed to give Kristoff a break.

"Princess Karen is Princess Kirsten's younger sister. They came here with their parents, the King and Queen of Denmark, to update our trade agreement with their kingdom."

"Oh, so she and her family are visiting?"

More like replacing me, Anna thought bitterly. She veiled her unpleasant thought toward the visiting royal before giving Kristoff an assuring answer.

"Yes. The royal family is visiting for now. When King Frederick and Queen Isabella have been well rested and when Elsa has finished tutoring Princess Karen on how to use her ice and water powers then we'll all come back together and update our trade agreement with each other."

"Oh. So if Elsa is helping Princess Karen use her magical powers, then what have you been doing?"

Suddenly a wave of guilt washed over Anna's conscious. She remembered that she left Princess Kirsten by herself in the castle's library.

"I got some water to drink and I'm heading back to the library to meet back with Princess Kirsten. I kind of left her to herself reading a book. Hopefully, she won't mind. She looked pretty comfortable where I last saw her curled up in a chair and all you know…."

"May I come with you to meet her?"

"Uh, sure, Kristoff. If you don't mind, Princess Kirsten's really into books, so don't be shocked to see her nose buried in a book."

"I don't mind. It would be nice meeting a princess from another country. The only royals I've known so far are you and Elsa…" Kristoff paused for effect and raised his eyebrows in a comical way so Anna could see. "And since I'm the Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer, don't you think I should acquaint myself more with people of noble and royal status."

Even for a brief moment, Anna smiled and playfully swiped at Kristoff's shoulder. "Oh, you."

Kristoff cracked a smile. He was glad he could help alleviate some tension from his girl's face. He was proud of himself knowing he could help Anna relax. Kristoff took a chance and captured Anna's hand in his own. She melted into his touch. The two of them walked in a comfortable silence before they would arrive at the library.

To Be Continued…