Elsa let out a soft yawn as she started to wake up. Squinting her eyes at the sunlight peeking through her curtains, she began to pull herself out of bed and towards her window.
Summer was probably her least favorite season, but even she couldn't deny the beauty of its mornings. With the light breeze, the bright sun, and the promise of a long, relaxing day, she could understand why others - Olaf included - loved the summer.
But her heart would always belong to winter.
At that thought, she suddenly remembered that she was currently housing the Winter Spirit himself. With a labored sigh, she pulled her curtains opened the rest of the way, letting her room bask in the light. She then made her way towards her vanity, giving herself a distasteful look. And I thought Anna had horrid bed-head, she mused to herself, quickly brushing out the tangles in her platinum-blonde hair. Once she could run her fingers through it smoothly, she began the tedious task of braiding it.
When she finally finished, she stood up and waved her hands over her body, transforming her light blue nightgown into a long, sleeveless, icy-purple dress. She kept the material thin, and though the dress was form-fitting, she made sure it wasn't suffocating; after all, she was a queen, and some form of modesty was required.
She forgone her shoes as she walked towards her door - she found the cold, marble floors comforting against her bare feet. She pulled open her door and stepped into the hall, glancing around to make sure she was alone.
Right away she noticed that Anna was up, for the door to her bedroom was wide open. Elsa let out a small huff as she strolled down the hall towards the room Jack was staying in.
She gave the doors a longing look, but quickly shook away her memories and tentatively knocked.
"Mr. Frost?" she called in a hushed tone, glancing around the hall to make sure she was still alone. "Jack?" she asked louder, after not receiving an answer.
She was about to knock again when she heard something fall over. Fearing he was hurt or that something broke, she pushed open the door and rushed in.
"Jack - " she began, only to quickly cover her mouth to smother the sound of her laughter.
"Oh, uh, hey there," Jack smiled sheepishly from his awkward position on the ground. He had apparently tripped over the edge of the decorative rug on his way to answer the door.
"Are you okay?" she giggled as she reached down to help him back up.
"Psh, I'm fine - I was just admiring the beautiful pattern," he replied while taking her gloved hand. "Thanks."
Elsa smirked at his attempt to play cool. "No problem, Jack. I am just happy you were unharmed," she mused as she began walking back towards the door. "I haven't too many obligations today, so I can help you down in the library if you'd like," she suggested from over her shoulder.
Jack grinned widely as he followed her. "You'll help me look through everything?"
She snorted in amusement as she walked down the empty hall. "No, I will carry up some books for you - but I will not be reading any. I don't know if I could handle reading another book after learning that fairy tales aren't always just fairy tales," she admitted, giving him a sympathetic look. "I think you're all the magic I can handle at the moment."
He blushed slightly at her choice of words, cursing himself for letting her affect him like that. "Whatever you can do to help," he replied sheepishly. "I don't want to keep you away from your duties."
"Oh, you shouldn't worry about that - Anna is perfectly capable of taking over if you need my help," she assured with a smile. In reality, leaving Anna in charge probably wouldn't be the best idea, but Elsa felt obligated to help Jack, though she wasn't sure why.
Jack smiled in response as he followed her down the stairs and through the castle. He took the time to admire the elegance radiating from the place, as well as from the queen herself.
Finally, they reached another large doorway. Stepping inside, Jack was greeted by shelves upon shelves of books. It was almost as large and grand as Father Time's own library.
"Wow," he muttered with a low whistle. "I didn't even know there were this many books around at this time."
Elsa gave him a bewildered look, though she didn't say anything due to one of her maids dusting the windowsill.
"Good morning, Queen Elsa," the maid greeted timidly.
Elsa gave her a warm smile. "Good morning to you, too. And thank you for dusting; this place looks spotless," she mused, hinting to the woman to leave.
The woman smiled shyly and continued her work.
Elsa let out a labored sigh - she didn't want to do this. "I hate to be a bother, but Anna had let a rather... messy guest use one of our rooms, and if you could find another to help you and clean it up, that would be fantastic," she commanded awkwardly. She knew they would get to it eventually, but she needed to talk to Jack and would prefer no one else in the room.
The maid nodded hurriedly as she rushed towards the doors.
Jack jokingly waved to the woman and she passed him, but as expected, she didn't seem to notice. "Well, that was fun," he laughed.
Elsa gave him a tight smile before turning around and inspecting her book selection. "We don't have too much on magic, and anything we do have would be on the top shelves," she stated, getting right down to business.
Jack huffed in amusement and bounded over to her. "So, do you want me to climb up there and get them?"
The queen shook her head, glancing around the room. "No, no - I don't want to risk someone walking in and seeing floating books. I'm capable of getting them myself," she replied coolly. "But thank you."
Jack arched his eyebrows as Elsa cautiously removed her gloves, setting them on the shelf next to her. She then began forming a ladder made of ice, and tentatively climbed up it. Her bare feet and hands made contact with the cold surface, but she merely flinched as she adjusted to the temperature. She climbed higher, to the shelf where she had seen her father stash all the books of magic years ago, after the incident.
"Is there anything in particular I should keep my eye out for?" she asked down to Jack, her eyes widening when she realized she was about six feet off the ground.
The white-haired man shrugged his shoulders, a cheeky smile playing at his lips. "Anything magical or mythical, I guess."
She nodded in reply, turning back to read the covers.
"Magic - A Beginner's Guide?" she read aloud.
"Why not; couldn't hurt."
She slowly removed the novel, tucking it under her arm as she reached for another one with a similar title.
Jack watched curiously as she somehow managed to keep her balance and hold the books. But by the time she grabbed a fifth one, her foot slipped ever so slightly.
"You okay?" he asked worriedly as she quickly regained her balance.
"I'm fine," she assured, before reaching back for the final book she wanted. It was just slightly out of her reach, and she was too stubborn to move the ladder over, so she leaned towards it, teetering dangerous on the edge of her ladder. Right as her fingers brushed it, she again lost her footing, but this time she couldn't right herself.
With an embarrassing squeal, she began to fall.
Thinking quickly, Jack held out his arms to catch her, having her land bridal-style in his hold, and the books landing haphazardly on the floor around them.
Elsa looked up at him with wide eyes, her face flushed from embarrassment. "Thank you," she breathed, grateful for him catching her.
"No problem, your Majesty," he grinned, his face also covered with a slight blush, though for a totally different reason. Before he could ponder further on it, the doors to the library began to open.
Elsa watched with a horrified look on her face as her sister walked in.
In a panic, Jack quickly dropped the queen onto the floor.
"Ow!" Elsa squeaked, staring up at Jack and giving him an irritated look.
He smiled sheepishly.
"Elsa! Are you okay?" Anna asked in concern and she ran towards her sister.
"I'm fine; just slipped, is all," she replied coolly as she began to stand back up. "It was my mistake," she muttered sarcastically, giving Jack a fierce glare as she dusted herself off.
The princess nodded timidly, glancing at the cook book her sister was glaring at. "Are you sure you're okay?" she repeated hesitantly. "For a second, it looked like you were floating!"
The color in Elsa's face drained, causing her to become even paler. "Wh-what? Anna - that's completely ridiculous!" she exclaimed with a forced smile.
Anna smiled back, letting out a small giggle. "I know - I'm sorry!" she laughed, before looking down at the books her sister had dropped. "Are you taking a magic class?"
The queen glanced down at the books as well, before giving Jack a pointed look. "No, just decided to do some light reading," she lied.
"This doesn't look like 'light' reading - more like 'heavy-duty' reading."
Elsa's blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly at her invisible companion. "I didn't think it was that heavy," she growled.
Anna gave her sister another strange look. "O-okay? Well, I was just looking for you to let you know that I'm gonna be with Kristoff all day, so I won't be in the castle."
Elsa nodded as she began picking up her books. "That's nice; have fun, Anna," she mused absentmindedly.
The princess nodded in return, still a little wary of her sister's bizarre behavior. "I will," she replied as she slowly backed out of the room. "You have fun, too..."
Elsa only huffed in bitter amusement as she waved away her ladder and attempted to slip on her gloves.
Jack watched her struggle with a small smile on his face. "I'm sure I could hold them quickly while you - "
"No, no, Jack - we wouldn't want you to drop them," she muttered as she successfully got her gloves back on. "Come on; you have a lot of reading to do."
Jack reluctantly followed her as she gracefully made her way towards the door. Wanting to help in some way, he quickly ran ahead of her and opened it.
She mumbled a quick "Thank you", before glancing over her shoulder back at the shelves. Jack followed her gaze, but was unsure of what she was looking at.
Elsa sighed longingly before continuing through the doorway, trying to keep her mind off of the book she had neglected to grab.
The thick, light-blue book on the top shelf, titled Fairy Tales.
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