Chapter 2: Princesses Don't
"Hurry up, Elsa!" Anna shouted. She toddled down the hallway as fast as her short legs could carry her.
Elsa, far behind her younger sister, wondered how someone who was only two years old could move so fast.
"Elsa! Play! Play, Elsa!" the small green-clad blur yelled out from ahead of Elsa.
"Anna, wait up!" Elsa was nearly out of breath from the mad dash the two of them were making. She let out a giggle. "Slow down!"
Anna stopped in her tracks and began hopping excitedly and clapping her hands together. "Elsa! Elsa! Come on, come on!"
"I'm coming, Anna," Elsa managed to breathe out.
The fair-haired girl finally caught up to the bouncing bundle of energy that was her little sister. Anna's rust-colored pigtails flopped up and down as she jumped. Anna grabbed Elsa's hand and continued her feverish running, this time dragging Elsa alongside like a ragdoll. After a moment, they came to the longest hallway in the castle. Anna halted abruptly and Elsa was very nearly hurled across the room.
Anna's blue eyes were wide with excitement. "Elsa. Slide! Let's slide! Pleaaaaase?"
"Okay!" Elsa nodded in agreement.
Anna had her shoes off in two seconds flat. She pretended to paw the ground like a bull, and then she was off, rocketing down the hallway. Squealing with joy, she glided across the polished mahogany floors in her stockings, picking up speed as she went. Halfway down, she lost her balance and continued to slide, now on her bottom.
At last, she slowed to a stop, and beckoned for Elsa, elatedly clapping her hands. "Your turn, your turn," she exclaimed.
Mimicking Anna's actions, Elsa pawed the ground, face screwed up in determination. She broke into a trot, then a full-on run, and slid down the slippery hallway in the same fashion as her sister. Twin platinum braids flying, Elsa giggled all the way down. A thin sheet of ice began to form on the floor, emanating from Elsa's feet.
The ice caused Elsa to go faster, and faster, until finally, she lost control of herself and went flying right into Anna, knocking the little girl over. The two girls lay in a laughing heap, Anna on top of Elsa.
"I never thought of using ice to slide before!" Elsa remarked.
"It's funner!" Anna replied.
"More fun, Anna."
"More fun," Anna repeated. "My turn, my turn!"
Anna hoisted herself off of her older sister and tore onto the ice that had formed. She slid and circled and jumped and hooted and hollered with joy. Elsa flashed a smile, then joined her sister out on the makeshift ice rink. They clasped hands and had a grand time twirling and dancing around each other, like ice ballerinas.
Rounding a corner, the two girls slammed into a rather substantial person. They reeled from the sudden contact, and as they stumbled to their feet, they saw Hilda, their nanny, in a heap on the floor, looking quite exasperated.
Hilda, red-faced and heaving, made quite a show of getting up. She swayed back and forth with effort and struggled to keep her skirt covering her knees.
"Girls!" She roared, at last on her feet. "What have I told you? Princesses do NOT slide across the floors in their stockings!"
She began to brush off her clothes and straighten her bunad. "Princess Elsa," she continued. "It is time for your lessons. I have been searching high and low for you, young lady. Now come."
Elsa looked sadly at Anna, then turned her gaze up to Hilda, and obediently replied, "Yes, Nanny."
Hilda took hold of Elsa's hand, and turned to go. Stopping for a moment, she looked round and glanced back at the other sister. "Princess Anna, please go play in your room. There's a good girl."
As Elsa was dragged away, she peeked over her shoulder and gave Anna a disappointed look. Anna, looking as though she were about to cry, waved pitifully back at her.
Anna tried to keep the pitter patter of her little feet as quiet as possible. She tiptoed across the ornate runner up to the library doors. She peeked an eye through the keyhole and could just make out her sister, sitting at the desk, quill in hand, looking immensely bored. Her tutor, Lord Holstad, was droning on about something Anna didn't understand. Diplo-something. Elsa was having trouble keeping her eyes open. Her head would droop a little, then snap back up.
Elsa knew she should probably pay attention. Her parents had always told her that one day, she would be queen, and a queen had to be diplomatic. Elsa still wasn't exactly sure what 'diplomatic' meant, but Lord Holstad said it a lot, so it must be important. She attempted to take notes, scratching out words on the parchment in front of her. D-i-p-p-l-o-w-m-a-s-y. That seemed right. The five-year old was quite proud of her handwriting. It was always neat and tidy, just the way she liked everything to be.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the one of the double doors crack open, just a bit. A familiar face appeared in the opening, looking right at her. Lord Holstad didn't notice. He was far too absorbed in discussing the proper way to sanction a trade agreement with a country located across the sea. He would pause every minute or so to take a contented sip of his tea, and then he would continue, as dull as ever. Sometimes he would grab the teaspoon and wave it about as he talked, splattering small drops of tea on things. He paced back and forth through the library, and paused before the doorway, back facing Anna.
"As an example, I will use our recent agreement with the Dukedom of Weselton-"
Behind him, Anna silently made a silly 'talking' face and made little mouths with her hands, opening and shutting, imitating the Lord's flamboyant way of verbalizing. Elsa tittered, and covered her mouth with her hands, trying to muffle the noise.
"Princess Elsa!" Lord Holstad snapped. "Is something funny?"
He turned to look at the doorway behind him, but Anna's face had already disappeared.
Elsa put on her best polite face. "No, Lord Holstad," she replied.
This seemed to sate the man. "Very well then," he went on. "As I was saying, the first known instance of trade with an island nation was-"
Anna was back. This time, she pretended to be asleep, hands folded together under the side of her face. She was snoring silently.
Elsa tried to fight back more giggles, but they tumbled out of her mouth anyway. She gasped as Lord Holstad's face reddened. He looked flustered.
"Elsa," he stammered. "I ask again: is something funny?"
And Elsa once again replied, "No, Lord Holstad."
He gave an exasperated sigh and tucked back into his speech. He moved closer to the doorway, blocking the small opening. Elsa could see Anna appear again, this time at his feet. Her little hands reached out to grab the little tassels on his shoes, and she tied them together. He took a step forward, and stumbled, nearly falling flat on his face.
He looked down at his shoes and thundered, "WHO DID THIS?"
Whipping his head around, he finally caught sight of Anna in her hiding place.
"Princess Anna! What is the meaning of this?" He demanded. He set down his tea on a nearby accent table.
"You should not be here, Princess Anna. You know better than this! Princesses don't- AH!" He exclaimed, as he fell to the ground, shoes entangled.
Elsa and Anna's laughter was uncontrollable now. Elsa collapsed out of her chair and rolled on the ground, clutching her sides. A blast of ice sailed out of her fingertips, towards the teacup on the table. Lord Holstad eventually was able to untie his shoes and clamor to his feet.
"Princess Elsa," he said, "Since you are unable to pay attention to this very important lesson, I shall have to end it now." When he saw Elsa smile at this, he added, "BUT, tomorrow we shall go over this lesson in addition to tomorrow's lesson on geography."
At this, Elsa bounded out the door, reunited with her sister. As they skipped away, they could hear Lord Holstad's voice behind them.
"And I will be telling the king and queen about this!" He bellowed after them.
The two princesses turned a corner and disappeared out of his sight. He let out a disjointed sigh and picked his teacup up off of the table, raising it to his lips.
All was quiet for a moment.
"PRINCESS ELSA!"
