Chapter 3: The Accident
"Elsa, Elsa! Wake up, it's your birthday!" The bouncing ball of energy on the edge of Elsa's bed yelled happily. "Come on and play, big sister! There's not a minute to waste!" Anna was still in her nightgown, and her fiery red-brown hair was matted from sleep, but none of that had stopped the three year old from sneaking up to the west wing just after midnight to break the news.
"Whuh? Unh-uh. Not awake." Anna's antics had finally gotten through to the lump of sheets that was her sister. But Elsa was just as determined to stay in bed as Anna was to get her out of it. She squeezed her eyes shut and gripped the covers under her chin. However, her plan was somewhat undermined when she continued to argue. "If the sun isn't up, I'm not up. Go back to your room Anna."
Undeterred, Anna clambered on top of her sister and used her trump card. "Do you want to build a snowman?" She whispered in Elsa's ear. Immediately Elsa's eyes snapped open. She grinned up at the fiend on her back and not a minute later the two conspirators were sneaking down the halls together.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this. I'm seven now, that's almost an adult! Well, almost halfway at least." Elsa kept up a steady stream of whispered chatter to hide her nervousness. "You know you're not supposed to play in the cold too. If anyone catches us, father will hear about it and then we'll really be in trouble. You're not even wearing shoes! Couldn't this have waited till morning?"
Anna stopped in front of one of the large reception ballrooms and hushed Elsa while she peered inside. "Clear! And no, it had to be now, sis. You're my bestest friend in the whole world and so we have to spend every minute of your birthday together. Plus, I don't mind the cold as much when I'm with you, I can take it. Now make it snow!" As she spoke, Anna laughed and spun in place in the middle of the slick floor, gesturing to the ceiling.
Elsa tried to remain outwardly reluctant, but in truth she wanted to spend as much fun time with Anna as she could too. After her birthday there wouldn't be many warm days left, and Anna had to stay indoors during the winter. Elsa wasn't sure exactly why, but Anna had a lot of trouble breathing in winter weather and sometimes she even fainted. It was a real shame, because snow was Anna's favorite. Well, at least Elsa could solve that problem!
With a grand gesture, Elsa waved her arms over her head and reached out to the moisture in the air. She knew instinctively how to do it, but there was no way to put into words exactly what she did. Nevertheless, a miniature cloud started forming in the rafters, spreading from wall to wall. Within minutes, a soft blanket of snow was beginning to build up in the middle of the room. Anna cheered and dashed around trying to catch flakes on her tongue.
With a laugh Elsa dove in after her, creating swirling flurries wherever she went. The snow seemed to dance around the girls, enveloping them in their own private winter wonderland. Elsa had just started to gather a body for the snowman when a large, sloppy snowball buried itself in the back of her head with a splat. She whirled around just in time for Anna's follow up to smack her right in the face. "Ooph. Why you little stinker! You'll pay for that, missy!" Elsa wiped her eyes clear and conjured some several snowballs to return fire, with a twist. Whenever her snowballs hit something, they expanded into a miniature snow drift!
Anna giggled madly as she dodged each toss from Elsa. With mounds of packed snow all around her, she peeked out from her new cover and stuck out her tongue. "Heehee, try to hit me now! Here, I'll make it easy." And with that she climbed on top of one of the lumps and started jumping from one to another. Elsa decided to play along and started creating new drifts in front of Anna, each one higher than the last. Like climbing a very odd staircase, Anna leapt again and again without pause.
Suddenly Elsa was having trouble keeping up and tried to warn Anna to stop, but her sister wasn't listening. Elsa was frantically trying to zap new snow into existence fast enough to catch Anna's leaps of faith when it happened. She was too late on her spell and Anna started to fall before it reached the ground under her. Everything seemed to slow down in Elsa's eyes, but for a split second fear froze her in place. Then the burst of magic hit the younger princess on the way down and violently threw her backwards into the last pillar of snow. She hit the packed embankment and bounced off, landing on the ground. "NOOOO! ANNA!" Elsa screamed and ran forward.
Her sister was completely still, her arms and legs akimbo like a broken doll. In tears Elsa turned the unconscious Anna over to check her head. There was a blue mark on the top of her forehead where the power had impacted. Actually, was it growing larger? This was bad, very bad. Elsa had been growing in strength lately but she had no idea how to undo anything she did, if she tried it tended to just make the problem worse. This was beyond her. Carefully she laid Anna down and sprinted to the door. "HELP! ANYONE! HELLLLP! It's Princess Anna!" she cried over and over at the top of her lungs.
The first guard arrived within a minute, but it seemed like an hour to Elsa. When he rounded the corner she sank to her knees in relief. Too upset to offer an explanation for the state of the ballroom, Elsa wordlessly pointed to Anna's body and cried. With a shout the guard raised the alarm and set about waking the rest of the castle. Soon the chamber was bustling with sleepy servants and Anna was being moved to her bed while the doctor was summoned. In the middle of the chaos Elsa was escorted back to her own room and not allowed to leave until the king gave permission.
The king himself was devastated. He had been roused in the middle of the night to find one of his daughters in a coma, and it had been caused by his other daughter. While Anna was still being moved he canceled all of his audiences for the next three days and barred access to the castle for all non-residents. Then he took up a position by the bed in her room and commanded all doctors to work around the clock to cure her.
Elsa had stayed up as long as she could stand, but no news had come. Sleep was no respite however, her dreams were filled with nightmares, each worse than the last. In one, Anna was crying, pleading for Elsa to stop. But she couldn't, her hands just kept choking her sister and freezing her pained expression. Elsa tossed and turned, caught in the nightmare's grip. Finally, in the middle of Anna being lowered into their mother's grave, Elsa bolted upright. The sun had only just cleared the horizon, but with the way her heart was pounding there was no way she was going back to sleep.
"Oh Anna, Anna. What have I done! Please be awake, please be ok." She prayed to herself, head in her hands. Steeling herself, Elsa got up and slipped on the first dress she could find. Grabbing her gloves from the table she left to go in search of her sister. Or she tried to, but the door was locked from the outside. That's odd, she thought. What was happening out there? She raised her hand and knocked firmly on her own room's door.
"Is that you, Princess Elsa?" A gruff voice answered from the other side. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay inside until further notice. We've been ordered by the king to guard you until he has the time to make a more permanent decision."
Locked in? Until further notice? That's crazy! Her father couldn't possibly think that anything that happened last night was on purpose, could he? Now it was even more important for her to check on Anna and to explain everything to her father. "Please, sir, I need to go. I don't even know what's happened to my sister. I'm afraid and I want to see daddy. You have to let me out! Let me out!" Her voice cracked with emotion as she pulled on the handle and beat on the door to no avail. The guard kept repeating his orders over and over, and eventually he stopped talking altogether.
Elsa slid down to her knees in frustration, crying for what seemed to her like the hundredth time in a day. "Why? Why is this happening?" She sobbed to herself. "It's my birthday, everyone is supposed to be happy! What did I do wrong, I didn't mean it!" But she was a good girl, wasn't she? Didn't she love her family more than anything in the world? Why did they keep getting hurt? First mommy, and now Anna. Mommy. That was it. She had forgotten her lesson. Gods, why was she so weak. Every time Anna wanted to play she had to ask just once and Elsa would immediately forget her duty. Now she had half killed her sister! Well, never again. She would practice over and over until it was impossible to slip up again. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.
For three days Elsa saw not a soul. Someone was slipping meals in and out of her prison, but they must have done it only when she was asleep. Not that she wanted it any other way. A cloud hung over her, and most of the time she seemed to do nothing but stare out the window at the falling leaves. They were the color of her sister's hair, but the oncoming winter was dropping them one by one to lie broken on the ground. With every leaf that fell, Elsa burned her mantra into memory another time. By the time the door opened, it was all she thought about.
On the fourth day the king entered the room, and his face was drawn and haggard. Elsa looked up with pleading eyes, but there was no sympathy left in him. Even though he was still a relatively young king, his hair had started to grey and there were heavy circles under his eyes. "Elsa." His voice was hoarse and deadly soft. "Don't speak until I'm finished. Anna is not dead, but she has not stirred since that night and the doctor has not been able to wake her from her sleep. But what you've done, I cannot forgive. Three years ago, I thought the world had ended. However, in my darkest hour, I was blessed with a ray of hope. Anna is a perfect daughter, and she was growing up to be the sweetest, happiest, most selfless person in the world.
"And now she lies so still that the doctor says it might be unnatural. The damage could be so bad that even if she opens her eyes, she might not know her own father, she might not be able to speak! How could you? Was worrying your mother to death not enough for you? Did your curse have to claim Anna's life as well? Will there be anyone left when you're satisfied!"
Elsa was frozen by the tirade her father had unleashed upon her. Her mother's death was her own fault? Anna was in a coma because of her? She was a curse on the family? Father had never spoken to her like that, and a small voice inside her head was trying to blame it on the stress, the heat of the moment, his obvious lack of sleep. But really, it all made sense. Hadn't she failed to keep her promise and used her magic around Anna? Hadn't she messed up so many times before, leaving it up to mother's words to remind her to stay hidden? And worst of all, even now she knew she wasn't in control. Without the gloves she was wearing, anything she touched would be coated in ice in minutes. Maybe she was cursed.
The silence stretched on, both father and daughter staring at each other, and every moment was an hour for Elsa. Finally, she broke the quiet with a single word. "Sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry? Sorry's not good enough anymore, Elsa. You nearly killed Anna, and I'm not going to give you the chance to slip up again and do even more harm. As of today, you are forbidden from ever leaving the west wing, for as long as I live. All the exits will be guarded, even at night, so don't even think about trying to sneak out again. Anna will be kept as far away from your curse as possible, and so will the rest of my people. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go take care of my daughter. Something that you've proven yourself incapable of."
As he turned to leave, the king softened his expression slightly. "Elsa. I still remember who you used to be, even if you've never been completely well. But we've tried so much to cure you, and it just keeps getting worse. It's past time to admit the truth, and I can't have a wolf running loose in my flock. Trust me, this is for the best." After the door closed, it was a long time until the barely seven year old princess could do anything but cry.
