Princess Anna of Arendelle was a true child of the summer. She was lively, vivacious, and carefree. Her red hair shone a golden bronze in the sunlight, and nothing pleased her more than the prospect of a nice picnic by the sea, with the warm summer air blowing through her braided pigtails, ruffling her bangs, and billowing her skirts out around her legs. Her very essence was of sunshine, blue skies, and endless days in lush green meadows.
Despite all of this, there had always been something about winter. Something that made Anna very happy. She could never quite put her finger on what it was, exactly, but it just seemed like all of her best childhood memories had involved playing with Elsa. And playing with Elsa, for whatever reason, was always associated with playing in the snow. It felt so long ago, now, but it had always seemed like little Crown Princess Elsa, heir to the Kingdom of Arendelle, had actually enjoyed playing with little Princess Anna, second child of King Agdar and Queen Idun.
So it always made Anna wonder: Why?
Why had it stopped? Why had Elsa completely stopped even being in the same room with her? Anna couldn't think of anything she might have done to offend Elsa, and there was only three years between them, so having a massive falling out at five and eight years old, respectively, seemed like a bit of a stretch.
It was a series of questions Anna pondered often. Or, as often as someone of her sunny disposition and high-energy, always on-the-move way of life allowed. If anyone had noticed, if anyone had asked she would have told them that it bothered her. It was as if there was something she, Anna, should have remembered about it, but couldn't quite do it. She loved her sister, that much was absolutely certain. Anna idolized Elsa, and she loved her very, very much. All she ever wanted in return was for Elsa to acknowledge her once in a while.
The little princess had largely given up on the idea that they might actually, you know, do all the things they used to do together as little girls. Anna still loved to play in the snow, for example. She loved to get outside and toboggan, take sleigh rides, make snow angles, and of course her all time favorite: build snowmen. But then Anna also liked to run and jump, chasing the little animals that called the area within the castle walls their home. Anna also loved horseback riding, and climbing all around the castle, and her dancing lessons with Monsieur Gabault. As far as Anna could tell, Elsa didn't even do any of that, and Anna seriously doubted that she ever even had. To Anna, Elsa appeared as a static picture of perfection that she would never be able to reach, could never live up to, and was not even allowed to approach.
Anna swore that there were even times when Elsa looked pained to even accidentally cross paths with her in the halls.
No. Seriously.
It had actually happened just a few days ago. Anna may, or you know, may not, have been exploring some of the halls over in the mostly deserted 'official' parts of the palace, where those stuffy councilors, or whatever they were called, of Elsa's kept a few inhabited offices. It was late in the afternoon, about an hour before dinner was normally served in the palace. Anna hadn't expected anyone to actually be over there…
So anyway, she had been exploring. The palace was her home, too. She had every right to be in the halls.
Yes, she had been, you know… running. Perhaps in an attempt to see if she could beat her best time doing a full circuit of the castle. It was February, though. It wasn't as if Anna could have gone outside. She had tried it, and it was much too cold. Besides no one should have even been there at that time. But someone had been, and Anna hadn't noticed until she almost, well, almost ran right into her sister.
Well, the look of absolutely unbelieving stunned horror on Elsa's face. Just at the sight of her younger sister… So, maybe Anna had been exploring a little rambunctiously. Maybe she had been running through the halls, and maybe she had just given up on doing it outside and had just come in and was tracking all the dirty chunks of ice you know… well, everywhere.
And perhaps Anna had been very excited at seeing her big sister. She loved her, after all, and seeing her randomly in the hallway… Anna couldn't help it that she was ecstatic. So Anna did what was natural for her. She shouted a greeting and attempted to get close.
Well, Elsa gave her a critical once over with that look like someone had ripped out her organs and were stomping on them, then schooled herself back into that stupid face she always put on, to scare people or to impress them or whatever it was, and walked away. Elsa hadn't even looked back. She just turned around, walked back up those stairs to papa's study, and shut the door.
As far as Anna could tell, she hadn't even come back out until she was sure Anna wouldn't be there.
Anna had sat outside the door until dinner waiting. The door hadn't opened, though. Not that she'd really expected it to. Not really. It would just have been nice if it had.
Elsa hadn't even come to dinner that night. Not that that was unusual either. Elsa had eaten dinner in the dinning room with Anna exactly five times in the last ten years. Which was fine, she supposed, before. But now that their parents were… gone… it was just Anna all alone in the large formal hall with a footman and Kai standing ominously over her as she ate. They were not very good conversationalists.
Anna went back to the study after dinner, but the doors were open, and it was vacant. No one in there but that funny painting of papa at his coronation. Anna loved that one. He looked so young and absolutely terrified. Nothing like the papa she remembered. Then she had wandered back to her own room, by way of Elsa's door. It was, as usual, shut. Anna kept walking.
It was these melancholy thoughts that occupied Princess Anna this frigid morning in late February. She was bored. Bored out of her skull. It was still far to cold for even Anna to go out and play. The snow had turned into something far more resembling chunks of frozen rock than proper snow. And now Anna had just finished her latest novel, The Captain's Daughter. It had all been very dashing, and romantic, with the tall, handsome Russian officer falling in love with his Captain's Daughter (hence the name of the book) and his scorned rival in love accusing him of treason, and she going to the Empress to beg for his life! And then of course there had been the happy ending.
It was true love.
Anna laid on her back, draped cross-ways over her bed. The fine wool and velvet covers bunched up under her. Now she was done with it. She tossed it away from her with a dramatic sweep. There was a muffled crash as several things on her dresser were knocked over, but Anna didn't even bother to look up to assess the damage. Now Anna had nothing to do. She stared listlessly at the ceiling as a strong winter wind howled outside. Perhaps a storm was coming in? That might break up some of the monotony, at least…
Anna absently smoothed her wild mane of hair. Nothing to do. She had once overheard a term while she was wandering the palace halls. The Princess had never been sure who had said it, but it went something like 'the Heir and the Spare." Was that what she, Anna, was? Just the extra one? The forgotten child? It sure seemed like it sometimes, but Anna tried to remember her relationship with her parents. It had been full of love and laughter and hugs. She and mama and papa had done all kinds of things together. The second Princess of Arendelle was certain that her parents hadn't loved her any less than Elsa. Anna was sure of that much, at least.
But, Anna considered, Elsa always seemed to have a purpose…
"She will be the Queen of Arendelle, someday," papa had always told Anna. Usually this was immediately followed by the, "So she doesn't have time to play with you right now, Anna."
Or ever, Anna thought, with a twinge of uncharitability that sometimes crept into her otherwise joyful disposition whenever she starting thinking about her sister. Anna sighed again and rolled over on her stomach, lazily gazing at the piles of clothes, stacks of books, abandoned paints, broken instruments, and haphazardly strewn toys. She kicked her leg idly in the air, considering what she ought to do with herself. Perhaps she should try Elsa again? Maybe clean herself up a bit, put some effort into really looking like… well… like she had no personality and no interest in meeting or talking to anyone. Then maybe she could practice with her old friends down in the gallery hall? Would that make Elsa want to talk to her?
She had just made up her mind to go at least discuss this idea with some of the portraits when she was stopped by an efficient rap on her bedroom door. She immediately perked up. Think of the possibilities! It could be anything!
"Princess Anna?" It was Kai. "Princess Anna, are you awake yet, ma'am?" he asked. His tone was professional, even, and courteous as always. It was no wonder Elsa seemed to like him.
"Yes, I'm awake," she replied after a few moments. Anna glanced at her clock. Only half-past eleven. "I've been awake for hours," she added. A lie, perhaps, but a little one. She sat up and brushed some of her impressive morning hair out of her mouth and eyes.
"Just a reminder, ma'am, Master Ehman will be here in an hour for your mathematics lessons." Kai's response floated through the door with that same even, professional tone. But now Anna thought she could detect a trace of affection laced into the words. Anna had always loved good, kind, sweet Kai… and she suspected he really liked her, too.
Like really. Not just an 'I have to because you're the Princess of Arendelle' kind of thing.
Never the less, Anna groaned and fell back on her bed, shoving a fluffy feather pillow over her face. Not again! How often did she have to have lessons in mathematics? Why couldn't Master Ehman just leave her alone and go bug Elsa?
Elsa probably loved that stuff, if everything Anna knew about her elder sister held true. Of course that only really consisted of Anna's certainty that Elsa apparently liked everything that was diametrically opposed to anything Anna enjoyed.
"Princess Anna?" Kai asked again.
Anna took the pillow off her face and glared accusingly at the door. Maybe Kai didn't like her after all.
"Shall I send Ingrid to help with your hair and your dress?" Kai asked, referring to a plump, stout maid who had been with the family for a long time, and occasionally served as a fill in ladies maid when Gerda was otherwise occupied.
Anna frowned, almost resigning herself to the idea of getting up and even of sitting with Master Ehman for an hour or two. "Can Gerda come?" she asked, knowing full well she sounded like a petulant child, but she really wanted the woman who had been a sort of ladies maid, nurse, companion, and baby sitter all in one very patient, kind, and gentle package. Anna wanted to complain and throw a bit of a tantrum, and Gerda always let her with an understanding look, a kind smile, and often a plate of chocolate.
The length of Kai's silence did nothing to improve Anna's mood.
"I'm afraid Gerda is not available at the moment, ma'am," he finally answered. Anna thought he sounded slightly sad about that.
Well that's wonderful, Anna thought angrily. She's probably with Elsa. She looked at the clock – still half past eleven. Pretty late for perfect Elsa to be getting dressed. Hmph. Looks like all that effortless perfection's not so effortless, Anna thought to herself, somewhat unkindly. She immediately regretted it. Elsa was, after all, Crown Princess, and she did have to look her best at all times.
"Even if she doesn't ever come out of her room," Anna added in a low mumble aloud to her clock.
"Alright, Kai, I'm up. Send Ingrid as soon as you can," Anna called to the Steward awaiting her response on the other side of the door. No other answer would be considered satisfactory, and it was time for Anna to be getting up anyway.
Kai left and within a few moments Ingrid was there, braiding Anna's hair, tying her corsets, helping the young princess retrieve her shoes from under her bed. In twenty minutes, Princess Anna was ready to face the day.
She just wasn't ready to face Trigonometry.
So when Kai told her: "Master Ehman is in the North Parlor, ma'am." Anna resolved to be elsewhere. 'Elsewhere' took her sliding in her stockings across the empty and abandoned ballroom, hopping through the portrait gallery, and sprinting through the hallway outside of Elsa's room.
In fact, it was very near Elsa's room that Anna almost ran in to Gerda. Almost literally. But not quite.
"Princess Anna!" the elderly woman exclaimed, clutching one hand to her heart. "You almost gave me my death of fright!"
Anna grinned manically at her. "Sorry Gerda!" she exclaimed breathlessly. But Anna really was not very sorry at all.
The old woman's breath steadied, and her look of shock and surprise shifted into suspicion. "Don't you have lessons to be attending to, Your Highness?" she asked, almost very sternly.
Anna looked a bit ashamed of herself, but was too used to having her own way to be very much concerned. "Yeeessss…" she replied, as if she wanted to leave the fact of her lessons out of the conversation entirely.
"Well, ma'am," Gerda scolded in earnest now. "You had better get to them. I will absolutely not have you stomping through the halls like a young elephant. Not when your sister is unwell and needs her rest. Though, really, Princess Anna, you shouldn't be doing it at all!"
Anna deflated a bit. It was one thing for Elsa to be busy, or important, or whatever, but quite another for her to actually be unwell.
"What's wrong with her?" Anna asked, all earnest concern. Maybe there was something she could do to help? Maybe get Elsa some soup or something?
The housekeeper eyed Anna sharply. "Never you mind, Your Highness," she said stiffly. "I'm sure she will be feeling better soon. As long as you keep from stomping about these halls in such an unladylike fashion. I suspect it will do Her Majesty some good to know her sister has bothered to attend her lessons, as well."
Anna was too well accustomed to this line of logic. 'Just be quiet and just go away.'
"Alright, alright," Anna gave up. "You're right, I suppose." She continued to stand still in the hall. Gerda kept looking at her expectantly. As if waiting for her to leave the hallway before continuing whatever it was she had been in the middle of when Anna showed up.
"Do you think Elsa might be feeling better by dinner?" Anna suddenly blurted. "Do you think she'll come down?" The princess felt a blush rise in her cheeks at the questions. But she wanted to know. Gerda seemed almost somber as she thought about her answer.
"No, Princess Anna," the housekeeper replied. There was a definite sadness in the old woman's voice. Her eyes took on a melancholy cast, and Gerda shifted her gaze away from the princess. "I do not believe Her Majesty will feel like coming down to dinner tonight, ma'am."
Another rejection. Why was it that Elsa couldn't even bear to to be in the same room as Anna? What had she possibly have done to her older sister?
"Why don't you run along now, Princess Anna, and not keep Master Ehman waiting too long, hmm?" Gerda suggested very gently. She put a motherly arm around Anna, and with the smallest hint of a comforting squeeze, sent her on her way.
Anna shuffled, dejected and disappointed, down into the North Parlor where Master Ehman was indeed waiting for her. He offered a polite bow and a clipped, efficient greeting with his slight German accent.
The lesson itself went even more poorly than Anna had anticipated it would. She hadn't bothered to study the material and she was just out of sorts today. Master Ehman was also less than pleased at having been forced to wait for his pupil for almost an hour, and was frustrated at her absolute lack of interest or application. A harsh comment from the German tutor was all it took to set Anna off.
"Your sister, Crown Princess Elsa, had learned this already at twelve!" he exclaimed, pointing at a series of double angle derivations, absolutely frustrated with Anna's continued inability to understand the process. Anna, for her part, had no idea why she had to learn any of this anyway. The intimate understanding of triangles did not seem to have much bearing on her life.
"Well, fine then!" she almost yelled back. "Then go and teach Elsa! I'm done."
Anna left the room in a towering rage. Why was everyone always comparing her to Elsa? To a sister who had not exchanged more than a few words with her in the last ten years? How was Anna supposed to compete with so much beauty and perfection? She saw Kai meandering down the hallway just before she turned into the gallery hall.
"I'm through with lessons for today, Kai. Tell whoever else you've scheduled me with that I'm indisposed." She called and turned her back on the startled Royal Steward. "That seems to work for Elsa all the time," she grumbled to herself.
The gallery hall never failed to cheer Anna up, and today, even at this epicly low nadir of her life, was no exception. There were so many beautiful people, so many beautiful couples. So many shining examples of True Love. Each one depicting some aspect of it, all in their own special way. Anna studied each one intently, examining the faces and figures of all her old friends. She felt intimately familiar with each brushstroke of every single painting.
Anna climbed up on one of the richly embroidered cushions of a bench three quarters of the way down the hall in order to get a good look at a painting about halfway up the wall. This particular painting was different than most of the others that adorned this room. It was a portrait.
In fact, it was a portrait of the Royal Family. Anna remembered sitting for it. She had been about eleven. It was hard to believe that it had already been four years. The Princess examined each of the figures. There were mama and papa in the middle. Her father looked stern, but kind, just like a popular and fair King should be. Her lovely mother smiled, but the expression gave her a rather sad, vaguely melancholy look. Anna wondered that she had never noticed that before. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light… hardly any sunlight was able to penetrate the blizzard raging outside, and only a few candles burned in the gallery.
The Princess turned her attention to the two girls in the portrait. Anna and Elsa sat flanking their parents. Elsa sat next to papa, as his heir. Her face was already at fourteen, drawn into that blank expression, her posture already perfect. Elsa had not started pinning her hair up, but there was not a single strand out of place. She looked stiff. Of course, that could very well have been because Anna, seated on the other side of mama, had been trying to catch her attention by making rude faces. The painter had mercifully not captured those efforts, and portrait Anna smiled broadly, her hair and dress arraigned with some artistic license into order.
The sound of footsteps in the hallway she had just come in from distracted Anna's contemplation of the family portrait. The last portrait they had all been in together. Anna wasn't ready to see anyone at the moment. She was still angry, upset, and hurt… and lonely. She slipped out the door and into the far hallway.
Maybe she would get another book. Several other novels had come in with The Captain's Daughter, maybe there was another romance. Maybe, Anna thought, what I need is True Love? Maybe I just need to find The One.
She turned up the staircase, meandering slowly toward her destination, not really paying much attention to what was around her. Two palace maids greeted her politely, but Anna didn't even notice. She was too busy brooding over the realities of her life. For example, how was she supposed to meet anyone, let alone her True Love if the gates were always closed and she wasn't allowed out?
She grimaced at these questions, and then very quietly slipped through the door and into the library.
Despite Anna's apparent inability to sit still for more than half a minute at one time, the Princess loved books, she loved to read, and she loved the library. It just so happened that her taste in the printed word tended more toward the frivolous and less toward the serious books everyone else seemed to want her to read. Clearly, someone kept her preferences and tastes in mind, though. Whenever a new shipment of books came in to the library, which was actually quite often, there was sure to be a selection of the newest novels included with all of the boring political treatises, the dry and already dusty histories, and the rather varied and sometimes colorful assortment of publications on various disciplines of natural philosophy.
The sun was already low on the horizon, and it seemed as if the worst of the blizzard had passed. Apparently, none of the household staff seemed to have thought the library would be wanted or needed today, because it was cold and there seemed to be no other light than what came in naturally from the overcast skies and half-shuttered windows. It gave the room a rather gloomy feel, and Anna wondered that no one had come in to light the candles. Anna knew that as much as she herself loved the library, Elsa also came to visit occasionally, and Anna suspected her sister sometimes sat in here very early in the morning.
Anna shivered. It seemed like it was colder in here than it ought to be. Even granting the late February cold snap. Really, if this was what the rooms in the palace were like with no fires, then Anna really needed to be sure to thank the woman who came in every morning and evening to make sure the fireplace in her rooms was well provisioned. Anna rubbed her wool-clad arms a bit as an effort to dispel the chill and made her way quietly through the shelves, occasionally stopping to examine the cover of a title that caught her eye. The House of Arendelle must have one of the largest collections of books in Northern Europe, Anna thought as she passed from one row of shelves and between two more rows, a bit deeper into the room.
Oh, she thought happily, as she ran a hand over the spine of an unfamiliar title. Here's one I haven't read yet! Anna picked up the copy of Cloudesly: A Tale. It looked like it was all in English, though, and she was rather glad that she had been forced to learn to read and write in several different languages, even if her spoken accents were terrible.
Anna made her way, still as soundlessly as she possibly could, as she didn't want to be discovered just yet, toward a little reading alcove set up by the fireplace. She looked up suddenly, furrowing her brow and frowning. She thought she heard something. Anna stopped short in her progress toward the cozy chair and looked around cautiously. Was there someone else in here? Why would someone else be in the library in the deepening gloom with no light?
Anna tried, and failed to suppress another shiver. The room seemed to be getting even colder with the setting sun. The princess very carefully, very quietly peeked through the bookshelf she was standing behind, scanning the room to try to find out who else was in the library without being seen herself. Anna's discovery of the identity of her companion almost made her cry out and reveal herself.
On the other side of the room, just next to the cold and dark fireplace was Elsa. Like, her very own sister Elsa. Anna put her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from making any noise. She was quite certain that if her sister realized Anna was in the same room she would leave immediately. And Anna was so very curious, after all. Elsa was like a great big blond haired, blue-eyed mystery wrapped up in expensive kid gloves and multi-layered dresses from head to toe.
Anna knelt down and peeked through the second to bottom shelf. Much less chance of getting caught down here, she reasoned, setting aside Cloudesly to try to puzzle out some of the riddle that was her sister.
Elsa seemed to just be standing there, turned three quarters away from Anna's vantage point so the younger girl could only really see her sister's profile. Gerda had said Elsa was unwell. She did look it, Anna supposed. Anna thought she could see faint shadows under Elsa's eyes in the light of the sunset that was just breaking through the clouds. Anna thought Elsa seemed a bit anxious, but otherwise she looked as she always appeared when Anna was able to catch a rare sight of her sister.
Elsa was dressed in dark navy blue. Same trim skirts with very little flair or flounce, same short waisted, bunad pattern jacket, same elaborate gold snowflakes embroidered all over everything. Same crocus accents, same sapphire broach. Everything in the proper place. Everything rigidly perfect. Anna wondered if she had Gerda dress her with a ruler. Even the white gloves she always wore were spotless and pristine.
Why did she were those things anyway? Was she cold?
Not that they didn't look nice. Just about everything Elsa owned or did looked nice. It was just that… Anna couldn't recall a time she had seen her sister without gloves of some sort on.
I wonder if she sleeps in them, Anna thought as she watched her sister wrap her arms around herself then almost immediately straighten up to her full height. Anna stifled a snort of amusement with some difficulty. Elsa probably slept fully dressed and hair perfect, hung up in some giant wardrobe so she wouldn't wrinkle. So of course she would sleep with the gloves on.
Anna kept smiling. She did love her sister. It would be nice to be allowed to be in the same room like this more often. Well… maybe not allowed, technically, but in the same room with Elsa and with the opportunity to watch her sister to her heart's content. As long as Anna didn't make any noise or draw any attention to herself.
In the few moments it took Anna to consider all of this, Elsa had turned completely away from Anna's hiding spot, and the Princess wondered what it was that had so absorbed Elsa's attention. Maybe after she left Anna would go take a look. Whatever it was, it didn't hold the Crown Princess's attention for long, and she started to pace back and forth in front of the cold fireplace. She seemed to be repeating something to herself very softly under her breath as she walked. Anna couldn't make out the words, though.
Probably some stupid mathematics theorem, Anna thought ruefully, recalling her rather disastrous lesson earlier that afternoon. Anna rather hoped that no report of her behavior would get back to Elsa. Anna was reasonably certain that almost everything about her studies did. That had actually been the cause of one of the three times they had been in the same room together in the last year. It had not been a very pleasant conversation, short as it was. Kai had actually done all of the talking. Elsa had only glanced occasionally at her sister. She had looked very grave.
Elsa had stopped pacing now, and she had turned her attention back to the same bookshelf she had been so interested in before. She leaned against it, her forehead rested in one gloved hand and Elsa gestured to herself with the other. Anna watched as Elsa lifted her head from her hand, and then let the gloved hand drop onto the bookshelf she had been leaning on. Almost as soon as the hand dropped a draft ran through the room, and Elsa jumped away from the shelf as if stung by something.
Anna crawled forward, closer to the shelf she had been hiding behind, watching curiously. This was about as much as Anna could remember Elsa reacting to anything since Anna had been about five. So basically, for the first time in forever.
Elsa was now staring intently at the bookshelf. Anna tried to crane her neck and shift her position as quietly as she could in an attempt to see what it was Elsa was looking at with such intense, fascinated horror. Anna wasn't sure how else to describe the expression on her sister's face.
She was unable to make out the object of the gaze, though. The spot was obscured by shelving and Elsa… who still looked absolutely riveted by whatever it was. Maybe it was an animal? But an animal would have run away. Anna had plenty of experience with chasing the small, furry inhabitants of Arendelle's castle.
Elsa wrung her hands in front of her in a gesture of unhappy, helpless distress then slowly, cautiously, lifted one of those white gloved hands back up to the shelf. Anna had a sudden, intense desire to run from her hiding spot and tell her sister not to touch whatever it was. Anna stifled the urge, though, instead watching very carefully. She felt there was something very important here. Something that might be the key to unlocking all of her sister's secrets.
The Crown Princess's hand disappeared once more to the shelf in front of her, and Anna watched as her sister seemed to rub at a spot in front of her. Elsa frowned as she brought the glove to her face, the expression clearly directed at something on the glove itself. Was it dirt?
Huh, Anna considered silently, that would actually explain a lot.
Elsa continued to rub the spot nervously, a slightly manic expression now spread across her features. She was muttering to herself again as she worked, presumably cleaning up whatever it was on that shelf that upset her. Anna frowned and furrowed her brows as Elsa glanced down at her feet, looking at the deep purple carpet adorned with the golden crocus of Arendelle she was standing on. Elsa seemed just as unhappy with that as she had been with the bookshelf. She rubbed at a spot with her toe.
Anna shivered again. How was it this cold in here? The hallways of the palace didn't have fireplaces either, and even they weren't as frigid as it was in here. She rubbed her hands against the heavy woolen blouse on her upper arms again in an attempt to warm herself. Anna wondered that Elsa didn't look in the least bit bothered by the continuous drop in temperature. She seemed far more interested in the bit of carpet around her feet than in calling someone in to re-light the fire. Elsa bent down and rubbed a bit of the carpet with a gloved hand, then looked at her fingertips in disgust.
Wow, Anna considered silently. She didn't think she had ever seen quite so much feeling from Elsa before.
But as soon as the expression appeared, it was gone again. Apparently, Elsa had retreated into her shell or whatever that was. Anna still couldn't figure it out. Elsa stood up again and with a bit of a backward glance to the spot she had just been standing in, as the floor itself might rise up in revolt against her, which, Anna noted, was more than she had ever gotten from her sister. Elsa calmly walked from the shelf she had taken some sort of umbrage with over to the door. Anna couldn't help but notice her sister's gait was even, smooth, unrushed. It was a slow, methodical, controlled step.
"Gerda!" Anna barely heard her sister summon the housekeeper. Elsa's low voice was very pleasant, but very difficult to hear. Anna had to strain to catch any of the brief conversation.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" Anna could hear Gerda clearly. "I'm very glad to see you out, ma'am. I was worried for you." Anna could definitely detect the fondness in Gerda's voice. Anna pondered it for a moment. How was it that Kai and Gerda, and all the palace staff, but Kai and Gerda in particular, seemed to love Elsa so much? Certainly, it wasn't as if Elsa was lavish with praise or kind words. Or any words, really.
Of course, Anna loved her, too. But that was different. Elsa was her sister. Anna found the whole question very complicated.
"I'm afraid there's a bit of a…" Elsa hesitated and Anna leaned closer, trying to listen harder. "A bit of a mess… in the library."
Anna looked around incredulously. Where was this mess? Was Elsa talking about the dirt or dust on the carpet and bookcase?
"Alright, Your Majesty," Gerda replied soothingly, as if she were trying to comfort Elsa with her words. "I'll take care of it in just a moment."
"Thank you, Gerda," Elsa replied, sounding as relieved as any automaton could express relief. "Just, could you please take care of it before Anna…?" Elsa trailed off.
"Of course, ma'am. I believe Her Highness is in the gallery hall."
There was no further response, and Anna attempted to adjust her view to bring her sister back into field of vision. It looked like Elsa was gone. The library doors stood open. Anna took the opportunity to quietly sneak over to the shelf Elsa had been so interested in only a few moments ago. She investigated the area closely. Anna couldn't see anything either on the shelf nor on the carpet. Huh. Weird.
Anna looked up from her careful inspection of the carpet just in time to see Gerda enter the library with a shiver. Gerda closed the doors behind her, and then turned directly to where Anna was crouched over the questionable bit of carpet. Anna's bright blue eyes met Gerda's and for a moment neither one of them moved. A look of dismayed shock spread slowly across the housekeeper's face.
"Wow," Anna finally broke the uncomfortable silence, eyes wide at her newfound discovery. "So that's why Elsa wears those gloves!"
"How long have you been in here?" Gerda asked her, uncharacteristically edgy and tense. There was a wariness in her expression.
Anna chose not to answer the question, but bowled headlong into her analysis.
"Wow! Does she ever have a thing about dirt!" Anna exclaimed with a mixture of awe, amusement, and disbelief.
Gerda stared at her for a moment, brows knit, before nodding dumbly. "I believe, Princess Anna, that you should be getting back to…" she paused, clearly at a loss at what to say or how to act. "Just getting back to… whatever it was you were doing… just… you should probably go."
Anna smiled at the housekeeper and retrieved her book. "Dirt!" the princess exclaimed as she exited the room, still shaking her head at the absurdity of a grown woman's incapacitating fear of dirt. She knew her sister certainly would not be pleased to learn that Anna had been spying on her in the library and subsequently found out one of her closely guarded secrets, but then… the way Gerda had reacted to seeing Anna in the library, it was doubtful that Elsa would ever be any wiser. Armed with this fresh piece of information about her reclusive sister, Anna made her way back to her sitting room to reflect on just how different Elsa was and maybe start her new novel before dinner.
It was, after all, very difficult for Princess Anna of Arendelle to stay unhappy for too long while there were still mysteries left to explore.
Author's Note: I realize that Anna's a little darker than usually portrayed, but I think it's important to note that this takes place before the coronation, before she knows what's up. Let me know what you think!