Chapter 2
Lady Pyra extinguished the flame in her hand and slowly paced around the side of the table. She then stopped and sighed before telling the story as she paced again, even more slowly around the table's side.
"Years ago," she began, "Around the time of Arendelle's rising monarchy, there was a race that lived peacefully amongst the citizens of Arendelle. They were known as the Kagerans, or 'Shadow Race' by common folk. They were a race that had the ability to manipulate shadows, and their royal family were blessed at birth; the ability to conjure fire at will. One of my ancestors, the eldest daughter of the Kageran King and Queen, fell in love with one of your ancestors, the eldest son of the Arendelle royal family, and they happily married, creating a strong bond and alliance between the two races. Therefore, we are very distantly related."
This came as a surprise to the royal family, but Pyra continued "However, peace is never eternal. One night, after the young royal couple of Arendelle gave birth to a princess, the Kagerans were massacred by the ruthless brutes called Vikings. None of the Kageran royal family survived, save two, along with very few common Kagerans."
"The new Kageran Queen, married to the new King of Arendelle, was heartbroken about her family's massacre, and found that her first born daughter had powers like hers, and she taught her daughter to control them years later. However, the Vikings learnt of the Queen's existence after the birth of her non-magical second and last child, another daughter, and they slew her on a cruise to the Kingdom of Corona after the youngest child turned two."
"In fear for his eldest daughter's life, the King made his young daughter flee for her life, and sent her into isolation away from the castle, with his two most trusted servants so that they could watch over her as paternal and maternal guardians. The King and the second born daughter very rarely saw the eldest child, and soon, before they knew it, the eldest daughter was a grown up, hard working woman, with a Kageran husband and was pregnant for the first time. She then gave birth to a twin son and daughter, both with her shadow and fire powers."
Pyra stopped and took a breath, before facing the King and revealed "The older twin, the daughter, was my great-great-great-great grandmother."
The royal family paled at this revelation, now knowing that Pyra is technically the one who should be the future Queen of Arendelle. However, Pyra was unfazed by this and continued her story.
"However, when the twins were around Elsa's age, their aunt, the new Queen of Arendelle, revealed that she bore shadow powers like her elder sister, but did not behold the flame. It was then, after her elder sister's death from disease when the twins were nearly adults, that my five times great grandmother passed on her powers to her sister. As the younger sister had children of her own before the inheritance of her fire power, the royal Kageran bloodline faded through her offspring, and remained faded through to you, Your Majesty," she said while indicating her head to The King, "... but now, the bloodline has arisen."
Pyra gestured to Elsa and said "The bloodline isn't in you, for your mother's ancestry flows extremely strongly in you. So, the power of shadows and flames continues on ..." she laid a hand on Anna's shoulder, "in Anna."
The family gasped and stared at Anna, who squirmed yet again in her seat, and Pyra instructed her gently "Show them what you can do."
Anna nodded and stood up slowly, shakily walking away from the table with her back to her family, including Pyra (due to technicality). She then raised her arms to the small shadows by the walls with her eyes shut and grit her teeth, before pulling her arms back.
Out from the shadows of the wall came a disfigured shape, as if it was the shape of a limbless child. Its head and back arched back towards anna, and forcefully, its limbs are pulled free and it lands on its feet and crumbles on all fours, like a marionette with its strings cut.
And that's what he was exactly.
An arm was jerked up, followed by the other, and the figure of a young boy sprung up unsteadily onto his feet and spun around, a mere puppet being controlled by a young mistress. Anna concentrated hard and guided the shadow puppet towards her a sad look on her face, and reached out as the shadow stood before her, catching the shadow in an embrace as it crumbled into her, lifeless and limp.
The rest of the royal family watched on in shock, with Elsa showing fear, sorrow and despair in her eyes as she didn't want her sister to be curse with such a fate. Pyra then asked Anna after she placed the shadow-boy on the ground gently "How long have you been able to control shadows? You are pretty powerful if you can do this much already."
Anna didn't look up from the shadow-boy and replied "The first time was when Elsa told me to go away. I created Kristoff here to comfort me. When it first happened, he didn't have a body. The shadows on the wall told me that it was called Kristoff, and whispered gently to me. He gave me company when nobody else would. I then tried pulling him out of the shadows, and whenever I do, he comes out like this, like a puppet. I even see his real self in my dreams, and we play together in the winter night in my dreams."
Pyra looked a tad surprised at this and exclaimed "Really?! That's something I didn't expect to happen for a long time yet. In Kageran culture, if you pulled out a shadow like Kristoff here, and communicate like so in your dreams, then the shadow you pull out is the shadow of your true love. They don't have to be Kageran, but by the sound of it, it appears that this young Kristoff will be your true love."
Anna blushed a deep red, and the shadow-Kristoff melded into the floor, and disappeared from view. Pyra chuckled slightly at this, before turning seriously to The King and stated "Since Anna has powers now, I think we can let her in on Elsa's 'little secret'."
Elsa and The Queen looked scared, while Anna looked confused, but The King sighed and agreed "Very well. It's time that she knew."
After taking a deep breath, The King and Queen told Anna of how Elsa was born with winter powers, the accident that happened months ago, and what happen to Anna's memories and why the gates were closed. Anna was angry at her parents for doing this to Elsa and herself, and declared that she would never have been angry at her or scared of her, Anna having powers or not. After this, the dinner continued on and finished with a light dessert and the girls were sent to bed, with Anna walking at Elsa's side.
Pyra then asked The King and Queen "Your Majesties, may I talk to you in private where the ears of little princess' won't be able to hear?"
They nodded with faint smiles on their faces and made Pyra follow them to The King's study, The King closing the door quietly behind them. The King then gestured to the collection of chairs in the room and said "Please sit down, Lady Pyra."
Pyra nodded and replied "I will do so momentarily, Your Majesty. I feel a bit more comfortable standing up when delivering a personal request."
The royal couple raised their eyebrows at this, and The King wondered over to his alcohol cabinets, with a tray on one of them and grabbed two whiskey glasses on the tray. He asked Pyra "Do you desire some scotch, Lady Pyra, or are you too young to drink yet?"
Lady Pyra shook her head and answered "I'm not eighteen yet, Your Majesty, so I'll be fine for now."
The King nodded at her and then turned to his wife and asked "The usual scotch on the rocks, my dear?"
The Queen nodded and replied "Yes, please dear."
The King nodded and proceeded to make a scotch on the rocks for his wife, and a scotch and soda for himself. He passed his wife a drink, who was now sitting on a blue and gold bergére, and stood near a midnight blue chaise longue while asking "So, what ails you?"
Lady Pyra took a breath and began "Your Majesties, as you know, magic needs to be controlled and cared for, as it is a gift that is a special part of all magic users. However, especially for fire wielders, let alone shadow wielders, they have to be extra careful with their magic, as it can cause the greatest damage to the land and living beings around them, as well as themselves. Now, if you are a good magic user, then what will stop your powers from going out of control, believe it or not, is love. Also, it will require some training to master your abilities, as all magic does, but for ice or water power users like Elsa, love will thaw and evaporate the water, or other forms of water."
The King choked on his drink and asked incredulously "Love is the answer to all of Elsa's problems?"
Pyra raised her eyebrow and replied "Yes, it will get rid of the ice and snow she casts. She should be able to control water as well, but that'll require some training. However, back to topic, with fire users, they are passionate people, and don't just need love and training, but strong minds and discipline."
"Now, you are probably wondering why I tell you this, so I need to tell you straight up. Your Majesties, while Anna has some fire magic in her veins, she won't have full fire abilities. That is, until after I die. When I die, my power will go into her. So, in order for her to learn the right discipline, and do this in accordance to our shared ancestry of the Kageran royal family, I'll need to train her to fight. But moreover, she needs to be trained as a knight. And she must become a knight, and I wish to train her."
"WHAT?!" The King exclaimed loudly, The Queen gasping behind him, "No, I will not let my daughter be trained to kill people!"
Pyra then rebutted "She'll be able to set the whole kingdom on fire one day, even without obtaining my power. She'll be a destroyer if she doesn't get the right discipline. And it's more than 'princessy discipline' that she'll need, if that's what you're thinking. Also, she'll need to learn how to fight anyway. If the Vikings find out that Kageran royalty still lives on and she doesn't know how to fight, she'll die, and not even your best guards will be able to stop one Viking that weighs an eighth of a tonne. I'd rather have her a capable knight than a helpless firecracker that could go off any minute."
The King and Queen were silent, The King sinking into the chaise longue beside him and Pyra continued "Another thing as well though, the separation of the sisters must end. Cooping Elsa up like that is making her own fear being turned against her, and fear is always a magic user's worst enemy. Surely Grand Pabbie told you that."
The King and Queen nodded and Pyra finished off "Either way, things will be dangerous for Anna. However, knighthood is the best option out of all of this because normal soldiers, while disciplined, do not really follow a code like a knight does, apart from 'protect the royal family' or 'fight for the royal family' or 'die for the royal family'. They can be very easily swayed. However, knights are not as likely to do so. Some do, but the majority of knights don't. So, what shall it be: knighthood, or destruction?"
The King and Queen looked at each other, and although they do not wish it to be so, they knew that their daughter had to do this. The King sighed despairingly and granted solemnly "Very well, she may become a knight."
Pyra smiled gratefully and sunk into a dark brother leather wing chair and said "Thank you, Your Majesties. Now, I'll train Anna as soon as she turns six, and therefore will train until she is ready to become a squire. However, when she becomes a squire, she'll need to go on a many year long journey like I did in order to complete our hereditary traditions. I'll be there with her until she and her small expedition, lead by a senior knight, are ready to return home at the senior knight's say-so. It will be saddening, but no harm will come to her."
The King and Queen nodded then The Queen asked "What about Elsa?"
Pyra thought about it for a moment and replied "Get her to ease into interactions with Anna again. Tell her about love being the key to it all and tell her that Anna is learning how to fight because of the hopefully unlikely event that the Vikings find out about Anna, but don't tell her about the knighthood. By my estimate, Anna would have about twelve years to become a knight, and if all goes well, Anna can be the knight that'll be knighted at Elsa's Coronation Ball when you step down."
They nodded solemnly at this and the King said in finality "Very well. You may be dismissed, Lady Pyra."
She nodded and gratefully stated as she stood "Thank you, Your Majesties" before saluting with a right fist to her heart and bowing, before leaving the room without another word, leaving The King and Queen to ponder this solemnly.
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The figure clutched the figure's left hand, which was the figure's writing hand and gasped "That was soo much writing! I'm cueing a break!"