Frozen Together Chapter 2
Knock, knock, knock. "Elsa?"
No answer.
"It's me. Anna. Your sister."
No answer.
"Do you remember me?"
No answer.
"Do you want to build a snowman?"
She thought she heard footsteps inside.
"Anna, please stay away!"
"I can't, Elsa! I can't stay away! You're all I've got left!"
No answer.
"Elsa, what's happened to you? Are you sick?"
After a long pause, she heard a quiet, "No."
"Are you hurt? Injured? Disfigured?"
"No."
"Do you turn into an ogre at night?"
"Anna, please go!"
"Elsa..." Anna felt like tearing her own hair out. "Why can't you tell me what's wrong?"
"I just can't!" Anna heard the footsteps receding. She sighed deeply.
"All right, Elsa. But I'm making you a promise. As long as you stay in that room, you can't get away from me! I'll be back, and I'm going to keep coming back until... until... until you start treating me like a sister again!" She stormed off, relieved that her older sister was at least talking (a little), but also very frustrated.
It was definitely time to try out her little plan.
Instead of waiting at the table for Gerda to bring her lunch, she waited at the dining-room doorway. When Gerda stepped out of the kitchen with Elsa's lunch tray, Anna leaned over and checked it out. She sniffed deeply.
"Ooh, Gerda, that ptarmigan looks delicious!"
"You wait your turn, Princess Anna," the servant chuckled. "This is your sister's lunch. There's plenty left for you."
Anna pouted. "I know, but I haven't eaten much lately, and that smells so good... can't I have this for my lunch, right now, and you can make another tray for Elsa afterward?"
"Now, now, you know the rule," Gerda mock-scolded her. "Your sister is older, and she'll be the queen some day, so she dines first. That's the way these things are done. You won't starve if you wait ten minutes, I promise."
"But she'll never know!" Anna burst out, then switched to her sad eyes. "Please?"
Gerda wavered, then yielded. "You're right – you haven't eaten much lately, and it does me good to see you enjoy my cooking. But this isn't going to happen again! Right?"
"Yes, Gerda." Princess or no princess, Anna was always respectful toward Gerda and Kai; her parents had taught her to be as polite to her servants as to visiting royalty. She took the tray, waited until Gerda was back in the kitchen, then scooted down the hall and up the great staircase.
As she approached Elsa's door, she had to stop for a moment. Her hands were shaking, which was making the lunch tray rattle. She took a few deep breaths to settle herself before she stepped up to the door. This was Gerda's idea, she thought. She told me to leave her out of it. So I'm leaving her out of this lunch delivery.
Over the course of the past few days, she'd watched from down the hall as the servant delivered Elsa's lunch and took away the breakfast tray. She'd noticed how Gerda always knocked on the door the same way – four slow knocks, very easy to imitate. She would knock and set the lunch tray down by the door. A moment later, the lock would click, the door would ease open, and the servant would slide the tray in. A few seconds later, the empty tray from the previous meal would slide out. Gerda would take it, the door would close and lock again, and that would be that.
Today, it would be just a little bit different. Today, in exchange for her lunch, Elsa would give up some of her secrets.
Anna stepped up to her sister's door. She set the lunch tray down by the door and knocked four times, slowly. Somebody is probably going to get mad at me for this, she thought. She heard footsteps. The lock clicked, the handle dipped, and the door quietly swung open. Anna slid the tray inside, but her attention was entirely on what she could see through that partially-open door.
The room looked smaller than her own. It was decorated in lavenders and magentas, with a colorful carpet. She could see one of the family's absurdly high-backed chairs, a stand with a vase and some flowers that were past their prime, and some paintings on the wall. She couldn't see a bed; it must be against the other wall, in the same location Elsa's bed had occupied when the girls shared a room. All in all, it seemed cozy, but hardly welcoming – it looked more like a guest room than anything else. There were no feminine touches. There was not a trace of evidence that a young lady spent her entire life in there.
A slender gloved hand reached around from behind the door and pulled the lunch tray in. After a few seconds, the gloved hand set down the breakfast tray and pushed it out. Anna took it, desperately trying to memorize everything she saw. She knew she wouldn't get another chance at this. As the door began to close, she noticed one other detail. Several parts of the lower wall were marked with odd stains. They looked like water damage. But the stains didn't run from the top of the wall downward; they seemed to have risen up from the floor. That didn't make any sense. So many clues, and so few answers!
The door clicked shut. The lock turned. From inside, Anna heard her sister say, "Thank you, Gerda."
She couldn't help it. She giggled. She heard a utensil drop onto the metal tray.
"Anna? Is that you out there? Gerda, what have you done?"
"Gerda isn't here," Anna called. "It's just me."
"Anna, you... you don't know what you're doing! You don't know what you're dealing with!"
"Then tell me!" Anna demanded.
No answer.
"Fine," Anna huffed, drawing herself up to her full height, whether her sister could see her or not. "Elsa, this has just become a stubbornness contest! And I have never lost one of those! Never!" She picked up the breakfast tray and beat a dignified retreat back to the kitchen.
Kai and Gerda were waiting for her, arms folded, glaring at the breakfast tray. They knew exactly what she'd done – the evidence was right there in her hands. She giggled nervously.
"That is not what I call royal behavior, Your Excellency," Kai said icily. "I call it deception. Perhaps even... lying?"
"I... I just wanted to see what her room looks like," Anna stammered.
Gerda took the tray from her indignantly. "I hope you enjoyed your lunch, Princess," she added. "But you said you were hungry, so I fixed you a second portion." She gestured into the dining room. Anna's place had been set with a glass of goat's milk and a small plate of dry crackers.
"You were right about one thing, Princess," Kai said as the servants turned toward the kitchen. "That ptarmigan was delicious! We must have it again sometime soon." They closed the kitchen door behind them.
Anna glumly munched her crackers by herself. She couldn't bring herself to be angry at Kai or Gerda. After all, they were right – her actions had hardly been regal.
Was she angry at Elsa?
No, not even a little bit. She wasn't angry at anyone. She was just desperate to break down that colorful door, walk into that sterile room, and have a sister again.