Elsa squealed with delight as she ran through the halls of her castle. Most of the time, all of the countless rooms were empty and quiet, so the princess was allowed to do as she pleased. Her parents occasionally would host events, though, and the rooms would be filled with foreign leaders, business partners, or distant family members. She would be forced to behave royally and keep her powers secret while the castle hosted guests. The king was very stern with her to never let anyone outside of the family know what she could do with ice and snow. She always struggled to conceal her powers around guests and townsfolk, but her shyness and fear of accidentally exposing herself helped her remember her manners. It was easy to memorize the castle staff's routines and stay away from everyone. No one seemed to know where the mysterious puddles came from except Elsa's nursemaid, Gerda, and the steward, Kai, who would reprimand her for her messes but never explain how they knew she had left them.
Today, she was celebrating the end of her third birthday party. Her parents had thrown a festival, complete with petting zoo, pretzel vendor, sword fights, and a jousting tourney and invited friends and family from places with names she had never heard. Their guests had stayed for three days, which was admittedly a short stay comparatively, but Elsa was happy for the privacy.
She giggled as she felt magic tingle through her toes to form icy snowflake footprints in her wake. The princess threw her hands above her head and ice crystal fireworks exploded from her fingertips. She spun in place a few times, throwing fists of intricate snowflakes into the air around her before running through the double doors leading to the dining hall.
King Agdar sat at the head of the table, Queen Idun at his left. Elsa hugged her mother before walking past, running a hand gently over the swollen abdomen that held her new sibling. She skipped to her father to give him a hug as well before settling into her chair across the table from her mother.
"When will the baby be here?" Elsa asked, her eyes wide and her legs swinging back and forth under her chair.
"Any day, now!" the queen said, excitement clear in her voice. "Stop fidgeting, Elsa," her royal air apparent again.
"Yes, Mama," Elsa replied as she quickly stilled her feet. "Can the baby stay in my room?"
"May," her father corrected, "the baby stay in your room?"
"Yes it may!" Elsa squeaked, half jumping out of her seat before sinking under a stern look from her parents.
"You would not like sharing your room with a baby," Queen Idun said with a gentle smile.
"You," the king said, gently tapping his daughter's nose to make her giggle, "can barely share toys with your cousins."
"They're cousins," Elsa spat the word, "not a sibling." Her parents laughed softly at their princess's spirit. Every conversation the royal family had, amongst themselves or with others, seemed to end up about the baby.
Idun was elated to still feel the baby's movement this far into her pregnancy; all concern about the baby's health was far from her mind by now. The citizens of Arendelle had been informed to expect a royal baby and were nearly as excited as the royal family and staff. Of course, in private conversation, Agdar and Idun had agreed that Elsa had exclusive rights to the crown, and even a baby born with royal blood could never change that.0
Elsa stood on her tip-toes, bright blue eyes peering between the bars of her sister's crib. "Look, Anna!" she whispered as blue sparks danced between her fingers and shot into the air to form swirling ice patterns. The younger princess's laughter at the display floated through the door and down the hall. Elsa danced excitedly when her mother walked into the nursery and laughed.
"I see you were the first to Anna's bedside again today," the queen said with a light touch to her eldest daughter's shoulder. Every morning since she had given birth, Idun woke to find her daughters laughing at ice displays, snowflakes, and other magical oddities that were now just a normal part of living in Arendelle Castle. Anna never seemed afraid of her sister's magic, which was a relief to their parents.
"She wanted to see my ice!" Elsa squeaked as her mother scooped Anna out of the crib. Idun brushed her young daughter's unruly copper hair before parting it and tying off two short pigtails. Her blonde daughter waited patiently for a chance to have her hair styled into a single braid down her back. "When will Anna and I be allowed to share a room?" Elsa grumbled.
"Maybe she will be ready after her birthday," her mother answered patiently.
"But that's so far away!" the toddler whined as she tried to calculate how far away her sister's birthday was, but a few months feels like forever to a three-year-old. Idun only laughed before instructing Elsa to go to the dining hall for breakfast and promising that she would join her once Anna had eaten her own breakfast.
Was it the storm that woke Elsa or the tug at her blankets? The princess opened her eyes to see a terrified Anna crawling into her bed.
"I'm s-scared…" the younger girl stammered, jumping and screaming when another crack of thunder tore through the skies over Arendelle. Elsa helped her little sister into her bed, quickly ducking under her blankets to hide from the storm with Anna. Of course, the older girl was not afraid, but she would do anything to protect her younger sister.
"Do you want to hear a story, Anna?" she asked, pulling the other girl close. A brush of hair on Elsa's bare shoulder told her that Anna had nodded. "Ok," she smiled, wrapping both arms around her sister before beginning her story.
"Once upon a time, there was a princess who could make snow and ice do whatever she wanted it to do," this was how all of Anna's favorite stories started. "One day, she took a walk in the forest to be alone and practice her magic, but she stumbled upon a camp of trolls!" Anna gasped. "The trolls didn't believe the princess when she told them what she could do, so she built them each a house made of ice.
"The trolls were so happy with their new homes that they introduced the princess to their chief who told the princess that he had an important job for her to do. Hunters had set traps throughout the forest. The traps were meant for animals, but one had caught a small troll who had wandered too far on his own. The trolls were powerful creatures, but not tall enough to release the poor boy. The princess agreed to save the young troll and followed the chief to the traps.
"High up in the trees, the little troll could be seen dangling by one ankle. The princess carefully piled snow under the trap before shooting an ice crystal through the rope that held the young troll. Down the troll fell, through the branches, curling into a bolder before reaching the snowdrift. Snow shot into the air on impact!" Elsa swung her arms up, throwing snow and blankets into the air to emphasize the story. Anna giggled and squealed in delight. Snow settled around them on the bed, and the younger girl began to drag her fingers through the powder, completely oblivious to the storm still raging outside.
"The young troll was safe, and the troll chief named the princess an official member of their family. They held a huge feast to celebrate, and everyone lived happily ever after!" Anna wrapped her arms around her sister as the story came to a close. Elsa beamed at the younger girl before she carefully pushed the snow off of her bed with a small burst of wind. She pulled the blankets over them both as they laid down and planted a small kiss on her sister's cheek. "Good night, Anna," she said, "I love you."
"Good night, Elsa!" Anna said, snuggling closer to the blonde girl, "I love you, too!" After only a few moments, the younger girl's soft snores filled the air.