Chapter 4 - Realising The Truth

Elsa threw herself into her bedroom, crying her eyes out as she slammed the door shut. She curled up on the floor, her emotions running wild and rampant. How could she have been such a fool? Anna had completely played her with her disguise.

Her sister of all people had outright seduced her and charmed her completely and Elsa had just let it all happen. She was a horrible sibling, who would let their own sister kiss them like that? She was a monster, just like she had always believed.

But Anna had been so kind and sincere. She didn't know she was doing wrong and Elsa couldn't fault that. She was young, naive and Elsa was too stupid to say otherwise. She couldn't have said no to such caring hands as Anna's, Greta's whatever her name was.

In her own eyes, Elsa had failed her duty as both princess and sister. How could she have been the one protecting her sister if she was letting her conduct such immoral acts as incest?! Her heart thumped in her chest as she cried out.

Who would know now? That Greta the maid had been exposed as Princess Anna. Everyone most likely and that was what Elsa feared. The last thing she wanted was negative attention. She only wanted peace and sanctuary and while Anna had given that, she had also taken that peace away from her.

No one could trust her now, nowhere was safe for her now. In her anger, the crown princess threw off her gloves and let the magic free. If she was cursed, let her be cursed. She deserved whatever chaos was brought into her life and the world.

Magic sparkles flew from Elsa's hands, coating the entire bedroom in a blanket of frost. The window burst open as the power of winter dropped over Arendelle. A blizzard then surrounded the kingdom, freezing the land all around it.

In her anger and desperation, Elsa had unleashed the full fury of her power, but she didn't care. She just wanted to escape it all. Scowling, she then leapt from her open window and onto the courtyard below. Making sure the guards wouldn't see her, Elsa decided to make her escape.

She ran through the courtyard and out of the gates towards the city. She was going to get away from this place. Arendelle no longer needed its princess and Elsa never wanted to see her home ever again

xXx

Anna paced across the maid's quarters the next morning, ashamed of what had happened the night before. She was still in her disguise, although she had changed out of her maid uniform and taken the day off to recover from all that had happened.

As she looked out of the window and saw the snow fall from the sky, she sighed. One of her fondest memories of Elsa was them building snowmen together and playing on the ice. Now all those memories were tainted now, by Anna lying to Elsa.

She shouldn't have been so careless to let Elsa kiss her like that, but it was in the heat of the moment and Anna knew she could do no wrong. But clearly, she had done so much wrong, even if it was in the name of love. Anna knew there would be fallout from her actions, but she didn't want to worry about that.

The only thing on her mind was Elsa and how devastated she was, how she was crying as she ran out of the dining hall the night before. It was her fault, all her fault. She should never have been so bold and tried to get Elsa out of her room.

A better strategy would have been to take things slower with Elsa, but they had become so close in that space of time. God, she hated herself so much right now, but she wanted to make things right. But how could she, after betraying Elsa's trust like that.

Suddenly, Anna's train of thought was interrupted by the door to the room opening and someone walking inside. As Anna turned to see who it was, she saw Essi, her fellow maid and dear friend enter the room.

"Hey... Uh Greta," she spoke, carefully choosing her words. "I hope I'm not interrupting you or anything."

"Hi, Essi," Anna greeted her friend, putting on her best smile. "I'm... Not doing anything right now, so no worries about interrupting me."

Essi sighed and sat down, holding Anna's hand. "Gerda told me about what happened last night with your date with Elsa. Apparently, things didn't work about between you guys?"

"That's one way of saying it," Anna admitted, trying her best not to give all the details. In truth, she was ashamed of what Essi would think of her and her position. She remembered her friend speaking fondly of herself as the princess. She would have hated betraying her as well.

Hugging Anna, Essi smiled, holding her close. "I... I got myself the morning off. Would you like to go out to town with me? I know it might be a bit difficult with all the snow."

"Yeah, I guess winter decided to come early this year," Anna mused.

"Well, be glad you're nice and warm indoors right?" Essi assumed. "Hey... are you okay? I mean you've been through a lot these past few days.

If Anna was honest, no she wasn't okay. She was feeling the worst she had ever felt since her parents had died. The happiest moment of her life had been torn out from under her and in the end, it was all her fault, by deciding to disguise herself in the first place.

"No..." she answered, feeling very depressed. "I'm not okay... not at all." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Essi."

"No need to apologise, Greta," Essi replied. She then held Anna close and looked into her eyes. "I... I actually have something to confess to you, something I've wanted to get off my chest, but... if now is a bad time then I can wait."

Anna shook her head. "No, say what you need to say, Essi. Maybe if I help you with what you're dealing with... maybe it will help me."

Slightly nervous, Essi nodded. "O-Okay... but I need you to close your eyes a moment, Greta. Please, it's important that you do."

"Okay," Anna agreed, shutting her lids tight. Suddenly, a pair of soft, warm lips pressed against her own, kissing her softly. They were soothing, relaxing sensation, but as Anna opened her eyes, she was anything but relaxed. Essi was kissing her.

Pushing her away, Anna gasped with surprise. "What the heck, Essi?!"

"I-I'm sorry," Essi apologised. "I-I didn't mean to upset you like that. It's just... Greta, I've fallen in love with you, hard. I know you've had feelings for the princess, but I have feelings for you as well. It's just... seeing you like this made me want to get it off my chest, so you didn't have to feel my burden any more."

Still shocked, Anna took a moment to process her thoughts. Yes, she had felt that Essi was being very close to her of late. Oh god, now she had ruined another relationship. Anna really was a complete monster. But even monsters make up for their mistakes.

Looking at Essi, Anna sighed. "Essi... I'm sorry, but we can't be like that. I'm so sorry." She shed a tear. "I know you love me, but I can't love you."

"If it's because of the princess, I understand," Essi said, hugging Anna. "I just... I just needed to let you know of my feelings. It's bad to keep your emotions bottled up."

"Yes, but it's not just because of Elsa that we can't be together," Anna then spoke. "It's because of who I really am." She sighed. she removed her wig and revealing her true identity, her strawberry blonde hair spilling out from underneath.

Essi's eyes widened in disbelief as she saw that Greta, her friend, was, in fact, Princess Anna all along. Her jaw dropped, but she calmed down before she overreacted. "You... You were Greta this entire time?"

"There never was a Greta, Essi," Anna confessed. "I'm sorry that I lied to you and Elsa. It's just... we'd been apart all these years and I was so desperate to talk to her. So one night I came up with this crazy scheme to be a maid for her and now... everything has gone to shit."

Holding Anna, Essi comforted her. "No... I'm the one who should be sorry, Princess Anna. I always wanted for you and your sister to be together and if I had known you were Greta, I would have done everything in my power to ensure you and her were able to get back together."

"But... what about your feelings for me?" Anna wondered. "Haven't I broke your heart?"

"Yes," Essi admitted. "But my feelings should be put aside. Love is simply putting your needs before mine and since I love you, I want to help you and your sister overcome whatever mess you landed yourselves in. It's the loyalty only a maid like me can provide."

"I... Thank you Essi," Anna expressed, relieved at her friend's kind words. "You're right... Elsa and I do deserve to make up after this. I need to make amends for what I have done."

"Let me come with you," Essi insisted. "I helped you get into this mess, I should help you get out of it."

Anna nodded. "Okay, we'll go and see my sister now then. Hopefully, she's alright."

And so together, Anna and Essi headed out of their quarters and through the long hallways of the castle, making their way towards where Elsa's bedroom was. Anna was carrying all her guilt in her heart, but she would make amends with her sister.

Once they had arrived at the room, Essi stood and watched as Anna walked up to the door, hesitating slightly as she was unsure of when to knock. Essi didn't blame her though. She could barely imagine all the pain and suffering both sisters had gone through.

Tapping on the door, Anna called to her sister behind it. "Elsa, it's me... I'm sorry for all that's happened, but can I come in and talk? Please?"

Strangely, there didn't seem to be any reaction from behind the door. Anna knocked again, calling to her sister. "Elsa, please, let me in. I want to say sorry! Please..." She sighed. "It's no use."

Essi hugged Anna. "Hey, maybe she's just sleeping." She put her ear close to the door, trying to hear if there was any movement inside. "Hmmm, that's very odd."

"What is?" Anna wondered.

"There's no movement in there," Essi noted. "But I can hear the wind in there. Something's wrong in there, Anna."

Anna tried turning the doorknob and pushing the door open. "It's no use! It won't budge!"

"Let me try!" Essi added, grabbing the doorknob and ramming her shoulder against the door. Anna joined in and the two of them continued to push hard against the door, hopefully pushing through and getting to Elsa. By any luck, they were indeed successful.

However, on the other side of the door, Anna and Essi were met with a sight they couldn't have expected. On the other side of the door, the two of them saw Elsa's room, entirely covered in frost. The door had patches of ice surrounding it and an icy wind was blowing through the open window.

"W-where is she?" Essi wondered, shivering in the wind. "W-where did all the ice come from?"

Kneeling down, Anna saw some footprints in the frost, leading from the doorway and over to the window, where they suddenly disappeared. She traced her finger around the print, realising it was indeed Elsa's. "She's gone, Essi. She must have gone out of the window." She then realised something that possibly couldn't have made sense. "Because she was feeling from all this."

"What are you talking about?" Essi asked her. "Are you saying Elsa is the reason it's snowing right now? Anna, you must be crazy."

"I know, it is crazy," Anna admitted. "But there's a part of me that's saying that's why Elsa's gone." She then looked out of the window. "And we have to find her before this winter gets any worse."

Essi smiled. "I'll round up the horses." She hugged Anna tightly. "We'll get your sister back, Princess, I promise you."