"Good evening, milady, may I have this dance?"
Rapunzel turned to see Eugene offering his arm to her, looking uncharacteristically proper. She stifled a laugh and played along.
"But of course, sir, you are quite a gentleman," she replied in a fancy accent, and they began to dance to the soft, slow music.
The prince and princess danced all night long, with occasional stops to the buffet.
"This place might not know how to celebrate, but they sure have good food!" commented Eugene through a mouthful of cake.
"Do you think we should see the queen soon? It's been hours." Rapunzel was idly eating a strawberry while watching Queen Elsa converse with Princess Anna and a handsome young man.
Eugene glanced at the group of royals and shrugged. "She looks busy right now, and besides, I'm not done my cake!" He took another bite.
Rapunzel sighed. "Come on, you've held this off long enough. We need to see them. They're family!"
"Aren't they like, your aunt's stepdaughter's friends or something?"
"They're cousins, Eugene. And we're going to talk to them next," With that, the princess pulled her husband into the crowd fringing the ballroom.
"Rapunzel, I think she's done talking," commented Eugene. Rapunzel turned and watched as the distressed looking queen turned away from the two people that had been occupying her attention.
"The party is over. Close the gates," the queen ordered. Rapunzel was shocked. Wasn't the party supposed to go for a few more hours?
Princess Anna seemed just as surprised as her cousin. "Wait, Elsa no! Elsa, stop!" she reached for her hand but ended up only grabbing her glove.
"Give me my glove!" the queen reached for it, but her sister pulled away.
"Please! I can't live like this anymore!" Anna sounded like she was going to cry.
"Then leave," Elsa whispered, and turned to walk away.
"This is getting interesting," Eugene muttered. Rapunzel responded with a light shove to his arm, and continued to watch the scene.
"What did I ever do to you?" Anna shouted. More people began to look.
"Enough, Anna..." Elsa was walking quickly towards the door.
"No! Why?" the princess was yelling quite loudly. "Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out? What are you so afraid of?"
"I said enough!" Elsa whipped around. Blue magic flew from her fingertips, creating a semicircle of spikes around her. People cried out in fear and jumped back. Rapunzel could only stare. Magic? Her cousin had magic?
The queen, looking horrified with herself, bolted out the door. Princess Anna and a few others chased after her, shouting.
Eugene broke the eerie silence that had settled over the room. "So, that explains a lot!"
"Eugene..." Rapunzel sighed.
"It does!" Her husband protested. "She locked everyone out because she was afraid she would hurt someone!"
"I was never afraid of my powers..." Rapunzel muttered.
"Well that's because you had the power to heal. Not much harm you can do with that!" he nudged her affectionately.
Rapunzel walked closer to the spikes. Carefully, she touched the side if one. It was freezing cold.
"Why, it's made of ice!" she heard a noble exclaim. The princess realized it was true. The spikes were indeed long icicles that went upwards instead of down.
Rapunzel made a decision, and abruptly headed towards the open door.
"Woah, woah, woah, Blondie, what are you doing?" Eugene chased after his wife.
"I need to talk to the queen. I'll understand her better than anyone!"
"Okay... Just, be careful!" he said.
Rapunzel shot him a look as icy as a princess of sun could muster.
It was easy to tell which way the queen had gone, as she left small patches of wintery destruction in her trail. A footprint of ice on the dark red carpet. A few icicles hanging from the ceiling. A small snowdrift in the corner.
Rapunzel cautiously went through the open doors that lead to the courtyard. Her feet, always bare, suddenly felt cold on the layer of ice that covered the steps. One of the fountains was frozen. Rapunzel looked up and saw snow beginning to fall. She hugged herself for warmth, her thin summer dress not designed for the biting cold that now enveloped the castle.
Eugene nudged her. "Look who's back."
She noticed Princess Anna and the good-looking young man walking through the courtyard. They appeared to be having a brief argument, but Rapunzel was too far away to hear. Suddenly the ginger mounted a horse and declared in a large voice, "I leave Prince Hans in charge!" Rapunzel stiffened. Was the young princess actually going out to look for her sister, abandoning her chaotic kingdom?
Before anyone could stop her, Princess Anna galloped out of the courtyard, leaving the villagers, the visitors, and her cousin behind.