Chapter 4: The Lost Tiara
Elsa squeezed her eyes shut as a servant pulled open the drapes of her windows, letting the morning winter sun pour in.
"Your Majesty?" said a timid voice, and she groaned, burying her face in her pillow. "Your Majesty, a letter arrived for you."
Immediately, she whipped her eyes open and sat up on her four-poster bed, her body sinking into the criminally comfortable mattress.
"Is it from the Princess? Is it from Anna?" she asked breathlessly, taking the letter from the girl's hands and ripping it open.
Elsa,
We're in Center Africa right now. You should see the weather here… I don't think even you could make it snow!
Kristoff was bit by a snake, but he's okay now; I'm fine, don't worry.
I can't write long letters, because then they'll take much too long to get back to you. We're coming home soon, I promise.
Miss you!
Anna.
Elsa re-read the short letter about five times before squeezing it to her chest, her trembling hands crumpling the yellow paper. A lump had formed in her throat.
She missed Anna so much it hurt, and she hadn't ever needed her more than now. If Anna was here, she would know what to do; she'd make the regents and the situation with the Southern Isles bearable.
She got out of her bed, her white nightgown swishing around her bare ankles.
She had to pull herself together. Anna wasn't here, and lamenting on that wouldn't help her in the slightest; she would have to find a solution on her own. Still, she couldn't help but wonder how soon 'soon' was.
A few minutes later, servants were bustling around her, dressing her for the day.
When they finally left her alone again, she risked a look into the mirror. She was in a royal blue gown, that was decorated in lace blue snowflakes. The dress was tight fitted on her upper body, and was held by straps on her shoulders; at her waist, the skirts became full and reached the floor. Her hair was brushed and shiny, but not tied up, and a silver tiara sat upon her head.
She bit her lip as she observed herself. The servants didn't usually dress her up this much. Was this because of her guests, or was there another reason?
She shook herself.
Stop being so paranoid.
As she had nothing to do until after noon, when she would give the King and Queen a tour of the castle, she sat down at her desk. Polls and newspaper cuttings covered it. They were all about Arendelle's habitants. What they thought about the educational system, the merchandise that Arendelle imported, their salaries…
But, over the newspaper cuttings were stash on stash of papers, all marked by date. They were the law propositions that Elsa was working on. What she wanted to change in her kingdom, if the regents would only let her.
She sat down and continued one labeled 'salary raise for teachers', and worked on it until the sun was at its zenith in the sky. She was so immersed in her work that she didn't hear the pounding on her door until it creaked open.
"Your Majesty? I'm sorry to disturb you, but it's time for the tour of the castle."
"Already?!" she said, surprised, and her eyes flashed to the clock. She jumped up and followed the servant out of the room.
"Thank you so much for coming to get me, Katie." she thanked the girl, and walked fast in the corridors.
Ten minutes later, she was at the bottom of the staircase and saw the King, Queen, and the twelve princes already waiting for her.
"You look beautiful today, Queen Elsa." the King complimented her.
"Thank you," she said, but she wasn't looking at him; instead she looked, horrified, at the Queen's face. Her right eye was half-closed, and a purple ring surrounded it. Had the King hit her? His own wife, and just for a drink of wine?
A new kind of hatred simmered through her veins, and she fought to keep control of her voice as she said;
"Shall we start with the Gardens, then?" She was pleased to see that her voice didn't shake at all.
The tour was long and painful, filled with meaningless small talk. She thought she would die from a mix of frustration and boredom. She only wanted to talk about the alliance, of the true reason they were here, but some instinct, buried deep inside her, stopped her.
When at long last it ended, she bid them a good evening and how she looked forward to seeing them at dinner tonight, and strode up back to her room. She was in the corridor that led to it when she stopped suddenly. She was quite sure she was alone, yet she felt watched. Suddenly, she felt a shadow whizz past her, and she turned, her hair whipping around. But there was nothing but an open window. Elsa looked around, before approaching the window slowly. She leaned over the ledge, squinting through the darkness- the sun had already set- and thought she saw a flash of blue and white-
"Your Majesty?"
She spun around, banging her head on the top of the window and felt her tiara fall from her head and through the window.
Shit.
"Yes, Katie?" she asked pleasantly, massaging her head. She could have sworn she heard a quiet chuckle behind her, and turned back to the window- but only the peaceful landscape greeted her eyes, so she turned back to the small servant girl. She'd go looking herself for the tiara later.
"The regents summoned you to the council room."
She bristled at the word 'summoned'- she was the Queen for God's sake- but nodded and set off down the corridor again. Whatever did they want to tell her, just before dinner?
She still felt watched, and cast an uneasy glance at the windows as she walked past them, the sound of her heels against the tiles echoing down the corridor. Guards stationed in front of the double doors leading to the council room opened the doors for her, and she saw the council members stand up as one around the large, perfectly circular table where they'd been in deep conversation.
"Your Majesty," said Counselor Archimedes. He was the oldest of the seven regents, and unofficially the one in charge. There was also Counselors Hugo, Terence, Reginald, Wentworth, Fitzwilliam and Nicodeme, all older than fifty years old.
She nodded her head at Counselor Archimedes, before sitting down at the head of the table. They all sat down once she was seated, but before any of them could speak however, she addressed them.
"This has got to stop. Meetings without me can't carry on anymore. I am your Queen, and decisions without me being alerted about them or having approved them can't be done- and you can't summon me anywhere. If you want to have a council meeting, schedule it and don't do them without me, your leader."
They all flinched at the words 'your leader' and she nearly threw her arms upwards in exasperation. What was so horrible and threatening for them about bowing down to a woman?!
"With all due respect, your Majesty, we think you are not yet capable to rule-"
"And I will never be if you never let me rule!" she snapped. "I'm quite sure your predecessors didn't pose this much difficulty when my father came to the throne!"
"With all due respect, my Queen, your father wasn't a woman."
"Thank you so much for that information," she snapped, rolling her eyes.
"We don't yet know if you are capable of controlling your powers, let alone rule a kingdom!" the counselor continued, as if he hadn't heard her.
A mumble of assent traveled through the counselors. She trembled with contained rage.
"It's been months. There hasn't been one incident since June, I can perfectly control them-" but she paused, gaping as she saw a boy, with a shock of white hair and haunting blue eyes materialize in the air, floating a few feet above one of the counselors. They made eye contact and she saw a shock to rival her own in his eyes; then, just as suddenly as he'd appeared, he'd vanished. She shook herself back to her senses. These men were making her lose her mind.
"Still, your Majesty, we think it preferable if you'd take a husband as quickly as possible, to rule by your side."
She slammed her hands on the table as she stood up suddenly, glaring at each one of them.
"You don't want me to take a husband to rule by my side! You want me to take a husband who will rule for me, so you can have a King to join your old boys club!" she said, exasperated. For the second time, the boy appeared, and she saw he was grinning, amusement twinkling in his eyes… but this time he didn't disappear. Trying to regain her composure and to stop her gaze from flitting to him, she stared determinedly at the counselors. Was she going completely mad?
"We think it is a good idea if you indeed take a husband to counsel and aid you through this difficult time-"
"But don't you see? I don't need help, or not the kind you're offering at least. I just need you to let me rule. I have a ton of ideas; I want to raise teacher's salary, provide free daycare for small children whose parents' need to work, install an insurance that will reimburse all health fees, like doctors and medicine-"
"This just proves how unexperienced you are!" intervened Counselor Terence, "We don't have the money to do all that!"
"That's not true. I've calculated the cost and we have enough of money-"
Actually, they would have enough of money if she reduced the unreasonably tremendous salaries that went straight to the pocket of these men every month.
"Queen Elsa, we do not live in a dictatorship, and you are overruled by seven votes-"
"Oh, come on-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH, ELSA!"
She looked in bewilderment at Counselor Archimedes. He had known her since she was a child, and she had loved him very much before understanding that he wasn't on her side at all. He used to hit her when she lost control of her powers, and some part of her was still terrified of him. Their relationship had only worsened since her coronation, but he had always addressed her with at least a semblance of respect. But now, he glowered at her.
She stood up straighter, and lifted her head.
"That's Queen Elsa to you. I am not a child you can scold, Archimedes." she said quietly, barely concealing the anger in her voice. "I am the Queen of Arendelle."
"Well start acting like it. Your duty as queen is to sire an heir."
She gaped at him.
"I'm twenty-one, there's plenty of time for that-"
"And we have found you a king. This alliance with the Southern Isles... it is a marital one."
She risked a glance up, to see if the boy was still there. He was, floating in mid-air, looking in disbelief at the counselors.
She turned her attention back to the counselors.
"I can't believe you're doing this," she said, "Need I remind you that Prince Hans planned on assassinating princess Anna and I?!"
"It is no use to dwell on the past-"
"The past?! It was six months ago!" she gaped at them. This was getting out of hand.
"That doesn't change the fact that the Southern Isles is a very powerful kingdom, your Majesty. You can choose which of the thirteen princes you'd like to wed-"
"How very generous of you," she said sarcastically, and she heard a snort coming from the boy.
"But the wedding will happen, your Majesty. The Southern Isles threaten war if it doesn't."
"You can't be serious. They're threatening war?! And why am I only hearing about this threat now?!"
"We are not going to engage in another debate with you, your Majesty," retorted Archimedes, no feigned respect in his tone at all now. She looked at him in disbelief. "You have until the annual Christmas Ball to decide which prince you shall wed, and we will announce then the alliance."
She stared at them.
"You fools. You idiotic, moronic fools."
And with that, she whipped around, and exited the room, slamming the doors behind her.
After leaving the council room, she'd gone back to her rooms nearly running, had swung open her huge wardrobe and taken her warmest cloak. It was thick and white, with white fox fur sewed to its edges. She'd then taken a short cut through the castle only a few servants knew about and had luckily not crossed the path of anyone. She'd emerged into the snow-covered garden, the moon shining down on her. Incapable of thinking clearly, she'd stumbled to the spot where she'd thought her tiara had fallen. Trembling, from the cold or the aftermath of the council meeting, she bent down and dug with her bare hands into the snow, but the tiara wasn't there. It had been her mother's, she recalled dimly, she had to find it, had to find it-
But it was no use. The tiara wasn't there anymore. Maybe someone had stolen it.
She felt tears stinging her cold cheeks. She was no use- she couldn't find her tiara, couldn't say no to the counselors, couldn't rule her own kingdom…
She buried her face in her hands as she struggled to regain control. Snowflakes fell around her, and she didn't know if it was truly snowing or if she was losing control. She was fairly sure no one was in the Gardens, but still…
Then she heard a concerned voice behind her.
"Are you looking for this?"
...
After leaving the Pole, Jack had flown a good deal of the day. Though Arendelle wasn't far from the Pole, he'd realized a half an hour after leaving the other Guardians that he had no idea where Arendelle was. He'd had to stop in Greenland, and had passed a few hours searching for a kid that could see him. Finally, he'd seen a child who'd gaped at him as he'd flown past him, and the kid had brought him back a map. Turned out Arendelle was somewhere between Greenland and Norway, and he'd backtracked. He'd arrived at sunset, and had flown high up to see where the palace was.
He'd finally seen it, and had gotten into the castle by an open window. He had stayed there a few minutes, wondering where to go next, when he'd heard the sound of heels on tiles coming his way. A few seconds later, a girl had turned into the corridor.
He'd heard his breath hitch.
Her platinum blonde hair fell on her shoulders, surrounding her face. Her eyes were gigantic and blue, the same shade as her dress. She was incredibly elegant, and his eyes had dropped to the only thing that was holding her long hair out of her face; a small, silver tiara.
She was stunning.
She'd stopped in the middle of the corridor, and had looked around. That happened sometimes, with young people; they couldn't see him, but they felt the presence of someone. He didn't know if this was the queen's sister or the queen herself, but he had to think of a plan to make her see him. For now, though, he'd just have to stay out of her way. He didn't want her to feel stalked.
As he passed her though, she felt her gasp; and that wasn't normal. He flew out of the window, but watched her as she turned towards the window and walked warily towards it, and then leaned over the edge, scouring the darkness.
Definitely not normal.
Then he'd heard a small voice say 'Your Majesty?' (she was the queen then, and Jack wondered if this Hans guy had really met her- 'monstrous and hideous', my ass) and she'd jumped so hard she'd banged her head. Her tiara had fallen, and he couldn't help but let loose a soft chuckle as she'd rubbed her head painfully. She'd shot a look back, as if she'd heard him, and then had walked away.
He couldn't have resisted it if he'd wanted to; he'd followed her. He'd followed her through two corridors and a staircase, and had been behind her when two double doors had opened and she'd walked in, obviously interrupting an important conversation. He'd seen seven men in the room, all looking a good deal older than she was.
He'd watched as she had struggled to make them see reason; as she'd proven to them that she was more capable of looking after her kingdom than all of them reunited- and he'd watched as they wouldn't listen to her, wouldn't even give her a chance, and only because she was a woman. He had been seriously considering throwing a snowball in that Archimedes guy's face; but then her eyes had plunged directly into his. She had gaped at him, stopping mid-sentence, and he'd nearly fell out of the air in shock. She'd forced herself to look away- and he couldn't imagine what amount of self-control had stopped her from shrieking at the counselors that there was a guy floating in mid-air behind them.
But he'd forgotten his shock as he became more and more impressed by the queen. And he'd only met her a few minutes ago. How could these fools not see that she was made for the job?
And then they'd talked about the marriage alliance, and he'd watched her decompose herself. When she'd talked about prince Hans, he'd remembered Tooth's words.
People have tried to assassinate her in the past, and she's built a wall around herself, to protect herself as much as her kingdom.
And when she'd left the room, leaving the men behind her insulted and angry, he'd known where she was going and had beat her there, picking the tiara up from where it had fallen on the snow, and had sunk back into a dark corner of the garden. He'd watched as she'd searched desperately, but not daring to make himself known.
What if she wouldn't be able to see him anymore?
But then he'd seen a silver tear rolling down her cheek, and watched as a small snow storm had swirled around her, though it was a clear night.
And before he'd known what he was doing, he'd stepped out.
"Are you looking for this?" he'd asked nervously.
She'd whipped her face out of her hands and now, she was looking at him in disbelief. Before he could say anything more, the tiara was ripped out of his hands by a strong, cold wind and she caught it, holding it so tightly that the edge of her fingers turned white. He gaped at her, and squeezed his staff tighter.
She was born with magic so powerful, it could condemn an entire land to eternal winter.
"Who are you?" she breathed.
"Jack Frost," he said, regaining his confidence, "And you are…"
"Elsa." she was still so surprised at his sudden appearance that she'd forgotten to add 'Queen'. He swallowed back a smile.
"Were- were you floating in the air? In the council room?" she managed to get out.
"Yeah- I mean, yes. Yes I was."
"How do you do that?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows. She was more concerned that he could fly than that he had witnessed the meeting, and he saw that she'd relaxed a bit, her shoulders slumping down, though she still held the tiara tightly.
"I don't know," he said, frowning, "I guess the wind just picks me up."
"I've always dreamed I could fly," she said thoughtfully, and he couldn't help but worry she wasn't in her normal state. She was still trembling from the meeting, he saw, and she had a faraway look in her eyes.
"For what it's worth, I think you'd make an excellent queen."
Her eyes flashed up to meet his, and he could feel the shadow of a smile cross over her face.
"Saw that, did you?" she said matter-of-factly, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for her.
Suddenly, she whipped her head up, and looked around the Garden, as if realizing they were alone for the first time since the start of their conversation. When she looked at him again, there was something new on her eyes; something that Jack recognized all too well.
Fear.
"Who are you?!" she said suddenly. "Who sent you?!"
She won't believe you. She won't trust you.
Jack felt something icy on his wrists, and looked down.
Around his hands and feet were a pair of hard manacles, made entirely out of ice.