Ch. 2
Giggles rang around the corner and diminished when the two children entered the dining hall, seeing their aunt settled down already and looked at them as if they had been late.
"Good evening, Fredrick, Andrea." Elsa said demurely.
"Good evening, Aunt Elsa." The usual chant rang.
"There are my little herrings!" Kristoff scooped up his children from behind. They all laughed as he put Fredrick on his shoulder, swinging Andrea side by side.
"Papa!" Andrea squealed with delight.
Elsa could not help but smiling at the situation. How long had she and Erik played with Estelle like this?
Kristoff raised Andrea up high and twirled around. Andrea, to Elsa's surprise, did not fear at the great speed. She giggled and screamed with huge merriment.
"Kristoff, I have—" Anna entered, but her smile faded as she saw what her husband was doing.
"Kristoff! Be careful!" She screamed at the top of her voice, horrified at the scene.
Kristoff quickly put Andrea and Fredrick down.
"Yes, Your Highness!" He replied.
"Now, you two. Go settle down, or else Aunt Elsa will freeze you in an ice cube." Anna said.
"Or build a snowman like Olaf?" Andrea asked.
"Shut up!" Fredrick said.
"Fredrick!" Anna put her hands on her hips. "That's not the appropriate way to tell your sister to be quiet."
He pursed his lips and apologized.
There was a knock on the door. A tall man in king's uniform with an asleep Estelle in his arms came in. He had golden blond hair, slightly darker than Elsa's. His grey eyes were clear and translucent, with the brightness of a full moon.
"Erik." Elsa stood and walked towards him, offering to hold Estelle.
"I'm okay. Go back." He whispered.
Elsa nodded.
"Gosh, she is really tired." Anna said. "Can't she have some sleep instead of having the magic-control lesson?"
"She has to." Elsa said.
Estelle rubbed her eyes and opened them reluctantly. She mumbled her greetings and began to eat without saying anything further.
"Elsa, what did you do to Estelle?" Anna asked. "She's just 8."
"Age does not matter when it comes to lessons." Elsa replied. "Anyway, it is her duty. And I went through the same lessons in her age."
"That's already too much for her." Anna said. "Princesses in her age are supposed to be playing around instead of receiving lectures all day."
"I wish the subject can get off from the table while we are having dinner." Elsa said slowly and clearly in order to make everyone understand her will.
Estelle kept dozing off while having her pickled herring. Elsa could not bear to see her daughter struggling to stay awake, so she ordered Gerda to lead her back to the bedroom for a nap. Erik then stood up and headed back to his study for signing documents, though he had not finished his dinner.
Elsa glanced at the grandfather clock. Half past six, she reminded herself. Estelle's lesson would start after an hour.
After half an hour of dinner, she headed to the room where she would be meeting Estelle. The room was ever so quiet, and Elsa loved the moonlight shining onto the ground through the huge clerestory windows. This ball room had not been used for any other purposes besides Estelle's lesson and dancing. But dancing was long ago forgotten since Elsa's marriage.
She shot out a flurry of frost in her hands and the wisp gently fell onto the ground. Frost began to grow on the floor and spread out into the shape of a snowflake. Slowly, she lifted her arms and snow instantly covered the floor.
She showed a small dazzler and shot out more snow as if she wanted to fill the whole ball room with snow. The ambition stopped when there was a knock at the door. The snow diminished into sparkles as the snow parted and rose up high to the ceiling when Elsa lifted up her hand.
"Come in, Estelle. And close the door please." Elsa said once she confirmed the room had returned to normal state.
The little girl peeped from the gap and closed the door once she had entered. She approached her mother with caution, while leaving a trail of frost from where she had set foot on. As she was under strict discipline of using her cryokinesis, she did not have to wear gloves that often, only when she had to face their public. Elsa had a peculiar feeling that her daughter would unwittingly shoot out ice and hurt people. She could not relax until she was assured that her child could fully handle her magic, and she was sure that it needed years to accomplish that.
"You're doing well." Elsa whispered. "Now keep it up."
Estelle kept holding her flurry in mid-air, she concentrated hard and the cloud of snow grew larger. As the cloud had grown to a size of a Norwegian forest cat, it became unstable and shook madly. Estelle bit her lip and tried to gain back control, but more fear only brought in disaster. Finally, the cloud burst and created a thick blanket of snow, gaining a thickness that had reached her angle.
Estelle's cheek had gone red, embarrassed and ashamed of what she had done. Particularly, she felt sorry that she failed to live up to her mother's expectation.
"Estelle." Elsa sighed, knowing that her daughter had tried her best.
"I'm sorry, mother. I don't…don't mean to."
"I told you to control your emotion. Once you fret, the magic will go out of control."
"But I can't." Estelle wailed. "It's too difficult. Why it is me who has the magic? Why it is not Fredrick or Andrea? Why do I ever have to control it?"
"If you don't control it, you may hurt others unintentionally."
"I don't want to learn all that stuff." Estelle was a bit agitated at this stage. "I am tired of learning all these. I hate it, I hate to study all the Arendelle law, and I hate the royal duties and all those lessons! Why it is me who is going to be the queen?"
"Estelle, listen to me." Elsa put her hands on Estelle's shoulder. "You are my daughter and one day after I die, you will be the queen and you will have to control all your powers, and rule over Arendelle with peace."
"What if I don't want to be queen? Can't you let Aunt Anna, or Fredrick, or Andrea to be the ruler? They don't have the power, and they can roam around and play! They don't have to take lessons that much, and I am the screwed up, nothing more than a freak."
"Estelle, you are not a freak."
"Why do you ever have to bring me to this world? Why can't I born to be a commoner? Anything is better than being a princess!"
"Estelle!" Elsa tried to reason with her. "You are the heir to the throne and you must learn all the things we teach you!"
"I don't want to!"
Estelle shot a jet of ice onto her mother's dress. Immediately, ice crept onto it and the whole dress was frozen. Elsa, though having a strange immunity to coldness, could feel the sheer cold crept into her bones and chilled her.
"Estelle!"
Estelle looked horrified and rushed out of the room, leaving Elsa alone in the dark. She knelt onto the thick snow, thinking what she could do. As she lifted her hand, the snow instantly disappeared, and the ice on her dress thawed.