The children left the castle at morning. Estelle had longed to see the ice castle. She had heard from her Aunt Anna's mouth that her mother had built an ice castle, but she had never seen it. This would be her chance to understand her mother's past.
"I'm so excited." Andrea said. "I have heard from Mama that Aunt Elsa built it. But I have never seen it before. This is going to be fun."
"What's the ice castle about?" Louisa asked.
"The ice castle is built by Aunt Elsa ten years ago, when there's a great snowstorm attacking Arendelle. The ice castle acted as a temporary home for her and she came back then so the castle is deserted now." Fredrick said as if he was an expert of Arendelle.
"Why would she leave Arendelle?" Louisa asked.
"Mama?" Fredrick turned to her mother.
Anna smiled as if she did not know anything about the great thaw.
"Mama, please tell us." Andrea begged.
"Well…I don't know…do you, Kristoff?" She looked at her husband, with a warning in her eyes telling him not to speak a word about that.
"No. If your Mama does not know, I won't know then."
The children were disappointed, but as soon as they saw the gleaming crystal castle, they screamed with excitement.
As they walked towards the stairs, Jonas fretted. Knowing that there was a monster in the castle, he was told to save Estelle from it, but hearing from his father's description, Marshmallow was certainly not a nice monster. Still, he had to find a way to make Marshmallow appear and find a way to save Estelle.
Then, he finally made up his mind. As the group stopped in front of the stairs to admire the beauty of the castle. He went backwards and looked at the left, where a large round snow block settled. He put out a dagger and threw it at the block. At instant, the snow block glowed and icicles grew on top of it. The hulking behemoth stood up one-legged, and its eye sockets lighted up with blue rays. It roared at the intruders and Anna gulped.
"This can't be good." She back away with Kristoff, with her mouth clattering.
"Run, children!" Kristoff yelled and his two children fled downhill with Louisa.
Estelle frowned and tried to use her ice power to hold the beast back. Unfortunately, her power was not as strong and stable as her mother's, the ice she shot out only hit the body instead of the eyes. Marshmallow roared even louder and grabbed Estelle and flung her to a stone nearby. Estelle fell onto the ground feebly, unable to stand up.
Jonas pulled out his sword and aimed at Marshmallow's leg. Once the blade touched the leg, it slashed through the snow block and Marshmallow could not balance itself. It staggered backwards and fell into the dark and deep valley. There was no sound to be heard again.
When Jonas assured that the threat had gone and the coast was cleared, he went to check Estelle. His heart was pumping vigorously, and he found his hand shaking madly and could not hold the sword properly. As a 10-year-old, it was too early for him to use the sword without fear.
"Are you…alright?" He asked while stuttering.
Estelle nodded weakly, obviously hurt from the attack.
Jonas propped her up and both of them went downhill slowly.
"Does it hurt?" Jonas asked worriedly.
"My back hurts." She moaned, with a streak of tears on her face.
"Estelle! Jonas!" Anna yelled as she saw the two coming slowly towards them.
"Estelle, are you okay?" Anna asked.
Estelle did not want her mother knew that she was hurt, so she shook her head, enduring the pain and put on a smile.
"I'm just tired." She gritted out the words with huge effort.
"Great. I'm scared that Marshmallow might hurt you." Anna said.
"That thing has a name?" Andrea asked her mother.
"Of course, Elsa made it." Anna blurted out.
"The queen?" The children exclaimed.
"It was just an accident she made it. She didn't mean to create it and let it hurt anyone." Anna tried to explain. "It's just made by accident. At that time when she made Marshmallow, she was scared."
"Let's go back. If we don't, the queen is going to be mad." Kristoff suggested while looking at the yellow sky.
Estelle made a small groan, Andrea and Fredrick turned around and looked worried.
"Are you…?"
"My back hurts a little." Estelle whispered. "But keep it secret. I don't want Mama to know."
The two children nodded helpfully and the group moved back to the castle.
Elsa was not satisfied to see them coming back that late. It was half past six already and dinner was set to be at six. When the group arrived at the dining hall, all of them collapsed onto the chairs. Erik raised his eyebrow while Henrik smiled as usual.
"Children, did you have a good day?" Henrik asked.
"Yes, Dad. We have an exciting day." Jonas replied without hesitation.
Henrik chuckled and said, "Looks like the journey is too exciting and exhausting."
Elsa cut her fillet without saying anything. Quickly, she glanced at her daughter, who was frowning badly while eating. She instantly knew that there was something behind the adventure.
"Fredrick, Andrea. Come to my study after dinner." Elsa tried to say calmly without showing her intention.
The two gulped and did not answer back, which made Elsa more assured that something bad had happened.
"You knock the door." Andrea whispered.
"No, you knock." Fredrick pushed his sister to the door.
"You're older than me."
"Aunt Elsa loves you more than to me."
"Aunt Elsa likes you more."
"No, it's you."
"You!"
"You!"
"You!"
"Children, come in." The cold voice rang behind the door.
Andrea and Fredrick pushed the door with a heavy heart, knowing that the queen had somehow figured out their trip was not successful.
"You want us, Aunt Elsa?" Andrea tried to use her innocent face to make her get out of troubles.
"Yes. Yes." Elsa was again reading at the desk, trying to act calm and not to scare the two.
Andrea was a bit frightened and stayed half-hidden behind her brother. There was no sound except the clicking sound of the swinging pendulum in the grandfather clock. The room was as dim as usual, with only the candlelight on Elsa's desk to keep everything in the room visible.
Elsa stopped her reading and looked out, her eyes were shining like sapphire, with a hint of seriousness. She put on a warm smile in order to make the atmosphere less tensed.
"How's the journey today? Did you all have a good time?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, we did, didn't we, Fredrick?" Andrea grinned.
"Yes, we did."
"Did you meet a huge snowman called Marshmallow?"
Andrea's grin faded a little, but then she shook her head and put on an even bigger smile, trying to hide her fear of telling lies. Elsa, of course, knew she was lying, Marshmallow would never leave the castle.
"Do you know what will happen to children who lie to the queen?"
"They…they…get punished?" Andrea stuttered, and sweat had filled her palm.
"Andrea, you know your appearance here is not to tell lies."
"I' m sorry, Aunt Elsa. Estelle warned us not to tell." Andrea wailed.
"I wish to know what she wants to hide."
"Would she yell at me after I tell you?"
"Say what you must."
"We arrived at the castle and that what-so-ever Marshmallow suddenly stood up—" Fredrick blurted out.
"He was huge and ugly—"
"With sharp claws and teeth that are made of ice—"
"He roars—"
"Why would it have a fluffy name called Marshmallow? It is not cute at all—"
"Mama and Papa told us to run—"
"But Estelle didn't—"
"Estelle didn't?" Elsa exclaimed.
"She used her ice powers to fight back—"
"Jonas was there too—"
"But we fled so we could not see what happened then—"
"And Estelle came downhill with Jonas—"
"She hurt her back—"
"And Jonas said he chopped that monster's leg—"
"Estelle warns us not to tell—"
"She was weak then—"
"Yeah—"
"So you mean you all met Marshmallow and Jonas drove him away, and Estelle hurt her back?"
The two children nodded immediately, from their eyes, Elsa knew they were telling the truth.
"Is there anything else, Aunt Elsa?" Andrea asked with caution.
"You may go."
The two did not need to be told twice. Within a second, they left the study. Elsa sighed and stood up, pondering if she should have a chat with her daughter.
"Well, my boy, you've done very well. Excellent." Henrik beamed at his son.
"But Dad, Estelle's hurt." Jonas replied.
"And you saved her from a horrible death."
"But if I had not thrown that dagger to that thing, it would have not wakened up and hurt her."
"Anyway, you've done a great job. She'll put a good word of me to her mother…now just go and say good night to her. Didn't you just say she is hurt?"
"But Dad…"
"Go now, my boy. And come back early."
"Yes, Dad."
Jonas went out of the room and walked alone in the corridor. He did not understand the order his father made, but he did not have the chance to disobey or to question.
He found his way to Estelle's bedroom, and he knocked on the door.
"Estelle? It's me, Jonas."
"Come in."
Jonas went into the room and saw Estelle sitting beside the window, with a thin layer of frost on the floor, but it disappeared as Estelle stood up.
"Is your back getting better?" Jonas asked with a hint of guilt, thinking of his act of agitating the snow monster.
"A lot better." Estelle smiled and replied. "Though it still hurts, but not that often."
Jonas could not think of anything to continue the conversation. He rubbed his hands nervously, trying to think of a new topic.
"Thank you," Estelle suddenly broke the silence. "For saving me."
"No, it's nothing."
"You didn't run away, you're really really brave."
Jonas smiled and his face went red from embarrassment.
"Good night, Jonas." Estelle whispered.
It took a while before Jonas could say 'Good night'.