Note: For those who may have noticed that this chapter disappeared for a while there, I decided to take it down and revise it after reviewing some of the feedback I received. Hopefully this isn't something I'll make a habit of!

Chapter 3

Elsa stared incredulously at Gerda, who had the good grace to at least look sour about having to speak up on Lonning's behalf.

"I'm sorry, did you say a suitor?"

The queen was tired. The meeting had run long into the afternoon and the new dress she had worn for the occasion was digging painfully into her back. Elsa had thought business with the council all but concluded and had placed her hands on the edge of the table to stand. Now she felt her fingernails digging into the lacquered wood, her knuckles turning white.

Don't let them see, she thought.

"Yes ma'am," said Lonning after a sharp glance across the table at Gerda, "It seems only fitting now you have come of age that you consider, in your own time of course, strengthening the kingdom through marriage."

Elsa felt anger rise like bile in her throat. She had to fight to control her urge to turn the impudent old lord into an icicle, right then and there. Streaks of frost began to extend from her hands across the tabletop.

Anna sat at her side staring, unconsciously fidgeting with her dress. A suitor? For Elsa? She almost had to laugh; picturing the powerful and intimidating queen seated demurely in the corner of a sitting room, her crotchet in her lap, fanning herself while the equivalent of one of Hans's older brothers tried to woo her.

But then another image entered her mind, of Elsa laying in the arms of a man, this time not some stuffed-shirt bully, but a strong and handsome lord. And she's laughing, genuine laughter like Anna hadn't seen since, well, forever. Then suddenly Elsa is lying not just in his arms, but in his bed! A look of pure desire smouldering in her pale blue eyes…

Whoa, where did that come from? Thought Anna, her heart skipping a beat at the strange mix of feelings the idea evoked.

As for Elsa, dreams of dashing young lords and bedroom trysts could not have been further from her mind. She simply stared at Lonning; unable to formulate a response to what she had to suppose was a deliberately crafted attack on her sovereignty. What else could it be – suggesting she was not fit to rule without a man to help her? He probably already had a friend of his in mind for the job.

"I understand that you have not entertained or corresponded with any young noblemen in the past, so I have taken the liberty of –" Lonning went on, impassive in the face of Elsa's growing rage.

"You have taken far too many liberties, Earl." Elsa practically snarled at him, barely restraining the venom in her voice.

"Oh no." said Anna under her breath, realising she'd been too distracted to read Elsa's cues. She'd just noticed the frost but now the room was getting decidedly chilly. Tiny, glistening snowflakes were beginning to appear, swept up by impossible air currents.

Elsa's going to go all ice-crazy again because of this idiot, Anna thought, feeling her own anger surge within her. If the old politician was trying to get a rise out of her sister, no way would he get away with it on Anna's watch.

Without knowing quite what she was going to do next, Anna stood, anxiously smoothing out her dress where she'd been playing with the fabric.

"Umm, I think that as Arendelle's Chancellor, I think that maybe I should be the one to discuss this with Els- I mean, her majesty. In private." she said as all eyes around the table swivelled upon her. A few of the councillors, confused by the protocol of the situation, half-stood for a moment before sitting back down.

"Because this matter, uh, pertains to the royal family. And that's us, me and her. The ones in charge."

She stood up straighter, "You may give me a briefing in my office, Lord Lonning, and I will decide whether her m–"

"That will not be necessary." Elsa said, rising out of her seat. The room was filled with the sound of chairs scraping on flagstones as, this time, everyone stood in unison.

"I do not believe the kingdom requires 'strengthening' at this time," she turned to face Lonning, her jaw clenching, "I will be the strength the kingdom needs."

Looking back to the assembled councillors she continued, "The meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for coming. Good day."

Elsa remained standing rigid at the head of the table as all assembled bowed and silently filed out. Anna too, a little uncertainly, made to leave before Elsa reached for her sleeve.

"Wait." She said quietly.

As soon as the doors closed, leaving the two sisters alone in the room, Elsa slumped forward and slammed her fists down on the table. Instantly the frost that had been coating the tabletop exploded outward into a forest of sharp, glistening spines; some as long as Elsa's arm. Anna jumped back reflexively.

"Grrrr," growled Elsa through gritted teeth, "you don't know how frustrating this is Anna."

Elsa clenched her eyes shut and hung her head between her outstretched arms in exasperation. Without looking up, she lifted a hand and with a slight flick of her wrist the ice spikes vanished.

"Whoa that was… intense." Said Anna, open-mouthed. She placed a hand on her sister's sagging shoulder and gave it a tentative squeeze.

"You don't know what it's like, to feel this power coursing through me and not being able to do anything about it." Elsa said. "I got to taste freedom up there on the North Mountain and now I'm here I feel so constricted again, so powerless. I could have murdered that pig Lonning with a snap of my fingers!"

Elsa snapped her fingers as if to demonstrate, causing Anna to tense with fright. But rather than a deadly bolt of energy, only a small puff of harmless snow burst forth. Anna breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah but, you're the queen Elsa. That's just a different kind of power." Said Anna, leaning in to try to meet Elsa's eye.

The queen shook her head and breathed deeply, feeling fatigue begin to wash away the anger.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be burdening you with this. Especially since I see you've already taken up the other burden I asked of you."

"If you mean the Chancellor job then yeah," replied Anna, "I can't believe that Lonning creep was chancellor under Dad. He must have driven him up the wall! You're much better off with me, your majesty." Anna stepped back and gave her sister a small curtsey. The queen brightened a little at this, much to Anna's relief.

"By the way, I'm reaaaly sorry I was so late just now," she continued, "it's just I really wanted to surprise Kristoff with a new sled like I'd promised so I went down to the coachbuilders, and then we got talking about the design and–"

"It's alright. I'm just glad you showed up when you did." Elsa said, finally straightening up and stretching her sore back.

"But seriously;" Anna continued, "suitors? Dating? Where did that come from? Haha."

Elsa rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, I don't know Anna. Lonning is clearly playing at something. Maybe he was just trying to sound me out. See if I would snap. Well, he got what he wanted."

"So you're not going to-" Anna pushed on apprehensively.

"No Anna. I thought I made that pretty clear. And I don't want you to even so much as broach the subject with Lonning either."

Relief washed over Anna at her sister's unequivocal rejection of the idea. But relief quickly turned to anger as her thoughts turned to the Earl.

"Hey maybe," said Anna, "Earl Lonning only mentioned it because he's gotten used to being in charge and doesn't want to take a back seat to a girl. Maybe he just wants to set you up with one of his cronies. I bet he'd be happy to take orders then!"

Elsa huffed, turning to her sister, "Well now that you're head of the council, we'll see how he likes having two girls in charge."

"Yeah!" replied Anna with a mischievous grin.

"Speaking of which," Elsa leaned in towards the younger woman conspiratorially, "I'm going to need my chancellor to start talking to people, getting to know the other council members. Getting to know what's up. We've both left Arendelle to its own devices for far too long, and we need to catch up, fast."

"You can count on me, your highness!" Anna said, beaming.

Elsa's expression remained stern.

"This is serious Anna. You remember what Lonning said about the tide of public favour? I think that was meant as a warning."

Up close in the candlelight, Anna could now clearly see the strain written on Elsa's face. Platinum hair framed cheeks as pale as fresh-fallen snow while Elsa's eyes, normally so alive with spirit, seemed sunken and dimmed.

"I'm not a people person like you Anna," Elsa said, "I just… whenever I'm with anyone but you, every instinct I have is screaming at me to run away. I can almost hear it roaring in my ears. It takes all my energy just to keep it in. And it's not just the magic, it's everything. I'm… tired, Anna. I don't have the strength to do this alone."

Anna's heart sank. She had been wrong about a lot of things recently, and her biggest misjudgement had been her own sister.

She'd grown up taking it for granted that Elsa was the strong one; the beautiful and assured future Queen. When Anna first saw the true extent of Elsa's powers on the North Mountain it only cemented in her mind that Elsa was something extraordinary, that she was not subject to the anxieties of mere mortals like Anna. And today, walking into the council chambers and laying eyes on the proud, regal figure exuding confidence at the head of the table, Anna had been taken in once more.

She felt stupid and childish for letting her awe of the queen overshadow the real, fragile human being beneath. And Elsa wasn't even shutting her out this time – quite the opposite in fact.

"Oh Elsa," Anna said, taking Elsa's hands in her own, "You don't have to. You'll never have to. I promise."

She began leading Elsa unresisting towards the door.

"Come on, that's enough queening for one day." She said.

"May I have a word with you, your majesty?"

It was after supper and Elsa was walking the corridor alone to her chambers for the night. The voice had come from behind her, but she did not need to look in order to recognise its speaker.

"Of course Gerda," she said, "what would you like to talk about?"

"Would it be possible to go somewhere a little more private, m'lady?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow as she turned to face her lady-in-waiting.

"My Father's study is just over here." She said, gesturing.

As they entered, Gerda closed the door gently behind them.

"You know, m'lady, this is your study now." She said, conversationally.

Elsa had paused, as she always did upon entering this room, to glance at the large framed portrait of her father in full regalia hanging on the opposite wall. Long-buried grief knotted in her stomach as she quickly looked away and made her way to a chair by the empty fireplace.

"Yes, you're right. I suppose it was always such a forbidding place when I was younger. I still feel like I should be asking his permission to be here."

"You are Queen, your majesty, you need not ask anyone's permission for anything."

To this Elsa just smiled, taking it as a harmless bit of ingratiation.

"He was a good man, the old king. Your father." Gerda went on conversationally, she too regarding the portrait on the wall.

"It was only at his insistence that they permitted me a seat at the council after I'd renounced my titles." She said.

"I've often wondered why you did that Gerda," Elsa said, "You could have succeeded as regent, or at least had some say in Arendelle's rule beyond the council chambers."

"Oh, I could never lay claim to such a thing," Gera demurred, "I'm no royalty, m'lady, not by a long shot. Not like your mother was, rest her soul. And these power games have never held interest for me.

"No m'lady, I chose to serve. Without a husband I had no lands to speak of, and my titles I owed entirely to my sister marrying into the royal line, so I wasn't really losing anything when I gave them up. It allowed me to stay close to the family, you see."

"Surely you could have stayed with us as a noblewoman?" Asked Elsa, now genuinely interested in her aunt's story. Elsa had regarded Gerda little over the years. She had been Elsa and Anna's governess when they were children, among her many other palace duties, but as the sisters had grown older Gerda had taken on a more servile role until she seemed more like a castle fixture than close family.

"Oh no, they wanted to marry me off to some country lord, or ship me off to my uncle's court in Corona. Serving in the royal household was my only option. And after seeing you and Princess Anna grow up into the fine women you are; I have never once regretted my choice."

"Well, I'm glad Gerda. For a long time your voice was about the only contact I had with the outside world."

"It should never have been that way m'lady," said Gerda sadly, "locking you away like that. It wasn't right."

Out of habit, Elsa looked down at her hands which were resting in her lap. She could feel the power tingling in her fingertips even now.

"It was for the best," she said automatically, although hindsight was beginning to make her question that statement, "did you know… why? At the time, I mean?"

"No. Your parents never told me. I'd always assumed it was some kind of illness. Doctor Magnussen was always so cagey when I asked after you. But I'm glad now to see you venturing out more, even under the circumstances. I have to say, m'lady, it broke my heart to see you and your sister separated."

Elsa stared into the empty hearth. Mine too, she thought.

"It's cold in here your majesty," said Gerda, following the queen's gaze, "let me fetch someone to tend the fire."

"Is it?" Elsa asked absently, her thoughts still lingering on her 'curse' and the way her family had dealt with it.

After a moment she stirred, feeling Gerda's expectant gaze upon her even as the older woman had placed a hand on the door handle. Clearly her aunt, ever one for protocol, was waiting to be prompted.

"It's fine Gerda," the queen said with a wave and a sigh, "you don't need to do that. If you've come to speak to me about what I think you have, then this shouldn't take too long."

"If you mean Earl Lonning's advice about the suitors m'lady, then yes, what I'd like to say is related to that." Gerda said, her face betraying nothing as she turned back to the room and practically stood practically to attention.

"But I'm not here to play peacemaker for the Earl. He can do that himself if he wishes. It was actually Princess Anna who suggested I come and talk to you."

Elsa's expression turned to a wry, inward smile. Already on the case – you certainly could never fault Anna's enthusiasm.

"The old man is tactless and presumptuous, and if I may say, I think you did well to dismiss him as you did." Gerda conceded, "But the Earl and his sort won't be put off forever, not with a young, eligible beauty on the throne."

"Even with your firebrand of a sister laying down the law on your behalf." She added with something that, on Gerda, approached a smile.

Elsa suddenly pictured her sister storming into Lonning's chambers and giving him a proper dressing-down.

"She hasn't spoken to Lonning about it, has she?" the queen asked, worried.

"Oh no, the princess saved the lecture for me, your majesty." Gerda said, "It's just that, I worry for you, m'lady. A time will come when… I don't know if your mother had a chance, before she passed, to prepare you for your duties at queen – specifically in dealing with the, uh, attentions of men?"

Blood ran to Elsa's cheeks as she suddenly guessed why Anna had put the old spinster up to this.

"Oh heavens Gerda, you're not going to try to teach me about the birds and the bees are you?" the young woman said, a look of genuine wide-eyed terror crossing her features.

"No! No, nothing of the sort m'lady. Unless, uh…"

Elsa was sure her face was practically glowing. She looked sharply at her lady-in-waiting and raised her voice, putting up an indignant front to hide her growing embarrassment.

"Gerda, please! I was eighteen when mother and father disappeared. Trust me; I've learned everything I need to know."

Why do these so-called advisors insist on treating me like some naïve teenager? Elsa thought, beginning to feel truly indignant about the situation.

"And if you think I don't wish to consider Lonning's list of potential suitors just because I don't think I can deal with some aristocrat's sycophantic spare son trying to court me," she went on testily, "then I'm afraid you've made the same mistake he has."

Elsa tried not to think of Prince Hans as she said this, and hoped she had not given Gerda the impression that she was merely wary of men after what had happened between him and Anna.

"It's not that, m'lady." Gerda strove on undeterred, "I know you want to cement your reign on your own terms, and I can understand your anger at the Earl. I just wanted you to know that when the time eventually does come, if you ever need to talk about it-"

Elsa was definitely not in the mood to share her feelings. She needed rest, and time to get her thoughts straight. Why could nobody understand that this was something she just didn't want to talk about? Why was everyone so insistent? She hadn't even been queen for a week – was this what it was going to be like all the time?

Ugh, Elsa thought – just the prospect of having to deal with everyone's agenda for her every day made her want to slide under the chair she was on and sleep forever.

"But what if I never want to, Gerda?" She snapped, "I mean, just picturing it seems absurd. And don't start on about my obligation to Arendelle. I have so many more important obligations to the kingdom right now!"

Elsa was aware that her irritably was not making her come across at all dignified, and that simply annoyed her more. She wished she could somehow just end the conversation without seeming obstinate or riding roughshod over Gerda's gesture of conciliation. It was never meant to be like this, she thought.

As a young princess, Elsa had whiled away countless hours in her room, imagining the queen she would become. In those elaborate daydreams, she would always be a much older woman, having succeeded her father in the natural course of things. She would have conquered her curse, too, and become the wise and beloved matriarch to Anna's vast family. Aunty Elsa, they'd call her; while noise and laughter would fill the castle's empty halls. But the people would call her the virgin queen, and look to her with reverence as she ruled Arendelle – justly and alone. Not once had boys and romance ever entered into it.

Yet here she was, Queen at only twenty-one, having to face a future she had never considered. Was she just being stubborn? Was this worth alienating the only woman besides Anna who even remotely knew her?

"Look," the queen began after taking a moment to regain her composure, "I know I've shut you out in the past, and I want that to change. You and Anna are the only family I have left. I do want to be able to confide in you Gerda, and I know I have so much to learn. But when it comes to marriage, my mind it made up."

Elsa stared at Gerda, her large eyes beseeching.

"Please." She said.

Throughout Elsa's outburst, Gerda had simply stood, hands by her side like a kindly and somewhat rotund sentinel. Elsa had always found her aunt annoyingly inscrutable and yearned for some read on her now – some confirmation that that was indeed the end of it.

"Yes your majesty. But-"

Oh damn, Elsa cursed inwardly. She sagged in her seat and put a hand to her forehead as she felt a headache coming on.

"-begging your pardon if I am stepping out of line but I am not talking of your duty to Arendelle. I'm talking about your duty to yourself. Everyone needs companionship, m'lady. That's what was concerning me. Surely, after all this time alone, you must long to let someone into your heart?"

Or at least into your bed, thought Gerda crudely, beginning to give up hope of getting her point across to the young queen.

Elsa stared at the floor, her cheeks really burning now. She was uncomfortable with the sudden personal turn this conversation had taken but she had backed herself into a corner now. If she was being honest, though, Elsa had been desperate for another woman to confide in for years. It was true she had Anna, but there were things, thoughts she couldn't quite articulate, which Elsa found strangely unable to share with her sister. Even, or maybe especially, now that they were trying to become closer.

Elsa decided to take the plunge.

"No I don't Gerda, that's just it!" she exclaimed, wondering dimly why her thoughts had turned to Anna once more.

"But haven't you ever been curious for the, uh, pleasure of a man's company?" Gerda pressed on undaunted, "It's alright for a woman in your position to carry on affairs, if you wished. There isn't a young man alive in the kingdom who wouldn't-"

"Gerda! Don't be ridiculous!" Elsa protested, shocked at her servant's forwardness, "If you must know I… well I've just never really thought about it, I suppose. I've certainly never desired the 'pleasure of a man's company'."

"Ah." Said Gerda, simply.

This time, if Elsa had been paying attention she would have finally spotted a reaction from the woman, just a flicker behind her stony eyes. The queen wasn't paying attention, though. Introspection came easily to Elsa from years spent in her own company but these questions probed at a part of her she had walled-off and neglected for so long, they left her feeling confused.

"So, are you just not… interested in boys?" Gerda asked gently.

Elsa wanted to answer Gerda, she opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came. Which was even more confusing – it was a simple enough question.

Elsa's hesitation seemed to confirm something to Gerda. Within a second, she was sitting in the char beside the queen and placing a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Elsa noted the break with protocol, but let it go.

"It's alright Elsa" Gerda said, "neither am I."

Gerda regarded the lost young woman before her thoughtfully.

"I can see your mother never talked to you about this." she said.

Anna lay awake in bed, the sheets tangled haphazardly about her ankles. She was gazing out the window of her room. It was faint, but if she stared long enough she could make out the shimmering ghost-light of an aurora, painting ribbons across the clear night sky. She sighed and flung an arm over her eyes, trying to block out the light.

"The sky's awake…"

She was thinking over the events of the day: her happy yet strangely self-conscious visit with Kristoff, her almost being late first day as chancellor, her dinner with Elsa.

It had been so nice just to be able to talk to her sister again, if only in little snatches of conversation. And to be let into the 'inner sanctum' gave her a thrill of excitement, simply knowing that the sister who had always shut her out actually trusted her so much. But everything had changed so quickly it was all so hard to digest – in some ways her sister still felt like a stranger to her. When Elsa walked into a room and looked her in the eye with a smile, she felt just as many butterflies in her stomach as any lowly courtesan would under the penetrating gaze of their beautiful queen.

And then there was Kristoff. Trying to sort out her feelings for Kristoff was like wandering blind into a blizzard. It was all so new and confusing and still tainted by the betrayal of the first man she had opened herself up to. Although she felt she could trust Kristoff, who had his heart in the right place if nothing else, Anna had chastised herself for her girlish dreams of romance so many times since Hans had revealed his true intentions that she had to wonder whether she'd just latched onto Kristoff for the same silly reasons. I'll have to talk to Elsa about it, the princess decided.

No sooner had the thought occurred to her than the butterflies began flapping again. She rolled over in bed with an exasperated sigh. Why should I be nervous to talk to my sister about relationship stuff? Isn't that what sisters are for?

At that moment, in the silence of the sleeping castle, Anna thought she heard a muffled shout coming through the wall. She sat up with a shot and pressed her ear to the wallpaper above the headboard.

There it was again, louder this time – a scream.

Great flurries of stinging ice and snow, thick and cold, whipped about with unnatural speed; forming ephemeral phantom shapes in the air before Queen Elsa's eyes, blocking out any trace of the pale, twilit world beyond an arm's reach.

The blizzard raged despite her willing it to cease. In fact it seemed to grow more violent every time she attempted to control it with magic. The howling wind blasting her to and fro like a ragdoll, snowflakes spearing into her exposed skin like a plague of wasps.

"Stop!" She screamed into maelstrom, but her voice couldn't even reach her own ears.

"I'm sorry, please, I'm so sorry!" She cried, falling to the icy ground. Her palms forward, she buried her head in her arms as her tears froze to her cheeks. Suddenly she felt something brush her fingertips, a shape on the ground before her.

Her eyes were glazing over, freezing shut. She blinked and rubbed it away, but squinting could see nothing in the storm. She groped forward – it felt like a boot, an ankle, a leg. But all as hard as stone.

Elsa pulled herself unsteadily to her feet and leaned in. There was a figure amidst the swirling snowfall. A statue. She peered closer still. A face peered back, blue and cold. A familiar face.

"Father!"

She stumbled over backwards in fright and lost her footing on the slippery ice. At that very same instant, the storm cleared, all at once as if it had never been. Elsa could now see dozens of statues, no, ice-sculptures arrayed before her. She recognised Kai, Gerda, Lonning, Kristoff and even Sven. All of Arendelle was there, and at the head of the host stood her mother and father, in silent condemnation.

"Father, I never meant to hurt anyone! I swear! Oh God-"

In his hands, the old king carried a sword seemingly carved from a single shard of ice, its edge glittering of its own accord. Slowly, ever so slowly, his head turned. Elsa followed the ice man's gaze.

"No. No!"

In the distance, standing alone, was Anna. Frozen and still.

Elsa screamed.

With all the haste and power of a great mountain glacier, her father raised the sword and–

"Elsa! Elsa, wake up!"

Elsa's eyes flew open. Anna's face was hovering in the darkness a few inches from her own. Not blue and cold, but flushed and full of life.

"I- you?" Elsa cried in confusion.

"Shh, it's okay. It was just a dream." Anna said, trying to sound soothing but still panting hard from her sprint into Elsa's room.

Elsa propped herself up on her pillow, blinking her eyes clear as the adrenalin slowly retreated from her system.

"Oh Anna, it was terrible. I… why are you rubbing your arm?"

Anna, who was crouching on the bed beside Elsa, gave her sister a sheepish grin.

"Oh, well, I heard you yelling and thought you were being kidnapped by assassins or whatever so I ran to your door and of course your door is always locked so…"

Elsa sat up straighter and stared across the room. In the moonlight she could see the clearly unlocked door to her bedroom hanging wide open from where Anna had shoulder-charged it and fallen straight through onto the floor.

"Anna, you're always coming to my rescue!" Elsa said with a smile, letting her guard down as the memory of the terrible dream began to fade. She reached out to rub her sister's bare shoulder for her.

"Ow, that's cold!" Anna yelped. The queen's skin had become as cold as ice while she dreamt, and her touch sent a shock through the princess. Elsa, however, let her fingertips linger for a moment as she marvelled inwardly at yet another new sensation – the feeling of goosebumps prickling against her flesh.

"Sorry, how's this?" she said, releasing the pent-up warmth within her. She felt Anna react to her touch with a pleasant shiver and wished she could make it warmer still.

"Yeah, I think I like this better." The younger woman replied, putting her own hand over Elsa's.

"Sorry Anna," Elsa yawed, still exhausted from her restless sleep, "I keep forgetting you must be really sensitive to the cold after what happened. My head's been all over the place. I didn't even ask if you were you feeling any better today."

"Ugh, both you and Kristoff now. I'm fine Elsa."

Elsa furrowed her brows quizzically her sister.

"What about Kristoff?" she said.

"Well, he was telling me I should get 'checked out' by the trolls too, just in case. I told him that you'd said the same thing, and he seemed to think that settled it."

Elsa smiled, "That does settle it! We shall depart for the valley of the living rock on the morrow!" she said, waving her arms lazily in the air for dramatic effect before nestling into her pillow and pretending to sleep.

"You just want an excuse to get out of here, don't you?" Anna goaded, prodding her sister in the ribs.

"Don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but not to run away. Especially not so soon. Running away is just another way of hiding. And you've got a speech to give first, remember?"

The queen groaned, feeling worries stack on top of other worries in her mind.

"Save your lectures for Gerda, Anna. I'm tired." She said grumpily.

"Elsa!" Anna pestered.

"Oh I know. I just can't think of anything to say. I can't make people like me the way you do. Even if I convince them I'm not a... a monster, I'm still just this shut-in girl with no idea how to rule a kingdom, and they'll see that. I just feel like I'm lost all the time."

A monster in more ways than one... Elsa shuddered, Gerda's words about desire taking different forms for some people still fresh in her mind.

Anna could hear the uncertainty and, yes, fear in her sister's voice; like she had heard on the north mountain only days ago. But she knew this time it wasn't sorcery that worried her sister, or even bad dreams, but something that ran much deeper. Something she wasn't sure she would be able to fix.

Anna found herself regretting again for the millionth time all the days she and her sister had lost. Time together to talk about these things, to open up to each other. But now their days were too full and their nights were – well, she could barely keep herself awake as it was. She'd have to save propping up Elsa's confidence for another time.

Anna felt a contagious yawn come over her as she began to sit up.

"Just wing it, you'll be fine." she said, leaning over her sister, "Besides, how can you be lost, now that I've found you?"

She kissed Elsa lightly on the forehead, just a quick brush of lips against invitingly cool skin. In response Elsa reached up with one hand and began to absently trace her fingertips through Anna's messy auburn hair, following the path the former shock of white had once taken, then dropping to Anna's shoulder as her sister pulled away.

"Anyway Elsa I really, really wish we had more time to talk," Anna said, reflecting that maybe a quiet trip together into the woods for a few days might be just the chance she needed, "but it's way too late. Or too early. Either way. Sleep tight, okay? No more bad dreams."

Anna swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up to leave.

"Wh- Where are you going?" said Elsa, her tired voice betraying her agitation as she gripped the shoulder where her hand had lain.

"I can't stay here." Anna said quietly.

"Why not?" Elsa began to feel her heart thump in her chest. Images of Anna's frozen statue, forever lost to her, flitted across her vision. She glanced around her spartan bedroom, to the empty wall opposite.

"You said you would move your bed in here… I just, I don't know if I can be alone anymore Anna."

Anna looked back and could instantly see the pleading in her beautiful sister's pale blue eyes. Mingled with the ghostly light from the window, they reminded Anna of the fjord in a thunderstorm. And there was her reflection in there too, adrift on the rolling waves. Anna began to wonder if there truly was still some ice left in her heart because a sharp, cold pain seemed to twist within her to see her at the sight.

"Oh Elsa. It was silly of me to say that. You're the queen and… it wouldn't be right for me to-"

"No, it's alright I understand. You don't want to share a room with your sister if you're to be entertaining Kristoff." Elsa said, trying to sound matter-of-fact and failing.

"What!? No, it's not like that at all!"

Anna quickly grabbed her sister's hand and lay back down beside her.

"Elsa, me and Kristoff... I like him, but, we're taking it slow, I guess. There's no entertaining going on. I just thought you wouldn't want me hanging around all the time, being a nuisance, getting in the way of all your official stuff and –"

Anna was about to mention not wanting to intrude on any suitors of Elsa's own whom she might wish to entertain in her chambers, but thought better of it.

"If you want me here," she went on, "I'll be here. I'll always be here for you, Elsa."

"Then stay," Elsa said, squeezing Anna's hand, "please. Just for tonight?"

"Alright Elsa," she said, pausing to climb under the covers, "Now roll over, silly, so I can give you a hug."

Elsa laughed and wrapped her arms around her sister, her only love in the world.

"Goodnight Anna." she said.