Authors note: I want to thank you all for reviewing and reading the last chapter. Hearing your opinions means a lot and they also help if I need to edit or make something better.
I apologize for the disappointment, I had this story planned, guess it was not good enough. But no worries! I took your opinions and hopefully the new changes will be great!...Hopefully, if not then your all open to tell me as constructive criticism is always welcomed.
Also a little shout out to Dreamsandimaginations for passing the dissertation, I send much congratulations and wishes of good luck. :)
Any way I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please leave a review when done, opinions are most welcomed.
Morning routine, everybody had one, even Anna who was not a morning person.
Getting up Elsa yawned a bit and rubbed her eyes before looking at the nest, it was empty, which of course did not surprise her as he tended to rise early. So thinking nothing of it Elsa went about her morning routine of getting cleaned, dressed and so forth.
When finished doing her hair Elsa went to her chest and opened it up to grab her gloves. True , she did not need them as she got a sense of control over her magic, but still her gloves gave her a kind of security.
Once the trunk was open Elsa expected to find it full of gloves, yet she did not. Doing a double take she saw the inside of the trunk was devoid of any gloves.
Touching it Elsa was having a panic attack as the though of loosing her gloves was pushing her over the edge as she wondered where could they have gone.
As soon as she though that her panic turned to anger as she realized who the culprit was.
"FIREBIRD!"
Making his way back to the palace Firebird felt a shiver go down his spine.
"Somebody is thinking of me" he mused but soon he saw how right he was when he saw Elsa making her way over to him.
"Where are my gloves?!" she demanded,
"Hello my dear, your looking lovely this morning" said Firebird with a cheeky grin.
"No games! I demand that you tell me where they are or I'll or I'll" said Elsa, she was so mad she could barely think straight even her face was turning red because of it,
"Or you will what my dear? I am opened to the challenge" said Firebird not at all phased by her anger.
That was it! Angry Elsa yelled and threw her hands over at his, shooting ice which he dodged.
"Awwww, kitty like to scratch, okay challange accepted" said Firebird "You win and I will tell you where your precious gloves are" as flames began to dance around.
Elsa growled before shooting more ice towards the firebird as he dodged and flitted about, spreading his wings he took flight deeper into the garden where there would be no interruptions.
Anger, it was there yet Elsa felt her heart racing, probably from the adrenaline of the very though either battle or competition.
As she walked through the trees a fog began to surround the area. It was so thick she could beraly see her hand in front of her.
It scared Elsa, for all she knew there could be a lot of dangers hidden in the fog.
"Lets see you try and find me" she heard the firebird say from somewhere.
Upon hearing that Elsa felt her competitive side light up as she pushed foreward, determined to win.
Shifting to his human form Hans quietly made his way through the fog. Breathing he tried to calm his nerves... what should he be so afraid of? All he had to do was tell her... no need to be afraid... especially now that it was only him and her around, nobody else to try and pry as he definetly did not want the council or that duke to know till the trials were over.
" Okay... here is hope..." he though as he reahed for a branch and broke it. The sound making Elsa jump before she followed the sound just as he planned.
Somebody was nearby, Elsa could feel it as she looked around for the Firebird.
As time went on she got tense, as if she would fire at anything that made the slightest move or noise as she walked through the thick fog.
Coming up she saw the wall which surrounded the palace, it was then that she got an idea.
Discreetly using her ice magic she made ice grow on the walls, ever so carefully every now and then she would turn and look at the ice, using it as a mirror to see if there was anybody behind her... sure enough there was.
Less than a foot behind her stood a tall male figure, who he was, she was sure it was a he, she was not sure as his cloak and hood hid any distinguishable features.
That alone made her fear as she realized whoever it was... if he hid then it meant he was dangerous.
Turning around she threw ice only to find the man was gone, it was as if he vanished into thin air.
"Where did he go?" muttered Elsa when she heard a whistle making her turn and look.
"Come on! I an bored to tears" said Firebird before laughing and leaving.
"Firebird!" yelled Elsa as she ran after him, every now and then looking behind to make sure that strange man was not following her.
"Okay, this was not one of my brightest ideas" though Firebird as he To say flew around dodging trees and shrubbery. He was going to tell her but of course he does not want her attacking him.
"Better come up with something better" he though then all of a sudden he hit a wall of ice, slowly righting himself he looked but beraly had any time to react as Elsa shot ice all around him, encansing him in a sort of cocoon of ice, not letting him escape.
"So do I have your complete and total surrender?" he heard Elsa say from the outside.
Elsa smiled feeling the thrill of victory as she looked at the encasement of ice.
Finally! After such a long time with the firebird always having the upper hand she finally beat him.
She crossed her hands and waited for the response, every second that passed was worth the wait.
"Sorry my dear but not today" she heard making her look back in shock, the firebird stood behind her looking ever so smug.
"How did you? When did you?" said Elsa shocked as she looked between the dome of ice where rhe firebird was supposed to be and the firebird.
"Trade secret my dear" said Firebird looking proud "I got to say, your pretty good, not an expert, but better than most",
"You have fought before" said Elsa,
"Many times before..." Firebird said then added with a small smile "today you definetly showed that you had that warrior spirit inside of you".
Looking away Elsa said "I know your trying to help... but I cannot change what I feel".
Walking over the firebird pressed his head against her side and said "It saddens me to hear that, for you can do so much good with your magic",
"Like?" said Elsa,
"You can help give your people protection with a flick of your wrist if there was ever an attack" said Firebird,
"There are guards for that" said Elsa,
"But even they need help" said Firebird "for those who need homes you can built some of ice while construction prepares proper homes",
"Builders can work faster" said Elsa,
"With the aid of the magical snowmen which you can make" firebird said "See you can do so much good and yet your stuck believing your powers are evil, your evil",
"Because I am" she whispered softly as she remembered the past.
"No your not, I have seen evil and its not you Elsa" said Firebird then added "Don't believe me? Look up information about King Stephen Westergaard of the southern isles... if evil ruler or tyrant ever had a picture in the dictionary it would be his picture"
There was silence after a little while before Elsa smile and said "Thank you",
"I love you Elsa, Me and Anna... the palace... eveybody hates that you see yourself the way you do... when your not" said Firebird softly,
"Its very hard to see myself any other way" said Elsa,
"Hopefully after today it will all change" said the firebird then added "I may or may not have burried your gloves somewhere around here... want to get them?".
Elsa though then smiled as she said "I think I will leave he gloves be" and surprisingly she meant it as she turned and said "Lets go home" with that they left together.
The sun had setting behind the sea, Elsa could see it well from the windows of the library.
She yelped when scroll fell on top of her.
Looking up she looked at little irritated at the Firebird.
"Sorry... it slipped... honest" said Firebird as he had a scroll in hand, a map of Elsa was correct before he went down and opened it and began to look at it as if trying to find something.
Turning back to the books she looked around the tittles, lookin for something specific.
Curiosety about the man whom Firebird talked about settled in Elsas mind as she wondered if this Stephen was as bad as the firebird said.
Yes when she was a child she did remembered her parents talking about a certain king Stephen, about how he murdered his youngest son. But she did not remember all the details about it as she had been very young... about three years old if her memory serves correctly.
Tracing the books she finally found one, it was red, did not have any designs to catch a persons attention, even the tittle was simple as it said The Southern isles, which was where the firbeird said he king was from.
Taking it she browsed the pages and noticed the book was quite old, not really updated.
But regardless she looked through the contents and found the name Stephen Westergaard.
Moving the pages she found Kings stephens picture, true it was just a picture but it still made her shiver in fear.
This man was definetly not friendly, not even in pictures, he had this look that could send even the bravest of men running, his clothes were just an excess of textiles, gold and jewels.
When poirtrates of rulers are taken its to send a message to their people and clearly the message of this one was that of a tyrant reaffirming his control over his people as it screamed "I am the king, betray me and you will suffer my wrath".
Shivering again Elsa turned the page and read "King Stephen Westergaard, current and last ruler of the Southern isles. Known as a tyrant who abused his power and murderor of innocent, said to be worse than Nero or Ivan the terrible. He was married to the last queen of the southern isles Valhalla, they produced 13 children, all whom which perished on the revolt caused by their fathers cruel regime or were murdered by the hands of the father".
Elsa had to reread the last paragraph, murder? That man murdered his own flesh and blood?!
Moving the pages she read about the children, all were more horrible than the last. The most decent being Lars but his had nothing nice to say.
"Lars Westergaard, described weak both mentally and physically. A puppet which does whatever his father says to save his own skin. Though his amount of intelligence is in excess his morals are sadly not even apparent"
Moving she kept reading throught the pages till she reached the last one, the thirteenth prince.
His unlike the others had no picture to show who he was... and his information? Beraly two paragraphs which said
"Was born during the winter without summer. At the age of 5 murdered by his father in a fit of rage, chopped up and hidden in the walls of the palace"
"Thats awful" said Elsa shocked that a father would do such a thing to their own son! A five year old non the less! No wonder the firebird described the man as evil as not even with her powers and what she did did her parents even think about hurting her.
Closing the book Elsa felt a little better now as the Firebird was right, evil she was not.
But as she put the book back she wondered how did the firebird know about Stephen.. and... who was that man? The one who had followed behind her before disappearig?
Was he really there or just her mind playing tricks? Come to think of it the cloaks design reminded her strangely about the firebird.
Were they?
"Noo! Don't be ridicules Elsa! In fairytale land maybe but really? Such things never happen in real life" Elsa scolded herself before leaving.
Thinking she did admitted that she would have liked to think that the firebird can turn human and that the man who she saw was him, but she knew such things were pure nonsense... a nice though... but nonsense regardless.
If they were true, which Elsa was sure it was not, and Firebird did have a human form she would be mad at first, but if he had a good reason for it she would have forgiven him for yes he had his faults, but she was not perfect either and despite those faults he had many desirable traits in character and all that hehas done through his stay was to help her and Anna.
Wait... was she...
Placing her hands on her cheeks she noticed how warm they felt. A sure sign that she was blushing which meant...
Was she actually falling for him?
"No! Don't be riducules!" She though, she cared about him and that is all she told herself, yet her heart knew the truth..
She was starting to fall in love with the firebird...
Authors note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review to tell me what you think and stay tuned for the next one.