Night had fallen on Arendelle, enveloping the kingdom in darkness. Only the castle, surrounded by its eternal blaze, shone like a beacon, a small sun casting its dancing light over the sleeping town.
In the grand salon, heavy velvet curtains had been drawn, plunging the immense hall into darkness. Only a few candelabras, placed at regular intervals on the table, struggled to illuminate the room with their trembling glow, casting fleeting, misshapen shadows on the walls. The fireplace, usually the warm heart of the room, remained cold and silent, made useless by the omnipresent heat that bathed the castle.
In the center of the room, the table, oversized and austere, stretched across most of its length. The dark oak table and chairs, which usually served the royal family, were also used to host councilors or banquets, which explained its imposing size. Yet only two cutleries had been set at one end of the table.
Elsa was sitting at the end of the table, Anna to her right. Their faces, unevenly lit by the candles, seemed to be made of porcelain. The shadows that danced across their faces deepened their features, giving them the appearance of ghosts floating in the half-light.
Anna was eating with appetite, her cutlery clinking against her plate. Between mouthfuls, she twirled a lock of red hair around her finger, a childish habit she had never really lost. In an attempt to break the silence that enveloped them, she spoke up:
"I bumped into Gerda earlier as I was enjoying the gardens! She was trying to calm down two maids who were arguing about... I don't know what... Anyway, it's not important! I had to intervene, or they would have come to blows! You should have seen their faces when I approached! I told them that if they didn't find a solution, they'd have to scrub the stables for a month!"
She burst out laughing as she plunged her fork into her mashed potatoes. After talking so much, almost without taking a breath, her breathing had quickened. She stuffed an impressive amount of mashed potato and meat into her mouth, then looked up at Elsa as she chewed, to see her reaction to this amusing anecdote.
Elsa hadn't flinched. She pecked absently at her plate, her eyes resting on the delicious food without seeing it.
It was not enough to discourage Anna, who, after swallowing her food, immediately caught her breath:
"Oh, you know what? I've got an idea! I thought we could throw a spring party! Something grand, with music, fireworks, maybe even a ball... What do you think?"
She sought her sister's eyes, but Elsa still didn't react. She insisted, but her optimism was beginning to fade:
"It could be fun, couldn't it? A moment to breathe, forget everything..."
Elsa shrugged slightly and let out a barely perceptible "Mhm".
Anna's enthusiasm immediately subsided. She put down her cutlery and pushed her half-empty plate away with a long sigh.
"You could say something," she remarked, trying to control her emotions.
Elsa blinked, as if suddenly returning from a distant dream, and looked up at her sister. She could tell the latter was waiting for an answer by the way her eyebrows were furrowed in displeasure.
"Yes, why not?"
She hoped that these all-purpose words, pronounced in a neutral voice, would be enough to satisfy Anna.
She was wrong.
Anna fell against the back of the chair, which creaked slightly. She continued to play with a lock of her hair, so hard that a few ginger strands remained between her fingers. Elsa's eyes flashed back at her, and she realized she'd just done something stupid, immediately lowering her gaze to avoid upsetting her sister any further.
"What's got into you lately?" asked Anna. "You're talking even less than usual, and you haven't even touched your plate. I even asked the cooks to prepare Fårikål, your favorite dish."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize and tell me what's going on," she urged.
"Nothing, don't worry."
Anna stared at her for a few moments. Usually, Elsa would just stand there, returning her gaze without doing anything, like a frightened deer. Today, she was stubbornly avoiding eye contact. The Queen heaved another sigh, feeling her patience waver. Her eyebrows were so furrowed they were almost touching.
"Some guards told me they saw you going into the lower quarters the other day."
"Yes, it's true," Elsa said simply.
"You told me you were going to the fjord."
Elsa didn't answer. A silence fell between them, stretching more and more painfully.
"I'm sorry," Elsa finally replied.
Anna banged her fist on the table, which echoed like a thunderclap, startling her sister.
"Stop apologizing, dammit!" she exclaimed. Do you realize how unbearable this is? I'm doing everything I can to bring us closer together, to turn us back into the sisters we once were! But you do nothing, remaining distant and completely closed to the world, to me! I can't stand your silences any longer! It's as if nothing touches you, as if everything slips away from you! I'm trying to help you, but how am I supposed to do that if you hide everything from me? Do you think I'm stupid? That I haven't noticed you pulling away from me these past few days? That I haven't noticed you questioning my way of ruling? And when I confront you with your contradictions, when I tell you that we've seen you go somewhere you shouldn't, you continue to apologize instead of explaining! I don't care about these excuses you don't even mean! I'm always the one who has to carry everything, understand everything, do the right things! You pretend to care, without ever really being there, because you're just a shadow of the sister you used to be! Just for once, could you give me the impression that you're still human?"
A resounding crash erupted behind her, as if to punctuate this last brutal sentence. Anna came back to herself.
The silence seemed deafening, and she realized with horror that she had screamed, that she was out of breath, and that she had suddenly stood up, violently knocking over her chair. Tears had welled up in her eyes as she shouted at Elsa, and were now streaming down her cheeks. She widened her eyes when she saw her reflection in her sister's big blue eyes, realizing the violence of her words.
She took a deep breath to calm herself, put the chair back and sat down again, swallowing hard, her throat tight.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, her eyes closed.
She opened them again to see that Elsa was once again staring into the void in front of her. Her face remained impassive, yet it seemed to her that her lower lip was trembling. This was impossible, of course. It was just a trick of her imagination brought on by the flickering candelabras' light.
"I just... I feel lost, Elsa. I don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong anymore. And you seem so distant... so cold. It scares me. Because if you're not with me, I don't know what could happen to this kingdom."
She gave her sister a weak smile and placed her hand on hers.
Elsa withdrew it immediately, as if the contact had burned her skin. Without addressing her a glance, she stood up in a slow, mechanical gesture before Anna's worried eyes. She crossed the room, the clatter of her shoes echoing alone in the heavy silence, and left, leaving poor Anna alone.
The Queen held back a sob. She had gone too far, she knew it. She'd always managed to contain her anger, but the pressure had built up without her realizing it, and she'd vented all her rage on Elsa, who hadn't asked for anything.
Her silence is the proof you've been waiting for. Why would she lie to you, having always been so honest? Why would she refuse to explain, hiding behind apologies?
Anna swallowed again. With a trembling hand, she beckoned a servant to come closer, and asked to see the guard who had reported the incident to her earlier.
She didn't like what she was about to do, but she had to be sure, once and for all.
Elsa's footsteps echoed through the corridors, leading the young woman who knew where. All she knew was that she needed to get away from her sister.
It was all very strange. She hadn't felt anything in years. No emotions, no empathy. So why did it feel like a blade was piercing her heart? Why was her breath so fast and labored? Why were Anna's words still ringing in her ears? Why... why?
She came to herself as she passed Anna's office door. She took a few steps back and placed her hand on the cold handle. Visions danced before her eyes; she and Anna, playing in the gardens with their parents. Anna, with her feet in a small pond, having fun splashing her. The sound of their laughter in the summer sunshine. Then everything disappeared, absorbed by the sight of a burnt silhouette on the cobblestones of a decaying street, accompanied by the smell of burning flesh. This memory immediately dispelled Elsa's hesitation, and she turned the handle.
Without the usual light from the flames in the fireplace, the room was plunged into semi-obscurity. The dusty chandelier struggled to diffuse its dim light, barely revealing the outline of the mess on the desk.
Elsa took a long breath to calm her racing heart. Careful not to make any noise, she walked over to the imposing dark wooden desk. On the wall, the portrait of their parents seemed to be staring back at her.
"Forgive me, Father, Mother...," she whispered.
She began to rummage through Anna's desk, hoping to find something, anything, that would justify what she had seen. Her gaze wandered quickly over the map of Arendelle, heavily annotated in red ink at the northern mountain, then she opened books, files and reports at random.
Several minutes passed, during which she began to wonder what she was doing. If her sister caught her here, she'd have good reason to scream at her.
She pulled a drawer open, but it resisted her. Curious, she pulled a pin out of her hair and tried to pick the lock. She had spent so much time bored in her room that, to escape the heat outside, she had preferred to immerse herself in obscure and even questionable books. One of which clearly explained how to pick a lock using a hairpin.
A click sounded, and Elsa was pleased to see that she remembered the book's instructions perfectly. She pulled the drawer again.
In vain.
"Oh, come on!" she hissed through gritted teeth.
She withdrew the pin from the little lock and noticed that one end was missing. A small sigh escaped her lips as she realized where the click had come from.
She went in search for the drawer's key, hoping that Anna wouldn't keep it with her. Why was she so obsessed with this simple drawer? She had no idea. She was desperate to find answers and absolve her sister, to find justification for her words.
To her relief, she found the key hidden under an open book. She inserted it into the lock and turned it. The drawer opened slightly with a small bounce.
It was filled with parchments, ink bottles and bundles of letters. Elsa skimmed through them quickly, but nothing strange caught her attention... until her eyes were drawn to a handwriting in glittering ink. She took hold of the bundle of letters held together by a small cord and held it up to the light.
The ink was fine, slightly tilted, elegantly drawn in emerald-green ink. The dates ranged from a few months ago to, for the oldest, some time before the death of their parents. Underneath was written:
"To Queen Anna of Arendelle
from Prince Hans of the South Isles."
Elsa's eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the green ink. She had no idea that her sister had been in contact with Hans for so long. In fact, for as long as she could remember, Anna had always given her the impression that she had exchanged with the Southern Isles only for their current agreement.
What secrets could these older letters contain?
She was about to untie the cord when a sound froze her in place. Footsteps. Someone was walking down the corridor. She put a hand over her mouth, as if the person walking past could hear her breathing.
Please don't come in, she thought.
Fortunately, the footsteps passed the office doors and faded to an echo in the distance.
Elsa hastily closed the drawer, locked it and placed the key where she had found it. Keeping Hans' letters close to her, she peeked out into the corridor to check if it was empty. Fortunately, no one was there. Cautiously, she went out, closed the door and hurried back to her room to hide her finding.
Hidden in the corner of the corridor, Anna watched her sister walk away in the opposite direction.