8: THE COUNCIL
Elsa truly hated this part.
Back before Anna's coronation, she'd had to do this all the time, and alone. At the end of the day, Queen Elsa still had the last word, and would lead her kingdom as she saw fit. However, to do so without the approval of The Council was to guarantee that some random aspect of her life would suddenly, and inexplicably, become impossible to manage. Whether they did it by working to sabotage her agendas in congress or by using the threat of political offense to pressure her into uncomfortable state dinners and unnecessary foreign debates to take her away from her sister, when the beautiful young queen "misbehaved," in the eyes of The Council, they would always find a way to punish her.
Now that Anna was on leave and Elsa was back, it seemed that The Council was more determined than ever to make her life difficult. It wasn't that she didn't know what they were doing, because she did—the men on The Council made sure of that, despite the subtle, sneaky, and above all impossible-to-prove tactics they used to try and control her. For Elsa, every new reform and attempt to improve the kingdom was (as it had been from the day of her initial coronation) a personal sacrifice. But that didn't stop her from doing what she believed was right.
In the Elsa's eyes, sacrifice was simply a part of the job.
Riding the Nokk at a full gallop, the Snow Queen knew that she could be back to the Enchanted Forest in twenty minutes. She knew that she could run away from this, away from all of it, at any moment—all she had to do was drop this folder, sprint back to her room, leap into her Spirit Dress and be gone out the back door to the fjord, just like the swirls of the wind spirits as they freely danced to and fro between the castle and the Enchanted Forest. That was where she belonged, really. But for now, Elsa was back in Arendelle, temporarily reinstated as its Acting Queen. And she had to be the queen. The kingdom needed it.
Anna needed it.
Gripping the file to her chest as she stood outside the conference room, she closed her eyes, shakily pulling in her breath. Forget the young man in her sleeping quarters, for now. She had to focus. She had been preparing for this moment for two months.
Which somehow made everything even scarier.
You can do this, Elsa thought desperately, pressing her lips together. The kingdom needs this. You've spent the last two months setting this up under the table. Just stay calm. Calm, cool, confident. Be. The Snow Queen…
Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the heavy doors before her being pulled open by the guards, the long, dull creaking of the hinges familiar and terrifying all at the same time.
"QUEEN ELSA, OF ARENDELLE," the spokesman announced.
With the sudden bustle of pushing back chairs and grunts and groans, the dozen or so men seated around the long table all dutifully stood up, turning around and staring at the young woman in the doorway.
Elsa's heart leapt into her throat.
Queen Face!
Fighting against a sudden wave of panic, Elsa frantically forced a smile, drawing herself up as she gripped the file to her chest. The men around the table smiled back threateningly, and she stiffened, struggling to keep her breathing even as she started the long, sweeping walk past all the members of the Royal Council to the end of the table at the opposite side of the room.
They've got nothing on you, she thought desperately. You've got everything figured out. The funding, the construction time, the economic benefits. All in this folder. Just stay calm…
It wasn't like she didn't know these men. Most of them were personal friends of her father's, members of the nobility that had watched Elsa grow up, taking over the affairs of the kingdom during the three-year gap between the King's passing and Elsa's coronation. When Elsa was born, King Agnaar—who had, upon his father's death, inherited the throne at the age of thirteen—had wished to protect her from the same fate, upon his potentially untimely demise. Thus, he had added an amendment to the succession law, to create his Royal Council that would run the kingdom until she had come of age. It was just another attempt of her father's to protect her that had ended up doing just the opposite, and—to the Council's dismay—it was just another thing that needed to be rewritten, so that the then-20-yr-old Anna could take the throne in the previous year.
Despite the overwhelming success of Elsa's previous reforms and Anna's newer ones, the unspoken rule in the Council was that anything new, original, or different was unacceptable. After all, to a group of people that profited off of tradition, there was nothing in the world that was more offensive than a new idea. Especially in the case of something so dramatic, like this. The housing reform was Anna and Elsa's most recent secret project, the numbers and estimates and plans that she gripped with white knuckles, desperately trying to prepare herself for this moment.
Because today, Elsa told herself, she was going to do it. Despite the personal risk and sacrifice, the Snow Queen was going to push this reform through.
And they were not going to like it.
Finally reaching the end of the table, Elsa stood up as straight as she could against the knot in her stomach, silently begging the air around her to not become spontaneously populated with snowflakes.
She set down the file.
"Thank you, gentlemen," Elsa heard herself say. "You may be seated."
They did so, and Elsa gracefully sat down herself, the head butler gently pushing in her chair. She thanked him, and turned to face the long table again, her heart pounding as the creaking of chairs and adjusting of suitjackets died down.
You've got this.
Drawing herself up in the chair, Elsa forced a calm, regal smile.
"Before we begin," she announced, "I would like to take a moment to thank Rolf for calling this meeting into session. While I have not been directly informed of what the main focus of this council is, I am fairly certain that I know what it's about, and have prepared accordingly."
She gracefully raised her hands to the side, clapping politely and turning to him. The Council, following the cue, did so as well, smiling approvingly and nodding as the man in the seat next to Elsa acknowledged them.
When the applause died down, they all looked back to the young queen.
And now, for the big one, Elsa thought, beginning to pull back the cover of the file. Her heart pounding, she paused, her eyes falling onto the title of the announcement.
ARENDELLE HOUSING REFORM
She closed her eyes.
"I have been doing some independent research," Elsa announced, struggling to keep her breathing even as she shakily began to pull out the paper, "Over the course of the last few months, and have spoken with some of you privately. To address what I believe to be the most pressing need for the people, I have devised a—"
"—Ahem."
Elsa froze.
Looking up from the file, her heart pounding, she realized that the men seated around the table were shifting uncomfortably in their chairs, glancing at each other and avoiding her gaze. Sitting beside her at the head council seat, Rolf cleared his throat once again.
She looked to him.
"Queen Elsa…" he said quietly, "If I may…?"
A look of confusion swept over her face, and Elsa put down the piece of paper. "Is—is there something you'd like to say, Rolf?" she quavered.
There was a long moment of silence.
Gathering his words, Elsa watched as the head Councilman drew himself up, interlacing his fingers and looking to her sternly.
"Queen Elsa," he enunciated. "This meeting has been called into session because the Council feels that you should be spending less of your time worrying yourself about the affairs of the kingdom, and more of your time focusing on producing an heir."
Elsa could practically feel her heart stop beating.
Her throat tightening with shock, she looked down, gripping the paper so hard her hand started shaking. Her lip trembling, she gasped for a shallow breath of air as blood rushed to her face.
"I—!" Elsa choked. "You—an heir?"
He nodded solemnly.
Frantically looking around the table, Elsa's eyes darted from the face of one councilman to the next. Now that the words had been said, they were all drawing themselves up, muttering terse agreements under their breaths and clearing their throats.
"Your lack of interest in forming alliances," Ivar was suddenly saying from the end of the table, "Has been a topic causing great concern amongst the nobility."
"Alliances?"
"Your majesty," another councilman started, making her spin around again, "As your Royal Council, we feel inclined to remind you that your responsibilities to Arendelle include the formation of alliances."
"But—b-but Arendelle has entered into FOUR new alliances, since my coronation!" Elsa exclaimed, "Not to mention another two since Anna's! And I—and, there's another one in the works as we speak! International trade has increased by over three hundred percent in the last two and a half years, I will remind you, and—"
"But—"
"—And—and besides," she said forcefully, the words tumbling out of her mouth faster and faster as she spoke, "Given that we are currently at peace, and given the results of the latest census, the very idea that international matters, rather than domestic ones, should be my primary concern is—it's preposterous!"
Rolf drew himself up. "But the Nobility—"
"—The Nobility," Elsa snapped, whipping back around to face Rolf again, "Already has enough food and water and shelter to not be my concern! The people—"
"—The people have a right to a KING!" he yelled, slamming his fist onto the table.
Elsa's breath caught.
Rolf shifted uncomfortably in his seat, breaking eye contact and looking down, trying to gather his thoughts. Elsa stared at him in shock, the word reverberating through her mind as it seemed to ring continuously, silently, through the frozen quiet of the room.
King.
"Queen Elsa… we know that it must be very hard for you to understand," Rolf said carefully, jerking her out of the stupor. "You—well, being so young, and—"
"—I understand perfectly."
She snapped her head up, glaring at him through the few flurries of snow that were beginning to materialize out of the air around her.
"You want a king," Elsa said.
The room was silent.
She looked back down to the table, struggling to regain control as the snowflakes continued to float onto the smooth wood in front of her, melting as soon as they hit. Pulling in a deep breath, Elsa drew herself up.
"To be completely honest," she gritted, "I was under the impression that Anna and I were ruling this kingdom perfectly well, on. Our. OWN."
None of the men answered.
"Oh! And, a new king!" she bristled, sweeping her hand to the side, "You want a new king, because my brother-in-law doesn't count, apparently? I would thoroughly appreciate it if someone would enlighten me as to why."
"That ice harvester boy isn't a king," Ivar scoffed. "He has no connections. He has no royal blood. Princess Anna's marriage to him should serve as a perfect example of why the nobility is so concerned about Arendelle's future."
The Snow Queen's teeth clenched together with a click.
"My sister is not a princess," Elsa gritted, "She is a queen. And you will respect her as such."
One of the other councilmen sniffed. "Then, where is she?"
"Queen Anna has left me in charge," Elsa said icily, "Because she is ill. She will be returning to her throne, as soon as she is able. You will respect her decisions."
"Your majesty, you have been reinstated."
"Temporarily reinstated. And with my permanent status as the Fifth Spirit of the Enchanted Forest—wouldn't that throw a bit of a wrench into the succession anyway?" she laughed breathily, hardly believing what she was hearing, "Queen Anna and King Kristoff's children will have the first claim to the throne. Especially when their first child should be arriving any week now, I fail to see why my producing of an heir would have any effect on Arendelle at all."
At first, there was silence.
After a few moments, Elsa watched in confusion as the councilmen began glancing at one another, clearing their throats and nervously adjusting their clothing.
"Queen Elsa… you can't run away from this," Rolf began, speaking for the group. "We don't know where this desire to flee from your responsibilities is coming from, but… don't you think we've entertained this little fantasy of yours for long enough?"
Her breath caught.
Looking around the table, Elsa's heart started pounding. The message clearly written in their faces, their empty, dull eyes were all upon her, watching, waiting for her reaction.
"I am the Fifth Spirit of the Enchanted Forest," Elsa repeated, her voice beginning to tremble. "And my purpose is to unite and watch over the other four Nature Spirits, as one side of the local bridge between magic and mankind. The evidence is undeniable."
A few of them huffed, two others clearly repressing eye rolls as the men glanced to each other again. Elsa's heart dropped, along with her jaw.
"Did you not see the TIDAL WAVE?" she sputtered.
"We admit that we have no idea how you managed to pull that off," Ivar snapped, shifting uncomfortably and glancing downwards, "But the Nobility is growing tired of all of these stunts you keep pulling. The people might believe in this silly propaganda, but—"
"—Propaganda!?"
"Queen Elsa, we have all seen you run on frozen water before," Rolf said slowly, a condescending edge on his voice that made her blood boil. "Just because you have managed to create yourself an ice-horse, it doesn't mean that we suddenly all believe you're a goddess."
"But I've never pretended to be a goddess!" Elsa gasped, "I'm—"
"—Yes, yes, a magical nature spirit. You've told us."
Elsa's eyes widened, her breath catching.
"Many times," another man drawled.
A wave of chuckles and sighs swept around the long conference table. Elsa's face heated, the storm of panic beginning to swirl up inside of her.
Her lungs feeling like they were being compressed by iron, she stared determinately down at the file in front of her on the table, feeling the wind starting to pick up around her feet. Without looking, she could sense that snowflakes starting to materialize out of the air around her, her heart pounding.
Conceal!
"Queen Elsa," Rolf started again, "We don't know what's going on inside your little head, what you've convinced yourself of, but you do NOT get to just keep—running away from your responsibilities like this! You are still obligated to fulfill your basic royal duty."
"Basic royal duty?" Elsa sputtered, snapping her head up, "And, what duty would that be? If you don't believe that I was obligated to save my kingdom—"
"—Your duty as queen to form an alliance, and produce an heir."
Clasping her hands together and then unclasping them, stretching out her fingers, Elsa stared down at them, unseeing as the horror sank in. The Councilmen didn't believe her.
They didn't. BELIEVE her.
"Your majesty," one of the men started from the end of the table, "You really shouldn't choose to be offended by this. We are trying to help you."
Staring down at the file before her, Elsa felt a fresh wave of panic begin to bubble up inside of her. Scoffing to herself, she huffed a laugh of disbelief. "Help me?"
"These—fantasies of yours," another started, "They are—concerning. The people find them concerning."
"The people believe in me!"
"Sure, certainly," one of them sighed, shaking his head and looking to her again with condescending disbelief, "It is just—well, we all know it's been a rocky transition since your father's death, with your coronation, and then your sister's coronation, and—with all of these stunts you keep pulling, and your sister's failure to secure a decent alliance for Arendelle—having a real king might ease the people's minds. If you were at least attempting to find a suitable man, and…"
Elsa was no longer listening.
The people?
But—b-but the people—they did believe her. And they loved Anna! As for her sister's approval ratings—the highest, of any ruler of Arendelle, for the previous 140 years. The people had never had any problems with a commoner King. And when it came to Elsa's new role in the Enchanted Forest—the people REVERED her, just like they had revered her when she was their ruler, and now was temporarily their ruler once again. All of the reforms Elsa had enacted. The changes… they'd worked. The people didn't have any problems with a Virgin Queen.
Did they?
Elsa's mind raced, images of the statistics, the news articles, and the polls all spinning and melting into a blur in front of her eyes as she looked around the table with disbelief. It—it wasn't true.
It wasn't true.
Her mind was numb. Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She couldn't will her vocal cords to function.
"Even if you have decided that you're going throw away your crown so that you can go and make—make sparkly snowflakes off in the wilderness for the rest of your days," one of the men started again, making Elsa's cheeks heat as he mockingly waved his hand through the air to illustrate, "Then there isn't much we can do. But you can still turn this around. You can do the next right thing."
Elsa felt her throat go dry, her mind reeling as she tried to catch up with what was going on. She'd known, known, that they were going to PULL something today, but—!
"What next—right—thing?" she choked.
"With you on the throne again, Arendelle has another chance," Rolf said softly, "Which is why it's all the MORE important that you don't squander it. You can't run away from this."
"Another chance?!" the Snow Queen demanded, her blood boiling as she was suddenly overtaken by the intense desire to blast their faces with ice, "Because you think I would steal the crown from my sister!? What do you mean, another CHANCE!?"
"You're had your little vacation up in the forest. But it's time to come back to reality," Rolf said sternly, "You have been reinstated as the Queen of Arendelle. Your sister has failed in her responsibilities, and she has stepped down, to let the real heir take her throne once again. Now that you're back, it's time for you to do your duty, form a good marriage for this kingdom, leave the political matters to us, and become the queen that Arendelle deserves."
Elsa felt her entire body go numb with shock, instantly nauseous as she struggled to form a sentence. From all around her, the other men at the table were beginning to speak, voicing their enthusiastic agreement as their words faded into static in her ears.
"If you truly wanted to help Arendelle—"
"The stability of the kingdom—"
"Now that you're in control of your condition, you could focus more on—"
"Perhaps you can find a man who could look past it, and—"
"Just leverage your beauty and femininity, and you could surely make a respectable alliance for—"
"You're certainly young enough—"
"—And beautiful enough!"
"Oh, yes! Very beautiful!"
"Extremely attractive—"
"—And young!"
"Although, if you perhaps wore more traditional clothing—"
"For the people, knowing that there's a strong, capable man holding the scepter—"
"And, we can keep running the more boring affairs of the kingdom, while we—"
"—ENOUGH!" Elsa shrieked.
Everyone froze. Now on her feet, the young queen carefully reached forward, gingerly placing her hands in front of her on the table.
"That. Is. Enough," she choked.
Pressing her lips together, Elsa's entire body started trembling as she stared down at the table, struggling to keep her breathing even.
"My sister will be returning to her RIGHTFUL place on the throne," she gritted, looking around the table at each of them in turn with murder in her eyes, "And you will NOT disrespect Queen Anna again in my presence, or so help me, I will have each and every one of you THROWN INTO THE DUNGEON for the duration of her leave! Do I make myself clear?"
The men all suddenly looked uncomfortable, glancing away from her and shifting in their seats. After a few more moments of silence—the last stray flurries of snow falling softly onto the conference table in front of her—Queen Elsa shakily lowered herself into her chair.
"And as for the subject of my choices, I thank you for your—concern—gentlemen," she enunciated carefully, "But I believe that this discussion is OVER. And, if I ever do decide to entertain the idea of seeing suitors, you will be the first to know. Now," she started again coldly, her hand shaking as she began to reach for the folder, "If we can get back to a—relevant—topic of discussion, it would be deeply appreciated. Unless there is anything else that I desperately need to be told, I would like to move on."
As she started to pull out the piece of paper, Rolf cleared his throat.
"Your suitors have already been invited, Queen Elsa."
She froze.
Looking up from the file, her eyes wide, Elsa felt her mouth fall open in shock.
"I—what?" she gasped.
The Councilmen were nodding, their faces grave.
"Your suitors are on their way as we speak. The first audience is scheduled for tomorrow."
Elsa sat back in her chair, a wave of nausea sweeping through her body, her mind freezing into the blank haze of shock.
Tomorrow.
They had already invited them. And the first would be here. Tomorrow.
"Queen Elsa," one of the men said softly, "You must at least agree to consider them."
Consider them.
Of course she would. Now that they'd been invited, already on their way, to not give the suitors audience would be a scandal. Political suicide, at best. The Council had known she would never agree, so they had invited the suitors without her consent. Now, she couldn't back out.
They knew it. Elsa knew it. But, worst of all, they knew that Elsa knew it.
There was no escape.
"We know this is hard," Rolf whispered. "But please. Think of Arendelle."
Her head swimming as the terror rushed through her again, Elsa could practically feel the men's cold, expectant stares upon her as she sat in stunned silence at the end of the table.
Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Elsa looked down to the paper on the table in front of her, still sitting in the open file. For the hundredth time in that week, her gaze fell onto the bold, brave title written in her finest script across the top.
ARENDELLE HOUSING REFORM
Her eyes started stinging.
Shakily pulling in her breath, the Snow Queen drew herself up. Reaching across and picking up the cover of the file, she carefully shifted her fingers underneath its edge, trembling as she slowly closed the foil-edged parchment over the reform that she had been working for two months to prepare.
"I will consider them," Elsa heard herself say.
.
.
.
Lying on his back in the snowdrift, Jack Frost brushed his fingertips over the edge of the icy rose, another delicate, crystalline petal materializing on the bloom as he held it up over his face in the air.
Staring at the flower and eying his work, he sighed, stretching his legs out over his head and then letting his heels drop forward onto the ground with a thump. After three hundred years of watching people, he'd sort of figured that he'd know more about girls by this point. And: nope. Nada. No ideas.
Okay. There was the flowers thing. But how many of those could he make? Ice sculptures were cute, and everything, but they weren't exactly blizzards. Blizzards were fun.
During the night, deciding what to say when Elsa woke up, he'd had about six hours to decide on a pick-up line. And now, he had to think of something else. For when she got back from the meeting thingy, that was. And who knew how long that would take… yeah, he'd probably be stuck in this cell for a while.
Jack bit his lip, stretching his legs over his head again and staring up at the ceiling through his toes.
Bored.
He sighed, blowing a clump of white hair out of his face.
Borrrrrrrred, Jack thought again miserably. Bored, stored, gored, floored, mored… is mored a word? Afford… shored… all aboard…
This was the worst kind of boredom. It wasn't that there weren't things that he wanted to do, because he always had things he wanted to do, as much as it was that he was stuck, in one place, waiting for an unknown amount of time with something to worry about.
Craning his head back in the snowdrift, Jack looked to the bars of the cell. Now that he wasn't handcuffed to them, he could probably break out, but… well, holding cell or otherwise, Elsa had made it. And breaking something she'd made probably wasn't going to help him any in overcoming the first impression as The Guy That Broke Into Her Room. He wasn't exactly in love with her, or anything, because—well, hi, nice to meet you, but Jack had long-since decided that the Snow Queen was someone worth trying to impress, even though impressing people wasn't particularly high on his list of concerns. Usually, Jack was the type to just throw himself out there, and if some boring old stick-in-the-mud didn't like it (for instance, a boring old stick-in-the-mud with boomerangs, big ears, and no sense of humor), who cared? There was way too much fun to be had in this world, for Jack Frost to worry about what other people thought of him.
So, why was he so worried now?
Jack groaned, sitting up in the snowdrift. He already felt such a weird—connection—with her. With this Elsa person. From what he could see, Elsa was smart, and passionate, and—when she wasn't scared out of her wits—she actually seemed to be a really sweet girl. Maybe even someone he could be friends with. Her eyes had this depth to them, an empathy, like this young queen was living with the emotional battle scars of someone who had already fought against a lifetime's worth of darkness, and had won. Like she was someone who might—understand.
And the fact that she was a female with ice powers didn't exactly hurt, either.
Suddenly remembering it again, now sitting cross-legged on the floor of the cell, Jack reached forward, grabbing his cuff. Gingerly pulling up his sleeve and being careful not to disturb it, Jack's eyes once again fell onto the crimson mark smeared across his forearm.
It was real.
Jack's heart skipped a beat, and he grinned, raising his eyebrows and twisting his arm to watch the lipstick mark shimmer in the morning sunlight. It was starting to fade a bit from rubbing against the wool, for the thirty-eight times that he'd already pulled the sleeve up to check if it was really still there, but it was still there, still real, still sparkly, and still. Very. Much. Hers. Three hundred years of absolutely NOTHING; no touching, no talking, no flirting, and then bam. THAT. And the physical evidence that it had happened, too. He'd never really gotten the appeal of lipstick before, but now that Elsa's was on his skin…
Okay.
That was actually sort of hot.
Jack Frost smiled, carefully pulling his sleeve back down. Yeah. Let's be friends, Snowflake.
BANG!
Jack startled, whipping his head around. The door had crashed open as Queen Elsa burst into the room, whirling back and violently slamming it shut behind her.
His eyes widening, Jack scrambled onto his feet, running up to the bars as she leaned against the door and threw the bolt into place. She spun away from him, pacing across the room and slapping the file onto her dresser, the long capelet billowing behind her as she visibly struggled not to cry.
"What happened? Why are you back so soon?" he blurted, "I—you were barely gone for ten minutes!"
She ignored him, stepping back from the dresser and turning around. Slowly pulling in her breath, the young queen bent down to the ground, carefully swirling her arms through the air and pulling them upwards. The life-size statue of a human materializing out of the carpet in front of her, Jack watched in shock as Elsa flicked her fingers over the ice, the frost crystals settling intricately into the features of a well-dressed, snooty-looking, middle-aged man.
What the—? He thought.
Finishing the likeness, Elsa inspected the statue, taking a step back and pressing her lips together. Closing her eyes, she then pulled in a long breath, regally clasping her hands together in front of her skirt. Her face serene, Jack watched in wonder as Elsa slowly turned away from it and began to walk across the room, measuring her steps in a perfectly-controlled, regal calm as she neared the jail cell, almost as if she herself was a cool, smooth statue of crystalline—
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAURGH!"
Jack startled as Elsa suddenly whipped around and screamed, sparkling ice ripping out of her arms and blasting into the statue. Flying through the air and crashing into the man's face, the statue's features were instantly covered as the ice particles stuck, the young woman holding her ground with her arms out in front of her until the statue of the man was a solid glacier, sliding to a stop across the carpet.
The last of the scream draining from her lungs, Elsa dropped her hands to her sides, stumbling back a step and gasping for breath. Her cheeks flushed, Jack watched in horror as the young queen messily rubbed her arm across her nose, tears welling up in her eyes.
"An heir," she sobbed angrily, "I'll give 'em their STUPID heir…!"
"What happened?"
"Oh, like I'm telling you!"
"What. Happened."
Raising his eyebrows, Jack waited at the front of the cell, gripping the bars and staring into the young queen's face. After a few moments of hesitation, she drew herself up, turning around and glaring into his eyes.
"They want a king," she choked.
A look of confusion swept over his face. She turned away, pacing quickly towards the dresser.
"Wait," Jack asked, "They want—what?"
"A KING! Okay?"
Elsa snatched up the file, whirling around to face him.
"Basically," she stammered, gesturing with the file, "They don't—want—me! Or Anna! We're just a couple of girls, I guess, so never mind the approval ratings, or the improvements, or anything else! They want me to find a frumpy old MAN to marry, so that I can be out of the way, so that he can join their stupid BOYS' club and get on to dismantling EVERYTHING Anna and I have KILLED OUTSELVES TO BUILD!"
She spun around, angrily slapping the file onto the dresser again as Jack looked to his feet in confusion. Scoffing, he looked back up through the bars.
"But that's… stupid," he said.
"THEN YOU TELL THEM THAT."
"Well, maybe I will," Jack snapped, setting his jaw.
"Oh! Right! That'll be just wonderful!" she gasped, blinking frantically as she swept her hand to the side, "Hi, everyone! I'm back from my post in the Enchanted Forest, and just in case you weren't questioning my sanity enough already, I brought an invisible myth-man, that apparently only I can see, to tell you what a great queen I am! Perfect! Just—just p-perfect!"
Jack winced, watching as she spun away from him, placing her hands on her dresser and staring down at them. As snowflakes started materializing out of the air above her, Jack gave his head a quick shake.
"Wait—and isn't your sister married?" he blurted, "Wouldn't that make that guy king? Because, that breaks their idiotic argument anyway!"
"Oh, he doesn't count! Apparently!" she scoffed, spinning back around as her voice broke, "Apparently, an ice-man isn't a good enough alliance, and apparently, this makes Anna a failure, because APPARENTLY, babies and marriage and ribbon-cuttings are all we QUEENS are GOOD FOR!"
As wind started to pick up around her feet, Elsa's hands flew to her temples, her face filled with pain as she squeezed her eyes shut against the increasing number of snow flurries flying through the air.
"This is why Arendelle needs to have a CONSTANT queen!" she sobbed, "To keep this stupid Council from destroying everything! They're so—self-absorbed, so DRUNK on their own power, that they'll destroy any good thing they come across to KEEP it that way!"
Jack's stomach twisted as she shoved her hands up into her hair, pushing her fingers into the braid and clenching them in agony. The Ice Powers Girl gasped for a quick breath, shaking her head as the tears started to escape from her eyes.
"That's why I'm back here! To try to keep them from doing to Anna what they did to me, when I took a two-week leave!" she gritted, stumbling back a step, "Because I'm stuck in this castle, babysitting these—these self-obsessed—evil little DEMONS, instead of being back in the Enchanted Forest, where I BELONG!"
Stumbling over to the nearest chair, the young queen collapsed into it, her back shaking violently as she buried her face in her hands and burst uncontrollably into tears.
Jack was dumbfounded.
Is she asking me to take her to a forest?
His heart pounding, the Youngest Guardian looked down at his feet, feeling the icy bars in front of him with his hands, his mind racing as he tried to decide what to do. The Ice Powers Girl was—in hysterics. This wasn't a matter of being a little stressed out, or needing to forget her worries for a few seconds. A simple snowflake wouldn't do enough, for this. He wanted to help, to do something, anything, to try and calm her down, this girl who clearly hadn't gotten to have fun in ages, but for as long as he was stuck in this stupid cell—!
Jack stopped.
Hearing her desperate, poorly-muffled sobbing from the other side of the room, he carefully let go of the bars, walking backwards to the other side of the cell as he studied them. The bars—he knew the structure of ice. These had way too much light in them, so, the density—these weren't made for a solid structure. They were more show than—well, now that he wasn't handcuffed to them—a running start, maybe?
Jack bit his lip, looking down to his feet again and shifting his fingers on the staff as he slowly turned to face the back wall of the jail cell. Last chance to change his mind. Last chance to stay out of the situation, with this young queen's political agendas and fun-less personal life. There was no going back, from a move like this.
Jack Frost swallowed hard, looking to the girl across the room.
This was going to hurt.
Holding his breath, he leapt up into the air, kicking the wall and launching himself forward.
CRASH!
Elsa gasped, jumping and spinning around in shock as Jack's body came pummeling through the bars of the jail cell, shards of ice shattering around him as he slammed into the ground, rolling forward across the carpet. Before she could say anything, he was leaping into the air and swooping across the room, grasping her hand in his own and yanking her onto her feet.
"What are you doing?" she gasped, "What—what's going—"
"—I'm getting you out of here," Jack snapped, pulling her after him as he determinately stomped into the art gallery.
Stumbling over the edge of her dress, Elsa ran forward a step, trying to match his pace. "B-but where are we going?"
Coming to the balcony, Jack reached forward, grasping the handle of one of the tall, glass doors and flinging it open. Picking up his staff again, he calmly pulled her closest wrist over his head and around his neck, then bending down and slamming his opposite arm into the backs of her knees.
Elsa squeaked in shock as he scooped her up, and Jack gently readjusted his grip on the staff, carrying her out through the doors.
"I said, where are we going?" she cried, "Where are you taking me?"
Gripping her tighter, Jack Frost looked down, staring intensely into Elsa's eyes.
"Someplace fun," he whispered.
And he leapt from the balcony.
.
.
AUTHOR'S NOTE, added 1/10/20: The original, pre-Frozen 2 version of this (taking place 5ish months after the events of Frozen 1) was that the Council was comfy in their power, expected Elsa to be a pretty figurehead, and resented the fact that she was not. They were using the suitors as an attempt to get rid of her, because of this (AKA, the original version was just a straight-up sexism issue). Obviously, Frozen 2 made this... more complicated. XD I hope it makes sense. Thanks for reading, and have a fantabulous day! :)