Cinderelsa (Cinderella Jelsa Merge)

Chapter 6

Jack's POV

The ball was in complete chaos. People didn't seem to know what was going on. Most of the girls were either crying, angry, or passed out. I noticed Madame Jewl and her four daughters didn't seem to be panicking. They all looked furious, and they quickly made their way out of the ball room and into the night sky. I ran after Elsa, but all I could see was her blue dress, sparkling in the night sky. She was too far away for me to catch her.

"ELSA! ELSA!" I yelled. She didn't slow down. Eventually, she was out of sight. Hans joined me at the top of the stairs.

"I'll track her down Jack." He promised.

"I wonder what's gotten into her." I muttered.

"She was using you Jack. I'm just sorry I saw it too late." Hans said, putting a hand on my shoulder. Then he charged down the stairs and around the side of the castle. Moments later he returned with two of the best hunting dogs. and riding on his black horse. He started tracking Elsa, and was soon out of sight.

"I can't believe it. No, I don't believe it. There was something else. Something was stopping her..." I said to myself, staring into the darkness. A flash of white caught my eye, and I walked down the stairs towards it. It was one of Elsa's slippers. I quickly made up my mind. I wanted the truth.

I went around the castle to the dog kennels and retrieved Luck, my personal hunting dog. He was a bit on the older side, but he had never failed me before. I gave the shoe to him to sniff.

"Go find her Luck. Find Elsa." I said. Luck strained against his leash, leading me away from the castle.

---

He stopped in front of a little cottage. I looked at it. It didn't exactly look like the ideal hiding place. But Luck had led me here, so she had either come here or was still here. I knocked on the door. Even though it was probably the middle of the night, a girl answered the door. She had strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. She looked surprised to see me, and she quickly bowed.

"Your highness! What a surprise! Uh, what can I do for you?" She asked.

"Hello. Is Elsa Snow here?" I asked. The girl's face fell.

"What has Elsa done now?" She asked softly.

"So you know her?" I pressed. The girl tugged at one of her braids, avoiding my eyes.

"Knew her." She corrected.

"Is Elsa here or not?" I asked.

"No, she's not." The girl said.

"Do you know where she went?" I asked.

"Possibly. I haven't seen her for a while now..." The girl said thoughtfully.

"What? Rrr! Luck, I told you to track Elsa! Elsa hasn't been here for a while! Bad boy!" I said. Luck crouched down and put his paws over his nose.

"Oh, maybe your dog brought you here because he thought I was Elsa!" The girl said.

"And why would he think you were Elsa?" I asked, not really paying attention.

"Because I'm Elsa's sister." She said.

"What?" I asked.

"Anna Snow at your service." She introduced, holding out a hand. I shook it.

"Uh, Jack Frost. But how can you be Elsa's sister of you haven't seen her for a while?" I asked.

"Well, our parents died in a bandit attack. It was very sudden, and there weren't any survivors." Anna explained.

"What happened to you and Elsa then?" I asked.

"We were split up and adopted. Elsa was adopted before me, by a woman who only wanted one girl. I only visited twice before I was adopted. I was never allowed to stay with Elsa." She said.

"Do you remember who adopted her?" I asked.

"Let me think... oh yeah, I remember now. Madame Jewl." Anna said. I knew that name well. Madame Jewl was one of the richest women in the kingdom. She had a history of marrying rich men. But as far as I knew, she had never filed a report for adopting a child. It was required to fill reports for adopting children. As a matter of fact, hadn't her daughter Diamond been the one who shouted "It's her"?

"Elsa's adoption was never filed. What else do you know about when Elsa was adopted?" I asked. Anna suddenly stopped.

"I... I don't think I should be telling you this." She finally said.

"Anna, I need to know."

"No, you don't understand. Madame Jewl purposefully didn't file the adoption. She didn't want anyone to know about Elsa. Elsa is her slave. And if you confront Madame Jewl or any of her daughters about it, Elsa will just end up suffering. Madame Jewl is extremely abusive." Anna explained softly. The pieces of the puzzle all quickly fell into place. Why Elsa had been crying when she didn't have any money, why she had bruises on her arm, why she seemed so hesitant to go to the ball, why she was always dressed in rags, why she had told me we couldn't see each other anymore, why she had ran as soon as Madame Jewl and her daughters showed up...

So she hadn't been using me after all. And now she was in danger. By trying to save me, her stepmother had found out her terrible secret.

"Elsa is in trouble. She's run off, and I need to find her. Do you know where she might have gone? Was there anywhere she felt safe?" I asked. Anna thought for a moment.

"The great redwood tree in the woods. We used to meet there before Madame Jewl found out and punished Elsa. After that I only heard about Elsa whenever she acted out against Madame Jewl. She would rebel, and she called herself the Jewel Thief. I was the only one who knew the truth. Her name meant Jewl Thief. But suddenly one day Elsa stopped acting out. She vanished. I worried that Madame Jewl had finally gotten sick of her and killed her, or had turned her in to the authorities." Anna explained.

"I remember those reports. I always wondered what she was trying to accomplish, and why she vanished so mysteriously. She never caused any actual damage." I said.

"Well, now you know. Please don't hurt Elsa! You're a prince. You're supposed to help damsels in distress, aren't you?" She asked hopefully.

"I'll do my best." I promised, turning and leading Luck away. I had to get to the redwood tree now.