Linnea: A tale of the Snow Queen

Chapter 10, Magic

A week passed, and I still longed for Filip. Every morning Ida would bring us our mail, and there would always be something from him. It was always for me. Ida would usually give it to me before Ingrid was awake. That way she wouldn’t be jealous of me. I would read them in the early morning and then put them in a box under my bed. Filip was a good writer. Each letter was a poem about me and how much he loved me. I know it was a bit early to say that, but he truly did. He had such a way with words.

Agnes tried to get me to wear a dress like Ingrid’s for the ball, but I wouldn’t do it. Filip said to wear whatever I’d like. I chose blue, white, and silver for the colors. My mask would be simple with the same colors. Ingrid wanted a dress based off of the mythical phoenix. I never looked good in those colors. I was never that bold. Ingrid always wanted to be noticed, I wanted to blend in. My dress would be based off of snow and ice. I knew the tailor well so when he came to hear what we wanted he knew immediately what I wanted.

I remember the day it arrived. It had come with Ingrid’s. We both tried them on and came back to show Agnes, “Girls you look beautiful.” she said
“Thank you mother.” we replied
“Why didn’t you put on the masks?”
“Well we didn’t do our hair for the ball so why would we put on the masks.” Ingrid replied
“That’s a good point dear. Oh, Linnea, you were right to leave me out of it, your dress is gorgeous.”
“Thank you mother.” I replied. Ingrid’s dress was much bigger than mine. Mine was much thinner than hers. To this day I think it’s a miracle that she fit down the stairs. I remember her looking at me after Agnes said that to me. I knew something might happen after that.

I went back upstairs in the outfit and looked in the mirror. I put the mask over my face to see how it would look. For the first time in my life, I felt beautiful. I knew that Filip would love me, if he continued to love me. If I continued to keep him in the dark about my powers. Maybe he would accept me. If he truly loved me he would accept my curse or my gift. I wanted to tell him, but without knowing his true feelings how could I. I looked at the rest of the box. The dress, the shoes, the mask, and a small head piece. It was all I could ever want for the ball.

I remember the night of the ball. I remember tying my hair back and putting on my dress. That night however I would be late to the ball. The first and only time I would ever be late to a ball. We had always gotten invites to them but never actually went. This would be my first time at a ball. I didn’t know what to expect. Ingrid told me all about it as we got ready. Tonight we were sisters, until she snapped again “Linnea, I think you forgot your gloves.” she said
“Thank you Ingrid I almost forgot.”
“Let’s go back in and look for them.” she replied. We went back into our room and she closed the door. I went looking for the gloves that Agnes gave me to wear with the dress. That’s when Ingrid pushed me onto the floor and ruined my dress. She tore it up with her bare hands. She broke my shoes, my mask, even my head piece. She even pulled the ribbon out of my hair causing it to come undone. I was lying there on the floor and she left the room and locked the door behind her. They had left without me.

I knew I had to go. I had to see Filip. I was crying on my bed after what Ingrid had done to me. She was fine and then all of a sudden snapped at me. I grabbed the box of letters from under my bed. I wondered if things would be the same if I hadn't found that mirror in the woods. I felt like cinderella. Sitting there on my bed. This was how the story went after all. Only mine would be slightly different. I would get a happy ending but then tragedy would strike.

I sat there on my bed crying. Then I realized that something was happening. My tears were frozen on my bed. I made ice but it was fabric. That’s when I decided to make an effort to control my powers, not ignore them. I took my hands and threw them up in the air and spun around making my dress float up. In minutes my dress was repaired and much better than before. It was made entirely of ice. Including my mask. My hair was now down and I could care less. I now had a diadiem of ice as well. I looked in the mirror and admired my handiwork. Instead of short sleeves I had longer ones now. The door was still locked and I turned to the window. I unlocked it and looked down. I then used my magic to make a slide down. I landed on the ground. The horses and carriage had left. We had more horses though. I made my own carriage of ice and made reins for the horses. I tried to calm them down naturally. It wasn’t working no matter what I did. Then I touched them and I told them to take me to the palace. The horses were of course white but it looked like they had ice in their eyes. I got into the carriage and they took off. The gate opened and we were on our way.