Linnea: A tale of the Snow Queen

Chapter 14, The Queen of Summer

A month before the wedding I taught Ingrid how to control her powers. It was a long process. I created ice and she had to melt it. I thought it was a simple task. Until we found out that my ice was heat resistant. That’s when we changed to wood. She was doing quite well. That’s when I decided that she would be my maid of honor at the wedding. She of course said yes.

I remember that Filip was visiting us one day. We sat in the drawing room and he wanted to try to draw me. I never saw him draw before. I didn’t even know if he could. He told me to sit down in the chair that was near the window. So I did. I had no idea what he was doing. I stayed quiet for most of the time, “Why are you so quiet darling?” he asked
“I didn’t want to mess up your drawing.”
“I can multitask.”
“Do you want icecubes in your lemonade?”
“Yes dear, could you make me some?” he replied. I waved my hand over the glass and six ice cubes plopped down into his drink, “Thank you my angel.”
“I can’t believe how close we are.”
“You will be an amazing wife Linnea.”
“Am I interrupting?” Ingrid asked
“No, not at all Ingrid.” I replied
“You know what I’ve realized?”
“What Filip? Tell us your revelation.”
“You Linnea are the snow queen…”
“Yes…”
“Now that Ingrid has powers opposite to you, she’s the queen of summer.”
“Linnea, he’s right. You’re winter and I’m summer.” she replied. I then walked over to my glass of lemonade and took a sip. Then Filip walked over to me and showed me what he drew.

It was me sitting on a throne of ice looking out the window at snow. My head held a crown made of ice too. I looked like a queen. Filip drew me with his heart. I was his snow queen and this was his vision. Maybe one day I would have a snow prince or princess. Only time would tell.

After Filip left I hid the drawing in the box. That box held so many things in it. I still couldn’t shake it though. I was the snow queen and Ingrid was the queen of summer. Only she wasn’t a queen. Well neither was I at the time but I would become one. Filip was the only heir. My family couldn’t be happier for me. I didn’t care if he was royal or not, I would’ve married Filip anyway. Ingrid only wanted riches, status, and a warm house. She never loved any of the men who came to our house. She was faking her interest. I knew where her heart lied. It just kinda happened.

One day a man came with his sister to the house. Agnes was still trying to marry Ingrid off. This time the man was not hitting on me because of my engagement. Anyway Ingrid ditched him this time to go off with his sister. I thought it was nice that she had a friend. Then I needed her and she was nowhere in sight. So I went to our room, opened the door and there she was, kissing a woman. She was a homosexual, “Ingrid?” I said surprised
“Linnea, it’s not what it looks like.”
“Ingrid you don’t have to lie. I won’t tell anyone.”
“This is the reason why I can’t get married. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“It’s fine. Trust me it’s better than catching you in the act of sex.”
“You’re not going to…”
“No. Just make sure the door is locked next time.”
“Okay.” she replied. She looked mortified. I guess a part of me knew already. I didn’t really care. I just felt sorry that she would never find someone. Not to mention that she could be ostracized from society or even killed. The way she explained it to me was she could love a man but she preferred women because her father was apparently… how do I put this delicately… a deadbeat and she didn’t want someone like him. We still had to hide it though. Our society wasn’t as accepting as yours in our time. She’s what you would call bisexual, I think. It didn’t matter though she wasn’t the one getting married in a month. After that everything was just kind of awkward between us. I saw Ingrid at her most vulnerable and she knew that I could use it against her at any moment.

In my opinion, keeping secrets is a dangerous business. You either keep it to yourself or share it with everyone. Nothing stays a secret forever. That’s why I don’t say anything to anyone. Once I got married I would need to be extra careful with my secrets. As a royal family member I could not afford a scandal. Now that I’m alone and everything is different I don’t need to keep secrets any more. Everyone in my home is under my control and they don’t really say anything unless I talk to them. I miss when they would talk to me unexpectedly. I can’t fix it now though. This is just how things are now. I miss how they used to be sometimes. Especially when thinking back on all these memories.