The Peasant's Promise

Surprises

•Jack's POV•

     I head back outside, the crisp air hitting me through my thin wool shirt, chilling my bones. It's been some time since I've last seen Elsa, and more and more I begin to wonder how she is doing.

     "Jack!" My mother calls, her authoritative tone telling me she is not happy with me. I sigh, turning back around to head back inside. I take off my cloak, knowing I had been caught.

    "Jackson," she paused, staring me down. "I told you that you couldn't go to town today. You were told to watch your sister while I visited your aunt in Kinsley."

    Kinsley, Arendelle's greatest rival and enemy. Ever since King Jansen the Second reigned nearly a century ago, Kinsley and Arendelle have not been on good terms. In times of peace, Kinsley would still have some bone to pick with us. Ever since the battle at Randerson Ridge, they have hated us because we had killed their own ruler, King Evert. Evert had threatened to end our monarchy, however, so what else could we do?

    "Alright, Mom." I sigh. "Well, tell Aunt Belle we send good wishes, and we're sorry we couldn't go with you." We could only afford passage for one person to go, I'm ashamed to say.

     "While I'm gone," she added over her shoulder, getting her shawl and her bag,"you should go see that Elsa girl. It'd do you some good to see her. After all, you haven't been the same since she left. Almost like you miss her terribly." She chuckles, heading out the door.

    I blush, glancing down at my feet. I had missed Elsa terribly. I thought about her every waking moment. What was she doing, back at the palace? Was she helping the maids? Was she trying on dresses while sneaking in the West Wing? I sigh, running a hand through my hair. Ever since that kiss we shared, I've never looked at her the same way. And I suppose I never will.

    A heartbeat later, my sister Emma runs to the kitchen. "Jack!!!" She spins around. I grab her playfully, laughing as she goes limp in my arms. She knows what I'm about to do.

   She looks at me wide eyed as I nip her nose, and she giggles. "Don't do that! That's teasing!" She tried to wriggle away from my grasp, and I let her go. "Alright, alright."

   "Can we go to town? I wanna see Elsa?" Oh. I knew that was coming sooner or later. Emma misses Elsa too, maybe just as much as I do. Due to our...father's mishaps, no one really wanted to play with either of us.

   'Look, it's Liam's children.' They whisper. Seems like all I ever hear now is whispers about me behind my back.

    I sigh. "I don't know, pumpkin."

  "Please?" She whines, tugging on my sleeve. "PLEASEEEE?"

    Good gracious, she sounds like a horse giving birth. "Alright, okay!" I laugh lightly. "We'll go, but if we can't find her, we have to come back."

  "Yes!" She jumps in glee as she grabs my cloak, weapon. It around her as we take off for the woods. Sometime later, I see the lake Elsa and I were at when I found out about her powers. That seemed so long ago, when really it was at least a month ago. My, how I miss Elsa. It's been at least a week.

    We reach the town, and we both sneak into the palace gates. I tell her to wait outside the gardens, as it might attract more attention if a rambunctious child and a teenager were seen inside the gates.

     I take off my cloak, slipping up and over the door to the gardens since I found it was locked. I hide behind the statue of the late King Jansen the Second, looking for a way inside. Aw! There, at least two stories above the gardens, was a small balcony. If only I could climb up on the ivy...

    My emotions get the better of me, and I begin to climb. I grab tendril after tendril, trying to get to Elsa. There has to be some reason she hasn't come to see me, right? There has to be.

     Suddenly, the tendril I had grabbed snaps, and I fall to the ground below. I groan loudly as the breath is knocked out of me, and I hear a cracking sound that can I my be my ribs. I raise up, pain shooting through my abdomen. Yep, it's bruised. Maybe worse. But I can't let this stop me. I go again, going slower this time, until I reach the top. I immediately head inside, closing the old window.

      Once I get inside, I find myself in a dark room. Based on the musty smell, I can tell this room hasn't been cleaned in a log time. I look down, picking up a dusty picture. I wipe the dust away, shocked at what I find. It's a picture of Elsa and who in guessing is her sister, who looks nothing like her. I nearly drop the picture as I look on the wall, noticing a portrait of the late Queen and King, Queen Idun and King Adgar. I should've known. The name, the gracefulness, the way she composed herself.

    Elsa is a Princess of Arendelle.