The Snow Queen: Jelsa *Third Book to Frozen Love*

Chapter 13

"Jafar, Jafar, he's our man. If he can't do it, GREAT!" --Disney's Aladdin 

 Elsa

 I sat, back straightened, across from Ursa in the throne room. She had made me my own throne right next to hers, one of blue crystal and frost. Words between us were still tense, but I felt as if I was finally understanding her. All she wanted was someone to carry on the crown, no matter who it was, because that was how she was raised. Which meant I could go through the coronation willingly and leave the throne after Ursa was frozen. 

 Though imagining freezing her gave me a sick feeling in my stomach. 

 "So now I know the floor plan of the caves. But what about exits?" I asked.

 "Snowflake, why would you want to leave this place, when you can make your own food, clothes, and companionship all in safety?" Ursa rested a frigid hand on my shoulder.

 "Only one more day until the coronation, dear. And I've finished all of my lessons, unless there is something you'd like to know," she told me.

 "Well, I would like to see Jack," I said, biting my lip. Ursa's expression grew hard. 

 "You're not going to be seeing that boy any longer; he's gone."

 "Why not? What have you done with him?" I stood up and balled up my fists. Her face stayed stony. Without waiting any longer for an answer, I turned and ran out of the room. I didn't hear anything else from her behind me. Stepping out of my high heels, I staggered down hallway after hallway.

 My heart was beating wildly as I searched my mental floor plan of the place I knew from Ursa's teachings, and it wasn't just from running. I slid into the room and slumped against a smooth wall. It was silent but for my thoughts. 

 "I don't know what to do," I whispered, hoping impossibly that Jack could hear me wherever he was. "I don't know where you are, and I don't know what to trust." I hung my head over my knees and tried not to cry. I stared at the twinkling of the ground's grains of snow until a dark shadow covered them. I looked up.

 "He's not dead," Lady Pitchiner said. I stood up and stuck on a look of defiance. 

 "How do you know?"

 "Not yet, anyway. Ursa may grow tired of his incessant pounding," she ignored my question.

 "Why should you care?" I prodded. She let out a frustrated groan.

 "I already told this to your husband: I also want a way out. And the best way for that to happen is for you to go through with the ceremony."

 "I've figured out that much." I rolled my eyes.

 "Yes, but you must know the whole story first, idiot girl. Use the scepter." She pointed through the door next to me. Cautiously, I peeked inside. All that was inside was a small, foggy chamber in the corner, like a wardrobe. When I turned around, a white wolf was standing in front of Lady Pitchiner. My breath caught, but he simply blinked and cocked his head. Then the bright-eyed wolf stepped through the doorway, claws scraping against the ice. 

 He stopped, turning his head to me. He stepped forward again, still gazing. I supposed he wanted me to follow. Well, I had nothing to lose. And I trusted this wolf more than I trusted Pitchiner. 

 So I stepped up to the chamber, which the wolf was nosing anxiously. "You will be able to open it," Pitchiner said firmly from right behind me, making me jump. I still didn't look at her though. Instead, I lifted a shaking hand and concentrated. 

 With a creak, the door disappeared. Inside, a three-foot-long staff spun lazily in the air. A single, pointed crystal made from mirror shards extended from the end: the same scepter I'd seen Ursa with when we'd first met. 

 I suddenly felt my hand gravitating towards it. I didn't stop myself. The fog of the chamber parted in front of my fingers, and they wrapped around the staff tightly. It vibrated in my hand as I pulled it out into the middle of the room. 

 Instantly, the scepter sent out a blast of blue energy, throwing my arm back and making me stumble. Thousands of mirror shards floated through the air.

 The image of snow-laden Arendelle appeared before me, and I held my breath. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed the clay roofs and warm-colored walls and sloping mountain and--oh, how much I'd forgotten. 

 But something was amiss upon further inspection of this grainy ice-image. Arendelle was trapped beneath a dull coating of ice. A single white cloud cast in it cold light. It looked exactly the same as when I'd caused the Great Freezing. Before I could recover, Arendelle disappeared, replaced with my parents standing side by side in the throne room--my throne room. To my surprise, I felt tears on my cheeks. 
"What are we to do, Adrian?" Mother asked my father. Shadows darkened both their faces.
"What do you think, Catherine? Our promise was to protect the people of this kingdom, and that little girl is a danger to them!" He pointed towards an unseen door. His face was firm but scared.
"She's just a little girl!"
"I know," he sighed and rubbed his chin the way he always had when stressed. "That's why we must meet the Snow Queen at these...trolls' hideout. She'll know what to do...to control her." He spoke of the trolls bemusedly, so I knew this was the first time my parents had met the rock trolls.
Next, more guards appeared with Aurora, changing scenes. I recognized it immediately as the one Ursa had shown Jack and me. I shut my eyes when Aurora disintegrated.
I was able to look again when the crown molding and velvet curtains were replaced with piles of boulders and fuzzy moss. Mother was clutching Father, sobbing and holding her stomach. Father's forehead was wrinkled in anger. A younger Ursa stood across the courtyard next to a short troll wearing a cape made of grass. Pabbie.
"You are going to make every child, every merchant, every sailor forget what my daughter did to this kingdom. I know you can do it. I don't want anyone remembering my angel like this." Her voice broke, then turned sour again. "Or else I will destroy your home and your family." The stony creatures surrounding them shuddered in fear. She glared at my parents with the hatred of a mother bear who had lost her cub. "However, you will leave one thing remaining in their minds: the fear. The slightest inkling of the terror they felt when winter ruled for a short time. That way, your precious daughter will be hunted like mine."
Mother and Father looked back and forth between Ursa and Pabbie. They looked completely helpless, and I felt a pang in my chest for them.
Suddenly, the images disappeared. Lady Pitchiner had done the same. I stood in silence.
So that was it. Aurora's death hadn't been manslaughter but a tragic consequence of childhood fear and consequence.
And Ursa had lied about it.
She would pay.