When Fire And Ice Meet

The Story Of The Two Brothers

It was a cold, stormy day in the middle of February. Around the tall, majestic castle of Arendelle, delicate snowflakes swirled and danced as they journeyed to the ground. In one of the highest towers, a gleaming golden light seeped from two windows. Within this lofty room, Queen Elsa and her beloved sister Anna sat reading books. The light filling their room came from a fire crackling cheerfully in a fancy stone fireplace.

Elsa paused in her reading to glance up at Anna. The firelight cast a pleasant glow on her sister's pretty features and had brought out a rosy pink tint in her cheeks. Anna was completely absorbed in her romance novel, but after a moment she felt the weight of her sister's gaze and looked up.

"Is it interesting?" Elsa asked politely.

"Huh?" Anna took a second longer to shake herself free of the story and focus on Elsa's question. "Oh. Yes, most definitely. Right now, Miranda and Rolf are going to a dance, and Miranda thinks Rolf's in love with her best friend, but he's actually in love with her. And I think at the dance he's going to tell her that." She giggled and glanced down at the book with a grin.

"How...um...intriguing," Elsa replied. She thought Anna had dived back into the book, but instead the girl's eyes rose to meet hers again.

"You might not think it's very exciting, but that's because you don't understand. You've never fallen in love yet."

"That's true," Elsa admitted. She didn't meet young men very often, and none of them had ever caught her eye anyways. Besides, none of them would try for her hand. They were too intimidated by her, especially by the fact that she was a Gifted One.

Elsa sighed and turned to gaze out one of the tower windows at the snowflakes falling down. Sometimes she loved her ice powers. But other times, it got very lonely being the only Gifted One around. Her parents had told her there had been other people with powers. Some of them were born that way, while others were cursed by it. But, almost all of them had lived ages ago. All of them...except for one.

Unconsciously, Elsa's fingers brushed against the page of the book she was reading. She'd read and re-read this certain story countless times, but it never ceased to cause her to feel an uncomfortable pressure on her chest.

"I can't believe it was only six years ago," she whispered.

"What? What was six years ago?" Anna inquired, glancing up briefly.

"This story. It's about another Gifted One," Elsa murmured.

"Really? Who was it? Did they have ice powers like you?"

"No. His name was Braedey, and he had the power of fire."

"Where does he live?"

"He used to live in the kingdom of Byron. Would you like to hear his story, or are you more interested in what happens to Miranda?" Elsa's beautiful aquamarine eyes studied her sister.

Anna lay back in her plush velvet chair and studied the crackling fire with new curiosity. "Tell it to me, please," she encouraged.

"Alright." Elsa brushed away a few strands of pale blond hair that had fallen in her face and began to read.

~*~*~
The Tale Of Two Brothers

The kingdom of Byron was once a prosperous kingdom that lived in Safety, Wealth, and Peace for a long time. It was even the thoroughbred for the new age of new types of transportation. It was ruled by a stern yet wise older King who had two sons. The older Son, Raleigh, was expected to become King. He was wittier, stronger, and bolder than Braedey, not to mention five years older than his brother. But Braedey possessed something even his older brother didn't have - the Gift of Fire. He could conjure up fire at will, and that amazing Power, along with his kindness towards his Father's people, made him more popular than Raleigh.

Soon, the townspeople were divided. Some of them wanted Braedey to ascend to the Throne instead of his older brother. And so, a Seed of Desire was planted in the heart of the Younger. He began trying to get on the People's good side even more than ever. The Older noticed and became uneasy, but he felt Braedey could do no serious harm. It was tradition that the Older be named King, not the Younger.

Then one year, when Raleigh was twenty-three and
Braedey was eighteen, the old King died. By this time there was a great gulf between Raleigh and Braedey. They began fighting over who should have the right to the Throne. Raleigh tried to reason with his brother, but the Seed of Desire in Braedey's heart had grown into an unquenchable thirst for power that would be stopped by nothing. Just weeks before Raleigh's coronation, he broke into a huge fight with his brother. During their arguing, Braedey became so incensed, that he tried to kill his brother with fire. Raleigh's guards threw Braedey out of the palace before he could complete the awful deed, however. Wounded in the fight and seeking Revenge, the Younger decided to destroy his brother's prize: the very kingdom.

Like an enraged bear, he stormed out into the city, and tried to burn the entire thing to the ground with fire. Haines managed to drive his brother out, but not until part of the City surrounding the castle had completely burned down to the ground. Thankfully, Raleigh's kingdom has recovered since then and is prospering once again, while the Exiled Braedey has never been seen since, and hopefully never will be.

~*~*~

When Elsa had finished, she realized Anna's blue eyes were wide.

"Wow. That's a really sad story." She giggled nervously to her sister. "Can you imagine me and you fighting over our kingdom? That would be silly. I don't even want to rule Arendelle. You're much better at it anyways." She smiled at her sister.

"I wonder what happened to Braedey," Elsa said softly, closing the book gently and placing it back into its rightful place on a elaborately carved wooden shelf.

"Why do you care so much about him? Braedey tried to kill his brother!"

"I know," Elsa said weakly. "It's really hard to explain..."

Anna opened her mouth to reply, but just then there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" she called brightly.

Kristoff, her fiance, opened the door a crack. He was staying at the castle even before the coming wedding because he was technically an orphan and didn't really have a solid home to live.

"Hey, don't mean to disturb you either of you, but it's time for dinner and Olaf has been asking where you are. And the servants are complaining that the food's getting cold."

Anna peered at a clock on the wall. "Oh, we're late! Sorry about that. I guess we were caught up in our books." With one final smile at her romance novel, she put it on the shelf and followed Kristoff out of the room. But Elsa remained where she was, lost in thought.

"You coming, Queen?" Kristoff called.

"Yes," Elsa replied, though not very loudly. She stole one more glance out the window, where the snow had stopped falling to reveal a black sky filled with glimmering stars that looked to Elsa like hundreds of tiny, sharp shards of ice. Or maybe hundreds of tiny, glinting sparks of fire. Then resolutely she turned her head and left the room, her pale, ice-coloured cape drifting silently after her.