The Cold Part of Winter

Setting Sail

All progressed well when Anna showed signs of breathing again. No longer frozen, the King and Queen were thrilled that their daughter was safe. But as for Elsa...

Elsa was furious. Her parents took up on their word and forbade Elsa from ever going out of her room again, from ever using her powers at all. Try and try as they might, Elsa continued to rebel. "I AM in control! And you can't stop me!" She'd cry out to them. It increasingly got worse and worse, and sure they loved her, but they decided it could no longer continue like this. Locking Elsa up would have to do. How else were they supposed to help their daughter, when she so often wanted to use her abilities on other people?

Anna was confused. Suddenly, her older sister was no longer around. All of Elsa's things were moved out of her room, Elsa no longer showed up at family dinners, or even royal gatherings. It was almost as if her sister had disappeared off the face of the Earth, and she never knew why.

But Elsa knew. Her parents found her a disgrace, obviously. They were essentially imprisoning her in her own room, and no one knew of her condition nor her abilities. Lousy parents. "Of course, they love Anna," she mocked to herself one day, pacing around the room, "she's normal. She's appeasing to the crowd. She's warm."

Elsa kicked at the doll on her floor, which started to ice up around her feet. "I need to 'learn self-control', what even is that?! I have control of my powers. What more do they want?!"

Exasperated, she stormed over to her bed and flopped onto it, looking up. Her magical ice nowadays took on a mind of its own, so it seemed, as evidenced by the delicate frost designs that traveled their way upwards of her room walls and covered the ceiling. This was only idle. She could- if she wanted to- freeze her entire room in ice. Maybe the whole castle; catch a few people along with it. But no, not so dramatically, not with her parents still putting her out to be the monster.

And, not while those stupid gloves were around. Elsa turned her head towards the nightstand nearby, where sat a pair of enchanted magical gloves. The same cursed gloves that reduced her powers.

Cursed troll magic.

As she laid there, cursing out her unfavorable circumstances, she heard the footsteps of her dainty younger sister briefly stop by her door, and Elsa braced herself for the annoyance that she was. 'Do you wanna build a snowman,' Elsa mocked in her head. 'Oh, grow up. This girl just will not quit, will she?'
However, the question Elsa awaited did not come, as Anna did not knock on her door. She never even spoke. Instead, it seemed the footsteps headed off in a different direction and stopped somewhere down the hall, where more voices could be head. Immediately, Elsa hopped off the bed and pressed an ear to the frigid door, trying to listen.

"Hello mother, father-" "-an important request to make-" "-lots of responsibility-" "-are you sure-?" "We'll let her know-"

The conversation kept moving to a whisper, making Elsa strain harder to catch what they were saying, but soon, more footsteps began to approach her door and Elsa quickly rushed over to herself made throne to make herself look in charge. Because once they entered her room, they were under her mercy. When they knocked on her door, Elsa called out, "Enter."

The King peeked his head in and entered, followed by the queen. The two shivered from the drop in temperature, and also from their teen daughter's icy stare. "Elsa," her father started, "we come bearing news of a trip we must take up north. We will be gone for a long period of time across the seas, so i hope you understand-"

"I assume you'll be entrusting me the authority to rule over Arendelle?" Elsa asked, straightening herself on the seat. When her parents shared a nervous look to each other, she furrowed her brows. "What?"

"Well, you see..." Her mother spoke, "we actually came to tell you that Anna will be taking charge."

To say Elsa froze was an understatement. Her fists clenched at her armrests, frost traveling up the tips of her fingers and small icicles rose. "What...?" she asked.

Her father stepped forward, speaking, "Anna has proved to us that she will be just fine taking care of the responsibilities around the kingdom. We expect you to be a good supporting sister and encourage her in making confident decisions. We also expect you to be wearing your gloves the whole time, as you have yet to prove to us that you are ready to take charge and are ready for us to place the care of our people in your hands."

Elsa's eye twitched. 'Not ready to take charge?' she thought to herself. 'They expect me to take a seat behind my younger sister?! Of all people?!' Elsa shot forward in her seat, a sting in her chest keeping her from completely jumping out at them. "Would that not place distrust in our people, that the eldest daughter is not placed in charge? You think the people will think highly of you as parents that you passed me over for this?!"

"You need to watch your tone," her father said. Elsa sat back into her seat as he continued. "And no. As far as the people are concerned, you have been sickly all your life. Our word is final; Anna will be in charge. You will support her. There is to be no magic, and no incidents. Do I make myself clear?"

Elsa looked her father dead in the eyes, then looked over to her mother who clung fearfully to his arm, as though he'd be able to save her if Elsa made a move... no. Elsa breathed sharply through her nose and released her grip on the armrests. She had to be patient, she had to be smart about this. If it's a good little monster they want, a good little monster they'll see. Perhaps she could influence her sister to make a major mistake and break her parents' trust in her. Then she'll swoop in to save the day... yes, this'll do.

"Fine."

Her parents glanced at each other, then nodded at Elsa and slowly left the room, with the foolish belief that Elsa would play along. As soon as the door closed, Elsa stood from her mini throne and strode over to her bedroom window, looking out at the scattered, dark clouds in the distance. She just had to wait. Everything would play out in her favor, they'll see. Then, she'll finally be rid of the stupid restrictions placed upon her. They'll see...

_________

Not even a few days later, her parents were ready to set sail. They gathered all their things and instructed for the girls to wait for them to wait by the castle entrance for their goodbyes. But as Elsa left the room, she heard voices in the room down the hall where her parents were, and her curiosity got the better of her. She decided to sneak on over, peeking in through the slightly open door to see her parents talking with Anna. She saw how warm they were with her, how they held her and listened to her worries, encouraged her, soothed her, kissed her head...

Her anger exploded. Of course, Anna was the favorite; she had always known this. But to think this was how different their interactions were. It... it was... how infuriating! Elsa gripped tightly at the gloves she was planning to make a show of using and threw them to the floor. Those traitorous fools! She briskly walked away, replaying the image of her parents' warm smiles and gentle arms wrapped around her airhead of a sister. Before she knew it, she was already curtsying to them, and watching them leave through the window of her bedroom. The pain in her chest grew, numbing her heart to any emotions, and feeling the cold breeze embolden her. As the ship sailed out to sea, Elsa lifted her hands to the sky, her powers gathering at a point and bringing forth a sudden icy storm. If they wanted a reason to fear her, then fear her they shall. They shall learn of her control; they will see how ready she is to rule their land. They shall pay for treating her so coldly.

They will know cold.