The snow princess

The would-be queen strokes her short, dark hair. In a braid folded to a tight bun, she checked the pins holding it again. Then the cape, heavy and dark, like a pair of hands grabbing at her shoulders.

 

"Happy birthday" she thinks to herself, but says nothing. Not that there was anyone to say it to. Her parents dead in a wreck, the staff busy prepping the ceremony, and her sister...

 

Well, she hadn't seen her sister in lord knew how long. One day she just disappeared, and her parents wouldn't say why. Then they died, and Elsa had nobody. Then nobody became the norm. The maids set plates of chocolate and sandwhiches and whatever else people ate at parties. She sighs, alone in a crowd that couldn't even look her in the eye.

 

This cloak really was too heavy.

 

The coronation's on in full force, though there isn't much force to be had. A few smaller countries had sent the odd diplomat, a few larger ones sent maybe a bit more. The southern isles had sent their youngest to keep up appearances. A cousin from Corona made small talk for a moment, then wandered off. The duke of Wessleton came, then left when it was obvious he couldn't wring another coin out of trade.

 

So Elsa sits there, alone. Most of these people knew each other from this or that party, but Elsa had long since dropped out of the limelight and just shrank back further in mourning. She's a stranger at her own coronation, at her own birthday party no less!

 

At which point the butlers announce a new guest. The air chills as they walk in. Some locals or other, rich traders from the north and east. "Probably here to beg for a title or two." Elsa sighs to herself. At this point she may as well let them have it, SOMEONE should be happy today after all. The two walk in, easily the most overdressed there. While most keep a few layers, they deck themselves out in furs and embroidery and jewels like some kind of backwoods barons. Probably accurate, given how much property she'd had to sell off to their kind to pay for this sham of a ceremony.

 

Though she finally looks at the girl, and finds her looking back. A pair of silver braids frame a warm smile in cold air.

 

"Happy Birthday" she says.

 

It's the first time she'd heard those words in years, let alone tonight.

 

At this point, the queen of Arendelle breaks down and cries on the floor.

 

Elsa drops to her knees and sobs quietly. When you're alone from age eight then worse by eighteen, a couple of words is all it takes. It's not a loud wail, so much as choking on her own void.

 

"Geez Anna, I think you broke her."

 

Wait, what?

 

"Anna?"

 

The furry, silvery, wooly mass smiles again and kneels in front of her. She takes off a fancy glove and puts her hand on Elsa's shoulder. Anna says something, but at that point Elsa isn't sure she can hear anything. After a certain point, she can vaguely sense being helped up to her room. She expects that any moment, she'll just wake up alone in her bed again.

 

Anna and her ...friend? Parner? HUSBAND? She had no idea what Anna had done up to this point so it could be any of them, send the maid off and sit by her bed. She was stuck in her room, with a sister she barely remembered and a man she didn't know the first thing about.

 

So many questions in the queens mind, and right now she had a voice that couldn't ask a single one. All she could do is sit there, dumb as a day old baby. All the why's and how's and who's were stuck in the back of her throat and all she could do was stare.

 

Her sister had a few freckles before, but now they covered every inch of skin on her body. A minor mark here and there almost told a story on their own. Barely visible, but proof that her sister had been alive and out in the world for a decade or more, a whole life away from home. Every tick of the clock in the corner just built up a hundred more questions. Then her sister waves her bare hand, and it all changes when a tiny snowman fills it up.

 

She stared dumbly at the Olaf in miniature. It didn't help when it stopped staring back and waved hello.

 

"Hi I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!"

 

And suddenly Elsa is glad she can't speak.

 

"There was an accident just before I left... you made it, but it was too close to tell for a while. Eventually they decided it'd be better to keep the heir and leave the spare." Anna hangs her head, hard memories clearly coming to the surface "Well, I was adopted with Kristoff here and we started selling ice, made a bit of money at it too."

 

She gestures to the fancy gloves and the rings and the furs. kristoff grabs her hand and her spirits lighten all at once.

 

"So we heard about the wreck and how bad things were. You were selling off land and the only other buyers were Wessleton and Corona. Corona didn't really care, and Wessleton was shortsighted enough that a bit of money kept him distracted. We spent the last year buying basically everything you had on sale."

 

Elsa blinked "How much..."

 

"Like, half of Arendelle. There is a LOT of money in ice."

 

Half of...

 

...well, that made things a bit more complicated. If Anna kept half the country she could just show up and there'd be a war. With power like that it wouldn't be much of a war anyway. Anna was obviously better at this anyway, look at her! She had energy, she had life! She had A life! She could probably waltz downstairs and smooth talk half the world onto her side! If half the rumors were true Corona would sympathise and she'd bet that Hans down there would LOVE the chance to play hero and Wessleton would jump at any kind of ice trade. Heck she brought her upstairs alone with a smelly muscular man, she could probably just do whatever she wanted to her right now. She was such a fool and she would never-

 

"Elsa, you're crying again. Don't worry, we can fix this!"

 

"What!"

 

"It's your birthday isn't it? Well I couldn't come in without a present!"

 

"You'd do that..."

 

"Well, yeah. Come on, not everything is suffering, Elsa."