Elsa Comes Out: Dinner with Friends

“So ah… this dinner”

        “Just an informal gathering, I assure you, Princess Anna,” Prince Frederick dismissed Anna’s concerns as he escorted her through the mansion. He grinned, “It’s generally agreed that we won’t talk business, but no one ever abides by it.” Anna giggled as the Duke of Edinburgh waggled his eyebrows at his own little joke. He offered her his arm as they came closer to the dining room.

        “Oh, er. Hah. Thank you,” she said taking the proffered limb. Frederick was wearing another red and white coat over his usual dress, and light tan pants. He looked nearly like a soldier naked of his weapons. As in almost all of the dignitary meetings medals were pinned over his breast, Anna was surprised he didn’t clink when he walked. Anna on the other hand felt very plain looking at the man. She hadn’t thought this would be something she’d have to dress up for. She glanced down at her own dress, black bodice and green skirt, with Arendelle’s common flower and crocus designs flowing over them. The most ornate thing about her appearance today was her hair. She’d kept it in her two braids, but looped them up, pinning them down with the tails of them pointing up. Anna liked it; it almost looked like she had a little flame sticking out the top of her head. Oliver said she thought it was cute. That was about as girly as she’d ever gotten.

        Ever since coming to Weselton for these talks Anna had taken most of her meals back in her room with Oliver, or recently going to a local tavern. Dinner in the mansion was a little too close to dining at home. All it really made Anna feel like was missing her sister.

        The white doors swung open without a sound and inside the dining room was a blizzard. A white carpet covered the floor, white table clothes and napkins, the butlers, servers and maids all wore white. It nearly hurt the eyes.

        “In Arendelle we get tons of snow every year,” she whispered to the Prince, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much white.”

Frederick laughed, “Ahh yes, well. Whoever made this place seemed to think that white would show you it was clean,” he shrugged, “just imagine what they have to do to clean the place.”

Anna laughed again as the two came up to a table crowded around with people, the same people as all the little delegations, “Ahh here they are, our own little Prince and Princess,” Said one woman, she was in purple and gold last time Anna had seen her, “Sit down sit down!”

        Chairs were pulled out and Anna and Frederick sat down. Anna went back through all the names of those around the table. The blond, the one that had greeted them and reminded Anna of her dear Auntie, Linda, she was from Corona. There was another woman, Arabelle, was younger and Linda but older than Anna, she always seemed to dress in greens and blues and reds that matched her fiery hair, was from Denmark, she always struck Anna as a little fishy. Next to her sat Frederick, and on the other side was another man, the only one wearing white. He was from Orleans if Anna remembered it right, he looked a lot like Jeanne from her painting at home, it also didn’t help that his name was Jean. There was another chair next to Jean, but it was empty.

        “Ahh we’re all here now” Linda said, “We can finally eat.”

        “We are? But what about…” Anna waved.

        “Brenden never comes to these things,” Arabelle said.

        “Always seems to spoil the evening,” Jean added.

        “It’s better this way,” Linda finished.

It was strange, there was the same number of ambassadors as always, but they could all sit so comfortable at the table, a far smaller table than their delegations were held at. Did the clerks and stewards really take up so much space? Anna wiggled herself in her chair, looking around. Maybe with just us we could actually get something done?

        “So, Anna, Frederick, you two seem to be spending so very much time together these days. Should I be telling the Queen Mother to expect a wedding invitation soon?” the Corona emissary asked.

        “Wait what?”       

        “No no,” the duke held up a hand, pardoning the curtness, “Just shop talk. Last time Anna was telling me a few stories about her sister.”

        “The Queen of Arendelle? What stories are these?” Jean asked, leaning towards the princess.

“Just, some stories, you know. Of when we were kids.” Anna said, all eyes were on her, she smiled, “We would sneak out at night, and play.”

        “Oh everyone’s done that,” Arabelle said dismissively, “I snuck out late with my brother all the time. There’s probably not a single corner of the manse that I don’t know by heart.”

        “Oh it’s the same for me, I probably know everything there is to know about the castle. You explore a lot when you can’t leave for years.”

        “You couldn’t leave? Why?” Jean asked as the others looked at him. It seemed word hadn’t spread quickly to his country.

        “Princess Anna and Queen Elsa, were kept in the castle for their protection,” Frederick said, “Because uhm…”

        “Because when we were little there was an accident. Elsa has uhm.. magic, I guess?” Anna watched as Jean’s eyebrows rose, “Well see she could make ice and she kind of hit me with it and, uhm, it’s a little fuzzy even when she tells me about it.” Anna let out an unsettled laugh.

        “Well at least you were stuck in a castle,” Linda said. “If I had to be locked up in the mansion for years I doubt I could take it. Why just last winter I was forced, forced mind you, to stay in with a terrible fever. For a week! I nearly went- Oh here we are!”

        The Corona woman stopped talking as plates and wine glasses were laid out for the dining guests. White steaming meat sat on the center of the plate, little flecks and crusts of brown black and red littered each dish. Also over the white meat were strips of green and red, yellow and orange, with them on the side were leaves of lettuce and cabbage. There was one strange sort of elongated thing. It was green with little pale green and white spots or cuts along it, it had a little stem.

        “Ahh.. what is this?”      

        “It’s just chicken, surly you have chicken in that little country of yours,” Jean said slicing off a chunk of meat and sticking it into her mouth.

        “I know that, just uhh.. what’s all this…?” Anna poked and flipped the colored slivers and pointed at the stemmed vegetable.

        “Oh it’s just some stuff my cook does, he’s Spanish you see. They’re all about these things. I can’t stand it myself,” Linda said, shoveling them away from her chicken, “He calls them jalapenos”

        “Well I like them,” Arabelle said, putting a slice into her mouth.

        “Hmm,” Anna looked down at the little ‘jalapeno’ she cut the end off of it and as delicately as she could manage popped it into her mouth.

        It was like a little spark at first, a burst of a flavor Anna couldn’t really pinpoint. Something about it spoke to her, like in one of those stories Elsa has read to her once, a message in a bottle, except in her mind. A rush, like running, or leaping or chasing someone. And then the fire came.

        “Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!” Anna coughed into her hand as the other guests laughed.

The Duke of Edinburgh patted her on the back, “Never had a chili pepper before? It’s a bit of a start isn’t it?”

        “Yes,” Anna wheezed hoarsely, her words interrupted with coughing, “It is.”

        “I told you not to eat it,” Linda said, piercing leaves with her fork.

        “Don’t mind her, we all did the same thing,” Arabelle said, taking another bite of her chicken.

Anna could feel that her face was red, and the sweat beading on her forehead. Her tongue stung with crackles of flame, “Can ah- Can I have some water?”

        “Oh no no,” Arabelle raised her hand and a waiter was immediately at her side, “a small glass of milk for the girl.”

        “Of course ma’am”

A brief moment later and a small glass was brought forward and placed beside Anna’s plate.

        “Thank you,” she croaked before taking a sip. Almost immediately the flame in her mouth started to subside, but never truly went away. As it was slowly dying out Anna felt a little sad. It had hurt but that little rush… Maybe she could bring some peppers with her home.

        Frederick smiled as her coughing stopped, “Well, now you’re one of us, Princess.”

        “Here! here!” the other guests said, Linda rather half-heartedly, raising their wine.

        “You all eat this?” Anna asked.

        “Oh of course,” Jean said, as Linda glared at him, “Linda’s cook has been cooking for us from the start. She was here before any of us.”

        “Really?” the company nodded, “why?”

Linda shrugged, “The queen mother bade me to come to Weselton,” she said ‘it would just be lovely for us to have an ear in that little place, don’t you think?’ I could leave it all is you ask me, but you don’t say no to Queen Rapunzel. Anyway when I got here I’m told the Duke’s been deposed! And they’re sending out people to get all the kingdoms that have a stake in the duchy to come and help. It’s just the luck, isn’t it?”

        Auntie asked her? Lucky for sure…     “Wait everyone here has a stake in Weselton?”

        “Well obviously not us, we’re well to-do for sure, but none of us are royalty. Excepting you and I of course Princess,” Frederick said, “Arabelle is here thanks to Weselton being part of Denmark before that whole business making it into a Duchy. Jean over there is here because Weselton owes France a great deal of money, and he needs to make sure debts are sent along, the poor banker he is.” Frederick grinned at the Orleans native, “I’m here because we were told of some marriage years ago that only a clerk could remember. And of course, you and Linda are here for the exact same reason. A son married into your family line some generations ago.”

        Anna considered this, “What about Mister Brenden?”

        “Mister tall grey and overbearing?” Arabelle said, putting down her fork, ”Weselton was part of a larger kingdom one time, the old king died but an heir for the duchy hadn’t been sorted out then, while the larger piece of his land had. Prussia got the territory through marriage and since has believed that it should also inherit Weselton as well. Weselton meanwhile went to the king’s brother, who remained a strong enough influence to keep other kingdoms at bay.”

        “Until now,” Frederick finished, “Now it’s up to us to see who gets to sit in the big chair, so to speak.”

        Anna looked at the people surrounding her as they all smiled and nodded in varying degrees. And she hazily remembered the jovial faces she and Oscar had met in the tavern. They all seemed to be doing find without the Duke. Some of them had some stories about the man, and well, he did try to kill her sister. Other than the fewer and fewer people outside the mansion no one seemed to actually care that the Duke wasn’t really around. The world simply kept on spinning for all of them.

        Maybe they didn’t need a new Duke. Maybe they could get along on their own just fine.

       

 

        Elsa glanced over her own book to the man across the table. The blond was reading through a small book. Less a tome and more of a notebook. It was a written account of some American sailor, said he’d found a continent of ice at the very south of the world.

        She knew he wasn’t the best reader. Kristoff wasn’t really illiterate, he just had trouble. She’d called him up to make him read more. He probably hadn’t seen so many books until he first came into the castle. The queen’s own room had enough books for a library in Arendelle. The study had more. The castle library had enough books to last the city a life time. Elsa had read almost all of them

        She watched him reading. He tried to hide his finger tracing the pages, but it was clear enough to her. She smiled as she watched him mouth the words before him. Ohs and Aes moved his lips as he wrapped his head around the letters. It was the little things.

        Elsa squirmed in her chair. Lately she’d felt like the world pulled down at her a little more. Like she was just that little bit heavier. She wasn’t gaining any weight was she? She didn’t look it, she didn’t think. Maybe she should run or something like Anna always seemed to.

Anna.

        It had to be soon didn’t it? She could put it off for another day, couldn’t she? Tomorrow, maybe.  Maybe when Anna came back. Maybe when they got married.

        Elsa sighed as she cast her eyes back to her own book. It was math. Geometry, and algebra and calculus. The queen had read it before but these books always made her feel better. Math had equations, it had rules. Rules you couldn’t break. Structure. Normalcy. One was one.

        Besides he was enjoying the book. Why take that away from him?

Another sigh. Their awkward little family. Elsa had thought a lot about that since they had last gone out. She knew what he’d say if she pushed the issue. She was pretty sure she knew. Elsa took a deep breath and looked back at Kristoff, still engrossed in his book.

        Her shoulders were starting to ache.

“Kristoff?”

        “Hm…” He didn’t look up as he turned a page.

        “Kristoff?” Anna said again, “Kristoff!”

        “Huh? What?” Kristoff looked up to find Elsa flustered, her book flat and open on the table. She seemed to shrink away when his attention turned to her.

        “Ah. I wanted to…” Elsa looked down at her hands, “I think we should talk…”

        “What?”

Elsa got up from her seat and walked around the table.

        “Anna’s going to be coming home soon. She might be on her way now. As…” she took a deep breath “As much as I don’t’ want to… Oh God why is this so hard” Elsa ran her fingers through her hair, “We need to talk about… about us.”

        “Oh…”

        “I’ve been thinking about what you said before…” the queen said.

        “What do you mean?”

        “Our little family... but it’s not really,” Elsa looked away, “I’m not really a part of it, am I?”

Kristoff stood up, “Of course you are.”

        “No I’m not,” she said taking a step away, “You and Anna are, you always were. And I’m happy for you. It’s just… I wanted…” Elsa could feel a stabbing at her heart.

        She looked so small as she stood there all alone. Kristoff tried to touch her, reassure her. She shrunk away from him.

        “Do you love me?” is was barely more than a whisper.

        Elsa never asked anything like that normally, only when she was feeling particularly passionate. It was a little jarring for her to simply ask like this. Elsa let out a dissettled laugh, before looking at him, great big eyes wobbling and wistfulness in her voice “I imagined we could run away together. It would be like one of our trips. Just you and me. I wouldn’t be a queen, I could do what I wanted, like...”

        “Elsa you know I couldn’t do that to Anna.”

        “I know…but I always-“

        “Elsa, You know I lo-“

        “But just not enough.”

        “Elsa don’t say it like that.”

        “But it’s true. I’m just something extra, aren’t I?”

Kristoff deflated at the accusation. Maybe it was true but he couldn’t believe it. Both Anna and Elsa were important to him. Elsa became silent again, still looking away from Kristoff. He almost thought he could hear her crying. He reached for her, his hand lightly touching her back. Elsa was shivering and she flinched.

        “Elsa, it’s not that- I just don’t know.”

Elsa knew it would be like this, she could feel her eyes stinging, “Yes you do…”

        She was silent again after that, silent for so long. Kristoff would think she was a statue if not for her shoulders shaking every now and then. He didn’t know what to do, what to say. A pregnant air surrounded him as he looked at those shaking shoulders.

        He pressed his hand against her back and she turned around, tears down her face, half of them ice. He kissed them away and whatever dam they leaked out of broke. Elsa clutched to him like she was drowning, more and more tears sliding down her pale, faintly freckled cheeks. She cried and blurted out words. About Anna, about her own hopes and dreams. She kissed him back as he whispered assurances to her. Rubbing her back, holding her close.

        The next morning under a shining sun Elsa wrapped her shawl around her hair and they set out. Sven reluctantly took them out of town and into the mountains. The cold air pulled them along the snowy roads as it pulled them closed together. They rode to the ice lake and Kristoff’s lean-to.

        No.

Kristoff shook his head. He couldn’t do that to her, nor to Anna. Not after everything that happened.

        Picking up his book, Kristoff looked back at Elsa, all alone in a room that was far too large. Going from the table to the door was possibly the longest walk he’d ever taken and it was over all too soon.

 

        The next day it was snowing. A heavy wet snow blanketed the kingdom. Barely able to see through the windows of the castle, Kristoff skulked around the castle, trying to build up the courage to check on Elsa. He shouldn’t have left her like that. He should have said something. Anything.

        He turned the corner, entering the far wing that housed the queen’s bedchamber. Dark brown doors sealed in the queen’s room from the rest of the world, the first time Kristoff had ever seen the doors closed from the outside. The door rattled as he tugged at the handle but didn’t budge.