Once Upon a December

Chapter 1

Hey, guys! Happy Friday the 13th! Mwahahaha....Hopefully a black cat walked in front of you, or maybe even Pitch Black himself will visit you tonight....Haha, just kidding. Wow, 100 reads already? Thanks, guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter and happy reading!

The day turned into night in the beautiful country of Arendelle. Summer had officially said goodbye and winter was there to stay for the next three months. The palace where the royal family lived was practically glowing from the delicate snowfall falling down. Everywhere one could see, they would see horse drawn carriages pulling up to the vast courtyard of the palace.

Inside, elegant royalists mingled around the main hall, talking, laughing, and trading gossip on the latest news on topics, ranging from one royal family from a small kingdom, that particular duke that was known for his sly wit, or maybe that prince who had gotten newly engaged to a princess who didn't speak his language. Amidst all this, the orchestra played vibrant and beautiful songs, filling the air with their melodic harmonies.

All eyes suddenly turned to the glass doors of two elevators which descended grandly on either side of a staircase. Through the glass doors, they could see Primrose, the Dowager Queen of Corona, ever imperious and seemingly unapproachable. She was bedecked in glistening jewels ranging from rubies to emeralds to diamonds, all in vivid colors. Her brother, King Agdar was with her. In the other elevator, Queen Idun was with Primrose's five-year-old daughter, Rapunzel. One could notice though that there were two very important girls missing...

Elisabeth, eight years old and apparently late for the party, rushed down the upstairs hallways followed by her sister, Annalise, who was three years younger than her. Annalise was trying to catch up with Elisabeth to tie a large ribbon in her long, platinum blonde hair.

"Oh, Elisabeth," Annalise whispered, close to tears, "you're late and it's all of my fault!"

Elisabeth turned to her sister and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Annalise, no one'll notice."

Just then, Annalise lassoed the ribbon around her hair, stopping Elisabeth in her tracks.

"Owwwwwwwww!" Elisabeth yelled. "Annalise, that hurts!"

All eyes turned to Elisabeth, who, once she realized that she was at the center of attention, blushed a deep red and smiled shyly, and started descending down the stairs grandly. As the ribbon fell out of her hair, she handed it to Annalise without breaking stride.

Primrose sees her and can't help but smile. Many people claimed that Elisabeth was the favorite of Primrose, maybe even favoring her over her own daughter. Of course, those rumors were false. But Primrose did love Elisabeth like she was her own daughter. They shared many similar personality traits. Both serious and wise beyond their years, Primrose and Elisabeth were often seen together reading in the royal library when the two were tired from a day's worth of playing with the more rambunctious girls, Annalise and Rapunzel. They often talked about their favorite books and Primrose taught Elisabeth all that she had learned during her reign as Queen of Corona.

"After all, sweet Elisabeth," Primrose would say, smiling lovingly down at the girl, "you will one day rule Arendelle when your mother and father are gone."

"But I don't want them to go away," Elisabeth would say more than once when this certain conversation would come up. "I want them to stay with me and Annalise forever."

"I know, darling," Primrose would say gently, a bittersweet smile on her lips, for she knew that despite Elisabeth's intuition and intelligence far outranking other eight-year-olds, she was still a little girl and didn't know the harshness and cruelty life could bring.