Ice Cold (A Jelsa Fanfic)

Chapter Seven

Elsa awoke the next morning to an empty room. No frost, no chill. Jack hadn’t come back. She groaned and rolled over in her bed. She could still feel him on her lips. There was a heaviness in her heart. Her head was in her pillow for the next hour. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to get up. Her duties could wait. She was having an internal crisis. What happened between her and Jack last night… she wasn’t sure what to think of it. He was just her guardian, right? So what was that feeling deep inside of her?

There was a knock on her door. “Elsa? Are you awake yet?”

“I don’t feel good, Anna. I’ll be staying in bed today,” Elsa lied.

“Oh. Well let me know if you need anything.” Elsa heard Anna’s footsteps trudge back down the hallway. The wild commotion of the town’s daily chores could be heard from Elsa’s window. She listened to them for a while, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jack, or to hear his voice, but was only disappointed. A panic shot through her heart. A thought she hadn’t considered before.

What if Jack had left for good? Maybe he wasn’t just away thinking, but decided to leave her again. Her body went rigid. No. He couldn’t leave her. Not again. Not now.

“Let it go,” she told herself. “Let him go. If he wants to leave, then fine. I was doing perfectly fine without him.” But no matter how many times she told herself to just let it go, she couldn’t.

“Jack, where are you?” she whispered, but no one but the empty air heard. She closed her eyes and began to drift off when she heard a knock on her door.

“Anna, I told you-”

“Lady Elsa, I need to speak to you.” It was the voice of one of her advisors.

“Come in.” The door opened and in walked the chief advisor. He handed Elsa a letter. “I think you ought to read this, my lady. It’s from a neighboring village.” Elsa grasped the parchment in her hands and began to read, “Queen Elsa, this is a demand for you to step down from the throne. You’re powers are out of control. You are a monster fit for the dungeons, not for rule. We have gotten feet of snow cast down upon our village and we know it was from you. It is spring, therefore planting season. You have killed all our crops, and by doing so are going to kill the people if you keep this up. We cannot grow crops in snow, and by the time it lets up, it might be deep into the summer. You have offset the ways of nature. We ask you with kindness to step down from the throne, or we will be forced to implement this demand ourselves. We will be expecting your immediate reply.” Elsa stared down at the parchment.

“Are they threatening me?”

Elsa was confused. She'd never even visited this town before. They traded; she thought them good allies. So why the sudden change? Did they feel threatened by her? And what was that about snow? It wasn't her doing. Or at least she desperately hoped it wasn't because of her.

Maybe it was just some thing done by nature. They were just looking for someone to blame for their hardships.

"It was me," a voice called from behind. She quickly turned to find Jack hovering behind her. He put a finger to his lips and pointed back at the advisor. “We can’t talk in front of them.”

"Please, leave me in my room to think this over and get ready. I will reunite with you in the library. Get Anna and bring her too," Elsa ordered her advisor. He bowed and left the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, Elsa began to speak.

"What do you mean this is your fault?"

"It was last night and I was so confused and angry. I flew over their village. I made it snow. Its what I do, Elsa. I didn't think much about it."

Elsa groaned. "Well, what are we supposed to do? I need to dress myself. Go wait with Anna in the library." Jack flew put the room, leaving Elsa alone once again. She pulled off her dress and changed into a clean deep blue dress. She put her hair up in a bun to keep it out of her face. Then she left her room and rushed through the halls to the library. By the time she arrived Anna, Jack, and a few of her advisors were already there.

"Oh, Elsa!" Anna called as she saw her arrive. "I read the letter. What do we do?" Elsa thought for a moment. She didn't want to step down from the throne. She wouldn't let them take over Arendelle. Giving in would disappoint her father, she knew.

"I'm not going to step down, Anna. I'll figure out something."

"But if you don't, they'll come after you! Like Hans did. I don't want that to happen again."

"It'll be okay this time. We have each other." Elsa assured her sister, but she wasn't even sure herself. Was there a way to convince them it wasn't her? She looked to Jack for help.

"You need to leave here," he told her. She shook her head. He continued despite her silent protests. "At least for a little bit. Elsa, they don't sound like they'll give up on you. You need to leave."