The Snow Queen's Frozen Heart Book 2

Nightmares

For the next few nights after, I had a terrible nightmare. No matter what Elsai told me, I couldn't get what Aaron had said out of my head. My dream always began as a memory that I would rather forget, but was slowly altered as it progressed.
*DREAM*
A seven year old me sat on my father's throne, glaring down at a group of men before me. My ice was slowly creeping up the walls and forming stalagmites and stalactites as my emotion got further and further out of control. The men were obviously wary of my power as they should of been.
"Please...Princess Ingrid, " The man at the front of the group said pleadingly, his breath visible in the freezing air.
"That's QUEEN Ingrid." I corrected him coldly.
"Queen Ingrid," Another said with an exasperated sigh, "Please attempt understand, Arram needs a ruler who is old enough to take care of it."
"I AM OLD ENOUGH!"I shouted at them, "MY FAMILY HAS RULED ARRAM FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS!IT'S IN MY BLOOD! IT'S MY BIRTHRIGHT! AND NOW YOU WANT TO TAKE IT AWAY, END MY FAMILY'S DYNASTY, AND REPLACE ME WITH SOME....NOUVEAU RICHE LORD!" I said the last words in pure disgust.
"Queen Ingrid, the people of Arram need and want someone who knows what to do." Said lord spoke up,"You simply don't have the..."
"The what?!" I demanded, standing up,"The experience?! I've been training to be Queen for my whole life!"
A snow storm began to swirl as I got more and more angry. The men looked at me with nervous eyes and in that instant I understood. Their concerns had nothing to do with my age...
"Oh!" I growled," It has nothing to do with 'experience'! You don't like my powers! You fear me!"
Angry tears rolled down my cheeks freezing into dark ice due to my rage. The storm worsened and the ice had grown enough to create columns around the room.
"I didn't mean to hurt them! I didn't mean to hurt anyone! It's not my fault I'm different so just give it up! I'm not giving up my daddy's throne! And if anyone here has no 'experience' ruling Arram, it's him!" I pointed at the lord in anger.
To everyone's horror, my magic shot out of my finger tip toward the man, hitting him in the heart. He sank to his knees, groaning in pain.This was where my dreams and memories always turned into nightmares. I raced down the steps of the throne to check on the man. By the time I got to him, the man had frozen solid.
"O...Oh...my God!" I stammered" I'm sorry!"
I knelt beside him to take a look at the man's face, but it wasn't the face of the lord I saw. It was my father's, frozen in fear. In horror. A look that was almost never seen on him and seemed unnatural.
"D...Daddy?"
"You see, Ingrid?" The men above me asked in unison,"You are monster. You're no better than I am."
I looked up to see that each of the other men had the face of my uncle. They taunted and jeered at me, kicking at me and laughing. Calling me "Monster", "Witch", "Snow Queen," and so many more, beating me relentlessly. Shattering my father's frozen body.
I woke up with a shout. I heard Amora crying for me. I'd probably woken her up because of my nightmare. I stood silently from the bed and walked over to he ice cradle hat Elsai had made for her.
"Amora..."I whispered to her,"It's alright, my little snowflake, I'm here."
Her tears topped when she saw me and she gazed up at me with those big blue eyes. If Aaron got back to the castle, he'd take her from me...feed her to the dogs like he'd threatened. He undoubtedly knew I was gone by now and he wouldn't be happy.
"Don't worry, my little one." I cooed, "I'll protect you."
I yawned, closing my eyes for a moment. When I looked back down, it was the Duke curled up in the crib instead of Amora. I gasped in outrage and surprise. He was in a bonnet and a onesie. It actually would have been funny if not for what he said next.
"You're a disgraceful bitch, Mommy." He chortled in a baby voice and began violently thrashing around, spasming, and attempting to eat himself.
It was a horrible sight that made me feel sick to my stomach. I backed away from the crib, trying to forget what I'd seen. I shut my eyes and buried my face in my hands.
"It's not real, it's not real, it's not real..." I muttered.
Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around me and a husky voice breathed into my ear, "What's not real, my Queen?"
I turned around in surprise. Neither the voice nor the arms were Elsai's. I looked up to see Hans' smirking face.
"Hans?" I asked in confusion taking in his appearance. He was wearing something similar to what he had been when I'd first met him, but now, Elsai's crown was on his head, "Why are you wearing Elsai's crown?"
"'Elsai's crown'? My dear, you mean MY crown. Don't you remember? King Elsai was put to death months ago after he froze Princess Anna's heart. And you agreed to be MY queen after I brough you back from the mountain." He chuckled darkly and pulled me against his chest," My own little wife."
He leaned in to kiss me but I slapped him in anger, "I am not your wife and I am most certainly not your queen! I'm married to Elsai! How dare you touch me like that!?"
He rubbed his jaw but otherwise seemed unfazed, "You weren't complaining when we made our little heir." He reached down and touched my stomach.
I looked down to find my self with a pregnant belly once again. "W...Wha...?!"
"You were so pure back then...so innocent...like freshly fallen snow."He moaned, leaned down, and licked my neck, making me shudder in disgust.
"Get AWAY from me!" I retched myself away from him.
I ran out on the room to find myself on the other side of the fjord from the castle. I had to find someone I could trust. I began running up the North Mountain toward the frozen lake. on the way there, a foul smell reached my nose. Unfortunately for me, the closer to the lake I got, the stronger the smell seemed to get. I eventually came upon a bloody mess in the snow. Wolf tracks were everywhere so I could only assume they'd taken down some poor animal. As I looked at the carcass, I noticed something in the snow that wasn't bode, blood, nor flesh. It was a harness. Sven's harness.
"Oh God....Kristoff!" I yelled in desperation, "Sven!!"
I continued on toward the lake. There hadn't been clothing near the carcass, so there was still hope that Kristoff got away. When I made it to the lake, the ice seemed solid enough to walk on. I spotted Kristoff's sled near the middle of the lake and quickly used my magic to skate toward it.
"Kristoff?" I looked around where he'd been working and found a hole in the ice. I looked around, but my fears were confirmed.
A little ways away from the hole was a dark shape floating under the ice. I went back to the sled and grabbed a pick axe, hurrying to chip away at the ice. When I finally broke through, Kristoff's body floated to the surface, blue, and cold, the water on him freezing in the mountain air. I dropped the axe and skated off of the lake. I wandered for a while, the forest a labyrinth of trees and snow.
Soon I came up to a little cabin with a sign hanging above the door. Wandering oaken's Trading post...And sauna. Opening the door, I found no one inside. the shelves where bare, but steam creeped out from under the door of the sauna. Hoping to find help, I walked over warily and opened it. There was no one. Just a puddle of water, some sticks, charcoal, and a carrot on the floor.
"O...Olaf..." I whimpered.
I sank to my knees next to the puddle and hugged myself tightly. The heat from the sauna was making it hard to breath. Shutting my eyes and coughing, I struggled to get oxygen in my lungs. I opened my eyes again to find myself in the Courtyard of the castle in Arram. A huge crowd of people was gathered. I tried to move but found my hands bound.
"Ingrid of Arram, for your crimes against this noble country, it is with a heavy heart that I decree you are to be burned at the stake. May your evil witchcraft die with you." I turned to see Aaron smirking at me, the crown of my father and my father's father was on his head. Heavy heart my ass.
"Long live King Aaron!" The crowd shouted in response, much to my horror.
Aaron himself came up to me, torch in hand. Whispering so only I could hear, "And so ends the reign of monster. "and with that he dropped the torch, lighting the straw and wood around my feet.
*END OF DREAM*
My dream had me thinking. I couldn't loose my family like that. And so I began plotting. Planning a way to keep them safe.