Trust Runs Deep

Chapter 7

The party went well into the night, soon, wives were ushering their tipsy husbands home and pulling their tired children along. The festivities had been a success and an absolute delight. Conrad was quite exhausted and he could tell Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff were as well.

"We should all head to bed," Elsa suggested. Anna yawned.

"Yeah... good idea... come on Kristoff..." The pair headed up the grand staircase first and disappeared upstairs.

"Would you like me to take you to your room, Elsa?" Conrad offered. The queen rubbed her tired eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Oh... yes, thank you." She replied. He placed his hand on her waist and led her upstairs. Elsa was awake enough to open her bedroom door.

"Do you need me to help you with anything?" Conrad offered. Elsa paused and thought about it, letting her door open.

"You can come in." A bit surprised, Conrad went into her room, looking around in wonder. Her room was decorated with icy detailing, including the floor, but it wasn't slippery at all. All her furniture, window, and even the fireplace had a hint of icy details. It was beautiful.

"I wanted to give myself a reminder of my ice palace." She said as she stepped behind her room divider to change, and Conrad sat down on one of the loveseats.

"You... have an ice palace?"

"Oh, yes. I built it myself after I was coronated." Conrad looked at her in shock.

"You built it yourself?"

"Yes... even I couldn't believe I was capable of building a whole structure."

"That's incredible. Where is it?"

"The north mountain. It's a couple of days away, quite a trek according to Kristoff."

"Wow... that's incredible, Elsa." She stepped out from behind her room divider in her purple nightgown.

"Thank you, perhaps before you go home I can take you there and show you if you'd like." She took a seat on her bed across from him. He smiled at her.

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. I would love to." They held their gaze on each other longer this time. Conrad blinked and stood up, brushing at his tunic.

"I should... get back to my room." Elsa stood as well. She wanted to ask him to stay longer, but... she didn't want to scare him off, she didn't want to intimidate him. As her worries ran through her head, ice spreading across the floor around Conrad's feet. He looked at her in concern.

"Elsa? Are you alright?" She gasped slightly and blinked.

"Oh dear... yes, I uh- I'm okay..."

"Are you sure? I can stay with you longer if you need me to." She looked up at him in surprise.

"Are you sure?" He nodded.

"I don't mind." He sat next to her on her bed, placing a hand on her shoulder, and having her look at him in the eye, "I'm here to listen." She sighed, there had been a lot that she'd been worried about lately, but there was something in particular that she had noticed, something she hadn't told Anna.

"I haven't really talked to anyone about this, I'm sure the trolls know though... I keep... hearing this voice in my head. Every time I hear it, I get chills and I feel like it's calling to me, but it so sporadically..." Conrad didn't really expect it, but he was happy she trusted him with that kind of personal stuff, he knew her powers were important to her, it was important to her to understand them.

"I know it doesn't really make sense, but I guess everything about my powers doesn't make sense." He took her hand in his.

"Your powers are beautiful and mysterious, and I think that's truly what makes you one of a kind." He replied with an honest smile, "and not only that, you've shown that you're a worthy leader." She stared at him, she didn't like showing her vulnerable to a lot of people, mostly to Anna, only because her sister understood.

But Conrad... he seemed to understand too. A genuine understanding. His blue-green eyes were warm and inviting, and so was his smile.

"I'm honored to get to know you so well, I hope you know that." She beamed at that.

"I am too... thank you..." After another long pause, Conrad felt that now would probably be a good time for him to head back to his room to get some sleep.

"Well... I'd hate to cut this short, but I ought to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, Elsa. Goodnight." Without thinking, he gave her a light kiss on the cheek before heading down the hall to nis room. Elsa stood at her door in shock, touching her cheek where he kissed her. The gesture was... very sweet of him.

After that, she couldn't really bring herself to sleep. She made her way to the castle's library, hoping some reading would help. She pulled out a book, looking at the title, deciding it'd be worth a read. She nestled into her favorite chair and began reading.

An hour into reading, her eyelids became heavy, and she soon drifted off into a deep sleep, letting the book fall to the floor with a soft thud.

The castle was quiet, only the nighttime critters made a sound. Outside, the northern lights danced across the sky in brilliant ribbons of color, casting a soft glow over the kingdom. Bidding the snow queen goodnight.