The hour of the ceremony had finally come. The highest dignitaries of the kingdoms invited had been gathered, sitting in perfect rows on the benches in the great chapel of Arendelle and its majestic windows. Although having kept some vestiges of the age of the old gods within their walls, Arendelle had been converted for several centuries to the religion of the unique god and his church.
Under the religious chants of the choir, all waited in utter silence, while Elsa stood upright in front of the sacred altar, and preparing to face her destiny. On the side, stood Anna, who glanced, saw Hans sitting among the other lords, the latter making a small wave of the hand, she returned him discreetly.
Elsa bowed while, standing in front of her, the high priest of the chapel placed the queen's golden diadem on her head, thus styling her as a sovereign symbol. Elsa lifted her head, without a smile, and saw the priest take in his hands the cushion on which were placed the sacred artifacts, the sphere and the scepter, which she should hold a few moments in front of all in order to complete her ascension to power. Elsa got ready to take them, but a small throar clearing from the priest made her stop.
_ "Your majesty .... the gloves ...." warns the priest as low as possible. Elsa's heart jumped, but she hid her worry as much as possible. It was what she did fear above all. But all eyes were on her, she had to obey the tradition. Taking a deep breath, she withdrew her gloves, her hands slightly trembling, and gently took the sphere and the scepter, then turned to the congregation who all rose respectfully, while the priest pronounced the sacred verses, proclaiming the young Princess Elsa, new queen and protector of Arendelle.
While holding the artifacts in her hands, Elsa almost held her breath, emptying her mind and trying to maintain her stress in her. Unfortunately, the visions of the Lordaeron tree did not stop haunting her, especially the monstrous eyes of this scary ice horned king who stared at her, as if piercing her soul ... At that moment, she had felt a much greater and deeper fear, as well as a very dark magic, much more powerful and ancient than hers.... but how could he have seen her without her being physically present to him? Or was it just a nightmare that looked more than real?
All these unanswered questions only accentuated the fear of Elsa, who saw of the corner of her eye, a very thin layer of ice starting to rise from her palms. Once the verses were spoken, Elsa hastened to put off the objects and put her gloves on, without anyone noticing the ice, although Benjen, at bottom, being an experienced ranger, had observed the strange nervousness of the young queen, and seemed perplexed. Now proclaimed queen, Elsa saw the whole assembly bow before her, including her little sister Anna.
************
That evening, a big party was held in the great throne room, decorated in honor of the new queen. The music played by the small orchestra played melodically, while several elegantly dressed men and ladies danced in a circle in the space provided for this purpose, in the middle of the hall, to the applause of the crowd. Then the music was silent as the servant Kai came to the sight of all.
_ "Queen Elsa of Arendelle." he announced in a high and clear voice, while Elsa, in her queen's robe and wearing the diadem, was advancing straight, just in front of the throne. The whole assembly bowed as it should.
_ "Princess Anna of Arendelle." Kai announced next. Anna then ran in her prom dress and stood to one side, some distance from her sister. Kai insisted, however, and placed her next to the queen. "Oh, here?" Anna asked, a little surprised "Are you sure?" Cause I don't think .... "
She did not have time to finish her sentence that she was placed next to her sister, while the crowd applauded them both, before the music resumed and people continue their various discussions while sipping the delicious beverages made available by the servants. Anna, a little embarrassed, not knowing what to do, stood next to Elsa, who also a little embarrassed, turned her eyes to her little sister.
_ "Hi." Elsa said softly.
_ "Hi .... hi me?" Anna asked a little confused. "Oh, um ... Hi."
_ "You look beautiful." complimented Elsa kindly.
_ "Thank you ..." Anna replied with a smile, "you look beautifuler, Uh, I mean, you're not fuller, but, more beautiful." once again, Anna got a little excited in her words, which made Elsa laugh softly, and smiled at her too.
_ "Thank you." Elsa thanked her sincerely, before the two sisters came back for a few seconds in silence, watching the crowd in front of them. "So .... this is what a party looks like."
_ "It's warmer than I thought." Anna answered, trying to fill the awkward silence that had fallen.
_ "And what is this amazing smell?" Elsa asked. Indeed, Anna also smelled a familiar and very pleasant smell. The two sisters felt this perfume in their nostrils and looking into each other's eyes, pronounced exactly the same word at the same time.
_ "Chocolate!" it made them laugh together, the first time in a long time. Anna was about to say something else, but Kai's voice preceded her.
_ "Your majesty ...." the servant then introduced the little old man with mustaches and gray hair and pointed nose. "The duke of Weasel-town."
_ "WESELTON!!" immediately corrected the little man with an annoyed look, before turning back to the two sisters with a smile and kindness. "The Duke of Weselton, your majesty."
Although she had never met him before, Elsa had already heard about her father's business with Weselton, and learned that although he looked kind and frail in appearance, the Duke had a reputation for being someone ambitious, a little too much sometimes, in business.
_ "As your closest partner in trade ..." continued the duke "... it seems fitting that I offer your first dance as queen." he bowed after a few big, wacky gestures, his hair turning out to be a wig covering his bald head, threatening to come off. Seeing this, Elsa and Anna had to retain themselves of laughing without him noticing. Elsa quickly became serious and gave her answer as kindly as possible.
_ "Thank you, but only, I don't dance."
_"Oh?" the duke seemed a little disappointed.
_ "But my sister does." Elsa pointed to Anna, who she thought was a joke at first, but realized quickly that no when the duke, delighted, took her by the arm, telling her she was lucky. Anna was taken to the dance floor by the little man, under the somewhat mocking look of Elsa.
_ "Sorry." said the queen, laughing gently.
The dance with the duke turned out to be most singular, the little man jumping everywhere making absurd gestures that attracted the attention of all and embarrassed Anna more than anything else. The duke even tried to extract, as if nothing had happened, information about Arendelle from the young princess, who must have confessed she knew nothing. After long minutes, Anna managed to escape the duke and returned to her sister who was laughing a little.
_ "Wow, he was sprightly." Elsa says.
_ "Yeah, especially for a man in heels." Anna replied rubbing her aching foot that the duke accidentally stomped during the dance.
_ "Are you okay?" Elsa asked, unable to stop herself from making fun of her little sister, not maliciously.
_ "Yeah, I've never been better, this is so nice ..." Anna answered with sincere joy "... I wish it would be like this all the time."
_ "Me too." Elsa answered softly with sincerity to her sister. But doubt and fear caught her mind as her smile disappeared from her lips, her mind reminding her of the visions of the accident with Anna as children, the loss of control of her powers as she grew up, and above all, that terrifying ice king looking up at her like an obscure shadow hovering over her and haunting her every passing moment. For a moment, Elsa could almost feel like if he was just here, next to her, ready to catch her with his cold hands. "But it can't."
_ "Why not?" Anna asked, somewhat confused at this change of attitude.
_ "It just can't!" Elsa insisted, interrupting her sister who was going to insist on the subject. Seeing her sister who had turned away from her and lost her smile and warm tone for a reason she did not understand, Anna also lost her smile.
_ "Excuse me for a minute...." Anna said quietly as she walked away into the crowd. Elsa gave one last sorry look at her. She was suffering from having to do this to the only member of her family who stayed with her, but she was doing this to protect her, even if it meant a definitive separation. If what Pabbie had said turned out to be true, if a much darker power should one day came for her, Elsa would want to be the only one to face it and not put her little sister in danger.
Anna walked in the middle of the crowd, having to hold back a tear. She hoped so much that this discussion with her sister could finally bring them closer, as before, but it was not so. Suddenly, a guest accidentally jostled the young princess who almost fell backwards but was caught by the hand of someone familiar.
_ "Glad I caught you."
_ "Hans." Anna regained her smile, her cheeks slightly red. Hans put the glass he was holding in his hand and helping Anna to get up, took her by the hands and started a waltz with her while the music started again.
*********
While Elsa was talking with the other lords, Anna had spent the rest of the party talking to Hans after their dance, talking about various topics, and now they were both a little out of the way, on a flowered balcony, taking advantage of the soft evening breeze and moonlight. Anna had bet Hans could eat several whole chocolates at the same time.
_ "Yea, the whole thing! You got it!" Anna laughed as Hans finished eating the last chocolate and laughing too. "Ok, wait, wait .... so, you have how many brothers?"
_ "Twelve older brothers ..." Hans replied "... three of them pretented I was invisible, Literally, for two years."
_ "It's horrible." Anna said, sorry for him.
_ "It's what brothers do." Hans replied with a slight shrug.
_ "And sisters ...." Anna sighed heavily "... Elsa and I were really close when we were little, but then .... one day .... she just shut me out and .... I never knew why .... "
In front of Anna's sad look at this childhood memory, Hans looked sorry for her and gently put his hand on hers.
_ "I would never shut you out." he says, looking straight at her eyes. Once again, Anna blushed, touched by these words.
_ "Um .... okay, can I just say something crazy?" she asked after a moment's hesitation. Hans raised an eyebrow, but smiled too.
_ "I love crazy." was his answer, to the delight of Anna. She turned on the balcony, admiring the shining moonlight in the night sky, and spoke again.
_ "You know .... all my life has been like a series of doors in my face..." she explained, as Hans was listening right next to her. "...and suddenly, I bump into you."
He nodded, seeming to understand and admired the moon too.
_ "I was thinking the same thing, 'cause I've been looking for my whole place, and maybe ..... it's the party talking, or the chocolate fondue."
Anna and he laughed together after this last sentence, which he tried with a hint of humor.
_ "But with you ...." they began to say in unison, realizing and laughing together again, then realizing that their hands were touching. Their eyes met and both seemed to share the same thought.
_ "Can I say something crazy?" Hans asked after a few seconds of hesitation. Anna nodded, then was very surprised to see him kneel before her, holding her by the hand. "Will you marry me?"
Anna's heart leaped with endless surprise in her chest and her cheeks turned red. The joy she felt was second to none.
_ "Can I say something even crazier?" she said, to which Hans nodded.
"YES!"
**********
Anna, accompanied by Hans, had returned to the throne room where the party was going on. Meanwhile, Elsa had done everything to clear her mind and had focused on meeting other distinguished guests, talking with them about various topics, such as possible and future agreements between kingdoms that could lead to great things.
_ "Elsa!" she then heard the voice of her sister Anna and took leave of her guests to turn to her, seeing Anna come accompanied by a young elegant man that Elsa had already seen among the guests. "Uh, I mean, queen. Me again, umm .... I would like to present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."
_ "Your majesty." greeted Hans, bowing respectfully. Elsa greeted him with a slight nod, but seemed perplexed to see them both nervous and happy, holding each other's arm in a very intimate way.
_ "We would like ...." they started to say both, quite nervous "... your blessing for .... our marriage!"
_ "M .... Marriage?!" Elsa answered, showing a great confused expression.
_ "Yes!" Anna said, stamping with excitement. Elsa took a few seconds to process the surprise information in her mind a little disconcerted and wanting to be sure of what she had just heard.
_ "I'm sorry, but I'm confused."
_ "Well, we haven't worked out all the details yet, we'll need to plan the ceremony, of course we'll have soup roast and ice cream, and then - Wait! Would we live here?!!" Anna spoke very quickly, carried away by her excitement, in front of Elsa, who was completely perplexed.
_ "Here?!" Elsa answered, disconcerted.
_ "Yes, absolutely!" Hans replied to Anna, showing as much enthusiasm as she did and without taking into account what Elsa had just said.
_ "Oh, we can invite all of your 12 brothers!!" Anna continued without restraint, which Elsa had to put a point in order to clarify things.
_ "No, no, no, no ... wait, slow down!" Elsa immediately interrupted "... No one's brothers are staying here, and no one is getting married!"
_ "Wait ... what?" said Anna, confused in turn. Elsa then gently took her by the shoulder.
_ "May I talk to you, please .... alone?" Elsa asked calmly but insistently, a little embarrassed. Anna appeared decided otherwise and retreated to Hans, clinging to his arm.
_ "No!" said the princess openly, as if to challenge her sister "... Whatever you have to say, you can say to both of us."
_ "Fine." Elsa sighed, but obviously also decided not to hold her words. "You can't marry a man you just met."
_ "You can if it's true love!" Anna argued firmly, huddling against Hans. Seeing this reaction, Elsa sighed even more.
_ "Anna .... what do you know about true love?"
_ "More than you! All you know is how to shut people out!" Anna added, without restraint, what surprised Elsa, but also hurt her heart. Anna was right in a way, but if Elsa did it, it was for a good reason, as hard as it was.
_ "You asked for my blessing .... but my answer is no." Elsa replied, hurt by her sister's words, but had to protect her, as she herself, for the good of both. The nervousness gradually seized again the young queen, who had to calm down without attracting attention. "Now if you'll excuse me ....."
_ "You majesty, if I may ....." Hans started to ask.
No, you may not, and I think you should go...." Elsa interrupted him immediately and firmly, and began to move away from the couple, before giving a new order to the nearby guards. "The party is over .... close the gates!"
_ "What?!" Anna gasped on hearing her sister's order, while the guards obeyed. "Elsa! No! Please!" Anna rushed to her sister to try to resonate her, but trying to grab her by the wrist grabbed one of the gloves instead. Elsa gasped in a somewhat exaggerated reaction, seeing one of her "protections" be removed and held by Anna.
_ "Give me my glove!!" Elsa insisted, in a strange panic that people noticed. Anna, however, did not bend and stepped back with the glove in her hands to force her sister to listen.
_ "Elsa, please! I can't live like this anymore!!" Anna spoke desperately, distress reading like a book in her eyes. Elsa saw it, and it broke her heart even more ... She wanted to comfort her sister, but again, fear took over .... She felt again, against her neck, this dark aura, this red eyes supernatural looking at her ..... she had to protect her sister, no matter the means ....
_ "Then leave!" Elsa's answer, as cruel as it was, was deeply saddened. Anna was deeply hurt by these words and seeing her own sister, the only family she had left, turning away from her without looking back.
_ "What did I ever do to you?!!" Anna creaked, starting to scream and cry after her sister, in front of the crowd that seemed perplexed.
_ "Enough Anna ...." Elsa mumbled more and more nervously as she walked slowly to the doors to get out of the room, her hands against her body, as if she wanted to hide them from everyone. But Anna was not going to let her go like that and shouted again, only accentuating Elsa's stress.
_ "No! Why do you shut me out?! Why do you shut the world out?! WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF?!!"
_ "I said .... ENOUGH!!!" Elsa lost her composure and, wanting to turn to her sister, made her power unwittingly spring from her hand. A trail of ice exploded from her palm and formed a row of sharp stalagmites, like a real barrier of protective spikes, facing the crowd, the closest of which, including Anna, Hans, the Duke and his bodyguards, had to move back, all being amazed and frightened at the same time by what had just appeared before their eyes. Elsa, she, remained paralyzed in front of what she had done, trembling with intense fear.
Elsa, huddled against the door, frightened, then saw all the faces and looks terrified and shocked on her, even Anna. Pabbie's vision was unfortunately beginning to come true ....
_ "Sorcery ..." the duke gasped, stepping back, frightened, behind his bodyguards and staring at Elsa with fear, but also some contempt "... I knew there was something dubious going on here!"
_ "Elsa ...." Anna sighed in shock.
Elsa, panicked, opened the door behind her and fled as quickly as possible from the castle to the main courtyard, where another crowd was waiting for her, as they had not witnessed the phenomenon, and welcomed the queen with joy and applause. Panting, encircled by all these people and invaded by fear, Elsa felt trapped, watching them as if they were monsters who came to kill her. A woman carrying a baby in her arms spoke to her.
_ "Your majesty, Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.
Elsa did not answer and wanted to move back, but her back gently hit the marble fountain in the center of the courtyard. Instinctively, Elsa put her hand without the glove on the fountain to avoid falling, but the ice power awoke again and completely freeze the fountain in a few seconds, in the eyes of all. Elsa then saw all the people around her move back from her, the surprise and fear on their faces, and some children even crying. Elsa's worst nightmare came alive ... They were watching her as she saw herself: a monster!
_ "There she is!" exclaimed suddenly a voice. The duke and his two bodyguards had arrived at the gates of the castle. Elsa then saw the duke pointing at her. "Stop her!!"
_ "Please, stay away from me ...." Elsa begged them, holding out her hands to keep them from coming "... Just stay away ...."
But an ice blast spurted from her palms in spite of herself, almost as a defense, and hit the entrance of the castle with full force, causing the duke and his guards to fall on the ground and forcing many to step aside.
_ "Monster ....." the duke grumbled as he picked up his wits and again pointed to her screaming "SHE'S A MONSTER!!"
Elsa looked at her hand ...... Was that really what she was? A monster? Looking around her and seeing the people around her staring at her with great fear and seeing the children crying, Elsa thought it might be true after all.
Desperate and feeling more endangered than ever, Elsa fled towards the exit of the courtyard, people moving away in front of her because too scared.
_ "ELSA!!" Anna came to the ice-covered porch to see her sister running away from the crowd. Without hesitation, Anna ran to catch her, followed by Hans.
Elsa came out of the castle walls, descending a small staircase, but leading her to the edge of the Fjord. She was trapped, not knowing where to go and knowing that if they caught her, she would be killed for sure. She heard her sister's voice calling her name, and wanted to step back even further.
When Elsa's foot touched the water, it immediately began to freeze. Seeing this, Elsa saw there a way to escape. Anna and Hans arrived, to see Elsa, running on the water of the Fjord while freezing more and more and moving away gradually.
_ "Elsa! Stop!" Anna shouted trying to follow her, but stumbled on the ice.
_ "Anna!" Hans arrived to help the young woman get up. The two of them then saw the queen, farther and farther, continuing to run without turning when she reached the opposite bank of the Fjord and disappeared more and more into the darkness of the night, towards the forest, towards the north. While Anna was desperate, holding the glove of her sister in her hands, Hans suddenly looked stunned looking at something else.
_ "The Fjord ...." he says. Anna looked in turn. The two of them then saw, with amazement, the whole Fjord being gradually covered by the ice, while a shower of snowflakes began to fall on the kingdom.
*********
Meanwhile....
With his drooping eyes returning to blue behind his skull helmet, the Lich King slowly removed his hand from the bark of a snow-covered Lordaeron tree in front of which he was standing. He had seen everything that had happened, and despite his impassive face, seemed to show, very weakly, what looked like a smirk on his cold and gray lips behind his helmet ... this young beautiful human woman with blond hair, with this power ... he watched her since she had unwittingly established this link with him during this vision ... he had to find her ...
He retraced his steps, passing in front of the ranks of undead warriors who were all waiting in silence, and saw their chief return to his horse, and were waiting for his next order.
The ice creatures then saw a change when strong and icy winds from the south rose, bringing with them a new snow and frost storm, but this time it was not the fault of them.
_"It started... now, let's find her..." said the Lich King with a dark tone.
Arthas, king of the dead, then slowly raised his arms, triumphantly, as welcoming this storm as a new friend, while raising his steel and ice sword, the undead warriors around let out loud icy growls that tore the air, while around they, the immense and infinite army resumed its slow but certain march towards the south, in the midst of the blizzard.