Chapter One

Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle

"That's quite the mountain of paperwork."

"Queenly duties, Anna."

"Sounds boring."

"Whoever said it wasn't? But I have to do it."

From behind the pile of letters and scrolls, Queen Elsa of Arendelle smiled. Still the outdoorsy girl, Anna? Very well.

She stood up.

"Does that mean you're going to take a break?"

"No," Elsa replied. "You are. From bugging me."

Anna grinned.

"What if I don't?"

A snow ball materialized around Elsa's fingers. Moments later, Anna was clawing its remains

from her face.

"Aright, alright, I get it," Anna said. She hurried towards the door, barely dodging a final snowball as she made a rapid exit from the study.

Shaking her head, Elsa returned to her seat. All in good fun. She knows that. She glanced at the papers again and let out a small sigh. It's not that boring. But it can still get monotonous.

Behind her, Elsa could hear the ticking of the clock. Sparing it a brief glance, she saw that it was one o'clock in the afternoon. There's time enough for a walk.

She rang a small bell on her desk. Moments later, she heard the door to her right opening.

"Kai?" she said, standing up and turning to face her servant.

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Kai? Tell the guards to open the gates. I'm going out."

"Into the village?"

"Yes," Elsa replied. "Into the village."

Kai looked apprehensive. Nevertheless, he bowed.

"As your majesty pleases." He turned to go, but was stopped by a gesture from Elsa.

"Kai," she said, "I won't command you to stop worrying. But I do want to reassure you- its fine if I go by myself."

"You are the Queen of Arendelle, your majesty."

Elsa nodded. "Which is to say that you don't approve."

"Which is to say that your majesty may do as she pleases," Kai replied. "Just…" He stopped.

"You can say it, Kai," Elsa said, doing her best to sound reassuring.

"Just don't let your guard down," said Kai.

"We've had a year of peace."

"That's what unnerves me."

"I think you're seeing phantoms."

"The letters from Weselton aren't phantoms."

"The sword kills, the pen does not."

Kai did not reply. Elsa gave him a reassuring smile, and dismissed him to go and fulfil her command.

The walks had started six months before, were something Elsa would do periodically. She knew it was out of character for a monarch, but she did it anyway. They had begun as a calculated effort on her part. If the people saw her regularly outside of the royal environment that was the castle, if she mingled with them at least little- if she did all those things, then maybe, just maybe, they would increasingly see her as the human being she was. The thawing of the kingdom and the creation of the ice-rink had gone a long way towards dispelling the populace's fears, but there had still been lingering doubts. And so Elsa would calmly, quietly walk through the village streets, a pair of guards at her side, observing the hustle and bustle of her subjects. They would bow, would offer their respects, and she would exchange greetings, hear requests. It had taken a lot out of her at first, and she had listened far more than she had talked. She still spent more time listening than speaking, but she was no longer so nervous. Indeed, she was now comfortable enough that for the last three or four times, she had gone without any guards at all. And this time, she was going to do the same.

As she stepped through the gates and onto the bridge, Elsa took a deep breath. She knew the people's fears had essentially dissipated, that she had long since come to enjoy the excursions. But none of that changed the fact that interaction with others took a lot of her energy.

The curse of introversion…but I can live with it. It won't ever go away.

At the outskirts of the village, she paused. The townsfolk were going about their business as usual; they hadn't noticed her yet.

You've done this before, Elsa. Just go.

As she started to walk once more, she heard a voice off to her left say: "Why aren't you in your ice-dress?"

Elsa turned to see a boy of about five years of age standing there, observing her with keen eyes. She looked her deep blue garments up and down, and then looked back at the boy.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Endre," he said. "But you know that, because we've met before."

Slowly, Elsa knelt down and gestured for the boy to come closer. "Endre," she said, "I don't always have a perfect memory. I have a lot of subjects. But I'll try to remember your name this time."

"Okay," Endre replied, sounding as though he only half-believed the queen's promise. "But why aren't you wearing your ice dress?"

He's a little too pushy. I guess there's a price to pay for what I do here. But no- he can learn. What a blessing is patience, that I can have it.

"The ice dress is for ceremonial purposes," Elsa said. "Besides, it'd get boring if I wore the same clothes every day."

"I wear the same clothes every day," said Endre. He glanced at his shirt sleeves. "Well, most days."

Elsa smiled. "Truthfully, so do I. But I'm still saving the ice dress for ceremonial purposes." She stood up. "I need to keep going now," she said. "You go and have a good day."

Endre turned to go.

"And one more thing," Elsa added. "Don't forget to address me as 'your majesty'."

Endre's face reddened. "Sorry, your majesty," he said.

"You'll learn, in time," said Elsa. "Now go, have a good day."

When Elsa had finished her walk and was passing by the same spot again, she overheard voices from off to her left.

"She only wears it for ceremonial purposes," Endre was saying, "but I think she should wear it every day."

"You can't tell the queen what to do," another voices, a girl's, said.

Elsa turned. The two children had not noticed her. Quickly, she summoned two snowballs and flung them at the girl.

"Hey!" the girl cried. "Don't throw snow at me, Endre."

"But I didn't," Endre protested. "Besides, its summer. There's no snow in summer."

"Oh," the girl said. "You're right."

"Not entirely," said Elsa, stepping into the children's line of vision. "There's my snow."

A small flurry materialized in front of the children.

"See if you can catch that," she said.

The two children held out their hands.

"On your tongues," she added.

She continued on her way, leaving Endre and his friend desperately trying to follow her instructions.

That was fun. Now, back to paperwork.