The room went completely silent, except for the sound of freezing stone. I cracked open one of my eyes and saw an amazing sight. Elsa's hands were practically glowing with power, and there was a thick sheet of ice covering the room.
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Damn, she was PISSED.
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"What. Did. You. Say?"
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Oh, yeah. Someone's not going to be looking good after this.
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"W...we...we...Well," stuttered the advisor, "it's just a little rumor, and..."
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And she just completely lost it here.
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"What do you mean, that it's just a LITTLE FUCKING RUMOR?"
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I had never seen Elsa lose her shit like this before. And she had never said that word. Ever.
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"I... I didn't mean to upset you, your majesty."
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"Ok," Elsa took in a deep breath, "Ok. I lost my cool. I won't do anything right now; I need some time to think this over. Since it’s almost noon, I'll call this meeting over. Take a break, and think of some good items to bring up during our next meeting. And make sure Anna never, and I mean NEVER, hears about what happened in here. Got it?"
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Everyone mumbled their acknowledgment.
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"Good." Elsa stated and stood up.
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At that moment, I decided that I was going to "wake up". I yawned and stretched, and everyone decided to look directly at me.
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I opened up both my eyes and when I noticed everyone staring at me, I froze. "What?" I mumbled, "What did I miss?"
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Elsa came over to me, and was reaching out to put her hand on my shoulder, when she suddenly stopped. It looked like she was struggling to decide whether to touch me or not.
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"Is everything alright?" I asked.
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She blinked and snapped out of her trance. "Yeah, everything's ok." She touched my shoulder. "You just fell asleep. Nothing really happened. Anyway, we're just going for lunch. The rest of the day is free, so go do something."
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"Thanks, Elsa," I said, as I hugged her and ran off.
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As soon as I was out of the room, I headed straight for the market outside of the castle. I needed the fresh air, and it would help me think. As I left, I could feel eyes watching me, not just from the guards at the gate, but from some of the people in front of the castle, as well.
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This apparently wasn't some "little rumor".
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I headed off to Kristoff's stand, where I was greeted with mumbles and glares. Kristoff wasn't back from his run, but he should be back soon. In the meantime, I had to deal with the general population wondering whether I was screwing our kingdom or my sister.
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I heard the reindeer before I saw it. Sven was hauling his normal amount of ice and Kristoff for the shack.
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"Ok, everyone. Your ice is here." Kristoff boomed from the sled.
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Everyone rushed to the sled, paying Kristoff and leaving with their ice, though most of them didn't go far.
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I grabbed a carrot out of my bag as I headed over to Sven and Kristoff.
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Kristoff turned and spotted me, grinning a huge smile. "Hey, Anna," he shouted as he picked me up and kissed me.
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A collective gasp came from the crowd behind us, as they watched us kiss. Either from such an abrupt display of affection or they were appalled that I was cheating on the queen.
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Kristoff pretended not to notice them, as he had much to tell me.
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"Anyway, business is booming; I haven't had such a great sale in years. Olaf was headed down to see my family just a few minutes ago, and it looks like everything's going to be fine here in the kingdom. I'm starving. You want to get something to eat? My treat."
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He kept talking as we waded through the crowd. Sven was behind us, happily munching on the carrot that I had brought him. We sat by the fountain and ate our lunch and talked for a while more. I stood up when I saw the guard start walking towards us.
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"Guards keep you on a short leash, I see," he chuckled.
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"Don't make me throw you in the dungeon," I shot back.
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"Last I heard, your sister made a gaping hole in it, but you could put me in chains, that might make me stay," he said, and then grinned an evil smile, "Or I could be held in your room."
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We bantered back and forth like this until the guard came behind me and cleared his throat, signaling that he needed me.
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"The queen requests your attention on matters of the kingdom. She said that you should come right away," he grunted.
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"Fine, I'll be right there. By Kris." I waved as I was walking back towards the castle.
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"Bye, Anna. I look forward to my punishment!"
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As I flipped him off, I thought about what my life could be like if he was my husband. I feel like we would be the kind of couple who would be fooling each other all the time, then kiss and have sex right after.
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After that, I wondered what it would be like to not have crazy scenarios running through my head all the time.
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Elsa was waiting for me at the front gate, ready to take me into the conference room.
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"Thank you, George. We will be fine from here." Elsa said, and I wondered how she knew everyone's name.
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As George grunted his thanks, Elsa took my hand and led me not into the conference room, but into a private meeting room that I had never seen before.
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"Wow. This looks a ton better than the conference room," I commented, and it was. There were bookcases filled with booked on politics, history, and everything else. The bookcases were made of a lush red oak wood that I had only seen high up in the mountains. The table was made of a carved quartz that reflected the flickering candlelight.
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Elsa smiled. "Yeah. I did some exploring after the coronation. It seems like this has been the king's private office since the palace was built. I even found a journal that has all of the notes that are important for business between kingdoms. It appears that it might have been important in our conundrum, and that's what I called you here for.
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"Apparently Hans' family feels "terrible" about what Hans did, and they want to make it up to you by allowing you to marry the next in line in their family. I know what you will say, but I have to hear you say it to make it official."
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My eyes narrowed. "Tell them that they can take their proposition and shove it up their..."
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"I got it," Elsa smiled, "I just wanted to let you know now instead of getting an angry prince and no clue on what's happening. Anyway," Elsa sat down in a padded chair, "just pop on in any time you want. You might want to; these books aren't half bad, and some of them have dad's notes in them."
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Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and an advisor peeked in. "We're all here, if you want to begin."
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"Thank you, Sebastian. I'll be there is a minute."
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"Seriously, how do you know everybody's name? And what are you doing?"
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"It's a queenly trait," she smiled, but then avoided my gaze, "and it's a diplomatic relations meeting. Since you were with me in the other meeting, I won't make you come to this one."
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She could swindle a con man, and be cooler than ice, but she couldn't lie to her own sister without obviously showing it, but I had to play cool, too.
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"Ok, then. I'll be exploring the castle," I called out to her as I walked through the hallway.
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As soon as I was out of sight, I looked back to see if she was headed for the conference room. As soon as she turned the corner, I looked for a way to follow her without giving myself away.
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'There must be some way for me to follow her. I mean, don't all old castles have secret tunnels or something?' I thought to myself. Then an idea came to me.
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After finding a stool, I managed to climb up and into the ventilation system. I crawled around, trying to get a feeling for the small tight space, and then headed off towards the conference room vent. When I got there, the meeting was just starting. My sister was at the front of the table addressing notes that were being handed to her.
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"Alright. There is only one topic for this meeting," Elsa called, "and that is to address the rumors that are rolling through my kingdom. The only one that we will address is the rumor that my sister and I are involved in a relationship. Can anyone tell me where this came from?"
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"Yes. It apparently started as a misrepresentation of the curse of the frozen heart. Apparently some people took it to mean that "true love" meant the person that you were supposed to marry. When people heard that you reversed it, apparently people got startled, and the rumor formed."
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"Is there any way that we can change the public's opinion on the matter?"
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"Not at this point in time. The public is dead set that you two are "getting it on". We tried changing the rumor, and even spreading a different rumor; people just won't believe it. Or they don't want to."
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Elsa sighed. "Well, there might not be much we can do, but we can do whatever there is. Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do?"
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"Well," the advisor mused, "we could set up a punishment. Maybe we could put it as slander of royalty."
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"That would work," another advisor piped up, "but only to a certain extent. The rumors would stop being heard, but not felt. Plus that would decrease the populous' opinion of you. It might even make people think that you're trying to hide something."
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"I think you're both right," Elsa admitted, "but the most effective, and easiest thing to do, in my opinion, is to do nothing."
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The advisors had mixed opinions about this idea. Some were shocked, some were angry, and others were somewhere between the two.
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Before the cacophony could reach a breaking point, Elsa held up her hands. "Hear me out. If we wait, Elsa will marry, most likely to Kristoff, but she will still marry. The rumors will stop after that happens. They would never tell a rumor straight to her face, or to anyone who is directly around her. Anyway, that is what we're going to do. It's around dinner now, so everyone is off for the rest of the day."
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As everyone filed out of the room, I crawled back to where I got in the vent. I erased all evidence that I left. I wandered down to the kitchen to see how the cooks were doing. The cooks were my best friends when I was locked in the castle. When I got to the kitchen, the cooks flaunted over me, asking me to try all sorts of dishes. They were all spectacular, as usual, so I went to the dining room to see who was there. All the suitors and my sister were already seated at the table, so I took my seat next to my sister and waited for the feast to begin.
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They brought out vegetable skewers for an appetizer, then a bowl of potato and lamb soup. Next, they had a roast turkey plate, venison, brisket, and brown sugar glazed pineapple that the cooks had grilled. But the desserts were the pride of the meal: a peach cobbler, a three layer cake with intricate designs on side, and for me: a molten chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream à la mode. I had tasted most of the meal, but the lava cake was a complete surprise. The meal was a hit with everyone. Even Elsa, who almost never indulged, had to have a bite of my cake.
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I sat and watched the entertainers after the meal for a while, as I couldn't move after I had stuffed myself. When I had summoned the energy to make myself get up, I started the ascent up the stairs. As I was about to go into my room and flop down on the bed, I heard my sister's voice coming from the room across the hall.
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As I wandered over to her door, the voice continued to talk. It sounded like she was talking to herself, or giving herself a pep talk. I put my ear to the door and listened to my sister ranting.
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"It isn't as bad as you think. At least she won't know that they think that we're screwing."
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Ah, it wasn't anything bad. It was just my sister looking out for my innocence. I was about to go back to my own room when I heard her continue speaking.
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"You can't feel like that towards her."
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Um, what?
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"She has her heart set on Kristoff. She doesn't love you like you do. And anyway, if she did love you, people would find out, and it would be bad. But I still wish I could feel her warm body." I heard her sigh. "But it will never be. I should probably go to bed now. We have a long week coming up, and I have to be on my best game."291Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKn9H8HEUNH
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I quietly snuck back to my own room, thinking about what I just heard, and sat down on my bed. When I played back the conversation, I couldn't really believe it. I always thought that she would marry a rich man from another kingdom. I never thought that she would want to love someone as unspectacular as me. I certainly never thought that she would love me, period! As I thought about all of this, I started to drift slowly off to sleep, and my mind for the rest of the night was filled with dreams of me and Elsa.291Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6eew0ZFGF
