Meet the Parents
Elsa was outside walking through the garden. That morning she had been learning how to ride horses with Anna, as her teacher. Being isolated in her own room for so long growing up, she never got the chance to learn how. Horses, the queen realized, were much larger than she imagined. But after an hour or so, she had gotten the hang of it. Nothing smaller than Marshmallow could intimidate her.
Marshmallow was another snowman she had created, along with Olaf. The difference between the two snowmen was that Olaf was created from love and memories, while Marshmallow was created from the desire to be alone. However since Elsa came over her fear, Marshmallow’s temper seemed to come around as well. He became very gentle and thoughtful actually, though he liked to be by himself most of the time. Olaf had coined the name Marshmallow originally, to make fun of the big giant. However as time passed, the name suited his personality. Elsa visited the giant on some occasions, making sure he wasn’t neglected. But every single time she checked up on him living on the North Mountain, he was perfectly happy. It made sense, being it was his natural desire to be alone.
And she was also alone, walking off her anxiety. Today was the day of the ball! Never in her life had she ever been excited for a ball, but tonight was different. It was the day she would meet somebody just like her. Of course, according to the king and queen of Aldyn, they would be meeting on desperate circumstances. But her happiness overtook the negativity of the situation. Anna of course, always was excited for these kind of things. Especially tonight’s party, as it was to celebrate her and Kristoff’s wedding. In just a few days she would be wed to him.
Lately her sister had been going through very high ups and low downs. Her moods would suddenly swing in an instant, one second she would be happy and the next uptight. It was probably due to pent up nerves. The queen could not relate to what her sister was feeling. Still, Elsa had tried asking her about it, but Anna just brushed it off. She was not the type to pressure her to talk about anything. Where Anna was acting a bit jumpy those days, Kristoff was acting like any normal man before his own wedding. A little goofier, a little clumsier, a little more distracted. He was a good man, especially for Anna. Elsa definitely respected him also for waiting to propose, unlike Anna’s last “fiancé” Hans. Many men would have desired her sister’s hand for the same reasons Hans did; power, wealth, control, a whole kingdom. But Kristoff could take or leave that sort of thing. It was not what he cared about most. He was also a hard worker, and if anything did ever happen to Elsa, she could trust both him and Anna to take care of the kingdom.
She saw the regular duck couple swimming down the stream, followed by their baby ducklings. Even the ducks had someone special, but not her.
What a stupidly sappy thing to think, Elsa said to herself. Despite it all, the ducklings were cute to watch, and made Elsa smile. Then she heard a bell ring from the courtyard.
Was it already noon? She looked down at her riding dress she was wearing from earlier. Elsa realized needed to go back to the castle fast to change, and look presentable for the arriving guests. The queen had already made ready rooms in the guest hallway, and made sure everything was in order. At a brisk pace, Elsa hurried back to the castle.
When the queen got back, she was bombarded with staff asking for advice. Which decorations looked the best around the ballroom, were the cake toppings appropriate, what time they should open the doors to the castle, and so on. They worked very efficiently and quickly. Once she had answered every question, she left for her room upstairs to put on more appropriate clothes.
The grandfather clock said it was about 1 PM. Looking out her window, there were a few people outside socializing amongst themselves. A warm breeze came in the colder room. Elsa walked over to her wardrobe, and opened its doors. She pulled out one of her light blue ice dresses. The queen did not wear it all the time, only on more special and formal occasions. It was designed with northern Arendelle prints around the collar, and the sleeves. To her the dress itself was special. It was a symbol of freedom and accepting herself. Whenever Elsa wore it, she felt like she was representing her true self along with those things. Elsa changed out of her casual outfit, and into the blue gown. She fixed her hair into a side braid, her favorite hairstyle she always sported, and looked into the full length mirror.
There stood a queen, who was feared and consumed by fear, but came out strong. She was afraid to love her sister, but in the end it was her sister Anna who taught her how to love. Her powers were wild, and unsafe, but then she learned how to fully control them. Elsa hoped she could help the princess of Aldyn the same way, and be someone for her to lean on. The person Elsa herself needed when growing up. Maybe she was thinking way too ahead of herself.
A knock at the door, and then a familiar voice.
“Hey Elsa, can I come in?” It was Anna.
“Of course, I’m just getting ready for tonight.”
Anna walked into Elsa’s room, and saw her sister turn around.
“Wow, you look gorgeous!”
“Thank you, but I think you take the cake for this one.”
“I hope its white cake!”
“It is, with raspberry filling inside!”
Both of the girls savored the thought of all the good food and sweets to eat. But Elsa meant it, Anna looked absolutely beautiful. She was wearing a lavender gown, with lace on the sleeves. Around her neck was a white and delicate pearl necklace. In her up do, she somehow incorporated small silver chains into her braids.
“I wanted to give you something for tonight,” Anna said. “While in the attic looking for your bike, I found a box of mom’s special jewelry. There was a pretty silver diamond necklace I found, and thought it would look pretty on you.”
Anna took out from her pocket a very stunning necklace, with little diamonds surrounding a bigger diamond center. The center diamond was roughly five centimeters wide, ten centimeters tall and had a teardrop cut. It looked like it was a very valuable necklace. Elsa took it from Anna’s hand, and clasped it on around her neck.
“I know that you and Mom were not very close, but she did love us, especially you. She worried about you a lot, but not in a-,” Anna was cut off, before she rambled on.
“Thank you, that means a lot to me. If Mom and Dad were still alive, I know they would have been proud of us today.”
The two sisters hugged each other tightly. Though their parents were not around anymore, especially during this time in Anna’s life, they still had each other. They were sisters, and Kristoff would soon become another member of their family.
“And I also wanted to give you this.”
“Wow, you are sure giving me a lot of presents today Anna. I should be the one giving you the gifts!”
“No it’s actually not a gift, it belongs to you. The other day when Kristoff was coming back from delivering ice, he ran into Marshmallow near the North Mountain. Apparently Marshmallow was coming all the way down to the castle, because he found this.”
It was Elsa’s tiara that she had thrown away, right after running away to the North Mountain herself. She did so, never thinking she would come back to Arendelle. After her return to the throne, she had slowly regretted losing the royal heirloom which was passed down for centuries. But now by a giant stroke of luck, or fate, it was found.
“Think that was the same snowman that kicked me and Kristoff out of your old castle. He’s not a meanie, he’s actually a big sweetheart. Who knew he was so thoughtful, he must really care about you.”
“I don’t know what to say, I never thought I would see it again. I thought it was long gone.”
“Well, you have Marshmallow and Kristoff to thank!” Anna put the old tiara on top of the queen’s head.
“Now look in the mirror.”
Elsa looked again into the full body mirror, this time with the necklace and crown. The tiara that she had discarded in the past, somehow completed her. It was like she fully became queen again at that very moment.
“You look like a true queen.”
“I’ll never be the queen to you, I’ll always be just your sister.”
“Alright already with the heartfelt comments!” Her sister laughed. “Snow Queen of Arendelle, with the crown on your head, you look gracious and strong and fair.” Anna did a little dance with some dramatic hand motions.
“Confident and bright, though cold just a slight -,”
“Oh Anna.”
“Your beauty and compassion is rare.” She twirled the queen around in a dance, as if the ball had already begun.
Before they knew it another hour and a half had passed by, while Anna was teaching her sister how to dance. Elsa was not much of a dancer. She mostly, if not all the time, declined dancing with anyone. To the men she turned down, she told a white lie that she did not have the best footing. But by the next time she checked the clock, Elsa had gotten the hang of a few basic steps.
A guard knocked on Elsa’s door, and both of the girls stood up straight and smoothed out their dresses.
“My Queen, Aldyn is here, and we have shown them to the guest rooms.”
Goodness why could they have not let me know sooner, Elsa thought. Instead she said, “Thank you, I will be down there at once.” Elsa turned to her sister. Her heart beat fast from nervousness. “Come on Anna, let’s go meet our guests.”
Elsa’s stomach was quenched up, but did not show her feelings while walking down the stairs. She held her head high and was determined to look as queen-like as she possibly could, despite her inner excitement. The two girls came to the guest hall, and the sentry guard motioned to the first few rooms.
This was it.
She raised her hand to knock, but paused.
This was it. Just knock already. That's what Olaf simply would say at least.
Elsa turned to Anna, who gave her a half smile saying she knew what she was thinking. The queen knocked. After a few moments, the door opened. There stood a man in a royal suit with a crown on his head. He was fair skinned, had a great beard, and stood at least six foot. This man had to be the king.
“Hello, you must be King…”
“Viktor,” The king said gesturing to shake hands with the two sisters. “Viktor, king of Aldyn. And you must be Queen Elsa of Arendelle.”
“Indeed I am, you can just call me Elsa. And this is my sister Anna.”
“Honey who’s at the door?” Another voice was heard from inside the room.
“The Queen and Princess of Arendelle!”
A woman wearing a crown on her head joined the king, her husband. “Please forgive me, I was just unpacking a few dresses. I’m Viktor’s wife, Charlotte. Pleasure to meet you both.”
The queen of Aldyn shook Elsa and Anna’s hands one at a time, and made eye contact with them both. Elsa picked up right off the bat that Viktor’s wife was a very social person.
“And you as well. Did you travel safely?”
“Oh yes,” said the queen. “It’s summer of course, so there was no snow in the passes. The mountains around Arendelle are so lovely. It was a very scenic trip, wasn’t it?” She nudged her husband’s arm, hinting for him to make talk.
The king grunted and cleared his throat, “Quite so indeed. We encountered no bandits or thieves, which made the trip much faster. On the outskirts of our kingdom, there have been rising occurrences of thievery.”
“Oh Viktor! That’s all you’ve been thinking of these days is crime, and to bring it up now…,” Charlotte turned to Elsa. “Please forgive my husband, he’s been very wrapped up in many affairs lately.”
“No forgiveness needed,” said Anna smiling. “It’s not easy work ruling an entire kingdom. I see that from Elsa first hand!”
That was true. It seemed like all the time when Elsa was working, Anna wanted to spend time with her older sister. The younger girl was someone who liked being entertained, and not being bored. So she would not have to shoo her away, Elsa let Anna help with her queen duties around the castle.
“Well, you both are very kind for letting us stay here for a few days,” Charlotte replied.
“Only a few days?” Elsa said a bit confused.
“Yes, sorry we did not let you know sooner. There have been extra matters needed to be taken care of lately, so Viktor and I will be leaving after your celebration Anna. Our son is not here with us, rather he chose to stay behind to watch over Aldyn. He is the next successor after all. Our daughter is staying in the room across from ours. Right now she is refusing to come out of her room, that stubborn girl. She should at least show respect and say hi, after all the effort we’ve put in for her.”
“Oh no it’s quite alright,” said Elsa. “You just arrived here from a very long trip, and are all probably exhausted. Please, make yourselves at home here.”
“Thank you very much for your hospitality, we certainly appreciate it especially in these circumstances,” said the king.
The four of them said a few more words back and forth, before Elsa and Anna left the king and queen to rest up before the party.
As Anna and Elsa were walking back upstairs, out of anyone’s earshot, Anna said to Elsa, “The queen seemed kind of a nag, don’t you think? A bit over-dramatic in my opinion.”
“Anna! That is not how we should speak about our guests,” there was shock, but a tone of sarcasm in her voice. The queen of Aldyn did seem like she overpowered her husband in conversation, and perhaps a bit of a badger towards her daughter. They did not even introduce them their daughter’s name, who was the whole reason of them staying at the castle. The king and queen did not seem like rude people, though maybe just a bit distracted and tired.
“Hey I’m going to go and check on Kristoff,” Anna said all of a sudden. “I just remembered, I was going to bring over his jacket for tonight. But then I got distracted giving you the necklace and having fun. Whoops!”
Elsa laughed. “You better hurry then!”
“I’ll see you later tonight Elsa!”
“See you later! And meet me in the main hall this evening!” Anna was already down the hall when she smiled at her sister.
To her disappointment, she had not met this princess, the girl who could control heat and flame. But later tonight, she would finally meet her.