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In the Light of Day: A Frozen Epic	By : GeorgeGlass Category: +1 through F > Frozen Views: 21531 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Frozen or its characters. I made no money from writing this story. I am completely divided about whether Elsa or Anna is hotter.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
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Chapter 9: The Despondent Prince

As usual, Elsa awoke at first light, yawning and stretching as the pink dawn began to peek through her chamber window. In the quiet, she could just hear Anna snoring two rooms away. The sound made her smile.

Her thoughts turned to the day ahead, and her smile faded. Not because of her regular duties—her Minister of the Interior had come up with an elegant solution to a water-rights dispute between two provinces, and Elsa was looking forward to discussing it with the regional lords this afternoon. But today she would have one-to-one sessions with three more of the princes: the incomprehensible Varek, the boorish Hjalmar, and, to cap things off, the infuriating Rajiv.

For the half-dozenth time, she considered calling the whole affair off. But she knew she couldn’t. It would be an insult to the seven royal families who had sent their sons for consideration. Worse, it would feel like quitting. Even though continuing seemed pointless.

Elsa got out of bed. Then, acting on impulse, she crept through the sitting room she shared with Anna, into Anna’s bedroom, and up to her bedside.

Anna lay on her back, mouth open, her red hair a crazy tangle around her head. And suddenly Elsa found herself leaning down and gently kissing her sister on the forehead.

There was a break in Anna’s snoring. Before the princess could awaken, Elsa hurried quietly away.

***

Kristoff drove his fully laden ice wagon up the stone-paved road toward the castle’s rear gate to make his regular semiweekly ice delivery. Sven, for about the dozenth time that morning, snorted irritably at the weight he was having to pull. The reindeer’s hormonal moodiness had clearly not abated.

“I know, buddy,” the ice-man said, putting a hand to his temple. “It’s not the best morning for me, either. And to think, yesterday I woke up wishing I had a hangover.”

Approaching the castle's main service entrance, Kristoff saw the manservant Kai waiting at the door, flanked by the two door guards. When the servant caught sight of the approaching wagon, he disappeared into the castle, and moments later, a pair of the castle’s porters appeared with trolleys to transport Kristoff’s frozen cargo to the castle's ice cellar as it was unloaded.

This task was nearly finished when Kai reappeared—with, to Kristoff's surprise, Baron Herringholtz, wearing his trademark red velvet jacket.

“Ah, Ice Master Bjorgman,” the baron said, his long nose pointing at Kristoff like an accusing finger. “I understand you had quite the evening with the princes' attendants last night.”

“Look,” the somewhat bleary-eyed Kristoff replied, “if this is about ditching out of the ball…or the sword thing...or Hamish puking in Lady Ingeborg's flowerbed on the ride back-”

“There had been plans,” Herringholtz interrupted, “to take the princes on an evening cruise of the harbor.”

“Oh, yeah,” Kristoff said, “cram those guys together on a boat for a few hours. That'll end well.”

“It would seem that the princes are similarly dismissive of the idea,” Herringholtz replied nasally. “They have asked that you plan the evening's activity instead.”

“What? Really” Kristoff blurted. “Well, I...I guess I could do that. What evening are we talking about?”

“This evening.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I am not known for my drollness, Mr. Bjorgman,” Herringholtz said. Then, lifting a hand to indicate Kai, the baron continued, “This man will ensure that you are provided with any assistance or resources you may require.”

“What about you?” Kristoff asked.

Although it seemed to pain him to do so, the baron replied, “I believe this endeavor will more likely succeed without my participation. So I shall now take my constitutional. Good day, Ice Master.”

Kristoff, surprised and lost in thought, only barely noticed two guards emerge from the service entrance and follow Herringholtz at a distance as the baron walked briskly up the street.

***

Olaf hummed to himself as he ambled through the forest. The late-morning sun was streaming through a rare break in the clouds and filtering through the green pine needles above, illuminating the layer of brown ones below.

The snowman was heading in the direction of the castle, hoping to meet some more of Queen Elsa’s fascinating foreign visitors. After encountering Rajiv, Prince of Headstands, and that nice little Prince Hyper-Patio two days earlier, Olaf had managed to introduce himself to a couple more of the princes. Admittedly, these introductions hadn’t gone quite as well: The prince who wore a skirt, whom Olaf had encountered in a meadow, had shouted at the snowman for ruining his shot at an eight-point buck (whatever that was; all Olaf had seen was a big deer running off into the woods). And when Olaf found the prince with the dark eyebrows and fur hat and tapped him on the shoulder to say hello, the man had spun around, shouted something unintelligible, and beheaded Olaf with his sword. But between low tree branches and startled woodsmen, Olaf got beheaded two or three times a week on average, so the incident had done nothing to dampen his enthusiasm.

Olaf heard the clopping of horse-hooves from the road several yards away. His already buoyant mood was further heightened when he saw who the horse’s rider was.

“Anna!” he shouted, running toward her as fast as his short legs and the uneven forest floor would allow. Bursting out of the trees and onto the road, he cried, “Hi, Anna! How are-”

Olaf stopped in his tracks when he saw the state the Princess was in. Her red hair was thoroughly mussed, and she was covered in a layer of fine yellow dust, with thicker smears of it here and there on her black skirt, her green vest, and her face.

“Sheesh, what happened to you?” Olaf asked. Then, pulling his carrot-nose off his face, he added, “And why do you smell like old bird’s nest?”

“I was at the sulfur mines,” Anna grumbled.

“Were you in the sulfur mines?”

“I was reading something printed on the side of a barrel, and the barrel was on top of six other barrels, and the barrels were in the back of a wagon, and apparently nobody over there knows that you’re supposed to chock the wheels of a loaded wagon when it’s parked!” After a gasping breath, Anna added, “They should all have to date an ice-man for a while.”

She looked up at the position of the sun in the sky and continued, “Anyway, I need to get back to the castle and change.”

“Oooh, I’m headed that way, too!” Olaf said excitedly. “Can I have a ride?”

“Sure, hop on,” Anna replied, patting the space behind her on the horse’s back. “Just make sure to stay on the saddle blanket, or the cold might-”

But Olaf was already leaping onto the back of the horse. As he landed, his snowy legs slapped against the horse’s flanks, and the beast reared up violently, dumping both Olaf and Anna off its back and onto the road. Anna landed squarely on top of Olaf, his snow-soft body cushioning her landing. Somewhat.

“-spook the horse,” Anna groaned.

***

Early that afternoon, Elsa sat down in the parlor, where she had had her interview with Prince Varek only a few hours earlier. The interviews were supposed to be one-to-one, but Varek couldn’t make himself understood without Popov there to interpret. Even with the attendant’s help, the hour had seemed like two.

Now it was Prince Hjalmar’s turn. Gerda, visibly struggling not to look aghast, showed the big, unkempt, helmeted Nordlander into the parlor, then exited and closed the door behind her.

“Please, sit,” Elsa said, indicating a chair. The man sat down and removed his helmet, his long, tousled blonde hair spilling around his face.

“I owe you an apology,” the prince said.

Elsa’s eyes widened slightly. She didn’t know what she had expected this man to say, but it wasn’t that. Not least because it was a complete sentence.

“I have been acting badly,” Hjalmar continued. “On purpose.”

“Why?” Elsa said, her brow furrowing.

“I didn’t want you to choose me,” the man confessed. “I’m…involved…with someone else. Someone my father and mother don’t approve of.”

Elsa had to suppress a look of curiosity as she said, “May I ask why they don’t approve?”

Possibilities scrolled through her mind. The King and Queen of Nordland were notably forward-thinking, so it seemed unlikely that Hjalmar’s forbidden love was a commoner, or a member of some minority religious faith, or a man. The daughter of an enemy, perhaps?

“She’s a frost giant,” Hjalmar replied.

“O- Oh,” Elsa said, astonished. “But…I thought frost giants lived far to the north, away from human lands.”

“They do,” Hjalmar said. “But once in a while, they come down into Nordland’s northern provinces, usually looking for sheep or cows to eat.

“Two months ago, word came to the palace that sheep were being slaughtered up in Frystmark Province. My father thought that slaying a giant would be a good way for me to redeem myself after being expelled from the Royal Marines, so he sent me to deal with it.

“Back home, a lot of people think I’m a coward—that my fainting spells are caused by fear, or that I fake them to get out of dangerous duty. So I was glad to have a chance to prove them wrong. I went up to Frystmark, ready to do battle with a massive monster and come back with its head…or not at all.

“But she wasn’t massive, and she wasn’t a monster. She had the blue skin and black hair they tell of in the tales, but she was barely more than ten feet tall—a dwarf by her people’s standards. And when I found her, she wasn’t terrorizing a village or ripping people limb from limb; she was just sitting quietly in a meadow, eating a sheep, and I could see that she had snapped its neck cleanly so that it wouldn’t suffer. And the next thing I knew, I was sitting next to her on a snowbank, and we were just…talking.

“It was all a misunderstanding. The frost giants always fence in their grazing lands, so when Gnissa—that’s her name—saw sheep wandering in the open, she thought they were wild, and free for the taking. She was mortified when I told her they belonged to someone.

Hjalmar took a breath. “That was when I started to realize how special Gnissa was. Not because she was different from other frost giants. It was because, when I listened to her speak, I realized that…that I never wanted to live another day without hearing her voice. Or seeing her face. Or feeling her gentle hand around mine.”

The big prince paused, looking at Elsa.

“Your Highness, are you…all right? I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Only then did Elsa feel the single tear that was sliding down her cheek. She wiped it away, not taking her eyes off of Hjalmar for a second.

“Keep going,” she said. “Please. What did you do then?”

“I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t just take her to the local village and explain things; the town watches in Frystmark have standing orders to shoot frost giants on sight. And I knew that seeing anyone attack Gnissa would make me furious, and then she would have to fend for herself while I lay passed out in the snow.

“So I lied. I told the local council that I was still looking for the giant, when I was secretly going to meet with her in the forest, every day for weeks. I was the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.

“It couldn’t go on forever, though. We talked about running away, to make a home together in the empty space between the human and frost giant lands. But I knew that wouldn’t work; if I just disappeared, the King and Queen would send troops to find me, or at least my dead body. And then Gnissa would be in danger.

“So I went back home alone. And after the courtiers had their chance to scoff at my story and whisper about how I probably hadn’t even tried to find the giant, I went to my mother in private and told her the story.

“I thought she would be sympathetic. But I didn’t know how much she hated the frost giants. And I didn’t expect that even though I’d asked her not to, she would immediately tell my father.

“He was beyond furious. He didn’t tell anyone else—the secret was too shameful—but he wouldn’t let me leave the castle grounds. Until, of course, Baron Herringholtz showed up with the invitation to come here. Then the King was happy to let me go, with Halfdan to keep an eye on me.”

Elsa was literally on the edge of her seat as she asked, “Where is Gnissa now?”

Hjalmar looked down. “Hiding somewhere in the borderlands. She didn’t want to go back to the giant lands, because a lot of frost giants really are as bad as people say. But I begged her not to stay in Frystmark. If my parents heard about any more sightings there, they wouldn’t send me—they’d send a whole army company.”

“But,” Elsa began, “why this charade of being a boor? Why not tell me the truth from the beginning?”

“There was never a chance to talk to you privately until now—not without risking being interrupted. And I was afraid you might not keep my secret if you only heard half the story.

“And it wasn't just because of you. Acting like this keeps everyone away.” Then, looking down, Hjalmar said, “If I had to talk to other people all the time, it would be harder to…to hide my sadness.”

Elsa felt a pang in her chest. She could scarcely believe how much her opinion of Hjalmar had changed in a matter of minutes—so much so that she found herself putting her hand over his. He had been looking down, but now he looked up at her.

“What about Halfdan?” Elsa asked, suddenly self-conscious. “Doesn’t he know you’re not really like this?”

“I only met Halfdan the day before we left for Arendelle,” Hjalmar explained. “He’s been a low-ranking diplomat for years, moving from one foreign post to another, until my parents recalled him a few weeks ago. I think being sent here with me is some kind of punishment—I don’t know for what.”

“I see.”

Taking a deep breath, Hjalmar said, “I- I’m sorry to burden you with this. I know you have a lot to do. I should go.”

“No,” Elsa said, her hand gripping Hjalmar’s. “If you leave now, Halfdan will suspect that something is wrong. Stay.”

Then, taking her hand off the prince’s and looking at him intently, she said, “Tell me more about Gnissa.”

For the first time in the three days she had known him, Elsa saw Hjalmar smile.

“She loves birds,” he began. “She told me of the owls that live in the giant lands, that glide silently through the darkness despite their great size…”

***

It was late afternoon when Anna returned to the castle. After washing off the sulfur and changing clothes, she had returned to the Treasury to look through some more of the trade records—as well as a few other record books she didn’t strictly have permission to see. Now she wanted to talk to her sister about what she had found.

So Anna headed down the main corridor that led to the Queen’s parlor. She knew Elsa would have one of her prince-interviews there in a few minutes, so this would be a good time to catch her.

“Anna, hey!” shouted Hildy as she rushed up to the princess and took her elbow. “I was coming by to drop something off for you, but now I can give it to you in person.”

“Give me what?” Anna asked, even as Hildy pulled an unsealed envelope out of her purse.

“The Duke has drafted me to help him write his memoirs,” Hildy said with an eye-roll, “and while I was digging through his old letters and stuff, I found this one from your mom. She and the Duke were an item for a little while back in their teenage years.”

“Oh, yeah, I think I remember her mentioning that once,” Anna said. “It’s about all I know about her love life before she met my father.”

Handing the envelope to Anna, Hildy continued, “So I thought you ought to have this. The Duke has a bunch more from her—they wrote to each other a lot during the summer they were apart—so I’m sure he won’t miss one. But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to him about it.”

“Okay,” Anna said. “Um, thanks. But right now, I need to-”

“Anna!” a man’s voice shouted from behind her, making the princess turn around.

“Kristoff?” she said. Seeing that the ice-man was in his working clothes, she continued, “What are you doing here? I thought you always made your castle deliveries in the morning.”

“I do,” Kristoff said. “I’ve been here ever since. Oh, hey, Hildy.” The buxom viscountess smiled and wiggled her fingers in a silent hello.

“Herringholtz,” Kristoff went on, “drafted me into planning tonight’s activity for the princes. So I wanted to run my plan by you and the Queen.”

“I was just going to see her, too,” Anna said. “Come on, we can still catch her before-”

“Excuse me, your majesty,” said a deep voice from her left. Anna turned and saw the tall, mustachioed Captain of the Palace Guard standing there.

“May I speak with you a moment?” he asked.

“Give me a minute, guys,” Anna said to Kristoff and Hildy before taking the captain aside.

“You asked my men to keep an eye on Baron Herringholtz,” the man said in a low voice. “So far, they have not seen any obviously suspicious activity. However, this morning, after speaking with the Ice Master, the baron walked out the rear gate, proceeded north up Sill Street to the edge of town, and then entered the forest.”

“Did your men follow?”

“No. They did not believe they could pursue without the baron noticing. However, the baron was seen returning to the castle approximately forty minutes later.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Anna caught sight of her sister emerging from a doorway down the hall.

“Thank you, Captain,” she said hurriedly. “Keep watching the baron. I have to go.”

Anna started after Elsa. Kristoff followed; Hildy had already left.

“Elsa, hey,” Anna said as they caught up to the Queen. “Do you have a minute?”

“I’m afraid not,” Elsa replied. “My interview with Prince Rajiv is at four o’clock.”

Anna glanced at a grandfather clock in the hallway and said, “You’ve still got five minutes.”

“Yes, but I want to get to the parlor before he does. Out of courtesy.”

“Ohhh, I get it,” Anna said. “You want to show that you’re better than him by being more punctual.”

“What?” Elsa said. “That- That would be petty, and immature, and…exactly what I’m doing,” she finished with a sigh.

“It’s fine,” Anna said, trying not to sound frustrated. “We’ll talk to you later.”

Anna and Kristoff sat down in two of the four chairs in the hallway outside the parlor, where attendants and servants sometimes waited during the Queen’s interviews.

“So, for tonight,” Kristoff said, “I’ve been planning a pub crawl.”

“Really?” Anna said skeptically. “Just how much do you think my sister can drink?”

“Don’t worry, all the places I picked have non-alcoholic options. One of the princes is an eight-year-old, after all. But I figured that if the idea is for one of these guys to marry Elsa and move to Arendelle permanently, then they ought to see what life here is like for us commoners, as well as the royals and nobles.”

“That’s…That’s a really good idea,” Anna said.

“So what was it you wanted to talk to the Queen about?”

“There’s something weird going on,” Anna replied. “The sulfur mines are producing as much as they ever have, and so are the pine-pitch factories, but a lot of it isn’t being exported. In fact, I’m not sure where it’s going. Different companies have been buying it up, but from what I saw in some of the Treasury record books, all of those companies were just started sometime in the last year. I need to-”

“Good afternoon,” said a familiar voice.

Anna looked up and saw Ajay, clad in his usual maroon turban, arriving with Prince Rajiv. Anna and Kristoff stood up.

“Good afternoon,” Anna said, curtsying, smiling, and trying not to think about what kind of disaster might be about to go down in the parlor.

Both men bowed in response. Then Ajay showed Rajiv into the parlor and closed the door behind him. The Sundaran captain let out a breath as he came over to sit with Anna and Kristoff.

“Hey, Ajay,” Kristoff said, shaking the man’s hand. “Good to see you. Are you actually supposed to sit here for an hour while they talk?”

“My friend,” Ajay replied, “if this interview lasts an entire hour, I shall be most pleasantly surprised.”

***

Elsa stood up as Rajiv entered, wearing the linen-white uniform he had worn to the Grand Introductions days earlier. She saw Ajay shut the door behind the prince.

“Prince Rajiv,” she said, standing to curtsy. She had tried to keep her tone neutral, but even she could hear the ice in it.

“Your Highness,” the man replied equally coldly as he bowed.

“I wasn't certain you would make an appearance,” Elsa said.

Fire flared up in the prince's eyes. “I am here out of respect for my father's wishes. And common courtesy, which otherwise seems to be in short supply in this room.”

“What?” Elsa said, enraged by the absurdity of the accusation. “You have been nothing but rude since the moment you arrived. I don't know what kind of manners they teach to Sundaran princes, but-”

“I have been rude?” the man said, the volume of his voice rising. “You have been superior, arrogant, and as cold as your kingdom's climate!”

“How dare you-”

“Oh, forgive me, I left out vain! Inviting seven princes to compete for you, as though your hand in marriage were some sort of prize!”

Elsa found herself slowly advancing on Rajiv as she replied, “Oh, and I suppose you think of yourself as the prize! You puffed up, egotistical-”

Elsa felt a chill around her hands and gasped as she looked down and saw a layer of ice growing over her balled fists.

“Look what you're making me do!” she cried, holding up her hands and backing away. “Get back before I- I-”

“Oh, I am happy to get as far away from you as I possibly can!” Rajiv shouted, his face now red with fury. “There is NOTHING that could keep-”

Elsa and Rajiv suddenly cried out in unison as Rajiv’s entire body burst into flames.

END CHAPTER 9
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In the Light of Day: A Frozen Epic