Where the Mind Wanders

When the Heart Grows Cold

Based on the movie "Frozen"

The mountains looked so beautiful. Every inch was covered by the soft powdered snow which tumbled in flurries around the smooth corners as the wind danced across the surface. Elsa rested her palms on a portion of her immaculate creation; the railing was smooth and freezing to the touch, just as she liked it.

The longer she looked at the landscape, the more she related to it. The rush she had felt moments ago was beginning to subside. She could feel just how empty she was. The only sight she could see was snow. The only sound she could hear was that bitter wind. The only thing she could feel was cold. The cold had never bothered her, but when combined with her loneliness, it felt like an ever-present sting.

For years she had lived in fear of the ice. For years she was confined to her chambers until she could conceal the ice. For years she was reminded of the pain she could inflict upon others. Never once did anyone ask about her pain. Never once did anyone offer the possibility that she could actually learn to control it rather than conceal it.

She turned away from the mountains and walked back into her castle, slamming the doors behind her. She entered into a large room that could be a ballroom if there were any people who could dance. She tightened her fist. She has control of this power now. She created this. No one helped her to build this. No one had ever helped her. They all tried to constrain her; conceal her true nature. Like a coward, she had ran from them when she was discovered. Why should she fear them? Why should she hide from them? She has more power than they can even imagine. More than she could even imagine herself.

She enters through another set of doors and begins to descend down the cold, hard steps that had been created from her own hands. The chandelier above her sways ever so slightly from the persistent wind. She approaches the front of the castle and the doors open for her. She is greeted by two large creatures made entirely of snow and ice. The creatures were taller than three men and as a large one of the finest ships in her royal fleet.

She would no longer fear her power and she would no longer fear those that tried to repress it, but they would soon learn to fear her. She is the rightful Queen of Arendale and no one was going to get in her way.

~ ~ ~

The last of the whimpering women and children were confined in the safety of their homes. At least he hoped they were safe. He couldn't very well rule a kingdom if there were no faithful subjects to rule. This concern was secondary to his initial feeling of satisfaction, however. This couldn't have gone better. A Queen gone rogue. It was bad enough when she had exploded at the banquet, but now that she had come back to fully threaten the lives of the very people she ruled, it was just too easy. He would kill the Queen to remove the threat that she might want to take back the throne and then he would be a Hero in the eyes of the people.

He turned back to the group of men on horses, staring at him expectantly. He smiled. Too easy, indeed. "Men!" His voice echoed on the frozen cobble stones. "We must stop this eternal winter for the benefit of our wives and our children and the livelihood of all our people!" He walked over to a pile of wood and grabbed a large piece. "What always beats ice?" He stepped forward and dipped the tip of the wood into a nearby fire pit until the flames licked at the bark. He then held a large piece in the air dramatically. "Fire!" The men cheered. "Grab your weapons and prepare for war!"

~ ~ ~

"Come on, Sven!" Kristoff urged. He risked one last glance at the flawless work of art and blinked away a tear from his eye. A castle made entirely of ice. He had never considered such a thing possible and yet there it was, fading from view and slipping from his grasp. It had come as a surprise to them both when they arrived and it was abandoned.