Once Upon A Time Frozen Over: Shards of Secrets (Book One) [COMPLETE]

CHAPTER TWENTY - MAKE A WISH

Arendelle

Six Weeks Earlier

Anna sat at her white, wooden vanity, blankly staring at herself in the oval mirror while she brushed her long, fiery red hair adorned with that white streak she felt never quite belonged.  She glanced up at her calendar for the fourth time that morning.  She knew what day it was, she didn't have to check it again, but she couldn't help herself.  It just didn't feel like her birthday — her eighteenth to be exact.

Birthdays used to be a grand occasion, especially since hers was on the summer solstice.  The entire kingdom would be in celebration, from the great festival, to the extravagant ball and magnificent feast held at the castle.  The castle would be buzzing with all kinds of people from all over the land.  Her favorite part was watching the servants prepare all the glorious different kinds of food.  The smell of pork roast, potatoes, mutton, lutefisk, asparagus, crumb cake, lefse, bread pudding, ice cream, and stacks and stacks of different kinds of chocolates, all combined to create the most intoxicating scent.  Now, all of it was a foggy memory, fading with every passing birthday.

Anna set down her brush on her vanity, placed a pink headband in her hair, and stood up from her pink cushioned stool.  She walked over to the full-length mirror to look herself over and saw the now-grown-woman staring back at her.  She patted out the wrinkles in her shin-length, pink summer dress with yellow and green floral print and pink, chiffon, off-shoulder sleeves.  She walked over to her window, unlatched it, pushed it open, sat down on the window seat and leaned her elbows on the sill with her head resting in her hands.  She looked out of her open window at the locked castle gates and sighed, "Another birthday, all alone," she thought out loud.  Beyond the closed gates, she could see the townspeople celebrating the summer solstice, full of joy and having fun with their loved ones.

She got up from the window seat and grabbed her favorite romance novel off of her nightstand, hugging it close, walked out of her bedroom and into the empty halls of the castle.  She didn't even bother to knock on Elsa's door anymore.  She passed by it without even giving it a glance.  She continued to walk toward one of the picture halls with both arms still hugging her book.  She entered the hall and sat down on the red, gold-embroidered, chaise lounge under the portrait of her, her mother and father, and Elsa.  It was one of her favorite pictures.  It was painted thirteen years ago to the day.  Her fifth birthday was the last she had celebrated with her whole family.  A tear fell down her cheek as she reminisced about that day.

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Her birthday was the only time she had been allowed to go to a ball, since she had always been too young to attend any others.  You had to be a least eight years of age to go to one — but birthdays were an exception.  She closed her eyes and could still see all the people entering the castle, dressed in royal attire, laughing and greeting each other with a smile.  She could still remember all the people gathered around the dining tables, talking and laughing, enjoying their meals, drinking wine and champagne, and her five-year-old self unable to believe it was all for her.  At the end of the feast, everyone would adjourn to the throne room for the ball.  She could still see the flickering candle lights, hear the orchestra playing her favorite piece, and all the people dancing, with the ladies gowns twirling in synchrony like horses on a carousel.  

After hours of dancing, her father would thank everyone for coming and the guests would exit the castle one by one.  She could still remember all the elated guests, still carrying on with their laughter, as the exquisite carriages picked them up and returned them to their homes, where they would enjoy the festival.  She, her father and mother, and Elsa would go enjoy the festival in town and greet their people.  A lot like the ball, there were lights, music, lots of people, and lots and lots of food, but it was even better — if that were even possible.  The festival would end with a spectacular show of fireworks and her father carrying her back home to the castle.  She could still remember her mother and father tucking her and Elsa into their beds, exhausted from the day's events, kiss them good night, leave the room, and her falling asleep happy and content.