Chapter 1.

I wake up in a forest. I'm confused, my head hurts and I don't remember a thing. I try to pull out some memories, like how I got here, but it's like there was a great wall of darkness preventing me from reaching them.

It's scary. I don't even know who I am.

I try to get up by relying on a tree, and surprisingly I can, though my legs are a little shaky and the ground is slippery with frost. I notice then that I'm wearing a beautiful blue dress. I mean, it's not fancy, but it's nice enough... And it's covered in mud stains and leaves. I try to dust it off, but by doing so I feel a bulge in my pocket, so I put in my hand and get it out, noticing it's a piece of paper that has three short lines:

My name is Elsa.

I'm going to the nearest town.

I can't show this to anyone.

Did I write that? Weird, it seems like I knew I'd lose my memory. Maybe I had an accident and wrote that before fainting? No, it doesn't seem rushed; the letters are too elegant, so it probably was written on a table by someone with all the time in the world. So then... Was it my plan to write that? Why would I do it? And why shouldn't I tell anyone about it? This is too confusing, and it makes my head hurt even more than before.

Maybe I should just trust in myself and follow this paper's instructions.

First off... Go to the nearest town. Okay. I'm on some kind of slope, so the nearest town should be downhill... I hope. Now, since I shouldn't tell anyone about this note, I better leave it here, so no one finds it. Yes, that'll do. I better start walking now; I don't want to spend the night in the forest.

Fortunately it doesn't take long before I arrive to a road, but I have no idea which way I should go. With no other options, I decide to wait for someone to pass by so I can ask for directions. Thankfully only a few minutes later a man and his daughter come by on a horse.

"Hello." I say when they come near, making them stop. "Could you please tell me where the nearest town is?"

" Uhm... Yes, it's over there." He says pointing to the direction from which he came, though he appeared to be confused for a second about my presence. "You'll only have to walk about a mile and you'll find it."

"Oh! Okay. Thank you." I say, glad that I'm this close to my destination. Hopefully when I get there I'll know what am I doing here and why did I lose my memory.

Soon enough I see some wheat fields, and as I pass I notice the few people working in them. They each stop and give me strange looks as I pass, like they're wondering what I'm doing here. Probably not too many people visit their town.

When I finally get to the town I notice it only has like fifteen houses, a church and a small mansion, probably where some noble lives. I continue walking through the main street and end up at a plaza, where there's a market with several food vendors selling their wares. My stomach growls at the delicious smell and I know I probably haven't eaten in a while... Unfortunately all my pockets had was a piece of paper. No money and no goods I could trade. I'll have to beg. A single piece of bread should suffice to placate my hunger.

"Hi." I say coming to the nearest stall, noticing how the woman eyes me with distrust, probably because of my mud stained clothes. "Uhm... You see, I'm traveling and I don't really have any money, I don't know who I am or why am I here, so if you could at least give me a piece of bread so that I..."

"Get out of here." She suddenly snaps, now sounding angry. "I don't serve your kind. I should call the guards to take you."

I'm confused for a moment, but the confusion soon turns into anger when I realize she must be saying that she doesn't deal with outsiders. That's not nice at all.

"Look, I asked nicely, so you don't have any right to treat me like that." I say frowning.

"You shouldn't even be here in the first place!" She yells and a few heads turn to us, making me nervous and apprehensive. Maybe I really shouldn't be there? Maybe I was going to some other town? What if I committed a crime here and I don't remember? I should ask.

"Why shouldn't I?" I ask with genuine curiosity.

"Wait... So you're not a Northerner?" She asks confused.

"A what?" Now all is just weird and my poor head feels like it'll explode.

"Of course she is!" Suddenly an old man near us exclaims. "Just look at her hair and eyes. Those shades aren't natural!" I then try to see my hair, discovering it's in a thick braid... And the color isn't exactly normal. All the people I've seen today have either brown, dark blonde or red hair. Mine is... Almost white. I mean, it's clearly blonde, but too pale to be natural.

And I don't know what my eyes look like, but they probably stand out just as much. Since it looks like the people of this town dislike the ones with my appearance for some reason (Perhaps our kingdoms are at war or something) then I should probably run before they call the guards or do something even more radical.

"Uhm... I should probably go now..." I mumble as I turn around, only to collide a moment later with a huge man that's blocking my escape. I look around and find there are lots of people surrounding me, all looking angry and scared. A dangerous combination. It makes a chill run down my spine as anxiety settles on my body.

I have to escape. I need to escape. I can't get killed by a mob of angry people just because of my looks... but what can I do? I'm only one small woman (at least small compared to these men), not particularly strong or fast, and I have no weapons. I'm gonna die.

I start trembling as I back away from the men, trying to put some space between them and me, but they are too close now, and they are looking at me with murderous expressions. I'm afraid. I just want to disappear.

Suddenly a man lunges at me with a knife raised over his head, ready to pierce my skull with it. Instinctively, I raise my hands even if I know it's useless and I'll soon be dead... However, when no pain comes and hear some gasps, I open my eyes to see the tip of the knife mere inches away from my face. I back away one pace and see something impossible: the arm of the man who attacked me is now encased in thick ice.

It's not even cold here! How can there be ice?

"So she is a Northerner." Someone exclaims.

"She's dangerous." Someone else adds.

"She used her magic on Kurt!" One of them points out enraged.

"We have to kill her!" Someone prompts, to which everyone agree as they all lunge towards me at the same time.

"No!" I scream in fear and distress as I fall to my knees covering my head with my arms in a protecting gesture, feeling at the same time a pulse of power running through my veins. A second later I see I'm now kneeling on snow, and all around me ice spikes were formed in a protecting way, keeping them all away from me.

I sigh in relief, knowing I'm not completely helpless. But my relief is short-lived as I see some guards coming... And pointing their crossbows at me.

"Put your hands on your head. Don't do anything funny." One of them orders, and I just do what he says, not wanting to end up in more trouble. "If I see any more ice, I'll kill you." He threatens as he takes out some cuffs before gesturing one of the guards to break the ice spikes with his sword. He does so and they approach me, making me so nervous I have to use all my will to keep my newly-discovered powers in check as they put on the cuffs.

"These won't resist much." He says frowning. "We have to take her to the capital as soon as possible. There they'll take care of her." He adds darkly, making me shudder. "Knock her out." He orders one of his men, and I barely have time to process his words before I feel a sharp pain on my head and darkness takes me.

I wake up on a dark room, apparently lying on a hard rock floor, with my hands enclosed in some kind of metal containers and strained behind my back. My head hurts terribly, even more than before, and my body feels sore, like I've been in this awkward position for way too long. I try to move, but it only makes the pain worsen, so instead I look around, trying to discern exactly where I am.

There's a small barred window from which the light of the sun enters, and thanks to it I am able to see that this room is empty, except from me, and the metallic door is completely shut… or was.

The door suddenly opens and a burly man dressed in some kind of green uniform enters, stopping when he sees my eyes open, clearly having expected to find me unconscious. He's tall and muscular, hair blonde and eyes brown, and is looking down at me with a mix of contempt and fear. This is bad.

"So you woke up." He says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I guess that was to be expected since you've been here for over three hours."

"W-where am I?" I choke out through my dry throat.

"It's not your place to ask questions!" He snarls and I instantly shut my mouth in fear, but suddenly another voice speaks.

"Kristoff? Is she awake? Let me see her." It's a feminine and gentle voice, coming from the other side of the door. It's like the voice of an angel… I already love it.

"But Anna, she…" He starts to protest, looking back outside the door, however, the woman pushes him aside and enters… and the sight takes my breath away. She's young. I'm not sure if my age (not that I remember how old I am) or even younger, dressed in a fine green dress and with her fiery red hair combed in twin braids, with a strange streak of white hair on one of them. Even in this dim light I can tell she's beautiful and has an astounding body. Definitely the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen.

I blush at the thought, even if I know given the circumstances it's ridiculous.

"Wow." She says impressed, and just then I notice she's also been staring at me. "I-I'd never seen one of them before… She's beautiful!" She exclaims, unconsciously reaching towards me, making me blush even more, but Kristoff stops her.

"She's dangerous." He reminds her. "She hurt a man." I wince, remembering the attack. I hope they won't leave me in prison for that, or worse, execute me!

"A man that was trying to kill her with a knife." The woman, Anna, points out, and I find myself liking her even more now. "And now, if you excuse me, I'd like to hear her story. Please stay on guard at the door." She orders, and for a moment I think he's going to protest, but a glare from Anna makes him nod and do as she said.

"So… I'm Anna. What's your name?" She asks, addressing me for the first time.

"Elsa." I answer timidly as I try to get into a sitting position.

"Elsa." She says my name, then smiling at the sound. "I like it. It's very Arendellian."

"Arendellian?" I ask, wondering what does that mean.

"Yeah, you know, that it's from… Arendelle?" She says, more like a question, but it only confuses me more. Where is Arendelle? "You know, the kingdom you're in?"

"Uhm… I actually don't know where I am, or from where I came from, or… anything really. Just my name." I confess.

"What?!" She exclaims in shock. "You don't remember anything?! Like, at all?!" When I just shake my head no, she runs a hand through her bangs and sighs. "Damn, that must be awful." She gives me a pitying look. "And I'm sorry I can't help you right now, but really I'm only here to hear your version of what happened yesterday. Could you tell me? I promise I'll try to help you later."

"Okay." I say, trusting her as she's the only one who's been treating me civilly since I woke up. Plus she has an innocent air that calms me. And so I tell her everything (except the part about the paper), from the moment I woke up until I was captured. She listens intently and nods her head in a thoughtful way. At the end, she stares at me for a moment and then sighs.

"I'm sorry about what happened. The people are supposed to call the guards when they see a Northerner so they can be brought here, not to try and kill them. So, in the name of my people, I'm sorry." She apologizes.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault." I assure her, but then I notice something more she said. "Wait... Your people?"

"Oh... Yeah. I'm kind of... The Queen." She says awkwardly, like she herself isn't very convinced about that.

"You don't look like a queen." I say without thinking, and regret it a second later when I realize it sounded impolite. "I-I'm sorry. What I meant is that you're too young!" I quickly correct, hoping I didn't offend her.

"That's true." She sighs. "It should have been my mom talking to you here, not me."

"Where is she?" I ask curiously.

"My parents died in a shipwreck a year ago, and with no one else to take the throne, I became queen even if I'm underage." Her gaze saddens considerably when she says this, and I find myself wanting to hug her and whisper comforting words to her ear.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I answer truthfully.

"It's okay..." She says, still looking a little lost in her thoughts. "But now the decision of what to do with you is mine... And I'm afraid I may take the wrong decision." She looks worried and sad, and that scares me. "I mean... I know what I should do, but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it."

"And what should you do?" I ask, fearing the answer.

"I..." She pauses and looks me in the eye, her gaze looking troubled and hesitant for a moment, showing me how insecure she feels, before becoming determined and confident as she nods, apparently having come to a resolution.

Turns out, she decided to let me out of the dungeon (despite Kristoff's protests), give me a room, let me take a bath and change into clean clothes (a beautiful teal and black dress that she never uses and a pair of gloves that apparently will help keep my powers in check), and invited me to have lunch with her.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement, and by the way most of the servants glared at me I assume this isn't exactly standard protocol, but I'm not going to complain. The palace is beautiful, elegant and clean, and has a certain aura that makes me feel at home. The bath was wonderful, and the smells that come from the kitchen are just delicious. I think I'm starting to like Queen Anna even more.

As I enter the dining room, I notice the table is huge. It's probably meant to seat twenty people or more. Anna is seated at the end of it, just watching as the servants place platters covered in delicious looking food in front of her. I hurry up and sit at her side.

"Sorry for being late." I apologize.

"It's okay." She assures me. "I hope you like your room. And that dress... Which looks quite good on you, by the way."

"Thank you." I say blushing. "So far I've found everything quite pleasant, your Majesty."

"Anna." She corrects me. "Please, I don't want you to address me so formally."

"Okay..." I say hesitantly.

"You talk too much like royalty, you know? I wonder if before you came here you were a noble." She muses as she takes one of the sandwiches and bites it. I imitate her, and my eyes widen at the taste. This is delicious.

"I wish I could tell you who I am, or rather who I was." I answer truthfully.

"Me too." She sighs. "Then this all would be easier... Or harder." She adds as an afterthought.

"Why is that?" I ask.

"Because..." She starts, but seems to reconsider it. "I guess I'll have to explain everything to you." She takes a sip from her vase of water before continuing. "Before I was born, about thirty years ago, certain special people started to appear in Arendelle. Some said it was a curse from the gods, others that it was a miracle, but truth to be told, it only caused problems." She pauses, looking at me. "They all had nearly white hair, blue or gray eyes, and equally astounding, pale skin… and could produce ice and snow out of thin air."

"Like me." I say, understanding where this is going. She nods.

"At first my grandfather, the king, didn't do anything about it, treating them like normal citizens, but soon after, the real problems began." I take another bite of my sandwich, listening intently to her story. "They started using their magic to steal, murder and threaten the powerless people, and some began to think of themselves as superior beings… and therefore planned to take down the king, in order to ascend to the throne themselves."

"But they didn't succeed." I point out, hoping to cheer her up a little; she seemed too sad for a moment.

"That's true; they couldn't take the throne because the guards were able to defeat them after a fierce battle… but that didn't stop them from killing my grandfather." She sighs. "I didn't even have the opportunity to meet him."

"I'm sorry." I say, wanting to reach out and take her hand, but I don't do it as I don't know if that'd be proper.

"It's okay." She gives me a sad smile. "It was too long ago." She adds, but she seems a little upset yet, so I decide to distract her, hoping that way she won't feel bad.

"And… What happened then?"

"My father ascended to the throne." She says. "But he was angry, terribly angry and upset about his father's death. So he ordered the army to go search for every magical person in the kingdom without a second thought... which was quite easy because by then almost everyone hated them."

They still hate them… hate us, apparently, giving how they tried to kill me earlier today (or yesterday?).

"Do you think that was a mistake?" I ask, noticing the little frown that appeared on her face.

"No… yes… maybe. I don't know." She sighs. "Some say the Northerners are evil by nature, others that only evil people can become Northerners, as they say their heart is frozen… but I don't know how true that is, and after meeting you… you appear to be a good person." She points out, clearly troubled about it all.

"Well… I don't know who I was before, but I know I wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose." I answer truthfully, and she smiles at me.

"Yes, I know… but my father never gave them a chance, and instead banished them to the Northern Lands. It is a territory that was a part of Arendelle before, but that was uninhabited because of the cold temperatures. He even built a tall wall so that they couldn't return and decreed that…" She looks at me sadly. "That if they ever dared return to Arendelle, they would be killed, no questions asked." My eyes widen and I gulp in fear.

"You think I escaped from the Northern Lands?" I ask.

"I don't know… It's possible." She admits. "More so given that about a year ago there were some rumors about a Queen so powerful no Northerner could challenge her. They say she's evil, her heart as icy as the magic she wields, and that she's made it so there is no spring or summer over there." She pauses. "They also say she kills everyone who dares rebel against her, so maybe you escaped from her… or you could also be a spy." She adds, and I'm going to assure her that I'm not, when she speaks again. "But that's highly unlikely, given you were found near the southern border."

"So… why do you think I was there?"

"Maybe you wanted to reach Corona, so you could escape both the Queen from the Northern Lands and Arendelle's law." She shrugs.

"Or?" I ask, sensing there's something more.

"Or you could be from Corona, coming to Arendelle to find some answers about your powers."

"You really think so?"

"It's possible that Arendelle was the first kingdom to have this kind of plague, the next ones following being the neighboring ones, so… who knows?" She tries to say cheerfully, and though I don't think this is the case, I don't dare contradict her; this could very well be the only thing that's keeping me safe from this kingdom's laws.

"And… what are you planning to do with me then?"

"Well, you'll live here until I find out about your origins and reasons to be in Arendelle. Then and only then will I decide the best course of action. Does that work for you?"

"That's… quite generous actually. Thank you." I answer with a thankful smile.

"Please, it's the least I can do." She brushes it off. "Plus, I'd really like to know you better."

"I'd like to know you better too." I answer blushing, feeling something warm and pleasant inside me, like certain urge to be with this redheaded queen, to make her laugh, to keep her safe and be closer to her. I don't know why this is, but I know it's what I want. I have to make the best out of this strange situation I got myself into.