Chapter 11: The nightmare begins.

Fifteen years – Eleven years.

Several months had passed since the ball, and it was probably the single worst time period of Elsa's life so far. Even compare against all the suffering she had already endured, her life has still hit rock bottom for two very important reasons.

One, her parents had chosen one of her suitors to stay a bit longer... along with keeping five of Anna's. And two, Anna had been avoiding her like the plague. She no longer searched for her after her lessons, nor did she came to her room at night to play or talk. No, she spent every moment of her free time with her princes.

Of course Elsa had tried to talk to her about it, and Anna had said that everything would return to normal if she just apologized for the night of the ball. But Elsa refused to, on the grounds that she wasn't sorry at all. True, she regretted making her sister upset, but at least she'd kissed her. More so, she had won her heart while in disguise, something the princes were still unable to do… though it probably wouldn't be much longer before Anna fell for one of them. Still, Elsa wished to conquer her before that happened, this time as herself.

But of course, for that to happen, she needed to talk to her first. Something that's easier said than done.

"Princess Elsa!" Her suitor's voice could be heard behind her as she was walking down the hall to the dining room. Elsa rolled her eyes, but didn't stop to wait for him; she was tired of the boy. He wasn't as pretentious as the others, which was a blessing, and was smart enough to stay at arm's length at all times.

But somehow he still managed to be annoying, to a degree Elsa had been convinced was impossible. He followed her like a shadow, never leaving her alone. And worst of all he was utterly submissive and never protested when Elsa insulted him, which was no fun at all. What was his name, again? Peter? She didn't remember and didn't care. She refused to acknowledge him now that he had interrupted her scheming of a plan to win Anna's heart.

"Princess Elsa. You look quite dashing today." He said, breathless now that he had finally catch up to her.

"Save you compliments for someone who believes them." Elsa answered without looking at him. Not because she didn't believe she was beautiful, but because she knew he was only saying it as a useless attempt to win her favor.

"Yes, I will. I'm sorry, Princess Elsa." He apologized, once again taking all the fun out of mistreating him.

They kept walking side to side a bit more, but his very presence annoyed Elsa to no end, and so she stopped to yell at him.

"Do you have to follow me around all the time?!"

"I'm so-…" He started but Elsa cut him off.

"And stop apologizing, Peter!"

"Uh… it's Percival." He answered quietly.

"I don't care." Elsa muttered and continued walking, knowing full well she was being unfair with the boy, but not caring enough to apologize. After all, he never said anything to her parents about impoliteness. Plus, he deserved it, for wanting to marry her.

"M-may I ask why you're always so upset?" The boy mumbled, so quietly and fearful Elsa was barely able to hear him.

"No, you may not." She answered courtly.

"But… maybe I could help you? I swear, whatever you ask me to do, I'll do it." This gave Elsa pause. She could use the boy's help after all, but… what if he expected something from this? Like a kiss? She had to make sure first.

"And why would you do that?" She asked with distrust.

"B-because I'm your servant, of course."

"I think you're confused. You're my fiancé." Elsa said, though she found the boy's answer quite intriguing.

"My father wants me to be your fiancé, but I don't deserve you." Elsa eyed him with curiosity, as she fully agreed with his words.

"Continue." The boy gulped as his eyes met Elsa's, but he kept talking anyways.

"You have magic, don't you? Magic that's said to be powerful enough to destroy the entire kingdom." Elsa tensed at this. She didn't like to be reminded of what her magic could do. Not because she cared much for the townspeople, but because she couldn't be queen without a kingdom. "Such force… isn't from this world." He continued explaining his reasoning. "You must be some kind of reincarnated goddess."

"Right." Elsa snorted at his ridiculous ideas. The boy was certainly crazy, though she hadn't noticed before because he barely talked. "Here they say I'm the witch of the troll prophecy." She added sourly.

"Well, they're wrong." He said with such conviction that it took Elsa aback. "They should be worshipping you, making altars devoted to your glory."

"You're crazy." Elsa sighed, really hoping she would never have to marry such a pathetic individual. "And to answer your first question… no, I don't want your help. Go bother someone else with your insane ideas." That said, she started running to the dining room, rolling her eyes when she noticed the prince was following her. He really was annoying.

Three days later Prince Dumbass hadn't spoken again about his crazy ideas, though his intense gaze and overly submissive attitude told Elsa he still believed those things. It was actually pretty creepy, and Elsa just couldn't wait for him to go back to his kingdom. Or to hell… preferentially to hell, along with Anna's suitors.

Anna… the sole thought of her little sister hurt more than a thousand knives. Not only because the younger girl was treating her a little coldly, or because she was spending so much time with her suitors, but because she knew it wouldn't have to be like that if only she had explained it all to her. But, of course she couldn't find an appropriate moment, as they always seemed to have company. Oh how she hated those damn suitors!

But today was the day. She had made sure no one would bother them. True, it would earn her a punishment later, but it was worth it, at least because it was a lot of fun trapping the princes in the library behind a giant wall of ice. Now, she only needed to find Anna.

And there she was, walking with that characteristic sprint in her steps and innocent smile on her face, her twin braids shinning red at the sunlight that came from the windows. That sight never failed to make Elsa's heartbeat quicken, and though she was feeling a bit nervous all the sudden, she put on a brave face and approached appearing as confident as she could.

"Hi." She said a bit awkwardly, making Anna stop just a few steps away and eye her curiously. "Uhm… I wanted to talk to you." She almost cursed herself for her lack of charm when talking, but… truth to be told she was still a bit shaken by the rejection at the ball.

"Elsa… hi." Anna said just as awkwardly. "Uh… I actually was going to meet with Kristoff, so…"

"He's busy." Elsa interrupted. "And this won't take long." She then looked at her sister with pleading eyes. "Please?"

"Well…" Anna looked to the side, apparently searching for an excuse, but she seemed to notice how important this was for her sister, so she reluctantly agreed. "Okay." Elsa smiled relieved and nodded, proceeding to lead the way to her own room. Once they were there, she opened the door and let her little sister pass, before entering herself. She shut the door and applied a bit of ice, so no one would interrupt them. Once it was all set, she invited her sister to sit at her bed as sat at her side. She hoped to appear confident, but without seeming intimidating or threatening. But seeing those teal eyes, staring so intently into her own, so innocent, so kind, full of life and curiosity, just…

"Elsa?" Anna's voice pulled her out of her contemplation. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Right!" Elsa almost jumped at the sound of her voice. "Talk… Uhm, I wanted to talk about what happened the other day. At the ball."

"You mean tricking me into thinking you were a suitor, make me fall in love and then breaking my heart?" Anna said frowning, clearly upset about all of that. It made Elsa flinch, but still, she couldn't help thinking she looked quite cute.

"It wasn't like that!" She tried to defend herself. "I didn't want to break your heart, I just…" She bit her lip, now not so sure about wanting to tell Anna the whole truth. Not when she already had five princes trying to win her heart. But she couldn't just give up without trying either.

"You just what?! Elsa, what was your plan doing that? Did you want to prove that you're better than my suitors? I know you're great, Elsa, but…"

"I love you." Elsa interrupted her angry ranting, but didn't dare to look her in the eye while saying it, fearing her reaction. "I'm in love with you, Anna."

For a few agonizing seconds nothing was heard, like the news had left the younger girl shocked and confused. Or maybe she was just angry. Or disgusted. Or… Damn, she couldn't bear the uncertainty! So she slowly looked up, seeing Anna's wide eyes. She clearly was stunned, but she also looked… confused.

"Anna?" Elsa asked, wanting to end this torture. The girl blinked a few times, looked briefly at Elsa and then finally spoke with a quiet voice.

"Uhm… I think you're confused. In love is when you love someone as in… someone you want to marry." She chuckled nervously, obviously not wanting to believe that's what Elsa had meant to say. "And of course we're sisters and we can't get married. That'd be weird."

"You know incest is common amongst royalty, right?" Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"But we're both girls." Anna remarked. "Girls don't marry each other. I think what you really meant was that you love me a lot, like a sister, and don't want me to marry any of the suitors, right?" She smiled nervously as she got up from the bed, apparently preparing herself to bolt out of the room at any moment. "And I mean, I get it, you love me, but… even if I get married, we will still be together. Forever. We promised, remember?" She asked innocently, and though Elsa wasn't sure she understood what she meant… her rejection was clear. She didn't want them to be more than sisters, and though it hurt her deeply, she didn't want to ruin their relationship either, so she didn't dare to pressure any further.

"Right." She forced herself to say through clenched teeth. "As sisters." She couldn't help sounding bitter. Still, Anna's smile didn't falter.

"Exactly. Sisters." She nodded, apparently glad Elsa had dropped the subject. "Now, I'm going with Kristoff. See you later." She waved goodbye and practically ran to the door, but when she got there, she noticed the handle was frozen. "Uh… Elsa?"

The older girl realized what the problem was, but she didn't solve it immediately. She wondered what would happen if she kept her sister captured. If she forced her to stay with her, to love her the way she did. If she didn't let her see the suitors, or her parents. Would she change her mind? Would she ever return her feelings?

"Elsa!" Anna's scared voice snapped her out of her dark thoughts, and she saw her ice was crawling towards her sister, already obeying the command Elsa was just fantasying about. But no, she knew she couldn't do that to the only person she truly loved, and so, as painful as it was, she shattered the ice and let her go. But once she was out, she looked at the broken pieces, and knew… her heart was just as broken.

As she started crying, she wished it was just as cold.

A/N: Thanks to all of you who've read, reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story. I really appreciate all the support you give me :) And Iike reading what you think about the story, so if you can leave a comment that'd be great.

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13 :)