Chapter 15: The cell.

Eighteen years – Fifteen years.

Elsa had been having some problems as of late. Nothing new, really, but they were troubling her nonetheless. As she had suspected would happen, Anna had finally gotten tired of her sister constantly avoiding her and their respective suitors and had talked to their parents about it, who of course immediately decided to force Elsa into accepting her sister's requests.

It hadn't been that bad at first, mainly because Hans had returned to his kingdom for a few months by the request of his father, who apparently needed him for some princely duty or another. So she had been hanging out with Anna and Kristoff, who she had to admit (even if she really didn't want to) was actually a pretty nice guy; he was kind, funny, considerate, respectful, and treated Anna like… well, like a princess. Really, her little sister could never possibly find someone better to marry. And that's probably what made her hate him so much.

It would have been easier if he was a brainless jerk like Hans; that way she could've hated him without feeling bad about it. She could have given Anna genuine reasons to leave him. She could have found better excuses to avoid him… but no. He just had to be so fucking perfect.

She had been trying to find defects in the boy for months now, but so far all she had discovered was that he occasionally picked his nose, smelled like reindeer all the time, and peed in the forest (well, actually that was one time they'd gone out and were pretty far from any restroom, so it was understandable). She had told Anna nonetheless, hoping she'd be disgusted by those things, but she had just shrugged and said she already knew and didn't care.

She was in love. That was painfully clear. And it ripped Elsa's heart apart every time she saw her flirting with Kristoff or looking at him with love in her eyes. She'd even seen them kissing one time and… yeah, she had had to lock herself in her room for the rest of the day to avoid freezing someone solid.

At least the lessons with Percival helped her release some tension, especially now that she was able to control her magic a little better; enough to repel the prince's spells at least.

However, she somehow doubted that'd help her much today. Why? Because she'd have to deal with Prince Sideburns himself. Yes, he had returned from his kingdom a few days ago, and so now she was forced to spend the whole day with him, Anna and Percival. She just hoped she didn't end up freezing him by accident; her parents surely wouldn't be happy about it.

Thankfully, the first few minutes consisted on Anna talking about anything and everything as they took a walk around town. Hans listened, smiled and nodded from time to time, Percival had an absent expression and seemed to be pretty bored, and Elsa just tried to look at anywhere but Anna's arm looped around the stupid prince's elbow.

They just looked like the perfect couple! The Prince and his Princess. Both good-looking, both with perfect charming smiles. Both happy, young, of noble blood and… well… compatible. She'd never look like that with Anna and she hated if, but she still tried not to dwell on it too much. Instead, she decided to focus on the scenery, on the different stores they passed, on the people they saw and what they were doing, etc.

It wasn't working as much as she wanted, but at least she wasn't freezing anything, and Hans seemed to be more occupied on trying to impress Anna than on showing his contempt for the older sister. But of course, that was probably just an act he had to keep up when the redheaded princess was around, if his awful attitude towards her the few times they had been alone was any indication.

Soon they arrived at the bakery, a place Anna had wanted to visit with Percival since the start of their "double-dates", despite Percival's intense dislike of sweets. Anna fiercely believed that a person that doesn't like sweets can't be trusted, and so wanted to see what kind of pastries her soon-to-be-brother-in-law liked before fully approving of him. As such, as soon as they crossed the door, she dragged Percival into the store and disappeared with him, leaving Elsa alone with Hans.

An awkward silence followed as soon as they were left on their own, but Elsa didn't make any effort to break it. She knew she couldn't possibly be nice to the prince for longer than a few seconds, and didn't want to get in trouble with her parents, so awkward silence suited her needs just fine. So she proceeded to ignore him and instead started looking around, pretending to be trying hard to decide what she would buy.

Soon though, she noticed the stupid boy was following her around, but she refused to acknowledge him because she knew that's what he wanted. Eventually, however, she grew uncomfortable because of how close he was to her, or how he matched her every step. It was rather creepy, and she was wondering if the repercussions of freezing the floor and making him slip would be worth it.

Suddenly though, he finally decided to break the silence, and Elsa wished he had kept his mouth shut.

"You know, Elsa, I've been curious about something for quite some time: how can you and Anna be sisters if you two are so different?" Elsa rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt to make her upset and kept ignoring him. "I mean, you are cold, calculating, not feminine in any way and have the power to freeze an entire kingdom in the blink of an eye, while she's, well… a bumbling little girl that doesn't know what's best for her."

At his words, Elsa froze. She'd never heard anyone insult her sister like that. And this was her suitor. Sure, he was a jerk, but Elsa had thought that he at least was a little fond of Anna. Apparently not. But hey, maybe that meant that he didn't want to marry her anymore?

"Can you believe she told me yesterday that she actually wants to marry that Kristoff guy?" He continued. "I mean, he's just a stupid boy, son of a Lord, unworthy of the throne of Arendelle." He sighed. "Why can't she see I'm her best option?"

Oh, so that's what it was. He was jealous.

"Maybe because you're not." Elsa answered with an unfriendly tone of voice. As much as she didn't like the idea of Anna marrying Kristoff, it was still way better than her marrying Hans.

"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you'd prefer to see her marry that smelly reindeer-loving manchild! I thought you were smarter than that."

"What do you want, Hans?" Elsa practically hissed, annoyed by his attitude.

"I want you to talk some sense into her." Hans simply answered, apparently believing Elsa would be interested in doing that. "Convince her to marry me."

"And why on earth would I do that?" She answered, raising an eyebrow, not believing he had just asked such a thing of her.

"Because it's pretty obvious that you're miserable, and I think I know why."

"If you knew why you wouldn't even consider asking this of me." Elsa responded, laughing at his answer. He didn't know anything about her after all!

"You're miserable because you parents keep you hidden, afraid of your powers, trying to suppress your magic like it's a bad thing, while you could be so much more." He continued, like he hadn't heard her. "Do you have any idea of how powerful you could be if you learned to use your magic properly? Arendelle could become the most powerful kingdom in the world. With you leading it, your armies would be unstoppable! And I'm sure I can convince your parents to at least let you try and control your magic… but only if you help me first." He finished with an arrogant smirk, probably thinking he had already won, but though Elsa was a little interested in what he'd said (because yes, part of the reason her life was less than ideal was because her parents forced her to hide her magic), Percival was already helping her in that regard. Plus, as soon as she became queen, she'd stop obeying that stupid rule. And besides, Hans probably didn't have the power to convince her parents of anything, so…

"Not interested." She simply said before turning around and walking towards the exit of the store, not caring that Anna and Percival were still in the process of buying some sweets.

"Oh, come on!" Hans exclaimed exasperated. "What do you want me to do?"

"Find another way to convince Anna to marry you. And never talk to me again." She shrugged and exited the store, confident that her little sister would never agree to marry someone like that stupid prince from the Southern Iles.

Elsa had gone back to the castle only to receive a lecture from her parents about how she wasn't being nice to Anna's suitors, which she ignored completely. Then, she went to the library to study for a while before it was time for dinner, but she decided to stop earlier than normal. She just couldn't concentrate, as all her thoughts kept turning to the day's earlier events.

That stupid Prince Hans! She just hated him so much. Ever since he'd appeared in her life, he'd called her names, belittled her and tried to steal the love of her life. Yet after all that he wanted her to help him? Right, she'd rather freeze his ass off to teach him a lesson. Thankfully, in three years or less he'd be out of her life for good. There was no way Anna would choose him over Kristoff; she was sure of that.

So she kept imaging painful ways to kill him while she tried to read some text about trade agreements, which is why she couldn't concentrate and also why she ended her studies early. She was still boiling on anger though, and so she decided to go find Percival before dinner. Talking with him would surely make her see things more clearly and stop obsessing over something as lame and as stupid as what Hans had said to her earlier.

However, just as she was about to round a corner to enter the hallway where the guest's rooms were, she heard voices and instinctively stopped so she could listen.

"So she said no?" A voice she didn't recognized spoke.

"That bitch pretty much told me to fuck off." Hans answered angrily. "I bet that boy must have brainwashed her; the last time I saw her, she was emotionally weak and unstable. This was supposed to be my chance to convince her."

Hearing his words, Elsa assumed he was talking about Anna, and if so, this meant she'd already rejected him. She wanted to hear what had happened, so she pressed herself further into the wall to avoid being seen.

"Maybe you should talk to her parents instead." The other man suggested. "It'd be better if she did it by her own will, of course, but you don't have time to befriend her; your father wants her on her way to the Southern Iles as soon as possible."

Had that man just suggested that Hans requested her parents to force Anna to marry him? How terrible. She already disliked that guy, whoever he was.

"I know." Hans said exasperated. "But I already talked to them about Anna, and I don't want to seem overly demanding."

Wait… what? There weren't talking about Anna?

"Plus, I really think forcing Elsa to do anything would end up with us encased in ice blocks." Hans added, and a chill ran down Elsa's spine. They were talking about her. They were talking about what Hans had offered her that morning; using her powers to conquer other kingdoms and basically dominate the world.

"She wouldn't hurt her parents or her sister though. Maybe you should ask them to convince her?" The man suggested, and Elsa finally decided to show herself and confront them; she had heard enough, and she'd show them she wasn't just a tool to be used and that her powers were no joke. She'd scare them a little and make them forget their stupid plans.

"No one could ever convince me to become a slave of the Southern Iles. Or of anyone for that matter" Elsa said loudly as she stepped out of her hiding place. When both men turned around, looking at her startled because of her sudden appearance, she smirked.

"That's right, I heard everything. So, unless you want me to tell my father you were conspiring to pretty much kidnap and use the crown Princess of Arendelle as a war machine, you better leave right now and never return to my kingdom."

"Your kingdom?" Hans raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Do you really think your parents will make you Queen? Face it, you are nothing but a monster to everyone here, all because they all believe in that stupid prophecy. If you joined me though, you could accomplish great things; you could be a hero to both our kingdoms."

Elsa resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his lies. Did he really think she was stupid enough to believe a word he said?

"I said it once, and I repeat it again; leave or you'll pay the consequences." Elsa insisted crossing her arms over her chest, keeping her ground even when Hans stepped towards her, invading her personal space and looking at her with an arrogant expression.

"And if we don't want? What are you gonna do, ice freak?"

Elsa's blood boiled at his use of that mean nickname. She knew the princes had always called her that when she wasn't around, but no one had ever dared to say it to her face. And yet Hans used it to insult her even after she'd heard him having a very incriminating conversation with the other man. Maybe he needed a little reminder of why he should respect her; why he shouldn't mess with the Snow Queen.

The magic on her finger tips tingled pleasantly at the thought, running through her veins at incredible speed, wanting to be let out. And just why shouldn't she let it out? He was a traitor, conspiring against her, thinking someone as stupid and weak as him could ever control a goddess-like being like her, mocking her, insulting her in her own home, wanting to marry Anna and force her into literal slavery.

Yes, he deserved a punishment. He deserved death actually, but she wouldn't kill him. Her parents wouldn't forgive her if she did that. No, she'd only scare him a bit, and if her parents asked, she'd tell them what she'd heard, and then Hans would be out of her life for good. Yes, that sounded like a plan.

Without thinking any further, she raised her hand, releasing her magic on Hans' arm. She had intended to encase it in ice for a moment to make him scream and then release him, but… her powers didn't respond to her thoughts, instead reacting according to the intensity of her emotions, and in that moment, her emotions wanted to hurt Hans.

The prince screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his arm tightly and crying for help. Slowly, Elsa saw as his fingers turned a sickening pale tone, before becoming a light blue. But… there was something very strange about it. They were also see-through now. Almost like… ice.

Before she even had time to comprehend what had happened, however, two guards came into the hallway, stopping at the sight of the prince laying on the ground and screaming in pain and Elsa standing over him with her hand extended, ice still forming on the ground around her.

Realizing what this looked like, the princess straightened, clutching her hand to her chest, and trying to appear calm as she addressed the guards.

"Gentlemen, please escort these men outside the castle; there were conspiring against me, and Prince Hans tried to attack me."

"She's lying!" The other man from the Southern Iles said. "She's crazy; she attacked Prince Hans without reason. She's dangerous!"

The guards hesitated for a moment, alternating their gaze between the two, which by itself upset Elsa a lot, because after all, she was their princess. She had more authority over them than any foreign guest! And yet, when one of them spoke, he disobeyed Elsa's direct order.

"Princess, forgive me, but you'll have to come with me."

"What?!" She pretty much shrieked, having expected them to at least somewhat follow her orders.

"His Majesty, King Agdar, asked us to bring you to him if something like this ever happened." He explained.

"B-but… but what about them?" She asked, pointing to the other men.

"Take Prince Hans to the infirmary immediately." He instructed the other guard. "I'm sure the King will meet with him as soon as he's able."

"Didn't you hear me? They were conspiring against me! They deserve to be kicked out of the castle." Elsa exclaimed, enraged with the guard, who was looking at her like he didn't believe her at all.

"You'll explain it to your father. Now please, follow me."

"Oh, I will explain to him alright." Elsa fumed, walking past him towards her father's study, the guard following her close behind. She knew her best chance to get Hans to have the punishment he deserved was to talk to her father right away and explain in detail what she had done and why. Maybe then he wouldn't punish her for using her magic. Maybe.

When she finally entered the king's study, promptly followed by the guard, her father looked up from the papers he'd been reading, looking at her questioningly, and also slightly mad for being interrupted so rudely.

"Father…" She started, but was interrupted by the guard.

"Your Majesty." He said, bowing to the King. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but you see… there was an accident. Princess Elsa hurt Prince Hans."

Elsa rolled her eyes, upset that the guard had both interrupted her, and said her crime before explaining the whole situation, but before she could even protest, her father stood up, looking angrily at her.

"You what?!" He exclaimed, but she tried not to show any fear at his outburst. What was the worst he could do, after all?

"It's nothing, really; he'll survive." She shrugged, trying to rest importance to it.

"That's not the point, Elsa." He answered, glaring holes at her. She did her best not to flinch. "Did you use your powers?"

"Well… yes." She admitted, knowing he'd find out the truth even if she didn't tell him. "But it was for a good reason." She tried to defend herself.

"There's no good reason!" He exclaimed as he hit his desk angrily with his hands, startling Elsa to the point she actually took a step back. "Why, no matter what we do, you can't understand that your magic is cursed and unnatural, and should never be used?"

Elsa had to bite down her tongue in order to stop herself from telling him that he was stupid and ignorant, and that she was sick of being treated like she was unstable dynamite that could explode at any second. Instead, she took a moment to actually listen to his words and come back with a reply that would help her.

"Exactly! I don't want to use my powers." She lied. "But I heard Hans talking with another man, planning on forcing me to use my magic for war, saying it could be used to help the Southern Iles conquer other kingdoms. They wanted to convince you to agree to it."

"Stop lying, Elsa." He answered with a warning tone.

"I'm not lying! It's the truth." She insisted.

"You could have at least invented something more believable." He sighed, rubbing his temple, clearly exasperated by her.

"I'm telling you; I'm not lying!"

"You're trying to justify having hurt Prince Hans, who is not only a guest in our kingdom, but also Anna's suitor, using those cursed powers that you were told to conceal." He pretty much snarled, looking at her with anger and contempt. "If he dies, Elsa, I swear I'll banish you from Arendelle." He threatened, and though Elsa tried to laugh it off in her mind, the truth is she wasn't sure if it was an empty threat.

"I just hurt his hand a little, he should be fine." She assured him, trying not to remember how his fingers appeared to have turned into ice. "You should really investigate him though; I bet he's up to no good."

"No." The king shook his head, looking at her with a cold expression, like he was trying to suppress his anger for her, but only in order to think clearly and plan the best way to go about this.

"What I need to do is punish you for your crime." He said after a moment of silence. Elsa sighed and clenched her hands, already feeling the pain he'd inflict on them, but then he spoke again. "However, the punishment has to as big as what you did; otherwise I'll have problems with the Southern Iles."

"Great. Then go ahead and cut off my arm, why don't you?" Elsa replied with spite, mad at him for not believing a word of what she'd said, instead immediately wanting to punish her for using her powers. As usual.

Her father only sighed in disappointment at her rather disrespectful tone before turning to the guard and saying in a manner so calm it was unnerving:

"Take her to that place. Don't let her out until I say so."

"Yes sir." He answered before hesitantly approaching to her and grabbing her elbow. "I'm sorry, princess. King's orders."

Instantly though, she shook his hand off her and took a step back.

"But you don't understand!" She exclaimed, still enraged at her father. However, he didn't let her continue.

"Enough, Elsa!" He yelled stepping towards her, using his towering height to intimidate her. "You will do as I say and won't make accusations like those until you actually have proof, understand?"

She just glared at him, having some kind of weird staring contest, but the more she saw his angry face and thought over his words, the more she realized he wouldn't listen to a word she said. At least not in that moment. Not until after she'd been punished for having used her powers.

Angry at herself for accepting this kind of treatment, but knowing it was the only way he'd listen to her, she sighed and finally deviated her gaze.

"Fine. Just tell me where it is and I'll go there." She told the guard.

"I can't tell you, Princess." He answered with a weary tone of voice and, after looking at her father for confirmation and receiving a curt nod, she pointed to the door and spoke.

"Okay then, lead the way."

After a few minutes, Elsa was now following the guard through a part of the castle she wasn't sure she'd seen before. It was past the servant's quarters, and near the armory, but she still didn't quite know what was down there. At first she'd thought he'd take her to one of the rooms meant for servants and that she'd be forced to spend the night there, in the harder and less fancy beds, but no. Then she'd thought he'd take her to the stables, to sleep with the horses, but when they deviated trough another hallway instead of going out to the stable, she figured that was not the case either. But then where was he taking her? She sure had no idea.

Finally, after a little more walking, they stopped in front of a heavy wooden door that sure looked like it could use some painting. Elsa assumed it was some kind of abandoned cellar because of how old it looked, but then the guard brought out a set of keys and opened the door just enough for him to slip in, not before telling her to wait there.

Confused, Elsa staid where she was, debating between actually waiting for him or going to hide somewhere and then laugh at his attempts to find her. After all she didn't want to get into more trouble, but he still shouldn't make a princess wait.

Before she could decide on what to do though, the door opened and the man came out of there with other two guards in tow, though these ones actually looked tougher and more severe than the first one.

Elsa barely had time to reflect on this, however, because as soon as they came out, they grabbed her roughly by her arms and, before she could even think about using her magic to defend herself, placed two heavy objects on her hands.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Elsa asked, confused and more than a little scared, when she felt the metallic objects closing around her hands, enveloping them completely and applying pressure on her wrists in a painful and uncomfortable way. Then, a click was heard and the guards finally released her, stepping back.

Elsa looked down at her hands and saw a pair of very strange shackles encasing them. And a couple of chains that led from the tip of those shackles to the hands of the guards.

Realization hit her when she saw past the men and to the dark hallway behind the wooden door, instantly recognizing the dungeons.

She was being imprisoned. Even if it was only temporarily.

"No!" She screamed, stepping back and releasing a powerful blast of magic, only to realize a moment later that all it did was create a layer of frost inside the shackles. "You're not locking me in there, you hear me?!" She said with the most authority she could muster, glaring at them as if she could kill them just by wishing it.

"I'm sorry princess, we're just following orders." One of the prison guards said, not sounding apologetic at all. He just seemed apathetic as he tugged on her chains, forcing her forward even if she tried to resist. She hated to admit it, but he was way stronger than her.

"No! Stop!" She kept protesting, kicking and screaming, as she was dragged through the dark hallway full of mostly empty cells until they reached the last one. It had a heavy metal door with no bars, without even a window to see through, unlike the others. At the sight, she doubled her efforts, but it was for naught, and soon she was inside and the chains were attached to a metallic ring on the floor.

She kept protesting even after the guards had released her and went to exit the cell. It was only after a few minutes being alone in there though, that she realized she was crying.

It was pathetic. It showed her how weak and helpless she was feeling at the moment. It was just typical of a stupid little princess that couldn't take a little of harsh treatment before becoming a sobbing mess. And yet she couldn't bring herself to stop.

Why? Because she would have felt better if the shackles didn't perfectly fit her hands, or if they couldn't completely hold back her powers. Maybe if she had the hard floor for a bed instead of an actual mattress, she would have felt relieved. Or if her room didn't possess an ornate window with a beautiful view of the fjord.

Maybe, if she was in an ordinary cell, she'd wouldn't be crying. Because it was pretty obvious this cell had specially been constructed for her.

A/N: Hey! It's been ages, right? Sorry about that, I was busy with school XP. But at least this chapter was a long one, so please, if you're still reading this story, and if you liked this chapter (though I have to recognize I'm being kinda cruel with Elsa lol), please leave a review or favorite/follow if you haven't. All this encourages me to write more :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.