The House Of Immortality

Anna had been waiting as patiently as she could before acting out her revenge, allowing time to past since Elsa forced her to ice skate in front of everyone so as not to make her actions seem suspicious. Despite all the time to plan, however, not much planning had been done. She decided that it needed to involve the staff, as they had been there to witness her embarrassing fall at the hands of Elsa’s skating lessons, but she wasn’t exactly sure what to do. What could embarrass Elsa, who acted so calm and collected most of the time unless she was having one of her childish moments with her? And how could Anna even drag her sister away from all the work that piled on the Queen’s desk like it was doing right now?

The Princess had to admit that being a Queen looked like it was a lot of hard work. Boring, time-consuming hard work filled with trade agreements upon trade agreements, shipments upon shipments, and treaties upon treaties. Anna had been watching Elsa sign documents at her oversized oak desk for almost an hour now, slumped forward in the chair across from the Queen’s, elbows on the table and her head resting in her hands. She was beginning to fall asleep as the silence dragged on so, in an effort to busy herself and remain awake, she picked up one of the documents Elsa had signed and began reading. For a moment she just stared, not really taking anything in, and then her eyes caught the words ‘Winter Ball’.

They were planning the Winter Ball already? Wow, Elsa planned things months ahead of schedule! Did that mean that Anna herself should be planning ahead of schedule? Ooh! Maybe she could even drag Elsa into town to get some dresses for the ball; as much as Anna loved the royal tailor, she wanted to explore what the local shops had to offer in terms of outfits, especially since she fell so in love with the winter clothing she had bought at Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post And Sauna during July.

Thinking about the Winter Ball brought a smile to Anna’s face, her mind distracted from complete and utter boredom as she dreamt about all the delicious luxury food – most of which would be infused with chocolate in one way or another, if Anna had her way – that she’d be stuffing in her face, and the music that would be played by the same musicians who played the upbeat tunes heard during the Coronation Ball nearly a month ago. What Anna would forward to most, however, was seeing everyone smiling and dancing, including herself. Perhaps she’d even drag Kristoff into a clumsy dance.

One person who would not be dancing, however, was Elsa. ‘Thank you, only I don’t dance.’ Anna frowned as she remembered Elsa politely refusing the Duke of Weselton’s offer of a dance, just after her Coronation and just before the ‘Eternal Winter’, which was soon followed by tactically forcing Anna to dance with the tiny, evil man. Was that just a sneaky way to get out of dancing with the crazy Duke, or was there something else to her refusal?

“Hey, Elsa, can you dance?” The Princess asked as she set down the document about the Winter Ball, her gaze focusing on her sister, who peered up from the papers she was currently going over with a look of slight confusion on her face, wondering what had caused this sudden outburst from the strawberry-blonde after almost an hour of silence.

“Why do you ask?” The Queen inquired, skilfully avoiding Anna’s question with one of her own as she tried to focus on her work once again. Just two more documents to go, then she could have a little fun with the most important person in her life.

“I don’t know,” Anna folded her arms across her chest, her gaze lifting to the ceiling above her. “I just remembered that you never danced at the Coronation Ball and I was thinking ‘Maybe she doesn’t know how to dance.’”

“Oh.” Elsa had expected some sort of plan hidden up Anna’s sleeve, but she was merely curious. Deeming Anna’s intentions harmless, the platinum blonde decided to give an honest answer. “Well, no, actually. I never really let anyone close enough to me to teach me how to dance during my years of isolation, and my room wasn’t exactly a safe place to attempt dancing in.” Especially since the majority of the time it was covered in ice and frost, which stemmed from Elsa’s fear of hurting others, and sadness about being alone.

“Oh.” Anna repeated her sister’s first word, sadness filling her eyes. She thought that it was a shame Elsa, didn’t know how to dance because dancing was so joyous and uplifting, especially when done with those you cared about. Then again, there was something kind of funny about the fact that Elsa couldn’t dance, The Princess could imagine how ridiculous she’d look if she even attempted it, standing on people’s feet, maybe even tripping up and making a fool of-

Hey, now there was an idea!

A mischievous grin spread across Anna’s face as she leaned forward, waiting until Elsa looked up from the paperwork before asking, “What if I taught you how to dance?”

“I don’t think so.”

It was such a blunt reply that it left Anna in shock for a moment, but she stood her ground, not giving up on her little spur-of-the-moment revenge plan. “Oh come on, Elsa, it’ll be fun! Besides, you’re the Queen, you’re eventually going to have to dance with someone otherwise some dignitaries from other countries are going to get frustrated with your refusals, and then who knows what they’d do? If they get too mad, they might even, I don’t know, sever alliances and cut off trades and-.”

Was it colder in here, or was it Anna’s imagination? The copper-haired Princess looked around for a moment, seeing no sign of an open window, then looked back to her older sister, only then noticing the blanket of ice beginning to cover the desk. “Hey, what’s wrong?” The look of mischievousness disappeared, being replaced with nothing but concern and worry.

It took Elsa a moment to reply as she tried to control her powers, to at least prevent further damage being done to the desk, but eventually her ice-blue gaze met Anna and she let out a sigh.

“What if I make a fool of myself? What if I’m terrible at dancing and look ridiculous.”

Oh boy, now Anna felt terrible about her plan. Here she was, trying to embarrass the Queen and that was what Elsa was worried about the most! She couldn’t go through with this, could she? Ok, she’d still go through with it, but if it got too much, she’d put an end to her vengeful antics. Moving from her seat, Anna walked around the desk and draped her arms around Elsa’s neck, giving her the famous puppy dog eyes. “Please, Elsa? Just this once, just let me try and teach you. It’ll be fun, I promise!” Of course it would be! It’d be embarrassing at first, sure, but Anna was certain that her sister would be laughing by the end of it… At least, she hoped Elsa would be laughing by the end of it…

The Snow Queen took her time to answer once again, trying to avoid Anna’s big blue eyes as she thought thoroughly about whether or not to accept her offer of dance lessons. Honestly, she didn’t want to go through with this, but Anna had a point; what if ambassadors and other dignitaries began to get irritated with her constant refusals? What if it damaged Arendelle’s reputation in their eyes? The spunky Princess had promised that the lessons would be fun and-

Elsa made the mistake of glancing at her sister and caved the moment she saw Anna’s pleading eyes, letting out a defeated sigh. “Fine. You may teach me how to dance-“

“Yesss!”

“But, the first lesson will be a trial lesson, if I don’t like it, I may quit. On top of that, you’ll have to wait until after dinner to teach me; a few of the staff are currently cleaning the ballroom, but it should be done after dinner. Is that ok?”

“Yes, of course it’s ok!” Anna grinned, mentally doing a victory dance at the fact that her pleading eyes had succeeded in getting Elsa to agree to dance lessons. Plus, the fact that it was being postponed until after dinner gave her more time to track down the servants and explain the plan to them… Well, she wouldn’t tell them that she planned on embarrassing the Queen, of course, otherwise they wouldn’t agree to it. No, perhaps she’d just tell them that she wanted them to ‘Give Elsa support’; that would be a better idea.

“Good.” Finishing off the final document, Elsa pushed the stack of paper away from herself and set down her quill, breathing a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it was over. Now she could finally take a break and spend some time with Anna. Removing her younger sister’s arms from around her neck, the Queen rose and stretched out her limbs, wriggling her slender fingers to rid them of cramp. “Now, we have two hours before dinner, so what would you like to do until then?”

Anna eyes widened slightly. How was she going to get out of this one? ‘Think, Anna, think!’ “Oh! Well, umm, I, uhhh…” Ever the drama queen, the strawberry blonde smacked the palm of her hand against her forehead, jaw dropping in a gasp. “I just remembered! I, uhh, I-I have to see Kristoff for, uh, something! Haha, I’m so forgetful! I’ll be back for dinner, though, I promise! Bye!”

With that, the Princess left the room swiftly, leaving behind a very perplexed Queen, staring at the doors her sister had just exited from. “Ok… That was strange…” Despite being confused by her sister’s actions – clearly Anna was up to something that she couldn’t know about – Elsa decided to drop it. She was sure everything was fine and she needn’t worry herself with Anna’s antics. No, instead she would have a cup of tea, then track down a certain snowman. Perhaps Olaf would like to learn how to play chess, since Elsa couldn’t teach her sister at this particular moment in time.

During the time leading up to dinner, Elsa had spent the entire time in the library with Olaf, giving Anna the opportunity to spread the word to all the staff without getting caught. “Go to the ballroom at 6:30pm sharp!” She had told them all, trying the mask her mischievous grin. “Queen Elsa’s going to learn how to dance and she needs all the emba- I mean support that she can get!”

Dinner itself was rather uneventful, though Elsa had yet again picked up on her sister’s odd actions; glancing at her, giggling at her, but always avoiding any of Elsa’s questions about what exactly was so funny. It made the Queen paranoid that something was wrong with her appearance but, after checking her reflection in her glass several times, she found nothing wrong with the way she looked at all. Honestly, what was making Anna act like this? Had she eaten too much sugar while talking to Kristoff?

As soon as both sisters had finished their third course of apple strudel, Elsa was pulled out of her seat by an over-excited Anna and was led out of the room. “Come on, it’s time for your dance lessons!” Elsa grimaced at her younger sibling’s sing-song voice, but she had agreed to this, and there was no way to get out of it now.

“Take it easy, Anna. It’s just one dance lesson, it’s not as if it’s a performance…”

As Anna opened the doors to the ballroom, she heard Elsa’s voice trail off in shock as the staff lined the edges of the ballroom, bowing deeply to the Queen and Princess. Looking to her, she couldn’t help but smirk slightly at the shock in Elsa’s wide eyes. ‘Perfect!’ She thought.

“Wh-What is this?” The frost was already beginning to creep up the doorframes. She had expected this to be a private dance lesson, not one which involved all the staff as an audience!

“Oh, they’re just here for support,” ‘And to laugh when you fall.’ Anna thought, not noticing the frost, or the sudden chill, in her excitement. “Just pretend they’re not there and you’ll be fine.” She began dragging the reluctant ruler in, who protested and pulled against Anna’s grip.

“I really don’t think I can do this, Anna. Not in front of everyone like this!” Elsa protested, but it was no use as the younger sibling pulled her into the centre of the room.

“Trust me, you’ll be fine! Now, I’ll do the man’s steps so that you can learn the woman’s steps, ok?” Anna gave no room for protest as she repositioned Elsa’s hands so that one rested on the Princess’ shoulder and the other was held by Anna, whose free hand rested on the ice blue fabric at the Snow Queen’s waist lightly.

Terrified eyes looked left and right repeatedly, glancing at all the servants who smiled at the platinum blonde. Were they genuine smiles, or smiles of those who tried to hold back laughter? Elsa couldn’t tell and that made her even more nervous about learning how to dance in front of people. The air had dropped from its high summer temperature into a mildly cool breeze, the ice shards crawling up the walls near the door and onto the ceiling above them. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, her heart was pounding hard against her chest and she almost missed Anna’s voice calling her back to attention.

“Elsa. Ellllsa. Elsa!” Elsa snapped out of her thoughts then and looked to Anna, who gave her a heart-warming smile. “Are you ready? I’ll try to make it easy for you, I mean, all you really have to do is mirror my actions.”

Closing her eyes, Elsa took a deep breath to calm herself. Once she felt more composed, she nodded, opening her ice blue eyes to meet sky blue ones. “I’m ready.”

“Great! Hit it, Kai!” As instructed, the butler started playing the music on the gramophone. Anna listened for a moment as a waltz played – she thought a slow waltz would be easier for Elsa than the upbeat local music – and then began to instruct her.

This was not what Anna had in mind.

Within seconds of starting Elsa had stepped on her foot, muttering an apology and now, only 20 minutes into the lesson, she had stepped on poor Anna’s feet six times! Each time, was because Elsa was too busy looking around at the maids and butlers with nervous glances to focus on what she was doing. Sure, Anna’s plan had worked and Elsa was embarrassed – the bright pink colour in her cheeks contrasted with her naturally pale complexion – but was it really worth so much pain in her feet to get revenge like this?

“Ow!” Make that seven times. “Ok, ok, stop a second.” The sisters stopped dancing as Kai cut the music, Anna lifting her foot up and rubbing it with a wincing as Elsa gazed at the floor, frowning deeply.

“I’m sorry, Anna, I just… I just can’t.” The Queen muttered as snow started falling down from the ceiling and all around the room.

Feeling the cold snow falling onto her head and shoulders, the Princess lowered her foot and tore her eyes away from Elsa, her jaw dropping as she noticed the state the ballroom was in. It was far from a Winter wonderland, heck, it was more like a Winter nightmare! Frost covered the entire room now, dangerous spikes of ice stuck out from the ground everywhere and the room was so cold that vapour escaped everyone’s mouth with every breath. The servants’ expressions were a mixture of nerves and fear, wanting to escape the ballroom but they couldn’t unless ordered to do so by Princess Anna. Maybe she had pushed her revenge too far…

Heaving a sigh, the strawberry-blonde turned to the audience and waved to them. “Thanks for your help, but you can go now. I think I need some time alone with my sister.” The speed to which the staff left the room amazed Anna, but she decided not to comment on it in front of Elsa, who was glancing around the room now with a ‘What have I done?’ look on her face, mixed in with sorrow.

Yup, Anna had messed up.

Resting a hand on Elsa’s shoulder, she tried to fix her mistake, although she wasn’t sure if apologizing would really fix anything, but it was worth a try, right? “Elsa, I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have invited the staff to come and watch, I just-“

“You don’t have to apologise, Anna.” The older royal cut in, looking to Anna with a sad smile. “This is mostly my fault. I allowed my nerves get the better of me and look what happened.” She gestured to the frozen ballroom around her and sighed, making Anna feel guiltier than she had previously been feeling. The Princess opened her mouth to speak, to say that Elsa didn’t have to continue, when she was quickly cut off. “I would like to learn how to dance, though. Maybe now that it’s just you and me, we can try again.” Perhaps she would be less nervous now that everyone wasn’t staring at her.

To say that Anna was shocked would be an understatement. “Are- Are you sure? Because we really don’t have to continue if you don’t want to, I-I’d completely understand if you never wanted to do it again and-“

“Anna!” The Queen struggled to hold back a laugh, the smile returning to her face as she thought about how much she loved her little sister’s rambling and how much she loved spending time with her. She focused on these thoughts, knowing the power behind the love she had for Anna, and watched as the frost thawed, the snow evaporating into nothingness. Satisfied with the fact that the ballroom had returned to normal, Elsa walked past her awestruck sister and over to the gramophone, playing the music again. “So, what’s that first step again?”

Snapping out of it, Anna turned to Elsa with her hands resting on her hips, an eyebrow raised and a smirk forming on her lips. “You’re not going to stand on my feet again, are you? Because I think I’ve had enough of that for one day.” She teased, sticking her tongue out at the approaching blonde.

“I can’t make any promises,” Admitted Elsa with a sheepish smile, placing one hand on Anna’s shoulder and holding the other in her free hand. “But I’ll try not to.”

Beaming her brilliant grin, Anna started the whole learning process again. For a while, Elsa was still clumsy and stood on Anna’s foot more than once, but eventually she got the hang of steps and was able to keep up with her sister’s movements. The nerves returned at first, as did the frost, but eventually the Queen became more confident and the evidence of her nerves disappeared.

From that day up until the Winter Ball, every Thursday evening became a day of dance lessons and after a month or two, the staff slowly returned to the ballroom to watch the royal sisters laugh and dance together, having the time of their lives.