me.” She divided the bunch of carrots in half, handed Kristoff some, and patted the reindeer on the head. “Bye, Sven!”
Anna practically skipped down the street back home. She had a feeling she’d see Kristoff again.
But first she needed to bake. The quicker it was finished, the quicker she could finally get this conversation over with. She was ticking off bakery measurements in her head when her parents walked into the room talking.
“Nothing has changed, Johan. It’s been three years! Maybe nothing ever will. She has the right to know the truth,” Ma was saying.
“Who has the right to know the truth?” Anna asked as she gathered several bowls and large spoons. “And you’re supposed to be resting! Now you’ve ruined my surprise!” Anna was trying to be funny, but her parents looked uneasy. “What’s going on? Is this about me?”
Papa and Ma glanced at each other.
Papa looked uncomfortable. “We don’t really know how to tell you this, Anna Bear, without possibly betraying our closest friend.”
Closest friend? Betrayal? “Is this about Freya?” Anna asked.
Ma nodded. “She’s my oldest and dearest friend—she always will be.”
“Of course she is,” Anna said. Her mother had never really gotten over Freya’s death, and neither had she. “I think about her all the time, too.”
“You do?” Papa asked.
“Of course. It’s kind of why I wanted to make you this carrot cake today. I have something to tell you, as well, but now that you’re talking about betrayal I’m getting worried.”
Ma reached for her arm. “We don’t mean to alarm you. Your papa and I have just been discussing something—”
“For the past three years,” Papa said under his breath.
“And we don’t want to keep you in the dark anymore,” Ma added. “But the situation is complicated.”
“We made a promise to Freya,” Papa said. “But we also don’t want you spending your whole life not knowing the truth.”
Anna’s eyes widened. “So this is about me…and Freya?”
Papa sounded like he was having trouble breathing. “Yes and no.”
They were truly scaring her. “What is going on?”
“I knew her a lot longer than you did, Johan,” Ma told him. “If this curse never lifts, she—”
“Curse?” Anna’s arm slipped and she knocked a bowl off the table. It shattered. Papa grabbed the broom from the hook on the wall and began sweeping it up. “I’m sorry! I thought there was no such thing as curses…is there?”
Ma hesitated and looked at Papa. “I don’t mean curse, exactly. It’s just a word.”
“A word for something made up,” Anna clarified.
Ma didn’t answer her. “Johan, if things don’t change, she will live her whole life not knowing she has another family out there.”
Papa stopped sweeping. “We’re her family, Tomally,” he said softly. “What good would telling her do? She can’t change things. Who would even believe her?”
Ma’s eyes filled with tears. “You’re right. I don’t want to put our daughter in harm’s way, but I also don’t want to carry this secret to my grave.”
Their conversation wasn’t making sense to her. “Is this about my birth parents?”
The frown lines on her mother’s forehead deepened. “Well, yes…”
“Did Freya know them?” Anna asked. She’d always wondered. Freya had been such a big part of her life since the beginning. Maybe Freya had known something Anna didn’t. Silence hung over the room as they stared at one another. “It’s okay,” Anna finally said. “If you know who they are and don’t want to tell me, I’ll understand. It doesn’t matter anyway.” She reached for their hands. “You’ve been the best parents anyone could ever hope for.”
Papa and Ma reached in for a hug at the same time. They were a family of huggers and laughers. Anna clung to them, not wanting to let go.
Papa looked at her with tears in his eyes as well. “Anna Bear, these aren’t our secrets to tell. We hope you can respect that.”
“I can, but I do have a secret of my own that I wanted to share with you.” Her cake wasn’t ready, but since they were sharing, it was the perfect time to tell them. “And it has to do with Freya, too.”
Ma looked rattled. “It isn’t…Do you know…”
Anna could feel her heart thumping. Her lips were suddenly dry, but she couldn’t stop now. She thought of how Freya had always said Be true to yourself. This was her being true. “I want to move to Arendelle.”
Her parents stood perfectly still. Anna kept going.
“You both know I’ve wanted to live in Arendelle for as long as I can remember. I love