Elsa, and he picked her up and placed her in front of him on his horse. Seconds later, Papa raced out of the stables. Mama was right beside him. The two horses gained speed as they ran out the castle gates and into the night.
Elsa concentrated on the path in front of her and tried to remain calm, but she kept freezing things around her without even realizing it. Papa clutched the map from the book and used the northern lights as his guide. Higher and higher into the mountains they climbed, the sea seeming to shrink away. At one point, she could have sworn she heard a boy’s voice, but when she turned around, all she saw was a baby reindeer. Seconds later, it was gone.
“We’re here!” Papa said, stopping suddenly and dismounting. He helped Mama and Anna off their horse, then came for Elsa.
Where was “here”?
Papa stood in the middle of a grassy area covered with mossy boulders stacked in strange formations. Stone steps led down to the center of the area, as if there had been something there once upon a time. Steam eerily seeped from hidden geysers all around them. Wherever “here” was, it seemed mysterious. Mama looked more worried than Elsa had ever seen her before. This is my fault, Elsa thought.
“Elsa, come here,” Papa said, and she ran into his arms. “It will be all right.” They were the first words he had said to her since they had been in the Great Hall. Mama was close behind, holding Anna in her arms. “Please!” Papa called into the darkness. “Help! It’s my daughter!”
Who was Papa talking to? Elsa was about to ask him when she noticed the boulders beginning to rock, then roll down the steps, headed directly for them.
Elsa pulled at Mama’s leg, burying her face in her dress. Papa pulled the three of them closer as the boulders moved in. Elsa peeked out from her mother’s dress.
All at once, the boulders stopped moving, and up sprang dozens of small trolls. They looked as if they were chiseled from stone. The moss that had grown on their backs looked like garments, and different-colored crystals hung from their necks. They had small tufts of mossy green hair on top of their heads and large ears, and the whites of their close-set eyes glowed in the moonlight. The trolls reminded Elsa of hedgehogs.
“It’s the king!” one of the trolls cried as they shuffled forward. A troll with a long mossy cape moved to the front of the pack. He had an intricate beaded necklace. “Make way for Grand Pabbie!”
“Your Majesty.” Grand Pabbie bowed his head. He reached for Elsa’s hand. “Born with the powers or cursed?”
Elsa inhaled sharply. How did he know?
Papa seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Born,” he said, sounding nervous. “And they’re getting stronger.”
Grand Pabbie motioned to Mama. She kneeled down and held Anna out to him, and he put his hand on Anna’s head. His bushy eyebrows furrowed. “You are lucky it wasn’t her heart. The heart is not so easily changed.” He shrugged. “But the head can be persuaded.”
Papa looked at Mama in surprise. “Do what you must,” he told Grand Pabbie.
“I recommend we remove all magic, even memories of magic, to be safe,” Grand Pabbie said.
Remove all magic? “But she won’t remember I have powers?” Elsa asked, unable to keep quiet.
“It’s for the best,” Papa said, touching her shoulder.
Elsa’s circle of people she could trust was small already. If Anna didn’t remember she could do magic, who could she share the burden with? Her heart started to beat faster. Anna was her fiercest ally. Her baking partner. Her sister. They couldn’t keep secrets from each other.
“Listen to me, Elsa,” Grand Pabbie said gently, as if he had heard her thoughts. “Your power will only grow.” He raised his hands to the sky and blue images filled the air. They turned into the outlines of people and a girl. The girl conjured up the most beautiful snowflake Elsa had ever seen. “There is beauty in it, but also great danger.”
The snowflake turned bright red and burst.
Elsa’s eyes widened.
“You must learn to control it,” Grand Pabbie told her. “Fear will be your enemy.”
The people’s outlines turned red while the girl in the middle stayed blue. Elsa could sense the girl’s fear. Was this meant to be her destiny? Would she be an outcast? The red crowds closed in on the girl. Elsa heard a scream, and the image shattered. She