room. “Oh, Princess Elsa!” she said in surprise. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was just coming to get you for supper before I called on your parents.”
“It’s all right. I’m up,” Elsa said, stretching her arms wide. If her parents were joining her for dinner, that meant her father’s meeting with the Duke of Weselton was done and her mother had returned. “Why don’t I call on them for you?”
Gerda walked to Elsa’s bed and started to smooth out the quilt and fix the pillows. “Thank you, Princess!”
Elsa’s room was above her parents’ chambers, which were above the Great Hall, where dinner would be served. While Gerda tidied up, Elsa headed down the stairs and stopped short when she heard them arguing. Her parents never fought, and she was so surprised, she wound up eavesdropping.
“There must be something we can do! We can’t continue like this!”
It was her mother talking.
“Iduna, we’ve been over this time and time again.” Her father sounded frustrated. “We don’t have a choice. We must wait.”
“I’m tired of waiting! We’ve lived like this for far too long!”
“When it comes to magic, there is no timeline. He warned us about this.”
Magic? Magic was part of a child’s imagination. The stuff of storybooks. Why would her parents be talking about something that didn’t exist?
“We were desperate. We didn’t think. We should have tried to change their fates. Maybe if we appealed to Grand Pabbie again…”
“No! We can’t be seen there. Even your travels to the village are getting too risky. What if someone learned where you were going? Who you were seeing? Do you know what would happen if she were brought here?”
Who are they talking about? Elsa strained to hear more. Was this about where Mama disappeared to on her outings? Nothing they were saying made sense.
“I am always discreet, and I won’t stop visiting.” Her mother sounded defiant. “We’ve missed so much already.”
“It was the only way. You and I both know that. The magic will break soon.”
“It’s been over ten years and it hasn’t waned! It isn’t fair to any of us, especially Elsa.”
She perked up. What did this have to do with her?
“Elsa is fine.”
“She’s not fine, Agnarr. She’s lonely.”
Yes! Elsa wanted to cry out. I am lonely. Her mother knew her innermost thoughts. It almost made her want to cry with relief. But she didn’t understand what that had to do with their argument.
“We will introduce her to more people. The Duke of Weselton mentioned a prince he thought she might connect with. We’ve let her start coming to royal outings. The important thing is she’s safe. They both are. Isn’t that what we wanted?”
“She deserves to know what she’s capable of, Agnarr.”
“She will when the time is right. We haven’t seen any sign she still can—”
“There you are, Princess!” Gerda came up behind her and Elsa jumped. “I was wondering if you had gotten lost. Olina is ready to serve supper. Have you spoken to your parents?”
“I…” Elsa’s cheeks flushed as her parents stepped into the hallway, looking from Elsa to Gerda.
Her mother kissed her forehead. “How long have you been standing there?” she asked.
“I had just reached your door when Gerda arrived,” she lied.
Her mother’s face relaxed. “I missed you today.” She linked arms with Elsa and started walking with her down the hall to the staircase. “I want to hear what you did while I was gone.”
“Nothing much.” It was the truth, yet Elsa knew there was also much she wasn’t saying. Her parents talked about banal things on their walk to supper, but Elsa couldn’t concentrate. She kept thinking about their argument, and what her father had said. Do you know what would happen if she were brought here?
Elsa couldn’t help wondering: who was “she”?
Her bed was warm and cozy, and that incessant knocking seemed far away. Anna wiped the drool from her mouth and tried to keep dreaming, but it was hard. Someone kept interrupting.
“Anna?”
Her name sounded like a whisper on the wind. It was followed by more annoying knocking. “Anna?”
“Huh?” Anna pulled a piece of wet hair from her mouth and sat up.
“Sorry to wake you, but…”
“No, no, no, you didn’t.” Anna yawned, her eyes still closed. “I’ve been up for hours.”
Normally she would have been. She always rose before the sun to help her parents prepare bread. Their shop, Tomally’s Baked Goods, churned out dozens of loaves and bakery items a day. But the previous night she’d had trouble sleeping and her dreams were