shut the door behind her.

She allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. She might have been embarrassed, but she was the queen, and she must not show any weakness. She breathed deeply a few times, then straightened her composure and approached her wardrobe. Now, what to wear…

Elsa spent the rest of the morning with the captain and his men. She gave them a tour of the castle—being very careful to bring attention to the many frozen windows that Anna had broken over the past few weeks—before giving them a brief walkthrough of the town.

By the time they returned to the castle, it was lunchtime. Elsa was starving; she had to skip out on breakfast thanks to her sister’s antics, and now that she had an hour to herself, she was excited to find something to devour. She left her visitors in the dining room and requested the castle’s chef to make whatever they asked for, before rushing into the kitchen to grab a bite for herself.

Anna was waiting for her, impatiently pacing around the room. “It’s about time you got here,” she exclaimed. “Are you hungry?”

Elsa, not interested in any more of her sister’s chaos, had to bite her tongue, despite how much she wanted to ask why else she would be in the kitchen. “Yes, and you’re in the way of the cupboard,” she quietly replied.

Anna quickly jumped out of the way, allowing Elsa full access to the pantry. “Oh, sorry. Be my guest! Have as much as you want.” But just as Elsa reached to open the door, she added, “Or…”

Now afraid that Anna had done something to the food, Elsa froze stiff. “Or what?” she asked, fearing the answer.

Anna reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a blindfold. Sheepishly smiling, she continued, “Or you can let me take you to a surprise meal!”

Elsa’s fear didn’t go away. “A surprise meal?” she repeated. When Anna’s smile didn’t disappear, she hesitantly let go of her fear. “Well, I suppose.”

Anna squealed in delight, and then tied the blindfold around Elsa’s head. “Come with me.” She grabbed her sister’s hand and began leading her through the castle.

At first, Elsa had an easy time figuring out where they were. A turn around the corner led to the main hallway, and then up the stairs they went out onto the balcony. However, after Anna pushed Elsa onto the roof, and then they carefully made their way back in through a different window, Elsa lost all sense of direction.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, excited and worried at the same time.

Anna just chuckled. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

Anna continued leading her sister through various parts of the castle. Every now and then, Elsa thought she figured out where they were, but then they took a turn into what should have been a wall, but was really another hallway, and she lost all sense of direction again.

However, after about 10 minutes, Anna finally stopped Elsa and announced, “We’re here! Do you like it?” Elsa, with her blindfold still on, cleared her throat. “Oh, sorry,” Anna apologized, reaching behind Elsa’s head and untying the blindfold. 

They were right back where they started: outside the kitchen. At first, Elsa was upset; once again, Anna had wasted precious time, and now she had even less time to eat lunch. But before she could complain, she heard singing coming from inside the kitchen. She slowly walked inside to investigate, Anna close behind with a smile on her face.

Olaf was inside, dancing around and singing a merry tune. Several dishes were on the stove, and at that very moment, he was sticking another one in the oven. His personal snow cloud was fighting to keep up with him as he crossed from one side of the room to the other, flicking utensils around and tasting different dishes.

Elsa chuckled at the sight of it all, and Olaf turned to greet her. “Hello!” he merrily exclaimed, before grabbing a spoon and sampling from the pot on the stove. “Elsa, when you and Anna were young, did you both have a favorite dish?”

The question confused Elsa—not because she wondered why Olaf was asking; it was obvious he wished to make their favorite meal for her as the “surprise”. Her confusion was the result of one thing: “Olaf, do you even know how to cook?”

Olaf happily shook his head. “How hard can it be? Everything I’ve tasted so far is great.”

But when the next thing he sampled, and proclaimed “exquisite,” was an entire jar of salt, Anna quickly asked, “Do you even have a sense of taste?”

Olaf fought to swallow the salt, but somehow it did not mix well with his snowy mouth. “Oh yeah, I never thought of that.”

Before anyone could say or do anything else, the oven began to emit an ominous sound. Olaf quickly ran over to check on it, before turning back to face Elsa and Anna. “Hey, do you two know if cooking flour in the oven is a good thing?”

Anna sighed in relief. “Yes, that’s a good thing.” 

But Elsa was still skeptical. “What did you add with it?” she asked.

Olaf looked back inside. “A few dozen eggs.” Before the two sisters could once again sigh, he added, “Was I supposed to crack them first?”

The noise grew louder, and the three of them froze in terror as they realized what was about to happen. Not having time to think, Elsa reached for Olaf, threw him away from the oven, and raised her hands in an attempt to freeze it.

The combination of extreme heat with extreme cold caused the oven to crack in several places, and when her ice reached the food inside, the eggs exploded through the cracks and splattered all over Elsa. Then the flour followed immediately after, caking her head to toe.

The only thing Elsa could be optimistic about was that she managed to cool it down before it hit her.

She slowly turned around and left the kitchen. Anna and Olaf’s jaws were dropped at the sight of her, turned completely white with egg dripping down her dress. She walked to her room, leaving a trail of white shoeprints along the way, along with a trail of several curious eyes—including those of the captain.

When she finally reached her room, she dared to look in the mirror before starting the undoubtedly long process of cleaning up. If she were to be honest with herself, her appearance was actually quite amusing. The eggs had acted as an adhesive, so there was not a single place on her entire front that was free of the flour. Even her dress, which was a mixture of red and black, was white as snow.

She allowed herself a giggle, despite the fact that practically everyone in the palace—including her most distinguished visitors—had seen her. Her giggle disappeared as she realized the repercussions this could have on her treaty. 

Knowing that lunchtime was almost up—and she had yet to eat—she decided to grab a quick bath before returning to the kitchen. Not knowing what the flour would do to the new pipes that had just been installed in the palace, she washed as much of the flour off as possible before submerging herself, still in her clothes, into the bathtub.

She tried to relax in the nice, cool water, but the more she tried, the more her mind wandered. Elsa was suddenly afraid that the captain of Corona would refuse to sign the treaty—or worse, would refuse to see her as a worthy queen.

What if it gets out that I’ve acted so childish? She gripped the sides of the bathtub in fear. What if nobody takes me seriously? How can I maintain control of Arendelle if my subjects see me as no better than a common peasant? Her breath caught in her throat. What if I’m mocked everywhere I go? What if people don’t remember me as the Snow Queen, but the Flour and Eggs Queen?

She realized the tub was getting colder and colder under her grip. Her mind jerked back to the present, and she realized in horror that she had completely frozen the tub, along with the water inside.

Elsa forced herself to calm down. Fear is your enemy, she reminded herself. Even though she had learned how to control her powers, she still slipped up every once in a while when she got too afraid of something. Calmly, she focused her powers into the ice and drew it out of the water, then out of the tub itself. 

She decided she was clean enough, so she stood up, removed her wet garments, wrapped herself up in a towel, and returned to her room to pick another outfit. But once again, Anna was waiting for her. Her face was very solemn, and it was clear she was sorry for what happened in the kitchen.

“Is everyone making fun of me?” Elsa asked, walking to her wardrobe to get a new outfit.

Anna shrugged. “I made it clear, if anyone spoke of this, you’d make them into an ice cube.” She stood beside her sister and reached into the wardrobe, retrieving a blue dress. “Try this one.”

Elsa smiled in gratitude, before disappearing behind a folding screen to change. “So much for getting something to eat,” she sighed.

Anna was silent for a minute, but eventually responded, “Actually, that’s the reason I’m here.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Elsa re-appeared, now wearing her blue dress, and looked at Anna with a raised eyebrow. “Please don’t tell me you have another surprise.”

Anna chuckled, hands behind her back. “Actually, I do. But this one I know you’ll like.” 

She revealed her hands, and Elsa was delighted to see a box of chocolates in them. “Wow!” she exclaimed.

Anna