I(ce) Found Me A Princess

Part 1- Written By Sudharies (me)

It all began on a warm, first day of summer, when Anna reminisced my ice castle during our monthly council. It sat tight, uninhabited, ever since I was taken captive from there ages ago. As the castle was forged from ice, it could be used as a warehouse, she'd put forward. Gripped by an overwhelming urge to swing by my very own crown jewel, I took a trip with Anna in tow. Several barrels of preservative foods, meat and wine were loaded in our carts to be dumped for storage.

We steered across the lake, swerved atop the mountain, which eventually led us towards a striking Ice castle, tucked away in the confines of the enchanted forest. Sunbeam could hardly sneak through these huddled woods, the air dense with the fragrance of pine and sandalwood. We drew closer towards the gates, to perceive an abrupt temperature dip. Anna draped her arms around, against the rising chill, her teeth chattering. The pair of reindeer who dragged our carts gave grunts of agitation, stomping their hooves, glaring at the towering castle.

With a gentle shove, my escorts opened the gates. They stationed sideways bowing, as we ambled across the foyer towards the chambers deep in the castle. Anna was going on about the storage plans, unawares I heard music cascading from the upper-story of the palace.

"Who is playing piano here?" I pondered, glancing at Anna.

"Piano? I don't hear anything"

"What?" I looked over my shoulder to see if any of my escorts could, but to no avail. Curiosity got the better of me. I climbed the stairs with a tardy pace, reached a vast landing where a piano carved in ice came into view. Sauntered further to behold the sight of a man hunched behind, his fingers scuttling across the keys with shut eyes, body swaying to music. A numbing chill infiltrated my very bones, which wasn't dread. He was pale, clad in a black sweatshirt and pants, long auburn bangs that fell upto his eyes. The contrast of his clothing making him all the more paler.

"Who are you?"

A pair of glassy eyes jerked open. Silence ensued while he peered over the Piano's lid, a tad longer in shock. He sprung up off his seat. He was tall, like really tall.

"You can see me?" His voice deep, but with a tender ring to it.

"Of course! Isn't that normal? Are you.." I had an aha moment. "A spirit?" He nodded ruefully.

"Since when, are you staying here?" He loomed closer, making the temperature shoot further down. But all I could focus on was how good-looking he was.

"I keep shifting places to avoid humans, somehow ended up here in the woods weeks ago and eventually found this castle. Rarely carriages were heard, but none made an entrance" He hovered, skimming out through an alcove. "Even if they did, none can see me. I'm surprised that you can. Who are you??" 

"I'm Elsa, from Arendelle. I possess some unusual powers." Instead of verbalizing, I swished my hand a feet ahead, crystallized an exquisite snow sculpture on the icy floor, glinting in the weak sunshine.

"That's incredible." His voice dripped with awe. "So this castle, is this your creation too?"

"Guilty!" I shrugged my shoulders, with feigned indifference.

"Amazing...!" In a jiffy, his eyes froze in a realization. "Ice!! A common link! That's probably why you can see me!" His lips quirked up in an understanding smile, "I'm Shiv, btw!"

"Nice to meet you, Shiv" I bowed.

"Pleasure is mine!" He slightly bowed his head, mirroring me.

"Please continue playing, it was great!" So he did. Within a few minutes of listening to his performance, I figured that he was skillful. "That was brilliant." Before I could say anything further, Anna popped in, scrutinizing the expanse. "Who are you talking to?"

Shiv merely shrugged, meaning to say he wasn't visible to everyone. 

"No one. Let's go!" I snuck a quick look at Shiv, waving my fingers in farewell.

"Will you come again? I could use some company"  The anxious desperation in his voice spoke volumes.

"No one can stop me" I whispered back smiling, earning a hearty grin.

That night as I rolled in bed, all I could think of was him. The handsome, musician ghost. There was something so serene about him. The mere memory of his tender voice and eyes, made my heart all fuzzy. Surreptitiously, I made a habit of frequenting my ice castle (i.e; Shiv) every other day. The first day I revisited, he was pacing back and forth in the Great hall.

"Hey Shiv!" He whirled around, beaming. "Hey! I thought..." Apparently, he was skeptical of my return. I was over the moon to see his joy. He played for me everyday and I sang for him. From time to time, he also revealed his past. During one of our many conversations, he shared that he was madly in love with a girl. And a guy, who he thought was his friend killed him. Until his ultimatum, he'd wanted to spend his days in quietude. It was intriguing that he was in pursuit of isolation & peace after he was betrayed and killed, just like I did when the world failed to understand me. I could relate to that, a lot. In return, I narrated about my childhood, how my power was a curse in disguise, until an act of true love.

"My sister Anna's selfless act of love cured my curse. If not for her I'd have still been stuck like...." I trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Like me!!! Neither here nor there, in a dark void of agony." A lone tear rolled down his cheek. Without hesitation I reached up, gently wiped with my thumb. It came as a surprise that I can touch him. Gazing at his eyes, I clasped his bony hand and gave a comforting squeeze. That very moment, I grasped that I liked him and wanted to be there for him to the hilt.

********

Second part of the story: Written by ItsJustHrideyy

  The moment I grasped his hand sent a weird sensation throughout my body, more like a mild version of thunder very subtle but still could be felt affirming my own conclusion that I liked him. The tear rolling down his cheek was crystal clear shining in the bright glow of the moon, I gently raised my hand wiped down the tear. “Sometimes life throws us in situations which are extremely difficult and dark but trust me sooner or later we find a way to navigate out of the darkness and move onto the path of light and happiness,” I said trying to reassure him what? I wasn’t sure myself.

Shiv smiled slightly as he felt the touch of Elsa’s cold finger, it has been a long since he was touched by anybody, not being touched and seen comes with being a spirit but today he felt something entirely different, something new and good.

“So, what else do you like to do apart from playing the piano?”Elsa asked shiv trying to change the mood of the situation.

“I really don’t remember; it has been long since I have done anything else before I was too involved in protecting the person, I loved that there was nothing much to explore being a spirit could have provided me with a plethora of opportunities but I choose to stay where I was and now when that purpose has been fulfilled, I feel rather lost and useless,” Shiv said in one go without a breath not that he could breathe anyway.

“How about I take you on a tour of the castle if you already haven't done that yet?” Elsa asked with hopes that he would say yes, there was something about this man- no spirit man or whatever she thought to herself, the situation was rather uncanny because never have Elsa interacted with spirits before but now why this man, was there something at play here maybe it was the will of God or maybe it wasn’t?

“Sure, I’d love to, this place is humungous and I haven’t explored it much and I’d love some company,” Shiv said, the entire time Elsa’s sight was fixated at how his facial muscles moved when he talked, that sharp jawline and the glint in his eyes.

“Let’s get going then,” Elsa said as she starts walking within behind her.

They took a tour of the entire ice castle, the entire way shiv was bewildered by the beauty of the place and he thought to himself that only magic can create such an intricate and detailed place although it was made of ice it felt that this place was eternal no amount of heat or sunlight could melt it away as if something held this palace rooted to reality and he had no doubt it was her, Elsa her magic will live as long as she does and with her, this all will melt away.

“This place is a piece of art I must say, your majesty” Shiv said as they stood in the grand hall of the castle, the ceiling had intricate patterns all over it, glistening under the light hue of the moon itself.

“Thank you but your majesty where did that come from?” Elsa asked chuckling.

“You have this amazing castle that you built by yourself so I figured you must be some kind of queen,” Shiv said.

“Actually yes, I am indeed a queen. Queen of Arendelle a kingdom now quite far from here” Elsa said.

“See I am never,” Shiv said with a victorious expression on his face.

“Now, now don’t get cocky. Come I’ll show you something” Elsa said extending her hand to shiv, who gently holds it and follows Elsa.

They walked across a long passageway, long and quite dimly lit by the moonlight the feel was not gloomy but something different an odd sense of relief and calmness felt by both of them as if this was a new beginning, a second chance for happiness bestowed upon them by something maybe god or their guardian angels.

They finally reached the balcony, it huge would be an understatement. The view in Infront was magical, trees spread out for as far as one can see, dragonflies splattered across the moon’s light deflecting from the surface of ice giving it a diamond-like shine.

Both of them stood at the railing and just stared at the view right Infront of them, slowly their hands moved towards each other finally meeting, Elsa’s hand rested below shiv’s.

“This—this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life or afterlife I’d say,” Shiv said chuckling a little bit which brought a smile to Elsa’s face.

“I am glad you liked it, I come here every now and then when I am too stressed or troubled or need to make some difficult decisions.” She said looking at Shiv.

“This place feels like its magic, thank you for bringing me here,” Shiv said as both of them moved closer to each other, their gazes fixed on each other they stood barely a millimeter apart, so close that one could feel the other’s breath on their face.

They both wanted to say something but at that moment words didn't seem to come to them, ever so slowly their faces moved closer to each other and finally their lips met. The kiss was soft and magical, the touch of their lips felt like feathers to both of them.

The moon shining ever so brightly as they kissed as if blessing them for the new beginning that they’ve just made, finally after a moment they stopped and looked deep into each other’s eyes.

“I liked it,” Shiv said.

“So, did I” Elsa replied.

None of them knew if this was meant to be forever but they just wanted to live in the moment and forget about what will happen next. They smiled not only from their faces but from their hearts as they felt something neither of them has felt in a long time.

Elsa turned around raised one of her hands, ice started moving around slowly and turning into a small tornado when it stopped there was a sculpture, not any but them standing together, holding hands and admiring the moon.

“That—that is so beautiful,” Shiv said as he looked at Elsa.

“Just to capture this moment,” She said.