Chapter 1
The Primordial Prince
I woke up cold. I opened my eyes and realized why I was so cold, for some reason I was outside in the middle of what seemed like a blizzard. This was weird considering the fact that I didn’t remember falling asleep there, especially in nothing more than a blue shirt and black pants. Actually, thinking about it, I couldn’t remember anything. Unfortunately I couldn’t spend any more time lying in the snow, so I got up and took in my surroundings.
There was an extensive mountain range with snow capped peaks as far as the eye could see. The grey storm clouds cut the sun out, turning what I felt like day into what looked like night. At the bottom of the mountain I was standing on, there was a glow coming from a small town on the water. Although I wasn’t sure if I wanted to interact with anyone just yet, I couldn’t stay out in this kind of weather for much longer, not even taking into consideration how long I was asleep in the snow. So I headed down the mountain towards the town.
Almost two hours later I stumbled through the front gates of the town. An old sign stood just inside said this place was Allendale. In front of me was a worn cobblestone street with sturdy looking wooden houses on either side. All of the windows and doors were closed, most seemed boarded up to keep out the snow. At the end of the street was a small cobblestone bridge, across a frozen river, that lead to a large castle adorned with banners and what seemed like decorative snowflakes. I’d have to look into that, but after I had gotten some actual sleep and maybe a hot soup.
I crossed the bridge just to stop at a double door gate. There were no brass knobs to open the gates or anything to let anyone inside know that there was someone was just outside the doors freezing his fingers off. So….. I just knocked, I mean why not?
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” yelled a guard from a post off to the right.
“I’m trying to get some help, I’m freezing to death. Please open the gates!” I yelled back.
“Sorry kid, you’ve got no business here” the guard said while pulling out a crossbow, “you better get lost fast!”
And without even waiting for me to process the fact that he was threatening me, he aimed and fired at my chest. My instincts kicked into high gear, I spun to the left dodging the crossbow bold and when I faced him again I hopped up on the railing and jumped towards the little nook where the guard was standing. I managed to grab the edge of the wall in front of the guard and pull myself up faster than the guard was able to reload his crossbow.
He stared at me in total bewilderment, which I took to my advantage. I lunged forward and pinned him on the stone floor with my left arm, with my right arm raised prepared to knock him out cold.
“H…how did you do that?” the guard choked out.
He was obviously terrified that I was able to cross at least eight feet in less than two seconds. But I could still see the cruelty in his eyes; from what must have been years of believing he was better than everyone else just because he carried a weapon for a job. But I still couldn’t bring myself to punch his lights out for good, or throw him into the frozen water just a few feet away which I REALLY wanted to do. So I simply pulled him up with my left arm and shove him back down, causing him to hit his head and go unconscious for just a few minutes and probably without any serious injuries.
I got up and realized what I just did. Although it was just one guard, I had technically just overpowered the defenses of the castle. Probably not the best idea I’ve ever had, even though I didn’t remember 99% of my ideas. If the rest of the guards noticed their unconscious comrade or a mostly frozen boy sneaking around in the castle, they probably wouldn’t react with kindness.
So after a few seconds of mental debate, I decided that I couldn’t go back to the town; I had to get something to bundle up with at the very least. And that soup idea earlier was still a valid option. And with that I calmly walked into the courtyard.
Elsa had been in meetings all day. After the Great Freeze two years ago, Arendelle had cut trade between both Weseltown and the Southern Isles. At the time it had seemed like a reasonable idea, but after two years of reduced international trade both other nations had taken giant economical hits. They had started raising massive armies and have been threatening to attack Arendelle. So of course, back to back war councils had been necessary. Elsa understood that but still hated every second of them.
“Hey, Elsa!” Anna shouted from halfway down the hall.
Even though the whole, freezing over all of Arendelle and Anna’s heart, the two sisters had gotten so close to each other that it made their younger selves look like strangers. Elsa enjoyed hanging around her sister, even though she was permanently upbeat even in the face of impending war.
“Hello Anna. You missed another war meeting. Where were you?” Elsa asked.
“I was hanging out with Kristoff. It’s not like I missed anything important”
“Actually, you did! Apparently both the Southern Isles and Weseltown are marching towards us right now. And to make matters worse, the Emperor himself will be her in a we-”
It was at this point that Elsa was cut off by a boy crashing through the window on her right. He was remarkably similar to Elsa, pale white skin, with messy snow white hair. But when he started to get back up, she saw his eyes, which were so green that they actually seemed to glow. The giant snow golem Marshmallow climbed in through the shattered window, and the guards came rushing in from behind and from the far end of hallway. They grabbed the boy before he could try to escape, and dragged him in front of Elsa. Now that he was closer, she could see that he was covered in snow and ice, like he had hiked through the blizzard outside. His lips were a dark shade of blue and the skin around his eyes were blood red.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my castle?” Elsa demanded.
“I’m just trying to get some help; I couldn’t find anyone to help so I just let myself in.” The boy said, but it was hard to tell how old he was. He could have been 18 or 30.
A guard stumbled towards him scowling, “Ha, that’s what you get peasant” he said leaning in close for effect, “now you’ll spend the rest of your life in the dungeons!”
“Not so fast, if he is truly harmless and in need; then we are obligated to help him.” Elsa interjected. The guard was obviously upset about her decision but held his tongue, being the queen had some benefits. Elsa touched the boy’s forehead and melted all the snow and ice caked onto his skin. Immediately, his temperature rose and color started to return to his face.
The guards released him and he slowly rose up to full height. He was around half a foot taller than Elsa, and much thicker. He held himself with humble confidence, like he could handle himself in a fight but had actually been in a few and knew not to instigate them.
“Thank you…..wow that’s embarrassing, I don’t know the name of the woman that just saved my life.” He said in a kind voice.
“And I don’t know your name of the man I just saved.” She retorted. He simply chuckled in response. “My name is Elsa, Queen of Arendelle.”
“And I’m James, the not-so-sure-if-local-or-not amnesiac.” He said, smiling as if bringing up the fact that he had forgotten everything was just another pleasant fact.
“Well if you’re not too tired, I could take you on a tour of the castle.”
“I couldn’t think of anything better, but if we could go to the kitchen first that would be amazing.” This caused Elsa to giggle slightly, and then realized what she was doing and blushed.
“The kitchen it is then. Follow me.” Elsa said as she led the way deeper into the castle.
