#book!au

I hugged the book to my chest, smiled to myself. After my first copy of my favorite book of all time was stolen by some sneaky jerk on the subway, I finally found time in my schedule to purchase another copy from the local bookstore.

I settled in my cozy armchair beneath the stained glass window in my living room. The painted reflection of a crimson rose fell upon the white hardcover of the novel, still pristine in my hands. Somehow, I had refrained from reading the entire thing in the store yet again.

Tugging the gray, fuzzy blanket over my lap, I peeled away the front over and the first three pages, expecting to find the same opening words that I had read at least sixty times: “Where love thrives, the thorns of the rose are only growing thicker.”

Only, I did not find those words. On that cream-colored page, all I found instead were three words written in uncharacteristically large, red font and bold print–THE CHOSEN ONE.

I frowned, held the book up closer to my eyes, and squinted in disbelief. “What the hell? The chosen one?”

Abruptly, there was a loud humming in my ears, high-pitched and almost static-y. I furrowed my brows and pulled my eyes from the pages, only to find that the paint from my walls appeared to be bleeding onto the hardwood floor. I yanked my feet up away from the floor, dug my nails into the armrest, and opened my mouth to scream–only, nothing came out.

And soon, my vision began to fade, first in color and then in clarity, and I fell unconscious.

My head was pounding so heavily upon opening my eyes that I thought, perhaps, someone was ramming my head into the cement. It certainly made sense; my ears were ringing, and my vision was entirely white.

But, no, that could not have been. My fingers twitched, giving me the first sensation of something prickly, familiar. And as my vision filtered back, I found myself face-to-face with something green.

Grass. But how?

I pulled myself from the ground, confused as to why I was laying down outside when I was inside before–before that happened. I brought two fingers to my head and groaned, tossed my head back in both annoyance and agony.

My eyes caught on scarlet poles and a long, golden roof, curved at the ends. My head shot over my shoulder, and I stared at the building again. The steps down into where I was–a courtyard, perhaps–were shiny and golden, and they were preceded by a stretch of emerald tiles, so green that the grass was envious, and a door the color of blood.

No way.

I sunk my teeth into my lower lip, cocked my head at an angle. This had to be some sort of dream; that was the only possible explanation for this.

I pulled myself to my feet with a whimper, for the stabbing pain in my head only worsened with movement. I looked around more, only to find myself surrounded by a building. Though, if this was what I was beginning to think it was, this was not just a building.

This was a palace.

My thoughts were torn to shreds by the sound of the doors to the east of me parting. I only got a glimpse of the intricate designs carved into the wood by, likely, the finest artist in the entire country before I ducked behind the edge of the fountain. I eased into a laying position and buried my face into my hands, feeling my breaths as they came out, clipped and ragged.

But no. If this was what I thought it was, those who just entered the courtyard would not come this way. They would escort the prince to the stone steps of the gazebo, and he would sit there, surrounded by roses and daisies, dressed in silk robes so blue that the sky and all the oceans were put to shame, until his visitor would arrive.

Minutes dragged by, and I knew that the young prince felt the same. He sat upon the stone steps, sitting in a sea of fabric traced with designs in gold thread, just as anxious as me, but for reasons that were entirely different.

The doors parted, though this time I heard only one pair of footsteps and the soft rustle of fabric along the tiles.

“Na Mei,” greeted the prince, rising from the steps and opening his arms for her.

“Si Cheng,” she replied, allowing herself to be enveloped in his arms.

My heart plummeted, and I gritted my teeth together, not because I adored Si Cheng with all my heart and felt suddenly jealous (I did) but because I knew exactly where I was now.

I was stuck in my favorite novel, and the only possible reason I had for this was the red text on that page. But how? This was a book, not real life, and even if it was, I didn’t believe in what prophecies had to say!

“You arrived safely,” he said into her hair, holding her tightly against her chest. “How did you get here without anyone noticing?”

I groaned mentally, shaking my head. I could understand Mandarin now, too. And now that I was paying attention to myself, I noticed the white dress I wore, etched with details of thread of the softest pink I had ever seen.

“There isn’t much that could keep me from you,” Na Mei mumbled, reached up and cupped his face with her small, pale hand.

The autumn wind raged upon us, stinging skin and roaring in our ears. It brought with it a thick covering of gray clouds, right on cue. I nodded to myself and waited for the pair to scurry inside. I followed suite a few moments after and tugged open the doors just as rain began to pour.

Before me stretched a maze-like set of halls and doors, each lined by cream walls and sapphire blue tiles. This section was empty, but I could hear the rapid footsteps and hushed whispers of maids and servants as they scuttled about nearby.

I ducked behind a pole so wide that wrapping my arms around it would have been difficult and shut my eyes, tried to recall the map of the castle the author included at the front of the book. The maids’ quarters were not far, judging by their symphony of noises, and if I recalled correctly, the closet in which their uniforms were kept and washed was down the hallway to my right, down the next hallway on the left, and in the fourth door on the left.

I made a run for it after grabbing fistfuls of the soft silk gown and yanking it away from my feet. The soft taps of the balls of my feet against the tile was drowned out by the racing of my heart behind my ribcage, and I only hoped that they were just as quiet without the background noise.

I tugged open the door to what I suspected to be where I could find these outfits, only to find a maid fiddling with one on the wall. She turned, tilted her head, racked her head for my name before realizing that she did not know it.

“Who are you?” she asked, removing her hands from the uniform and instead dedicating her energy to looking me over, scrutinizing every visible part of me, especially my dress.

“Uh, I’m y/n,” I stuttered, feeling my mouth dry. “I’m a new maid here.”

“Are you?” she raised an eyebrow, stepped closer. “What’s with the dress, then?”

I shrugged, sunk my teeth into my lower lip. “You must excuse me, but I do not understand.”

She pointed toward the cabinet and shot me a look. “Come, find a uniform in your size. Hurry, too, because we must clean the main room. Guests will be arriving any moment now, and we have been directed to have as many available maids there immediately to prepare it.”

My heart sunk into my stomach, but I nodded, shuffled over, held up numerous tops and bottoms until I found one that seemed to fit. The bottoms were actually a little tight around the hips, but with how the woman was rushing me, I could not manage to find another.

The outfits were dark, plain, but soft, a simple top and a long skirt. There was no mistaking anyone in these as royalty that was for sure.

She interrupted my thoughts with a sharp whistle, gesturing toward the door with a jerk of her head. I nodded and followed her as she scampered through the doorway, once again pulling my skirt from my feet. I felt that, perhaps, I was in a larger hurry than she was; I knew exactly who the visitors were and what they had in store for Si Cheng.

I found at least eight other maids already cleaning, swiping over every available surface with a damp cloth or scrubbing the floors with brushes and tubs full of water. I grabbed a soft cloth and dipped it into a bowl of water, joined another maid at the stained glass window.

As I wiped away every last speck of dirt and dust, my mind wandered off to my presence here to begin with. The Chosen One–that had to mean something. I was here to fix something, or do something, or be something, and then maybe, just maybe, I could escape after I finished my grand task.

But this was a novel–why didn’t the author just write my character in or fix this mistake to begin with? But no, no, who said it was the author who did this?

I groaned inwardly and sighed. For a moment, I stopped cleaning, only to have the maid beside me elbow my tricep and shoot me a glare. With another sigh, I apologized in a whisper and continued cleaning, even as my arm began to tire.

There was a sudden creak and a subsequent silence that fell over the room, even before I could crane my head over my shoulder. I turned and bowed almost instinctively, waiting for the prince to take a seat at the center table before I rose with the rest of the maids.

Everyone gripped some sort of cleaning object in their hands, and within seconds, we were filing out of the room. In passing, I looked at Si Cheng, caught a good glimpse of his warm, brown eyes, softly tanned skin, and full lips–only to realize that the only reason I could see them was because he was looking at me in return.

I apologized and bowed so suddenly that the maid behind me bumped into me and dropped her rag. She huffed and scurried past me, and once she had gone, I pulled myself from my position and scampered out of the room. I knew it was not the last time I would see him, given how the novel ended. No, something told me that I would do more than see him.

I was just preparing my bed–a measly blanket as thin as a strand of hair and a pillow as stiff as a rock, both on the floor–when the door to this room of the maids’ quarters parted. In the doorway stood a man,, a large candle in his hand, in robes just as dark as mine but likely made of silk or some other soft material. Given that the other maids all fell quiet upon seeing him and that he was dressed so immaculately, I inferred that he was of high status in this palace.

“Hey, Jia Hao, what is it now?” hollered the maid a few spots over.

I furrowed my brows and looked over at her curiously. Perhaps I was wrong.

“The prince has requested that the new maid be brought to the main room immediately.”

Thirty heads snapped in my direction, their expressions partly of envy, some of fear, others rather smug. My upper lip twitched, but I bit my tongue and rose to my feet, the thin fabric of my nightgown swishing around my ankles.

I followed this man, who I deduced to be a news carrier or some sort, back down the hallways I had passed through earlier. My heart was screaming in my chest, mostly out of fear but, undeniably, partly because Si Cheng was my favorite character in this entire book.

Jia Hao was silent the entire trip, not that I expected he truly had anything to say to me. He surely would not know the reason for summoning me, so I kept my mouth shut, no matter how curious I was.

He stopped suddenly. I collided with his back, for which I apologized with a deep bow and a shameful “sorry.” Jia Hao did not reply, only pointed to the door and retreated back down another hallway. I gulped, sucked in a deep breath, debated not coming in, though I knew that keeping a prince waiting was stupid. Besides, with how silent the palace was, Si Cheng had to have heard me and Jia Hao out here.

I yanked my spine straight and slowly opened the door. The prince sat at the center table, dressed in a dark robe with wide sleeves. The fabric pooled around his sitting, watchful figure. I stepped closer after shutting the doors behind me, nearly stumbled in the dark. There were only so many candles, and I had always been rather clumsy.

“You summoned my presence, Prince?” I asked, sitting in front of him, careful to keep myself from touching him beneath the table in any way.

“Who are you?” He asked, his voice more soothing and low than I had imagined while reading.

I sunk my teeth into my lower lip, fiddled with my fingers in my lap. “Your Highness, I am y/n.”

“Where are you from?”

I swallowed thickly, dug my nails into my palms, tried to ignore the dizzying adrenaline that flooded my entire body. “I am from this very city, Prince. My family lives only a few miles from this palace, Prince.”

“Is that so?” he asked, drumming his fingertips along the glass surface of the table.

I watched his hands for a moment, only to look up and find him staring at me with eyes that the author described as “so warm and inviting that one perhaps felt they were sitting just before a fire, hands outstretched and kissed by the heat of the flame.” The author certainly was not incorrect.

“Yes, Prince.”

“Why is it that I have never encountered you before?”

“I was hired just yesterday, Prince.”

He nods, though it is clear that my response was not what he wanted. I gulp, gnaw on the inside of my cheek.

“Who is the name of the person who hired you?”

My heart plummeted into the pits of hell. I opened my mouth, stuttered, shut my mouth.

“Well?” he asked, leaning closer.

“U-uh, Your Highness, it w-was, it was Zhong–”

“No.”

I sighed and winced, allowing my neck to droop, though I knew that Si Cheng was such a good man that he would never even think of laying a finger on me.

“You know, don’t you, what is happening to me.”

I sighed and looked up from my lap. “I do, Your Highness.”

“Say it.”

“You are doomed to repeat this very day, and you are the only one who knows, correct, Prince?”

He sighed, nodded.. “Correct. Tell me how you know this.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek again, and my hands return to their fiddling in my lap. He would not believe me if I told him. Surely, this would only anger him, and I would be kicked out of the palace by morning and forced to wander this novel’s setting for all of eternity.

“You would not believe me if I told you, Prince, so I ask that you do not force me to tell you, Prince, even if I am in no position to deny you anything, for I fear of the consequences that may follow should I reveal this to you, Prince.”

He contemplated this silently, draws his fingers in illegible patterns along the glass table. I watched in a combination of fear and admiration, for he looked almost god-like in the amber glow of the candles that surround him, yet he held my fate in his hands.

“Tell me, and I will allow no harm to befall you.”

I nodded and leaned forward a little, the fabric of my sleeve concealing my hands.

“You see, Prince, you are my favorite character in my favorite novel. I was somehow sucked into it, and I do not know how to get out, Prince, only that you become cursed at the end because Na Mei is angry about the marriage your family forces you into. And before you believe I am delusional, Prince, you must wonder how I could possibly know this if what I said were not true. You must believe me, Prince. This is the truth, Your Highness, I swear to you.”

He was silent once more.

“You are to stay at my side for every day that passes after this until you are able to leave. If what you say is true, you must be able to leave only after you fix this.”

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

“You are dismissed. I expect you at my quarters at five in the morning, y/n.”

“Yes, Prince.”

I rose to my feet and bowed deeply to him. When I straightened my spine, I found he had gotten up. In his hands he clutched a candle.

“Take this,” he mumbled, grabbed my wrist. He slid it into my palm. “Do you know how to return to your quarters?”

“Yes, Prince. Thank you, Prince. You are very kind.”

“Felicity, your favorite customer is here,” Sara called to her and Felicity whipped around quickly, her blonde ponytail swishing and a blush starting to creep into her cheeks.

“Sara shut up!” she admonished with a glare, pushing her glasses further up on her nose.  “He’ll hear you.”

“He’s on the phone. Don’t worry, he’s not paying attention to you. Yet.”

Felicity rolled her eyes.  “I don’t think he pays attention to me other than handing me the cash to cover his coffee every week.  That’s it.”

“Oh please,” Sara replied with a smirk.  “He’s totally into you.”

Felicity shook her head and headed to the counter to meet the customer in question.  The small, stand-alone coffee shop Brew Too was situated about a half mile off the Starling University campus where Felicity was in her senior year.  The main clientele was professionals and the students who live off campus and Felicity’s totally insane crush was firmly in the professional bracket.

Oliver came in every Wednesday morning in the most impeccably tailored suits and bright ties, today’s was emerald green, he was almost always on the phone when he first walked in or as he walked out, and he always looked serious.

He also always used her name.

“Good morning Felicity.”

“How are you doing this morning Felicity?”

“You’ve got some chocolate sauce on your nose Felicity.”

It is completely possible that the only reason he used her name from week to week is because it’s boldly printed on the front of the apron she wears , but she doesn’t care. It had been six weeks since he started coming in and Felicity’s crush had grown with each passing one.  He was older, by at least ten years or so and that just made Felicity’s infatuation seem even more ridiculous.  It didn’t keep her from crushing on him hard though.

Sara teased her endlessly.  It didn’t matter what they were doing when he came in, Sara would find an excuse to step away from the counter so Felicity could serve him.

Oliver’s order was always the same, a large, dark roast, black coffee and he always paid with cash.  Felicity only learned his name after overhearing him on the phone , his third week in the shop.  It was the only time he’d stepped up to the counter on the phone, his voice almost cold as he spoke, “Tell Dr. Rochev it’s Oliver, I’ll hold.”  So that’s all she knows, his first name, Oliver.  No last name, no job, not even why he only comes in on Wednesdays, but that hasn’t kept her fantasies about him at bay.

He’s the embodiment of a wet dream fantasy.  Everything about him, from the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, his electric blue eyes, the completely lickable mole on the left side of his mouth, to his long, lean fingers turn Felicity on each time she sees him.  Felicity is sure that those fingers would have her a wriggling, screaming, orgasmic mess in record time.

“Felicity?” Oliver’s voice broke her from her thoughts and she looked up at him quickly.

“Sorry!” she exclaimed with a grimace, her cheeks flaming.  “Thinking, or daydreaming really.  Just off in my own little world.  Oh...uh, large dark roast?”

“Please,” he answered with a smile and passed over a five dollar bill and she handed him the coffee over the dark brown counter.  “Thank you Felicity.”

She nodded and replied with a smile, “You’re welcome Oliver.”  Felicity watched him as he smiled and headed back out into the Starling sunshine, eying his perfect ass in his suit pants through the window.  

“Dang girl,” Sara teased as she came out from the stockroom, fanning herself with a coffee filter. “So much sexual tension in that short encounter.  He totally wants you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Felicity argued.  “He barely knows I exist, other than as his coffee pourer.”

“You don’t see what I see.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Sara assured her with a smirk.  “Now, are you finally going to give it up to Cooper?  You’ve been seeing him for over a month and you haven’t boned him.  His dick is going to wilt and fall off.”

“Oh my god Sara!”

“What? I’m just saying...a month is a long time for a college guy.”

“Yes,” Felicity relented.  “Yes, alright.  I’m planning on having sex with Cooper Saturday night.”

“That’s my girl!”

Felicity flushed.  

“You’re the oldest virgin I know,” Sara told her with a sigh as she boosted herself up on to the countertop.  “I’m pretty sure you’re the oldest virgin in all of Starling City.  It’s about time.”

“It’s not my fault I dated a gay guy for two years, okay?”

Sara looked at her incredulously, “You seriously had no idea?  You dated Curtis for two years and wasn’t concerned that he never tried to get into your pants?”

“I thought he respected me,” Felicity countered with a shake of her head as she kicked a stray coffee bean on the floor.  “Not that he was afraid of my vagina.”

“I love how innocent and naive you are Felicity.”

“It’s not he didn’t let me suck him off.”

“Yeah, in the dark.”  Felicity blushed again and shrugged and Sara flinched.  “God, Felicity, I’m sorry...that isn’t what I meant...I was joking.  I’m sure he was just imagining a dude sucking him off instead...and fuck, I’m totally making this worse, aren’t I?”

“It’s fine…”

“No it isn’t,” Sara continued.  “God, I know tons of guys that would love to do you.  Hell, I’d do you if I could convince you to try it.”

Felicity laughed and swatted her friend in the arm.  “Thanks for the offer, but I’m good.”

“Cooper is a lucky man,” Sara assured her with a grin.  “You’re on the pill, right?”

“Not yet,” Felicity told her.  “But I have an appointment at the student clinic today.”

“Good girl!  Still use a condom though. Two forms of birth control, always.  No baby catching here.  I’m too young to be a grandmother.”

Felicity groaned.  “You’re not related to me and twenty-one.  You wouldn’t be my baby’s grandma…”

“Semantics.”

Felicity laughed and turned to help the small group of customers that just walked up to the counter.  

Sara’s guidance about birth control was nearly pointless to Felicity, who after growing up with a young, single mother knew how easily a pregnancy could kick a life of track.  It might have been a little drastic for Felicity to avoid sex completely to avoid pregnancy, but it had been successful.

No sex.  No potential baby.

But that was going to end.  

She was finally going give it up to Cooper.  Her age appropriate boyfriend.

Even if she was fantasizing about Oliver in the meantime.

“Did you shave?”

“For the gynecologist?  I didn’t think they’d expect me to be bare.”

“God, I need a whole pan of these brownies.  These things are practically orgasmic. I can’t wait until you have a proper orgasm Lis.  And not just a brownie orgasm.  I know orgasms from yourself can be decent enough, but a proper orgasm, god, it will change your life.”

“Can you please stop saying the word orgasm?”

“No one is here but us and the perv in the back.”  

Felicity’s eyes shoot to the back office where their leech of a boss was working on paperwork.  

“Still…”

“So you shaved, right?  Cooper will definitely prefer it and it enhances it for you too, trust me on that.  Being bare?  It’s worth it.”

“I haven’t...”

“Oh, I know, I’ll set you up with my girl Jess for a wax.  She’s the best.”

“Sara…”

“Give me a minute and I’ll get you an appointment.  You’ll thank me.  And believe me when I say it that Cooper will appreciate it.”

Felicity could only shake her head and turn back to the counter with another rush of customers were waiting for their daily jolt of caffeine.  When Felicity turned back to Sara, she was hanging up her phone and untying her apron.

“Appointment is Friday at eleven.  Don’t be late!”

“Sara I never agreed to that!”

“See you Friday Lis!”

The rest of Felicity’s shift passed in blur of lattes and iced coffees for commuting students heading towards campus and the suits stopping in before heading towards their nearby office buildings and at exactly twelve-thirty she was clocked out and headed out of the door and sprinted to the arriving bus.  Her first class of the day wasn’t until two so she had plenty of time between her one o’clock student clinic appointment and her class, but she wasn’t about to miss this appointment.  Condoms were free from the clinic to anyone who stopped by but the birth control she wanted required the appointment and an exam.  She’d lucked out getting such a last minute appointment at the clinic and if she missed it there was no telling when she’d be able to get another appointment.

Felicity walked into the quiet lobby of the student clinic and she walked up to the bored looking receptionist who was playing around on her phone.  After obtaining the necessary paperwork she needed to fill out, Felicity found a seat in the lobby, eyeing the other students waiting before turning her attention to the clipboard on her lap.  She hurried through the form, all the standard questions coming easily, full name, student ID number, allergies, medications, family medical history, date of her last cycle and Felicity stifled a chuckle.  Sara was more intrusive in one shift at Brew Too than this form.  This was going to be a breeze.

Once she finished and turned the forms in she sat back down and fiddled around on her phone, sending an email to one of her professors about an assignment and then she scrolled mindlessly through her Facebook feed, liking a few random posts from highschool friends and one from her mom.

“Felicity Smoak?”

The nurse is standing with her chart in the doorway with what Felicity is assuming is supposed to be a comforting smile on her face.

“I’m Alice,” the nurse said with a smile, her scrubs where bright yellow with little rubber ducks scattered across them.  “Come with me.  So what brings you to the clinic today Felicity?”

“Birth control,” Felicity answered simply, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.  “I’d like to start the pill.”

“Fantastic,” Alice replied with a smile and an approving nod of her head..  “It’s very responsible to take control of your birth control.  Have you ever been to the gynecologist before?”

“Uh, no...I haven’t.”

“You’re in luck then,” she assured Felicity with another smile.  “We have Dr. Queen here today.  He’s the chief of obstetrics at Starling General, but he volunteers a few hours a week here.  Otherwise you’d be stuck with one of our general practitioners and they aren’t always the most gentle.”

She leads Felicity down the short hallway and into a cold, sterile room with the exam table sitting ominously in the middle.  After handing Felicity the paper gown she flashes another reassuring smile.  “I’ll give you a minute to undress and then I’ll be back with the doctor.”

The door clicks shut behind her and Felicity stands frozen in the middle of the room with the flimsy paper gown in her hand.  She shakes her head and sets her purse down before she undresses quickly, toeing out of her black work shoes and pushing her pants and underwear down her legs at the same time. Felicity tucks her underwear and bra between her pants and shirt before she climbs onto the table and then hesitates when she realizes her socks are still on.  Felicity glances at the door and debates if she has enough time to remove them when there is a knock on the door.

The door swings open and Alice walks in, the smile still firmly on her face and then Felicity looks behind her and freezes.

Oliver is behind Alice.

Coffee-shop Oliver.

The suit jacket was gone, replaced by a stark white lab coat though the emerald green tie was still knotted around his neck.  Felicity froze.

Her fantasy crush is a gynecologist.

The door bursts open and suddenly Anna's in my arms again. She crying and clutching tightly at my dress, burying her face into the space between my neck and shoulders. I do my best to sooth her, rubbing her back and rocking back and forth humming a soft lullaby our mother used to sing to us when we were small.

"Elsa," she whimpers. "Elsa, please you can't leave. If you go… I'll truly be alone."

The words tear at me, the room grows colder and I begin to feel the prickle of tears behind my eyes again. But I push them down, I can't afford to leave here with puffy eyes and a red nose. There will be more camera's waiting at the train station.

I look up to find the widow that lives just down the road from us standing nearby stone faced and quiet. After the accident she took it upon herself to help Anna and I as best she could; buying my squirrels, providing us with medicine from her small apothecary business, and she even gave Anna one of her goats so that we could sell milk and cheese. Gerda is the sole reason we were able to stay out of the community home.

"I'll keep her with me. Make sure she is eating," she says gravely.

An enormous weight lifts off my chest at her words and my breath hitches in my throat. People in our district have never really paid me much attention but many of them seem to truly care for my sweet little Anna. It gives me hope - Anna will be cared for when I'm gone.

"I'll leave you two alone now," the older woman says walking to the door. Just as she makes to close the door we lock eyes, hers are sad and tired, but there is comfort there too. She nods and closes the door.

Anna I sit together for a time simply holding each other. She is curled up in my lap while I stroke her hair like I do when she's had a nightmare. I wish I could just put her to bed and tell her it wasn't real, that the fear will be forgotten by the morning. But I can't.

"Anna I need you to listen to me, there are things you are going to have to do when I am gone."

She leans back and nods but I can see the tears pooling in her eyes.

"You are going to stay with Gerda, and Kristoff will bring you game." We'd made a pact a while ago for if either one of us was called. "You are never to trade for tesserae no matter what, understand. You can get by with selling the milk and cheese from your goat and Kristoff will get both of you herbs from the forest. Help Gerda with her work and keep doing well in school." I take her small face in my hands, using my thumbs to wipe away the tears that start to fall. "You won't be alone, snowflake… I will always be watching over you."

Anna lets out a small choking sound and clings to me again. "You'll try though won't you, Elsa? You are so smart, and brave, and fast… maybe you can win and then you can come home."

I can't help look down at one of my gloved hands. I may not be like the children from the richer districts who have trained their whole lives to compete in the games, who know fifteen different ways to murder you with a knife, but I am not completely defenseless. Or at least, that's the lie I am telling myself.

"Yes snowflake, I will try," I promise, maybe my death will be easier for her if she knows that I didn't go down easily.

"I brought you this," Anna's says with a sniff, pulling something small out of her pocket. "I traded for it yesterday."

I'm surprised when she hands me a little circular pin. It's a little gold bird in flight, Anna must have traded well for something this pretty.

"They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena, will you wear this? It's a mockingjay, Gerda told me they're good luck." I can hear the desperation in her voice.

"Of course, snowflake," I say softly.

Then the Peacekeepers are back and telling us that our time is up and Anna has to leave. I hug her small body to me and she holds on so tight that it hurts.

I take her face in my hands for what I know will be the last time and pepper kisses all over it, trying to memorize every inch. "I love you. I love you so much, Anna. It will be okay. I love you. I love you."

She is trying to say it back but her sobs prevent her from doing it properly.

In the end I have to pull her off because I can feel my control slipping and my gloves are stiff with frost. When the door closes something in me breaks and I slam my fists against the wood in anguish. When I pull away the door is covered in ice, and snow is slowly falling from the ceiling.

I close my eyes and breath in slow and deep willing myself not to feel anything, to go numb. When I open my eyes the snow and ice are gone and Kristoff is standing in front of me. I didn't even hear the door open.

Before I register that I'm moving I find myself in his strong arms. There has never been anything romantic between us, he is like the older brother I'd never had, but I cling to him regardless. Everything about him is soothing, the feeling of his warm body against mine, his scent of pine and earth, even the sound of his heart under my ear.

He takes me firmly by the shoulders and holds me still so that I am forced to look at him.

"You have to use them."

I stare at him as if I have only just realized he was there. He can't be talking about what I think he is, he can't know.

"Use your powers, Elsa. I know what you can do."

The floor suddenly seems to be tilting to one side.

"H-how do you-?"

"It doesn't matter," he cuts me off abruptly. "If you use them, you might have a chance."

I shake my head, he thinks he knows but he doesn't. "Kristoff I can't control it and it only gets worse when I'm afraid."

He face is hard and his lips are a pulled tight like he's fighting to not start yelling at me. "Well you are going to have to learn quickly then. Practice whenever you are alone. Kai will tell you how use this to your advantage and if he doesn't then force him, Elsa!" He flexes his jaw. "C'mon, Elsa it's just hunting, you're one of the best hunters I know."

"This is different, Kristoff they're people not rabbits." I swallow hard. "I've spent my whole life trying not to hurt people with my powers… what if- what if I can't do it?" My voice is small now as the reality of what I might be – what I will be – forced to do sinks in.

His face softens a bit but there his voice is still stern. "I know, Elsa but you have to forget all that, you must. For Anna."

I look up at Kristoff. "You'll watch over her won't you… if I don't come back? Make sure she stays in school and has enough to eat?"

He nods.

"Don't let her watch," I say with pleading eyes. "Kristoff please make sure she doesn't see when I – if I - " I can't finish, the thought of my beautiful, innocent baby sister watching her last remaining family member being murdered makes me want to gag. Worse than that, I know what the Games does to people, seen what it turns them into. I don't want her to see what I know I will become in that arena… the monster I will become.

He takes me into his arms again and it takes all my strength not to come undone right then, I'm so close to breaking.

The Peacekeeper is back and ordering Kristoff to leave. I start to panic and cling to his hand. "Take care of her! Don't let her starve, keep her safe!" I cry.

"I will, you know I will! Elsa you can do this, let them see! Do it for Anna!" And he's gone.

That's it that's all it takes to pull me down from my fear. Resolve sets in as I stare down at my hands, and I stand a little straighter. I will do my best to come back to you Anna. I swear it.

When they take me away the only evidence that shows I'd been there is a wrinkled cushion and two worn leather gloves.

Notes

Anna stared back at her reflection in the mirror after having just put in her lenses that would allow her to see the demon's true form on the higher planes. Although she looked a little paler than usual - something that hadn't escaped Gerda's attention that morning at breakfast – she thought she looked relatively confident. Hopefully the demon wouldn't see just how frightened she actually was.

“C’mon Anna you can do this,” she said jumping up and down on the spot and stretching her neck like she’d seen wrestler’s do when preparing for a big fight. “Don’t think about what might happen if things go wrong... oh god it will be Gerda that finds me... stop it! Is that not thinking about it!? No it isn't, so knock it off.” 

This wasn't her first summoning, she had done it many times before, but they had only ever been minor creatures of the Other Place, imps mostly and a few foliates. But never something this powerful, never a djinni, and not just any djinni… Elsa.

Anna had finally chosen Elsa after scouring for weeks through her daemonology books and had quite the reputation. Almost 5000 years old, the djinni was known to be exceptionally powerful as well as ruthless. Everything Anna had read regarded the spirit with a great deal of respect and trepidation - Elsa was definitely not meant to be dealt with by lesser magicians. The books often warned the reader that Elsa was armed with a razor sharp tongue and favoured a particularly nasty form of magic, ice. And so, with all this in mind Anna began preparations to summon the djinni.

First, she had waited until her master, Kai Anderson, and his wife Gerda had left for a dinner party across town and who were sure not to be returning home until much later that night. Second, she dimmed the lights and lit the candles, but not before checking that everything was done properly once again. Lastly, she stepped into her pentacle, giving herself one last pep talk before taking a deep breath and beginning the summoning

–

The temperature dropped to an almost unbearable degree. Frost crackled and hissed as it coated the small glass window and curtains above the bed while ice crawled lazily out from the corners of the room. The small lamp on the nightstand went out as the bulb shattered from the rapid change in temperature. Within the pentacle a bone chilling mist bubbled up and spilled slowly out onto the floor and Elsa watched in satisfaction as the girl began to shiver violently even though she was wearing several layers {obviously she had anticipated my little trick. I mean clearly it didn't work but at least the kid had done her homework}.

Deciding she'd had enough of the theatrics Elsa decided to switch tactics and all at once the mist dissolved away to reveal a scared little girl of about 8 years of age. Curled up in the furthest corner of her container, forehead resting on her knees, the little girl began to cry softly, long blonde hair covering her face.

"Please," the little girl whispered, "please don't hurt me. Just leave me alone…" Elsa took a quick peek though her hair at the human girl's reaction. For a moment it looked like she had fallen for the act, looking concerned and leaning forward a little, as if she wanted to walk over and comfort the frightened child. Elsa tensed {magicians are only protected as long as they remain in their pentacles. So if she sticks so much as a pinkie past the lines, whoever put her up to this will be cleaning whatever is left off the walls}. However, the human seemed to remember what she was dealing with and stood a little straighter.

The girl licked her lips nervously and shifted her weight from one foot to another. "I-I charge you… to… to…" The little girl chose this moment to sob a little louder. "Tell me your n-name."

The djinni didn't answer right away and Anna worried that maybe it hadn't heard her, but eventually a tiny whimper of, "Elsa," was uttered.

Elsa didn't understand why everyone always felt the need to ask for her name when they obviously knew it, she would have never been summoned if they didn't. Magicians and their formalities, it was all rather tiresome.

The human must have found some more courage now that she had issued her first command and been rewarded with obedience, because she looked ready to speak again.

"I charge you again to answer. A-are you that Elsa who in olden times was summoned by the magicians to guard the palaces of Norway?" 

Very tiresome.

All at once the crying stopped and Anna looked around in alarm when she realized the room was somehow getting colder. When she looked back at the demon it was no longer cowering in the corner like a kicked dog, but instead the little girl was standing in the middle of her pentacle and watching Anna with a look that was almost predatory. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

A cloud of snow swirled up in a neat column hiding the djinni from view. "I am Elsa of Arendal!" roared a voice distinctly feminine, but at the same time deep and resonating with untold power. "I am Dronningen av Snø, the Sorceress of Beitelen, and the Frozen Heart! I have seen the rise and fall of kingdoms that now only live on in the pages of your story books! I have ridden into battle alongside Fa Mulan! I have spoken to the Golden King of the fire plains! I have watched over the great empire of Atlantis until the waves rose up and its people were swallowed by the sea! I have no master, who are you to assume you may charge me with anything?!" {Impressive, no? And all true.}

The girl's terrified expression and the blueish tinge of her lips gave Elsa a very acute sense of satisfaction. She needed to remind these idiot magicians that waking her up just to prove they could was unacceptable. The djinni had hoped her little 'outburst' would frighten the kid enough that she'd realize her mistake and send Elsa home in quick succession. No such luck.

"By the constraints of the circle, the points of the pentacle, and the chains of the runes, you are bound to me." The girl paused for a moment. "Which means that technically you have to do what I say," she said matter-of-factly and grinning slightly.

"Indeed," the voice hummed.

Elsa took her time deciding which form to take. She could try something big and mean, possibly scaring the human enough that she said the wrong thing or tried to run away. Or she could chose some type of animal, magicians didn't like it when their slave made obscene noises while they spoke.

In the end Elsa took on her true form, or at least mostly her true form, she decided to leave out some of her more prickly attributes. She had a feeling that the girl might be more easily manipulated by something that looked a little less threatening.

When the snow eventually fell to the floor Anna was surprised to see that inside the pentacle was no longer a scared little girl. Instead, a tall young woman, who looked to be in her twenties, took her place. The woman was all slim lines and easy grace, and she looked Anna up and down with a critical eye as if trying to decide what to make of her. Her light blonde, almost white, hair was pulled back and woven into an intricate knot at the base of her skull.

Anna couldn't help but stare. 

{I tend to find this form works particularly well on magicians of the male variety, you would be surprised at what a pretty face and some soft words can do. I didn't immediately think that the same tactics would be useful in this situation but the redhead's pupils dilated at my appearance, and when her eyes roved over my body they lingered in places longer than what was considered appropriate… interesting.}

The djinni wore a finely made teal gown that seemed desperate to cover as much skin as possible with its high collared and long-sleeved black underdress. Despite it being a modest outfit, the dress hugged the woman's thin frame perfectly so that it highlighted every curve, which only served to make her more appealing. But it was the woman's face that held Anna's attention fast, ruby red lips tipped upward in a knowing smirk that made Anna blush, and two piercing blue eyes that spoke of unfathomable knowledge and Anna could have sworn she saw a frenzied storm swirling in their icy depths.

"Where is he?" Elsa asked suddenly.

Anna blinked in confusion. "What? Where is who?" she asked, looking behind her as if expecting this mystery person to somehow appear.

"The magician who put you up to this. Your master perhaps? There is no way a little squirt like you would be able to summon a being as powerful as myself on their own. You obviously don't realize what you've gotten yourself into," Elsa said haughtily. "You must be what, thirteen?” 

The human girl flushed and puffed out her cheeks in irritation. "I'm eighteen thank you very much," she huffed.

Elsa looked amused and waved a pale hand dismissively. "You could have fooled me with those cute little pigtails of yours," Elsa chuckled which only served to further anger the girl. "No matter, tell your puppet master that you were not ready to take on someone like me, and dismiss me before you get hurt on account of his recklessness."

The girl's face was now so red the constellation of freckles that dotted her cheeks had almost disappeared. Elsa loved flustering her summoners, it was vastly entertaining and often resulted in them making careless, and in some cases deadly, mistakes, either outcome usually lead to her eventual release. {And the faster I get out of here the better, this place is already starting to wear on my aura.}

"There is no one else. I summoned you all by myself," Anna said quickly, standing a little taller.

One of the djinn's eyebrows rose up so high it almost disappeared under her bangs and she took a closer look at the human. The girl was nothing special, small and pale, brimming with the naïve arrogance that came with being a magician. And yet she had summoned Elsa, one of the most notoriously dangerous djinni to exist, seemingly on her own, still as a child no less. Obviously this girl was more than she appeared, but Elsa wondered to what extent.