Palace of Versailles, France
Early January 1838
The snow began before dawn.
At first, it was barely noticeable. Thin flakes drifted quietly through the darkness, carried by a wind soft enough that no one inside the palace heard it against the windows. The gardens beyond Versailles slowly disappeared beneath white, the paths fading first, then the hedges, until the world outside looked softer and quieter than it had the night before.
By morning, everything had changed.
The first thing Elsa noticed when she woke was the light.
Winter mornings in Versailles were usually gray and dull, but this morning the room looked brighter. Not warm, just brighter, as if the sunlight had sohow multiplied itself overnight.
She sat up slowly, still wrapped in the blanket around her shoulders, and looked toward the window.
Then she froze.
Snow.
Real snow.
Not the thin layer that disappeared before midday. Not frost clinging to the edges of the gardens.
The entire world outside had turned white.
The paths were gone beneath fresh snow. The hedges looked rounded and soft beneath the weight of it, and the statues scattered across the grounds wore uneven caps of white across their heads and shoulders. Even the fountains seed quieter, steam rising faintly into the cold morning air.
Elsa stood imdiately and walked toward the glass.
For a mont, she simply stared.
Then she turned sharply.
"Anna."
No response.
Anna remained buried beneath a blanket on the sofa nearby, completely unmoving except for a faint groan that suggested she was barely awake.
Elsa frowned.
"Anna."
Another groan.
"There’s snow."
That worked instantly.
The blanket exploded into movent as Anna sat upright with ssy hair and unfocused eyes.
"What?"
"Snow."
Anna blinked twice.
Then she nearly threw herself off the sofa trying to stand too quickly.
"It snowed?"
"Yes."
Anna rushed toward the window so fast that Elsa grabbed the back of her sleeve before she collided with the small table beside it.
"Careful."
Anna barely heard her.
Her eyes were fixed entirely outside.
"It’s everywhere," she whispered.
Elsa crossed her arms, though a faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth despite her effort to stay composed.
"Yes," she said. "That’s usually how snow works."
Anna ignored the comnt completely.
"Can we go outside?"
"You just woke up."
"But can we?"
Elsa glanced toward the door.
"Ask Mama."
Anna imdiately ran from the room.
Elsa sighed.
"She’s going to fall."
Almost on cue, a muffled noise echoed faintly from sowhere down the hallway.
Elsa closed her eyes briefly.
"See?"
By the ti Napoleon entered the dining room later that morning, Anna was already talking without pause.
"It covered everything," she said while climbing into her chair. "The stairs and the statues and the fountain and the trees and the benches and—"
"You’re forgetting to breathe," Elisabeth said calmly as she poured tea.
Anna stopped imdiately.
Took one dramatic breath.
Then continued.
"And the paths too."
Napoleon pulled out his chair across from them, the faintest trace of amusent touching his expression.
"I gathered that."
Anna looked at him imdiately.
"Can we go outside?"
Elsa looked up from her breakfast.
"You haven’t even eaten yet."
"I can eat fast."
"That’s usually the problem," Elsa muttered.
Anna frowned at her.
"I chew."
"Not enough."
Napoleon sat down and reached for the tea beside his plate.
"You nearly ran into a table this morning."
Anna blinked.
Then slowly turned toward Elsa.
"You told him?"
"I didn’t have to," Elsa replied. "Everyone heard you."
Elisabeth hid a smile behind her cup.
Anna slumped slightly.
"It wasn’t that loud."
"It was," Elsa and Elisabeth said together.
Napoleon took a sip of tea while watching the exchange quietly.
The room felt warr than the rest of the palace. The fire near the wall burned steadily, and the windows had begun to fog slightly from the difference between the cold outside and the heat inside.
For once, there were no reports waiting beside his plate.
No sealed docunts.
No ministers waiting outside the door.
Just breakfast.
Anna pointed toward the window again.
"So can we go?"
Napoleon looked toward Elisabeth.
She gave a small shrug.
"If everyone wears proper coats."
Anna brightened imdiately.
"That ans yes."
Elsa shook her head.
"That ans don’t run outside without gloves again."
"I forgot one ti."
"You forgot both."
Anna looked offended.
"That was different."
Napoleon glanced toward Elsa.
"And you rember this clearly?"
"Yes," Elsa said imdiately.
Then after a short pause, she added,
"She cried because her hands hurt."
"I was little."
Elsa stared at her.
"You still are."
Anna gasped dramatically.
Elisabeth laughed quietly into her tea.
Napoleon leaned back slightly in his chair, letting the sound settle around him.
Outside this room, Versailles still moved according to routine. Servants crossed corridors carrying trays and linens. Guards changed positions. Sowhere deeper in the palace, ministers were probably already preparing reports for later etings.
But none of it reached here.
Not yet.
An hour later, the gardens were no longer untouched.
Anna stepped into the snow first and imdiately sank deeper than she expected.
She stared down at her boots in complete betrayal.
Elsa laughed instantly.
"I told you."
"It’s too deep."
"That’s because it snowed."
Anna looked toward Napoleon.
"It’s attacking ."
Napoleon adjusted his gloves calmly.
"I think you’ll survive."
Anna narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the snow.
Elsa stepped ahead carefully, trying very hard to walk with dignity.
That lasted less than a minute.
Her foot slipped slightly against packed snow hidden beneath the fresh layer, and she caught herself quickly before falling.
Anna saw it imdiately.
"You almost fell."
"I didn’t."
"You did."
"I caught myself."
Anna grinned.
"That still counts."
Elsa sighed heavily.
"You’re impossible."
Napoleon walked beside Elisabeth at a slower pace while the girls moved ahead of them.
The gardens looked completely different beneath the snow. The geotric lines of Versailles remained visible, but softened now beneath white. Their footsteps marked the paths behind them, the only interruption in an otherwise untouched layer stretching across the grounds.
The cold air lingered with every breath.
Elisabeth slipped her arm lightly through Napoleon’s.
"It’s quieter today," she said.
"The snow does that."
She looked ahead toward the girls.
Anna had crouched beside one of the hedges and was trying to gather snow in both hands.
Most of it kept falling apart.
"She’s determined," Elisabeth said softly.
"Yes."
"And stubborn."
Napoleon glanced at her.
"She didn’t get that from ."
Elisabeth looked at him for several seconds.
Then laughed quietly.
Ahead of them, Elsa crouched beside Anna.
"No, like this," Elsa said while shaping the snow carefully between her gloves. "You pack it together first."
Anna watched closely.
"Oh."
Elsa handed it over.
"There."
Anna looked impressed.
"You fixed it."
Elsa tried to look mature again.
"It wasn’t difficult."
Anna imdiately dropped it.
The snowball broke apart the mont it hit the ground.
Elsa slowly closed her eyes.
Napoleon looked away slightly to hide a smile.
Elisabeth failed completely.
"That wasn’t my fault," Anna said quickly.
"No," Elsa replied flatly. "The snow attacked you again."
Anna nodded seriously.
"Yes."
The walk continued after that, though much slower now.
Anna stopped every few steps to touch snow piled on benches, statues, and hedges. Elsa alternated between acting older and imdiately losing that composure whenever Anna did sothing ridiculous.
At one point, Anna attempted to climb onto a low stone ledge covered in snow.
Elsa grabbed the back of her coat imdiately.
"You’ll fall."
"I won’t."
"You absolutely will."
Napoleon stopped beside them.
"She’s right."
Anna looked betrayed.
"You’re both against ."
"No," Elsa said.
"We just don’t want you falling into snow headfirst."
Anna considered that seriously.
Then nodded reluctantly.
"Fine."
They continued walking deeper into the gardens while snow drifted softly around them.
The world felt quieter beneath it.
Not silent.
Just softened.
The usual sounds of Versailles seed distant now, muted beneath the snow and cold air.
For a little while, it felt like the rest of the world had stepped back.
No reports.
No discussions.
No pressure waiting beyond the next door.
Just this winter afternoon.
Just this mont.
By the ti the light began to fade, Anna’s energy had finally started to disappear.
"The snow is making tired," she complained dramatically.
Elsa looked at her.
"That’s called walking."
"It’s different."
Napoleon picked her up before she could complain further.
Anna settled against his shoulder imdiately.
"I wasn’t that tired," she mumbled.
"Of course not," Napoleon replied.
Elsa walked beside them, her boots crunching softly through the snow.
"You’re tired too," Napoleon said to her.
"I’m not."
"You nearly yawned."
"I did not."
Elisabeth smiled slightly.
"You did."
Elsa looked mildly horrified that both of them had noticed.
"That doesn’t an I’m tired."
Napoleon nodded calmly.
"Of course."
Elsa narrowed her eyes.
"You’re making fun of ."
"Maybe a little."
She sighed heavily in the way only children trying to appear mature could manage.
By the ti they reached the palace doors, lamps inside had already been lit.
Warm light spilled across the entrance hall as servants moved quietly through the corridors preparing for evening.
The cold faded almost imdiately once they stepped inside.
Anna had nearly fallen asleep against Napoleon’s shoulder.
Elsa tried very hard not to look exhausted.
Elisabeth looked warr now than she had all morning.
Outside, snow continued falling softly over Versailles.
Inside, the firelight waited.
And for one quiet winter afternoon—
The world had stayed far away.
User Comments
0 comments from readers