"Princess Anna! Princess Anna!" A portly middle-aged man moved quickly through the garden, reaching the small patch of grass where the princess liked to practice her swordplay.
Anna smiled brightly, squinting up at the sun as she wiped some sweat off her forehead with a cloth.
"Good morning, Kai!" Anna answered, walking up to him as the servant bowed, huffing and puffing as he did so. She sheathed the sword she had been using carefully. "Is everything alright? You seem… flustered."
"Princess, Queen Elsa wishes to see you in the throne room!"
Anna blinked. "Q-Queen Elsa? Throne room? ME? Are… are you sure she didn't mean-"
"She wishes to see you immediately, Princess." Kai extended an arm, gesturing towards the castle. "She says it is news of a quite urgent matter."
"Urgent, huh?" Anna raised an eyebrow as she followed closely behind Kai. "Could you be more specific?"
Elsa sat silently on her throne, every bit the graceful and demure Queen she was rumored to be throughout the other kingdoms. To her right sat the Duke of Weselton, a thin and wiry old man with white hair, and to her left sat Prince Hans, a handsome, tall young nobleman, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he observed the guest standing in front of them.
Anna entered the throne room, quickly kneeling in front of Elsa as Kai announced her arrival. "Princess Anna of Arendelle," the servant called out as he took his place next to Gerda, Elsa's personal handmaid.
"Princess Anna, thank you for coming to see me on such short notice," Elsa said politely, nodding to her sister and motioning her to rise.
"No problem El- er, I mean, of course, my Queen." Anna looked down at the floor a bit sadly as Elsa went on. Ever since their parents died, Elsa had been keeping her at arm's length. Not that she had been the most open of people even before then, but this latest tragedy had really taken its toll on the young queen.
"We have with us today a guest, Princess," Elsa explained, gesturing towards the man next to Anna. He stood up and bowed to Anna. He was dressed in the white toga that denoted him as a citizen of Olympia, one of the Old Kingdoms, and he had a bright smile on his face as his eyes, hidden behind black goggles, took in the sight of the princess.
"Greetings, Princess," the man said, looking up at her with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "I am-"
"Your gold-painted sandals give you away, Hermes of Olympia," Anna smiled widely as she bowed. "Sorry. I'd curtsy but the armor makes it kind of difficult, I was training in the garden when-"
"Anna, Hermes has come with an important message for us, and I'd like you to hear it." Elsa interrupted, her hands in her lap.
Hermes nodded. "Ah, right, right…as you may know, Princess, I've been stationed in Atlantis this past year in service to King Triton and Princess Ariel."
"Of course, of course," Anna lied as she crinkled her nose, struggling to remember why Hermes was in Atlantis. Did Poseidon of Olympia lose a bet to Triton or something? Elsa was much more involved in affairs of state than she was. The Queen couldn't stop a small smile from forming on her face, fully aware of Ana's obliviousness, but of course she wasn't about to call Anna out in front of a noble guest.
"Yes, well… King Triton has sent me here to request the presence of Queen Elsa of Arendelle in his court. It seems he would like to discuss what happened the night your parents were lost at sea."
Anna's eyes widened. "I'm not sure I understand. What else is there to discuss? The ship was lost in a storm." She looked up at Elsa, but her sister's face was expressionless.
"King Triton does not seem to think so, my lady." Hermes said simply. "As I was saying to Queen Elsa, Triton requested her presence alone, but-"
"But I believe that King Triton would be quite satisfied if you went instead, Anna," Elsa said simply, "I have much to take care of here, and I cannot be away for as long as it takes to make the journey to Atlantis and back."
"But I-" Anna began before Elsa cut her off.
"Hermes agrees with me and will go on ahead to inform Atlantis of your impeding visit to Triton's castle," Elsa continued, "You have tonight to prepare for your journey, and you may take one knight with you. Only one. I need you back home as soon as possible, and the less people you travel with, the faster you'll move."
Anna looked over at Hans. "Then I choose my husband. He owes me a honeymoon, and this will count, kind of-"
"Apologies, my beautiful Anna," Hans cut in quickly, "But I've already promised your sister I will stay here to defend her. As you know, the usurper Maleficent has threatened to attack the other kingdoms if Princess Aurora isn't delivered to her in three days. If she does follow through with this threat, she may very well attack Arendelle, since we're so close to her kingdom."
"Yes, it's important to have people you trust around you in these times of turmoil," the Duke of Weselton chimed in, "I will also remain here with the Queen, and the knights of Weselton will stand ready to protect Arendelle if need be."
Anna rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully. "Then… I choose Sir Kristoff. He's one of my best knights, and he'll be ready to travel at a moment's notice."
Elsa nodded. "You'll depart in the morning. Thank you for your time, Princess. You may go."
Anna bowed and walked out of the throne room, and Elsa shifted a bit in her seat as she watched the back of her sister's head, long red locks bouncing against the back of Anna's armor.
That night, Anna folded clothes and put them neatly inside a leather bag. Gerda had fussed over her for a bit, saying she'd pack for Anna, but Anna wouldn't have it. The day she was too good to pack her own clothes was the day she'd give up being a Princess of Arendelle. Not that she could ever actually do that… Anna's ears perked up as she heard the door to her room open.
"Gerda, I told you I don't mind-" Anna swiveled around to see blue eyes staring into hers. "O-Oh! Elsa!"
Elsa smiled. "Anna. I'm sorry to startle you. I was only hoping to see you off before you leave."
Anna frowned. "You won't be seeing me off tomorrow morning?"
"Unfortunately, I have a meeting with one of Hans' brothers early tomorrow, so I won't be able to meet you before you go," Elsa explained, sitting down on Anna's bed.
"… I see." Anna tried to hide her disappointment, but Elsa saw the sadness in Anna's smile. "Well, thank you for coming tonight," Anna said, placing a hand on Elsa's as she sat down next to her sister.
Elsa looked away quickly, feeling a hot flush in her cheeks as Anna's hand wrapped around hers. "Of course," she replied, "You're my sister, and I love you."
"Do you mean that?" Anna said, her fingers lightly stroking Elsa's soft skin. "I mean, you won't even talk to me some days-"
"Anna-"
"And now you're sending me away," Anna murmured sadly, "Why?"
Without a word, Elsa pulled Anna in close, and held her tightly. "Do you trust me?"
Anna nodded. "With all my heart."
"Then please believe me when I tell you that everything I do is for you. And if I didn't think you needed to go to Atlantis, I would keep you here."
"I believe you," Anna said, her arms wrapping around Elsa's waist, "I trust you."
Elsa bit her lip nervously as Anna hugged her, and she quickly pulled away, standing up as she cleared her throat. "Yes, well, I have to get going," Elsa muttered, not looking back down at Anna, "I have to wake up early tomorrow, after all."
Anna pouted. "No goodbye hug?"
Elsa let out an exhausted sigh as she stood in the doorway. Why was she so unable to refuse Anna?
"Very well. Goodbye hug-" Elsa said as she turned around and felt herself pushed against the door frame by the force of Anna flying into her outstretched arms.
"YAY!" Anna squealed as she hugged her sister tightly. Elsa put her arms around Anna, holding her close. Anna's breath tickled her neck, and Elsa felt herself blushing again.
"Alright, that's enough," Elsa finally forced herself to break away, "You have to get some sleep too. You have a long journey and I don't want to hear about you getting robbed on the way there because you were sleeping on your horse."
"Pfft, what? That's never going to happen." Anna laughed.
The next day, deep in the Enchanted Forest, it happened.