Chapter 1

"Your Highness?"

There was a brief rap at the door.

"Princess Anna? May I come in?"

Anna groaned from under the covers. "Go ahead, Margit."

Margit entered the bedroom with a dress in tow. Anna blinked, unable to remember why she was supposed to wear such a formal gown that day.

Of course. Today marked a month until her 18th birthday. She slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, and Margit turned her back to give the Princess privacy. Anna slid her legs into the dress and sat at the vanity, letting Margit know it was okay to turn back around. Margit began to brush her auburn curls and smiled at her through the mirror. They began small talk, but Margit's brush strokes slowed as she saw Anna's eyes fall.

"Tell me what worries you, my dear," She said.

Anna gave her a small smile. She had known Margit for years. She had been working for the Royal Family for nearly 20 years, and had been one of the closest of the staff to the Queen and King. When they died, Margit took on a motherly role with Anna, and had been there for her since she was eight years old. It was now ten years later, marked by Margit's greying hair and recent 48th birthday.

Anna sighed and dropped her shoulders. "I'm nervous for today. A lot is happening that I don't have much control of." She raised her eyes to meet Margit's. "Do you think I'll be able to handle all of this?"

Margit smiled softly and brushed the hair from Anna's eyes. "Anna, I think you can handle anything: you've yet to prove me otherwise. Now come on, we've got to lace you up. Your meeting starts in 15 minutes."

All the men at the table rose when Anna entered the room. She had elected for pinned-up hair and a more professional gown in note of the occasion. She wanted to appear as mature and put-together as possible. She nodded curtly to no one in particular, and they all took their seats after the princess.

Johan Nielsen, Chair of The Committee, rose again and cleared his throat. "As you all know, today marks exactly a month until Princess Anna's 18th birthday. We will, of course, celebrate accordingly and immediately after that celebration we'll commence the coronation ceremony. From that point on," Johan's eyes met Anna's politely. "Her Highness will be Her Majesty the Queen."

Members of The Committee applauded and Anna smiled, quietly thanking everyone around the table. She swallowed hard and wiped her palms over her dress before standing, and Johan returned to his seat. "I want to formally thank The Committee of Arendelle for its ten years of service. All of you rose up to positions of great responsibility in a time of need after my parents' passing. If they were here today, I know they would be just as grateful," She said, warm eyes scanning the room. The Committee had been an emergency group formed shortly after her parents' death. With the next of kin being too young to take the throne, The Committee, consisting of high members of the government working together to make policy decisions, was created to hold office until Anna came of age. They had served Arendelle well, and no one had argued that when Anna turned 18, The Committee would dissipate and Anna's reign would begin.

"I do, however, have one thing I'd like to address before coronation." Anna's eyes chilled and her expression hardened as she made eye contact with a man leaned back in a chair in the far corner of the room. "Chief Westergaard, I heard there was an update in the search for the Ice Queen."

The men squirmed in their seats as an uncomfortable silence fell across the room. Hans Westergaard rose, straightening his Guard uniform. "Yes, Your Highness. The Guard received a tip from a nearby town claiming that their weather patterns have been uncharacteristically sporadic. This wouldn't necessarily be unusual, but we are entering our summer months. They claim to have had a blizzard two days ago."

Anna pursed her lips, thinking. She thanked the Chief and wrapped up the meeting. She needed time and space to think about the Guard's next move. Everyone knew that wherever the Ice Queen went, it was only a matter of time before a blizzard would give away her location. They had to move quickly if they hoped to find her, or any information about her whereabouts.

The Ice Queen had been the center of Arendelle folklore for as long as she could remember. She grew up hearing of horror stories of her carnage in villages; shattered homes and frozen bodies left behind without any kind of reason. Her parents had never received a demand letter or contact from the Ice Queen of any kind. Her rampages seemed to come from nowhere, and she would disappear just as quickly. No one had ever seen her. Some claimed she was ancient, somehow fueling immortality with her powers. Some thought she had a bone to pick with the monarchy; maybe she had been from a poor family that never got the help it needed. No tale was ever the same, and no one could ever agree on their opinions of her. She was nearly unreachable.

Hans Westergaard was now 23, and had joined The Guard right when he turned 18. He showed great promise, leading his training class with outstanding marks and handling several high-status investigations with speed and cunning. He flew through the ranks and by his 21st birthday, became the youngest to ever be appointed Chief of The Guard. Arendelle's crime statistics had dropped significantly since his appointing, and he was respected among The Committee. The one case Hans couldn't seem to crack was that of the Ice Queen. He studied the evidence day and night, searched weekly, and still couldn't come up with anything more than previous Chiefs. She haunted Hans, and he considered her to be Arendelle's #1 enemy and adversary. Anna trusted his judgement, and therefore considered her to be equally dangerous. Her coronation was considered, both by The Guard and The Committee, to be a high profile event that very well may attract attention from the Ice Queen. Security was to be beefed up and guards were to never leave her side throughout the day.

Anna sighed as she unpinned her hair, sitting in her study. She opened a window and let the summer breeze enter the room, closing her eyes in thought. She would advise The Committee to give all the resources available to Hans in the following weeks, specifically in order to follow the tip from the village of Troms. The sooner Hans captured the Ice Queen, the better.

Chapter 2

Anna had advised The Committee and Hans now had the Junior Guard at his disposal in order to assist the search for the Ice Queen. She returned to her room and dressed in more casual clothing, and Margit stopped her on her way to the kitchen.

"How did the meeting go, Princess?"

"It went better than I expected, actually. I was nervous, but I think it went smoothly," Anna responded, giving Margit a quick hug. "Thanks for the pep talk this morning. I'm starving, what's for breakfast?"

"It's actually lunchtime, but Anders ran out of bread. We were about to go into town to get more, would you like to come?"

Anna agreed that going out would be good for her right now, and summoned her personal guard, who was to accompany her on all trips outside the castle.

Kristoff Bjorgman had been an ice harvester before he was a member of The Guard. After saving a stranger from drowning in one of the fjords, his heroics were rewarded with an option for immediate entry into the Academy of The Guard. He accepted and, while he wasn't as talented as his fellow classmate Hans, his skill granted him the position of Royal Guard. He had been Anna's guard since his promotion two years earlier, and they had a relationship close enough for Anna to consider him one of her closest friends.

Kristoff turned the corner of the hallway in his black Guard uniform, the new red patch of Arendelle sewn onto the chest. The symbol of Arendelle was updated with each rise to power, and design consultants had worked with Anna and decided on a fire-red patch with the crest of the Arnadalr family. His sword swung at his hip and he gave her a crooked grin.

"Feeling like a roadtrip, Red?" He asked, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as they embraced. Kristoff was one of the few people that was comfortable with calling the princess by a nickname, and his goofy confidence was charming enough for Anna to let it slide over the years.

Anna, Margit, and Anders, the castle cook, piled into a carriage and Kristoff shut the door behind him. The carriage began to pull away from the castle and the four of them began to chat, Anders gradually becoming more comfortable with the friendliness of the princess. Anna had never liked being high-and-mighty around the citizens of Arendelle, and she strived to make sure that meeting her was just as comfortable and easy as meeting a stranger at the market.

The trip down from the castle was not an easy feat. The road was constantly under maintenance to ensure that no stray stones or weathering patches were loose and subject to fall into the cliff above Arendelle. The castle was positioned on high ground, so the road to Arendelle was steep and treacherous. However, the most worrisome time was during the winter, when snow would cover any visible obstacles. With the air warm and the sun unblocked, the road was now clear and easy to maintain.

At least, that's what Kristoff had thought. He was responsible for the safety of the princess, and her travel to Arendelle was prohibited during the winter months. He had consulted with the groundskeeper before their departure and they had both agreed that the trip would be much simpler now. What they hadn't known was that the snow and ice at the top of the mountain had begun to melt, softening the ground beneath it. Although the groundskeeper had made his rounds of the road earlier that morning, no one could have known that the soft ground would finally give way, and rock fall would strike the carriage transporting the Princess of Arendelle, and send it tumbling over the edge of the cliff.

When the boulder hit the carriage, it struck the side that Kristoff had been sitting on. The world seemed to slow in the following moments, and Kristoff knew that the carriage was about to topple over one of the steepest cliffs on the mountain. He knew that if Anna fell through the door that was now swung open beside her, there was no telling where she would land, and it would take a long time to find her. He stretched out his hand and she began to slide across the bench seat toward the open door, blue eyes wide and frightened. He vaguely acknowledged the searing pain in his arm as the boulder pinned it between itself and the carriage door, and he grabbed a fistful of Anna's dress. Time slowed just a little more, almost frozen. To Kristoff's horror, the dress tore, and Anna disappeared outside the carriage with a sharp scream.

"Anna!"

She had barely missed being crushed by the rolling carriage, which was stopped short as it met the trunk of sturdy tree, nearly snapping in half. Anna, however, had no such luck of being stopped. She had been ejected from the carriage at such alarming speed, she plunged over the cliff in rolls, tree branches snapping against her and roots snagging her dress. She fell for what seemed like an eternity, and wasn't even capable of a scream when her foot jammed underneath a root, and her leg snapped from the pressure. Her body slowed suddenly, and when her head hit a rock nearby, she greeted the following darkness with relief.

Anna woke with a sharp breath, shooting into an upright position. She groaned and nearly passed out when she was met with the sharp pain in her ribs and shoulder, collapsing back against the pillow beneath her.

Pillow?

Gasping for breath, her eyes searched the room around her. She was in a small cottage, it seemed, lying in a bed near a small table. The table had bloody cloth, first aid equipment, and a glass of water. Anna suddenly realized how incredibly dry her mouth was and reached out her hand to grab the glass. Her ribs and shoulder protested quickly, and she gasped again.

"Let me help you with that," A soft voice said behind her.

Anna nearly flinched from the sudden sound but kept her body still in fear of the pain. She watched a pale hand grasp the cup and bring it to her lips, and she drank greedily. When it was empty and the hand placed it back on the table, the woman behind the hand came into view. Anna's mouth was suddenly dry again.

The woman was tall and slender, dressed in clothes that suggested she was doing work outside that day. Her hair was nearly frost white, braided and thrown over her shoulder. Her collarbone was prominent even through the white cloth shirt, and her pants hung low on her hips. When her sharp blue eyes met Anna's, she gulped. She was stunning.

The woman pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down, wetting a washcloth and placing it on Anna's forehead. "My name is El. I found you while I was out picking berries yesterday evening. You were in bad shape, and I brought you back to the cottage to bandage you up. I think you have some broken ribs and definitely a broken leg. Your shoulder was dislocated but I was able to put that back into place."

Anna reached for the water glass again and El helped her take a drink. "Thank you," She said in a rough voice. "Did you say yesterday evening?"

"I did. You've been asleep for nearly a day, it's almost nightfall now." She paused. "Do you want to tell me how you ended up at the bottom of a cliff?"

Anna thought for a moment. "I was riding in a carriage. I think it was hit by something. I fell through the door and got separated from the people I was riding with." She met El's eyes with sudden panic. "Did you find anyone else?"

El shook her head. "You're the only one I found. Who were you riding with?"

"My guard Kristoff, assistant Margit, and cook Anders."

El looked surprised. "Your guard?"

Anna returned the surprised expression. "Well, yes. I'm required to have one accompany me when I leave the castle."

El had been checking Anna's shoulder, and she suddenly became stiff. "Who are you?" She asked flatly, meeting Anna's gaze with stone eyes.

Anna was even more surprised. She had yet to meet an Arendelle citizen who didn't immediately recognize her. She certainly didn't fall far enough to be out of the kingdom's boundaries, and even if she had, the chances of recognition were still high. "Anna Arnadalr, Princess of Arendelle."

El's hands left her shoulder and she rose slowly. She had a confused and worried expression, almost as if she was shocked and holding something back. That expression passed quickly, and she regained composure. She then bowed and said, "Forgive me, Your Highness. I didn't recognize you in the state you're in."

Anna laughed, immediately coughing and holding her side. "Please El, sit down. Anyone that saves my hide at the very least deserves to sit in their own home. You obviously seem to know something medically, could you give me some more information?"

El returned to her seat and took a breath. "It will take time for you to heal. Your leg is my biggest concern. It seems like you snapped it clean in half, and you're in no condition to travel any time soon."

"Are we in Arendelle?"

"No. You're in a cottage on the outskirts of Troms. I travel a pretty big distance when I harvest: I carried you back here."

Anna's eyes swept the toned muscle that was visible under the sleeves of El's shirt and decided that it wasn't a far-fetched concept. "Okay. What's your recommendation?"

El paused and seemed to be grappling with several thoughts at once. She finally said, "I recommend that you stay here and heal. I can help with that process. Once you're stable and strong enough, you'll be able to return to the castle. It's a month until your coronation, and I think you should be able to be back in time for it. Your leg probably won't be completely healed, but it will be better than it is now."

Anna considered the situation for a long time. She eventually agreed that it was the best option for the situation she was in, and thanked El again for her hospitality. El wet the washcloth again and returned it to Anna's forehead. She changed bandages and refilled the water glass, moving the table within Anna's reach. She then fiddled with her hands awkwardly.

"Your Highness, you should get some rest." El spread out on the floor and tucked her arm behind her head.

Anna looked at her incredulously. "Why on earth are you on the floor?"

El laughed. "Does it look like I keep another bed in here? You have all my blankets and pillows, too. It's okay, I'll manage just fine."

Anna's brow furrowed and she considered refusing. After all, it wasn't El's choice to find her at the bottom of a cliff, why should she have to sleep on the floor? But when she thought about having El anywhere near her, there was a quick rush of heat to Anna's cheeks. She looked down and when she saw that El's eyes were closed, she chose silence and fell into a much needed sleep.