A/N: This story will be pretty dark at times, featuring rape, other forms of sexual assault and torture. If any of these things bother you I'd advise you to avoid this fic. It would be remiss to not mention kaiserklee and his work Tempest as it sparked my interest in writing a story along these lines.
Elsa looked out across the water, her extremities reaching out for the horizon. She took in a deep breath of the sea air and exhaled with a smile. All the planning and calculating was over, today was her day. She called up a thousand tiny ice crystals in her palm, watching with gratification as the shimmering blue light they produced weaved in and out of her fingertips. She reluctantly withdrew from her reverie as the footfalls of her captain drew nearer. "Your highness, Arendelle bay is now visible five miles from starboard. We'll wait here for 20 minutes and then follow you into the bay"
Elsa turned around, looking her him in the eye, amusement flashing across her eyes as he shrank back under her gaze. "Thank you Andersen" she said, before turning her attention back to the iridescence flowing across her palm. She reflected on his life with a distanced interest. He had done well for himself overall, fighting his way up the chain of command to as near the top as he'd ever manage. He was good at his job too, a fantastic tactician and manager of simple minds, none of that changed the fact that he was living an existence of constant struggle against his birth station. That was the difference between him and her, the innate capacity to rule over others that could never be taught. The inherent authority over others some men worked decades to cultivate came as naturally to her as breathing, and soon, all of the people in the relevant world would have their life inexorably linked with her choices.
"All clear" came the shout from the stern. With one last look over the ship and its crew, Elsa slid over the rail and dropped onto a plate of frozen seawater below and began her walk into the bay.
Kristoff pulled up to the palace gates with a sigh, today had not been a good day. Waking up at in the middle of the night to make the long trip north to Lake Isteren was not his idea of fun, and it had all been for nothing. The eternal irony of his job was that in the particularly hot summer Arendelle had been blessed with, his ice was in the greatest demand it had been in years. The downside of course, was that his meagre supplies had dwindled and obtaining more involved going so far north that ice birds became a common sight. Annoying as it was though, the trip was a necessary difficulty. If he didn't make enough to live on in the winter months he'd have to turn to the crown for charity. He'd never needed to before and he certainly didn't plan on starting now.
The lake had offered up nothing but disappointment however, the icy layer that covered the surface was largely less than an inch thick. He'd salvaged a few paltry blocks from the northwest corner, which had spent much of the previous day in shadow and then left in frustration. He had neither the time nor the resources to make a trip any further north so he'd had to settle with what he had.
He hopped down from Sven's back, gave him a quick scratch behind the ears and knocked on the heavy wooden door. A hatch at eye level opened and he was given a cursory glance before it swung open. "Kristoff, you're back early, nothing doing up at Isteren?"
"Yeah, I thought the cold would have held that far north but no such luck it seems"
"Oh well, you'll pull through I'm sure, would you mind taking what you have down to the cold room yourself? Kai is in bed unwell."
Kristoff nodded and took Sven's reins, leading him through the open gates. He didn't really mind, in fact the privilege of going inside the palace was not one afforded to many people who weren't working there in some capacity. He led Sven around the exterior of the west wing until he reached the small door which served as the servant's entrance to the kitchen. "Wait here" he said and went inside. He couldn't help but smile to himself when as soon as he opened the door, the first thing he heard was Irene's voice bellowing an order of some kind to one of the kitchen hands in another section of the kitchen. She'd been around as long as anyone could remember and was revered by everyone who worked there. One of the workers preparing vegetables looked up as he entered. "'I'd ask where she is but I think I can guess" Kristoff said with a smile, walking through into the main chamber.
For someone who spent their entire existence trying to scrabble together the money for enough rye grain to keep a full stomach, the assault on the senses the kitchen provided was intense. He tried desperately to think about anything other than the smell of roasting meat and spices as he ambled through, evading the various workers as they dashed to and fro in the endless race against time their job comprised. Irene finished remonstrating with the underling and looked up, noticing him for the first time. "Kristoff, lovely to see you" she beamed, rosy cheeks parted by a warm smile entirely at odds with her previous demeanour.
'And you Irene, beautiful as ever' he said with a grin, giving her a wink. "I'm here with this weeks ice, what little of it there is"
"Oh you are good to me Kristoff, shall we go out and count it through then?" He followed behind as she waddled out, amazed at her ability to wear her middle-aged bulk as a badge of pride. He pulled down the only one of the granite boxes he used for transportation he'd managed to fill and opened it up. '14 blocks there but I'll round it up to 15 for you, best I can do I'm afraid.' She counted out the correct amount of money and turned to go back inside. 'I trust you to take it downstairs and not cheat me, I'll see you later'
Kristoff shook his head smiling. There was a reason she'd held this job down so long, managing to keep so many different types of people in line was a skill he'd just never have. He picked up the box, grunting with the strain and carried it downstairs, placing a piece of ice here and there on top of old ones that had begun to melt. He breathed and picked up the box again, looking at the sky in puzzlement, he was sure it had been clear only moments before.
As Elsa passed the breakwater at the entrance to Arendelle bay she began to summon the energy from the place deep inside her body where it was stored. Throwing her arms out wide she watched enraptured as the sky began to darken, the air cooling around her. Snow began to fall from the sky, slowly at first but quickening to form drifts along the streets. She grinned widely as the first of the men who'd been sent to dispatch her filed up along the bank. With a flick of her wrist she formed a dome of ice around herself and kept walking, daring them to try and stop her. "Fire!" came the call from the bank, the resulting bolts embedding themselves in her shield or simply falling away harmlessly. The grin turned into laughter as she disintegrated the dome, entrenched arrows falling away and formed it again, still walking steadily towards the jetty. The captain raised his arm to order a second volley but before the order came he fell to the ground, a bolt of ice protruding from his chest. She froze the rest in place, with their captain dead their fight would be gone, a gaping whole in their ranks that she would fill at a later date.
She stepped up onto the jetty, her dome flowing across the ground as easily as it had the water. She noticed with satisfaction that any attempt at stopping her inside the town itself was over. Ignoring the irrelevant townsfolk falling over themselves to get out of her way, she walked up the central avenue towards the palace itself. As she drew near, a shout came from the ramparts "Leave now and this can all end peacefully." She shook her head, laughing to herself at the absurdity and froze the entire line of onlookers to the ice-covered wall in front. Shouting obscenities at her they struggled helplessly as she continued at the same pace she'd been walking at since she departed the ship.
She produced a large block of ice, watching on as it slammed into the wooden gates, ripping them from their hinges. She walked up to the palace door, ignoring the hail of crossbow fire coming from all angles and walked inside, freezing the door shut behind her. With a sigh of relief she collapsed the dome and began to walk up the main staircase, humming to herself as she went. She walked into the king's office, noting disinterestedly that it was actually a fair bit less ostentatious than she'd expected. She'd assumed the stories about the crown's charity when it came to Arendelle's poor were just good propaganda but perhaps..
"What is it you want? Whatever it is you can have it, the killing has to stop" Elsa was impressed, it took a decent fortitude not to be entirely scared off by as dramatic a display as the one she'd just produced.
"I will thaw the bay, my captain will come in with his troops and occupy the city unchallenged. All of Arendelle's troops will be placed under his command to do with as he pleases. Furthermore, Arendelle will pa-"
"Why do you think you can just come in and demand whatever you want? These are real people you just killed today" Elsa turned to look for the source of the interruption, surprise colouring her face for the first time that day. She regained her composure and allowed a wicked smile to break across her face as she looked down at the Princess Royal of Arendelle. Elsa surveyed the mass of emotional rage in front of her with appreciation. Braided red hair fell that across her front, following the perfect contours of her body as their owner breathed with frustration.
She made her mind up in an instant and turned back to the King. 'As I was saying, Arendelle will pay 1 fifth of its output of all kind to us in tribute. Finally, I will require the presence of one of your children in my palace as vassal, this will strengthen the bond between our to nations and reduce the possibility of any.. misunderstandings we might have.
"b-but Anna is my only child"
"I can go outside and slaughter half of your townsfolk if you'd rather" She said, a glint in her eye contemplating the possibility.
"It's fine father" the princess said with finality "I'll go"
Kristoff finally conceded that they were never going to get the palace gates open, he sat down on the steps in the courtyard in frustration, wondering what on earth he was going to once this 'snow queen' as she was being labelled finally reappeared. Before he could think of any kind of detailed plan the decision was made for him. "You, ice miner." Kristoff looked up to see the sergeant coming towards him. "Our heralds are either incapacitated or missing, we have no one else to turn to. Take this message south to Corona and warn the king. Whatever happens to us this monstrosity has to be stopped." Kristoff opened his mouth to reply but before he could say a word he was stopped "Don't say anything, just go. Take this ring and give it to Flynn Rider, he'll know the significance. Now go!"
So Kristoff went, climbing up onto Sven's back and cantered through the desolate town, sparing one last glance at the frozen palace before it disappeared from view.