Chapter 2: Specters
She is so cold.
Where is he?
Where is Kristoff?
She calls out his name.
In the distance, a shadowy figure, obscured by the swirling snow…
He calls back to her.
Her feet are like lead. Her breath stings.
He's running toward her.
She wants him more than anything…
The ice cracks. His form disappears.
The sound of steel behind her.
Hans.
But what has happened? Where's Kristoff?
She can't move.
Kristoff? Kristoff?
Her voice is weak. She can't be heard.
He's not there.
He's not there.
Anna woke herself with a guttural scream. Her heart was racing. She was soaked with sweat. The blankets were in shambles. But all she heard was the steady tick-tock of the clock and her own ragged breathing.
Anna sat in the dark, willing her breathing to slow down. And then she began to sob.
This was just one more in a series of dreams she had been having. Sometimes they were on the lake, sometimes the fjord, but always the same; he fell through, never to surface again. The feeling of helplessness stayed with her for days after these dreams.
The chill of the room startled Anna back to reality. She was wet from sweating, and she was starting to shiver. She realized she needed to get up and change or she would not be warm again all night. As she stood in the bedroom, quickly exchanging her nightgown, her sight was drawn out the window to the mountains.
The sky was clear and the moon full. She could see every nuanced valley across the rugged vista of the mountains, and she knew Kristoff was among them. He had pointed out to her many times where the lake could be found among them, and Anna was pretty sure she remembered, but none of that mattered now. He was out of her sight and, as far as she could tell, in danger once again.
She knew she would pay for it in the morning, but Anna grabbed the duvet and her pillow off the bed and built herself a nest on the window seat, positioning herself so that she could look at the mountains. She was cold and uncomfortable, but she couldn't take her eyes off the mountains.
"Oh, Kristoff…" she mumbled. "Why can't you be here?"
The morning routine progressed as it normally children were fed in the apartment and then shipped off with their tutors for their morning lessons. Anna's chambermaid came shortly thereafter to help her do her hair and get dressed. Then, around ten, she made her way downstairs to meet with Elsa and discuss the day's appointments over coffee and a proper breakfast.
This time of year was always hard for Anna. The sun didn't rise until nearly nine, and though there was light in the sky shortly after eight, Anna found the dark, frigid mornings only too encouraging for lying in bed. When Kristoff wasn't there, she found these mornings even more difficult. But being the Queen's sister meant a great deal of responsibility. Unfortunately, after another fitful night of dreams, Anna sat staring out the window as she absentmindedly stirred her coffee.
She didn't even notice Elsa had changed her normal topic of conversation from business at hand to what's going on?
"Anna!"
"Huh? What? Oh, sorry."
"Anna, are you alright?"
"Oh, um, well, yeah. It's nothing, really. Just didn't sleep well."
Elsa set down her fork and folded her hands in her lap. "Would you please tell me what's going on?"
Anna looked at her sister. She had changed in those last ten years from being a nervous young adult to a confident leader. She established her place in the ruling society of Europe, and the economy of Arendelle had never been better. She had a head for business and trade, and tourism had nearly doubled. Anna sighed. Here was her sister with magical powers, a good grasp of being in command, beloved by a nation, and Anna couldn't even get her husband to understand that his family needed him at home.
Anna acquiesced. "It's Kristoff."
"Is he alright? I haven't heard anything from the lake."
"No, no…I suppose he's just fine. As fine as any of the harvesters can be, considering."
Elsa knitted her eyebrows. "Considering what?"
Anna dropped her hand to the table in a great thud. "You know how dangerous it is up there! I really don't even understand why we have harvesters risking their lives up there anymore. You could just whip up all the ice we needed at any time."
"Anna, you know exactly why I don't do that."
"Yeah, but who cares? They'd find other jobs. We could offer them some kind of compensation to help them through until they learn a new trade!"
"But what about when I'm gone, Anna? Who will still know how to harvest ice when I've died?"
"You might not even die, you know. None of us know how this is going to work."
"Maybe, but that's not the point. Harvesting is a trade, learned through apprenticeship. I can't just eliminate a job for the masters and then have no apprentices. It'd be a long-term disaster."
Anna sat in reflective silence for a moment. "Don't you wish someone would just invent a way to make ice?"
"They just might. Who knows?" Elsa chuckled. "I guess I wouldn't be all that big a deal anymore, then. Would I?"
Even Anna had to smile. "Eh, you'll always be a big deal."
Both sisters giggled. It felt good for Anna to have a lighthearted moment with her sister like that.
They had always been nonexistent, but even now, they were often too few and far between.
"Anyhow, haven't you discussed my proposal with Kristoff any further?"
"Only always. He doesn't want to hear it."
Elsa took a long draught of her coffee. Setting down her cup, she seemed to have a thought cross her face. "What if we took the decision out of his hands?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look, where things stand right now, he's the father of one of my successors. I have a very vested interest in his well-being. I also know Kristoff. He's a perfect match for you."
Anna choked on her pastry. "And just what does that mean?"
"Neither one of you listen," Elsa replied cheekily.
Anna feigned shock, and just as quickly dropped the façade. "Continue."
"I completely agree with you. He has no need to be on that lake every winter anymore, but we also know that's what he's been doing for nearly thirty years. It's going to be difficult to convince him to just drop something which has been a part of his life for so long. So, I have a plan."
"Listening…"
"Thor Andriessen has been maintaining the registers for the past five years since Kristoff declined the position the last time it was available. While I have nothing against him personally – although his math skills are questionable – his is a position I could tinker with."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, basically, create a ruse. A bit of a non-existent issue which causes him to need to abandon his duties for this season. Since all the harvesters would be out working, there would be no time for them to decide who should take on Thor's job, so, simply, I appoint Kristoff. No one would question it; considering he's married to my sister, he'd be the logical choice. Besides, he has a real head for numbers."
"But how are you going to get Thor to abandon his post?"
"Well… we can come up with something simple. A bit of a question of his poor accounting practices, which unfortunately wouldn't be too hard to find examples, and tell him we need to speak with him here in the castle."
"Don't you think he'd be suspicious?"
"Maybe, but then, by the time he comes to be questioned, we go through the lengthy process of question and answer, and when he finally gets to return – without any reprimand, I promise – it'll be nearly time for the harvesters to come home anyway."
"And Kristoff would have spent most of his time off the ice."
"Exactly."
Anna stared at the tablecloth while she sipped at her coffee. "It might just work."
"I'll draw up Thor's summons today."
"But what if Kristoff finds out? Oh, Elsa, I don't want to lie to him. That's horrible!"
Elsa sighed. "Anna," she reached out and placed her hand on her sister's, "I agree. That's why he can't find out. None of this can be spoken to anyone else."
"I don't like this," Anna started. "But I like him on the ice even less."
"Let's look at it this way; perhaps this will buy us the time we need for him to come to his senses."
"He'll never forgive me."
"I promise, we'll be careful. And this way, Kristoff will be safe."
The harvesters had only been on the ice for about a week when the storm hit: not a literal storm, but the noise from the main cabin could have convinced the harvesters otherwise. The arrival of the royal messenger made Kristoff a bit nervous. They almost never came to the lake, and his mind raced through an unmentionable list of possible reasons they would have come. He withdrew his saw from the ice and ran a large circle behind the harvesters trying to get to the cabin as quickly as possible.
As he approached, he heard the voices.
"Can't this wait until we finish the harvest?" an obviously pissed Thor Andriessen bellowed.
"Her Majesty requests you to come at once to the castle," came the response, calm and a bit haughty.
"Has she lost her mind? We're in the middle of a short season – we need all hands working as hard and fast as we can!"
"I have direct orders from the Queen, and you are to report to her at once."
"This is horse shit! If she's trying to ruin our trade and make us have to get ice from other towns at twice the price, she's doing a great job of it!"
"Sir Kristoff Bjorgman has been appointed to cover your duties in your absence."
Kristoff stopped short in his approach, his eyes going wide.
Thor noticed Kristoff's abrupt halt. He pointed at Kristoff. "The Reindeer King? Of course! Nepotism!"
"She told me to assure you it was to make certain that the books were well maintained. She knows Sir Kristoff's abilities with numbers, and unfortunately does not share that familiarity with the rest of the harvesters."
Kristoff stood in shocked silence, mouth agape.
Thor looked at Kristoff, then at the messenger. He turned away, grumbling, "Such a bag of dicks."
The messenger chose not to engage Thor in his attitude. There would be enough time as they escorted him to the castle. "Sir Kristoff?"
"Uh…..yeaaaaaah….?"
"Your skills are needed at the ledgers. May I inform the Queen that you have accepted the post?"
"Uh….. yeaaaaaah …"
"Good. Thank you, Sir."
Kristoff stood as he watched the messenger and his guards ride away with Thor in their company. The whole of the harvesting operation had ground to a halt. Why would she be doing this now? Elsa knows how busy we are going to be this season.
He turned to see all eyes on him. "All right, men. Back to work," he ordered, summoning what little sense of authority he could muster. He could see the look in the men's eyes. They were suspicious of him. Despite having worked among many of these same men for over half his life, true friendships rarely formed on the ice. The fact that he was married to the princess was more than many of the harvesters could take.
Why would he remain a harvester? they likely thought. Why did he even bother working when he had no need for extra money?
Kristoff knew this. He hated the nickname of The Reindeer King because he knew it was a term of derision. He tolerated it because of his deep love for his late reindeer, Sven. But inwardly he hated the idea that his fellow harvesters thought differently of him because of his royal connections. He was still just Kristoff Bjorgman of nowhere in particular. He just happened to be lucky enough to have found Anna.
His gaze passed over the group of harvesters returning to their work. He would need to learn names and fast. Already he was familiar with big Johann and little Johann. Heinrich, Gunnar, and Herbjørn had all been harvesting since about when Kristoff had begun. New on the team was Hans. Kristoff had to work hard to not hate him early on purely because of his name, but Hans was a hard-working sixteen-year-old, green but determined, and that earned Kristoff's respect. Nicolas and Pavel were also diligent, but kept to themselves. Kristoff often wondered if they were a couple as they tended to always work side-by-side and shared a lot of their equipment and a tent. But these were things that weren't asked about on the ice.
And then there was Edvard. Though Kristoff had never found himself easily able to trust people, he also had come to realize over the last decade that not all people were bad. In fact, he had gone from trying to always remind himself that not all people were untrustworthy for Anna's sake, to feeling that he owed himself and everyone else the benefit of the doubt that they were working in the best interest of each other.
He didn't feel this way about Edvard. For some reason, Edvard needed watching.
Maybe it was how he spent more time talking than working. Maybe it was how he was always last to get up, first at dinner, or nursing some injury. Maybe it was how he seemed to spend a huge amount of time with the younger harvesters horsing around. And that was what bothered Kristoff the most.
He watched Edvard walk back to the ice and give young Hans a pat on the back. Kristoff didn't want to admit why, but it made him bristle. He felt the bile rise in his throat as a specter of the past come to the fore of his mind. Not on my watch…
And it made him even more upset when he had to turn to enter the cabin to look over the ledgers and try to figure out what Thor had been doing, and why Elsa was so upset with him.
"You owe me one, Elsa."