Chapter 2

"Yes, Elsa? What do ya need?" Anna wandered in and asked. Anca followed in shortly after, and stood back behind me. Anna looked at me as she was stepping up to the platform and stopped, "Who's this guy?" Elsa whispered in her ear, and Anna nodded, and then an angrier look grew onto her face. She stepped backwards and then said, "Check him for weapons, I don't want him in here with us and his crossbow."

I looked back towards Anca, she was shrugging. I grabbed the crossbow off of my back, threw it on the ground, and then took my sword out of the sheath, and laid it on the ground. "I honestly don't want trouble. I was requested here by Elsa about a week ago, and I decided to see what I was called for." As I said this, Elsa nodded towards me, and then turned back to whisper to Anna.

They whispered between each other for a bit. I walked back to Anca, and then asked her, "Do you know what they're chattering about?" Anca shrugged again, and told me she had no clue. I must have looked a little worried, because she punched my arm and said, "Hey, don't worry, they're nice, decent people, as long as they don't get angry."

I looked back towards Elsa and Anna, and then turned back to Anca, "I think they are angry." Anca solemnly nodded, and said, "Well, you don't seem like that bad of a guy, honestly. I'm sure they'd forgive you if you did a few favors for them. I know I can use a few more hands around the house." She giggled.

"Jeronimus," Elsa said, sternly, "We have reached an agreement about what your task for forgiveness will be." I stepped back up to face them. Anna looked angry, while Elsa still had a stern look on her face. "There's a man in the mountains. His name is Sander. He took a family heirloom from us, a necklace, and keeps it with him somewhere up on the North Mountain. Since you're so good with combat, why don't you go up there, and get it back from him? You are to neutralize him. By any means necessary." I opened my mouth to speak, when Elsa interrupted me, "Yes, that does mean to kill him."

"But, Your Highness, I can't do that." Elsa looked unpleased. "I... honestly, I can't kill. I really can't."

Anna spoke, "Pfft, and that's why you tried to kill Elsa, right?" I put my head down. "I was under orders and my stress was high."

"Your stress was high? You and your buddy were trying to kill me! And, you're under orders now. Now, go. You may rest here tonight, but I expect that necklace back in two weeks, or there will be dire consequences." I was speechless. I knew I couldn't kill the man, and, honestly, tears were welling in my eyes. I thought about how unfair it was, when all of a sudden, a noise from behind me started to yell, "But, Your Majesty, that's unfair! I wasn't there when it happened, but can't you take pity on a man? He has remorse too, you know."

Queen Elsa looked at Anca. Anca started to talk a bit more about how, even though I knew what I was doing, I wasn't completely in control of myself, and that if I didn't do that, there would most likely be dire consequences in that situation too. Anca reached the end of her speech, realized what she was doing, which was talking back to the Queen, and then lowered her head. Elsa replied to her, "Well, if you sympathize with him so much, why don't you two go together?" Anca gasped, and then started to launch into a tirade, but stopped.

"Then it's decided, you and Anca will go to retrieve the necklace. Now, pick up your weapons, get some rest, and leave tomorrow." I was shocked. I grabbed the crossbow, placed it on my back, and then resheathed my sword. I looked to Anca, who was as speechless as I was. We stepped out of the room.

As we were walking back to the bedrooms, Anca finally managed to squeak out, "We have two single beds in my bedroom, you can sleep in the other one." I nodded, as we kept walking. "Uhh... I have never been outside of the city. I don't know what it's like," she said, solemnly. We approached her bedroom, and entered the room. I set the bag down on the ground. She climbed up onto her bed, held her knees to her chest, and started silently crying. It's obvious she was very nervous and upset.

I looked to my bed for the night, it looked small for my size, but it's obvious that Anca wasn't moving from her spot for the rest of the night. I decided to sit next to her on the bed, and talk to her. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"No, I'm feeling terrible. I've never been outside of a city like I said, and I know it's just going to be horrible out there, and I don't know if I'll be able to do it." I looked at her.

"You're going to be travelling with a trained crossbowsman, who's also okay with a sword. I could buy you a knife or something before we leave to get the bandit tomorrow. Anything to make you feel more protected. I didn't want you to be dragged into this." Anca looked up at me. "Will you really spend money on me like that?" I nodded, it's the least I can do. "Well, I guess that'd make me feel a bit more protected. Will we need to bring a camping kit or something?" I nodded again, seeing as we needed to survive on the North Mountain. She nodded as well, and then laid her legs down. "I guess I'll be okay going with you."

I smiled, and she did too. "But this isn't anything romantic, you know, my heart belongs to Hans, still. And I'll still be pretty… shocked, just to warn you. I'm still shocked."

"Of course, I'm married, anyways. And aren't you almost half my age?" I replied. She responded, "Touche," and then began to lay down. "I'm going to get some rest, this stuff wears down on your mind."

I nodded, and understood. I grabbed the book out of my bag, and decided to light up a lantern and read. I learned about the history of the Southern Isles once again, and how the current King had come into power. It was an interesting read, but after a few hours, I put the book down and finally got some rest.

In the morning, Anca told her parents where she was going, cried for a little bit, and then departed with me off to buy supplies. I picked her up a nice dagger, she was happy with it, and then we found a great camping kit for two. We set off on foot, as neither of us owned a horse in Arendelle.

Anca was very quiet at first, as she was still shocked. I tried to comfort her, but she just did not listen. From that point on, I realized that I wouldn't only have to protect myself and get the necklace, I would have to protect the girl, too. After we had reached the top of a hill leading to the North Mountain, we decided to set camp up there. The weather was beginning to get cold, and we needed to warm up quickly.

I laid in my bed roll for a bit, trying to get some rest for the night. Anca brought her knees back up to her chest, while shivering. We sat like that for a bit before she spoke up, "Thank you, Jer. I know we haven't really come upon anything dangerous yet, but I know that you're here to protect me. Honestly, I'm still really shocked that I'm leaving the castle. I know I didn't say much today, which I hope is okay." I nodded. I then let her know, "It's okay. I prefer a silent traveling partner anyways." We laughed a little bit, when Anca said, "You know, I did see you. At the coronation. I was wondering where your mutton chops have been for a little bit."

I began, "Well, that's a long story, it all began when-"

All of a sudden, Anca interrupted me, whispering, "Wait, I hear something…" I stopped talking, listened for a second, and heard a bit of a rustling noise. I looked back to Anca, as I held my hand to my sword handle. I nodded towards her, and flung open the tent flap.

My mind was boggled, as I was wondering what the noise was. Was it just a tree, or was it someone? I pulled out my sword, and...