II

As In Light, Darken Woes

The reception in the hall was a sea of people in fine clothes, talking around fine food and drink and listening to the pleasant drone of fine music, all while Yasha stood outside, his face dark and hands clenched at his sides. Beside him was a guard of Arendelle, his face equally stern and his hand clasped tightly on the large spear he carried. A heavy air hung between them, displaced from the shrill laughter and polite chatter coming from the heart of the party. The guard took great care to stay out of sight of the party and whispering to him, each word seeming to foul his expression further. The young prince stared into the sea of laughing faces, this crowd of noble men and women he was slated to join, but his attention was solely on the news that ignited his blood, though he was silent and attentive until the man finished his report, signaled by the guard leaning back and looking to him expectantly.

"What do we do, my king?" he asked.

Yasha looked to him sharply, tired of hearing the myriad of titles flowing from the mouths of the people of Fria. Had he not been so disturbed by the report, he would have rebuked him, even knowing it was pointless. Instead, he had to concentrate on the information that had soured the mood that was recently so sweet from the lips of his beloved Elsa.

"You are sure that they specifically attacked our people?" he demanded.

"It was a trade caravan of our people only. Even the guards were of Fria," the guard replied, reflecting the same anger. "The facts cannot be refuted."

The young prince bristled wildly. "What foul deeds are these?" he seethed, looking into the reception once more.

For some reason, he felt infuriated by their laughing faces.

"My king?" the guard implored.

Shaking his head, Yasha realized that he didn't have the time for this, as he had already delayed his arrival to the reception for far too long. "Return to your duties. Tell any of our people that they are to be extra cautious when traveling," he ordered, though watched as it failed to allay the guard's concerns. Yasha reflected anger in his eyes, finding ample motivation to resolve the matter by becoming the unrestricted exile he had so recently been. "And tell them I will find whoever is responsible for these attacks, and not even hellfire will compare to the reprisal I will bring upon them."

The ominous words finally appeased the old soldier and his eyes burned with loyalty, though not to the uniform he now wore. Yasha saw that unwavering loyalty and winced, then waved him off. "Go now. Attend to your duties," he sighed, turning back to the reception as the guard saluted him as a guard from Fria would, then disappeared from his side.

Yasha spat a furious breath, trying to cool himself as he pulled at the restrictive collar of his formal attire. Being wrapped up like a party favor only irritated him more, while being surrounded by so many people without having his dagger was something he could never get used to. Taking a deep, exhuming breath, the young prince tried once more to straighten his fancy coat and prepare himself to step back into the foreign world of Elsa's kingdom, where shadows spoke instead of moved and battles were fought with subtlety instead of swords.

After being announced, he marched into the reception, where all eyes shifted and it appeared the whole of attendance had been waiting for him.

The reaction nervously stalled him at the doorway.

"Ah, it seems our esteemed guest from Fria has finally arrived. I think we may now get started," said an older man in the finest clothes, and even finer company. Standing next to the queen and Princess Anna, he gestured to Yasha to approach and stand to the side of them, in order to witness the proceedings at hand.

"My apologies for being late, Regent Stenson," Yasha said, bowing in performance and then following his hand to the place that was set aside for him. As he passed, he noticed Anna giving him a small wave under the regal glances of the attendees and he gave her a slight smile, though he was then disturbed to find that Kristoff wasn't at her side. For some reason, that fact stuck out strongly in his mind as he settled into place and turned his full attention on the regent.

Regent Stenson was a stately man. His hair was streaked with white and his eyes were wise with age. He wasn't as plump as many of the older nobles, but he was well-attended in his duties to the kingdom and his medals and epaulettes were made with the finest gold and silver. An ancient friend of the late king, he had effectively raised Elsa to be the queen, while holding the kingdom in his hand until her coronation. Despite stepping back to see the young queen rule, he had considerable esteem among the other nobles, his name near-synonymous with the throne, and he commanded the presence of the entire room, an impressive fact considering that the radiant Elsa stood right next to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the court, guests, and of course, our beloved queen and princess, I'm both ashamed and delighted in calling you here tonight, and on such short notice. Ashamed that my reasons are so selfish as to bring you all here, but delighted that they could do so anyway," he bellowed, then slowly gestured to a young man before him, who was dressed in the uniform of the Royal Guard, but brighter and commanding far more authority. "My son, Johann, has most recently been appointed as a captain of the Royal Guard, the youngest to do so in recent memory. While it may be self-regarding of me to brandish the court's attention on such an accomplishment, I hope you will help me celebrate this wonderful achievement, and this addition to the ranks of officers that see to it that Arendelle remains a safe and beautiful place for many years to come."

As his words fell away, the reception erupted into applause. As she clapped, Elsa found it strange that the regent would arrange such grandeur around the appointment, as he had always been an understated and simple man. She could barely remember a time where he had lavished such attention on his only son. Yet nowhere was his influence so apparent in that roaring applause that filled the hall, brought on by a single gesture of this venerable man.

His hands raised, the regent then quieted everyone and smiled. "Now, my very young son has decided that he wishes to address the court, as well as our young queen. It appears he has had his eye on her for quite a long time, you see. Imagine, a son of mine being so presumptuous!" he continued, which drew a wave of laughter from the crowd and an embarrassed smile on the young man's face.

"Father, please," Johann whined, then gave Elsa a guilty look.

The brazen admission made her smile meekly and she tucked her chin down in practiced form.

"Well, as I'm not one to stand in the way of a young heart, I'll give your gracious attention over to this new captain of the Guard," Regent Stenson continued, then bowed away to let Johann take the floor.

Young, tall and strong, Johann was a younger image of the regent, with his uniform neatly pressed and his ceremonial sword hanging at his side. He was handsome and vibrant, with neatly trimmed brown hair and the piercing green eyes of someone who knew what he wanted, and how to get it. The young man took a moment to look around the hall, smiling widely and continuing to bow gracious to their dying applause.

With a single glance at Elsa, he then looked back out to the crowd, eager to begin his performance. "Friends, noblemen, I stand before you a newly-appointed captain of Arendelle's honorable Guard, eager to serve and eager to protect, but honest in my duties and committed to my cause. Yes, I am young, but I have earned the respect of my fellow soldiers, and look to my youth not as a hindrance, but as an opportunity to serve Arendelle for many, many years," he called, appearing to enjoy every moment of the attention.

"My father is correct. I love the queen," he continued, gesturing to Elsa but not looking back for her reaction, "As I love Arendelle. And I will protect the queen, as I protect Arendelle. With my heart, my duty and if needed, my very life."

The passionate words were wooing the crowd and Johann finally turned back to Elsa, who was blushing and trying to swallow his bravado. Her reaction seemed to appease him and he slowly stepped towards her, finally speaking to her instead of the world around them.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, I have sworn to you with my life, my heart and my honor. My sword is yours to command. Point to any horizon, and let me be there for you," he continued, stepping slowly to Elsa and finally dropping to one knee before her. Taking her hand, he gazed deeply at her with his green eyes and spoke in soft, powerful tones. "Pick any mountain, and above it, I will raise your flag."

To finish off the recital, he placed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand, and it caused the whispers of the crowd to thunder through the room. Elsa was taken for a moment by his charisma and the tone he commanded in the court. She was keen on the symmetry of the union between the regent's son and the king's daughter, and why the regent might put on such a show. The only thing that seemed to break her of this spell was the passing moment when she caught his expression and the temperament of his intentions.

Oddly, she had felt that even as he paraded around, calling out his desires to obey her every whim, he never really appeared to be looking at her.

After the rousing display of the young princeling and with the roaring of the crowd dying to a whisper, the reception broke apart into a sea of chatting nobility and Elsa was instantly captured by Johann, where she was forced to entertain him by protocol and expectation. Passing spectators hailed their approval, ceremoniously greeting the queen and the fresh captain, while Johann proudly flaunted his place at her side, while Elsa tried to navigate the tides around her. The crowd flowed around them like the will of the kingdom itself, with whispers and glances, and they had been presented at the center of the room for an eternity.

At least, that is what it felt like for Yasha.

As was common for these parties, he stood alone, avoided by most others. A man's past was often with him, and his was often at the lips of every person in the royal court. That usually didn't bother him, but seeing Elsa interviewing this bold captain was grinding away his usually cool demeanor, especially as the crowd chanted their endorsements. He stood as a lightning rod among storm clouds, giving of an oppressive aura and driving people even further away than usual.

That was until Anna wandered up next to him, fearlessly cutting through his mood and casually clutching her hands behind her back in defiance of his fiery temper. "Wow, you look like you just found a badger in your pants," she remarked.

He was fuming and glaring forward with eyes very much like the ones she had known before. His mood was despotic. "She is laughing. She is actually laughing with him," he grumbled, stiffly crossing his arms in a vain effort to control his mood. Seeing Elsa so entertained was maddening, more than he ever expected. The air around him was sweltering and heavy, and he didn't even acknowledge Anna's arrival beyond the ranting that seemed aptly directed to her.

The princess looked to her sister, watching her go through the steps. A smirk crossed her lips. This wasn't anything new to her and the truth behind Elsa's polite interaction with the young captain made her feel like teasing her brooding partner a bit.

"Yep, I haven't seen Elsa laugh like that in a while. Makes you wonder what they're talking about, huh?" she noted.

"She never laughs like that with me. Am I not amusing or witty? Is he that much funnier than I?" he asked incredulously.

Anna looked to him slowly. "You?" she said, then slowly looked back with an evasive look on her face. "Oh sure, you're a barrel of laughs."

He scoffed, becoming more animated as he vented his anger. This aggravating feeling was eating away at him, taking away his usual focus. It had only been moments since he had held her in his arms and played their sweet games, yet he suddenly felt like she was a million miles away and being carried further away with every passing moment.

"They might as well be singing and dancing around the walls of the castle," he glowered.

The remark made a guilty smirk cross her face. "Now you're overreacting."

By now, his ranting had melted down into angry murmuring and he didn't even seem to recognize that she was there. For her part, she continued to watch Elsa courted by this handsome officer, her face showing the slightest bit of amusement by the effect it had on the usually stoic Yasha.

Her comments came rolling over the top of his grumbling.

"She's totally faking it."

"He is kind of cute, though."

"Maybe it's the uniform."

"Still, she's totally faking it."

"At least, I think she's faking it."

"Maybe she's not faking it."

"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Her attention had come back to him, and she stabbed her hand on her hip, watching him continue to brood. At first, it had been amusing to watch him squirm, but as he continued to growl and murmur, she began to feel sorry for him, seeing how much he agonized over something so shallow. Inwardly, she mused that he sometimes seemed so romantic and intuitive in his courtship of Elsa, yet in other arenas he acted like a love-struck adolescent, wildly emotional and prone to fretting over the most meaningless things.

She wasn't sure if that was cute, or sad.

"You just lit the Duchess of Pancake's hair on fire," she informed him.

The remark finally made him break from his trance and gradually look around for the said inferno, something that made her smirk even more for his gullibility. As he didn't see any sign of his carelessness, nor could he remember ever meeting a Duchess of Pancake, he suddenly realized the childish nature of the prank and looked to her, grousing.

"You are not being helpful, Anna," he huffed.

"And you're definitely jealous," she countered, watching the word make him scoff. His reaction made her all the more entitled. "Look, I've seen Elsa do this routine a hundred times, with all sorts of princes and dolphins and who knows what else," she explained, drawing his attention to Elsa and suddenly beginning to mimic everything she did, even down to the words she was speaking and the position of her hands.

Anna made a very convincing Elsa.

"She flicks out her hand, talking about how much she's heard about them. Oh, I've heard about this. You say it was you? She laughs a little, covering her mouth politely with her hand. You don't say? She laughs a little more, though never can quite hide the rolling of her eyes when they keep talking about themselves. How impressive! She laughs, and hides, and rolls, but she's totally faking it and probably wondering where I am to come drag her away from this guy."

Yasha was incredibly impressed. She mirrored Elsa's every move and it gave credibility to her claims. He still had trouble dealing with the genuine look of amusement on her face, but his heart was willing to trust in her, regardless of how enchanted Elsa appeared to be.

"And you know all of this because...?" he asked.

"Because I'm her sister. I know everything about her," she beamed brightly, nodding firmly as she crossed her arms over her chest. It was amazing that she had to keep reminding him, but she felt even better about herself when she thought at how not even her beloved Prince Yasha had such insights on her.

When it came to Elsa, she was the subject matter expert.

"These days, anyway. That magic thing? Totally took me by surprise. Well, I knew about it when I was a kid, but you know how that magic stuff goes. I mean, of course you do. Who else would know better than you? Elsa, I guess. Wow, she's really going all out with this one," she suddenly ranted, losing herself in the intimate place she had between them.

He sighed heavily, rubbing his tired eyes and feeling his head and heart throb. It was comforting to know that she was on his side and that her assessment seemed invincible, but even her arguments had trouble dispelling the burning feeling in his chest and the way it ravaged his mood.

"All I see is her laughing," he admitted.

Anna shrugged and finally decided to stop having fun at his expense. Seeing him so despondent was starting to make her feel guilty. "Look, standing here and glaring at that Johnny guy isn't going to make anything better. If it's Elsa you want, you're looking at the wrong person," she advised, patting him on the shoulder softly.

The troubled prince frowned, trying to believe and let her dispel his fears. Once more, he was reminded at how Anna was far wiser than she let on to the world and that he felt privileged to have her as a confidant, something that seemed almost laughable considering how their relationship started. Even as he spoke to her in the wake of Elsa's performance, he was feeling better, and he was glad that even though not many spoke to him within the walls of the castle, the ones that did were genuine and sincere.

He was glad that Anna was his friend.

Seeing that he was feeling better, she patted him across the arm softly, equally glad that this brooding, ignorant-about-love prince was the one that had captured the heart of her sister.

"I've seen her act like that a hundred times, but the only time I've seen her actually smile is when she's with you. So try not to get all gloomy again," she continued, then regained a bit of her humor as she elbowed him playfully, "Though you could always makes plans to kidnap her or something. It wouldn't be the first time, right?"

The remark made him smirk, but he felt the tension bleed from him. There were very few that could get him to relax when his mood was hot, but Anna was the most proficient at it. Once more, he was reminded at how fond he was of her.

"I will keep the kidnapping option as a last resort," he conceded.

Being drawn back to the center of the room, he looked back to the smile Elsa wore and let out a slow breath. It was still bothering him, but her counsel had helped as it often did.

"You are sure that I have nothing to fear?" he asked.

Anna smiled. "Why do you ask me questions of which you already know the answer?" she replied in an accent similar to his, repeating one of his own of his favorite responses.

He let out a light chuckle, looking to his feet in defeat. As much as he cherished his romantic love with Elsa, he equally cherished his powerful connection with Anna, so much so that he desperately feared to ever lose it.

Idly, he remembered that he actually had two very good reasons to fight for his place in Arendelle.

"Thank you, Anna," he said thoughtfully as he lifted his eyes to her, and it made a slight blush run over her face.

Sometimes, she was also reminded at how much she enjoyed her strange bond with him. "Don't mention it," she said, happy that in spite of Kristoff being denied an invitation to the reception, she was able to stand with at least one person who she could relax with. It made the night bearable.

"But don't get all cozy just because you think you've reeled her in. If you really want Elsa, you need to be prepared to fight. A lot, from the looks of it," she warned, though she knew that he was the last person she had to lecture about fighting for the demands of his heart or the resolve needed to succeed.

At her advice, he slowly looked back to Elsa. She was still entertaining Johann and the crowd continued to flow around them. It was Anna's words and Anna's presence that empowered him, and made him break the fears that had strangled him. With only Elsa in his eyes, he took a deep breath and exhaled, letting the rest of the world fade away, until it was only her he could see.

"I intend to."

The resolve in his voice made her nod and stand at his side, completely dedicated in supporting the both of them until they finally found the love they deserved.

"Good," she said.

As he gazed to Elsa and Johann with the resolution renewed in his eyes, and with Anna at his side, the situation didn't seem so dire, yet he continued to fight the burning in his chest. These feelings were almost entirely new to him, as he had never been in love before Elsa. His mind had eased considerably, enough to make a sudden realization furrow his brow and he slowly looked back to his royal companion, trying to digest exactly what she had said to him when she first walked up.

"A badger in my pants?" he cawed.

Anna had nearly forgotten about it, but his delayed reaction made her burst into giggles and nod, unable to hide the full width of her grin. "Yeah, I heard Kristoff say it. Isn't it hilarious?" she cheered. The image stuck powerfully with him and his expression melted. Just the way it hung between them sweetened the air and they both shared a moment of laughing together among the practiced recitals of the crowd around them.