For the past fortnight, the castle had been filled with songs and people. Although the wedding wasn't for another week, Royal guests had already begun to arrive. Elsa managed all the preparations while her sister Anna enjoyed the last days of her maidenhood touring the countryside. Princes and Princesses from the South were quartered in the East Wing, where they had easy access to the Royal Gardens. Being so far north made them miss the tropical climates of their homelands, and so Elsa ordered specific types of plants that helped them feel more at home. High lords were housed in the West Wing, where they were just a couple of steps away from food and drink (particularly Arendelle Mead). Guests who came on ship stayed in their well-furnished cabins, although the Castle provided them with all the amenities they required (especially Arendelle Mead).
Elsa sat at her royal desk made of polished oak and gold trimming. The legs were solid gold adorned with pearls right from the surrounding water, and the wise words of former kings and queens of Arendelle were stamped into almost every surface of it in the form of intricate silver letterings.
A pile of royal decrees sat at one corner of the desk, awaiting Elsa's final command. But those would have to wait as she flipped through the many dozens of pages of wedding details.
"This wedding is going to cost us more gold than we made all year, Olaf," said Elsa, her face stricken.
In the corner of the room, roasting a marshmallow in the hearth using his own arm as the spit, was a magically sentient snowman. A miniature cloud hung above him at all times, showering his body and replenishing it with the refreshing coolness of snowflakes. He looked when Elsa spoke, and a cheery grin stretched across his snow-white face.
"Yay!" Olaf said, before returning his attention back to the marshmallow.
"It's nothing to celebrate, Olaf," said Elsa as she reclined into her study chair, which was tall and made from thousands of feathers packed into fine silken velvet. "There's better things we can spend our people's gold on than a wedding."
"I know," said Olaf. The marshmallow began to ooze off of his fingers. He took it from out of the fire and blew on it until it cooled. "But it's a royal wedding, of course it's going to cost a lot of gold."
Olaf took the marshmallow and jabbed at it with his still-attached arm. When he felt content with his work, he tossed the marshmallow behind him where a pile of uneaten, cooked marshmallows laid on a flat sled.
"But does it have to cost this much?" asked Elsa, more to herself than to Olaf.
"I don't know," said Olaf, who was trying to stick his arm back into his body, "that's for the Queen to figure out."
Of course it is.
Just then, heavy hands pounded on the study's door.
"Queen Elsa! Queen Elsa!" shouted a voice from behind.
Alarmed, Elsa stood from her desk to her full, royal height.
"Come, what is the meaning of this?!"
The doors swung open, revealing a large man armored in shimmering, thick steel-plate. His face was a collection of scars, but young and beautiful. His eyes were a deep blue and as large as opals, while his jaw was chiseled beneath his dimpled cheeks.
"Sir Leif?!" said Elsa, as the knight fell to one knee. He held his helm in one hand, while his other rested on the hilt of his sheathed sword. His long blonde hair flowed with pure elegance down to his broad shoulders.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," said the young Knight as he kept his head bowed and his gaze down, "but there is urgent news from the countryside."
"Olaf, leave at once," said Elsa, her voice palpable with the royal power inherent in her.
"Okay," said Olaf.
The snowman walked over to the pile of marshmallows, grabbed the ropes of the sled, and dragged the mound of roasted sweets along as he exited the Queen's study. The knight got to his feet and shut the door behind Olaf.
"What news do you have, Sir Leif?"
"Only this," and the knight strolled past the large desk right up to his queen, and pressed his lips to hers.
Elsa felt the knight's gleaming armor connect with her silk gown, and trembled as his thick arms wrapped around her petite frame. The harder the knight pressed his lips against the queen, Elsa pressed forward with twice as much vigor. After what seemed like an eternity of passionate embrace, Elsa pushed herself away from the handsome knight.
"Is that all the news you have for me?" said Elsa, smiling at Leif as she gazed into his brilliant sparkling eyes.
"The only urgent news, yes," said Sir Leif, who grabbed Elsa and tried to pull her back.
"Then what other news?" said Elsa, resisting Sir Leif feebly.
"Nothing much, this and that," Elsa pecked him on the lips, "citizens pouring into the city for the wedding," Elsa rubbed her palm across Sir Leif's face, "border activity", Leif caressed Elsa's back with a single finger, "bandits attacking travelers."
"What?!"
This time, Elsa firmly shoved herself away from the knight's hold.
"Where? Who? What are the details, Sir Captain?"
Sir Leif frowned, but Elsa didn't care. He knew that when the queen spoke to him formally, that she had lost her desire for intimacy.
"Along the Gentle Road," said Sir Leif with as much enthusiasm as Elsa had for wedding costs, "two merchants have been killed, another dozen have been robbed, and that's only the ones who have reported to the Queen's Patrol."
Elsa flopped onto her study chair.
Two dead. Another dozen robbed.
"Do you have any leads on the criminals?" asked Elsa, not looking up at the knight.
"Yes," said Sir Leif, pausing briefly, uncertainly, "we think the Majesty's Mourners are responsible."
A sickness stabbed her heart. She felt the burning gaze of Sir Leif upon her, begging her to not feel the way she did. But how could she do as he wished? What Anna wished? It was impossible. Beads of sweat poured from her crown of platinum hair, slipping down her smooth pale forehead and into her sapphire eyes. It stung, but she never blinked.
"These brigands are responsible for their own crimes," said Sir Leif after a long and vicious silence, "you cannot keep blaming yourself—"
"You will never presume to tell your Queen what she can and cannot do again, ever. Do you understand, Captain?" said Elsa, her voice seething with venom.
She stared up at Sir Leif. For a single moment he was stiff with anger, his face stricken with shock, and his eyes gutted by sorrow. But all at once, his training and duty swirled around him, and Sir Leif bowed. His head ducked lower than possible, and his arms were pressed tightly against his chest.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, I do not know my place," said Sir Leif in his most apologetic tone.
"Arise Sir Leif," said Elsa, tentatively, "I did not mean to, I'm sorry, Leafy."
Sir Leif rose as he was commanded to do so.
"Come here," said Elsa, and Sir Leif came at once.
"I know I am your Queen, but I am also your Elsa, sometimes it is I who forgets—"
Sir Leif bent down and pressed his lips to Elsa's who received it immediately.
When they parted, Sir Leif stood to his full height and said,
"No, you're absolutely right. I must never forget that you are my Queen first and foremost, even if we were to, well–"
Sir Leif paused, blushing too madly to continue.
"Be what?" asked Elsa, excitedly as her pale skin flushed a dark pink.
"Well, if we were to wed."
Both Queen Elsa and Sir Leif lips trembled as they tried to contain their ever-growing grins.
"You don't have to do this, Your Majesty," said Sir Leif.
Elsa stood in Market Square, the central hub of the great city of Arendelle. Around her, saddled in their armored steeds, were the Queen's Guardians. Ten knights flanked her on both sides, including Sir Leif. Behind her were an additional fifty men, all part of the Queen's Patrol. These men were cavalry as well; some being knights, others proven swords, but none anointed to the Guardians. Elsa herself stood on her own two feet, as a large crowd of Arendelle citizens and foreign visitors gathered around.
"Queen Elsa!" shouted a woman.
"Your Majesty!" roared a group of men.
"I will not sit idle as bandits raid my kingdom, Captain," whispered Elsa through gritted teeth. "You forget that my sister, your princess, is travelling the countryside with only Lord Kristoff and a handful of Knights to guard her."
"That is why you have the Queen's Patrol," said Sir Leif, bending as low as he dared in order for Elsa to hear him. "You are the Queen, you should stay here, where it's safe."
"I am the last person in Arendelle who needs walls and guards to feel safe," replied Elsa acidly.
Sir Leif was about to reply, when Elsa walked toward the gathering of Arendelle citizens. There had been no prior warning to the city or anyone for that matter of the Queen's presence, no official annoucement. When Sir Leif made to leave the Queen's study, she followed suit, decreeing that she would see to the bandits herself. As a result, only the people who had already been in Market Square trading and bartering that morning were present to see the Queen and her men.
"My great, great people," Elsa shouted, "there are men in the wilderness of Arendelle who believe they are entitled to the wealth of other citizens. Hardworking people who struggle, as you do, to make something for themselves and their families. They rob, they pillage, they even torment and kill."
A chorus of angry yells pierced the marketplace.
"I, your Queen, and the brave men with me, shall bring the Queen's Justice to them!"
Cheers shattered the air.
"An offense against the citizens of Arendelle is an offense to the Queen of Arendelle herself! And I do not take offenses lightly!"
The merchants and citizens roared with applause. Sir Leif jutted his horse forward and yelled,
"Fetch the Queen's steed! We go hunting today!"
This time, the Queen's men roared with excitement, but Elsa raised her hand to Sir Leif.
"I have my own steed," she said.
Elsa thrust her hand toward the sky. Sir Leif's horse almost dismounted him as a torrent of snow and wind blasted all around the soldiers, creating a twister of cold around Elsa. She rose six feet into the air as shards of frost formed beneath her. The entirety of the marketplace watched in awe as the shards condensed and reshaped into the form of a silvery horse, composed entirely of magical ice.
Without another word, Elsa kicked her feet into the sides of her icy steed. The horse reared on its hind legs, screeching like a blizzard, and bolted through the marketplace.
"With the Queen!" shouted Sir Leif.
The men roared as they followed Sir Leif's example and chased after Elsa, whose horse left behind snowy footprints at every step. Elsa rode through the streets of Arendelle, the buildings made of the strong but beautiful lumber of the surrounding mountain trees. She passed the Blacksmith Quarter, where the fires that made Arendelle Steel had just been lit for the day's work. The Glistening District was an area of the city where high end products were sold to the nobles and elites, but none of the shops were yet open. Past the Glistening Disctrict, the smells of freshly baking bread and the songs of bards enticed travelers into inns. That was the end of the inner capital, where coin was plentiful.
Elsa now raced through the poorer districts of her city. Drunkards and whores lay where they fell asleep on the street, their stomachs full of wine and fish.
"Olaf!" Elsa shouted.
At the Orphanage, a group of children danced around the snowman as he handed out the roasted marshmallows.
"Hi, Queen Elsa!" Olaf returned, "where are you going?!"
"Bandit hunting!"
"Oh okay, have fun!" Olaf shouted back as the children stared in awe at the blitzing ice horse.
Oh, I will.
Elsa raced across the Gentle Road, a flowing trail of snow following her path. The Queen's men were far behind, their living steeds unable to match the speed of Elsa's magic.
The road cut through the forest, where thick evergreens made seeing into the brush nearly impossible. Elsa's royal robe flapped in the wind from the sheer speed they were travelling, whipping her face like a jealous lover. She was nearly ten miles away from the gates of Arendelle, but had seen nothing but flickering shadows in the trees.
"Milady!"
Just beyond Elsa's trajectory, a young woman covered in the stains of desperation sprinted toward her. She was running from the smoldering remains of an upturn carriage, bodies strewn about on the road.
Damnit! Elsa thought.
The woman's dress was covered in dirt and fresh blood, her light-brown hair waving erratically behind her as she stumbled toward Elsa.
"Milady!" the woman shouted one more time before finally falling to the ground in a heap of exhausted flesh.
Elsa reared her steed and stopped a few yards from the woman. She dismounted with ease and the moment she landed on her feet, she sprang toward the fallen citizen.
"What happened here?!"
Elsa grabbed the woman and raised her to her chest.
"Who did-"
"Shut up."
Elsa felt the cold steel prick her neck. A drop of blood skirted down the blade and onto the woman's hand. Elsa looked down, and found not the terrified victim just moments ago, but instead the calculating, wicked face of a con-woman.
"Good work, Marie."
From out of the blackness of the trees came rushing feet and wrought iron. Seven or eight men, bulging with thick muscle and golden beards, surrounded the two woman instantly.
Elsa dropped the woman from her hold. The woman landed on her elbow, rolled to her side, and lifted herself off the ground. Elsa raised her arms slowly in the air, and stood up.
"She's gorgeous," said one of the men, a huge battle axe resting upon his shoulder.
"Yeah, sure is," said another man, "she'll be fun to play with."
"Are you kidding me?" said the previous man, swinging his battle axe into motion, "this is not a woman you play with, this is a woman you marry."
"Are you part of the Majesty's Mourners? Elsa asked, ignoring the conversation.
"She knows us," said the woman who had held the knife to Elsa's neck, "how?"
Another man, completely bad except for a massive, braided beard, stepped forward.
"Who knows, but it's a good thing for us, because that means we've got a reputation now," he said, his eyes scanning Elsa hungrily, "and it's a bad thing for us, because that means we've got a reputation now."
"Drop your weapons," demanded Elsa, "and come peacefully."
The bandits roared with laughter, all but the woman.
"She's got courage, I'll give her that," said the largest of the bandits, a man that looked like he was a descendent of trolls.
"There are over fifty mounted soldiers of the Queen's Patrol behind me," said Elsa, standing firm but unsure, "drop your weapons now, and I will tell them to throw you into the prisons instead of having you die on this road."
The bandits no longer laughed. They became uneasy as they looked at one another, all except the woman. Elsa might not have had a threatening appearance, but sixty armored swordsmen definitely invoked fear in them.
"What should we do?" asked one of the bandits.
"Kill her and run," said the woman, sheathing her knife, "we'll be slaughtered by the Witch's Patrol."
"Right," agreed another, "but still, such a waste."
"A real shame, there's no time to play with her."
"She would've made a great wife," agreed the other bandit.
"Sorry, your knights in shining armor can't save you today," said the woman.
Two men lunged at Elsa without warning, their axes high in the air. They brought down the iron heads with all their strength at her, when suddenly the shattering roar of ice and animalistic fury charged into the fray. Elsa's steed buried its rock-hard head into one of the bandits, sending him shooting into two other bandits who had been standing idly.
"Ice demon!" shouted the other bandit, striking his axe into the horse's body.
The axe head buried itself into the ice but had no effect on the rampaging beast. The horse bucked and smashed its hind leg into the bandit. The sound of cracking bone and meat echoed off the trees as the bandit's lifeless body was thrown from the sheer impact of the kick.
"It's her!" shouted the woman, fear and hatred twisting her face, "the ice witch!"
The other bandits, realizing who their enemy was, tossed their weapons aside as they made a mad dash toward the safety of the trees. Elsa placed a single finger on the backside of the horse. It roared like a crashing glacier as chains of ice blasted out of the its body and snatched at the legs of the fleeing bandits. The bandits fell flat on their stomachs and effortlessly reeled in by Elsa.
Elsa dropped down to the bandits, who cowered under her gaze.
"You people will learn," she said, her voice as cold as the horse, "that I am the last person in Arendelle that needs saving."
By the time Sir Leif and the other mounted swords had reached Elsa, the bandits were already nicely restrained by a thin but unbreakable rope of pure ice.
"My Queen," said Sir Leif as he dismounted, "you've outdone yourself."
Elsa nodded. A trickle of blood began to dry down her neck.
"You're hurt!" Sir Leif said, and he rushed to her.
Elsa raised her hand, causing Sir Leif to stop in his tracks.
"Just a nick," said Elsa, who sounded sad and tired, "take these bandits and put them in the stockades. Charge them with murder."
Men rushed to retrieve the criminals.
"Sir Leif," said Elsa, her body waning, "there are three citizens up ahead, please retrieve them as well."
Sir Leif didn't have to hear anymore.
"Men, let's take the bodies back," ordered Sir Leif.
Elsa stood by herself as the men went to work. The bandits were being led past her by a knight when Elsa grabbed the woman by her wrist.
"What did these people ever do to you?"
Elsa's eyes were of fire, peering death into the woman, who refused to meet her gaze.
"Look at me, LOOK AT ME!"
The woman rose her head, and found Elsa's glacial eyes ripping through her very soul.
"Why did they have to die? Because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time?!"
Elsa wanted to take the knife from the ground and stab it into the woman's uncaring face over and over again until she resembled nothing near a human being. But then, the woman's faced changed dramatically. There was no more fear, or hatred in her eyes, only hollowness.
"My daughter was in the wrong place at the wrong time," said the woman, her face blank and emotionless, "a year ago she was swimming near Arendelle Harbor, the water was warmed by the summer sun. I was setting up our lunch for the day, I made her favorite meal. The harvest was going to be hard that summer, so I made sure to give my daughter the best day ever before we had go to work."
"A year ago?" asked Elsa, and the sickness jabbed at her heart again.
"It was so fast," said the woman, and in the hollowness of her eyes first came a wave of sadness, "it was like a plague from the gods. My daughter was only stomach-deep, but the ice came and froze the water solid faster than lightning strikes the earth. By the time I chipped away at the ice enough with bloodied and frostbitten hands, the cold had taken her. My baby, gone."
Elsa felt herself go numb. All the anger, all the fight, had simply vanished. The sadness dispersed from the woman's eyes, now filled with a depthless anger.
"What did my daughter ever do to you, ICE WITCH?!"