They had all risen like a wave of the ocean, swift and contiguous. They all stood before her now with bared weapons, but with a nod of her head they were put back away for the ensuing combat to come. Kristoff took a step over to her to exchange words. "Should we prepare now?" She nodded simply.

"Yes." They spent the rest of 30 minutes gathering up everything they could need as they would trek down the mountain carefully.

A few of them had offered themselves for the role of scouting out up ahead, which was gracefully taken to by pretty much all in attendance. They hadn't descended more than a hundred feet when they revealed the presence of a small coordinated watch stationed up ahead at a sort of barracks. Anna divided the warriors into three main groups; nothing too complicated—one right behind her and two more on the opposite sides. They made a slow advance behind her, but would make no action until asked to do so.

The redhead, outfitted in her golden armor, looked much as she had in those glorious years of her being Queen. Some of the men had been in that memorable battle against Berk, and saw the same powerful woman they had then. She brought her feet to a halt as she stood at what was the backside of a large stone structure. She craned her neck in long motions in either direction before stilling herself and taking a long breath. Her right hand gripped meaningfully at the hilt of her blade, and she could feel the force of her grasp transferring all around her body. It made her chest tighten and her legs tense as she poured every ounce of strength into her right hand.

All of those behind her could only look on at the sight. Many of them had only ever heard of the vorpal blade in her possession, but it certainly looked impressive enough on its own. Having seen it earlier, the intricacies in its design led many to wonder how such a weapon could've been formed at all. It had seen the heat and use of so many battles and yet it glimmered like the peak of the North Mountain. It seemed to mesmerize any and all who looked upon it.

Anna, bracing herself, went through the steps she had done so many times before. It was the way she had begun many skirmishes, many of which ending with this singular maneuver. She drew in a quick breath, allowing it to fall down into her core, shot the surge of strength necessary into her arm and then felt her legs ready to spring forth—and at that moment she released, the air within her exploding under immense pressure as she felt her upper half swivel in perfect synchronicity with her legs providing the force needed to fuel the strike. Her hand gripping with such monstrous strength, the instant the blade was free of its scabbard it had already begun to form its deadly prominence. As she swung into the second half of the arc, she knew that if her eyes had been open she could see the lethal cutting of concentrated air and a blast of energy with unmatched force.

The blade fired forth its slicing wave of crimson energy, infused partly with her life-force, and it slipped noiselessly through the structure before her. No one, not even herself, could discern whether the event had either been so deafening that silence befell them or that simply there was no air left for them to hear in. Had they not been poised for battle, they all would have looked on open-mouthed in utter admiration. It was such a beautiful display of shocking power, and in a moment the sound returned to them.

The great slab of stone had been split in a cross-section diagonally going from bottom left to top right. The cut had been so true that the two halves slid against the other, falling in a thundering rumble onto the ground. As the ground shook, it seemed almost humorous to see the many dumbfounded faces on the inside. Seeing all of them where they would usually have been occupying stations, all outlooking in the other direction, seemed bizarre as they all became aware of the cross-section. The Major was the first to step up.

"Queen Anna." He and the rest of his men advanced quickly down the steps to assemble and bow to her. She curved her brow in confusion.

"Explain yourselves." The Major fiddled about with his sides, saying "It was only our job to keep refugees from getting out." He said it so nervously as if to imply that the ones behind Anna were proof of their failure, but there again Anna was in juxtaposition to his orders herself, but he wouldn't dare incite her wrath.

He continued, "The regency has enacted none other than martial law. Which is ridiculous considering that our military was so inactive in the first place."

"What have the people had to say about this?" The golden-clad one asked, unsure of what to think. All of his men gulped.

"Before we were holed up here on watch with nothing but rations, we had seen many revolts, but none of them ended well." He allowed silence to pervade, but Anna wouldn't allow it.

"And how did they end?" He had to pause to collect himself. He wasn't sure if speaking anything at all would be a good idea, but he knew well enough that he didn't have much of a choice.

"By your sister's hand—Queen Elsa." In an instant there appeared a deep fissure in the snow, crimson energy marring the ground as all held their breath. Anna's breaths were shallow and hurried, and her eyes were shut tight. She wiped her brow. She wanted to say so many things; how wrong they were; how there's no way that could make sense. But in the end she only said what she knew to be true.

"My sister would never do that." Major Wilhelm found himself in zugzwang where telling the truth could mean all of their deaths or lying could mean the same either way.

"But she did, Your Majesty." Her next breath was sharp, and her eyes cut worse than the blade.

"Why do you call me Queen!? Isn't there one already?" She looked all around as if the answer was hiding in the shadows, waiting to be rent asunder by a decisive strike, but nowhere she looked could any be seen. Yet she wouldn't resign so easily. "I need more than that, Wilhelm," she said pointedly. She amended herself quickly. "We—need more than that." Anna had told every last one of them of Elsa's good virtue, that which they still wanted to believe after so many years of trusting the royal family. She wouldn't let her word be so easily sullied when she could do something about it. The Major hung his head, and one of his men stepped forward to offer what he could.

"Queen Elsa hasn't been herself."

"Friedrich!" Cried out one of the other men in protest.

"Well it's true. She hasn't seemed like the same powerful woman we had seen in years past. And then all of a sudden the regency takes over the reins in ruling and she reveals her ice powers in a display of utter strength that no one had ever seen before." He gulped, seeing her calculating expression. He continued with abandon. "They moved all proceedings out into the public eye, where it seemed that they were trying to brainwash everyone to forget who the rightful rulers were, or I guess you, Queen Anna."

"What do you mean," she asked. He had to look about for a moment to gather himself—he wasn't expecting to hear her voice directed at him, but he wouldn't allow himself to appear weak before her in any case.

"The matters of royal variety quickly became like sermons for the humor of the people. This was shortly after your…" Anna nodded.

"Continue." He re-found himself.

"It seemed as if it was their intent to make everyone pay attention to the regency and them alone. Our leader, Fhin, took it upon himself to inform us all of your defection, and made it seem like a sign of weakness."

"We know that's not true," Major Wilhelm said, but then he allowed the young man to continue on.

"From there it almost seemed like he allowed an open podium at all of the meetings, as if the country was becoming ruled by the people. But the truth is that it was all just a ruse to get everyone's trust. Where we believed we were getting more say in the country's proceedings, we were really just playing into their hands by believing it was all for us. We couldn't have been more wrong." He felt a hand at his shoulder, and allowed Mr. Wilhelm to reclaim his seniority.

"Indeed, we couldn't have been. But from there things really took a turn for the worse. No one could make heads nor tails of what they were trying to do, but it seemed that it was just laying the groundwork so martial law could be laid down. They had all grown to trust Fhin so it didn't grate on their nerves much at all it would seem." He shook his head.

"What does this have to do with my sister?" Her eyes were like rays. What the major would have to say next he quite feared, but he wouldn't shy away.

"Your sister was used as a tool to break up public squabbles many times. In fact, it was the only time we can recall seeing her these past months." Anna nearly hung her head.

"You mean that…"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Elsa has been lowered from that of a Queen to that of a weapon."

"I don't believe you," she said. She couldn't even bear to hear such words. He was unsure of where to speak next, or if he even should at all. His gaze drifted to the men a fair distance behind the woman, seeing their stoicism. They wanted nothing more than to return home; to see an end to the hell the country had been put through. And, truthfully, the Major wanted nothing more than to see such things come to fruition. His eyes stung, not from wetness, but from the possibility of not being able to see eye to eye with his rightful Queen. It was the only thing he wanted. He opened his mouth to speak. "Save it, Wilhelm. I don't care what anyone says." She placed a hand on her blade. "I'm going to figure out for myself.. the truth."

They all nodded, and she gestured for the rest of her men to join them in a slow funneling of bodies. "Then we're going together?" she asked. It almost seemed like an afterthought, especially considering how quickly she had recovered from her previous low spirits. The man before her nodded, and so did the others in his company. She then realized the fact that she hadn't seen what new arrangements had been put in place since the instatement of martial law as the primary force in the land.

She assumed that there were probably many more platoons like this one, but how many of them harbored friendly individuals, or more likely indifferent ones, she could have no idea. The Major and Kristoff gathered in close circle about her, but she gestured them away. This wasn't a matter to be discussed in private. They were all there with a common interest; liberation. They had come together as a front, and were going to stay that way, damn to all things in the way.

"So, Major," she began, "what exactly are we to expect once we get to the walls I've heard so much about?" He nearly had the wind fly from him. If anyone else had asked he would've laughed it off rather impolitely, but in the company of someone so capable and deserving of seriousness, he would never dream of doing such a thing.

"If we make it past the platoons stationed down the mountains, then the gates shouldn't be much of a problem." Anna felt insulted, just a bit.

"And why is that?" She was pacing in small circles, looking from man to man and everywhere in-between.

"Because of what you demonstrated earlier." It took her a moment to understand exactly what he was referencing, but a small gesture of a sidelong hand got the message across well enough.

"The blade." he said. It was succinct and just right—of course she could just blast through the walls much like she had done with these. She nodded in assent. But she still needed to know what was in store for them on the way down the mountain. She figured that now their company had the addition of about 50 more trained men, and her battle expertise that not much short of magic could put a significant hampering on their advance, but she was nevertheless not much in the know.

"So what are we to expect on the way down the mountain."

"Stations much like this one. There really are quite a few, Your Majesty. I couldn't quite tell you where all of them are."

"But we could," said one of the men who had volunteered for scouting earlier. This time, however much Anna trusted them, she should probably go with. She turned to face the group of 12 who had gone.

"I will accompany you." The statement earned a tone of warning, especially from the blonde man close to her.

"Anna.. are you sure?"

"Couldn't be more," she replied. She was strong; she was brave; she was Anna. He couldn't give her anything other than an affirmative, and that much he did. She gave a series of about-faces to look upon everyone in attendance. "If we do not return after an hour and a half, begin the advance at your own volition, led by the Major. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," rang all the voices collectively. This was Anna they were talking about. Surely there was nothing to worry about. As she began to lead their initial descent down the mountain, they all looked on in admiration.

"Lord Fhin."

"Yes?" He didn't much care for any disturbances at the moment. He was in council with his visionary, who was, at the moment, showing a vision of the valkyrie making an advance down the mountain whilst carefully avoiding any and all of the stationed troops.

"My lord?" Hearing the tone of his voice made him whine.

"What is it?" He wanted very much to be rid of the young man.

"Are we not going to evacuate the people? This has been expected, has it not?" Fhin turned around with such force it would've caused most men to fear for his wellness.

"We will do no such thing."

"But sir!"

"No. We need the people to see her for what she is." The younger man shook his head in disbelief and left without another word. Finn shifted his attention back to the crystal ball once again as the visionary sat wordlessly, just roaming his hands across the ball as his eyes were wrenched shut. "What do you see," asked Finn. He didn't hear a reply, so he repeated his question.

"This is Anna's final trek towards the walls on her own, Lord Fhin." He much liked the sound of that. He already knew that the visionary couldn't impart more than ambiguous swatches of the future, but that was something he could bear with without much conflict.

"Excellent." He took a few more moments to eye the ball and what it showed to him, then he collected himself and exited the secluded chamber. He rounded the hall and walked past the throne room, noticing how cold it was as always. He had to fight the smirk creeping up onto his face, since he didn't want to appear as anything other than consummately in control to the people he was about to assimilate. This had been a plan in the making for many whiles now, and it was about time to put into motion. He ventured a step into the throne room, which he noticed was empty. Elsa wouldn't have said even one word had she been there, anyway.

He took a few steps conspiratorially over to the throne, noting the tile that was ever-so-slightly raised. He was the sole individual who knew exactly what could be found down in that secret area, made by Queen Anna herself. It was the one thing he knew for sure could bend her into succumbing to his demands of ridding the monarchy. Of course the people would agree with him; he only wanted to get rid of the ruling body in place and replace it with a representative system.

"It's the way of the future," he would say. "It's so much better than this subversion we've suffered all these years," he would say. He could already hear the cries of approval and overwhelming praise of the crowds. So simple, he thought. They really had no idea how easy the whole plot could be put together. Granted, the whole thing would be impossible if it weren't for that down there. His smirk turned venomous as he took up the hatch of the door, slipping in to retrieve the artifact that would surely leave no doubt in their minds.