The young barmaid ran hastily through the streets of Arendelle, almost toppling more than a few people in her haste to get to the one person that would be able to save the mysterious stranger who had been so kind to her not fifteen minutes before.

After seeing the dark-haired woman get dragged off in the direction of the palace, Ada knew that she couldn't just sit around while the woman might be wrongly accused by that perverted man that had been harassing her all night.

The guards at the open gates recognized her from her friendship with the youngest princess of Arendelle and let her pass with no trouble. The tavern customer, she was sure, would not have messed with her if he had known that she had been friends with Anna ever since the Queen had declared that they never close the gates again after a 13-year isolation.

She found Anna in the stables with Olaf, the magic snowman that Queen Elsa had created during her self-imposed exile from Arendelle. They were talking quietly and Ada hated to interrupt, but the stranger could very well be thrown in prison if Queen Elsa was misinformed.

"Anna!" Ada cried.

Anna started and looked over. She smiled as she said, "Ada, what are you doing here?"

Ada bent and tried to catch her breath as she gasped, "Captain Lockhart-"

Anna giggled. "Did he flirt with you again? I keep telling you we should tell his wife about his-"

Ada shook her head, having caught her breath a little. She spoke quietly, feeling mortified that she had to admit this. "He didn't just try to flirt with me..."

Anna immediately lost her characteristic carefree attitude. "What?"

Ada conveyed the whole story and before she had even finished, Anna was pulling her in the direction of the Throne Room, where the Queen would be receiving the accused woman.

Elsa hadn't expected this.

The woman's eyes were a molten amber color. Quite unusual, considering even the blue eyes she and Anna shared with their mother (differing shades, but still) had been considered something of a rarity in Arendelle. Although that was the most surprising of the woman's facial features, Elsa couldn't help but marvel at the overall beauty this woman possessed. Even so, the bored look in the golden eyes was unnerving.

After a moment, the accused woman, still on her knees, elegantly bent forward once again, straightened the back of the long, slit tunic that she wore over loose pants, and sat back on her heels, calmly waiting for something to happen. Elsa realized that the woman was waiting for her to speak.

Elsa quickly composed herself and asked the woman, gesturing to her position sitting on the floor with her legs tucked neatly under her. "Won't you stand?"

The woman retained her bored look even as she raised a slender eyebrow.

"Absolutely not."

Elsa didn't understand. She tilted her head to the side to encourage the woman to elaborate.

When she didn't, Elsa said, "Why not?"

The woman blinked. "Where I come from, the proper way to show respect to a monarch is to kneel before them." She glanced in the guards' direction. "Especially if it one's own queen."

A ghost of a smirk appeared on the foreign woman's face. "How disrespectful your guards seem to be of you, Queen Elsa."

The Captain's temper flared again before Queen Elsa could speak.

"Why you-" He grabbed Kaya by the front of her shirt and hauled her to her feet.

"Enough, Captain Lockhart!"

Kaya held her ground and stared him down, not even glancing at the Queen. It was the first time Kaya had heard Queen Elsa raise her voice even slightly; the sound of authority in her tone was unmistakable, but Kaya wondered if the Captain would nonetheless disobey a direct order from his Queen.

After feeling the man tighten his grip slightly, Kaya subtly tensed her own shoulder muscles if the need to break his hold arose. His resolve seemed to lessen and he opened his mouth to say something, but the door to the throne room was suddenly thrown open, slamming against the walls.

"Elsa!" The lack of the Queen's title indicated that Princess Anna had entered the room, though it was the first time Kaya had heard her voice.

"Anna, we're kind of in the middle of something..."

"Please, Your Majesty, if I may?"

That voice she recognized. Kaya broke eye contact with the glaring Captain and snapped her head in the direction of the voice, already knowing the appearance of its owner. Noting the interruption, the man released his hold on Kaya and stepped back a bit.

Queen Elsa spoke again. "Ada? What is this about?"

"I...believe you might have been misinformed." The girl called Ada seemed reluctant to speak.

The amused voice again. "How so?"

"Well..." Ada looked at her rescuer, but the woman had already looked away, opting to not glance at anyone in particular as the conversation continued. The foreigner also didn't seem inclined to defend herself against the accusations the Captain had made against her.

Ada seemed to steel her resolve and said, "It wasn't this woman's fault at all." She hesitantly pointed at the Captain. "The Captain had been-"

Anna jumped in. "He's been harassing her for weeks, Elsa." She glared in the Captain's direction."This wasn't the first time."

"Ridiculous!" The Captain scoffed. "You have no proof!"

"How dare you-" Anna started.

Queen Elsa spoke as well. "Captain, if you cannot find a way to hold your tongue, then I shall have to ask you to leave."

Kaya sighed softly, deciding to intervene and cut off the impending circular argument.

"If you want your proof." She pointed at Ada with a disinterested expression. "You only need to look as far as that girl's forearm."

Queen Elsa seemed perplexed by the stranger's sudden interference, but she nonetheless nodded to Thomas, who gently pried back the sleeve of Ada's bodice.

The girl's arm had an discolored imprint shaped just about the size of the Captain's hand. Ada looked up sharply at Kaya, wondering how she'd known.

Queen Elsa hadn't wanted to believe that one of her own guard, and the leader, no less, had fallen so low as to try to harm a young girl, but as the Captain reluctantly held his hand out to Thomas for the guard to compare the size of the mark with his palm, the evidence was irrefutable. Truthfully, the logical part of her had already been convinced, but a small part of her needed to see the mark the stranger spoke of to confirm her suspicions. That same part, after seeing the severity of the bruise, wanted to have the man forcibly thrown out, but she kept her composure.

"Your Majesty, I-I can assure you that I have molested no one." The Captain stuttered, making one last attempt to save his skin.

"Salem Lockhart, as punishment for attempting to take advantage of a young girl, and moreover, for lying to your Queen, I must insist that you resign from your position as Captain." She narrowed her eyes, and the temperature of the room seemed to drop.

The now ex-Captain looked understandably startled, but he nonetheless conceded, the fires of rage burning in his eyes."O-Of course, Your Majesty."

"Now get out of my sight." Queen Elsa seemed to have to hold herself back from snapping the phrase.

As the Captain started to retreat out of the room, he came to a realization.Something's not right. There's no way that woman could have seen the mark my grip made on the girl. She never touched her, and the little girl looked as surprised as I had that she had known.

Kaya saw the Captain's intention before he had moved an inch. Unfortunately for Princess Anna, there hadn't been anyone in a close enough range to grab.

Queen Elsa cried out Anna's name as the second heir of Arendelle found herself in the desperate hold of the Captain.

Elsa noticed that the stranger hadn't even flinched when the man had grabbed Anna. She simply stood there, looking as bored as she had even when she had been bound by steel chains and false accusations.

The Captain whipped out a blade that he had once been authorized to carry and pressed the edge morbidly close to the princess's throat. Anna shook and tried to struggle, but the man's hold was too strong.

Kaya didn't look away, but she held back another sigh as the tension in the room understandably spiked. The remaining soldiers drew their swords and Queen Elsa's body looked like a spring wound too tight. A light swirling of snow had started to fall from the ceiling, out of nowhere.

"Back away, all of you!" Lockhart snarled.

The Queen looked like she was going to disobey him and rush forward, but Kaya stepped in front of her, halting her movements. She held a hand out to motion for the queen to remain where she was. This dolt of a man had wasted enough of her time. He was hers.

She assessed his body position. He wasn't serious. He knew that if he killed the princess, there was no way in hell he was escaping from Arendelle in one piece. But that didn't mean Anna wasn't in danger. All it took was one slip of the hand...

Most people would have raised their hands placatingly, but all Kaya did was slowly remove the belt that held her own weapon and place it on the ground. After straightening, she made eye contact with Lockhart and leisurely started to move forward.

Anna heard Lockhart's breath rate hitch as the woman paced steadily in their direction. Anna was almost offended that the foreigner didn't look the least bit worried, but then maybe she didn't have a reason to be. No one but Lockhart and herself could see her face; Lockhart's back was literally up against a wall. And she looked intimidating. There was simply no other word to describe the intense expression on her face. Her odd golden eyes were narrowed and they glowed an ominous flaming orange as she stalked like a predatory animal towards them.

She had already made it to a couple feet from them, then Lockhart seemed to snap out of his stupor and held her even tighter, blade dangerously close to her throat.

"Go ahead," the woman goaded, a wisp of a smirk gracing her lips. "Please, give me an excuse."

Anna knew that the former Captain would rather cut off his own arm than swallow his pride and give in to a woman. Still, it didn't look like the foreigner was giving him much of a choice.

Kaya smirked as Lockhart finally admitted his defeat and shoved the princess away, allowing the nearby guards to swamp him.

Elsa watched in amazement as the foreigner single-handedly disarmed Lockhart and freed her sister. Anna stumbled forward and Elsa was right there to embrace her, squeezing her as if to assure herself that Anna was still in one piece.

Kaya briefly watched Lockhart be dragged away with no small amount of disdain in her eyes. The man should consider himself lucky they were not in Palladon. A crime of the magnitude of threatening a member of the royal family was not so easily forgiven. Queen Elsa was soft and Arendelle was doomed to one day fall to the crimes of the individuals that were not punished harshly enough.

Kaya didn't like the idea of staying in Arendelle for longer than she had to. Her body now ached even more, what with all the rough handling she had been forced to endure. As powerful as her magic was, she still didn't have the ability to speed up the healing process. All she wanted to do was go back to an inn and sleep, though preferably an inn that was not the one she'd been arrested in. Things there were far too noisy for her taste.

After officially pardoning Kaya from her "crime", Queen Elsa dismissed the guards from the room, leaving only Kaya, Princess Anna, and Ada in the room. Kaya bowed shortly before thanking the queen for her pardon and turning to leave.

"Wait!" The queen called.

Kaya reluctantly halted. She glanced back out of the corner of her eye. "By your leave, Your Majesty."

"You just saved my sister." Elsa said. "Let me thank you somehow."

The ebony-haired woman's expression did not change, but Elsa thought she saw an almost imperceptible sigh from her before she made to turn away again.

"Unnecessary, Queen Elsa."

Anna piped up. "Do you have a place to stay for tonight?"

Kaya saw where this was headed. "I have already arranged my lodgings for the night." She lied.

Ada would recognize the lie as well, since the girl had been there when the traveler had first walked in. It didn't look like Ada was about to call her out on it, but still.

"Why don't you stay here, just for the night?" The Snow Queen looked in earnest, but Kaya couldn't understand how a ruler could swallow her pride to show her emotions so often. Such a thing certainly didn't happen in her own kingdom.

"That really is not necessary, Your Majesty." The traveler's tone was formal, but icy.

Elsa had to admit she was curious at the woman's steadfast refusal. She suddenly remembered how the Captain had folded under a firmer tone of voice from his superior. Perhaps that was the way to get through to this woman.

"Please," Elsa said. "I insist."

Kaya held back the impulse to roll her eyes. It was as Father had always upheld; doing good for others always brought nothing but trouble. Her mother had softened his demeanor somewhat, but he had still been a warrior at heart.

"As you please, Majesty." Kaya bowed once again.

"Thank you." Elsa went on. "Now, do you have a name?"

The woman blinked. "Of course."

Was the woman refusing to give a queen her name? There was no doubt in Elsa's mind that this woman was one of the strangest people she'd ever met.

Elsa raised an eyebrow and waited patiently.

Anna watched the interaction with interest. This was new. The woman that had saved Ada seemed, on the surface, to be polite and formal, but seemed to have an underlying aura of power and danger that lay just beneath, carefully controlled and withheld from the outside world.

Now where had she seen that behavior before?

It was no wonder Elsa seemed more than a little intrigued. The stranger had knew all along that the Captain had been completely overstepping his bounds by summoning the queen herself for such a silly squabble. The woman must have really embarrassed him back at the tavern for the Captain's pride to have been in such tatters that he felt the need to childishly try to get revenge on her. Anna made a mental note to ask Ada about it later.

Elsa and the woman seemed to be having some sort of staring contest. Intense though it was, it didn't look to be a challenge on the stranger's part so much as curiosity.

Since Elsa looked distracted, Anna didn't think that the woman would ever be shown to where she would sleep for the night, if this kept up.

Anna opened her mouth to call for Gerda and Kai to see that the woman was settled properly, but stopped when the stranger suddenly spoke up.

"Kaya." She said in a clear, but soft voice. "My name is Kaya," Then, almost as an afterthought, "...of Palladon."

Queen Elsa's eyes widened as she processed the name. Palladon was notoriously warlike, and its rulers were said to be twice as bloodthirsty.

After Kaya had stated her name, she sank into a shallow, but respectful bow with her hand over her heart.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kaya," Elsa said.

A ghost of a smirk appeared on the foreigner's face.

She spoke in a low, breathy tone, "Oh no, Your Majesty. The pleasure has been all mine."

Their gazes locked for a moment more and Elsa was mesmerized.

Kaya heard Princess Anna call for the attendants and she straightened as the Princess led an older man and woman into the throne room.

The man and woman bowed and curtsied to the queen, respectively, and Elsa told them to show Kaya to the room she would be sleeping in for the night and the woman, whom Kaya now knew as Gerda, led the way to the west wing of the palace.

Kaya didn't think she would have ever been happier to leave a throne room than she had been on the wedding day of her father and her stepmother, but she had clearly been proved wrong. Tonight was just full of surprises.

The palace attendant, Gerda, stopped and opened a door, beckoning for Kaya to follow.

Kaya wasn't particularly amazed at the size, but the colors were definitely a change from back in Palladon. The walls were a soft white that matched the sheets and emphasized the scarlet drapes that were opened to allow as much light as possible as the sun set in the west.

Gerda started to light the candles in the room, but Kaya wasn't worried if she missed a few. It wasn't as if she couldn't light them herself with a wave of her hand anyway.

"Would you like me to have a bath drawn for you?"

Kaya had taken to standing at the window, gazing out to the fjord that surrounded the city of Arendelle. She glanced back to look at Gerda and said,

"That sounds fine," Kaya said, nodding as she spoke. "Thank you."

Seemingly pleased to be of service, Gerda's mouth broke out into a wide smile as she curtsied and backed out of the room as she said, "You're welcome, miss."

Kaya turned back to the window as the servant left the room and thought about the courtyard that she had seen on her way in. Since the hot water wouldn't be here for a bit, training in the courtyard sounded like a good way to pass the time. It wasn't as if she couldn't heat the water back up if she lost track of time.

Kaya left the room and made her way down the halls. She had mentally marked every wall in her head as Gerda had led her from the throne room, and she knew that if she just got back to where she had started, she would be able to find her way to the courtyard that was in front of the receiving room.

She made a point of training every day if she wasn't completely incapacitated, and she'd been injured often enough in the past to know that the rough handling that her body had sustained from various guards in the last few days wouldn't be enough to keep her from practicing seriously. Since there were people within a close distance, though, she would have to be careful to not let any of her magic make an appearance.

Once she was in the courtyard, she was happy to see that it was completely deserted. All the guards were thankfully at their posts and the courtyard itself didn't contain a soul but herself.

The guards didn't seem to be keeping a very close watch, she noticed. There were holes all over the place in their patrols. The palace security here in Arendelle was certainly nothing like it was back home. Everyone watched out for everyone else's blind spot. Not out of kindness or friendship, but out of necessity. If the person watching your back is slaughtered because you weren't watching his, now your blind side is left wide open. Her father had been full of harsh truths like that.

Shrugging out of the jacket that was purely for show, as she never needed any weather protection, she took her beginning stance. It was often difficult after a trying day, but Kaya made a conscious effort to relax her shoulders and only contract the muscles that were absolutely necessary for her movement. Her feet found a practiced width apart and she started circling an imaginary spot in the ground.

Without actually freeing her magic, Kaya worked her way through several movements before starting to feel the stresses of the day start to weigh her down. She imagined the internal flame that she had taught herself to visualize when she was training to hold back her power. She knew that if she harshly swiped out the flame, it would physically hurt, but if gently downsized, the exercise could bring total peace, as if she were sitting in the safest place imaginable, meditating.

Her footwork was impeccable, as always. She'd lost count of the number of times her father had knocked her on her ass in order to make his point ("Footwork is absolutely essential in hand-to-hand combat"). If one's footing was lost, the battle was lost.

Kaya felt, rather than saw, someone watching her movements, as she had closed her eyes as she became more and more in-tune with her body's every exertion. She didn't feel any ill intent from the gaze, so she let it slide. She didn't let the eyes on her form make her nervous; she'd drawn more than her share of stares from onlookers as she'd made her body more graceful, more deadly.

She finally finished the section and she fluidly came to a halt. Kaya lowered her hands and straightened her form as she looked up at the onlooker.

Huh.

Kaya could honestly say she was surprised when she saw the spectator was none other than the Snow Queen herself, platinum hair highlighted by the moon's gentle silver glow. Kaya had to restrain herself from showing her surprise at how different, and beautiful, Queen Elsa looked under the full moon.

Still, Kaya couldn't understand why the queen would be watching someone train so late at night, but she supposed curiosity probably accounted for most of it. She gave a shallow nod to the queen, not particularly caring if she saw it or not, and then turned back to her circular footwork and did a few more sets of motions, this time with her magic in mind specifically, before calling it a night.

A quick glance up to the balcony that the queen had previously occupied showed that Elsa was nowhere to be found. When movement to her right caught her eye, Kaya turned to see something disconcerting.