CHAPTER 4: Tomorrow

For two weeks, Kristoff spoke to almost no one. Never more than an order, never more than an answer to a question. The harvesters became very concerned with his mental state. He worked like a man possessed: early on the ice, late to the cabin, lamp lit late into the night as he maintained the books. He rarely stopped to eat or drink, and he started to look rather gaunt.

Pavel and Nicholas had followed through on their promise and brought back a few well-seasoned harvesters who had only decided to give up the vocation the previous season. They knew what they were doing, but each was worth only about half a man as far as production was concerned.

The biggest problem was that morale was low. The whole team worked steadily, but knowing that there were royal guards in their midst made them all uneasy despite Pavel and Nicholas' assurances that they had no intention of doing anything more than protecting Kristoff. None of the harvesters believed it.

Kristoff slung his last block of ice onto the sleigh for the evening. Nearly all the other harvesters had finished their loads and were practically off the lake already. The few stragglers left had formed a small cluster nearby, and despite their hushed tones, Kristoff could hear them:

Why don't you talk to him? He likes you.

Right. He won't listen to me.

Well we can't just keep on like this.

He can't keep on like this. He needs to get back to his family.

Kristoff's thoughts jumped to his family. Idun's birthday was coming up in about a month. He thought of how he raced home the moment a message had come from the castle nearly four years earlier. The summons came about a month sooner than expected, but Kristoff knew that was a possibility. All the children had come a little earlier than he and Anna thought they might; Christopher by only a few days, Lars about two weeks, but his little girl followed far closer in her mother's footsteps. Impatience seemed to run in the Arendelle bloodline.

Kristoff was brought out of his reverie by the approach of little Johann.

"Sir Kristoff?"

Kristoff hated being addressed that way. Especially on the ice where he believed status had no meaning; the ice would take whomever it chose regardless of station.

"Yeah?" he responded with a heavy sigh.

"Sir, some of us have been talking…"

"I've noticed," he gruffed.

"Oh, um, well, we were thinking that maybe you should take a few days away."

"I can't." He turned back to fastening the load on his sleigh.

"Sir, we're worried about you."

"I'm fine! OK, Johann? Just leave me the hell alone!"

Herbjørn stepped up. "Hey, woah – give him a break! We're all concerned about you."

Kristoff dropped the ropes he was working with. "And I'm concerned about all of you! If we don't get this harvest done right, we're gonna run out of ice for the late summer. And if that happens, you all lose income, so don't tell me how to do my damn job!"

Herbjørn visibly bristled. "Listen Kristoff. You know you're not better than the rest of us - the ice will take you just as happily as it will take me. And if you're too fucking tired to know what to look and listen for, you'll be part of the stew in next year's blocks! So gods be damned if I'm just going to sit by here and ignore the fact that you're too stupid to realize that you're overdoing it!"

Kristoff was nose-to-nose with Herbjørn within two strides. "And who's going to stop me?"

"We all will," came a voice from behind them. Pavel and Nicolas had returned from the rest of the harvesters who had been leaving and joined in with the small band.

Kristoff looked beyond Herbjørn to see the posse looking like they intended to be certain that he would cooperate, however necessary.

"We're all worried about you."

Kristoff looked back to Herbjørn, whose eyes had softened. In his heart, Kristoff knew they were trying to protect him. He had seen too many harvesters come close to death because they were exhausted. He saw a few disappear beneath the ice never to return.

"Fine," Kristoff acquiesced. He would never have admitted it, but more than once he caught himself dozing while Skadi pulled the sled either to or from the ice houses. He had woken more mornings with his head on the writing desk in the cabin than on his pillow, so a proper rest was overdue. He knew only too well the dangers of harvesting while exhausted. "I'll head back tomorrow morning once you all are up and running again – but only for a few days!"

"That's all we ask," Herbjørn replied.

Kristoff turned, feeling the eyes of the men standing there burning holes into the back of his head. Fighting the point would have been futile. When the team made up their mind about something, it was going to happen their way. They would have dragged him back if they had to, and Anna and Elsa would see to it that he never returned. It was certainly easier to go along with them, but once again, he started feeling manipulated.

He snapped the reins for Skadi to take them off the lake.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I heard Aunt Elsa saying something today."

"Oh?"

Christopher scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure I was supposed to."

Anna looked up from her knitting. "Were you somewhere you weren't supposed to be again?"

"No! Honest!" Christopher held up his hands in a gesture of defense. "I was just in the library reading for Fru Pettersen, and Aunt Elsa came in with someone else."

"Do you know who?"

"It sounded like Herr Mikalsen."

Anders Mikalsen was a legal expert who sat on the council, Anna knew. The whole debacle with Thor Andriessen had gotten blown out of proportion. It was supposed to have been a small mock trial in which Thor would have gotten reprimanded for keeping sloppy records. The upside was that Kristoff would have taken over his duties and been kept of the ice. But with the return of the royal guards and Edvard, Anna had learned that Kristoff was on the ice more than ever. On top of that, Thor had somehow managed to earn a favor from some lawyer in the village and had arranged for a full-on retaliation against the council for having accused him of thievery. It was such a mess.

Anna lost count of her pattern stitches and flung the needles onto the cushion next to her in frustration.

How? HOW? Elsa promised it would all work out. Small, quiet, quick. Just to get Kristoff off the ice for a while. And now, it was looking like a nepotism conspiracy: one giant ploy to get Kristoff a better job within the Harvester's Guild.

"What did you hear? Or shouldn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. There was something about dad and how he couldn't just be given the job by Aunt Elsa, and that they were going to look for a legal president…"

"Precedent." Anna corrected.

"What's that?"

"Nevermind. What else did you hear?"

"Not much else. They grabbed a few books and left."

"Did they see you?"

"I don't think so? I was laying on the rug behind the couch."

Anna sighed deeply. She had been feeling more and more like this was all her fault. She just wanted Kristoff to be safe. To have him off the ice and, honestly, to be grooming him for more royal duties. Anna knew she and Elsa could manage the majority of them, but sooner or later, Kristoff would have to start making more public appearances despite his not wanting to. But then he would be home. He would be safe…

"I think everything will be just fine. Don't worry."

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Is dad going to get in trouble?"

Anna looked at her eldest boy. Bulda had told her that he was the spitting image of Kristoff at that age. She could so easily see the concern on his face, just like when she looked at Kristoff. They both tried oh-so-hard to mask when they were upset, but they never succeeded.

"No, sweetie. He's going to be just fine. He did nothing wrong." Anna genuinely believed half that statement. No, he had done nothing wrong, but to convince everyone else… that was another matter entirely. "Why don't you go wash up for dinner? I need to go check with Gerda if the plans have been finalized for the Equinox Ball," Anna asked, rising up from the couch.

"OK." Christopher began to walk toward the washroom. "Mom?" he paused and turned back to Anna. "What's treason?"

Anna's mouth went suddenly dry. "Why would you ask that?"

"It's a word I heard the man say to Aunt Elsa."

"I… um, don't have time to explain it right now, sweetie. Why don't you ask Fru Pettersen tomorrow?" Not waiting for a response, Anna turned and quickly darted out the door to their apartment.

Treason? The word sounded so ominous to her. It made no sense. Who was being treasonous?

She walked as fast as she could without drawing undue attention to her haste.

Elsa, you had better explain yourself.

Her mind raced from Kristoff to Elsa. What happened? How could this simple plan have blown up like this? Is Elsa on top of it? Is she freaking out? Does Kristoff know? Did he find out the plan? Did the guards tell him? Elsa wouldn't have told them, would she? Elsa! Where are you?

Room after room Anna knocked on the door and then burst in not waiting for a response. Bedroom? No. Library? No. Council meeting room? No. Where the hell are you, Elsa?

Anna ran down the last flight of stairs toward the great hall when she finally heard a familiar voice.

"Herr Mikalsen, I'm sorry to burden you with this. I have tried so hard to keep this all under control."

"Your Majesty, I assure you, there is nothing here to control. Even if charges are filed against the council, Thor Andriessen has practically no rapport among anyone in this kingdom who would be of use to him."

"Still," Elsa interrupted, "I want you to know that I am grateful for your help."

"You were only doing what you needed to do to protect your family. I'm sure once the whole thing is out in the open, everyone will understand and…"

"NO!"

Elsa and Anders turned their heads in the direction of the shout.

"Anna…"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL HIM!"

"Anna, please…"

"Your highness, it's the…"

"YOU PROMISED ME HE WOULD NEVER FIND OUT! I'LL LOSE HIM, ELSA! I JUST KNOW I WILL LOSE HIM!"

Anna fell to her knees trembling. She knew Kristoff well enough to realize that if he ever figured out that she and Elsa had plotted to keep him off the ice, he would never forgive her. He was so tolerant of nearly everything life threw at him, and he was as docile with Anna as anyone ever had been. But the second he felt like he was being manipulated, his whole demeanor changed. It was her biggest fear since day one of this plan.

"You promised me he would never find out," she repeated. Her eyes filled with water, tears held back by sheer force of will.

"Anna, I…" Elsa began.

A giant tear rolled down Anna's face, her body still shaking.

The room started to turn cold. Elsa stood a moment as if her own powers had consumed her. Without looking away from Anna, she said, "Her Mikalsen, the plan has to be changed."

She slowly walked over to the small figure sitting helpless on the floor. Her footsteps were measured and gentle, as if approaching a hare. Softly, she knelt down beside her sister and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm sorry. I'll fix this," she whispered.

"I'll return tomorrow," Anders said softly.

The light was fading faster than normal. Kristoff squinted as he looked as far into the distance as he could. The dim twilight was like velvet absorbing the meager light of his lantern. The sky had turned dark grey and hung low. A light snow had begun to fall.

Not much longer, he thought. Ditch this load, and get back to camp.

He was truly conflicted about the next couple of days. He missed his family so much. He wanted to experience the luxury of sleeping in, especially in a bed which actually fit his frame. The thought of food with flavor made his stomach flip. Guess I'm hungrier than I realized.

Just a few days. A little break in the middle of this craziness. A chance to have a one-on-one conversation with Elsa and figure out what the hell she was thinking.

A chance to be with Anna.

To caress her face.

To feel her in his arms.

To lay with her…

He didn't know how long he had dozed off again, but he knew that he was now laying in a pile of gathering snow. The left runner of his sleigh had gone up on a rock on the edge of the road.

He shook his head, partially to shake off the snow, partially to wake himself up. What the hell happened?

He stood up and groaned; the pain of landing on his hip had become apparent.

"Fucking horse," he grunted.

He limped over to the sleigh to assess the situation. The sleigh was tilted high on an angle, and the size of the rock prevented just trying to use brute force to get it over. Now what? Backing up the sleigh wasn't going to work. The runners were currently pointed down, and pulling the sleigh from behind would only run them into the ground.

"Are you kidding me?! I have to unload the whole damn sleigh here in the middle of the road?"

He paced back and forth trying to sleuth out an answer. As the reality of the predicament settled in, his mind started to just go blank. He hobbled over to the back end of the sleigh. Without any thought but exasperation, he threw his head and arms down on the load of ice. Why is everything going wrong? What the hell have I done to deserve this?

"FUCK!" he yelled, kicking the sleigh.

As if in slow motion, he first felt and then saw it happen. The ropes holding the ice had never been fully secured after he had his faceoff with the harvesters. Fifty pound cakes of ice started sliding toward him. In his panic he stood up and started to back away.

The first block caught him hard on the right shin. Falling onto his back, he watched the next cake slide down and land on top of the previous one.

It was then that he heard the snap.

Block after block tumbled toward him, pinning his right leg from the knee down under a heap of ice.

As he screamed in pain, he begged for help.

He tried to grab the nearest piece of ice and move it himself, but the angle was all wrong, and the pain in his leg immobilized him.

Tears of agony and frustration mixed as he lay in the snow, the wind whirling around him.

I was the last load of ice off the lake.

A block of ice shifted, renewing his misery.

I'm supposed to leave tomorrow.

The snow was coming down harder.

What if they think I left early?

The forest seemed to close in on him. The sound of the wind was drowned out by the buzzing in his ears.

He shivered.

"I love you, Anna," he whispered.