More Than True Love's Kiss

Chapter Six

"I sense there is dark magic within him," the troll elder said fearfully as he gently lay his hand upon Kristoff's head, then looked sadly over at the young princess who had just become the lad's wife. "The blade your enemy has wounded Kristoff with has been enchanted, infused with some sort of powerful wizardry I cannot heal myself."

"But, you have to!" Anna cried as she looked at the troll angrily and back down at the man she loved, then slowly lowered her head to rest it on top of his as she softly continued to cry, her tears falling upon his face. "You have to help him, Grandpabbie. If there's anything I can do… I'll do anything to save him."

Olaf spoke up asking, "What about another act of true love? It worked last time when Anna sacrificed herself to save Elsa?"

The Queen looked over at the little snowman and replied sadly, "An act of true love is the reason why this has happened. He sacrificed himself to save Anna, for which I will forever be grateful and never be able to repay. Certainly more than true love's kiss is needed. But we're going to find a way to save him, Anna. However, first we need to tend to his wound."

"Dismiss the guests," Anna said again coolly as she raised her head and stared off in the distance. "Tell everyone to go home."

Elsa stood and silently motioned for everyone to leave the great hall. Everyone did so without much effort and hardly any words were spoken between them as they filtered out. Once they were finally gone, the Queen and Princess struggled to lift Kristoff off of the floor as gently as they could, placing him in between them with his arms draped over their shoulders. They carried him into the library down the corridor, then once Sven swiftly cleared several scrolls and parchments from off of the table for them, the sisters laid him down and carefully pulled his coat and undershirt away from the wound so that they could treat and begin to dress it.

"How does it look?" Olaf asked as he spoke again, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. "I bet it's pretty bad."

Without looking away from him, Anna answered, "Yes, it's bad."

Finally, Grandpabbie spoke up once again saying, "There may be nothing I can do for him, but there may be someone who can. Though I do not know the sorcery used, nor the witch or wizard who has done this, I felt a strange sense of familiarity when I touched him. Therefore, I know of someone who may be able to help you. Know that the journey you will need to take, should you choose to do so, will be perilous. If you succeed, there is a young wizard there you must seek out."

"Then we will leave at once," Anna responded quickly as she turned and knelt down before the troll elder.

"You won't be going alone," Elsa replied as she continued to treat the wound, then finished as she rested her hand upon his cheek, feeling a heat slowly beginning to rise within him. "We will go together, the two of us."

Olaf corrected, "The three of us. I want to help Kristoff too."

Sven began to snarl and groan, indicating that he was coming as well, and then Anna smiled through the tears that silently poured down her cheeks as she answered, "We wouldn't be able to do this without you both. Olaf, can you take Sven and prepare Kristoff's sled for the journey for us?"

"You've got it, Anna!" the snowman responded as he began to lead the reindeer out of the room. "Come on, Sven. We have to get ready. We're going to go find a way to save Kristoff."

"Elsa, I certainly want you to come with me, but aren't you needed here in Arendelle more?" Anna asked as she turned back to her sister.

The Queen moved around the table and pulled the Princess into a hug and replied, "Our advisors can handle things here while we're gone. Everything's going to be fine. I owe Kristoff for saving you, both now and back when I wasn't here for you before. If it wasn't for him, you would have frozen to death somewhere out there in the mountains and I would have become what everyone here had once believed I was thanks to Hans' influence. I don't think I've ever told him that."

Anna walked back over to her husband and leaned down to kiss his forehead, then straightened again as she answered, "He knows. We need to leave. Grandpabbie, where are we going?"

A little more than an hour later…

The sisters were driving the sled being pulled by Sven, while Olaf sat in the back with Kristoff, who continued to lie unconscious, though his body shivered from the growing cold and fever slowly rising. Before they left, Elsa helped Anna change Kristoff's clothing into something warmer for their trip, then laid a blanket over him to keep him protected from the wind. As they continued on, Olaf kept one hand rested on top of his friend's chest, mostly to keep the blanket over him.

"Can I ask you a question, Anna?" Elsa asked quietly after travelling over an hour in silence, the Queen using her magic to guide the sled easily through the rough terrain.

"Of course you can," the younger woman responded as she turned to look over at her sister.

Elsa looked back at Kristoff, then turned back to Anna as she continued, "I know how you came to meet him and I know what he did for you, but…"

Anna finished for her, "You want to know how I discovered that I loved Kristoff and not Hans like I thought? I can't believe I never finished telling you the whole story, especially with how much I like to talk. After all, it's only been two years since the winter thaw. I think that the more I continued to travel with him, I started to grow fond of him, especially since he stayed with me no matter how much trouble I caused him. I mean, I did nearly get us killed by a pack of wolves and your giant snow beast, as well as destroyed his first sled after all. I guess it wasn't until after Hans revealed his true character and Olaf explained to me what true love was. I was a fool to think that I was in love with that stupid prince after knowing him for only one day. Kristoff tried to tell me so, but of course I didn't listen to him. Kristoff came back for me, even after I abandoned him to get back to Hans. What if this wizard can't save him Elsa? When I was racing back to Hans, the whole time I realize I was only thinking about kissing him, just so that I wouldn't die, but with Kristoff, everything's different. Kristoff would have given me my true love's kiss, but he's given me so much more than that. He's dying and I'm afraid I'll fail to save him like he's saved me several times over."

The Queen was about to say something, when weakly from beneath the blanket, Kristoff began to stir, as Olaf suddenly exclaimed with glee, "He's waking up! Kristoff's waking up!"

"Kristoff?" Anna cried as she quickly climbed down into the back of the sled beside him and gently lay her hand over his cheek once again to turn his face toward her, while the snowman climbed up beside Elsa. "Kristoff, can you hear me? Please, open your eyes. Let me know that you won't give up on me."

"An… na?" he called out weakly and as softly as a whisper when he finally managed to open his eyes with difficulty.

"I'm here and so are Elsa and Olaf," the Princess replied quickly, taking his hand into hers as she lifted it to touch it to her own cheek. "We're going to fix this, I promise."

He tried to say something more asking, "Ha… Hans? Was he…?"

Elsa listened as Anna answered sadly, "Yes, he was there and he did get away, but when we get back home, we are going to find him again. He is going to pay for this, I swear it. You shouldn't have stepped in front of me when he tried to hurt me. Now you're the one who's hurt."

"I will al… always… protect y… ou," Kristoff responded as his eyes closed again, not being able to keep them open anymore. "I love… you."

"I love you more," Anna said sadly. "Stay with me, Kristoff. Please!"