Chapter 5
Elsa
"Well, what do you think it means?" Elsa asked, pacing the room. Stian sat on the bed, confused.
"I don't know. There are no other letters I can make out besides those five." he admitted. Elsa glanced at their daughter asleep in her cot. She watched Neiva's chest rise and fall as she breathed.
"What do we do?" she asked.
"I don't know, do you know? I don't know." Stian said quickly.
"Hey, Adric said that the tattoo's are a map, right?" Elsa asked, sitting down next to her husband. Stian looked at her.
"Yeah..?"
"If we follow the map, maybe we can find some answers." Elsa suggested.
"Of course, I've been thinking that for a while now. But, Elsa, what do you think we'll find once we get to where the map leads?" Stian asked, shifting uncomfortably on the mattress. Elsa sighed, and straightened her green casual dress.
"I don't know. But it can't be worse than anything we've faced before, right?" she asked. She knew Stian had been reassuring himself with that statement since they first encountered the pirates.
It wasn't the amount of danger her daughter may be in the scared Elsa, it was the danger that the all may or may not be in. The uncertainty was killing her. Elsa felt arms wrap around her.
Elsa was immediately brought back to the night she and Stian spent at Wandering Oaken's Trading Post. Elsa just wanted to retrieve something that was thought stolen, get back to Arendelle, and go back to her life. She didn't want to meet any suitors. She really didn't want to fall in love. But, when she started to break down, Stian was right there for her. It was right then that Elsa's close friendship with Stian became something much more. She loved her sister, but Stian was special. She had chosen her suitor.
Elsa couldn't help but begin to cry.
"Stian... I... I'm..." she began. Of course, she couldn't finish.
"I'm scared too." he sighed. Elsa buried her head in his shoulder. All these pent up emotions had been building within her for her whole life. Elsa was glad she had somebody to confide in.
There was a knock on the door.
"Your Majesties..." Gus peeked his bearded head through the door. Wow, he was short.
Elsa composed herself.
"Yes, Gus?" she asked.
"The, uh, pirates." he said.
"What about them?" Elsa asked.
"They seem to have... Gotten away, Your Majesties." he admitted. Elsa and Stian both stood.
"What?" they asked in unison.
"Another thing, they've taken Adric with 'em." he said. Elsa felt the room temperature drop. She knew it wasn't her, so the Queen looked to her husband. She looked into his eyes. She saw anger, fear, and uncertainty. Elsa wrapped her arm around him.
"Well then..." she said, stepping through the door, "Let's go get 'em."
Ezra rocked the now awake Princess in his arms awkwardly.
"Yer Majesty, why do ya trust me to hold yer baby?" Ezra asked.
Elsa called from inside the captain's cabin, "Because you look like you'd be good with kids."
Ezra straightened up. "Darn right."
"Stian, you ready?" she called again.
"Yep. You?" he asked. Elsa stepped out from the captain's cabin. The three men stared in awe at the Queen.
She still wore her green dress, but she had put on a white casual shirt and black leather vest over it. Over the leather vest a dark long coat. Elsa wore leather boots, and had a large belt around her waist. A piece of icy cloth, the kind that usually made up her cape, hung from her belt. She wore a tricorn hat, and had a sword sheathed, ready to attack.
"You look..." Stian started to say.
"Like a pirate." Phineas finished.
Elsa blushed, "Why thank you. Which direction did they go?" she asked. The men were silent for a few seconds, before regaining their composure.
"Due west, Elsa." Stian answered, pointing. Elsa produced a compass from her belt, and found the boat to be facing north.
"Well then. I guess we're off." she smiled.
"Okay, what's with the getup?" Stian asked.
"What do you mean?" Elsa pretended to be offended.
"You look like a pirate."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
"Fair enough." Stian put his hands up in surrender. On the horizon, they could barely make out the shape of another ship.
"Is that them, Phineas?" Elsa asked, yelling over her shoulder.
"It is, Ma'am." he responded. Elsa left the bow of the ship, and went to the helm.
"Give me the wheel." Elsa said.
"Your Majesty?" Phineas asked, shocked.
"Just Elsa, gimme the wheel." she said, holding out her hands.
"Do you know how to pilot a ship?" Phineas asked.
"No. I'll learn. Gimme the wheel." Elsa repeated. Phineas cautiously backed away from the wheel, and ran to the nearest lifeboat. Stian joined her side, keeping watch over the waters beside them. "Ready?" Elsa asked.
"For what?"
Elsa extended her hand, and flicked her fingers. A flurry of snow cascaded across the ship, over the bow, and landed in the water in front of them.
"What was that?" Stian asked.
Elsa waited a few seconds, and flicked her fingers again. A trail of solid ice began snaking towards the other ship.
"You're going to freeze them in place, aren't you?" Stian grinned. His smile faded, "How will we fight those pirates, though?" he asked. Elsa thought for a few seconds.
"We'll improvise." she answered.
"How?" Stian asked. This caused Elsa to think again. What would they do when they came face to face with the pirate crew? What if there were more pirates than before. Elsa cleared her head. Improvise. Elsa called for Gus. The Queen pointed to a bottle of rum that sat beside him. She snapped her fingers twice, and the thin man tossed her the bottle. Elsa took a drink, choked, spit it out, and looked to the horizon.
"Drink up me hearties, yo ho."
