.

Faerie Bargain

(A/N: Borders on Mature Subject Matter, so be warned.)

Menw listened in shock and horror to Caleb's story as to what had happened to Hans. He certainly hadn't come here expecting this… "By the gods…" he said in disbelief at the close of Caleb's explanation. He finished reading the letter written in blood that declared Hans's immanent execution in the wake of 'our disappointment in the Southern Isles' and put it down numbly, mind racing. Why hadn't Elsa told him?

"We are helpless to save him now," Caleb whispered. "It was all that I could do. It was his only chance… And now he is lost…"

Silence. "They took him prisoner to Scotland…" Menw mused. Caleb looked wearily and questioningly up. "He is in Mordred's sights there… And ours… The difference is that Mordred doesn't need to know how close his would-be-enemy is. But we know… And we aren't his enemies."

Caleb looked slowly up at Menw. "What are you saying?" he asked.

Silence a moment as Menw considered the question. "I will give thee no guarantees, Caleb, of his survival should me and my brothers in arms ride to his aid… But I can promise thee that his murderer will not leave off unscathed. Say the word, King of the Southern Isles, and the Knights of Arthur's Court will ride for thy brother's honor and freedom; and should we fail to arrive in time, for his retribution," Menw stated.

Caleb was silent, staring at him in disbelief. The Knights of the Round Table, the Knights of the legendary Round Table, were offering him help. Their help. If Hans were to have even the slightest ghost of a chance, it would come through these men. Menw met his eyes firmly and with certainty. "Go," Caleb finally found his voice to say. "Whatever you can do for my brother, ride forth and do it. Please. Even if all you can do is recover his body for burial." Menw bowed, transformed into a small dragon, and shot out the window with a roar, tearing across the sky heading for Scotland at a breakneck pace. They could waste no time. They didn't have long to act.

Frozen

She couldn't help her sister. No one could help her sister. Not Jekyll, not anyone…

"I can change it all. I will save them both. All it will cost is yourself…"

The voice plaguing her torturous dreams every time she shut her eyes to sleep…

You're going to lose the baby… I sense it just as I sensed the fates of Hans and Anna. You're going to lose the baby…

Kristoff was grief-stricken and wouldn't be talked to. She knew that if Anna died, Kristoff would be lost too. Not to death, he had Gerda to live for still, but mentally? He would be lost… There would be nothing of the brother-in-law she had come to know and love left…

Sven will leave, Olaf will not be able to stand the cloud of grief following in the wake of your sister and husband's deaths. He will go with the reindeer and you'll never see them again… Olaf will melt, Sven is too tame to survive alone in the wild.

Letters, letters, damnable letters. They came in constantly, informing her every step of the way of her husband's impending execution. Then the one that broke her soul to its core.

Tomorrow he will die at the stroke of dawn. We will send to you at that time his personal effects and all that was his, but we regret to inform you that you will not be receiving his body for burial.

Tomorrow he would die, and her baby would grow up without a father and with an emotionally distant mother. That would be no life for a child. This was considering she could even still carry the pregnancy to term with all the stress crushing her now!

The pains kept coming… It had stopped moving…

Tears burned her eyes and she swallowed thickly as fear welled up inside of her. She found herself rationalizing…

Don't let yourself rationalize! The Ice Maiden rationalized! The Ice Maiden rationalized and look at what he did to her…

It would only be one time… One time and both her sister and husband would live… Even if it was maybe more than once, it would only be rarely and not forever! Right? Was her honor worth the lives of her husband and her sister and the lives of all those who would be affected? It would… it would only be one time…

"Elsa, it will not be just one time…"

The Ice Maiden's voice.

"But he will live… And so will she…" Elsa replied in a whisper.

"Lay siege to Scotland."

She saw the maiden now, lingering in the shadows of her room. "For what purpose? He'll be killed before I can reach him or stop them, and Anna will die either way… And I gain nothing…" she said.

"You keep your dignity."

"Was your dignity more precious to you than Vertigo?" Elsa bit more sharply than she'd intended. Silence. The Ice Maiden said no more. "I didn't think so," Elsa hissed, shutting her eyes tightly. If she did nothing, Hans died and her sister died and her baby… her baby if it did not die would live a miserable, shambles of a life with a mother so far away it would be like she wasn't even there…

"You can still be strong for your baby…"

"If I can even carry it to term…" she replied.

"Elsa…"

"I understand you now, Queen of the Glaciers. Finally I understand why you did what you did… For so long I thought you were so weak-willed, thought you had given up too easily, thought you were a ridiculous, feeble woman… I understand why you did what you did now… It wasn't weakness… I'm sorry I ever thought it was…" Elsa said. There was no further answer from the Queen of Glaciers, and silently she faded away.

With heavy heart, Elsa rose and began to dress herself to go to the evil sprite, clothing herself in black garment of mourning. That evening she slipped out of the castle unseen and left. She knew that if she didn't go now, then tomorrow Anna would be dead. Soon after her, Hans would be too…

Frozen

Elsa rode her ice mare silently through the woods, lost in her thoughts and her grief and her humiliation. She had tried to tell herself his brothers would manage to save him. They couldn't. She had tried to tell herself she could save him. She couldn't. She had tried to tell herself that he could save himself… He couldn't… No one could… But the wicked troll might still be able to… If she went to him, he would stop all of this from happening. The fae never broke their promises. She resolved herself and rode onward, though still her mind sought possible ways out.

There is no way out…

"Maiden, where are you going?" a voice suddenly called out from the treeline.

She reined in her horse, looking quickly over. There in the shadows of the trees stood a man she couldn't quite make out. She frowned curiously but didn't ask questions. "Where I'm going is of no concern of yours," she replied.

"Maiden, tell me. Where are you going?" he repeated again, a light breeze picking up, leaves dancing across the ground and around the legs of her mare.

And around him…

Tears threatened her eyes. There was something about this man, this figure, that made her give in. Before she could stop herself, she was confessing everything to him and all that she planned to do, and she couldn't stop herself from pouring it out in grief and sorrow and self-hatred and disgust. He listened in utter silence until finally she stopped, trailing off into tears and quiet sobs and sharp, grieved breaths, the weight of everything that was happening collapsing down around her all at once and crushing her. For a long moment the man was still and silent, but finally he began to come out of the trees…

And before her eyes, she watched his image change…

Her eyes widened slowly, lips parting as she softly breathed in. Stepping from out of the trees was none other than the elven king!

"Queen of Arendelle, you have been deceived," he said to her simply and firmly.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she demanded. "The fae cannot tell a lie or break a vow!"

"Queen of Arendelle, he will keep his promise to save your sister and your husband; but it is not one favor he will ask of you. It will be many… He will trap you in that place, his dark and twisted lair, and above you he will dangle the life of your unborn child and threaten you with its very existence, cursing the infant inside of your womb and marking it for death if you will not comply with whatever it is that he demands of you. He will make you stay with him for the duration of your pregnancy, and when the final weeks come you will be sent back to your kingdom to have your baby in peace; but after that, he will ensure that you continue to return to him. Just as he did with the Ice Maiden before you, using her not only as a tool of destruction but also for the outlet of his own depravity… And as the mother of his offspring, had you not freed her from him when you had…" Elsa caught her breath, paling. "In continuing to fulfil the duties he assigns, yes you will guarantee the life of your child; but in the end you will lose everything regardless. Dare you hear how that should come to pass?"

Elsa was silent, staring at him. "I dare," she finally replied.

"Your sister will die in time regardless of his saving her now, and she will likely die in her search for you. All that you fear will become of your brother-in-law, his pet, and your snowman, will be so. It will be your husband, though, to witness it all. Not you. You will be the wicked sprite's prize and prisoner. You will bear him his army, the details I will not give; but rest assured the dishonor that creature puts upon you will continue the rest of your days, and you will die his prisoner. Your body he will dispose of like so much trash, and one day your husband and your son or daughter by him will find out the truth of what befell you… Your husband will bay for blood, and he will be victorious in avenging you. He will bring the wicked troll to its death in glee… But in the process, he will doom Arendelle…

He will take the children born of you and the sprite away, determined to try and atone for the wrongs they will have suffered. In doing so, he will invite disaster. Your child by Hans will be murdered by its siblings, or some of them, and your husband in his grief will rage. His powers will pour out in full. What he will do then I do not have the heart to speak. He will utterly and completely lose himself to the monster he tried to bury away, and no one that tries to stop him will survive. Arendelle and the Southern Isles, perhaps even beyond, will become the very picture of Tartarus on earth. No one will be able to destroy the wicked prince, blind to the agony he will have brought. When finally he does see everything he has become and all he has done, he will not care. Eventually he will die, whether by old age or another sort of intervention I do not know, but there will never be a recovery from the bloody swath he burns…"

Frozen

Elsa broke down. "I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do!" she exclaimed. "If I don't go at all, I lose everything I ever loved! If I go, I doom my world. At least if I go home more lives will be saved!"

"You deceive yourself again," the elf king answered, though he offered no more detail. He didn't need to. She could guess. Her. Her and her powers… "Such weakness that lays in the hearts of mortals; so deeply enslaved to their hearts and their emotions."

"Have you never loved, Elfin King?" she asked hollowly. His haughtiness immediately dissipated. He gave no comment. "I don't… I don't know what to do…" she said brokenly.

"The answer is simple. Request it of meI will save your sister and your husband," he stated.

"The fae do nothing without cost. What would your price be, I wonder? How can I trust it when you give it? If the troll can mask such great costs in his own bargain, the great elven king can certainly do doubly so," she said heatedly. She could sense he was pleased with her remark, but he remained silent refusing to address her concerns. He held out a scroll to her instead…

"Deliver this to the Fairy Queen. Do what she tells you to from that point on," he said to her.

"That is your price?" she asked warily.

"You are in no position to bargain price," he answered. "You need only know the cost of my help will not be half as wicked as the cost of his. Trust in that, if you will trust in nothing else that I speak."

Elsa was quiet, staring at it. She had no choice, she realized. How much worse could her fate be if she dealt with the elf king instead, after all? Her two other options lead only to doom and despair. He offered her hope. There was no hope for her now… She reached out, taking the scroll, and when she looked up again, he was gone…

Frozen

She didn't know where to even start to look for the fairy queen. She didn't have to know. Her mare seemed to move on autopilot, following a path she had no control over. She sensed the elf king's influence all around. Paths that were where they shouldn't be, turns and twists that could not have easily been guessed; a trail so specific and precise it couldn't have been random wandering that took her mare down them. She sought out the fairy queen, and upon the stroke of midnight she found her… The fairy glade was bright and sparkling, all around the fairies flittering and dancing in moonbeams. She stepped into their midst and they scattered with fearful squeals or gasps. It became dark, no fairy light illuminating the night anymore. Only the moon. She heard whispers in the trees…

"Fairy Queen, I beg an audience with you! Please. Speak with me," Elsa pled. No reply. "I am the queen of Arendelle, the…"

"I know who you are," a soft voice said. Elsa gasped, turning quickly. There, stepping from the trees, was a tall, stately woman with large wings on her back, human-sized as opposed to the size she doubtless usually took. "I am the Fairy Queen Clarion, of Pixie Hollow. And I know you have been seeking me, so I come to you now; for I sense deep fear and grief consumes you, my dearest, and I remember your decency to us our last meeting. Why do you seek an audience with me, I wonder? Do you not understand what deals with the fae may bring with them?"

"I have no choice," she answered, handing over the scroll to her. Clarion stared at it a moment before reaching out and taking it. She opened it up and began to read, sitting herself down on a throne of leaves she directed a large shrub to form for her. For five minutes she read in utter silence.

"Have you read this scroll?" she questioned.

"No," Elsa answered.

"Good… You are not to read it at all," she replied. After a moment more, she began to add something to the paper. An addendum? What was going on, Elsa wondered? The queen finally ended her addendum and rolled the scroll back up, handing it to her once more. "Bring this scroll to the Empress of the Sprites, Pharah. Do not look, do not let your curiosity cost you… My heart grieves for your predicament, young Queen, and I wish apologies could be enough. But they will never be. Not for what trials have been so suddenly thrust upon you… Ride in safety, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, and do not lose heart. His price will be steep, the Elven King's, but it will not be of the same vein as the price the wicked Carabis has asked of you."

"You do not tell me that it won't be just as wicked and heartless in another way," Elsa said.

She smirked sadly. "I do not tell you that," she confirmed. "Perspective, more than actuality, brave queen. Perspective… There is nothing done in bargain with us that comes without a price… Ride swiftly. Before it is too late for your husband. He will die, before your sister does. She will fight on for a few hours more than he has left to breathe." Elsa turned, racing back to her horse and mounting it, galloping away at a breakneck pace and once again letting the mare guide itself. It sensed where to go where she did not…

Clarion watched silently after her. "Tinkerbell," she called out softly. After a moment, a fairy appeared in front of her, silent. "Take your company of friends, and go to the location I send you. You have a task to complete now. One of such great importance that you cannot even imagine it… Be ready for a great deal of travel at a very rapid pace." Tinkerbell tinkled quiet bells, saluting determinedly.

Frozen

Though she was confused as to what they were having her do with this scroll, Elsa brought it swiftly to the Sprite Empress. Pharah read it through in grief, heart heavy inside her, and Elsa felt only pity for her that this was what she had to face regarding her son… "Wicked creature," the empress woefully said. She looked at Elsa. "You will not be his plaything. This I promise you."

"I know," Elsa quietly replied, looking down. "But who will? And whose will I be?"

"The Elven King's price is nothing of that sort," the sprite gently reassured. "There will not be another who suffers the doom that you would have, that at least I can tell you… But nonetheless be cautious, my dear, in your dealings with the woodland king… For in the end, one evil is exchanged for another…"

"No evil he could possibly bring upon me will match what my alternatives are. Both you and the Fairy Queen have vowed as much," Elsa said.

"We have vowed nothing of the sort. In the end, Queen Elsa, it will come down to which grief you would have rather endured… We will soon see how you feel in time," the sprite replied, finishing her addendum and rolling up the scroll, handing it back.

Afraid but determined, Elsa took back the scroll, mounted her mare once more, and galloped back through the forest as quickly as she could, seeking out the elfin king once more… In not much longer the sun would rise, and then it would be too late for her husband… She urged her mare faster.

Frozen

She came upon the erl-king alone in the forest. She didn't come upon him, actually. More like she rode until he chose to appear out the corner of her eyes. She looked over quickly. He approached her as she dismounted her steed. She held the scroll back towards him wordlessly and he took it from her. "You have determined you will go through with this, then?" he asked.

"Now tell me your price," she replied. "And you will hold nothing back." He frowned slightly, displeased at her audacity in attempting to give the likes of him an order, but his displeasure softened soon enough, and to both her surprise and horror, he obliged her request…

"I will ensure the survival of your sister and your husband. But know that their fates were meant to be sealed… With their lives secured now, Death must be repaid for his losses… Two people, who they are you cannot know, will die in place of your husband and your sister at an unknown time in the very, very near future. Perhaps they will be people you know and love, perhaps they will be strangers. No one will be exempt. Not Kristoff, not your brothers-in-law, not the Duke of Weselton, not the royal family of Corona, no one. But what will that matter, I wonder? You husband and sister will live," he said, extending his hand to her with a smile that bordered on taunting.

Elsa caught her breath, backing quickly away from him in fear, flustered and shaken. "No," she breathed, shaking her head in denial.

"Lives for lives," he answered calmly.

Elsa let out a sharp and shocked little breath, looking down quickly at the ground, breathing speeding up a bit. Lives for lives… Could she truly go through with this, knowing what the cost would be now? Two lives saved, but two more lost… The only difference to this situation would be that if she refused and went home now, she would still have Hans and Anna… But was it worth sacrificing two more who perhaps were almost as dear to her as they were? Or to him? What if one was a brother? A friend? A-a father-figure… She looked back at the elf king, waiting patiently with hand outstretched to her to seal their deal, she assumed. She stared at it a long moment and started to reach towards it before stopping and pulling quickly back, stepping away again. No… No, she couldn't do it! Hans would sooner die than lose one of his brothers or friends. And the baby? What if the life taken was the life of her baby?! Of Anna's?! Both of them?! Never could she hope to forgive herself for such a tragedy, nor would she be forgiven when it came out what she had done!

"No," she heard herself say out loud.

His cordiality vanished like a mask…

His smile disappeared, a dark and displeased look coming to his expression. He retracted his hand from her. "It is already too late," he said firmly and darkly. "It was settled the moment you took the scroll from my hand. Written in it was a directive to the Fairy Queen and the Empress of Sprites to name the two who would die in your husband and your sister's place, and the conditions under which it would come to be. And clauses regarding what your husband and sister will yet be required to do for themselves in order to escape alive; for the fae cannot do everything. One name for each of them to choose as the replacements, one clause for each of them to write for those who would be spared. The dooms of two others have been sealed in place of your love and your sister."

"You tricked me!" she shouted at him in fury, her powers starting to spike. The elf king was unfazed.

"It has been done," he stated, brushing her off as if she was no threat to him at all. "Now return to your home. Relish in the deal you have made, your majesty. You have secured the lives of your sister and the father of your child. Please yourself with that knowledge and do not try your luck further with me."

"Bastard!" she screamed.

"Bastard I may be, but it was you who chose to make deals with forces you could not predict. Wallow in the bargain you have made. Now go home and await the return of your husband to your side. And your sister," the elf king answered, turning and walking back towards his company, now peering out from the forest, who thereafter seemed to vanish into the air like they had never been… And she was left alone and guilt-stricken and horrified of what she had done, standing in the midst of a clearing where a fairy ring was now burned into the ground… She covered her mouth in guilt, closing her eyes and sinking to her knees.

What had she done…?

There was no going back now, she knew, as much as she wished to, and she had to accept that… But in return she would see her husband again… At least that was something… Something more precious than words could describe…

Frozen

The streets of Arendelle were dark and utterly abandoned. Signs swung from their posts, blown lightly by the breeze. Anna blinked blankly and looked around in confusion. How had she ended up out here, she wondered? She was sick in bed dying! Wasn't she? She almost didn't dare to breathe… Part of her wanted to knock at a random door just to see if anyone was around, but when she went to do so this overwhelming feeling of dread washed over her and she stopped. Every bone in her body screamed at her that if she opened that door, only horror would greet her eyes. This was so strange… She looked around nervously. She was on her road. The road where Kristoff's house was. She should get home. She needed to see her husband and tend to little Gerda. She began to walk, but this-this overwhelming feeling of dread began to consume her… She paused nervously and looked around. She felt like something was coming…

There was only the sound of the wind. She shifted and began walking once more, not feeling like she was getting anywhere, but knowing she was. She picked up the pace. She could swear she heard sweeping not far off… Where was her house? Suddenly she froze. She saw it now. And a figure stood outside of it that sent a chill through her. A Plague Doctor, hovering outside the door. Coming towards her, and towards the doctor, was a woman in a black hood and a red skirt… In her hand she held a rake. The rake was scraping along behind her, her head bowed. Anna felt a chill run through her. She remembered scary stories like this from when she was a little girl. A story about a hag that had wandered the streets of Norway in the time of the Black Death, or so stories went. A woman clad in red and black… Pesta had been her name. The Plague Hag.

Anna shuddered. If she brought her broom, everyone would die. If she brought her rake, some would live, passing through the rake's teeth. This sharp, desperation to run penetrated her thoughts. Anna found she couldn't move. She was rooted to the spot for terror! She approached the doctor who stood so still outside of her and Kristoff's door… She stopped… She began to cackle, after some moments of a silent staring match. The doctor wasn't phased. "You think you can hold the woman from death?!" she crooned in a scratchy voice. "Pesta will have her. Pesta will have all of you!" She couldn't see who the doctor was, but somehow she sensed it was Jekyll.

"You hold the rake," the doctor answered calmly. Pesta hissed at him. The doctor turned to face Anna. "There she is. Catch her if you can." Anna gasped, paling. Pesta's head whipped in her direction, and all at once the woman was moving at an inhuman speed, tearing towards her! She screeched in terror and turned, booking it as far away from Pesta as she could. The castle. She had to get to the castle! She would be safe there!

"Elsa! Elsa, help me!" she screamed. "Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, Jekyll, someone help! Help! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Elsa!" She didn't know how she was keeping ahead of the Plague Hag. The woman was right on her heels. She could feel the fingers reaching out and brushing her hair. She felt the toes of Pesta's shoes on the heels of hers! If she tripped, if she slowed, for even a second, the woman would be on top of her and there would be no escape. The Plague Doctor appeared ahead of her. "Jekyll, help!" she begged.

He watched her run by. The scent of herbs and flowers filled her nose suddenly. She heard water thrown on the hag that made the hag scream in pain, faltering slightly. The herbs and flowers that had done nothing, really, for the plague doctors of long ago. The rosewater that had been ineffective. But here in her dream, they were potent. She put distance between them. The castle gates were just up ahead. She was almost there. Her lungs screamed in protest, her legs felt like jelly, but she couldn't stop until she was inside. She couldn't! She put on a burst of speed, a last desperate burst, and raced through the gates as the hag caught up to her again. She threw herself threw the castle doors and fell to the ground with a scream. She rolled quickly over, eyes wide in horror and terror. The plague hag stood there at the entrance, unable to come in, and cursed her in fury before melting away as rosewater and flowers and herbs seemed to shower down all around her. Anna could only gape in horror until there was blackness…

Frozen

When Elsa returned to Arendelle, she rode immediately for Anna's home. She dismounted and went quickly to the door, pushing it open without knocking. She hurried quickly to Anna's room and pushed open the door, running in. Anna was sitting up in bed looking as healthy as she had ever seen her! She was smiling at her husband, who was weeping in relief, and at the shocked Jekyll who was back against the wall like he'd just witnessed an unprecedented miracle not long ago.

"Anna!" Elsa exclaimed, running to her sister and falling next to her, hugging her tight. She was in good health again! "How do you feel?" she fearfully asked her sister, pushing her back a bit and looking her over nervously.

"Terrified?" Anna asked with a strained and breathy laugh. "There was this… this strange dream I was having before I woke up. It was horrifying… It felt like-like if I'd died in the dream, I wouldn't have woken up in real life…" Elsa was silent. So that had been one of the clauses written by either Clarion or Farah… But her sister had survived, and she was here now and well and that was all Elsa wanted to focus on in this moment… She could only hope to the gods that Hans was able to succeed in the clause given him as well…

"What did you dream?" Elsa asked.

"It was awful, Elsa," Anna replied fearfully, looking nervously around like expecting to see something lingering there. "I dreamt of the Plague Hag…" Elsa shivered and listened in cold dread to the dream Anna recited to her and Kristoff and Jekyll.