Chapter 10

A/N: Hey! School is out! Sorry I took so long, but the last few weeks of my spring semester were exceedingly busy. Finals are over now, so I have OODLES of time.

Guest reviews:

Penwieldingrose: Aww, thank you! I'm so glad the moment had the impact I wanted!

Jaz: Yes, indeedy :)

"And these are the regular guest rooms. You're welcome to pick whichever one you want."

Erik followed Anna into one of the rooms indicated. It wasn't as palatial as the ones Anna had told him were reserved for ambassadors and foreign heads of state, but it was still grand. That in and of itself wasn't what got under his skin. The room was so…neat, so ordered. His own home had order, but he had made that order himself. Someone else had made this. And there was so much daylight. Erik still couldn't get used to the amount of light. It made him feel more vulnerable than before, more dependent on his mask.

It's not your home, anyway, Erik tried to remind himself. I won't be here very long.

But where are you going to go?

I'll figure it out, Erik clenched his fists in irritation.

"Are you okay?" Erik started far more than he should have. Anna stared at him, her eyes full of concern with a hint of sheer anxiety. Recalling the way he'd exploded on the ship just a short time ago, Erik couldn't say he blamed Anna for being a little nervous. He still couldn't quite wrap his head around just how little fear Anna seemed to feel towards him—unless she had far better acting skills than he imagined.

"I'm fine." He turned away, thankful for the mask, uncomfortable and slightly itchy as it felt.

Anna took him on down the hallway, pausing at each room briefly to point out various merits, all in a nonstop rapid-fire monologue that rather impressed Erik with Anna's breath control. They had just gotten down to the end of the hallway, when something caught Erik's attention.

"What is that?"

"What is what? Oh!" Anna stared curiously at the same thing Erik had noticed—a door-shaped shadow on the end of the hall.

"That leads up to the attic." Anna strolled over and pushed down. Erik heard a rusty creak and the door swung open a few inches.

"Whoa! Huh, it still works. I haven't been up here in ages."

"Up where?"

"Like I said. The attic."

A curious idea stirred in Erik's mind.

"Show me."

Anna led Erik up one of the most enormous and unstable staircases he'd ever encountered. The steps were all made of wood which looked dusty and ancient, and the metal railing was covered with rust. Several times, Erik had to pause and shake his hand free of a cobweb that he'd reached right into. Anna did the same, shuddering in disgust far more than Erik did.

The further the staircase led up, the more the light grew, until finally Anna stopped before another rickety-looking door.

"Hope it…works," Anna spoke through her teeth as she struggled with the door. She finally got the door to work and it swung open with a massive groan.

Anna turned and gave Erik a quick, hopeful grin, so warm Erik had to return the favor. Then Anna led him up the last few steps.

When Erik heard the word attic, he thought of something small, so he involuntarily ducked his head as he passed through the door. When he saw the room beyond, he straightened up and stared up, eyes widening in surprise.

Wooden boards covered with dust spread out through a room about half as wide as the main cavern in his home. But the height…it might not rival the main hall in the Opera Populaire…maybe the ceiling on stage, but it was still high enough to give the whole room an open feel. But yet the windows were closed up, so it was still dim enough to suit Erik's taste exactly. He could see a large, dark rather shapeless thing sitting in the middle of the room, but besides that, it was entirely bare.

"Wow," Anna's footsteps drew Erik's attention. She pattered across the floor towards the windows. "I haven't been up here in ages. We used to use this place for astronomy lessons. I wanted to play up here, but Elsa was afraid of taking the stairs, so she didn't want to come up here unless she absolutely had to." Anna slid back dark curtains over one window, and light streamed in through a dirty glass, falling in a long rectangular prism on the floor.

Erik began to move around, cautiously, keeping his hands to himself but his eyes roaming over everything. The dark hump in the middle of the floor turned out to be something large, covered with a dark cloth.

Erik slowly pulled the cloth up from the floor, and peered underneath.

A wooden leg slowly revealed itself, then green siding of…something. Erik pulled the entire cloth to one side with a long sweep of the arm, and saw a green chaise longue, complete with a pillow and a folded blanket at its head. Thin golden vines curled over the entire surface of the emerald upholstery.

"Wow! Oh, I forgot about this!" Anna hurried over. "This room belonged to our astronomy tutor way back when. He slept up here. He used to take us up here to stargaze, and teach us about the stars?"

"Really?" Erik ran a wondering hand over the chaise longue. The silken cloth had perhaps a thin film of dust on it, no more. "Where is he now?"

"Well…he died about a year before our parents did." Anna's voice lost its happy sparkle.

"I'm sorry." Unconsciously, Erik's voice had dropped almost to a whisper.

"It's okay." Anna sighed and sat down on the pillow. Immediately dust rose up and she coughed. "Oh, man!"

Erik had to smile under his mask. Then a curious idea occurred to him. "Mademoiselle, do you think the queen would mind if I took this room?"

"What? Oh, no! I'm sure she wouldn't. Nobody's used this room in ages." Anna looked around as if bewildered. "There are plenty of way nicer rooms downstairs. Are you sure this is the one you-,"

"I want this one." Erik looked around. "It may not be much, but…I'm used to the darkness. And I prefer some measure of privacy, so…,"

"Okay." Anna shrugged and stood up. "Suit yourself."

She turned around and surveyed the chaise longue with her hands on her hips. "Hmm…this thing must be covered with dust. Well, there's one way to fix it!"

Before Erik could ask what, Anna grabbed the pillow and blanket and slapped them over and over, until clouds of dust flew. She then immediately scooted them out of the way, and the dust began to settle on her and on the chaise longue. She brushed it all down for several minutes, then shook out the pillow and blanket one more time, over the floor. The whole time, Erik watched her with startled amusement. Then Anna dumped the pillow and folded blanket on the end of the chaise longue and turned towards Erik, covered with dust, but smiling.

"Well! That's better," she said cheerfully.

Erik couldn't explain where the urge to laugh came from, but it bubbled up from the feeling of warmth coming from inside him. He hadn't felt the need to laugh in so long, but these people, especially Anna made him want to.

"All this?" Elsa couldn't believe her eyes. She'd thought her return would put the kingdom in order, and that would be that. It hadn't occurred to her, in the confusion over the last few days, exactly what might be required to do that very thing. Ordering the kingdom, that is. She had just dealt with all the confused ambassadors, who had only seen Anna's death and resurrection happen from a distance and were a tad confused as to the details on the whole affair. But at least the death part had cast considerable doubt on Hans' (the lying sack of dirt's) word, so they were much more inclined to believe Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff.

Now she saw the second part of what she had to get through, and she remembered it as her parents' old enemy.

Paperwork.

It lay neatly organized all over her desk. Several treaties, and one execution order, for whom she couldn't tell yet.

"I'm afraid so, your Majesty. But it's not that bad. Now that you're back, and no longer a criminal, we can get rid of this. The treaties you'll have to look over." The Minister of Trade gestured towards the others, quickly snatching up the one execution order. All at once Elsa's blood ran cold.

"You mean…those men were going to have me executed?" Elsa's voice shook a little at the end, a fact she hated.

"I'm afraid so, your Majesty," Ola—that was his name, Elsa thought, said soberly.

"Who's getting executed?" Anna's voice startled Elsa out of a frightening turn of thought.

"Anna?" Elsa unconsciously looked for Erik, and was confused when she couldn't see him. "Oh…nothing." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ola tearing up the paper.

"That's not what I heard. Is…are you going to execute Hans?" Anna looked shocked and little taken aback.

"No. But I am going to have to decide what to do about him. He's caused an international incident, and I cannot overlook it. But I don't want to do anything that might cause trouble with the Southern Isles…," Elsa shook her head.

Anna frowned, her brow furrowing. Then a slow smile began to spread across her face. "Well, I have an idea."

"What?"

"Well…," Anna grinned wickedly. "Our dear prince once told me he has twelve big brothers. We could just ship him back to them under guard, have them told what happened, and let them decide. That way, it's on them, so they won't get ticked off at us-,"

"But the ball's in their court as to what they do with someone who attacked the queen of our country," Ola replied in wonder, then he began to grin as well.

Anna downright smirked, which Elsa had never seen before. "So basically, they have to do something, unless they want to cause trouble with us."

Elsa clapped a hand over her mouth, which had fallen open. She grinned behind her hand. "Anna, have I ever told you you're a genius?"

"No, but it's sweet of you." Anna smiled at Elsa.

"Finally," Elsa groaned. The last treaty had been negotiated, either accepted or amended. Except in the case of Whistleton. Elsa's advisors had told her enough about the place and its government that made Elsa decide a dignified retreat would be the one way to emerge from business with them in a good financial and diplomatic state. Now she was finally able to walk out of the room where she'd been cooped up all afternoon, feeling tired but satisfied with her efforts.

She rolled her neck, and shrugged first one shoulder, then the other, wincing at the crackling sensation she felt. I'm too young to start feeling old!

"Elsa?"

Olaf turned the corner in front of Elsa, and then stopped before her, looking up. "Oh! Hi! Anna says to ask you when you might take a break, and if you wanted to eat supper with her, or in your office."

Elsa suddenly remembered Anna's voice, sad and resigned but always with that note of barely-there hope, her knocking, pleading with Elsa to come out, begging for just one moment with her sister, and blinked back a sudden stinging in her eyes.

"Of course I'll eat with her," she said in a rather choky voice. "Tell Anna I'm coming."

"Okay." Olaf looked up at Elsa, his eyes widening with concern. "Are you all right?"

Elsa blinked again, then swallowed back. The lump in her throat remained, but began to feel less tight. She straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. The past was in the past, and feeling sorry for herself and Anna wouldn't change it. But now she had the rest of her life…of both her and Anna's lives, to try and make up for everything she'd missed, everything her sister had missed because of her.

"Yes," she said firmly. "I'm all right."

"Okay. I'm glad." Olaf smiled at her, then turned and trotted off on his short legs, leaving a trail of faint snowflakes in his wake from his permanent personal flurry.

Elsa smiled at the disappearing snowman, then sighed and began to follow him.

"Elsa!" Anna perked up in her chair as Elsa entered the dining room, her eyes bright with joy. "You came!"

Elsa stopped dead in her tracks, staring at Anna, her throat tightening all over again. Then she hurried forward and threw her arms around her sister.

Anna let out a surprised noise, but then she squeezed Elsa back, gently.

"I never want to leave you alone again," Elsa whispered, "Not if I can help it."

"Oh, Elsa," Anna whispered, "It's okay. I forgive you."

Elsa took several deep breaths, then let go and stepped back when she felt calm again. Anna was smiling at her, her eyes shining with contentment. Elsa smiled back, then she glanced around and her eyes widened.

"Oh, wow!"

"I know," Anna grinned sheepishly. "It's a bit big for our royal family."

The dining room wasn't quite as gigantic as Elsa's childhood memories, but it was still enormous for a royal family consisting of parents and two children. The walls were white, with pillars built into each corner of the room. A delicate white and gold pattern adorned the ceiling, and when Elsa glanced down, she saw a rich red carpet. Anna sat in one chair near the end of a surprisingly small table, one built for about six people, unlike the one in the public dining room, the one for feasts.

Kristoff sat in the one chair beside Anna, and Elsa blushed when she realized she hadn't even noticed him. She waved at him, smiling. "Hi."

"Hello." Kristoff smiled back, with no fear or reluctance.

How is he so comfortable around me? Elsa thought. I just nearly killed his girlfriend, and buried an entire city.

"Ah…well." Elsa cleared her throat and stood up. "When is dinner going to be ready?" As if on cue, her stomach growled. She hadn't even thought about her bodily needs until now, but Elsa now realized she hadn't eaten since a brief lunch in the middle of the day, and it was now late afternoon.

"Well, it's ready now. We were just waiting to hear whether you were going to eat with us or not." Anna gestured towards a door, which was open a crack. Elsa gathered that led to the kitchen.

"Of course." Elsa glanced around before deciding on a seat right across from Anna. She didn't feel comfortable sitting in the chair at the head of the table.

"Oh!" She sat up, suddenly electrified by the memory of another guest of theirs. "Where's Erik? Did you ask him if he wanted to eat with us?"

"Uh…yeah." Anna blushed. "Well, remember how I came in and told you Erik was staying in the attic?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I went up to tell him dinner was ready and did he want to eat with us. But…well, he was asleep. So I just had a servant put some food on a tray and take it up to him."

Elsa's mouth dropped open, then she closed it and shook her head, smiling. I don't blame him for being tired. It's been a long day for all of us.

"Well, when I see him again, I'll tell him that in future, he's welcome to eat with us." Elsa glanced at the door behind her. "I'm ready whenever you guys are. I'm starved."

"Me, too!"

"Me, three." Kristoff grinned.

Elsa grinned as cleared her throat and called out, "You may bring the food in, now! Chow's on!"

Elsa giggled involuntarily, then cleared her throat and sat up formally. Anna raised an eyebrow at her and Elsa smiled back. Then servants came in, bearing plates of food.

What did I do to deserve a life like this?

"Damn," Erik groaned into the pillow. He buried his face in an unfamiliar, if soft surface.

He had slept like a log for hours, his body recovering from the strain of the last few days, but now dreams had woken him. He'd only lain there about ten minutes, but he already sensed sleep would not return anytime soon. His stomach now reminded him that he was ravenous, and hadn't eaten since the lavish meal Elsa had insisted on him having in the middle of the day.

Then he heard a soft crackling hiss.

Erik went dead still. He slowly reached by instinct for his lasso, before recalling that he'd left it behind. He was effectively defenseless.

The sound stopped. After a few moments, Erik raised his head and sat he saw the source, and his heart seemed to stop beating in his chest.

A slender feminine figure was moving towards the window. She had her back to him, but Erik could see the long, flowing white gown she wore, and a cascade of equally pale hair. In the faint moonlight, she looked ethereal and otherworldly—like a ghost.

Something closed up in Erik's throat. Normally, he didn't jump to supernatural conclusions. He was an artist, but at the same time, he was also a surprisingly practical man when it came to such things. But his mind still worked a little slowly, due to his recent awakening, and grief had fogged his brain. Not only that, his soul had just focused almost entirely on Christine, and her fate—of which he did not feel certain. Despite Christine's obvious trust in Raoul, the Phantom did not share the same feelings for the Viscount.

And considering the dream he had just had of his worst nightmare coming true for the one he still loved, the worst nightmare he'd ever experienced, perhaps it was not, as he berated himself later, entirely outrageous when he saw the pale woman and jumped to one conclusion. Before he could really think it through, the word exploded from his lips.

"Christine?"