Chapter Ten
After a long and uncomfortable journey Hans had finally led his soldiers and prisoners to the gates of Arendelle's castle. It was mid day by the time they arrived and Anna was shocked to see what had happened to her home. They had fled during the night, and while she knew the damage was bad she wasn't quite prepared to see the actual destruction of the castle. The east wing of the house had caved in on itself and the south hall was a mess of holes and dust. The rest of the castle had not fared much better. If they started today it would take years to fully rebuild the castle. Anna was happy that her parent's tomb was not located that close to the castle and was spared from the cannon fire. The painting of her parents had been left in the care of Kai, and she hoped that it had not been somehow damaged during the battle. Anna stole a gaze at Kristoff, the swelling from the beatings he had received almost daily had gone down a bit. Kristoff had remained silent throughout most of the trip, anytime he dared to even speak say to ask for water he would receive an elbow to the skull or the side. Kristoff had a burning desire to stand up for himself but he feared that if he did Anna would somehow be punished as well. He could take it; the pain was excruciating but he had to be strong as Elsa had commanded. He would not be able to live with himself if Anna was hurt because of something he said or did.
Anna had quieted down as well; basically for the same reasons. On the first day of travel Anna had been very sassy but she didn't have the stomach for watching the love of her life be roughed up in front of her eyes. They were not allowed to speak to each other, even at night and for Anna that had been the hardest part. She had gotten used to socializing with people, there were no more paintings on the wall to talk to. Kristoff was such a gentle soul and it crushed her to see him suffering in silence. Anna would glare at Hans every chance she got but Hans would simply smirk and keep walking. As much as she didn't want to admit it Hans was not interested in her, his sights were set on Elsa. Oh sure he would kill her eventually, but it was going to be a matter of timing. Anna could see right through him now, he was methodical and ruthless. She knew she was the bait for Elsa, and she wanted desperately to be rescued but she also wanted her sister to be safe. If she had to die in order to keep her sister alive she would do it; she had already done it once.
Hans laughed obnoxiously loud as they finally reached the castle. "Honey we're home!" Hans continued to laugh as the mercenaries excluding Stryker all laughed with him. Anna looked down at the ground unable to stare at her decimated castle. Hans noticed that neither the ice salesman nor the princess were laughing and decided to make sport of it. "Look at these sad sacks! Not so high and mighty now! Eh, I admit it was a shame to destroy something so beautiful, something so precious and pristine. I imagine I'll have a similar feeling once I take the head of your beautiful sister." Anna leaped up and lunged towards Hans but the chain on her neck jerked her back and she fell into the sitting down position. Hans then kicked up some snow right into the red head's face. "My men are going to take you and Kristoff into our little makeshift dungeon. I had some men with engineering skills stay behind while we went to battle. They've got a nasty surprise for your queen. You two will be spending the rest of your time in there until the time is right."
That is when Kristoff finally interjected "Hans, please don't separate us. Please I am asking you as a man to show some mercy!" Kristoff fought against his chains to get near Hans enough for him to see his face, hoping that some humanity would seep through. "Oh don't worry Kristoff you two will be together. I want to make sure you are both there to see how I kill Elsa the ice queen!" Kristoff reached for Hans in a futile attempt and Hans just laughed. "Take them away!" he ordered as his men took Anna and Kristoff away but not without Anna screaming at the prince. "Elsa is going to stop you Hans! Do you hear me? You'll never beat her!" Hans brushed off the comment like snow on his jacket and began to inspect the castle alongside Stryker. As he did this he took the crate that was carrying Olaf and tossed it to some soldiers. "You can't do this to me! I have rights!" barked Olaf with all the ferocity of a small woodland creature. "Whatever you say snowman" replied Hans with his back turned.
Elsa and the caravan had been making good time on their way back to Arendelle. Despite the injuries and the illnesses they were holding strong. As Arendelle came closer and closer over the horizon Elsa could feel her heart start to beat like a drum. Lamin's health had improved over the past few days and he was now walking but only with the aid of a cane. When she had told him about losing the baby Lamin had said nothing at first; then he just hugged her and kissed her. "It's okay, I love you." was all he needed to say and so much of the pain vanished with those words. Elsa was just glad the kingdom was not made aware of her pregnancy, it would have been nearly impossible to explain to them what had happened. Sometimes people needed company when things didn't work out, but with matters as personal as that she was glad she only had to share the bad news with a select few. Lamin was insistent on fighting alongside Elsa but the ice queen kept refusing his requests to fight. "It's too dangerous, you aren't yourself. I thought I had lost you, do you know what that did to me?" Elsa felt like she had given that line over and over throughout the trek and Lamin almost always answered the same way "Well just sleep on it, we'll talk about it tomorrow." And of course the next day he still was not strong enough and she would once again tell him "No."
Elsa remained consistent with her desire for Lamin not to enter battle but as they got closer she could see Lamin was getting anxious. The queen looked at her subjects, they were all tired and they weren't ready for a real fight but they had nowhere else to go. They didn't have enough supplies to keep running away, and they were weary for home. Of course as they saw more and more of their kingdom they realized that their home wasn't they way they had remembered it. Some people could be heard sighing, some crying and others cursing the name of Hans. At first Elsa thought they would be discouraged but she could feel that the tide of emotions was turning towards motivation not of discouragement. She would need to use this emotion to help propel them to what was sure to be the last battle for the kingdom of Arendelle against the forces of Hans. As Elsa was pondering what to say Lamin put his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss on the forehead. Elsa blushed, she wasn't used to Lamin showing such displays of affection in public. Then he whispered to her "Elsa, I am going to fight for Arendelle, for our home, for our family. You cannot order me not to, I am the king are I not?" Elsa tried her best to keep her body language from revealing her frustration. "Yes Lamin, you are the king. But I fear you will become a dead king if you follow me into this battle." Lamin stopped and held onto Elsa forcing her to stop as well. "What kind of king can't protect his people?" Elsa had to break eye contact with her husband on that one. There was no point in arguing with him, he knew her too well. Taking a deep breath she returned her focus to Lamin's brown eyes "If you die….I'll kill you." And with that Elsa lightly punched Lamin the shoulder, Lamin grinned as the queen rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh.
After another hour the survivors were now finally on the outskirts of Arendelle. It was still in the early evening and Elsa knew their best chance would be to rest for the night and attack in the morning. As they set up camp once again Elsa used the snow to mask and hide her people. As they waited inside another ice igloo they all took inventory and prepared their weapons. Ida sharpened her spear and helped Lamin sharpen his. Kai tended to the wounded, brandishing a simple sword which he barely knew how to use. Dawda had made his blade so sharp he could probably split hairs with it, and he even had Elsa make fake ice sculptures of enemies so he could show off his skill slicing and dicing them. The young children were impressed by his quick draw and raw strength with his weapon. Lamin tried out his spear as well and was obviously very skilled, but not as skilled as Ida who had more speed and more concentrated force. Lamin took a more direct approach, still quite deadly but there was less finesse in his tactics. Elsa was not particularly good with a blade of any kind, not that she needed to be. When you can shoot ice shards out of your hand faster than any arrow being handy with a sword was kind of unnecessary. Though she had drawn an ice sword in the previous battle that was more for a lack of creativity with weapons, not because it was her choice weapon. Perhaps one day she could learn how to properly use a sword but nothing she learned tonight would do her much good.
Everyone in some way or another seemed ready to go to battle the next morning. Elsa could feel something swelling inside her soul, she looked around at her people wondering which ones of them would survive; if any. Elsa shook that thought out of her head, she had a plan. And if her planned worked nobody from Arendelle would have to die. She had gone back and forth with the aggressiveness she should take towards the mercenaries. They were after all hired swords with no real allegiance, was it right to destroy them? Elsa at first had argued that it would be wrong to wipe them out, and Lamin seemed to lean in her favor but Kai, Dawda and Ida had all brought up the very real threat of them coming back to Arendelle for revenge. Elsa did not desire to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder and thus agreed that their plan would take as many mercenaries out as possible. As for Hans, she was determined to make him pay one way or another. There was no way they could allow Hans to live, but she also knew going against Hans would be mortal combat; only one of them could live.
As the night went on everyone eventually got tired and Elsa ordered them to rest, which of course some replied with concern that she was not getting enough sleep. Elsa playfully agreed and used a swoop of her hand to blow out most of the lanterns with a quick gust of frost. Elsa then laid down next to Lamin and the two began to cuddle, once again Lamin held onto Elsa despite her body supplying no warmth for him. "Are you cold my love?" asked Elsa sensing Lamin's body temperature drop. "I'm fine, you rest."
"I'm not okay unless you're okay."
"Then I'm okay."
"Don't lie to me Lamin."
"Would never dream of it."
"Good."
With that Elsa put her head under Lamin's chin and drifted off to sleep. Lamin stayed awake for a bit longer, his mind rushing with the tension of the day. He could tell that Elsa was truly worried about her sister and her kingdom but was trying her best to keep calm. Lamin marveled at Elsa's ability to keep things so bottled up inside. She was so skilled in concealing her feelings, it was useful for war but it concerned Lamin that she could detach herself so effortlessly. Maybe that was part of the reason she was drawn to him. Sure, he was able to stay focused on the task at hand as well, but he also showed his feelings a bit more freely than she could. It was something he saw her struggle with, even with all of her new found freedom to be herself his wife was still a work in progress. Of course everyone is always working on something, and at least Elsa was self aware of her emotional short comings. Lamin knew through self analyzation that he was not perfect; he was a bit cocky, he was a bit stubborn and even a bit bull headed. Despite all these things he knew that he fit with Elsa, they held each other accountable and they already could communicate quite well without words.
He felt that she must've found him selfish to keep insisting on fighting, or perhaps more accurately she thought he was being hard headed but he had to be at her side. Elsa was so worried about him that he knew she wasn't taking care of herself. What is something happened to her? Lamin had been embraced by the people of Arendelle but he was still an outsider to these people in more ways than one. Could they ever truly accept them as their leader without Elsa at his side? He never wanted to find out what that would be like, he didn't want to be king he wanted to be Elsa's life partner. Being king was just a status he had gained by marrying her; but the glory of the crown paled in comparison to the regal beauty of Elsa. The former African prince did not see Elsa as some prize however; he just felt overjoyed that she had chosen to spend the rest of her life with him. Lamin wanted to grow old with her, raise a family, go on adventures together and this impending fight with Hans put all of that in jeopardy. Everything felt so fragile; Anna and Kristoff's lives were dangling in the balance, so were the citizens of Arendelle and the kingdom's legacy itself. Lamin tried not to fixate on all the horrors that could transpire and as he did somehow his brain tricked him into falling asleep.
When Lamin awoke the next morning he panicked for a brief moment for Elsa was not at his side. He jerked his head around searching for his wife and saw that just about everyone was inside the igloo. Before he could let out a cry for his queen Ida placed her hand on his wrist to calm him. "It's okay, she's preparing for a speech" whispered Ida, Lamin silently nodded his head and then laid back down. He was more worried than he could have anticipated. After laying down for a few more moments he got to his feet and met briefly with Dawda who went over some last minute battle tactics. Then just as the anxiety was starting to build into the room once more Kai entered the room and got everyone's attention with a rough cough.
"The queen requests our presence outside" was all he said and everyone immediately flowed out of the igloo into the cold air. Lamin led the way and looked for Elsa, when he saw her he gasped. Elsa had fashioned ice armor onto herself. The armor was ice blue and a bit transparent. It was dark blue in some areas but was carved with sharp edges to obviously keep people from getting too close. Her eyes were like glistening tones as they matched up with her frozen protection. Everyone was just staring at her, admiring how fierce she looked, but also just how beautiful she looked even when preparing for battle. Elsa stretched out her hand and with a SWOOSH every single soldier was adorned in a version of ice armor including Lamin whose armor was complimentary to Elsa. Elsa winked at him and he grinned glancing at Ida and Dawda who were rubbing their hands across their well formed battle armor.
The people were chirping with excitement and Elsa wiped the smile off her once face and replaced it with one of grit and focus. "People of Arendelle!" That got everyone's attention as they turned to their queen, their general, their ruler. "I am not one for speeches, I spent most of my life tucking myself away for fear of my powers and what they could do. Well now I'm not afraid of my abilities but I will tell you who should be afraid: Hans of the southern isles! I taught myself to conceal and not to feel, but I can't help but feel today. For our brothers, our sisters, our fathers and mothers…our friends! Their deaths will not be in vain, we will take back our home! The kingdom of Arendelle with live on! If you all thought hr big freeze was something to behold….you haven't seen anything yet! Gather your things we will fall onto the castle within the hour. For Arendelle!" Elsa lifted up her ice sword as the citizens lifted up their weapons and arms in unison "For Arendelle!"
As the people got ready for battle Elsa slinked to Lamin who had his signature smirk on his face. "How was I?" she asked sheepishly. Lamin playfully gestured his hand to say 'so-so' Elsa then lightly jabbed him in the shoulder. "Hey! That wasn't bad for my first speech! I'll get better." Lamin nodded his head in agreement "Hopefully not at the war speeches however." Elsa smiled and kissed Lamin on the cheek.
"You like the armor?"
"Fits like a glove. It's perfect"
"I know."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Just wanted to hear you say it."
Lamin smiled as he and Elsa went forward waiting for the citizens to ready themselves. "Where do you think Hans is keeping Elsa?" asked Lamin staring down at the castle. "I'm not sure, but somewhere close to him. He wouldn't be dumb enough to keep her too far out of sight." Elsa in a snap had become focused once more. "Where do you think Hans is?" asked Lamin placing a hand on his hip. "With his ego? The throne room."
Hans sat in the throne of Arendelle, it had been used often by Elsa's father, but Elsa had found little use for it. Hans in his short time inside the castle was already breaking it in and was sipping from a goblet of red wine. Stryker stood nearby looking at some blue prints of the castle. "We must fortify the south hall that would be a very good entry point for any armies invading by sea." informed Stryker as Hans leaned back in the throne a bit. "How long will it take?" asked Hans stroking his finger across the lip of the goblet. "Well it could take up to…" Stryker stopped talking as soon as he realized that Hans was practically ignoring him. "What's wrong sir?" asked Stryker a bit nervous to hear the prince's response.
"Stryker, do you really think that we are going to be able to build anything before Elsa and her people arrive?"
"Well we might as well start your highness."
"See you use the word your highness, but I'm not your highness, not truly."
"I don't follow."
"I need to become a king."
Before Stryker could say anything Hans got out of the throne and moved towards Stryker who froze in place. "I'll be nothing more than a rogue leader, a dictator without a royal claim. That is not my goal, this was never about just simply taking over Arendelle I can do that any day of the week. No I came to become royalty." Stryker knew where this was going but he played dumb "But you cannot be the king of Arendelle unless you are married to the princess or queen." That is when Hans gave Stryker the coldest look he had ever seen. Nothing Stryker had seen came close to the stare in the red haired man before him. "That is why I need Elsa to come to me. I will make her my bride, one way or another." Stryker gulped as Hans laughed a bit and began to sit back into his throne. Just as he did this however he heard a distant but very distinct roar. He jumped out of his seat and put his hand on Stryker's shoulder. "Did you hear that?" asked the prince gripping onto the mercenaries' shoulder. "Yes, I think everyone did. What is that?" asked a startled Stryker. Hans then frowned "Trouble."
Stryker and Hans rushed to the window, where they were soon joined by other worried soldiers. As they looked out they saw an army of ice monsters, or as Elsa playfully named them: Marshmallow. Hans had seen Marshmallow before, he had destroyed one when he first raided the castle with the men of Weaselton. But now there were a dozen of these things and they were moving quickly towards the castle; the army of Arendelle behind them. Hans gritted his teeth and groaned. "Demons! Demons come to take us to Hell!" yelled one soldier as he began to panic. Hans sneered at him "Pull yourself together! They're not demons and they can be killed, gather your weapons men! Today we crush what's left of Arendelle!"
Elsa led her people behind the band of Marshmallows she had conjured. She wanted to keep a safe distance from them as much like Olaf the Marshmallow creature had a mind of it's own. While it would obey her commands there was no telling how much damage it could do if she lost control of them for even a moment. Because of this the queen had ordered everyone to stay behind her just in case her plan went south. So far however her monstrous creations were doing just what she desired; scaring the living daylights out of Hans and his men. The first Marshmallow crashed into the walls of Arendelle ripping the walls apart creating a large hole in the north wing that Elsa and her people would eventually enter through. Another Marshmallow began to smash in the west walls and it was causing the entire castle to shake. Elsa knew she was causing great damage to her home, but she needed to send a message to her enemy that would rattle them into near submission. Even Lamin was a bit scared of them.
"I can't believe you made these with your hands."
"You can believe a talking snowman but not a giant snow monster?"
"I guess I just prefer the ice dress."
The army of Hans rushed out swords drawn against the various forms of Marshmallow. Their blades were sharp and the faster soldiers were able to take down the Marshmallow attacking the west wall quickly but some were then crushed by another Marshmallow who smashed them flat with it's giant snow and ice packed arms. As more and more soldiers piled out to take on Elsa's snow menaces Hans barked to them "Make sure you leave Elsa alive! I need her!" The soldiers could barely hear his order over their companions screams as they were crushed one by one. Just as Hans was beginning to realize how dire the situation was for him he heard the sounds of Elsa and the Arendelle people running through the halls. They were coming for him, he had to stop them. "Capture them if you can, kill them if you must!" was all Hans could spat out before he rushed down towards the east wing of the castle.
Elsa and Lamin led the charge of the people, as they went through the north hall mercenaries began to jump out and attack them. As the mercenaries cut their way through they started to separate the group preventing Elsa from keeping them organized. The ice armor helped protect many of the citizens but they were still out skilled by many of the soldiers hired by Hans. Elsa was being forced out away from her people. As she started to see how the battle was unfolding she realized that the way things inside the castle were transpiring were by design. Hans was just increasingly more crafty than she was prepared for. Soon it was just her, Lamin, Dawda, Ida and a handful of Arendelle soldiers. A mercenary lunged at Elsa but she dipped out of the way and then sent him flying into the stone wall with a blast of ice. A few more mercenaries approached and Lamin and Ida made quick work of them with their spears, impaling them rather efficiently. Lamin was impressively agile despite his injuries something that Elsa mentally wanted to take note and admire but she remained focus in the heat of battle. "There are too many of them." murmured Ida as they continued to fight off soldiers. "Nothing we can't handle!" replied Dawda as he took a throwing knife and flung it into the skull of a mercenary who crumpled up onto the floor after being hit.
Elsa and her group had now been forced out into the atrium area by the fighting while the rest of her soldiers were still battling it out in the hallway, their ice armor beginning to melt and expose them inside the damaged but warm walls of the castle. Noticing this Elsa reached out her hans to refresh their armor but she was distracted by the loud sound of doors opening and out stepped Hans who stood at the opposite end of the room. He came out dragging Anna at his side, he had her in a headlock and there was a dagger to her throat. Anna's big eyes bulged and she had been gagged; muffled pleas were the only sounds she could make. "Anna!" she cried out and began to move towards Hans ready to do battle but he pulled Anna in tighter. "Don't make a move! Or I'll kill her!" Elsa stopped in her tracks. "Let her go Hans!" ordered Elsa to no avail, Hans kept the blade close to the soft skin of her younger sister.
Elsa and her men had let their guard down just long enough for more mercenaries to storm into the room surrounding them on all sides with crossbows and swords. Elsa looked to make a move put before she could do anything she felt the sharp end of an arrow pressed against her skull, it was Stryker holding her up with the projectile weapon. "Drop your weapon! And take away the monsters!" barked Stryker. Elsa hesitated but then evaporated her ice sword and her makeshift army of Marshmallows. Everyone else reluctantly put down their weapons as well, not willing to see Anna die, but unsure what would happen once they handed over their only real form of defense. Hans let out a laugh that sounded more like a snake's hiss than anything from a human. "Elsa, Elsa, Elsa…oh I've waited a long time for this."
"You let Anna go Hans or else-" Lamin was interrupted by Hans screaming so loud his eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets. "Or what Lamin?! You will kill me? No you all had your chance but you didn't have the guts to risk losing your precious princess for that. You're caring for each other is what makes you weak, and it's one of the easiest things to exploit!" Lamin was silent, he had no verbal comeback to Hans. The evil prince turned his attention to the tired people of Arendelle, many of whom had been injured during battle. "Citizens of Arendelle, I know you all hate me. But I am willing to overlook our differences and will extend to you a one time offer. Bow down to me and I will allow you to once again live in this kingdom, my kingdom! Or reject me and I will send you all to spend the rest of your days locked away in my dungeons. You will do hard labor under the whip and I promise you all will pray for death! So the choice is yours bow down to me or die only after a short but painful life. The choice is yours." There wasn't even a pause before Kai spoke up "We'd never bow to a monster like you!" The citizens of Arendelle all returned the sentiment in some fashion. Hans just smirked "Very well then. Stryker…" Before Elsa could put two and two together she felt herself being clubbed in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.
Author's Note: So once I realized this chapter was pushing 5,000 words I decided I would make one last chapter so this was the true penultimate chapter the next chapter will be the last! I can't wait to share it with you all. Please continue to share this story with fellow "Frozen" fans and please leave reviews and feedback I greatly appreciate any and all of it.