As he opened his mouth to say something, Ayla suddenly held up her hand. Her lips were a fine line for a few seconds, but then stretched into a grin.

"From my... Source in Arendelle," She began confidently, "It would seem that Queen Elsa is out of the way. We can begin phase two now."

Hans nodded quickly, and then rushed out of the room.

Oh, Arendelle wouldn't know what had hit them.

"Here, give it here," Elsa murmured quietly, as she reached her hand out towards her sister, who was currently sitting in the darkness, groaning in frustration. She was frowning at the project she was holding in her hands, shifting around slightly to try and look at it in the sliver of light from above the door, but the poor illumination did little to help her figure out what had gone wrong. Reluctantly, annoyed that she couldn't work it out on her own, Anna handed over her craft.

"Look," Elsa said softly, though her voice was slightly strained from her sore throat, irritated from breathing in the dank air. "You went wrong here. You missed out the fourth straw, so that's why it looks strange."

Moving her work into the sliver of light, Anna frowned at it, assessing it's current appearance; now that it had been fixed, it was quite a fair attempt at making a straw hat, considering that neither sister had ever attempted to make such a complex item. Elsa, however, had had more experience with the craft, having made a few patterns as a child, but always flat, never actually a 3D item, which was understandably more difficult. Anna, on the other hand, hadn't had so much practice, only ever plaiting her hair - or that of others - so she wasn't so confident at working with more than three strands.

"It's just so difficult in this darkness!" Anna growled out grumpily, as she tried to pick up with her work again, frowning as she tried to plait the straws. "I can hardly see a thing!" With a little huff of indignation, she threw down her project, leaning back against the soft, rotten wood which made up the walls of the cell, her arms crossed over her chest grumpily.

Sparing a glance towards her son quickly, to make sure Anna's louder-than-normal words hadn't awoken him from his already fitful sleep - which, at least, gave him some form of relief from his pain, and hopefully a chance to heal faster - and felt a small amount of relief when he still slept on, as did Thomas, who had fallen asleep about an hour ago. She sighed slightly as she watched her sister, and then placed her own craft down, for it had, admittedly, gotten rather dull by now, after what must have been at least two or three hours of doing it. There was simply nothing else to do.

Watching silently next to her Mother, Mia sat stiffly in the same position as she had been earlier, her knees drawn up to her chest, her eyes large and shining with fear. Though she'd been so young at the time, she could still remember the fuzzy memories of the beatings, the pain still there, not as brutal, but still strong enough to strike fear into her heart. Her innocence had been destroyed back then; she wouldn't misjudge these people, and they couldn't scare her either.

When her Mother stopped doing anything, in the end just sighing and giving in, closing her eyes for lack of anything better to do, Mia moved her gaze so that her eyes settled upon her younger sister; little Kari was also trying to learn how to plait, but on her own hair, not on pieces of straw. Similarly to Anna, she was looking utterly infuriated - though the darkness concealed some of her emotions - and Mia leaned over slowly to help her. Her body was stiff and reluctant to move, as if her limbs had simply given up, and had accepted the horrific truth that pain would be coming soon, no matter what, so what point was there in worrying? She couldn't do anything to stop it, so it was surely more productive to just enjoy - or rather, not stress out during - the periods of relief.

"Like this," She whispered, and placed her sore hands upon her sister's, guiding her to help her understand what to do, and then she drew back again. She winced slightly as she knocked her bloodied wrist, but again, it didn't make much of a difference to her; her body felt numb to pain in her terror, which had now morphed into a strangely more frightening sense of acceptance which blocked out all other thoughts. She didn't feel the fear anymore; didn't feel the agony; didn't feel the anger. She just felt the numbness.

She sighed as she tried to use her magic, scrunching up her eyes in concentration, but it was a poor attempt, and all she succeeded in doing was making the gloves feel slightly colder to the touch. In theory, she could quite easily pull off the restraints - no doubt she'd probably not notice the searing pain which would come as she ripped her skin - but she didn't even feel enough emotion to try it.

Numb.

Beside her, Kari groaned again as the plait she'd been making broke, and Mia sighed slightly as she went to help her out. Still, though, perhaps it was good that she was so hopeless at the moment with the skill; after all, she'd be trapped in here for quite a while, so she'd have plenty of time to persevere and perfect it. Unless, of course, they were all killed, which was probably fairly likely too. Honestly, she couldn't see why they'd want to keep them, so to her, it seemed likely that they were just there to be slaughtered.

It sickened her slightly that she could think such thoughts with barely a flicker of emotion, but her brain didn't seem to accept the knowledge, blocking it out, protecting her from feeling the pain and horror which she'd already experienced in her short life. It left her feeling so very, very calm, a feeling which terrified her, for she'd not been so relaxed in months; it was ironic that in what should be one of the most agitating circumstances, she was so fine.

Still, she was grateful that she didn't have to go through dread which she'd felt in the caves - she'd quite happily remain living in this desensitised existence, floating around in a state of peaceful numbness, rather than having to fear constantly.

Slowly, her movements akin to that of one who hadn't slept in days, slow and without much enthusiasm, Mia turned her head to look over to her Father and Uncle, who were sitting against the opposite wall together. They were talking in low voices, though it was easy to overhear them considering they were only about two metres away from her. The two were trying to make something, however though it wasn't too hard to hear their conversation, the light wasn't shining upon them, so she couldn't make out what it was they were actually trying to do, the blackness too thick to properly see through.

A loud bang resounded around the room suddenly, and the occupants jumped in shock, except for little Mia, who barely flinched, looking up sharply but reacting no more than that. Fredrik and Thomas shot awake from their light, disturbed nightmare-plagued sleep quickly, and soon after a loud moan sounded as the older prince's arm ached again, causing him great pain as he hit it on the soft walls. Elsa quickly reached out for him and pulled him closer to her body protectively, and his younger cousin crawled slowly, tiredly over to his Mother, his movements clumsy from his exhausted state. Odd and Kristoff tensed up immediately, and both shuffled across to position themselves in front of their wives and children, eyes sharp as they tried to protect them from danger.

Light flooded into the room, making Mia's eyes burn and she was forced to squint to see through the bright, unnatural glow of the flames flickering in the next room. Their warm, safe gleam was tempting to each of the prisoners, captivating them with a primal need for warmth, even in the case of the two who were resistant to the cold, and Anna found herself reaching out for it, as if she could reach it if she stretched far enough.

A man stepped into the room, his body casting a gloomy shadow across the cell again as he blocked out the flames' glow. Two others stepped up behind him, both as bulky, if not more-so, than he was, with tree trunks for arms, and tanks for bodies, strong and cold and unbreakable. Deadly. His eyes scanned the prisoners, and his lips spread in a smug grin which suggested that he knew of his dominance over the people before him.

The heavy wooden door closed with a muffled thud as one of the guards shut it, the light which had leaked in around their bodies now gone, the depressing sliver the only traces left. A horrid, harsh metallic sound came as the iron gate was slowly opened, and then the man stepped into the cell, his eyes glinting, visible even through the darkness.

"You," He said in a rough, deep voice which was not affected by the murky air in the room, which was, by now, considerably worse with the introduction of a children's toilet area, in the corner furthest away from the group. Mia and the adults had been able to manage, but sadly, poor Freddie, Thomas and Kari, at ages six and five, had not been able to last so long, and had had no choice but to go; thank Lord the straw soaked up at least some of the putrid smell. The guard scrunched up his nose as he got a whiff of the pungent stink, but carried on as he raised his hand, and pointed at Anna. "Come with me."

At first, Anna simply stared disbelievingly at the man, paralysed and not moving, trapped in a moment of time, until the guard shouted loudly and she began to stand. Kristoff stood up with her, stepping backwards to try to protect her from this threat, but even he, muscly as he was, was no match for the three strong men before him. Still, he didn't back down.

As Anna began to take a step forward, Elsa suddenly reacted without thinking; reaching up, she grabbed the hem of her sister's dress and pulled her back down rather forcibly, pushing Fredrik her way as she made her own attempt to stand, her legs shaking from not being used for hours, and from thirst and hunger. Kristoff remained standing as his sister-in-law got up, refusing to leave her alone, and now Odd rose up too, wishing he could stop her. He tried taking her hand, tried to pull her back to him, but to no avail; she roughly shook his hand away, not wanting to be gentle for fear it would break her resolve, and she stepped up to the guard, who was glaring daggers at her.

"I will go with you," She said in a monotonous voice, trying not to let her weak legs shake, for doing so could be interpreted as being fearful. The guard didn't look at all pleased with her offer.

"I asked for the girl-" He began, but Elsa took a step towards him quickly, flexing her fingers as if she were about to use magic, though she knew she couldn't.

"I will go." She repeated, her voice still as strong and firm as it had been a minute ago, but she could feel her nerve breaking under the man's watchful stare. He looked over to his companions questioningly, and they just grunted in affirmation, something which made Elsa feel a little better, for they sounded no more intelligent than cavemen. The man before her shrugged, and roughly took hold of her wrist, a painful sign of his reluctant agreement with her proposal that left her crying out quickly in pain, and she had to bite back a second yell when she saw her husband trying to reach her. As the metal gate was shut again with the torturous sound which left everyone's ears ringing, she turned back to her family and gave them one last, reassuring smile, hoping they'd see it in the light that now flooded the room as the wooden down was opened, and then she was roughly thrown out into the main chamber, and the door was slammed shut again.

She remained on the floor for a few seconds, and in that time, she knew that Odd had broken, and from the loud, persistent rattles coming from inside the room, he was trying to tear down the iron fence. She felt slightly flattered at the affirmation of his love for her - and the rest of her family's love for her, too - but wished he would stop. From her treatment even now, any trouble was sure to result in a beating, or worse.

In the room next to the one she'd just been in, Elsa could hear quiet whines of pain, and muffled bleats and whinnies of the animals, and she longed to go and see to them. Poor Seier must have been in agony after his foot injury, and she wished she could help him, but she also knew she couldn't.

"Move, Witch!" The guard behind her snarled as she stopped to stare, and Elsa felt herself kicked roughly forward into the room opposite hers, where the guards from before quickly locked her in. She frowned in panic as she realised that she was completely trapped, alone, with these men now circling her like hawks, waiting for her to keel over and die. Nervously, feeling insecure, she sat down stiffly on a small sofa which must have belonged to Eva before her home was taken over, and her sharp blue eyes scanned the room for any tools which could aid in an escape.

Of course, there was nothing.

"Now, Witch," The guard spat out, as his own eyes bored deep into hers. "How much do you know about what is going on?"

Elsa felt herself shiver involuntarily under his cruel gaze, and knew that he'd have picked up on the fact, and that he'd be finding great pleasure that he'd made her react. She kicked herself mentally, and vowed not to do it again. "Nothing," She spat at him, knowing that her disrespectfulness towards him would surely only rile him up, but she wouldn't let herself be submissive either. She sat up straighter, trying to look proud and strong, while in truth she felt neither thing.

"Well, allow me to enlighten you." The guard drawled out. "You are here, because we need your blood, and if you think, I'm sure you'll understand what, exactly, we need it for." Elsa kept her composure cool, though she could feel her palms beginning to sweat. "Oh, yes, yes, I can see it in your eyes. You know exactly where this is going, don't you?"

Elsa glared as she nodded stiffly, quickly speaking before the guard could speak again. "My blood is of no use to you." She snapped back, "So you must have some anterior motive driving you on."

The guard nodded, seemingly impressed with her perceptiveness. "Right you are, Queenie." He replied, "Your blood is of no use to us. Your offspring, however..." He let his voice trail enough, and Elsa's heart plummeted through her chest like a sinking rock. The guard savoured her horrified expression for a minute, before continuing. "Your expression, dear Queen, is priceless, but worry not; we shan't be taking your son, nor your niece and nephew either. We need bargaining chips, you see, and they're perfect. Their lives, for your complacency."

Elsa tried to keep her voice steady as she replied, but a small slip did manage to come out of her mouth. "A-And the animals? Our husbands?"

The guard shrugged. "Bargaining chips, again," He commented, "But they can do work too; you'll have to go back and tell them this. They'll be summoned to go out hunting, or gathering firewood, or something, and they'll have no choice to return, because we'll kill you off, one by one, if they don't."

Such a foolproof plan, Elsa thought savagely, annoyed that people so incapable of love could still appreciate what people would do for it. It was then, as she thought about love, and the love she held for her family, that something struck her. "And my sister amd nieces? What are their roles?" She clenched her jaw as she awaited the inevitable response, hoping the earth would just swallow her up so she didn't have to face the truth she'd now picked up on.

"Breeding stock, of course." The man replied, a sadistic grin on his face. "But don't worry; we won't breed little Mia or Kari until they're old enough to birth a child. We're not entirely heartless."

Elsa's face was a mask of horror. "So what are we, sheep now? You're going to breed us like sheep, then slaughter our children like lambs for the dinner table!"

The guard put on a show of surprise. "Why, of course not." He said in mockery of her own horror, but he suddenly grew serious again at Elsa's disapproving look. "Okay, yes, you're basically very-valuable sheep, so quit your bleating and just be quiet." He frowned as he looked towards the warm fire crackling in a fireplace. "You'll tell your family this, remember, and you'll also tell them this; once a day, a guard will come to collect you, one at a time, to go outside to relieve yourself. If a single one of you runs away, another will die. If they return with help, everyone dies. Got it?"

Elsa nodded stiffly at this new news, feeling weak at the threat. "If your little brats need to go in the meantime, we've given you a bucket. Be grateful, or it'll go again." He frowned, thinking. "Now, there was one more thing, I'm sure, if I could just remember..." He said slowly, and then stood up. "Oh, yes, how silly of me to have forgotten!" His voice was a play on sweet innocence, and it only served to make him sound even more deadly. Elsa felt her palms grow even more sweaty inside the gloves, and she strained to get her magic to work past the fabric, but the effort was excruciating; she saw a single, lonely snowflake float down from the ceiling, just as her legs and arms were roughly pinned down by the two brutes who had been guarding the door.

"Do you want to know what I forgot, Queen Elsa?" He asked, and she shook her head in fear, terrified at being so trapped. "Well, I'd like to tell you. I forgot to give you and your family a warning, didn't I? Can't have you getting any ideas."

It came before she was even ready; a searing, mind-blowing pain on her shoulder blade, burning the skin, leaving her writhing and screaming in absolute agony. A read-hot steel shape was roughly pushed down upon her poor back, and as she fought with all her might, the pain only got worse. She was given a second's respite when the metal was reheated, in which she could feel her bubbling skin tearing and breaking, and she screamed again even before the metal was re-applied. Her should was ablaze with fiery agony, and her nerves were shot as she struggled to get free, her already raw throat only making her hurt more as the cries tore from her lips in audible waves of torture.

Even after the steel was removed, Elsa continued to writhe and scream and fight, her mind overcome by the pain, instinct kicking in and telling her to attack back. Her eyes were wild with terror, a truly primal fear shining in them, a need to survive.

The guards came to deal with her quickly after, picking her up kicking and screaming, dragging her along the dirt back to the room, where she was roughly shoved inside. She let out a cry of fury as the pain grew even greater, and then she collapsed on the straw, suddenly too weak to fight, ending up a sobbing mess on the thin straw floor.

A very intense chapter, I'm sorry for posting late - mind you, I expect you all hate me for doing this anyway, so either way I'm in the dog-house, so to speak.

Ahaa, it's funny - when I was young and delusional a few years ago, I was foolish enough to hope Disney might take inspiration from my story for a second Frozen - Then I look at how much darker this series has progressively gotten as it went on, and... Yeah. I don't think it's really suitable for younger frozen audiences anymore.

Pah well - I'm still quite proud, and I hope you guys still enjoy it too!

With special thanks to:

Pabulover123

Klime (guest)

WildVirus (guest)

OmegaMarker

Summer loving snowman

thorinii

I couldn't have written this chapter without your support guys, I've head a hectic half term (50+ animals take a while to look after) so I needed the kind words I'm your reviews.

I'd love to see some more reviewers next chapter, so hey, here's a question:

Using the hot steel was a method of branding Elsa, to both humiliate and torture her. What shape / word do you think the mark should be?

(And help would be great, because I can't decide)

I love you all, so please don't kill me for this!

-SG