"Wait, so you escaped Arendelle? How?"
Anna sat astride a horse, trotting down a barely visible forest path.
"I had help," The Guard Captain said, not bothering to turn and look behind him as his eyes swept the forest ahead of them, "Captain Georg of the Pride of Arendelle took me in and hid me. That's where we're heading right now. We will get you safely to Corona until we can figure out a plan to root out the rebels."
Anna turned to Kristoff, whose horse rode close by hers. Olaf rode on the back of the horse, sitting with his back to Kristoff. He seemed to be very worried about something. She leaned in, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
"Sven… I haven't seen him since those rebels came in and captured us," He said dejectedly, "Who's going to feed him? Clean him? Give him fresh carrots, or brush him where he loves to be brushed!"
"I don't even want to know," Anna said quickly, shaking her head slightly. "But everything will be fine. Sven is a good reindeer, he'll figure something out."
Kristoff just nodded slightly. Anna turned back to look at the Captain, whose men were now mounted on the rebel horses, they even had a few spares now.
The attack had gone far from smoothly. The first volley of crossbow bolts had only taken down a few of the rebels, leaving the rest to return fire. In the darkness, their accuracy had been just as bad, but still, one of the Royal guards had did as a bolt went through his heart. Everything else had become a melee after that, the Captain hacking and slashing while his men moved in too assist him.
Final score, all the rebels and the carriage driver were dead, and the guards had lost two. Anna had seen one of the dead men, before Kristoff untied her, and her already shaky stomach had had enough.
She'd been lucky enough to find the Captain in the first place, just as the rebels had caught up to her when she'd tried to run. But…
The Captain raised a hand, his fist closed. All of the riders reined in their horses.
"What does that-" Olaf began to ask, but Kristoff reached awkwardly behind him and slapped a hand over his mouth. The sound of thundering hooves was fast approaching.
"Damn! They've found us! And we only had another mile to go until we get to the meeting point…" She heard the Captain say under his breath. "Jackson, Matthews, Jurgen, take Sir Kristoff and the Princess ahead to the meeting point. Make sure no harm comes to them!"
The three riders he named all nodded purposefully, before swerving their horses so that two rode in front of them and one rode behind. The others wheeled their horses, charging back the way they came, crossbows ready to fire.
Anna and her little group crested the last hill before the land began to decline down towards the sea.
"Look! It's the Pride!" One of the guards yelled. Then he grunted as he saw the small group of men between them and the ship. The man riding to her right turned to her, and said. "Princess, we will clear a path for you and Sir Kristoff. Go straight for the Pride, we'll be along."
Then the three men spurred their horses up to a gallop, charging ahead. Anna ducked down as she heard a crossbow bolt whistle by. A flurry of the bolts whispered by. She heard a grunt and a yell, and dared a look around her horse's neck. One of the men was off his horse, lying limp on the ground. Kristoff's horse leapt over him.
Another man dead trying to get us out. She thought.
But she honestly didn't want to go to Corona. It was like running away. What she really wanted was to ride into Arendelle and kick that bast… bad man the Baron, right in the face. She felt even worse leaving Elsa there alone, amid all of those traitorous nobles. It left a bad taste in her mouth, worse even then when Kristoff kissed her after sharing a carrot with Sven.
Her wandering mind was brought back to reality as their two remaining guards slammed into the six men who had positioned themselves between the Pride and their escape route. Their swords rose and fell, and their adversary's blades stabbed upwards. Both of them rode through, bulldozing the men down.
Anna and Kristoff were right behind them, and the single man left standing was in no position to stop them, as he tried to hold his face together.
Kristoff stayed close behind her, their goal getting larger and larger as they neared it, their two remaining guards staying just ahead of them, though both were wounded to one extent or another. The beach was only a few meters away when a hail of crossbow bolts began to rain around them. Anna turned back, seeing a large group of horsemen charging down the path they'd taken.
A pair of longboats waited for them, with men wearing sailors uniforms armed with cutlasses and a few crossbows. Kristoff dove off his horse first, turning to snatch Olaf, just as Anna slid from the saddle. Their two guards turned, blood running from a severe cut on one's arm, and the other trying his best to wipe the blood flowing over his eyes, and faced the way they'd come.
"My lady," One called back to her, "Good luck on your journey! May you honor our memory by returning and freeing Arendelle."
Anna turned as a pair of sailors dragged her through the knee high water towards the boat. The two horsemen kicked their horses into motion, the animal's sides moving like bellows, and sweat coursing down their hides, they both reared before charging forward. They both raised their blades as if in a salute. Their high, wailing call reached back to her, a fist that slammed the reality of the situation into her consciousness.
"For Arendelle! For the Queen!"
"Comeon, you can still get in the boat!" She screamed, but the sailors were both larger and stronger, they threw her into the boat, in between the raised seats for the rowers, and then the two of them piled on top of her. Their combined weight on top of her, she was only able to grate out, "Let… me… up!"
That was before the boat started moving, the men at the oars grunting and straining as they tried to outrun the charging horsemen, and she was forced to lie quietly, the smell of sweat and fear so close upon her.
Thunk.
The first crossbow was followed by three more, and one of the men atop her howled and arched his back. Another man at the oars was struck directly in the center of his chest, and slumped over quietly, as if he had just laid down to take a quick nap.
"Everybody down!" A voice called from above her.
A series of thunderclaps sounded, which her ears soon identified as the noise of a series of giant ballista's letting loose their deadly cargo echoed out across the water. The sounds was immediately followed by the sound of screaming horses and men. The number of crossbow bolts striking nearby thinned considerably.
Forty seconds later, they fired again, and they were surrounded by silence.
"Up and at your oars, boys!" The same voice from a moment ago called, slightly strained, as if dealing with pain. "To the Pride!"
The boats picked up speed again, their creaking and groaning being joined by the sound of a ship sitting at anchor, whispering ropes and clinking chains. Still, the two men on top of her wouldn't let her up, wouldn't let her check to see if Olaf and Kristoff were okay. As the longboat was being winched up, she'd finally had enough.
"Get off of me!" She said, furiously pushing aside one of them.
He fell to the side, limp as a fish… or a dead man.
She gasped, scrambling backwards, towards the bow of the longboat. The men beside her looked down at her, then at the two men who had guard her.
Both were festooned with crossbow bolts. Any one of which would have killed her. Tears began to streak her face, as she saw their unmoving faces.
"No, no, no…" She said, as one of the other sailors grabbed her arm and pulled her out onto the ship's deck.
She immediately went to her knees, looking towards Kristoff's boat.
He stepped onto the ship's deck, and went to her, wrapping his arms around her.
Weeping with a volatile mix of sadness and joy, she embraced him back.
A polite cough sounded from behind her.
"Excuse me, Sir Kristoff, Princess Anna," She turned to find a man wearing the uniform of a captain standing nearby, "We will be setting sail soon, is everything all right? Were you injured?"
"Captain…" Anna said, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her dress.
"Harald Godwinson," He said, sweeping a bow, "I apologize for…" Harald looked towards where they were pulling the bodies from the boats, "All of that. Captain Eroica thought that we would have more time."
"What happened to the men who rescued us?" Anna asked.
A look of sadness crossed the Captain's thin face.
"There were… no survivors." He replied quietly, turning towards the beach and crossing himself. Several of the other sailors noticed, and did the same, removing their hats. The Captain looked almost reverently at the bodies of the men who had sheltered Anna, and saved her life. "They were all good men, who gave their lives willingly to maintain the right and proper order of our fair kingdom. Let us hope that they did not give their lives in vain, and that we shall forever hold them in our hearts, as the archetype of brave men."
All of the sailors bowed their heads in prayer. Anna and Kristoff did the same. The Captain began to speak, his voice carrying out over the ship.
"'Though they walked through the valley of death, they feared no evil." He murmured quietly, before opening his eyes and looking at Anna, Kristoff and Olaf, who had come to stand next to Anna.
"If you would come with me, I'll show you to your room."
They followed him in silence towards the stern of the ship.
"My son, it is so fine to see you again."
Don, heavily bandaged now, entered his parent's residence, smiling as he saw his mother for the first time in months. She was a tall women, probably coming in at five-eight or five-nine, and exceedingly delicate looking.
And to think, she's married to a man whose nickname is 'The Brutal'.
But if there had been one thing he'd seen as a child, he knew that his mother and father truly loved each other. His father had never been rough with his mother, and she was one of the few people who could calm him when he was in one of his murderous, and the only to survive said process intact.
Seeing her pregnant was strange, her belly only just beginning to gently swell, so that she still wore an elegant dress of blue and green, but it was probably just as strange for her to be seeing him as beat up as he was.
"Hello, Mother," He said, "I see you and father have been… busy."
His mother laughed, smiling radiantly at him.
"You could say that," She said, standing from the seat beside her harp to embrace him, before sitting again, "Now, tell me of your journey. I can see from your wounds that it did not go well," She eyed his half frosted hair, "And explain why your hair is white… Did you fall in a puddle of bleach?"
He snorted quietly, coming to sit beside his mother on her bench.
"The journey was… interesting mother."
"What of the Ice Queen?" She asked. "You father told me a little of what transpired."
Josephus must have made his report.
"Well…" He scratched the tip of his nose, trying to decide where to start. "She is… the, um…"
His mother giggled, covering her mouth as she did it, as it was considered impolite to laugh without covering ones mouth in Mosseburg.
"She has you quite tongue tied, I see." His mother plucked a string on her harp, a low note that reverberated around the room. "Let's see… is she beautiful?"
He laughed ruefully, remembering the curves of Elsa's body, the way her dress hugged her curves, the way her hair looked so much like it was spun from white gold. The way she smelled slightly of lilac, a sweet smell, fruity without being too citrusy. The way her lips…
Shaking his head to dispel those images and memories, he simply said.
"Very."
"Is she smart?" Another nod, "Can she sing?"
And that was his mother's sticking point. She was a very liberal, strong hearted woman, but she put music and song above all else. Ivan had once begun to negotiate a marriage contract with the Kingdom of Helsi, a powerful nation to the north. When the young princess, four years older than his own thirteen, had arrived, she had quickly impressed his father and become the darling of the people, known so well for her poise and elegance.
But not his mother. Her first question to the young Princess had been for her to sing a song. The young woman had never been taught how to sing, and tried to show his mother her sewing and embroidery. Suffice it to say, when she'd completed her song, the Queen had been so unimpressed that she'd made Ivan send the girl back with condolences.
Which was why he had to deal with her question delicately. And by delicately, Don knew he had to sing Elsa's praise. Elsa and he had only shared a few songs while her family and he had lounged around after their dinners, but he knew that she did have an impressive voice. Not as well trained as Don or his mothers, but close enough to be
"She sings like an angel, mother," He said excitedly, "She doesn't know many of the songs that you've taught me, but she could learn them very easily."
His mother seemed to take that all in, before speaking again.
"Soprano?" She asked.
"No, Mezzo-soprano."
Clapping her hands, she smiled brightly.
"That's excellent, her voice will mix well with your baritone! I look forward to hearing you two sing together!" She said, before adding, "Now, I need to hear you. Have you been practicing like I told you?"
Don honestly didn't want to practice, but the way his mother had phrased that last statement…
"Mother, how do you feel about this invasion of Arendelle that father is planning?"
His mother looked sharply at him. Disturbing her time with useless dribble about whatever shenanigans his father was getting in to had gotten him smacked on the wrist a few times with a baton. Now, as he was grown, she simply looked at him, her blues eyes narrowing slightly.
"I feel nothing," She said, "It is not my business. I am no war leader. My place is with my music, and your place, right now, is here. Practicing."
Don was having none of her put offs though. He looked at her, his face hardening.
"Do not lay this blame aside, Mother." He said harshly, "You are Queen! Of all the people upon this Earth, you are the sole person who Father listens to! Please, intercede for me and get him too call off this invasion!"
His mother looked taken aback, standing and walking away towards her piano.
"Donner, it is none of my business."
"It is when the woman your son loves is in that city!" He snapped. His mother retreated a step, never having seen Don this angry. "How can you let that stand?"
"I will not speak to you about this, now." She responded harshly. "Love cannot win against hate. Hate is what drives your father to attack Arendelle, and love, mine, nor yours, can stop him." She sat at the piano, flipping up the cover to display the ivory teeth. "Be done with you fanciful ideas. Let us practice."
Don, stood like a statute, only his heart quivering. The one person in the world who should have helped him… And she turned him away, not even giving any credence to what he said.
How can I reach her? He thought, as she began to a play a familiar tune, and he lost himself in the music. How can I escape Valdiston?
Hey All, WE WON! Frozen got Best Animated Feature and 'Let It Go' won Best Song.
And by the way, if you could please review, I'd really appreciate it. My whole goal with writing fanfiction is to improve my writing (I just switched from an Anthropology major to an English: Creative Writing one), and I could really use some feedback. So please and thank you in advance!