A/N: It seems like forever since I last posted… though it was only a little over a week. Anyway, thank you for the reviews! Your feedback and opinions on the story means so much to me! In this chapter… things start to get a little… crazy. To say the least. And rather darker than before (though only slightly more than certain previous chapters). So, please tell me what you think! Follow—favorite—review! Thanks, guys—I hope you enjoy this new chapter! :D

Disclaimer: I only own my original characters and the plot of this story—nothing from "Frozen" or "Tangled."

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

BALL GONE WRONG

After King Benjamin had left Elsa and Nathan, they had been solemnly greeted by a group of serious-looking guards that instantly formed a tight circle around Elsa, making it almost impossible to move around. She wondered what had happened to the other guards. When she asked, the new ones just said something about "training," and though she wasn't quite sure what that meant, Elsa didn't press the subject. Somehow, she managed to have a pleasant enough time at all the games and such, though she had absolutely no idea how; the guards were very firm and strict about her safety, Nathan was absolutely no help, and Olaf and Summer came running up to them minutes after the guards had come, shouting about something to do with a sunburn and a boy in a bonnet. So it was with relief when evening finally came, and the sun had just started to sink into the sky, that Elsa traipsed off to the castle, Nathan and guards in tow, for the ball that was to take place in honor of Rapunzel's birthday, the guards having placed themselves in different places around the ball so that they were almost always in sight if she looked hard enough.

A few royal dignitaries from neighboring kingdoms had visited Corona for this event, as it was probably one of the biggest birthday celebrations in recent history. That, of course, included the royal family from Arendelle. It was with ill grace that Elsa talked with certain young (and sometimes not-so-young) princes, kings, and dukes from other kingdoms; all of them coming up to her and ask her for dances, flirting with her in ways that reminded her creepily of Hunter.

Though she, at the moment, did not really know exactly what her feelings for Nathan were, Elsa declined most of these invitations. She realized that she wasn't quite ready for anything like that. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on with her and Nathan….

Nevertheless, he insisted upon accompanying her everywhere she went in the ballroom, much to her chagrin. Once people had begun entering the ballroom and the music had started, with Rapunzel and Eugene entering the dance floor first, huge smiles upon their faces, and delicious aromas coming from the direction of the food table drifting over, Elsa felt the need to escape from Nathan. She didn't much feel like dancing.

"Hey, Nathan…" she said in a slightly awkward tone of voice. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Hmm?" Nathan said distractedly. He stopped looking around the ballroom, on a lookout for any suspicious activity going on, and turned his gaze towards Elsa. "Uh, sure. But I'd better check for anything poisonous."

Elsa sighed. "Then again, maybe I'm not so hungry."

"Well, all right, then. But tell me if you are. I'll check then."

Elsa just nodded glumly.

"Is there anything wrong, Elsa?" Nathan asked suddenly, staring closely at her. "Anything at all?"

"Nothing, Nathan."

"Okay…."

There was an awkward silence for a little while, while Elsa stared at the happy couples seeming to glide across the dance floor, and Nathan stared around, watching out for things that could cause the queen any harm.

"Well, maybe we'd better head over to the dungeons for the execution," Nathan said, out of the blue.

"What?" But Elsa knew exactly "what."

"Hunter's execution."

"Yes…." Elsa's stomach seemed to drop to the ground. She should have seen it coming; it was inevitable that the time would come. She sat down heavily onto a chair and buried her face into her hands.

"Elsa… hey, Elsa!" Nathan sat down next to her. He wasn't really sure what to do. He put his arm around her tentatively. "Hey… er, you don't have to go, if you don't want to…."

Elsa looked up at him. Her eyes were wide and glistening with unshed tears. "Nathan… I…. I just can't help but wonder… what might have happened…." She let her head fall into her hands again. "I just…."

"It's… it's okay, Elsa. I'm here. I'll keep you safe."

But this was clearly the wrong thing to say.

"Nathan!" Elsa exclaimed, lifting her head out of her hands and staring at the young man in front of her with a look that shook him right to the core. "You… you don't—you don't always have to keep me safe!" The temperature dropped drastically.

"Wait, Elsa—"

"No, just… just leave me alone for a moment. Please." And then, tears streaming down her white face, Elsa stood up from her chair and started weaving in and out through the crowd of people in the ballroom, Nathan staring after her, with absolutely no idea what to do.

Just as the music began for the first song and Rapunzel and Eugene stepped onto the dance floor, Anna grabbed Kristoff's shoulder and shook it enthusiastically.

"We should go and dance!" she exclaimed.

"Anna, remember last time I tried to dance?" said Kristoff, looking down at her.

"That was—that was six months ago! That was at our wedding! You've… had time to practice before then…."

"Anna, I kept stepping on your feet. And I'm a lot heavier than you are. I can't dance."

"Oh, sure you can, you were fine at our wedding." And before Kristoff knew it, Anna had pulled him onto the dance floor with her. Sighing, he allowed her to lead him on in a rather enthusiastic and lively dance.

They danced for what seemed like ages. Finally, when Anna proclaimed herself too tired and hungry to continue, they stepped off of the dance floor. Rapunzel and Eugene followed them.

"Hi!" Rapunzel said excitedly to Anna.

"Hi!" Anna giggled back. "We were just about to go get some food. Do you want to join us?" Her stomach gave a huge growl.

"Sure!" Rapunzel replied, and she pulled Eugene with her alongside Anna and Kristoff to the long buffet table set nearby the dance floor.

The girls had a fun time selecting and tasting different types of food, and by the time the next two dances were over, they had all eaten so much that none of them felt like dancing any more—at least, for a little while.

Kaara came just after one of the dances had finished. She was red in the face and looked a little sweaty, but seemed like she had been having a good enough time all the same. She plopped herself down onto the chair beside Anna, who gave a loud and unexpected belch right at that moment.

"Whoops! Oh—excuse me—oh! Hi, Kaara!" she stammered.

Kaara laughed. "Hi."

"Where've you been?" Kristoff asked his younger sister.

"Dancing," Kaara replied simply.

"With who?" inquired Kristoff, raising his eyebrow suspiciously and standing up abruptly.

"Relax, just Mary and Nya and the snowpeople," Kaara said, promptly grabbing any and every bit of food she could reach on the table nearby and cramming it all onto a porcelain plate.

"Oh… okay." Kristoff sat back down in his seat.

"Wait—you danced with Olaf and Summer?" Eugene asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. There was no one else to dance with," Kaara replied matter-of-factly.

"Uh… did any… uh… boys ask you to dance, at all?" Anna said uncertainly, a mischievous grin slowly lighting up her face.

Kaara's ears turned red. "Yes, but I said no."

"What?" Anna and Rapunzel exclaimed at the same time.

"Well, I just didn't feel like it. Besides, snowpeople are surprisingly good dancers," Kaara said conversationally, but the redness in her ears was slowly seeping into her face.

"You can't just not dance with boys!" Anna said.

"Why'd you say no?" said Rapunzel.

"I just told you."

"Well, you need to find someone soon!" Anna said stoutly. "You aren't gonna end up an old maid, not if I can help it!"

Kaara rolled her eyes. "You're being overdramatic. I'm only eighteen."

"Yeah, but soon you'll be nineteen!" Anna said indignantly.

"Anna, when you were eighteen, the first man you met and fell in love with turned out to be a psychotic, power-hungry maniac," Kristoff put in.

"Well—I'd been locked up inside the castle for a long time, okay? I was hungry for some… love." Anna's cheeks grew pink.

Kristoff rolled his eyes.

They sat in silence for a little while.

"Hey, Kristoff?" asked Anna, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Do you wanna go outside? It's getting kinda hot in here…." Anna gestured around the ballroom.

"Oh—sure."

Anna and Kristoff stood up and left others where they were.

"I think I'm gonna go see… Elsa," Kaara said awkwardly, and walked away as well, leaving Eugene and Rapunzel by themselves.

"Wanna dance some more?" asked Eugene.

"Sure!" Rapunzel said, and they stepped up and walked back onto the dance floor, ready for the next song.

Kaara wandered off in no particular direction, not really sure where she was going—she also wondered where Elsa was, because she couldn't seem to be able to find her—though she hadn't really meant to go to her. After going a few paces, thinking maybe she would go back to Mary and Nya, she took a step backwards and resulted in bumping into something. She felt something cold trickle down her back and turned around, taking in a sharp intake of breath in surprise.

Behind her stood a very tall young man. He had somewhat dark, dirty blond hair that was also somewhat long, and hung on the sides of his face like wavy curtains. He had gray eyes and a somewhat pale, though quite freckly face. He was long and lanky looking and had a cup in his hands and the look of someone who had just slopped something out of the said cup.

Kaara's eyes widened and for a split-second she stood there, staring at him. Then she frowned and cleared her throat.

The man looked up at her from his dripping wet hands and said hastily, "Sorry about that… I am so, very sorry about that…."

Kaara raised her eyebrows and felt her back. It was wet, but she could tell that the liquid that had been spilled was just water and nothing to be worried about, though her fancy dress would be wet for the rest of the night—not that she cared very much, anyway.

"It's… it's fine," she said slowly.

"I'll go get a towel," said the man, and Kaara stared at his retreating back, still frowning. He returned a moment later with a cloth in his hands and started dabbing it uncertainly on her back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… there's no need for that," she said hurriedly, backing away from him with her hands in the air.

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Come on, you'll be wet all night," he said.

Kaara sighed. "Fine, but let me do it. You… go get another towel and start mopping up the floor."

The man nodded, scrunching his eyebrows together, and then walked away, returning a moment later with yet another towel in his hands. He bent down and set the cloth down on the floor, letting the liquid soak into it while Kaara dabbed at her sopping back.

The man stood up a little while later and said, "Sorry again. I wasn't looking where I was going, and…."

Kaara waved him off. "It's fine." She started staring in the opposite direction.

"Well… okay, then. What's your name?"

This question caught Kaara off-guard. She raised her eyebrows. "Kaara Bjorman," she said slowly. Her mind suddenly wandered off to the conversation she had had just minutes ago with her brother and the others.

The man gave a small smile. "I'm Brennon Jack," he said in a fancy accent.

Kaara nodded. She had just realized what this "Brennon Jack" might be doing right now.

"Well, I think I'm just gonna go—" she started, and was turning around when Brennon grabbed her arm.

"Wait—would you like to dance with me?" he asked.

Kaara tossed her mind around, searching for some way to say no—but somehow, she couldn't find any way how to, so she said resentfully, "Um… I suppose… fine."

Brennon grinned. "Great."

He then took Kaara's hand and attempted to lead her off to the dance floor. She hastily let go of it, staring at him. Then they headed off to the dance floor, side by side.

Elsa collapsed onto something hard and cold. She hadn't really thought about where she was going, and was surprised to see that she had arrived in the palace gardens. There was ice on the ground behind her. She gasped to see it there and attempted to remove it, but couldn't. She tried taking some deep breaths, but then the image of Hunter entered into her mind, and she just couldn't. She then lay herself down onto the bench and curled up into a sort of a ball, facing the back of the stone bench.

She just… just couldn't think, couldn't do anything, and all the emotions that had built up inside her were spilling out of her like a waterfall. She was numb, and crying cold, salty tears, which fell into her mouth. Elsa wondered why she was not causing a snowstorm to be made right then and there, but somehow, only a small cloud of snow hovered above her, gently sprinkling her with soft flakes.

She did not know how long she lay there, but after what seemed like hours, or maybe minutes, or perhaps mere seconds, she heard voices and the sound of giggling. Then a gasp of surprise and the sound of shushing noises and what sounded like, "Go away, Kristoff!" in a playful voice came to her ears, which was followed by gentle footsteps and the own soft sound of her own sobs.

Then Elsa felt someone warm sit down beside her. She knew who it was, and thought that she would be told consoling words and pulled up, which was quite the opposite of what she wanted; yet Anna just sat there in silence as the small snowstorm died down to just a trickle of ice creeping along the bench. Elsa's tears soon slowed, and eventually stopped altogether, until she was just lying there on the bench with the warm and comforting yet silence presence of her sister beside her.

Elsa hadn't noticed that as she was crying, the sun had started to go down. Now, the clouds hanging in the sky were beautiful colors of an enormous variation—purples, pinks, oranges, yellows… it was a truly magnificent sight. But she could not appreciate it properly… because she knew that something would be happening right at this moment…. And she did not—no, could not think about it.

When the sun was almost completely below the horizon line, Elsa sat up and stared at the sunset. Anna turned her head to look at her sister.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," said Elsa back.

"Can I have a hug?" asked Anna.

"Sure." Elsa felt her younger sister gently wrap her arms around her. Without really knowing what she was doing, the queen rested her head upon the princess's shoulder.

They sat there as the sun set, neither of them speaking—or at least out loud. They had often seemed to know what each other was thinking, and especially today, that sixth sense was very strong. Anna seemed to know exactly what was wrong without asking, and Elsa knew exactly what her younger sister was thinking.

"So please tell me about yourself," said Brennon as they danced across the floor of the ballroom. "You come from Arendelle, right?"

Kaara nodded.

"Very pretty place, Arendelle. I went there for Queen Elsa's coronation a few years ago. You're related to Queen Elsa, of course?"

"Yes," said Kaara stiffly. "My brother married her sister."

Brennon nodded, a small smile on his face. Then, he twirled Kaara (as part of the dance), and they were separated briefly (also as part of the dance). They joined again what seemed like moments later.

Once back together, Brennon's polite smile turned into something more of a mischievous grin. "All right, enough of the formalities."

"What do you mean?" asked Kaara, confused.

"Time for an interrogation."

"Excuse me?"

"I will ask you some questions about yourself; you will answer them. Then you will ask me questions about myself; I will answer them," explained Brennon.

"Okay…" Kaara said uncertainly, brows furrowed.

"All right. What is your favorite color?"

Kaara raised her eyebrows. Then her expression turned to one of thoughtful contemplation. "Hmm… well, I love the color of roses."

Brennon grinned more broadly. "Rose red! Very beautiful color, indeed. Now, you ask a question about me."

Kaara thought for a moment. Then she said, "Where are you from?"

"Well… let's just say that I'm from a small kingdom called Englewood."

"All right," said Kaara, nodding, though a bit confused.

"Yes. My kingdom has always been friendly with Corona—otherwise, I wouldn't have come to celebrate the formerly 'Lost Princess's' birthday! And I thought I'd… go with the royal family," said Brennon shiftily.

"Aha…."

"But anyways, now for more questions! What is your favorite animal?"

"Well, I've always loved dolphins."

"Really? Me too!"

"All right…. What is your favorite color?" asked Kaara.

"You know, I've always been partial to the color brown," said Brennon in a somewhat off-hand voice. "The color of chocolate, some people's hair, animals…." His voice trailed off as he stared intently into Kaara conveniently puppy-dog brown eyes.

Kaara blushed once more.

"Anyway, so what's your favorite food?" he continued, jerking out of his reverie.

"Oh, um… you know, I absolutely love mint—especially with chocolate." Kaara's lips formed into a small smile.

"Really? Mint is disgusting, if you ask me," said Brennon, rolling his eyes playfully.

Out of Kaara's mouth escaped a small giggle.

Brennon grinned broadly.

"Hunter Jules, you are to be executed tonight, on the twenty-fifth of June at sunset. Guilty for the attempted murder of Queen Elsa of Arendelle, you are to be hung in the dungeons of the kingdom of Corona."

The voice of the Captain of the Royal Guard of Corona rang throughout the dungeons in the room that had nearly been the place of Eugene's death. The king and queen were there, as were certain other people, including Nathan. Hunter, wrists in chains and arms held tight by two guards, stood by the place where he was to be hung. His expression was literally emotionless; his eyes seemed glazed and his mouth was in a perfectly straight line.

"Are there any objections?" the captain then said stiffly, casting his gaze around at the watching people. "In that case… we shall begin."

He nodded towards the guards holding Hunter, who both nodded back and stepped forward onto the platform, shoving Hunter onto it with them. They then secured him in a position like he was in a set of stocks—except that this was much, much more deadly.

"Hunter Jules, do you have anything left to say before you are to be executed?" the captain asked.

His face still so unnervingly expressionless, Hunter's eyes darted briefly over to one corner. Then he looked straight into the captain's eyes and gave a sort of a smile.

"It doesn't matter to me. Nothing does any more. Do what you want. But you will regret it, anyway. And I will live and get my happy ending. I know I will be saved…. But even if I don't… if I'm betrayed….

"I. Don't. Care."

The captain raised his eyebrows before taking a deep breath.

"Then it is time. Commence the execution."

And with that, one of the guards loosened the rope holding the noose in place.

And then everything went dark.

The sun had set over the horizon….

The moon had risen past the dying sun….

A wolf was howling to the silver orb in the sky….

And chaos had ensued.

Kaara had grudgingly allowed Brennon to tag along after her once the dance had finished, but regretted it at once. He kept trying to flirt with her, and she did not like it…. At least, towards the beginning… because as time went on, she started feeling a little less… odd around him…. It was just as the third dance had ended, however, that all feelings of annoyance, or something else, were swept out of her mind… because she had just been about to shoo Brennon away in the politest way possible when someone gave a shout of surprise and fear somewhere in the ballroom.

She turned her head in the direction of the noise. And then more people started screaming. She felt something brush against the bottom of her dress. She yelped and saw that a creature that looked like a dog had just passed by her. Was that the reason that person had screamed? She looked around, suddenly feeling foreboding, and saw that more people had started screaming and running out of the ballroom, and more of the same creatures came pouring into the room, seeming to slither through people.

Then someone let out a real scream that echoed throughout the confused and frightened ballroom; the musicians had stopped playing; and someone lay on the floor with the bottom of her dress now stained red. And then there was chaos in the room.

Wolves streamed into the ballroom and people started running more intently toward the door, screaming. Kaara tried to reach someone she knew. She felt a strong arm grab her own and she turned around, fuming, expecting to see Brennon—but it was Kristoff. She wordlessly followed after him through the frightened crowd, not knowing where he was taking her. They kept each other's hands firmly clasped around the other's so as not to lose each other amidst the dozens and dozens of people.

"Where are we going?!" Kaara shouted over the tumult of noise.

"Outside!" Kristoff yelled back.

Kaara was suddenly pulled to the side. She gasped as something reared up to her. It was a wolf. It attempted to bite her, but Kristoff grabbed a candle from a nearby bracket and swung it at the wolf, which quickly backed away, snarling.

"This way!" he said, and promptly pulled Kaara off in a different direction.

"Where's Anna?! I thought you would be with her!" Kaara yelled as they raced through the people.

"She's in the gardens with Elsa! We found her there, and she was crying, so I left Anna there with her!" Kristoff replied.

"Then we have to get to them!"

"That's where we're going!"

Kristoff suddenly pulled Kaara around a corner, and then they were outside in the cool evening air, the stars now starting to peek out in the sky.

Suddenly, the sounds of a wolf howling and people screaming reached Elsa and Anna's ears.

"What was that?" Anna asked uneasily.

"I'm not sure…" Elsa replied in an equally uncertain voice.

Anna turned around and jumped up in fright.

"What is it?" Elsa exclaimed.

"I think we've been found," Anna whispered to her sister.

A wolf had indeed started creeping up to them on the path inside the garden, snarling. Its eyes were blacker than the blackest midnight.

"Elsa…?"

"Anna…?"

"Should we start panicking?"

"No…."

"Should we run?"

"Um…."

"Should we call for help?"

"What? No—um—uh—no—wait. You run and I'll—I'll try to fend it off," said Elsa, and she stepped in front of Anna.

"What?! No! Elsa, you can't—!"

"Just go, An—"

But it was just at that moment that the wolf had leaped. Elsa froze, having a bad feeling about what was coming…. But the wolf zoomed past her and instead headed towards her sister…. Elsa couldn't do anything…. She was frozen in fear…. She did not want to shoot ice at the wolf and hurt Anna instead…. Not after what had just happened to her….

Before her eyes, the wolf lunged at Anna and sank its teeth into her arm. The princess yelped.

"Anna!"

Anna had fallen to the ground, grasping her bleeding arm. Elsa cried out to her and collapsed beside her sister, shocked. She wasn't crying; she was just staring at Anna, at a loss for any more words. Ice had started to surround them; it grew in large spikes in a circle around the two sisters, rising higher every second.

The wolf had rounded on Elsa now, facing her, teeth bared. Not knowing that she was even doing it, ice shot out of her hands towards it. It backed off, yelping, not hurt but clearly frightened, and raced away into the night.

"Elsa—Elsa, it's okay, we've just gotta get me to Rapunzel, that's all—"

"Anna…."

"Come on, Elsa, help me up, please," Anna said, gasping and looking down at her arm briefly. Blood was seeping through the fingers clenched around her right arm.

"I…." Elsa couldn't move. She couldn't do anything.

She had to do something…. But she couldn't…. She couldn't do anything…. Her sister was lying in front of her, hurt, and she wasn't doing anything to help her….

What was wrong with her?

"Elsa… what… Elsa…?"

She couldn't do anything.

"Elsa…."

She couldn't move.

"Elsa, come on—come on, Elsa—"

It felt like an eternity that Elsa stayed there. She didn't know how much time had passed before she was pulled back into reality, with Anna constantly calling her name, becoming more and more insistent….

"Elsa…. Elsa—wait—Elsa! Wha—what's going—Elsa, help!"

Elsa's head turned sharply down to look at Anna. She put a hand to her mouth in shock and surprise and fear.

Her sister… something weird was going on. The bite was slowly healing itself, but it seemed painful, very, very painful…. And gray fur seemed to be spreading from that exact spot…. And Anna's eyes… they were changing… turning darker…. The pupil was growing larger, engulfing them…. And Anna herself was changing….

And it was right then and there that Elsa fainted.

Everything was chaos….

Everything was all a confusing blur….

People were being attacked by wolves left, right, and center….

And somewhere in the midst of it all, a young man stepped out of the dungeons, black knife in his hands, taken back from the soldier who took it from him in the first place, a blank expression on his face… ready to go back….

Little Red Riding Hood shook her head and started skipping off in the direction of her grandmother's house. The encounter with the woman had been quite odd, she thought, but she hadn't realized exactly how significant it was…. Or how dearly the woman wished that this encounter could not have happened. So, she skipped on ahead, blissfully unaware of what lay before her through the trees beyond.