"Easy, boy! Easy!"
Rapunzel and the Stabbington brothers led an anxious Angus onto the grand Corona warship that the King and Queen provided for their journey. Behind them, the pub thugs and a handful of the remaining able-bodied Corona guards were busy preparing the ship with other supplies.
"Why do we even need to bring this horse?" asked one of the brothers.
"This is Merida's horse. When we find her she'll probably want to see him," Rapunzel answered.
Elsa was sitting on the rail of the ship, studying a map of the neighboring kingdoms by the light of the late afternoon sun, planning out their course for the next few days. She couldn't help overhearing the passing conversations.
"Did she even tell you what his name is? What do we call him?"
"Well he has a black coat so…" Rapunzel stopped and placed her hand under her chin in thought. "Licorice!"
"Yeah, that'd be a good idea, if it wasn't so stupid," the brother replied, unamused. "It needs to be intimidating, like Shadow or something." The two of them nodded their heads in satisfaction.
"Ugh, fine." Rapunzel continued pulling at Angus' reins to bring him below deck while the brothers joined in loading boxes of more supplies. Elsa swiftly took the map up from her lap, hopping down from the rail to follow Rapunzel.
"Rapunzel, I need to discuss our route with you," Elsa began, unfolding the map as she caught up with her down the stairs and into the interior of the ship.
"I thought we were going to DunBroch?" Rapunzel asked while tying Angus' reins.
"We will, but… I still want to go to Arendelle first."
"It's going to take time, and we need to focus on Hans."
"Rapunzel, I am a queen. You can leave Corona knowing that your kingdom still has its rulers to protect it. I accepted responsibility for Arendelle and I'm not there. I need to see what Hans has done," Elsa pleaded.
Rapunzel sighed, shifting her sight down to her feet. "You're right. But we can't stay too long."
"I know. We'll be quick." Elsa smiled as she turned to leave. Before she took the first step on the stairway leading back to the deck, another thought crossed her mind. She hesitated, unsure whether or not to tell her cousin.
"Elsa? Are you okay?" Rapunzel asked after Elsa stood in one place for far too long.
"Yes, I just… There is one other reason I want to go back to Arendelle."
"What would that be?"
"I told you Kristoff was hurt because of me. I doubt he is getting any medical attention from the Southern Isles. But his family, they live in the area around Arendelle, and they have knowledge and powers that could help us…"
"Knowledge and powers? Is Kristoff a wizard?" Rapunzel snickered.
"No, Kristoff isn't. He was an orphan, but he was raised by them."
"What, are you telling me Kristoff was raised by wizards?"
Elsa shook her head. "No. Trolls."
"Trolls?" Rapunzel asked in humored disbelief.
"They're real. They tried to help me when I was young, when I needed to learn how to control my powers. They have powers too, and I'm hoping they know how to heal Kristoff if we find him… in time."
Rapunzel stood quiet, glancing at Angus' coat and petting him while thinking it over. After a few moments, she faced Elsa again. "Alright, we'll visit the trolls. Anything is possible, right?"
The cousins exchanged smiles. Suddenly, one of the Stabbington Brothers emerged from the dark staircase and approached them, pointing his thumb behind his back. "Okay, girlies. We're getting a move on, so I hope you know where we're going."
Elsa strolled past him, placing a steady foot on the first stair. "I do now."
Elsa's wide eyes shined in the starlight, soaking in the sight that lay before her. "What have I done?"
The Kingdom of Arendelle was surrounded by Southern Isles ships, completely barricaded from the outside world. At least the kingdom seemed to be in one piece.
"There's no way we're getting through that," said one of the brothers.
"You're right." Elsa looked on at her kingdom, her parents' kingdom, now in the hands of ruthless warships. "Come on, there's somewhere else we need to go," she finally said, ordering a Corona guard to lower the anchor. Their ship was floating just beyond the opening of the fjord, out of sight from the Southern Isles fleet. Elsa, Rapunzel, the brothers, and the thugs Hook Hand and Vladimir took a rowboat to get to shore.
"Now I should prepare you for what you are going to see," Elsa started, pulling their boat up onto the shoreline.
"Ha, you say that like we haven't seen strange things before," teased Hook Hand.
"Well, I'm getting help from some friends. They're quite loud and… and heavy."
"Yeah, so are we!" Hook Hand laughed as he nudged Vladimir's side.
They continued on inland and across the barren terrain in silence. The landscape changed from a rocky shore to a thick pine forest sprinkled with dew. Elsa clutched her map in her hand, occasionally checking to ensure they were still on course with every distant howl of a wolf or snap of a twig.
Eventually, the forest thinned into a large clearing littered with mossy rocks.
"Here we are," Elsa proclaimed, folding up her map and outstretching her hands to introduce them. Everyone stared at the ground in confusion.
"They're… rocks?" one of the brothers muttered. "We walked all the way here to talk to a bunch of rocks?"
"They're not rocks." Elsa turned away from them, facing the clearing and slowly approaching the center. "Hello everyone, I need your help! Kristoff and Anna are in danger!"
The ground trembled. The rocks rolled past Elsa's company and to the center of the clearing where Elsa stood, revealing their large faces and ears. They started to make a ruckus, pulling at Elsa's cape and conversing in boisterous shouts. "What happened to our Kristoff!?"
"They're the trolls," whispered Rapunzel.
The rest of the men stood in awe. "You didn't prepare us well enough, Queenie," said one brother.
Elsa ignored them, searching over the heads of the trolls for their leader. "Has anyone seen Grand Pabbie?"
The trolls separated to make way for a larger boulder that rolled up to Elsa. Grand Pabbie had appeared; his face had fallen into seriousness. "Elsa, we need to talk."
"We do. I need your help– "
"Wait, Elsa. There is something I must tell you first." Elsa was taken aback by his interruption. She was sure he was going to be eager to help her.
"What is it?" she asked reluctantly.
"We have visitors." He pointed to an area just outside the clearing, surrounded by natural heat vents. A large group of tents had been pitched together to form a small concealed community. From one of the tents emerged a small snowman.
"Olaf?"
Olaf quickly waddled to Elsa, giving her a hug. She could hear a shout of surprise from one of the thugs behind her. "That thing's alive?"
"Who are these people?" Olaf asked, his eyes locked with Elsa's company.
"People that are going to help me," Elsa answered him. She watched as Sven come out from inside the tent too, followed by the disheveled Scottish Queen.
"Elinor, I thought you had been captured!" called Elsa, running around the trolls to greet her.
"Aye miss, we barely had time to escape. I'm sorry I could not protect your kingdom. But your little snowman friend helped me and some of your people find shelter here. I can't say I've gotten used to all the magical creatures, but they're keeping us safe, that's all I can ask for."
"Olaf did that?" Elsa looked down in surprise at her smiling snow friend. "Thank you! You really are my trusty right-hand man!"
Olaf giggled. "Aw, shucks."
Elinor turned her attention to the thugs, the brothers, and Rapunzel, scanning the group for bright autumn-red tendrils. "Where is Merida, is she with you? Is she safe?"
Elsa bit her lip, knowing her answer would bring nothing but burden on the mother's heart. "No. She isn't with me."
Elinor raised an apprehensive eyebrow. "Where is she, Queen Elsa?"
"She was taken to DunBroch by Prince Hans." Elsa quickly breathed out her sentence, but Elinor had caught and hung on to every word. She grabbed Elsa by the wrists, pulling them into her.
"What is he doing with her?!"
"He's is forcing her into marriage to take over your kingdom. That's all I know."
Elinor glanced down at her hands, still wrapped tightly around Elsa's. "Oh, wee Merida. Me husband. What are they to do?"
Elsa didn't dare pull her hands away from the grieving mother. Her mind searched through everything she could possibly say to comfort her. In desperation, she uttered the only thing she could think of.
"Elinor, I promise to bring Merida to you safe and sound."
Elinor slowly raised her head up, eyes watery. "Have you seen the fleets they have? There's no way."
"I have my powers. I have friends that will help us sneak in. We might be outnumbered, but at least we've got a chance."
"You don't have to do this. It's too dangerous."
"Hans still has my sister. I'm going to do this, regardless."
Elinor inspected Elsa's company; a princess, guards, and a few thugs. The queen sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"We'll figure it out. But it would help if you could draw us a map of DunBroch, so we could sneak in easier."
"I will get on that, Your Majesty." Elinor released Elsa's hands and hurried back to her tent, wiping the threatening tears from her eyes. Elsa returned to the elderly troll.
"Please, Grand Pabbie, I need you to come with me to DunBroch. Kristoff is injured and he needs your help as soon as possible."
Pabbie looked on at the worried faces of his fellow trolls, still frantic over the news of Kristoff and Anna.
"I'll come with you," Pabbie agreed. "But these people can't stay here. You must find them a more permanent shelter. They are out in the open here. We aren't soldiers Elsa; we can't protect them if others find us."
"But where am I supposed to– "
Elsa stopped mid-sentence, looking up in the direction of the North Mountain.
"Whoa."
The company and Arendelle's refugees gazed up at the magnificent ice palace, glistening with bright blues and rich pinks. "You told us she had ice powers, but you never told us she could do this," a Stabbington brother muttered to Rapunzel, never taking his eyes off of the crystal-cut architecture.
"I didn't know either." Rapunzel ran her hand up the ice railing of the staircase in wonder.
They followed behind Elsa as she stepped up to the doors of her palace. Before she opened them, she faced her audience and cleared her throat.
"Now, you should all be safe here. I know it isn't the most comfortable place, but you are free to use it as you wish and set up your tents and supplies inside. It shouldn't melt if you light a few fires."
Elsa turned back to the doors and pushed them open. A menacing growl erupted from within the ice sanctuary.
"…Marshmallow?"
The snow giant meandered to the doorway, revealing himself in the moonlight. The thugs and the Stabbington brothers drew their weapons, prepared for an attack.
"No, don't provoke him! You'll just make him angry!" Elsa shouted, raising her hand out to stop them. She gazed up at her creation, finding his ugly ice spikes were gone. She saw something shine on his head.
"You have my old crown?"
"Yes," Marshmallow simply said. Everyone else stood quiet, watching their conversation in awe.
"Marshmallow, these people need to stay here. Can you protect them? You are in charge of the palace, after all."
Marshmallow glared at the people, then up at the palace. "I'm the Queen?"
"Yes," Elsa laughed, amused at his gentle nature. He had been created out of fear, but that didn't define him; just as fear no longer defined her. "You are the Queen, but just like me, you have people to protect."
He smiled and nodded. "Okay."
Marshmallow and Elsa stood aside as the refugees took their tents and bags into the palace, nervously passing the giant on their way in. Olaf stayed close to Elinor's side as she walked up the steps to the palace. She held the seam of her dress in one hand and a piece of paper folded in the other.
"Here, Queen Elsa. I drew a map of DunBroch for you. May luck be on your side, Miss."
"I appreciate it, Queen Elinor. You'll see your daughter again soon." Elsa took the paper from her hands and began to dip into a bow. Instead, she was greeted by a warm hug.
"Stay safe," Elinor whispered, leaving their embrace and continuing to enter the palace. Elsa felt an unsettled feeling rise in her gut. Two queens were entrusting her with their daughters' lives, despite all the mistakes she had made. She could barely trust herself with the life of her own sister.
"S-so…" Rapunzel started, breaking Elsa's thoughts. The princess stood intimidated in the large dark shadow Marshmallow was casting over her. Pascal mimicked her anxious glances on her shoulder. "Are we ready to leave now?"
Elsa gave one last nod to Marshmallow and faced the rest of her company. They watched her movements intently, patiently awaiting her response. The grand display of her powers had granted her the respect of even these hardened criminals. All of their lives were her responsibility too. She hastily concealed her growing fear behind a disciplined mask, obtained only through long years of experience.
"Return to the ship. We are sailing to DunBroch."