A/N: Hello, hello! :D Okay, I'm extremely sorry for not updating for so long! If you ever want to start writing a story and you have no outline for it, don't start! It's been a pain to figure out where I want to go with this. So anyways, changes have been made to this chapter, so give it another read (if you've read it already. If this is your first time reading it, trust me when I say this version is much much better than the original one!)! :) Nothing too much, just a little more details to Anna's emotional state mostly. Again, so sorry for the wait, guys! Please bear with me. I promise a new chapter will be up by the end of next week! At least I'd like to think so.
Disclaimer: Frozen and everything associated with it does not belong to me. If it did, Elsa would have more screen time. A lot more screen time!
~Stylin80: Aw thanks! Gland you like it! :D
~TSO: Thank you! Sometimes it's hard to write in a language that's not even remotely close to your own, but I'm doing my best, and I just hope my best is good enough :P Thanks for the feedback and for your help with this! I really appreciate it! Oh and I fixed the "take Sven, and this place...". I hadn't even noticed the missing word.
~Randomwords247: I'll take this as a compliment, so I think a thank you is in order :P Thanks! This update took a little longer than I hoped it would, but it's here now! Hope you like it :)
~MagicOfDisney: I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait a bit longer to find that out... I hope so too, though :P
~Awesome (Guest): Haha that would be cool (pun intended), but I kinda think Elsa is the kind of person who wouldn't kill anyone. Well, not intentionally anyway. Oh and your wish comes true in this chapter, Anna does wake up. Finally. :P
~FlashFreeze0: Elsa has Hans trapped in a block of ice from the neck down, locked in a cell in the dungeon and heavily guarded. I think that's enough for now. Of course, the story isn't over yet, so you never know what's going to happen next. I'm glad you like it! Keep reading :D
~chococat531: Thanks! Hope you like this one too!
~MonsrerPlayer: Sorry for the long wait.. Thanks for the feedback! :)
14.
"Queen Elsa!" the queen could hear various people calling her name, but she stopped for no one. By the time she reached the doors of the Great Hall, she had at least seven people on her tail, all wanting to talk to her. The servants, the guards and several people bowed around her as she passed by them, barely sparing them a look, her eyes locked on the doors in front of her. The two guards standing by the door stopped talking to each other and bowed deeply when they saw her approaching. They didn't utter a word, as it was obvious she would not respond.
"Queen Elsa!" It was the same voice as before, which Elsa recognized as Nordal, one of her most faithful and trusted advisers. The young queen turned sharply to face the man, with a displeased look on her face. The man stopped just in time to avoid running into her.
"Can I help you, Nordal?" asked Elsa, and the adviser was taken aback for a second by the woman's tone.
"My queen," he begun, "Are you certain it is wise to deploy so many men?" he asked, and Elsa looked at him as if she expected him to justify his thought. "Sending five hundred men to find the Ice Master could be the cause for war between Arendelle and whoever is involved," he explained, Elsa had to admit it made sense; seeing as Arendelle presently wasn't in any position to fight. She pondered the thought for a moment and then turned to the lieutenant colonel, who was also following her.
"I want at least sixty men coming with me," she said. "The rest of you are still coming, but keep your distance. Should things get ugly, attack; otherwise, you remain unseen and return back here at my signal," she ordered matter-of-factly.
The man bowed. "As you wish, your majesty," he said, and left to inform the rest of the men who were already on their horses, waiting for orders. Elsa didn't wait for the guards to open the doors in front of her. She reached out and pushed them open forcefully, making her way outside. The castle grounds were relatively empty; only the guards appointed to watch the walls were scattered around, as most people had withdrawn to the safety of the interior. She took a moment to look around and get her thoughts in order. Of course, Nordal was right; sending so many men was more than enough of a reason for a war to be declared against Arendelle, and she couldn't afford that. The people's faith in her was thinning by the hour, and so was her confidence in herself. Her sister was dying, her people had begun questioning her ability to rule, again, and having a very enraged Hans locked up in the dungeon, surprisingly enough, didn't make her feel any better. Sure, that was one less obstacle in her way, but for how long? If it was so easy for him to get Vikings of all people to help him, and have Anna taken from inside the castle, who was to say he still didn't have someone in the castle? The guard's words came swarming in her mind. Elsa still couldn't believe she had let something like two missing guards slip by her like it was nothing. For all she knew, any of the guards standing in their posts, bowing their heads as she passed by could be helping Hans; hell, even Nordal could. The young queen shivered at the thought of one of her most trusted advisers conspiring with her greatest enemy, and she pushed that thought aside. She knew Nordal would never betray her like that. She was just being paranoid.
"Your horse is ready, your majesty," a guard's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, as he approached, bowing slightly.
"Have the men been informed of the change of plans?" she asked after blinking a couple of times to focus on the man's words.
"Yes, your majesty. Everyone has been informed and is ready to leave at your command." Elsa nodded.
"Good, then let there be no further delay. We are leaving now," she stated, turning to the servant girl standing to her left. "Inform Gerda of my absence. Should the princess wake up, she will know what to do," she said and the girl nodded her head, her eyes never leaving the ground, and turned on her heels, heading back inside the castle. Elsa turned her head back to the guard and gave him a slight nod, letting him know she was ready to leave.
A good half hour passed before Anna's eyes fluttered open, only to close again immediately; the light in the room was too much for her sensitive pupils to bear. A soft whimper escaped the young princess's lips as she became aware of her condition. She had awoken hoping everything was just a really, really bad dream, but judging by the pounding in her head, the heaviness of her chest, and the general feeling of weariness, it was all very real.
The princess tried one more time to open her eyes, the light making her head ache even more. After a few deep, shaky, breaths to regain some energy, Anna looked around her as best she could, given that too much movement made her feel nauseous. The blinds were open, letting the rays of the sun illuminate the room, but the windows were shut. If it was still as cold as it had been the past couple of days, someone was trying to keep her as warm as possible. A tiny smile played across her lips as she thought of her sister. Anna moved her hand slightly, reaching for her elder sister, who she was certain was still sitting by her side.
"Elsa?" she said weakly, her voice raspy and hoarse, when she realized that the space next to her bed was empty. She turned her head to the door, and frowned seeing it wide open. Elsa would never leave the door to her sister's room like that.
"Elsa?" she repeated a bit louder, when she got no response. Anna tried to sit up, only to cough violently, her sides hurting from the sudden pressure. The abrupt movement caused something to slide from her left shoulder, and fall on her lap. After a few deep, painful breaths, the young princess looked down, her eyes growing wide in realization.
Anna reached with shaky hands and picked up the pieces of cloth from her lap. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she examined the pair of very familiar gloves. She wrinkled her nose in puzzlement, not fully understanding what she was supposed to think.
"Elsa?" she whispered questioningly, with pain evident in her voice, and clutched the pair of gloves to her chest. She had seen those gloves before. She had wore those gloves before, and she had seen Elsa wearing them as well. They were her gloves; the ones that the queen had taken from her drawer and had them on the last time she saw her. So why were they there? "She left?" She asked herself in a small, cracking voice, and, no matter how hard she wished this to be wrong, it was the only thought that lingered in the young princess's mind. Anna felt like her head was going to explode as she felt tears start welling up in her eyes, but refused to let them fall. She wasn't about to start crying. A moment later, a visibly distressed Kai ran inside the room, his face flushed.
"Princess Anna! Are you okay? You should lie down!" he exclaimed making his way to the bed, and mentally cursing himself for leaving her alone, despite the queen's orders. Anna turned her face to look at the man, her eyes confused, sightly unfocused, and her eyebrows furrowed.
"Where's Elsa?" she asked in a small voice, lowering her eyes, and rocking slightly back and forth, never loosening her grip on the gloves.
"Your highness—" Kai started, but he didn't know what to say to the young princess. "I'm sure the queen will be right back," he said reassuringly, knowing perfectly well his words did nothing to help the situation. "Is— Is there something you need? Something to eat? Some water maybe? You have to drink some water."
"Elsa," replied Anna simply.
"Uh... Excuse me?" asked Kai confused.
"Where is the queen?" she asked pronouncing every word. "I want her," she added in the most authoritative tone she could muster.
Kai remained silent for a while. Truth was, he didn't know exactly where the young queen had gone; only that she had ordered a large number of armed men to go after the Ice Master and that she had gone with them. "She- She left," he said. "Quite abruptly..." Anna turned her head and looked at him, tears threatening to fall. "I am fairly certain Gerda knows more about what's going on than myself, princess. Let me just go get her," he added hastily, after realising his words did nothing to help the young princess. Anna continued staring at him as he walked to the door and left the room. As soon as Kai was gone, the young princess let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. The wave of energy was slowly leaving her body, and she lay back down, closing her eyes, suddenly feeling too tired to be sitting up.
She could feel tears running down her face, wetting her pillow. She didn't know why she was crying. She knew Elsa would never leave her, and that only made her sister's absence more impactful. Anna found it unable to think straight, her mind hazy and her thoughts blurry and disconnected. Her certainty over the queen's actions started fading ever so slightly, but the young princess tried to dismiss the feelings of doubt. Elsa would never leave; it wasn't who she was. The thirteen years the two sisters had spent apart, only worked to make Anna's need to be with Elsa greater. Especially at a time like this one, when Anna wasn't even certain she would live to even see her sister again. She was dying, for all she knew, and she wanted- no, she needed her sister to be with her.
The young princess gathered all the energy she could and slowly rolled to the right side of her bed, feeling every bone in her body scream at her. It took a lot more energy than she expected, but she managed to swing her legs over the side of her bed, reach out, and pull open the drawer on her nightstand. Inside lay a neatly wrapped package, tied with a light blue ribbon, Elsa's favorite color. Anna took it out and held it in her hands. This little package was the reason why she had been late to her sister's birthday party just two days before; thinking back, the day of the party now seemed like a distant memory. The princess untied the blue ribbon and opened the package to look at its contents. The day she had gone to the marketplace with Kristoff, she had found out that some people were making and selling little crystal replicas of pretty much everything. She had really liked the idea, and had spent a day trying to figure out what would be best for Elsa. After giving her the music box, everything else seemed dull in Anna's eyes. She had decided that a little replica of her sister's Ice Palace would be perfect, so the young princess had spent hours at a man's stall, giving him a detailed description of Elsa's creation, and waiting for him to finish the little sculpture.
Anna smiled weakly, thinking back at the man's reaction when she informed him that that would be the queen's birthday present. He had stared at her in shock, and had started sweating and stuttering. The princess had found it quite amusing, but tried to calm the man nonetheless. When he was finished, Anna was amazed by the result. It looked exactly like Elsa's ice palace, down to the slightest detail; even refracting and reflecting light to sparkle and glow the same way Elsa's palace did.
She had thanked the man with a huge smile on her face, and had insisted on paying him when he refused to take any money. When the man had refused again, this time more sternly, Anna had gone so far as to say that the queen herself would be very displeased if she found out he hadn't accepted any money for his hard work. That seemed to do the trick, and the man took the money, thanking the princess.
A small smile worked its way up to her lips again. That had happened two days ago, and yet it felt like years had passed. She examined the little crystal sculpture, which looked even more beautiful now that the light was reflected on it. Anna felt a fresh wave of tears roll down her cheeks, and she shut her eyes tightly. She wanted to scream, and the fact that she didn't know why, made her want to scream even more. Tightening her grip on the crystal replica, she felt like nothing was making sense. She felt hurt, and betrayed, refusing to listen to reason, which told her that Elsa would never leave; especially when her sister was slowly dying. Elsa would die first if it meant saving Anna. She could sense pain and frustration piling up, as she could no longer contain the scream that had been caught in the back of her throat.
Unable to handle the sudden pressure, the young princess went into a violent coughing fit, her body convulsing with each shuddering explosion. The crystal ice palace slipped from her loosening grip and fell to the floor, shattering into pieces on impact. She took a forced breath into her burning throat, back spots appearing in her vision.
Kai came in running, followed by an extremely worried looking Gerda, just in time to see Anna's body go limp, and fall forward. Gerda dropped the glass of water she was holding and she and Kai ran to the princess's side. The man caught her before she could fall on the floor, and he gently laid her on the bed. The servant's breath got caught in his throat when he saw a small trickle of blood running down from her mouth. He wiped it softly, and eyed Gerda who was standing next to him, her eyes wet with unshed tears.
"I'm going to get the doctor," stated Kai, trying to maintain the calmness in his voice, and, after seeing Gerda nod, he made his way outside as fast as he could.
"Don't worry, little one," whispered Gerda, stroking one of her braids, as soon as the door was closed. The woman smiled at the sight of the little snowflake holding Anna's braided hair in place. "Everything is going to be just fine. Your sister knows what she's doing."
A/N: So...? How was it? I'd love to hear from someone who has read both versions of this chapter! If there's anyone who actually remember the previous version, that is. As I said, this version of the chapter isn't too different from the previous one, but still, additions (and subtractions) have been made. Once again, I cannot stress how sorry I am it took me so long, and I didn't actually upload a new chapter! But I'm getting there! :D