When Anna woke, feeling stiff but warm and cosy as toast, she felt someone holding her hand.

Elsa, she thought, with a rush of warm, bubbly happiness.

But when she opened her eyes and turned her head, it was Kristoff she found by her bedside.

"Heya sleepy-head," he said gently. She felt his warm calloused thumb moving over the soft skin of her palm. "Good to see you back in the land of the living."

"Kristoff…?" With one hand she pushed herself off the bed. "I thought you'd gone ice harvesting."

"I did. And I came back," he said.

Anna's eyes burrowed together in confusion. "But, that was…" she begun.

"You've been out of it for a while," Kristoff explained.

Anna looked to her window. The sun was orange, low in the sky. Almost sunset. "A whole day?" she gasped.

"More like five," said Kristoff.

Anna flung herself forward, bolt upright. "You're kidding!"

"You had a bad fever," he said. "Everyone… was really worried."

By everyone, he meant himself, too. Anna could see it in his eyes. Guilt rolled uncomfortably in her stomach. Kristoff must have only came back because she was hurt. It couldn't be easy for him to be here.

"Five days…" she said, before it occurred to her: "The winter paegent!" she exclaimed, hands flying to her mouth.

"—Is over. There a few people here still, but most have gone home already," Kristoff said with a shrug.

But, Elsa! Did she announce her engagement to that prince? What bad timing to be asleep, she thought.

"Did… did Elsa…" she began.

Kristoff's eyes softened. "She was worried sick about you, you know. Kai said she sat with you for three days straight until the Arch Chancellor forced her to go to bed."

"Oh…" Elsa…

"She said she hurt you with her powers, but I still don't get why," Kristoff said, looking at her curiously.

"I, um, hugged her. She told me to let go of her, but I… I guess I wanted to prove she wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh."

Yes, oh. Why had this happened?

Elsa's powers play up when she's unsure or frightened, she thought. And Elsa was frightened. But what of? Of her? Of herself? The way she acted it was as though she'd wanted Anna to despise her.

Which literally made zero sense.

"Where is she anyway?" Anna asked. She still couldn't swallow the disappointment she felt that it hadn't been her sister she'd found by her side.

It was about time they talked, properly. Elsa could turn her into an ice cube as many times as she wanted, but this time she wasn't about to let her run away.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed with a wince; her toes felt stiff and painful. "Is she sleeping?"

Kristoff responded with silence. That's when Anna started to realise something was wrong.

"Kristoff?" she asked, voice rising sharply.

"I didn't want to tell you so soon after you woke up," he said.

"Tell me what?"

"Ah, geez Anna. Alright. She's not here," said Kristoff.

"What do you mean she's not here?"

"I mean she's not here. At the end of the Paegent she announced she was going to marry this prince from the Spring City. And then out of the blue she said they were going to have the wedding there instead of in Arendelle and she just up and left."

"Up and left?" exclaimed Anna. "What do you mean she up and left? Elsa wouldn't just leave."

"Well, she did," said Kristoff, taciturn as ever. "When the rest of the people from the Spring City left she went with them, just yesterday."

"But…" But why didn't she wait until I woke up? If she was really that worried about me, why did she leave me?

Kristoff must have seen how unhappy she looked, because he said, "I tried to talk her out of it. So did a bunch of others. But I don't think she listened to a word I said."

Anna shook her head. "It just doesn't seem like her to do something as sudden as this. Everyone in Arendelle was looking forward to a royal wedding. She wouldn't let everyone down like that."

"Well she has and it's happened. The real question now is why."

Kristoff was looking at her as though she knew the answer. But what did she know? All that Elsa's confession had done was confirm that Anna didn't even know her sister. She loved her? Had always loved her? And, for all these years, without Anna even noticing?

The part of that that was happy at Elsa's confession was quickly being extinguished. Her finger clenched around the bed covers. They hurt.

With a click, the door cracked open and Gerda peeked in.

"Oh, Anna, you're awake!" She bustled into the room, fussing with Anna and feeling her forehead. "We were so worried about you, darling. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," said Anna moodily.

"I told her about Queen Elsa," Kristoff explained.

"Oh, sweetie…"

"I just don't understand why she would do this to me. Why she would leave me." Humiliatingly, tears tried to well in her eyes. Quickly she swept them away with the back of her forearm. She was aware she was being dramatic and childish, but she couldn't help herself.

"I'm sure the Queen had Her reasons…"

"Like what?" Anna demanded.

From the front of her dress, Gerda withdrew a letter, sealed with Elsa's snowflake. "Maybe this will help shed some light. The Queen left this for you. She asked me to give it to you when you woke up." She handed it to Anna, and quickly she tore it open and began to read.

Anna,

By the time you read this, I'll have already left for the Valleylands and the Spring City. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye.

I'm sure, in your condition that you understand why . I need time to think, and space to control my powers.

Please try and forget all those things I told you.

I'll be back in Arendelle by the next full moon.

Elsa.

The note took Anna not even a minute to read. She stared hard at the paper, as though she might be able to coerce it into spilling its secrets. But it was short and curt, and gave away nothing of what Elsa was really thinking.

"Anna dear…" said Gerda. Anna glanced up at her, distracted. "I know you don't want to be thinking about this now, but the small-council needs to speak with you. Elsa left so abruptly that everything's in disarray."

"They need to see me?" said Anna, jolting up straight.

"Who else is there?" said Gerda.

The small-council was in an uproar. Papers flung across the table, Franz and the Admiral stood opposite sides of the table, shouting.

This was the scene Anna opened the door to find.

"Uh," she said.

The men paused, flushed red with anger, staring at her.

She felt very small, and very much out of her comfort. This was Elsa's domain; not hers.

"Princess Anna," Franz breathed with relief, palming back his dishevelled, receding hair. "I'm happy to see you awake and well."

Erikson drew a chair for her. Hesitating a moment, she took it.

"Princess, I take it you're aware of the situation," Lund, the defence minister said.

"I am."

He pushed across a document to her. "Elsa left this behind, naming Franz co-regent in the temporary time she'll be abroad."

"Co-regent?" asked Anna, picking up the document. "Who's—"

She read:

—in my absence I name Franz Østergaard co-regent, as well as my sister HRH Princess Anna—

"No way!" exclaimed Anna. "What do I know about ruling Arendelle?"

Franz coughed. "Before Elsa left, she said she thought it would be beneficial to give you some experience in handling Arendelle's affairs."

Her? Rule? Hah! What a joke. Anna slid the document back over the table silently.

She says that I must get why she's doing this… but the truth is I still don't understand. I don't know what she's thinking or trying to achieve, she thought.

And in truth, I don't think she knows, either. She's just trying to run away again. She thinks she can keep me busy here with this regent stuff so I won't go after her.

But she's wrong.

"I'm leaving for the Valleylands," said Anna. "I need to talk to Elsa."

She held her breath. She expected dissent, being told she must do as the Queen degreed, but instead she saw Lund nodding.

"I too think this behaviour is atypical for Queen Elsa," he said, at her questioning look. "And I have to admit, I'm worried. I don't trust the Spring City, nor its Queen."

"That southern witch," growled the Admiral.

"Are you talking about Prince Jareth's grandmother?" Anna asked, thinking about the tiny old woman.

"These are all rumours," Franz said, splaying his hands in exasperation. "Princess, please take Lund and Admiral Westerguard with the pinch of salt they're due."

But Anna asked: "What rumours?"

"The more I hear about her, the more I distrust her," the Admiral said, angry eyes flashing.

"I've heard it said that she can look into your eyes and expose your inmost weaknesses…mere rhetoric, I'm sure," said Erikkson.

"That said, for such a small country, they know too much," added Lund. "I've bought and traded intelligence with them more than once. It's always confused me where they get their knowledge from. It's possible they have a very strong spy network, but at the same time…"

"It came up in discussion when I spoke with Normark's secretary general," said Fredderickson. "For a country whose economy is based around agriculture, their annual input is abnormally high."

"Rumours. Just rumours," Franz tried to say, before he was drowned out once more.

"Perhaps they are. But what worries me…" Lund said, "is that for some time now they've disallowed any foreign ships from entering their waters. I really didn't expect them to reply to our invitation, since no non-nationals have been allowed into the Spring City for almost half a year. They've been downright unfriendly to their allies. It's suspicious."

"So what you're saying is…" butted in Anna, who was only just managing to keep up, "is that there's something fishy going on there?"

"Most definitely," said Lund, removing his glasses to wipe them with his sleeve.

"Well then," said Anna, "we better hurry up and fetch her back then."

All eyes were on her. But she was feeling confident, now.

The Admiral stood, sweeping his hand into a salute. "Princess, my finest vessel is at your disposal.

Frederickson reached for a bit of paper and started scrawling. "I'll prepare your papers right away."

"Anna…" Franz looked at her with understanding eyes, that she flinched under. "You're going to have to let her go one day, you know that, don't you? Elsa needs to marry. If not Prince Jareth, then someone else."

"I know that," said Anna. I know that, but…

"You may have trouble getting into the capital, if the Spring City are still enforcing their ban on foreign traffic," Lund warned her.

"If they are, we'll find another way," said Anna. She didn't feel afraid. She'd done it before and she'd do it again. As many times it took, she'd bring Elsa home.

To be continued.