Skylynn's POV:
I was sitting in the music room alone playing the piano, lost in thought. After Hans' breakdown, a couple of nights ago, we talked some more. It was finally clear to me why he was behaving in such an aggressive manner with all of us. Others could think that my job was now complete, too bad that it wasn't and not just because of what I did during the trial. When I was first told that Anna had saved his life, I lost count of how many times I thanked her for saving him. Hans had calmed down these last few days, he acted almost mechanically. I knew it was because he was still rather shaken from Anna saving his life and he was still processing everything. I didn't blame him, it was a lot to take in. However, what was concerning me now was not Hans, actually, he was probably a victim in the situation.
"Moonlight Sonata, First Movement, your favorite" my head snapped up when I heard that voice and stopped playing.
"Storm" I said meeting his blue eyes. Storm was casually leaning on the doorway of the music room in his red uniform, one hand on his belt, the other on the helm of his sword.
"You haven't lost your touch" he said walking closer to me.
"Thank you… I guess" I paused "How are you doing?" Storm shrugged.
"Not bad. I could get used to Arendelle" I rolled my eyes, lowering them back on the keyboard.
"Of course you can" I said and went back to playing.
"But I miss home" he added. I didn't look up to him, but my lips twitched in an ironic side smile.
"Too bad I can't agree on that with you"
"I was talking about Drakora" I looked back up to him.
"In that case then, yes, I can agree" I said. Storm smiled and walked to the piano, placing a hand and leaning on it.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked "You haven't insulted me yet or tried to make me feel guilty about what happened during the Revolution, although I've just given you the perfect opportunity to do so. Plus, I bet you're trying to either think, or relax, or both"
"Oh? And what makes you so sure about that?" I challenged.
"I am sure because every time you were stressed out, angry, or you needed to think over a strategy, you always used to steal Carter's lute, go somewhere quiet and lonely to play it, without singing; you kept the singing for cheering us up or for when we were in the mood for a sing-along"
"I didn't steal Carter's lute, I borrowed it without having him know. I returned it eventually. But back to the topic, yes, all these things are correct, my dear Storm, but there is something else I do when I need to think or relax or both"
"Oh, you mean riding Black Beauty? Right. I left that one out" he said with a smirk.
"Wow, stalker much?"
"I call it 'Observing-The-Only-Woman-In-The-Army-That-Sneaks-Around- A-Lot'" he countered. I shook my head and went back to playing 'Moonlight Sonata'. "So" Storm continued "What are you thinking about?"
"Gordon and Herbert" I started "When I confronted them… you don't beat to pulp and make your younger sibling's existence a living hell just because your father would tell you to take him as an example" I said.
"Well, that is not really nice. My father used to do that with my comrades and I can assure you, it doesn't feel good" he said.
"Yeah, well. But you don't try to purposely make your younger brother feel like a 'worthless piece of nothing'- quoting Hans- because your father used this not-so-nice method of pushing you to do your best. I mean, they put him under such a psychological pressure to make him to feel the need to prove himself to them and try to take on some suicide mission. For some reason they wanted him dead and the reason they gave me..." I looked at him and shook my head "It doesn't convince me"
"Envy and jealousy can bring people to do very bad things" Storm said.
"Yeah, but… to kill your own sibling? It would have made more sense if that happened to August because he is the second in line, or even better, Theodore, but Hans? He's the thirteenth, Theodore is the first in line, he's not married yet and doesn't have kids, or at least not that anyone knows of. If Theodore were in Hans' position it would have made much more sense, but still, it's Hans we're talking about. It isn't logical!"
"So, basically you think there is something bigger behind the… uhm… 'Arendelle Incident', right?"
"Right… there is something fishy going on and I need to find out what it is. I just… I can't let Hans go back to that place when his sentence is done, they would only try to finish the job, whatever reason they have"
"Once your brother's punishment is over, I'll go back to the Isles. Maybe I could try to find out something for you"
"Thank you for your offer, but I think I'll have to pass" I said. Storm was about to complain, then realization hit him.
"I get it…" he said.
"Storm, you left us when we needed you. You put me in an awful position. You turned your back on your people. It's not easy to forgive and forget, you may not have joined Hugh's forces and allies but still, that's called treason"
"Why did you prevent Landon from exiling me, anyway? Aren't I in the 'Coward Deceivers' category?" he asked. I stopped playing.
"You are many things, Storm" I started, looking at him straight in the eyes "But you are not a coward. That's the only thing about you I'm sure of" Storm looked at me inquisitively.
"The only thing you're sure of about me? After a war together? I'm torn, Skylynn. Should I take it as a genuine compliment or as an offensive compliment?"
"I'd consider it something that makes you feel good and bad at the same time"
"Someone's undecided. No, wait!" he cut me off before I could reply "You have a plan when you're at the head of others, but on your own…. you make things up as you go" A tiny smile couldn't help but escaped my lips as he quoted me and he smiled back. For a moment it felt like it were yesterday that we were at war together and that we would have some solo missions Landon didn't order and were one step closer to the goal. Landon would usually get mad at us, but since we didn't do any damage and helped instead, everyone would let us off the hook. Landon usually never gave solo missions or special tasks, except if it wasn't for spying around. If there were some strategies that I thought were lacking in something or that weren't actually the best of ideas, if Landon didn't listen to us, Storm and I would leave him out of it and go get what we wanted our way, even if that meant disobeying to the King. Storm would usually complain about it because, well, Landon was the king, but in the end he would always come with me no matter what. Even though we were at war, those were good times. I remember that on one of our last missions together, Storm and I had been blown to hell…
Flashback
(A/N: Bold: Drakorian, Italics: English)
Storm and I were on the same ship. We were attacking one of Hugh's major headquarters sailing up the Black river, known for its deep waters and strong flows. We were sailing the river against the current, since it was the only way to the most exposed part of the headquarters. Unfortunately for us, Hugh had been expecting us. There had been a spy among us. We were almost near the banks where the rebels were supposed to dock, but before we could reach it, there was a loud bang that came from the back of our ship, where the heavy artillery we were transferring was. Storm and I immediately rushed below deck. There was a man standing next to a cannon.
"What happened here?" I thundered in Drakorian. The man looked at me with wide eyes.
"You just gave away our position!" Storm added angrily.
"Captain, First mate! I-I- have no idea what happened. I was in my place and then this just- It just blew up! I think someone sabotaged it" he answered in the same language. Then I saw where he was holding his hands.
"Plausible enough. What's behind your back?" I inquired. He just shrugged.
"Nothing"
"Captain! We're being attacked!" someone shouted from above deck. Storm and I looked at the man one second before he threw two stones at us and ran away.
"Get him, Storm! You know Landon's orders: no traitors aboard!" I ordered.
"Aye, aye , Captain!" he replied, unsheathed his dagger and ran after the traitor, while I got back up on deck. We were almost there, but archers on the top of the cliffs that formed most of the river banks were waiting for us and they were shooting us with flaming arrows. My men were trying to fight back, archers firing, trying to protect the sailors. We weren't getting anywhere like this. Then I saw that the next shore, might not have been the one we were supposed to get to, but it was the closest to the forest covering most of the landscape in the area a few feet away. We could hide there. The archers wouldn't have been able to shoot us. A second later, Landon's ship came next to mine.
"Captain Engel-Westerguard! Send the soldiers below deck, all of them. We're landing on the next shore, there's a forest over there, the archers won't be able to hit us!" Landon shouted as if reading my mind.
"Aye, aye, King Landon!" I said and rushed to work "Stop firing! Spare the ammo! Everyone below deck except the crew!" I shouted in Drakorian "Soldiers, get ready to dock!" I shouted. In that moment Storm came back up on deck rushing to my side. "First Mate, to the wheel. Get us to that shore over there!"
"Aye, Captain!" he said and went to the wheel. The boats ahead of us were already docked in front of the shore, the rebels immediately rushing into the woods for protection. Landon's ship was the one in front of us. Suddenly, from the top of the cliffs, soldiers appeared… with cannons. Damn it! was my only thought. They started shooting first at Landon's vessel. The ship was badly damaged, but luckily for us Landon and most of the men made it to the shore alive. Suddenly our ship was hit by a cannon ball as well. The master tree was destroyed. Pieces of wood went flying everywhere.
"Lower the anchor!" I ordered. A few sailors came to me and helped me put down the anchor. Then I ran to open the doors that would get us below deck "Out of the ship! Out!" I shouted. The soldiers immediately swarmed out and jumped out of the ship to the shore and ran to the woods. Being the First Mate and the Captain, Storm and I were the last to leave the ship. The last soldier had jumped overboard a second before I saw the cannons aiming at us. Storm and I ran to the edge, but before we could jump off, we were hit, not by one, but three cannon balls that threw us into the cold water and destroyed the ship.
The current was strong, we couldn't swim our way to the others, luckily neither of us had hit their head on a rock. Storm was ahead of me, calling my name. The cold water's current pushing us farther away. This river was dangerous and not just for the current and whirlpools that could drown us, but because further away, much further from where we started sailing up the river, there were waterfalls, big and tall waterfalls. The river pushed us near the banks,and both of us immediately tried to grab onto something on the high edge. Storm then suddenly managed to grab onto something, unlike me, but before the current could push me away, Storm grabbed my wrist with his free hand.
"Sky, climb onto me to get up there and help me up" he shouted. I immediately did as he said. I grabbed his shoulders and while Storm gripped on a thick protruding tree root with both hands. As soon as I let go of his hand, I used his body as a ladder, careful not to push him underwater. As soon as I got out of the water, I immediately grabbed his hand and helped him out. The moment we were out of the water, soaked, we laid on our backs panting. We just need a few seconds to catch our breaths, still holding tight onto each other's hand.
"Are you alright?" I asked him.
"Yeah. You?" he replied.
"I'm good" I answered, but then we remained silent for a moment, still breathing heavily and our hearts beating fast, but sent each other a look. That look caused us to chuckle lightheartedly as the same thought passed through our heads: Landon better give us a promotion, that was one hardcore stunt we just pulled. Storm and I then got back on our feet, looking at our surroundings. It took me a few seconds but then I recognized were we were. We had passed this part of the Black River not too long ago, that meant that we weren't too far back away from the others, but that also meant something else. The moment my eyes met Storm's I realized he had come to my same conclusion.
"You're insane" was his reaction.
"Storm, if we cut through these woods, we can get to the western entrance of the fortress. Landon's cover is now blown. Someone will have to create a diversion so the others can get into the fortress… and we still have our swords…"
"We've just been blown to hell and you want to break into the fortress to act as a live bait?"
"Or we could create a diversion on the west entrance and open the gates to the south one. I'm sure the rebels wouldn't mind seeing us open the doors for them"
"So basically, it's a yes" he said. I grinned "Landon told us to steer clear of the west entrance, it's full of soldiers and cannons, they are waiting for us"
"Yeah, well, alive and at the head of an army of rebels" I said unsheathing my sword and twirling it.
"You always know how to make an entrance, don't you?" he said. I smirked at him and he smirked back "Oh, yeah! Sky and Storm are back in the game!"
"Let's get into that fortress and see what kind of trouble we can get into" I said putting my sword back in its sheath. In short, that night, the fortress was ours.
End Flashback
I averted my eyes from him and went back to playing. Yeah, we were a good team. That was one of our best missions and Landon actually did give us a promotion. When we used to fight together, Storm and I didn't need to look at each other, we knew what the other was doing without speaking, we knew each other's moves and fighting style, I trusted him with my life and he trusted me with his... then he went and ruined everything.
"So…" I began changing topic "I heard you're staying here as an ambassador of the Southern Isles"
"I am, but before he departed King Theodore told me that I was here more for Elsa and Anna's protection, in case your brother dared to try anything funny" he said.
"So, who are you serving? Queen Elsa or King Theodore? Oh, and I don't need to mention that technically, you're still a Drakorian citizen, do I?"
"Well, you seem not to want my service, so maybe the Queen, maybe the King. Who knows?"
"I would think over my strategy, if I were you. In your position, being vague might not be the best tactic" I said.
"Is that a threat, Skylynn?" he replied, challengingly.
"Let's just say that I may not exactly be in Elsa's graces but Anna is my number one fan and is a strong influence on Elsa. It'd be a shame, if our lovely queen would start doubting your loyalty, especially after receiving the attentions of a gentleman such as yourself" I said.
"I feel like I'm supposed to be intimidated by this, but part of me says you're mocking me" he said with cocky side smile.
"I would never!" I mocked for real this time. He just shook his head.
"You still haven't answered to my question" he said speaking seriously "Why did you prevent Landon from exiling me?"
"What you did is considered treason, but you didn't help our enemy and I know you're not a coward. Maybe it's because deep, deep down, hidden very underneath I may still have considered you as a friend"
"Considered? What about now? I told you what was happening to your brother and that doesn't mean anything to you?" he said glaring at me. I stopped playing once again.
"You betrayed us, Storm. Lots of people who could have survived died because of you. Lots of Drakorians could still have their sons, husbands or fathers if you hadn't left us. I had to take your place and abandon those who wanted me to guide them leaving them to follow an amateur. I was counting on you. I needed your help and you turned your back on me, and since you think you know me so well, you should know that once my trust is lost, it is lost forever" I paused and stood up looking at him in the eyes "And if you really want to gain it back it takes much more than a letter" with that said I left the music room, leaving him alone in the room.
I silently walked through the corridor, heading towards the stables. It was a beautiful day outside, the perfect weather for a ride, plus, Black Beauty gets kind of grumpy if I don't ride him at least once a day. If I can't ride him, I usually let him out of the stables and canter around on his own, he comes back eventually.
As I got to the stables, making sure the two guards following me lost track of me – I mean- Seriously?! Someone should teach these guys how to spy on someone and follow them around without getting caught- I noticed there were a few guards around on their horses, waiting. None of them noticed me, and that was good. I sneaked into the stables and went to Black Beauty's box, exactly when the stable boy was taking out a golden brown horse.
"Hey, boy" I said smiling at my horse. The black stallion whinnied and hit his hoof on the ground. I opened the box and Black immediately came out nuzzling his muzzle on my cheek and bumping me in the stomach with its head as if he was saying: "Hey! Where have you been?! Cuddle me!"
"Alright, bud. Let's go" I said scratching its head. Black whinnied again and followed me out of the stables. As my horse and I got outside, we just made it in time to see who the guards were waiting for: Queen Elsa. She was in her lady horseback attire, a dark purple dress with elegant dark red and yellow decorations from her waist up, a matching jacket, brown horseback short cut boots, and her hair in a more casual bun, bust still very queenly looking, and she was just about to get on the horse.
"Well, well!" I said with a smile drawing the attention to me "Looks like her Majesty finally decided to have a little fun" I said smirking.
"Hello, Queen Skylynn" she said smiling back at me "I suppose you're going for a ride as well" but before she could say anything else, her horse pushed past her and trotted to me, her guards already about to chase after it.
"Sitron" I said recognizing the horse as it nuzzled my hands while I stroked it. Elsa walked to me puzzled.
"You know my horse?" she asked.
"Hans's horse" I said eyeing her.
"You know what I mean" she said eyeing me back.
"Well, to answer your question, yes I do. He is the first horse I have ever ridden, I was about 7 years-old when Hans first put me on a horse" I said and in that moment Black bumped my back with its head.
Hey! What about me? he seemed to say
"Black Beauty is the first horse I actually rode and tamed on my own, but I was 14 at the time" I said petting my horse once and going back to petting Sitron "Hans used to walk and lead Sitron with a rope while I was on the saddle or he would put me on the saddle, climb up behind me and we would ride together" I said scratching Sitron's head "So, I suppose he got under your custody since my brother's 'Arendelle Fiasco', but how did you get to tame him? Because unless Hans is there he would usually be very grumpy. It took me almost a year before he would allow me to pet him without having my brother on the watch. Didn't it, boy?" I said scratching him behind the ear.
"I just went to see him in the stables where he was left after Hans departed. At first he whinnied at me with his ears back, you could say he was glaring at me, but then I tried to soothe him, I gave him a couple of carrots and… I don't know, he seemed pretty scared at first. Then he calmed down and you can say we became friends" she answered.
"I guess you are one of his 'chosen ones' and I wasn't " I said stroking the horse. Elsa chuckled lightly.
"Chosen ones?" she asked
"Yeah, Hans told me that unlike the rest of our siblings Sitron took a like in him immediately, just like you"
"Oh, I feel honored, Sitron" Elsa said petting his neck "So, I believe I owed you a ride, will you join us?" she asked me.
"Absoutely" I answered smiling. Elsa led back Sitron to the stable boy and a guard helped her up on her saddle. It wasn't like the ones I usually use, it was one of those made for women only, so that they could ride with a dress putting their legs on the side.
"Would you want my stable boy to go prepare your horse?" she asked me.
"Oh, no need" I said and placing my hands on my stallion's back and with a swift jump I got on his back using its main as reins.
"Bareback?" Elsa said looking at me surprised.
"Yup" I said.
"Your Majesties, we're ready to go" said one of the soldiers
"Alright, let's go" Elsa said and together with the soldiers accompanying us, we went for a walk. Elsa and I remained silent for most of the stroll. Let's just say, that I wasn't exactly planning on going for a walk with the guards for many reasons. We had made it half way up in the mountains. Not too far down from the ice harvesting grounds; beautiful view, soft cold breeze tingling your nose, the sun shining high, the snow a few feet up… this is such a wasted walk! Unfortunately, being the guest, I just had to suck it up. I bet riding with Anna is ten times more fun than this is. Elsa and I were walking in front of the soldiers, and that to me was proof that Elsa would soon have to fire whoever is training these guys.
"Psst! Sky" Elsa called from next to me "This is getting boring"
"Thank God you noticed! Do you always ride like this?" I asked, whispering back.
"Unfortunately" she said, then she looked behind us, then back to me "Why don't we go on a walk our way?" she asked with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow surprised.
"Are you seriously asking me to ditch the guards? You out of all people" I said surprised.
"Why not? Sitron and Black Beauty seem to be getting grumpy from the boring walk, I'm supposed to go check on the ice harvesters later, like I do every once a month and I'd like to go say 'hi' to my brother-in-law, we can go there. Come on! Nothing is going to happen" she said. I thought about it for a moment, remembering what happened when Landon died. Guards or no guards, if we were going to be attacked for some reason, their presence wouldn't change much. "Plus" Elsa continued "If my powers weren't enough, your sword is at my service, right? Who could ever ask for a better bodyguard than the heroic Queen of Drakora herself?" she said with a friendly wink. I grinned at her.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked in a whisper.
"How fast is Black Beauty against these guys?" Elsa asked. I grinned as an idea popped into my head.
"Gentlemen" I said turning around to face the guards "Why don't we all spice up the walk?"
"Excuse me, Queen Skylynn?" one of them said puzzled.
"I challenge you all to a race, Queen Elsa included" I said smirking at her.
"I accept your challenge" said Elsa, going along with it "What about you gentlemen? The race starts from here to the Oak Forest. Whichever of you wins against Queen Skylynn, by getting there first, shall receive a day-off as reward" As soon as she said that all the guards accepted my challenge and at the count of three we galloped towards the forest. At first, Elsa and I were going fast, then we ordered our horses to slow down and one by one, the guards passed in front of us. Then, when there was enough distance between us and the guards, Elsa and I changed direction, heading to the mountains, where the ice harvesters were. We galloped higher up in the mountains, until the only visible color was the snow's whiteness. As soon as we made sure the guards weren't following us Elsa and I stopped our horses and we burst out laughing like idiots.
"Really?! Was it that easy?" Elsa said between her laughter, covering her mouth with a hand. Even when she's having fun, she still holds back…
"Did you see how they ran? They seemed pretty eager to get a day off" I said laughing. Then our laughter died down as we petted our horses, but a smile never left our face.
"You don't seem surprised by how easily we sneaked away" Elsa said.
"No, I'm not" she raised an eyebrow "I've been through a war, Elsa… I don't have 'stupid' written on my forehead, I know when someone is following me. You should really go check your army's training methods, by the way, and if you want me to be followed around, maybe find someone who can be a little bit more discreet" I said. Elsa grunted in frustration.
"How long did it take you to notice I had you be followed around?"
"Uhm… about 30 seconds" I said. Elsa hung her head low with a frustrated sigh "I told them to keep it down. Of all things I know about you, for sure, I know you're a soldier and you're good at it"
"Thank you" I said smirking "That was fun though" Elsa laughed
"Yes, it was" she said then she looked back at me "So… you ride bareback?" she said eyeing me amusingly
"Yeah, it feels good, you know. You feel one with your horse, especially when you have a good bond with it, like Black and I have, right bud?" I said petting Black Beauty's neck. He whinnied contently.
"Did your brother teach you how to ride bareback as well?"
"No, actually that is self-taught" I said "Starting from the fact that I've always had a fascination for Drakora ever since Mom told me that we do have some drakorian blood. Her great-grandfather was 100% Drakorian, then he married a Southern Islander and the following generations were Southern Islander, but- anyway-" I paused getting back to the point "When I studied history, I grew to have a small obsession with the ancient Drakorian natives and their culture and rituals and stuff…" I shyly admitted "And I read that they used to ride bareback. So, as soon as I got Black Beauty I immediately wanted to try it out, with Hans around just to make sure I didn't break my neck, and when I managed, I rode him bareback ever since, except for when I went to war. I had to use a saddle there. I only ride bareback for my own pleasure, and his of course, Black Beauty never really liked the bite, anyway"
"But doesn't it hurt when you pull on his main to give him commands?" Elsa asked curiously.
"Funny as it sounds, no it doesn't. Look at Sitron's main" I said pointing to the horse's short main, that stood straight upward "To cut it like that, the stable boy or Hans, simply combed it upwards and pulled. It doesn't hurt them. Plus, Black likes to have me riding him like this. He hates the bite"
"Really?" Elsa said raising an eyebrow holding back a smile.
"Yup, once I was about to go training with Hans and had just put the saddle on him and the reins where hooked next to where Black was tied. I had just put the brush away and when I turned back around, Black lowered his ears, grabbed the reins from the bite, tossed them to the ground and whinnied, stomping his hoof like if he was saying 'I don't want that! I hate that thing!'" I remembered (A/N: This actually happened to me). Elsa laughed as Black Beauty snorted shaking its head "What? Are you pouting?" I told my horse leaning closer to his neck "You want an apology for that, you big baby-boo? Huh?"
*BONK*
As an answer, Black Beauty shot his head up hitting my nose with the back of its neck.
"Ow! Hey!" I complained holding my nose as Elsa burst out laughing. Black whinnied like if he was laughing "And you stop laughing at me!" I said glaring at Elsa "Wait until Sitron smacks your nose with its neck, then we'll see" Elsa stopped laughing, rolling her eyes, but still smiled.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm good" I said then I noticed something "Hey, you didn't cover your mouth when laughing this time!" I pointed out. Elsa looked away embarrassed.
"Oh? Did I?" she said nervously glancing in front of her.
"Yup… finally" I said. She looked back at me quizzically "You need to loosen up a little bit more, you don't always have to play a part, in your case, the 'perfect girl' part. It's just you and me here, you wanna laugh openly? Do it!"
"It's kind of a habit now, and… it's not very queenly like to-"
"-Oh, give me a break! If you are on 'queen-mode' with your subjects looking up to you, then go along with the savoir faire and act like a queen. You are with your friends who see you for yourself, forget about it and be yourself" I said "I'm not saying you shouldn't have any manners, what I mean is that you don't have to be on strict etiquette all the time. Loosen up!" I said.
"Geez, Sky… you sound like Anna" she said frustrated.
"Good. Looks like I'm not the only one who wants to save you from becoming a complete… stick in the mud"
"Whoa, there! Hold it" she said stopping her horse with wide eyes "Stick in the mud? Really?" she said holding back a smile.
"Yes. Really" I challenged.
"Okay, it's on Sky. From right now, it's on. I'll give you 'stick in the mud', Heroine! Race you to the ice-harvesters"
"You're on, Ice Lady" I said.
"Good. I hope you're hungry, then" Elsa said. I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. 'Cause you're about to eat my snow!" and with that she kicked her horse and galloped away at full speed.
"That was the lamest pun I have ever heard, especially coming from the Snow Queen. Let's get her, Black!" I said and with that Black Beauty galloped right behind Sitron. In no time, I was right next to Elsa. She looked at me and smirked then she conjured a snowball and threw it at my face.
"Hey! That's cheating!" I complained lowering my head, dodging the snowball.
"I don't recall setting rules here" she answered smirking.
"Oh, really?" and with that I took out of my pocket two sugar cubes and threw them in front of Sitron's nose.
"SKYLYNN!" Elsa yelled as Sitron abruptly stopped and followed the sugar cubes, almost making Elsa fall off the horse. I laughed and kept going. Soon enough, though, Elsa was at my heels.
"You want to play dirty, Sky? Okay. You asked for it" and with that she started throwing snowballs at my head, missing every shot except for one that hit me right behind the head.
"Dang it, Elsa! You got snow in my shirt!" I complained trying to ignore the cold snow trickling down my back as it melted into water for my body heat.
"And I'll keep doing that, so suck it up" she shouted from behind coming closer to me.
"Ohhh, this means war!" and with that I slowed down Black so that he ran basically half a foot away from Sitron, shoveling the snow beneath his hoofs in Sitron's face, as he ran AND, Elsa couldn't get ahead of us now. "Come on, Black. Show her what you got!" I said, and with that Black Beauty huffed with determination, and galloped even faster… and that was when Elsa swiftly moved to the side and struck Black Beauty's hoofs with her ice powers, locking him to the ground with ice 'shackles'… while I flew off of my horse landing in the snow flat on my back. Elsa only took a few feet forward and stopped Sitron looking back at me worriedly.
"Oh my gosh! Sky, are you okay?" she asked concerned.
"You got more snow in my shirt…" I complained getting up and Black beauty tried to break free from the ice, as I dusted the snow off of me. Elsa let out a small smile, realizing I was okay.
"I'm so sorry. I should have thought about it before stopping your horse like that"
"You didn't think before acting? Now I'm really thinking over the advantage of our alliance" I said jokingly.
"Oh-ha-ha…" Elsa said "Seriously, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, really" I answered
"I'm feeling really bad about it, is there any way I can make it up to you?" she asked. A great idea came into my mind "- Except for training my soldiers as a hobby" Elsa preceded. My grin faded.
"Oh, come on!"
"Sorry, you need to work for that"
"How much trust do I need to earn on your 'Trust-Scale' before I can do that?"
"On a scale from 1 to 10, it's a 10"
"Good, and I am on which point?"
"Probably on a 5" I smirked
"Okay, I can work on that" I said "Now, we had a race going on, do you mind thawing Black's legs?" I asked Elsa, she chuckled and with a flick of her wrist, she thawed three of Black Beauty's legs. "You missed one"
"Sorry, no one said I had to be 100% fair in this race. See you at the Ice Harvesting grounds!" and with a smirk Elsa galloped away on Sitron.
"You cheater…" I mumbled "Come on, Black! You can break free from that" I said as Black Beauty struggled to get his hoof out of the ice. I took out my dagger and hit the ice a few times before cracking it, then I put it back and with a final pull, Black got the hoof out of the ice. "Oh, yeah! Now we're in business!" I cheered and got back on my horse as he knelt down a bit, so that I could quickly get on his back "Let's get her!" and we broke into a full run. Elsa was ahead of us, running at full speed. Black and I were further behind, but we were slowly gaining ground. As we ran up ahead, I noticed a small forest covered in snow. That meant the ice harvesting grounds weren't too far off.
"There's the forest! Come on, Black! Show Her Majesty how fast you can run" I encouraged. Black whinnied and sped up. Elsa wasn't too far away now, just a few feet away.
"You don't give up, do you?" she said looking back at me with a smirk on her lips.
"And you came to that conclusion now?" Then I noticed where she was heading, directly into the woods. Mental alarms immediately started to ring in my head like crazy. When Landon died, we took the shortcut to Shergan which was in the woods. When we were at war, we usually would hide in the woods for surprise assaults. If there was one thing the war and Landon's death taught me, was to never EVER get into the woods, unless if necessary. Especially when we were just in two. Yeah, Elsa has her powers, but she wouldn't hurt a fly and I may be a warrior, but I'm not invincible. War is 75% skill and motivation, 10% strategy, 10% pain and 5% luck, and usually luck is the only percentage missing, and, if Drakora's old saying my mom used to tell me is true: 'Luck is blind but Misfortune sees you clearly', a forest is the last place you should go on your own, even if the ice harvesting grounds were not even a mile away.
"Elsa, stop!" I called.
"What? Does the Great Heroine surrender to the Queen of Arendelle?" she said jokingly.
"Elsa, you have to stop!" I answered seriously.
"I'm not falling for it!" she said with a laugh as we got closer to the woods.
"I'm not tricking you! Don't go into the woods! Let's go around it"
"To buy you time to win? Not a chance"
"Elsa, I'm serious! Listen to me! Stop!" But she didn't listen, she went straight into the woods. I couldn't leave her alone, but Black Beauty stopped right in front of the woods. Stomping his hoof.
I'm not going in there. he seemed to say. Usually I would never ignore my horse's signals, however, the Idiot a.k.a. Elsa, forced me to do so.
"We can't leave her alone in there. Go, Black. Everything's going to be fine" I reassured. Black seemed a bit reluctant, but he cantered inside as well as we followed Elsa, but I could sense his nervousness. Something wasn't right. Elsa was cantering in front of us, when Sitron slowed down to a halt and soon after Black Beauty did the same as we reached the queen.
"Come on, Sitron. Go!" Elsa encouraged, but Sitron seemed nervous, he had his head shot up and then he started stomping his hoof and lightly stood on his posterior legs as if he was taking small jumps. "Hey! Down, boy" Elsa tried to soothe him. But Black Beauty was doing about the same thing, only that he started whinnying.
I sense danger. Let's get out of here! He seemed to say.
"Sitron, calm down. Skylynn, what's going on?" Elsa said getting worried as well.
"We need to get out of here" I said, but the moment I finished the sentence an arrow flew a few inches away from Sitron's head, sticking into the ground. That was when Sitron snapped. He whinnied in fear and before Elsa could hold onto her saddle, Sitron stood on his back legs abruptly throwing her onto the ground, making her hit her head hard. Unfortunately, the woods were thick, which meant that there wasn't enough snow to grant a soft landing.
"Elsa!" I called as I saw her lying unconscious on the ground, but before I could dismount, someone jumped on me pushing me off Black Beauty and onto the ground. As I rolled to the ground, my attacker grabbed my wrists blocking me, but Black Beauty quickly turned around and kicked him off of me, knocking him out.
"Thanks, pal" I said getting back up and rushed to Elsa. But before I could check if she was fine, I saw other men appear. Some were big and buff, others thinner and shorter, all dressed in a winter attire, armed. They started circling me, their swords and daggers drawn and their eyes darting from Elsa to me. Then it hit me, it wasn't me they wanted. It was Elsa. That's why the arrow didn't hit her, it wasn't supposed to hit her. Because of her powers, they had to knock her out first.
"You want the queen? You have to go through me, first" I said glaring at them, drawing my sword out.
"With pleasure" the biggest thug said and nodded to the others. Quickly, one at a time, they lashed at me. I tried to keep them away from Elsa. Parrying and counterattacking, I tried to keep them away, but they outnumbered me and they were giving me little time to gain my breath back. But my message was perfectly clear and so was their response: they were going to kill me first to get their paws on Elsa, but I wasn't going to let them. I fought back with all my strength and I was actually winning. I was not backing down. I had many reasons not to. Hans's life indirectly depended on Elsa's, my kingdom's safety depended on our alliance and if I fail all finger would point to the Westerguard siblings, even if they knew better. These were an example. I had managed to wound some of the men, but they just wouldn't quit. One stroke me, but I dodged going around him and swiping him off his feet, only to parry another blow from another. As much as I hate to admit it, Storm's company would have been nice right now. Luckily for me, Black Beauty was trying to keep the soldiers away from me, he kicked and bit whenever one of them got either close to me or close to him to stop him, somehow.
"Come on, boys! She's just a girl!" one said.
"Yeah! A girl who's kicking our asses!" another answered angrily. The fight went on, but things went downhill when one of them took out a rope and caught Black Beauty, holding him back with another guy and I was growing tired. I had just knocked one to the ground, but before I could move away, one of the men quickly grabbed me from behind and immediately another thug grabbed my left arm knocking my sword out of my hand and while the first one moved and blocked my other arm. I struggled with all my strength to break free, but they were too strong.
"We got her!" Thug 1 said.
"Finally!" Thug 2 exclaimed
"What do we do with her, boss?" Thug 3 asked, while the others held Sitron and Black Beauty as they struggled to break free, whinnying and stomping their hooves .
"We frame her" said the guy who looked like their leader. The others sneakered with malice glancing at one another. The leader walked closer to me and picked up my sword from the ground. He looked at it examining it. He was going to kill Elsa with my sword, my weapon was unmistakable. It was the one Storm gave me before our last battle together. Its golden hilt had Drakora's symbol craved on it: a dragon who's long body formed an elegant D that stood for Drakuyiir, which means 'Drakora' in Drakorian. On its handle, the hilt was carefully wrapped in light bronze colored leather, to give more comfort while holding it, but when it got dirty, especially if blood stained, it took forever to clean it. They were going to kill Elsa with my sword and stain the leather handle with her blood to frame me.
The thug took one step towards Elsa.
"You lay one finger on Queen Elsa and I swear that-"
"-What?" their leader said "You're in no position to do any threatening, Queen Skylynn" he said, mocking me on the word 'queen'. He sneakered "Thank you for granting us our 50.000 crowns"
"May I remind you that I was kicking your asses not too long ago?" I snapped with a smirk. He glared at me.
"You won't be so sassy once we're done with the job and Princess Anna will want your head on a silver plate, along with that of that brother of yours" he snapped "Especially since-well… you killed her beloved sister"
"Boss, she's stirring" one of the men noticed.
"Well, it was nice talking to you, but there's a job I need to finish" he mocked.
"Wait until I get my hands on you-"
"-That will be too late, then" and he walked closer to Elsa. She had moved her head a little, but was probably still more unconscious than awake. I tried to yell and call for help, but before I could let my voice out, Thug 1 roughly covered my mouth with his gloved hand. I struggled to break free, but the two men were strong.
Think, Sky! Quick! Think! Think! Think! Their leader stood upon Elsa, as if studying her.
"Sorry, your Majesty. Nothing personal, it's just business" he said and raised my sword, but before he could strike, out of nowhere a stone flew in air, hitting the thug in the head. He lowered his sword and staggered away from Elsa "OW! What the-"
"HEY!" someone shouted, but I immediately recognized the voice. In that moment, Hans revealed himself from his hiding spot "Maybe you should pick on someone your own size!" he provoked walking towards the angry thug. The guy tried to hit Hans with the sword, but Hans was more than capable of taking care of himself. I used the distraction my brother provided immediately. I kicked Thug 1 in the shin and as soon as he let go of me I punched Thug 2 in the face. Meanwhile, Hans had taken my sword back and thrown Thugs' Leader to the ground.
"Sky" he called and tossed me the sword, taking out a knife, probably used for cutting stuff while ice harvesting.
"Kill them! Kill them all!" the leader shouted and the fight was on once again, but this time, they wanted us dead more than ever. For a moment, I was back in battle. I remembered the ambushes, Storm and Landon by my side, the gun and cannon shots, the clanking of swords as people fought for their lives, the blood, the cries, the rebellion… all in a fight with mere rouges. Hans and I fought side by side, holding them back.
"Hans, they want to kill Elsa!" I informed him as we fought. Those men weren't going to stop until we were dead, there was no other option but kill them too, just like during the revolution. As we fought, Hans had managed to throw the two men he was fighting on the ground, but the moment I turned around, I stared in horror at what happened in a split of a second. The thug Black Beauty had knocked out had regained consciousness and had made his way towards Elsa, while Hans and I were fighting. His sword was up and was about to strike on the queen, when Hans had thrown himself on the scene and jumped between Elsa and the sword, shielding her with his body and tackling the man on the ground with so much force that, as he fell the thug hit his head on a rock, dying on impact. But as Hans did that, the sword had managed to hit him on the arm as he intercepted the weapon that was about to kill off Elsa. I was about to rush to his aid, but the thugs wouldn't let me. Their leader fell immediately as my sword pierced through him. The 3 men out of 5, who were still alive, watched as their leader fell as soon as they were back on their feet or ready to strike again. Luckily for them, as soon as they saw their leader dead, they all ran away and vanished into the woods.
I put my sword back in its sheath and immediately rushed to my brother's aid as he was still laying on the ground.
"Hans" I called kneeling next to him "Hans, you're bleeding! Where did he wound you?" I asked him. Then I immediately turned around towards Elsa "Elsa" I called softly shaking her lightly "Elsa, are you okay? Wake up" In a moment, our funny race had almost turned into tragedy.
"My head…" Elsa mumbled lifting a hand to the back of her head as I helped her to sit up.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her.
"Like an iron anvil fell on my head" she said rubbing her temples.
"Not surprised about that, it was a hard fall" I said, managing to get her to give me a small smile.
"Last thing I remember was falling off Sitron and glimpses of things like… a guy raising a sword upon me and… you fighting alongside… Hans?" she said as if realizing he was there for the first time. The moment, she saw my brother on the ground bleeding she started looking around disoriented, but noticed the battle scene in front of her and the two dead bodies.
"What happened?!" she asked in confusion "There are two dead men- Hans is bleeding and-" she looked at me confused and shocked at the same time "Sky, your jacket is blood stained" she said
"It's not mine" and by the look in her eyes, I didn't need to add anything more.
"But I remember a man who was about to kill me… what happened?" she asked
"Skylynn saved you, Queen Elsa" Hans said sitting back up, before I could open my mouth and tell Elsa what happened.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder, but surprised at his answer.
"I'll probably need a few stitches, but I'm fine" he said, then he turned back to Elsa "Kristoff sent me to get some wood to repair one of the lifting machines, I heard the horses and swords clanking and saw what was going on so I rushed here to help Skylynn. It was another attempted regicide, your Majesty" Hans said
"Someone wants you dead, Elsa and offered those guys 50,000 crowns. That's what they said running away" I added giving Hans the 'we'll-talk-later' look. Elsa shook her head and rubbed her eyes for a moment, then looked back at me.
"You were right, Sky" Elsa said still looking disoriented and placing her hand on the back of her head where she hit the ground. "I should have listened to you"
"It's alright, the important thing is that they didn't succeed in their task" I said reassuringly "But from now on, remember: you're never ever to go in the woods alone or escorted, unless it's the only way to go somewhere. Okay?" I said.
"Okay" Elsa said with a small understanding nod.
"Come, we must go" Hans said seriously, standing up "Her Majesty will be safer back at the palace and it'd be wise to call a doctor for a checkup"
"But-" Elsa tried to complain, but I cut her off.
"- Hans is right. He is to be patched up too and since we're not doctors you could have a concussion, for all we know" I said. Elsa rolled her eyes, but nodded, standing up as well.
I turned around for a moment, and saw Sitron sniffling and nuzzling his muzzle on Hans' face as he recognized his master. Hans cuddled him for a moment and then came back to over leading Sitron to us as Black Beauty trailed behind. Hans then mounted on the horse, leaving some space in front of him and held his hand out for Elsa to take it, but the moment he did she hesitated.
"I may not be a doctor, but someone who has just passed out is in no condition of riding a horse on her own" he said, and he had a point. Elsa looked at Hans' hand then to him, and then back at me.
"I'll be right behind you" I said reassuringly. With still some hesitation, she took his hand and mounted Sitron, sitting in front of Hans. I got back to Black Beauty, cutting the rope the thugs had thrown around his neck, and got back on soon making our way back to the palace. No one dared to speak. No one knew what to say. The tension in the air was thick, but for once it wasn't Elsa's discomfort around Hans, or rather being close to Hans, it was knowing that someone had paid some criminals to kill the queen. Hans and I exchanged looks only once as we were both thinking the same thing, but he abruptly glance away when he realized that my look also referred to something else: Hans had saved Elsa's life and had given me the credit. He better have a good explanation for it.
And there you have it! I hope I didn't bore you with this chapter. What do you think of Skylynn and Storm? What are your thoughts about their past? What are your thoughts on Elsa here? Most importanly: what about Hans? Why do you think he gave Skylynn credit for saving Elsa's life? The !Guess the Quote Challenge! I told you about on the last chapter is still up. Can you find all the movies' and series' quotes? I hope I didn't unintentionally quote movies I never watched, those do not count. In this chapter there is a videogame quote: can you guess it?
Let me know with your reviews!
If you catch all the (intended) quotes from this and the last chapter, I'll PM you a sneak peek of Friday's chapter!
See you on Friday!
Thank you for reading!
The Princess of Stars