Its three more chapters after this one.
Chapter 18
The days passed slowly and merged into weeks and then into months. But with each slow second, Arendelle took a miniature step towards victory. In the direct follow up of a battle, it was hard to see progress. Such views were impossible due to the ever present threat and sight of death but reflecting upon two months' worth of battle, the victories and land reclaimed had a stronger presence among the tally of the dead. Even so, the weight of lives lost never Elsa
If only she could've convinced the Duke to surrender before all this fighting; all this time and all these lives wouldn't have been wasted. She'd be back in Arendelle, safe and happy with Anna and Kristoff and Hans while the Duke would be where he belonged: in jail. She wouldn't have mistreated him. She would've given him a clean cell, with comfortable lodgings, good food, and plenty of entertainment. She knew that he didn't deserve as much but she wasn't the same as him. The comforts she would've shown him would merely be a sign that she was a better leader and person than he was. But, considering he had refused the comfortable yet confined life, she knew that she couldn't be lenient. Not this time. A man would risk thousands of loves for the sake of his pride and did not deny that he committed treason on purpose did not deserve her mercy, not a second time.
Maybe he would've been more compliant if her magic was fully functional.
It was coming back but it was not enough, or not threatening enough, to be used against the Duke. She had tried, of course, but nothing had come of it. If it had worked, many more lives could've been saved and Weselton definitely would've surrendered by now. She knew she could've asked Hans to use his abilities but she couldn't bring herself to make him do it for several reasons. She couldn't risk the Beast taking control of him and attacking the wrong side, neither did she want to see him in pain. And if something did go wrong, she didn't want him to bear the guilt; he had enough of that to deal with already.
Hans was thriving. If someone had told Elsa a year ago that her would-be murderer would assist her in the attempt to reclaim her throne, lead her men into battle, boost their morale and comfort them as they lay wounded in the medical tent, she would've thought them insane but here he was doing all those things as if it were something he did on a daily basis and she was eternally grateful for it.
The men had been reluctant to follow him into battle at first but now they were more than willing to follow him. Hans' bravery and his ability to rouse the troops with his words won them battle after battle after battle. No doubt someone had recognized him by now but no complaints were heard or attempts at his life were made.
Though thankful, the Queen wished her Commander would practice more caution when fighting. By some miracle, he had never been injured even when running straight towards a row of rifles ready to fire to try to rally his demoralized comrades. More than once had she scolded him for his dangerous maneuvers but he reasoned that war was dangerous and a small act of insane bravery was all that was needed to turn the tide of a fight. She quickly retorted by stating that just because he had the Beast within him, it did not, by any means make him immortal or superior to her or his fellow soldiers. His shenanigans reduced slowly over time but he still did it on occasion, much to the Queen's annoyance.
The one time she hoped he did not pull a crazy act was when they were fighting to regain the city of Bergen. A victory at this city would split the territory controlled by the Duke in half and cut off his largest supply of gunpowder, food, and weapons, not to mention a major port as well. The importance of this city could not be understated for the Queen and she and her generals and Hans had spent many extra minutes planning out the best strategy to capture Bergen in the quickest time possible. The best strategy was eventually found and Elsa tasked Hans with leading the men, knowing that the best chance of success lay with him.
When the day of attack came, Elsa watched with a few generals from a high hill overlooking the city, her troops fighting and so far away that they were the size of ants. At that distance, it was impossible to see how many had fallen but at least they could see that Elsa's army was gaining the upper hand despite the valiant efforts of Weselton. They also saw a few ships in the harbor, ready to flee if the situation turned sour for the Duke. Elsa ordered a messenger to find Hans in the fray and inform him of the ship.
Minutes merged into hours and five hours after the battle had begun, a different messenger returned, one ship sailing away in the distance while the others gave off black smoke.
"Your Majesty! Bergen is ours!" The Generals shared a shout of joy but they fell silent to hear what else the messenger had to say, "But they captured Commander Fiyero!"
"What!?" Elsa shouted in shock, the tent slowly getting covered in a thin layer of ice. "How? What happened?"
"The Commander was informed of the ships in the harbor and, when the path was clear and Weselton soldiers were fleeing, he dashed for the harbor and somehow managed to set majority of the ships on fire; some claim they saw the fire sew from his hands. As he was trying to prevent the escape of the Duke, he was attacked by several men and they took him captive on board the ship that fled." The man explained.
"Is he alive?" Elsa inquired, trying to hide the panic in her voice.
"We don't know, ma'am." The Queen gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement and waved her hand in dismissal towards the messenger. She quickly dismissed her generals too; she wanted to wallow in her guilt in private. The only time she left the tent was to move into the city, where she was greeted by a phalanx of citizens ecstatic to be freed from the Duke's rule. She put on a smile and waved to her people but once alone, she ordered scouts to try to find Hans while she overlooked matters of the city, counting stock and assessing the damage caused by Weselton.
The day passed slowly for Elsa, even with the pile of work to be done. Eventually, it was nighttime and she had forced herself to eat a little food regardless of her anxiety towards news about her friend.
"You can't just go in there!" Someone shouted in the hallway.
"I don't care! The Queen has to see this!" Someone hollered in return before the door slammed open, a scout running in, quickly followed by two guards.
"You have to wait!" One guard snapped, grabbing the scout's arm, "Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesty." Elsa lifted her hand.
"Let him go." She replied calmly. The scout pulled himself loose and reached into his bag, pulling out a scroll and holding it out to the woman.
"I encountered another scout in the nearby forest. The scout was from Weselton." Elsa snatched the scroll from the man and hastily opened it. It only contained two sentences.
We have your precious Commander. Surrender to us or he dies.
CLIFFHANGER!
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