Author's Note:

Hello! Thanks for hanging in there guys! I am pretty much moved in to my new place and just got the internet connected today. So in honor of finally hooking up my wifi, here is the next chapter!

I don't own Frozen

Chapter 21

"Eugene, are we going to do this or what?" Rapunzel whined.

"This sort of thing takes time." Eugene rolled his eyes. "Once the Duke leaves the castle to recruit more men we can strike."

Rapunzel scowled. They were currently exiting the dining hall after breakfast; mealtimes were one of the few times that the Duke now allowed the other visitors to leave their rooms. Eugene held his wife back as the others filed past, the Duke of Weselton among them. Every morning, the Duke would leave the castle after breakfast to visit the town. He would do everything from hand out blankets and food but his true purpose was to rouse the people against their new queen. Each day, more men joined him and prepared themselves to fight in case the queen reemerged.

It had only been one day since Princess Anna's return and subsequent imprisonment, so now the Duke was planning to spread the word of Princess Anna's bewitchment at the hands of her evil sister. That was the same story he had tried to sell to everyone this morning at breakfast when the representative from France had demanded to know why Princess Anna and Prince Hans had been thrown into the dungeons.

"I'm afraid the Prince and Princess have been enchanted." The Duke had sneered. "They were trying to belittle the winter that is causing the people to suffer. It was obvious, of course."

Enough had believed his justifications that the other representatives had sat down, afraid to go against the crowd. Now the Duke was exiting the castle, leaving everyone inside to their own devices.

"Ok, remember the plan?" Eugene asked.

Rapunzel nodded and tried to hide a smile. Walking arm in arm, the couple headed towards a staircase they knew headed towards the dungeon. They pretended to be enjoying their walk, laughing as they went. As they reached the bottom of the stair a guard blocked their path.

"Very sorry, but you'll have to return to your rooms now." The guard stated.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We were just looking to get out and about for a while." Eugene pretended to be sincere. He gave Rapunzel a subtle wink.

"Sorry, sir. But you'll have to go-." The guard started but was interrupted when Rapunzel started wailing.

"But Eugene!" She bawled, stomping her foot. The guard looked taken aback by her outburst. "I've been stuck in that room for days. I want to get out! Woah!" Rapunzel pretended to trip, her acting a bit too dramatic for Eugene's tastes, and fell right into the guard's arms.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene leaped forward, elbowing the guard out of the way to steady his wife.

The man huffed as Eugene pushed him away, and stepped back. Eugene proceeded to lead Rapunzel back to the main hall. Once they had made it behind the safety of their room, Rapunzel began hopping up and down.

"Did you get it?" She asked excitedly. Eugene held up a ring of keys.

"It was too easy. That guy didn't even notice when I took this from his pocket." Eugene laughed.

"And now?" Rapunzel giggled, looking eagerly at her husband.

"Now we wait for nightfall. Security will be lax and we can smuggle them out." He replied.

"I can't wait." Rapunzel gave Eugene a quick kiss before jumping onto the bed and grabbing a book.

Eugene watched as every few minutes Rapunzel looked to the clock on the mantle. He sighed, settling in beside her.

"This is going to be a long day." He muttered under his breath.

Anna shivered in the corner of her single cell. The guards had thrown her and Hans into separate cells to keep them from planning anything. The indignity of it was that they were imprisoned by several Arendelle guards; men who had protected her while growing up.

"How can you do this?" She had demanded of them.

"I'm sorry, Princess Anna. But we must think of the people. Many are suffering due to the winter your sister has cursed us with." One of them had replied guiltily.

"And you think putting us in here is the right thing to do?" Anna had snapped.

"The Duke must have a reason but we will do what we can." Another guard had said.

Anger had built up in her chest until she was thrashing in their arms, forcing them to drag her into the cell which she currently sat in. Luckily, they had given her a blanket which she was now clutching around her. There was currently a man guarding the door and she had spent the first several hours cursing at him angrily. Anna was furious at just about everybody; the guards for betraying them, the Duke for trying to weasel his way into power, Hans for getting them separated, and Elsa for causing this. It was painfully obvious to her by the way Elsa had attacked her and thrown them out that her elder sister did not care about her or Arendelle one bit.

A loud thump outside her door gained Anna's attention. She didn't want to stand and lose the meager warmth she was trying to maintain but when she heard keys giggling in the door, she scrambled to her feet and peered out of the door's small window when the door swung wide open.

"Princess Anna! Great to see you!" A young man greeted her as if they weren't meeting in a dungeon for the first time. "My name is Flynn Rider; it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Eugene!" A woman's voice floated down the hall. The man pouted momentarily.

"Alright, my name is Eugene." He admitted. "The girl standing watch for us is my wife, Princess Rapunzel. We're from Corona."

She looked Eugene up and down; he didn't dress like the husband to a princess. He was dressed in simple breeches, a plain shirt with a green vest, and clearly worn boots. He had brown hair that fell into his eyes and a small patch of hair on his chin.

"Well, thank you?" Anna replied, confused.

"You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to let your boyfriend out." He winked and ran down the hall.

Seconds later, Eugene returned with Hans, Kai, and Gerda. Hans embraced Anna when he saw her, glad that she was still ok. Gerda, however gasped and could barely restrain herself from pointing at Anna's hair.

"Princess, your hair is completely white!" She stammered.

"What!? It is?" Anna pawed at her hair and brought the braid to her face. Sure enough, it was completely white. Anna groaned.

"It'll be ok, Anna." Hans reassured her.

Hans couldn't care less about the state of her hair but he was concerned by how cold she felt even through the thick blanket that was wrapped around her. Hans rubbed his hands on her shoulder hoping the friction would warm her up some. Anna shuddered and pulled closer to him.

"We need to go. There's still time to get to the trolls I found out about in that book." Hans stated.

"You go on." Kai told the Prince. "Gerda and I will head into the village. Maybe we can convince some of the townspeople that the Duke tried to imprison the princess in order to take the throne."

Hans nodded and watched as they escaped through a separate hallway. The rest of the group continued on.

"We were able to snag you a horse." Eugene told Hans as they ran up the dungeon stairs.

"How'd you manage that?" Anna asked suspiciously. "I would have figured that the Duke would have been taking all the horses."

"He is. But I bribed a stable hand with some cake." Rapunzel explained as the group reached her. "The boy was happy to lend me a horse for a romantic rendezvous."

"Great, who are you guys?" Hans asked, puzzled.

"I'm Rapunzel and this is my husband, Eugene." Rapunzel responded. "And, actually, I'm your cousin, Anna."

"Cousin?" Anna repeated. Rapunzel nodded.

"Yeah. It's kind of a long story." She absentmindedly tucked a stray piece of her short brown hair behind her ear. "I had hoped to talk more after the coronation but then…"

"Then the whole kingdom froze and the Duke is trying to take over?" Hans supplied.

"Yeah, that." Rapunzel agreed. "But after this whole mess is over, we'll have to get together!"

"Definitely." Anna answered distractedly.

They had managed to make it out the back of the castle where a horse was tied to a rail. Hans quickly rummaged through the saddlebags to find a blanket, some food, and even a lute. Hans looked to Rapunzel questioningly but she simply shrugged.

"I told them it was for a midnight rendezvous, remember?" She laughed.

"Nice." Hans smirked.

The darkness was making it hard to see too far in front of them and it was beginning to snow. Anna shivered violently so Hans didn't hesitate to lift Anna up onto the horse before getting on behind her. Eugene untied the horse when a door behind the group burst open.

"There they are! Stop them!" A voice snarled. The Duke and a handful of men were coming from the castle.

"You two need to get out of here before they spot you!" Hans shouted.

Eugene nodded, lifting Rapunzel from the ground and sprinting around the corner. He hoped that the guards hadn't seen them yet. Eugene set his wife down when they had turned the corner. They headed for the front entrance of the castle and hoped the guards would believe that they had been on a romantic walk in the icy moonlight.

Back on the ice, Hans urged the horse into a run and headed west. Hans hoped they could make it since everyone else was on foot but the horse wasn't used to running over the frozen fjord and slipped on the ice. The horse threw its riders forward before hitting the ground heavily. Hans groaned as his vision faded in and out. He shook his head to fix his vision before seeing Anna groaning softly a few feet from him.

"Anna!" Hans tried to scramble over to her but when he tried to stand his left leg buckled beneath him. "Anna, can you hear me?"

"Ugh, yes." She groaned.

"Anna, I think I broke my leg in the fall." He explained. He stood, careful not to put any weight on his injured leg. "We need to get you going."

"Wait, aren't you coming?" Anna struggled to get to her feet but couldn't manage to stand.

"I would just be a burden." Hans informed her, hobbling over to her. "Keep heading went and you'll be fine."

"Which way is west?" Anna asked.

"That way." Hans pointed. "Come on, you need to go. I can distract them while you get out of here."

He grunted as he lifted Anna from the ground. It was weird; she felt heavier than he remembered from earlier. Once Anna was on her feet, she tried to walk back towards where the horse was waiting but was moving slowly.

"Are you alright?" Hans wondered. "I can try to carry you."

"I'm just stiff. I'll be fine." She answered irritably, trying to keep up.

Hans chose not to press the issue but he had a feeling she wasn't fine. The snow was picking up and Anna needed to make it to the cover of the forest. Hans was trying to boost Anna back on the horse but the Duke and 3 men had caught up to them. Putting Anna back on the ground, Hans tried to figure a way to get her away from here.

"Not so fast, you two!" He huffed, clearly out of breath. "You're surrounded!"

"I figured that, you foul, loathsome, little-." Anna was stopped mid-insult by Hans clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Perhaps this isn't the time, Anna." Hans warned. He lowered his voice to speak only to her. "Remember, head west. Look for the trolls. Get ready to go."

The Duke snapped his fingers towards one of his henchmen, gesturing for him to contain them. The tallest man stepped forward, smiling slightly. Knowing that he was running out of time, Hans boosted Anna the rest of the way up onto the horse while reaching into the saddlebag to close his hand around the only object he could use as a weapon: the lute. Hans swung his makeshift weapon, catching his pursuer in the head.

"Anna, go!" He yelled, hitting the burly man a second time, knocking him out.

Knowing that there was nothing she could do to help him, Anna snapped the reigns and urged the horse forward, heading into the darkness.

Updates will still be sparse as I try to unpack but the next one will be soon.