Chapter 21

There was a faint ringing in Elsa's ears when she awoke. However, that was nothing compared to the massive amount of pain that was searing through her head. She winced as it spiked when she shifted slightly. Slowly opening her eyes, she took in the world around her.

She was lying on a wool blanket laid out under a tall pine tree. Around her, the Arendelle guards who had attacked the palace were quickly setting about making a camp. Some were pitching tents while others were tending to their horses, which were picketed nearby. None of them were paying attention to her.

Elsa looked around for a way out and was about to make a run for it when she realized her hands were bound. Looking down, she saw there was a pair of thick iron gauntlets that completely trapped her hands and were fastened into place. Both were connected to a thick chain that was tied around the tree beside her. While the chain offered a small amount of slack, it was clear that she wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Resining to the fact that she was stuck, Elsa leaned back against the tree and tried to think of the last thing she remembered. These men had attacked the palace shortly after Aaron had left. While Marshmallow had done his best to defend her, two of them managed to get by and tried to kill her. Fortunately her powers proved more than sufficient to hold them off and even turn the battle. Then the chandelier had fallen and she'd hit her head in a desperate scramble to get out from under it.

Taking in a deep breath, Elsa closed her eyes. Alright, things could be worse. I'm mostly unharmed, so whatever the intentions are of these men I don't think they're looking to kill me. And I'm sure Aaron's already learned what happened and is looking for me. I just have to keep calm and wait until he finds me.

"Ah, good. You're awake." The voice shook Elsa from her thoughts and she looked up to see a man walking towards her. While he was wearing a gray green coat instead of the formal attire he'd had on when Anna had first introduced him, she still recognized him instantly.

Stopping in front of her, he gave her a small nod and said, "Hello, Queen Elsa. Do you remember me?"

Elsa climbed to her feet and gave him a cold stare. "Yes, I remember you, Prince Hans. Where have you taken me?"

Giving her a serious look, he said, "We're taking you back to Arendelle." When all she did was give him a shocked stare, he added, "We're still a long ways out, but we should be able to get there in two days or so, depending on how hard we push the horses."

Shaking her head, Elsa exclaimed, "No, Hans! You can't take me there!"

His expression became confused. "Why not?"

"Because I'm a threat to Arendelle!"How was he not seeing that?

Hans looked at her skeptically and said, "I think we both know that you're a threat to Arendelle whether you're at the city or not." He then took a step closer and quietly said, "If you could just end the winter and bring back summer."

She turned and gave him a distraught look, whispering, "Don't you see? I can't." Her expression became imploring as she said, "You have to let me go."

Hans gave a sigh and looked at the ground, shaking his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that, your highness. What am I supposed to tell the people of Arendelle when they find out I had the person responsible for this winter and just let her return to the mountains? No, until a solution presents itself, I have no choice but to take you back to Arendelle."

"You'll be putting the entire kingdom in danger!"

"Maybe," he conceded with a nod. "One way or the other, though, something has to be done about this winter. Otherwise, people are going to start dying."

Elsa gave him a glare as she replied coldly, "That's exactly what I was doing before you all came knocking. I was trying to figure out how to end the winter."

"Any luck?" Hans asked hopefully.

"Not yet, but I can't exactly work on it while I'm a prisoner."

Frowning in disappointment, he said, "Then you'll just have to do the best you can with what you have. But I still can't let you go."

Drawing herself up to her full height, Elsa gave him an imposing stare. "I'm no longer asking. If you continue to hold me against my will, then I'm just going to have to free myself by any means necessary."

Now it was Hans's turn to look beseeching. "Please, Queen Elsa. This is in the kingdom's best interest."

As she looked at his desperate expression, Elsa was almost tempted to agree with him. But her mind was made up. Drawing in a deep breath, she said, "No, Hans. I don't care what I have to do or how hard I have to fight, but I'm not going back to Arendelle with you."

Hans gave her a long, sad stare before looking away from her. When he looked back, though, a wicked grin crossed his face as he said, "Alright, Elsa. We could have done this the easy way." He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Now we get to do it the really easy way."

His sudden mood shift unnerved Elsa and she took an inadvertent step back. Giving him a suspicious look, she asked, "What are you talking about?"

Pulling lightly on each finger of his gloves, he slowly removed them one at a time as he replied, "I had hoped to do this at a different time and place, but I guess now is as good a time as ever." He then gripped his sword again and gave her a frank look, saying, "But now I'm going to have to kill you, Elsa."

Elsa had no response to that. All she could do was stare at him with a mixture of fear and shock. He's going to what?! At first she thought that she must have misheard him, but his grip only tightened on the hilt of his sword and she realized her life was suddenly in grave danger. Despite this, all she could manage to say was, "But why?"

Smiling slightly, Hans replied, "A fair question." He then turned and looked out at the mountains around them, speaking quietly as he did so. "As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I would have to marry into the throne somewhere." Looking back at her, he gave Elsa a gesture and added, "As heir, you were of course preferable, but no one was getting anywhere with you. Your sister on the other hand. She was so desperate to be loved she was willing to marry me just like that. I figured I would have to stage a little accident for you at some point. Then all this happened and you doomed yourself."

While he spoke Elsa's mind was working so fast that she was hardly hearing anything he was saying. There has to be a way out of this. Some way her powers could free her. Then she heard a crinkling sound and looked down to see frost slowly creeping onto the blanket around her. Her eyes widened when she saw the growing ice and fought the urge to smile. Of course! That's how! But this would take time and she would have to stall.

Looking back up at Hans, she gave him glare and asked, "If you were planning to kill me all along, then why bother taking me back to Arendelle?"

"Ah, that." He frowned slightly and returned his gaze to the distant peaks. "Well, my plans hit a slight snag. After your disappearance Anna decided to go after you and I knew there was nothing I could say to stop her. What I didn't anticipate was for her not to come back. Anna hasn't been seen since she left, so there went my opportunity to marry onto the throne. But Arendelle would be without an heir, and who better to give the throne to than a hero? So, I figured if I brought you back and showed the people what a monster you are, then they would all flock to my cause after I killed you and brought back summer. Then they would have no choice but to crown me king."

Once again she hardly paid any attention to what Hans said. Her eyes were fixed on the gauntlets binding her hands as she focused her powers on them. Already the air around them had dropped to well below subzero temperatures and she could feel ice gradually covering their interiors. Soon the iron would begin to warp from the sudden temperature shift and hopefully break.

Realizing that he had stopped talking and was now giving her a suspicious look, she quickly looked up at him and asked the first question that came to mind. "So now what?"

Hans continued to watch her warily for a moment before shrugging and replying, "Now? Since you won't cooperate, I'm afraid I have to kill you. You didn't actually think I would tell you all of that if I had any intention of letting you see another morning? I'm not a fool."

She didn't dare look down again as long as his attention was on her lest he guess what she was up to. The metal was starting to shift, but she still needed more time. I've got to keep him talking. What would Anna say here? "That still remains to be seen. But you won't get away with this."

"Oh, Elsa. I already have," he replied with a broad smile before turning and gesturing to the camp. "You see these men? Every man here was handpicked for their loyalty to me or has been paid with enough gold to keep their mouths shut. Each one will testify to how I tried to reason with you but you were too insane to listen, and how I sadly had to take your life to end the winter. With great risk to myself, of course." Hans looked back at her and said, "And there's no one else around for miles, so who's going to stop me?"

Lifting her head defiantly, she gave him a cold stare and said, "I can think of someone."

Hans gave her a doubtful look and said, "Really? Well, let me know when you see him, because I'll be very interested to meet this person. But enough of this. I think I've postponed your fate long enough."

He went to draw his sword but then seemed to think better of it. Looking around, he noticed a man standing nearby. Unlike the Arendelle guards, he was wearing a burgundy coat and Elsa recognized him as one of the two men who had attacked her in the palace. "You! Get over here!" yelled Hans, waving at him. The man gave him a guarded look but consented and walked over. As soon as he was close enough, Hans said, "Give me your crossbow."

The man's expression became suspicious as he asked, "Why?"

"Never mind why, just give it to me," replied Hans wearily.

Rather than complying, though, the man's eyes darted to Elsa. He stared at her for a moment before looking back at Hans and said, "I thought you said you wanted her alive."

Hans gave him an irritated look. "Well, plans change. And since when do you care? You're lucky I didn't have you and your friend killed after that little stunt you pulled in the palace. If your duke still wants what I promised him then you'd better start obeying orders."

With that the two of them broke out into an argument. Something to do with some trade agreement. As they bickered Elsa risked a glance down at her hands and saw that ice was beginning to form across the outside of the gauntlets. She shifted slightly to prevent them from seeing the frost but allowed herself a small smile. In a few minutes she'd be able to break free with one solid pull. Then Hans would regret threatening her life.

That was when Elsa noticed a faint buzzing in her ears. She shook her head a few times but the sound only seemed to grow louder as she did this. It quickly grew from a light buzz to a dull rumble, like constant thunder in the distance. Then she realized it was coming from somewhere to the west and whatever was causing it seemed to be getting closer. Fast.

"What is that?" Hans asked, as he too now noticed the sound as it gradually grew louder.

Eventually it became an earth trembling roar, but as Elsa looked all around them she still couldn't see the source of the noise. Until it occurred to her that she hadn't looked in one particular direction. Up.

Her eyes looked to the sky just in time to see a massive fireball arcing down towards them. Easily ten feet across and burning brighter than the sun, it crashed into the ground just beyond the camp with a deafening explosion. Snow and debris went flying in all directions as embers rained down on them. Those who weren't blown off their feet by the explosion's shockwave quickly set about trying to put out the flames before they could burn down the tents, crying out to each other in panic.

Hans quickly ran towards the nearest blaze, shouting, "Get those fires out!"

However, despite all the commotion around her, Elsa kept her eyes fixed on the impact crater. Smoke and fire continued to billow out of it, completely obscuring whatever lay within, but she felt like she could just make out something through the haze. A solitary figure. Aaron?

Just then the wind kicked up, parting the smoke, and sure enough, there he was. Down on one knee with a hand against the ground and his head bowed, his entire body was covered in raging flames. When paired with his smoldering wings, it made him look like a blazing angel of vengeance. Clasped in his other hand was a flaming sword that glowed as brightly as he did.

The other men were so busy trying to save the camp that they didn't even notice Aaron until he slowly rose to his feet and spread his wings. Then one of them gave a startled shout and all eyes turned towards the crater. Seeing him standing there, they quickly bunched together at the center of the camp and drew their weapons, muttering to one another and looking to Hans for orders.

Rather than attacking or even threatening them, though, Aaron simply seemed to ignore them as his molten eyes scanned the camp until he spotted her. The moment his eyes found Elsa he started walking towards her.

Stepping forward uncertainly, Hans held up a hand and said, "Halt." When Aaron continued forward, he shouted, "Stop!" Only when he raised his voice did Aaron pause, looking at him. Hans looked him up and down before asking, "What are you?"

Aaron seemed to consider the question for a moment before giving Hans a glare. When he spoke, his voice was steady and strong but laced with rage as he said, "A wielder of fire." He then lifted his sword and pointed the tip at Elsa. Still speaking to Hans, he said, "You've taken someone very important to me. I've come to take her back."