For My Kingdom

A Frozen Fan Fiction

Chapter Twenty-One:

The Battle Begins

Author's Note: HaHA! A riveting chapter twenty-one for you beautiful people! Charlotte has kind of turned into a Bond-esque villainess. *shrug* But guess who cares? NOT I!

The air slowly began to cool as Elsa rode up the side of the North Mountain. Far above, a summer storm was forming like a cauldron of smoke in the sky. Wind was picking up around her like a spiral and Britta was beginning to become stressed under Elsa, but she continued to push forward anyway... and then lightning struck. Upon the mountain, the boom of thunder shook even Elsa, but it was too much for Britta. She began to rear back in fear.

"Shh... Shh... Britta..." Elsa tried to calm her, but the horse was about ready to bolt. With a frustrated sigh and careful movements, the queen jumped down from her back and led her to a tree and tethered her there. Thunder boomed again, and she fell trying to jump away from the hooves of the startled mare.

"Ugh..." Elsa grumbled as she picked herself up from the ground and left the unhappy horse to her own devices.

Suddenly an icy cold wind swept over the land scape, laced with flakes of snow. Elsa had to shield herself to keep her balance on the mountainside. The dark clouds above began to shed snowflakes, and Elsa knew that the traitor wasn't lying. She was here.

Elsa trudged through snow the rest of the way up the mountain, soaking the hem of her gown almost up to her knees. Over the past two years, the queen had returned to her ice palace a grand total of twice. Once was to give Kristoff a tour, and the other was purely out of nostalgia. This third time, Elsa had a feeling, would be the last time. Either because there would be nothing left when she was done with the witch, or she herself would be dead.

When she reached the intricate staircase, Marshmallow (as Olaf so endearingly named him) wasn't there. Elsa looked around and back behind her toward the forest. When she saw no sign of the over-sized, ice monster snowman, she turned back to the castle, her anger stoked even further. If that hag did anything to Marshmallow…

Climbing the staircase, Elsa could see her. Standing in the doorway to the palace, she had a smile on her face like she knew Elsa would come. Of course, she did. She was supposed to come. Charlotte ensured it.

"Yes! Come, my beautiful girl!" she called to Elsa, gesturing for her to continue forward. "Do you want more?"

By the time Elsa reached the top of the stairs, the woman hadn't moved. Stopping right where the stairs ended, Elsa waited, watching the woman with an inferno of hatred in her eyes.

Charlotte approached the queen with her usual smirk. Elsa didn't move a muscle. "So, Elsa…" she said, resting a hand on her shoulder and leaning in close. "Do you want to…" she paused and whispered in her ear, "make love?"

An icy blast of wind threw Charlotte off of her feet and back, landing her heavily on the floor of the castle with a grunt.

After taking a moment to recover, she whistled with mock awe. "Well damn, Elsa," she said, picking herself back up. Elsa had followed her into the castle. She smiled at her. "You're getting so good."

Elsa looked down at the floor as a flurry of snow seemed to crawl over her feet towards the woman.

"But how good are you?"

The flurry picked up right before the woman, forming a swirling snowstorm. Elsa took a step back as she watched the storm spin. What was the supposed to do? Make her dizzy? She scoffed.

But with a flash of lightning, the storm transformed. Now, before Elsa, was a huge ice monster that almost looked like Marshmallow, but with razor-sharp icicles forming teeth and spikes that covered his back.

"I know you're not scared, Elsa." she heard from across the room. "But, oh, my dear… You should be."

ooo

After Elsa had left her in the hall, Anna didn't know what to do with herself. Angry and upset, all she could really get herself to do was walk aimlessly around the castle, a pastime she was achingly familiar with. The wedding guests were starting to take their leave. While the castle servants were well aware of the situation with the queen, the guests were ignorant and Anna was perfectly fine with that. Many bade her goodbye and she nodded, thanking them for coming and apologizing for the delay in their return home.

As she weaved through the mass of people, she peered around the room looking for Prince Alexander. Of all the guests that were leaving, he couldn't be one of them. From talking to Elsa the other day and seeing him that morning when he thought Elsa was dead, she knew that there was something budding there and she couldn't let it go away. She was waving goodbye to Rapunzel and Eugene when she turned right into Olaf who was milling around amongst the guests also.

"Woah!" Olaf had to grab Anna to keep her from falling over. "My bad! Hey..." Olaf could clearly see the distress on the princess's face. "What's wrong?"

Anna steadied herself with a hand on his shoulder. "It's... It's Elsa."

"Elsa? Hey, I've seen Elsa! She came through here not too long ago! She seemed in quite a rush." Olaf said, brushing at annoying lock of hair that kept falling into his eyes. He had decided a couple hours earlier that he didn't like hair.

"You mean she was here?" A small amount of hope blossomed in Anna's chest. "Do you know where she was going?"

Olaf shrugged. "No... but she left the castle, I know that. I overheard a little of her talking to a guard..."

Anna listened very carefully, hanging onto his every word.

"The guard said someone named Britta had returned earlier that morning, and Elsa said something about north... but that's all I can remember." Olaf's face didn't seem concerned enough, and that annoyed Anna until she realized that Olaf had no clue what was going on, then she felt bad.

"Did she say where n-?" It dawned on Anna like being doused with a bucket of ice cold water. "The North Mountain..." she muttered, and ran out to the stables, followed by a confused human-snowman.

"What about the North Mountain?" Olaf called, narrowly dodging an elderly diplomat as he chased after the princess.

"That's where Elsa is going. The North Mountain." she called behind her.

The stable boy was just leaving as Anna pushed past him and ran to Aksel's stall. "I need to stop her..." she muttered as she saddled the stallion and climbed onto his back with determination. Stop her from doing what though, was the question. She had a feeling it wasn't good.

"I'm coming with you!" Olaf cried as he stopped next to the horse, panting from the run.

Anna sighed, but nodded. "Okay..."

Olaf grinned and hopped onto Aksel's back too behind Anna. This wasn't what she had had in mind, but she shrugged it off and rode out of the stables.

"Open the gate!" she called up to the guards on the wall as they set off at a gallop through the courtyard. Just as they reached the gate, it was fully open and they were out in the warm summer air.

Another Note: Hey, while I was struggling over this chapter, I started a new Frozen/Wicked crossover. It'll be three parts, and I really like it, so if you're interested, please check it out! It's titled "Unlimited".