Sjå meg djupt (Look deep into)
I augene blå (My eyes of blue)
Du må forstå (You must understand)
Wardruna, "Odal"
–
It was not yet dusk when the door to the longhouse creaked open, interrupting Anna's work at the cooking fire where she was preparing an evening meal. She looked up to see her blond Viking enter; his expression was one of bewilderment.
"Kristoff," she gasped, rising quickly to greet her husband. "You've returned early. What is the matter?"
With a heavy heart, Kristoff took his wife into his arms, holding her close. Anna sighed and melted into him, allowing herself to be held.
"I've seen your sister."
Anna pulled away from him, enough to look up into his eyes. "How is she?"
Kristoff hesitated to answer. "She is… well."
"She has married the chieftain, has she not?" Anna furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "Or has some other tragic event come to pass?"
"One cannot marry the chieftain when one has… dispatched the chieftain."
His cryptic words only served to deepen Anna's confusion further. Sensing her distress, Kristoff took his wife by the hand and led her over to the fire, indicating that she should sit and listen to what he was about to tell her.
He began with the ceremony, recalling the actions that had led to Elsa duelling Ulf in a holmgang, and ended with Elsa's victory over the son of Dagr, standing beside Hans with their clasped hands held high for all to see.
When at last he had finished speaking, Anna let out the breath she had been holding in an astonished huff of air, her hands holding her face.
"Elsa… she…"
Somehow, she had always known that her sister was a fighter, as strong and formidable as any warrior. But what– or who– had finally been the catalyst, to push the eldest daughter of Agnarr to realize her true self? Had it been Hans, the Viking brute who had tried to take Anna herself by force all those months ago? She could only surmise.
An unexpected knock at the door came suddenly, and Anna and Kristoff glanced at each other, both wondering who could be coming to call at such a late hour. Rising warily, Kristoff walked to the front of the longhouse with great strides, gripping the hilt of his sword at his hip before removing the bar from the door and pulling it open.
There, standing just outside the threshold, was Elsa, donned in a dark cloak.
Anna leapt to her feet; the tears sprang to her eyes before she could put a name to them.
"Elsa!" she cried, crossing the distance between them. Elsa met her in the center of the room, returning her embrace with equal fervor when she threw her arms around her and hugged tightly.
"Oh, Anna," Elsa murmured into her sister's wild red hair. "How I've missed you."
Anna pulled back and wiped at her eyes with her fingers; seeing Elsa alive and well after so much time apart was too much of a relief to be put into words.
"Kristoff's just told me everything. Well, nearly everything, as I'm sure that there is much more that you can tell me. Do you have time to stay and speak?"
Elsa nodded. "Yes, I have all of the time in the world, now that Ulf is dead. I've bested him in battle, and so I am free. Which means that we can finally go home. Back to Francia."
Despite herself, Anna felt her stomach drop like a stone at hearing her sister's words, her newfound joy at their reunion quickly and succinctly replaced by a foreboding sense of dread. Returning to Francia had once been a dream, but now...
"Elsa… if we return home… will we even have a home to return to?"
The elder sister took her younger sister's hands in her own. "We don't belong here, Anna. Francia is our home."
Anna gulped. "I…"
She glanced to Kristoff, who watched her with sullen eyes, his expression solemn and his arms crossed over his chest. She knew without a doubt: Kristoff was her home. She belonged in the North, at Svensholm, with him.
Shaking her head, Anna gently pulled her hands out of her sister's grasp. "This is my home now."
"Anna–"
"I know these Northern lands haven't been kind to you. At times, they were not kind to me, either," Anna explained as she made her way over to stand next to her husband. "But they brought me to a man more kind and noble than any I've ever met. He made me his wife, and we've created a home here, for ourselves and for…"
Her hand absentmindedly trailed to her stomach, her palm resting over the babe that slept within her womb. She tilted her face up to smile at Kristoff. "The gods have blessed me with a child. His child."
Kristoff's eyes lit up at her revelation.
"For these reasons and more, I cannot leave. I will not leave. I must stay here."
Anna reached down to grab Kristoff's hand in her own, and he took the gesture eagerly, squeezing her hand to indicate his excitement at her news; she revelled in the way that her husband's eyes glistened in the light of the fire.
Elsa tented her own fingers together in front of herself. "Anna, I cannot stay. I've killed the chieftain. I'm not safe, and neither are you. But, if you insist on remaining here… then I must sail South without you."
Anna's features softened. "Elsa…"
Kristoff cleared his throat before speaking. "You did best Ulf in a proper holmgang. Therefore, should you choose to stay, you would be the clan's new chieftain."
"The clan's new chieftain, with a mark on my back." Elsa turned to address her sister's husband. "I have no doubt that Ulf's brothers won't spare an opportunity to spear me through the neck as soon as they get the chance."
"If I may be so bold," Kristoff continued. "I saw their faces today when you froze Ulf's heart. They're afraid of you… of your power. In time, they may come to respect you for it. But, for now, I don't believe that they would try to take your life. Ulf may have been a fearless warrior, but his brothers are cowards, who've gotten by until now only by hiding in their brother's shadow."
Elsa laughed quietly. "That's exactly what Hans said."
"Hans?" Anna gasped in disbelief. "So, then, it is true; you've aligned yourself with that brute."
"I know what he did to you, Anna. As well as what he tried to do," Elsa said. "But without him, I never would have survived. It's thanks to him and his teachings that I'm alive and free now. He taught me to be strong, showed me how to be a warrior. I never believed in myself until he believed in me."
"What about all of the times that I believed in you, Elsa? Did that mean nothing?" Fresh tears pricked at Anna's lashes. Hearing her sister's praise of her attacker was a betrayal she had never expected; it hurt deeper than any wound of the flesh.
The door creaked behind them before Elsa could respond, and all three turned to see a figure enter, his red-gold locs swaying from his steps.
Faster than Anna could comprehend, Kristoff's sword was drawn and she was pushed behind him as he leapt forward, assuming a battle stance.
"Hans," he growled. "How dare you come where you are not wanted."
"I did not come to fight, Kristoff," Hans started, reaching for the handle of his own sword. "I was only escorting the lady."
Anna and Kristoff both turned to look at Elsa; she nodded, confirming that Hans spoke the truth.
The taller Viking shook his head. "Whether or not you came looking for a fight does not matter; you've found one, as I am bound to protect my wife's honor and slay you here and now for your past aggressions against her."
"Surely, that isn't necessary–" Elsa tried to protest, but was hushed by Hans raising his hand in a gesture of peace.
Deliberately, Hans pulled his own sword from its sheath at his waist and held it forward in front of himself, point towards the floor, to prove his passivity.
"My family sword," he explained. "It's yours. I have no use for a blade in these matters."
Having said his piece, Hans dropped to a knee and bowed his head, his sword still outstretched.
Anna glanced at her sister, and was shocked by what she saw; she recognized the expression on Elsa's features all too well. It was an expression borne of love, underlined by fear at the prospect of losing Hans. It was the same way that she herself looked at Kristoff.
Anna was tired of violence. She craved peace, to undo the damage that had been inflicted on countless lives. Only through forgiveness could they begin to heal.
Tentatively, she stepped forward, moving to stand in front of Hans where he knelt. Kristoff held out an arm to stop her, but she lowered it gently, giving her husband a reassuring look. Her blue eyes were dark as she paused, gazing upon Hans, silently contemplating; he no longer frightened her, now that Kristoff was there to protect her and their unborn child, but she still felt a rage within her for the heinous acts he had committed at the expense of herself and her countrymen.
Even she had been wrong about Kristoff once. Perhaps there was some good in Hans as well, which Elsa could see but she could not. Given the chance to redeem himself, perhaps he could even be a man as noble and righteous as her husband; she would have to offer him that chance.
After an extended silence, Anna spoke, reaching out a hand and allowing her palm to hover above Hans's lowered head.
"Although I cannot say that I forgive you for what you did to me, you've done more for my sister than I can ever repay you for, and for that… I am grateful."
To her left, Elsa let out a relieved breath of air. Anna laid her hand upon Hans's scalp in a gesture of forgiveness, before removing it and stepping back to stand beside Kristoff.
Elsa moved forward to hug her sister. "Thank you."
"Please stay, Elsa," Anna begged when she had pulled out of her sister's embrace. "We can make our home here, for all of us. I can't bear the thought of being separated again."
The pale-haired princess glanced at Hans.
"The decision is yours to make, Princess," he said, righting himself as he sheathed his sword.
Elsa swallowed thickly, twisting her hands together in front of herself; she knew there was only one path to choose, which, before today, she wouldn't have had the strength to endure. Especially not alone. But, as she looked to Anna and then to Hans, she knew that she'd never have to endure any trial alone again.
She was ready to make her choice.
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A/N: One more chapter!