Author's note: Thanks for the reviews, everyone—even if it was just to say "Ewwww" to my description of Hans'...problems. Not something we often think about when talking about imprisonment back in those days. Incidentally, when Hans was shown being thrown into the brig on that ship—that bucket his head landed in...I'm fairly certain that bucket wasn't used for water, if you get my drift.

Elsa slumped against the wall the second she heard the door close behind her with a muted "click!" After nearly eight hours—8 hours!—of dining and revelry, of making small talk to everyone she chanced across seemingly every time she took a step, of hearing yet another congratulations or inquiry about her health from some dignitary whose name she couldn't remember, of being in the spotlight no matter how much she tried to avoid it, she just had to find a place where people weren't. She had wanted to leave after the ceremonial signing of all the treaties her advisers had worked out with their visiting counterparts but Anna—dear, lovable, excitable Anna who was having the time of her life meeting absolutely everyone in the castle—had talked her into staying just a bit longer, which turned into just a bit longer, which turned into...well, hours. She stayed slumped against the wall for several minutes, allowing her mind to replay the events of that day.

Before Hans' trial began, Archbishop Helfmar conducted an elaborate ceremony in full view of the assembly, placing a crown on her head and then a signet ring engraved with a crocus superimposed on a snowflake and bearing the words "Queen Elsa of Arendelle" on her right ring finger. He then had her hold the scepter and globus cruciger and renew her vows as Queen. After all that, Lord Stevenson called for the prisoner.

Hans strutted confidently down the aisle despite the chains and the glares he was receiving. When Lord Stevenson asked him if he had anything to say, Hans responded by giving a speech as though he was the rightful king whose throne had been usurped by an evil witch. He even tried to rally the townspeople and assembled dignitaries to his side to return him to "his" throne. To say that Hans had misjudged was an understatement. It had taken the entire garrison on duty to quell the near-riot and ensure that the traitorous prince wasn't torn to pieces right then and there. Several guards had been injured in the process, two seriously. After everyone—Anna, Elsa, the foreign dignitaries, the seven knights—had all told their portions of the story, each in their own turn of what Hans had done or said to them from after Elsa was knocked unconscious in her castle until Anna socked him off the boat, Elsa stood and pronounced his sentence: Death by hanging, drawing, and quartering and beheading. No one was surprised in the least but the sentence still set off a buzz of conversation. Elsa raised her left hand in front of her, deliberately displaying the ring on her finger, as she called for calm.

Hans gasped. "Mother's ring! Ho...how did you get that?!"

"You recognize it?" Elsa asked calmly. When he refused to answer, she continued. "Your brother, Prince Wilhelm, gave it to me four years ago as a b..betrothal gift. I found out later that your m..mother, Quenn Mathilda, may God rest her soul, gave it to him and t..told him to give it to me."

"Liar!" That word set off another disturbance as townspeople tried to break through the guard cordon around Hans.

When things calmed again, Elsa grew serious. "If you t..think that I lie, you can ask your father y..yourself. I hereby suspend your sentence and o..order your return to the Southern Isles. I shall let your father and brothers d..decide your fate! But know this: If you ever—ever!—return to A..Arendelle, your s..sentence shall be c..carried out!"

Hans blanched, terror evident on his face. "NO!" He wrenched free if the guards who were dragging him out and threw himself onto his knees at her feet. "Please! I beg you! Execute me! Don't send me back! Please! NOOOOoooooo!" Hans wailed about his fate and begged for execution all the way out the door and down the hall.

"Whoa!" Anna exclaimed, gripping Elsa's upper arm with both of her hands. "Who would have thought that being sent back home would be such a punishment?"

Elsa just smiled at her little sister. "Me."

"Well, yeah..." Anna watched her former fiancé get dragged out the door. "So, what do you think they will do with him? I mean, YOUR fiancé will probably freeze him solid when he finds out—know what I mean?—but what do you think they'll do with him until Wilhelm returns?"

"I don't know. But I know King Helmut will not be pleased with him."

The banquet afterwards had been mundane in comparison—the worst part as far as Elsa was concerned was the opening remarks she was required to give. She tried passing that responsibility off to her far chattier sister but Anna would have none of it. "That's YOUR responsibility, El. I'm not doing it!" At least Anna monopolized the conversation near Elsa during the meal, allowing the queen to dine in relative peace until the toasts began. She wondered if anyone noticed that she hadn't even finished the single goblet of wine she had been nursing the entire evening. She knew that several visitors had already polished off a bottle or two while her own goblet was barely half gone. It wasn't that she didn't like wine. She just didn't trust herself to get drunk—never had. Getting drunk meant losing control and she couldn't risk it.

Elsa sighed and pushed herself off the wall. Muffled laughter drifted to her from the ballroom while on the other end of the corridor, she heard the clink and clang of dishes in the kitchen. If she stayed here much longer, someone would find her and then she would have to go back into the ballroom. She quietly crept down the hallway and turned right before ducking down another hallway. The sounds of revelry and the kitchen grew fainter until the only noise was her own breathing and the click of her shoes against the stone floor. She waited until a servant—she didn't know her name. Kai had hired so many the past week, it was hard to keep them all straight—distracted the guard and slipped out the backdoor into the garden.

The cool night air washed over her. Elsa could feel the tension draining out of her body and mind, leaving peace in its wake. The night was still except for an occasional sound of mirth from the ballroom drifting over the breeze, the sound of the waves gently lapping at the shores of the island, the babble of the brook, and the chirp of crickets. The full moon shone bright in the sky, giving her ample light to see by once her eyes adjusted. She was drawn to the duck pond in the center of the garden, shining bright with the reflection of the moon in its still waters. Sinking down into the soft grass along its banks, she found herself staring into the calm waters. Her mind wandered as she mindlessly undid her braid and shook out her hair. She leaned onto her right arm and trailed her left through the calm, cool water, giggling a little as goldfish nibbled at her cold fingertips.

Her father had tried for years to get treaties with the major powers of Europe, especially trade treaties. His efforts had nearly always been rebuffed, in part because Arendelle was a small kingdom and not very important. He would have been thrilled to know that his daughter had just signed and sealed trade treaties with Great Britain, Spain, France, and Prussia, along with military treaties pledging to respect Arendelle's neutrality and territorial integrity in the case of a conflict between the larger powers. There was even some discussions about exchanging permanent ambassadors, something her father hadn't ever even dreamed possible. She giggled as she remembered the puzzled expressions on the ambassadors' faces when they realized that the quills they had picked up were for left-handed people. Monsieur Argonne had just stared at his.

"What is this? I cannot use this quill!" came his French accent.

Kai had handled that little problem smoothly. "My lord, allow me." He handed the French ambassador a right-handed quill, then turned and presented the other quill to Elsa. Realization dawned on the ambassador's face as he watched the queen sign each document.

"Ah. I did not realize that Queen Elsa is left handed!"

"Yes, I am, Monsieur," Elsa answered for Kai. "So is my sister."

The man rubbed his goatee. "That is rather unusual, is it not, for there to be two left handed siblings in one family? Were your parents left handed?"

"No, my lord. Both of them were right handed."

When Kai announced the start of the ball after the signing ceremony, Anna was insistent that the Queen be there from the start rather than coming in half-way through as she had at her coronation and practically dragged her very reluctant sister to the ballroom.

"Anna, I don't know why I have to be there for the entire thing! You know I can't dance! I don't know how!"

"And miss the start of the party? Where's the fun in that?"

"The party started a couple hours ago when we ate."

"That's not a party. THIS is the start of the real party!" Anna squealed. "Look at all the chocolate!"

While Anna ran all over the place, drooling at the multiple forms of chocolate available, Elsa ascended the dais and stood, greeting each couple as they passed by to take the dance floor. At Kai's signal, the chamber orchestra struck up the first minuet. Unfortunately, even the first dance wasn't enough to preserve the Queen's moment of quiet.

"Ahem, Queen Elsa?"

Elsa startled a bit. Her mind had been brooding on her coronation and she hadn't noticed that not everyone was dancing.

"Sorry for disturbing you..."

"Don't worry about it. I should have been paying attention, Lord..." Her mind raced furiously, trying to pair up a name with the face before her.

"Viscount Richstad of Bavaria, Your Majesty. I just wanted to congratulate you on a most successful start to your reign and to wish you well."

"Thank you."

"I am delighted that you appear to have recovered your health so quickly."

She blushed. "Not...completely, I'm afraid. My d..doctor informs me that it will be a few more...weeks before I am fully recovered. If it were up to him, I would probably...be confined to bed for a while longer."

"Well, in any respect, you have made tremendous progress and I, for one, am very pleased."

After a few more comments, including the weather on the morrow when the viscount was leaving and the man telling a couple short stories about his family/kingdom, he asked, "Your Majesty, before I go, would it be possible for me to take a memento home for my wife? She would be most thrilled."

It took Elsa a few seconds to realize what he was asking for. "M..my ice? Y..you want something m..made from m..my ice?"

"If it isn't too much trouble, that it."

"N..n.."

"She would be happy to." Anna glommed onto Elsa's right arm.

"B..but I..I don't kn..know if I c..can." Elsa whispered.

"Sure you can! I know you can!" Anna grinned at her. "Please? For me?"

Elsa thought for a minute, then raised her left hand and concentrated on the glowing whitish-blue ball swirling just above her palm. The ball vanished in a swirl of light. In its place stood a tiny snowman carved in ice. She handed it to the nobleman.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" the man bowed.

That opened the floodgates. Seemingly everyone wanted an souvenir. If they weren't dancing, they were lining up at the dais. It wouldn't have been so bad if Anna had remained on the dais with her, but she grabbed Kristoff (looking very uncomfortable and out-of-place in his new suit) and whirled off into a rather clumsy waltz. Elsa was obviously not the only person who couldn't dance. During the fourth dance, Elsa slipped off the dais and attempted to circle the room to get some chocolate. Yes, she could have just sent a servant but she was hoping to gain a bit of privacy.

She hugged the wall, trying to slip past little knots of people without being noticed. That didn't go so well. Elsa could hardly take a step without someone stopping her to chat. And once that first person noticed her, her cover was blown. It took her nearly an hour just to make it to the chocolate table. The return trip was nearly as long. After that, she was ready to barricade herself in the library. It wasn't that Elsa couldn't make small talk—her father and tutors had taught her how to have a conversation one-on-one. It was having to actually do it with total strangers, constantly surrounded by a crowd listening in on every syllable, every nervous stutter, every awkward pause, every stammer as she desperately tried to think of something, anything, to say. She felt trapped by the crowd and nearly sighed audibly when she reached her safe haven of her dais. But that just meant that the souvenir-seekers had an easier time finding her.

She felt the familiar and unwelcome tension and pulsating pressure that announced the onset of yet another headache as she was making a trinket for a guest's young daughter. Elsa grimaced and began massaging her temples, trying to ward off the pain. Light snow began falling around her as her efforts failed and the pain gradually worsened. Just as she was about to leave the room, she felt a pair of hands cup her forehead, followed by an influx of magic. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into the concerned green eyes of her cousin.

"Are you okay?"

Elsa nodded as she relaxed against her cousin's hands. "Yes. Thank you, Punzie."

Her cousin hugged her, then pulled back and examined her face. "My pleasure, Elsa, but you should rest. You look really tired." Rapunzel's fingers gently traced the dark half-circles under Elsa's eyes.

"I will when I am able." A guest greeted them, distracting Rapunzel who knew this particular noble from parties in Corona. Elsa returned to the line waiting to chat with her. "Hello," she managed, inwardly wishing she could be invisible for a few minutes. It wasn't long until she got a respite. When Anna got everyone's attention with an animated retelling of her adventure (really, with all the arm-waving and loud sound effects, it was hard for anyone not to pay attention), Elsa saw her chance and slipped out a rarely-used servants' entrance.

Elsa suddenly yawned so widely that her jaw clicked. Coming back to the present, she realized that she was lying down, her head cradled on her right arm, her left hand becoming increasingly pruny in the pond. Rousing herself, she made her way back toward the castle, veering off the path toward the boulders by the wall. I'll rest for just a little bit before someone misses me, she thought. Clambering up the boulders, she found a favorite spot that was relatively smooth and flat. She had often sat on that particular rock, staring up at the stars over her head. Tonight, the full moon shone through a gap in the trees, partially washing out the Milky Way and the dancing aurora overhead. She laid down on the hard rock, then decided to make it softer because of a bump that poked her ribs. There was a brief flash of light as she coated the stone with soft snow. It took a bit more effort than she was used to, something she chalked up to her using her powers so much that day. Lying down on her snowy bed, she stared up at the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra before making herself a pillow and a blanket for more comfort. The constellation Cygnus drew her attention next with Deneb holding her vision for several minutes as it twinkled high above her. Jerking awake after a minute, she shook her head, wondering how she fell asleep without even realizing it. She resumed staring at the moon and constellations, quizzing herself on the names of the various stars and summer constellations in an attempt to stay awake. After several minutes, the moon looked down on a small figure lying on a bed of snow under a soft, icy blanket, eyes closed, pale, long hair framing an equally pale face, chest rising and falling slowly and steadily, fast asleep.

At first, no one noticed that the Queen was gone. The first to notice were her guards. They refused to allow their panic to reach their faces but their increasingly frantic glances around the room and hurried whispers to each other bespoke of a major problem. That is where it would have stayed—with the guards mounting a thorough but quiet search of the entire castle and grounds if not for...

"Hey! Where's Elsa?!" Anna stopped her story when she noticed that her big sister was no longer in sight. Her announcement immediately set off a buzz in the crowded room. Anna paid no attention as she quickly ran to the back corner of the room. She faintly remembered that corner had been her sister's hiding spot when younger and was disappointed to find it empty. There wasn't even a table there anymore behind which Elsa could hide.

Anna stopped for only a second before dashing out of the ballroom, leaving the prime minister and others to fill the gap caused by the sudden disappearance of the two royal hostesses. "Well," the elderly minister began, staring at the crowd, "I'm sure the princess will find her royal sister shortly. Until then, maestro, if you please?"

Anna raced through the castle. "Now, where would she be?" She raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time to get to the third floor. Skidding around the corner, she ran to Elsa's new chambers, only to find them empty. Speaking to the guards at the door, she learned that neither of them had seen the Queen at all. Anna suddenly had an idea. "Her old room!" she exclaimed and took off at top speed. She tried to stop in front of the snowflake-patterned door but dress shoes and carpeted floors didn't allow for quick stops. Anna slid past and only stopped after she crashed into a table, knocking a Ming dynasty vase off, which promptly shattered into a thousand pieces on the floor. Picking herself up, Anna rubbed her bruised elbow and hip before limping back to the door. She knocked out of habit and waited for a reply. When none came, she let out a sigh and started to turn away. You actually expected her to open that door? she chided herself. Wait, another voice argued, what if she's hurt and can't answer the door? What if she needs you? You have to at least try. Anna wavered, then turned back to the door. The door that had never opened to her knocks before, the door that had separated her from her sister for thirteen years. She lifted her fist again before hesitating. Shaking her head, she lowered her fist, gasping when her hand caught the door handle and it opened with a small click.

Anna peered cautiously through the cracked door. "Elsa?" No answer. Anna pushed the door open wider. "Elsa?" she called, louder. Silence. Anna stepped into the moonlit room and fumbled to light a candle. She looked around by the flickering light and sighed. Empty. She stepped over to the wardrobe and pulled it open. Nothing. Not even a forgotten handkerchief. Anna looked around and saw the dresser. She pulled each drawer out and checked inside. Why, she didn't know. In a way, she felt like a snoop. This was Elsa's room, after all, a room Anna was never allowed to be in. Pushing the drawers shut, Anna laid down on her stomach and peered under the bed. There wasn't even a dust bunny under there. She blew out her bangs in frustration and started to get back up. Her eyes fell on the bedside table and noticed something strange. There appeared to be something attached to the underside of that table. Anna crawled over and examined the object. A book. No, not a book—a diary. Elsa's diary! Excitedly, Anna worked it loose from its hiding place and opened it. A footstep in the hallway made her slam it shut and hide it behind her back.

"Oh, there you are, Your Highness. Any luck finding the Queen?"

"No, not yet, Kai. Have you found her yet?"

"No, unfortunately. However, none of the guards at the gates saw her leave, so we are certain she is still in the castle."

"Okay, I'm going to check the library and her office."

The manservant nodded. "Very good. The footmen and I will search the cellar. Gerda and her maids are checking the guest rooms." Kai stepped forward and laid a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Don't worry, Princess Anna. We will find your sister."

"Thank you," Anna smiled at him. The second he left, she pulled the diary from behind her back. She worried her bottom lip, then sprang to her feet and ran to her room. Nodding to the guards at the door, she rushed past them and shoved the diary into the top drawer of her dresser, then sprinted to the stairs and slid down the banister. She burst into the library and began searching the room, checking under the couches, behind them, behind the curtains, even opening the bench seats and searching the storage bins underneath. Coming up empty-handed, she switched to the office connected to the library. "Where are you, you stinker?!" Blasting into the hallway through the office's other door, she ran down to the guest rooms, nearly crashing into Gerda.

"Any luck?" she asked breathlessly.

"None, I'm afraid. Captain Heinrichsson has his men searching the servants' areas and the stables. Archbishop Helfmar and the priests are searching the chapel."

"Where could she be?!"

Gerda gave Anna a hug. "We will find her, Your Highness. Now, come with me. All the searchers were supposed to meet in the throne room."

When they got there, they discovered that everyone else had come up empty. Anna began to panic and the rest to worry until one of the new maids mentioned she had felt a sudden chill in the air in the hallway leading to the back door.

"A chill? As in, the air got colder?"

"Yes. And all of a sudden, too, Your Highness. I never, in all my life, felt anythin' like that before."

"The gardens!"

"Wait, Your Hig..." Kai stopped when he realized he was talking to empty space.

The guard at the back door snapped to attention when he saw the crown princess. "P..Princess Anna!"

"Have you seen my sister?!"

"T..the Queen? N..no, Your Highness."

"Have you been here the entire night?"

"Y..yes, Your Highness."

"And you never left this door for an instant?"

"No! Uh, well..."

"Well...?"

"I did go help a maid move a serving table when it got stuck." The guard looked sheepishly at where the princess had been standing, only to find himself alone and the door banging nearly off its hinges. He stood with his mouth agape for a minute, marveling that anyone could move that fast.

"Eric! Did you see the princess?"

"Yes sir!" He indicated the now open door.

Kai, Gerda, and a group of guards ran past him into the dark night.

Eric shook his head a bit, wondering what was going on.

Outside, Kai and Gerda searched the inky night for their quarry. "There!" Gerda whispered, pointing to a figure pulling herself out of the duck pond. Kai and a guard lieutenant went forward and helped the now soaked-to-the-bone princess out of the water.

Anna wrung her dress out. "Anyone seen Elsa yet?" She loosened her hair and wrung it out as well.

Kai chuckled at the very disheveled woman before him. "Not yet, Your Highness."

"Sir! Over here!"

The group rushed toward the silhouetted figure of a guard. He pointed to the rocks. Anna nearly sobbed in relief when she saw her sister lying in a bed obviously of her own making, illuminated by the moon. Anna fought down the lump in her throat and carefully climbed up to her sister. Elsa was lying on her back, her left arm lying palm up near her head, mouth ajar. You could nearly feel the exhaustion radiating off her. Anna brushed a strand of hair back behind Elsa's ear before leaning down and kissing her cold cheek. Elsa's nose wrinkled a bit in her sleep at Anna's newly acquired aroma.

"Your Highness, here, let us care for her." Anna nodded and hopped down as guards took her place and carefully picked the queen up. They passed the sleeping woman down a chain until Kai took her in his arms.

"Good thing she's a sound sleeper," Kai chuckled.

Gerda fussed over Elsa a bit, smoothing her hair back and adjusting her dress to cover her legs. "I doubt she would wake right now even if she wasn't. Come, Your Highness, let's get you changed while the girls get your sister ready for bed."

"But I want to stay with Elsa!"

"Yes, but you also need to be at the ball with the guests. And I won't let you do either smelling like that!" Gerda pinched her nose.

Anna took a whiff of her dress. "I do smell, don't I?" Gerda nodded. "Melody will draw a bath for you and help you change."

"Thanks, Gerda!" Anna ran back into the castle.

Gerda sighed as she watched Anna go. "Well, at least we found Elsa."

Kai nodded as he carried the sleeping Queen to the door. "Next time, we need to set up her corner again."

"She's not a little girl anymore, husband."

"True. So next time, we set up a drawing room for her and let her know she can hide in it rather than sneaking off like this."

"Now you're making sense."