"Get this man off my ship!" Commander Thurmond ordered his men.

They all hesitated.

"NOW!"

Two soldiers immediately came forward and took Johan by the arms. The Chancellor walked forward, shrugging them off. Upon reached the rail, he raised his pole and white flag high, and then dropped it over the side, before climbing down a ladder to the frozen fjord.

As he descended, a wave of Power swept across the ice, flattening the jumbled fragments into a smooth sheet. Accompanied by two mercenary soldiers, Johan gathered his flag and began the trek back to the Crocus.

Frowning, Thurmond watched the display of Power, seeing Elsa standing atop her spire of ice. The Queen bowed to him, and then began walking down a spiral stair.

Still furious, Thurmond stormed downstairs to his quarters.

There, another man waited, seated by a small table. "When can we expect the Queen's surrender?" he asked.

"Queen Elsa will not be surrendering," Thurmond grumbled, as he began to search the room.

"Then when will you begin your attack?"

Thurmond glared at the other man. "THERE WILL BE NO ATTACK!" he yelled.

"What? I paid you good money to see that evil sorceress done away with. We have a contract!"

"I'm cancelling the contract under the provisions of section four."

"Uhh, section four?"

Thurmond went to a bookshelf, grabbed a scroll, and threw it on the table in front of the other man. "Did you even read the contract?"

"Well, of course I did. It just that…"

Thurmond's gaze pinned the other man to his seat. "Section four states that I may cancel the contract at my discretion if any information provided by the client proves to be misleading or false. The Queen is far more powerful than you described, and has far more control. 'If she gets mad, the weather will change and everything freezes. If she's happy, it all thaws. She has no control over this. Other than that, all she can do is make some decorations out of ice.'"

"Of course she's powerful! That's why she must be stopped!"

Thurmond continued his glare until the other man looked away, and then resumed his search.

"If you are not going to attack, then I want my money back," the other man stated.

Thurmond found a pole, to which was affixed a white flag. "There's a reason why I ask for half payment, non-refundable, up front. It's for when idiots like you get me into situations like this. An army ten times what I have would not be enough! At least I'll not lose to much money on this fiasco."

"You cannot just give up! She's an evil sorceress!"

"Odd, you've never described her as evil before. You've been saying 'dangerous', and 'out of control'"

"Of course she's evil! All sorceresses are evil!" the man protested.

"Tell me; if she's so evil, why are we still alive? The Queen could have killed us a dozen times over by now! If she even thinks we're a threat, she could crush my ships in seconds!"

"You expect me to know the mind of that witch?" the other man asked.

"I expect you to have a little common sense!" Thurmond yelled.

The other man pulled his head back in shock, and then his eyes narrowed.

"What are you going to do, surrender yourself into her evil clutches?"

"No. We are going to her ship to discuss terms."

"What? I will have nothing to do with... Hey! What are you doing?"

Thurmond picked up the other man, one hand under each arm, and set him down at the door to his quarters. "Do you prefer to walk, or be dragged in chains?"

The other man straightened his uniform, trying to regain some dignity. "I'll walk," he said, icily.

Chancellor Johan climbed the stairs to the deck of the Crocus.

"You're back, safe and sound!" Elsa said, as she threw her arms around Johan, giving him a big hug. He stood awkwardly for a moment, and then hesitantly put one arm around the Queen, patting her on the back. He shot Lars a confused look.

"Whenever Her Majesty uses her Power on a large scale, it tends to elevate her mood." Lars said as quietly as he could.

"I'm right here," Elsa replied, releasing Johan. "So, what happened? Was bowing to Thurmond a little too much?"

"He was quite furious," Johan replied, "even before your bow. I almost missed that part as I was climbing down a ladder at the time."

"I was thinking of doing a pirouette," Elsa actually did a pirouette, "but I held back."

"That was probably for the best. As it was, I feared Thurmond would end me right then and there."

"He was most likely mad at the situation, or his employer," Lars commented.

"Of that, I have no doubt. But I did expect him to take his anger out on myself."

"Did you learn who hired the Commander?" asked Lars.

"Unfortunately, no. We still have no idea who is behind this invasion."

Lars thought for a moment. "There is the possibility Thurmond's employer could convince him to continue the invasion."

"We don't know if Thurmond's employer is even here," Elsa commented.

"I'm fairly sure he is here, on Thurmond's lead ship," Johan began. "When I asked to see his employer, the commander's eyes strayed to the stairway leading below deck just for a moment."

"What could they do to continue the invasion?" asked Elsa. "You've covered everything."

"Not everything. For example, he could simply sit and wait a day to two, then, under the cover of night, try and get some troops into the village. He could have landed troops days ago, miles away, who are even now infiltrating Arendelle." Lars swept his arm toward the enemy ships. "This could all be a diversion. However, I doubt it is, Thurmond normally does not accompany the diversionary force. I do have guardsmen stationed along the boarders and the shore, but enemy troops moving slowly and quietly at night are hard to detect."

"If he tries anything like that, then I'll…" Elsa trailed off, raising her right hand, cradling the glow of Power.

"Will you? Are you willing to wipe them out?" Lars asked.

Elsa closed her hand, and then stood for a long moment. "Yes, to protect my Kingdom, to protect Anna, yes."

Lars nodded once. "Good. Hopefully, Thurmond will not test your resolve. If nothing happens for a few hours, you should try and get some sleep."

"Sleep? In the daytime?" Elsa asked.

"Yes, if you can. I'm sure Captain Eric can find quarters for you."

"Or, I could go sleep in my bed in the castle. It's just a couple of hundred yards away." Elsa pointed across the water. "I could make an ice bridge."

Lars cocked his head, thinking. "That's not a bad idea. If Commander Thurmond sees we have easy access to the castle, along with supplies and relief personnel, it will make his position look that much weaker. It would also give you an avenue of escape. How fast do you think you could cross such a bridge?"

"As fast as I could run," answered Elsa.

"You're sure you'd not slip?"

Elsa smiled and shook her head. "You don't slide on ice unless you want to."

Lars and Johan exchanged a confused look.

"Are you saying you can walk on ice without having to constantly guard against slipping?" Lars asked.

Elsa looked confused herself. She was about to answer then a call came from the crows-nest.

"Sir! White flag!"

"Ah! Now, maybe we'll learn who this mysterious client is," Lars said. He took out his spyglass and went to the bow.

"What do you see?" Elsa asked as she joined Lars at the rail.

Lars adjusted the focus. "Two men, walking toward us on the ice. One is clearly Commander Thurmond. The other I don't recognize. Short, lightly built, grey hair, mustache, wearing a uniform and glasses."

"What? Give me that!" Elsa took the spyglass and looked though it. A few snowflakes began to swirl about her. Lars discreetly took half a step back.

"I do not believe it!" Elsa exclaimed, slapping her hands down on the railing. Frost splattered along its length, the lenses of the spyglass shattering as the barrel filled with ice.

"It's the Duke of Weselton."