Chapter 26

"Are you sure they wont follow us here?" I finished washing my hair in the river and stepped out, drying myself by freezing the water and drawing it back into the river.

"I've checked ten times. They wont find us for at least two days, maybe four if we're lucky." I smiled at Alyssa. She rolled across the grass, the gold streaks in her hair shining in the sunlight.

"I don't understand what's happening with her." She laughed as snow hit her nose from Jack's hands.

"She's fine, what are you talking about?" Alyssa clutched onto his leg and he swung her around, eliciting a symphony of laughter from the little girl.

"She came into her magic before she was even six months old and now it's been well over a year since then and she hasn't done a thing. Her streaks haven't changed, it's like she doesn't even have any more magic. I'm worried." Alyssa flopped over in front of me and touched my nose with her own.

"Don't worry, it's not hurting her. Maybe she just knows they're looking for her; they're tracking her magic. If she doesn't use it, they cant find her and we can rest longer and stay ahead of them." I smiled at my little girl.

"No worry." Her little hands patted my cheeks, pressing a kiss to my head.

"You wanna sleep baby?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Daddy sing?" I smiled and looked up to Jack. He sat down next to her, wrapping her in his, surprisingly warm, hoodie. He started to sing soft songs to her in a language I didn't understand, but love the sound of all the same. I asked him once if he knew what he was even saying, but he said he has no idea he's even doing it half the time. Alyssa loves it all the same, and it never fails to put her to sleep. I left the two of them lying in the midday sun and walked out over the ledge of the cliff.

"Jack. Where are we?" I looked out over the land below and saw a castle, a strangely familiar castle, in the distance.

"Where do you think?" He asked, wiping the grass off his hands as he walked over.

"Corona?" He smiled and wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Why are we in Corona, you know my cousin cant help me with anything." He sighed, leaning his chin on my head.

"We don't need to talk to Rapunzel, we're just using her land to rest for a while." I looked longingly at the castle.

"I haven't seen her since my birthday. Before that I don't know how many years it had been." I leaned back into Jack, feeling the odd sensation that was the warm-coldness of his skin.

"I miss my family too, Elsa. But I have you and Alyssa to worry about in the meantime." I turned around and checked on my daughter lying behind Jack in the sun.

"If we're staying, we need shelter, and food." Jack nodded and, with what has become his signature smile, jumped into the air and took off. He was back within five minutes and scooped Alyssa up, jumper and all, and walked off away from the cliff.

"I found a cave, it's dry and deep and covered by a moss wall, perfect." I laughed as his foot hit a rock and he did his best not to trip over with our daughter curled up in his arms. He turned around, walking backwards to reply to my laugh with a poke of his tongue. A short walk, with eyes peeled on the bay, and he parted the moss wall and I ducked under. He was right, it was a deep and dry cave we could hide out in for days. I fashioned a small bed for Alyssa and Jack tucked her in, knowing the ice wouldn't affect her. I started on another for myself only to find a large bed for two was already tucked into the corner. I smiled at Jack and examined his work. The tightly packed snow had small snowflakes carved into the legs and a blanket, not that either of us needed one, with an intricate design I recognised from my bed in Arendelle imbedded in the surface.

"Perfect." He kissed my forehead and I tucked my head into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me for a moment, and I could feel a hint of peace at last. For months, all I have felt is panic and worry at every moment that someone was coming to take my little girl from me, and I know that has been the same for Jack. For the first time since we fled the Southern soldiers, I could feel safe for a moment.

"Everything will be okay in the end." He mumbled into my hair, pressing his lips to my head for a moment before breathing out and relaxing his shoulders a little.

"Not if we die of starvation. I'll be back soon." I pressed one last kiss to his lips and ducked out through the moss wall. There was a thick forest not far from the cave I saw when we came in, and hopefully that meant food. I froze my travelling dress Kristoff gave me and changed it into more appropriate hunting gear, and added a longbow and quiver to hunt with. The bow gleamed in the light of the sun, but remained frozen in my hand. I tread carefully through the underbrush as I made my way through the trees, finding some edible berries and roots on my way I added to a pouch around my waist and found my way to the edge of a clearing where a small heard of antelope gathered. One stood on the edge of the group, fully-grown but young by the looks of it.

I found a spot to prepare and held up the bow, nocking an arrow and lining up the shot. Letting the arrow fly it found its target, embedding itself deep in the creature's chest. The rest of the herd scattered but it didn't matter, we would only need the one. I stepped out into the clearing and waved a hand over the fallen antelope, creating an icy platform to lift the dead animal into the air. I heard the whistle of a bird; a bird I know isn't from Corona. I turned on my heel, letting a dozen icicles fly where they ricochet off of golden shield emblazoned with the sun of Corona. The shields closed in around me, and a sharp sting hit my leg before my vision went dark.