Elsa woke later than usual that day, due to the late night, but still managed to feel well rested and prepared. Quilo entered the room then. Elsa was getting the distinct feeling that Quilo was assigned to her, like a lady-in-waiting.
"Good morning, my lady," She greeted as she laid breakfast and that day's outfit on the foot of the bed. It was a lightly beaded fur coat, to go over dark brown leather armour. There were also a pair of wool socks, thick, heavy snow boots with fur cuffs, and a pair of gauntlets, leather on the outside and fur on the inside, to keep her arms warm when she was doing her 'thing'. She was assured that it was probably too much, but since she was use to a warmer climate, they would take no chances, and keep her wrapped as warmly, and as safely, as they could.
Elsa climbed out of bed and stepped behind a screen in the corner of the room to wash herself. The water was colder than she would have liked, and she wish again for the powers of warmth instead of cold. Nothing happened to the water, despite her concentration, so she finished up. Her undergarments, a one-piece made of soft linen, was thrown over the top of the screen, and once she was modest, Quilo helped her into the armour.
It felt strange; She still wasn't use to wearing pants, let alone skin-tights and a soft cord belt around her hips. There was a thick wool shirt, worn under a stiff vest. Before they continued, Quilo instructed Elsa to move around and get use to it, telling her to pick things up off the floor and to stretch her arms to get a feel of how the leather and plates moved, or, more realistically, how they didn't move. Then there was another belt, this time around her waist, holding the vest firmly in place. It was almost as thick as her hand, and had a thick steel buckle. Then there were the socks, that tucked under the pants, and the boots, that had not only long fur cuffs, but were also lined with a short, thick fur.
The gauntlets were packed into a pocket on the inside of the cloak, which Quilo, the tiny girl that she was, draped over her arm (twice) to keep it off the floor. They wouldn't be needed until they went outside.
"Quilo," Elsa asked as they were leaving the room, watching the 11 year old struggle to keep it off the ground. "Let me carry the cloak instead, please?"
Quilo grunted in response, whipping a hand under the fabric to keep it from slipping to the floor. "I can manage,"
Elsa doubted this, because it looked like the cloak was attempting to swallow her. Elsa tried another angle. "Quilo, I would like to carry my own cloak, so I can get use to the weight of everything." She leant closer, as if sharing a secret. "I also want to look stronger, I fear some of the guards believe me to rely on servants too much to survive this trip. I do not wish to be looked down upon, if you can understand that."
Quilo popped her head out over the top of the cloak, and looked at her, as if trying to gauge if she was making fun of her or not. After a moment, she caved. "If my lady requests it, so shall it be." She repeated, handing the bundle over.
It was rather heavy, and she allowed herself to make a noise in surprise, as she draped it over her arm. Out of the corner of her eye, Elsa was pleased to see a thankful look pass over the girl's face, and satisfaction that it was indeed as heavy as Quilo had made it out to be.
Satisfied that her ploy worked, they carried on.
They met Kaerus and his Guard in the last room, and they left together, out into the midday sun. They double checked that everything was packed, and tied securely to the horses and to the carriage, before heading out. Elsa was disappointed to learn Quilo wasn't coming with her, but the small girl ran through the order in which Elsa had to dress herself in the next morning when they reached the Edge, just for good measure.
They travelled for the rest of the day, setting up camp just before a still early dusk. There was only a few hours of travel to the border left, but everyone agreed that it should not be done after dark.
It was an early night after a thick foul stew, in impressive tents.
Elsa woke a couple of hours before the sun rose, but already there were people rushing around, packing up loose items and dropping tents. It took Elsa ten minutes to dress herself, twice as long as Kaerus, who managed it in five, and stood outside her door waiting once he was.
The door was low, and Kaerus took the opportunity to offer his hand to her as she exited. Elsa felt herself flush at the contact, still unsure on where they stood, and hoped the blush could be blamed on the icy wind that had picked up overnight. Elsa clamped her jaw in an attempt to stop herself shivering.
The sky was just starting to brighten as they mounted their horses again, and once the sun had finally left the horizon, Elsa noticed everyone squaring their shoulder, checking their weapons, adjusting their armour and gear.
They must be getting close.
Elsa estimated another 30 minutes of riding before a guard dressed in a stained red leather tunic raised a fist. "Hold up!" He shouted.
The horse under her pranced nervously, but she didn't think it was because he smelt any danger except the sudden frost on the reigns.
Kaerus, who had been riding at her side, though silent, had brought his horse up to the guard's side to talk. They spent a few moments talking and pointing and nodding, and Elsa was about to ride her horse up to listen in on what they were saying, when Kaerus dismounted, and the guard told everyone, save two scouts, to dismount. The scouts went on ahead to check for any lurking danger.
"Elsa," Kaerus looked up to her as she turned from the disappearing horses. "Are you ready?" He held his hand out again, and she took it, shyly, dismounting. "Gods am I glad to be standing on my own two feet," One of the passing guards laughed, leading his horse to the carriage and tying her up. Elsa and Kaerus did the same.
The guards started moving around, and setting up a new camp. They would occupy this space for the rest of today while Elsa built the wall, then move to a new location further down the line tomorrow, and so forth, if good weather is on their side.
Kaerus lead her a little way from the camp, where he drew a line with his boot in the hard-packed snow. "Our border runs directly north from this point," He said, using his hand to point out the angle. "The south," he said, turning around, "is more complicated. But, we don't need to worry about that today. Let's just work north, and see how it goes, right?" He faced her, eyes wide, cheeks pink in the cold, and his breath, excited, was like puffs of smoke.
"Right," Elsa smiled back, unable to help feeling a little excited with him. She glanced at the line, and then looked north, a look of concentration coming across her features. "You may want to step back, my lord," she flashed a grin at him, already feeling the pre-effects of magic tingle in her chest.
Kaerus stepped back several steps, and crossed his arms, nodding encouragingly.
She took a deep breath and set to work.
It was slow work, but they had all planned for that. By midday, she had only managed 50 meters, and by nightfall she would only have made 100 yards.
The magic was exhausting, but for the first few hours, it was nothing she couldn't handle. After that, it was new territory. Her emotions ran wild. Left alone, she was fine, but as soon as someone approached her, or attempted conversation, she felt either incredibly angry that they had thrust all this responsibility onto her shoulders alone, or homesick and missing her sister, anxious of losing her control, or even lonely, watching the other guards and Kaerus talking and laughing at a distance. Her control was fading, and though she was finding it difficult to raise the wall, raising spikes of ice out of the snow at anyone who threaten her peace required only half a thought.
The wind that had blown around the night before only added to her frustration. It had continued to pick up, as if feeding off her emotions, and it whipped her hair around her face. The hood of her cape did nothing except get blown off whenever she looked in the direction of the wind. Which was often, since it was a northerly wind. It was also as cold as ice, and she stopped being able to feel her nose very early on.
"Elsa," Kaerus called, keeping his distance.
"What?" She snapped back. The anger had made it's return shortly after lunch, and had fluttered in and out over the course of several hours.
She could hear the faint sound of his boots shuffling in the snow. "Elsa, love, take a break for a minute."
She raised another piece of wall. "Why? What I don't get done before nightfall will only carry on to tomorrow. We have a quota to keep up with. Your words not mine." A small voice told her she was been unreasonable, but it was drowned out. It wasn't even a pleasant tingle any more, the magic had started to sound more like a swarm of very angry wasps, and it cluttered her brain, even making her a little fearful of the power she possessed.
She heard a frustrated sigh from behind her, and the crunch of snow as he approached.
She prepared some deadly trap, but the rising anxiety made her hesitate, long enough for Kaerus to arrive at her side and place a hand on her shoulder. "Elsa, please." He turned her, more forcefully than he had ever made her move before.
In defiance, she refused to meet his eyes, instead, drawing her eyes to his other gloved hand, hanging by his side.
The memory of the protection of the gloves brought forward feelings of hopelessness and loneliness, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Has it been a minute yet?" Elsa finally asked, irritation making it's way into her words though she tried to hold it back.
"What do you mean? Don't you want a break? A chance to get yourself under control?" His words were sharper than she expected, though in retaliation.
"What do you mean 'Control'? I have perfect control?" She shook him off her shoulder. "Watch this." She gritted her teeth and brought up several meters of wall at once. "Look at that! I have all the control I need."
"You are acting crazy. Get a grip!" Kaerus shouted back, charging the air around them.
"Don't touch me!" Elsa back up several steps when he reached out for her shoulder again. "I never wanted to be like this. Not with you, not with anyone." Elsa, in all her rage, didn't see the emotional slap she'd dealt to Kaerus in that moment, else she would have stopped. "Back off! I don't need your help, or your pity. I've made it this far alone, and I can continue to do it alone."
"You think I pity you?" He resorted back, running a hand through is thick hair, frustrated. "I have never pitied you. From the moment I met you I knew you were strong. I just didn't realise you were heartless and cruel, too." His voice picked up a small growl in the last words, stepping closer to Elsa.
"You haven't seen heartless yet, 'love'," She spat at him. She was dimly aware of a thick pounding in her head. Kaerus started stepping backwards, looking all around her. "Look at me, Kaerus, Look at me!"
"I am looking at you!" He shouted back, but his voice was muffled. "I'm looking at what you've done. What you're still doing!" He tripped and fell, but she didn't hear the sound of him hitting the snow. A voice told her to wake up, let go of the magic. The more she ignored it, the louder it got, until the disembodied voice turned into the voice of the Seer.
"Child, look at you," Elsa could see the woman in front of her, almost. "You are scaring him." She dragged her gaze away from the transparent body of the old woman and looked at Kaerus, huddled over, quickly being covered by snow.
Snow from a storm she had just conjured.
Panic flooded her mind, colder than the ice, and freezing her up inside so fast she dropped all control, and let the snow float away in the wind.
"Kaerus," She whispered, as she stumbled forward.
She was a couple of feet away when her legs gave out from under her. "Kaerus," she called softly.
They met eye contact for only a second, and Elsa tried to put every kind of apologetic look into her gaze as she fell, face first into the snow.
She woke up some time later, in the back of the carriage. They were moving, and there were calm voices outside. She tried to pick out Kaerus', to make sure he was alright, but something dragged her back to sleep.
Kaerus was shaken up, but unhurt. The Seer had warned him that the excessive use of her magic would cost her, and he might get hurt in the process, he just didn't realize how much it hurt, hearing those words. It left a dark hole in his chest. He had ordered his men to readjust the stock, so her horse would be packed, and she could rest on the bench inside. It wasn't anywhere near enough to what he would have like to have given her, but they were short on options. He road alongside the carriage, in silence.
After an hour, the conversation of the guards had picked up, now that the insanity of the Snow Queen's rage had run it's course, but it was still subdued.
Kaerus had a quick look behind him. Since she collapsed, the clouds on the horizon had darkened, and had started billowing south. The original plan was to wait until she woke up and plan from there, depending on how she was feeling, however, the grim colour of the sky had forced their hand.
They were keeping ahead of it for the most part, but until sleep was absolutely necessary, it was a unanimous vote to keep moving.
The sun dipped, and set, and finally the sky darkened. To keep each other awake, they pointed out stars and constellations, sometimes making them up as they go along, the pressing cloud on every bodies mind.
It would be a long night home.
TA DA another chapter for you.
Fave, review, alert, ya'll know what I've been asking.
this one is also dedicated to my #1 fan! Again!