WildVirus (guest): Glad you liked the chapter, and yes, Odd is a good husband by the way he cheers Elsa up. D'aww, I love Odd... If only he was real and not a figment of my imagination, damn.
KLime (guest): Nice to know that you read my replies :D Anyway, first off you mention that the villagers would have attacked Elsa by now since she's known to be dangerous, perhaps (and I didn't think of that) but then again she hasn't been hostile with them yet, they wouldn't want to provoke her. After all, if they attacked she could click her fingers and BAM! A beam of ice is through their heart. (Obviously Elsa wouldn't do that but they don't know that). Also nice to see someone recognising that Freddie's illness is serious, most people just want him to survive but don't think of possible consequences if he does. But I won't say any more!
Guest (guest, duh!): Glad you liked the chapter and the ElsaxOdd interaction! As for keeping Freddie alive... well, as much as I love you guys I can't promise anything...
hoannle: Wow, well done! That must have been quite the challenge to read all of them! (Glad you're still with us though!) Hope you like these last few chapters (well, maybe about ten or so before it all ends...)
disneylover115: Glad you liked the chapter, and hopefully they'll get to Corona with Freddie! (Hopefully, what am I saying, I have all the power!)
PeruvainInca: Hi! Well, we'll have to see, won't we?
Pabulover123: You're right about Sadie, she is definitely being 'held back' as you put it, she would have once been perfectly normal but ever since the death of her children she has been left a shell of her former self. She's lost most of her sense of reality, she's childlike really. Also, you mentioned why Corona hasn't helped their allies yet-technically nothing has actually happened to Arendelle, as far as everyone knows all the royals were killed by wolves. They don't know that Hans and Ayla are actually involved etc, the whole world just thinks it was a tragic accident.
thorinii (guest): Oh, good to know I haven't scared you off then :D I also liked your idea about Sadie referring to Ayla (I'm assuming) to get a magical cure for Freddie, that's certainly an interesting idea and it would definitely work—Freddie wouldn't be ill afterwards... Wouldn't be breathing either... And haha, thanks for the compliment!
Breakfast was a quiet affair, only Kristoff, Anna, Mia and Thomas actually sitting down to eat at all, what with the remaining adults having left the house and Kari refusing to awaken. As such, they ended up having an extremely generous sized meal each, or at least compared to what they'd gotten used to, anyway. It was not overly grand nor exciting—Thomas did moan that it was too bland at one point, even—but it was filling and, in contrast to their foods of recent, slightly flavoursome.
Elsa returned with Odd part way through the small picnic-esque meal looking both particularly bubbly and pale at the same time, her arm draped over her husband's shoulder gleefully while her eyes remained somewhat dull. She stumbled over to the sofa quietly, careful not to awaken her son—his eyes did flutter at one point but a small sprinkle of cooling snow soon settled him—and she beamed at her sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew sweetly.
"Morning!" She chimed, reaching for the last slice of bread before faltering and drawing back, dabbing at her mouth instead with an icy cloth. Blushing, her extra-pale skin showing off the pinkness even more strongly than usual, she turned away and muttered about having eaten earlier. Her stomach grumbled in response; she laughed it off and promised she would just get a larger lunch although she didn't want to overstep the mark. She was not back at home in the castle and had to remember that she had nothing with which to pay these people with—blackmail, of course, would be successful but Elsa wasn't the sort to stoop to such levels, especially since she knew her powers were genuinely dangerous and could actually do serious harm if she was provoked. She didn't want that.
"Someone's sprightly this morning." Anna remarked, grinning—it was so nice to see happiness for a change. Sure, there had been moments of joy, but Elsa's own glee was so strong it almost seemed to seep into the air in the room, giving everyone the blithe bug. "I'm guessing you had a good night's sleep?"
Elsa chortled quietly and shook her head, only just realising that her hair was still down; rearranging it into its usual messy plait with her powers she quickly amended her sister's statement. "It was pretty awful, actually. I had a nightmare at one point, as if I hadn't missed them in the last few days." Her expression darkened slightly at her own sarcastic comment and she rolled her eyes; hastily recognising the sudden change in the room's atmosphere, she immediately adopted a gayer look to keep things pleasant.
"Oh, no!" Mia cried, pushing herself forwards and looking at her aunt sympathetically; Lord knows she had enough nightmares as well to understand their true significance, to appreciate their ability to thoroughly destroy a person's confidence and leave them a trembling mess. Even now she still had the odd dream which ended with a familiar set of piercing eyes, the slash of a sword... Shaking the thoughts away as she felt herself being drawn down into a familiar trap she muttered, her voice suddenly trembly, "What was it about?"
Elsa's heart thudded faster in panic as her niece asked such a question but knew it would do no good to keep all the pain to herself. A problem shared was a problem halved, after all. "Do you remember when you were younger when you and Uncle Odd were taken to the Southern Isles?" She asked in as gentle a voice as she could muster, trying not to bring up too many harsh memories; both Mia and Odd stiffened uncomfortably, however, at the reminder, and the girl's nod of affirmation was slow and forced. Thomas just looked on in confusion, not understanding why his sister and uncle had been to the Southern Isles, of all places. Weren't they evil?
"Y-Yes, why?"
Kristoff reached over to his daughter and pulled her closer as he noticed her discomfort and Thomas scooted closer too, feeling left out. Anna's heart lifted as she saw her husband and children and cuddled into his side as well, resting her cheek on his shoulder while smiling at her sister to continue.
"Well, when you were there a man, a really mean man, pretended to be your uncle. He... He did some mean things to me. I dreamt that he came back to hurt me again. That's all."
Mia's blue eyes were soft. "Oh, Auntie Elsa. Don't worry, it's okay." Shakily she rose to her feet and walked softly over, a reassuring smile on her face though she was obviously feeling weak herself. Wrapping her arms around Elsa, she buried her face into the tiny bump and squeezed gently. "Don't worry about it, Auntie. It's not real."
Elsa, not really that bothered anymore—though the memories of what Dagvin had done still pained her deeply—smiled at her niece and wrapped her own arm around her, patting her back in an appreciative way and relishing in the feel of the child resting against her now-welcome bump. "Thanks, Mi." She said before pushing her away with soft force, then standing and walking over to the window. "We can't stay here long, just a day or so. I think we ought to try to get some food today, maybe see if we can show these people that we are—well, maybe I ought to say that I am—not so bad."
Kristoff huffed as he shifted in his seat. "Yeah, good luck with that. They seem to hate all of our guts, especially yours."
Elsa sighed and nodded in reluctant acceptance, knowing full well that what Kristoff said was true. Anna, wishing she could do more to help her sister, offered but a few words of help. "Well, you could possibly offer them some sort of snow room—or something—to keep their food fresh, I bet that would help. They'd like that, I reckon. But... well, I doubt it would make up for everything they think you've done. And they hate me too—they think I sent Mi to be... well, you know what I mean." The word 'tortured' wouldn't quite find its way out of her mouth although even if she could bring herself to say it, Anna didn't want Thomas to wonder.
"That's just sick." Elsa spat in disgust, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "What sort of mother would do that? These lies Hans and that wi-no, Ayla, are spreading, they're just barbaric." Her smile turned into a grimace and her eyes became steely as she glared into thin air but her heart ached as well—she'd almost called Ayla a witch, the exact same sort of person that she had been branded as. She didn't want to give herself any more excuse to feel like dirt; she didn't want to associate herself with that monster.
Anna's head bobbed up and down and she mimicked her sister's expression, blood boiling at the accusations. She would never—could never—do such a thing."Agreed," she bit out and the tension in the room skyrocketed. As her breathing quickened she found herself standing soon after, unable to simply sit on the floor as her frustration reached its peak. In her head, brilliantly wicked thoughts were coming to her, all of the different ways she could slowly hurt those two beasts for what they'd done, not just to her, or to Mia, but to everyone. She could tie them to a wall by their wrists, could deprive them of water and then place a bowl, ever so sweet, just out of their reach. To see them struggling to lap up the liquid like the animals they were... It would be so fulfilling...
A soft hand tentatively reached out and tugged at the skirt of Anna's somewhat tattered dress—she'd really have to see if she could get a new one here somehow though she had nothing to trade for it—and Thomas looked up at his mother with large chocolatey eyes, his brown furrowed slightly.
"Mama? Mama, you okay?"
Anna stopped her fantasising and mentally reprimanded herself, slightly horrified that she could have such contemptible thoughts... Still, it would be an almost satisfying revenge...
No! No, not again. She smiled at her son and pulled him closer into a one-armed hug, patting his back and nodding. "Yeah, I'm 'kay Tom, don't worry. Just thinking, that's all."
"Oh, okay then Mama!" He chirped and scampered back to his father, wrapping his arms around Kristoff's neck and clambering up onto his back as a little monkey would, giggling all the while. Anna beamed at her mischievous son and giggled slightly before quietening for a short while. Deciding not long after that it was much too silent, however, she walked over to her sister and grabbed her wrist, hoisting her up from the sofa and onto her feet.
"Well, I'm bored. Elsa and I are gonna go out and take a peek around, I might see if anyone would be willing to make me a dress... Or at least fix this one."
Elsa raised her eyebrows and pulled her arm away from Anna. "I'm coming with you, am I now?" She asked in a harsh voice which made the princess' eyes begin to shine with tears; Elsa only laughed and gently pushed her sister's shoulder, highly amused. "Oh, come on, Anna. Do you really think I'd make you go on your own? What sort of sister do you take me for?"
"A tease, that's what." Anna countered but she'd regained her joyous mood thankfully. Skipping over to the front door—and knocking a vase in the process which was only saved by Elsa's powers—she waited impatiently, tapping her foot and grinning in a disconcertingly similar manner to a madwoman. "Come on, Elsa! Oh, and you can come as well, Mi—can't have you left here with a house full of boys. How horrible!"
Mia raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes. "Kari's here as well, Mama." She reminded and Anna laughed.
"Yeah, but she's not going to get up anytime soon, is she? Besides, she's quite a tomboy, isn't she?"
Elsa giggled at her sister as she shook her head. "You're just a big kid, you know that? Even Mi's more serious than you. No one would guess you're a full-grown adult by your mannerisms." Elsa spoke with sisterly affection before she turned back to her husband, giving him an 'I love you so much' smile which could only suggest that she was after something. Odd chuckled in response as he slouched back into the sofa, though he did momentarily stiffen as poor little Fredrik coughed.
"Go on, go have some fun, you three. Me and Kristoff'll stay here and watch Freddie."
Elsa beamed and bent down, correcting under her breath, "Kristoff and I," to Odd quickly as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a huge embrace which, accidentally, also allowed his hand to brush that tiny baby bump ever so gently. Pulling back, she kissed his cheek quickly and then rushed over to join her sister, thankfully managing to get there without any accidents.
"See you!" Anna called eagerly as she grabbed her sister's and daughter's wrist and yanked them both out of the door; chuckling heartily, Odd turned to his brother-in-law and grinned, an impish look in his bright green eyes.
"You are probably the maddest man I know to put up with that one." He said impudently.
"I can't argue with that," Kristoff admitted with a snicker, "but hey, what choice do I have? That girl can pack a decent punch—she's terrifying at times!"
Odd laughed in agreement at the comment, replying, "Point taken. She can definitely hold her own."
Kristoff nodded before pausing, his eyes widening slightly and he bit his lip, turning his head to look at Thomas with a playful expression. "Hey, don't tell your Mama that I said that—she'd tell me off!"
Thomas laughed and nodded before sliding off of his father's back, running back into the bedroom and continuing to shriek gleefully. Kristoff considered telling him to be quiet for a second then quickly dismissed the thought; boys would be boys, after all. Kari didn't really need a lie in anyway.
It transpired that there was a grand total of zero official shops—minus a small farm store from which people gathered rations of food, given out for free—in the entire village. According to one small girl, who had talked willingly to the royals before she'd been dragged away by her extremely apologetic mother, they simply traded goods with each other and did not use money (or so Anna had assumed—when they mentioned the topic of cash she looked at them with a blank expression). Everyone simply traded from the comfort of their own dainty homes, the farrier fitting the baker's horse's shoes in exchange for a week's worth of bread and so on. From what the scared mother had squeaked before she'd ran off, the farm was also a communal project with everyone helping out every other day or so on a rota, thus entitling everyone to a share of the food.
Elsa's heart leadened at this realisation; the food which she'd been given yesterday and the rest which she'd missed out on must have all been from Sadie and Ole's personal rations. As if the latter didn't hate them enough as it was thanks to her dear husband.
"So, what first?" Anna prompted, kicking her foot in the dust a little unsurely, "I mean, we don't know who makes what here and we can't really go knocking on every single door to find out..."
"That's true, Auntie." Mia piped up, hands held shyly behind her back. She didn't like being the focus of so much attention by the villagers, even if she should have been used to it as a princess. Still, old habits die hard and for her, watchful eyes could easily mean danger; Mia was extremely paranoid like that. Even now, six years after her experiences as a child, she was still a wreck and probably would be forever more.
"Well, I did consider what you said earlier, Anna, about helping out with chilling the village's food. I was thinking that maybe, if we went to the leader of this place and asked, he or she might agree that it would be an invaluable addition. After that, surely the people would be indebted to us, thus meaning we could trade with them?" Her words were filled with hope and joy, seemingly thinking that it would be impossible for her plan to fail. Anna couldn't really argue with that reasoning, although there was the small issue that people could still refuse to help her.
"Yeah, I suppose." She muttered, rubbing the back of her head, "Now if only we could actually get someone to get over here and give us a hand... You don't know where the, ah, mayor's house is, do you? Or, whatever they call the person running this place. It's not a city, would they have a mayor? Maybe a committee or something... You ought to know, Elsa!"
"Well, back home villages are run by landlords... I'm not sure about here, though. My guess would be that there's no actual leader, rather someone people just look up to."
"Damn. That makes life harder." Anna mumbled grouchily, before turning to Mia and apologising for swearing—the young girl glared at her mother in response though a small smile graced her pretty face. She would have been much cuter if she'd still had her chubby cheeks, of course, but after being fed such meagre portions for almost a month she hadn't really put much weight back on yet. She wasn't as skinny as she had been, but still...
"Dronning Elsa?"
The danish voice was cold and had an almost metallic edge which gave the obvious impression of bitterness. It's sudden emergence made the royals startle, Mia reacting most of all and she quickly hid partially behind her mother's legs as she so often did, peering out bravely. The sisters, too, felt nervous in his presence; though he wasn't one of Arne's men—he wasn't nearly buff enough, though the height was similar to —his voice was eerily similar to one they both vaguely recalled hearing amidst the confusion and sheer terror of when they were taken advantage of. Anna quickly wrapped her arm around Mia protectively and gripped Elsa's hand tightly as she tried not to appear intimidated, instead noting how good-looking he was—surely someone so handsome couldn't be evil?
Memories of Hans with a sword drawn over her sister quickly made her reevaluate that thought.
The man glared at Anna and Elsa respectively, his captivating amber eyes cold and full of loathing, before he turned his glare on Mia and his gaze softened. He walked closer slowly and stopped about a metre away then bent down, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small muslin cloth, held together in the shape of a bag. Opening it on his palm, he revealed a large handful of a crushed up substance, fairly bright in colour.
"Hej, lille prinsesse." He said, the voice still similar to that of one of Arne's cronies yet with a softer tone which made it more bearable. Seeing her skeptical look as she backed up further he spoke again. "De er hårdt kogt slik."
Mia looked up at her mother with confused eyes, not sure whether the man was being nice or was trying to poison her. Anna shrugged, unable to translate and she turned to her sister for help; Elsa sighed as she repeated what had been said in Norwegian rather than Danish. "He said that they're sweets."
Mia's eyes shined a little more as she began to step forwards before jerking to a stop, remembering that the man was a stranger and she didn't know if he could be trusted; looking up to Anna she murmured, "What do I do?" shyly and Anna smiled confidently, gently pushing her forwards. Still, she kept a watchful eye on the person who pushed his palm forwards, gesturing for the princess to take one. Mia did so nervously, reaching out slowly before clasping her fingers around a few shards and then rapidly snatching her hand back, eyeing him carefully as she nibbled at one of the pieces. Her face lit up at the taste and she quickly began to scoff the remaining shards, sighing and licking her fingers once they'd gone.
"De er rart, ja?" The man asked gently and Mia frowned, shaking her head slowly.
"I don't know..." She whimpered, looking down at the floor in shame; Anna hastily translated for her to help relieve her guilt and Mia grew slightly more confident as she replied, "Yes. Um... Ja."
Anna beamed at her daughter, asking softly, "Where did you learn that?"
Mia smiled back bashfully, a small blush on her cheeks at her mother's evident praising of her. "I figured it out." She then turned back to the man and opened her palm, a small ice model materialising there, much to his shock (and slight horror at first). She toddled forwards with stiff movements and passed the item to him, having to use her powers to carry it the last twenty-five centimetres as she lost her nerve; the man smiled nervously when he saw what she had given to him—a small icy heart by way of thanks—and he stood up, again glaring at the two royal sisters.
"Kom til mit hjem senere." He said in the chilling voice he'd used before, "Du kan få nogle flere slik til barnet."
"Thank you. Tak hr." Elsa said in response, trying to smile and ignore the cries of her mind to run away. Instead she rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably and asked, feeling a little guilty, if the man had any Turkish Delight for Mia. It was her favourite, after all. "Jeg mener ikke at lyde uhøflig, men hvis du har nogen tyrkiske glæde, min niece elsker det."
"Nej. Desværre jeg løb ud." The man replied in a bitter tone to Elsa's words and then turned to leave, water dripping from his palm as the ice melted. "Mit navn er Lucas. Spørg efter mig." He stayed for a second or two before walking off, his posture stiff and untrusting.
"Sorry, Mi. He doesn't have any turkish delight." Anna said gently and the young girl sighed before shrugging slightly.
"Ah, well. I don't mind."
Elsa laughed quietly and blew a small breeze of snow towards her niece, something which, as a babe, had always made her happy; it did lift her spirits now as well.
"Come on, then. We need to work out how to get an ice room for this place. Then maybe we'll be able to pick up a few things, huh? Maybe..." She paused with a cheeky grin. "Maybe we could even try to find the ingredients to make you some turkish delight, hmm?"
"OK!"
Turkish delight... so that's what she likes, huh? The boy watched the women quietly, assessing them. They didn't appear all that different to anyone else, really, other than the obvious powers possessed by the two blondes, yet they were, supposedly, downright heinous.
Seth shook his head and sighed before closing his eyes and concentrating. Time for a bit of infiltration into enemy lines.
"Woah, easy boy." Odd soothed as he slowed his stallion down to a gentle walk after having galloped through the uneven terrain of the forest for the last few minutes, leaving Kristoff back at Sadie's house with Ole and the kids. Brandy Shot's sides were wet with sweat despite the polar temperatures and his breathing was heavy, yet the run had done him good; he still danced about, eager, and his ears were kept forwards, not at all tired nor frustrated. Odd, however, wasn't quite ready to let him continue—no, he had spotted something.
Dismounting off of Brandy and tying the reins to a nearby tree, he walked over to the shoreline and bent down, studying the debris on the sand. Much was still floating a little way out to sea but some had beached already; picking up a large plank of wood and turning it over, Odd immediately recognised it as the remains of the sunken Southern Isles ship which had been on the way to deliver supplies.
He immediately realised how lucky they were; if the ship had arrived here before they had, the people would have already been told that the royals were dead. That wouldn't do much for trust at all.
Thinking for a moment, Odd continued scavenging through the debris, even uncovering a plank with a semi-dry calendar still attached. Assuming that the days were crossed off each night, it was February the twenty-ninth today.
"Huh." Odd grunted, "Happy birthday to me."
Continuing on as if he hadn't even realised—honestly he'd never had much time for celebrating anyway—a brilliant thought soon struck him. The family was easy to recognise in a boat of ice, but if said boat of ice was covered in wooden planks...
Well, I may have just saved all of our lives. He thought with bitter amusement. That's a fairly decent birthday present, I guess.
Running back to Brandy and untying him, Odd leapt onto his back and kicked him forwards. "Come on, then, boy. Let's go share the good news."
Seth swallowed in fear as he gripped a small box which was held tightly in his hands for strength. His blood pounded in his ears and he felt his legs shaking, but he knew it was now or never.
Pushing through the bush he'd been hiding behind—and quickly realising it would have been easier to just walk around it—Seth brushed himself off and stood tall and proud as he had been taught was proper for a prince, fighting the urge to camouflage himself; coughing under his breath and muttering, "E-excuse me?" in Norwegian in a timid voice, he succeeded in getting the royals' attention. The young girl–Mia, he recalled was her name—seemed terrified when his bright greeny-blue eyes met hers and she squeaked, looking away in... Was that fear? How odd.
Stepping forwards, the taller woman—the wicked Queen Elsa—bent down and smiled at him warmly. It was a genuine expression, the likes of which he didn't usually see; Ayla was always so busy, perhaps so stressed, that she didn't have much time for him. He understood that; she had done so much for him as it was.
"Hey, there." She muttered in Norwegian before recognising her mistake, but it didn't affect Seth. He'd been taught the basics in case he was ever needed to rule the kingdom when people eventually realised this woman was unfit to even be classed as human, let alone a monarch.
"H-hello." He stammered shyly before turning to Mia and removing the lid to the box. He didn't like Turkish delight himself but he had to admit, these smelled good. And so they should; they had been freshly made in one of the confectionary shops back in the mainland. "You would... You would like a Turkish delight?"
Pushing the box forwards towards Mia, he placed it down on the ground to allow her to shuffle forwards and take one tentatively. She cautiously tested the edge before digging in, in sheer bliss. Anna and Elsa both sat down, also; neither woman had any, with Elsa suddenly hating the very concept and Anna never having been a fan, but the kid's company was nice.
Seth, unbeknownst to them, was judging them all the while.
No, these people don't seem evil at all. Come to think of it, in comparison, Ayla and Hans seem a little mean... Seth quickly bit his cheek in reprimand at the thought. Oh, don't be ridiculous! They love me, they just don't ave time. That's all.
That's all.
As it turns out, 1848 was actually a leap year so I really couldn't resist Odd's birthday being on February 29th! I had to!
Hope you liked the chapter, it was especially long (surely long enough to deserve two seconds of your time to write a five word review?)
Also, I'm ten minutes late now, sorry, I'm sure it won't kill you guys though. I'd appreciate if you could point out any mistakes, though, so I can fix them!
Luna