Well, seems my luck has run out, since I'm back down to 1 review per chapter, but this one goes out once again to the amazing Megan Lyle! This story would literally be nothing without you and your continuous support. I hope you have the best week, and that every day, even the bad ones, has a happy and joyous touch for as long as you live.
Here is to you and your blessed existence.
Elsa at in the sun room, shivering from the cold leaking in through the glass. She had slept almost the whole ride home, and only woke when the storm hit. They had clearly underestimated how much a toll building the wall would be on her, but never had she imagined losing control so much that she had created a blizzard that had chased them all the way home, and even overtaking them as dawn broke and they arrived within the walls.
The entire party had been rushed to the infirmary with Elsa, cold and wet and sick from the storm.
Elsa should have been glad they were safely within the walls when the snow fell and the wind howled, but all she could think about was how she let herself lose control so much. She had said things she didn't mean, not only to Kaerus, and she wasn't sure how easy it would be to take them back.
"You've certainly gotten yourself into a pickle, haven't you?" The Seer stated from her seat across the room. Since her return, Elsa hadn't been able to shake the old woman. She followed Elsa wherever she went.
"Today was going to be Anna's coronation day." Elsa looked down at her hands, covered once again in gloves.
"I'm sure she'll rise before the storm makes it to Arendelle." The woman said, almost too cheerily.
"She'll rise only to rule a kingdom that will perish." She paused. "They'll be low on food, firewood, everything they need to survive a snowstorm." Elsa tried to cool her temper, but the room was only getting colder. "I saw the stock list, I know how it was rationed out. There simply isn't going to be enough for them to survive winter all over again!"
"I know you worry for your sister, and for your people, but have faith in the new queen. I have seen spring return to them, but the method.." The woman trailed off, looking into the distance, or into the future, Elsa couldn't tell.
Elsa snapped her gaze at the old woman. "What?" She demanded, turning in her seat and gripping the arm of the seat tightly. "What will release them from this fate?"
The Seer turned to face Elsa, her face grave. "I am not always correct, and my predictions change. I do not see everything, and take nothing I say to heart, my child." She warned, her voice slow and soft. "I do see you returning, to try and save the East Shore. I see a man, brown hair and pale skin, from another land across the sea. I see him raise his sword, with the full intention to kill." There was a long pause. "That is all my visions give me. I know when that sword has struck, the snow will melt and the people will be free.
"But I cannot tell you the name of the killer, nor who will be killed, that is beyond me. Maybe the killer, who is indeed unknown to me, has not decided on a victim. Maybe the killer hasn't even decided to kill yet. There are many reasons why I may not see things. Maybe this is one time I cannot interfere, lest I condemn an entire kingdom to be a frozen wasteland by preventing one inevitable death." The woman shrugged, turning her gaze to stare out the window. "Best not to linger on such thoughts."
They returned to silence, listening to the wind howl and the glass in the stone panes rattle and shake.
Kaerus was still sleeping when she left. He was exhausted, mostly because he wouldn't leave anyone behind. He had carried her, alerting the guards inside that they had returned and that they needed care when none of his men could move. She was barely concious at the time, but she remembered the way he had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, despite all she had said to him.
She wrapped her arms around herself now. Part of her wanted to return to his bedside, to be there when he woke up, but another part, a stronger part, was ashamed. So she hid.
Well, as well as she could with the Seer in tow.
"He is awake." The Seer stated. "He wants to see you, though he will not yet seek you out."
"Perhaps that is for the best," Elsa replied, glumly.
"Perhaps if you told me what you talked about before I intervened, I might be able to help you." She offered, adjusting the gems and beads sewn onto her skirt. Elsa had discovered that the mirage of the Seer she had seen out on the ice had been the older woman projecting her inner spirit to her side in the time of trouble through careful meditation. Elsa wasn't sure why, but the influence of the Seer so many miles away had come to no surprise when the old woman confessed.
"I-" Elsa groped for words. "I said some things that may have been true, but I said them wrong, and ended up hurting him."
The Seer rolled her eyes. "I got that much, child,-" There was a knock at the door, cutting her off.
A servant entered, bowing respectively at the pair. "His Majesty, King Kaerus, requests your company, My Lady," He relayed.
The Seer smirked at Elsa's slightly-less-than-horrified face. "I told you I am often wrong." She shrugged. When Elsa didn't move right away, she continued. "Your King has requested you join him. Are you brave enough to refuse after he saved your life?"
Shaking her head silently, Elsa rose from her chair and followed the servant out, the Seer trotting behind, though keeping a respectable distance.
She was lead into the dining hall. Kaerus and his mother were already seated, and the men and women that had journeyed with them were taking their seats as well.
Elsa saw the only spare seat, her seat. To Kaerus's left.
It felt like a hole in her chest whenever she though of her words, like a sink hole, getting bigger and bigger with every shift in the earth.
The servant lead her to the seat, and pulled it out for her, and pushed it in when she sat.
Kaerus gave her a comforting look from her right, and Elsa gave a small smile back.
"Lets get this started." Kaerus said, silencing the room. "The journey down was uneventful, correct?"
Everyone seated nodded, and made noises of agreement, and Elsa found herself staring at her hands again.
Kaerus took them through the entire journey step by step, asking if anyone noticed anything strange happened.
"I remember you talking to Lady Elsa," A woman way saying. "You lead her off to where you decided to build the wall, and I turned back to my work." There were several noises of agreements.
"I was in awe at the strength of the wall. It was thicker than I had seen in practice, and just as tall."
"I was impressed in the spikes of ice that formed at the base of the wall, to deter anyone wanting to climb it."
"She was working slower than she was here, but it was more impressive out in the open."
"I could see the emotions in her body language, they seemed to fly everywhere at once."
"I asked her if she would join the rest of us for lunch, and she shrugged me off. At the time I though she was just so focused."
"The Magic was defiantly taking it's toll."
There was no harshness in their voices, and no accusations at her, but Elsa felt each detail she failed to notice as a shard of ice through her chest. The Queen sat and nodded, listening to every word. Dinner came and went, a thick soup with a grainy bread and goat butter, and tea arrived as they finished. Kaerus finished by detailing the arrival home, right up until Elsa was removed from his arms, and they were both rushed to the hospital wing, where he himself lost conciousness.
Even though they didn't get more work done, no one died, and everyone from the surrounding towns have locked themselves indoors to stay safe.
There was a discussion about how to improve the next journey, and planning the next journey after the storm clears, but only part way through, some of the dinner guests were yawning and Elsa could see some eyes drooping.
Kaerus was slow to notice, but when he did, he apologized sincerely, sending everyone off to their rooms for the night, and promising to talk to them tomorrow.
Most of them left right away, but a few stayed behind to talk to the king. Elsa hovered, wanting to apologize for what she said, but he was still talking to the men when Quilo arrived, to escort her to her room. Elsa followed silently, and Quilo talked about her days off to fill the silence.
Laying in bed, her words came back at her, harsh and cruel.
Don't touch me.
I never wanted to be like this. Not with you, not with anyone.
Tears stung at her eyes as she curled around her pillow. She didn't realize how much she had grown accustomed to the care and affection Kaerus had shown to her until she destroyed it. Her chest ached, and though she didn't cry, that feeling carried on until morning.