The Ice Behind Bars
Chapter XLIX : The Blue Rose

"Elsa!... Aiden!" Bulda called, while waving happily.

"Bulda!" Elsa shouted happily and ran to the woman.

"Hey there, las!" Bulda wrapped her in a hug and lifted her off her feet, nearly squishing Elsa's eyes out.

But the princess laughed at the act of love she was receiving.

Aiden chuckled while approaching, "Wow there, Bulda. We need her alive and well! Not squished! If anything happens to her, you'll have to deal with Anna and Leanna. And we both know that's scary enough to make you stop." He winked.

"Oh! Sorry there, dear!" Bulda let go of Elsa, and the poor thin princess exhaled in relief. "I forgot that you're just a wee lassie." She said while waving at Elsa's thin frame, making Elsa blush and awkwardly brush her left arm with her other hand.

Bulda laughed. "Well?!... I see you're both finally here so why don't we get to work huh?!" She said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Okay!" Elsa and Aiden said in unison.

"Alright, then. Elsa since you love roses, how about you help me plant some."

Elsa nodded excitedly.

"Aiden! You go take care of the other flowers. I need every single one of them watered."

"You got it." Aiden gave her a thumb up and then headed to do his chores.

"Okay, Elsa…" Bulda started, bringing the pale blond to attention. "First let me get the seeds." Bulda turned and headed to the table. "I'll show you how to plant them."

Elsa noticed something on the table. "Hi, Olaf." She waved hi at the ant… again.

"There you go!" Bulda startled her, shoving the bag of seeds in her arms. "Now all you have to do is put the seeds in the dirt and then cover them up." Bulda said, pointing at the pots in front of them.

"Okay!" Elsa nodded happily and before Bulda could stop her, Elsa emptied the entire bag of seeds in only one pot, and then covered them with dirt. "Good?" She turned at Bulda with a sweet smile.

Bulda rubbed the back of her neck, seeing the proud look on Elsa's face, "Uhm, haha… Almost." She heard Aiden snicker in the background.

When he noticed Bulda's frown he quickly coughed and cleared his throat, trying to stop his laughs. He then quickly turned and continued watering the flowers.

Bulda then started digging the seeds back up. "Just put a bit in every pot. Too much is not always good, Dear."

"No?" Elsa asked with a blank face.

Bulda nodded, "Take laughter for example. They say that it's the best medicine." She chuckled sarcastically, "I say it's just a disguise. Not just that but when someone laughs at everything, he'll only look like an idiot too."

Elsa listened attentively.

"Sometimes crying is the cure. I've seen so many people trying to look tough by trying to hide their pain." She thought of Leanna. "But that only made their pain stronger, hence making them weaker." She looked at Elsa, "Ironic isn't it?"

Elsa rolled her lips in, not knowing what to say.

"I heard you've been taking good care of that blue rose I gave you." Bulda said with a smile.

Elsa's face brightened, "Yes! I water it with Anna every day!"

Bulda chuckled, "That's wonderful. You know, Elsa… There's a legend behind that rose." She said, raising an eyebrow.

"Really?!" Elsa stared at Bulda in awe, eager to hear the story.

"Aha." Bulda confirmed, "Many people say that it's just a myth but… There's always some truth to myths, right?"

Elsa shrugged.

"Anyway… Long ago, there was a queen named Namal of Isolål. They say she was loved by her entire kingdom for her beauty, intelligence and kindness. She had long smooth white hair that reached her feet. Her eyes were like silver, and her skin as pale as snow!... BUT!" She suddenly said, startling Elsa.

"It wasn't just her strange beauty that amazed her subjects. But it was her private garden that only grew mysterious blue roses."

Elsa gasped slowly in awe.

"To her… those roses meant three things." Bulda held three fingers, "Detrât, Ekdin, Alanør." She said in a strange language.

"What does it mean?" Elsa asked.

"It means… Innocence, Clarity and Hope."

"Detrât… Ekdin… Alanør…" Elsa mumbled to herself, trying the words on her tongue.

"Strangely, the queen possessed a great power."

Elsa lowered her head. "Magic."

Bulda smiled sympathetically but decided to continue. "She was able to heal every sick and injured. Cuts would close and heal quickly. Bruises would fade in an instant. Broken bones would heal in a day. It was just like a miracle."

"Waw…" Elsa was fascinated.

"However…" Bulda lifted a finger, "Despite her magnificent power, she was still unable to use it on herself."

"Oh." Elsa muttered.

"Yes, the queen did have a useful power… But still, many hated it."

I knew it. Elsa thought.

"Some foreign kingdoms would accuse her of being a demon. And one day…" Bulda trailed off, "The queen woke up on screams in the middle of the night, only to find that her kingdom was in a middle of war. An army of thousands of usurpers surrounded her empire. The first thing she thought of was to save her people. She allowed every citizen to get inside her castle. She tried her best to protect them from the army outside. But then she realized they were outnumbered. She led her people to her garden, and collapsed on her knees, hearing the screams of her dying soldiers from outside the castle who fought bravely to protect their home."

Elsa's shoulders lifted in uneasiness. She was no longer sure if she wanted to hear the story.

"Her loyal knights wanted to sneak her out of the castle without anyone noticing. However, the queen refused to abandon her people, and sat in the middle of her garden. The usurpers didn't wait long before they set the entire castle ablaze. Tears rushed to meet the queen's face as she watched the fire eat away her people and her once beautiful garden… Everything perished and turned to ashes in front of her eyes."

Elsa bit her nails.

"As the queen lied down on the ground in the middle of hell, her entire body burnt, her long white hair gone, her left eye blind from the burning ashes that went into it and her lungs damaged from all the smoke inhalation, despair took over her mind and she shed her last tears. But do you know why she was crying?" She asked Elsa.

Elsa shook her head slowly.

"It was because she unable to save her people. But… on her final moment, she noticed something!"

"What?!" Elsa gasped.

"She saw one single blue rose, still blooming. And before the fire could reach it, the queen took her last breath, and with the last drop of hope, she sent her entire power into the rose, leaving no magic in herself what so ever. She hoped that this rose would one day save the next generation. At the end, the queen smiled one last time, and died in peace."

Elsa had her hands over her mouth.

"The entire castle was burnt down. The citizens who survived stood outside, staring in horror and mourning the loss of their queen, homes and families. Unfortunately, none of them knew that between all the ruins, only the blue rose stood there in the middle of the garden, blooming radiantly. The queen's strong will kept it safe forever. Bulda inhaled loudly, then…

"The end!" She blurted happily all of a sudden, her mood suddenly became cheerful.

Elsa stared agape, trying to comprehend this crazy story.

"Of course this is only a story created by the locals. People say crazy things these days!" Bulda chuckled.

Aiden was shaking his head with his hand over his forehead. Then why did you have to tell her this crazy story?!

"Anyway! Let's get back to our business shall we?" Bulda asked while turning back to the table.

Elsa shook her head quickly and brought herself back from her trance. She giggled excitedly all of a sudden and her innocent smile was back, as if nothing had ever happened.

Aiden laughed and shook his head in amusement. She was simply an angel on earth.

Elsa noticed Aiden staring, so she waved.

Aiden's eyes widened and he blushed ferociously, waving nervously back and giving her a goofy smile.

Aiden suddenly gasped, "Watch out!"

Elsa's smile fell and she gave him a confused look. Before she could turn Elsa felt something hit her at the back of her head, sending her to the ground.

"Goddammit…" Aiden mumbled.

"Oh! Elsa dear, are you alright?!" Bulda ran to her.

A bunch of children came running towards her, "We're sorry, miss! We didn't mean it." A boy said apologetically, picking his leather ball up.

Aiden knelt next to her. "Elsa?"

Elsa had her head down, and her hair was over her face, so he wasn't able to see her expression.

He gulped, having no reaction from her. "E-Elsa…?" Somehow he suddenly felt a shiver go down his spine. As if there was an evil presence.

Elsa was on her hands and knees. "Pain…" She suddenly whispered in a cold voice that Aiden had never heard before.

Aiden started to help her stand up on her feet. "Come on, let's get you ba—" But before anyone could notice, Elsa suddenly turned at the boy, her face overwhelmed with fury and her crazy wide and glowing eyes craving for revenge.

Elsa grabbed the boy from his throat, pinning him down on the ground. "PAIN!" She snarled with gritted teeth.

The boy chocked and tried to call for help.

"Elsa, stop!" Aiden and Bulda shouted in unison, but before they could pull her away, a three meters tall and four meters wide wall of ice shot from the ground, blocking their way.

Elsa squeezed the boy's throat harder. "Die…!" She smirked maniacally.

"Please stop! He's my big brother!"

Elsa lifted her head quickly, only to see a little girl with blonde pigtails and blue eyes. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "A—… A-Anna?" She mistakenly saw the little girl as her little sister.

"Please!" The little girl begged.

Elsa furrowed her eyebrows sadly, tears showing at the corner of her eye.

The little girl backed away when suddenly Elsa gasped and clutched her head, screaming loudly as if in pain. She let go of the boy and backed away, falling to the ground and holding her head and squeezing her eyes shut.

Aiden and Bulda finally reached her. "Elsa what's wrong!?" Aiden asked, feeling relieved that the boy was okay.

The children quickly ran away in fear.

People around the market watched in horror.

Finally, after minutes of screaming her lungs out, Elsa's screams subdued and she began panting.

"Elsa?" Aiden called worriedly, putting a hand on her shoulder. He could feel that this dark presence was gone.

Elsa slowly lifted her head to look at him, "A-Aiden?" Her voice was weak and he could see that she was back to her innocent self again. "What's… going on?"

"She tried to kill the boy…" One woman whispered.

"I knew it. She's evil!" A man said, keeping his voice down in fear that Elsa would hear.

Aiden frowned, hearing the people murmur and whisper between each other, judging the pale blonde for her unacceptable action. "Come on… Let's get you back inside." He said, slowly and gently helping the tired princess up.

"Do you remember what happened?" He found himself asking.

Elsa tiredly shook her head.

Aiden and Bulda exchanged worried looks. "Help her back to her room. I'll take care of the situation here." Bulda said and Aiden nodded.

He then led her away from the scene, making sure she couldn't see the ice wall. How did this happen?! He wondered.

She had her gloves on!


The king sat in his study, wincing in pain while holding his right wrist. "Is it going to keep hurting?" He said angrily through gritted teeth, staring at his trembling hand.

"As long as she's too far away." Mad replied.

"This is all your fault." The king snarled at him.

Mad shrugged. "You were the one who asked for it, your majesty." He pointed at himself, "I simply obeyed your orders." He smirked.

"You didn't tell me… this would happen." He gritted his teeth hard and winced in pain again.

"Well… Had I known that she would actually escape from you, I wouldn't have suggested it." Mad mocked.

The king quickly grabbed him from his throat and pinned him on the desk. "Listen to me, you lowlife scum! I am going to torture then kill every single one of those bastards who dared invade my castle and free that monster!"

"Y-Yes yes, your majesty! But... T-That man that we captured? He refuses to cooperate and tell me the snow queen's location!"

The king let go of Mad. "Oh don't you worry…" He walked towards the door and grabbed the handle. "I'll personally make sure that he will tell me… Everything." He guaranteed while smirking, and before he could get out of the room, "Tell the captain to prepare the soldiers… We'll march tomorrow morning."

Mad never underestimated the king's ability to interrogate or force someone to do as he wanted, for the king had his own horrifying techniques of torture. Mad bowed, "As you wish…" Mad smirked manically and licked his lips, "Your majesty."


"I think that's enough." Anna said while putting the last pile of wood in Kristoff's sled.

"Alright, then. Hop on." Kristoff said while climbing the sled.

Anna climbed on and sat next to Kristoff, accidently touching his hand.

They both recoiled their hands and blushed.

"Uh… C-Come on, big guy. Go!" He commanded the reindeer.

Anna avoided eye contact.

After a half hour of sledding in a torturing awkward silence, Kristoff gulped nervously and decided to finally take a step forward. "Uhm… Anna?"

Anna turned to look at him, "Hm?"

"I-I… I-I was wondering…" He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the rein in his other hand.

"Yeah?" Anna's heart beat faster.

"I… I-I heard there's a… festival… n-next week in— uh… the kingdom of Phidaenia and… I-I figured since it's not so far away from the fort…" He blushed really hard and Anna noticed the sweat on his forehead. "I f-figured that maybe I can… I-I mean you can— no! WE!... can…" He inhaled deeply then, "Doyouwannagotothefestivalwithme?!" He quickly blurted, not realizing that he actually shouted in her face.

Anna was taken aback. Her eyes widened and her face couldn't get any redder.

Kristoff was wincing really hard that he kept his eyes squeezed shut, not daring to see her reaction. Her silence only made things worse for him. All of a sudden his eyes widened when Anna burst out laughing.

He expected a rejection… A slap… A punch… but never this! What? Was she mocking him?!

Kristoff frowned and turned away from her, focusing on the road ahead.

Anna shook her head in amusement and leaned towards him. He was just so cute when he was mad.

Kristoff's heart stopped. He felt them… those gentle lips of hers on his cheek.

"Of course I'll go with you, Kristoff." She said, blushing.

He turned at her slowly. "R—… R-Really?" He asked in disbelief.

She smiled fondly, "I think that kiss was a good answer." She teased.

"But… why did you laugh?"

Anna blushed harder and shifted in her seat shyly. "Well…" She played with her fingers, "It was because… I wanted to ask you to go with me to the festival." She giggled, "But I guess you beat me to it."

Kristoff smiled lovingly at her, and she smiled lovingly back.

Then…

Kristoff's smile fell, seeing the look on Anna's face. "What's wrong?"

Anna had a glower on her face as she focused on listening carefully. She stood on her seat to try and look around, putting a hand on her sheathed dagger. "Kristoff…"

They could hear it… Horses' galloping… Men shouting.

Getting closer and closer until…

"There they are!" A man shouted angrily.

"Sven! GO!" Kristoff shouted and the reindeer dashed forward, sprinting as hard as he could.

"Who are they!?" Kristoff asked.

"Bandits!" Anna replied.

"What should we do?! We can't lose them like this! They have horses!" Kristoff noted.

"You keep your eyes on the road up front! I'll deal with them!" Anna said, readying herself.

Kristoff nodded. "Come on, Sven! Faster!"

"Don't let them get away!" One of the bandits shouted.

Anna grabbed a big piece of chopped wood and threw it. "Take… THIS!"

The piece of wood hit one of the men, knocking him off his horse.

"HAHA! Bullseye!" She raised her fist in victory. "Four to go…" She whispered to herself.

"Come here, you!" Another man rode right beside the sled. He grabbed Anna's leg and started pulling.

"Let go, you bastard!" She struggled with him then kicked his face.

The man was able to stay on his saddle, "Why you…" He unsheathed his sword.

Anna pulled her dagger out.

He lunched. She blocked it. He swung again and she jumped.

"That's it!" She decided to be offensive. "You only live once!" She jumped at the man, pushing him off his horse and taking the reins. "Kristoff! Get rid of the sled! We have to lose them!"

"Alright!" Kristoff shouted back. He stood and jumped on Sven's back. He then turned and released the reindeer from the sled by cutting the bridle.

"Follow me!" Anna shouted.

Kristoff nodded and followed Anna who took a turn and entered the dark woods of large pine trees.

"Anna! Watch out! There's one above!" Kristoff warned.

Anna gasped looking up at a man on the tree's branch, drawing his bow.

"Sweet dreams, my queen." He whispered before he sent the arrow flying.

The arrow hit the horse's leg, sending it to the ground.

Anna went flying off the horse's back and hit the ground head first, her body rolling violently on the dirt.

"Anna!" Kristoff called worriedly. He quickly turned the reindeer and rushed to her side.

Anna groaned and slowly lifted herself on her knees, the world around her turning and her forehead bleeding. "Kristoff…" She whispered.

He dismounted the reindeer and rushed to her side. "We have to get out of—"

"Well, well…" A man's voice cut him off. "If it isn't the queen herself."

Kristoff realized they were surrounded by four men. "What?" Kristoff scowled at them, not understanding anything.

"We finally found you after all those years, your majesty." Another man teased.

"I'm… not a queen, you idiots! Yet alone… a royal!...You've got… the wrong person!" Anna tried to clarify.

"You can't fool us, your majesty. I recognize that face anywhere. You were last seen around these parts. And now we found you!" The man with the bow said while smirking.

"What are you talking about?! You're not making any sense!" Kristoff said and before he knew it, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his skull, knocking him unconscious.

"Kristoff!" Anna shouted worriedly. "You'll pay for this!" She snarled at the man who hit Kristoff with a club. She wanted to get up and split all those men apart, but she knew she was too injured and weak to do it.

"Richard, don't you think she's… too young to be the queen?" The third man was skeptical.

"Oh no… Trust me these people never age." The bowman approached Anna and kneeled right in front of her, holding her chin up roughly. "That's a bonus you get for being a royal brat." As he spoke, spit came out of his mouth, covering Anna's face.

Anna gave him a disgusted look, "Ugh… Why not try speaking your words instead of spraying them, you pig!"

Richard's eyes widened in rage, "Why you little…" He sent his fist flying towards Anna's face, knocking her down.

Anna yelped and fell to the ground with a thud.

"I'll finish you off right here and now." He pulled his sword out and held it above her heart. "The bounty that your brother in law put on your head will make us rich beyond belief." He chuckled and stared at Anna's pained face with a wide sadistic smile. "Goodnight, your majesty. I'm sure you'll find your husband on the other si—" Richard suddenly froze, his eyes wide in shock. He slowly looked down to see an arrow through his chest. He coughed blood and swayed backwards falling to the ground, dead.

"We're under attack!" The other men shouted.

"Behind you!"

The first one turned only to see a figure, wearing a long hooded beige poncho. His face was hidden under the hood and his sword slashing the man's throat, sending blood splashing everywhere.

"Get him!" the second one commanded.

The third one launched at the figure, swinging his sword, only for his opponent to dodge then slash his chest.

The last one backed away in fear. "I've had enough of this! You're not getting me!" He turned and started sprinting away, trying to get away with his life.

The hooded figure simply lifted his bow, drew his arrow… and released, impaling the man's throat, sending him sliding on the dirt and leaving a trail of blood.

Anna was barely conscious. She tried her best to stay awake.

The hooded figure started approaching her. She could hear the footsteps getting closer. She wanted to escape this person since she didn't know his intentions, but everything around her was blurred. "Stay… away…" She grabbed her dagger with a shaking hand, but her grip was too weak. Before she could lift her head to see the intruder's face, everything around her turned black… and she went unconscious.