Strangers || Anna

"Is it useful to feel fear, because it prepares you for nasty events, or is it useless, because nasty events will occur whether you are frightened or not?"
― Lemony Snicket

It was hard watching Elsa and Kristoff leave just after she reunited with them. It was different than being trapped by Hans because their separation was at least somewhat voluntary, but it was terrifying all the same.

Hans, Morgause, and Morgana were terrifying opponents. The whispered information about someone named Emrys that had something to do with Merlin and Arthur being a king once (Anna was pretty sure she'd heard something wrong) didn't make any sense and came as no comfort whatsoever. Elsa could hardly protect herself from Morgause. The other's could hardly protect themselves from Hans. What if Hans made them all turn on her sister?

What if they all wore earplugs?

But then, apparently, sense of sound was important in a battle, so that wasn't an option.

"You seem to be recovering quite nicely," Gaius concluded. He nodded with as much enthusiasm as Anna guessed he had ever shown. "Whatever potion they gave you, it hasn't left any long-lasting effects. Just make sure you're eating well."

Gwen brought over some bread and cheese for them to eat at Gaius' words. "There's no sense in starving ourselves out of nerves," she said. She proceeded to take two bites before setting her food down and walking circles around the table.

"I'm sure they'll all be fine," Gaius comforted. "We should all get some rest while we wait for news. We will be no help tired and stressed."

"You go," Gwen said. "I'm not tired."

Gaius got up from his chair and walked out of the room back to where he had slept the night before.

Anna got up but didn't follow Gaius. She followed Gwen's footsteps around the table until the other girl stopped and made her sit down, agreeing to sit with her.

"You don't have a reason to be worried. Elsa is the least at risk out of all of them."

Anna shook her head. "What about Kristoff? He doesn't have magic. And Arthur has been kind to Elsa and me under the circumstances. There's Merlin, too. I haven't really talked to him, but I can tell Elsa cares about him. The other knights deserve to come back safely as well." She was afraid for all of them. She was afraid of anyone she knew dying, even though she knew to fear for them was pointless. Her worries would do nothing to protect them.

"It's kind of you to care about people you don't know," Gwen said.

"Would you happen to know anyone named Emrys?" Anna blurted out. Elsa had whispered the information in her ear, so Anna assumed it was supposed to be kept a secret, but if Anna could trust any of her new friends with a secret, it was Gwen.

Gwen looked surprised at the random question. "I can't say I have. Doesn't sound like a normal name for a person in Camelot. Is it a common name where you come from?"

"No." Anna shook her head. "It doesn't matter, I'll just ask Elsa about it later."

"Okay."

The girls sat in silence for some time. Anna picked at her nails, then the wood on the table, then the hem of her dress, all while Gwen watched. Anna thought she was watching, but she might have just dozed off. There was a lot she could be thinking about besides Anna's fidgeting.

"So, what about you and Arthur?" Anna asked, eager to stop thinking about what could be happening at that very moment.

"What about it?" Gwen asked.

"Well, I always did love a good romance story." Even after Hans, the lure of romance was still there. Anna just had to be warier. Men like Kristoff could be trusted. Men like Hans could not. It took more than a day to find out that sort of thing.

Gwen turned away, biting her lip. "I don't see how that would be relevant."

"It would be a distraction."

"Well." Gwen started to speak and Anna thought she might actually hear the story of how a serving girl found herself meeting a prince, but it wasn't herself that she started talking about. "Elsa and Merlin would be quite the story, wouldn't they?"

Anna tilted her head. She'd never thought of Elsa as someone who might have a life outside of duty, her magic, and her biological family (Including her snowmen children, of course. Anna suddenly wished for Olaf's presence as acutely as she wished for Elsa's.). Merlin sitting with an arm wrapped around Elsa's shoulders was odd enough, and here was Gwen saying there was more to it?

"The two of them think no one notices when they both disappear into the woods at the same time. If Kristoff didn't go with them, I think Arthur would have been more angry about it." Gwen stood up again and Anna followed. "Really, I think he's just afraid that Merlin would Leave Camelot to be with Elsa. Merlin and Arthur are closer friends than they would admit, and they… they'd miss each other. I'd miss him too."

"But you think he'd come back to Arendelle with us?"

"I don't know. I want him to do whatever makes him happy."

The girls walked through the doorway to go find Gaius who hadn't returned since his leave for rest.

"Gaius?" Gwen said, quietly and then again slightly louder.

No one was there.

"He must have gone after them." Gwen scowled. "Of course he'd do that, sneak off while we were distracted and wouldn't follow."

"What good could he do?" Anna asked. "He's a physician, not a fighter."

Gwen shook her head. "I don't know."

"We have to go after him."

"I don't think we should." Gwen bit her lip. "You need to rest. I'll go."

Gwen had to have lost her mind if she thought Anna would stay put alone in some old castle while her friends were fighting for their lives. However, Gwen hadn't lost her mind.

"You wouldn't stay here, would you."

Anna shook her head.

Gwen sighed. "Alright, we can follow, but we won't go into the castle unless the battle has been won. We'll watch from a distance."

"Yes!" Anna scurried towards the extra weapons, the ones Sir Gwaine found abandoned in the castle. There wasn't much that was useful, but Anna found herself a sword (it was a bit heavy and a bit rusted, but she didn't care) and swung it around a few times.

"Woah." Gwen held out her hands in a sarcastic peace offering. "Be careful with that," she said more seriously. "Do you know how to use it at all?"

"Not really," Anna admitted. "I never trained with one. We were never in danger of attack, and it was our guard's job to protect us anyway."

Gwen nodded. "Hopefully you won't have to use it then." She picked up her own weapon from the pile, examining a few before she made her pick. She clearly knew more about how to choose a good sword.

The walk back to Camelot was a long one and the others ahead of them had an extreme head start. A few times they noticed signs that Gaius had walked through the area, but they were otherwise undisturbed, leaving Anna to admire the difference between Arendelle's and Camelot's landscape. Not as mountainous. More leafy trees. Anna could imagine that she was walking through an enchanted forest and not just the collection of trees taken for granted by their inhabitants.

Camelot's citadel was crowded with citizens standing in the streets when they arrived. Gwen told her to stay back, But Anna decided that if people were standing around with there children, it was probably safe to dive in.

"Excuse me," she pushed past a few people, "excuse me, ma'am, could you tell me what's going on?"

The young woman looked over Anna, seeing her fine clothes and perhaps recognizing her as coming with Hans' entourage. Her eyes darted around, finding Gwen which seemed to calm her. "The immortal soldiers disappeared. Gone, just like that. They were patrolling the city one moment, and dust the next. People are saying Prince Arthur and the Ice Queen are the ones that did it, but my mum thinks that can't be. The Ice Queen is an enemy, she wouldn't help us."

"Has anyone come out of the castle?" Gwen asked.

"That's what we're all waiting for. But we're pretty certain the witch sisters and foreign prince were defeated, or they would have come out to punish us by now."

Anna thanked the girl and continued to push her way through the crowd, pulling Gwen with her.

There was a point when they reached the front of the crowd. By some unspoken decision, the people had decided not to go any closer to the castle, but Anna saw no reason to abide by their choice and went straight for the front entrance.

"Anna, maybe we should wait," Gwen whispered.

"No. My sister is in there, I'm not waiting." Anna let go of Gwen's hand. She could follow if she wanted. The large entrance door was slightly open, a good thing or else Anna would not have been able to open it on her own. She slipped through the gap and walked forwards, not really knowing which path she was on or should take.

"The council room is this way," Gwen said from behind her. "Maybe we could check there first?"

Anna turned and followed. It was lucky she had Gwen to make these guesses because she turned out to be right.

"Anna!" Kristoff was the first to see them and he strode quickly over to give Anna a hug. He looked almost exactly as he had before except for the bandage around his shoulder. It looked like most of them hadn't been severely wounded. Sir Lancelot was lying on a cot that looked rather out of place and Gaius sat in one of the council chairs attended by Merlin.

"Where's Elsa?" Anna asked at the same time Gwen asked for Arthur.

Kristoff looked nervously at one of the doors leaving the council chambers. "They're talking. Arthur found out Merlin has magic and Elsa's trying to… she's trying to help him sort things out I suppose."

"Merlin has magic?" Gwen asked. "We can help him, can't we? He doesn't have to be corrupted?"

"Are you saying Elsa's been corrupted?" Anna asked, offended on behalf of her sister.

"I — no, of course not, I didn't mean that. I only want Merlin to be okay, that's all."

Anna looked at Merlin as he spoke to the injured Gaius. He looked fine. If he had magic, Anna had no doubt it would be like Elsa's: used for good. Maybe their magic had drawn them together. Maybe it would keep them together, tool. The laws of Camelot were clear: no magic was allowed. If Merlin couldn't stay in Camelot, Elsa would offer him a place in Arendelle.

"Oh, Kristoff," Anna said, interrupting their quiet thoughts. "Elsa said something about an Emrys before she left, do you know anything about that?"

Kristoff laughed. "Oh don't I know about Emrys. Come on," he ushered Anna and Gwen further into the room. "I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot about him later."

Did I just update three days in a row? Insane.

Do you guys think I'll really send Merlin to Arendelle? Is that what the sequel will be about? Hmm... probably... not..

[Spoiler]

Merlin still has his destiny, so no.