Chapter Thirty-Five
Disclaimer: I neither own the rights to Disney, Frozen, the Disney universe nor any of its associated media, derivatives or products. I do not profit from this work.
Also, my thanks to Robert Manion, the writer of "They Let Go," for inspiring the tune of "Their Reward." (You guys probably know this as the "Evil Elsa" song; check it out here: www. youtube . com watch?v=Qh1xrWetwgc [remove spaces.])
The moment her eyes opened, Elsa knew something was wrong.
What exactly the problem was, she couldn't quite put a finger on, but clearly something was amiss. She felt entirely unwell, with a churning stomach and headache, and a miserable sensation that felt as if she were about to have a heatstroke, yet somehow completely different. Her mind was fogged over and she couldn't seem to follow a train of thought. She was bundled in blankets, she noticed; someone would have to instruct whichever well-meaning maid was responsible that the Queen never needed such things.
As she pushed back the comforters, the curious sensation increased, and she unconsciously shuddered. Her feet clumsily found the floor, and she managed to stand up. She shot out a hand to steady herself against the bed-rail as the room seemed to pitch perilously, like a ship on rough seas.
When at last the spinning had stopped, Elsa took a few cautious steps forward. She glanced around the room, trying to work out a coherent thought, and then… and then something caught her eye. Or rather, someone.
She turned and stared. A woman with dark hair and a gentle face looked back at her. Elsa felt relief flood through her. "Mother!" She reached out to touch the woman. The woman reached back–
And Elsa felt her fingers graze upon, not human skin, but cold, hard glass.
It took her a long moment to realize what had happened, but when she did, her heart fell. Of course the dark-haired woman looking back at her could not be her mother. Though the face was the spitting image of the late queen, Elsa had never seen her mother with her hair down in a braid trailing over her shoulder. As if that weren't enough, the eyes were not the same warm hazel as belonged with the features, but instead a shocking blue. Elsa was not looking at her mother, but in a mirror.
She pulled her hand back, touched her braid. Her hair, so glossy and dark, looked strange against her pale skin. She waved her hand experimentally in the air.
Nothing.
Still not believing it, she reached forward, touched the edge of the mirror. No frost covered the gilt.
I'm…normal?
Instantly, everything came flooding back: the fjord, the Snow Queen, the shard…
Elsa stepped back. The room seemed to be spinning again. She'd given up her powers. She'd let the Snow Queen have the shard, and Hans—she'd been tricked. She'd fallen right into her trap.
Suddenly, her parents' wisdom became painfully clear. While Elsa still wished they had told her the truth as soon as she was old enough to understand, she realized—too late, now—just what had been at stake. How many times had she wished and prayed for some way to be rid of her powers? How many times had she imagined a life without them? And if she had known that the curse's originator had been waiting just beyond the palace walls, eager to fulfill her wish—well, could she say with all honesty that she would not have given the Snow Queen the shard without a second thought to the cost?
What have I done?
She felt herself shudder again, and realized that she was cold—a curious and rather unpleasant sensation that she was now experiencing for the first time in her memory. She turned towards her bed, intending to retrieve the unused blanket from the end. What she saw caused her breath to catch in her throat.
Outside her window, a fresh blizzard roared with even greater force than its predecessor. "Oh no," she breathed.
Without bothering about the blanket, she hurried over to her door, pulled it open. Much to her surprise, she found herself face-to-fingers with Anna's fist, poised to knock.
"Oh!" Anna said, startled. "You're up."
"Yes, I'm–" The sensation of chill suddenly seized her anew, and she remembered that her parents had always complained of the castle's seasonal drafts. The temperature change was too much to someone feeling so unwell, and she stumbled forward.
"Elsa!" Anna quickly caught her sister around the shoulders. "You okay?"
"Fine," the queen said, steadying herself. "Just a little out-of-sorts."
"I was just coming to check on you." She studied her sister and then said softly, "Wow."
"What?"
"You look just like…"
"Like Mother. I know."
There was a moment's pause, and then both sisters hugged each other tightly. "What do we do, Elsa?" Anna said in a muffled voice. "What would they have done?"
Elsa shook her head. "I don't know." She pulled back and shuddered again. "Could we go somewhere warmer? I don't like the draft out here."
"Yeah, I figured you might be pretty chilled when you woke up. Let's go to the library; everyone's waiting for you there."
"Is everyone alright?" Elsa questioned, as they began to walk. "You? Kristoff?"
"Everyone's fine."
"What happened after I passed out?"
"Well, Willum did some really cool thing with his staff to stop the Snow Queen from getting in, and then pretty much banished her. She whipped up that storm outside before she left, though."
"What about the villagers? Are they alright?"
"As far as we know, everyone's okay; Kristoff got the guard organized to go out with lanterns and ropes and stuff to find everyone; it took an hour or so, but we've pretty much got the whole town back in the castle."
"That's good," Elsa sighed. "If only I hadn't been so stupid…without my powers I can't do anything." She smiled ruefully. "Can't even build a snowm–" She stopped suddenly. "Olaf."
"What?" Anna said, worried.
"Olaf! My magic brought him to life; without my powers-"
"Olaf's fine," Anna cut in reassuringly. "He's in the garden right now with the reindeer."
"Nothing…happened to him?"
"Nope. I mean, his flurry stopped snowing, so he can't come inside, but he didn't become un-alive or anything."
"Oh," the Queen said, with obvious relief. "I suppose that makes sense; after all, it's not like we stopped living when Mother and Father…"
"Right, exactly. Your council was really worried, though; I think they all thought you were going to die or something. Willum calmed them down and told them to wait in the library; Kai and Gerda are there, too."
"Oh, the council meeting… I'd forgotten."
They walked in silence for a moment, before Anna said softly, "What you did back there—it was really brave."
The Queen looked over, startled. "Pardon?"
"You gave up your powers, just like that. To save someone none of us wanted anything to do with a month ago." Anna peered up at her, awed. "You didn't even think about it."
Elsa pursed her lips. "Maybe I should have thought about it a little more...I was just so worried about him."
"Even still. That was...Elsa, you're amazing, powers or no powers."
And despite herself, the Queen smiled. "Thank you, Anna. Just now, I needed to hear that."
By this time they'd reached the library, and Elsa rubbed her eyes, sighing. Anna pursed her lips. It was obvious that her sister was feeling remarkably unwell; she looked exhausted, and more to the point, she still shivered periodically, clearly still unused to the chill. Nevertheless, Elsa straightened up, lifted her chin, and pushed the wooden doors open wide.
Her councilors (who had been sitting on various sofas and seats around the fireplace) all rose as she entered. "Gentlemen," the queen said cordially. "Please, do excuse my tardiness."
"Your Majesty, are you quite alright?" said Lady Evjen with genuine concern.
"Aside from a bad case of hubris and foolishness? I'm well enough, but I'm afraid Arendelle is not, a fact for which I take full responsibility. Please, be seated."
Her councilors agreed to this, reclaiming their seats as Elsa walked around the sofas to stand in front of the fire. "No doubt Kai, Gerda and Willum have informed you all of what has happened," she said, nodding to the trio, who were still standing near the piano.
"Is it all true, your Majesty? The Snow Queen? The Mirror?" said Lord Frandsen, frowning deeply.
"It is. Moreover, our situation has just become incredibly more complicated… a complication for whom I can blame none but myself," Elsa said heavily. "With my shard, the Snow Queen has gained immense power, and I have lost mine. I can no longer defend Arendelle on my own… and we have reason to believe that the only person standing between the Snow Queen and full completion of the Mirror is Prince Hans himself, who has likely been taken as her prisoner."
At this, the mood became incredibly subdued. "Fantastic," Lord Finnmork snapped. "The traitor of our country is now our only hope!"
"Hans isn't a traitor," Anna interrupted. The council turned to look at her, and she flushed. "I mean, I know he was, once—trust me, no one knows that better than me. But he's on our side now, I'm sure of it."
"And what about you, Queen Elsa?" questioned Lord Frandsen. "Are you so certain as the princess?"
"Yes, how do you know he didn't run away to join her forces?" asked Master Folkestad.
The rest of her council joined in with various doubts of their own. "What say the Queen?" "Are you certain of this, your Majesty?" "Can you vouch for him?"
Elsa's head was suddenly clouded with doubt. Could she trust him? She didn't know anything for certain—what if she and the others had all reached the wrong conclusion? What if he really had played her for a fool? What if–
"Even if Elsa can't, I can."
She looked over, startled, to see that Kristoff had stepped forward. "I know Hans has messed up big-time in the past, but he's good at heart, you can take my word for it. He wouldn't betray Arendelle, not willingly." His eyes met Elsa's. "Anna's right. He really has changed."
"You're sure of this, Sir Bjorgman?" Willum questioned.
"Hans is a good man," Kristoff said firmly. "I stake my honor with his."
Anyone who'd ever met Kristoff Bjorgman knew that that was not something he did lightly, especially not concerning a known criminal. Though Lord Finnmork rolled his eyes, the rest of the councilors glanced around at themselves and nodded.
"Alright," Elsa said, trying to hide her relief. "Now that that's settled, we have to face the facts: Arendelle, and indeed the rest of the world, is in grave danger at the hands of powerful enemy. We need a solution. Captain Markussen, do you have any suggestions?"
The head guardsman stood and bowed. "Your Majesty," he said grimly, "The only suggestion I have is to prevent further damage and, if possible, alleviate that which has already taken place—by which I mean, the Snow Queen must not acquire the prince's shard, at any cost…and, if we truly wish to end her power, the Devil's Mirror will have to be destroyed. As to how that can be accomplished, I cannot perceive, especially considering that she could be anywhere at the moment–"
A sudden, urgent knock at the library doors cut him off, startling the council members. Kai hurried to open it, to find a young guard standing there. "E-excuse me, your Majesty, sirs and madams," the man stammered, clearly nervous. "Only, we've, well, we've received something for you."
"Something?" Elsa questioned, surprised. "Like a package?"
"In a manner of speaking, m'Lady."
"Well, bring it in," Elsa said, a little impatient. The guard nodded behind him, and two more came in, huffing under the weight of a block of ice, about the size of a small chest. Elsa's eyes flew wide as the guards set the block down in front of her, bowed, and left.
"It's… addressed to you," Anna said uncertainly, pointing to the top. Carved in fluid cursive into the ice itself was the name, Elsa.
"There's something inside of it," Kristoff noticed, peering through the translucent material. Elsa realized that he was right; something of a vaguely yellowish-gold color sat in the center of the ice. "Here." He retrieved his ice pick from its loop on his belt. Lord Finnmork snorted, and Kristoff shot him a glare before kneeling down beside the block.
He chipped at it, lightly at first, and then harder. Thwack! Thwack! ThwACK!
At the last chip, the ice block suddenly split in two. Elsa felt her mouth fall open.
Glinting up at her, half of it still lodged solidly in the ice, sat her royal crown.
"…Well," she said, after a long moment, glancing up. "I guess we know where he is now. And our solution is clear."
"Your Majesty?" Lady Evjen questioned, confused.
"The Snow Queen has taken up residence in my palace on the North Mountain," Elsa said curtly, mouth tight with anger. "That's likely where she'll have the mirror—and Prince Hans. Clearly she wants me to follow her up there… and I'm going to play right into her hands."
"You can't mean that you're thinking of going up there!" Kai said, aghast.
"That's exactly what I'm thinking. Someone has to find Hans, and someone has to destroy that mirror."
"Absolutely not," the manservant said, getting to his feet. "Your father entrusted me with the duty of caring for you-"
"My father entrusted me with the duty of caring for my kingdom," she interrupted. "The Snow Queen has attacked Arendelle; hence, she is my responsibility."
"You have no idea how she operates!" Kai said vehemently. The rest of the council was looking on, too startled by the forcefulness of the generally unassuming manservant's voice to interrupt. "There is no reasoning with her, no chance to change her mind—and anyone who thinks differently is a fool!"
"I beg your pardon!" Elsa snapped back. "In case you have forgotten, I am your Queen and I do not appreciate being spoken to as if I were a child!"
"Kai," Gerda said, voice sharp and firm. The manservant had already opened his mouth to retort, but his wife's hand on his arm made him pause. "I'm sure her Majesty meant no harm. She's only worried about the prince."
Kai glanced from her to Elsa, and his whole demeanor changed, slumping with weariness. "Forgive me, m'Lady. I forgot to whom I was speaking."
"No; the fault is mine," Elsa sighed. "I shouldn't have been so quick to take offense."
"Queen Elsa, you must understand—she had no sense of mercy," the man said tiredly. "I was only a child when she took me; there was not yet enough darkness in me to use against me, so she simply made me forget. But the prince…she will make him remember."
"All the more reason for me to try to find him," Elsa said firmly.
"I agree, he ought to be rescued," Willum added fairly, "but by someone else, your Majesty! You can't put yourself into that kind of danger."
"I agree with Bishop Willum," Captain Markussen added. "You should send up a search party; the royal guard is more than willing–"
"The royal guard is excellent when handling ordinary enemies, Captain Markussen, but all our troops combined wouldn't last a minute against the Snow Queen," Elsa interrupted. "You forget how easily I myself dispatched of them last year. Besides, if Hans will be willing to listen to anyone, it'll be me."
"And why you?" Kristoff said doubtfully, standing crossing his arms.
"Because I'm the only one who has the slightest idea of what he's going through," she answered firmly.
"But without your powers! My Queen, you have never been more vulnerable than you are now!" Kai argued. "What would we do if we lost you?"
"I am the only one who stands a chance of getting through to him," she explained.
"But you are our ruler!"
"If he hands over that shard, there will be no Arendelle left for me to rule." Her expression was so grim that their arguments fell silent. "I have to go. There's no other option."
"No." Everyone looked over, surprised, to where Anna was standing next to the sofa. Her expression was fierce. "No, Elsa, I'm not letting you do this! It's too dangerous!"
"Oh, I'm sorry; I forgot running up frozen mountains in the face of certain peril was your thing," Elsa retorted with faux politeness.
"Can't we at least discuss this?!"
"No, we cannot. Gerda, if you could try to find a winter dress; I think I've gotten rid of most of mine, but there may be a spare one around somewhere-"
"Elsa!" Anna snapped, losing her temper. Elsa started and turned. "Whether you like it or not, you are going to listen to me! Don't you dare pull that Queen stuff with me; I'm your sister, not one of your subjects! And I'm telling you that this is really dangerous!"
Elsa stared for a second, and then walked over to Anna and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're right," she said gently. "And I'm sorry. I know you're just worried about me." Anna's face softened a little at that. "But Hans is…he's become a friend. I can't just leave him up there to die. And I can't run the risk that he gives in before I can get to him; I have to do what's best for my people before I do what's best for me."
The princess seemed to deliberate this for a moment, and then sighed. "Okay. I still think it's a really, really bad idea, but if you think you can get through to him…then I'll trust you."
"Thank you," the queen said gently. They hesitated, and then after a moment, gave each other a brief hug. When they pulled away, Elsa said, "I leave charge over the kingdom to Princess Anna…and Sir Kristoff." The ice harvester looked over at her, surprised, but Elsa pretended not to notice. "You are to listen to their orders as if they came from me, am I clear?"
"Yes, your Majesty," said her council, some of them more grudgingly than others.
Elsa nodded shortly and turned to Gerda. "As I was saying, if you could find me a winter dress, I would be very much obliged. And I'll need someone to ready my horse."
"Of course, m'Lady," the housekeeper said with a quick bow, and then hurried away. Anna squeezed her sister's hand, and then left with Kristoff, until the queen was alone in the room.
Elsa walked over quietly to the piano, and found—much to her surprise—her hymnal lying on the side where she'd left it in such a rush earlier that morning. With shaking hands, she opened it up to a page marked by a dried rose, and placed it on the piano. Her uncertain fingers traced their way through the melody, but the notes sounded disjointed, unskilled. With a sigh, she closed the book, and, holding it in her hands, looked out the window.
Although it was still only late afternoon, outside, she could see nothing but a gray, dull twilight. Even so, she knew that somewhere, high up on the North Mountain, was the prince who was ironically her country's last hope, undergoing who knew what sorts of torments at the hands of a most terrible foe.
"Don't worry, Hans," the queen vowed under her breath. "I'll find you. I promise."
And with that, she turned from the piano and swept out of the library.
"Ah, so you're finally awake then."
Hans gasped and started, whirling around. The Snow Queen looked back coldly; he hadn't even heard her entrance.
"W-why have you brought me here?" he demanded, stepping towards her.
She raised an eyebrow. "Why, don't you remember? It was at your own request."
"I told you to take me away from the village; I never said you could imprison me!" he said hotly, curling his hands into fists. Flames licked the edges of his knuckles and up his wrists.
"Actually, as a matter of fact, you did," the Snow Queen said disinterestedly, walking around the perimeter of the room towards the mirror. "To quote you exactly, you said, 'Take me away from here.' By the word 'take,' you gave me permission to acquire you as my possession; you never specified when I was to let you go. As such, that decision falls to me." Hans ground his teeth. "I trust you've enjoyed your stay thus far?"
"Enjoyed my—no, I have not enjoyed my stay," he growled. "I want to leave. What right do you have to–"
His angry retort died in his mouth as the Snow Queen suddenly caught him by the chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "What right do I have?" she said, voice dangerously cold. "I have every right to hold you as my prisoner, young prince. The rights of vengeance are the strongest bonds of all."
He struggled to find his voice. "…Vengeance?" he managed, baffled. "What right to vengeance? I've done nothing to you."
She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Oh, no, you've never wronged me, young prince, but you are of the same breed who has. I have a right to vengeance on all your foul sort—and, through you, the whole human race." She released his chin, walking away. "Did you really think that your betrayal of the Princess and Queen would go unpunished? That I would have mercy on your crimes?"
"What are you talking about?" he demanded, but his voice broke with fear.
She turned, smiled that cold smile. "Oh, you foolish man. Don't you know that the lowest circle of Hell is reserved for traitors? And it is not in a lake of fire that they perish."
She cast her arms wide, and the glassy walls around him fractured darkly, angry claws of ice growing from the sides. Hans stepped back, and then let out a sharp gasp as his boots froze to the floor. "They are eternally trapped in a prison of ice," she cackled, eyes flashing with malice.
"I used to be young, naïve and foolish;
A peasant girl who believed in love so true.
Enchanted by pretty words
That fell like honey from the lips
Of a man not quite so different from you!" She pointed a finger at him, and Hans cringed, expecting to die then and there. Instead, two embracing figures formed of snowflakes arose from the floor.
"But he should have known revenge was short in coming," the Snow Queen spat,
"When I caught him with a lovely little waif.
And so I made a pact
And with that simple act
Nowhere in that village ever again was safe!" She blasted the figures with the ice, turning them to solid stone even as they flung out their translucent hands, screaming in voices like the wind.
"Their reward! Their reward!" she sneered, raising more figures from the floor.
"Hell hath no fury to match a woman scorned!
Their reward! Their reward!
At the first hint of a snowflake,
Well they all should've been warned!" The ethereal villagers froze solid as well, and then shattered into millions of shards on the ground.
When I signed my soul away
It was a paltry price to pay
To crush their icy hearts
And freeze the summer day!
And when the town stood silent before me
I had my victory!
Their reward!"
The look on her face was manic, alternating between fury and glee, and the prince began to panic. She's not just evil, she's crazy! And those villagers—their garb was ancient, and definitely not Arendellian. His mind flashed back to the feeling of his own mind disintegrating in the terrifying isolation of the cell. How long had she been alone with no one but the Mirror to talk to?
The Snow Queen seemed to have forgotten he was there. "With the village turned to a frozen graveyard," she continued,
"I traveled to the far north to take my reign." All around him, new sets of villagers arose, these clad in snowy versions of ancient Nordic wear, the men holding spears and shields.
"You worshiped me as a god
And in my own right, perhaps I was—
In any case, you mortals all felt the same!" The northmen bowed to her in unison.
"But then men of warmth of heart came from the southlands,
And taught the people here to live without their fear!" She sneered as humble men in robes and shorn heads came among the people, holding their snowy crosses. The people turned and vanished, leaving the Snow Queen alone.
"My loyal flock was gone
And I swore I would go on
To exact revenge with ice sharp and sheer!" She turned to Hans, who tried to back away, but found his feet still cemented to the floor.
"Now the time has come to punish the whole earth," she hissed, grabbing hold of the chains that held his hands.
"For its disrespect and its ignorance!
And a goddess I will be
And all will bow to me
Lest they be frozen for their irreverence!" She yanked the chains, and, unable to step forward, Hans fell hard to his knees.
"Their reward! Their reward!
The northland will be the first
To taste the bite of winter's blast!" She flung her hand to the sky, and within the icy room, there began to spin a cloudless blizzard of snowflakes.
"Their reward! Their reward!
These people are all fools
If they think the past is in the past!
The world covered in white
And the bodies of they who dare fight.
With snow the sun eclipsed,
In a frozen apocalypse!" she cackled.
"And all will cower low
Before the Queen of Ice and Snow!
Their reward!"
The blizzard descended upon the rest of the room, the howling winds whipping the stolen coat against his legs. The prince shielded his eyes and peered through the snowstorm. In the center of the chaos stood the ghastly figure of the Snow Queen, her dress and hair blowing about wildly, blue light crackling about her hands and her eyes flashing with a terrible, frozen rage.