Chapter Seventeen

Apprentice

ELSA

After a long hot bath in the privacy of her own room, Elsa dried her hair and put on a maroon dress and kitten heels. Somehow, she had found something that fit her in the common wardrobe that belonged to all the sorcerers. To be truthful, she was getting used to life in Swynvort. It was a prison for her, that was for sure, but it wasn't completely unbearable. At least she had people she could talk to and wasn't locked up in the dungeon like Will Daltrey was. The poor boy. He was definitely not who she had expected him to be. She tied her hair into her trademark french braid, making a mental note to pay him a visit after breakfast.

As she walked down the stairs to the common hall where the sorcerers were having breakfast, she winced as she felt her legs aching. The battle of Quodrun had been a fierce one, but she had escaped relatively unscathed, save for a few aching muscles. That was nothing compared to what her former teammates had suffered at the hands of the League. Elsa felt extremely guilty and uncomfortable, having stood by while her friends were brought down one by one. She even had a hand in incapacitating Maui! Though she knew that he would eventually escape from the block of ice she had frozen him in, she felt awful all the same. They must think I'm too far gone by now, Elsa thought to herself morosely. And yet, she had only been a part of it because she had no other choice. Ugh, she needed coffee.

Entering the common hall, she saw Jade and a few others at a table, and they ushered her over to join them. Pulling over a seat, she sat down and forced a smile.

"Morning, Frost. How was your sleep?" Jade asked, pouring a cup of coffee for Elsa.

"Alright, I guess." Elsa sipped from her mug of hot coffee and instantly felt better. She took a slice of bread and began to butter it up. "Though last night was pretty intense."

"Intense? You should have seen the attack on Bergxine a year back. That was a bloodbath." Vonco, the boy with the Molcorran accent, snorted. He was a seventeen year old boy who could travel and disappear through shadows. Though scrawny and somewhat on the short side, he always had Cornelius, the big guy, by his side. Sure enough, Cornelius was at the same table. "There were guts lying in the streets by the end of the night."

"Vonco, we're eating here." Holli said, sticking out her tongue in disgust.

"For a witch doctor, you're awfully squirmy." Vonco grinned. "I thought you would be used to seeing guts by now."

"Drop it, Vonco," Cova said, equally irritated. "Or I'll have spiders climb into your bed tonight while you're sleeping."

"Alright, fine." Vonco rolled his eyes.

Jordan continued eating his breakfast peacefully, looking amused at the entire conversation the entire time. Deirdre, as usual, had a sullen look on her face, though she seemed more vexed than usual this morning. Maybe it's because I'm at the table, Elsa thought to herself, glancing at Deirdre.

Jade snickered and took another slice of bread. "Blaze," she turned to Deirdre. "Do me a favour, would you?" She tossed Deirdre her slice of bread.

Deirdre rolled her eyes, and placed a hand underneath it. A light flame toasted it, and the bread slowly turned light brown, sizzling underneath the girl's palm. She handed the hot slice back to Jade, who beamed at her.

"Thanks," Jade took a bite. "Mmn." She turned to Elsa with her mouth full. "So, how's life in the League so far?"

"It's great, actually." Elsa lied. "I feel like I've really found a home here." She thought she heard Deirdre snort, but decided to ignore it.

"Cool," Vonco said. "Before you got here, a lot of us were actually excited to hear you were coming." He turned to Cornelius. "Right?"

Cornelius grunted, and Elsa assumed that it meant yes.

"It's true," Cova added. "Many of the girls were shocked. They've all heard of the Great Freeze in Southeastern Norway."

"Ah." Elsa's cheeks started to colour. "That…was an accident, really."

"You sure?" Deirdre muttered.

Elsa turned to her. "It was." She stressed, trying to keep her tone neutral. "But everything's alright now," She turned back to Jade. "But do you have any idea why the Pilgrim needs the Elemental Sorcerers so badly?"

"I don't know," Jade said, her mouth full of bread. "She rarely tells us anything, apart from the missions she sends us on."

"What happened in Quodrun yesterday?" Holli asked. "I heard things went pretty wild."

"Well, we ran into some unexpected resistance." Jade began. "A group of sorcerers and vigilantes. Something like us, actually."

"What?" Cova looked surprised. "You mean there's more of us out there that the Pilgrim doesn't have?"

"Something like that."

"Why were they in Quodrun?"

"Apparently to stop us." Elsa said, trying to keep up appearances.

"Your sister was among them," Deirdre pointed out.

"Ah…yes," Elsa said slowly. "She…has a tendency to make bad choices sometimes."

"They were protecting Daltrey." Jade added.

"Who?" Vonco asked.

"Apparently he's the Last Elemental Sorcerer."

"He seems a bit wimpy, for someone with that much power." Deirdre scoffed.

"Everyone takes time to learn how to control their power." Elsa glanced at Deirdre. "I know I did."

"Yeah, I can tell by how you froze your entire kingdom." Deirdre smirked.

"Hey, wh-" Elsa protested.

"Alright, let's all calm down. We're all friends here." Vonco said quickly.

"Excuse me." Deirdre rose haughtily with an air of false regality, and walked out of the common hall.

"I don't think she likes you very much." Holli said quietly.

"I can tell," Elsa glanced warily at the departing sorceress. "But why? I've never done anything to wrong her."

"Rumour is, she used to be the Pilgrim's Apprentice," Jade explained cautiously, keeping her voice low. "Until the Pilgrim decided to take you in."

"What?" Elsa's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Deirdre knew that you were coming." Cornelius finally spoke up, his voice gruff. "She was scared that the Pilgrim would cast her aside in favour of you. And she did."

"Why me? I didn't ask to be the Pilgrim's Apprentice!" Elsa's eyes grew wide.

"The Pilgrim has high hopes for you." Cova said. "She wouldn't have stopped training Deirdre otherwise."

"Wh-" Elsa was speechless.

"That's why Deirdre's so mad." Jade said solemnly. "Though it's really not your fault."

"Jordan overheard that the Mistress is going to start training you today," Vonco added. "Prometheus is going to come fetch you." He turned to Jordan. "Right?"

Jordan nodded, glancing at Elsa.

"What?" A stunned Elsa looked around the table at serious faces. "Why does she need to train an Apprentice?"

"Because," Jade lowered her voice. "The Pilgrim is dying."

Elsa's deep blue eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"We heard rumours." Jade continued. "And we've seen how she collapses and coughs out blood, and saves herself with a green potion that restores her health."

"But she's getting weaker, that's for sure." Vonco said, and the rest nodded in agreement.

"It makes sense that the Pilgrim will want to train a young successor. You know, in case her plan doesn't work out." Holli said.

It was too Willy in the morning for this. "I-excuse me." Elsa rose from the table and left her bread behind half-eaten, walking out of the common hall in a daze.

"Frost!" Jade shoved the rest of the bread into her mouth and jumped up to follow her. "Elsa, wait!" She caught up with Elsa outside the common hall where it was much quieter. "Are you okay? You look paler than usual. And that's seriously saying something."

"Jade, this is madness." Elsa looked at her. "I can't be the Pilgrim's Apprentice!"

"That's not really your choice, Frost." Jade said apologetically.

"Look," Elsa took a deep breath. "The truth is, I don't belong here," She said quietly. "I've been taken against my will and blackmailed into joining the League."

"I-" Jade was at a loss for words. "I-don't know what to say."

Silence reigned for a minute in the corridors where Jade and Elsa stood, the chatter from the common hall in the background.

"I'm sorry, Elsa." Jade began softly. "You're just going to have to go along with it. It's all any of us can do."

Elsa looked downcast, and sighed. "I just want my sister to be safe."

"That I can understand." Jade gave her a small smile.

"Look, I'm going to go check on Daltrey." Elsa said after a long pause. "Do you want to come with me?"

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea." Jade said uncomfortably. "The Pilgrim wouldn't want you doing that."

"She doesn't have to know." Elsa said firmly. "He's just a kid. He's as scared as I was when I was brought here, and I just want to make sure he's alright."

Jade looked at Elsa worriedly. "Then you better hurry. Prometheus is coming to escort you to the Pilgrim soon."

"Thanks." Elsa parted with Jade, walking quickly towards the direction of the dungeons on the lower levels of Swynvort Tower. She walked down the stone staircase to the lower levels and winced a little when she remembered how she had cut her feet on the sharp stones. It got a whole lot darker as she descended down the steps, and the basements were lit by a few torches spaced out along the rocky walls. Briskly treading through the narrow passageway that led to the cells, Elsa remembered being locked up in one of them not more than a few days ago, and shuddered.

As she pattered down the cells towards the one Will was locked in, she wondered how the boy must be feeling, far away from his home kingdom of Quodrun. She herself had felt absolutely awful, being stuck in a foreign land far northwest and incarcerated in a dungeon. Reaching the second cell at the end of the passageway, she stopped outside it, hesitating. She didn't know how Will would react to her arrival. After all, it had been Janus and herself who had tossed him into the cell when they had arrived back in Swynvort. Granted, she had been under orders from Ingrid, but Will didn't know that. To him, she was just another hostile witch, like the rest. It was time to change that perception. She rapped on the steel door of the cell, and the sound echoed throughout the dungeons.

"Gahh!" A yelp came from inside the locked room, and Elsa was slightly taken aback. She inched closer to the steel door, tiptoeing to look through the steel bars near the top of the door.

"Daltrey? It's me. I came to talk." She said cautiously.

"What do you want from me?" From outside the cell, Elsa could see that Will recognized her, and got up from his bed.

"Nothing. But I can't say the same for the Pilgrim."

"Why did you people bring me here?" Will walked towards the door, looking at Elsa through the steel bars. He was lanky, and could see her through the bars without the need to tiptoe. "I can't do anything for you!"

"Look, I just came to check in on you," she said. "I'm sorry about throwing you in here last night, but I had no choice."

"No choice?" Will sounded indignant, with a hint of fear in his voice. "You're one of them! The League of Sorcerers!"

"Will!" She said impatiently. "I'm no better than you. I was captured too, and blackmailed into joining them. I had no choice but to toss you in here." She lowered her voice. "Otherwise the Pilgrim would have harmed my sister."

There was a brief silence from the other side of the door, and then Will finally spoke. "Who are you?"

"My name is Elsa, Queen of Arendelle."

"The Snow Queen?" There was astonishment and awe in his voice, and Elsa couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.

"Yeah."

"You have elemental powers. Like me."

"I do." Elsa said. "And I'm on your side."

"Can you…get me out of here?" Will sounded hopeful.

Elsa shook her head apologetically. "I don't have the keys. Only Prometheus has them."

"Who?"

"The man who was with me," She explained. "The one in the hood and mask."

"Oh." Will said fearfully. "Is he coming back?"

"I don't think so. Not yet at least."

"You have to help me," Will clutched the rusty steel bars desperately. "I can't stay here. I have to get back to Quodrun."

"And I have to get back to Arendelle." Elsa said, looking Will in the eye. "But we can't. We're stuck here for the moment. I'm still a prisoner here too. The only difference is I'm on the outside of this door." She heard footsteps at the end of the passage striding towards the cell, and she backed away from the bars hurriedly.

"Look, I have to go. Someone's coming. But I'll see you again. Promise." Elsa reassured him, and walked back the way she came. As she turned the corner, she bumped into Janus, who as usual, wore his cloak, hood and mask.

"What are you doing here?" She asked first before he could say a word.

"I came to find you but you weren't in the common hall." Janus said. "And you weren't in your room either. The only other logical place was down here." He looked at her. "What were you doing?"

Elsa remained silent, refusing to answer and avoiding eye contact with him.

"You came to see Daltrey, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" Elsa said defensively.

"You know you're not allowed to do that. The Pilgrim would be displeased."

"So now what? You tell Ingrid I came down here and I get thrown back into a cell beside Daltrey?"

"No," Janus said quietly. "I won't tell her."

Elsa looked up at the tall mercenary, who met her stare through his mask. She went back and forth in her mind before deciding to open her mouth.

"I know who you are." She said. "Ingrid told me everything. I'm sorry."

"You're not supposed to know," Janus' voice rose a little, and Elsa guessed that it was in fear. "No one's supposed to know."

"It doesn't matter." Elsa said firmly. "I know that behind the guise of Prometheus, behind that mask, you're just a man who's been through an entire childhood of pain. More than any person should have to bear in their lifetime."

"What…what are you trying to say?"

"That you're not a monster," She echoed the words that Maui had once told her. "Not to me." She paused and looked into his eyes. "You had a chance to hurt me back in Arendelle, and on the beach too, but you didn't because you have a heart. I know that deep down, you know this is wrong. That the Pilgrim is wrong."

Janus looked away. "It's too late for that." He said quietly, and then turned back to Elsa. "Let's go." Resolve returned to his voice, and he took her arm firmly. "The Pilgrim is waiting for you."

He forced her into a walk, and led her up the stairs and out of the dungeons. As they walked through the halls and meandered through the various passages that led to the Throne Room, Elsa stole a glance at Janus. It was impossible to read his expressions or thoughts since they were concealed by the mask, but that was the whole point in the first place. She hoped that a part of what she had said to him had gotten through to the hardened mercenary who seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for her. She was going to have to capitalize on that. The door of the Throne Room was opened for her and she was ushered into the Pilgrim's presence, and she noticed that the walls of the room were lined with the mercenaries she had encountered in Arendelle: the Knights of Vengeance.

"Good morning Elsa." Ingrid sat on her throne. "How was your sleep?"

"I know you want me to be your apprentice." Elsa set her jaw. "I won't."

"So you've heard. The word spreads fast." Ingrid sounded amused. "Janus, take your men and wait outside."

"Yes, Mistress." He bowed, and signalled for his men to leave their posts. The door closed behind them, leaving only Elsa and Ingrid alone in the huge Throne Room.

"Elsa, listen to me." Ingrid stood up from her throne. "You're a woman of remarkable power. With the proper grooming, you will be the most powerful and feared sorceress on the planet. The Pilgrim's Apprentice. Surely that's bigger than just being the Queen of Arendelle?"

"I don't want what you have to offer." Elsa said bluntly. "All I want is for my sister to be safe. That's the only reason why I agreed to all of this."

"And Anna will be," Ingrid assured her. "But honestly, you don't have much choice in the matter. I know I didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think that I was the only person to ever hold the title of the Pilgrim?" Ingrid chuckled. "No. There have been five others before me across the centuries. And they've all had apprentices who eventually claimed the title, and none of them ever had a choice in being chosen as an apprentice."

Elsa stared at her incredulously.

"I was taken from my home against my will when I was still a child. My parents gave me away to the League as a sacrifice in exchange for being left alive," Ingrid began to explain. "I was a Ha'naeth, a powerful type of sorceress that the fifth Pilgrim wanted. He took me into the League and trained me as his apprentice in the dark arts. Over the years, my powers grew to a capacity I never knew possible, and I thanked my master for taking me in."

Ingrid paused and walked towards Elsa. "You may not understand now, or thank me. But some day, you will."

"What happened to your master?" Elsa asked.

Ingrid smiled. "How do you think I ascended to the title?"

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "You killed him to take his place."

"Don't get any ideas." Ingrid said darkly. "Apprentices usually ascend to the title of the Pilgrim eventually, but I don't intend to be dethroned any time soon. Not for a long time. I just want a general by my right hand to execute justice on my behalf without having to rise from this throne."

"I know you're dying," Elsa replied. "So getting the Augbine Herbs, capturing me, Will and the rest of the Elemental Sorcerers, it's all a part of your plan to survive?"

Ingrid hesitated for a moment before she spoke.

"It's true," she nodded at a beaker over at the far end of the room. "The Augbine Herbs have kept me alive for more than a century, enabling me to rule the League as the Pilgrim for longer than I should have been able to. But each time I use them to heal or bring myself back from the brink of death, they get less effective and I move one step closer to permanent death."

"But you have a plan. Otherwise you wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to assemble all the Elemental Sorcerers. What's your endgame?"

Ingrid smiled dubiously. "Not yet, my dear. Not yet." She folded up the long sleeves of her grey cloak. "Shall we begin?"