The carriage hadn't yet stopped in front of the castle doors that Anna was already running to meet it. She was followed by Olaf and Kristoff.
It was after nightfall, so the courtyard was lit by several torches. Elsa barely had time to step onto the snow-covered cobblestone before her sister tackled her into a hug.
Katherine observed them as she descended from the carriage with a jump and smiled. If it had been anyone else, she would have already had them pinned to the ground. But considering the current attack only consisted of love, she let it slide and busied herself unloading the luggage.
As the family reunion happened behind her, she gave instructions to the other soldiers. "Take the queen's things to her quarters. I need to speak with Kai. And you," she pointed at one of them. "Go let Captain Olson know what happened. He'll probably want to speak to the queen."
"So, how was your journey?" Anna asked after her sister had been welcomed by everyone.
Before answering, Elsa followed Katherine with her eyes as she went into the castle. The proximity they had shared during this trek had been pleasant, but she was troubled by the possibility that, back home, it wouldn't be there anymore.
"Elsa? Is everything alright?" Anna furrowed her brows seeing her sister's lost look.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," Elsa shook her head and directed her attention to Anna. "It went really well. All business was taken care of without a problem."
"We were told there seemed to be a prince that was particularly interested in you," Kristoff wiggled his eyebrows at Elsa. Kai had arrived a day earlier and had filled them all in regarding the sparks that had been apparently flying between the two.
Elsa rolled her eyes. "There was. But that will not be going anywhere."
"Ah," Olaf, the self-appointed love expert interjected. "He didn't feel worth melting for?"
Elsa threw him a look of such confusion it had Anna chuckling.
"That's probably it. Come on, let's get you inside. You must be exhausted," Anna wrapped an arm around her sister and led her into the castle.
When Katherine got inside, she asked a footman to locate the political advisor for her, and to have him meet her in the Council Chamber. Before making her way there, she allowed herself a detour to the kitchen to get a little something to eat. She was starving.
She nibbled on a piece of bread with jam when she strolled into the room where Kai was already waiting for her. Neither of them sat.
"What can I do for you, Miss Anderson?"
"How did your journey back go?" she asked, all business after munching on the last of her snack.
"It went well, why?"
Katherine's look darkened as she replied. "We were ambushed a few hours from here."
His eyes grew wide. "What? Is the queen—?"
"She's fine. As are we all. Minor injuries for some of my colleagues."
"By whom?" His eyes darted around as he tried to grasp the situation. This could mean that they were under direct attack.
"Hodgevike men." Her tone was grim, and her expression was hardened by resolve. No one was getting close to the queen if she could help it.
He nodded slowly. "This is serious. But the queen is probably tired. I will reunite with relevant members of the council tonight to have a plan to present to her in the morning."
"Sounds good."
Before he left, he needed to know something else. He wasn't just interested in Elsa's physical wellbeing, but also her emotional state. "How did you find the queen?"
Images of Elsa flooded Katherine's mind in a flash: the peace in her features as she slept on the ground outside of her room, the absolute indifference she displayed listening to Prince Stefan for two days, the determination in her eyes as she fought off the mercenaries, the torment in her gaze at the resurfacing of painful memories…
She had found her enthralling. Absolutely awe-inspiring. Breathtaking. That was how she had found her.
"I don't— what?" Katherine caught herself, feeling heat stain her cheeks.
"Was she frightened?"
"Oh! Oh, no," she shook her head. "Actually, she handled herself quite well. But she was worried about what could come after that. I suppose not only for her, but mostly for the kingdom."
"Understandably. Alright, thank you." Kai bowed his head and left.
Katherine took one of the chairs and slumped in it, running one of her hands over her face. What had that been?
The next morning, Elsa gathered with some of her advisors in the Council Chamber.
"Now that Stanheim is out of the way and the contract has been renewed, we can deal with King Oddvar. We agreed to try the diplomatic approach first, so I should go to Hodgevike—"
She was cut off by Olson. "I don't think that's a good idea, Your Majesty."
"I would have to agree," Captain Rapp added. "With the direct attack against you yesterday, I don't think the risk is worth taking."
Elsa sighed, she understood their reluctance, but she didn't like what that implied. "And now I suppose you'll advise me to go directly to war?"
Olson shrugged. "Honestly? Yes. That ambush was further proof Oddvar is looking only for blood. I don't think anything else will sate him."
"That may be, but we're doing things the right way. We will have our army ready to fight, but I want to try the political approach first, if for nothing else, at least to see what state he's in," Elsa said.
"If you insist, Your Majesty," Kai interjected. "I must urge you to send delegates in your place. That way, you won't be in danger and you will get the information you require."
Elsa mulled it over. She could compromise on that. "Fine, but they must be able to defend themselves. I don't want them to take my place as sacrifice."
"We will make sure of that, Your Majesty," Rapp reassured her.
She knew that because of her position, because of tradition, because of some deep-seated sense of loyalty and hierarchy, they were all willing to die for her. Respect for the crown ran so deep in Arendelle that most of the people in the kingdom would risk their life for her. And that scared her more than anything else.
What she didn't know was that behind the door of that room, stood at attention a woman who would not only be willing to die for her, but also, and without really knowing it yet, melt for her if need be — as Olaf had so eloquently put it. And it had nothing to do with the soldier's job description.
As the councilmen exited the Chamber, Katherine met Elsa, who followed them into the corridor.
She noticed the pensive expression in the queen's delicate features and couldn't help wondering what was going through that fascinating mind of hers.
"Something wrong?"
Elsa shook her head, coming back to reality. "There's just a lot going on right now. A lot I don't have control over," she shrugged, giving her a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Katherine felt a pang of helplessness at not being able to do much to take the worry from those mesmerizing blue eyes. Elsa always seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders, but today the burden seemed particularly heavy. What Katherine wouldn't be willing to do to share that charge with her…
"I'm going to work in my study for a while. You can take some time for yourself." Now it was Elsa who broke Katherine out of her reverie.
"I'm still on duty. I'm coming with you," Katherine said, resolute.
Elsa eyed her carefully as she started walking alongside Katherine. "Really. I don't want you to get bored out of your mind just standing there. I can go get you when I'm done if that makes you feel better."
"You're the one who gets bored. I have been trained to do this," Katherine reminded her pointedly. That managed to make her chuckle, and Katherine was none too proud about being able to do at least that for her.
"Are you sure you don't prefer to do something else?" Elsa asked one last time as they came to stand in front of the tall double doors of her study.
Honestly, Katherine couldn't think of another place she'd rather be. "I'm sure."
"Suit yourself," Elsa shrugged as she entered the room.
Katherine proceeded to stand at attention, preparing herself for a likely uneventful couple of hours.
As it turned out, there would end up being a bit more action than she was expecting.
Anna had spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon with Kristoff and his family at the Valley of the Living Rock. The weather was great, with only near-freezing temperatures, and the sun was shining bright. Elsa would probably be taking it easy today after such a tiring trip, so Anna had gone along with her boyfriend.
As Anna got back into the castle, ready to tell her sister everything about how Kristoff's family, as usual, pestered them about plans to get married — in a way that was diametrically opposed to Elsa's views on the matter, who was rather of the opinion that they should wait a few years before they took that step — she happened across two soldiers in a corridor. They were walking her way, engrossed in a conversation, when she noticed one of them sported a black eye, and the other had a cut lip.
"It was brutal," she heard them as they got closer. "I can't believe they got the drop on us."
"They shouldn't have been able to get that close."
As they saw the princess, the soldiers stood up a little straighter and bowed their heads. With a quizzical look on her face, she stopped them on their tracks. She recognized them as having been part of Elsa's guard for the trip to Stanheim.
"Gentlemen, what happened?"
"Oh, this?" One of them, Robert, gestured toward his bruised eye. "It's from yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
"Yeah. From the attack to the queen's carriage," the other soldier, Brit, replied.
"Attack?" Now her eyes went wide in disbelief. "You were attacked?"
The soldiers nodded slowly, gazing sideways at each other.
Anna felt her anger mount. "Do you have any idea where Elsa is?"
"We know she met with the council earlier, but we haven't seen her since," Brit offered.
"Thank you." she said — not forgetting her manners despite her temper rising — before storming off to look for her sister.
They had been attacked and Elsa hadn't bothered to mention it? It wasn't like she hadn't had the time to tell her the night before. Why was she still leaving her in the dark?
Anna, officially furious, spotted Katherine outside the study as she rounded a corner, and guessed that was where her sister was. There was nothing of the little sister who was scared to say the wrong thing driving her today.
Elsa had a lot of explaining to do.
AN: Thank you for your reviews, follows and favorites! They mean a lot :)