Outsider||Elsa

"I guess that's just part of loving people: You have to give things up. Sometimes you even have to give them up."
― Lauren Oliver, Delirium

They had only been out for half an hour or so when Elsa saw it. Or, more accurately, felt it. The ripple, like a wave had crashed right through her, didn't make any sense to her, or to Lieutenant Mattias when she asked him about it. The birds in the distance still trilled their usual tunes and the skies over Arendelle were still clear and sunny.

"But if you feel it, Queen Elsa, I believe you," Mattias said. "You have the closest connection to magic I have ever seen."

The comment wasn't as comforting as he intended. Yes, she was close to her magic, especially after finding the Northuldra and the connection to her mother, but she was also drowning in it without further guidance. She rubbed at the goosebumps on her arms as she remembered the intense moments of cold.

At Elsa's request, Lieutenant Mattias turned the group around and started to head back toward the city. It wasn't much of a productive trip having been out for such a short amount of time, but the clear sky did nothing to soothe Elsa's unease.

Then, one by one, the knights disappeared, each only a second or two after the last, too fast for a reaction. Feet behind them, one of the guards closest to Elsa moved his horse to block her progress. The motion was recognized, but not necessary. Elsa's horse had already dug her hooves into the ground and shaken her head, confused.

"Something's wrong," Elsa whispered.

She jumped down from the saddle. There were only two knights with her now, one an older man who was planning to retire, and another who was newly knighted at only 18 years of age.

Elsa tried to take a step closer to the point where the rest of her company had disappeared, but the older knight reached out again to stop her. "Your Majesty, we don't know that it's safe to proceed further."

Elsa pushed his arm away. "No one knew what was behind that wall of fog separating us from the enchanted forest. If my people are in trouble, if my sister is in trouble, I need to be there to help them."

The knight shook his head. "I will test the path first."

He shuffled forward, stretching one foot far out ahead of him at all times as though he was stepping around anthills in bare feet. When his foot finally disappeared, he grimaced. "I don't think it'll hurt me, but there's no knowing what's on the other side."

The forest path ahead still looked the same way it always had. If she hadn't seen several men disappear into thin air for herself, she wouldn't have guessed anything was out of the ordinary. Where the knight's foot went through the invisible barrier, there was nothing but the bushes behind where his foot should have been.

A shiver ran down Elsa's spine, and for the first time in months, it wasn't from the cold. "Come back," she ordered.

He pulled his leg back. Nothing happened. He yanked at it again, this time leaning his entire body backwards. "Your Majesty," he gasped, "I… you have to get away from this… get help. Whatever it is, it's expanding."

He was right. Not only could he not withdraw his own foot from the invisible barrier, but the barrier appeared to have moved a few inches towards his knee.

"And you can't see anything either?" Elsa verified. Her voice stayed calm and unwavering even though the panic of having to leave Anna behind again, this time not even knowing who or what her enemy was made her want to run back to Arendelle anyway.

He shook his head. "I'll tell Princess Anna you're getting help. The trolls —" He winced, realizing that without testing how wide the barrier was, there was no way of knowing if Elsa could even get to the trolls, and anyone knowledgeable from the Northuldra was currently in Arendelle for the next few days. "I'll tell Princess Anna you're getting help," he repeated firmly.

Almost his entire leg had disappeared. "You'll figure this out, Elsa. And Sir Ruben, you are young, but I have no doubt in you." He made one last nod in their direction before willinglingy stepping into the unknown.

For a long moment neither Elsa nor Ruben moved. The wind rustled through forest, jostling loose pine needles to the ground, and seeming to pass right through the invisible barrier with no problem.

"We should step away," Ruben at last suggested. "There's no way of knowing just how fast it's moving towards us."

Elsa nodded her agreement and pulled at her horse's reins to guide it away, back in the direction they had originally been going before the disturbance. "We'll start walking towards the nearest town, she said. We can make plans and stay there for the night.

The sun was already disappearing when they finally made it to the inn. Without any extra clothing or time to prepare, Elsa knew she would stand out immediately no matter what she did to hide. They found a room easily enough, no one would dare to refuse her knowing who she was. Food came specially prepared as well, though Elsa suspected the price had been raised just because the townspeople knew she could afford it.

She didn't mind.

When she and Ruben returned to the building with their rooms, the innkeeper visibly flushed. His eyes followed her movements whenever he thought she wasn't looking. That was the kind of attention Elsa avoided. Fortunately, it didn't last long.

It took Sir Ruben a while to be bold enough to ask about her plan.

"What are we going to do?" He shuffled his feet while standing by the door and Elsa realised he had been waiting for a signal to take a seat.

She gestured to the chair across the table from hers. "We're going to ask for help from Camelot." Before saying it outloud, she hadn't consciously made that decision. For an entire year, she'd been looking for an excuse to go back, but there had been the issue of finding Ahtohallan and building a new permanent dam fixture that would protect Arendelle but not block others from resources. And there had been her own duty to stay with her people.

Her people. The ones that had come only as a second thought when catastrophe struck. Was she really suited to be queen when she had only truly been worried about Anna, not Arendelle? Her hands were suddenly noticeably freezing, and she rubbed her palms across the fabric of her cloak.

"Camelot," she said again. "They'll have all the answers."

She didn't know if she was talking about the answers to her own questions, or the questions that burdened all of Arendelle. Maybe there wasn't a difference. If Elsa lost control of her magic again, how much of Arendelle would be left?

The journey only took a few days with help from Elsa's magic. She couldn't transport the two of them all the way to Camelot, but she could magically take them far enough to shorten the distance by quite a lot even though they had to leave their horses behind. The cool breeze from the sea and the plants that grew around them gradually changed, the accents of the people they met changing from the ones she'd heard her whole life to the one that had become familiar during her time in Camelot.

Ruben didn't say much during the journey. Elsa didn't know much about him and he answered her questions in only short bursts. All the same, Elsa was glad not to be completely alone, even if she did wish it was Anna or Kristoff by her side.

When the city comes into view, Elsa sighed in relief and, for the first time since they started this journey, she let herself relax and shorten her stride and stop worrying for a minute. She pulled her cloak over her head, hiding her face from the people they passed just in case any of them recognized her, and kept walking towards the palace.

"How are we going to get inside?" Sir Reuben asked. The two of them looked up at the castle from the courtyard, and Elsa hesitated.

Magic was probably still Illegal. Everyone in Camelot knew she had magic.

"We'll go in the back," she suggested. "The stables. Hopefully we'll find a way to get to Merlin from there."

They didn't make it that far before they were spotted.

"Elsa?"

Elsa spun on her heels, ready to run or fight or prepare to face Camelot's council, but it wasn't anyone she thought would turn her in. Gwen looked at them suspiciously, holding a basket of herbs off to one side.

"It is you!" She smiled for a moment before her face fell into a frown. "You shouldn't be back here. Uther's still… Arthur isn't technically king yet." She looked around warily, checking for anyone who might have noticed the conversation before gesturing for them to follow her through the streets into a small house — her own, Elsa guessed.

"I'm so sorry," Gwen said. She shuffled around, moving clutter off the table and sweeping dust away from the doorway. "It's a bit of a mess… I've been meaning to sell this place, I don't stay here often anyway."

Elsa interrupted her apology. "You know I wouldn't be here unless it was an emergency. I need help from Merlin."

"Help you couldn't just ask about in a letter?" Gwen said curiously. "You coming here wasn't more of a risk?"

Elsa nodded. "Four days ago some sort of magical ripple took control of Arendelle. I can't get in without getting trapped myself, and I have no idea what it could be."

Gwen froze mid tidying up the space. "Four days ago?"

"Yes." Elsa paused, watching Gwen as she processed the information. "That means something to you?"

She nodded. "Four days ago Merlin said he felt not one, but two magical disturbances and we haven't figured out what either of them were. He's been on edge about it ever since. He keeps saying something's wrong, and forgetting how much time has passed. Arthur's considering giving him a day off."

"I have to talk to him," Elsa insisted.

"Of course," Gwen agreed "But not now. If you come into the castle, you'll cause chaos, and I have a feeling Arthur's uncle won't share Arthur's view about magic."

"Uncle?"

"Agravaine. He came as soon as he heard about Uther's condition. Merlin doesn't like him, and I can understand why. I've had to take care of Uther the past few months and he's always hovering around like a vampire."

Elsa backed towards the door. "I can understand your worries, but I really need to do this as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow, Gwen insisted. I'll get Merlin and Arthur to come to you. You've come far enough."

Gwen still had work to do up at the castle and Ruben had no reason to stay out of sight, so Elsa ended up spending the afternoon on her own. Based on Gwen's farewell instructions, Elsa should have been sleeping, but she couldn't. She lay on the single bed for hours until Gwen returned for the evening.

"Did you get some rest?" Gwen busied herself putting together an evening meal, but didn't miss the fact that Elsa was awake and watching from the corner.

"A little," she lied.

Gwen didn't look like she believed it.

"How had you been before four days ago?" She asked.

Elsa wondered how much she knew. She'd written letters to Merlin, and one to Arthur. Anna had as well. She didn't know if any of the letters Anna wrote had been addressed to Gwen.

"Not the best," Elsa admitted. "There was an incident earlier this year that turned out well. I found out where my mother was really from, and solved a fight that was started by my grandfather. But the cold I experience keeps getting worse. I can still control what my magic does outside, but anything extra just seems to turn back on me. I can feel every drop of cold air, every drop of moisture collect around me like a cloud. It's… it's terrifying."

Gwen took Elsa's hands in her own, eyes widening when she felt how cold they were. "So, you have three reasons for being here."

"Three?"

"For your magic, your city, and Merlin."

Elsa laughed, unsure how else to respond. "I don't see how Merlin is a separate thing. I just need his help for my two reasons."

"So you didn't have any other reason you wanted to see Merlin?" Gwen pushed.

If she could have, Elsa probably would have blushed. "I can't have another reason. Nothing can happen between us. Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone you care about is give them up. Our kingdoms depend on it. Arendelle barely accepts me as queen as is."

Gwen shook her head. "You might be right, but I don't think that's the case for you."

Someone knocked on the door and Gwen dropped Elsa's hands. "That would be your knight. We can talk more after dinner."

Gwen's smile lingered on Elsa as she backed away, and Elsa wondered if Elsa had lived in Camelot, or Gwen lived in Arendelle, was there any possible way they wouldn't have become the best of friends?

Reviews appreciated!

I'm planning on updating weekly once school ends for the semester in a few weeks.

I've decided that the events of Frozen 2 took place in the year between this story and Frostburned. However, Elsa didn't go through any fifth element magical transformation stuff, its' just that they now know about their parents history and mended the rift between peoples.