Chapter Seventy Nine

The Crimson Shadow

HANS

(Epilogue)

"You're early." Hans spun to see a man dressed in a dark brown cloak which flowed freely from his shoulders and pooled around his wrists and ankles loosely.

"Brother Salvadore." Hans kept his voice level. The fact that these demonised assassins, or the Sanctified as the Crimson Order called them, seemed to appear and disappear at nothing more than a moment's notice was supposed to be intimidating, but Hans was not going to give them the impression that he was easily rattled.

Brother Salvadore nodded. "Are you absolutely sure you are alone?"

"Of course." Hans had double checked - even triple checked - to make sure that he had not been followed out of Exon after midnight, and even then he hardly thought that he wouldn't have been able to hear someone following him for the two-mile long journey to the meeting point at the valley of Trux.

It almost felt like a dream that he was here now. Just a few days ago, he had escaped from the confrontation with Anna unscathed, apart from his ego. Technically, he had failed in his personal mission to kill Elsa and to burn down Arendelle's castle, and the two sisters and their allies had triumphed during both battles. However, unbeknownst to everyone else including Eleanor and General Kane, he had accomplished his main task.

"Good. I hope that you are aware of the importance of our secrecy and paranoia, as it may seem." Salvadore said in low tones. "No one, and I mean no one, must know of what transpires here tonight."

"Haven't I already proven myself trustworthy and reliable?"

Salvadore's face twitched ever so slightly. "That is not for me to decide. Follow me, please."

The cloaked assassin led the way up the hill, and seemed to zig zag through the thick forest. Debouching on the opposite end, Salvadore took Hans up a switchback path that led higher up into the mountains where the air was thinner and far colder than it already was in Exon.

As they made their way further and further away from Exon, it was becoming quite clear to Hans that Salvadore was trying to confuse him so that he could not memorise the route that could be later exploited against the Crimson Order. Not that this place, wherever it was, would be the actual stronghold of the Order. No, this was obviously just a rendezvous point. Still, Hans had gathered by now that the Order was filled with paranoid priests and assassins who loved their secrecy.

Finally, as Hans was beginning to wonder if Salvadore was just playing a nasty joke on him, they arrived at a ridge, where a small fire blazed and there were a few tents erected around it. He glanced round. Five men dressed in the same fashion as Salvadore were seated around the fire, cloaked and hooded with their faces shrouded in shadows.

"We're here." Salvadore reported redundantly.

"I gathered." Hans said calmly as he approached the fire. "Your Eminence." He knelt with one knee on the ground and his head bowed.

The man in the centre was probably fixing him with a gaze, though Hans couldn't be sure owing to the dark grey garment hooding the man's features. With a simple gesture of his hand, the other four men nodded in tandem and rose.

"Ignahon Malkovtoh."

Hans had barely caught what they'd whispered before they retreated into the surrounding tents. When he turned, he found that Salvadore had slipped off into the shadows. Typical.

"You know who I am?" The man finally spoke, his voice husky and low.

"Of course, Lord Magnus." Hans said, a slight smile at the corner of his lips. "High Priest of the Crimson Order. I did my homework."

"Ah, yes. The book." Magnus drawled, peering at Hans curiously. "Hand it over please."

Hans reached into his backpack and fished out the charred book, dusting off the soot. It still smelled of smoke from the royal library in Arendelle's castle. When he considered it sufficiently clean enough, he bent over and handed it with both hands to Magnus.

"Good." Magnus flipped through a few pages of the book and when he was content that it was the genuine article, he undramatically tossed it into the fire.

Hans' lip quirked as he watched the book crackle and dissolve beyond recognition. "You could have just told me you wanted the book destroyed, Your Eminence. I did set the Arendellian castle on fire to cover my tracks."

"Every last piece of evidence of our existence goes a long way in undermining our holy crusade. I needed to be sure the Order's secret is secure." Magnus said calmly. "And that you are loyal, of course."

"Well then, would you say I have officially earned my place in the Order?"

"Well." Magnus seemed to consider this. "Perhaps. You do seem to be far more competent in getting things done than our mutual ally, Sister Eleanor." He waved for Hans to join him by the fire. "Sit down."

Cautiously, Hans dipped his head in gratitude and set himself opposite the enigmatic High Priest - or High Priest. He didn't know what title the man preferred. Even this close, he still couldn't make out the mysterious man's features.

"Tell me, how is dear Eleanor faring these days? Her defeat must have been quite a devastating setback."

Hans scoffed. "She's nothing more than an idealistic little girl. An egoistic fool and overly emotional for her own good. Incompetent too, as you've mentioned. Her defeat at the Battle of Arendelle completely crippled her forces and her ability to attack. The Imperial Horde, the forces present at the battle, that is, has been wiped out except for the remaining forces occupying the other kingdoms as well as the disgraced General Kane, whom she saw fit to keep around for some reason. She has begun the process of recreating her army with her powers, though I must lament that they are wasted on her."

"Patience, Brother Hans." Magnus said. "Though I'm compelled to agree. Her performance has been rather disappointing as of late. When I first recruited her to the Order, I saw so much potential in her. A young woman full of passion, ambition and the will to do whatever it takes to accomplish her goals. Sadly, she has fumbled one too many times."

"Are you planning to get rid of her?" Hans was unsettled. For his own sake, he sincerely hoped not. "Her resources and channels can still be of use."

Magnus shook his head. "As you say, the Order still has use for her. Fret not, our holy mandate to rid the world of all magic has not been impeded. I have found…other avenues."

"Other avenues?"

"King Uxzas of Molcorra, Head of the Confederation of the North. He is loyal to our cause."

Slightly awed, Hans did his best to hide it from his expression. Truthfully, he had not expected that. So the Order has its hooks into the Confederation as well, invoking them to declare all sorcerers as outlaws to be hunted down. "Interesting."

"Regrettably, even the Confederation cannot purge the continent of every single sorcerer." Magnus went on. "Which is where Sister Eleanor will come in again. Her thirst for blood and power will sow carnage as she reignites her campaign with her newly formed army. Some hidden sorcerers will die in the crossfire, surely."

Hans' blood would have curdled if he wasn't already accustomed to chaotic and cruel schemes which had no regard for human life. Or in this case, sorcerers' lives. "I see." He decided to settle on a simple and impassive response.

"Tell me, does she suspect your prior involvement with the Order?"

Resisting the urge to laugh, Hans simply chuckled instead. "Of course not, Your Eminence. Her emotional instability and craving for affection makes her blind and vulnerable. All it took was for me to empathise with her and feed her words of praise and encouragement, and now she's eating out of the palm of my hand."

It was simple really, Hans reflected. Just like it had been when he had deceived Anna the first time they had met. Eleanor and Anna weren't all that different. Gullible little girls craving for love and a few uplifting words. Though in Anna's case, she was competent able to thwart his grand plan. But not this time, he resolved with a tiny smirk. To a certain extent, he pitied her for being so naive. He had poor, unsuspecting Eleanor right where he wanted her.

"Hmmn." The High Priest pondered. "You may be a more valuable ally than I thought."

"I'd like to think I've proven myself more than loyal to the Order." Hans said. "I've spied on her actions and delivered valuable intelligence to Brother Salvadore on a number of occasions, and I brought you the book."

"Agreed." Magnus said. "You've earned your place. You're now officially one of us."

"Thank you, Your Eminence."

"Though I'm curious." Magnus leaned in close, and his face came just a hair short of being illuminated by the fire. "Usually my allies come to me in exchange for something they want. Money, health, or in Eleanor's case, power. But what do you want out of this alliance?"

"Oh, not yet, Your Eminence." Hans smiled. The pieces of his elaborate chess game were beginning to fall into place very nicely. "Not yet."

~ THE END ~

Author's Commentary:

Thank you for following me on this journey! I appreciate you all sticking with me to the end. But is this really the end? Not at all. Although this story is finished, Book 4 will start right away, continuing in this very same thread! Yes, I've already finished writing Book 4 and in fact, am in the early stages of Book 5 now.

And in conjunction with the continuation of this series, I will also be uploading a new story about our beloved characters' future legacies in the 21st century! It's set up as Anna and Elsa's epilogue story that will effectively be the final chapter of their story in this entire Frozenverse saga that I've been writing.

Please find this new story on my profile, titled Frozen: Once Upon a Time in the Future (Frozenverse Book 3.5). Please do take time to read this, as well as Book 4 as well, as the events in the epilogue story will have a part to play in Book 5.

I do hope you'll continue to follow me on this journey! It's been an honour and real joy to write these stories thus far. Stick with me, we're about to get started on another adventure.