Chapter Four

Honeymoon Postponed

ANNA

"Thank you. Thank you." Anna smiled and waved as she walked down the red carpet of the church, hand in hand with Kristoff who was still looking awkward as ever, though he did try his best to put on a confident smile and wave.

The guests were still clapping and congratulating the newly wed couple as they made their departure. After being officially married, Anna and Kristoff hosted a nice lunch reception for their guests, as per custom.

The new royal couple had to entertain their countless guests. Local nobles, foreign dignitaries, the Confederation members, important officers in the military, the Northuldra, Arendellians and many others. If the preparation and the anxiety of anticipation hadn't drained them both, then the lunch reception did.

Anna was never one to shy away from holding conversations. She had always prided herself on being an extrovert, stemming from her lack of companionship during her earlier years. Her love for parties fuelled her energy and sustained her, but even the wedding had been too much. Now, she was glad that the two of them had spent enough time with their guests to be considered polite, and were taking their leave to head back to the castle for some much needed privacy.

"Thank you all!" Anna beamed and waved one last time as they exited the church.

Outside, there were even more people crowding the streets in hope of glimpsing the newly weds. As far as Anna could tell, there were no gaps between people as far as her eye could see. The entire road was packed with Arendellians, shouting and cheering as she and Kristoff emerged from the church.

A thin, long line of soldiers from the Queen's Guard were all that separated the masses from the church entrance, where the royal carriage was waiting. As Anna and Kristoff walked out of the church, followed behind by two pairs of Queen's Guard soldiers, more flanked them as per safety protocol, ushering them politely and quickly towards the royal carriage.

The commander of the Queen's Guard, the newly promoted Captain Evans, stood by the carriage door, dressed smartly in ceremonial uniform.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness." He bowed to them both and opened the carriage door, steps having already been laid out for their convenience.

Kristoff winced at his new title which had been officially given to him upon their marriage. "That's going to take some time getting used to."

"Thanks, Evans." Anna climbed into the carriage with Kristoff.

The door shut, and Evans signalled to the driver to move off. A path was cleared for the carriage, though extremely narrow as people continued to throng the streets, clapping and cheering for the newly weds.

"So that's over." Kristoff deflated visibly and loosened his black bow tie. He tugged at his collar and unbuttoned the top one which was stifling his neck. "I thought it would never end."

"You lasted longer than I thought you would." Anna grinned. "You never seem to endure these things for very long."

"What can I say?" He shrugged. "Today's a special occasion."

"It sure is." Anna leaned over and kissed him. As she leaned her whole bodyweight on him, he went off balance slightly, tipping to the left.

He went with it, and laid down on the bench which wasn't exactly very wide, with Anna climbing on top of him. They both embraced and kissed, laughing as the carriage bumped over a rough spot in the ground and sent their bodies jerking towards each other.

"So," Anna kissed his ear. "Any suggestions for the rest of the day?"

"I was thinking we could just take it easy and relax." Kristoff grunted and sat up. "I'm a little tired from all that socialising with aristocrats and foreign ambassadors. It's been a long day."

"You're right." Anna agreed. "Maybe we could just relax in the drawing room and have game night after dinner."

As soon as she had said it, she immediately felt glum. Game night was a tradition in her family, which included Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, herself and…Elsa. But Elsa wasn't here, as she reminded herself bitterly again. Game nights just weren't the same without her sister. Life itself just wasn't the same.

The past two months had been extremely tough on Anna, now that her sister was being branded a witch and a criminal along with the rest of their friends and they had been on the run every since.

Evidently Kristoff had noticed the change in expression on her face, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Pulling her close, he kissed her head.

"I'm sorry Elsa couldn't be here with us today." He said regrettably. "I'm sure she saw it all though."

"Yeah? You think she got our invitation?" Anna said. "I put in a lot of work trying to track her down with Melody's help. Not to mention getting Matthias to coordinate something to get her into the church without getting spotted."

"I'm sure." Kristoff sounded certain. "She wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Yeah," Anna glanced out the window. "I hope so."

"I'm sure that if Elsa was here with us now, she would scold you for being mopey on our big day." Kristoff smiled, though he was clearly feeling melancholic too.

Anna forced a smile and sat up straight. "You're right. She would want us to be happy. But I can't stop worrying about her and if she's doing okay."

"She's a big girl. We both know she can take care of herself just fine. She's not going to let herself get caught."

That however, was soon to be disputed. Soon after the royal carriage had arrived back at Arendelle castle, her mousy personal assistant who had been one of her bridesmaids came running up to meet them as they walked into their home.

"Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness." Hayley bowed hastily. "Congratulations again."

"Thanks." Anna said, for what might have been the five hundredth time that day. "Are you alright, Hayley? You left the lunch reception in a hurry. Work can wait for a day, you know."

"Forgive me, but I have an urgent message." Hayley went on, pushing up her spectacles. "Her Royal Highness Princess Melody asked me to inform you to meet her in the drawing room the minute you got back."

Anna frowned. Melody had also left the lunch reception earlier on to retreat to the safety of the guest room in the castle. "Did she say why?"

"No, Your Majesty. She said it was secret and urgent."

"That sounds like Melody all right." Kristoff said. "Tactical secrets and all."

"What could it be about?" Anna mused aloud to herself after they had thanked Hayley and began to ascend the stairs to head to the drawing room on the second floor of the wing.

They walked into the drawing room to find Melody there, having changed out of her frilly dress into something more casual. The usual tights, boots and her trademark quia green jacket. Beside her was General Frederick, still in his ceremonial white uniform, somehow still uncreased and immaculate as always. He'd walked Anna down the aisle back in the church, and Anna made a memo in the back of her mind to personally thank him again later. The man really was like a second father to her.

"What's going on?" Anna asked, looking between the two of them.

Frederick bowed low. "First of all, I believe congratulations are in order, Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness." He nodded at both Anna and Kristoff. "Second of all," he glanced at Melody. "I wager you would like to be the one to spill the news."

Melody drew in a breath. "Elsa was spotted in the church."

"What?" Anna started. So she had come.

"The Blue Wolves found her hiding up on the second floor balcony. Frederick intercepted their reports." Melody nodded at the general.

"The CAST Force cornered Her Royal Highness in the church, where she broke through the window and escaped into the open. They deployed a massive effort and chased her and a man in black to the edge of the city." Frederick elaborated.

Man in black? So Janus was with her. Anna swallowed. "Did they escape the Blue Wolves?"

"Yes, fortunately." Frederick said. "I had a few of my own men down in the Ministry of Information intercept and copy their reports before they were handed up to higher management."

Anna felt relieved and angry all at once. Relieved that her sister and Janus had escaped, and that Frederick had employed an intelligent method of gaining information pertaining to Elsa's whereabouts and movements if they came into contact with the Blue Wolves. And angry that these legitimised thugs were still chasing Elsa, having named her as public enemy number one on their wanted list.

What did the Confederation have to gain by hunting innocent sorcerers down? Anna still couldn't comprehend how so many members of the Confederation had been so ready to write off all magic wielders as criminals. Discriminating, prejudice views against a minority that they didn't understand…Anna could feel her blood boiling in her veins. This shouldn't be happening.

"At least Elsa and Janus got away." Kristoff said gratefully, and turned to Melody and Frederick. "Did the Blue Wolves mention anything about the rest of the Warriors?"

Melody shook her head. "Maui, Tracy and the rest weren't here today, as far as the reports detailed. This is the first time Elsa has been spotted in two months. She's been a ghost thus far, and doing a damn good job of it."

"And hopefully it stays that way." Frederick said. "I shudder to think what might happen if Her Royal Highness is captured along with the rest of her allies."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Anna said quickly. She could still feel her blood boiling out of indignation for her sister.

"And I hate to be the bearer of bad news." Frederick continued. "But both of you," he glanced at Melody and Anna. "Are being summoned to an emergency conference with the Confederation."

Anna blinked. "When?"

"Now." Melody grimaced.

He nodded, face relatively impartial with a barely visible hint of severity. "Unfortunately."

Anna groaned. "Then the reports from the Task Force would have reached King Uxzas by now. He knows that Elsa's been spotted in Arendelle and escaped."

"I'm afraid so."

"Why are the Confederation members calling a summit now?" Kristoff asked. "On your wedding day?"

"I'm guessing they figured now would be a good time, what with most of them being here today and all." Anna pursed her lips and gritted her teeth. "No doubt they've finally come to their senses and decided to take action against the Exonian Empire. Took them long enough to realise that Exon is a threat that needs to be dealt with."

The gall, Anna thought, holding an emergency summit and interrupting my wedding day. Taking the effort to show up for the wedding ceremony but still interrupt her big day wasn't something that Anna considered as polite in her books, though she was hardly in a place to protest their actions.

She drew in a breath and held it there for a while. Then she exhaled. "Right then." Anna straightened up. "Just let me slip into something a little less lacy and frilly before we go see what the Confederation wants."

###

"No matter what," Anna told Melody as they walked towards the Council Chambers where the Confederation members were waiting. "Don't let them ruffle your feathers. They'll antagonise you without even being aware of it, and that's them on a good day."

"They don't sound very nice."

"No, no they don't." Anna pursed her lips. This was Melody's first official meeting with the Confederation members. After the events of the Empire's occupation, Denmark had allied itself with Arendelle as part of a deal initiated by the Arendellian government to get the Danish economy back on its feet. In exchange, Denmark would make their army available to Arendelle should the need arise.

It was a joint effort between Anna and Melody, who was taking on political affairs for the first time. As far as Anna could tell, these were very new waters for Melody, who had always been more comfortable out in the field with the Warriors. And today was going to be Melody's first introduction to the Confederation of the North as Anna's political partner and ally.

"But no sweat." Anna tried to sound cheery. "You've fought assassins and evil generals. This should be a walk in the park for you."

"Politicians and dignitaries are worse." Melody mumbled.

"Can't argue with that." Anna adjusted the fit of her dark green dress. She had changed out of her dazzling white wedding dress for something a little more functional, but not too casual since they were meeting for an impromptu Confederation Summit.

It still made Anna rather annoyed that they would decide to do something like this on her wedding day. My wedding day. Really? Of all days? Two months of non-stop back and forth bickering, and now they finally want to do something about the Exonian Empire? Well, better late than never at least.

"Alright, here we are." Anna put a hand on the big door of the Council Chambers. This was usually the place where her Cabinet members which comprised of the different ministers of various departments of her government held their monthly meetings, but today it was being used for the Confederation Summit. She turned to Melody. "You ready?"

"No." Melody admitted, her face blank.

"Well me neither." Anna muttered and pushed open the door. The two former Warriors walked into the Council Chambers.

The room was very spacious and homely, with a long oak table in the centre and wide comfortable chairs in abundance around it. The dark green curtains were drawn, and the atmosphere would have been very nice and cosy if not for the present company.

At the head of the table was the most senior member and default Confederation Head, King Uxzas from Molcorra, who had been the engineer of the CAST and the CAST Force which were responsible for much of the chaos in the past two months. As usual, he was dressed impeccably, with a long blue rope draped across his thick frame. His white hair and beard marked him as someone who was old enough to be Anna's grandfather. Uxzas had known her grandfather King Runeard, in fact, as members of the Old Confederation back in the Colonial days.

Also at the table were some of the other representatives from the other kingdoms. Anna didn't really take the time to observe which of them were there, because she was feeling rather impatient and wanted to get things over with as soon as possible. She took her seat at the table, with Melody taking the empty one beside her.

"Welcome to Arendelle." Anna put on a false smile and nodded at everyone. "I apologise for keeping everyone waiting."

"No, please. Our sincere apologies for having to do this on your wedding day, Your Majesty." King Uxzas said, though Anna knew he didn't mean it. "Also, congratulations once again. Thank you for inviting us to the ceremony, and I deeply regret that our summit has to be under these circumstances."

Yeah, you damn well better be sorry. Anna kept the pleasant smile plastered across her face and nodded in acknowledgement.

"However," Uxzas went on. "We do have something rather urgent to discuss."

"Before we proceed," Anna interrupted. "May I have the honour to introduce the Confederation's newest ally and member?" She gestured politely to Melody, who had been silent thus far. "Please welcome Princess Melody of Denmark. As you have all been informed previously, she will be representing her kingdom and working very closely with Arendelle in the coming days."

The Confederation members around the table uttered customary words of welcome, and Melody smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, everyone." Melody said politely.

"Right." Uxzas cleared his throat. "Down to business then. As you all are aware, the Exonian Empire is still a major threat to the peace of our continent."

Took you long enough to figure that out. Anna glanced around at the rest of the Confederation who were nodding in agreement.

"As such," he continued, steeping his fingers. "I believe it's time to further discuss our options. The last time we spoke, we brought up the option of uniting our armies for the sole purpose of crushing the Empire's army-" here he cleared his throat. "-the Imperial Horde."

There was a brief silence as Uxzas took a moment to glance round laconically before continuing.

"I'm sure that by now, we all have reason to believe that Exon, our former ally, still has a firm grasp on many of its colonies across the South and East of the continent, and let's not sugarcoat it, sooner or later when Empress Tal Yin gets confident enough, she will try to take the North again."

A few murmurs went up among the representatives.

"We can all see what happened when Arendelle had no support or allies against the Imperial Horde, and we wouldn't want a repeat of that."

Anna's blood boiled in her veins. What happened, she gritted her teeth, was that we had to fight the damn war by ourselves, with the help of the Atlanticans and the League of Sorcerers. Because the rest of you weren't there.

Uxzas was evidently choosing to leave out the part where the League of Sorcerers turned the tide of the battle, otherwise the Imperial Horde would have very likely crushed Arendelle and moved up north towards the rest of the continent. And you all wouldn't even be here today.

He was also neglecting to bring up Elsa's appearance in Arendelle today. By now the reports from the task force would have already reached him, but he wasn't saying anything about it. Although Anna studied him with masked intensity, he was doing his utmost best to avoid eye contact with her.

Anna shared a knowing glance with Melody, who Anna guessed was feeling indignant too. If she did however, she showed no sign of it.

"Therefore," Uxzas finally went on after a pregnant pause. "I would like to suggest that we begin joint operation initiatives between our kingdoms' armies as soon as possible so that we will be fully prepared to march on Empire territory and push back against the Imperial Horde before they have a chance to send reinforcements to their colonies." He glanced round. "All those in favour?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, even Anna and Melody who both felt that this action came a little too late. Oh well, better late than never.

"Excellent." Uxzas said. "Up front, I pledge to commit three of my best Molcorran divisions to the effort. As you all are aware, among us all, Molcorra has the largest and best trained army. Hence, I propose we nominate Molcorra's own veteran commander Field Marshal Gregor Cicero to command our combined forces."

Anna bristled a little. She, as well as everyone else in the room, had heard of the Field Marshal's reputation on the battlefield. It was impressive, but ruthless with only one goal in mind: to win the battle no matter the cost.

She had a strange feeling about it all, and would much rather have Arendelle's own hero general, Frederick Valquerson, to lead the campaign. However, when all was said and done, the army was all about rank and unfortunately, Molcorra's Gregor Cicero outranked Frederick.

"Anyone wish to voice their doubts or disagreement?" Uxzas asked.

Anna glanced at Melody, who had pursed her lips. Inwardly, she sighed. The room was quiet.

"Very well then," Uxzas broke the silence. "I take it that all are in agreement. Now then, we may proceed with the further details on assembling this coalition."

###

"Well?" Kristoff asked.

"It's like we expected," Anna closed the door of her bedchamber. "The Confederation is finally ready to do something."

"And yet you don't look happy." Kristoff inclined his head towards her. "I thought you wanted them to take action? To finally end the Empire's threat once and for all?"

"Yeah I do." Anna sat down on her bed. Melody had returned to her own guest suite to rest and process what the Confederation had discussed today. As always, the entire agenda and following debate went in circles and little was accomplished, but at least something was finally being done after two long months.

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's just…" Anna couldn't bear to say the words.

Kristoff sighed. "The honeymoon's cancelled then, isn't it?"

"Postponed." She corrected him. "The Confederation isn't going to take this away from us."

"To be frank, I sort of expected it." Kristoff ran a hand through his hair. "But yeah, I'll admit I'm disappointed."

"Me too." Anna agreed. "They're beginning the long process of mustering and assembling our combined armies, which means we have a lot of work to do. As much as I hate to say it, our honeymoon will have to wait."

"It can wait." Kristoff tried to smile reassuringly. "At least we'll still be working together."

Anna forced a grin too. "Get some rest then. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"Right." Kristoff paused for a long while.

"What is it?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry about what happened today. With Elsa."

Now it was Anna's turn to be silent. After a few moment, she drew in a long breath and exhaled slowly, feeling her eyes grow wet with hot tears. She didn't make an effort to fight them back. "It isn't fair."

"No, it's not."

"I miss my sister." Anna said angrily, her throat going thick. "This can't go on forever. Elsa and the rest can't be fugitives for the rest of their lives."

"They won't be." Kristoff said firmly, taking her hands in his own. "We're going to figure this out. You, me, Melody, and whoever else believes that this is wrong. We're going to find a way to get the Confederation to abolish the CAST and bring all our friends back."

Anna dried her eyes and straightened up. "You're right," This time it wasn't anger that was rising, but determination and unshakeable resolve. She gripped her husband's hands tightly. "You're right. We'll bring them back, and I swear, I'll do whatever it damn well takes. I swear."

Author's Commentary:

Finally had time to briefly continue working on Book 5. My progress stagnated for a few months due to the countless tests and assignments in university. Oh and in other news, my Econs finals are coming up on Tuesday. After that, I'll have a little more time to continue writing before my next semester starts.