The Ice Behind Bars
Chapter XVIII: Sleepless Night
Elsa laid on the dungeon floor and tried her best not to move a muscle, since every one of them ached. Her broken arm was still sending waves of agony every now and then. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much! She thought desperately. She grimaced then hissed in pain when she felt the new wave of throbbing. Then suddenly, her thoughts were distracted by the screams of fear coming from the outside from the citizens. She slowly lifted her head and squinted her eyes at the window when the small light blinded them. She was able to hear some of the shouts, but she did not like what she heard, and she felt confused and worried.
"We are doomed!"
"Snow, snow, snow!"
"Everywhere!"
"It's The Snow Queen!"
She did not understand what they were talking… or yelling about, but she did feel tremendously anxious. How could she ever figure out what was happening?
The Dungeon door suddenly opened violently and the king stomped furiously inside then towards Elsa's door.
And Elsa terrifyingly knew that her question would be answered soon.
"Open it!" The king commanded loudly, his raging voice sent dread down Elsa's spine.
When she heard the locks of her door twisting, her first reaction was to tremble. Her second reaction was to try and crawl away but she couldn't since her arm was broken and she couldn't use it for support. When she discovered that she was hopeless, she started hyperventilating in terror.
The door opened, and the nightmare began.
The king entered then closed the door behind him, but she was shocked and terrified when he locked it from the inside; he never did that. And that couldn't mean any good sign. Not that it wasn't already obvious.
The King's back was turned to her. He was facing the door and when he finished locking it, he spoke three words. Three words that sounded the most intimidating and holding huge wrath. She never heard such a tone of her father's voice, and she felt utterly frightened.
"Turn it back." The King's words were.
She did not understand what he was talking about, she shook her head questionably in confusion.
"W-What?" She asked, scared.
The king suddenly turned to face her. His eyes were flaring with rage and his fists were clenched so tight, they almost turned pale. "I said turn it back!" He yelled then suddenly started storming towards her.
Elsa gasped and tried to back away but he caught her chains and pulled her back roughly. "THE WINTER YOU CREATED!" He yelled then slapped her and she yelped, "TURN ARENDELLE BACK!"
"P-Papa! I-I don't understa-" She was saying when the king grabbed her by her hair.
"Arendelle is stuck in a sudden winter! The whole kingdom is covered in snow! OH! I wonder whose fault was that!?" He said mockingly, then, "Remove the winter! Thaw Arendelle right now! Or I swear you'll beg to go to hell itself!" He said intimidatingly, his hand was still gripping her hair tightly.
Elsa tried to shake her head in his harsh grip, "Papa… I-I… I don't k-know how!" She replied while her voice shook and cracked in fear.
"Lying bitch!" The king yelled, then growled in rage before he pushed her back on the floor and moved to remove her shackles. When he grabbed her wrists, Elsa whimpered loudly in pain-since her arm was still broken- then turned her head and closed her eyes, not wanting to see her father's.
The king ignored her cries and loosened the shackles then threw them aside before they landed with a loud crash.
"Get up." He commanded with a flaring voice.
Elsa finally forced herself to look at him but she unconsciously wore pleading eyes. "P-Papa… I can't stan-" She was trying to notify her father that she couldn't stand alone on her weak legs but the king didn't wait for her reasoning and gripped her hair again and shoved her up. "I said GET UP!" He shrieked.
Elsa couldn't stand the pain in her head and she forced her weak legs to carry her up, but as soon as the king let go of her, her legs wobbled and she swayed violently towards the wall and tried to steady herself with her shoulder to it.
"Now… Thaw the winter." He commanded through gritted teeth.
Elsa trembled even more on her weak legs. I don't know how! I don't know how! She thought frightened and worried about what her father would do to her if she failed. Which she knew that she definitely would. Indeed though. She really didn't know how to do such a thing. Heck, she didn't even know that her magic could unfreeze things. She slowly lifted her terribly shaking hands up and tried to do something she had no idea how to accomplish it. Her heart started pumping harder the more she focused. Because the more she focused the more the ice spread around the room.
"I said thaw! Not freeze!" The king warned with a yell.
"I-I-I'm trying! I'm trying!" Elsa cried with a fearful voice. But I don't! I DON'T! I DON'T KNOW HOW! She thought dreadfully.
The king cursed, and his rage was no longer controllable when he saw the ice spreading faster. "Are you mocking me, you piece of shit!" He said before he sent his feet to his daughter's ribs sending her back to the ground with a cry of pain. "Thaw it!" He yelled then kicked her again. "THAW IT!" He yelled again then grabbed her by her wrist and threw violently to the wall then again to the other wall. He was throwing her around like a ragdoll, kicking her and sending blows of fists towards her body and face. And all Elsa could do was to yelp and cry and whimper and inevitably allowed him to abuse her.
Blood spots scattered the walls, the floor and her rags.
"P-P-PAPA!... PLEASE! I-I DON'T KNOW HOW!" but she yelped when she felt another kick.
"YOU THINK I'M STUPID!? You think I don't know your wicked plan of revenge against me! Against the kingdom! You made this winter purposely! And now I will show you what happens when you mess with The King of Arendelle. " The king said as he grabbed her and threw her aggressively against the table.
She landed violently and roughly on it with a force so powerful, that the table broke in half by her body. Remains of wood flew everywhere. The glass cups that were spread neatly on the table were broken and scattered all over the floor. Elsa was breathing… more like gasping rapidly for air. Her eyes were blurry from the extreme pain and she couldn't feel her legs anymore. Her brain was pounding its way out of her skull. Right when she was trying to lift her head from the sharp shards of broken wood, to try to make sense of what was happening around her but she was suddenly dragged by her father from her legs to the center of the room. She was literally like a ragdoll in front of him. She couldn't move. She was beaten mercilessly to the core. Her breath became shallow. "Papa…" She breathed, "Please…"
The king started circling her like a prey. Trying to decide what to do more to her.
Elsa looked up and her eyes widened in shock on the person that stood right there in the corner. "Mama…?" She whispered, her jaw slack. There, a figure of her mother was standing in front of her. She wore a warm and gentle smile.
"HA!" The king suddenly let out a bark of laughter when he saw Elsa calling her mother and staring at nothing in the corner. "She's hallucinating again!" He said to himself with a laugh.
The king knelt next to her and forced her chin up so that his eyes met hers. "Your mother is DEAD! By your own hands! Don't forget that!"
NO!... No, no, no! I saw her, I saw her! Elsa thought hopelessly. I saw Mommy! She was there! She was alive!
"Stop your nonsense, sweet daughter. Hallucinations won't get you anywhere. It won't bring them back." The king mocked. Elsa didn't know that she actually said these words aloud instead of thinking them.
"Your mother and Anna. Are. DEAD." He said while making sure the word Dead was heard loudly. "Are you going to thaw the kingdom?" He asked with a warning tone again.
Mommy… Anna! I'm-… I'm sorry! Elsa thought then started mourning for her deceased family.
Elsa's tears starting streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably. She shook her head slowly, hopelessly, "P-Papa… I don't… Kno-"
"LIAR!" He yelled before he slapped her across the cheek sending her head to the ground with a disturbing thud. "THAW IT!" He shrieked, "THAW IT! THAW IT! THAW IT!" He yelled continuously as he ripped her already shredded rags off her body and turned her completely nude and exposed her pale scarred, blood-covered and mauled body.
Elsa whimpered and tried to curl in a tight ball to try and hide her modesty as much as she could while she felt overwhelmed with humiliation.
"Monsters don't need to cover themselves." The king said with a smirk and wicked voice. "They don't care about pride or honor. They don't have any!" He said while he threw humiliating looks towards his exposed, trembling and crying daughter. "You don't need to be ashamed. You are a monster! And monsters are already full with shame!" He said and laughed at his embarrassed daughter. "Tell me… What are you?" He asked with a smirk.
Elsa's face was hid behind her hands while she cried and mistakenly avoided her father.
"WHAT ARE YOU!?" He repeated the question angrily. He wanted her to say it loud and clear so she would never forget it. To never forget what she really was.
"Papa…" She whispered, trying to beg her father for mercy.
"Say it!" He yelled, making Elsa cower even more.
Her lips moved frantically, trying to pronounce the dreadful words until she finally managed to say them. "A m-monster…" She whispered, her voice barely heard.
"Say it loude-" The king was cut off when Elsa suddenly snapped and started yelling.
"A MONSTER! A MONSTER! A MONSTER! A MONSTER!" She shrieked with a sorrowful voice then let out a loud sob while ice kept haunting the walls until the whole room turned to thick, strong ice. She just wanted him to stop. She would do whatever he liked just to stop him from hurting her. And screaming what she was would definitely satisfy him.
The king smirked at her broken and yielding soul before he realized that the room was entirely covered in ice… and blood; His daughter's blood. He quickly grabbed the shackles and closed them around her wrists. He stood straight and proud in front of her tortured frame, "I'll ask you one last time… Are you going to thaw the kingdom or are you going to let me do something you'll regret?" He asked.
Elsa hid her face with her shackled hands and muffled her pleading words, "P-Papa… Please believe me! I-I don't-" She was trying to say when the king suddenly groaned in irritation since he knew what she was about to say and kicked her, forcing her to role on her back.
Pain so intense, that she forgot about her modesty.
"Very well then, you wretched thing!" He said before he grabbed the end of the chains and started pulling her under a hook. "You give me no choice!" He said before he placed the chains on the hook that was attached to the ceiling.
Elsa shrieked in pain when he started pulling the chains down to bring her up, since her broken arm was already torturing her. She felt her arm rip in two.
"PAPA! PLEASE… PLEASE! S-STOP… IT!" She cried. IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HUUUUURRSSTT! She thought while she shook her head violently from side to side as if it would have stopped the pain.
The king heartlessly ignored her cries and shrieks and started pulling the chains even more to pull her up, hanging from the hook.
Elsa's tears ran down her face like waterfalls. She couldn't stop whimpering and sobbing. Her arms were stretch at full length above her head and her toes barely touched the bloody, frost-covered floor. Her wrists burned from the tight shackles as her whole weight was hung from them. Her hyperventilating was trembling, as well as her body and lips. Not from the cold of course, but from the fear and agony she was experiencing. Sweat overwhelmed her face and frame. The more she moved a muscle in her body, the more the pain around her wrists and arms grew. So she decided to stay still. She lifted her heavy, dizzy head shakily and looked around the room from under her soaked bangs and tried to locate her father.
The king came to view with a smirk, and a terrifying dagger in his hand. The sight of it made Elsa shiver. She lifted her eyes to look at her father pleadingly. She knew what he was about to do and she shook her head at him, begging him not to do it. "N-No… No P-Papa…" She begged with a breath.
The king's wolfish smirk grew and he grabbed her jaw roughly in his hands and lifted her head. Yet, she closed her eyes tight. "Look at me." He intimidated.
She let out a small whimper before she forcefully and groggily lifted her eyelids and stared at the demon's eyes.
"You don't want to thaw Arendelle, my sweet daughter?" He said while he caressed her cheek with the blade and made her flinch. "You just want everyone to suffer with your wicked curse, you froze the troll, you cursed your own home with a treacherous winter, you deprived Arendelle from an heir, and YOU murdered your own mother and sister! And you still dare ask for mercy?!"
She only replied with cries and tears.
"I have made a mistake and gave you mercy by keeping you alive!... But now…" He trailed off with a wicked smile and grabbed the back of her neck and came closer to whisper her last heard words in her ear. The words that she would carry them with her to hell. "You… Are…" He whispered in her ear, his breath making the small hair on her neck stand and she shivered all the way down her spine. "A Monster… Freak… Evil… Thief…" He was reciting the words slowly so she could hear them clearly before she dies. "Unholy… Abomination… And…" He trailed off waiting for her to continue.
Elsa knew what it meant. "Murderer." Elsa finished with the most shameful and regretful voice.
Right before she said her last word, the king whispered, "So long, daughter. May God choose your fate." He said right before he plunged his dagger roughly in her abdomen.
Everything happened together. Her body and muscle stiffened, her eyes widened, her breath vanished as she stared at nowhere while she felt the cold steel inside her, accompanied with a warm wetness all over her stomach and that trickled down her thighs and dripped on the floor and formed a crimson puddle underneath her. Ice would have accidently impaled her father if it weren't for the shackles. The pain she felt was foreign. A new sensation. She was in pain but she suddenly felt numb. Everything went mute and she literally only heard her own heart drumming in her chest. Her head suddenly became heavy, black spots started to overwhelm her view and…
Elsa!
She heard a voice but didn't understand where it came from. What…? She thought dizzily.
Elsa, wake up!... Wake up, wake up!
The voice was so full with concern. Oh God… wake up, Elsa please!
That voice… Elsa thought, then…
Elsa's bloodshot eyes snapped open and she sat on the bed up quickly with a loud gasp. Cold sweat overwhelmed her body and she was trembling terribly.
"Hey, Hey, it's okay! You're fine…" A woman's voice said.
Elsa's mind wasn't even focused yet. She turned quickly to the voice and gasped aloud when she saw a strawberry-blond woman was staring at her with concern. She quickly recoiled and crawled back on her bed to the corner of the wall. "Stay away from me!" She cried and brought her legs to her chest.
"Elsa, calm down it's just me!" Anna reassured worriedly.
"Who are you?! Where am I?!" Elsa shouted while her frightened eyes darted around the dark room uncontrollably while she breathed fast.
"Elsa, don't you remember? It's me… Anna!" Anna said, her voice's worry growing even more.
Elsa shook her head terrifyingly at the woman, "NO!... SHE'S DEAD!" She screamed, tears came down her face quickly.
"What?!... Who?!" Anna asked bewildered. What is she talking about!? She didn't understand what was Elsa saying, but she presumed that this was just the effect of the nightmare and that Elsa wasn't making any sense.
She remembered when she woke up on Elsa's loud screams, cries and pleads. How she quickly stirred in her bed to see Elsa flailing and thrashing her hands wildly, her eyes shut tight while she trembled in her sleep, and how Elsa's bed sheets were covered in frost.
Anna shivered from the room's extremely cold temperature, and wished she wore more than just a thin nightgown.
Elsa's sanity finally returned and she blinked several times at Anna as if waking up from something and was trying to make sure that the woman in front of her was real. Then the memories of the past day came to her and her shoulders relaxed a tiny bit. "A-… Anna?" Elsa finally spoke.
"Oh thank God!" Anna exhaled in utter relief and smiled at the frightened woman. "Yeah, it's me." She reassured then, "Don't worry, you're okay Elsa. It was just a nightmare." Anna clarified worriedly.
But Elsa knew that this wasn't a nightmare. But a memory she just relived in her sleep. She kept staring at Anna with a scared face for what seems like forever.
Anna started to worry since Elsa just sat there and stared without a word. Until…
Elsa finally broke and started crying and sobbing and she hid her face with her hands like every time she felt desperate, sad or scared.
Anna's eyes widened and she quickly scooted over to sit next to Elsa on the bed and ignored the frost. "Hey, Hey… Shhhhh… It's okay…" She said with both a gentle voice, yet with an utterly concerned face. She placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder but felt disappointed when Elsa stiffened like a rock, but Anna refused to remove her hand and just kept rubbing Elsa's shoulder reassuringly, "It's okay… You're okay. You're safe." Anna repeated but Elsa kept crying. She would have took her in her arms and hugged her and told her that everything will be fine, but that was definitely not an option.
Anna knew then, that this was going to be a long, cold, sleepless night. Yet both didn't know that it wasn't just Elsa who was suffering.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Kai shrieked in pain while he was strapped to a table that was angled at a fifty degree with the floor as Mad kept piercing and twisting Kai's thumb with his knife.
"Now, Now Kai. If you would only tell me how Elsa escaped, all your pain shall end." The King said with a gentle yet extremely annoying voice to Kai.
Kai was breathing fast from the pain, and sweating all over. He looked at the king right in the eyes and, "Go… to hell!" He said.
The king gripped Kai's jaw roughly and smirked, "Kai, Kai, Kai…" The king chastised, "You can't handle such pain now can you? I would gladly make it worse."
"WHAT DID SHE EVER DO TO YOU?!" Kai yelled. "Leave her alone already! Haven't you made her suffer enough!?"
"Oh, Kai. Your sympathy towards a monster is… touching." The king mocked while shaking his head.
"Oh!" Kai laughed sarcastically, "I really do sympathy YOU!"
The king felt utterly insulted but he shook the idea of killing this man right away. "She killed my wife and daughter!" The king yelled back.
"But she is your daughter too! And you have never showed any sign of mercy for her!" Kai snapped back. He would never believe that Elsa did such a thing. Even if she did, it wouldn't be her, but her powers accidently. The girl was too innocent to perform such a crime. "You think it isn't easy for her to just freeze you where you stand?" Kai said with a smirk.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk…" The king straightened his back and folded his hands behind his back. "You are blind Kai. Never judge a book by its cover, but by what's on the inside." The king explained. "I am only giving Elsa what she deserves. It's all because of her crimes. And yet, after all these years of punishments, she didn't learn her lesson. Instead, she sought revenge and plagued Arendelle with an eternal winter."
"How could she ever control her ice if you keep molesting her every night!" Kai yelled but then his face turned sympathetic. "Even when she tries to satisfy you and try her best to be the Good Girl you want her to be! She never disobeyed you, even when you did the unspeakable things to her! You never appreciated that! Instead you just punished her for whatever she did! Even if you knew that it was an accident!"
"How I treat my daughter is none of your business." The king said calmly.
Kai only groaned in irritation.
The King turned to the two guards, "Gentlemen, please escort this savage to his cellar."
The guards nodded and unstrapped Kai off the table before they started dragging him out of the torture room.
"How can your heart be this frozen!?" Kai yelled in disbelieve. "You will never find her, your majesty! God did judge her already! And he helped her escape your treachery! What proof do you need more that she is innocent?!" Kai was shouting at the king while being dragged by the guards.
But the king only rolled his eyes at Kai's failed attempts. And huffed at the word Innocent.
When the king and Mad were alone in the room, the king snapped. "How come none of them broke and spoke?!" He yelled.
He was so angry at the Kai and the other criminals since none of them spoke a word or gave Elsa away and told him how she escaped. The old cranky Oga even spat in his face and even told him: "Did ye miss the ice on ye manhood now, ye majesty?" She even kicked Mad between his legs.
The king groaned in frustration as he failed to extract information from them. "Since when did criminals become this loyal for God's sake!?... None of them told me anything! They all just-"
"Spat in your face?" Mad continued distractingly. When he realized what he just said, his eyes widened and he didn't have time to turn before the king pinned him to the wall, his hand was squeezing Mad's throat tightly.
"How about I spit in yours?" The king said mockingly before he squeezed his hands tighter.
Mad's eyes grew wide, "Y-Your Majesty!... I-I think I have a solution… for all… of this!" Mad tried to say as he gasped for air.
"Oh really?" The king said with a smirk before he let Mad go, "Please, do tell." He said with a mocking voice.
Mad crumbled to the ground while gasping before he stood shakily on his legs. "I was… thinking, your majesty…" He trailed off, then cleared his throat, "We have two options... Though I would never come near the second, but… Let's just start with the first." He started pacing back and forth in front of the king, "You see, if we can't get information from the prisoners, and we can't find her, how about we let the citizens find her for us?" He suggested with a smirk.
The king raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Care to explain?" He asked.
"Well, your majesty, we already have a… Snow Queen as the citizen call it. They are already raging about this mysterious witch that cursed their lands, but they think it's just a myth. So how about we announce them a real Snow Queen and confirm that she really does exist… Therefore, every hunter, every citizen, even bounty hunters, man and woman shall hunt her down if we tell them that it would stop the winter, will it not? Of course with an additional bonus of coin shall help elevate their courage and enthusiasm. It wouldn't be that hard on them though. I mean… have you ever found another woman with cyan eyes, bright platinum hair and skin cold and pale like the snow?" Mad explained.
The King's eyes widened in realization, "Why you bloody hell of a genius!" The king said to Mad with an impressed face.
"I'm just an old man who is loyal and trying his best to satisfy his majesty." Mad bragged with a bow.
The king walked towards him and slapped him on the back proudly, "Well, then old man… You succeeded." He said before he turned to the small window, "I'm pretty sure Elsa won't get away easily with all these people chasing after her blood."
"And… Those who helped her, your majesty?" Mad asked.
The King's smirk grew, "Well… The Snow Queen doesn't have a hideout without minions."
Mad and The King smiled wickedly at each other for the plan.
Soon, my sweet darling. You will be treated and chased like the monster you were born to be.