The Ice Behind Bars
Chapter XXI: Awkward Comforting
Anna heard the door close behind her. She waited a few moments so she could be sure that Elsa and Rapunzel were out of earshot. She turned sharply to her mother with a furious red face. "What… did you… DO!" She yelled.
Aphrodite's eyes shot wide at Anna's voice. "What!? What do you mean 'what did I do'!? I-I didn't do anything!" Aphrodite reasoned. She really was telling the truth. It wasn't her fault she never knew that Elsa was sensitive towards such a word.
"Oh yeah!? I just came in here and found Elsa broken all over, on the ground! Oh and guess what!?" She said sarcastically, "You were the only one with her in the room, as I recall!"
"I didn't t-tell her anything! I just asked her how she was! I-I wanted to know if she was okay!" Aphrodite tried to make her daughter understand her worries for Elsa, but Anna's wrath already took over.
"Don't you lie to me! I always did ask her all that and she NEVER reacted this way!" Anna said and started to approach her mother. "I heard her say 'Monster' many times… Please tell me you did not dare call her that." She said through gritted teeth and closed her eyes for a bit so she could try and calm herself down.
Aphrodite's eyes shot wide as she finally realized why the sudden episode happened.
That MONSTER!
She remembered what she said before. And then, everything became clear to her now. Did she think that I called her that?!... Oh no.
"Are you afraid of her already, mother?!" Anna started again when she saw how her mother was lost in thoughts.
Aphrodite's head shot up and she looked at her daughter in shock, "What?!"
"You've been acting really strange lately! What is happening to you!? What are you hiding?! Ever since Elsa came here and you've been hiding in here all the time!... What mother!? Does she scar you that much!? Huh?! Tell me!"
"You don't understand! I'm not afraid of her! I-I'm just-" Aphrodite tried to say but she was cut off again by Anna's rage.
"You just want to bring everyone down." Anna shook her head at her mother, "Did you act all stern and cold in front of her like you make yourself look like?!" Anna approached her mother even more. Her teeth were gritted and her fists were clenched tight.
"N-No-"
"Did you use a sick way to break her like that, then?!"
"What!? N-No! I would never do that! I care for her more than you know!" Aphrodite defended and shoved her hood down when she started to sweat from the slowly rising anger and stress.
"OH, REALLY!? Well look how that ended up for you!... FOR HER! I've been trying to help her ever since the day she came here, Mother! She's already broken enough! And I'm trying as much as I can to help her stand on her feet again!"
"C-Could you just… Listen to me!" Aphrodite wanted to explain to her daughter how she did not mean to say the word Monster to Elsa and that she just meant it to her unreasonable father.
"NO! I've had enough listening to you! Can't you see that she is already scared! It would take forever to just make her even speak! Do you realize what you've done!? You just hurt her more than you'll ever know!"
Aphrodite gasped and felt daggers through her heart. Anna would never realize the scar those words just made. I did her hurt her, didn't I?… I know how I hurt her! I know what I did! I know how I ruined her entire life! I know I'm selfish! I know how broken and sad she is and IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF ME! "Anna…!" Aphrodite breathed with a voice so weak and sad that came out a bit like a squeak.
"Nobody in this god damn place know how kind and sweet she is! They all think she is a monster!... A-And I can't believe that you do too! Did you tell her that, Mother, huh?! Did you tell her she was a monster!?"
Aphrodite lowered her head and hugged herself. "I-I didn't mean-" She tried to say again but stopped at Anna's gasp.
"OH MY GOD! So you DID?! How could you!? She never did any harm to you!"
"Anna… Please… Stop…" Aphrodite couldn't take it anymore. She whispered as she tried to stay strong while her raging daughter threw words that cut deeper than knives at her. She felt so vulnerable in front of her daughter. She was utterly already ashamed and sad and began to tremble but Anna was oblivious to all that. She never felt so little in front of Anna's now-majestic voice. I love her more than you'll ever know! She did nothing wrong to me! I did everything!
"How could you be so cold!? Didn't you see what her own stupid father did to her!?" Anna's anger started to turn to sadness as she remembered when she first saw Elsa in the dungeons. "She has no one, mother! No one! She is all alone… If her own family abandoned her, who would ever care about her, then?! She was at last starting to feel happy a bit with us…" She trailed off as her wrath returned, "But YOU had to ruin everything!"
"I did not… MEAN anything like that to happen!" Aphrodite started to lose her own temper.
"Then explain! Why did you do it! Why were you just standing there and watching her instead of helping her!-"
"No, I'm-"
"-She doesn't need to be afraid more than she already is! She has no place to stay! No place to dry her eyes! No one to trust, but us! She is human too for god's sake! She has feelings! Unlike YOU!" Anna said right before she gasped and slapped her mouth with her hand. But it was too late. The words were out. The damage was done.
Aphrodite's face transformed from shock to sad then it suddenly grew terrifyingly furious. "Mind. Your. Language. And know your place… Daughter." She warned and reminded through gritted teeth with a tone that made Anna actually feel a bit afraid. "When I tell you that I did not mean it, it means 'I. did not. Mean. It.'" Her voice started to rise, "You think I want that for Elsa?! You think I wanna see her like that?! You think it doesn't KILL ME to see her like that!?" It was her turn now to advance and attack with words, "If you dare say I'm heartless you are very wrong. I have done things you could never imagine, for your own sake! I have saved your life! Do you know that?!" Aphrodite couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes flared in rage and her fists clenched tight and Anna started to back away. "You would have ended up just like Elsa, if it weren't for me! You never did appreciate anything I did for you! You never knew how your life would have ended up if I did not do the stupid things for your own good! I have decided to live with AND heal thieves so you could have a safe home!... A-Away from the real danger!"
What?! What is she talking about?! Anna thought, bewildered.
"I have r-ruined someone's WHOLE life so you c-could get yours!" Her voice trembled at the thought of her poor Elsa.
Anna's eyebrows furrowed in worry and confusion. "W-what are you sayi-"
"Did you ever wondered how I feel!? Have you ever even asked?! NO! You never did! You never saw how I cry every night for what have happened to my life! How it all turned to hell just like that!" She snapped her fingers to show her point, "You were so ignorant and just thinking about stealing and satisfying those stinking thieves of yours and forgot about your own mother!"
Anna was taking aback by that. But… I tried my best to join the guild so you could be proud. Anna thought and started to feel confused and hurt. "But I thought that-" Anna tried to say as tears started to form at the corner of her eyes but was cut off by her mother's voice.
As if Aphrodite heard Anna's thoughts, "You thought that I'm PROUD?! Well, of course NOT! How could I ever be proud of you if all what you ever did was to steal! You think being a thief is something to be proud of!? You think this stupid oath they claim to take is honest?!" She laughed bitterly, "That they steal for the needy and all that crap?!" She said with a ridiculing voice and a silly smile. "A thief is a thief! Nothing more! There is no honour in stealing!... EVER!"
Anna was frozen now as tears streamed down because of her mother's harsh words. "I… I t-thought that's what you always wanted…" Her voice barely came out like a whisper. Her eyes were wide, full with hurt and were staring right at her mother.
"What I wanted!?" Aphrodite asked surprised with a mocking tone but Anna suddenly snapped before her mother could continue.
"I THOUGHT THAT BECOMING A GUILD MEMBER WOULD MAKE YOU PROUD! I did this all for you! And you think I wanted it even!? You think you know things about me, too?! NO! YOU TOO NEVER ASKED ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT I WANT!" Anna suddenly couldn't handle it anymore. Her lip quivered, her clenched fists turned pale and her eyes blurred from tears as she tried to hold herself together and with all her might to stand straight and not to break, but all was gone when she let out a loud sob, turned sharp on her heels and ran outside the room, crying loudly of the sorrows and hurt she was now feeling.
Aphrodite's emotion rollercoaster turned her unaware to Anna's tears. "Come back here, Anna!" Aphrodite called but Anna kept running and crying. "ANNA!" She yelled with an angry voice before suddenly her rage dissipated and it turned to utter sorrow. No… No! What… What have I done?… WHAT HAVE I DONE!? Anna! Anna, no please! Come back! Aphrodite yelled in her head since now she just made both of her daughters cry. Her breath quickened and she turned angrily and shoved everything off the table violently with a raging scream. Ingredients flew off in every direction. Every vile and jar that were on the table flew to the ground and made a loud crashing sound. She started to shake before she let out a loud regretful sob and collapsed to the floor, crying. Anna, I'm sorry! Why is this happening to me!?... What did I ever do to deserve this?! She thought as she placed her hands on her head and cried while rocking herself back and forth. Elsa… Anna… Why?... Why?!
Elsa's eyes were going from the right to the left and then the other way around as she watched Rapunzel pace back and forth in front of the infirmary in unease. Many people who were coming in and out of the infirmary, took a very careful distance from Elsa. Many had fear splattered all over their faces and very few passed as if she was just a normal woman; probably the ones who never knew about Elsa's abilities or heard the rumours or saw what she did. Some even presumed she might be some other badly injured guild member.
Agh! Anna what the hell are you going to do!? Rapunzel thought in anxiety before she groaned in frustration and rubbed her aching temple. Your mother doesn't need more sadness in her life for goodness' sake! She stopped pacing and turned to face Elsa with a concerned face.
"Elsa?... You have to know that whatever Aphr- L-Leanna… Whatever Leanna did, she never meant to hurt or scare you! She really cares about you more than you'll ever know! I swear it!" Rapunzel tried to clarify to the confused princess.
Elsa turned her head away and looked at the ground with furrowed eyebrows to prove her doubts.
Rapunzel felt even more worried about that. "Elsa, please believe me. Leanna really wanted to see you! Whatever she said, she never meant any harm. I just know it because I know her very well! And she really cares about you! You have no idea how much you are important to her." Rapunzel tried to avoid as many hints as she could but she just couldn't leave Elsa to be scared of her own mother.
Elsa looked back at Rapunzel slowly. But she called me a… Monster… She knows what I am. Elsa thought sadly. She felt wetness on her cheek and she knew they were tears. She suddenly groaned in rage, "Why am I crying!? Monster don't feel!... They don't feel!" Elsa said desperately as she wiped her tears angrily.
Rapunzel's eyes widened. "What?... No! Elsa stop it! You are not a monster at all! Why do you keep saying that?!" Rapunzel said before she stared right into Elsa's eyes in determination, "Now, you listen to me." She said, pointing at Elsa, "You are really the sweetest and kindest person I ever met!" Rapunzel honestly confessed. But Elsa looked like she did not even hear. It looked like Rapunzel's words did not even reach Elsa's mind because of the thick, huge walls of the terrible and bad thoughts of all those years of getting tormented and taunted against herself.
"Is Anna mad because of… me?" Elsa suddenly asked and felt ashamed.
Rapunzel took a deep breath then smiled sadly at Elsa. She approached her but didn't dare to touch her just like how Anna could have done, since she did not know what Elsa would have done if she did. "No, Elsa… No, no, not at all. She's not mad because of you. She's just… She's just trying to protect you because…" She trailed off and her smile grew wider. "Because she really cares about you, Elsa. She really, really does." Because she's your sister after all. Rapunzel would have sworn she saw Elsa smile a bit.
Really?! She cares about me? Elsa thought happily.
"Rapunzel! Elsa!" Flynn's voice suddenly called happily and brought both women out of their conversation.
Rapunzel turned joyfully to her lover's voice and her smiled reached her ears when she saw him approach with Aiden and Kristoff. She ran to him and wrapped him in a big hug.
Elsa on the other hand felt the extreme fear and worry back as the men approached. She looked away, bit her lip and held the stick tightly while her right arm wrapped around her middle. Her eyes hovered around the ground in utter nervousness since there was nowhere to hide as Rapunzel left her side and went to hug her boyfriend. Elsa did not dare to look up and meet the men's eyes what so ever. She kept them firm to the ground and tried fearfully to avoid the men.
"Hey Elsa!" Kristoff waved over towards the Princess who did not even acknowledge him. "Rapunzel!" He called playfully before he gently high-fived the blonde woman whom was still hugging her lover.
"Where have you guys been?" Aiden asked Rapunzel before he gave both girls a smile but he unconsciously had a bigger one for Elsa in which she did not see at all.
"Oh, uhm… We were just changing Elsa's bandages." Rapunzel replied and decided not to tell the men about Elsa's episode.
Flynn broke the hug and smiled at Rapunzel fondly while brushing his thumb on her cheek before he turned his head to Elsa. "How are you, Elsa?" He asked softly.
Everyone turned to look at Elsa whom at Flynn's question, felt utterly nervous. Her shoulders lifted up, her nails dug into the stick and her eyes darted fast around the ground again in unease. She inhaled shakily before she finally managed to just nod quickly without even lifting her eyes to look at the thieves and avoided eye contact as much as she could.
Well, at least that's an answer. Flynn thought.
Rapunzel saw Elsa's stressed figure so she smiled sadly at her before she went to stand at her side, so she could somehow give her comfort. "Elsa is feeling better, now." Rapunzel clarified with a gentle voice, "We were just waiting for Anna." She said before her face turned a bit worried again.
The men smiled and nodded, understanding that Elsa was still extremely more afraid of men in particular.
That piece of shit! Aiden thought angrily at the King because of how he treated Elsa and ended up making her petrified and traumatised towards everything. "Oh it's okay, then. We'll fetch her." Aiden suggested and tried to hide his anger, then, "Come on, Kristoff." He called and motioned for him to follow to the infirmary.
Both men went inside and left Rapunzel, Flynn and a nervous Elsa.
Rapunzel turned to Flynn and whispered in his ears, "I need to talk to you about something." She said with a concerned yet serious voice.
Flynn nodded as he noticed the seriousness in Rapunzel's voice.
While Rapunzel started to explain to Flynn the past event whilst making sure Elsa couldn't hear, Elsa just stood there and watched some people come in and out of the infirmary. Some, like always, waved, some even bowed but of course many averted their eyes from Elsa's and would walk far round her, afraid that if they looked or walked pass her, she might have frozen them in place. But Elsa was unaware to all that and her mind was focused on someone else.
"Hey, June?" One of the passing woman whispered to her friend.
"Hm?" June stopped her tracks and turned to face her friend.
"How about we introduce ourselves to her highness?" The woman said with an excited smile as she stared at Elsa whom was staring at the infirmary's main entrance and clearly lost in thoughts.
June's eyes widened. She quickly grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her away from Elsa. "Are you crazy!?" She whispered in urgency, "She will freeze you where you stand, Denise!"
Denise rolled her eyes at her paranoid friend, "Oh, don't be ridiculous! Look at her! She's a normal human with feet, hands, a heart and eyes-... Uh... Even though they are unnatural but still!"
"Hands that could kill you without even an effort. And eyes that could freeze you if you look at them." June corrected.
"Agh! Don't tell me you believe in this latest rumour!" She scoffed then, "'Eyes that could freeze you if you look at them'" She repeated in a mocking tone. "Pah! This is all gibberish. Besides, Anna and Rapunzel look happy around her. They don't look scared... or frozen."
"Denise, please don't do this! This is crazy!" June said as she kept her grip tightened around her friend's arm so she couldn't allow her to walk to her icy doom.
"Come on, June! She looks harmless!" Denise encouraged.
"But harmed." June said flatly as she stared at Elsa's injuries. "Don't you remember? They said they got her out of the dungeons! These thieves are crazy! Of course she'd been locked away for a reason! And that reason was definitely to protect the people from her. Denise... She destroyed the sanctuary! They spent two days trying to remove her ice. I don't even know why they are keeping her here." She started pulling her friend away again, "She's dangerous, Denise, and I care about you too much to let you stupidly walk to your own death." She said and pulled Denise away from Elsa.
When Elsa's eyes turned at them, Denise's face lit up and she waved but June gasped in horror and started pulling her friend faster. "Look away! Move! Move! Move! She's on to us!"
Denise laughed aloud at her friend's silliness, "But she's royalty!" Denise tried to reason with a giggle but June didn't listen and kept pulling her away. Denise finally gave up, glared at her friend and crossed her arms in defeat before she huffed in annoyance, "Fine."
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Elsa stood there and just stared blankly at the entrance door, not knowing the rumours that were running around the fort about her. She heard some murmurs and whispered from her right and she turned her head to see a waving woman being dragged by another. She tilted her head in confused as if she was looking at maniacs then turned her head back to door. She just hoped that Anna would finally come out of that door, but the girl never came out and Elsa started to worry.
Aiden and Kristoff kept asking the healers about Anna's whereabouts but all of them seem that they didn't notice her until finally one of the old healers replied, "I saw the poor girl rushing out of Leanna's room and crying."
"What do you mean crying?!" Aiden asked in worry.
"We tried to call her but she just kept going. We don't actually know what happened in there with her mother, but it doesn't look good. I can tell." The old man said.
"How long since that happened?!" Kristoff asked as utter concern splattered his face.
"Not so long, son. She ran out just now." The healer replied.
Kristoff and Aiden exchanged concerned looks before they quickly dashed out the infirmary to find their best friend… or crush, for Kristoff.
Anna shoved open the door and tried to run as fast as she could away from sight. "ANNA!" She heard her mother call but she just kept running and earning concerned and confused looks from the healers and people she passed by. Many started calling her but she kept sprinting, crying, sobbing and trying to hide her fallen tears as she kept her head low.
She lied to me!... All these years and I thought I was making her proud!
"What happened in there?" She heard one man say right before she turned around a corner and kept sprinting towards a simple door which was definitely not the front main one.
The main entrance door of the infirmary flew open and revealed two men, panting and choking for air.
The couple and Elsa turned to the sudden sound with confused looks that turned concerned as they witnessed the worry that haunted Kristoff and Aiden's faces.
"Aiden? Kristoff?... What happened? Did you find Anna?!" Rapunzel asked as she approached the men.
Both men's breath was fast. "They said… The healers said that… They saw her running out of her mother's room and crying!... We don't know… What happened! None of the healers know too." Aiden breathed before he straightened his back, then, "They have no idea where she is!"
"We need to find her!" Kristoff's voice came out more like a plea of desperation.
Hearing this, Elsa felt suddenly overwhelmed with concern and fear for Anna. Why was she feeling all this specifically for this woman? She had no idea, but she did not like these worries. Her head started to look around as if she would have found and located her.
"Then come on! What are you waiting for!? Let's go!" Flynn said before he readied himself to start the search.
"But we have no idea where she could be!" Aiden noted and stopped him.
Oh heaven knows what happened between Aphrodite and her! Rapunzel thought worriedly. What did you do Anna?
"We'll just split up and look everywhere!" Kristoff suggested.
While the thieves were yelling in worry at each other and trying to figure out where to start the search, it was only Elsa who suddenly heard a door open roughly, followed by cries and sobs. She quickly turned around to see Anna rushing out of an old wooden door that was at the back of the infirmary. Her face lit up when she saw her but it quickly turned to a complete concerned one when she heard and noticed that Anna was crying. She felt her heart rip in two at seeing Anna like that. Why is she crying?! She was the only one who saw Anna disappear into an alley between two shacks that were behind the infirmary building.
Elsa started to panic. Not the type of panic she just experienced but the type of a panic when you feel urgent and don't know what to do. She quickly turned to the thieves so she could tell them somehow, but how could she? There were four huge men in front of her and there was no way she was going to speak to them. Maybe to Rapunzel? Just when she opened her mouth to try and call Rapunzel very hesitantly, she noticed that Rapunzel was already locked in a worried conflict with the men and fear was all over her face. Elsa then closed her mouth and knew that if she called Rapunzel, she would turn the men's attention to herself, and she didn't want that… At all. She started very awkwardly to wave for Rapunzel to get her attention without drawing the men's eyes on her, but Rapunzel was too busy worrying and arguing with the men and didn't notice Elsa. Elsa started to fiddle with her braid nervously. She was running out of time and she didn't know what she should have done. Should she have followed Anna? Should she have stayed and waited for Rapunzel to be alone so she could tell her? She didn't know. Her head started to dart from Rapunzel and the alley that Anna just went through. Her head went back and forth, back and forth as she tried to decide. Her heart started to race. What should I do?! What should I do!? Her head then turned to one side and-
Decision made.
Kai sat on the stony floor tiredly. His arms were on his knees and the back of his head rested on the wall. He was staring at ceiling and just trying to forget his pain. None of the prisoners spoke. All of them were tired and injured from the king's interrogation techniques. It was utter silence. A thought ran through Kai's mind and he suddenly opened his mouth to ask, "Why did you do this?" He bluntly and suddenly asked, making the prisoners' ears perk up in eagerness to know what he was talking about.
"What are you rambling about, old man?" A rough man's voice asked that he recognised as Razor.
Kai's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and wonder. "Why didn't you tell him anything?... About her… About her escape." He clarified. He just didn't understand why would careless criminals didn't spill anything for the king. But he presumed it was definitely to tease him since all of them despised and loathed the mere sight of him.
A moment of silence hovered around the dungeon room.
"Well…" A woman's voice started, "Let's just say that… You aren't the only one that has something for the princess." The woman confessed.
Kai was really confused now. He turned his head to the voice to find that it was from the foreign woman, Saja, whom was in the cellar that faced his. He approached the bars as eagerness and curiosity filled him. "What do you mean?"
Razor sighed from the right side of his cellar, "We've known the woman since she was nothing but a little girl, old man. She practically grew up in here with us."
"Oh I just did that t' piss the king off." Oga, the old wrinkled woman said. "But I also did it just to help ye all bastards, since ye hold the princess dearly."
"Just cut the crap Oga and admit that the princess got on your soft side." Another man called from the last cellar at the end of the room.
"I don't have a soft side, ye big moose!" Oga lied.
The man only rolled his eyes.
"But I don't understand…" Kai started, "How come you… You are criminals! You are here for being selfish thieves and murderers!" He accused.
"Thank you?" Saja joked.
How come people like them do such a good thing for Elsa? He thought, confused.
Every prisoner was now interested in the topic as they all stood right behind their cellar bars.
Razor groaned in frustration, "Agh, for god's sake! You think we're proud of what we've done before, old man?!"
"The harsh and poor life can force you to do many horrible things. We are human too." Another woman called from Kai's left side.
"We never chose to become thieves, assassins or..." Razor paused then waved his hand towards Saja's cellar, "Prostitutes."
"You think if we had a better choice or option to build a new life we wouldn't have taken it?" Saja asked as she turned to look at Kai.
Kai didn't know what to say to that. Of course no one would choose a life of a criminal.
"I myself was imprisoned for being..." Saja said before she sighed, "For being a prostitute." She revealed, shame all over her face.
Kai frowned and felt disgusted at the woman's history.
Saja lowered her head then sat on the ground and rested her back to the bars, not able to look at anyone's judging eyes. "I was only fourteen years old. My family died because of a plague that hit our village. They decided to burn the village down and I had no home."
Everyone was listening attentively.
"I was an orphan. Scattered on the streets. No one would help me, no one would feed me. Some would even chase me away or hit me." She winced at the bad memories, "Then... When I discovered that the thing that can bring you gold enough to feed you… W-Was right between your legs," She trailed off as she felt the wave of shame and closed her eyes, "For a starving fourteen year old girl that haven't ate in five days and just wanted to survive... I had no other choice. And... And then it continued, you know?"
Kai's face suddenly softened and he looked at the woman with sadness and sympathy. Maybe he shouldn't have judged after all. The harsh life really might force you to do horrible things sometimes. He thought.
Suddenly Saja laughed. Kai lifted his head and looked at her in confusion. Then, Saja spoke, "I remember when I told my story to the princess. She was still very young... I knew that since her voice was still the squeak of a little girl... I didn't even see her. We just talked between cellars and bars." She turned and looked at Kai, "You weren't here yet. It was probably two years before you came in. So she was maybe around ten years old."
Kai stared at her in disbelief. "Why would you say something like that to a child, then?"
Saja shook her head, a smile on her face. "I am pretty sure that her child mind didn't understand most of what I meant but..." Her face suddenly fell into sadness, "Nevertheless, do you know what she told me?"
Kai-and the others who already knew- waited for her to continue.
Saja took a deep breath through her nose, "She told me... That she would have done the same thing and because I had no other choice and it wasn't my fault... and that if I hadn't done it I would have died of starvation." She said before she felt her cheeks wet from... tears? "How can a little girl know how to say that?"
Kai now felt crushed. He already knew Elsa wasn't stupid. He did live in the castle with her for six years so he knew how intelligent and smart little Elsa was. Why would the universe lock someone so good and pure away from everything?
"What an awkward comforting that was." Oga said sarcastically, "A little girl comforting an adult woman, when it should have been the other way around. How about you tell Kai how your need of comfort from a small girl ended up for her."
Saja suddenly groaned in rage, "When he heard us... That bitch Mad! He ran like a fucking dog to tell the king how Elsa was 'having fun' with us, as he called It. That bastard king of course didn't listen to her and he beat her that day so hard that it was the last time she ever dared speak to any of us again."
"After that we never heard her speak again." Razor said, "We only heard her screams and pleads when those two assholes entered her cellar… Until you came. She started to speak again a bit."
Everyone felt their body temperature rise from the boiling rage they were keeping for the king's cruelty.
"The princess was only a little cub when she first came here." Oga started, "Well… Somehow that rascal thing triggered silly and stupid feelings in us."
Kai smiled at Oga's answer. Even though it was a harsh one, the old cranky woman was trying to hint that she did care for Elsa in an indirect way.
"Elsa saved us many times from our punishments, Kai." Saja revealed.
Kai's face turned to a confused one again. What are they talking about? Did she convinced her bastard father to spare them? He thought and wondered if the king somehow listened to his daughter for once at least. "How did she? She was locked just as you guys were. Did the king listen to her-"
"She took them herself." Saja cut him off. Her voice was heavy with sadness and regret.
Kai's eyes widened as his thoughts were corrected. The king was still vicious and inhuman after all.
Razor laughed sarcastically, "The king did listen to her, oh yes!... He did not listen to her pleads to spare us but he did listen and obliged when she offered herself to take our punishments."
"We tried to tell her not to do it," Another man started, "We tried to tell her not to accept such a thing for the sake of unworthy and stupid criminals like us, but… That girl is stubborn."
"Don't you remember last time she did that?" A woman who was at the right cellar of Saja's asked. "Don't you remember the day she took my punishment?"
Kai remembered that this was the woman that Elsa accepted the punishment of, five days before her escape.
"Don't you remember how she told us that this was the only thing that would remind her that she is a princess and not just a monster?"
"How so?" Kai asked.
"Somehow we think she is trying to prove to herself that she is the princess who would protect and save her people." He shook his head sadly, "People like us... We don't deserve her courage... She is not a monster like she thinks she is." He said before he started to feel his anger rising, "But that shit-headed Mad and her fucking father were always there to hurt her and force her to believe things she's not!" Razor slammed his fist to the ground, "They've been doing that ever since they brought her here, remember!?"
How could I forget? Kai thought sadly.
"We… We always tried to think of a way to repay her. But what could we ever do behind bars?" Saja said before she knocked on the iron bars to prove her point.
"So it means…" Kai trailed off as the idea was now clear.
"Not telling that son of a bitch of a father about how she escaped was an opportunity and is-" Razor groaned in pain as he clutched his stomach where the king and Mad beat him. He took a deep breath, then continued, "The least we could do for her." He paused, then, "Even if it was painful."
"She lived a more horrible life than any of us." A man scoffed then, "And to think that all royals live in heaven." He deadpanned.
"How can a father be this… Well… There is no word to describe such a beast." Saja said angrily at the king. "Even animals don't do that to their own pups or cubs."
The room fell silent again, then, "That's no father… That's no human either!" Razor admitted.
"And to even think of bringing a maniac necromancer like that dog, Mad!" Saja continued as her anger grew.
"I have killed many through my years of freedom. But I can tell you… I would never do that to my own daughter." A man confessed. That I miss so much.
Kai winced at the man as he confessed his murderous life but he felt a bit of mercy for him when he said that he would never do what the king did to his own offspring.
Yet another silence fell.
"Who d' ye think these people were?" Oga suddenly asked.
All the prisoners and Kai started to wonder before suddenly, a voice spoke.
"Those are thieves from the Woodland guild."
Everyone turned their heads towards the voice.
There, a man sat behind the bars, his eyes closed, his back to the wall and his arms on his knees.
"How did you know?" Kai asked in surprise. "What is this Woodland guild?"
"I cannot say what the guild is for. But I know they are from the guild." He paused, then, "I noticed their attire…. I can recognize that armour wherever I go… not that I can go anywhere, anyway." He said as he gestured around his cellar.
Everyone was now curious to know the man's story.
"My name is Nohad. And the truth is…" The man trailed off, "I was one of them… A very long time ago."
"And how did you ended up in here?" Kai asked.
"Well… I was sent on a mission here to try to take anything from the castle. But… I ended up being spotted."
"By whom?" Saja asked.
The man laughed quietly a bit, opened his eyes, then, "By a little four year old girl with platinum hair."
Everyone's eyes widened at the man's words. Some whispers and murmurs were heard around the dungeon cellars.
"I never knew that I ended up inside the princess's bedroom." Nohad said. "It was dark in the castle. I was young and new to the guild and all what I wanted was to take what would be enough to satisfy the guild." He shook his head in amusement, then, "I remember suddenly hearing a scream and I turned around to see a scared little girl with cyan eyes… And all of a sudden my feet were frozen in place… Literally." He sighed, "The last thing I remember was seeing the guards rush inside the room before I fell unconscious and then woke up in this wretched place."
The others felt a bit sorry for him until Saja spoke, "And you blame Elsa for that?" She asked a bit annoyed at the man.
Nohad stared blankly at the woman, "Well… I used to, of course. But after she was brought here two years later suddenly for no reason, and what she been through in this hell, I couldn't blame her anymore. She already received what no one deserves. I would never wish that upon anyone."
Kai felt strangely a bit sympathetic for these prisoners since it turned out that every one of them had a soft spot for Elsa. He realized that the real bigger criminal was then the heartless and malicious father himself.
"Is it weird that…" One woman started with a bit of giggle, "Is it weird that I miss the princess?" Her voice was happy.
The prisoners and Kai chuckled a bit.
"I remember when she first came here… She used to ask us if we want to build a snowman with her." He laughed gleefully, "Innocent child she was… We first thought she was crazy or something. But the day you came she revealed her powers when that… Mad," He more like spat the name, "Whipped her for the first time. So… It was when we knew that she used to build snowmen in her cellar using her powers, until…" He trailed off and made Kai confused.
Saja sighed and offered to continue, "Until the king found out and he didn't feed her for a whole week to a point where she didn't even had the energy to move." Saja didn't know what happened to her. A sob suddenly escaped her mouth and she slid down the bars and hid her mouth, "She was so small!... Only six! She was just a little girl who wanted to have fun or do anything to keep her mind distracted from all the pains in that GOD DAMN CELLAR!" Saja stopped herself and backed away from the bars so that no one could see her tears.
"She used to be more active in her cellar in the first years… It's like… With each passing day, he took away things from her soul until she stopped doing anything at all. First the snowmen… then the speaking… and so on. She at last became horribly broken and just sat there… more like laid unconscious in her cellar and didn't dare even move." Razor explained sorrowfully.
"Well would ye look at that?... At least the dungeon is no longer cold, right?" Oga joked to lighten the mood.
"Trust me… It became colder in her absence." Saja called out.
Everyone stayed silent at that. They knew what Saja meant and she was telling the truth.
"Do you think she survived?" Razor asked with a bit of worry in his tone.
"Poor thing…" Oga said sadly, "I can't get 'er image out of me head." She said as she remembered the horrifying condition she last saw Elsa in when the thieves got her out of that wretched cellar. "The last time I saw 'er enter that cellar, she was only six... Aye, I was pretty shocked when these thieves were carrying a full grown woman out this hell." She said while pointing at Elsa's cellar.
Of course because of Elsa's thick metal door, no one had been able to take a look at her or see her. The only evidence that she was present was her screams of pain and cries of sorrow, or the pale shackled hands that sometimes would appear behind the lower bars of the door.
"I never realised it's been so long." Razor said, "I... I think she survived… Right?" He asked hopefully.
Everyone turned to look at Elsa's still-frozen cellar.
"We can only hope." Kai said before he sat right back on the ground, hoping and praying for God that Elsa would be fine and well.