The Ice Behind Bars

Chapter XLVI: An Eerie Kingdom

"Dead…" She said with cautious disbelief.

The healers tensely shifted in their places. "Yes, Ma'am." Waella confirmed while folding her hands in front of her and trying to avoid eye contact from her superior.

Many healers were standing in front of their leader, Leanna. They didn't know who would be the one to inform her of the bad news. They were all scared of her reaction. Luckily, Waella—since she's Leanna's right hand— decided to take the roll of the courier.

"You're saying… That you found, Dave—" She paused for a moment, staring at the nervous healers in front of her, "Young Dave! Dead… In the middle of the hallway…" Aphrodite repeated Waella's words, trying not to believe any.

Brandon watched from the corner of the room while folding his hands and leaning to the wall. He already had received the news from one of the thieves. A few minutes ago Waella and the other healers had come to him, asking him to come along when they wanted to tell Dear old—… or Dear cold Leanna, the news. Stay calm, Aphrodite. He hoped. He knew this news would wreck the queen's thoughts of security. He knew that she wanted her daughters' safety above anything.

Waella lowered her head and sighed, "It is true, Ma'am. The boy's body was found flat on the floor. Dead… and cold." She purposely added.

Aphrodite's eyes were wide with concern now. "When did this happen?!" She asked, her voice full of worry.

"We're guessing it happened at midnight, Ma'am." One of the healers spoke.

"Cause of death?"

The healers exchanged nervous and worried looks. Waella inhaled deeply then, "Unknown, Ma'am."

Aphrodite's eyebrows furrowed in irritation, "A stab to the stomach? A blow to the head? A slit throat?"

The healers winced at her blunt questions, "No, no and… n-no."

"Was he killed?" Aphrodite asked flatly.

"Uhm… we really don't know, Ma'am." The healers started to feel Aphrodite's vexation.

"Illness?"

"Uh… W-we don—"

"Starvation? Suffocation?! Poison?! What!? What does the autopsy say!?" Aphrodite asked and asked and flailed her hands in exasperation. She sure was losing her temper.

As always.

The room went mute for a jiffy.

"U-Uhm…" Waella finally raised her hand, asking for a permission to speak, "I think you should see for yourself." She suggested.

Aphrodite raised one eyebrow at her; curious about what was causing that entire ruckus between the healers. She looked over at Brandon for advice and he nodded for her.

Aphrodite looked back at the healers and sighed.

"Fine."

The moment he laid eyes on it for the first time, he lost his breath in a long slow gasp as he stood agape at the sight that bestowed his view.

"What in the world…" Were the only words his mouth was able to give away.

He saw some abnormalities in his young days, but this? Hell no.

Arendelle. The Frozen Town. The Grey Town more like it. It looked creepy and spooky. If anyone had ever seen it from afar they would have turned and left as quick as they could, fearing this dead cursed kingdom. It laid there amidst the snow and ice, wrapped around a greyish spooky— almost sad— atmosphere that swallowed it whole.

As he walked the streets, he found very few citizens.

The streets were empty. It was as if the kingdom was abandoned and evacuated. The only sound he could hear was the cold winds' soft howls and the creeks of the abandoned houses.

Arendelle?... More like a ghost town to me.

The citizens were scattered in groups. A group stood around a small fire, another around the blacksmith's forge, trying desperately to find a source of warmth. Another group of stray orphaned children, barefoot, watched the armored stranger from behind the corner of a building. He turned his head when he heard coughs. He could see the dying sick who were desperately trying to clutch on to dear life. Healers? Only a few. More like one or two.

Everyone eyed him. They were all shivering from the cold, murmuring about the foreigner who was passing by.

Who would ever want to come to such a kingdom?

"Is he lost?" Tyler heard a woman whisper.

"More like lost his mind." A grumpy shivering man said, not caring if Tyler heard or not.

"P-Papa?... I-I'm cold." A little trembling boy wrapped in a blanket said, tugging at his father's leg.

Tyler could see that there were so limited citizens in the kingdom that he could have actually counted them if he wanted. Hmph... You sure know how to torture people, Snow Queen. The thought of Elsa put an angry and disgusted sneer on his face. Freak.

"Give me that!" A starving boy was caught in a tug of war with a stray skinny dog over a piece of meat.

All what Tyler could see in their eyes were misery, hardship, despair and even fear. Not a single drop of hope.

Is this the famous and mighty kingdom of Arendelle? He thought in shock—mostly sarcastic. "I wonder what the king's doing by sitting on his thro—" The words got stuck in his throat, nearly choking him, as he watched, bug-eyed in horror at the sight in front of him.

Gallows stood tall and proud in front of him, decorated with four hanged corpses. Three men and a woman. One of the men was burnt whole too. Dark crows, black as night, picked at their wide lifeless eyes and cawed at the feast, celebrating their banquet.

Agape, he was able to utter some words, "my, my… "

"Our king sure is generous." He suddenly heard an old man's voice.

Tyler turned to the left and saw an old man standing next to him, his hands folded behind his slightly hunched back and his head turned to the hanged bodies, watching them as they swayed softly back and forth with the wind, producing sounds of a creaking rope.

"For crows, more likely." Tyler replied and turned his head back to the bodies.

"Well said, stranger… Well said."

Tyler eyed the only burnt corpse.

"All he asked for was warmth." The old man explained, referring to the burnt corpse. "The king detested his attitude."

"So he set him on fire?" Tyler asked in disbelief.

The old man nodded. "A mad king has no boundaries. This poor fellow was greedy. He wanted more warmth." He sighed, "Give a man a match, and he'll be warm for a minute, but set him on fire, and his corpse will stay cold for eternity."

Tyler's eyebrows furrowed, "Weird how the world works." He deadpanned.

"'Weird' is an understatement. For the universe's craft is not weird, but it's simply shrewd."

"How so?" Tyler folded his hands.

"It seeks balance. Equilibrium." The old man lifted his shaky hand and pointed at the corpses. "A man or a woman might have lost a spouse, but a crow has gained a meal in return, thus gaining a life."

"You call that balance?" Tyler was irritated. What? A man's death for a stupid crow's life?

"To the universe it is. To us… It's injustice. But why you might ask?" He lifted an eyebrow at Tyler. "It's because we always see everything below us… Us humans. We say that a human worth more than any animal or plant. But to the universe we are all equal. Every living being is born differently yet when we die, everyone and everything turn to dust."

"True. And Kings seek balance for their kingdom." Tyler reminded.

The old man lowered his head, "That is only a myth." He turned away from the gallows and started walking away. "A king seeks only madness."

Tyler watched him go, curious in the man's words. "Wait!"

The old man in a grey robe stopped but didn't turn.

"Who are you?"

The old man smiled. He turned to face Tyler, "I am no one."

Tyler tilted his head a bit in confusion.

The man pointed at the dangling burnt corpse, "Just watch the crows, Stranger. After that, just leave this place before it's your turn."

What? Tyler turned at the crows for a brief moment, "But at least tell me your nam—"

But the old man vanished, nowhere to be seen.

What in the world…? Tyler was bewildered and shocked. "Strange man…" He said to himself, looking around. "Hmph…" He looked at the burnt corpse one more time then turned and walked away, heading to the hell realm… to the castle of Arendelle.

Anna held a troubled Elsa's hands. "Don't worry, Elsa. I know everything is stressed out here. But there's nothing wrong. Believe me. You are safe." She then proceeded on hugging her and Elsa reluctantly hugged back.

Anna and Rapunzel and the others had already received the news about the horrible incident of young Dave's death. It was a huge shock for them, especially that the cause of his death was unknown. The entire fort went into havoc by hearing this news. But Anna and her friends decided not to tell Elsa and add more worry and concern to what she already had.

But Elsa was no idiot. She had heard everyone's whispers and murmuring, and it had turned her stomach to knots.

"Anna…" Elsa squeezed Anna more, worried for the red-head's life.

"I'll be fine, Elsa. I promise. They just need me and Rapunzel to help them out with some things okay?" Anna soothed. "Meanwhile, you'll spend time with, Bulda! And even Aiden will stay with you for protection!" She said happily, trying to cheer the pale blonde and pointing at Aiden.

Elsa usually would have freaked out with Anna leaving her side. But she trusted Bulda. She was the first person to ever give her a real gift!

Elsa's eyes went to the blue rose on the table. She placed her chin on Anna's shoulder and pouted a bit, "Okay."

"Here you go! See? Everything's fine. you'll be fine. You'll have a lot of fun with Bulda. You also love flowers! You'll just help her out with her garden!" Anna encouraged and broke the hug, leaving her hands on Elsa's shoulders and locking her blue-grey eyes with Elsa's cyan ones.

"Now go on. Aiden will take you to Bulda and he'll stay on guard for you."

Rapunzel elbowed Aiden and winked at him, but he only rolled his eyes.

"I promise you he is very sweet and would never hurt you. Isn't that right, Aiden?" Both Anna and Elsa turned to look at him.

Aiden blushed seeing the innocent look on Elsa's face. She was just so cute.

"Of course! I promise on my very life that I won't let anyone hurt you, Elsa. You can count on me." He pointed at himself and smiled awkwardly and sweetly, trying his best not to look big and intimidating.

Elsa eyed him… She heard those words before.

"Don't worry, Anna! I won't let Papa hurt you again." Little Elsa cheered as she wiped away Little Anna's tears.

"B-But Elsa…" Anna tried to say but a sob from her mouth stopped her.

They were both hiding in that secret spot where their mother had always hid them when their father was enraged.

"She'll never be fit to be the heir!" An enraged king yelled.

"She's a child! S-She's still learning, Jamie!" Their mother's fearful voice defended.

They sat there, listening to their parents' fight and the horrible thuds that accompanied their mother's yelp. "I-I'm scared, Elsa! I tried to do as Papa said but I'm clumsy and stupid! He hates me! He said I can never rule when I grow up!"

Elsa quickly wrapped her little scared sister in a hug. "It's okay…" She was worried for her little sister. She knew she herself could never be a queen since her father despised her and never acknowledged her as his actual heir or first daughter. Since all what he wanted from Elsa, was for her to control her powers no matter what. "Here, Anna… take Potata." Elsa handed Anna her very own favorite doll, then hugged her back. "I promise on my very life that I won't let anyone hurt you, Anna. You can count on me."

Elsa averted her eyes and looked at the ground. She gulped and gave a small nod, "Okay."

Aiden's heart fluttered. She accepted!?

"Great!" Anna clapped her hands together. "Now I'll leave you in Aiden's hands and go with Rapunzel. We sure have a lot of work to do. Kristoff and Flynn are already helping the rangers look around the fort for—…f- for some stuff." She didn't want to raise Elsa's suspicions about the incident of Dave. "As for Rapunzel and I, we are assigned to ask the villagers some questions."

Aiden's hands… He wishes that more than anything. Rapunzel tried not to laugh and received a frown from Aiden. She shrugged and gave a sly smile.

Yeah right. Aiden thought.

"Well… See ya two!" Anna waved and walked away from Elsa, heading to the door with Rapunzel.

Elsa's heart beat faster and she tried to lift her hand to grab Anna's arm to beg her to stay, but she quickly retreated it behind her back and lowered her head.

What were left in the room were a really huge muscular tall man and a young scared, weak and skinny woman.

Aiden stood stiffly. "Uhhh…" he muttered, then, "So… Shall we go?" He asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

Elsa swallowed hard and tried to control her shaking breath. She nodded quickly but stayed put in her place.

Aiden's eyes widened as he realized he was standing at the door. "Oh, right! Sorry." He facepalmed. "I'll just uhh… move… and give you your space." He started to back away and around Elsa, trying his best to keep his distance from her so she could stay comfortable, eyeing her and not where he was stepping.

He stumbled with a chair, "Oops, sorry!" And another. "Sorry." He smiled awkwardly pushing the chairs away from his way, "I'm very sorr—Ah!" He fell on the ground as he slipped on something.

Elsa's eyes widened and she stared at him in shock… and honestly with worry.

"Are you okay!?" She called out, stepping on the tip of her toes and tilting her head a bit to try and see him.

Aiden groaned. "Ugh… I'm… I-I'm okay." He pushed the chairs off him and sat up, rubbing his head. "Haha." He gave Elsa a reassuring awkward smile and then a thumb up.

Elsa smiled nervously and gracelessly back.

Aiden shook his head in amusement at his stupidity. This is gonna be a lonnnng day. "So… To Bulda's?"

"To Bulda's."

Aphrodite stared with wide eyes at the body in front of her that lay on the table nude and covered with nothing but a white sheet.

Great God in heaven… Aphrodite stared at Dave's corpse in utter disbelief. His skin was pale yet flawless. No cuts. No stabs. No wounds. But the thing that horrified Aphrodite was that his entire body was crawling with visible black veins.

She leaned her hand and touched his arm with the tip of her fingers, feeling the chill that ran through her spine because of how cold he was.

His eyes?

"They're crystalized…!" She said to herself in utter astonishment.

Dave's lifeless eyes were solid pale blue crystals. No pupils. No iris.

As for his hair, it was no longer dark brown, but pure white.

"Some are saying he might have had some illness." Waella noted.

"That's no illness." Aphrodite said, biting her nail.

Waella exchanged worried and nervous looks with the other healers, knowing very well where they were all going. "Uhm… O-Others are saying he was cursed by some demon or bad spirit… An omen." She said, her voice getting more and more anxious.

"Not possible." Aphrodite disagreed.

Okay… Now there was no way out for Waella and the other healers. They knew they should have just come out and say it. But who would dare say it to Leanna?

Waella nodded to the other healers in agreement. "L-Leanna… I think…"

Aphrodite's fist clenched, knowing very well what they were going to suggest… Whom they were going to accuse.

"Some are saying it's the ice princ—"

Aphrodite's fist smashed the table, silencing everyone in the room. Her fury definitely shown with the strength she used to hit the table.

The healers quickly lowered their heads, not daring to look her in the eye. They knew how much Leanna strangely cared for the princess.

"If anyone of you dare say that again, I will make sure to shut you up with one of these." Aphrodite slightly tapped a hammer on the table, "But I'm afraid it might kill you." She said through her gritted teeth.

Everyone gulped nervously. No one wanted to mess with Leanna, nor argue with her.

Never piss a mama bear. Brandon sure knew that more than anyone.

Aphrodite closed her eyes. "It's NOT the princess's fault." She adamantly vindicated, her voice strong and confident, stating an indisputable belief.

She sighed, placing a hand over her face with the other on the table. "Let me perform the autopsy myself before you all start condemning someone innocent."

The healers reluctantly agreed. They started getting out of the room, giving Leanna her space to calm down.

Aphrodite removed her hand from over her eyes and lifted her head to see Brandon giving her a reassuring smile. She couldn't help but smile kindly and thankfully back.

Brandon stood at the door, waving goodbye and giving her that sweet gentle smile that she loved so much.

Wait what? Aphrodite quickly shook her head to focus her thoughts on her work. She turned to the corpse and started preparing her tools.

Brandon smiled one last time at her before he finally turned and left, closing the door behind him.

All that he could do was stare at his cold hands that were blue from frostbite.

I will… kill you… The king thought, gritting his teeth so hard they could have shattered. He was trying his very best to stop his hysterical trembling. I'll find you and kill you. You… Monster…

He stood at the window of his office, listening to the howls of the wind outside and the pops of the wood from the fireplace. Two servants were trying to maintain the fire in the chimney as ordered by their king. One adding wood and the other poking the fire to keep it alive and burning.

Jamie heard the door open then close. A few footsteps then…

"Your Grace," The Steward said.

Jamie sighed, "What is it?"

The steward flinched a bit at the king's tone of voice. It held rage beyond imagination yet it was calm and collected.

I have to kill her! I have to kill her! I'll show her… When I get my hands on her she'll wish for death itself.

The steward coughed a bit then folded his hands behind his back, "Reporting for—"

"Is it another damn cow that died? Or the crops that withered?" The king cut him off, his face to the window.

I'll slice every part of her body if I have to.

The steward swallowed, "Y-Yes, your excellency. The farmers are complaining about the dead crops and the cold that is destroying their entire field."

"Then tell them to butcher all of their cattle and stuff their damn hungry mouths with some meat." Jamie snarled.

"Your Grace… Our entire livestock is dead. The Snow Queen… She… Her storm killed—"

"The Snow Queen will die by my own hands but not before I punish the hell out of her soul." Jamie said through gritted teeth. He clenched his frostbitten hands, ignoring the piercing pain.

Just you wait, Elsa… Just you wait, you filth. I WILL find you if it's the last thing I do.

His face created a sneer full of revulsion just by the thought of his older daughter.

"Uhm… Your Grace?" The steward brought Jamie back from his thoughts.

Jamie inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself, "No news from the troops I sent?"

"Unfortunately, no, Your Grace. They search everywhere but they couldn't find any clue of her whereabouts."

"Then KEEP searching!" Jamie suddenly turned and smashed his fist on his desk, glaring at the steward.

The servants who were tending to the fire quickly looked away and lowered their heads, trying not to get involved with the king's wrath.

"Search every mountain! Every kingdom! Every village!" He flailed his hands angrily, "Search every house and kill anyone who refuses to help if you have to! FIND HER! Find that witch and bring her to me alive! I want to kill her myself and see her blood spill all over this room!" He grabbed the quill bottle and threw it with all his might at the steward yet luckily, the poor lad dodged it, and it went shattering on the wall, splattering ink everywhere and staining the ground.

The king's harsh words sent shivers down everyone's spine. Even the air felt thicker and heavier now.

He was trembling, no longer from the cold but from rage. His crazy eyes were wide with fury. He no longer looked like a posed King, but a bloodthirsty psychopath.

I'll kill her… I'll kill her!... I'll kill her…

"So we've asked so many people and still… EVERYONE knows nothing!" Anna flailed her hands in frustration.

"Calm down, Fiesty Pants. The villagers wouldn't know anything anyway if it was some intruder. He wouldn't just reveal himself to them and say: Oh hey! I just killed one of your thieves! See ya!" Rapunzel mimicked a man's voice.

"Ha. Ha. But…what if it was one of them?" Anna suggested then leaned to Rapunzel's ear. "The villagers." She whispered.

Rapunzel pushed her off, "I doubt that. Why would they even harm us if we're giving them shelter, Anna?" The blonde asked.

"Hmmm…" Anna pursed her lips, "True."

"Anna! Rapunzel!" Flynn's voice called and it didn't look happy.

The two girls turned, "Flynn?!"

Flynn ran towards them, panting. There was concern on his face.

"What's wrong, Flynn?" Anna asked, starting to get uneasy.

"It's Louis… The cook." He took a deep breath, "He was found dead in the kitchen… Just like Dave."

Anna's jaw opened slightly, "What?" She whispered.