It was the last day of the year when Katherine found herself debating whether to tell her father about her relationship with Elsa. At some point during the afternoon, she finally decided to just get it over with.
She found him standing over some plans in the Council Chamber. Since night was quickly falling, several candles were lit around the table, casting a yellow glow on his work.
He had removed his military jacket, which he had thrown onto one of the chairs. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows.
Magnus stood over the table, moving around it as he studied the plans. He was mindlessly running his hand over his goatee, which he often did when he was deep in thought.
She watched him for a moment before she stepped inside.
"Need some help?"
"Please," he smiled when he saw her, gesturing for her to approach the table. "I'm trying to figure out a way into Hodgevike. I'm meeting with some colleagues in a moment so that we have a plan to present tomorrow, but I wanted to get a head start."
As she got closer to the table, she noticed that little wooden figures were placed on top of a map of Hodgevike.
"These are the sites we believe are more heavily guarded," he explained, pointing at the figures that almost formed a circle around a central piece, "while this is where we have to go to get to Oddvar," he continued, pointing at the form in the middle, which covered the location of the Hodgevike castle.
As they both pored over the map, Magnus spared some glances at his daughter, and he was stuck by how much she looked like her mother. She was right there in Katherine's sharp jawline, in her inquisitive dark eyes, in the short auburn hair cut for practicality, not fashion, as Lilian used to say.
A familiar wave of grief crashed over him. He was used to it. The empty feeling of loss was his ever-present companion. It was a gut punch that he was quickly able to recover from.
"He did a good job barricading himself, that's for sure," Katherine mused, making him snap back into focus.
Magnus hummed in agreement. "I'm thinking we could deploy a team to a certain peripheral area in order to draw his forces there so there's less surveillance around the castle."
"Isn't that kind of risky?" she said. "I mean, you're assuming he would care to protect other parts of the kingdom."
"Yeah, I doubt he would. Especially now," he sighed. He had been staring at the map for a while now, waiting for a stroke of genius, with no luck.
"Why not a more stealth approach?" Katherine offered, and an intrigued expression covered his features. "If we go in quietly and undercover, with less people on the ground, we'd probably attract less attention, which could also make it less risky."
His brows knit in thought as he considered it. "We would still need to get a certain amount of soldiers out there if we want to be able to get into the castle. That could take a while if we're to go in quietly…"
Katherine shrugged. She was just spitballing here.
"But it could be a safer bet than hoping he cares of protecting anyone other than himself. And it would put less people in danger," he conceded. "I'll put that approach on the table."
Katherine nodded trying to repress a proud smile. As much as she loved being on the field, being in a position like his would give her some real power to make things better, and it was something that she envisioned herself doing later in her career.
A companionable silence settled over them as he continued to slowly move around the map, considering different angles of approach. The cracking of the fire in the hearth was the only sound that could distract Katherine from the growing dread in her stomach as she steeled herself to do what she had come looking for him in the first place.
This was all very new to her. For the longest time, she hadn't had many friends. Her parents had been all the company she had needed when she was a child. And even as she grew older, she always felt that she could count on her father, no matter what. She had never had trouble talking to him before these last couple of weeks.
But then again, she had never had to tell him that she was in love with their queen, either.
"Hey, dad?" she said finally, after taking a deep breath.
"Hm?" Magnus glanced at her quickly, expecting for her to keep talking as he continued to study the map.
"Do you think… can we talk?" she said, taking a seat on one of the chairs surrounding the table.
Finally sensing the unease in her demeanor, he gave her his full attention. "Of course."
"I…" she started, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Captain Olsen.
Katherine had been under his command as a recruit, so out of training and habit, she shot to her feet, which effectively snapped her out of her vulnerable state. "Captain," she said, giving him a sharp nod in salute.
"Stand down, soldier," Olsen said before turning to Magnus. "General."
"Captain, could you give us a moment?" Magnus asked, pointing to the door.
"No, no," Katherine said before Olsen could oblige. "You're busy. I'll talk to you later."
He was busy. With important things. He had no time to deal with her little confessions and feelings, Katherine berated herself in her mind. No, this was definitely not the time. What had she been thinking?
"Are you sure?" Magnus asked. He had his suspicions about what she wanted to tell him.
Since Christmas, Katherine and the queen had, without fail, been arriving to breakfast together, an unmistakable shine in their eyes, not to mention the clearly accrued sense of intimacy he felt between them. He wasn't sure if they were making an effort to seem like nothing had changed, but if they were, it was not working.
"Sure," Katherine said, giving him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Alright. By the way," he added, stopping her in her tracks on her way out of the room. "I was thinking of spending tonight with some friends. Would you mind spending New Year's Eve without your old man?"
This time, her smile was genuine when she told him, "I think I'll manage. Have fun," before she left out the door.
With a self-satisfied grin, Magnus turned to the captain. "Olsen, any plans for the evening?"
Elsa was working in her study in the candlelight, when suddenly, one of the doors swung open. Katherine rushed in, closing the door behind her.
Elsa looked up from her desk, puzzled.
"Your Majesty, I came to see you for an extremely important matter," Katherine said as she walked inside.
Elsa stood up, concerned by the formality of the greeting and the urgency etched in Kat's face. Her mind immediately jumped to Oddvar. Had he made a move?
"What is it?"
Katherine rounded the desk to reach Elsa.
Next thing Elsa knew, she was drawing her into a passionate kiss, which she couldn't but get lost into.
"It had been too long since I'd done this," the soldier said as they broke away, out of breath.
Elsa's eyes remained closed for a moment, the lack of oxygen and the surprise making her head turn. "Whoa," was all she could muster as her brain caught up to what had just happened.
"Just making sure I'm keeping you on your toes," Katherine said, clearly satisfied with herself.
"Oh, never stop, soldier."
Kat smiled radiantly and ran her fingers over the side of Elsa's face, appreciating her delicate features. "You know, people always talk about Prince Charming, but suddenly I find the idea of Enchanting Queen so much more compelling…" The adoring glint in her eyes was evident.
Elsa lowered her gaze, chuckling. "And who needs a knight in shining armor when you've got a hot soldier in the Arendelle Royal Guard uniform?"
"I suppose I would be the kind to challenge anyone who dared question your honor to a duel," Katherine said in thoughtful consideration.
"Well, how very chivalrous of you," Elsa said, making Kat shrug. "But you do know there are better, less dangerous ways to 'protect my honor'," she continued, doing air quotes as she moved back to sit at her desk.
"Oh, I have no doubt you could do it all on your own. I'm just saying, if the need ever arose, I'm your woman."
"Noted," Elsa chuckled and shook her head.
"A royal and her guard... Is that a cliché? I feel like it is."
"I think we're anything but a cliché."
"Hm," Kat nodded. "But I did have something to tell you. My father's hanging out with his friends tonight. So, I was wondering if you had any plans for ringing in the new year?"
"As a matter of fact, Anna decided to take the lead and she has organized the entire evening for us. I'm told it will consist of food and games. Would you like to join us?"
Kat smiled, delighted to have the chance to celebrate with Elsa and her family. "I would love to."
"I must warn you, though. I'm terrible at family games."
"Oof," Katherine winced theatrically. "Then I guess I'll need to team up with Olaf. I'm afraid I'm terribly competitive."
"You don't say," Elsa said, raising an eyebrow. Now, that she was curious to see.
As promised, after dinner, the little family was found in one of the parlors of the castle playing charades as they waited to welcome the New Year.
The competition was boys versus girls, but Elsa was quick to announce she would sit this one out, preferring to keep track of the points and the time. Besides, someone needed to tell Olaf what he had to make his partner guess, since he hadn't learned how to read yet.
So, not long after, Katherine and Anna watched, sitting on the couch with Olaf, as he guessed what Kristoff was acting out.
Around halfway through their allotted time, Kristoff lifted his arms to his sides, so they were parallel to the floor with his hands pointing downward, making his back round as he tried to seem big and imposing. He even growled and everything as he stomped around, making Anna snigger endearingly at him.
"Marshmallow!" Olaf yelled, recognizing his brother.
"Yes!" Kristoff said before dropped his character and went to grab another paper from the bucket hanging from Sven's antlers.
Once he read his word, he straightened his back, lifting his shoulders and throwing his head to one side in what he assumed looked like a feminine posture. He used his hands to mimic having long hair running from one side of his head to the floor.
"Long hair! Brushing your hair!" Olaf tried, excitedly.
But since he didn't get it, Kristoff started humming a light-hearted if almost alarmingly high-pitched air as he gestured insistently on the length of his imaginary hair.
"Oh! Oh! Cousin Rapunzel!" Olaf said just as Elsa rang the bell.
"Yes!" Kristoff said triumphantly giving his partner a high-five.
"Good job, guys. That's four points for you," Elsa said as she kept score on a piece of paper. She was sitting on a chair near the couch the others were on, writing on a small wooden table to her side.
"You're a very convincing princess, Kristoff," Anna chuckled.
"Why, thank you," Kristoff said as he sat by her side.
"Rapunzel, as in the long-lost-but-now-found princess of Corona, is your cousin?" Katherine asked.
"Well, technically, my father's cousin," Elsa said. "You know, most royal families in the continent having some sort of family connection and all that."
"Right," Katherine nodded. "So, is it my turn? Get ready, boys. We're gonna show you how it's done."
The rounds went on, alternating between silly moves that had them all bursting out laughing and moments of intense concentration. Indeed, the girls were crushing it, but the boys had the added advantage of Olaf's shapeshifting abilities, so it was a pretty tight race.
Kat started the game reining herself in, trying to avoid getting too caught up in the game, to keep her competitiveness in check. She wanted to remain on Elsa's family's good graces, after all. But she was glad to see that the others took it in stride, stepping up to the challenge, so she didn't have to hold back too much.
The cozy, warm feeling that swirled around Kat's chest as she took them in and as she shared charged glances with Elsa caught her off guard. She could get used to this.
For the longest time, the army headquarters had been her home and her colleagues her family. Maybe Katherine could find another, warmer home here. More people she could count on.
At last, before any of the teams could secure a lead, Olaf called their attention to the grandfather clock, which showed it would be less than a minute before midnight. He was excitedly bouncing around. It was the first time he lived through a year change. He was curious to find out what happened when the clock struck twelve.
The group stood to face the clock. It was placed to the side of the fireplace, so they were all bathed in a warm orange glow as they watched the hand marking the seconds inch toward the twelve.
"Ten," Anna started, looking giddily at Kristoff first before turning to Elsa.
All of them joined in on the countdown, Olaf's voice particularly loud.
"Happy New Year!" they all shouted when the time came.
Anna and Elsa immediately hugged, whispering sweet wishes into each other's ears.
"Come here, little guy," Katherine caught a bouncing Olaf mid-air. "Happy New Year." She wrapped her arms around the snowman tenderly.
Olaf giggled, tickled by the warm hug. "The best of New Years to you, too."
Around halfway through the twelve strikes of midnight, Anna turned to Kristoff to take him into a kiss, which had Elsa turning toward Katherine with a sheepish smile.
Katherine put Olaf down and accepted Elsa's embrace.
"Happy New Year, soldier," Elsa said softly.
Kristoff, breaking away from Anna, smirked seeing Katherine's content smile, eyes closed, as she let her chin rest on Elsa's shoulder. He couldn't resist saying, "Just kiss the girl already, Elsa."
That had heat staining Katherine's face, but Elsa took the advice, and on the last strike of the clock, she framed the Kat's face with her hands and had their lips meet for a quick, gentle kiss.
That triggered the sparkling snow shower, making the others in the room look upward, particularly Olaf, whose eyes widened as he exclaimed with joy and ran around, trying to catch the elusive glimmering snowflakes that seemed to have materialized out of thin air. "I love the New Year!"
Pulling away, Elsa grinned and opened her eyes. An enchanted smile spread on Katherine's face before she opened hers.
"I do, too, Olaf. I do, too," Elsa said, her heart full of love.
All she never knew she wanted was contained in this room. Her chest was brimming with so much joy that she felt it might burst.
In the back of her mind, Elsa was well aware that tougher times were almost sure to come, so she was particularly grateful for this moment, basking in the glow of it.
And she would need to remember the strength of that light when reality came to try to snuff it out.
The next morning, as she worked, Elsa heard knocking at her door.
"Come in," she said, briefly lifting her eyes from her paperwork to see Katherine opening the doors of the study. "You here for another emergency?" she asked with a smile, finishing what she was writing before giving Kat her full attention.
"Alas, maybe. But not of the kind you're thinking," Katherine said, approaching the desk.
Elsa's features sobered. "Oh?"
"Do you have any idea why your sister might have summoned me to the Council Chamber during my lunch break?"
"Nothing I can think of," Elsa said, noticing Katherine was wringing her hands.
Kat seemed nervous. It was most unlike the usually perfectly postured soldier. Then it dawned on Elsa, making a grin stretch across her lips.
"Are you scared of her?"
"What?" Realizing what she had been doing, Katherine let her hands fall to her sides and stood taller. "No."
Elsa huffed out a laugh. "Believe me, I know better than most that she's not to be trifled with, but she likes you. I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"You like Kristoff, and he still seems traumatized by the talk you gave him when he started dating Anna," Kat said, sitting at the edge of the desk, facing Elsa.
"I might have taken my protective sister role a bit too much to heart," she admitted with a shrug. "But seriously, she was genuinely thrilled when I told her about us. You're more in danger of getting tackled hugged than anything else."
Katherine hung her head and she nodded. "Fine. You're right."
"I promise you have nothing to worry about. And if she scares you too much, just call me and I'll protect you," Elsa threw with a playful smile that had Kat narrowing her eyes at her.
"Ha-ha," she said sarcastically. "I should be able to handle myself, thank you. See you later."
"Later."
As she watched Kat leave, Elsa realized that she might be on the receiving end of one of those conversations at some point soon. With the general of her army, no less. And she couldn't help but wonder if she needed to be worried about that.
When Katherine got to the Council Chamber, the door was open. She took a moment outside before walking in, feeling apprehension take over her stomach.
She knew there was no need to be nervous, but she still was. This was important to her. She didn't want to risk messing anything up.
Taking a deep breath, she finally walked inside. She found Anna waiting for her, leaning back on the table, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
Katherine's gaze roamed around the room as Anna watched her carefully, before their eyes finally met.
"So," the princess began, straightening, working hard to seem severe and serious. "What are your intentions with my sister?"
Oh, Katherine thought. That was easy. Her stance became more confident, steadier.
"My intention is to make Elsa as happy as I can. To guard her heart as I have her person these last couple of months."
Anna studied the other woman's features and found a disarming honesty in them. After nodding gravely, satisfied with the answer, she finally broke out into a face-splitting grin. She squealed, throwing her arms around Katherine.
The soldier couldn't but smirk and accept Anna's love attack.
"I'm so happy for you guys!" Anna squeezed Katherine tightly before letting her breathe, breaking away. "I can't even pretend to be anything but excited about this. Elsa's better at the whole 'something bad will happen to you if you hurt my sister' thing," Anna said, making her voice lower and narrowing her eyes in a threatening expression when she tried to imitate her sister. "I'm just happy she found someone worthy."
Katherine was touched by the kind words. Being accepted by the most important person in Elsa's life was a relief, and it warmed her heart. "No need to worry about that. I already know how good you are with a sword."
"That is true," Anna agreed.
"But thank you. I appreciate the trust," Katherine said, earnestly.
"Well, if you can win her trust, you deserve mine."
Anna was well aware of the fact that Elsa was the hard one to approach between the two of them. It was no small feat to pierce through her sister's icy exterior. The fact that Katherine had managed told her just how special she was to Elsa, and that was all she needed to know.
In the dawn of the new year, what Elsa had been fearing ended up materializing. As the winter festivities had drawn to a close, the light brought by the holiday season had been abruptly extinguished in the kingdom by the bleak reports of violent attacks in the routes that connected Arendelle to the rest of the world, effectively shutting down all commercial activities, and reducing communication to the absolute minimum.
It didn't take long to attribute the attacks on Hodgevike, and even if Arendelle was largely self-sufficient regarding essential necessities, he was still forcing their hand, so they would need to put their strategy into action earlier than they had planned.
Elsa and her council first discussed whether they should do the same to Hodgevike, to try to hinder their international communication, but they decided it would be more effective to continue with their original plan, to try to put a stop to the problem at its source.
They didn't want war. They wanted to stop Oddvar. And Arendelle's military leaders were working tirelessly on getting ready to carry out a strike to do just that.
"Your Majesty," Kai, her political advisor, said as he stepped into her office not long after the start of her workday.
His features were impassive, as usual, but Elsa was permanently on edge these days, so she automatically braced herself for more bad news.
"Yes?"
"I have received news from our northeastern border. Two men claiming to be Hodgevike nobles were stopped in the way into Arendelle. Of course, they got apprehended on the spot, but they say to be coming in peace, and that they would like to speak to you."
Elsa's brows knit in thought as she sat back in her chair. "Did they say what about?"
"Apparently, they want to propose a deal, saying that we have a common enemy."
"Huh," Elsa said in consideration. "What do you make of that?"
"I think that some people from Hodgevike might be getting as tired of him as we are."
Elsa nodded. "But can we trust them?"
"I'm not saying we should, but they did identify themselves. They could have just walked in without question if they hadn't said where they were from. I think if their intentions were evil, there would be easier ways to go about it."
After mulling it over for a moment, she nodded. "All right. I'll speak to them."
Not long later, flanked by Katherine and Kai, Elsa entered the castle dungeon. There, she found the two Hodgevike men dressed in military jackets, their winter coats strewn on the floor. They rose from their seat — one of the two stone beds in the cell — as soon as they heard the guard unlock the heavy door.
"Your Majesty," they said in unison, bowing solemnly.
As Elsa and Kai walked into the cell, Katherine made sure to place herself to the side between the foreigners and the queen in a way that didn't obstruct their view of each other but that assured that there were always several feet separating them.
"I apologize for the amenities, gentlemen," Elsa said. "But I hope you understand that given the circumstances, I can't really have you roaming freely around the castle."
As Elsa explained, Kat did a quick scan of the prisoners, assessing the threat level. They would have been unarmed by her colleagues, but a skilled assailant could do a lot of damage with a well-timed blow.
One of them was a heavy set, short and bald man. He was dabbing his glistening forehead with a handkerchief, sweating profusely, seemingly unaffected by the cold seeping into the stone room. His skittish demeanor reassured Katherine. A nervous disposition was not a quality often found in adept fighters.
The other guy was taller and leaner, sporting short white hair. He was clearly the leader of the two, presenting with much more composure. She would keep an eye on both of them, of course, but this one seemed to be the bigger threat.
"Of course," the leader said. "Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Daniel Bjerke and this is my brother, Ralph," he continued, gesturing towards his companion, who did an awkward wave. "We come from a longstanding Hodgevike noble family."
"And why are you here, Mr. Bjerke? Our kingdoms are not precisely on the friendliest of terms right now, as I'm sure you know," Elsa said, ready to get down to business.
"Well, you see," Daniel said, taking a step forward, trying to create a climate of camaraderie.
Katherine advanced almost as soon as he did, making him look her way. When he saw the silent threat in her glare and the way her hand traveled to the hilt of the sword on her belt, he backtracked, believing it best not to test his luck.
"We have a common interest in that we both need Oddvar gone."
"I know why we do, but why do you?" Elsa wondered.
"The Bjerkes could have a claim to the throne with Oddvar gone," Kai said, making everyone look at him. Except for Katherine, whose eyes were glued to the Hodgevike men.
"So you want the crown?" Elsa asked, turning back to Daniel.
"That might be an added bonus," he admitted with a shrug. "But we're also deeply concerned by how much our people are suffering under that irresponsible man's reign."
His tone was well-practiced, his concern just evident enough to attract sympathy but not too much that it made him seem helpless. And Kat had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.
Elsa also saw right through his politician façade, but he was still right. They did have aligned interests.
"We have the vast majority of the subjects' support," Ralph supplied when he saw Elsa's hesitation, tucking his handkerchief into the inside pocket of his jacket.
"Then why aren't they the ones taking him on?" Elsa asked him, but Daniel was the one who answered.
"A civil uprising? That could be devastating. Besides, you have a standing army and want the same thing as we do."
"So you're suggesting I put my people in danger to help you?" Elsa said, still not sold on the idea.
"I'm suggesting we help each other," Daniel said. "He only has his soldiers left standing with him, and only because they're on his payroll."
"Aren't you also on his payroll?" Elsa knew that Oddvar and his soldiers were not the only ones profiting off his plundering.
"Look, we're not proud of how long we've let this go on," Daniel said. Since his charm strategy didn't seem to be working with the monarch, he tried to go with something more genuine. "But we're also well aware that there might not be a kingdom left, if we let him continue like this, for much longer. Not to mention the personal threats he's made against you, Queen Elsa."
"What kind of threats?" Katherine was surprised to hear her voice echoing in the room, making everyone's attention turn to her.
But Daniel only spared her a glance, speaking to Elsa, his expression sobering. "Oddvar has talked about how he would love the satisfaction of 'personally taking care of the queen.' His army has instructions to take you alive, unless killing you is absolutely necessary."
"My personal safety is not a concern," Elsa said dismissively.
It might not have been Elsa's concern, but Katherine's blood was boiling as her mind conjured up images of what Oddvar had in mind when he talked about taking care of Elsa. There was no way in hell she was going to let him or his army get anywhere close to her.
"Well, it's not only you he wants to take down, Your Majesty," Daniel pressed on. "He wants to claim your kingdom as his own. And there's only one way to stop him. We need to work together."
He was probably right, even if Elsa didn't like what that entailed. As she took Daniel in, seriously considering his offer, a chill ran down her spine, and it was not from the cold.
She still didn't trust them, but she wasn't so sure she could afford not to.
AN: As usual, thank you for your support!