Freedom || Anna || Arthur
Anna returned to the palace two days later. Not because she wanted to, but because she had to. Answers most likely hid within its walls, and Anna was one of the few who had a reason to be there. Kristoff went with her, against her protest. If she was honest with herself, she wanted him by her side, anyway. Trapped once in her own room, then in her own mind, then her city, she didn't want to find herself trapped in her castle without someone she knew she could trust.
Time was on their side, with Liesel being absent when they arrived.
"She's only been queen for a few days. What could have called her away like this? What's the point if she doesn't intend on staying?"
Kristoff shrugged. "Who knows? She's cruel and power hungry, so I'd bet she's after something to give her even more power."
They walked the hallways arm in arm. Anna's shoulders relaxed seeing everything in its place and the usual servants still following schedule, even if none of them smiled the way they used to. Some part of it was normal. Anna and Elsa's private areas of the castle remained untouched when they arrived, all except Elsa's journals. Elsa was no writer, but she'd kept a log of her schedule and, more recently, a record of how her magic was transforming. Liesel had opened all of Elsa's notes, riffled through them, and apparently did not find them interesting enough to take them with her.
After lingering a few moments to move a small sculpture on Elsa's dresser, Anna left and caught up with Kristoff in a hallway over.
"They say she blocked off the west wing," he said. "Everyone's been ordered to stay away, and no one knows what's back there. They think she might have placed some sort of spell at the entry, but we should go check it out."
Anna agreed. She imagined finding some sort of barrier at the east wing, like the one Mattias had described being placed around the entirety of Arendelle, but there wasn't one. There was only a door, one that hadn't been there before, blocking the hall. It was made of darker wood than anything else around it, and the handle formed an arch of silver. Anna reached to grab it.
Kristoff got there first.
"I thought you'd try to stop me," Anna commented.
"I'd only get yelled at. You'd insist that someone had to test the door, and I'd argue for more research, and you'd argue about perfect timing, and I'd say it was suspicious timing, and then you'd reach around me while I was distracted and get to the door anyway."
"So you decided to get there first instead."
"Ex- actly."
He pulled back on the handle and nothing happened. He yanked a few more times, to no avail.
"Try pushing."
The door opened inwards. Anna followed him in, pretending not to notice his blush of embarrassment about the door. The view of the corridor beyond quickly drew more attention than any temptation to tease him.
It looked as it usually did, just a hallway used for visitors with rows of doors going to more rooms. The first room, unlocked, was clearly just being used for normal purposes. Liesel's clothes were draped over ledges, and the bed was hastily made. Anna and Kristoff spend a few minutes searching through her things without finding anything before returning to the hallway and moving to the next door.
It was locked. Of course their luck had to run out, eventually. What were the chances that a supposedly intelligent enemy would leave anything useful to them out in the open?
The next door was a supply closet, one that Kristoff shoved Anna into before entering himself and closing them in.
"Ow! What?"
Kristoff covered her mouth with his hand. "Quiet," he whispered. She couldn't see him in the dark space, but she could hear his slow breathing and feel the warmth of his body, one of his arms still pinned between them.
"Wouldn't you like to explore the castle a little?" Liesel's voice passed the doorway without stopping. She paused, waiting for a response from whoever accompanied her.
"I think your sister should stay here and rest for a while, but I would go with you."
"No. I can go alone." Anna was startled to hear how young the other person sounded. Liesel wasn't very old. Anna doubted she had an older child, but who could it be if not hers?
"I don't —" Liesel stumbled over her words and seemed to change her mind. "Fine. If you're not back by sunset, I'll be looking for you. And your sister stays with me."
"Fine," the child said. Light footsteps passed the door again, faster as though they were running. Beyond the door, Liesel sighed and kept walking away, opening a door farther down.
Kristoff opened the door when they thought the coast was clear. Out in the hallway, they could see one door left ajar. Hoping Liesel wasn't waiting just beyond, Anna peered around it. Another bedroom waited beyond, this one fitted with two beds like the one Anna and Elsa had shared as kids. In one, a little girl slept, twisted awkwardly under the blankets in the way small children sometimes do: perfectly comfortable even if adults couldn't imagine resting that way themselves. Anna almost decided to wake her and ask questions, but Kristoff shook his head.
"She looks about four," he whispered. "Would you have kept a secret at four?"
"Good point."
They decided it was too risky to stay any longer, and went back out the dark wooden door, back into permitted areas of the castle, and straight into the child.
The boy, dark hair, eyes, and skin opposite to Liesel's stood with his shoulders back and legs apart, just enough to declare his confidence even if it was faked.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm Anna," Anna said without hesitation.
Kristoff folded his arms, mirroring the boy's defensive stance. "Who are you?"
Anna elbowed him, hoping he would get the hint to be a little more friendly.
He winced and cleared his throat. "I mean, I'm Kristoff, and who might you be?"
He'd gotten the message and somehow still failed in execution. She'd have to talk to him about that.
"Geric."
"Would you like a tour of the palace, Geric?" Anna asked, hoping he only wished to avoid Liesel, not the company of any adult. Luckily, he accepted.
"So, Geric," she began, "how old are you?"
"I'm eight."
He didn't elaborate on anything without prompting, which is what Anna had hoped for. Had she been in his place, she certainly would not have hesitated to spill information about herself. Maybe he'd grown out of that phase earlier than she had, or maybe he'd never entered it to begin with and was more like Elsa. In the time they spent touring the castle, Anna both guided the group of three around and asked questions. She learned Geric and his sister had lost both of their parents, their mother dying only a few days earlier, and Liesel turned up and promised to care for them.
"I don't trust her," he admitted. "I'd never seen her before and she makes things I don't like."
"Things?"
"Potions. My mum used to do that too, but her's were much nicer. They helped people. Liesel's potions feel wrong, all except the one she uses to look different."
"What do you mean she uses them to look different?"
Geric seemed to shiver for a moment, even though he was well dressed. "She drinks it and she becomes someone else. She could be you if she wanted, maybe. Or one of the servants. Or maybe me."
Liesel could change her appearance. It rang a bell, a bell she barely recognized as her own thought. It was a memory covered by the haze of enchantment back when she'd been under Hans' control. Hans. Hans knew someone who changed her appearance every time he saw her, he'd talked about her with Morgause. Hero had been her name. How hadn't she thought of her before? Hans' nervous pacing whenever he mentioned her should have been enough warning. Could he be so afraid of his own sister?
"Well," Anna said to Geric, plastering a smile across her face. "I think we're about done exploring, but we could make our last stop in the kitchens for a special treat."
"Okay."
He still looked an inch away from misery, but he'd lost most of his defensiveness. When Anna offered him a hand, he took it.
Anna still knew little about Liesel's plans, but at least now she had a route in: she had more of Geric's trust than Liesel did, and if she could get some of that potion, maybe Liesel wouldn't be the only one that could get into disguise.
—
In Camelot, Arthur prepared for his coronation.
His father's death didn't bring tears to his eyes or as much panic as Arthur imagined after that first night. He'd been filling the role of king for a while now. This was just a formality to keep Camelot stable. The council tiptoed around him after he'd left abruptly, but none had made any attempt to put doubt in his rule. The only thing he wished he could change was the people. Without all of his friends by his side, the walk to the throne would seem hollow.
He postponed the celebration, hoping that the mission wouldn't require too much time. They could be back before he had to go it almost alone. Lancelot and Percival stayed close by at all times, but it wasn't the same as having someone like Leon present. Neither of them had known him for as many years.
When one of them wasn't close, they were investigating. He had the ordinary knights following any leads they could find concerning poison from the kitchens, but Lancelot and Percival had the duty of tailing Agravaine.
Aside from an unusually timed forest ride, his uncle didn't do anything strange. Yet, Arthur still doubted him. Merlin didn't like Agravaine, and that had to be worth something.
On one of Percival's reports, he'd noted Agravaine telling some of the nobles they might need to step in soon, to give advice because Arthur would be heartbroken and was inexperienced.
Inexperienced hardly described Arthur anymore. He'd lead battles and made decisions for years. The fact that this came from his uncle hurt, but could also just be explained by overprotectiveness. He had to find out some other way if Agravaine was on his side.
So he followed. The next time Agravaine took one of his rides, Arthur tracked him, staying far enough behind that Agravaine wouldn't be able to see or hear him, and depended on his tracking skills not to get lost.
When he caught up to his uncle at the cabin, he was more surprised at his own lack of surprise than his discovery. He watched through a window as Agravaine looked around the empty hut, searching for someone who wasn't there. He only found a note left on the center table, unfolding it and muttering irritably before leaving it on the table and getting back on his horse.
Arthur read the note himself when he was gone.
I told you I'd contact you with more orders when I had them. And I won't have them, at least for another week. Following a lead. - M
Even without a name, Arthur knew who had written it. He couldn't forget Morgana's handwriting, not after a week, not even after an entire year of not seeing it. Even if Agravaine somehow wasn't directly the cause of Uther's death, he was working with Morgana. And clearly, Morgana was up to something.