He knew that she didn't pour the cure into the old man's tea because he'd watched her. As he sat at his table contemplating a way to get that necklace, a deal to make for it, he watched her through the crystal ball. She'd had the perfect opportunity to put the potion into his tea. In fact, he'd watched as she'd wrestled with her decision. But she hadn't done it. Not in the end. Instead she'd gotten cold feet at the last minute, sprinkled it on the fire, had a lovely teatime with the Old Apprentice, before he watched as he pointed her on her way, probably to the nearest village. But instead of following whatever directions he'd given her, she'd returned to the castle with the empty vial…and lied.

She did it intelligently, at least. He expected she would be like so many others who babbled on and on telling some story that they concocted in their heads. Instead, when she returned to him, she told him what was, for the most part, the truth. The lie matched what really had happened all for one little detail. In her tale she poured the potion into the tea, served the old man, then dropped her own cup forcing him to boil more water to serve her all the while he drank his own potion-laced tea.

"How was he when you left him?" he questioned, just to watch her quake and stumble her way through another time.

She paused, her mind trying to figure out how to answer. Should she say he was fine? Should she lie and say he wasn't? She hadn't given the potion to him so how was she to know what, if any symptoms, he was displaying.

"He seemed fine," she reported with an upward inflection in her voice, as if she was trying to get the answer right. Was she telling him or asking him? For the fun of it he furrowed his brows and did his best to look confused at her words. "Maybe…maybe a little groggy…" she added uncertainly. "But he was like that when I got there so it was hard to tell."

All things considered he wasn't surprised, just amused. She was clever enough to know how to lie, but not clever enough to figure out that he would be able to investigate her claims, she wasn't clever enough to get out of her deal. He'd stated it all the way he had for a reason. Curiosity. He'd wanted to see if she could figure out that all she needed to do was slip the potion into his tea and drop it. Their deal never specified that he drink it. It would seem that Anna of Arendelle was a truly complicated person, a version of stupid brilliance that he didn't often see. He could work with that.

"So…" he muttered as he twirled the empty vial between his fingers. "You poured it in the tea?" he questioned again, adding insult to injury. He was trying to trip her, trying to make her think that he was suspicious just to see if she'd give in but he knew she wouldn't. Giving in and telling him the truth wasn't bound to happen here. The Seer hadn't been wrong yet in his life, he didn't expect her to start now.

"Just as you asked!" Anna lied predictably through a smile.

"And he drank it?"

"Every last drop."

"Good!" he chuckled. "Then he'll live!"

She nodded, pleased with herself. "So, now can you tell me why my parents came..." she stopped talking suddenly, a frequent trait of those who spoke before they thought. She'd only just now realized what he'd said. "Wait, what? What do you mean, 'live'?"

"He'll live because he drank the antidote you gave him."

"Antidote? To what?!" she inquired.

"Uh, poison."

"I thought it was poison!"

"No!" he laughed. He was beginning to enjoy this. "The poison's what he drank yesterday! What you had was the cure for that."

Anna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't give it to him," she finally admitted.

"Well, why not," he whined feigning shock, something that should have told her that he knew she'd been faking the entire time. She didn't seem to get it. "We had a deal."

"We need more antidote. We have to go back to the cottage. We have to help him!" she exclaimed.

"Well...I'm afraid it's far too late for that, dearie."

His magic was working, in fact if he had his math right it should have started working the moment she'd walked back into his castle. But of course, she had yet to learn that. He waved his hand over the crystal ball in front of him and summoned forth an image, one that showed his magic doing what it did best.

She leaned in close as they both watched the Apprentice grasp his stomach and begin to cough. The cough soon became a hack and his grip on his stomach had him bending over and falling to the ground. They watched as his spell worked. As the man in front of him shrank down, his form changed and altered. And then, there before him, was exactly what he'd wanted to see for so long. The greatest adversary of the Dark One, the Protector of Merlin's Tower and Treasures, Keeper of the Author's Pen, Guardian of Light Magic-had become a helpless little mouse. Inside he could have sworn he felt a giddiness that came from the other Dark One's cheering him on, celebrating in victory. But one alone was silent and judgmental. Nimue wouldn't give him an ounce of praise or pleasure until the job was done and she was satisfied. But it was always as he'd told her-all in good time.

"You should have listened to me when you had the chance," he taunted.

The little princess looked up at him then, her mouth gapping open, her eyes glazed over. "Please! There must be something you can do! Some spell!" She stared at him for a moment, her face twisted in worry and torment, then she left, she tore out of the castle, he suspected heading for the place that he wanted her to go, the place the Seer told him they both needed to go.

His plan wasn't done of course, not by a long shot. She'd been tempted by darkness and not succumbed to it, she truly was pure of heart. But in order for this to work he needed something to represent that purity, something that his dagger could absorb and use, something that could convince the hat he was someone who hadn't succumbed to the darkness. Thanks to the Seer, he already knew what that was. All he needed now was to make her cry. It was in his best interest to let her think she'd made the biggest mistake a person could make, to let that knowledge build for just a bit longer. He smiled as he sat back down in his seat. If he had a maid, he'd have asked for a cookie to match his grin. Instead all he could do was sit back and relax. He'd let her have some time to realize the devastating effect of her decision, then meet her in the Apprentice's house soon enough to claim his prize.


Seen Scene. Fast and familiar. No comment.

Thank you Grace5231973, Jennifer Baratta, and Alarda for your reviews on the previous chapter. Look at this, only three more tried and true "Frozen Chapters" to go and really Anna is only in two of them. Seems like we were just bracing ourselves for the Frozen Chapters and now look...it's practically all over! Peace and Happy Reading!