Chapter 3: A Brand New Day

Elsa rolled over onto her side, snuggling into the soft warmth of her comforters and inhaling the familiar scent of her down-stuffed pillows. It was so warm and comfortable, she couldn't bring herself to move. Wait… her bed? Her eyes popped open and she sat bolt upright in… yes, she was in her own bed in her own chambers in the royal palace. Easing her legs over the edge of the mattress, she flipped the comforters aside to reveal that someone had dressed her in her favorite blue nightgown since she'd passed out. Out of sheer habit, she reached out and pulled the cord next to the head of the bed, ringing a bell to summon one of the palace staff.

Almost immediately, the door opened and the familiar, matronly form of Gerda entered, pushing a handcart loaded with a covered tray and a gently steaming teapot. In spite of herself, Elsa couldn't help but smile at the sight. Kai's wife had been a regular fixture in the royal sisters' lives as far back as either could remember. More so than any nanny or governess, Gerda was the closest thing Elsa could count to a grandmother and had been a friend and confidant more times than she could count. Just seeing the elder woman brought a smile to Elsa's face for the first time in… well, apparently months. "Hello, Gerda."

"Good morning, Elsie," Gerda said, dipping in an informal curtsy before wheeling the breakfast service over to the side of Elsa's bed. "I hope you're feeling better."

"So much better," Elsa said, letting out a deep sigh. She could already feel her magic restoring itself to its proper flow through her body. "I feel like I slept for one hundred hours."

Gerda gave her familiar tittering laugh. "Well, not quite that much, but you DID sleep soundly all through yesterday afternoon and through the night. Nothing we did even roused you, so I had you brought to her rooms and put you straight to bed. Your new friend insisted sleep was the best thing, anyway."

"New fr...oh, Magnus! Is he alright? I can't believe this. I ASK him to go out of his way to bring me back and then I just pass out on him!"

"Elsie, the young man is fine. Anna had his steed taken to the stables and put him up in one of the guest rooms. He was explaining things to us half the night."

Elsa let out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding and made to get up, only for Gerda to press a hand to her chest. "Gerda, what are you…"

"You're not going anywhere until you've had a good, hearty breakfast, young lady. You've had me worrying myself sick with how you were eating in that horrible forest for six months."

"Garda, I wasn't even IN the forest! I was…"

"Magical entrapment or not, you are eating if I have to stand here and watch you do it. Your sister had the kitchen staff up early to make ALL your favorites." She pulled away the cover from the tray and Elsa's eyes bugged out at the sight of the wonders in front of her. Two beautiful Belgian waffles dripping with syrup, toast smothered in lingonberry jam, perfectly browned sausage links, fluffy scrambled eggs and the teapot could only contain blackcurrant tea. Gerda had not been exaggerating. Every item on the tray was one of her favorite items to have for breakfast. "Now, will you eat or do I have to make your poor little sister feel worse than she already does?"

Elsa was about to protest… when her stomach made itself known with a rumble that actually echoed in her large room. Blushing furiously, Elsa attempted to salvage some measure of her dignity by clearing her throat. "Well… if I must… and you ARE insisting." She reached for the knife and fork on the side of the tray and began to cut into the waffles.

Yelana watched as her tribesmen continued their labor of breaking up what was the closest thing to a permanent settlement the Northuldra tribe had ever known. "That's right. Strike the tents. Pack the sleds. We will be leaving very shortly." She nodded in satisfaction as the tribal elders directed the youngsters in constructing new sleds and breaking some of their reindeer herd to the harness. After more than thirty seasons trapped in the Enchanted Forest, the Northuldra were finally free to resume their true way of life and return to journeying across the northlands.

There was a sound of struggle coming from Yelana's own tent and she turned to see her granddaughter, Honeymaren, the tribe's current historian, struggling to carry a armful of folded hides toward the large sled her twin brother, Ryder, was working on. With a great grunt of effort, she dumped them onto the sled and began to work at tying them. "I don't see why we must do this, grandmother," she said. "I know it is not my place to question your wisdom, but surely, with the spirits at peace, we can stay here as long as we wish now."

Yelana sighed, all too used to her son's daughter's headstrong and opinionated nature. "My sweet child, spring has come and the reindeer are already on the move. We Northuldra rely on the reindeer for everything; milk, meat, bones to make tools, fur for warmth. We must follow the wild herds on their great journey across the land. Besides, with the mists gone… who knows how long the Forest will want us to stay."

Ryder laughed and gave his twin sister a playful slap on the back. "C'mon, sis! This is gonna be great! Just like all the old tales! We'll travel the north! Meet new people, see new things, sleep under the stars instead of a perpetual fogbank."

As Ryder began to work at the reindeer's harness, Yelana's sixth sense, which had always served her well in her sixty years of life, began to tickle and nag at the back of her head. Taking a deep breath, the elderly shaman closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, tracking this odd feeling back to its source until… with a gasp, her eyes snapped open, an expression of sheer terror on her aged face. "No. Not now." Wheeling around, Yelana raised her hands to draw the entire tribe's attention. "Hear me! We must go now! Send outriders to the other settlements, have them make for the eastern edge of the forest as we planned! We will join you shortly after!" With all the speed she could muster, Yelana climbed into Ryder's sled. "Honeymaren, you ride with me. Ryder, turn this sled to the south."

Honeymaren gasped as she also climbed into the sled, sitting just in front of her grandmother. "South? We don't ride with the others?"

"No. Something has changed in the forest. Before we can leave, we must go to Arendelle and see the cause of this for ourselves."

Honeymaren was about to protest when she became aware of the sound of the ancient branches overhead creaking as the trees began to groan and sway in the growing wind. "This sound… that foul, putrid wind…"

"That be no wind, my child, but the herald of a great evil. Ryder, get this sled moving!"

"You got it, grandma! HYAH, Gurgi! HYAH!" With a great bellow, the large reindeer bull dug his hooves into the dirt and took off like a shot. Daring to turn her head back, Yelana caught sight of a whirlwind ripping apart what remained of the camp. In the center of the cyclone, roaring like a lost soul, was a towering, gaunt figure with blue-gray skin, huge, black eyes and long limbs with razor-sharp claws. "The Doppelganger…"