Lockdown in Anna's cell block ended shortly after that. She was happy to have clothes on her back once again (the heavy "companion" chained to her leg? not so much), but was so enraged over Tiana getting released from Frozen Heart after what she had done to Rapunzel that she could hardly keep her head on straight. Often she would close her eyes and try to picture inside her head the most brutal way possible to murder her (cooking her alive seemed like a just punishment given she was a chef and all), and even that wouldn't be enough to give her solace, as Rapunzel was still missing a foot regardless of what fate happened to her attacker.

Feeling dead on her feet, she glumly clutched onto the broom which she was supposed to be using for sweeping up the floors near one of the prison's restrooms (where all of the toilets were, of course, lined up next to each other with no stall doors or partitions, because heaven forbid the inmates ever got anything resembling privacy when relieving themselves). Instead she was just resting on it like a cheap walking stick, unable to motivate herself to do her job even with the potential threat of punishment if she refused to do so.

"You know, you surprise me." Cinder was mopping up and essentially doing Anna's portion of the work for her, but Anna was too depleted to even mouth a "thank you" to her right now. "I never even knew you liked Goldie."

"Neither did I, I guess." Anna exhaled, wishing she had some sort of pain killer for the headache she could sense developing. "I mean, she gave me someone to talk to. And she knew her way around prison life. Heck, she seemed to be a natural at it."

"Perhaps. But look how she ended up." Cinder dunked the mop into a bucket which was way too full, causing sludgy water to splash out and trickle onto Anna's feet. She was too tired to react with her usual level of disgust. "Goldie was fairly popular around here. Not that the girls speak of that much right now. All they ever want to talk about is the warden's magic or Crazy Frog's unexpected boot from the big house...or how much worse the food has gotten since she left."

"I can't believe that evil bitch is back in the outside world while we're stuck wasting our lives away in here." Anna looked down at the puddle Cinder had made, and was given a fairly good look at her own reflection. She flinched at the mere sight of it. There were dark circles under her eyes which she had no idea were even there, and her hair, even by the "standards" of prison life, looked absolutely horrific.

"And that's another weird thing about you." Cinder was now awkwardly on her knees (difficult to pull off with a chain on your leg) wiping up the mess she had made with a filthy rag. "You keep ranting about the crimes of others here, but have never told anyone exactly what you have done, or why."

Anna glared at her co-worker.

"Exactly how do you know I haven't told anyone about it?"

"Bitches talk. And you get talked about a lot. But no one ever talks about who you killed to get yourself a one-way ticket here."

Anna rubbed her forehead.

"Look, I didn't even tell my cellie. Why would I tell you?"

"No need to get snippy. Just trying to make conversation. Besides, they say confession is good for the soul. Not that I've ever seen proof of that being the case around here, but a girl's gotta hold out hope, I suppose."

"Hope? From you? No offense, Cinder, but you strike me as one of the most miserable women here. I'm not sure if I've ever seen you so much as crack a smile."

Now it was Cinder who glared at her.

"Don't act like you know me just because you pretend to do your chores here while I always end up doing all the work. Besides, if it serves as a motive for you, I have information on Goldie's condition."

Anna's eyes widened.

"And how would you know that? Not even the guards have told me anything. And I've been pestering them relentlessly."

"Like I said, bitches talk. But guards talk to. And they think nothing of talking around the mop girl."

Anna grinded her teeth together with rage. Was Cinder trying to mess with her, or was she actually offering her a true update on her friend's health in exchange for personal information from her?

"What all would you want me to tell you?"

"I'm not requesting your biography. I'm just not comfortable spending my working hours with someone who might be a child murderer."

Anna let out an unintended laugh.

"Would you believe me if I did tell you that was what I was in here for?"

"Anna, look, do you want the damn update or not? They'll put us both back in our cells soon." Cinder's normally emotionless voice was displaying a notable level of impatience.

Anna growled.

"Why is this suddenly so important to you? Have I ever struck you as even the least bit intimidating?"

"Crazy Frog never felt like a threat either. And I've been hearing stories. Disturbing ones. Something about you being investigated for having played a part in Goldie's mutilation? Now, I'm not the sort to accuse people of shit, but if the slipper fits..."

"I refuse to dignify that with an answer." Anna was tempted to find out if she could away with sticking her broom handle up Cinder's ass.

"I ain't asking for you to answer that, am I? I just want you to tell me what motivated a stupid girl like you to commit double murder."

Anna pulled her eyelids down with her fingers from frustration, dropping her broom in the process.

"Fine. I'll tell you, but I ain't giving you my full life story. I'll just...wait, how do I know you won't blackmail me with this?"

"Oh, you mean like how I've blackmailed you with the juicy gossip about you being Elsa's sister?"

Anna's jaw began to drop to the floor. Who the hell had told Cinder that?

"Relax. Goldie didn't snitch on you. As I said, guards talk. And I have no respect for people who use blackmail."

Anna had to quickly contemplate her options. She had no way of knowing if she could trust Cinder or not (she was trying to read her face, but Anna sucked at that sort of thing), because the truth of the matter was, she knew almost nothing about her. And come to think of it, she actually had no idea why she was in prison either.

Still, if it meant knowing if Rapunzel was okay or not...

She turned her head around a few times to make sure the coast was clear, but no other prisoners were currently in sight, and even the solo guard who was supposed to be "watching" her and Cinder seemed preoccupied by something on her phone screen.

"Alright. You win. But I'm keeping it simple."

Cinder just grunted in agreement.

"Well...if you know who my sister is, then you probably also know I didn't exactly grow up poor." She was speaking as quietly as she could without drawing any unwanted attention to herself. "When my parents died unexpectedly, I was left with a decent amount of money. But...well, let's just say I'm not very good at keeping money when I have it."

"Uh-huh. So you had a gambling and drinking problem. Never heard that story from a rich bitch before."

Anna chose to ignore Cinder's snark.

"I started small. Maybe a little too small. As a child, I used to steal from my mother's purse when she was on the phone. She was quite stingy with my allowance. But that wasn't good preparation for the stuff I would try later. I did succeed in a few thefts. But I needed to think bigger, as I was terrified of the police eventually catching me. And I was too chicken to try robbing a bank."

Anna swallowed. She had always imagined that if she told this story to anyone in prison, it would've been Rapunzel, not some joyless woman who didn't seem to care if she lived or died.

"Anyway, I was at a bar one night when I came across this guy. He had the look of a man who wanted people to know he had money. So I approached him, thinking I could knick his wallet, but then he grabbed my hand. I guess he had come across my type before."

She could feel her pulse increase. This was already becoming difficult for her, and she hadn't even gotten anywhere close to the "gory" details yet.

"But he didn't call the cops on me. Instead we started chatting. He told me about himself. Kept talking about all of his brothers. Said they made him feel unimportant. I thought that was crazy. He was so gorgeous. And then it hit me. Why keep stealing when I could just marry into money? He seemed to really like me. And I was, if I do say so myself, very good at charming him. I just had to be sure I didn't reveal to him that I was completely broke. Make him think I was also rich, and that my attempt to swipe his wallet was just me being flirty."

She leaned down to pick up her broom, if only because she felt she had to lean onto something before continuing.

"He asked me to marry him that night."

"Uh-huh. And you didn't take this as a danger sign why?"

"Did I ask for your color commentary? Do you want this damn story or not?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes, making them inexplicably look even duller than before.

"Proceed."

"For what it's worth, my bitch of a sister had the same reaction you did. I thought, for once, she might be happy for me. We were...rarely ever talking at that point. She wasn't even responding to my letters anymore. Anyway, she was wondering what I was thinking and shocked that I was throwing my life away for a man I just met. I ended up hanging up the phone on her."

Anna felt her throat crack, realizing this was the last time she had actually spoken to Elsa before...

"Why did it piss you off? I mean, you said you were only marrying him only for his loot."

"That's how...it was supposed to work on paper." Anna reached back to scratch her neck even though it didn't itch. "But I was...vulnerable, I guess. He was so cute and goofy and like me in so many ways. Or so it seemed."

"Don't tell me you fell for the man you were trying to con."

"Like you're one to judge! Pretty sure Goldie told me you were head over heels in love with a guy after only one dance at a ball?"

Cinder scowled. "We're talking about your tragic backstory, not mine."

Anna clutched tighter onto the broom handle, with such unwarranted force that she almost cut her fingers doing so.

"Well, we saw each other a lot after that. He kept talking about his many brothers. I kept complaining about my sister. Sibling issues was something we shared in common. All the same, he kept asking if Elsa would be invited to the wedding. I kept telling him that wasn't going to happen. He told me the same about his brothers. We eventually agreed to elope."

Anna could feel her teeth grinding. She wasn't sure how much more of this yarn should be able to tell before she completely lost it.

"Anyway...we decided to meet up in a hotel room before we did it. He gave me a time arrive there, but I was...excited. I came early. And I overheard him...talking to someone else." Anna's body was shaking now, her hairs tingling, her face growing so pale that she could feel it happening. "I...um...heard a woman's voice. He...he told her that her problems would be over soon. That he would soon have a lot of money. A new wife who would give him anything. She...she sounded unsure, but he kept reassuring her..."

Anna was now holding onto the broom to keep her from collapsing on the floor.

"I...I went to a pawn shop. I...I bought a gun. I went to a bar. Not the one I met him at, of course, but a damn cheap one so I could afford plenty of drinks. I got...more wasted than I had ever been, and God knows I had been plastered before. And...I..."

She could hear their gasps. She could see him trying to explain. She could see her look of confusion and fear. She heard the gunshots. It took only two. She was a disturbingly good shot for someone who had never fired a gun in her life. She could feel the handcuffs. Hear the sirens. She replayed her pathetic attempt at an alibi to the police when she had been found with two dead bodies, followed by her desperate attempt to justify what she had done.

And she heard the officer in the interrogation room tell her who she had just killed.

"Anna! Jesus, Anna! Calm down! You don't have to tell me anymore, okay? Jesus!"

Anna hadn't realized it, but she had fallen to the floor. She abruptly became aware that she was laying on her back, looking up at the ceiling light, her entire body vibrating uncontrollably, her mouth drooling spit. And she was drenched with sweat.

It took her an entire minute to collect herself. Amazingly, the lone guard didn't seem to notice or care that one of the prisoners on her watch was having a nervous breakdown.

"I'm...um...I'm sorry. I...I don't know...what came over me..."

"Easy, easy." Cinder bent over to help Anna sit up, offering her lips some water from her plastic bottle. "You said enough, okay? I wasn't trying to trigger you like that, alright?"

Anna was trembling so much she wasn't sure if she could speak.

"Do...do you really know how Rapunzel is doing? Or did you just say that so I would tell you about what I did?"

Cinder gave Anna's shoulders a pat.

"I do know the status of Goldie. However it's good news and bad news, I'm afraid. She is in fact alive. But she will never walk again."