AN: From here things may get a bit dark, and then it's going to get darker. But remember, it's always darkest before the dawn.

Thank you all for your very awesome reviews, they mean a lot and always brighten my day more than you can ever know. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter.


Elsa snapped awake but laid still, her gaze sliding around the dark room as she attempted to discern what had ripped her so suddenly from sleep. At her side, her sister was still sleeping peacefully, Anna's mouth hanging partly open and leaking a line of drool onto Elsa's shoulder. Gross, she thought, with a twinge of amusement, before returning her attention to their surroundings. Her chest tightened, causing her breath to hitch; something had woken her. Something was wrong. Careful not to wake Anna, she slipped out from the covers, turning to plant her bare feet on the cold stone floor. She felt better – surprisingly so, almost back to normal. But she had also felt much the same both times she had managed to get some rest before, only to feel her regained energy slip from her like water through a sieve.

Elsa searched the surrounding darkness for her boots, turning to look once more at her sister, who snorted and rolled onto her back, letting loose an impressive snore. She winced but had to smile. The picture of a princess. She gave up the search for her boots, she didn't need them; she would just peek into the hall to make sure nothing was wrong. Anna would be fine for a few moments.

She walked to the door and opened it quietly, poking her head out to survey the hallway. There was nothing obviously amiss, and Elsa was in the motion of stepping out into the hall when two men emerged from one of the rooms farther down. She frowned, wondering what a pair of soldiers was doing up and about at this late hour. The men ducked into the next room, like they were searching for something, or someone. As they disappeared through the doorway, Elsa's eyes, now better adjusted to the heavy darkness, took note of their clothing, which was not that of the Sioaskard soldiers. Sirma, she realized, heart thudding.

She quickly ducked back into the room, taking care to shut the door as quietly possible. The Northmen were still a few doors down, and if they continued to search the rooms along the hall one at a time, there were a few minutes, maybe ten, before their search brought them here. Elsa rushed to her sister's side. "Anna," she whispered harshly, shaking the young girl.

Anna groaned, a hand emerging from the blankets to rub tiredly at her eyes. "Elsa?" she mumbled sleepily, frowning. "Wha—"

"Get up." Elsa looked around the room for their third companion, then remembered that he had stepped out at some point earlier in the night. "Damn it," she swore under her breath as worry for Alarik filled her gut.

Hearing her sister's whispered curse had Anna waking quicker than the previous urgency in Elsa's voice ever could. Elsa did not swear; in fact, this was only the second time Anna had ever heard her do so, and both instances had occurred in the last forty-eight hours. "Elsa," she said, worry in her tone, "what's going on."

"There are Northmen in the fort," Elsa replied in another urgent whisper. "They're searching rooms just down the hall." She looked around the room for any sort of way out, but there weren't even windows much less a second door. Which meant the only way out was going to be through the Northmen.

"Wait, what?" Anna bolted upright. "Are you sure?"

Elsa didn't bother to answer, just shot her sister a look that told her everything she needed to know.

"Right." Anna immediately got to work pulling on her shoes and gathering up her coat.

"I don't think there is any way to sneak past them, but it looked like there were only two."

"We've dealt with that before," Anna said encouragingly. Already, she knew they had no other choice than surrender, and that wasn't an option.

Elsa pressed her lips into a tight line. Clearly, she wasn't happy with that thought any more than Anna was.

Anna scouted the dark room for something she could use as a weapon, anything that might keep her sister from having to use her magic. She spotted a pan near the fireplace, one often used for heating up the bed before going to sleep. She grabbed it and moved toward the door as footsteps echoed loudly down the hall.

"What are you going to do with that?" Elsa whispered harshly from where she stood next to the bed.

Before she could respond the door flew open, and Anna swung the pan as hard as she could into the face of large man as he entered the room. He fell backwards into his companion, just as a shot of ice skimmed past Anna to slam into something in the hallway that she couldn't see.

She turned to look worriedly at her sister, but Elsa seemed fine for the moment. Of course, she had also seemed fine before, after getting some sleep, just to leave Anna to watch helplessly as her sister's renewed energy seemed to slip away like a water through a sieve.

"Anna, are you crazy?" Elsa whisper-shouted. "A frying pan? Really?"

Anna shrugged, inspecting her weapon of choice. "Actually, it's a bed warmer," she said, wincing at the dent in the pan and dropping it to the floor.

Elsa rolled her eyes, not nearly as amused. "We need to get out of here. I highly doubt they are alone."

Anna nodded, pausing over the unconscious Sirma to relieve him of a short sword. She straightened, frowning at the otherwise empty room. "Where's Alarik?"

Elsa raised her eyebrows at the sword in Anna's hand but made no comment about it. "I don't know. When I woke earlier, he said he was going to step out for a bit, but I don't know how long ago that was or where he went."

"We can't leave him here."

"The Sirma aren't after him," Elsa countered quietly, "and it's doubtful they would bother trying to use him as leverage. Honestly, he's probably safer not being with us." She chewed her lip, then added, "that doesn't mean we won't try to find him, but I don't know the layout of this fort, and trying to get out is going to be hard enough."

"But it's your fort," Anna said, unable to help herself when the opportunity arose to poke at her sister. Or maybe it was just the fear and stress that pushed the words out. "I would expect you to know everything about it."

Elsa looked at her, face expressionless. "You're hilarious."

Anna smiled. "So, what's the plan?"

Elsa's brow furrowed as she looked toward the hallway. "I don't think going to any of the soldiers here will be an option. We still don't know who we can trust, and someone obviously let the Sirma into the fort. If they had forced their way in, we would have heard the warning bells."

Anna followed her sister's gaze. "Is it possible they . . . stopped the gate guards before they could sound the alarm?"

"Maybe, but that's not a chance I'm willing to take. Not with everything else going on."

Anna nodded. "Okay, so getting help from anyone here is out."

Her sister nodded thoughtfully. "If we can make it into the woods, maybe we can hold out until Captain Jogeir arrives."

"If he arrives."

Elsa tilted her head. "That is a chance we may just have to take. At the very least, if the Northmen are occupied with their search here, it may be easier to head down to Valle without too much trouble."

Anna nodded along but felt conflicted. It didn't feel right to leave Alarik behind and she wanted to argue that they find him, especially since they didn't know what might happen to him if they left without him, but two things were stopping her. Her sister was right – the Sirma were not after Alarik, and they had no idea where in such a large fortress he might be. Finding him could take a long time, longer than they had to risk. The second issue was that the Sirma were after Elsa, which meant that she needed to put as much distance between them as she could and the faster that happened, the better.

A question suddenly struck Anna: what, or perhaps who, was she willing to sacrifice for her sister? She didn't like the thought any more than she wanted to answer it. She didn't need to.

Elsa led the way into the hallway, stepping over the men crumpled on the ground and looking up and down the hallway. She turned to Anna looking with an expression somewhere between irritated and embarrassed. "I, uh... my memory of our arrival here is a bit spotty."

Anna brushed aside her dark thoughts and snorted mirthlessly. "Really? Shocker."

Elsa shot her a dirty look but made no other comment.

"The courtyard is that way," Anna said, gesturing to the left. "Which might be the easiest way out, but also the easiest way to be spotted." Elsa started down the hall toward the courtyard and Anna moved to follow, only to stop short, raising her eyebrows. "Elsa, where are your shoes?" she asked looking at her sister's bare feet.

"The boots are too loud," Elsa replied, "and the cold doesn't bother me."

"That doesn't mean you can't get sick." Anna was suddenly glad for her soft-soled boots, which were far quieter against the stone floor. "And what if you step on something sharp?"

"Not our biggest concern right now." Elsa continued down the hall, and Anna followed. The pair moved almost soundlessly.

"It is if you can't walk," Anna pressed, wrinkling her nose. A peculiar sound from behind them caught her attention, and she pushed her sister toward the opposite wall just as an arrow split the air between them.

Elsa whipped around and threw out her hand. A blast of ice ripped along the hallway, creating a wall of ice between them and the Northmen. The cuff on her wrist flared to life as she used the wall to push the Northmen back down the hallway.

Anna took note of her sister's tightly pinched face and reached out to grab Elsa's left arm, interrupting the flow of magic. "That's good enough."

"Yeah." Elsa lowered her arm and blinked, as she tried to catch her breath. "Come on."

They moved silently through the hall. Anna sighed a breath of relief when she spotted the door that led to the courtyard. Once they made it there, it would be far easier to get out of the fort. She couldn't help worrying about where Alarik could be in this mess. Wherever it was, she hoped he was all right.

Elsa opened the door and looked outside before quickly drawing herself back into the hallway.

Anna looked from the door to her sister, confused. "What's wrong."

"Tyr," she said wearily. "Along with Erik, and a number of other Sirma."

"So, the courtyard is out." Anna twisted her hands nervously in front of her. There had to be a way out of this; she refused to believe they were trapped. Then she remembered something. "Alarik mentioned there were tunnels in the fort that led to the outside," she said. "If we can find one of them. . ."

"If being the important word," Elsa countered. "But maybe we can also find our wayward friend along the way." So obviously Anna wasn't the only one thinking of Alarik.

Anna followed her sister's gaze as Elsa turned to look back the way they came, to the ice wall. "Which means going back that way," she said slowly.

Elsa chewed on her lower lip then took a deep breath. "Okay. Give me a moment." She extended her hand toward the ice wall, and the cuff glowed brightly in response. It felt like forever but was probably only a short moment before the wall of ice shifted, bending around the two Northmen and trapping them against the wall before they had a chance to move. The result was an opening just wide enough for the sisters to pass through.

Elsa pressed a hand to her forehead as she sagged against the wall. Anna quickly adjusted her grip on her sword, grabbing Elsa's arm with her other hand, prepared for if her sister fell. She looked at the older woman worriedly. After only a moment, Elsa moved to shove up to her feet, bracing a hand against the wall and stumbling forward. Anna wanted to stop her sister and make her rest, but she knew they didn't have that luxury right now.

"Excuse us," Anna said as they skimmed past the two Sirma trapped behind the ice. She could hear them beating against the wall, but there wasn't enough room for them to hit the ice hard enough to break it.

They walked in silence, turning corner after corner and peering into rooms as they passed, in the hopes of finding either a passageway or Alarik. Anna didn't know how long they had been walking when Elsa stumbled, catching herself on the wall.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked, her hands hovering around her sister's bowed back.

"I'm fine," Elsa insisted. "Though I would be better if people weren't trying to kill us."

"Technically they want to capture you, not murder you."

"I'd prefer they were trying to murder me."

They followed the corridor to the end, only to turn the corner and find themselves confronted with a thick ice wall, and two Sirma pounding against the ice, trying to break through.

"Well, that's great," Elsa muttered under her breath. "This place is like a Mobius strip."

"A what?"

Elsa opened her mouth but just shook her head. "It's a mathematics thing."

"Gross." Anna turned to peer down each hallway that branched off from where they stood. "At this rate, we're never going to find a way out. There has to be a better way to do this."

Elsa followed her gaze down each hallway before giving a curt nod and pulling her shoulders back. "Okay. I have an idea, but I need you to keep an eye out."

"Keep an eye out?" Anna didn't like the sound of that at all. "Wait, what are you planning?"

"I'm going to find a passageway," her sister responded cryptically. Elsa shook her arms out, dropped her chin and closed her eyes. Almost immediately, the stone in the cuff flared to life as ice formed under Elsa's feet. The ice began to snake its way down each hallway, frosted pieces branching off into rooms as it went, leaving a trail along the stone in its wake.

Anna watched as Elsa's face pinched tightly in pain. She was just about to intercede when her sister's expression unexpectedly smoothed out, her posture relaxing. She looked to where the cuff encircled her sister's wrist and was surprised to see the stone still glowing brightly, which meant it was absorbing Elsa's power. But Elsa seemed perfectly relaxed and calm. Anna had no idea what that meant, nor how she should feel about it, but she preferred it over the obvious pain her sister had been in before.

Anna hefted the sword in her hand, pulling her gaze from her sister to do what she was supposed to be doing, which was keeping watch. She looked around the hallway, but except for the occasional crackle of shifting ice, the area was quiet.

After what felt like an eternity, and very well might have been, her sister spoke. "Found one." Elsa's voice as calm as her stance.

When Elsa didn't move, or release the ice, Anna put a cautious hand on her arm. "Elsa?"

Her sister jerked, her eyes flying open, a soft groan slipped out and Elsa's knees buckled without warning, Anna dropped her sword, reaching out to grab her before she could fall, then lowered her carefully to the ground. Her sister was breathing heavily, and Anna could feel the tremors moving through her right arm, though they didn't seem anywhere near as bad as they had been in the woods.

Anna wrapped one arm around her sister's chest, keeping her from tipping to far forward and the other around her back. He heart thudded painfully as she watched her sister.

for the briefest moment Anna thought she saw a glint in her sister's eyes, like they were glowing a bright silver, but then the next second it was gone. She shook her head, telling herself that it had to have been a trick of the light, or her stressed mind. At the same time, she realized that her sister had used more magic in the course of last few days than she had seen Elsa use over the last several months. And then there was the cuff which they had theories on what it was doing but nothing concrete. Anna's stomach tightened painfully at the thought that it was possible the cuff was doing more to her sister then they originally thought, that it could be changing something in her.

Anna bit her lower lip, it might not be something that was a caused for immediate concern, but she for sure made a mental note of it.

Elsa was still barely holding herself up, needing the support of her, and her palm remained pressed against her forehead.

"Hey, you okay?" Anna asked, even though she already knew what her sister's answer would be.

"I'm fine."

"Sure." Anna looked to the trail of ice leading down the hallway, noting with interest that the various branches were now gone, leaving a single path. She tightened her grip on her sister's arm, concerned about the sudden heat radiating off her. Except for a bright flush in her cheeks, Elsa's face was ghostly white, and she looked like she was about to fall over. "While that was probably one of the coolest things, no pun intended, I have seen you do, I think you should refrain from using any more magic, until we get that cuff off. Also, what did you do?" She held up a hand, god she had so many questions. "You can tell me later, when we're safe . . . or at least safer."

Elsa nodded. She braced a hand against the wall and pushed off, teetering to the side before steadying herself. "Let's go."


Elsa closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against her clasped hands, her elbows braced on her tented knees. She sat on the cold stone floor of the passageway they had found after following her ice trail here. At first glance, the ice had stopped at a spot that appeared to be nothing more than an unremarkable section of wall, looking just like every other they had passed by. It was an interesting twist, the entrance hidden in plain sight rather than behind a tapestry or some other decoration, like one would expect. At least, like one who grew up in a castle full of secret passages would expect. Maybe that had been their failing.

Once the sisters got the section of wall opened, Elsa melted the trail of ice that led here, and they slipped into the passageway and slid the door shut behind them. Anna had thought quickly enough to grab a lantern from the previous hallway, far from the entrance. She used the light to lead the way along the passage, but stopped after only a few minutes, stating that they had gone far enough and needed to regroup and rest. She'd all but forced her sister onto the ground, thought Elsa didn't resist in the least, then said that she was going to scout down a little farther and try to see how far the tunnel went, maybe figure out where it ended beyond the fort.

Elsa wanted to protest – she really did, not liking the idea of splitting up from her sister for even a few minutes, but it would be useful to know how far they still had to go. And as much as she loathed to admit it, the stunt she pulled with the ice trail had her thinking that sitting down for a moment was a great idea. Perhaps Anna was right, and she should try to refrain from any more magic for the time being. Even if her power was their best line of defense, and offense.

She dropped her hands to fold over her knees, and lowered her head along with them, until her forehead was resting against her folded arms. Elsa drew her legs in closer, making herself small, feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened, that was still happening. Things had just barely started to settle down in Arendelle and now here she was, her magic placing her sister in danger, placing her people in danger. It was too much, too soon, and she couldn't keep up with it. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed painfully against it, forcing the urge to cry away. She couldn't lose it. Not here, when her sister needed her to be strong. She took a deep breath and released it out slowly, repeating the process a few more times until her frayed nerves calmed a fraction.

"Elsa?"

A hand on Elsa's shoulder startled her. She jumped, her head snapping up.

"Easy," her sister said calmly, holding her hands up. "It's just me."

"Sorry," she muttered, rubbing her palms against her face, hoping to erase all evidence of her near breakdown.

"How, uh, how are you doing?" Anna asked, kneeling next to her. She immediately threw a hand up. "If you say you're fine, I will . . . do something, and it won't be pleasant. So, you know, don't."

Elsa chuckled. "Tired?" she offered with a shrug, knowing it was the next easiest answer.

Anna pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying it as her gaze shifted from Elsa's face down to the cuff around her wrist and back again. "You sure? Nothing—" she rolled her hand in the air as she searched for the right word - "weird? Like with the cuff or your magic?"

Elsa narrowed her gaze at her sister, studying Anna's face before slowly answering, "no." Her sister didn't look in the least bit convinced. In fact, she looked like she knew something Elsa didn't. "Why?" she asked. "Should there be?"

"No," Anna answered quickly, then tilted her head. "Well, maybe? I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Okay," her sister said, releasing a long, harsh breath. "It's just when you did the ice path thing, everything was normal – well, not normal normal, but like last three days normal, God, has it really been only been three days—"

"Anna," Elsa said sharply, hoping to steer her sister back on track. "Drop your anchor."

"Right." Anna took a breath before starting again. "Ever since that stupid cuff, every time you have used you magic, you've seemed tense, and in a...in a lot of pain."

Elsa winced, unconsciously rubbing her right arm. "Okay," she said, not wanting to confirm or deny her sister's words.

"When you did ice path thing, the same thing happened. But then after a few seconds you...I don't know, relaxed?" Anna shifted uncomfortably against the stone wall. "Seemed really calm? Which I totally prefer over you being in pain, but it was like you were in a trance, and—" Anna clasped her hands in front of her. "I'm worried that maybe the cuff is doing more to you then we thought. That it might be changing something in you, with your magic."

Elsa absorbed her sister's words as she looked down at the cuff, thinking back on what she had felt when she last used her magic. She was surprised to find she didn't actually remember any specifics, just feelings and impressions. The flow of her magic being divided, some stolen away by the cuff, and a shooting pain down her right arm before it faded into the background. After that, there had been nothing but ice, and calm. For the first time since she built the ice palace on the North Mountain, the magic had felt like more than a mere tool to be wielded, but an extension of her very core.

At least, it had until Anna called to her, and then the pain that had been buzzing in the background slammed back to the foreground with such force Elsa was left dizzy and disoriented for much longer than she had liked.

Anna leaned forward and wrapped her fingers around Elsa's arm, her eyes brimming with a painful amount of concern. "Elsa?"

Elsa shook the thoughts free turning her attention back to her sister. "It's not."

Her sister pressed her lips into a thin line. "Elsa, I think it might be. Your ey—"

"I said it's not," she interrupted. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her sister's worries, but because she knew her sister was wrong. Elsa knew it with the very fabric of her being, and even her magic knew it. "The cuff isn't altering anything. My magic is my own. The only thing it's doing is absorbing my magic. Nothing more."

Her sister looked less then convinced, and some part of her didn't blame her, her sister knew next to nothing about her magic, not that Elsa herself knew that much about it either, she was just sort of making things up as they went. Maybe once they got out of this, she'd spend a week in the ice palace, getting more familiar with this power she had attempted to suppress for thirteen years.

Anna frowned and opened her mouth, looking like she was ramping up to continue the argument.

Elsa beat her to it, shutting down the conversation before they could go another round. "What did you find?"

Anna's brows drew together in confusion. "What?"

Elsa jerked her chin in the direction Anna had returned from. "The tunnel? What did you find?"

"Oh." Her sister looked over her shoulder and rested her weight on her heels. "It leads directly under the courtyard. There are a few grates in the ceiling, or I guess the ground of the courtyard. I think it's used as a drainage tunnel to keep the fort from flooding during heavy rain or snow."

"Did you find the exit?"

"Yes and no?"

Elsa wrinkled her nose. "That's not a question you generally answer with another question."

Anna smiled and tugged at the hem of her sleeve. "I found a ladder leading to a trap door that opens up behind the stables. Problem is, that's still in the courtyard. I, uh, I couldn't see anyone, but I could still hear Tyr."

Just hearing his name made Elsa tense. "And?"

"And he sounded really unhappy that they haven't found you yet."

"I'm sorry to disappoint him," Elsa said. "Did the passage lead anywhere else?"

Anna nodded. "It led further down so I followed it for a bit, but it goes on for a while and I didn't want to leave you here alone that long. But if it's used as a drainage tunnel, then it has to let out somewhere, eventually."

"Well," Elsa said, considering, "between our options of returning to the hallway where we know the Sirma are and following this passage in the hopes of finding a safe exit, I think our chances are better with the passage."

"That's what I was thinking." Anna stood, holding out a hand to Elsa.

She used her sister to hoist herself to her feet, then gestured toward the dark tunnel. "Lead the way."

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself as she walked quietly alongside her sister. The passageway was silent except for their footsteps, and the occasional muted yell or other noise that filtered through the drains and thinner parts of the walls as the Sirma continued their search of Sioaskard. By her estimate, about an hour had passed since they woke up, so the Sirma had been in the fort at least that long. She wondered at what point would they give up the search, and what would Tyr do then. It was clear to her that he wouldn't just go home. Perhaps he'd try to hold the fort and establish some sort of beachhead.

She didn't have to wait long before she got her answer. They had just passed a drain and ladder that connected to the courtyard, the one Anna had found on her survey of the passageway, when Tyr's booming voice echoed through the fort.

There was a shout, yelling from the courtyard.

Elsa tensed. For a brief moment, she worried that they had been spotted but quickly realized that the Northmen still had no idea where she nor her sister were.

"As much as I enjoy a good game of cat and mouse," Tyr continued, "I suggest you come out now, or I will start killing any soldier I find, one by one. When I run out of soldiers, if you still haven't shown yourself, then I will begin to burn everything between here and Arendelle. If you doubt my words, then I am more than willing to show you my commitment."

Elsa pressed her lips into a thin line. She had spent her whole life learning how to be a ruler and one of the more important lessons her father taught her was reading people, how to figure out who was bluffing and who was not. It had been a vital part of her training, and she didn't believe for a moment that Tyr was bluffing, that he wouldn't do exactly what he was promising. Elsa looked over her shoulder to the ladder that led up to the courtyard and, without meeting her sister's eyes, turned toward it.

Anna grabbed her arm and yanked her back a step. "Please tell me you aren't considering going out there?" she whispered harshly.

Elsa shifted her shoulders but didn't pull away. "Anna, he is threatening to burn this fort and the kingdom if I don't."

"He's bluffing."

"You don't know that. Their people are being killed. It is desperation that brought them this far, that drove them to risk war with us. There is no reason to believe it won't push them even further."

"Even if he isn't, he won't get far." Anna's fingers tightened almost painfully around Elsa's arm. "The military will stop him."

"Anna." Elsa's tone softened. She understood her sister's concern, but there was no room for it here. "The bulk of Arendelle's military is in its navy, which is at sea miles away from here. How long do you think it would take to dispatch enough men here, while the Sirma lay waste to the area? How many lives do you think would be lost in the crossfire?"

Anna pulled her closer, wrapping her free hand around Elsa's other arm. "Have you lost your mind?" she demanded, voice rising. "Elsa, he wants to use you as a weapon in his war. War, Elsa. That means even if he keeps his end of whatever agreement you make with him, you could still be killed in the fighting. There's a better chance of you never coming back than there is of you surviving this. You have to see that."

Elsa gently extracted her sister's hands from her arms and held them between her own, her chest tightening painfully. She had never been on a battlefield before, but she knew what it would mean if she was forced to fight in the Sirma's war. The very thought of it made her sick to her stomach. No matter what she decided here, her hands were going to be bloodied. It was both an impossible decision, and an easy one. "Anna," she told her sister, "through my own mistakes, I already have the blood of two people on my hands, and it is nothing short of a miracle that you are alive. I thank whichever gods will listen for that every day, but I will not bear the blood of anymore of Arendelle's citizen on my hands."

"What?" Anna blinked at her a few times, "Asia? This is about—Elsa . . . Elsa, please don't do this. Captain Jogeir will be here in the morning. We can hold out for him."

"Anna, I can't trade the lives of a hundred soldiers, loyal or not, for my own life." Elsa looked down the passageway then turned to Anna, determined. "You need to leave."

Her sister recoiled. "Excuse me?"

"You need to leave," she repeated. "Find a place to hide and stay there until Jogeir arrives."

"You're joking, right?" Anna shook her head.

"No, Anna—"

"No," her sister said firmly. "I'm not leaving you. I'm not going to let you throw yourself into the line of fire because of some – some misplaced martyr syndrome you seem to harbor."

Elsa squeezed Anna's hands, desperate for her sister to understand why she had to do this alone. "Anna, I need you to be safe. I can't lose you."

Anna lifted a shoulder. "And what about me? I need my big sister. I need you to be safe as well." She pursed her lips. "So, whatever plan you are thinking up, it's just going to have to involve both of us."

Elsa's heart sank at the pain she could see she was causing her sister but tried once more to make her see reason. "Anna—"

"No." Anna stomped a foot. "I'm not going anywhere. Deal with it. Someone has to protect you from yourself."

Elsa sighed. "You are incurably stubborn."

"Learned it from the best."

She deflated, her shoulders slumping as a wave of weariness came over her. She knew she had lost this argument. "I don't—" Elsa closed her eyes, blocking out Anna's face. There had to be a way to get her sister away from here. She considered blocking Anna's path with a wall of ice but knew there was little chance of catching her sister off-guard, and she honestly doubted that she would be even fast enough to try right now.

Anna tugged lightly on her clasped hands. "What's the plan?"

Elsa took a deep breath then opened her eyes and peered over her shoulder. "You said that ladder leads to behind the stables?"

"Yeah."

"Could we get up there without being seen?"

Anna scrunched up her face, nodded. "Maybe. As long as Tyr and his people haven't moved, the stable should be between them and us."

A few short minutes found themselves crouched behind the stables. Anna had insisted on going up the ladder first, most likely worried that Elsa would freeze the trap door shut behind her and prevent her sister from following. In truth, the thought had crossed her mind.

Elsa peeked cautiously around the stable to where Tyr stood with Erik and a group of men. Even from this distance, she could tell that he was furious. She turned to her sister. "Stay here."

"What?" Anna looked exasperated. "We just had this conv—"

"I know," Elsa said. "But they only want me, and there is no reason to expose the both of us. There is still a chance that we can talk our way out of this." Even as she said it, she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince. Likely Anna, because Elsa herself was positive that Tyr wouldn't settle for anything less than what he came for. Her. "You'll be right here in case anything happens."

"Elsa—"

"Anna," she snapped in a harsh whisper. "For once in your life, please just do as you are told." Her tone was sharper than she meant it to be, but she was tired, scared, and so very desperate to protect her little sister.

"Be careful." Anna said, the hurt clear on her face. "And don't think for a second I won't come out there if I see anything shady."

Elsa placed a hand against the side of her sister's neck and pulled her forward to plant a kiss on her forehead. Without hesitation, she pushed up from the ground and walked around the stable out into the open.

"Ah, Your Majesty." Tyr stepped forward, away from the group of men. "So nice of you to finally join us."

Elsa quickly swept the courtyard with her gaze, getting a better idea of her position. Tyr stood roughly fifteen feet away, with his brother Erik to his right, and a handful of armed Northmen just behind him. The entrance to the fort was farther away than she had hoped. She weighed her options, knowing she could use her magic, but she would likely only have one chance. Even if she took out Tyr, their leader, there was no way of knowing if Erik and the rest of the Northmen would retreat.

"Nothing to say?" Tyr asked, hooking his thumbs into his belt. He cocked his head, dropping his gaze to Elsa's right wrist, and she resisted the urge to cover the cuff encircled there. "Well, I have to say, Your Majesty, I am impressed that you have been able to use your magic, despite the cuff. Though you are wearing only one, I have never seen anyone still capable of magic."

Elsa frowned, thinking first, they have experience with magic users. Then, I'm not alone. Her heart thumped, and she wanted to ask what he meant, but she knew now wasn't the time. If she was going to get her and her sister through this, she had to keep her cards close to her chest. She forced herself to focus on the other important thing Tyr had said. Only one cuff. That was why it wasn't working correctly; there were supposed to be two. She finally took note of the item Erik was holding in his hand, something that looked suspiciously like a second cuff. "Tyr," she said, "I will give you and your men one last chance to vacate this fort and leave Arendelle unharmed."

Tyr let out a bellowing laugh and lifted his arm, the one she had shredded when she lost control of her magic in the longhouse. The limb was wrapped from just below his hand all the way to his elbow, and even from this distance she could see the blood spotting the wrapping. Elsa swallowed thickly, trying not to remember the sight, the feeling as her ice tore through his flesh.

"Does this look unharmed to you?" he spat. "What about the solders you killed? Three men in the longhouse and four more in the woods. That man you speared through the arm? He'll probably never use his hand again."

Elsa forced herself to keep a neutral expression, to not allow his words to affect her. She could think about what she had done later. "I told you that if you forced me to use my magic there would be no going back. Any causalities suffered were of your own doing."

Tyr nodded, rubbing a hand across his chin. "All right then. How about this? You surrender." He waved to Erik, who stepped forward, fidgeting with the second cuff. "Come with us peacefully," he continued, signaling to another man behind him who lit an arrow before notching it. "And I won't burn down the barracks with the Sioaskard soldiers inside."

Elsa's eyes widened as she turned to look across the courtyard. The wooden roof and stone walls of the barracks jutted out from the wall of the fort. A long slab of wood had been placed across the door, locking it from the outside. Even as her breath caught her chest at the implication, she realized that was why she and Anna hadn't seen any of the soldiers as they made their way through the fort. Or Alarik. No. The windows of the barracks were dark, and curiously, there seemed to be no sign of movements from inside. She turned a narrowed gaze back to Tyr. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he replied. "I just ensured they'd sleep through the night. I would hate for our business to disturb them."

Drugged, Elsa realized, drawing a deep breath. Her gaze shifted from Tyr to the archer and back again. She couldn't stall, there was no point in it, no one would be here in time. When she had hesitated in the longhouse, Tyr had almost killed Alarik. There was no doubt in her mind that he would burn the whole fort down to get what he wanted. She balled her hands into fists, seeing no other options, but she had already known how this was going to end. "Fine," she said, her heart thumping painfully in her chest.

Tyr's eyebrows shot up. "Glad you finally see reason." He nodded curtly to Erik, who walked forward.

Elsa forced herself to stand still as the man approached, despite everything in her screamed to attack or run.

Erik held up a hand, much like one would calm a cornered animal. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he said softly, so that only she could hear.

Her chest tightened painfully, and she was suddenly finding it hard to breath as Erik, holding a cuff that matched the one she already wore, gestured to her left hand. She hesitated, knowing that there would be no going back if she allowed him to put the cuff on. This was a point of no return, but she wouldn't allow Tyr to kill her soldiers, and she didn't have the energy needed to stop all the Northmen in one strike.

Elsa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she raised her left hand, thankful that it seemed to be steadier than the thumping of her heart. Erik wrapped his fingers around her hand and placed the cuff on her arm, enclosing the band around her wrist. The stone on the second cuff glowed brightly as the seam in the band disappeared, leaving behind a single piece of metal. She watched as the stone faded into a dull glow that matched the first.

"Huh."

Elsa looked up at Erik and realized he was still holding her hand. He was staring down at the softly glowing stone, his expression a mixture of interest and concern. She wanted to ask what was causing such a look, but instead ripped her hand from his grip, not wanting to give the man the satisfaction of her curiosity. She folded her arms across her chest and leveled a glare.

Erik held his hands up and backed off, returning to his brother's side.

She had expected . . . more when he put the cuff on. Surprisingly, she didn't feel anything different, except that her magic was now being absorbed slowly by either cuff, instead of just one. Elsa turned her attention to Tyr. "Now what?"

He smiled at something over Elsa's shoulder. "Aw, and there is Princess Anna. I'm glad you could join our little party."

Anna. Elsa turned her head, her heart dropping to the ground as her sister quickly covered the distance between them. "Anna," she whispered sharply as the girl reached her side. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? What do you think you're doing?" Anna took her hands, looking down at each of Elsa's wrist. "You can't do this."

"I have no choice, Anna."

Her sister's fingers tightened around her hands. "If you think I'm going to let you do this alone, you are sadly mistaken. You can't go with them."

"As touching as this all is," Tyr interrupted them loudly. "We have things to do. Wars to win."

Elsa turned back to him, pulling one hand from Anna's grasp but keeping a tight hold on the girl with the other. "Let my sister go," she said. "And I will come with you quietly."

"Elsa!" Anna jerked her hand.

Elsa ignored her, keeping her gaze fixed on the Sirma leader.

"Mm." He scrunched up his face in thought. "No. I think I'll keep her around, just to make sure you do as you're told. You play your part, and I promise no harm will come to her."

Her hand tightened around her sister's. She squeezed her eyes shut; this is exactly what she had been trying to avoid. The stones on each wrist flared brightly as Elsa's magic reacted to her panic. Pain shot up both arms, colliding in her chest. She took a deep breath, fighting to control her magic and her panic as her mind raced to find a way to get her sister out of this, but she was coming up empty. She had given up their only defense to protect her people.

She turned her cold gaze toward Tyr, fighting to keep her voice as steady as possible despite her nearly suffocating fear. She stepped forward, positioning herself between her sister and the Sirma. "Tyr, I will only say this once. If anything happens to my sister, I will give you a war. I will show you the monster people fear me to be and leave you choking on the ashes of everything you once held."

She felt it as her sister stiffened, distantly wondering what Anna was thinking, as she had never leveled such a severe, heartfelt threat. Elsa didn't look at the girl though, keeping her gaze pinned on Tyr as she waited for him to make the next move. For the briefest moment, she saw a crack in in his mask, then he schooled his expression.

"Well, let us hope it doesn't come to that then." Tyr turned to his men and spoke too low for Elsa to hear.

When two of the Sirma approached, she shifted to block Anna from them.

"I will not hurt your sister," Tyr said as she moved. "My men are simply going to take her to our wagon outside the fort. I promise, you will see her in just a few moments. There is . . . something that you and I still need to discuss first."

Elsa fought to steady her breathing, needing to protect her sister, but was now powerless to do so. She should have known her sister wouldn't stay hidden, should have done something to keep her sister in the passage below. Her only solace was these men wanted to use her magic to win their war, and that meant at some point they were going to have to remove the cuffs. The only way for them to ensure that she didn't turn her magic on them was for them to keep Anna safe. They would not hurt her sister. They couldn't.

She turned to Anna. "It'll be okay," she said, praying to any god who would listen not to make a liar of her. "I promise."

Anna nodded numbly, and Elsa forced herself to hold still as the Sirma relieved her sister of the short sword she still carried and escorted her toward the front of the fort, Erik going along. Elsa didn't like the guy and didn't trust him, but he at least seemed to be marginally more honorable than his older brother. She took some comfort in that.

Some of the other Northmen followed them out, leaving just Elsa, Tyr, and two other Sirma in the courtyard. Tyr stood silently for a long while as heavy snow fell around them. He moved forward, until they were a mere five feet apart. "From one leader to another, I am sure you understand how your actions impact your people. That you alone are responsible for bearing the consequences of the choices you make."

Heart racing, her gaze flicked in the direction they had taken her sister, then back to Tyr.

"I meant what I said," he went on. "No harm will come to your sister. But I want you to know that what happens next is the result or your own actions." He turned and nodded to the archer behind him, who once more lit an arrow and notched it. This time, he fired.

"No," Elsa gasped as the arrow arched over their heads, landing with a hollow thunk on the roof of the barracks. As she watched, the fire rapidly spread across the roof, despite the falling snow. Almost as though someone had poured fuel over it prior to her arrival in the courtyard.

Tyr had planned this, she realized, head spinning. Just like everything else. Elsa felt paralyzed as she watched the flames chew through the roof and drop into the building below. She remembered the conversation she'd had with Anna and Alarik about the possibility of overloading the stones and threw her hands in front of her toward the now burning barracks. If she could do that, she could get her men out of this.

The stones in both cuffs flared to life, the bright light cutting through the dim courtyard. Her magic built, pressing against the cuffs but going no further, like a wall was blocking her from using her power. Pain shot up Elsa's arms but, she refused to back down, allowing herself to sink deeper into her magic the same way she had when searching for the hidden passageway, the same way she had when she made the ice palace.

She could hear voices around her, but her attention was elsewhere. Pain continued to rip through her arms, but soon faded into the background like an incessant buzzing. She felt along the wall blocking her magic looking for any sort of weakness or crack she could exploit. She pressed her magic harder against it, and the wall gave, just a fraction. Then, sharper than the pain, deeper than the voices, and louder than the ringing in her ears, Elsa heard a soft crack.

The answering pain that exploded through her right arm was cataclysmic. It sheared its way through her chest and exploded across every nerve ending. Elsa lost her tenuous hold on her magic, the power slipping from her like shards of broken glass. Pain sang out from her knees and she realized she had fallen to the hard ground. The world around her, a dim, snowy courtyard backlit by growing flames, came into focus. She saw that the cuffs on her wrists were still glowing brightly, eating away whatever magic she had built up, the magic she had failed to release. She wrapped her arms around herself and folded forward, riding out the pain still coursing throughout her body.

A rough hand gripped her chin with bruising force and jerked her head up. "An impressive attempt, but if you had only done what you were told in the longhouse, we could have avoided all of this."

She narrowed her gaze at Tyr. "No matter . . . what happens . . . to me," she forced out between her struggles for air, "I promise . . . you, you will not . . . survive this."

A smirk curled Tyr's lip. "I was going to say the same for you. Though if you behave, your sister might."

Spots filled Elsa's vision, and the cuffs continued glowing brightly as she tightened her arms around herself. "Why should I . . . trust you?"

"You shouldn't," he replied honestly. "But I promised my brother that I wouldn't hurt the girl, so long as you don't give me a reason to."

Elsa didn't respond, she'd given up her magic, their only real form of protection for the lives at Sioaskard and now they were dead, her sister being held hostage to force her hand, and Alarik—Tyr's face wavered in front of her as her eyes watered, but she refused to let him see her break.

Tyr released her chin, and she dropped her head to her chest, once more folding forward around the pain reverberating through her whole being. Faintly, she realized that she was shaking but didn't know how to stop and didn't have the energy to try. She heard someone talking, voices over her bowed head, feet shuffling behind her before hands grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet.

The sudden movement was too much. Elsa's throat clamping shut even as she tried to cry out, and the last thing she saw before a shroud of darkness closed around her was the building still burning across the courtyard.