Chapter Fifteen

Mutiny

ANNA

"Where the hell is this weather coming from?" Anna cursed as she stood beside Kristoff and Field Marshal Frederick atop a small rise overlooking the battle which continued to rage on below them. Days had passed since Melody and the rest had embarked on their rescue mission, and the Coalition had been bombarded non-stop since then.

"Don't know." Kristoff stared out into the distance, where Field Marshal Kane and his reserves were based somewhere out on the opposite hills of Luftzeit. Another erratic volley of musketry came from the Coalition, and a stab of pink-white flares lit up the battlefield amid the thick smoke and blizzard. "But it's not making our jobs any easier."

"Ma'am, we might have to consider the fact that we've been beaten." Frederick said. His face was blank as usual, but there was a somewhat urgent tone in his voice. "There comes a time when a commanding officer has no remaining tricks up his sleeve. That time has come, I'm afraid. The way Kane has been attacking us, we won't last two more days."

Anna glanced up at the sky. Not to mention the way the weather's been treating us. The nights had been cold before, but now they were unbearable. Already there had been reports of frostbite amongst some of the men, with others coming down with fever, flu and bitter colds. Frederick was right. Disease and illnesses were more likely to kill the army than the enemy. But the way the battles were going, the Imperial Horde might get there first.

"We're going to have to withdraw." Kristoff agreed. "There's no way we're going to survive, much less beat Kane at his own game."

"Like we predicted, Kane's making this a battle of attrition to his advantage. We're already critically low on ammunition, supplies and food." Frederick went on. "We won't last much long-"

"Yes, yes. I know." Anna said exasperatedly. She took a deep breath and sighed. Now was the time to act. They couldn't wait any longer. She was going to have to force Duke Helmsley and Marquess Horatio into agreeing to a withdrawal. Even they had to know that further fighting was pure folly. She glanced at Kristoff. "I'm calling a council of war."

"Was just waiting for you to say it." Kristoff turned to descend the hill in search of an available runner who could deliver the message. "But what makes you think they'll listen and agree to withdraw?"

Anna squared her shoulders. "I'm not giving them a choice."

"That's more like it." Kristoff flashed her a relieved but tired smile, and began descending the slope of the snow-covered hill.

"This can't be natural." Anna glanced up at the sky as more eight pound cannon balls whistled through the air and crashed down into a column, sending an entire company of Molcorran soldiers pinwheeling away from the impact. "Where's Kane getting all of this ammunition? And how the hell is the weather getting worse?"

Frederick glanced up at the sky, a slight look of displeasure on his features. "Perhaps we should head inside and wait." He offered his arm to Anna and she took it, the both of them cautiously descending the hill and headed for the command tent which had been pitched nearby. Kristoff had already left to get Duke Helmsley and Marquess Horatio over, so that would take at least ten or fifteen minutes.

Anna pushed aside the tent flap of the command tent and entered. She gasped. Inside, there were seven of men waiting, all dressed in black pants and yellow jackets. Xerflorians. She felt Frederick being pushed into the tent as well, colliding with her as he was roughly shoved forward. The two of them were ushered towards the centre of the command tent while being surrounded by the Xerflorians, who had their muskets at the ready.

"What's the meaning of this?" Anna demanded indignantly as a corporal took her arm roughly. Her eyes darted left and right at the Xerflorians around them in the command tent. "What the hell are you all doing here?"

"Quiet." One of them said. He had the bars of a lieutenant on his shoulders, Anna observed. But she was still bewildered. What was going on?

"I believe I know, Ma'am." Frederick said dryly. "It's a mutiny." He eyed the Xerflorian who had attempted to hush them. "Isn't it, lieutenant?"

"You've got to be kidding me. Now?" Anna couldn't believe her ears, but the evidence was right in front of her. The Xerflorians were in here instead of on the battlefield, and had been lying in wait to ambush them.

"On the ground." The lieutenant snarled, and the corporal holding Anna roughly pushed her towards the ground. Frederick was similarly forced to his knees, though he betrayed no hint of fear or emotion.

"Manhandling the queen. That's probably going to earn you a couple of years in prison." Anna said as she sprawled.

"No," the corporal retorted. "No it won't. We've made sure of that."

"And who put you up to this?" Anna glared at him. "Horatio?"

There was no response, and that was as good as a confirmation. After all, these were his men.

"It's treason, in case you lot weren't aware." Anna said, trying to stall for time. She racked her brains, trying to think of a way out. It'd all been so sudden.

"Oh, we are aware." The lieutenant said. He was smoking a cigarette, and it hung out of the side of his mouth which had a crooked grin on it. "But this…this is all for the sake of the Coalition."

"Horatio's behind this, isn't he?" Anna probed. "What does he stand to gain?"

"Shut up, Your Majesty." The lieutenant growled. "Or we'll put a musket ball through your skull first. Not that it really matters, you'll both be dead within the next few minutes."

Anna felt a chill run down her spine, and it wasn't from the blizzard which was blowing bitterly cold winds and snow into the command tent. We're going to be executed by our own allies after everything we've endured during this campaign? Ironic.

"Let me guess," Frederick said calmly. "With Her Majesty and myself out of the picture, there's nothing stopping the young Marquess from putting himself in charge and assuming command of the Coalition. He'll be free to install a new Field Marshal to keep the war going."

"Precisely."

"I must say, I am a little disappointed." Frederick's eyes met Anna's, and his head dipped downwards subtly. Anna's eyes darted downwards, and she saw that he was ever so slowly reaching for his belt, where a loaded pistol hung, along with a cavalry saber.

Sloppy. Anna couldn't help but grin slightly. The Xerflorians didn't even think to check for weapons or disarm Frederick or herself. Horatio had to really be desperate to use these men.

"Infantry reserves, aren't you?" Anna asked in a loud voice, directing their attention to her and away from Frederick.

The lieutenant looked stunned. "What?"

"I said, you're infantry reserves, aren't you?" Anna said in a singsong voice. "Horatio wouldn't put you guys on the front lines because you lot didn't make the cut."

"I'd shut my mouth if I were you." The lieutenant growled, hand on his sword. "I was hoping to make this quick and clean."

"Don't worry, you won't get the chance." Anna said mildly.

"What?"

Frederick suddenly sprung to his feet like a man half his age. In one smooth motion, he drew his cavalry saber and slashed it across the abdomens of two of the nearest Xerflorians, and slammed the pommel of his sword against a third's nose, moving with the grace of a seasoned fencer.

Before the Xerflorian soldier behind Anna could react, she drove her elbow into his shin, which was thankfully unpadded. He doubled over with a grunt, and Anna snatched the nearest item she could get her hands on - a wooden box on Frederick's desk, and smashed it across the back of his head. Unconscious, he slumped to the ground and Anna kicked the musket away from his hands.

In the time it'd taken her to disarm one man, Frederick had already cleanly sliced the tendons of another and had his pistol in his other hand. A loud crack and a pink-white flare filled the command tent, and the recipient of the shot spun away clutching his shoulder.

The only one that remained was the lieutenant, who had a shocked look plastered across his face. Only a few seconds had elapsed since Frederick's sudden attack, and the officer was still fumbling to draw his own sword.

Frederick stopped him short, raising the point of his cavalry saber and pointing it at the man. He hadn't broken a sweat and wasn't even breathing hard. Anna was rather surprised. In all the years she'd known him, she had never seen him in action like this before as he'd always been one slow to violence and had always been so gentle and proper.

"Enough of that, lieutenant." Frederick warned in a calm but dangerous voice. "Remove your scabbard, please."

"Shit." The Xerflorian officer swore, glancing round. All his men had been incapacitated just like that, and the tables had been turned. Reluctantly, he undid his belt and let it drop to the tent floor with a clatter.

"Thank you. Now if you'd be so kind, on your knees and lace your fingers behind your head." Frederick said in a slightly more pleasant voice.

The lieutenant cursed in his own language and got down on the ground of the tent, doing as Frederick asked.

"I sent a messenger, they should be-" Kristoff stopped short, halfway into the tent. His mouth gaped open. "What-" He immediately crossed the room and took Anna in his arms, examining her. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Thanks to Fred's quick thinking." She reassured him, and glanced over at Frederick, who was tying the lieutenant's hands behind his back. "That was some crazy stuff back there. I've never actually seen you fight before. I didn't know you could move that fast!"

"You weren't too sloppy yourself, Ma'am." Frederick flashed a small grin, breaking his usual decorum. Only his hair was slightly out of place but other than that, his uniform remained irritatingly immaculate.

"You've got to tell me where you learnt to move like that." Anna demanded, still in awe.

"Maybe someday." For a moment, Frederick had a faraway look in his eye but like a flash, it was gone. "But for now we have a little problem on our hands."

"Xerflorians." Kristoff said, his breath short. He surveyed the tent of unconscious soldiers. "They attacked you both?"

"Ambushed us. Horatio must have been planning a mutiny." Anna replied dryly. "Not very smart."

Kristoff still looked baffled and looked like he was failing to find the words to respond.

"Send another messenger. Call off the council of war." Anna said.

Frederick frowned. "Ma'am?"

"It's time to put an end to this civil war once and for all." Anna set her jaw. "This has been going on for too long, and now Horatio just tried to assassinate us. This has gone too far. I think it's time we took the fight to him."

###

Thankfully a ceasefire happened sometime after sunset, and so far Kane hadn't dispatched the Imperial Blitzguard to hackle the camp borders yet. The smoke was still present out there on the battlefield, and the blizzard had subsided a little though snow still fell.

By nightfall, almost three thousand soldiers were gathered in the centre of the camp. Anna had given urgent instructions to be disseminated throughout the divisions. All the generals, colonels, majors, captains and lieutenants from all the various divisions were present, and with them were men under their command. It'd been a miracle that this thing could have been put together so quickly, Anna had stressed the importance of making sure all the right people witnessed this. She needed them all to see it for their own eyes if she was going to turn this whole thing around.

"You certain this is gonna go the way you want it to?" Gretel asked.

Anna knew that she "owed" the siblings their pay for their help, but in all the chaos she hadn't had the chance yet.

"Well if it doesn't, that's what I'm paying you guys for." Anna said. She shifted nervously as she stood at the side of the large circle of soldiers gathered in the camp. More and more soldiers were beginning to join in to see what was going on.

"Right." Hansel, the other half of the Witch Hunters, tapped the pistol lodged into the side of his belt. "No sweat, Queen. We'll be here."

"Thank you." Anna said absentmindedly, her mind already running through what she was going to say in a few moments time.

"Oh, and about that pay." Hansel began.

Gretel elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up."

Anna looked up, her eyes taking a moment to adjust as the wind blew against her face. Her eyes narrowed. Duke Helmsley and Marquess Horatio were approaching, flanked by their own ensemble of honour guards, each faction dressed in their kingdom's colours.

She looked over her shoulder at Kristoff, who was standing right behind her. He squeezed her hand. "I'll be right here."

Nodding, she took a deep breath and turned to Frederick. "It's time."

Out she walked into the heart of the circle, a dozen soldiers from her Queen's Guard accompanying her. More emerged from the crowd, dragging the Xerflorian soldiers who had been caught in the command tent earlier into the centre of the open space, and Frederick trailed behind them, hands clasped behind his back calmly.

Confused looks were written on Helmsley's and Horatio's faces, but they were vanished quickly as they'd neared. But Anna had been watching Horatio closely, and now she knew for certain that this assassination attempt had been his doing.

"Your Majesty." Helmsley waved irritably at the crowd, hiding his initial panic well. "Forgive me for being so blunt, but this is highly irregular especially since we all need our rest. God only knows when Kane is going to bombard us again."

"What's going on?" Horatio feigned ignorance, but it wasn't a good look on him. He gestured angrily at the seven Xerflorians restrained by Anna's Arendellian guards. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Why don't you tell us, Horatio?" Anna said in a loud voice. "It was your men, and your orders."

His face began to grow red. "What-what is this?"

"The yellow uniforms are a dead giveaway." Anna deadpanned. She lifted her voice, making sure everyone gathered could hear her. "Field Marshal Frederick and I were almost victims of an assassination attempt at the hands of these men. Xerflorians."

Horatio's eyes went wide. "Impossible. My men were at the front lines."

"Then how do you explain this?" Anna said, gesturing at the sullen Xerflorians behind her who were being held up by her own guards. "Do you deny that you tried to have Field Marshal Frederick and myself killed?"

"Are you calling me a liar and a traitor?" Horatio raised his voice. A look of anger and indignation crossed his face. "I didn't know about this! I was on the front lines all day with my cavalry. You can ask any of them, they all saw me clear as day." He gestured spitefully at the captured men. "I had nothing to do with whatever this was!"

Anna's blood began to boil. These were his men, weren't they? But as she looked into his eyes, she began to doubt her own conviction. How sure was she that it really was Horatio?

Horatio suddenly whirled and gripped Duke Helmsley by the collar of his long robe. "You. You did this!"

"Gah!" Helmsley shouted, flailing wildly. "Get your hands off me!"

"You set me up." Horatio snarled. "Pretended to be my ally, then used my men to frame me for a mutiny!"

"You're mad, boy! I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Helmsley spluttered.

"Lies!" Horatio roared, he dragged the duke out into the centre of the circle where Anna and the others were. He reached out and grabbed the Xerflorian lieutenant. "Admit it, Lieutenant. You were hired by the old man, weren't you?"

The lieutenant looked like he was about to break down.

"Answer me!" Horatio bellowed.

"Yes sir." The lieutenant was shame-faced, and averted his eyes. "H-His Grace approached us. Bribed us to stage a mutiny in your name so that it couldn't be traced back to him."

Anna watched, mouth gaping open slightly. Never had she thought that the rigid, rule-abiding Duke would do such a thing. And yet…

Horatio let go of his lieutenant and whirled back to Helmsley, who was cowering in fear. "You filthy snake." He growled. "After all we've endured together this winter, you try to frame me for a war crime?"

"Get your hands off me!" Helmsley shouted, hands thrashing wildly but in vain as Horatio maintained his iron grip on him.

Anna finally snapped out of her shock and stepped forward, putting a hand on Horatio's arm. "Enough."

"He almost branded me a criminal." Horatio snarled. "My career would have been over. My title stripped from me. Reputation gone. Honour tarnished. All because of him!"

"But he didn't." Anna said, her tone firm and authoritative. "You're innocent." She couldn't believe she was saying the words when just a minute ago she'd been utterly convinced he was guilty. "Let him go. He'll answer for his crimes."

Horatio pondered for a few long seconds, and finally released Helmsley from his grip. "Arrest the bastard." He growled at the nearest Xerflorian sergeants who'd been watching in shock, and pointed at the captured traitors. "And them too." The Xerflorians sprung into action, removing a protesting Duke Helmsley along with the other traitors. He watched for a minute, and then turned back to Anna.

"I swear, I had nothing to do with this." His face was still red.

"I know." Anna reassured him, though she herself wasn't entirely convinced. But still, the look on his face told her everything. He really was innocent.

She took a deep breath and turned to the large crowd of soldiers who were still gathered. Even though things hadn't exactly gone according to her plan, she was still going through with it.

"You've all witnessed what has happened here tonight." Anna called out in her loudest voice. "The Duke of Wellingbrook tried to have his own allies killed. If he was willing to do that, do you think he cared how many of you died out there on that battlefield?" She motioned towards the plain where the Coalition had been fighting for the past few days. "He doesn't, but I do. We do." She cast a glance at Horatio, hoping he would go along with it. Thankfully, he didn't say anything.

She inhaled deeply before continuing. "And so, I am officially ordering a withdrawal from Luftzeit. We will not stand by, fighting against an enemy we know we cannot beat and losing thousands of lives for nothing. We will fall back at dawn!"

Anna held her breath, not knowing what to expect. Uncertain cheers broke out erratically at first, and then they grew, and soon the entire camp was roaring in approval, clapping and shouting in relief. She deflated considerably, and looked over at Horatio. He hadn't protested or anything, so that was a good sign. He looked at her for a long time, his face set in a peculiar expression. Just like that, he'd lost all of his boyish charm and a cold fury had replaced iti. After a long minute, he gave Anna a short but sincere nod of approval before turning and marching off, flanked by his guards.

Letting out a breathless laugh, she looked around her. She'd done it. All she could see were faces of gratitude and relief, and she could feel the release of tension in the atmosphere.

Kristoff came out of nowhere and enveloped her in a bear hug. "You did it." He said in amazement. "You actually pulled it off."

"I-I did, didn't I?" She laughed again, still half dazed.

"You did, Ma'am." Frederick said, a warm smile on his face. "And because of you, we just saved thousands of lives. Maybe even all of us."

"We're done for the winter," Kristoff said, and a warmth spread over Anna's body in spite of the blizzard raging all around. "The campaign is over."