Chapter Thirty Six
Pieces of the Puzzle
ANNA
Anna hadn't been sleeping too well, and tonight was no exception. She was quite painfully aware that it was the wee hours of the morning now, and a battle would mount later. Was it the pre-battle jitters, the thought of knowing that men would soon rush to their deaths in the name of freedom, or was it the mystery hiding in the shadows? She suspected that it was the latter.
What Anna had seen out in the dark two nights ago had been plaguing her mind ever since. Images of Uxzas riding out in the dark, the way his face had twitched when she had leaked that false information to bait him, and his secret conference with the men in the brown cloaks. And of course, not forgetting how the man had chased her down and tussled with her.
She'd deduced that he was a priest of some sort. It was the only thing that made sense to Anna. The way he had spoken, his choice of words, his devotion to his group…it was fanatic and she highly suspected religious.
It'd shaken her up quite a fair bit. First of all, there had been the shock of getting ambushed and nearly ratted out by the man who had caught her. And then the high speed chase on horseback as she tried to get back to the safety of the Coalition camp. It had taken a while for her to realise that while engaging him in melee that he was not a fighter. Which would probably make him some sort of clergyman.
What she could not understand was the man's willingness to give up his secrets with his dying breath. One would have thought a religious fanatic like him would rather die before talking. It confused her, and she had shared that confusion with Kristoff, who had been there in the nick of time to help her.
The other image she couldn't shake out of her mind was that of her husband running his sword through her attacker, killing him in a single stroke. Anna had never seen him kill before, and the thought of it still brought shudders. She knew that he had done it to protect her, and this was war they were at anyway. Danger all around at any given moment, and all that. But still…
Obviously, Kristoff knew her mind about killing, and had reasserted that he would never kill unless absolutely necessary. That had set her mind at ease, at least, and she'd turned her concerns back to the larger problem ahead.
Over the past day, Frederick had ordered that the Coalition extend their marching hours to make up for the lost time. The weather had been unforgiving, but after that crazy night, it didn't rain or snow during the day, so the ground was relatively easy to traverse.
As discussed, the Coalition broke up into two major forces. Five divisions, made up of Molcorrans, Vjormans and the Einsfeltai had started earlier in the day and split up at the road fork to take a longer route that would bring them to city's flank.
Squadrons of cavalry troops went ahead of them to push back any enemy scouts. The illusion needed to be maintained, as the enemy couldn't be allowed to know that the Coalition would be executing a variation of the double envelopment manoeuvre. The cavalry troops did a good job at making sure that the enemy scouts didn't escape, thus preserving the effectiveness of Frederick's tactic.
The other five divisions made up of Arendellians, Danish and Xerflorians were joined by two Molcorran brigades to keep up the illusion of a smaller army. They made good time, arriving at a spot just below a hill, where yonder lay the city of Korynes.
It was long after dark when the march had finally ended last night, with the final few wagons and soldiers trudging into camp at a little after ten. One final briefing had been held for the generals of Frederick's reduced forces, along with dinner with the remaining Confederation members accompanying his forces.
Since Melody was away on "personal business", that added up to only Anna and the hot-headed Horatio, which made for a rather uncomfortable evening. The infuriating marquess always seemed to find a way to get under her skin, while remaining politically respectful to the queen of Arendelle. It was beyond annoying.
Kristoff had been there, of course, and more than once Anna had to secretly signal to him to leave it alone. She felt like she didn't want to waste her energy dealing with the young marquess. Better to conserve the energy for the real fight with the enemy.
It had come as a relief then, when she could finally retire to her tent with Kristoff, to enjoy what few precious hours of sleep they could reap before the battle in the morning. But with all the various things swimming about in her head, Anna was quietly annoyed that she couldn't sleep, while on the other hand her husband slept soundly like a log as he would have back in the castle.
Therefore, it was a rather big surprise and relief when a portal of purple mist opened up on the other side of her tent. The light from the mist cast a cool glow across the spacious tent, and Kristoff, who had always been a light sleeper, rose with an agitated noise.
"What's that?" He groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"I think," Anna said, a grin spreading across her face as she sat up. "Our friends are back."
The first to emerge from the Crossing Point was Tracy, who walked out with her trademark easy gait.
"Bloody hell. You have no idea how good it feels to get my magic working again." Tracy mused aloud. "Hey guys. Been a long time, yeah?"
"Yes it has." Anna smiled, a good feeling spreading throughout her body. Now finally, after so many months, her friends had returned, albeit in the privacy of Anna's tent. And so would her sister. She couldn't wait to see Elsa.
One by one, the Warriors streamed out of the Crossing Point. Maui, Deirdre, Jade, Melody, and finally Janus brought up the rear, and Tracy closed the Crossing Point with the flick of her wrist.
Wait, Anna's smile vanished. Everyone's here, but where's Elsa?
"It's really good to see you all again." She said. "But uhh, where's my sister?"
The Warriors glanced at each other, letting an unspoken sort of agreement pass amongst themselves. They all looked uncomfortable, as if they had won a great victory, yet lost something of great price.
"Guys?" Anna felt her heart sinking as she realised something was wrong. "Where's Elsa?"
"She's…ummn…" Melody was the first to speak.
"What's wrong?" Kristoff asked. He too had exchanged a puzzled glance with Anna.
"The brown cloaks took her." Tracy blurted out a little too loudly, and the Warriors immediately hissed at her to keep her voice down.
Anna blinked, world beginning to swirl before her eyes. "What?"
"I'm sorry." Janus stepped forward. "When I went back, Elsa was already gone."
"What do you mean gone?" Kristoff said, lighting a lantern to illuminate the tent that was pitch black. "She was taken by the men in the brown cloaks after you left?"
"She was brought to the Warden's office the night of Janus' escape." Maui explained. "It was part of her plan."
"Plan?" Anna was growing exasperated. "What the hell happened to my sister?"
"The brown cloaks have been smuggling sorcerers out of Stormtide with the Warden's approval." Maui explained. "Elsa figured that the only way to get to the bottom of it all was to use herself as bait."
"And you just let her?" Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You know how Elsa is." Tracy spread her hands. "Too stubborn to listen to anyone, believes things work best if she goes it alone."
That was true. Anna was very well aware that Elsa had a tendency to believe the lie that she was the only one who could solve the problem herself. Back in the Enchanted Forest, Elsa had tricked Anna into believing that she was going to allow Anna to cross the Dark Sea with her.
And of course, everyone knew how that had panned out. Elsa crossed the Dark Sea by herself and almost died. It wasn't a stretch to think that Elsa had fallen into her folly once again. Apparently all the Warriors had known her long enough to know that once she had made up her mind, no one could really stop her.
"I…I can't believe this is happening." Kristoff massaged the bridge of his nose. "So Elsa served herself up just like that?"
"She staged an elaborate riot to distract the guards from Janus' escape and to gain the attention of the Warden. Then, the Warden had her smuggled out of Stormtide."
"And where is she now?" Anna asked, despair creeping in.
"That…" Melody glanced at Janus, and they both had a disturbed look on their faces. "We don't know for sure."
Anna cursed under her breath and ran a hand through her bedraggled hair. "You gotta be kidding me."
"There's more." Melody said quickly. "After freeing the rest, we went up to the Warden's office during the breakout to interrogate him to see if he knew anything about Elsa's disappearance."
"He told us that the Warden was authorised by the Confederation. Namely, King Uxzas." Janus' expression was very grim. "Uxzas ordered the Warden to give the brown cloaks a supply of imprisoned sorcerers."
Melody nodded. "And he gave us a name. The brown cloaks are working for someone they all call 'the High Priest'."
"'The High Priest'?" Anna repeated. "And did he tell you who this 'High Priest' person is?"
"Well, he was going to." Melody exchanged another glance with Janus, who had pursed his lips. Her own expression had gone tight. "But he was assassinated before he could tell us."
"Assassinated? Kristoff folded his thick arms. "But weren't you both in the room with him?"
"I don't know how either." Janus said. "I've seen some strange things, but this…he just began clawing at his collar, and his face turned white. And then he just collapsed and died."
Anna's face twitched. She was suddenly rudely reminded of the time when Janus had still been their enemy and he had been responsible for assassinating the ex-Chancellor Tobias, who by now was nothing more than a distant memory of a time when things were far less complicated.
Slightly more than two years ago, Anna had been interrogating Tobias, who had been a spy for Ingrid Grendstav. He had given up information about the League, but not without giving Anna a hard time prior to that. However, unbeknownst to her, Ingrid had sent Janus - back then the masked mercenary known as Prometheus - to tie up loose ends.
Before Tobias could tell her what she needed to know, Janus had thrown a blade into his back from across the prison building. How he had managed to do that, Anna still didn't know. But she was hoping he could shed some light on the matter of assassination.
"Janus, you've uh…done similar stuff before," Anna began, and then belatedly realised that it might have been a little offensive. Offensive? He's an ex-villain for God's sake. "Do you think the Warden was killed by the men in the cloaks?"
Apparently, he wasn't offended, or at least he didn't show it. He gave a confident nod. "If I were this High Priest, I would want to shut him up before he spills all my secrets. That's what the Pilgrim sent me to do back then."
Well, he remembers too. Anna nodded slowly. "Well, Kristoff and myself discovered something too."
She then began relaying her strange adventure to her six guests in her tent. And of course, she had to be mindful not to speak in too loud a voice, since it was still the wee hours of the morning. The Warriors were still technically fugitives from the Confederation, and they were hiding out in her tent. It wouldn't do to draw attention to herself.
By the time she'd finished telling them about Uxzas' secret meeting and her encounter with the pursuer in the brown cloak, the rest of the Warriors in the room seemed duly impressed with what she had learnt, and thoughtful at the same time.
"And there's that." Anna finished, taking a deep breath. Boy, did I say a mouthful.
"Alright," Melody said after a brief pause. As usual, she was taking the lead, and it seemed that she hadn't missed a beat after months out of action. "Let's lay out everything we know. Uxzas was the first one to suggest implementing the Continental Anti-Sorcerers Treaty, and he pushed hard for it to be sanctioned by the rest of the Confederation."
"It was almost as if he was desperate to have it green-lit." Anna mused.
"Yeah, he assembled the Blue Wolves to take us all down." Deirdre said acidly. "And then he threw sorcerers in jail. The best part is, the bastard got away with it all."
"So once the sorcerers are safely locked up in Stormtide away from the public eye, Uxzas' friends, the brown cloaks, are free to have their picks of which sorcerers they want to smuggle out. The Warden said he had no choice in the matter, and I think I believe him." Melody glanced at Janus. "You were there. Do you trust what he said?"
"I suppose I do," Janus said, unclenching his jaw. "Even though he was the one who gave Elsa away to the brown cloaks."
Anna caught his eye, and saw that behind the anger was regret and guilt. She imagined that he was quietly blaming himself for not being around to protect her, and felt a pang of sympathy for the man. After all, Anna herself had harboured the same train of thought.
"So the Warden says that Uxzas gave him orders to obey the brown cloaks." Melody went on. "And that they all answered to a figurehead known only as the High Priest."
"When I confronted my assailant, he called his master 'His Eminence'." Anna cut in. "Do you think they could be the same person?"
Melody looked pensive. "Possibly. Regardless, it's quite clear that even Uxzas fears this man enough to work for him, what with him being king and all."
Tracy snorted. "Kings and queens aren't all that great. Most of the time they're cowards quaking underneath their crowns." Remembering, she caught Kristoff's eye. "Ah…most of the time. No offence, Anna."
"None taken." Anna said. All this information was swirling about in her head, like a whirlwind of water pieced together by various droplets from different sources of water bodies. A pond, a river, an ocean. But it was all coming together.
"Let's not forget that we know the name of these brown cloaks." Kristoff added. "Or at least what organisation they're working for."
"The Crimson Order." Anna said, a chill running down her spine. What did that even mean? Who were they really? She had a thousand questions, all of which she confident none of them would be able to respond. Unless…
"Maui," Anna turned to the demigod, who was hunched over to avoid hitting the top of her tent canvas. "You've lived a thousand years or more. You know a whole lot about magic and the history of all of that. Is there any chance you've heard of these guys?"
To her disappointment and mild surprise, Maui shook his head. "The Crimson Order? In all my years I've never heard of them."
"Sounds like some fanatic cult to me." Tracy said dismissively. "I mean, come on. 'The Crimson Order'? Really?"
"So the Crimson Order is being headed by this mysterious High Priest." Janus concluded. "He's been the one manipulating things from the shadows this whole time. The CAST, Stormtide, even his influence within the Confederation. Who knows what else the Crimson Order's been controlling?"
"We need to find out who these people are." Anna gritted her teeth. "But first we have to save Elsa." She glanced round helplessly at her friends. "Is there any way, any possibility of finding her?"
"Well," Tracy said. "I can try using my magic. You know, to try and locate her by tapping into her senses. The way I tried to find her when she went missing after you kidnapped her." She stared at Janus accusingly.
"That was a long time ago." Janus muttered.
"But," Tracy went on. "I don't know if it'll work. Elsa had the same idea, that's why she so freely allowed herself to be used as bait, because she was counting on me to find her."
"Why won't it work?" Kristoff asked. He had always been the skeptic when it came to magic, but he had gradually come to accept that this was the world they lived in now.
"Well for starters, Elsa didn't know I tried to use my sorcery to find her when she was kidnapped. The Pilgrim had the same powers as me, remember?" Tracy explained. "Ha'naeth cancels out Ha'naeth. She blocked my powers by clouding everything over."
"But this is different, isn't it?" Anna said.
"The problem is that it is too different." Tracy emphasised. "Back then we were just dealing with someone who was a Ha'naeth like me. This time, we're dealing with stuff way more powerful and dangerous. I mean, I can try, but-"
"Do it." Melody put a hand on her shoulder. "We believe you can do it."
Anna nodded. "We're counting on you to find my sister. I'm counting on you."
"Whew. No pressure then." Tracy rubbed her palms together and sat down in front of the rest of the Warriors.
They all moved a little to give her some space, and she took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "Right. Here goes." Tracy closed her eyes and began muttering a spell under her breath.
Anna drew in a sharp intake of air and held it there as Tracy worked. Her sister's safety hung in the balance as time seemed to wear on forever. Scenario after scenario played in Anna's mind like a series of images. Horrible images of her sister undergoing all sorts of torment. Of Elsa being tortured. Her lying dead in a ditch somewhere, with her throat being slit. No, Anna firmly tried to keep those thoughts at bay. Be rational. If the Crimson Order went through so much trouble to get Elsa, they wouldn't just kill her. It doesn't make sense. They need her for something.
In the real world, only a minute or two had elapsed, and Tracy opened her eyes, getting to her feet almost too quickly. Melody had to steady her before she toppled over again.
"What is it? Did you find her?" Anna asked hopefully.
"I did." Tracy said, her tone carrying triumph in it. "She's in Korynes."
"Well, what do you know?" Melody said incredulously. "Coincidence?"
"It seems a little too easy." Deirdre looked uncertain.
"I'm telling you, I saw her in Korynes." Tracy said. "She's in the city somewhere."
"Good. Then let's go." Anna straightened up like a rod, adrenaline pulsating through her veins. "We can get her back by sunrise."
Kristoff caught her arm. "Anna, let's think about this."
"What's there to think about?" Anna stared at him. "We can save my sister. Your sister in law. We have to act now."
"Wait." Melody said. "We should hold off until the battle starts."
"Why?"
"Wherever Elsa is being kept, I don't have a firm lock on." Tracy added. "It's hazy, and I can't pinpoint her exact location. We have to get closer."
"Oh, for the love of-" Anna trailed off.
"I think we should wait." Melody went on. "Right now, the city of Korynes will still be swarming with Exonian soldiers. It's too great a risk to roam the streets. But once the battle starts, the city of Korynes will be thrown into chaos, and then we can act."
"Once I'm over the city walls, I'll be able to find Elsa's exact location." Tracy said.
"And then we'll save her." Maui gave Anna a reassuring smile.
Thinking about it for a while, Anna realised they were right. She deflated and sighed. "Alright. We wait till the fighting starts. But not a second after."
"I think y'all should know," Tracy said slowly. "There's a second part to what I saw."
Anna frowned. She didn't like the feeling she was getting at all. "What is it?"
"When I saw through Elsa's eyes, I could vaguely make out her surroundings. There was someone in the room with her." Tracy's expression had gone frighteningly serious. "Now I can't say for sure, coz I haven't seen him all that many times and the vision wasn't all too clear. I think there was more sorcery hindering me from getting a good visual, but-"
"Tracy." Anna gripped her shoulders. "What are you saying?"
"I thought I saw your old enemy."
Anna felt her blood freeze in her veins and something twisted in her gut. "Who?"
"Hans."
