Chapter Ten

Elsa and the Empress

ELSA

Lying on her back, Elsa stared up at the tent roof. Her eyes felt like closing again, but she willed herself to stay awake. It was nearly midnight. She cast a sidelong glance at Janus, who was already fast asleep. He'd taken to wearing his mercenary blacks to bed as it kept him warm. Elsa could only wonder how everyone else was coping with the cold when she could barely feel it.

Thankfully, he hadn't put an arm over her tonight, so it wouldn't be too hard to slip out. Her heavy eyelids drooped momentarily and she forced them open again, desperate to keep herself awake. All her body wanted was to rest, but her mind was determined to stay alert. For the fiftieth time, she checked the small portable pocket watch by the side of her bedroll. Ten minutes to midnight. Good enough.

She slowly slid away from Janus, extra cautious not to make any sudden movements that would rouse the ever-alert ex-mercenary. No, she couldn't risk him getting suspicious and tailing her. There was too much at stake here. Thankfully, she managed to slip away from him, and got dressed. She honestly didn't know what to expect from this little exchange, so she donned a light blue blouse and thick jacket with leggings and her trusty boots.

As Elsa prepared to leave, she stopped. Janus turned in his sleep and continued breathing quietly. Everything in her wanted to just wake him and share with him her burdens. Maybe he could find a way. He was resourceful and would…

And nothing, Elsa shook her head. Before she could change her mind, she took one last look at her sleeping lover and slipped out of the tent. She didn't even have the chance to kiss him goodbye.

The Coalition camp was silent. All the fires were out, and the soldiers all slept in their tents, no doubt huddled together for warmth. It was still snowing, and the moonlight was practically non-existent.

"Strange night for all this cloak and dagger nonsense, eh?"

Elsa nearly jumped out of her skin, and whirled round to see Tracy leaning against a tree nearby, obscured mostly in the shadows.

"Shhhh!" Elsa hissed through her teeth in vexation as she pulled Tracy along with her. "We have to keep a low profile."

"Right. Right." Tracy said nonchalantly. "Still can't believe we're doing this."

Elsa had filled her in a while after her meeting with Salvadore. In private, of course. No one else knew about the exchange except for Elsa herself and Tracy. She still felt awful for having to pull Tracy into it, but the former sea witch didn't seem to have any qualms about coming along. If anything, she seemed to be champing at the bit to chip in to save Jade.

Going down the same path she'd taken earlier, Elsa tread cautiously and quietly like a cat through the woods with Tracy in tow, and found the spot she'd been at a few hours ago. As promised, Salvadore was there waiting for her.

"You're early." He noted impassively.

"Let's just get on with it." Elsa said coldly. It felt dreadfully like she was preparing to meet her end.

"So this is the creep?" Tracy asked, openly pointing at the Mage Slayer.

Elsa kept her steely gaze on Salvadore. "Yes."

Tracy aimed a hand at him. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't destroy his demon ass right now."

"I think you know the answer to that, Ha'naeth." Salvadore said calmly.

She narrowed her eyes and put down her hand, to Elsa's relief.

"Very well." Salvadore remarked, as though his life hadn't just been threatened a moment ago. He nodded at Elsa. "Do keep your friend in line, please. Shall we?"

Elsa regarded him with a cold stare, but neglected to respond.

Salvadore must have taken that as a yes, as dark clouds began to materialise out of nowhere, surrounding the Mage Slayer, Elsa and Tracy. She kept her eyes locked on him, determined not to let her fear show. The demonic sorcery engulfed the trio, and soon Elsa could not make out their surroundings at all. It was almost as though the forest - and the Coalition camp that lay outside - did not exist.

The dark clouds seemed to hiss at Elsa, or maybe she was just imagining it. Either way, the entire experience made her feel incredibly uncomfortable but she remained steadfast in her demeanour, the same way Tracy was doing. This was their ticket into the lair of the Crimson Order and to end their reign of terror once and for all.

When the clouds cleared and their surroundings became clear once more, Elsa found herself in a place she didn't expect. She'd been imagining that she would turn up in some deep, underground cavern that served as the Order's hideout. But no.

Confused, she surveyed her surroundings. The room she was in was very well furnished, with expensive ornaments and well-polished furniture arranged in every corner. This was a guest suite, by the looks of it, and she could only guess that Salvadore had brought her into Eleanor's castle fortress.

She realised belatedly that Tracy wasn't by her side.

"What-" she turned to address Salvadore, but the Mage Slayer was gone as well. It was as though he and Tracy hadn't followed her, having been teleported to somewhere else. She imagined that Salvadore had taken Tracy straight to the lair of the Crimson Order, but she couldn't fathom for what purpose other than to have her locked up together with Jade. Had this been a trick all along?

Exhaling in annoyance, Elsa turned back to her surroundings. This was not what she had been expecting at all. She went to the door, a white slab of solid marble, and tried the handle. Locked. Of course.

Elsa applied her shoulder to the door and tested it. The door didn't budge an inch. So she was trapped, with no way of knowing what was in store for her next. Rubbing her arms, she suddenly felt very ill. This was disturbing, to say the least. What the hell is going on?

There was some commotion outside the door, and Elsa stepped away from it in a hurry. Keys jangled in the lock and something clicked. The door swung open and in walked four soldiers, wearing the same white uniforms that marked them as part of the new elite guard. The Imperial Blitzguard.

The four men were tall and big like grenadiers, and certainly looked more like an elite guard than the First Imperials. They eyed Elsa warily, as though afraid of her. She stared back at them, levelling their gazes. It was as though they were equally uncertain of what to do.

"You are the Snow Queen, are you not?" The first one broke the silence, his Exonian accent thick like honey.

Elsa nodded slowly. She didn't trust her voice.

The Blitzguard soldiers exchanged glances for a few seconds, and another spoke.

"Come with us, please. The Chancellor is expecting you in his office."

So Hans is here after all. Maybe Jade's with him too. Elsa nodded again, and found herself sandwiched between her escorts. They stood on each side, with one in front and one at the rear, blocking her escape. Out of the room they went, and down a long carpeted hallway. This part of the castle was well lit, Elsa observed as she was escorted towards wherever Hans' office was. This part of the castle was most likely used to house guests.

The Blitzguard soldiers led her down winding corridors, left, right, cutting right again and doubling back. Elsa was under the impression that they were trying to disorient her, so that in the event that she were to try to escape, she would end up confused by the various turns they had previously taken, giving them the time they needed to catch up to her.

Someone emerged from one of the rooms down the hallway, clutching an empty flask in her hand, and Elsa did a double take. The woman had red hair and looked utterly dishevelled, as though she hadn't groomed herself in weeks.

"What-what is this?" Eleanor asked. She looked a little drunk as well, red faced as she slowly swayed over to where Elsa and the four soldiers were.

The Blitzguard soldiers saluted in perfect synchronisation. "Your Imperial Majesty." They echoed in unison, as though by clockwork.

"I said," Eleanor ignored their salutations. "What is this?" For the first time, she seemed to notice that it was Elsa they were escorting, and her eyes lit up. Then, they narrowed.

"What are you doing here?" Eleanor hissed, shoving the empty flask at one of the soldiers and marching up close to Elsa.

"Honestly I'm asking myself the same thing." Elsa said coolly, standing her ground as Eleanor roughly shoved past her own elite guard.

"How did you get here? Who authorised this?" Eleanor demanded, directing her question to no one in particular. When no one answered, she tried again a little louder.

"Who brought her here? Who gave the orders?" She screeched hysterically all of a sudden, and Elsa flinched slightly.

"His Excellency, the Chancellor." One of the Blitzguard answered. reluctantly.

Eleanor's eyes narrowed and she turned away. "Hans. I knew it. This…" she trailed off, her gaze suddenly faraway. Then without warning, she whirled round and stalked towards Elsa again. "You. I still have a score to settle with you. We never did conclude our fight on that hill."

"I'm not here to fight." Elsa levelled her gaze, and she could see that Eleanor's eyes were bloodshot and frenzied. This was the first time she'd seen the Empress after their fight during the Battle of Arendelle about eight months ago. To put it frankly, Eleanor looked horrible. She'd clearly descended further into madness since they'd last met.

"Oh we'll see." Eleanor hissed, her forehead so close to Elsa's that they were almost touching. She lingered for a moment, and then spun on her heel, storming away. "Bring her to the throne in the audience chambers. It's time I had a little chat with my former heroine."

"But Your Imperial Majesty," one of the Blitzguard soldiers protested weakly. "The Chancellor. He-"

Eleanor whirled round, her eyes wild. Some form of dark, demonic magic danced at her fingertips. "Who's in charge here? Me? Or Hans?"

The man swallowed. "You."

"You'll do well to remember that. Because if you forget again, I'll have you and your entire family flogged and shot." Eleanor said cruelly, and turned to stalk away again. "I want her at the throne in five minutes. And tie her up. We don't want to make things too easy." she swayed and pointed at Elsa. "Be careful of this one. She's a powerful one. And dangerous. You might just end up with frostbite."

Elsa gritted her teeth. Things had just gone from bad to worse. Now she had to deal with Eleanor too, and she still wasn't getting any closer to securing Jade's freedom.

Two of the soldiers took her arms, albeit more cautious and gently this time. Apparently they weren't too eager at the prospect of getting their hands frozen. But Elsa knew that for now, her best bet was to play along. Maybe there was still a chance to salvage this. She could find a way to turn the tables on Eleanor and get the upper hand, find Hans and force him to release Jade from Lord Magnus' clutches. But first, she would have to be patient and play Eleanor's game.

Instead of being escorted to Hans' office, the Blitzguard soldiers brought her to the audience chambers. They took her into a wide, majestic room, with thick round pillars at the sides of the walls and bright jewels hanging from the chandeliers on the ceiling. The floor of the audience chambers was overlaid with red and gold carpets, and the throne itself looked like something from another universe. It looked like all the wealth of the Empire had been gathered and allocated to the refurnishing and upgrading of Eleanor's castle. Suffice to say, Exon's palace rooms were way larger and more luxuriously decorated than Arendelle's.

By now, the soldiers were aware that if she'd wanted to escape, she already would have. And so, she was less cautiously forced into a sturdy chair meant for distinguished royal guests, and they tugged off her jacket, patting her down to make sure she concealed no tools of escape. Gritting her teeth, she endured the search, resisting the urge to lash out with her sorcery and freeze them all where they stood. Elsa's wrists were then roughly held behind her and bound with thick braided ropes.

Without another word, the soldiers left, though visibly unsettled. Elsa speculated that they were going to report the interception to Hans, who was probably more in control of them than Eleanor was. As the Imperial Blitzguard soldiers left, she tested her bonds, hoping to find some slack, any slack. There was none, but no matter. She could always use her powers to freeze the ropes and shatter them at any moment she wanted. Perhaps Eleanor was a little too drunk to realise that, but Elsa was going to use that to her advantage.

Then Elsa remembered. The Empress had demonic powers of her own. Powers that let her disrupt others, all without the need for magic dampening cuffs. Eleanor had cut Elsa off from her magic back during the Battle of Arendelle, and Elsa had been left to defend herself without her powers to aid her against the crazed Empress. Maybe Eleanor was still sharp enough to remember that she could stop Elsa from using her powers against her, but Elsa sincerely hoped not.

It must have been a minute or two before Eleanor strode into the room, still dressed in her bright red nightgown and still looking dishevelled and un-regal, but carrying a new bottle with her, which seemed to be her utmost priority right now. Clutching the bottle by the neck, she took a long pull as she half staggered towards Elsa. With her face flushed red, she was undoubtedly more than a little drunk.

Elsa subtly reached out with her senses and tested her connection to her magic. It was still there, and she could summon her ice at any time. Yes, Eleanor is definitely drunk.

"I suppose you deserve a proper welcome." Eleanor's tone was calm but as always, unpredictable. She held the bottle out to Elsa. "Drink?"

Elsa stared at her. "What do you want, Eleanor?"

"Rude." Eleanor tilted her head back and chugged another mouthful. She set the bottle down beside Elsa's chair and bent over so that she was level with Elsa, swaying ever so slightly. "I thought I'd gained your respect after that battle at the borders of Arendelle. And now it seems the roles are reversed. Your precious Coalition is almost at the gates of Exon. My capital. My empire."

"You brought this upon yourself." Elsa said, stone-faced. "No one asked you to start a war."

"And no one asked you to retaliate." Eleanor retorted acidly. "Don't you think things would've been so much easier if you'd just let me run my Empire the way I wanted? If you, your nosy sister, your sorcerous cohort and the whole damned Confederation could've just minded your own businesses, we wouldn't have come to this. And now, your Coalition is about to be wiped out by Kane and the Imperial Horde."

"I'm surprised Kane's still your lap dog." Elsa said. "I thought he'd have figured out by now that you were never going to help him resurrect his family."

"He's a desperate man." Eleanor scoffed. "Desperate men are easy to manipulate."

"And you aren't desperate? With the Coalition at your doorstep, I'd assumed you would be."

"I'll let you in on a little secret." Eleanor smiled lopsidedly. "I was at wit's end, seeing as how your Coalition has crushed everything the Empire has thrown at you the last few months. Which is why I entrusted the governance of the Empire and the war plans of the to my precious chancellor. That's why I sent him to negotiate peace. You remember Hans, don't you? The two of you still have some unfinished history, from what I recall."

Elsa resisted clenching her jaw.

"But unfortunately, he didn't manage to get you stubborn lot to make peace and leave us alone. I always assumed it was your faults for the war dragging on." Eleanor went on, slurring in her stupor. "Finally I decided to take things into my own hands and went to negotiate with your sister."

This time, Elsa bristled. "You talked to Anna?"

"We're old friends by now." Eleanor waved her hand lethargically. "What's a little misunderstanding between us?"

"A little misunderstanding? You banished my sister and friends to another dimension."

"Whatever. Sisters are overrated anyway." Eleanor rolled her eyes as she swayed to the side a little. "But relax, I didn't hurt your baby sister. Not this time anyway. I just wanted to negotiate for peace and for her to turn the Coalition around. Surely you understand that, don't you?"

Elsa couldn't help but scoff. "I don't believe it. You have the world's most dangerous cult working with you in the shadows and you want to sue for peace?"

Now it was Eleanor's turn to bristle. Her face twitched. Slowly, she leaned in close to Elsa's face. From such a close distance, Elsa could see right into Eleanor's deep green eyes, and saw only danger and the potential of a furious explosion.

"I'm impressed, really." Eleanor said in admiration, her breath reeking of alcohol. "You've really lived up to your reputation, you and your precious League of Sorcerers. Learning about the existence of the Crimson Order and managing to stay alive for this long. Magnus must be seething. I don't know, I haven't really spoken with him in a while. I think he's still annoyed at how I handled the whole Danish occupation thing."

Eleanor must have realised she was rambling, for she finally waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, it's not really that big of a surprise anymore. Your sister told me that you all knew."

"Anna probably couldn't help herself." Elsa muttered in undertones.

"Right." Eleanor staggered away, scooped up her bottle and took another long pull. She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her nightgown. "As I was saying, I tried to negotiate with your dear intrepid sister but she revealed something to me." Something in Eleanor's eyes shifted. "Something about Hans that got me thinking." She tapped the side of her head. "She planted seeds of doubt in my mind."

"And what did Anna say to you?"

"What if my precious chancellor and lover has been working to undermine me behind my back?"

Her face impassive and expression blank, Elsa looked at Eleanor. So she'd figured it out. Her alliance and relationship with Hans was about to unravel.

"And what if he is?" Elsa asked.

"I keep thinking to myself, and analysing every moment I've shared with him since the beginning." Eleanor frowned. "And you know what I realised?" She didn't bother to wait for Elsa's response. "There is something fishy about my lover. The more I think about it, the more suspicious I get. But-" There was now visible frustration on Eleanor's face. "-the bastard is so sneaky, I can't prove it. Almost unnoticeable, he's been hiding his tracks very well. I've never been able to catch him in the act, until now, that is."

A half drunk, half triumphant smile was now spreading across Eleanor's face and she suddenly crossed to Elsa's chair in two great strides. "Wouldn't you say that's a great big coincidence, Elsa?"

"Maybe." Elsa met her gaze which was still unpredictably unsettling. "So what does that have to do with me?"

"Ah. Nothing much, really." Eleanor tilted her head slightly, looking at Elsa as though she were prey. She was breathing fast and reeked strongly. "I just want to hear it from you first hand. Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

Without warning, Eleanor hurled the empty bottle past Elsa's head and it shattered against the pillar.

"You know what I'm talking about." Eleanor snarled. "Anna said that Hans was in Korynes, and he talked about the Order. About Magnus. About everything. Is it true? Has he been working behind my back?"

"And why would I tell you that?" Elsa retorted. "We both know that I've endured torture before, and that didn't break me."

"Ah." Eleanor's lip turned upward into a sly smile and she placed her palms on Elsa's thighs. "And what about this?"

It took Elsa all of her self control to stop herself from recoiling as Eleanor languidly ran her hands up her outer thighs. What the hell is she playing at?

"You're trying to think." Eleanor giggled, obviously high and emotions erratic. "You've resisted torture. But how to deal with this? You're enjoying it, aren't you?"

"You're mad, Eleanor." Elsa growled through gritted teeth, feeling her body tingle as Eleanor slid her hands up her flanks. The Empress was either very drunk, or she really had descended into a dangerously unstable mental state.

"Maybe." Her hands gently stroked Elsa's sides like a lover would, and slowly moved down to explore her inner thighs. "But you can't deny that no one's ever done this to you before." She leaned in closer, and Elsa narrowed her eyes. "Tell me. Has Hans betrayed me?"

"You must be joking if you think this will make me talk." Elsa resisted the urge to squirm as Eleanor's hand shifted on her skin.

"I'm losing my patience." Eleanor's giggles suddenly turned into a snarl and she gripped Elsa's thighs, nails digging painfully into Elsa's flesh. "I want to know. Did my beloved betray me? Tell me!"

Elsa had had enough. She summoned her sorcery to the forefront, and the ropes that bound her wrists froze instantly. Flexing her wrists, the ice snapped like twigs and she lunged forward. She dragged the screeching Empress to the ground and pounced on her before she could kick or struggle.

"I need to see Hans," Elsa said, one hand on Eleanor's collar and the other raised, hand glowing blue with ice particles hovering on her palm in case Eleanor had the lucidity or strength to retaliate. "Where do I find him?"

"Bitch," Eleanor hissed, though evidently too woozy to fight back. "You didn't answer my question."

Elsa couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Eleanor. What a sad shell of her former intimidating self she had become. This woman was nothing like the horrifying, power hungry threat she had faced eight months ago. But this was no time for sympathy.

"Eleanor, I don't have time for this," Elsa said impatiently. "Where's Hans?"

"Did he betray me?!" Eleanor shouted, squirming uselessly against Elsa's firm grip. "I have to know! Tell me!"

"You don't have to ask her." A familiar silky voice echoed from across the room.

At the sound of his voice, Eleanor stopped struggling and went stiff. Elsa glanced over her shoulder and her heart skipped a beat.