It was night time. The clock chimed to indicate the closure of gates. Anna, Agnarr and Iduna were anxiously awaiting Alex and Elsa's return. Anna was pacing around the room lost in her own thoughts. Agnarr and Iduna were sitting on the couch shifting through some papers. Kristoff was outside the castle with Mattias and Sven, checking on security and various needs of the citizens and guests. Olaf was busy trying to make himself useful to the castle staff in celebration of Agnarr and Iduna's arrival, and according to recent reports, it was going quite disastrously. Normally, the castle staff would turn in for the night, but the wedding decorations had to be taken down. It was just as hard a task as putting them up in the first place. The security around the kingdom had been significantly increased with more than a few soldiers volunteering to work double time, along with the night patrols. The attendants for the wedding were going to leave the kingdom the next morning.

There was a small tapping noise on the window. Anna was broken out of her reverie of pacing around the room and she hurried over to the closed window, when she saw a few flying twigs and stones and a piece of parchment. Agnarr and Iduna looked up from a few documents about the kingdom's affairs. Anna had insisted that they should take some rest, but they weren't budging, and kept requesting to help her in matters. She knew that they were doing it out of concern and partly to pass time too, but she understood. They were just as tense as Anna was. They felt helpless, and she knew exactly how that felt like.

"Thanks Gale," Anna took the flying letter.

"What is it?" Agnarr's eyes were wide like a five year old saw candy for the first time. He had seen such a method of transporting messages for the first time. Anna smiled at herself as she recalled how her face used to look in the reflections from Elsa's eyes. She now knew who she had inherited that from.

"A letter from Elsa," She said opening it up and reading it out loud.

Dear Anna,

I know you were expecting us by evening, but we got delayed due to some unexpected turn of events. I assure you that we are in great health. I will explain everything in detail when we get back, but for now, things are very bad for us. We found the identity of the army, and the symbol at the bottom of the page will explain it all. Seems like the Cintherian royals are somehow involved in this. We had to make the trip to Cintheria before words from Aislecia reached there, so we weren't able to come home. Speaking of Aislecia, Aaron wasn't pleased that we snuck into his kingdom. No one was able to capture us of course, but a lot of people recognized me. If someone comes along before we do, please cover for us, will you? I don't know how long It'll take us, but we'll try to be back by tomorrow evening.

Love you all.

Elsa.

There was a small diagram below her signature at the bottom centre. It seemed familiar. She remembered reading something about it in her history books, but couldn't place it, so she showed it to her father. His brows furrowed in confusion at first, but then all it reflected was

horror. Iduna gasped looking at the symbol Elsa had drawn. The 'H' like structure with broadsword like figurines extended above and below from the centre was not a pleasant sight to look at.

"This is crazy," Elsa protested against Alex's plan.

"I know," He informed her.

They were in the royal chambers of the Cintherian castle. It was dark, and the sky outside the windows displayed a crescent moon. Gale had scouted the regions for soldiers, but the security was loose. The guards were out of reach of the chambers. No screams would possibly be able reach their ears; if any escaped that is.

Elsa sighed in defeat from her position. She was hiding behind a desk inside the room, while Alex was hiding behind the entrance door. Whoever came in first was a hostage. Not that he intended to hurt anyone, but fear was quite a good motivator when it came to extracting information.

"Remind me why we can't just take up an official meeting and meet them face to face without startling them?" Elsa said monotonously.

Alex didn't mind the tone. He knew she didn't like doing this, but they had no other choice. It had taken quite a lot of convincing to get her to agree already.

"Too many hostile eyes around the kingdom. If our enemies realize that we're actually on their tails, they might take...preventive measures," Alex explained.

He knew that the consequences of such an act with the royal family could start up a war between Cintheria and Arendelle, but he knew exactly what to do in that case, to avoid it.

Cintheria, unlike its sister kingdom Aislecia, found comfort in being the largest food producer among all other kingdoms, thus generating huge trades. This was mainly because of it's huge landmass and numerous farms, but also due to the availability of products at comparatively cheaper prices.

Elsa's head popped around the table, her eyes reflecting concern. "Are you sure that nothing will go wrong? Cause if we mess this up, especially after what we did in Aislecia, Anna's gonna kill us."

Alex laughed. "Yes of course this is going to work."

Elsa thankfully did not hear him mutter 'Hopefully' after that, as she receded to her original hidden position.

She lay in wait, leaning sideways on a leg of the desk. They had been waiting there since the past twenty minutes. She felt herself getting drowsy since it was almost midnight. She'd

had a few snacks just a few hours prior, and after that, she wanted to try virtually every piece of chocolate Cintheria had to offer.

Fortunately though, she wasn't Anna, who would swoop down on the whole Cintherian chocolate collection. Elsa knew her limits, though she could say that she sometimes got carried away.

She visualised Anna stealing all her chocolate and that she froze her in a solid block of ice, except the head and arms of course, and then gently plucked the box out of her frozen hands, unfreezing her sister so they could chase each other through the castle, playfully giggling as they did so. She also imagined her mother laughing at them as they played around her. She saw her father giving them an amused look, as he picked Anna up. Suddenly, her vision shifted. Anna was smaller in age. About five years old. Elsa was also much shorter than her mother, as Iduna swept her up in her arms laughing warmly. She suddenly realized that she was holding a box of chocolates and Anna was staring grumpily at her from Agnarr's arms for not sharing. Her five year old face was scrunched up adamantly. Elsa was laughing at her sister's puppy face. She heard a door click and a scuffle. She looked to the side, but just saw Iduna's loving eyes, with a slight 'you know you'll have to give her your chocolate' kind of look. Was she imagining things? She heard someone call out her name from a distance. She tried to answer it but couldn't. She heard Alex's calm voice call out to her again. This time, it was much clearer and closer, but was also merged with muffled screams. Her eyes snapped open in horror and realization. She had been dreaming!

"Elsa?" Alex called out to her, as he held a struggling woman in his arms while pointing his sword at her neck. Her husband was begging him to let her go. His sword lay upon the bed as Alex had already disarmed him with a quick circular motion of his own weapon.

Alex heard a panicked 'Oh no' from his partner and then a small muffled thump from under the desk. Elsa emerged from under there, rubbing the top of her head and wincing slightly in pain as she groggily scanned the room. She looked at Alex apologetically. Alex in-turn gave her an amused smile and turned his attention back toward the couple who had entered the room.

Michael and Michelle had gone silent in shock at seeing Elsa come up from behind their desk. Elsa looked at them nervously. They had years of alliance, and this act was like betraying them.

"Your highness, I...I have no words..." King Michael stammered looking at Elsa.

"We're not here to hurt you your majesty. We just needed some answers," Elsa replied, shooting a glance at the thirty six year old woman being held hostage by Alex. "Please?" She added.

Michael appeared just as surprised as Michelle was. She had stopped struggling in Alex's grip and was looking at Michael, secretly communicating thoughts. After a while, she let her body relax slightly, surrendering herself. Alex got the message that they were willing to cooperate.

"Don't scream, and please don't even try to elbow me," He told her before he loosened his hold on her mouth and pushed himself away slightly, releasing her hands which had been pressed tightly between his core and her back.

After release, she did try to elbow him in his face, but Alex swiftly ducked beneath her arm and stepped away from her, putting a safe distance between them. She did not pursue.

Michael seemed shaken by the situation. Michelle was absolutely terrified. She tried her best to sustain a regal posture, but the trembling frame of her weary plump body said otherwise. Elsa looked uncertainly at Alex, but he was distracted by a small bite mark on his middle finger of his left hand which had been covering Michelle's mouth. His right hand still held the sword.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I want to know what exactly is going on in this kingdom," Elsa demanded, impressing her queenly aura on them.

"What...do you mean? Nothings going on of course!" Michael said, his gaze averted from Elsa's eyes. He knew exactly what they were talking about, but didn't want to tell them.

"Perhaps this will help in recalling your memory," She said, laying down a piece of parchment on the table with an 'H' like symbol on it. The same symbol they got from Marcus and the same one they sent to Anna through the letter.

It was tiny, but Alex saw the couple recoil. Their faces displayed fright for a split second, but they suppressed their weakness. He knew that the cogs and gears in their brains were turning, and trying to cook up a lie. Alex knew exactly what was gonna come after.

"We...we don't know what you're talking about," Michael stammered. He frantically looked away from Elsa and the piece of parchment. Michelle was on the verge of tears.

Elsa narrowed her eyes at them; her brows furrowed. She suddenly looked dangerous, surprising Alex. As far as he knew, she had always been the politest person, and seeing her scowl angrily was very rare. Even when she confronted Hans, she had maintained a regal approach toward things. Though she was cold toward him, she was also just.

"Michael, Now," Elsa literally ordered him to speak up, looking deep into his eyes. Her voice was serious and her gaze could cut through diamond armor. Though he was almost double her age, he was nowhere near as strong minded as her.

Michael looked desperate now.

Elsa's hands lit up with icy powers threateningly.

It was all too much for Michelle. She broke down in tears and cracked under the pressure of Elsa's menacing gaze.

"They threatened Michael that they would kill me if he didn't follow their orders, We just had to hide them, but it...it all was a trap! They took everything from us! The food, weapons, treasury... everything is gone! We...we don't know what to do," Michelle wailed.

Michael put an arm on her shoulder to try and comfort her, but she flinched at the touch. "No Michael. It's all my fault that this is happening! If I had been more careful, I wouldn't have gotten caught and you wouldn't have been forced to..." Her voice cracked, and she slumped to the floor, shaking with grief.

Elsa calmed down, though she was never actually angry. She had just feigned it so that they would be scared into telling them what they needed, and it had worked.

She knelt down in front of her and put a comforting hand over her shaking arm. Michelle flinched, half expecting to be frozen over, but Elsa's hand was just as warm and comforting as any other person's. "It's not your fault Michelle," Elsa soothed her. "It's only their fault who put you in this situation."

"I'm sorry!" She whispered still terrified of looking into Elsa's blue eyes.

"It's alright, we'll help you," Elsa gave her a soft smile.

She could finally look into her eyes, and when she did, she couldn't help resisting throwing her entire weight on the slender girl. Elsa struggled to stay upright as Michelle sobbed uncontrollably on her shoulder while giving her a bone crushing hug.

Michael was watching all of this with wonder. He had just gone through a slew of emotions. Fear, confusion, betrayal, desperation, happiness, and ultimately, relief. He looked at Alex who smiled at him. Michael hadn't recognized him at first when he was panicking, but now that he saw the familiar face, he slightly bowed his head toward him, and he nodded his head in acknowledgement.

Over the years, Alex had collected a lot of respect from people. He was kind, forgiving, helpful and selfless, but some of his other qualities did balance him out. Like the fact that he was wickedly smart and sometimes behaved like a devil. He wasn't a bad person, but he dealt with bad people in very bad ways.

Michelle calmed down as Elsa rubbed her back. They broke apart and stood up. Elsa looked at Michael who nodded his head as a 'Thankyou' sign and went on to put an arm around his wife. She did not flinch away this time, but rather sunk deeper in the one handed embrace.

"Will you tell us what happened?" Elsa asked them, moving to stand beside Alex.

They nodded in response and gestured to the two huge sofas facing each other.

They sat down on one, while Alex and Elsa settled on the other. Michael started the tale.

"They came out of nowhere three months ago, and stopped at the northern borders of the kingdom. At first, they were negligible in number. Just a small base camp. After that, our

scouts started picking up a few more base camps. That's when we asked them their purpose of being here. But they never responded. We threatened them, but no response again. It was two months ago when we sent a negotiator, but he never returned," Michael said grimly, "That was when things started getting serious. Their numbers were constantly on the rise and there was no hint of them stopping. They were still quite a small number in front of the kingdom's entire armada, but quite a huge number for those posted on the north walls. So I cut a few numbers of soldiers responsible for the kingdom's internal security and border security and assigned them to the northern borders. I thought that it would intimidate them into leaving, but I played right into their hands. Due to the reduced forces all around the kingdom, some of them were able to get in through the eastern walls. They kidnapped her," He gestured to his wife, "and threatened me to follow their orders or they'll...kill her. They just wanted a place to hide. I thought that it wasn't really that bad, but I was wrong once again. After entering the kingdom, they locked us out of political matters. We weren't able to send letters without their approval, we weren't allowed to interact with the citizens and staff directly and we had constant lookouts placed over us," Michael sighed. "After they got what they wanted, they left."

"Left!" Elsa was taken aback, "j...just like that? I mean, they didn't hurt anyone?" From everything she had gathered until then, the armada was completely unforgiving. They destroyed the lives of many people. Marcus, Glitharis. They got pretty close to destroying Anna and Kristoff's too; because, if either one of Alex or herself hadn't made it past the battlefield, the day would have been cursed forever. The image of Hans standing over her suddenly flashed in front of her eyes, and the healing wound on her back pricked uncomfortably. She shook her thoughts away and focused on the current situation.

Michael pondered over the question, "They didn't hurt anyone, thankfully. But they did leave with a few of our ships. I...I don't know what provoked them into doing that, but...we found her near the western shores," He gently squeezed Michelle's arm. "It's all that mattered to me."

Elsa looked incredulous for a second, but quickly recovered. His kingdom was almost taken over by a mysterious force, who could've led to the downfall of Cintheria, and many other kingdoms like Aislecia who depended on it for food and rations. And all he cared about was his wife! Not that she believed that Michelle was unimportant, but Michael really needed to recheck his priorities.

"Do you know where they are? And, what they had to do with Arendelle?" Alex asked.

"My men overheard them talking about travelling to the fiend forest, I don't know anything other than that. But, I doubt that they had anything to do with your kingdom. We were the ones to harm them in the past, and now, we must pay for it," Michael said sadly accepting the reality.

Elsa understood. The past had peculiar ways of returning. She had experienced it first hand, when she found out about Runeard's lies and trickery.

Things would've been so very different if Anna had given up and not done anything to repair the damage done in the past. Elsa believed from the beginning, that a royal was actually just

a high ranking soldier. It was her duty to protect her people and be fair to everyone. She prioritized justice and love over her own life; and that was why she was one of the most successful rulers of Arendelle. When Anna destroyed the dam, she did it out of justice. Her will to sacrifice herself and everything she owned, not only calmed the spirits down and lifted the mist, but it also saved Elsa's life. That was when she saw the queen in Anna. That was when Elsa knew that she was ready to hand over the throne to her little baby sister.

Elsa gave a good natured smile and got up. Michael, Michelle and Alex followed her suit. She gave Alex a quick message through her eyes that they were leaving. She then turned to the couple in front, "Thank you Michael, for all your help, but we must get going now. I hope everything turns out well for you, and if ever you need help, please don't hesitate to ask."

They both looked disappointed that they were leaving already, but didn't object. They instead bowed their heads toward her. "Of course your highness. But there's two requests we both would like to make."

Elsa nodded.

"Firstly, please never ever give me such a heart attack," he said looking at Alex referring to the moment where he was holding Michelle hostage. Alex laughed apologetically, looking at her. She nodded her head forgiving him. "and secondly," Michael turned to Elsa, "please give our best wishes and apologies to the queen and sir Kristoff as we could not be there ourselves."

Elsa smiled. No one had ever called Kristoff as 'sir' before, and the title needed a bit of getting used to. "Of course I will," she affirmed.

She moved toward the balcony, to stand with Alex, who was already greeting Gale. Gale chirped around them, and then lifted them up. Elsa's dress billowed gracefully in the wind and her loosely tied hair came loose. She looked like a goddess in the night.

The royal couple looked a little concerned at first about their safety, as they were suspended midair on a height, but soon relaxed, smiled and waved at them as they sped off into the night sky.

"And thirdly," Alex smirked at Elsa puzzling her, "don't sleep when we are trying to pull off a successful crime next time."

Elsa giggled, an apology escaping her lips.