Chapter 8:
Make one wrong move and everyone will know
"But… Shouldn't you spend time with him?"
"I see Kristoff everyday, Elsa."
"But he just came back from–"
"Enough with the 'but's."
"Whose butts?" Giggled Olaf from his end of the table.
Anna paused in her serving to laugh at his joke.
"I'm serious, Anna." Insisted her elder. "You should go with him, not stay at the breakfast table with me just to spend more time together."
"What about it." Replied the Queen, defiance in her look.
Elsa instinctively gulped at her powerful stare.
"What if I purposely planned my morning tasks for this afternoon. What if I told him to go take care of the progress in town on his own."
The blonde was about to reply a "But!", then she bit her lip to restrain herself. "Are you… Are you sure?"
Her sister rolled her eyes. "If I'm sure that you're worth postponing my work?"
Elsa nodded with a sad pout.
Anna groaned, and grabbed two slices of bread from the table. She shifted in her seat and bent to slap them on each side of Elsa's face. The latter jolted.
"What are you?" Asked the redhead.
Elsa blinked and blushed.
"What are you?!" Repeated Anna angrily.
The elder pouted.
"...An idiot sandwich." She mumbled, tears appearing in her eyes.
Olaf smiled at the quirky scene while Anna gently scolded her sister about her importance. Once the siblings were done, the snowman smirked as he picked up a grape.
"If Honeymaren had been there, she would have answered 'a snack'."
Elsa blushed furiously while Anna burst into laughter. Nonetheless, her laugh was so contagious that the blonde ended up smiling, her mood effectively changing.
The rest of breakfast went quietly, until Olaf jumped out of his chair, waved at the sisters and the staff, and jogged to the courtyard where supplies were being checked by Kristoff.
Anna noticed that, even long after Olaf was gone, Elsa hadn't said a word, lost in thoughts.
"Are you regretting that Honeymaren is not with us?" She grinned.
"The point of me coming alone is to spend time with you." Pointed the Snow Queen with sarcasm.
"I meant that because I can tell that you miss her, even for a few days of absence when you come over."
The elder puffed. "I'm not always thinking about her."
"Say the most lovebird to ever lovebird."
"That's not a correct sentence."
"Who cares. Love makes one dumb." Shrugged Anna with amusement.
Elsa sighed, and the younger sister smiled tenderly. "Say, what is the best thing about dating her?"
The blonde fidgeted with her spoon for a moment, then yielded to her insistence. After all, she could talk about her girlfriend for days.
"Everything about Honeymaren is sensual." Admitted Elsa. "Not just because of the flirt, I see you coming." She added, noticing Anna's smirk. "But because she's a full experience on her own, truly. Embracing her is like embracing the Forest, the trees, the leaves, the air, the soil. Her hair, her skin… Everything brings me to another plane, I swear. Listening to her talk about hunting or Northuldra traditions is worth a hundred years of wisdom; she's both very respectful of customs and open-minded. And her touch… I… I feel so protected when she's around. Physically because she's a warrior, but also psychologically. It's like all those years of doubt and self-harm never existed. Or rather, will never exist again."
Anna nodded warmly. She knew how amazing Honeymaren was on that topic.
"And seeing the world from her eyes… It's like the world has shifted, you know?"
"Yeah, I figure." Smirked the redhead.
Now Elsa blushed. "Are you mocking me?"
"No, not at all! I'm really not." Swore Anna genuinely. "I love when you talk about your love for her. You should see your face when you do, your hand gestures, your whole attitude. It's the happiness you deserve and I'm so happy."
Elsa's eyes were on her as she said that, and they filled with tears.
"Nope, don't cry, don't cry!" Ordered the redhead, regretting her choice. "If you cry I'll cry too and we'll never stop."
The blonde chuckled, and sniffed. "Alright." She then smiled. "You know, I felt the same when you confessed to me your love for Kristoff. And you were so scared, I remember! Because you just had your horrible experience with Hans, and you didn't know what to do next, how to dare…"
"And then you made him a sled."
"Yes." Giggled Elsa.
"I thought I was going to go nuts."
"Did it or did it not work?" Grinned the Fifth Spirit, who already knew the answer.
Anna rolled her eyes with humor. "I do owe you my first kiss with him."
"There you go."
A silence passed, and they placed their hands together over the table. Anna's smile left her face as more serious thoughts came to her mind.
"Speaking of Hans…"
Elsa sighed. "I know. He's untraceable."
"Well, he had a lot of experience to train about that since he escaped the Southern Isles." Grunted the Queen. "But I assigned my best vanguards to find him. I even hired spies located in the area. I wanted to let you know. We'll find that bastard."
"Good to hear." Smiled the Snow Queen.
Anna then was the one fidgeting with food, and Elsa understood that she was nervously trying to change the topic. She already talked and thought about the Collapse all day, she didn't want to do it when her sister was there.
"Did you sleep well? How was the temperature? Good?"
Since the reconstruction of the castle, she was worried that some parts of the wall let drafts enter.
"You know that I don't mind the cold. It was perfect." Assured Elsa, and she saw her sister sigh. The Spirit switched to humor to bring a smile back on her face. "Hey, if I needed to, I could always use a warming pan. Remember Honeymaren's reaction when she saw bed warmers for the first time?"
Anna giggled.
"Oh my goodness, that was hilarious. She was moving it around so fast, I thought that Gerda and the other maids were going to lose their minds. We laughed so hard that night. To be honest, if it had been colder during the Collapse and we had some around, I would have loved to hit some thugs' faces with one. Sending hot embers flying everywhere would have scared the shit out of them."
"Language." Frowned Elsa as a scold. "But yeah." She smiled.
"What are you guys talking about?" Bounced Olaf as he came back in the room with no warning, and the siblings would have jumped in surprise if they weren't used to it.
"We're women, Olaf. What's the 'guys' for?" Teased Anna, who loved to correct him since he talked a lot about his intellectual readings.
"Woops. Yeah."
"As a matter of fact, we… We were talking about weapons." Shrugged the Queen.
"Ooooh, which makes a perfect transition to why I came back! I forgot this!"
He announced, very excited all of a sudden, and he ducked under the table, leaving Elsa and Anna confused.
There was a rattle noise as he picked something that seemed heavy, and suddenly he popped up with something big in his hands. Before they could identify what it was, the orange that was on the top of the pile in the plate at the center of the table was pierced with a small grappling hook, startling everyone, including the staff. Especially at the loud "TCHACK!" that had sounded through the room.
Elsa placed a hand over her chest to calm her racing heart. "Olaf! What the hell is that?"
"My grappling gun, why?"
The Spirit blinked in astonishment at the barbaric tool, which was made from a flintlock and had metal modifications. It was as big and large as Olaf's entire body, but he seemed to have a lot of fun manipulating it. How he had taken it with him then put it under the table before they went down for breakfast was a mystery.
But right when Elsa analyzed the weapon, she heard Anna breath quickly, her heart still not calmed down from the surprise.
Elsa widened her eyes when she saw her pale face, and immediately frowned at Olaf's.
"Olaf, put that away at once. You know it triggers Anna."
The snowman frowned, too busy focusing on reloading the gun after he took the orange out of the hook.
"Triggers? Yeah it has triggers. Here–" He said, clueless of what was going on.
Elsa grabbed his hand and the gun before he got to shoot, risking to hurt herself in the process, but it was for a good cause.
"Stop it." She grunted through gritted teeth.
Anna sighed, calming down while Elsa took it off the snowman's hands.
"It's okay, Elsa. He didn't mean it."
The blonde had a sad smile, and made a point in encapsulating the weapon in a block of ice that she pushed aside. She gave a frown at Olaf, then tried to calm down. "Did you get it from one of the pirates?"
"Yeah!" Said the snowman proudly. "From one of the corpses they found under the ramparts' rumble. Apparently, he used it too–"
"We got it." Cut Elsa rapidly, at the same time Anna bit her lip and closed her eyes.
"Will you melt the ice?" Asked Olaf, childish and clueless. "I came back here to take it with me as we go into town."
Elsa's face turned furious, and she stood up in one swift move, startling both Olaf and Anna.
"A word, please?" She hissed.
The snowman looked down at the orange confusedly, then back at him. "Uh... Orange? It's the same word in many languages, it's not very… I can pick another one if you wish."
'You're not picking anything else.' Grumbled Elsa internally, and she grabbed Olaf's twig arm before dragging him outside to talk in the corridor. She closed the doors behind her, and Anna couldn't hear a thing.
A heavy and awkward silence fell in the room. She had a nervous smile and looked at the maids and valets who were trying their best not to stare at the grappling gun trapped in the big transparent block of ice on the table.
Kai approached, and gently bent to Anna's ear. "Are you okay, ma'am?"
Before she could say anything, Elsa was back in the room, and she let out a long exhale.
"Well, that was weird." She said, walking back to her seat.
"That was fast." Replied Anna, impressed by how quickly she had scolded Olaf.
She wondered what she told him, but preferred not to know for now.
A silence passed in the room, and Kai was amused by Elsa's nervousness. "Maybe we can dispose of the block, Your Highness?"
Elsa blushed a bit, usually not requesting any help in this domain. But as powerful as she was, she could not vanish wood and steel. "Yes, please." She said, clearing her throat to regain composure.
Kai gave a sign to two valets, as the block would be heavy, and once they lifted it, the butler gave another sign to the rest of the staff present in the room to follow him, silently telling them that they would clear the table later. All agreed to follow his order to give the siblings some privacy, and the doors were closed again.
A silence passed, and Elsa slumped on the back of her chair with a sigh. "I'm sorry about that."
"I should be the one apologizing." Replied Anna with a wince.
"Please, don't. Are you alright? You can tell me anything."
"I…"
A silence passed after the redhead's answer, and Elsa could hear her gulp. The blonde stood up and went to her back to gently massage her. Anna instantly melted in the touch and closed her eyes, her tears on her eyelashes.
She didn't say a word.
Instead, she leaned her head against Elsa's hand thankfully, and the latter understood.
Honeymaren sent a letter to Elsa while she was in Arendelle, to take news about the kingdom while she reassured her lover that everything was alright at the camp in her absence - just like Anna, the Northuldra knew that Elsa always worried for the Forest when she was in the South, and the other way around.
However, days passed, and she hadn't received any reply. Of course, the siblings very likely were busy hanging together and having fun, Elsa's main intention being to bring a smile back in Anna's life.
Honeymaren started to wonder if her common decision with the Snow Queen to not use the Wind Spirit's help to deliver their correspondences for the moment was a bad idea. They had asked her to stay in the Forest to defend it, but it meant that the brunette had to wait longer for the delivery. In fact, she had asked many questions to the merchant who had agreed to carry the letter along with him as he traveled from her camp to Arendelle for trades. It had amused him, and he assured that it was how classical postal services worked, and it couldn't get any faster. She should even consider herself lucky to not pay any fee for the letter to arrive safely to the castle.
Honeymaren had blushed in embarrassment, indeed realizing her privilege to be in the Wind and Fifth Spirit's favors, and said that she had only been introduced to the rest of the world recently.
Still, the Northuldra stared at the horizon with worry in her heart as she did the math. Her lover had plenty of time to write back, or craft an ice statue as a message. Elsa was safe in Arendelle, she knew it, she sensed it; then why wasn't she responding?
"Sir, we have the letter!" Said a pirate with excitement visible on his badly shaved face, and he shook the paper up in the air as he ran through the crowd of thugs.
"Stop shaking it, you moron, it's an important piece with clues!" Frowned Hans, and he outstretched his hand to grab it out of the man's fingers.
The captain next to him scoffed at his behavior. "He's your ally, you know. And he risked his life as well as proved a lot of talent in catching that correspondence. Hijacking an official merchant isn't easy work."
Hans rolled his eyes, and the pirate smirked.
"Fine. Congratulations, and thank you." Said the redhead, with absolutely zero affection in his tone.
The pirate was satisfied anyway, and joined the others seated on the ground in circles, sharpening their blades and murmuring attack forms they would use to avenge their fallen.
"Alright… Let me see." Said Hans, focused and serious in his expression, but smirking inside, as he unfolded the delicately wrapped letter.
Then, a silence fell in the valley the thugs were settled in. His green eyes stared at the paper, and he froze in disbelief.
The captain stopped cleaning his guns to look over his shoulder, and barked into loud laughter at what he saw. Several bandits lifted their heads and turned, while the captain continued to laugh throatily, now holding to his belly.
Hans gritted his teeth, and grumbled something under his breath.
If the letter weren't so important, he would have crumpled it in his fingers. A curious pirate came to see what had made his captain laugh so hard.
The Northuldra from whom they had intercepted the letter had been clever; despite being addressed to Arendelle, it was written in their language.
The fallen prince inhaled, then exhaled, trying his best to keep calm and not get enraged at how much he had paid the thief beforehand to inspect every exchange between the lands.
He closed his eyes as he thought. Then opened them, and looked over to a group of bandits. "You!"
They turned, frowning.
"You said that you saw several Northuldra picking up lichen up East, and it isolated them from the rest of their tribe, right?"
They nodded with grunts, like actual tracking animals.
"Good. Gear up, we're going on a capture mission." Announced Hans, and they all grinned with missing teeth.
Elsa was lost in thoughts as she reached the area that bordered the Northuldra camp. Not actually paying attention to Nokk's trajectory, since she did the journey to Arendelle and back many times, she however noticed that he slightly deviated to the East. Mechanically, she tugged him to face the planned route again, before returning to her reflections.
However, a few seconds later, Nokk deviated again, this time with more insistence. What was he doing? The tribe was right ahead.
"Why are you so stubborn?" Scolded Elsa with a frown, and this time she used magical power to direct him back as she wished.
He obeyed instantly, not flinching, and she suddenly realized that she was doing things wrong.
Her role and job as the Fifth Spirit was to guide, bring balance, take care, but also command the Spirits, and they were by natural law obliged to submit. Nokk was struggling to show her something and she just ordered him to stop.
"Oh no, my friend, I'm so sorry!" Whimpered the blonde, devastated, and she rubbed a tender hand along his neck as well as mentally sent him a sincere apology.
'You didn't listen to me!' He mentally said, and let out an upset neighing.
"Sorry, I was lost in thoughts and didn't pay attention to your voice. What is it you want to show me?"
'An urgency, this way!'
Instantly and abruptly, the horse dashed in another direction, and Elsa had to hold tight.
"Wow!"
They crossed the valleys at high speed, the wind whistling in her ears, and Nokk seemed to lead her to the lichen fields. She found it odd, but even more odd was the Northuldra woman who had spotted her arrival and was running in the same direction but from the Forest, and waved her arms to get her attention.
Elsa squinted at her, trying to figure out who it was, her silhouette still quite far. Suddenly, she realized why she looked so familiar.
"Honey…?"
A weird feeling passed through Elsa. On one hand, she was excited and lovestruck to see her girlfriend again, her beautiful face turned to her and her untied hair floating in the wind making her heart grow. But on the other hand, she could feel in every ounce of her magical body and soul that something was up, and Nokk was transmitting this sensation to her too, so to see Honeymaren in the dangerous area made her panic.
Without thinking, or rather, by instinct, she reached out to her with an outstretched hand, and grabbed her forearm as soon as she felt her tunic against her fingers.
In one swift move, she twirled Honeymaren for her to sit behind her, and the brunette gasped with a yelp at the surprise ride.
"What the–"
"Hi."
"Hi? Just hi?" Blabbered Honeymaren, clumsily grabbing her waist and yelling in astonishment but also because of the wind. "You just… Kidnapped me!"
Elsa couldn't help but grin, the sensation of her girlfriend's grip and the comical panic in her voice too funny to ignore. "Always dreamed of doing that."
She then turned to her. "More seriously, what is going on? I sensed something wrong. And you're the one who waved at me."
Honeymaren calmed down with an exhale as she dropped her forehead against Elsa's hair in her back and took in the miracle and relief to have her alive and be in her presence, then lifted her head to her ear to explain.
Less than two minutes later, thanks to Nokk's speed, and Honeymaren's quick explanation of her sight of the thugs heading to the fields, they arrived in the area. As a precautionary measure, Elsa suggested to unmount, hiding behind one of the large rocks that were in the field. She put a hand against the stone and confirmed her theory that none of the numerous large rocks that were around them were parts of Earth Giants, so she mentally asked Nokk to keep an eye on the camp in case it was a double trap. The Water Spirit nodded, and kept his ice form as he galloped to the Forest.
"Here they are", indicated Honeymaren in a whisper, her huntress eyes acute while her lover was busy, and she pointed at the thugs she had spotted earlier.
The group of Northuldra who gathered lichen were everything but warriors, and Honeymaren and Elsa urged to go save them.
Nevertheless, they quickly realized that it was a bad plan, or rather that a better one already was in place, because groups of thugs emerged from behind other rocks and jumped or ran to cover and circle the area.
Elsa gasped when she quickly saw that the pirates dominated them in numbers, and the pirates already grabbed the Northuldra in swift gestures.
Two bandits tried to reach Elsa but she sent them stumbling away with a blast of ice gust, grunting loud as she did, angered by their manners. She started to aim at a woman to free her from the hands of the thugs, but saw that they were holding her firmly at the shoulders and at the waist, the blade of a dagger placed under her neck and close enough to draw blood. It was too dangerous to try a move in this setting. The Spirit may be fast, they would be faster to slice the Northuldra's throat.
Honeymaren whimpered behind her and the blond saw with terror that she had been held as well while she was busy pushing the other thugs.
Elsa's eyes darted around and she quickly noticed that all the bandits were assigned one Northuldra per pair, and she frowned as this very fast organization meant one and only thing.
A sarcastic clap sounded behind her and she twirled around, her light blonde hair whirling with her. Hans appeared from behind the rock where he was hiding, and casually walked towards her. Rage filled Elsa's azure blue eyes as he moved.
Hans had no fear in keeping his gaze into hers, and he slowly walked between the bandits with purpose, like he was stalking a prey.
"So predictable." He snorted, and stopped his claps. "Make one move, the tiniest move, to use your magic against any of my men, and they slice the throats of all the Northuldra present here."
Elsa clenched her fists, the sound of ice cracking in her palms. She didn't even need magic, in fact; she just wanted to jump at his throat and squeeze her fingers. Of course, she didn't move an inch, too scared for her friends.
"Good. Good." Grinned Hans at her restraint. "I see that you still have discipline."
He made a glance at the Northuldra with undeniable disgust and disdain. "And still that ridicule flaw of yours to care for low people before yourself."
Elsa breathed in and out heavily trying to calm her boiling nerves, or rather her freezing ones, given how much magic was coursing through her body and begging to go out and be thrown on him.
Hans approached close, placing his hands behind his back and bending forward with dominance. "Last time I met you Elsa, I took notes on how to best dethrone you. It was so easy. You were lonely, depressed…"
He turned around her, and she didn't leave her stare from his face, her jaw clenched strongly as she turned with him.
"And since, I learned that you made friends? You know, that's good. Very good. It means that I'll break you even better when I'll hurt them."
He gave a chin gesture to the bandits, and they all executed, bringing all of the Northuldra to their knees. It was easy and humiliating given how superior they were, and the women and men whined as they were brought down, the blades at their necks even closer with the angle. It was impossible for them to move, and some started to silently cry with bitten lips when the thugs pulled on their hair and slammed their boots on their calves to disable them. They now were placed in a semi-circle facing Elsa.
She looked at the group with a squeeze to the heart, and her soul got even more devastated when she saw that the two men she had pushed away with her magic now had joined the ones who were holding Honeymaren in place. Elsa could see that she was struggling and fighting with all her might, but even the strong warrior couldn't do anything with so many enemies. One of them even had taken a piece of cloth to form a ball and had forced it into Honeymaren's mouth to make her stop yelling. He was holding his gloved hand above her lower face, preventing her from interrupting their boss' speech with her violent screams.
Elsa did her best to not physically react, but she couldn't keep her rage bottled any longer.
"STOP IT!" She yelled. "She can't breathe, you monsters!"
Hans couldn't care less, but when he saw that the huntress indeed was starting to wriggle for air, he sighed with rolled eyes and gave a hand gesture to the man. The latter nodded and only lowered his thumb a bit to allow Honeymaren to breathe through her nose, in a labored way that Elsa could hear from where she was.
The clearing was deadly silent anyway. All of the Northuldra present knew how the conflict had been going between Arendelle and the Forest more than thirty years ago, and Elsa's eyes filled with tears when she saw how resolute they were to die here if it was their destiny. Some had closed their eyes, some were staring at Hans fiercely. If they were to die here, let it be so; but they would do it with honor, and not beg for pity.
The Snow Queen gulped slowly, heavily, and planted her eyes into Hans' green irises again.
"Let. Them. Go."
The man pretended to shiver. "Ooooh, spooky. But no. Certainly not, Your Highness. It wouldn't be strategic at all, you know that. You and I have been taught about it in royal classes, haven't we?" Smirked Hans. "Or maybe you have forgotten them since you live with savages in the Forest…"
That was the word that acted like a trigger to Elsa. Her fists glew an intense blue and her eyes seemed to fill with the millennium old and mystic force of the glacier from which she was ready to unleash all of the power.
Hans didn't even notice, nor cared anyway. He had been stepping to a woman and was squeezing her cheeks from her chin. The Northuldra did her best to not give him the whine he wanted, but couldn't help grunting at the pain and humiliation.
The bandits all laughed at her moans.
Elsa couldn't even imagine how troublesome it would have been to hold back her rage if Hans had squeezed Honeymaren's face instead. But now was the worst time to make any move or give Hans any subconscious body language clue that Honeymaren and her were more than just friends. Or maybe he did know already…? The Snow Queen prefered not to think about it. She felt like if she made assumptions, it would become real, and she wouldn't like that at all.
"You. You know my language, don't you?" Asked Hans, or rather it seemed like an order.
Despite being held, the woman nodded with a whimper.
"That's what I thought. You yelled insults at me earlier, and they weren't Northuldra."
Several pirates laughed at Hans' sentence.
Elsa gulped. The woman in question was named Rahkel, and not only did she know about the two languages, she also was one of the most talented and curious Northuldra on the topic. Sure, her translations weren't perfect, but her efforts were impressive on that point.
Hans unfolded a piece of paper that he took from his jacket, and he placed it in front of her eyes.
Rahkel blinked in stupefaction when she understood what she would have to do. Elsa's heart made a leap in her chest when she recognized the specific folds, and Honeymaren's eyes widened in shock.
Thankfully, the thugs' attention was on the letter, and nobody noticed it, neither did they notice the one second long exchange of looks Elsa and her had just had, both devastated as they mutually understood.
"Read." Simply ordered Hans.
The sole word made everybody shiver.
Rahkel gulped. She refused at first, but when Hans stopped holding her face and agitated the letter hurriedly in front of her, in addition to the pull of the thug being harder on her hair, she knew that she had no choice.
She looked at the symbols on the paper, and deciphered them.
"E… Elsa, m-my dear…"
She stuttered out of fear and awkwardness, as well as hesitation on how to translate the adjectives. Several thugs let out guttural laughs. Hans had a victorious smile, his bet that Elsa was the recipient correct. He delighted in the blonde's infuriated frown.
"I wanted to see… No, foresee… No, actually, it means 'to check on news', but it's written 'foresee'…" Hesitated Rahkel.
"Keep going!" Grunted Hans.
She whimpered with a pout, and Honeymaren and Elsa gulped.
"I… I miss you and wished to… Know how many days still separate our arms… It means 'how many days are left until we are in each other's arms again'..." Clarified the poor Northuldra, who cleared her throat and blushed at the intimate letter she was forced to read out loud.
New laughter came out of the pirates. Honeymaren's heart squeezed in rage and shame.
"I miss your touch just like everyone here misses your smile… Even if you shall– Should, spend all the time you want– Need, no actually it's translated as want, with your family…"
"Faster! Read faster!" Ordered Hans.
The woman startled in panic, and the thug holding her hurt her to accentuate his impatience.
Elsa was breathing heavily as she could only stare at the scene.
'Yelena is arriving with warriors, Fifth Spirit.' Suddenly said a magical tingling in her mind. 'I'm helping them all go faster at this very moment.'
Elsa did all she could to not visibly startle at Gale's voice, and internally smiled. 'Thank you, my friend. I'll try to keep them occupied a bit longer.'
The Snow Queen blessed Ahtohallan for the existence of the mental connection between Spirits, and her own quick wit for having told Gale to quickly fly away and informing of their position as soon as she saw the number of men.
She focused back on the problem at hand, and hoped dearly that Rahkel would not reach the end of the letter before Yelena and the others arrived.
Sadly, only the silence of the forest surrounded them as the woman continued to translate. Not a single sound of hooves or Northuldra war cries came from the horizon. Elsa clenched her eyes shut as Rahkel translated the end of the letter.
"Say hello to Anna for me. I love- I love you… This is the Northuldra equivalent of 'I love you'... H-Honeymaren."
She then gulped and looked down, devastated by what she had just done, not daring to look at the Fifth Spirit in the eyes.
"Honeymaren." Repeated Hans with fascination. "Honeymaren…" He repeated, pondering. "Yes… Now it sounds familiar." He nodded, as some thugs exchanged confirming murmurs.
The fallen prince looked at Elsa with a smirk. "Some gossip had reached the Southern Isles through the months, and we did some research at the place we are hiding at, me and the men. But I have to say, even if you did something as stupid as falling in love with a Northuldra, I'm quite surprised by the fact that you chose to fall in love with…" He twisted his mouth in disgust. "...a Northuldra woman."
Elsa's fists clenched so hard that clouds of smoke appeared around them. She muttered with a clenched jaw. "You low filthy–"
"Is she with us today, by any chance?" Called Hans, looking around, not caring about her and cutting her.
Of course, all of the Northuldra immediately looked down, to not betray her.
"Oh, come on…" He said with a smile. "That just screams how lucky I am. She's among us, isn't she?"
The Spirit stared at him furiously. "Stop it right now, Hans. I'm warning you."
"Certainly not." Snorted the man. "The fun just began."
He turned to the bandits. "Let's see… Four women…"
His eyes fell on Rahkel with disdain. "That can't be you, for starters. Way too weak and dumb. You would have changed the content of the letter if you were the author."
He slowly walked to the next woman in the semi-circle, who sadly was Honeymaren herself.
"You." Said Hans, bending to her menacingly. "You're a tough one. And you arrived with her. What's your name?"
She frowned at him furiously.
"Oh, right, oops. You can't talk." Smirked Hans as he was reminded of the cloth under the thug's hand.
The bandits chuckled.
"Put it out just for a moment." Ordered the fallen prince.
The cloth was removed, and the second Honeymaren could, she spat at his face. He sighed and casually wiped the spit off with his sleeve.
"Lovely."
The blade at Honeymaren's throat got closer as one of the thugs avenged his boss, the knife starting to draw blood.
"Alright. I will ask you one last time. What is your name?" Ordered Hans.
Honeymaren's breathing was labored and wheezing as she clenched her jaw. The blade was insisting, so she finally answered.
"Alehtta."
Hans snorted. "You think I'm dumb? I wasn't born yesterday. Stop wasting time."
He looked at the other women, then back at her. "Listen. If you tell me which of them is Honeymaren, I'll let you live. What do you think?"
The thugs chuckled again, with sarcastic interjections this time, and the other Northuldra widened their eyes in terror at the fate he had in store for them.
Elsa mentally punched the nearest rock. The very thing she hoped would never happen was taking place right in front of her. She wished she could freeze everyone and everything to stop time, she deeply did, but she knew that any magical intervention would be impossible without risking to hurt the Northuldra.
Suddenly, a tingling sound came back in her mind, like an instant miracle, and Elsa realized that they were, in a way, saved by the bell.
'On your left.'
The Spirit immediately ducked as a huge blast of air crossed the clearing and blew everyone away, sending the bandits flying and bumping against rocks and the Northuldra reeling back from their sitting positions. Everything then happened very fast; the experienced bandits got back on their legs, but before they could grab their daggers back, warriors fell from the sky like a help sent from above, and it was revealed that Gale's initial whirlwind actually contained several Northuldra. Some managed to land perfectly on thugs and knocked them down, others landed perfectly to a crouching-kneeling position, promptly turning to knock the ankles that were on their level with their staffs.
Something gray dropped along the blur of beige and green that was the group of Northuldra, and Elsa gasped as she recognized Yelena. The chief quickly knocked down the thug that was near her to defend herself then twirled around frantically to look for all the hostages and their state; in the process, she met Elsa's eyes. They exchanged a smiling stare despite their adrenaline, which meant so much more than just a silent silent move.
I'm fine. Thank you. Be blessed.
Elsa instinctively walked forward to join and protect the newcomers, but instantly remembered that Honeymaren had to deal with four men focused on her only.
Now that everyone was standing further away from each other, the Snow Queen didn't refrain herself from using her magic, and all her rage and shame exploded at once.
She grunted loudly and jolted her arms in front of her, spraying two large jets of ice from her palms that covered the two thugs who still were running to hold Honeymaren's arms; Elsa took advantage of her girlfriend being safe from the freezing touch to trap the two pirates for good.
In shock to see their pals being frozen over, the others froze in fear. The brunette frowned and twisted their distracted wrists, then headbutted the one on her right.
The second bandit was about to avenge him once he fainted, but Elsa was having none of it. No one else would hurt her lover. Not today.
With another grunt, she slammed her foot down, and a stalagmite as thick as a tree erupted from the ground to knock him at the jaw, sending him reeling backwards. He tripped on the frozen leg of one of the thugs and fell down, unconscious.
Once they were still, Elsa hurried to grab Honeymaren's forearms.
"Are you okay?" They asked at the same time.
"I am." They answered together too, though not in the same tone.
Honeymaren's reply was simple, to assure her partner that she was fine now that she helped her. Elsa's reply was more in the questioning way. Like 'Well yes, why are you asking? I wasn't held by bandits…?'
Then she realized what Honeymaren actually meant: regarding the letter. She was making sure that Elsa wasn't devastated by the break of intimacy.
"We'll talk about it later." Said the blonde, and Honeymaren nodded.
She helped her get out of her ties, and looked around.
It was absolute chaos. The initially captured Northuldra were running away while the others were protecting them from the blows of the thugs, and the scene looked like an intense battlefield that had been compressed in the small clearing. There were jumping or hiding behind rocks, there were grabbing of clothes, resounding sounds of thick wood against helmets, cries of panic and anger everywhere, insults piercing the air…
Despite everyone needing any possible help, they all seemed to have an opponent, and Elsa twirled around looking for Hans.
"I'll make you pay for this, you scoundrel…" She muttered, scanning the zone and trying to identify him in the tide of brown and beige that were the two sides clashing.
The severe mess and struggle to make sense of it visually reminded her of the memory of the surprise attack from Runeard, all those years ago.
Where the hell was Hans? Did he flee, once again?!
"ELSA!"
Honeymaren jumped in front of her to save her life as she had been lost in thoughts, cleverly blocking the thug's arm at the right spot to avoid him touching any of them with the sharpened blade of his axe. She then took advantage of being taller than him to wrench his arm by twisting and cracking it at the elbow, and Elsa startled with a wince as the thug howlered with pain and fell on the ground. Honeymaren grunted as she picked up his axe and twirled it in her hand to have the wood handle end facing down, then slammed his temple to make him turn unconscious. She stood up with a huff, facing the blonde.
"There. That bastard won't be a problem anymo–"
Two cold, firm but loving hands grabbed her cheeks and equally cold and firm but passionate lips slammed on hers. The kiss was quick, however, and Honeymaren barely had time to drop the axe and flutter her eyes that the Snow Queen retracted and stared at her with her hands on her shoulders.
"You saved my life."
"I… Did. Thanks."
"No, thank you." Smirked Elsa, amused to see that her surprise kiss had brought Honeymaren to an utter state of confusion. "Now sorry but I gotta go."
It was sudden and Honeymaren understood why she had grabbed and released her so fast.
"I think he's gone this way." Said Elsa, already running deeper in the woods. "Stay here and help the others!"
"What?" Frowned Honeymaren. "No, I'm coming with you!"
"If you do, you'll be his favorite target, Honey! Stay here, I insist!"
"But…"
"STAY!" Yelled Elsa.
Honeymaren huffed and looked around. Yelena had just finished her one versus two and was grinning at the thugs crying on the ground holding their private parts.
The fight was largely won by the Northuldra, but Elsa didn't get to admire it; she had launched herself at full speed in Hans' footsteps.
Hans arrived at the camp of bandits with labored breathing. Several thugs noted that he was alone, which meant that not only did he flee again, but he also left the others behind.
"As if you wouldn't do the same!" He grumbled when they made remarks on his cowardice.
The fact that it now was the second time his plans reduced their number made the pirates start to doubt his competence, but they remembered the loot they obtained from ransacking Arendelle. They settled for whispering mockery between them.
After Hans retrieved his breath with his hands on his thighs and told what happened, the captain checked behind him if he was followed. However, no one was arriving at the camp.
"You're lucky that this Elsa is a damn pacifist and decided to turn back to take care of the people you harmed instead of following your ass." Snorted the man. "You'd be long dead by now."
"Shut up." Retorted Hans, and he walked away. "I have a new plan."
He moved towards his tent, to go study his maps of the area.
"A new plan?" Intervened a bandit when he walked past him. "Already? And they keep failing!"
"Yeah, and while we killed many Arendelle soldiers the other day and it's a good victory…" Added another one, and he was joined with proud snarks, "...Now the security in the kingdom is thicker than ever."
"True." Nodded a pirate next to him, as a group had started to form around. "And if we attack the Northuldra… Sure, they're pathetic, but fighting Elsa in the Forest of Spirits is a different kettle of fish… And you just reduced our army!"
The thugs around mumbled in agreement.
A young one speaked up. "How can we even win against her? I mean, not that I'm praising her or anything, sir, but she's the Snow Queen."
Hans grumbled at those words.
"The guys are right, even if we get her away from the Northuldra, the Spirits are kinda everywhere and can save her from pretty much everything." Insisted a third one. "We can't drown her, we can't burn her alive…"
The others nodded with grunging interjections. That limited the kinds of murders they liked to do.
"She could survive anything!"
"And you're forgetting something." Noted a pirate.
"What, an element?" Frowned the guy, and he counted on his fingers with a mumble.
"No, those snow golems she can–"
"Are you all FINISHED?" Exclaimed Hans, and they all shut their mouths. "If you could close your little fanclub for a moment, so I can talk?"
The bandits gulped and looked at each other.
"She's not perfect. She has a flaw. And it's others." Stated Hans firmly. "I just learned that she has a partner. That… Honeymaren. If we can get our hands on her or Anna, Elsa will be at our feet. We need to create a targeted ambush."
The thugs looked at him without a word, waiting for orders. Hans thought for a moment, until he nodded to himself, and started to trace lines on his maps.
For the following days, he almost didn't leave his tent.
"Surpriiiiise!"
"Anna!"
The redhead's bag hadn't fully made it to the ground that Elsa's arms were wrapped around her neck. It was the best welcome the redhead could possibly think of, especially with the heartwarming addition of having her sister initiating the hug, something quite rare, as she usually waited with open arms.
They swirled together in squeals, some Northuldra smiling as they witnessed their love.
"You're a lover of creativity but organization too, so I wondered if an unprompted visit was a good idea on my entire trip here. But according to this embrace, I wasn't wrong, was I?"
"Never." Grinned Elsa over her shoulder, squeezing her one last time in delight before stepping back to observe her dear sister, her hands on her shoulders. "You're always welcome, any time of day and night. Is that a new jacket?"
"It is!" Replied Anna in cheer. She saluted her observation. "Birghild made it for me with other seamstresses. And look! It has pockets!" She suddenly exclaimed, shoving her hands in them.
Elsa chuckled. "It looks really great."
She passed her hand on the seams to admire it, and was once again stupefied by the talent of Arendelle's castle maids. After all, they were selected, and one of the criterias of working for the Queen's clothing was to be able to make strong seams, because one could never know what kind of adventure Anna could go through during the day.
Northuldra children ran with excitement to the horse Anna had been riding. They begged to climb on his back and Elsa happily helped them, but only allowed two kids at once because she didn't want to tire the horse. He seemed compliant and happy to nuzzle the young Northuldra, especially with how giggling they were, and of course at how many carrots the kids were handing him.
The Fifth Spirit smiled and scratched the horse's head, rubbing his flank too as she led him to the spot where reindeers were. It was Northuldra's tradition to not have an enclosure and let the herd go wherever they wanted, so she didn't tie him to a tree, but asked him to stay where he was.
While she put two new kids on his back to make rounds, and took off his equipment, Anna walked around with a smile, observing the camp.
She breathed in deeply, taking great pleasure in being around Northuldra again. The sound of joyful conversations as they all attended their manual tasks, the smell of fur, leather and wood fire, the crisp in the air and the sound of hooves on the ground, ground that sometimes shook with the passage of Giants…
She let out a happy sigh, and her sister noticed once she caught up with her. Anna's reaction was very similar to the one she had every time she walked through Arendelle after a long absence. Elsa loved the Forest dearly, but there was nothing quite like the atmosphere of the fjord harbor with the smell of seafood and the salty breeze.
Honeymaren spotted the redhead - notably because it was a hair color that wasn't common at all in her tribe - and cleaned her hands in a cloth before walking to them.
"I didn't expect you to be with us today." She chuckled, though she embraced Anna as a warm salutation.
"That's the point of a surprise." Replied Anna once they split up. "For an adaptive tribe, you seem easily set off."
Her tease found a good ally in Honeymaren, who smirked widely. "It's just that you're a Queen, and you deserve an appropriate reception, and we haven't finished sewing our red carpet yet…"
Anna burst into laughter, slightly startling the two others, who then melted in smiles. The brunette was happy to make the monarch laugh, since she currently was going through hell helping Arendelle to rise from its ashes, and Elsa found her heart soaring at the sight of her genuinely having fun this early in her visit. Her baby sister deserved the world, that was for sure, and a topic Elsa would never stop bringing back, but in this moment, Anna deserved to relax, chill out and unwind, and according to her attitude, it was exactly her mood.
"I didn't know she would come either!" Elsa told Honeymaren. "I could have known about your arrival if Gale wasn't currently busy annoying Nokk. But hey, sometimes, not having her snitching can be useful. That way, you indeed surprised me."
Anna grinned. "Your hug made it all worth it."
The two other women smiled. Honeymaren frowned and turned to her girlfriend, naturally worried when the Spirits she worshiped fought each other.
Elsa sighed. "They spent the whole afternoon yesterday squabbling like children over who of the two is the fastest."
"Who won?" Asked Honeymaren and Anna with the same voice.
The two women looked at each other and chuckled, then back at Elsa, who was blushing slightly.
"I don't understand. How do you know that I eventually organized a race?"
Honeymaren smiled with a shrug. "It's literally your duty, as the Fifth Spirit, to assure balance between humans and Spirits, but also among the Spirits themselves. I easily imagine you trying to find a way to prove themselves to settle the topic once and for all."
"Yeah, it's your job, no?" Agreed Anna, a bit more blunt than her friend. "And you're way too much of a mediator to let them be in conflict."
Elsa was impressed. She let out a tender sigh; nothing surprising in their observation, they were the two people who loved her most. Her loving expression turned to a smirk. "I mainly yielded to their dispute because I was exasperated to hear their voices yelling at each other in my mind. I couldn't focus on my task with their strong emotions roaming my thoughts."
Honeymaren's eyes snapped wide. "Oh! That's why you left butchering so fast! I thought you were repulsed, which I found weird because you're getting the hang of it."
"Indeed, that wasn't it. You're a good teacher."
Anna remained silent. Those two must have had a lot of love and complicity for Elsa to eventually not be disgusted with skinning animals.
"I was so angry when I walked to them that they actually interrupted their fight." Told Elsa, amused at the memory. "Then I suggested that I freeze Nokk for the morning so that Gale and him could race in a valley, which would make no obstacle and put them on equal terms."
Anna and Honeymaren nodded, very attentive. Elsa tilted her head with sass. "You just want to know who won, uh?"
"Yep."
"Exactly."
Elsa shook her head, then closed her eyes. The two others knew this familiar expression, and waited.
Nokk appeared after being summoned, trotting on the tiny pond that was next to them and that they didn't even notice. Anna was actually impressed that the majestic, massive and tall horse was able to appear even from the smallest puddle.
The Water Spirit was very excited, in a very good mood, neighing happily and all, and Anna grinned.
"I think we got our answer."
She saw that Honeymaren bowed at her side. It wasn't an exaggerated devotion like getting down on one knee, or placing her forehead against the ground, but she still took the time to show her respect to the Spirit. Nokk noticed and closed his bright blue eyes to slowly nod in return. The redhead remained speechless in emotion, loving to be a witness of the culture.
Anna also slowly did a gentle gesture, bringing her hand forward to touch his muzzle. Nokk let her, and she passed her fingers along the incredibly fascinating and unsettling water surface of the horse. The redhead grinned at the sensation she would never get tired of. She passed her hand on the side and scratched the water, which Nokk appreciated, though it was odd to do, like wiggling her fingers on the surface of a bath. She observed the bright and reflective shape of his body, with the water moving and shining as it reformed while he moved his legs and agitated his tail.
"I'm quite impressed that the Wind Spirit isn't grumpy now." Noted Honeymaren. "If she lost."
Elsa ignored the 'She was no match for me!' scoff in her mind resounding from Nokk next to her, and answered her girlfriend.
"You know Gale is a real weathervane… No pun intended. She found herself distracted since."
The two women nodded. They observed tenderly as Elsa caressed the magical horse with attention.
"Honeymaren!" Called a fellow Northuldra, who apparently had been waiting for her to resume her current task, and the brunette bit her lip when she realized that she had completely forgotten that she had interrupted herself to come say hello.
"Oops. Sorry, girls, I have to go." She said, hurriedly going to where the Northuldra was frowning. She saw that Elsa felt sorry to just stand here and not be of help, so the brunette quickly lifted her hand. "No, stay here. Welcome your sister like she deserves. You two should spend time together after the Collage."
"Collapse." Corrected Anna with a wince, a bit amused nonetheless.
"Oh, sorry. Collapse. I still have trouble with your words." Blushed the brunette, hoping she wasn't disrespectful of the tragedy.
The siblings watched her go, and Elsa daydreamt for a moment as she observed her girlfriend. She knew that after such a task, Honeymaren liked to clean herself with saponaria in the river, and she couldn't wait to smell that fragrance in her hair.
'And I should clean your mind afterwards too.' Sounded Nokk's voice in her mind, as he obviously had followed her reflection.
Elsa turned to him with a frown. "Could you please stop with your sarcasm?"
It wasn't the first time he teased the blonde about her seduced thoughts concerning Honeymaren, and the horse snickered at her scold.
Anna smiled at them. "You know, I may not hear him, I am pretty sure that you're the most sarcastic of you two."
The blonde scoffed. "You have no idea what he's like! All the Northuldra respect him with devotion, and the Arendellians are persuaded that he's amazing. But he's a real…"
She stopped in her sentence, wondering if it was blasphemy to say it out loud. Nokk heard her thoughts, however, and spat water at her face.
"HEY!"
Anna bursted into laughter. "Full llama mode!"
Her mockery also was punished, and Nokk waved his tail, slapping her butt and splashing it. The redhead gasped in a jolt, and whined at the state of her pants. Thankfully, the Northuldra were open-minded and lived in the wild, so none of them would think that the newly formed stain was pee.
Nokk was very amused by their complaining grumbles, and he joyfully hopped back into the pond.
"One thing's for sure, mischievousness is a Spirit trait." Sighed Anna once the surface of the water stopped undulating.
She got a look from her sister. "Yeah, you got that right." Insisted the redhead.
Elsa stopped wiping her face and waved her fingers to make the water float away from her skin and vanish in thin air, which was more efficient to get rid of it. Anna gave her a ridiculous begging expression for her to do the same with her pants. The Fifth Spirit rolled her eyes.
"Pleeeeease! You know how awesome I think this trick is." Bounced Anna.
"That doesn't motivate me to do it for you. Not after what you said." Snorted the blonde.
Anna pouted. "You know, it's kind of windy. I could catch a cold if I stay with wet pants like that."
That actually was highly possible and true, so Elsa sighed and agreed to dry the fabric with a few moves of the hands. Anna watched in eternal awe as the drops of water form then disappeared.
"Never gets old."
Elsa mirrored her grin, because it was very contagious.
"Say, when you hear the Spirits talk, is it as clear as when we talk to you?"
The blonde looked at her curious eyes, and remembered the conversation they had had during the Collapse. She wanted to say yes, but then twisted her mouth as she tried to precise the feeling.
"It's… Complex to explain. With words. Because when they talk, there are no words. They're thoughts. Not actual dialogs. I'd love to be able to describe it to you, but…" She was really trying though, and took the time to think. Anna waited patiently, and Elsa eventually tilted her head.
"It's like your inner voice, but it's another one. And it invites itself in from time to time. But one day, I realized that they aren't made the same way than our thoughts to ourselves. They're made out of emotions. Our inner voices are based on actual voices we heard, while the Spirits never spoke out loud, you know..."
Anna nodded, loving how passionate Elsa was and sharing her interest. "When did you realize it? That their language, your bond with them, was made out of emotions?"
The blonde smiled. "I was translating what a Giant was telling me to Honeymaren. We were making way for a mercantile road. And I found myself unable to translate a word. Precisely because it wasn't a word."
"So you had to mime the thing to the poor Honeymaren?" Teased Anna. Elsa nudged her, and she giggled. "Wait, does that mean that they don't have a voice tone at all?"
The blonde shook her head in confirmation. "They really don't. I recognize who's talking - well, communicating through the magical bond - by their style."
The Queen had an excited smile, and she leaned against the tree next to her with crossed arms. "Do tell."
Elsa happily obliged, her younger sister's amazement being very cute, and because it reminded herself of when they were kids and Anna asked about magic.
"Bruni's constantly making short sentences. Like birds chirping, or quick zig-zags." She laughed, hoping it was clear for her sister. "He's always like 'Can we play? Do we play now? And now? Now, do we play?'"
The redhead laughed. "That sounds a lot like Gale when you translated her voice for me once."
Elsa shrugged. "They both spend a lot of time playing. Gale is more of the babysitting type, though. She hangs around kids very often. Bruni's playing style is more like… The one of a pet. Not in the mean way," she hurriedly added, and Anna could see that she had just sent a mental impulse, "but affectionately. He sleeps on my belly sometimes though. And asks for treats."
Anna grinned. "That doesn't surprise me. How about the Giants? Because I suppose that you recognize Nokk by his sarcasm."
"Indeed. For the Giants, it really depends on which one is talking. Sure, the Spirit has a hive mind, but each individual has their own personality."
"You make it sound like there are a lot of them."
"Why, yes. They roam the whole land."
"And do you sense how many they are with your magic?"
"Well…"
Elsa started to frown, focusing.
"Are you… Counting them right now?" Said Anna with an astonished tone and a dropped jaw.
"No," snorted Elsa, "I'm just thinking."
She opened her eyes with an estimating pout. "I think they're uh… 113? Or so?"
Anna widened her eyes very wide. "You're pulling my leg."
"Not at all." Assured Elsa, very serious.
"But I am the one who challenged the Earth Spirit when we had to prove ourselves. How come I only met a dozen of them?"
"That already was an impressive face-to-face, Anna." Complimented the Fifth Spirit. She sincerely had no idea if she would have survived if she had been the one running away from them. "I think it's simply due to the fact that some of them never move."
"Too lazy?"
The Fifth Spirit gave her a scoff with wide eyes, astonished by her nerve.
"Are you asking to be stomped over?" She smirked.
"I was just trying to understand." Blushed the Queen.
"It's not laziness. They're monitoring the place they are at, or holding a mountain. Many of them actually are mountains. When you look at the side of a mountain and think you see a face? High chance that it's a Giant sleeping."
"Woaw."
"Yes, I was astounded too when one of them gave me a tour during my first month here."
"So that already cuts down the total of Giants by almost half." Continued Elsa. "Then many of them are protecting borders or cliffs, which is why you never saw them. And, I see you coming, for all of those who remain, a vast majority refuse to fight, so you can't send them all at Hans to scare his guts."
Anna grinned, and lifted her arms up. "What's the point of being the other part of the Bridge if I can't make pranks like those?"
Elsa smiled. Gale's tingles were heard in the distance, and Anna turned with surprise.
"She's not joking about what you said." Informed Elsa. "She's just playing with the kids to help them get on your horse."
She mused. "Actually, since the Northuldra kids came back to the Forest with decorated kites from their last weekly class in Arendelle, she's in a very good mood. She had played with them for hours."
The Queen laughed, then tilted her head. "Why 'she', though? I never dared to ask when she was around, so I'm grasping the opportunity of her distraction."
Elsa shrugged. "I used different pronouns in the first weeks I lived with the Northuldra, and she conveyed more emotions when I used she. You see, she's around kids a lot, and she especially likes the unique mischievous ways little girls have when they play. I figured that she identify to them."
Anna had a thinking pout. "I see. I wonder if one day, long ago, they were all humans…"
"I speculated about it once."
"Of course you did!" Laughed Anna.
Elsa rolled her eyes. "It's nothing 'nerdy' or whatever you are going to say. Sometimes, when I bond with them, whether it be when we have fun in the Forest, or work together, or chat with the magical telepathy, I can feel that they have human traits, or expressions, and while it's possible that it's due to spending time with the Northuldra, I easily came to imagine them as people."
Anna swiftly invited her to sit on a fallen trunk a bit further, and Elsa blinked, following confusedly.
Once seated, the redhead put her elbows on her knees and placed her chin on her palms. "I want to be entirely focused on the story. Your imagination is amazing."
Elsa had a modest smile at the compliment, and looked up at Gale lifting adults in the distance as they had been timidly observing the horse and wishing for a ride too. One Northuldra laughed out loud and dropped the logs he was holding when the Spirit tickled him, which made the kids cackle.
"Gale would definitely be a little girl. Maybe the exact same age than Mother on the first ice memory we saw of her. She would have long hair, that keeps getting messy with leaves and twigs lost in it, but she would refuse to clean it."
She gestured to the pond. "To me, Nokk is a middle aged man. Tall, athletic, slim. He would have long hair too, and definitely a permanent haughty and judgmental stare that you would hate so much that I would constantly have to prevent you from punching him."
Anna laughed.
"For the Giants, it's a bit complex." Continued Elsa, looking at the mountains on the horizon. She pouted as she thought. "It's more like… A community. It's hard for me to put a face on them, they have so many different personalities… But I think that a jovial, big and burly ensemble of male and female siblings would represent them the best."
Her younger sister nodded. "I like the idea. And Bruni?"
Elsa sighed. "The most hyperactive toddler you can possibly imagine."
Anna laughed loudly.
"I'm serious!" Smiled Elsa. "He may sometimes have the wisdom and patience of his millennium age, I have to keep an eye on him on a daily basis. Also, he's so fast, it's ridiculous. I have good reflexes, and yet he keeps escaping me when he just made a mistake."
The redhead shrugged. "It's ice versus fire. None of you actually wins if you fight each other, so Nature found a way to balance things otherwise."
She got nudged by Elsa's shoulder and smiled.
Anna contemplated those mental images for a while, picturing the four Spirits standing side by side as humans. Maybe having a meeting in Ahtohallan, with an ice table and everything.
"Do you think that once, they were… Chosen, a bit like you, and whatever age they were, they turned into immortal divine entities?"
"You dramatize it a bit too much, but it's a good theory." Admitted Elsa.
"Why don't you directly ask them?"
The blonde blushed, looking down. "I don't know, it's a bit… Impolite, no? I mean, I have known them for barely a year."
The Queen snorted. "Please, they're not just colleagues. They are friends! And you have this bond with them. It's not rude at all."
Elsa fidgeted with the lines of the wood below them. "Still. I prefer to let them talk about it with me when they are ready."
Anna discreetly rolled her eyes. "Okay, but keep me updated, alright? I want letters with each detail, and you better draw portraits of them."
The blonde smiled. "We still have a lot to learn from them, I like that."
There was a silence, then she lowered her eyes.
"You know, the more I think about it, the more I believe that the night Mother told us about Ahtohallan's legend was the same night the accident happened."
Anna lifted her eyebrows. "You think?"
"It's a theory. My mind still is a bit mushed about that night. Like my brain is protecting me from it." Winced Elsa.
"That's normal." Admitted Anna with a sad smile. "And I can't help you, because even with my memories back from Grand Pabbie, this night's still messy to me too. He gave me back all the moments involving magic in my young childhood, and that included Father's story and Mother's lullaby since we talked about your powers, but I got all of them at once, so… Don't ask me about chronology." Snorted the Queen. "Besides, chronology is your role. Ma'am river of memory."
Elsa smiled. "I'll have a look in Ahtohallan to see if I'm right on my next visit."
She then noted that Anna's teal blue eyes were staring at her tenderly.
"What?" Asked the blonde.
"I love that you don't hesitate talking about the accident anymore."
"It's been ages ago."
"I know. But still. Remember when we spent an eternity addressing the subject?"
Elsa giggled. "Yes. Olaf thought we were crazy, being both close and very distant at the same time."
"Until having holidays in Corona did us some good." Smiled Anna, looking at the horizon.
She had no idea if the kingdom was that way, but she appreciated looking at the landscape. Elsa nodded next to her.
The redhead knew that her elder had a magical assistance to always know where the North was to locate Ahtohallan, but she chose not to tease her about it for once.
She pointed at her pile of stuff with her thumb, which hadn't left the spot where she had dropped them at her arrival.
"I brought playing cards. You still have to get your revenge from your last visit, remember?"
Elsa smiled as her younger sister walked to her satchel to take a deck, which she shook with a grin. The blonde was way less competitive than Anna, but still was a bit upset to have lost against her indeed, especially with a tight game. She nodded happily.
"It's on. Let's use a cloth from my goahti, I know a perfect place to play at this time of day." She invited, knowing well how appreciative of sunbathes her younger sister was.
A few minutes later, the Spirit was back with a beautiful handmade cloth, that had all shades of brown, and made Anna breath out an admirative gasp when Elsa unfolded it to place it down after a few minutes of walk.
"Are you… Sure that we can sit on it?"
"Of course." Chuckled Elsa.
She however vanished her ice sandals to have clean feet when she sat cross-legged, and the redhead understood that despite living in the woods, Elsa still had respect for objects and knew how to maintain them. Which was a common philosophy among the Northuldra, she mentally noted. She therefore took off her boots, which probably had mud underneath, and kept her socks on - unlike her elder, she found the air chilly - before seating in front of her. She let out a happy hum at the sunlight perfectly filtered by the trees.
"You're right, this place is perfect."
She then started to shuffle the cards with a sly smile. She was certain to win a second time, because her game strategy had been learned from the sailors she had spent time with. She couldn't wait to make Elsa pout once more.
After distributing the cards and playing the first rounds, the Queen however noted that she was on the verge of losing. She frowned and inspected her hand and Elsa's behavior, but nothing indicated that she had missed or failed in her strategy or that Elsa was trying to decipher it.
In fact, the Snow Queen seemed very confident. Too confident even. She was smiling. It was odd, because last time they had played, she had a very serious face.
Then Anna heard Gale's tingling above their heads, and saw that the Wind Spirit was making round trips between the trees behind her and the trees behind Elsa.
The Queen gasped. "You're cheating! I can't believe you!"
The blonde looked up from her cards with a bigger smile, and laughed out loud when she saw Anna's scandalized face. It was nice to hear her laughter, and the redhead would have found it cute if they were in the same team, but they absolutely weren't.
"Gale is reading my cards and telling you mentally!" Accused Anna, pointing with her finger.
Elsa giggled and grinned guiltily. The Wind Spirit made a laughing twirl as well.
"Is that your only reaction?" Angrily frowned the Queen at the two fellows.
"Sorry, it's not why I'm laughing." Apologized Elsa, waving her hand and trying to calm her laughter. "It's just… She doesn't know the name of the cards, so she just calls them the way she sees them, and it's hilarious. At some point she said "The vertical row of thorns", and it was really hard not to laugh. I suppose that you have a three of spades, then?"
Anna looked down at her hand and frowned.
"That's not funny at all. It's straight up cheating."
She frowned at her elder.
"I would normally ask you stuff like 'How does she see?' but I'm really not in the mood." Grumbled Anna, crossing her arms with an angry pout. "Either we go indoors, like in your goahti, or we don't play at all."
Elsa sighed with a head tilt, a sad but amused smile curling her lips. "Alright, alright. Sorry if I upset you."
Anna felt a bit guilty when she saw the Fifth Spirit lift her eyes and sign Gale to go float somewhere else, and the latter obeyed after leaving a last tingling laughter. But she didn't say anything.
She eyed the Wind Spirit going further in the wood with a squint.
"Even magic can't make her see what's in your hand now." Assured Elsa.
Anna let out a groan as she looked back at her. "I'm still shuffling the cards again. We start over."
"Fine." Complied Elsa, but with rolled eyes.
A Northuldra walked to them with an inviting smile, holding two mugs that let out swirls of smoke. The redhead smiled at how literally and figuratively warm the offering was.
"Do you want tea, Anna?" Asked the woman whose name, she just remembered, was Egil.
"Hi! Of course. It's always delicious when you make it."
Egil blushed when she realized that the Queen had remembered from the last occasion she had tried it. Anna noted that she was making a lot of effort into being appreciated by her, and wondered if that was out of respect and devotion for her title, or if Egil secretly had a crush for her. After all, the tribe had its hold of same-sex lovers.
Elsa grinned as Anna was served first, but remained silent.
"Of course, I brought some for the Fifth Spirit as well," added Egil as she handed the second mug to Elsa.
It sounded oddly defensive, and the blonde wondered if she had been teased for it when she prepared tea earlier. Judging by the position of the Sun in the sky, it was the right time to do so, and Elsa was accustomed to having this daily habit, but when Egil was the one making tea, she never brought mugs to people.
After she clumsily bowed at the siblings - some Northuldra worshiped the Bridge, so it wasn't that weird - and left, Anna gave her elder a grin.
Suddenly, holding tea reminded her of something, and she gasped.
"I saw Warren and Lloyd the other day!" She beamed.
"Oh, really?" Exclaimed her sister, sharing her joy at the memory of the two guards that accompanied them to Corona.
'Gosh, it feels like a lifetime ago.' She thought.
"Yes, I invited them over for dinner one night. They were passing by, I couldn't miss the opportunity."
"You did well." Nodded Elsa, proud of her sibling's reaction. "And how are they? What are they doing now?" She asked, taking a sip of her mug.
"They married each other, and live in a house in–"
Elsa coughed loudly, so much that she had to hold on to something, and several Northuldra turned around. Egil worried that her tea was too hot.
"Wrong pipe?" Smirked Anna. "I'm surprised that you're surprised."
"I just… Didn't expect them to be together, that's all." Coughed Elsa, trying to retrieve her breath.
Anna kept smirking, with sass now. "As much as they didn't expect you to end up with a woman."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Frowned the Spirit. "I'm not shocked, I'm just baffled that they are married."
"I thought that you like, detected something between them when we spent days in their company."
"Detected?" Blinked Elsa. "What do you think I am, a queer compass?"
She then shrugged. "Besides, I wasn't even thinking about romance or anything back then. The years of reclusion were still fresh in my mind. May I remind you that Honeymaren is the first woman I fell in love with, but truly the first person I fell in love with at all."
Her explanation also was a confession, and she blushed immediately at the words that escaped her lips. She regretted it instantly at Anna's "Aaaaaw."
"Stop. My point is, I couldn't have possibly guessed. They were good colleagues, but they had some disagreements during the journey."
"Yes. But it was on a ship, though." Teased Anna, her smirk still not leaving her lips.
The elder gave her a stare. "Alright, change the topic. What did you talk about during dinner?"
Anna mercifully dropped her sass and smiled tenderly at the memory of the evening. She spent a long time recalling the debates and discussions they had through the meal. Elsa listened to her with a smile, imagining the two retired guards with a few more years.
"At dessert, when I told them that the cooks served the same during my wedding, they really wanted to know how it went, so I gave them all the details. Though, nobody knows it better than the organizer, am I right?"
Her wink made Elsa look away in embarrassment. "I was only being methodical."
"I think meticulous is a better term." Smiled Anna.
She wasn't bashing her, so the blonde simply rolled her eyes, a guilty but happy smile stretching her lips.
"It was an amazing day."
"That's for sure." Nudged the younger sister lovingly, bumping her knee with hers. "Because you're the one who planned everything. Everything was perfect, Elsa. Genuinely."
"I know, you told me countless times." Smiled the elder at her emotional sigh.
"There was one letdown though." Pouted Anna.
Elsa's heart sank in her chest. She had spent weeks on the preparations, how did she miss something?
"I am very disappointed that the whole wedding wasn't on ice."
The Snow Queen puffed. "Did you want to hurt your guests? Even if I created ice skates for everyone, most of them likely never saw a rink for their whole lives."
The redhead giggled. "I know, I'm just teasing. But I can see in your eyes that you had thought of the possibility."
Elsa's blush returned to her cheeks.
She drank her tea in silence.
"What are you two talking about?"
They turned to Ryder's sudden voice. He was holding his own mug of tea too, and holding a basket full of reindeer treats with the other.
"How I try to make nice things for Anna but she's not grateful." Replied Elsa.
The redhead's eyebrows knotted, and she sent her a deadly stare, then she looked at the Northuldra. "Don't listen to her. She's an idiot."
Ryder frowned, looking offended by her sentence. "You shouldn't ignore her words. In our tribe, we always listen carefully to what the Fifth Spirit has to say."
A silence followed. Ryder looked very serious. Anna felt bad all of a sudden. She had just arrived, she had been offered a warm welcome, and she already was making a misstep? Ryder then cracked and laughed, and she let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm just kidding. Your siblings' squabbles are normal. You should see me and Honeymaren all day."
"You really shouldn't." Said Elsa with wide eyes at her sister, and the three of them laughed.
Elsa mused as she walked to where the Spirits gathered for her daily check, smiling with a head shake.
"Warren and Lloyd… As husbands…" She scoffed in disbelief.
Her mind then came back to the mention of Anna's own wedding, and her planification for it. Elsa's smile got larger as she let her memories wander.
The Snow Queen had indeed taken care of every single detail of her sister's wedding, and anticipated every possible twist or mishap with a list written in advance to the staff; said list including exit routes just in case something would go very very wrong, like Olaf setting the chapel on fire. Her detailed schedule didn't surprise anyone in the castle or in her family. Even Anna, who was kept in the dark for surprises, could tell that she was up to a lot of things. Therefore, the wedding unfolded impeccably, the whole day flawless from the pompous ceremonies to the crowd stroll, and the long party that followed.
However, there was one thing that Elsa had not planned at all, or had only diminished to a little corner note at the back of her head but kind of forgot. She had absolutely underestimated how emotional she would be.
The Spirit had rehearsed over and over and over in her mind the moment she would have to walk Anna down the aisle to lead her to Kristoff before handing her the bouquet she had prepared, but never would she have imagined the ridiculous amount of tears she had to hold back in that moment. Time had seemed infinite - thankfully in a good way - when they crossed the chapel, from the decorated doors to a beaming Kristoff who was staring at Anna with undying love and awe. The redhead hand had been instantly squeezing Elsa's in emotion and excitement as the King admired her for the first time in her wedding dress, which the Snow Queen had personally spent days and nights designing. The roaring applause in the chapel of genuinely delighted people was icing on the cake, and Elsa had her heart exploding with joy and pride when she finally placed Anna's hand in Kristoff's at the altar before placing herself next to the bishop.
Since that day, and many times, she had apologized to Anna for being so emotional, worried she ruined it with her misplaced emotion. The Queen had rolled her eyes at Elsa's 'It was your big day, not mine!' and reassured her that she wouldn't have changed it for anything else in the world, the celebration even better than she had ever dreamed of. And she had dreamed about her perfect wedding a huge amount of times.
All she actually needed and wanted from Elsa was for her to be at her side, and she had appreciated to see how happy and proud the elder was for her. While Elsa's dear wish for Anna to finally find love and radiate with it had been granted, her own wish for Elsa to be there when it happens had been as well.
Her revelation and hugs to appease the blonde's mind didn't prevent the younger sister from teasing her about her state, though. As much as she could remember, she had seen Elsa with glistening eyes during the whole day. Maybe that the one exception was when the Spirit had been announcing her speech, praising her sister for a solid five minutes, but that didn't really count because Anna's own emotional tears had obstructed her vision and she couldn't know if some had rolled on Elsa's face too. Every time during the wedding she would turn or talk to her elder, the latter was beaming, and it was like she wasn't even in charge of all the organization at all, only witnessing this joyous day as a guest like everyone else.
The fact that Elsa didn't have her face covered with bubbling tears at least once was a miracle, and Anna had suspected her from having makeup made out of ice for it to be so impeccable. She also suspected Nokk to have been secretly standing nearby, maybe just at the fjord's shore, to use his magic to stop the water from falling off her eyes. Or maybe she simply had frozen her tears on her eyelashes, her regal and poised attitude when she was serious keeping them in their tracks, just like she was capturing everyone's attention in the assembly when she was giving her speech, the guests almost stopping their breathing to listen to her, stunned by her aura.
Elsa remembered Anna's long ramble of theories, especially how she had remained silent and didn't answer any of them, and how her sister kept asking her for the truth. The Snow Queen chuckled, her laughter free in the forest.
Anna smirked at the sight of Ryder making reindeer voices with his herd, and petting each of them with genuine love.
"Look at him." Snorted Honeymaren, and she leaned on the tree next to Anna.
"I find it cute. Kristoff does the same. Well, did the same. With Sven."
The brunette smiled. "You two make quite a quirky pair."
"Thanks for the compliment." Laughed Anna.
She then looked at her friend. "How about you and Elsa? She's very quirky too. I mean, how can you be more special than her."
Honeymaren returned her laugh. "She's eccentric in every way. Both a very attentive person and a very easily distracted one."
"She is." Smiled the Queen, aware of it with how much time she spent with her sister.
"Did I ever tell you about that time, when she almost walked out of the goahti completely naked?"
Anna burst into laughter. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah." Snorted Honeymaren. "An elk had been seen sniffing food around the camp, and they're enormous, you know, so it naturally scared the kids. It was early in the morning when they screamed for help, and Elsa woke up in a jolt. She immediately walked out to help - her altruism and instinct as the Fifth Spirit acting out to save the tribe while making sure the elk was safe - and I had to stop her before she opened the door because that dork didn't realize she was still naked."
Anna laughed even more, perfectly picturing the scene, especially Elsa's self-scandalized blush that surely appeared on her face.
"Because of her immunity to cold and her adrenaline." She giggled.
Anna imagined that Elsa surely created herself an ice outfit in a simple flick of the wrist before heading outside, but…
"Hold on, still…?" She blinked. "Still naked?"
"She wasn't the only one." Replied Honeymaren casually. "It was a warmer season, and we were under the pelts, so none of us had put clothes back on."
'Back… On…' Thought Anna, frowning.
The Northuldra saw her thinking gears and smiled. "We remained the way we were when we fell to sleep."
The redhead dropped her jaw, and she snarked.
"No need to spell it out, I suppose. We didn't spend the evening reading."
Anna still seemed shocked. Not too much, like Honeymaren had crossed a dangerous line by telling her about her elder's intimacy with her, but rather like she didn't expect to visualize that kind of thing today.
She shook her head, trying to erase her own mental image. "...Sometimes I forget that you two are… A couple." She blabbered.
She saw the look Honeymaren gave her. "Not that I forget it as forget it. You two are constantly together. Which is adorable. I just…"
The Queen tried to explain her embarrassment with gestures of the hands, and the brunette understood her issue.
She smirked. "Hopefully you'll never have to mime that during game night."
She received a slap on the arm, and giggled.
"Well, you two look like you're having fun." Noticed Elsa at her approach.
The two women jolted, then smirked, because the Snow Queen clearly seemed clueless, and hadn't spied on their conversation before her arrival.
"May I borrow Anna?"
"You know you can borrow me anytime!" Grinned the concerned, though the question was for Honeymaren.
The brunette nodded, and Elsa made an indication to her sister to follow her.
They walked for a long time, and Anna understood that she meant to lead her out of the woods, at the edge of the Forest.
"Do you mind if we sit down?" Asked the Spirit, gesturing to a large stone.
The redhead blinked. "Why does it feel like you're about to scold me for something? I didn't burn anything, I promise. If anything, it was Bruni." She joked.
Elsa however was serious. She gave a quick smile to her humor, but showed a place where they could talk in private. They already were far away from the camp anyway, and nobody could hear them.
Anna nodded, switching her own mood to mirror hers. After a while, like she had been gathering courage, Elsa spoke, taking the Queen's hands in hers.
"Anna, you above all people taught me how important it is to share what's on your heart and talk about how you feel."
The redhead widened her eyes, instantly emotional at her words, even though she still didn't know what she was referring to. Elsa continued.
"When I met you in the castle during the attack, you told me…" She gulped, pausing for a moment. "You told me that you killed someone. Or several people? I need to know. No, wait, that's not…"
She dropped her hands to bury her face in hers with a groan. "Now I'm ruining it. I…"
Anna's eyes had been starting to fill with tears, but she had a slight smile at her elder's despair.
Elsa breathed out, and looked at her again, letting out a determined huff. "It's not that I need it. I just want to know, and I want you to feel comfortable sharing what happened with me. You may have talked about it to Kristoff, and it's entirely up to you if you didn't, but I recommend it, because it feels better… It would feel better for you to talk about the possible shock and trauma…"
She was fidgeting hard with her fingers, Anna could tell from the rustling it made, even on her ice outfit, as she had kept her eyes in Elsa's azure blue caring ones.
"Thank you so much." Finally said the Queen, cutting the blonde in another nervous ramble.
Elsa blinked her eyes. Only then did she notice how emotional Anna was. She had guessed she would be, but didn't pay attention until now.
"Th-thanks for your comprehension." Muttered Anna clumsily, with a tone that was a bit too formal, proof of how close to crying she was.
"Hey, it's normal." Melted Elsa, already reaching to grasp her hands again, when Anna clenched hers suddenly.
"I…"
A silence fell, the redhead's words staying in her throat.
"Please, there's no rush." Insisted Elsa.
"Now you made me want to talk about it." Confessed her sister.
"Oh, yes, I meant that you could take your time now. Breathe for a few seconds."
They laughed a bit, then Anna did as advised. With bravery that the elder forever admired, the Queen managed to make her tears vanish, and she gave her a serious stare.
"You're right. It's important to talk about it. I avoided it until now with Kristoff, which frankly was because his hugs and care were too amazing to not just curl in it and ruin it with a story of how I murdered people."
"You wouldn't ruin it." Assured Elsa. "He's a very good listener."
Anna smiled. "You too."
The blonde tilted her head with emotion and modesty.
"So…" Started Anna, clearing her throat. "Do you remember when you saw the state of the dressing room and the library, when you took notes of what was destroyed with Kai and both of you were stupefied? Well…"
And Anna was right saying that Elsa was a good listener, because for the following two hours, she hung on to her lips, remaining patient each time Anna hesitated or took a moment before continuing. Hugs and good advice were exchanged, as well as the promise to always tell her elder sister when she had any mental or physical distress.
Sharing uncertainties and other letdowns they never dared to, the sisters eventually laughed together, and their smiles warmed each other's hearts.
However, they had no clue that a few kilometers away from them, something bad was happening.
A thug grunted with effort as he and his group dropped the two masked bodies in front of Hans.
"There you go, sir. Now let's talk about the payment."
"Hold on." Frowned the fallen prince. "I talked about one hostage, not two."
"I know how to count." Snorted the pirate. "You love to boss us around, huh? Well, you know what, it's double the Northuldra, double the price."
Hans rolled his eyes and approached to check the bodies.
Several swords and guns shlinged and clicked in his direction.
"Don't you even think about it. Payment. First." Insisted the bandit.
He sighed and turned around to grab a heavy purse from his tent, which he threw in the hands of the grinning man. "There. Will that be enough?"
"Perfect." Admitted the pirate, and he admired the heavy content. Yep, the prince definitely had ransacked the Southern Isles vaults before deserting.
Hans gave a head gesture to the men to remove the sacks off their heads. He smiled when he saw the anger on the Northudra's faces.
"You know, this sack smells like shit." Said the woman, frowning with rage as she tried to get off her handcuffs. "You should clean it between two captures."
"Very funny." Replied Hans. He then looked at the man next to her.
"Why did you capture this guy?" He said, a mix of disgust and confusion in his voice.
"We couldn't find Anna, sir. We figured that she was with Elsa. So we grabbed him instead." Grinned the thug that held him.
Hans looked at him with unfiltered anger. "...Instead? What do you think this is, a buffet? I never said to bring a token one!"
"But he was with her, sir. If we left him there, even knocked down, he would have woken up at some point and told the others." Defended another bandit.
"Which is the point, you idiot." Grumbled Hans. "Elsa needs to know about it."
"But, sir… Rumor is that they're siblings."
Hans' attitude switched. He smirked evilly, a shadow passing over his face.
"Well. I do believe we can make this work to our advantage."
Author's Note:
Oh, yeah, that last sentence was a ref to a movie. If you got it you gain +1000 points of awesomeness to my heart lol
The way Elsa is so free now... My emotionnnnns
Also about the Kristanna wedding part: I'm not rooting for a short where we see it because it would be repetitive with the Tangled one, but this is exactly how I can only picture it going down hahaha
Frankly if WDAS makes another short before potentionally giving us Frozen 3, I hope it will be relevant to the Frozenverse and not a silly useless story like the ones in 'official' novels and Olaf-centric stuff. Yes I'm bitter lol our girls deserve serious stuff!
