So.

I hope you're safe and healthy. Thanks so much, as always, for the reviews and PMs. I'm so grateful you're still reading.

Warmest regards,
ssg.x.

CHAPTER 36
IF A LOVING HEART WERE STUNG

What the marshmallow is going on here? She's lost her mind.

If Elsa was the ice queen, Anna was moving through the halls of the palace like the princess of fire. The anger seemed to be rolling off her and licking the heels of anyone in her path like white hot flames, causing staff and guards, left and right, to leap out of her way like just her eyes on them might burn them to a crisp.

Anna hated people seeing her like this, but she couldn't help it. Elsa had already proved to her that she had no control over the world around her, and now she was finding out that she had only a shred of control over even herself.

Anna couldn't remember ever being this enraged before.

I hate her so much right now.

What if this feeling never goes away?

oooOOOOooo

Anna was desperate for answers, and so, once Elsa left her room after sticking a knife in her heart with the news that she was setting Hans free whether she liked it or not, Anna decided she was going to get those answers out of the red tornado hellbent on destroying her life for the second time if she had to choke it out of him.

At first Anna thought that Elsa's strange behaviour could be ascribed to Hans holding something over her head.

Some kind of secret.

Something must have happened during her trip to the Southern Isles that Elsa wanted, or maybe needed to keep everyone from finding out, even if everyone included her own sister. She had stepped off the ship with her head wrapped in a bandage, locked herself in her room, and wouldn't speak to a soul. She wouldn't even divulge the cause of her injury to the doctor Gerda had insisted she see.

But why would Hans blackmail Elsa into giving him a prison cell here in Arendelle? He was there for at least two months before he was given a room in the palace. Surely anyone would prefer a bedroom over a prison cell. Why wouldn't he have demanded that earlier?

And what would be the connection between extortion and that head injury?

And Hans' new powers…

She thought, at first, that Elsa had frozen his heart, but that couldn't be possible. When Elsa had frozen Anna's heart, it had very nearly killed her. She grew so weak and so cold that she could barely walk. If it wasn't for Olaf bearing the greater part of her weight in a desperate effort to keep her on her feet, she never would have escaped the thorns of ice reaching out for her from every direction as she stumbled through the halls of the palace, searching for a way to get out so she could track down Kristoff.

So where had Hans' powers come from?

Anna had recently tried to broach the subject of trolls, magic, and Hans' possible connection to both with Kristoff, but that hadn't ended well, so she wasn't even going to consider attempting it again.

The trolls were Kristoff's family, and so she had been to visit them several times since their first meeting. She had seen Grand Pabbie do some pretty wondrous things during her visits.

He was an alchemist who worked with ingredients foraged from the surrounding woods to create potions, oils and tinctures. He was also a scryer, but he could do so much more than just glimpse into hints of the future or locate the lost. He could call up his visions so that you could glimpse them, too. He was able to manipulate memories from Anna's childhood, which unnerved her, and she would be lying if she said she hadn't felt more than a little violated when Elsa had explained why Grand Pabbie had decided it was necessary. When Anna finally had the opportunity to ask him about it, he told her that the details he had removed from her memories would return over time, and he was right. Still…

Kristoff had told Anna that all trolls played with magic now and then, but that Grand Pabbie was more powerful than the average troll by far, whatever average was for a troll. Trolls mostly used their magic to play pranks or help their gardens grow. Grand Pabbie used his magic to aid, heal or protect any who had need of it.

He also made a mean cup of red clover tea.

Still, Grand Pabbie hadn't been powerful enough to save Anna from her frozen heart. And if, by chance, it was possible he could imbue someone with the kind of power Elsa possessed, Anna knew he had the good sense not to.

Okay, Hans didn't get his new abilities from Elsa, and he didn't get them from Grand Pabbie. Fine. Then where did they come from? It was just one more question Anna needed to add to the list.

Anna knew she was close to her destination when she found herself in the dim hallway with all the shipwreck paintings. She kept her eyes straight ahead. She couldn't let herself get distracted lest she lose track of all the questions she'd collected for her interrogation. She knew Hans would probably do everything in his power to derail the conversation, so she needed her mind to be sword-edge sharp when they were finally face to face.

As Anna approached the two doors at the end of the hall, she remarked that there were no guards around. That didn't make any sense. She was certain she was in the right place. What was going on?

She tentatively gripped one of the two door handles. On discovering that the doors weren't locked, she threw the door open and flung herself through it.

The room was empty. Nothing but a table, a broken chair, and a small bed. Hans was nowhere to be seen. Her heart leapt to her throat. For one long moment, Anna wondered if he'd escaped. But, no. Hans was no longer sneaking around, pretending to be the good guy. The way he had waltzed across the frozen fjord that night three months ago told Anna that, had he actually escaped, the palace would be an enormous, icy tomb by now.

So that could only mean one thing.

Anna's eyes narrowed. Her jaw hardened.

He's been moved.

Again.

Elsa had relocated Hans without even consulting her.

Again.

But what Anna was feeling this time around wasn't hurt.

No.

She was too angry to be hurt.

Was Hans ordered back to his prison cell, or was he just moved to another room?

It didn't matter. Once again, Elsa had gone ahead and made a decision without even discussing it with her. Once again, Elsa was shutting her out.

Anna wanted to scream.

And she wanted Elsa to be at the other end of that scream.

Unfortunately, the timing couldn't be worse. No doubt Elsa was getting ready for Arendelle's night at the opera. She had already been running late when Anna last saw her. Elsa was probably caught up in a cyclone of servants wrapping her up in fabric and pinning things to her hair in their best effort to get her ready to leave for the theatre on time. There was no way Anna would be able to get to speak to Elsa alone tonight.

She wondered how she was going to be able to sit next to Elsa during the performance, feeling the way she was feeling now, without her head exploding all over her.

oooOOOOooo

Propelled by fury, Anna continued to march towards the top of the palace foyer's grand staircase. She needed to get outside and cool off before seeing Elsa again. Or Kristoff, for that matter. She still owed him a huge apology for taking her frustrations out on him and abandoning him at the docks, and she was in no state to do that now. She wanted to be calm and collected and, of course, jaw-droppingly stunning when he saw her. She was hoping they'd get to walk down the stairs together, arm-in-arm, but it couldn't be helped. She needed to get out of here.

"Anna?"

Anna barely heard her name being called over the sound of the blood boiling in her ears. But then she felt a hand – a very large hand – close around her wrist, and she was suddenly returned to her senses.

"Kristoff?" she whispered.

He was wearing a deep navy blue, single-breasted tailcoat and matching trousers. The tailcoat was embellished with gold-embroidered lapels and epaulettes. It was unbuttoned, revealing the royal blue waistcoat and high-collared shirt he was wearing underneath. His blonde hair was neatly combed back from the forehead Anna rarely got to see.

She wanted to tell Kristoff how handsome he looked – how handsome he always looked. She knew he hated dressing up, and that the stress of keeping fancy clothes clean practically caused him to break out in a rash. She knew he loathed wearing shoes, preferring the comfort and solid heft of his boots.

But he wanted tonight to be special because he knew how important it was to Anna. He wanted to make her proud, even though she'd treated him so badly recently. She wondered if he knew she was already proud of him. So proud of him.

In that moment, all Anna wanted was nothing more than to tell him all that. To tell Kristoff how dashing he looked, how touched she was by his effort, and how much she loved him no matter what he was wearing or if he ever bothered to comb his hair again.

But…

Kristoff gingerly took both her hands in his.

"Anna, what's happened? Are you alright?" he asked, his caramel-coloured eyes wide with concern.

She shook off his gentle hold on her hands, then launched herself into his arms. She didn't want to cry because, despite everything that had happened today, she still held a small amount of hope that she could look perfect for him tonight, and her face melting off and getting all over his new clothes wouldn't be conducive to that.

But the second his arms tightened protectively around her, the second he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, careful not to disturb the tiara she wore, the damn broke. She started to sob and couldn't stop. The earlier rage she felt dissipated, and all that was left was the hurt that had been buried beneath it.

The anger had been a nearly impenetrable armour she wasn't yet ready nor willing to give up. But right now there was no contest between holding onto the anger, and holding onto Kristoff. Right now she needed Kristoff more. She was tucked safely away in his heart, and, right now, there was no stronger armour than that.