Her ears rung painfully.

Hot white pain deafening her, rendering her mind out of focus and barely able to register her surrounding, had merely allowed her to feel the ground underneath her touch, of how the rough surface brushed against the skin of her palms. Her body felt heavy, tired, as it laid on the stone steps with her hands and elbows prompting her upper body -as well as her head, up.

Something had knocked her over.

Solid and large enough to send her off balance until gravity had pulled her down when she had been rendered motionless -frozen in place, from shock.

No, not something, someone.

Shadow loomed over her, enveloping her whole body as her breath caught in her throat, adrenaline rushing through her veins as her heartrate picked up, beating hard against her ribs. A hand reached out, cupping against the side of her face as it brought her to look over her shoulder, for her eyes to meet those of her husband hovering right above her. He had been the one who had pushed her out of her way, guarding her down and using his own body as his way to shield her.

"Elsa," his voice still sounded distant, muffled, though she could hear him still as the ringing had slowly decreased, returning her ability to hear. "You're alright. You will be alright." She was not sure if the assurance that he had spoken of was meant for her or for him.

The surrounding sounds grew clearer, louder, and she realized that they contained mainly of screams and yells of fear and panic. Her eyes darted to the side, to see men and women who were having fun -laughing and cheering, just moments ago had now dodged down to the ground, using their own arms to shield themselves and their loved ones should there was another attack from—

The shooter.

This was an assassination attempt against the Queen of Arendelle.

Pushing herself up, not even minding Hans' attempt to keep her low as she broke her wrist free from his hold just as he had grabbed her, her eyes had followed to where the guards had marched forward, tackling the hooded man down to the ground to avoid any other of his attempt to harm her, driving the crowd of people to step back and away.

She made a move to go forward, to face with this man who had dared to raise his gun toward her with the very intention of shooting her down and perhaps even bring harm to her loved ones as well, but Hans had once again taken hold of her wrist, and this time his grip was firm, vice-like, that she could not fight for her freedom.

"Hans, let go." Had he not felt the biting chill coming from her very skin as her magic swirled just underneath it? Bubbling and boiling with stinging coldness as her anger progressively increase until she had even spoken to her husband with gritted teeth and set jaw. "Let. Go."

"No."

He was as adamant in keeping her in place just as she was to go, his hold had only tightened as he tugged her to turn around and face him, just as the guards had forced the man up to his feet, restraining him as the assassin held on in trying to escape despite the fact that he was badly overwhelmed and outnumbered.

"Hans," she had never glowered at him, not with this amount of anger anyway, not even when they argued. But this man, this assassin that had dared to come and ruin her sister's celebration, he had rose an unknown burning anger that she did not even know she had before. She never once thought that she was capable in having such a raw hatred toward someone that she wanted to go there and just—

"Get it together." His voice was firm yet calming at the same time -she didn't even know someone could do such thing, as the auburn haired Prince attempted to ground the Queen, his other hand had moved to hold her free one, holding both between them, not even recoiling from the frost and cold mist that grew under her clenched fingers. "Elsa. Deep breath. Look around you."

It was not intentional, but her eyes had glanced to the very same spot that the cloaked man had stood, though she could not find him nor the guards that had held him anywhere, and she assumed they had dragged him away and out of the crowd's sight, most likely toward the dungeon where they would throw him in jail, behind bars where he could not attempt anything else. But then her blue eyes scanned around the area, just as Hans had told her, and among the frightened looks of her people, she had found the sight of her sister kneeling down on the floor -dress ruined by the dirt that it picked up, hands holding onto her nephew's arms, lips moving as she spoke though she could not catch on exactly what, while Kristoff stood protectively by their sides.

When she had seen them, that burning anger in her progressively decreased, her hands warming back up as her magic was dismissed, and Hans had let go of his hold on her wrists, setting her free as she moved to approach her family.

"There's nothing to worry about." She could tell that Anna has a reassuring smile on her face as she pinched her nephew's cheek.

"It's alright, bud." Kristoff piped in, ruffling the auburn hair of the young Prince as he too gave him a smile.

"Wilhelm!"

Her son's head turned as soon as she called for him, and he had took off running toward her as Anna watched on, and the Queen had bend forward to catch him before she lifted him up with one swift movement, holding him close against her hip as the boy held onto her. She noted how Wilhelm was not crying, he may look a little alerted but other than that… Anna had done a good job at calming him down.

With that thought in mind, she turned to look at her younger sister, just as she rose from the ground, hands dusting against her skirt as she silently approached, the corners of her lips tugging into a small smile when she had given her a look of gratitude.

"I guess it means the party's over, right?"

No one spoke a word.

Gathered at the meeting room, each and every single one of them had found their own place to bask in the silence that hung heavily in the air. Wilhelm had been sent away to play in his nursery as per Olaf's suggestion about something that he called 'controlling what you can when things feel out of control', whatever that was, accompanied by Ida and the other nannies. As far as she was concerned, as long as her son was at peace then she would keep it that way, besides he did not have to be there to hear about the discussion that she was sure they would have soon.

"The Duke of Weselton must have sent him."

She did not even bother to look up from her position at the head of the long table -in her seat, instead had opted to keep her face in her hands as she hunched forward against the furniture, massaging her scalp as she kept her eyes shut. "We don't know that." Already she could feel yet another headache coming her way.

"Did his exclaim of 'For Weselton' not loud enough for you?" Hans questioned, sarcasm dripping thick and heavy from his voice that it had made her look up just to glare at the man standing by the tall window, arms crossed over his chest. "Guns are not exactly easy to acquire, Elsa, and no professional assassin would do such careless thing like exclaiming where he came from. Someone sent him here to kill you."

"We cannot jump into conclusions, Hans."

At that, he had actually scoffed, yet she had failed to see what could be so amusing for him to react in such way. "Funny, coming from someone who was so hellbent in turning him into an ice statue right at the middle of the courtyard full of people."

Her jaws tightened as the tips of her ears burned with embarrassment, her back straightened up, as she could not believe that Hans had the mean to even bring that up to her at this time. "Don't start."

"Yeah, you know what? I second that." Kristoff's unexpected involvement had both of them turned to him with furrowed brows and sharp glares, but the Mountain Man did not even flinch. "Why are you two arguing anyway? What is wrong with you guys?"

She hated to admit it, but Kristoff had a point, what was wrong with the both of them? This had once a matter of life and death -with the latter being a large possibility if Hans had not pushed her aside, yet in the midst of trying to figure it out they had only spiraled down into an argument that did not worth their time nor relationship. It was why she had leaned back against her chair, withdrawing before she and Hans would have gone for one another instead of working together.

"It's a possibility," she started, slow and measured as her eyes watched Hans' expression, though he was always able to hide his feelings from her -making himself unreadable, if he had wanted to, and he clearly did not wish to let her in. "But we shouldn't act harsh. We don't even have a good reason for his motive if the Duke was truly behind this."

"Humiliation during his last visit here, when you had revealed your powers to the world?"

Again, her brows had furrowed at Hans' suggestion, finding it strange and very unlikely. "That was years ago."

"You would be surprise on how a man such a he could truly hold a grudge." The Prince Consort shrugged, though he had not escalated further then and opted to continue leaning against the glass instead. "Or perhaps due to the fact that you decided to cut all trading ties with Weselton."

"It's possible." Kristoff piped in.

"That also happened years ago, and definitely not the way to reconnect with your former trading partner." This time, it was Anna who had spoken. Which quite surprised her, truly, since the Princess had been rather quiet even during the brief argument between her older sister and brother in-law. Her arms were wrapped around herself as her dress still clad her body, now that any of them had changed out into something else since they had ended the party earlier than planned.

Hans' lips pursed into a scowl, fingers running through his auburn hair, frustration clear in his eyes. "Then I'm out of ideas."

All of them did.

Sighing, she had pushed herself to rise from her seat after another moment of silent had past uselessly, the movement sending the chair to screech heavily, the sound echoing in the large room as all heads turned toward her. The auburn-haired Prince had questioned her intention in getting up, as it was clear that neither of them had figure out even the smallest of answer that had drove the four of them to gather in the first place. "I'm not going to sit here doing nothing. I'm going to question the prisoner."

Her decision had brought Hans into pushing himself off the glass, approaching her with wide long steps until he had reached her at record's time, hand resting against her shoulder. "It's late, Elsa."

"Well, it's not like I would be able to sleep anyway." Not with all these unanswered questions spiraling down in her mind like a raging storm that would not leave her be. Almost like the siren call that had kept her awake a year prior, ironically. "The sooner we get our answers, the better."

She could tell that Hans was heavily considering her words, as his hand slowly slipped from her shoulder before he had nodded in agreement. "Alright. But I'm coming with you."

"No one is holding you back."

The dungeon uneased her.

Darkness did not frightened her as much, though still she much preferred to have some sort of a light source to guide her way, no matter how dim it may be, to make sure that nothing lurked in the shadows and just ready to come at her when she had her defenses down. No, it was Anna who hated the dark the most between the two of them, she had cried so much when she unknowingly had locked herself inside the broom closet during their game of hide and seek when they were young.

But this place, even with the lit torches leading the way as she and Hans followed the guard in descending the rounding stairs that would lead them to roam under the castle's grounds, had sent a shiver down her spine. The cold looming sensation hung thickly in the air that she had searched for Hans' fingers, latching them together even when both of their eyes were trained forward.

There was this one cell that she had been made aware of, deep in the end of the dungeon where most criminals would not even be put nearby, that she dreaded more than anything. For it was not who was inside of it that mattered -it had never been used before, but the purpose of it's existence.

"For precaution," her Father had assured her. "We're not going to use it, Elsa."

But they thought about it still, and while she had nodded dutifully at the King, deep within her she was truly frightened. Of the moment that her magic would go out of control, so dangerous and unstoppable, that her own parents would need to chain her hands in special cuffs that would hopefully keep her powers in check.

She used to have nightmares about it.

"The prisoner is a headstrong and refused to talk." The Captain of the Guard had reported, when they had come to stand at the base of the stairs, deep within the earth and so far from the ground above that it almost felt like they were in a completely different and separate place altogether. "But he's smug, that's for sure."

"Thank you, Captain." Her fingers slipped out of Hans' grasp, expression steeling into one that was cold and unforgiving, and she could see from the corner of her eyes that her husband had done the similar thing. They were ready.

Another guard lead them further into the dungeon, and she noted how empty the place was. Arendelle was a mostly peaceful kingdom, they would not hold prisoners for long, would rather hold judgement as soon as they could, and if the prisoner had come from another kingdom then Arendelle would send them away to be sentenced by their respective hometown.

But there had not been a crime directly against the crown before.

The man inside the cell had been stripped of his cloak, sitting up against the far end of the wall across from the bars that separated him from his freedom, in clothing that was too shabby to be considered anything more than a mere commoner, perhaps someone who had worked his life in a farm or the market. He was definitely not a professional assassin.

"What do they call you?"

His head perked up, eyes dark and beady as he looked at the two royals before him, the guard had been dismissed by the Queen by a mere wave of her hand. They could handle one man just fine. "It doesn't matter what they call me, Queen." He had the nerve to chuckle at her, as his eyes scanned her from head to toe before coming back to meet her glaring eyes. "What matter is what they will know me of."

"And what exactly would you be known of?" Hans questioned; voice dark that she could almost feel it in the air. What was up with him?

"The first man to ever stood up against the witch of Arendelle."

The pride that the man leaked had made her eyes widened in shock, as she had never expected for him to be so bold and daring, knowing that he was speaking to the crown itself. Hans had lunged forward, arm banging against the iron bars so loudly that the sound echoed throughout the dungeon. The guards standing at the far end made a move, but hesitated in their place before stepping back down. "You dare!"

Receiving such reaction had only made the man laughed, head thrown back in amusement as he lounged back against the wall as if he was a free man. "Your wife is a monster, she always has and she always will be, sooner or later you would soon realize it, Prince."

"You will face death sentence for your crimes against the Queen of Arendelle." Hans glowered, deciding the fate of one man even before she could have stopped him. No matter what his crimes were, she was not one to easily decide on a sentence, especially when it comes to their lives.

But the man had only chuckled once more, darker this time, as he bowed his head until the shadow hid his face from view. "You're too late."

She couldn't understand what was going on, but as soon as he had spoken those words, the man's body had suddenly slumped into the ground, convulsing violently on the dirty flooring as foam started to ooze out from his mouth.

"Guards!"

Three of them had rushed past the two royals just as Hans had pushed her back and away from the cell, unlocking the door as they burst inside, one of them reaching down to feel the man's pulse as the convulsion had decreased, only to look up at his mates and shook his head.

There was no pulse. He was dead.

"Poison, My Queen." The Captain of the Guard had told them, after they had confirmed the most possible cause of the man's death. "He must have hidden a tablet of sort when we searched him. He never plans to seek freedom."

Her stomach curled as the Captain spoke, hand coming to clasp against her mouth as the horrible image replayed in her mind, over and over again, of how a man had died right in front of her eyes, contorting in pain as a potent poison that could kill him in mere seconds entered his body. She couldn't even imagine what he was feeling right there and then, dying in his cell in a land that was not his to call home.

Hans had brought her back up the stairs, away from the dungeon as people tend to the man that had attempted to murder her just hours ago, now lifeless and nothing but a corpse that they would have to clean up after, after he had noticed how pale she had looked, how shaken she was with the whole situation.

"It's not your fault." He told her, again and again, as he held her firmly with both hands, leading her to their bedchamber as her body trembled. "We will get to the bottom of this, I swear, Elsa, we will."

But did she really wish to find out?

And we finally starting to get into the plot of this book.