They spent a few days at the palace, and true to their word Eugene and Rapunzel helped them plan for their adventure. Elsa and Hiksti remained tight-lipped about where, exactly, they were travelling to, or what they were looking for, but there were certain things that they would need and the Princess of Corona made sure she got them. More properly, she made sure her husband got them for her cousins.

"I'm in no shape to help, much," she huffed to Elsa after dinner one evening.

"Round is a shape," Hiksti quipped.

Rapunzel shot him a green-eyed glare and then continued as if he hadn't said anything. "But I'm glad to loan you Eugene."

"You are?" Eugene asked, straightening up in alarm.

"No, thanks," Hiksti said blandly. "We're fine, just the two of us."

Eugene relaxed somewhat and Rapunzel hid her smile from him. "He can swash-buckle with the best of them."

"I doubt it," muttered Hiksti.

"And he's a very, very good thief."

Elsa's eyes widened at that revelation. "Really?" she asked curiously.

"We won't need that particular skill-set," Hiksti growled.

"You never know," Rapunzel said, patting her long brown hair, which was done up in an elegant up-do.

"Why are you so desperate to get rid of him, anyway?" Hiksti asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Hey!" Eugene protested. "She's only protecting her cousin by offering the best person for the job - me. I'm extremely accomplished, you know." He started ticking off his attributes and Rapunzel nodded firmly for every one. "I'm handsome, brave, cunning, charming, the best thief and pickpocket and liar you've ever known, handy with a sword, and I think on my feet!" He crossed his arms. "Not to mention I'm hilarious."

Rapunzel was giggling by this time and wrapped her arms around Eugene's bicep. "On second thought, maybe I don't wanna let you go," she said, resting her cheek on his shoulder. Eugene rested his hand on her swollen belly and Elsa watched the tender exchange with a familiar ache. Someday she wanted what these two had, what Anna and Kristoff, had now - a baby. But she also knew that she wasn't quite ready for it, not yet.

"We don't need him coming along, anyway!" Hiksti said, exasperated.

"We really don't," Elsa said kindly. "We can take care of ourselves."

"Alright, if you're sure," Rapunzel said.

They were quite sure, and the next morning Elsa and Hiksti bid goodbye to their royal hosts and rode south on their horses. They had a third horse with them carrying some of the supplies, a docile liver chestnut mare called Susi. The mare Elsa rode was named Heide and Hiksti decided to re-name his own horse Frode.

"So remind me how far it is to this mountain?" Hiksti asked once they were across the bridge to the mainland. They were both wearing sensible traveling clothes, but the quality of their horses, Hiksti's artificial limb, and Elsa's beauty still got them looks. They would be remembered for sure.

"A week," Elsa said. "Five days if we really push ourselves."

"No need to push," he said. "Let's just enjoy our time together." They shared a smile and Hiksti nudged Frode closer to Heide and reached for Elsa's hand. She twined her pale fingers with his happily enough.

"Here's the map," Elsa said, taking it out of her satchel and handing it over.

The Kingdom of Corona was large and had plenty of rich farmland, old-growth forests, and lucrative mining. They had, of course, planned the trip carefully, and had enough provisions to get them there and halfway back again without any shortages. Elsa kept the most important two items on her person - a large, flawless ruby, and the spell required to open the enormous magic portal.

In addition to the food and spell items, Hiksti had armed himself with a sword of his own forging, a bow and arrows, and a pair of Francisca throwing axes.

"You look so fierce," Elsa grinned at him.

He looked up from the map and blinked at her. "Is that… good?" he asked, his tone sounding suggestive.

She snickered and nodded. "Very good."

His chest puffed up in mock pride for a moment, then relaxed again. "You know what's funny, though?"

"Hm?" she asked, letting her eyes travel down his arms to linger on his strong hands.

"The idea that most people, upon looking at us, would guess me to be the most dangerous, when in reality it's you that they should fear." He lifted a hand and gestured and made a whooshing sound, imitating her power.

"Me?" she asked. "I'm not… well, I mean, I…" she trailed off thoughtfully, and then nodded to one side. "Okay, you're probably right. I mean, technically. But I've never killed anyone, so…" she shrugged. Hiksti remained silent on the issue, and she stared at him. "Have you killed, before?" she asked.

He gave her a long look. "No," he said sarcastically. "I've lived over eighteen hundred years without taking a single human life. It's amazing."

She bit her lip and looked away again, feeling foolish.

Immediately Hiksti looked guilty. "I'm sorry," he said. "That was uncalled for. I… didn't mean to make you feel bad." He squeezed her hand gently.

"No, it's okay," Elsa said. "It was a silly question, and I didn't think about how it would make you feel, bringing that up. I'm sorry."

They both rode in silence for a while until their horses drifted a bit farther apart and they were forced to let go.

"I've killed a lot of people," he told her quietly. "Even before the curse, I'd killed."

"I didn't realize," Elsa said. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "I don't really lose sleep over it," he told her. "They pretty much all deserved it, one way or another."

"Just bad guys, then?"

"Bad guys," he affirmed. "Villains, every one. Either trying to kill me or my clan, or the dragons… and after the curse, mostly just men trying to kill me, soldiers on the battlefield, the occasional despot or murderer… or wife beater."

A shiver of revulsion crawled down her spine. "What men ever tried to kill you?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, you know… bandits, priests, mobs, that kind of thing."

Bandits and mobs Elsa understood, and the idea of priests burning someone they thought was abomination was hardly a new one, though the thought sickened her. She'd made a point of passing a law against anyone being burned. Ever. "But… why did you kill them?" she wanted to know. "If you knew you would just come back, after."

"Because I tried that," he explained. "I'm not the kind of man to kill someone if there's any other option. But I come back again too quickly, usually, and then it's just a never-ending battle against a bunch of terrified yokels. Eventually if there were enough of them they'd tie me up and burn me at the stake or something. And sometimes I'd be dead long enough for them to bury me, and do you know how hard it is to dig yourself out of a grave?" He shook his head. "After the hundredth time it just got to be too much." He paused. "Plus, dying really hurts."

"Oh," Elsa said. She tried very hard not to imagine Hiksti burning at the stake, and failed. Her face drained of blood and her eyes became haunted. Images of Hiksti suffocating in a coffin and digging upward through six feet of dirt played through her mind and she shuddered.

Hiksti looked at her as they rode along, and concern came over his face. "You're shocked," he observed.

She nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "I guess I never thought too much about the practicalities of being immortal."

"Why would you?" he said kindly. "Are you okay?"

She considered that for a moment, and then nodded. "I almost killed, before."

He hadn't known that. "What happened?" he asked.

"Soldiers from Weselton cornered me in my ice palace," she explained. "They had swords and crossbows and… it was instinct." She closed her eyes, shook her head. "I was… this close,' she said, holding her thumb and forefinger apart by a centimeter. "The fear and the anger almost won."

"It's okay," he told her gently. "I'm glad you have it in you to protect yourself."

Something that had been knotted inside of her for years loosened at his words, making her feel as though she could breathe a little easier.

"My warrior queen," he said proudly. The compliment was so far from the word monster which she'd always feared she could become that it began the spark of a warm, fuzzy glow around her heart.

They didn't have to camp the first night, and instead found a decent inn along the road where they could quarter their horses and buy a hot meal. "Where are you folks headed?" asked the innkeeper, an expansive man with an impressive mustache.

"To the southern mountains," Hiksti informed him.

"Oh? What's in the mountains, besides wolves and trees?"

"Family," Elsa said. It wasn't quite a lie, as her husband loved dragons so much he had considered Toothless part of his family, and at least some of those dragons they were seeking were Toothless' descendents.

"Hm," the innkeeper hummed, looking as though he might not believe her. "Well, be careful on the roads. There's bandits about, nowadays. They'll rob you blind and leave you for dead."

"Thanks for the warning," Hiksti said.

They encountered no bandits on their second day on the road, nor their third, nor even their fourth. On their fifth day they finally made it past the vast, rolling farmland and they could see the mountains on the far horizon, rising up above an endless forest. "There they are," Elsa said happily.

"It's always mountains with us," he chuckled.

"Well, there are no gods being tortured in this one, hopefully," she said, as she guided her horse down the road and into the trees.

"Hopefully," he agreed.

They stopped to make their lunch over an open fire when the bandits finally made themselves known.

One moment Hiksti was instructing Elsa on the best way to season their trout, and the next he was leaping clear over the fire and tackling her to the ground. As soon as they hit the ground he kept them rolling until they were wedged deep under a bush amidst the lush leaves. "Quiet," he breathed.

Elsa tried to still her panting. "What happened?" she whispered.

He gave her a glare and she closed her mouth. Glancing around she noticed that just where she'd been standing an arrow was lodged in the earth, still quivering from the force of its landing. She gaped and started looking wildly about, trying to find the archer.

"Come out, little rabbits!" called a sinister voice. "We've got all the foxes on your scent, you won't escape us."

Silently, Hiksti pulled out his axes and brought himself up into a low crouch. Elsa pulled herself up and put her back against his instinctively.

"What a pretty lady," came the voice again, and all around them ugly laughter rang out. "If you give up now, cripple, we'll have our fun after we kill you, instead of forcing you to watch."

The temperature dropped considerably, but Elsa kept her powers exactly where she wanted them, in her hands, ready to be used. She still couldn't see anyone, though she strained her eyes.

An arrow buzzed its way toward them and Hiksti batted it out of the air with his axe, the movement almost invisible, it was so fast. "Run away now," he called back to the voice. "And I won't flay you alive."

More laughter, this time mocking, rang out around them, and that's all that Hiksti needed. One of his axes flew, then the other, and twin screams echoed in the woods, and men died.

A snarl, and then into their roadside campsite stepped a tall, lean, ugly man with a furious expression and hatred in his amber-colored eyes. "You'll regret that," he said, and charged. As he did, a dozen other men leaped from their concealment, screaming battle-cries.

Elsa simply froze the ground beneath their feet, sending them skidding in awkward parabolas across the unforeseen ice. Hiksti leapt for the nearest one, drawing his sword as he flew through the air. The bandit on the ground tried to fight back but Hiksti was unexpectedly left-handed, as well as far more skilled, and dispatched him easily.

"A wizard!" cried the bandit leader. "Kill him!" Somehow he had mistaken the power as having come from Hiksti instead of Elsa.

The men scrambled up on the ice and began to swarm Hiksti, until Elsa froze their feet in place, and no one there underestimated her again. Arrows came toward her and it was all she could do to raise ice shields in time to protect herself.

Hiksti killed three more before the leader managed to sneak behind her and hit Elsa across the back of her skull with the butt of his sword, and she fell unconscious to the ground. Then he placed his sword against her pale throat and snarled. "Give up, cripple, or I kill the witch where she lies!"

Hiksti froze in place, his eyes riveted to his wife. "Don't you harm a hair on her head."

"I wouldn't dream of it," the bandit said, slowly squatting down next to Elsa's prone body. "A witch this powerful is worth her weight in gold." He picked up her left hand and looked at the wedding band there, and at the matching band on Hiksti's finger. "Your… wife?" He said it like an insult.

If looks could kill the bandit would have dropped dead then and there. Hiksti glared daggers at the man.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said. "Men! Tie him up. He's the key to controlling her." He sneered at Hiksti. "Resist and I'll cut her," he growled.

Hiksti didn't resist.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Reviews time! Yay! Thank you so much for taking the time! I hope I'm not causing anyone too much heartache with the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter… How will they escape? What will it cost them? Stay tuned, fav and follow to find out!

Jiang-sama: Eugene was being a bit of a cad, wasn't he? But he'll do anything in the name of love!

Mark of Arendelle: Don't worry, there's a lot more to come! Tell your friends, hahah!

Riverdog: Hm, you pose an interesting idea, about jealousy… stay tuned to find out! As far as the Snuggly Ducklings regulars, I don't know if any of them are vikings? It doesn't really come up that I recall... I could totally see him getting nostalgic, though!

Jgs237: Oooh, a meeting with Hans could be pretty intense! I promise you there will be no end of drama in my story, haha! Stay tuned!