Devious Ice

Chapter 4: The Easy Choice

I swear I'm not dead. I'm really glad to get back to writing this fic. It's been really fun and I'm glad that so many people have enjoyed it. Though I do have to apologize for taking so long between each chapter. I know I promised that I'd be updating more frequently but that didn't pan out. This chapter was originally going to be a bit shorter but it turned out to run longer than I had anticipated. I have an outline for chapter 5 and I've started on that, so I'll try to get that out relatively soon. What happens in this chapter started as the beginning of the original chapter 4 but as I was writing it was getting too long for a prologue, and the structure felt off to me, so I decided to make this its own chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Elsa was focused on the letter. She sat at the old table surrounded by her advisors with a pile of papers in front of her, and buried in the pile was a letter from Hans. The snow queen was in the middle of reading the letter when she was called into the meeting, leading her to hastily hide it in the papers she had prepared. She played a bit with the papers by moving them with her fingers in an attempt to distract herself from the immense boredom of having to sit and discuss politics for hours on end. Elsa pulled the letter out from under the pile just enough to see a few words from it.

She had traded letters with Hans several times in the weeks since her last visit. He had written her a letter inviting her back again to talk. Despite continuing contact with him, Elsa hadn't been properly thinking ahead as to how she should deal with this. She certainly enjoyed the conversation they had and replayed it in her head multiple times since she came back to Arendelle. Her feelings on the matter switched back and forth between comfort and unease. There were times when she felt elated and relaxed thinking about it but then the thought of actually committing to seeing Hans caused her to feel unsure about herself again. Was this something she was really going to do?

"Queen Elsa?" An advisor asked. The bored, pale queen snapped back into focus. She had barely been paying attention to what they were saying.

"Yes?" She instinctively blurted out. She was trying to pay closer attention to these meetings but after the first couple of hours it became difficult to focus.

"We were discussing the latest shipment from the Southern Isles," he responded to the queen, pushing his glasses up. "It arrived this morning. It seems that everything from the shipping manifest is there." Some of the other advisors looked annoyed.

"That's certainly a surprise," One of them scoffed. Egil. Elsa didn't like his tone. He was always the most difficult one. She may have missed what was going on here, but she was sure she knew what this was about.

"And why is that?" Elsa challenged him. He suddenly started to look uncomfortable. Egil swallowed, realizing he was about to argue with the queen. He pulled on the lapels of his blue suit, trying to look more confident.

"I didn't expect the Southern Isles of all places to reliably send goods so consistently." Elsa's hunch was correct. They still had issues with doing trade with the Southern Isles. The young queen straightened her posture and took a deep, quiet breath.

You can do this.

"I understand that not everyone is satisfied with my choice to become trade partners with the Southern Isles after what happened with Hans," Elsa stated firmly. She was going to put her foot down on this. "But after we broke relations with Weselton we lost quite a lot of goods we imported from them. While it doesn't seem ideal to choose the Southern Isles, I have personally spoken with their crown prince and negotiated a deal. It has provided us with many of the goods we need, and I've contacted our other trade partners to see if I can renegotiate to make up for the rest of what we used to get from Weselton." Elsa was glad to be able to get that all out. The queen felt hot and words were getting harder to put together. Her head started to feel light and she could feel her cheeks heating up. She hoped this wouldn't go on too long. She hated having to get confrontational with her advisors. It always made everything so uncomfortable. However, Elsa felt extremely confident about the trade deal she made with Kristan. It had been a great help to Arendelle. She might still be new at being a queen but she wasn't going to let her advisors run her over.

Egil slumped back in his chair without responding. The other advisors looked awkwardly at each other. The logic behind Elsa's choice was difficult to argue with. The tall advisor pushed his glasses up. He was hoping this wouldn't get too heated. His deep voice broke the silence.

"I believe Queen Elsa is sound with her choice. Had she not negotiated that trade deal Arendelle would have ended up in quite a predicament," The advisor spoke up. The pale queen was surprised. While he had never been difficult, Harald tended to remain neutral.

"Thank you, Harald," Elsa thanked him. Harald was considered a leading figure amongst the advisors. He knew her parents before they died and was a strong political figure that helped run Arendelle while Elsa and Anna grew up. Elsa had endured so many boring meetings with advisors who have been skeptical of her. It felt nice to feel like someone else was on her side.

It was then that Elsa noticed that there was ice on her chair. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Elsa felt her heartbeat slow down, only realizing now how fast it was beating. The ice receded.

I wish these meetings weren't so stressful, Elsa mused to herself. Harald decided to change the topic of the discussion. He had waited long enough to support the heir of Agnarr and Iduna.

"Your Majesty, we have gotten reports from the scouts that were sent to the border. So far there has been evidence that something has happened there but nothing conclusive. They have reported to Captain Aksel and he's chosen to keep them searching to be thorough," Harald explained. "He'd like to know if you approve of that choice or if you want to change course."

Elsa pondered this for a minute. She hadn't been queen for very long and she didn't want to give the wrong impression to Weselton by having extra troops at the border.

"I'll have to discuss this with Captain Aksel," Elsa said. "I'll need to evaluate the options with someone more experienced." There were sighs from among the advisors. Harald gathered up his papers.

"I believe we'll have to wait until after Queen Elsa has talked to Captain Aksel to discuss action," Harald said.

"Well… with that out of the way there's the matter of preparing the Yule Bell," A shorter advisor named Cort stated. "We haven't rung the bell since the passing of King Agnarr and Queen Iduna. It's been in storage for three years gathering dust. It might be time to bring it back out."

The Yule Bell. It had been a long time since it was last taken out. It was always tradition for the royalty of Arendelle to ring the bell to start the holidays but after her parents died at sea Elsa couldn't bear to bring the bell out. She had memories of her whole family ringing the bell. Those fond memories were painful reminders of what she and Anna had lost, and it was only now that Elsa was starting to feel comfortable about it.

"I agree," Elsa responded. "Now is the best time to bring it out. Anna and I can ring the bell. We can have Kristoff be the master of ceremonies."

"Are you referring to Princess Anna's boyfriend?" A stout middle-aged advisor named Herman asked.

"I am referring to the Royal Ice Master," Elsa retorted. The position hadn't existed until Elsa had invented it just a few months ago, but she would still insist on that title. She was the queen after all. "He will be the master of ceremonies. I've already decided." Elsa almost laughed. It may have been a little petty but she would take the entertainment of having the authority to override her advisors. Herman looked unimpressed but didn't argue with the queen. Even he was tired of the meeting.

The only advisor who hadn't said anything was Anathon, who seemed to be content remaining out of the debates going on. The mustachioed advisor sat there leaning his face on his hand.

Harald spoke up.

"Well it seems we'll have Kristoff act as the master of ceremonies for the ringing of the Yule Bell," The elder advisor declared. "If the young man is willing to do it, I see no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to."

Egil and Herman looked annoyed.

Please let this end

Elsa felt like this meeting should have ended an hour ago. She was getting antsy now. They had discussed everything that was on the agenda and then some. She hadn't even finished going over all the mail she received. Herman was about to say something when he was cut off.

"With that, I think we'll end this meeting now and reconvene next week," Arne stated, his angular face looking exhausted. "We can discuss what to do with the troops on the border after Queen Elsa discusses it with Captain Aksel."

Finally. It's over, Elsa was relieved. Egil got up and stormed out of the room.

"A waste of time…" The advisor mumbled. Elsa barely heard him, but felt her face react in frustration to his words.

I'm trying! You don't understand the pressure I'm under! Elsa screamed internally. The advisors must have become so used to making decisions on their own over the last three years that having to go through Elsa must have been frustrating for them. But she couldn't let that get to her. For now, she had to talk to Captain Aksel. As Harald passed her, he put a hand on Elsa's shoulder. He didn't say anything, but he locked eyes with the queen. She sensed that he wanted to apologize but he simply lacked the right words. He remained frozen still for a few brief seconds which felt much longer. After he broke eye contact with Elsa, he left the room silently.

Feeling relieved that the meeting was over Elsa gathered her papers, making sure to hide the letter from Hans among them. Elsa gracefully pushed her chair from the table and walked out of the room. As she was walking down the hallway a guard jogged up to her.

"Queen Elsa, Captain Aksel is here to speak with you," the guard said. This was good. Elsa had already planned to meet with the Captain for training. She could discuss the situation with him too.

"Tell the Captain that I'll see him in a minute," Elsa replied. The thought on Elsa's mind at this moment was that she had to put the letter back in her room. She didn't want it floating around where someone could find it.

"Alright, Your Majesty. I'll inform Captain Aksel immediately," The guard saluted his queen and ran back down the hall. Elsa headed to her room.

When the queen arrived in her room, she locked the door. Elsa walked over to her desk and set the papers on it. Elsa dropped her dress, created an ice dress and combed her hair back with her hands. She kicked the dress on the floor towards her bed, leaving it hanging off the edge. She turned her attention back to the desk.

Shuffling through the papers on her desk she pulled Hans's letter from it and gave it another look.

Dear Elsa,

If you want to know the best birthday I ever had was when I was eleven and one of the chefs baked a brioche cake for me. It was made with this wonderful strawberry crème. No one else from my family showed up for that birthday, which is why it was so good. And that night John gave me Sitron. He was just a little foal then. I wonder what they did with him? I heard you sent him back to the Southern Isles, but I haven't heard what happened to him. I have no doubt that Kristan kept him, but I refuse to talk to him. I do miss Sitron.

If you're having trouble with what to do for whatever is going on, I'm going to suggest that you find someone to give you military advice. I'm available to fill any position you have open.

This cell is dark and boring. I'd adore you if you visited again.

With Love, Hans

Visit again...

She knew she had already spoken with Hans about this the last time she was in the Southern Isles, but the reality of it was setting in. Visiting him would require sailing back to the Southern Isles. She'd have to do it secretly to avoid having to answer too many questions. She'd have to do it during a time when she had enough of a gap in her very busy schedule to sneak off. There were so many variables Elsa would have to think about. But she'd have to do that later. Right now, she had to meet with Captain Aksel. She put the letter in a drawer in her desk where she kept all of Hans' letters and locked it. The tired queen left her room, making sure to lock the door, and headed towards the courtyard.

Captain Aksel was the recently appointed head of the Arendelle Royal Guard. In the months since Elsa reopened the gates to the people, she had been hiring more staff to deal with things. Her parents had fired a large amount of the castle's staff in an effort to hide her growing powers, and this sadly included many dedicated guards who were confused about suddenly losing their jobs. Elsa had made an effort to rehire as many of the people who were fired as she could to attempt to make it up to them, even if it was years late. While the snow queen couldn't find everyone, and some people were so bitter about losing their jobs that they refused to come back, she managed to rehire many people who used to work at the castle.

One of them was Aksel, who used to be a castle guard back when Elsa and Anna were children. He was always nice to them and it was a shame to see him get fired without even understanding why. He had spent those years since as a mercenary wandering from kingdom to kingdom. Those travels gave him experience Elsa felt would be valuable to Arendelle's small military.

Elsa walked out to the courtyard where she found Captain Aksel waiting. There were a handful of tables scattered about the courtyard that were going to be used later that night. Anna and Kristoff were handling a charity event and were off in town gathering supplies for it. The temperature was starting to become chilly during late November. The year had been pretty warm, but it looked like the cold was catching up. Not that Elsa noticed. When the Captain heard the queen approach he turned around and gave a quick bow.

"Your Majesty," he said as he bowed.

"What did you want to talk to me about Captain?" Elsa asked him. He looked concerned, which didn't make Elsa feel better.

"I wanted to discuss the situation at the border," Aksel didn't waste any time. The Captain was a middle-aged man with broad shoulders and a square jaw. He had a scar that went across his nose and the right side of his face. Aksel had tried to remain clean shaven since he took up the position as Captain of the Royal Guard, but he always tended to have stubble. His black messy hair was mostly covered by his shako hat, which was more elaborate than the usual guard hats with wings embroidered on the side and a special symbol on the front marking his position. Over his uniform he wore an embroidered capelet that matched the green of his uniform.

"The men you sent to the border have reported numerous things to me," Aksel continued. "There's been bandit activity there, and the scouts have informed me that they have been striking small villages near the border. That may have been the source of the individuals that were originally reported. Though they have robbed several people they seem to be playing things relatively safe. No one seems to have been severely hurt in any of these robberies. The only thing that stuck out to me was that some of the bandits that were captured had equipment branded from the Weselton Army. Unfortunately, those men escaped with all the equipment."

That was concerning for Elsa. Could Weselton be trying to attack Arendelle? Of course, the Duke was a fool who tried to have Elsa killed, but last she had heard was that he had been dishonorably discharged from his position due to screwing up the trade deal with Arendelle. She hoped this wasn't some revenge scheme. Elsa wasn't sure she would be able to deal with a war. Arendelle had soldiers, of course, but their standing army was fairly small, especially compared to Weselton. A small army and an inexperienced leader would be a disaster. Even her advisors had never dealt with a real military conflict.

"What do you think we should do? Do you think Wease-Weselton is trying to start a conflict?" Elsa asked the Captain.

"I can't be sure. The Weselton equipment certainly raises some flags. But the last couple weeks have been devoid of any activity. Even the bandit camps that were found have been totally cleared out," Aksel explained. "Adding onto the confusion the bandits could have acquired their weapons and equipment in a number of ways. The spyglasses, maps, shovels, and compasses aren't of much note, but I'm baffled about where they got Weselton Army crossbows and broadswords. Those are made exclusively for soldiers in the Weselton Army. I feel it's difficult to say whether they stole it all or if it was supplied to them."

"Wouldn't it be foolish of Weselton to use easy to identify equipment if they were trying to attack us?" Elsa asked. Aksel rubbed his chin.

"That's the issue. In the time I've spent as a mercenary I've seen numerous conflicts that involved underhand tactics like this, but there were usually attempts to keep things under wraps. Perhaps these bandits were hired by Weselton but were foolish and sloppy. Perhaps they simply robbed Weselton soldiers. I think it's impossible to make any real judgements right now. Any rash action could be seen as an act of aggression by Weselton."

Elsa paused and absorbed the Captain's words.

"So what do you think we should do? I'm at a loss and I lack military experience."

"I think at the moment we should back off. I'd suggest keeping some extra men near the border to be safe. We need to remain alert without making Weselton feel that we're preparing for war," Aksel explained. "With your permission, Your Majesty, I can draft plans and run them by you tomorrow."

"You have my permission, Captain," Elsa said. Aksel stood there for a moment waiting to see if Elsa was going to say something else. When she did not, he spoke up.

"Now that we've settled that business I was also going to ask if you wanted to do more training today as planned. I had some ideas for your powers that might help."

In his time as a mercenary Aksel had seen many strange things and wasn't nearly as shocked after learning of Elsa's powers as everyone else was. Aksel came back to Arendelle after hearing about the passing of King Agnarr and Queen Iduna to attend their funeral but left soon after. It was only when he returned after Elsa's coronation that he was convinced to stay. After seeing her using her powers, Aksel offered to help her train them, particularly in combat so she could fight with them nonlethally.

"I was actually hoping we could reschedule it. I have a lot on my plate right now," though she was thinking mostly of Hans, Elsa wasn't lying when she said that. She had a lot on her plate aside from Hans.

"I understand. However, since our last round of training I had an idea of creating snow ropes," Aksel suggested as he moved his hands to demonstrate the rough idea of what he was suggesting. "You could use them as whips and tie people up with them. It would be an easy way to incapacitate them."

"That's… a good idea." Elsa didn't really talk about it, but she really appreciated it when Aksel would come up with a new suggestion for how she could use her powers to fight without hurting people. While she had become much more comfortable using her powers, it made her feel more assured that she'd be able to avoid repeats of what happened when she tried to use her powers against the Duke's guards at her ice castle. "We'll have to try that out tomorrow."

Aksel nodded.

"I'll be ready to help you train when you're available tomorrow and I'll start drawing up plans for troop deployment to present to you. It's getting cold now, so I'll take my leave," Aksel declared before bowing. Elsa returned the bow with a curtsy of her own and the Captain turned to leave. The snow queen watched as he entered the castle.

Elsa was alone.

For the first time all day Elsa had a chance to breathe. It was late in the afternoon by now and Elsa just realized she had spent most of the day doing nothing but sitting in a meeting and going over mail. She walked back to her room, through the halls of the castle, passing the servants, greeting Gerda as she passed her. Elsa finally reached her room and unlocked the door.

She approached her desk, taking a deep breath. Sitting down at the chair she quickly unlocked the drawer she kept Hans' letters in and pulled out his latest one. After a quick reread she pondered it.

He keeps insisting on me visiting again, Elsa thought.

While she had said she told Hans she would consider returning to see him she was debating with herself if she should really go back. She wasn't exactly opposed to it. She had enjoyed staying in contact with Hans through letters. The banter and freedom she felt in being able to be frank about serious topics was good. She did enjoy her last talk with Hans despite some of the awkward parts. But maybe she was a bit too hasty in saying she'd see about coming back. Elsa sighed. She leaned back in her chair and relaxed. The picture of Hans' handsome face floated into her mind.

I hate him, Elsa thought as she got up and plopped face down on her bed. She hated whenever she was reminded that she thought Hans was good looking.

She rolled over on her back and took a deep breath.

If she was honest with herself then she'd have to say that she'd love to go and visit Hans. She genuinely did like Kristan and Marianne, and while there have been bumps it was oddly entertaining to converse with Hans. The problem was the distance. And planning when to visit. And the fact that Hans tried to usurp her throne and take over Arendelle. As much as she enjoyed the talks, she could never discount the possibility that Hans might do something sneaky. But Elsa felt reasonably sure that he wouldn't do anything, especially when he was behind bars.

Elsa felt like she was just on the tipping point of deciding to go. She sat up and got off the bed. She headed out of her room, locking the door.

The young woman walked through the halls. She needed to think more on this. Surely she couldn't make such a rash decision… could she? Elsa kept walking. And walking. And walking. She reached the balcony over the courtyard and walked through the doors.

Some fresh air will help

Elsa leaned on the railing of the balcony. It was where the Yule Bell would be raised to ring in the holidays. She could see Anna and Kristoff in the courtyard. Kristoff was chasing Anna claiming he was going to kiss her. Anna was jumping over tables and ducking between the staff walking by to avoid him, laughing the entire time and boasting how he'll never catch her. Kristoff caught up to her hiding behind Sven who was trying to move out of the way. Kristoff pulled out a carrot and threw it, causing Sven to chase after it. With nothing protecting her Kristoff ran up to his girlfriend, picked her up, and started kissing her. Anna laughed and started kissing Kristoff back.

Elsa thought it was so sweet. She was happy that Anna was smiling so much with Kristoff. It was what she deserved.

Elsa just sat there leaning against the railing. She felt the cool breeze against her skin. Anna noticed Elsa and waved. Elsa waved back and smiled at her sister. Kristoff hugged Anna from behind and kissed her again. Sven then came up behind them and used his antlers to pull them onto his back. As Sven ran around, Olaf started chasing them trying to join them.

The elder sister couldn't help but laugh at their antics. She was blessed to have such a wonderful family. Elsa turned around and slumped down against the railing. With the alternating feelings she had about her talk with Hans… Elsa decided on one. She liked it.

She was going to return to the Southern Isles.

Could this be dangerous?

…

Of course.

But after the talk she had with Hans… after the letters she's traded with him… maybe it wouldn't hurt to see him again. She knew he could play games, but she could handle herself. She was sure of it.

I'm so glad to finally get this chapter done. I've been sitting on a few sentences for 6 months and finally in the last month started getting the energy to finish this. I apologize for how long this took and while I won't make any promises about a faster schedule, I will definitely try to get more than one chapter done a year. I'd like to thank my beta reader for helping me by cleaning up some of the grammar because it was a huge help.

I actually watched Olaf's Frozen Adventure recently as I was writing this and decided to include elements of it into my story. I started writing this fic back in 2014 before any of the shorts came out. While I hadn't originally planned to include them (since they didn't exist at the time) I think I found a way to work them into the story. I also reevaluated the original outline that I made for the fic and changed a few things up so the story worked better. I'm really excited about working on this again. I want everyone to know that what really kept me going was all the wonderful reviews I've gotten. Those really helped me. I'll be working on chapter 5 next. You'll be getting some nice stuff in the next chapter, especially with Hans. Look forward to that!