Frozen Creed: Requiem
Chapter 5
Truth and Consequences
I don't own frozen or Assassin's Creed
After the killing of Rocco Anna spent the next few days in thought on her next move. It had been three years, three years for the Oricalcus to make a move and accomplish their goals. More than that was something else. Now that Anna had all her memories back she now knew that the reason the Oricalcus wanted to have Anna kidnapped was because of her powers which terrified her. Anna loved her sisters powers, their beauty and the fun and joy Elsa could create with them, but she was also under no illusion of their power and danger, not after being wounded twice and seeing the unintentional freezing of the entire kingdom. Anna now understood her parents reasoning for what they did to her, erasing her memories and shutting them all away as well as allying with the oricalcus. She could never forgive them especially her father, but she understood. Now her main goal was to try to find Caspian and find out what the Orecalcus was planning, if they hadn't already achieved their goals.
"Considering they need Elsa, and she hasn't been abducted again, maybe the Orecalcus have achieved their goal without her?" Anna thought as she sat in her sanctuary thinking.
"Your highness?" Gerda said.
"Is something wrong?" Anna asked.
"Your sister has been asking for you" Gerda said and Anna felt a flash of irritation. Over the past year Elsa had been nothing short of doting on Anna to make up for all the years of coldness and distance, but her doting behavior was quickly bordering on smothering, It seemed if Anna was out of her sight for anything more than a few hours Elsa got worried.
"as if I'll vanish if I'm gone too long" Anna thought sourly. Anna walked past Gerda and ascended back up the stairs.
"I still think it would be easier if you told her" Gerda said.
"We've been through this already" Anna said
"You do not think your sister would protect you and your secret?" Gerda asked.
"I don't want her to have too" Anna said stepping into the library.
"As you say" Gerda said giving her a skeptical look. They left the library and found Elsa walking down the hall.
"There you are" She said coming up and wrapping her in a hug.
"What's wrong?" Anna asked.
"I was worried. No one knew where you were" Elsa said.
"I'm sorry I worried you" Anna said giving a sweet smile.
"Just don't disappear without telling anyone alright?" Elsa asked.
"Ok" Anna told her.
"Now come on, we have a council meeting" Elsa said taking Anna's hand.
"Of course the meeting to finally work out our new trade partners" Anna remembered. The two of them walked to the council chamber and took there seats. Anna listened intently to the overview of the negotiations with Sweden and Denmark for new trading as well as Corona. From what she could gather, the deals would be far more lucrative than what they had with Westleton and would in fact work to break the monopoly the duchy had gained in this part of the world.
"I can't see the king of England being happy with this" Anna thought.
"With all due respect, but I can't see the King George being happy with this, with the turmoil happening in it's colonies" An advisor Karl said echoing Anna's thoughts.
"What concerns the King of England is of no concern to me" Elsa said firmly.
"From what I have seen and heard England my very well be losing it's empire" Elsa said to muttering.
"With all do respect your majesty even if that were true England is still one of the greatest powers in the world" Aeger another advisor said.
"Excuse me" Anna said and all eyes turned to her.
"I think your forgetting just how…personally powerful my sister is" Anna said lightly and the men around the table went stone faced.
"Not that my sister would ever do anything to hurt anyone" Anna reassured offhandedly like the silly somewhat ditzy girl they all thought she was. However she looked closely at the men and at the gears turning in their minds.
"I think if most kingdoms or nations want to try to bully us they will have to deal with someone who can freeze half the planet if she has a mind too" Anna thought with a mixture of pride and trepidation.
"If that is all?" Elsa asked and the council nodded and left.
"I hope I didn't say anything wrong" Anna asked sweetly.
"That might have actually been a bit much" She realized.
"Not at all. You made a good point. If it comes to it I can use my powers to protect us" Elsa said thoughtfully.
"You shouldn't have to" Anna said taking her sisters hands.
"We're a small happy little country who don't want trouble from anyone. The world should just leave us alone" Anna said firmly making Elsa laughed.
"If only it were that simple" Elsa said.
"If only it were" Anna agreed. The left the council chamber and ran into Kristoff. Anna didn't have to feign her happiness at seeing him as she ran into his arms.
"How was the harvest?" Anna asked kissing him.
"Great actually. With the new trade deals and the tax adjustment the guild is looking to make a great profit this season" He said smiling.
"I am happy to hear that" Elsa said though Anna couldn't help but notice a tightness to her eyes and mouth despite her smile.
"I just remembered that I have an errand to run in town" Anna said as a thought hit her.
"Right now?" Elsa asked.
"I just remembered and I want to take care of it before I forget again. You know me" She said rolling her eyes and turning racing off. She ran through the halls and out of the castle keeping a fast pace and greeting people she knew around town. She had wanted to do this in her robes, but Elsa had been hovering over her so closely recently she didn't know when she would be able to go out as an Assassin. Besides this might be a job for princess Anna. She found herself in the lower rent district that was on the verge of being respectable. Arendelle still had it's share of slums and dangerous areas, places that Anna had explored thoroughly as an Assassin and that would horrify Elsa if she even knew about them which Anna wasn't sure she did.
"Father probably wanted to spare her sensibilities and image of our kingdom as some kind of fairytale" Anna thought. Arendelle had it's share of cutthroats whores brothels and thieves. That wasn't where she was going as she entered into a large shop. It was on the edge of the poor area but it was clean and well maintained with shelves full of everything from food to bolts of cloth.
"Bernies done well for herself" Anna thought as she would to the back of the shop. She found a woman in a rather threadbare skirt and blouse with a small girl holding a doll with an equally ragged dress in bare feet.
"I don't know what I'm going to do" The woman said sadly to Bernadette.
"Excuse me?" Anna asked. The woman turned and as soon as she saw Anna her eyes widened in shock.
"Your highness!" She said curtsying.
"Is something the matter?" Anna asked.
"It's nothing your highness" The woman said taking her daughters hands.
"Wait please" She said putting a hand out. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a handful of coins.
"Here, for shoes for your daughter" She said forcing the coins into the woman's hands. She didn't say anything as she teared up and left the shop with her daughter.
"Your highness" Bernadette said curtsying. Anna looked her over and almost didn't recognize her. Her brown hair had grown long enough to be put into a braid, and she had grown tall and filled out which showed in the pretty forest green dress she was wearing.
"So you can look like a girl" she joked. Bernadette just looked at her before coming out from behind the counter and walking to the door. She closed and locked it and switched the sign from open to closed. Then she turned, walked back to Anna and punched her in the face with a right cross hard enough to send her staggering.
"Where the hell have you been?" She demanded.
"Three years, Three years and nothing, then the madness of the coronation and then nothing for another year!" She shouted.
"That is a long and strange story" Anna said.
"Then start talking" Bernadette said. Taking a deep breath Anna told her everything, about her parents, her sisters powers and about having her memories erased, twice and how she just got her memories back a few days ago. When she was finished Bernadette just stared at her.
"Sorry for hitting you" Was all she said and Anna laughed.
"Don't worry about it. I just need to know what happened at your end of things after I left" Anna said.
"Nothing, or rather, you accomplished what you set out to do. Once the prime minister was dead and the new one took his place, things got better. Taxes were lowered, products were no longer stolen and nastrond was emptied of all the debtors" She explained.
"So my father did fix everything that went wrong, or at least as much as he could" Anna said thinking of the poor woman and shoeless child.
"There's always going to be poverty, those who have less. It's the way of the world" Bernadette said.
"I know that, it's just hard when you see it up close, but it also doesn't mean I won't stop fighting to make things better" Anna said.
"I thought you'd say that" Bernadette said.
"So what now? The kingdom's free so what's next for you?" Bernadette asked.
"Somehow finding the Orecalcus. They started all of this, and I know they still want my sister for her powers" Anna said and Bernadette shook her head.
"To think that the queen had that kind of power" The girl said.
"Don't let it frighten you. She's got as kind a heart as anyone" Anna said.
"I know I know, I heard all about how her freezing the kingdom was an "accident" but that doesn't help those who died" Bernadette said and Anna felt her stomach drop.
"How many?" She asked.
"About two dozen. Those who couldn't even afford a bed, or who were saving all their money thinking that they could sleep comfortably in the street or in doorways" Bernadette said. Anna shook her head sadly.
"I didn't know, and neither does Elsa. Those deaths weren't reported" Anna said bitterly.
"I'm hardly surprised" Bernadette said.
"Which is why I need you to be my eyes and ears down here. To tell me things that never make it to our "royal ears" Anna said snidely earning a snort.
"Consider it done. Your still my friend, and you've done me a good turn helping me get this shop open" Bernadette said offering her hand which Anna took.
"I'm not so naïve as to think that everyone will have love for my sister and forgive her for what she did, especially those who lost people during the freeze" Anna said.
"I'll ask around and get you a list of names. While I understand their anger, I don't want a riot or some kind of uprising either" Bernadette said.
"Thank you" Anna said and left the shop as the sun set making her way back to the castle. It was as she was between the lower middle class and merchant area that her senses started to tingle.
"Anna!" She heard Kristoff call and turned as he wrapped her in a tight hug.
"What are you doing here?" Anna blurted out.
"I should as you that question. This is a rough part of town" Kristoff said as Anna's senses began to send out alarm bells. She activated her eagle vision and saw half a dozen men slowly surrounding them.
"Well well, if it ain't the princess" A greasy looking man with most of his teeth gone said.
"away from her witch of a sister" Another giant mean looking man said.
"Wonder what we can get for her form her sister?" a third asked cackling.
"We don't want any trouble" Kristoff said stepping in front of her.
"Then you shouldn't have come down here" another man said.
"I lost my boy to the witches freeze" a hard looking woman holding a cudgel said.
"Like Kristoff said, we don't' want any trouble. I'm sorry for what happened to any of your loved ones during the freeze, but threatening me isn't the answer" Anna said.
"You royals, you think you can do whatever you want to us without consequence?" The hard looking woman said walking forward and raising the club brought it in a downward swing.
"No!" Kristoff shouted as Anna caught the cudgel in her open palm and ripped it out of her hands. The woman aimed a slap at her which Anna sidestepped.
"Mam, I am truly sorry for what happened to your son, but is trying to hurt me really what he would want?" Anna asked.
"Don't you talk about him you rich entitled little brat!" The woman shouted and the growing mob began to mutter.
"What's going on here?" a voice cut through the crowed which parted to reveal Bernadette.
"Ulga, what are you doing?" Bernadette asked.
"Someone needs to hold this brat and her witch of a sister accountable for what they did" The woman said.
"Are you forgetting that she is still the princess of this kingdom. Like it or not she's above the law, and if you attack her it'll earn you nothing but a trip to nastrond" Berne said.
"not to mention what the queen might do if she finds you hurt her precious sister" Bernadette added and Anna didn't imagine the chill that went through the crowd. Giving a glare full of hate Ulga turned and stalked away as the rest of the crowed melted into the shadows.
"thank" Kristoff said.
"the next time you come down here, you better be wearin more than a dress" Bernadette said before walking away herself.
Sorry for the late update, I'm trying the best I can, but inspiration is fickle. This chapter I wanted to show that Arendelle isn't a "fairy tale" kingdom like it was in the movies. Like everywhere it has it's poor and disenfranchised and I wanted to play with the idea of the population that always has issues with authority particularly a queen who is also someone who brought a horrible winter. They never say so in the film, but in reality there would have been a number of deaths from the cold especially the poor who weren't ready for it.