Summary: Three years before Elsa's coronation, the kingdom was controlled by a corrupt prime minister and his subjects. Three years after her parents died, Anna didn't always stay in the castle. Now, after regaining the monarchy, they must now try to correct what has been wronged.

Notes: Pre-Frozen Chapter 5 of 6. Apology on the bottom.

It had taken a few weeks of healing, but soon the student and master were back in action. Ever since the funeral, the young Princess had become quieter than usual. Anna chose to focus on her lessons–both academic and weaponry–in silence. He missed the easy talks they had and it bothered Kylos, but he chose not to say anything, knowing that this was the way Anna coped with her loss.

After the funeral, the two found themselves often training in the gardens in secret. Sure, the Master-at-Arms was welcomed in the castle, but no one knew he was teaching Anna save for a few. Kai and the housekeeper, Gerda, had found out after accidentally walking into one of their lessons. Though they were quite taken aback, they saw how Anna was doing her best in blowing off her steam, so they too kept her secret. They did their best to keep the servants or any of the subjects from their training area on the days of Anna's weaponry training as well as warn them that if they wished the lessons to be kept a secret, they move to another part of the garden that wasn't so close to Elsa's window. The two heeded their advice and found a more secluded part of the garden, away from wandering eyes. And everyone else only thought that the Master-at-Arms's duty was to console the unnaturally silent Princess, so they didn't question their strolls to the gardens on the days Anna didn't have academic lessons.

The two had finished up their lesson for the day and was cleaning up. They didn't want anybody accidentally stumbling upon an archery target or a training dummy, else they'd think something was up. An advantage to practicing in the castle was that they had more resources. Kylos prompted Anna to use the main armory, the one that was closer to their training area. From there, they were able to salvage a few new training dummies (the one they had been using in the woods was hopelessly falling apart), an archery target, and new arrows. (They had desperately needed new ones since the old ones were beginning to bend and blunt.)

After putting everything away, a new routine formed. Kylos would walk Anna into the castle and to the kitchens in order for her to get her lunch. He never stayed and ate, instead he left and instructed Anna to work on her academic homework.

The two were just done putting everything back in the armory and Kylos walked Anna to the kitchens. As Kylos was about to open the doors, a group of men came out, and Kylos had to quickly step back before the door swung open and hit him. To their surprise, they were met with the sight of the Prime Minister.

After the death of the King and Queen, the Ambassador of the Royals as well as the High Bishop had arrived in Arendelle to discuss the will of the Royals as well as the succeeding ruler's power. Elsa had been named the Princess Apparent, and would have taken the place as ruler. However the high council and the people were wary of the idea of Elsa ruling. No one had actually known what she was like and she had only turned 18. Elsa, who had been present at the meeting, suggested that a regent (a temporary ruler) would take her place until she was old enough to become the full queen. The council had taken that into consideration and approved. They elected the highest member of the court, the Prime Minister–Reno Quartremaine, as King regent.

Now, the Prime Minister was a man of power. He was known for being a good friend of the King's, thus earning his position. And it helped that the man was as cunning as one could be. He could unnerve anybody who stepped in his gaze, and was known for playing a bit dirty. But regardless, he was charismatic and the people had more trust in him than they had in the Princess at the moment.

"Sire," the Master-at-Arms said, bowing his head in respect and moving out-of-the-way. Kylos had never had a good feeling about the Prime Minister, even before he was ruling all of Arendelle.

"Princess, Master Kylos," the Prime Minister said, acknowledging the two for a brief moment before leading his party to the gardens. Something Kylos assumed they did when they were thinking. Kylos stared after them, suspicions growing by the minute.

"Kylos," Anna called to him. He looked inside and saw that Anna had walked pass him, "Are you coming?" Kylos nodded unconvincingly, but Anna didn't feel like questioning him.

Each story he'd heard had close to nothing in common. But they always mentioned that one name. One title that had always somehow managed to sneak in when he was interviewing the family members of those wrongfully accused or stolen from. And it unnerved him that he didn't trust his instincts sooner.

The Prime Minister.

The Princess had since turned 16 and, her sister, 19–a whole year after the untimely deaths of their parents. During the course of that whole year, Anna had finally made peace with their deaths and slowly reverted back to her usual smiling, awkward, and talkative self. Since she had come to terms with their passing, it led them to going back to the forest and hold their lessons there. Besides, it would look more suspicious than usual if the Master-at-Arms returned to the castle when the Princess was feeling better. So they continued working in their old clearing every other day when the young Princess didn't have any academic lessons.

Weaponry practice was supposed to take place today, but Kylos was not in the clearing with Anna–who was beginning to grow concerned. Instead, he found himself in another situation. The day before, he had spoken to a victim of a robbery and fire where the robbers had stolen a few valuable items and then set the victim's house on fire.

Recounting the days events, the victim–a poor villager with a lot of debt in his hands–had mentioned he had borrowed some money from the bank. When he found he couldn't repay his increasingly growing debt, some guards that he didn't recognize had come and demanded payment. The victim was not able to pay them, and they had rode off towards the east–the direction of the Prime Minister's private home. Later that night, the man had found himself beaten and thrown out of the house by three huge thugs. They had stolen all his precious belongings and set his home on fire, fleeing into the night. Unfortunately, the villager had told him that these men were wearing masks, so he was unable to describe them.

Kylos had spent a good portion of that day to investigate deeper into the case. To his surprise, the bank was owned by the Prime Minister. He found out that the Prime Minister did not take a liking to debtors of any sort, and often dealt with them using some ruthless tactics. Going from that information, Kylos decided to seek for others who were also indebted to Reno Quartremaine, in hopes he could get additional facts and find more out about this Prime Minister and as of now, the King Regent. Kylos had dug himself so deep into his investigation that he had forgotten that a certain Princess of Arendelle was patiently waiting for him in a clearing in order to start their lesson of the art of weaponry.

The old Master-at-Arms found himself in front of Eld's Trading Post in the lower village of Arendelle at around 5 o'clock in the evening. The bank teller had told him that Eld had owed the Prime Minister some significant amount of money and was notified a few days ago. So far, nothing unfortunate had taken in his life at the moment and Kylos hoped that he could get there before anything bad did happen.

Kylos peaked through the door's window frame to look for any signs of life. The trading post was currently closed for the time being, but Kylos had just wanted to speak to Bodil Eld. He was checking to make sure nobody was in sight so he could move on and ask others of the man's whereabouts. Kylos raised his hand and knocked once on the door. Once his hand made contact with the wood, the door creaked open, apparently unlocked.

He was startled and leaned back. Why would the door be open if the sign said closed? The Master-at-Arms glanced at his horse waiting for him in the back. Perhaps he should call for backup. But that thought was dismissed when he heard a familiar voice speaking inside the trading post.

The Prime Minister? Kylos had thought, but he didn't allow himself to be astonished at this. Rather than be taken aback at the revelation, he felt a deep bitterness surface inside him. He did not like the idea of this suspicious man ruling over the Great Kingdom of Arendelle. He heard the voices coming closer, so he ducked away from the door frame.

"Now, tell me, where do you find this rock?" the Prime Minister's voice hissed. Cautiously, Kylos peaked inside. There he saw Reno Quartremaine and his men crowded over a villager he supposed was Bodil Eld, the owner. His hands were tied up behind his back and he was forced to kneel on the center of a circular rug. The thugs, Kylos referred to the Prime Minister's men in his head, held a crossbow to his head with a flaming arrow.

The man didn't say anything, choosing to stare at the floor in front of him. The Prime Minister came up to him and grabbed his hair, forcing Bodil to look Reno in the eyes. "Did you hear me? I asked where." From what Kylos had heard from the conversation, Reno was looking for a specific rock and had trouble finding it. However, he didn't think that the Prime Minister was here for an ordinary substance such as quart. His desperation to find it had given Kylos the detail that it was probably of rare value.

Reno saw that the man was not relenting and let go of his hair, "No matter. You'll pay your debt… one way or another." He nodded his head to the four thugs' direction. The one holding the crossbow pulled the trigger. Kylos's breath caught in his throat and he'd about thought that they were actually going to murder the man. How much debt did this man owe if someone were willing to kill him for it?

But the arrow struck the floor in front of the man instead, missing what Kylos had thought was an aim for the head. The man looked at the fire in panic and glanced pass his captors to a large mounted deer head on the wall. His eyes widened in panic as he quickly tore his gaze back to the floor.

But the Prime Minister only smirked and muttered, "Amazing; the things fire reveals about ourselves." He made his way to the mounted deer head and lifted it off the wall. Setting the deer head down, it revealed a little cabinet built into the wall. A flicker of glee flashed in the Prime Minister's eyes. He had his men smash in the locked cabinet before reaching in and grabbing an item inside.

He pulled out a little scroll and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He unrolled it and began reading through, before turning to Bodil rolling the scroll out to show him, "What's this? There's nothing in here."

"I didn't say I had it," Bodil finally replied through gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, From his point of view Kylos could only see the words: Map and Smoke-Opal. He leaned in to get a better look of the last two words, accidentally nudging the doorway open and exposing his head to one of the thugs.

"Hey!" one of the Prime Minister's men had exclaimed, pointing at Kylos.

Kylos cursed under his breath; he'd been caught.

The Prime Minister and the trading post's owner's attention was directed where the minion was pointing at. Instantly, the Prime Minister's enraged expression turned into a sneer. Kylos chose it best to bolt at that moment and ran to untie his horse.

"Get him," he commanded the thugs, "Three of you, go and get him. Don't let him escape to the castle–kill him if you have to. I don't have time for this. Go. NOW!" Three of them charged out the door where Kylos's horse reared back in fright of the sudden sound.

"Hya!" Kylos urged his horse on. The horse landed back on its legs and broke into a sprint away from the sound.

The Prime Minister watched as his guards retrieved their horses quickly. They hauled themselves up on the saddle and followed the trail of the Master-at-Arms. This all took place in under 5 seconds. He watched as his men turned a corner after the Master-at-Arms and disappear from his sight.

He focused his attention back to the kneeling Bodil and held up the paper once more, "Now you're going to explain to me what this little piece of paper is for and where the Smoke-Opal and Sunstones are…"

He had originally intended to ride to the castle and alert the head guards, but found the attempt to be fruitless. It seemed that the thugs had formed a plan to ride him out and cut him off from any paths towards the castle. What bothered him was that he could see the castle, so close yet so far, but also saw the thug preventing him from riding towards it. Kylos grunted in frustration, he knew he couldn't lose them in the village, there was too much open space. And if he stopped, they were sure to kill him. But his direction was soon diverted to the wall of Arendelle's castle that ran to the forest.

The clearing.

A new plan formulated in his mind. Instead of riding in the main direction of the castle, perhaps he could lose the Prime Minister's minions in the forest and then somehow make it up the wall. He prayed that he would lose them in the forest first before he made it to the clearing. He wasn't sure if Anna was still waiting for him there, but for once he'd wished that she had stayed in the castle.

Putting his new plan to use, the Master-at-Arms directed his horse to the familiar, worn down trail they took every other day that lead to their clearing.

As concerned as Anna was for Kylos's lack of appearance, she didn't go back to the castle. She had been worried, of course, but decided to think that Kylos was running late or had other business to attend to. This had happened quite often before, but after her parents' death, Kylos had always showed up on time and ready.

But nonetheless, Anna had decided to work on her archery for the moment. She had grabbed her recurve bow (for some reason, Kylos didn't trust her enough to use a longbow) and had long since been shooting at little targets from various distances. Her archery skills were really improving and she'd more frequently been able to get a bullseye on her first few shots.

And if she was honest, she kind of liked having a little time alone. Everyday, for the past two years, she was in the company of somebody in the from the morning to noon and then left her to her work. But now, she was able to relax (in her definition, relaxing was working on her archery by herself) and lose herself in her thoughts.

Anna aimed for the main, big target–long since growing bored of shooting the little targets they had placed around the clearing–when she heard the noise. Curious, Anna lowered her bow and let the arrow rest in her hand as she looked around. From where she was standing, she could see the trees down below shaking and rattling as birds flew away from the commotion ringing through the woods. Anna went quiet, drawing the bow on the defensive as she backed away slowly; listening in to see if she could identify the noise.

After a few moments of waiting, Anna recognized the noise as horse hooves and shouting. But upon a couple of seconds after determining the noise, one rider on a horse burst into her clearing. Anna yelped and dove behind the rock to avoid being trampled on.

"Anna!" a voice had shouted. She recognized that voice. Looking up, she saw it was Kylos who hopped off his horse and was staring at her frantically. Anna looked to where he had burst out from and saw he was being chased by three men.

"Kylos?" Anna called nervously.

"Give me your bow," he demanded.

"What?"

"Anna, please." The men were getting closer and Anna saw that they were carrying crossbows. She realized that it was not the time for questions and promptly handed the Master-at-Arms her recurve bow and quiver of arrows.

"Thank you," he said, before adding, "I'm sorry you have to see this." Anna opened her mouth to ask but saw the three thugs approach.

Suddenly, she understood; she replied, "I trust your judgement."

Kylos gave her a brief nod and took his stance. The three thugs rode into the clearing and the one carrying a crossbow had immediately fired. With expert skill, Kylos released the arrow and it hit the first one's shoulder, causing him to fall off the horse. Kylos dove off to the side, avoiding the now riderless horse. He took his stance again and swiftly nocked an arrow. Repeating the his same actions last time, he aimed and shot down the second rider with a hit to his arm. But before he could set up for the last victim, the third thug drew his sword and charged right for Kylos.

"Heads up!" he looked to his left and caught the longsword Anna had tossed on his way. He threw the bow aside and clasped the longsword with both his hands. The third thug reached him with his sword set to the right. The man slashed at Kylos, but he quickly parried it with his longsword. With an upward shove, Kylos managed to knock the man off his horse, landing with great impact on the ground.

Despite the hard landing, the third one was relentless. He rolled over and leapt up on his feet and swung the one-handed sword at the Master. But once Kylos had felt the two blades hit, he knew that the man was not a skilled fighter. The man retreated his blade and readied for his next swing, but Kylos took advantage of the man's lack of skill and grabbed his sword arm. Kylos brought the arm harshly down to his knee, breaking the bone and causing the man to let go of his sword. Before the third thug could do anything else, Kylos hit his head with the hilt of his blade, knocking him unconscious.

Kylos watched as the man fell to ground, knocked out. He released a strangled breath from his mouth; it had been in while since he had fought, not counting the times he and Anna had dueled. Speaking of Anna, as soon as he had caught his breath he spared a glance at his pupil. She wore a stunned look on her face, but didn't say a word. He caught her eye and flashed her brief smile before walking over to her.

"Nice thinking back there," he noted, and wiggled the longsword in his grasp.

"But is it over now? What was it all about?" Anna asked.

But before he could answer, the two heard a groan coming from one of the arrow pierced thugs. The two directed their attention to the second thug–the one carrying a crossbow–who had been apparently been able to keep himself from falling into oblivion. With all the strength he had left, the thug pulled the trigger–aimed in the direction of the Princess.

There was no more time to push her out-of-the-way and for both of them to be safe. One of them had to take the hit, and he knew that no force on earth would allow him to let Anna take the arrow. So he did the only thing he could.

Master Kylos pushed Anna behind him as he ran in front of her. The enemy's arrow lodged itself into the Master-at-Arms's high left abdomen, piercing his spleen.

"Nooo!"

Yeah, I know, I suck at writing action scenes and suspense build up scenes. I can't seem to grasp the language and pace everything correctly. Anyway, I decided to split this chapter into 2 parts. I had originally planned it to be one long chapter, but I then I decided that I needed to combine two upcoming chapters anyway, so you get one more chapter of Kylos's story arc.

Sorry. No excuses for making you wait for two months. I got side tracked, but at least my Winterguard season is over! I finally have my weekends off! YAY! I'll post chapter 6 up in jiffy. I'm still working on Chapter 8, though it will be a bit long... Oh well. I'll try to at least get Chapter 7 up this month. If you want more details, always feel free to ask me through review, PMs, or even my tumblr account (link in my profile).

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