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.
Note: Final Installment of the Pre-Frozen part of this story. I hope you enjoy:)
Previously on The Great Bandit of Arendelle:
"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 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!"
In an instant, the old Master fell to his knees, clutching the wound. The minion's eyes rolled back into his head, falling into a comatose state like the rest of his team.
The old man felt the 16-year-old girl run to his side and grab his head in desperation, "Kylos, Kylos, look at me. Please! Kylos, oh my god…" He knew she was panicking, so he did his best to console the girl.
"Your Highness, just- help me up." Anna ran to his right side and placed his arms around her neck to use as support. Kylos could barely feel the pain, but he knew it was just the adrenaline talking.
"We need to get you to the castle. The healer there is the finest-"
"It's too far away," he said, interrupting her. He could feel the shock wearing as he spoke, "Take me to Frida."
"But-"
"Please."
Anna didn't want to, she wanted to take him somewhere where he could get better. But if she took him to Frida, he was surely going to die. She had complete faith in his wife, but his wife was not a doctor. And as much as she hated it, she obediently followed her mentor's orders.
The ride didn't take long, but every second counted. Anna was able to get Kylos to his house in under 5 minutes. She had knocked on the door and Frida was suddenly greeted with the sight of her husband and his pupil covered in blood. She gasped, and looked to Anna for explanation, but saw that the Princess was doing her best to keep it in.
The little house only had three rooms: the main living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The main living room consisted of a kitchen located on one wall of the room with the dinner table placed near the door. On the wall opposite of the kitchen was the fireplace with a rocking chair set facing towards it as well as a door which lead to the bathroom. And on the wall opposite of the door was the bedroom door located close to the kitchen as a makeshift cot was set up closer to the fireplace.
The two women led Kylos into the village home and laid him down on the cot. The old man gave a gasp of pain as he felt the arrow–still imbedded in his chest–move and irritate the wound even more. Frida reached out to take the arrow from his side, but he shook his head.
"It's too deep," he murmured, "I'll die instantly you take it out."
He had had enough experience in his time to know when and when not to pull an arrow out. He saw that his situation was hopeless the moment the arrow had imbedded itself into his side. That was why he had asked Anna to bring him to his house instead of a healer's. He wanted to spend his last moments with his wife and the home he lived in for the last 30 years of his life.
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Frida whispered.
Tears were running down her cheeks. Kylos had been at her side for more than 30 years and in that long amount of time, they had gone through so many things. But they had gone through and faced them together.
"What are we going to do about our together?" she asked him. Her husband gave her a watery smile, but she could see he was only doing it to reassure her. She attempted to mirror him in return, but a muffled cry escaped from her lips. Kylos raised his hand to her cheek, and her eyes met his.
"I'm sorry," Kylos mumbled. Frida turned away to cry, but was stopped with Kylos with one last request for her, "But I need you to do one more thing…"
Ten minutes passed by and questions sprung up in Frida's mind. She wanted to voice them aloud for some answers, but refrained from doing so when she glanced at the 16-year-old Princess. Anna was running her hands through her hair as she sat down on the old rocking chair, oblivious to the blood still on them. She was staring at the fire, deep in thought, but Frida could see she was on the brink of breaking down.
The old woman approached the Princess and kneeled down in front of her. She looked like a mess. Her hair was disheveled after running her blood stained hands through them and her eyes were red and puffy. Though no tears came out, Anna tried her best to restrain them from falling. Anna met Frida's gaze and Frida said, "He wants to talk to you."
Anna nodded and let the old woman help her stand up. The two made their way back to her dying old mentor and Anna dropped, kneeling by his side.
"You have questions," he stated as he felt the effect of the blood loss on him. Anna took that as her cue to start asking them. So she asked him the one question that had plagued her mind as soon as he was shot.
"W-why did you do it? Why did you take the arrow?" She lowered her voice, "You didn't have to, so why did you take it?!" She took notice of her demanding tone, but she was desperate.
Kylos took her hand and looked her in the eye, "Because when you love somebody, you'd do anything for them."
Anna stared back, baffled with his response. "What?"
"Listen to me, Anna." He could feel himself giving into the permanent darkness and he knew that he only had minutes to spare. "You have gone through so much in just a few years of your life, but you need to know that you will go through so much more. When I first met you at the clearing that one day, I saw a girl who was lonely. And that is not good because in all the tough times in your life, you need people who love and care about you to carry you through your lowest of times. I was, fortunately, able to become one of those people in your life."
He gave a grunt of pain, but waved off the worried looks of the two women, "But the point is, I see you as a daughter, Anna. And after what happened with Irene, I couldn't bear it and lose you. Not if I could do something about it this time." Kylos was starting to get emotional now, "So you have to understand, I wouldn't let my daughter die. And I have sworn an oath to this kingdom that I would put my life at stake in order for you and your sister to survive. I will not break that oath, because I gladly stand by it after seeing the potential you have shown."
"I love you Frida. I love you Anna," Kylos said. To his side, Anna and Frida were both weeping now, the bitter droplets that they had held back trickled down their cheeks. Kylos whispered, "But now, its time for me to see my daughter once again."
He shut his eyes momentarily from all the pain, and when he opened them again, he saw a soothing white light coming closer. He smiled when he heard a familiar angelic voice calling to him.
The old Master-at-Arms took his last breath and said in a peaceful whisper, "Hello, Irene." And the light from his eyes died out and his breathing stopped.
The rest of the night was filled with bitter mourning in that little village home.
It had been 12 days since the Master-at-Arms's passing, and today was the funeral. Unlike her parents' funeral, Anna prevented herself from going into depression again and instead kept the old woman from succumbing to it. She'd taken Kylos's words to heart; but it was Frida who needed someone the most. She had only known the old man for 2 years now, but she knew that it wouldn't compare to Frida who had spend 30 years with him.
She spent most of those 12 days in Frida and her past mentor's home, mimicking the Master-at-Arms's actions when she had gone through the same ordeal. Frida was in the same state as she had been. She was numb and got lost in her thoughts which lead to her grieving when she came across the fact that her husband was dead. So she spent her time trying to cook meals for the old woman, but when she found that she wasn't a very good cook, she'd taken to sneaking food from the castle kitchen. They would dine alone in silence and then Anna would leave in the afternoon.
Today, Anna had arrived at Frida's door dressed in all black–a color she was becoming unpleasantly familiar with. However, this time, she wore a black veil around her head to keep anyone from recognizing her. Suspicions would arise if anyone saw the Princess of Arendelle attend a lowly Master-at-Arms's funeral. Frida followed her color scheme and with a brief glance at the home, the two made their way to the lakeside where the funeral was to take place.
The funeral was held beyond the wall of the castle and at the foot of the Northern Mountain where a lake was located. They had chosen to hold it there because no one wanted a burial in the ports out of respect to the old Master.
After serving Arendelle for a long amount of time, the Master-at-Arms was able to get a viking funeral in turn for the service he had done. Fellow guardsmen and villagers attended the procession. In the end, they had sent Kylos's body adrift on a makeshift funeral boat. And Anna, her face hidden under the veil, was given the honors of shooting the flaming arrow.
Saying their last goodbyes, Anna let the flaming arrow fly into the late Master-at-Arms's funeral boat, the fire soon engulfing the body.
One by one, the funeral attendees soon dispersed and left until it was only Anna and Frida left, staring at the flame dying in the middle of the lake.
"He'll say hello to Irene for you, I'm sure he will," Anna said after staring at the boat in silence. She wore a small, sorrowful frown on her face. Once the fire died out, there would be nothing left of Kylos's body.
To her surprise, Frida spoke in reply, "He never told you, did he?" It was the first time Frida had spoken in twelve days of silence, and her question confused Anna.
"What?"
"He never told you why the people were chasing him, did he?" Frida repeated. Anna shook her head reluctantly, she had a feeling that Frida knew the answer. But Frida didn't say anything else. Instead, she turned around and walked away just as the flaming boat disappeared under water, leaving nothing but smoke in it's trail.
Boats never were Anna's thing.
It had been two weeks since the funeral. Anna found herself back in the castle, isolated once again. With her weapons' master gone, there were no more lessons in the clearing, so she spent the rest of her time in the paintings room, debating whether to talk to them about her problems. At the moment, she needed to say her thoughts out loud in order to organize them. Because for the past few days she'd all but felt numb when the reality of the situation hit her.
She opened her mouth to start babbling her problems to 'Joan', but was interrupted by Lise knocking on the door frame. Anna sat up from the cushion she was laying on. "Hi Lise, is everything okay?"
Lise was 18-years-old now and she had stayed working in the castle the whole time. Lise replied, "Yes, it's just that Frida is at the door; she said she wanted to see you."
Anna tilted her head in curiosity. Frida had never set foot on castle grounds. So why now? "Take me to her."
The two ladies flew down the halls of the corridors in order to keep Frida from waiting long. They reached the castle doors and (after arguing with Kai and Gerda) instructed the guards to open up the gate for Frida to enter (they didn't like the idea of Anna leaving the castle gates to open eyes).
Frida walked in and Anna greeted her with a hug. "How have you been doing?" Anna asked. After the funeral, Anna had stayed a few more days with Frida before eventually returning to her academic lessons. She'd hated it, but they still had to keep up the charade that she didn't go outside the castle.
"Good actually, but I have news," Frida replied. It was good to see that she wasn't as deep in her temporary depression as she was last time they had met.
Anna raised an eyebrow in inquiry before responding, "Come, we can talk at the gardens. Lise, do you mind joining us?"
"Not at all," the maidservant said and the three walked to the gardens before they stopped under a willow tree with a bench underneath.
Anna internally gave a haughty laugh, remembering the events that took place under the same bench a year ago.
"You wanted to tell us something?" Anna asked.
Frida drew a deep breath and patted her lap nervously before talking. "I first moved to Arendelle with Kylos, but before that, I had lived in a kingdom called Corona. Its pretty far south from here, but the point is, Anna-"
"You are moving back," Anna stated. It wasn't a question, but the revelation didn't surprise her for some unknown reason.
"Yes," Frida frowned, "Did anybody tell you?"
"No, I just guessed," Anna said, "So are you leaving for good?"
"Anna, I will visit, but yes, I'm moving back to my brother's place," said Frida, "Are you okay with that?"
"Yes its just- I was just…" It was happening all over again. Everybody she cared about was leaving her. First it was Elsa and her parents. But then it was Kylos and now Frida. She might as well make this circle complete, "I was just thinking that you might want to take Lise with you."
So many people had left her life and the 18-year-old maidservant was still at the boring old castle as soon as the gates had closed. From what Lise had told her in their past discussions, the maidservant had never stepped foot out of Arendelle in her whole life. And though Anna could say that she sympathized with Lise, she had a vague memory of going on vacations with her parents when she was 3 years old to other lands before the castle doors were shut. Thus, it had been a dream of Lise's had been to travel the world.
And Anna wanted Lise to follow her dreams after all the times she had helped her. She wanted to be in control of the last person in her life that hasn't left her, yet, and give her a choice.
Anna continued, "I mean, Lise's been in this castle for such a long time and you obviously won't be making the journey alone."
"Anna as much as that offer surprises and makes me happy, I couldn't possibly-" Lise started.
"Yes, you could. You need to follow your dreams like you told me that one time when I had lost hope in my sister and started crying," Anna stomped her foot down, "And look, I'll even send you both out with some money I can pull from the castle vaults! It's not like I can buy anything if I'm stuck inside the castle all the time."
"Anna-" both Frida and Lise said at the same time, but Anna bounded backwards.
"Don't 'Anna' me! I'm serious about this decision! Don't make me force this upon you, Lise! I'm the Princess!" Anna exclaimed, "Just take Frida to Corona. I'll have one of the castle scribes write you a letter of employment thingy you can give to the housekeeper or head butler so you can get hired."
Anna looked at them with longing eyes. One part of her was desperate for them to take the offer, the other part was desperate because if they didn't accept soon, she would lose her mind. She was worried that if Lise didn't go on her own and leave Anna, some higher force would eventually take her away, and Anna didn't want to find out if the higher force would take her away in a good or bad way.
Lise looked at her up and down before asking, "Are you serious?" Anna nodded frantically.
"Then I have no choice but to accept, well that is if Frida allows me to come…" Lise offered a shy glance at the old woman.
Frida smiled, "Of course dear. I would love for you to come."
"Anna, you'll be alright. Right?" Lise looked carefully at the Princess.
"Yup," Anna replied immediately and looked at Frida, "When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning dear," Frida replied.
"We have to get your things packed up!" Anna exclaimed to Lise, "And don't worry, I can get Kai to organize you guys a nice boat to-"
"You don't have to-"
"Yes I have to! Neither of you will win this one so you might as well just save your breaths now," Anna countered. The two women shared a look of amusement.
"We accept, then."
Anna smiled, but there was some sadness. She would be sad that the people she cared about were leaving, but she wanted to make sure it was on her own will this time and not an unplanned goodbye. "C'mon Lise, I'll help you pack. I'll ask Kai to get some movers to your house, Frida, so they can start moving things to the ship so everything is packed for tomorrow."
"Thank you dear," said Frida who hugged Anna, "I might as well get back to the place. One last night sleeping in Arendelle after 30 years. I'll see you two tomorrow."
The three parted ways to prepare for the next day.
They had said their farewells earlier that comming morning.
Anna had stood opposite Lise and Frida on the port when they had boarded the royal blue-sailed ship. They had finished their teary goodbyes and bone crushing hugs earlier, and they would have extended that time, however, the crew were on a tight schedule.
Anna had stood silently beside Kai and Gerda underneath her cloak, keeping her face hidden from prying eyes. She had watched as Lise and Frida–tears still streaming down their face–take off on the boat, their eyes still on her. She had stood there for a while until the blue sailed ship faded away from view and Kai and Gerda urged her back into the castle.
But she wouldn't be able to stay still in the castle. Not after everything that had happened. The two head servants watched as the Princess make her way towards her armory. However, she didn't waste time in using her secret corridor. Instead, she took the main entrance into the armory, much to the head servant's bewilderment.
As she walked to the armory, an unexpected figure came into view from the opposite hallway. Anna stopped abruptly as the Prime Minister strode her way with his entourage.
He bowed to the Princess accordingly, and stopped his entourage. "Your Highness," he addressed her curtly, "I give you my condolences."
"Whatever for?" Anna had asked.
"The Master-at-Arms's passing. Forgive me, your highness, but he seemed pretty close after your parent's passing," Reno Quatremaine had replied, "Tell me, do you know of how he died?"
Anna was wise enough to know not to tell him the truth, she was wary of the man. Instead, she had told him, "I had only received word of his death from his wife a few days after his funeral. She had told me he was found in the forest with an arrow wound through his heart with three other people who they presumed had killed him. Other than that, I have heard nothing. Besides, I have not seen him in months. His loss has saddened me deeply."
Her words sounded like she was in control of the situation, but the more she had thought about her losses, the more she was beginning to crumble. The lies she spoke may have seemed apathetic, like most royals' tones when addressing a subject, but she couldn't let the man that would be running the country until Elsa turned 21 know that she had been out of the castle walls with the Master during his demise.
"Again, my condolences," he had repeated, but even Anna could hear the feigned tone in his voice. "Now if you may excuse me, your highness…" Despite his tone, she had to admit he was refined.
"Of course," Anna had said. Reno Quatremaine let his lips flash a quick smile before leading his entourage away from the castle. Anna had stared after him, his presence made her uncomfortable and distrustful. But nonetheless, she shook her head from the uneasy feelings and instead went back to making her way to the armory.
Even though she did not possess a key to the old armory's vault, Anna had easily picked the lock with her hair pin, much to the two older servants' surprise.
The wooden door swung open and Anna stepped inside, making her way towards a wooden sword in the corner. She grabbed it and then stepped up to the torch holder. She didn't care that Kai and Gerda would see her secret exit way–for it would be the last in a long time she would use it.
Without looking back at them, Anna took the lit torch and said, "If anybody's looking for me, tell them that I'm probably somewhere in my secret hiding spots. Do not follow me. I will be back before dinner." With that, she stepped inside the secret passage way and closed hidden stone doors. The two servants only stared after her in worry before shutting the door to the armory.
Anna took her time in walking down the damp corridor underneath the wall of the castle. She knew she wouldn't be walking these corridors in while.
She stepped into her clearing and she felt tears she didn't know she had been holding back, fall down her face. The 16-year-old quickly wiped her cheeks with one hand and put on a brave mask, even though there was no one to put on a brave mask for. They were all gone.
In her other hand was the wooden sword she had first used to train with her Master. But there was no more training, and there was no more master.
Anna ran her hand through the smooth part of the wooden sword. It had gone through so much in four years and it had been starting to splinter. Now, she decided, was the time to put it to rest.
The Princess walked to the edge of the clearing, reminiscing back to the time when Master and pupil had gazed upon the stars, free of the burdens of the world. She gazed down below her at Arendelle, the village was peaceful and the day was still light, but that did nothing to help ease the Princess in her next actions.
Anna swallowed down her tears before setting her old wooden sword on the edge of the clearing. She let out a shuddering breath as she stared out into the peaceful village below, more tears clouding her vision.
"Goodbye," she whispered.
Princess Anna of Arendelle turned swiftly on her heel, abandoning the clearing for the next two years of her life.
Yeah, I killed off Kylos and I am not bringing him back. But I promise to mention him in the rest of the chapters to come.
That's a wrap for the Pre-Frozen chapters. Starting the next chapter, the story will focus on Post-Frozen events, canon details only being manipulated so that it becomes a very very slight UA.
Since this is the last Pre-Frozen chapters, I made it especially long. But the next chapters to come (not immediately) will usually stay around my 2,000 word usual.
Anyway, I'll leave a note on the next chapter in case you guys forget since I don't want to elaborate too much on the canon Frozen events and establish that it is taking place after main canon Frozen.
Speaking of Chapter 7, I'll try to at least get it up by this month. I know I am guilty for my lack of updates, but at least I finally have my weekends free! Hooray!
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