Hey guys. Its me. Its been, what, 5 years?... Heh…. Sorry…

Anyway I saw the Frozen II Trailer, and realized, dang. I haven't updated my fanfic. So I read through it, and most of it held up until I got to Chapter 8. So I'm updating it so it fits the plot and other elements better. It's been 5 years anyway, so how much do you remember from the Chapter 8 I posted 5 years ago? XD. Better late then never amirite?

Note: Heavy changes to Chapter 8 happened so even if you did read it 5 years ago and have perfect memory, there's new information in this one so you should read it anyway.

So yeah… let's start.

Previously on The Great Bandit of Arendelle

"What I don't understand, boss, is why you let the Queen live during your reign," the minion, Birgir, inquired as soon as they stepped out of the room, "Surely with your power, you could have just killed her." He handed Quartremaine a piece of paper.

"No use," Reno replied, as he looked over the contents of the paper, "She stayed in the castle, never long enough for me to enact. And It would look too suspicious if I did and I needed to get the people to trust me. Additionally, there was always the other heir."

"So what now?" the second one asked.

"We wait," Reno stated, folding the paper back up, "until then, tell the rest of the men to meet at the Bank instead of my mansion. I will give them further instructions of what is to happen next. There is no use for them to come to me now that I have handed the power back to the Queen." Before he stepped off, he added, "And make sure you tell them to dispose of Prisoner 113, he knows too much." After the statement, the Prime Minister and one of the guards departed one way, as the other departed another way.

Behind the curtain, Anna's mouth was opened in shock. Sure she had had doubts about the subject, but the conversation had more than just crushed the doubts. This man just admitted to conspiring to kill the Queen and no doubt were the same man who ordered the kill on Kylos.

Anna clenched her jaw. She was going to have to fight to protect her sister once more.

A Week Later: Present Time

If she hadn't been looking, she would have missed it. If she didn't know there was a conspiracy in her kingdom, she would have strolled naively on, flouncing around in her own fantasies as one by one, people were being plucked off the streets because of what they knew: knowledge that could bring down an illegal plan if anybody had evidence to prove their accusations correct.

And Anna would have been none the wiser. She would have just played along in her life of royalty and luxury, finally gaining what she had wanted: Love and Freedom. Unfortunately, she would have been depriving justice from the ordinary citizens if she were to go on with this path. If she were to go on this path… But, things have changed.

Instead, she was given this said knowledge. And now it was her actions that would prove vital to the kingdom's future.

She knew that the Prime Minister had a plan, for years, she would assume. He would know almost every obstacle that would be thrown at him. But he had made mistakes before. He had made a mistake in attracting an old Master-at-Arm's attention. He had made a mistake in having Kylos killed.

Anna knew that once she stepped into the game, there was no backing out. She wasn't afraid. She remembered what it was like when she first stepped into the abandoned armory. No, what she was afraid of was that the people she loved would get hurt.

Could get hurt, she would remind herself as an uneasy feeling settled deep into the pit of her stomach.

Risk Arendelle? Or risk the lives of her loved ones?

But then she would remember why she was doing this.

Either way, if she chose whether or not to act, Elsa was in danger. Reno Quartremaine would win by hitting two birds with one stone.

Anna's eyes narrowed as she recalled the past week's events.

Six Days Ago

She guessed that after living in the castle her whole life without any official freedom in visiting the outside world, she would pick up the habit in strolling amongst Arendelle's village streets when she was thinking. She needed space and time for herself to think, and she found that she couldn't do that if she stayed behind the suffocating castle walls. No, now that the opportunity had been given to her, she would take a stroll about Arendelle's villages at least once a week.

Anna needed time to think about the events that had taken place two days ago, when she had overheard the Prime Minister talking to his subjects, leading more credence to Kylos's letter.

Kylos's letter.

That made her stop and think. She missed him and his wife; they were the loving parental figures that she never got from her own biological parents. But she had Elsa now. She had Elsa and Kristoff and Olaf and Sven and the whole of Arendelle. She had more to lose now than ever before, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to fight for it.

But where to start?

That part stumped Anna. The only proof she had about the Prime Minister's illegal exploits was a letter written by a man who died two years ago and a vague conversation conversation she heard while hiding behind the curtains. Other than that, she would have to find some way to prove to the court and Elsa that the Prime Minister was guilty of corruption rather than simply depending on her sister's faith in her. As much as she knew Elsa had a deep faith in her, she knew that she couldn't put her sister in the situation of deciding whether or not to believe her word without any solid evidence or confession against Reno.

Anna kicked up the stones in her path, releasing a frustrated breath. And even if she were to find evidence, she would have to start with the question of how she was going to collect the evidence behind the Prime Minister's back. She knew she could ask for a court order, but that would make the whole situation public and no doubt Reno had someone working for him in court that would find out. She knew the dangers of collecting evidence behind his back, she remembered Kylos's letter about the numerous people who died who knew about Reno's crimes.

All these thoughts jumbled in Anna's mind and she forced herself to take a deep breath and refrain from grunting out loud in frustration. There were too many things going on and so little time before she would be able to find out when the Prime Minister's plan would come into place.

I need to calm down, Anna told herself. She let out another deep breath before looking at her surroundings. The strawberry blonde spotted a bakery not far ahead in the residential area.

Food, she decided. Food would calm her down.

Anna made her way to the bakery and soon found her nerves beginning to settle down. The smells of the local bakery filled her nostrils and she couldn't help but smile as the aroma of various pastries being baked around her. Eventually, Anna found herself a slice of chocolate cake. Chocolate would always make things better, especially when it was in cake form. As she took the slice of chocolate cake up to pay, she heard some shouting coming from across the street.

Anna set her cake on the counter, and turned around to look behind her at the rest of the street. She raised an eyebrow, thinking she was just hearing things and was about to go back to paying for chocolate cake when a door on the opposite side of the street burst open.

With a loud bang, a man was thrown out of the door and landed on the streets. The man impacted the ground so hard, an audible crack was heard as he landed on his forearm, no doubt breaking the bone. The poor man howled in pain, clutching his arm agony.

Anna gasped and was about to run to help the man when she saw that from the doorway, a woman and two children came rushing out to the man's aid, the woman clearly the man's wife. Anna saw the woman looking over her husband's injuries and was about to tell the man something when more figures came out of the house's front door.

Three figures came out of the house first, all of them pointing their swords and quickly making their way towards the injured man. A fourth figure emerged from the house, wearing a familiar looking uniform. He took his time walking towards the injured man's family while slowly raising a familiar looking crossbow.

A chord was struck within Anna. It was him.

Flashback

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!"

The last time she had visited the clearing, the bodies of the three thugs were suspiciously gone. In her grief, she had thought nothing about it. But now. Now she knew. It was him. The same man that had struck down Kylos and ultimately ended his life. And by some malicious force in the universe, that same man was still alive, pointing the same weapon at another man.

Anna found herself frozen where she stood; her mind going wild with all the thoughts and new information presented to her.

The man sighed mockingly before crouching down to the poor man's eye level. Anna watched as the injured man could do nothing but whimper in fear and pain. Upon hearing the injured man voice aloud his pain, the man smirked at him before standing up.

"I must ask one more time. Are you willing to sell me your house or would you rather do some time in… prison. Or I suggest you offer up a third option that will somehow–" the man chuckled to himself, "somehow pay for the rest of your debt." He paused noticing the crowd beginning to form around them, "I'll be nice. You get one minute to discuss and choose. Do you understand?"

The injured man on the ground only nodded his head in response.

He let out a breath of frustration and kicked the man before shouting, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes sir," the injured man cried out in pain before delving into a whispered discussion with his wife.

At this point, Anna shook herself from her stupor and angrily made her way towards the man.

"Hey you!" she called out.

Everyone turned to her in surprise. The man with a crossbow looked briefly confused. "Princess Anna?"

"Who are you and what do you think you're doing to this poor man?" Anna practically hissed as she placed herself between his crossbow and the injured man.

The man with the crossbow shook off the momentary confusion and composed himself. He smirked and bowed deeply before replying. "Princess Anna, it is my pleasure to personally meet you. I am Tollak and you will find that I am merely undertaking my duties."

"And what do those duties require you to do exactly?" Anna crossed her arms.

Tollak laughed, "I am a debt collector. This man owes a debt, and I came to collect."

"Surely you can do this without resorting to threats and violence," Anna looked coldly at him.

"I am entirely within my rights, Your Highness. A debt owed means the debt must be paid in some way," said Tollak. He noticed a wooden carriage with barred windows that looked like portable jail cells approaching. He signalled it to come their way, "Now if you'll excuse me Your Highness, but I would very much like to finish conducting my business."

Anna thought fast, "What if I pay?" That made Tollak look sharply at her, browes furrowed in questioning. She continued, "I'm a royal, surely I have the means to pay for their debt."

Tollak shook his head, "You see Your Highness, that's where you're missing the point. The debt this man owes is to the debt of the banks of Arendelle. The very same banks that report and keep the royal treasury. In a way, this man and his family owes a debt to you." Anna felt her blood run cold as he continued, "and even if you were to have your own 'funds' what makes this one man's family so special? You can't forgive the debts of all the debters of Arendelle."

Anna was at a loss of words. She so desperately wanted to contradict him but she could think of no response.

The injured man on the ground spoke up, "You said you would leave my family alone if I came willingly?"

Tollak flashed a brief smile and responded, "Once your debt is paid, we shall touch not a hair." The injured man looked down, regretting his decision before nodding in defeat. The three men surrounding the injured man promptly hauled him on his feet and made their way towards the carriage.

"No!" Anna exclaimed, running up to the man, "You've got to think this through."

"We have no immediate relatives in the area that we can get help from. This is the only way the children will be able to live under a roof," the man muttered before being shoved inside the carriage by one of the three men who closed it with a loud bang. As soon as the doors shut, the carriage drove off.

Anna looked helplessly at the wife and the children. They had tears streaming down their cheeks, but kept quiet out of fear.

"I am merely doing my job and following orders Your Highness. I hope you understand," said Tollak with an underlying smugness in his tone as they stared after the fleeing carriage.

Orders. Anna instantly knew those orders came from him: the Prime Minister.

Tollak continued, "I meant what I said before, I'm glad we finally got to meet once again–and in a more civil setting of course. Oh, and my condolences." Anna couldn't trust herself to reply. She knew he was refering all the way back to those years prior. Back to that day in the clearing. "I best be going now, Your Highness. Duty calls."

With that, Tollak walked off with the three other men in his group, no doubt looking for another family with a debt over their heads.

Anna knew it wasn't going to be the last she saw of him.

Present Day

Coming face to face Tollak was never something Anna considered all those years after Kylos's death. Back then, they were just thugs. Tollak was just a nameless thug that came after the Master-at-Arms and managed to inflict a mortal wound. But now, now he was so much more. He was no doubt, one of the Prime Minister's top ranking followers, if not Reno's right hand man.

No doubt Tollak was someone that could easily strike a chord within her–given that he was the one that dealt the deed on Kylos's life. But it wasn't just about Kylos or her and her sister anymore. Tollak and whoever else is under the Prime Minister's orders, they were hurting ordinary citizens to get what they want.

The Day Before

To be honest, Anna was just at the marketplace in order to find some fruits and vegetables she said she would find for Gerda when she offered her her help. Never did she expect to find the Prime Minister's subject causing a scene in a place too public.

She was supposed to be looking for asparagus for tonight's meal of fried asparagus with smoked salmon, but had veered off course from the asparagus booth. As much as she loved Gerda, asparagus was one thing that she did not take kindly to. In an attempt to avoid the asparagus booth, the princess made her way towards the booth for strawberries when she saw him.

Tollak and his goons were standing at the entrance of an alleyway, with Tollak brandishing his crossbow at a man who proceeded to back up earlier into the alleyway. Anna cautiously lowered the strawberry she had in her hand back onto the cart and started towards their direction.

From where she was standing she could hear small pleas of "I'm sorry" and "I'll pay you back." But Tollak didn't take it too kindly to the man's words and fired at the man's abdomen. A sharp cry of anguish echoed the alleyway. Though it was easily drowned out by the noisiness of the marketplace.

Anna ran forward, but soon found herself on the ground on top of a castle patrol who had rammed into her.

"Your Highness!" the patrol exclaimed in surprise. He attempted to sit up, but that only caused Anna to fall again.

Frustration settling, Ann fought to untangle herself from the castle patrol who kept apologizing to deaf ears. She tried to strain her ears and squint her eyes to get a better idea of what was happening in the alleyway, but the oafish patrol managed to sit up and block her view of the event by offering her his hand.

"Will you shut up and move!" Anna snapped in the most commanding voice she could muster at a time like this. Obediently, the patrol quieted, though still reached to help Anna up. She slapped his hands away and pushed him from her view of Tollak's situation in the alleyway. The poor victim was crying and pleading now, but the Tollak showed no signs of relenting.

She saw red. Anna picked herself off the ground and started marching dangerously towards Tollak. Deciding she had had it with staying silent, Anna shouted, "Tollak!"

The attack on the poor man ceased, and the leader turned to face who had called him out. The smirk from his face turned to a frown as he saw a very irritable Princess coming his way.

"Ah, Princess Anna," Tollak said, not lowering his crossbow, "We meet again."

"As Princess of Arendelle, I command you to stop this at once," Anna ordered. She looked at the oafish patrolman who had followed her. "Go take that man to the infirmary. The patrolman nodded and bumbled over to the man with an arrow in his abdomen. Before the patrolman could carry him off, however, a third voice spoke up from behind Anna.

"And what seems to be the problem here?"

Anna, Tollak, and everybody else turned their attention to the new but familiar voice. Anna's eyes widened, it was the Prime Minister.

"Reno," she acknowledged bluntly.

"Prime Minister, sire," Tollak bowed deeply before explaining, "I was merely performing my duties in debt collecting when Your Highness interrupted me."

"You shot that man!" Anna exclaimed, "He needs to go to the infirmary or else he is going to die. Or is murder part of your duties as a debt collector?"

"Hmm yes, you may be going a bit far in your duties Tollak," said Reno, "She's right, we should take him to the infirmary. But before we do, were you able to collect the debt?"

"Prime Minister!" Anna exclaimed in surprise, "Surely we can't prioritize a man's debt over his health?"

"We will have to, Princess Anna, for the infirmaries requires you to be debt free in order to be treated," Reno said in a solemn tone, but Anna could hear the fakeness in his voice, "Besides, this man owes something to the kingdom. And in order to use the kingdom's resources, such as the local infirmary, this man must be debt free." Reno acknowledged the debtor, "What is your name?"

"Valdemaar, sire," the man answered weakly as he clutched onto the patrolman.

"Right, Valdemaar, are you able to pay your debt or have any assets that will otherwise be equal to that of your debt?" Reno asked. Valdemaar made eye contact with Anna, almost as if pleading with her, before shaking his head no.

"Well, I guess that ans-"

"If you want we can take him to the jail... and we can have him treated at the jail's infirmary!" the patrolman said, speaking up, "he'll be able to work off his debt in jail."

Reno glared at the patrolman, unhappy about being interrupted. "What is your name, boy?"

"My name is Einar, sir," the patrol–Einar answered.

"There are penalties, Einar, for speaking out of turn," the Prime Minister said coolly before giving a silent order at Tollak. Tollak nodded and walked behind the now terrified patrol. That was the only warning they all got. Tollak pulled the trigger and the and the arrow flew into Einar's Achilles's heel. Einar cried out in pain, falling to the ground as a result of the arrow and Valdemaar's weight.

"What was that for!?" Anna exclaimed, running to both the injured men's side.

"There are repercussions for speaking out of turn to a high authority figure such as ourselves, it's the only way these new patrolmen can learn," Reno said, "Tell her."

Einar winced before speaking, "The rule states that any authority figure below anyone of significant status must ask or wait for permission to speak or act–"

"–or else consequences will be doled out accordingly through the judgement of the significant status," Anna said finished, "Yeah, I remember that rule." Her teacher had forced her to learn the government and the basic rules and expected etiquette of Arendelle when she was 12-years-old and so on. She also remembered the rule that people who were in the same area of power were permitted in speaking freely, so unfortunately, she could not use her title as the Crown Princess to overrule the Prime Minister.

"The thing with debts, Your Highness, is that we can't simply 'work it off' in jail. This man should have a job for it by now and I know the bank's policies are… lenient enough to have enough time to acquire such a job," said Reno, "A debt has its due date, and this man was not able to meet it. Consequences are necessary."

Reno Quartremaine sighed making eye contact with Anna and telling her in a low voice, "If I were you, Your Highness, I would let these fine people do their jobs. Besides, they have been working and keeping this kingdom afloat while I was King Regent and while you and your sister were… dealing with your issues behind those castle walls. I would suggest keeping things around here running the same way you found it."

In saying that, he lead Tollak and his group out of the alley where Anna was held back from following him by the two bleeding men that needed her help now.

Anna stared after the Prime Minister and his lackeys before shaking her head and addressing Einar and Valdemaar. "Alright, let's get the two of you to the infirmary."

A Day Later: Present Day

She had exited the royal infirmary after visiting Einar and Valdemar. After the incident, she had called on the other nearby patrols to help her with the two that had been shot. Einar had been lucky that he was able to get medical attention soon, but Valdemar was a different story. He had lost too much blood and was now in critical condition. It had taken Anna a while in arguing with the head Guard to bring both of them to the royal infirmary where they were to be treated by the best healers of Arendelle, but even the head guard was no match for the Princess's stubbornness. The two were promptly brought to the infirmary where Anna had met up with an overly concerned Elsa.

She had explained to her sister that she had found them in the alleyway and had managed to get the other two to agree with her cover story for several reasons. If they had found out that Valdemar was a debtor, they would not let him into the infirmary. If they had found out that Einar had spoken out of turn, he would get fired. If they found out that Anna had confronted the Prime Minister's right hand man, there was no doubt that the Prime Minister would immediately become wary of Anna. So they went with the story that Anna had found Valdemar and Einar in the alleyway after chasing after her flying bonnet. Apparently, Einar had tried to stop Valdemar's "mugger" who had successfully stolen all the money Valdemar had left on him, but was also attacked. The story was plausible, and after Anna had recounted her fake story, Elsa bought it with little question and let the healers work. (Although she did scold Anna for bringing them to the royal infirmary after such little notice.)

The morning after, Anna visited the two. After seeing their condition, exiting the infirmary, and vanishing for a couple of hours, Anna headed down a familiar corridor; one that had her go near the kitchens.

At the end of the corridor had a familiar purple vase placed on top of a wooden table that obscured a little knob to a little panel that lead to a secret armory.

As me from 5 years ago said: Make sure to remember Einar.

Oh yeah, let's see how long it takes me to update Chapter 9 XD.

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