"This is it."

"I know Anna."

"All these people."

"I know Anna."

"No turning back now. What we've been waiting for."

"I know Anna you're not helping me!"

She tugged down on her skirt again. A gorgeous blue silk that matched her eyes and made her gasp when she'd first seen it, wrapped tightly around her in a ballgown that covered shoes – flat, thank God, there was no way she would be able to dance in the thin heels the dressmaker had originally suggested - that felt in danger of slipping off her shoulders, covered with a long blue silk scarf decorated with silver cloth in whorls and patterns that shifted in the light. Anna had taken one look and gasped.

Now the dress that had seemed like such a good fit when she had put it on – or more accurately had stood in silence as it had been assembled around her – had somehow turned from smooth and airy to clammy and sticky in the five-minute walk from the dressing-room to the doors of the grand ballroom. Every step made her feel like something was going wrong in it and she wondered what her mother had been thinking to put her in something so delicate and frail, no matter how much she told herself it was just nerves. She felt like the skirt was hiking up past her knees, or the shawl was about to wrap once too many times and choke her, or her shoes were going to slip on the floor and send her flying down into-

"Yep. This is it," Anna said, bouncing on the heels of her shoes, a pair identical to Elsa's.

Elsa glanced sideways at Anna. If Elsa was meant to look resplendent in blue and white, Anna was subdued in green and red. Where Elsa shimmered in silk Anna shifted in crushed velvet, and where Elsa's dress hugged her like a second skin, Anna's dress came off her in ruffled waves like green ocean spray.

Elsa put a hand on Anna's shoulder to stop her from bouncing all the way out of her dress, her own incredibly nervousness momentarily eclipsed by the need to help her little sister take care of hers. "Calm down Anna." She could feel her shaking through her clothes."

Anna spun on her heels to look at her sister. "It's been so long," she whispered with tears in her eyes.

"There, there, dear," the queen whispered, putting a hand around her daughter's waist.

"The royal majesties will enter first," the herald said quietly to the king, who was staring at the door with an expression that to the man looked stoic, but the queen knew was hiding fear. "They will announce themselves and give a short speech, and then your majesty Lady Elsa will come next, followed by Lady Anna."

Elsa stared at the oaken doors. It's really happening. She felt years slipping away, years with nobody to talk to except Anna and Kristoff. In her head she ran through the list of names Kai had presented her with that week, a list of all the countries' dignitaries, royalty and nobles who Arendelle counted as their friends. Even her gloves – blue silk to match her dress of course – were forgotten in the pleasant haze of euphoria Elsa felt herself surrounded by.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see her father smiling down at her.

"I'm proud of you Elsa," King Agdar whispered gently. "My darling."

Then take these gloves away from me, she didn't reply. "I love you, father."

The murmur on the other side of the door had increased as they stood there, from the low rumble of the avalanche's first pebbles to the dull roar of the sliding snowbank. Elsa flinched as from inside the castle ancient grandfather clocks began to strike noon.

"Don't be afraid Elsa," her mother said.

"We're right here-" her father said.

"-with you," Anna finished with a smile, and this above all the other words of encouragement was what gave her the confidence she needed to throw off her shaking and smile, as in the grand ballroom beyond the small brass band struck up Arendelle's anthem. The doors swung open and Elsa gasped, closing her eyes to block out the blinding light that was streaming in through windows that been closed for more than a decade.

"Their royal majesties, King Agdar and Queen Idun of Arendelle!" the herald boomed to the space. Elsa's breath hitched in her throat. There had to be a hundred people in the place. More. Two hundred. It was overwhelming. She looked past her parents and saw them all staring up. Old men flanked by ceremonial guards in the colours of other states and kingdoms, women in dresses of endless colours bowing like reeds in the wind. Young men who stared past the king and queen and who seemed to be looking directly at her. Oh God, they were!

Did I really want this?

I can't.

She couldn't. She couldn't do it. Her brain sent thoughts down to her feet like a jockey whipping his horse but they just wouldn't move. Weeks of preparation and years of pining and waiting and suddenly the day was here and she just. Couldn't. Move. Half a second more and people would notice, and ask questions. It would be a disaster. Her father would…her father would…

She felt her hands turn cold as ice.

NO! NO NO NO NO NO!

Then as quickly as the ice came it vanished, as a warm hand gripped Elsa's own. "I'm right here with you," Anna said, still staring down and smiling at the assembled royalty of half a continent. "Always."

Elsa smiled at her little sister. "Thank you."

Anna's eyes blazed as they stared into Elsa's. "Let's go, your highness."

"Her royal highness, Crown-Princess Elsa of Arendelle!" the herald roared, glancing back at them just in time. His eyes went wide as dinner-plates, and just as quickly he turned back to face the ballroom- "ANDHERHIGHNESSPRINCESSANNAOFARENDELLE!" He glared at the pair as he passed by, and Anna hid her mouth behind her hand and stuck her tongue out as she passed

They walked down the staircase together, and amidst the riotous applause descended into the chaos.

Anna stayed near her at first, whispering in her ear, a friendly touch at her side when the eyes staring at her in appraisal and evaluation became too much. Eventually though she was called away by her parents, and for the first time in as long as she could remember Elsa was alone among unfamiliar faces.

"A pleasure your highness," the man currently facing her said. His moustache seemed to reach from one side of his head to another and she had to try hard to stare at him rather than his facial hair. The herald who was following her around like a shadow and whose main duty was to steer her from one important dignitary to another had whispered a name and a country into her ear and she had slotted it into her memory with all the others. Elsa was learning quickly to remember a person's words in direct proportion to how close their country was to Arendelle. Sweden, a baron. Albin, Anton, something like that. Wants to discuss access to gold mines, and probably examine the wine-cellar too. "You're every inch as charming as the rumours," the man said, lightly kissing the glove Elsa had reached up. At least they're good for this. Half a dozen wizened old men so far had done the same, and more to come. At least the ladies stopped at a curtsey, although maybe she wouldn't mind if- Focus Elsa.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet Al- baron," she replied, smiling as 'enchantingly' as she could, something that her lessons that week had emphasised but meant very little to her. "The first of many meetings I hope."

"My exact words your highness," the man replied. "As a matter of fact there are several things I am hoping to discuss with-"

Before the ambassador could unload his spiel onto her though Elsa was shuffled away by the herald, closely followed by-

"Kai, thank the lord."

"How are you holding up your highness?" Kai asked. He looked resplendent in black and white, eyes darting around the noise and hustle of the ballroom, looking for errant or slacking butlers to scold.

"Quite well thank you," she said as formally as she could, still keeping the smile plastered over her face. "How many more people are in this place?"

"Several hundred your highness," Kai said, and ignored the little squeak of panic Elsa gave. "Although only a fraction of those are people of any real importance."

"Then who are the rest?" Elsa asked, grabbing a canapé from a passing tray.

"Tourists," Kai replied, and even through the thick veneer of formality and decorum she could hear the ever so slight sneer in his voice.

Come to look at the mysterious hidden princess, she thought, with roughly the same feeling about it. She heard her name called. Another round begins, she thought, and looked up to see-

"Your most royal highness, it is such a joy to finally meet you. Such a pleasure to finally meet the scion of our most important trading partner," the man said. He barely reached to Elsa's shoulder, and it took her a second to realise that it wasn't some unfortunate barbering accident but a toupee that was somehow attached to his head. And another handlebar moustache. Of course. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am-"

"The Duke of Weselton, of course," Elsa said quietly, entranced by the strange bobbing and weaving of the man.

The Duke's face lit up. "Ah! Familiar with me I see! And of course why shouldn't you be, when we share such close-"

Lucky guess. Somehow she had just known. "-Trading partners, yes," Elsa finished for him before he could devolve into endless flowery sentences. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you your grace." Although I predict it won't be for much longer. "She looked over his shoulder and pretended to see someone else. "If you'll excuse me however I must…"

"But of course, of course!"

Elsa beat a hasty retreat from the man, munching down on the canapé she had palmed and trying to search for Anna. It took time to spot a flash of emerald cloth and red hair in a heaving ballroom that seemed to be filled with all the colours of the rainbow, but finally she managed it, finding her sister talking animatedly with a stunned-looking penguin of a man.

"-even talk to me about the weather. The sun only makes the ice slippery."

"Well of course your majesties would be more than welcome to visit in the summer. My son would be more than delighted to-"

"Anna."

Anna turned at the sound of her sister's voice. "Elsa!" she said in delight as behind her the man sputtered out whatever he was eating and adjusted his bow-tie. Kai didn't even bother to whisper his name to her. One of the tourists, eager to get a look at the secrets of Arendelle's family. Well, he was getting an eyeful of them both. "Everyone here's so nice!" Anna whispered giddily as Elsa made her excuses and led the both of them away.

"That's because they want to introduce you to their sons," Elsa whispered back, grabbing the first glass she saw from the butler that had somehow appeared. Had her father hired new servants for the event? She didn't recognise half the people she saw, and it made her nervous. A decade of seeing the same faces will do that Elsa, get a hold of yourself. A mean smile twitched across her face as she looked at Anna. "Don't look so smug Anna, In three years it'll be you on the chopping block."

Nice metaphor.

"A joke? I'd be honoured to join in, your highnesses," a deep voice spoke from behind Elsa, so close it make the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

The middle-aged man behind her was easily one of the tallest at the ball, at least a head higher than Anna. He stood out in a blue suit covered by a white jacket witha very high collar, every inch of his skin covered, unlike some of the younger men present who seemed to delight in leaving an appropriate amount of muscle on show. He even wore white gloves. Brown eyes stared at her from underneath a mop of reddish-brown hair, and Elsa had to tilt her head back a little as she kept eye contact and smiled. He didn't smile back. His face looked…unlived-in. Very few wrinkles for a man his age. Perfectly fine-looking and healthy, maybe even a little handsome, but expressionless and unmoving, like it was still waiting for its owner to put it on.

"Prince Staas of the Southern Isles, and-"

"And his wife, Kalyna," the tall white man interrupted Kai, holding up his hand and the dark-haired woman attached to it. Dressed plainly in a dark red dress, she bowed demurely before stepping back, behind her husband.

"A pleasure," Elsa said, trying to remember where the Southern Isles where. Somewhere near Denmark she was sure but… "How are you enjoying the ball?" she asked.

"Perfectly fine, thank you," Staas said, not a single note of inflection in his voice matching the words he said. "Arendelle has been such a mystery for so long, how could I resist the invitation? I won out over my other brothers to attend."

That she remembered. The servant-girls had been tittering over it for days. An old king, and twelve brothers. They dotted Scandinavian balls and high society like the drops of rain after a stone is thrown into a lake, half of them hunting for wives and the other half sitting around waiting for their father to die. At least they hadn't sent an unmarried one. "And we're luckier for it," she replied by rote. So much of what she said seemed to come from a script written by Kai and the others. If anyone had asked her to pick she'd take talking with Anna and Kristoff any day over this…this game. It seemed like half the conversations she had taken part in today had been empty pleasantries and the other half had been small barbs trying to wrench information out of her.

"Certainly we would be glad to host a similar ball in honour of your generous invitation," the man said, and Elsa realised that he sounded…bored. Of all the people – all the men – she had met at the ball so far he was the only one who wasn't eying her or Anna like they were just another item on the menu that they might one day be invited to taste. While Prince Staas didn't look like he was enjoying talking with her at all, she still preferred him to the endless parade of hungry suitors and fathers-of behind her.

She smiled, and the smile was just a little less fake. "We'll certainly entertain the offer, your highness. A change of scenery would be nice after-" She stopped but too late as her mouth ran away from her. What had Kai put in these glasses?

Staas nodded, as if he had expected the response. "Ours is a sunnier climate certainly. My wife is from even further south than I, she's never seen so much snow and ice in her life, especially not in summer."

"We're used to the cold," Elsa replied, with the sudden annoying feeling that she was defending herself from an attack she couldn't see.

"I'm sure. Why, from the stores and statues I've seen on the way here Arendelle seems to practically worship the stuff." The murmuring of the throng behind them increased ever so slightly, and Prince Staas turned to see… "Well, it appears I've taken up enough of your time, your highness. 'Till our next." He bowed slightly as he passed the couple who were approaching Elsa. "Your majesties."

"Your highness," King Agdar said, barely glancing at the prince. "My dear, how are you doing?" he asked Elsa softly, grasping her gloved hands in his own. She knew he felt the cold under the gloves when his expression clouded just a little bit, the lines on his forehead deepening just a little more.

Father could you be any more transparent? "I'm perfectly fine, just a little overwhelmed," she replied.

"If you need to take a short rest before we eat, you can…"

She twisted her hands out of his grip before frustration made her any colder. "I'm perfectly fine," she replied through gritted teeth disguised as a smile. Behind the king Anna watched her, and Elsa could see the worry there, which only made it worse. She focussed on her father. "Just a little too much to drink maybe. Some real food might…"

The king smiled, mollified. "Of course my dear. Kai?" This last to the old man behind Elsa, who simply nodded and moved off, beginning the invisible dance of servants and heralds that would move the entire unwieldy collection of delegates, princes and curious nobles out of the ballroom and into the dining halls.

Elsa felt a warm hand brush against her own, and her fingers wandered across Anna's hand in turn. Just having her sister there with her was a comfort, and she felt a huge burst of love and warmth towards her little sister. "Thanks for staying with me Anna."

"Why, anything for my dear sister on the day of her coming of age," Anna said, loudly and formally. Elsa turned her head with a raised eyebrow, and Anna leaned forward until she could feel the breath against her ear. "A knight stays by her princess," her little sister whispered under her breath, and winked.

A couple of hours for dinner, then finally the event she was looking forward to; the hunt. Finally. Elsa knew from Kristoff that the horses had been prepared and ready all week. An informal gathering of a few of the more important nobles. She didn't care that she would most likely have to put up with that awkward and flailing Weselton man, or endure the affections of whatever princes her father had encouraged to come along, or even that she didn't like horse-riding all that much. It was outside the walls, in daylight, without having to listen at doors and corners for approaching footsteps.

She couldn't wait.

"Feel better now?" Elsa asked as Anna practically ran behind the curtain in the small dressing room and practically tore her dress from her body. She could see her shadow moving behind the partition and smiled as Anna stretched out. She couldn't blame her, after the last two hours of sitting and small-talk.

They'd made their excuses as quickly as they could after dinner, Elsa walking a little more stiffly than before they had sat down. A form-fitting dress combined with a big dinner was a recipe for disaster and torn stitching.

"A lot. Yeesh, these dresses, how do you even breath in yours?"

"By never eating, and learning how to walk like a penguin."

"I did notice you wolfing down those chocolates. I wanted some!"

"Too slow."

"Meanie."

"I'll make it up to you when we get back," Elsa replied. "Father has some kind of chocolate fountain he's been trying to set up."

Anna gasped and rushed to the edge of the screen to stare in amazement at Elsa. "A chocolate WHAT?" she gasped, hanging precariously and staring at her sister in frank amazement.

Elsa stared back, in the same. "ANNA!"

Anna looked down at her exposed chest and blushed. She grabbed the shirt from around her waist and tried to button it. "Sorry! Sorry! I-" Her mouth stopped working before she could finish the sentence though, as Elsa rushed forward and dragged the shirt back down again. "Elsa what are you?"

"What's this?" Elsa said.

It took a second for Anna to realise what Elsa was actually looking at, and her blush deepened not in embarrassment but in shame. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to worry you, it just- AHAHA!"

Elsa traced a hand down the thin scar that went from just below Anna's left shoulder blade, down the valley between her breasts, and stopped just under the sternum. She looked up at her sister, who was giggling at Elsa's touch. "This isn't funny An- this isn't funny Anna!" she hissed quietly.

Anna couldn't help it. The giggles threatened to turn into laughter. She knew she should feel bad about the look of worry on her sister's face, but the whole situation was just too funny. "It's fine Elsa, I'm fine. Honest. Ahaha. Please stop, your hands are freezing."

Elsa looked at the scar. Scars. The long thin one, and another one, not a long and thin at all but a patch of discoloured skin darker than the rest of her, that sat just over her heart. She looked into Anna's eyes, Anna who had finally managed to stop laughing. "What happened? You promised if you were going to…going to go out again…that you'd let me know!"

"This was before you found out," Anna said, shifting from one foot to another.

"What. Happened. Anna?"

"Just a little scratch from a wolf. I was unlucky is all." White lies. It had been a big wolf, and Eva had helped her dress and wash it every night for a week. Hiding it from father and mother had been hard, she had pretended she had slipped and fell and bruised herself on an icy cobblestone.

Clearly Elsa had just as good a memory. "That was what that was? You said you slipped and fell." She took Anna's hands in her own. "Anna, we promised we wouldn't lie to each other."

She shifted again uncomfortably. "I just…I just forgot. It was a long time ago."

"Four months isn't a long time! What about this one?" Elsa said, stroking the patch of skin over her heart.

"It- AAAAH!"

Elsa drew her hand back quickly. "Sorry! Does it still hurt?" Elsa asked as Anna gritted her teeth and folded around her. Her skin had felt hot to the touch.

"…Little bit."

"Where'd you get it?"

Anna looked up into her eyes and spoke at exactly the same time that Elsa realised how dense she was being.

"From you."

"From me. Oh Anna."

"It's fine."

"It isn't fine," Elsa whispered. "…Did I ever say sorry?"

"It wasn't your fault, not really. Look." She reached out for Elsa's hand and put it back over her heart, wincing just a little as Elsa's cold palm caressed her skin. "You saved me, remember? You protected me." She felt a surge in her chest, like the ice protecting her heart was reaching out to the person who had put it there. "You're still protecting me." She let go of Elsa's hand and reached her own around to hug her sister. "I never blamed you."

"You're not lying?" Elsa said quietly, trying to keep down the tears she didn't know she had been hoarding all through her childhood. All these years she had wondered and worried, fretted and tried to hide away, because she had never dared ask whether Anna had blamed her for the ice in her heart. For nearly killing her.

"I would never," Anna whispered. "Promise." She reached up on tiptoes and kissed her sister's forehead, wiping away the single tear that had escaped Elsa's eye. She turned and started to button her shirt. "Now come on, or the hunt'll start without us!"

"As if you needed instructions on how to hunt," Elsa teased, feeling as light as air, her forehead tingling where Anna had kissed her. Without another word between them the sisters changed into hunting leathers; green and blue leather jackets over tanned leather breeches and thick woollen shoes. "See you at the courtyard," Elsa said, leaving Anna alone for a few seconds, with her guild.

Only a little guilt. She had been lying, but not about what Elsa was worried about. The scar over her heart hadn't hurt at all when Elsa had touched it. Not at all.

"I do say, you and this country seem well-matched your highnesses, you look positively radiant in the snow."

"I feel it," Elsa replied with a happy smile, not feigned at all. She felt wonderfu snow underneath her horses' hooves was pristine, flying up into the air in swirling clouds whenever he took a step forward. The sky was electric blue with not a cloud in sight, and even the air felt clearer than anything she could remember, not a single mote of dust to ruin it. When they had ridden across the drawbridge into the town she had fought hard to hold the tears back. There had been cheers and confetti and waves, and small children had tried to keep up with their horses, waving and shouting, and she had waved and shouted back. The entire trip to her had been filled with joy, the happiest thirty minutes of her life so far. And there would be more! Elsa and Anna had ridden close together and talked and made plans for what they were going to do the day after her birthday, when the gates stayed open and they could finally come and go as they pleased.

It was perfect.

Well, almost perfect.

"May I do my lady the honour of the first catch?" the flowery little man said.

"Unless I get it first! Aha!" shouted the other.

She hadn't bothered to remember either of their names. Colin and Adams. Or something. Starting C and A at any rate. Some princes that father had liked the look of and decided to bring along with them. Weselton's Duke had tagged along as well, as had Staas and his wife, and a brace of servants at a distance to do the actual work of handling the hounds the princes had brought with them, as well as carry, clean and prepare the kill if they were lucky. All of them rode horseback through the Arendelle woods just beyond the village. Elsa wondered what would happen if she just cracked the reigns and bolted. The north mountain was right there. She could hide on it forever, away from her father's side-long glances and the fawning attention of the boys.

Better not. She suspected Anna's presence by her side was the only thing keeping the horse underneath her behaved. She'd learned fairly young that whatever knack was needed to read a horse's mind, she didn't have it.

"-beautiful in the winter, almost as beautiful as yourself-" one of the interchangeable princes rambled on, Elsa keeping just enough of her attention on the vapid boy to nod and smile back, while the rest was focussed on her father a few paces behind her, and the quiet conversation he was having with prince Staas.

"-are slightly concerned for the upswing in this pagan cult of yours, your majesty," Staas said quietly to her father.

"It isn't 'my' anything your highness," her father replied, and the man seemed to back down at the not-so-subtle comparison of their positions. "The peasantry always have their little diversions, you know this. Should we become our own miniature inquisition to settle the matter? It helped your Spanish cousins so well. This isn't the seventeenth century prince Staas. They can keep their little hearth-gods if it gets them through the winter."

"And yet such signs rarely bode well for a nation's stability."

King Agdar sighed and shook his head. "Oh? Are a group of superstitious housewives and nervous hunters capable of making our gold shine less bright? Or our timber less stout? Please let's not insult one another."

The southern prince shrugged, his expression unchanged and unworried. "Apologies your majesty. But I'm just the first of many who'll ask."

"And I will reply with this: That I foresee zero effects on Arendelle's trade from a 'cult' so small you could fit them all into a modestly-sized log cabin."

Elsa felt something brush against her hand, and glanced down to see Anna's fingers picking at her glove. She canted her horse closer and gripped her hand; don't worry so much.

Whatever reply the king was about to give was lost as the deep howl of the servant's hunting horn sounded through the woods. One blow. A wolf, probably already half-dead from exhaustion from being driven by the hounds.

"Elsa, watch," Anna whispered. She turned to the two princes, opened her eyes as wide as they could go and adopted an expression of enchanting innocence. "Oh! That sounds dangerous! I do so hope it is not a large one being driven towards us!"

Almost as one the two princes drew their swords, their horses rearing up heroically. "Don't far my lady, we'll protect the jewels of Arendelle."

Oh my god. "Please, go do so," Elsa said.

The two princes must have been lost in visions of marriage because neither of them noticed how dryly she had said it. They galloped off towards the sound of the horn, half the guards following them, leaving Elsa and Anna alone with their parents, the Southern Isles prince, and a handful of guards.

"Anna. Elsa, please be gracious" the king said, the warning in his voice being somewhat negated by the smile on his face. "These are our guests."

"But they look like they're having so much fun," Anna said, smiling after the enthusiastic princes.

"The hunt does not appeal to you, your highness?" Staas asked, looking at Elsa.

Grace. She smiled up at him. "Just a little tired after all this excitement."

"You take after your father then? A quieter life appeals? And you, Princess Anna?"

"Prince Staas, mind yourself."

"Apologies again your majesty. I feel the wine at dinner has brought upon an odd mood," he apologised, not even attempting to hide the lie.

Diplomacy, Elsa.

"Apology accepted your highness," Elsa said, and squeezed Anna's hand to make her parrot the same. She didn't look but she could feel the anger in her little sister's grip. Most likely the prince did too.

The king jerked the reigns of his steed a little harder than he meant to, and opened his mouth to speak. Whatever he was about to say was lost though, as-

"Elsa look."

Before she could do so Elsa's gaze was blocked as Anna jinked her horse in front of her own. She didn't need eyes to know though, because she heard the low growl.

Growls.

A pack.

"Guards!" the king roared, and suddenly the forest was full of flying powder as the guards practically flew to the royal's sides. "Where are those princes?" Agdar asked, in much the same way you would ask where your cloak was before leaving the house. "Take us home, guards?"

"Stay back sire," the man said.

Elsa hated wolves. She had seen them at a distance before as a young girl, out with her parents on whatever morale-boosting journey they had been making in the country. Every time a lone shape was seen slinking through the woods the guards would form ranks and shout and rattle their sabres to scare it off. Elsa remembered getting a single look from between the wooden slats of the carriage. It had kept its distance but even from so far away Elsa could see the snarl on its flattened head, and the glowing yellow eyes that reflected baleful light at them. Elsa had no illusions of wolves as noble guardians of the mountain. If it had been able to get at her it would have eaten her.

Elsa's hands clutched her horse's flanks. A huge mistake.

"ELSA!"

Elsa's horse reared up with a shriek as two burning cold objects gripped it, and suddenly the sky and ground were switching places as she was thrown down onto the snow hard enough to smack her head onto the hard soil beneath the snow, so hard the world momentarily went black. She looked up into the clear blue sky and thought it isn't night yet, why can I see stars?

"GUARDS!"

Elsa tried to climb to her feet and it felt like her brain was rattling around inside her skull like one of Anna's marbles. She reached out to grip a tree that looked close to her, but only found air, and she fell back down to her knees where the world wasn't moving quite so much.

"Elsa, are you alright?" a melodious sound quavered next to her.

That's Anna's voice. "'na?"

"ANNA GET BACK ON YOUR HORSE THIS INSTANT!" the sound of a god boomed above her.

"No!" the gorgeous voice shouted up at god, and Elsa heard something that could have been an icicle shattering or the sky ripping apart.

I can't see. She blinked and tried to erase the stars from her sight, vaguely knowing that something was wrong with her. She was kept from falling to the ground by something warm pressing itself against her side, and she reached for it.

"I'll protect you," the shape said, holding something long and bright in it's hand.

Elsa opened her mouth to thank the figure when she saw them. Fuzzy mounds moving through the white world in front of her. She watched in calm detachment as a long and thin line opened on the one closest to her, filled with yellow triangles.

Those are teeth, her brain screamed at her as it tried to shake itself awake. Those are wolves. Wolves! WOLVES!

Yellow eyes, too close. She panicked, tried to stand again. She was aware of things – not wolves, taller – moving behind her, trying to grab at her, but-

The wolf snarled, and leapt.

Anna met it.

As if they were rival countries on some far-away battlefield, the guards and the rest of the pack rushed forward with war cries that were practically the same.

She tried to keep up but the world lurched around her. The warm thing her brain said was called Anna stayed by her side as the confusing world around her became a lurching cascade of blue-shirted shapes against white-fanged blurs.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" The words arrived in her brain meaningless, incomprehensible. She felt some vague connection to them and tried to stand, looking up in time to see it. The white thing came closer to her, mouth of jagged rocks coalescing out of it like a magic-eye picture, two glowing yellow orbs coming at her.

It will kill and eat you.

The world sharpened around her as her breath frozen in her throat. She raised a hand as if doing so could ward off the charging creature, but before her palm was halfway up the Anna-shape stood in front of her, and suddenly where the world had been only blurred white before, Elsa saw red splashing across it, and suddenly the killing thing that had been coming for her was veering off making a noise that seemed to reach through her ears and grab at her heart. It hurt. It hurt.

"ANNA!" the voice of god shouted again, descending from the heavens to rush towards the Anna-shape.

The white thing lurched and flew sideways away from her, now coated with red, but before Elsa could think to feel relief through the cloud that was steadily dissipating from her brain. Anna – her sister, her sister – screamed out in fear as the thing Elsa remembered was called a wolf veered away, side open and bleeding, and through its own fog of pain leapt for the next closest thing it could see. Another shape whose name returned to Elsa just in time.

Father.

"DADDY!"Anna screamed.

Elsa didn't think. Didn't think about whatever would happen afterwards, or about what anyone else would think. All she saw in that split-second was a berserk animal, all muscle and jaws, headed directly for her father.

Use me, something said, that could have come from inside herself or from the very air around her, and in her drunken concussion Elsa didn't have the self-control to refuse it.

So she didn't.

The world turned blue.

Then black.

Chapter notes on the tumblr as usual. Also thinking about sticking small side-stories there that aren't really long enough or important enough to deserve a spot in the main narrative. This week also marks the entirely arbitrary milestone of ten weeks without missing an update, jeez. I should take a break! No just kidding. Next week: Chapter 11, Elsa Dies In Lava.