One hundred followers, god damn.

I'll think of something nice to do when I recover from the shock.

For a start, just...thank you. :) Here's this week's update a day early to celebrate.

If there was only one thing that she loved from these trips, it was this.

"Y'hrrness," the small blonde girl said, before scooting backwards and gripping her mother's hand.

Elsa smiled and bent down precariously to be closer to the little girl, who looked like she was trying to hide behind her mother's skirts. The middle-aged mother in question was blushing furiously in embarrassment as her child hide from her ruler.

"Hello there," Elsa said, as gently as she could.

"I'm so sorry y'highness," the woman said, her voice sounding like it was one bad knock away from stuttering. "She…she's just a little shy."

"Quite understandable," Elsa said, as the child continued to hide from her.

They had arrived at the village before dark, although the closer they had gotten the less the night had mattered, as dozens of torches illuminated every inch of the road. It was one of the larger villages, situated nearer to the open sea than the main town. It had a small trading presence, giving smaller ships a chance to rest up before navigating the fjord to Arendelle-proper, and so actually had the wealth for paved roads and gas-lanterns, as well as to maintain comfortably a population of a couple of hundred people. It felt like every single one of those two hundred had turned out to meet their queen. There had even been some children, despite the late hour. She had ridden across the cobblestones in a blue dress with a fur-lined cloak (fur that Anna had fetched, although only Elsa and Kristoff knew that), and the slack jaws and wide eyes of the village had given her the confidence she needed.

Headsman, Elsa had said from atop her horse, desperately hoping she didn't fall from it as the beast came to a rough stop. She was still uncomfortable on horse-backs and she swore the things knew it and made life difficult for her. She hadn't fallen yet but it was probably just a matter of time. Anna had wondered if Elsa wouldn't prefer a carriage like their parents had done, but Elsa had insisted. Anna had pushed it – knowing exactly how nervous a rider Elsa was – and her sister had told her:

I have to look strong.

And that had been the end of that discussion. Anna had settled for being within an arms-length of her whenever they rode into a new village, and was still nervous.

The village headsman, a balding old man with enough stress lines for two people and a belly for three, had whipped his embroidered hat off and said your highness like the others, and gestured behind him to the large stone building, the only one in the place with a second story and a slate roof. It looked like it had been converted from a granary or a storehouse, but it was still the biggest place around. It would be an honour. He had fidgeted nervously as he had talked, not meeting her eyes, and Elsa had just smiled and nodded. She had dismounted and taken the man by the hand before her guard could stop her

The hospitality of you and your village is a credit to Arendelle, she had said, and just like that their hearts had been hers.

The townhouse was closer to the castle servant's quarters than the castle itself, and Anna had needled Elsa a little bit about having to rough it for the night, but it was warm and dry and out of the snow, and that was what mattered. Elsa had been asleep a second after her head had hit the pillow. When she awoke the next morning she had found herself with her back up against the wooden wall, the wall that separated her room from Anna's.

The day after had been…exhilarating. The sunlight had glinted from the bunting and ribbons hung between buildings and scattered throughout the village. She had walked the docks and talked about trade with the headsman and fishers there as sailors on the docked ship had gawked down at them. A woman in the small market had offered her an apple and nearly fainted when Elsa ignored her guard and took it directly from her hand and bit into it right there.

She didn't really know what she had expected. They had passed through three smaller villages to get here. One had been full of old wood-cutters and treated a visit by the monarch as just another day in their lives. They had offered the use of their single long barracks for her and her guard and she had taken it gratefully. One had been awe-struck bordering on worshipful, and Elsa had spotted the small glint of the runestones around their necks. They had stayed in the home of the wealthiest man, a farmer with a small herd of cows and a barn and little else, and he had knelt when she approached him.

The third had been the smallest, with a huge wooden cross erected in the middle of the small ring of houses. The crossbeams covered in snow, it had loomed over them as they had passed through. Nobody had come to greet them, and as Anna had ridden next to Elsa she had kept her hand on her sword. They hadn't stayed the night.

If a small frightened child was the worst that was going to happen today, she could live with that.

"What's your name?"

"…Agathe."

"That's a pretty name Agathe. Mine's Elsa, and this is my sister Anna."

Agathe's eyes swivelled as Elsa gestured behind her, and locked onto the green and red shape of Anna, who smiled and waved. "Don't be scared! We're really nice!"

"You have a sword though," the girl said, pronouncing it with the 'w'.

The day after Elsa had made it for her Anna had woke at dawn. She'd dragged Elsa with her and the two of them had gone down to the castle blacksmith. After the bowing and the titles had been done with Anna had presented him with the naked, hilt-less blade and he had gasped at and asked; what do you want to do with it?

Make this into a real sword, Anna had replied, and handed it over. The blacksmith had been wearing his working gloves when he did so, heavy tanned leather and metal studs, and that was what had saved his fingers. He had held it up to the light and watched as the early dawn had streamed through the perfect crystal, making the long thin icicle glow an incredible blue.

It'll break! he had said, entranced.

It won't, Elsa had replied, certain.

Why didn't it cut me? Anna had asked, as the man had set – extremely carefully – to work.

I would never make anything that could hurt you.

The blacksmith worked all morning and the two sisters had watched as the grizzled and scarred old man had taken the best metal and leather from his stocks and made Elsa's magical ice into a real sword, so sharp it could cut anything and so beautiful that when Anna held it up in the afternoon light it glowed. He had done a beautiful job. The leather was smooth and flawless in her hand and the silver of the pommel and cross-guards were polished to a mirror-sheen. At the tip of the hilt before the metal gave way to the ice, a beautiful six-pointed snowflake was inscribed, at Elsa's insistent suggestion.

Sword like that needs a name, the old man had said, for a second forgetting that he was addressing the queen-to-be and the princess. He watched as Anna gave it a couple of experimental swings through the air, the light running through the blade leaving a soft blue glow in the air where it passed.

Anna shifted her hips a little bit, so that the nameless sword was behind her. "Yes, but I only use it against really scary things, like monsters," she said, mock-whispering.

"Like a knight!"

Elsa watched as Anna's eyes seemed to light up. "That's right, a brave knight, looking after little princesses, like you!"

"God bless you both, your highnesses," the mother said as she and the little girl walked away.

Elsa kept her eyes on Anna, who was watching the pair as they went away, that smile still on her face and the light still in her eyes. "See?" she said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Other people see it too."

"Yeah," Anna said, and laughed softly, barely loud enough for Elsa to hear her. "Yeah." She turned to the captain of their escort. "How many more?"

Leif, still uncomfortable in his new clothes and his new sword still clinking against his belt when he moved, looked down at the small piece of paper in his hand. Elsa watched as the man nervously resisted the urge to tug at the small runestone around his neck. She still wasn't sure how comfortable she was with the whole idea, but she had accepted it at least, a few months after the funeral. When the planning had been finished, Leif had been among the first to volunteer for the escort duty as Elsa made her first royal visit to the surrounding villages and towns.

They love you, why so surprised? Anna had said. Trust me Elsa, you're easy to love.

"Three villages on the return trip your highness," Leif said.

Elsa heard Anna sigh. Not because she was tired and wanted to get home, but because she didn't want it to end. When the idea had come up, Anna had been the first to second it, the first to think of the many advantages to it, the first to really start planning for it. Elsa wanted to finally walk her own country after a life inside the same tall stone walls and was definitely in favour, but Anna was practically drunk on the idea of it.

Think of everything we'll see! she had said, practically dancing through the portrait room, falling into the long couch underneath the picture of Joan of Arc. She slipped into position easily, her outline carved into the once-pristine cushions by a decade of lazing on the thing. I wonder who we'll meet? Elsa had shared her enthusiasm, but not nearly so fanatically as her sister.

"Six villages is more than enough Anna," Elsa said as they slowly walked the small dock-front.

"I wanted to visit them all."

"Well, do it on your own," Elsa said, poking Anna in the side and making her sister a very un-princess-like yelp. She pictured the scene in her mind: A lone figure on a horse approaching a lonely village through a blizzard, shrouded in a dark green cloak with red hair and with a shining blade at her side. Come to save the village from…whatever.

"Well maybe I would your highness, but someone has to look after you!" Anna said, then the smile changed to mortification and she turned to Leif right behind her. "Not that you aren't doing a great job!"

"Her highness is blessed to have a sister like you," the young guard replied.

Everything was perfect. The sun beat down on the princesses as they walked the town, everywhere they went people actually happy to see them. A gentle wind blew across the water, making her braid wave in the breeze. Elsa had expected that she would need time to work up her nerve for what she had planned, but she simply didn't. Every time the thought of failure tried to enter her head all she needed to do was turn and glance at Anna. Happy Anna. Anna who laughed and talked with the townspeople with the nerve to step up to her. Anna who brought out her sword – just a little – and let the little boys and even some of the girls touch the side of the blade. She entranced them and they loved her. She looked out at the sea, the calm waters barely moving. It was perfect. Like the stars had aligned to make her inaugural trip a blessed one.

You need something to awe them that they can understand, she had been told before the trip had begun, and instantly she had known what to do. She turned to the sea, and reached out with her power, and then turned back to the townsfolk. She didn't need to check whether it had worked. She felt strong, confidant. "A gift," she said with a smile. "For your hospitality."

The children were the first ones onto the perfect frozen surface of the water. A couple of their parents looked scared, tried to grab them before they could do it, but the children didn't care. They saw real magic just like in the storybooks, and they were away before any adult could stop them.

Anna joined them, carefully sliding out to the farthest edge where Elsa's power made the sea slope up and freeze, a wall to separate the sea from its now-frozen cousin. "See, it's perfectly safe!" she said, and Elsa prayed she didn't slip and break something. Her face maybe.

See, father? Elsa thought, as more of the men and women of the town streamed past her and the guard, every one of them bowing or curtsying or touching her hand on one knee as they did so. When the last of them had gone past and the rest were watching from the cobblestone dock, Elsa turned to look and see her people just…having fun.

She only wished he could have been alive to see it. Elsa laughed and brushed a stray strand of platinum-blonde hair from her face.

Perfect.

"Elsa?"

She turned to Anna, to tease her about being tired already, and caught her staring, the smile nowhere on her face. "What?" she asked, looking into her sister's eyes. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

But Anna's look wasn't worried. More puzzled.

"Was it always that white?"

Elsa examined her braid, shooing Anna's worried hands away as they tried to examine it. "I don't think so," Elsa said, aware that the change was new, but somehow not especially worried about it. She stared at herself in the mirror, the largest in the townhouse they were occupying. Elsa had sent Leif and the others to guard the outside, and it was just her and Anna as the sun began to set.

The frozen lake had been a huge success. Elsa felt jubilant. Maybe we could do something similar back at the castle. Freeze a portion of the lake maybe? Or just the courtyard? Something to think about, certainly. She felt like there was nothing she couldn't do.

Something as insignificant as her hair barely registered as important. She looked at herself in the mirror. Yes, it was a little lighter than it had been. Was it her imagination or…

Anna jumped from the bed and came so close to Elsa she was almost bumping against the surface of the glass. "And your skin!" Anna twisted herself until she was stood behind Elsa, the mirror reflecting both of them. She had always been a little pale, especially when you stood her next to Anna, all red hair and freckles, but she could tell her sister was right. Like someone had covered her in a light dusting of chalk.

"It doesn't look bad," Anna said quickly. "I'm just worried."

"It's just been a long day," Elsa said, shrugging her off and turning away from the mirror. "It's been a long week, and we didn't sleep at the last village remember?"

"The creepy empty village."

"The creepy empty village, yes," Elsa said.

"Creepy empty ghost village," Anna whispered, holding up her hands and hanging her mouth open like a ghoul.

"Well, that's what my knight is for" Elsa said, climbing on top of the bed. "You should get some sleep too Anna. Showing off for those kids must have been tiring too." She smiled as Anna opened the door and blew a raspberry at her. "Goodnight Anna.

"Goodnight sis."

It wasn't morning when she woke.

"Elsa, wake up."

She heard Anna's voice through a fog of sleep and only half-banished exhaustion, and cracked open an eye to see a blurry flash of white and red reaching down and shaking her awake. "Mmmanna?" She rubbed at her eyes to try and restore some sight to them. "What's wrong?"

"There are people outside, I think we're in trouble," her sister said, and instantly Elsa was awake and jumping out of the bed.

"Look."

The windows weren't like those in the castle, continually polished and replaced and replaced. The townhouse windows were old and lined with cracks, kept because they were the only ones they had. Elsa could barely see out of them, but she could still spot…

"Fire?"

"Come on," Anna said, grabbing her by the sleeve of the thick woollen nightgown. She was still in hers as well. "We should find the others."

Elsa tore her gaze away from the fire outside and let Anna drag her from the room, not fully conscious enough to complain she should dress first. "Anna I can help. Maybe if I-"

But Anna was barely listening. "We should find Leif," she repeated. There was something else off about her as well, but she was still coming to and…

"Anna, why are you holding your sword?"

But her sister ignored her, her head snapping left and right as they strode the short corridor that led to the stairs downward. The place wasn't that big, but to Elsa right then it felt like a thousand miles long. She-

"Your highnesses!"

If anything could blow through her mind and remove the cobwebs of only a few hours' sleep, it was what was waiting for them as they turned the corner, and found Leif standing at the top of the stairs. In one hand he held his sword. It wasn't like the beautiful shining blade she had made for Anna. Leif's sword was simple, iron and steel, old and sharpened to a razor's edge not by magic but by endless hours on a grindstone. The tip of the blade was covered in blood. His other hand was held to his forehead, which was also covered in blood.

Elsa gasped and took a step forward, forgetting that he was her servant and she was dressed less than appropriately. "Leif, are you alright-" She stopped both speaking and walking as the man held up a hand.

"Please stay back your highness," he said, looking down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Elsa asked, confusion beginning to turn into something not exactly fear, but maybe something close to it.

Leif wasn't the one who answered her though.

"BRING OUT THE WITCH!"

None of the three spoke as the voice seemed to boom through the townhouse, a deep voice of rage and anger that seemed to reverberate through the bottom floor and rush up the stairs, right into her ears. Elsa felt a warmth next to her, as Anna stood closer to her sister and wrapped her free hand around hers.

"I'm right here," Anna whispered. "Don't worry, I'm right here."

How many of them are there, Elsa tried to ask, but when she opened her mouth somehow the words wouldn't come, and she found herself choking on air. "How…"

"We're right here your majesty," Leif replied, and neither of them corrected him on proper methods of address. "My men are downstairs at the doors and windows. Nobody's getting in."

"How…how many of them are there?" she finally managed to ask, barely hearing the reply from the young soldier who had volunteered to guard her because she could hear her father's voice in her ear.

Burning torches Elsa.

"…have them watching," Leif said to Anna, as Elsa came back to the real world.

"Why? What do they want?"

"With all respect your highness what they want is…well…"

Elsa flinched as the booming voice came in through the windows again and permeated every inch of her being. Is this it? After everything, all these years, you were right all along father? She could feel the tension ratcheting up inside her, crushing her like a vice. She rubbed her hands together and felt the skin crinkle and lighten and grow cold as ice formed on her like sweat.

Anna felt it too. She felt her palms tingle and something grab at her heart, and she turned away from Leif to see her sister. "Elsa, nothing bad's going to happen."

Elsa grabbed at her sister's hands. But when Anna looked into her sister's eyes she didn't see the fear or anxiety she had expected. She saw anger.

"I know," Elsa said, and her eyes blazed like Anna's sword.

Leif was too slow on the draw, and Elsa was already past him before he could try and grab at her and shout your highness wait! Anna did the same, but turned at the bottom of the stairs to look at him. "Trust us," was all she said.

"Let me out," Elsa said at the wooden doorway that had guards either side of it. One blushed and looked away, the other just shook his head.

"Your highness please," Leif said from behind them.

"I just want to talk to them," Elsa said, not looking away from the door. Orange light flickered underneath the frame, as if the fire outside was just testing it, trying to find a way inside. Well, she wouldn't let it. She could look through an open doorway to the side to see the village headman and his wife and child sat at their table, looking scared. The guards at the windows were looking out and fingering their weaponry. These people were her subjects, and she wasn't going to let a single thing happen to them.

"That isn't a good idea. If you-"

Leif met the queen's eyes, and stopped talking.

"If I were you," Anna said, "I'd let us out."

SCENE BREAK

She resisted the urge to shield her eyes from the flames.

Outside the house, elements warred with each other. The heat of the torches fought with the cold of the night, and the light streaming from the lit wood drove back the night that covered the square outside the house.

No weakness. Not now.

There were maybe twenty of them, hooded figures in brown robes, faces hidden by the heavy rough cotton. Farmer's robes, the kind you wore in the dead of winter when it was cold and dark but you still needed to collect that firewood or secure the harvest.

She could see the iron glinting at their necks and for a moment wondered if this entire thing had been a mistake. Then she saw the shape of them. Not the square-ish lump of the runestones, of followers she still didn't know how to acknowledge or thanks. These were crosses, thin and beaten and misshapen, but still recognisably crosses. They glimmered, the fire of the torches casting them in red and orange lights against the dark browns and blacks of the coats.

Ah, of course, Elsa thought, and even though she was still filled with anger she somehow felt saddened by the whole stupid thing. Isn't it enough that I'm trying to be a good queen?

For some people it will never be enough, her father's voiced called to her from beyond.

She narrowed her eyes. Something was wrong. It wasn't just torches that were burning, Elsa realised, looking beyond the ring of lights, up to the stars. The darkness shifted and moved in the distance, as smoke billowed up into the night. Beyond this little play, things were burning down in the town beyond.

One of the hoods stepped forward, and the real performance began.

"WITCH! DEMON!"

The man stepped forward, obviously the leader. His hood wasn't up and wild untamed hair flew around his face like a medusa's snakes as he looked between Elsa and his follows behind him. His face was all wrinkles and anger, contorted so much she could barely see his features. He carried a long heavy wooden pole with another smaller one tied across it with rope, the cross it formed topped with an iron head. Actual spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted through the night:

"SEE!" the man screamed at his…mob? Congregation? "See how the witch walks the night! See how she controls the cold and dark! An unearthly creature! See how the sister follows, a corrupt woman with the ungodly weapon of the beast!"

She cursed herself as the mob muttered and roared. She should have listened to Leif. Now she was stood outside in the dead of night dressed in nothing but a cotton dress. She hadn't worried about it because she had never really felt the cold. She should have waited. Should have listened to her friends. Should have-

"Answer, demon!"

She had missed it. She needed to stop doing that. She clenched her fists, feeling the tension swirling under her skin. Not now. "What do you want?" she asked, having to shout to be heard over the wind. She could look past the circle of cloaks and fire and see other shapes. People huddled against doorways out of the wind. She could see scared faces beyond the angry ones.

The man with the wild hair and the wide eyes stepped forward out of the semi-circle of hoods. "What do we want, witch?"

"What's your name?"

He turned his head aside and spat. "I am a servant of the Lord, the only name I need invoke is His."

Did you invoke it when you scared those people witless and burned their houses?

"Did the lord command you to do that?" Anna said, pointed at the burning village, and Elsa could hear the anger in her voice. Somewhere in the darkness innocent people were trying to fight for their lives and homes, while the man who did it spoke about gods.

"He commanded your evil and corruption be rooted out."

"What exactly have I corrupted?" Elsa asked, trying to keep her temper.

He spat again. He could probably keep that up for a while, the amount of saliva he seems to have. Funnily, she wasn't scared of him. She stood unarmed in the cold, faced by two dozen men armed with flaming torches and farming tools, their leader standing feet from her holding a weapon that could have bashed her skull in at any moment, but none of it reached her. She could feel her power flowing through her, ready to strike, like a faithful guard-dog.

"Wherever you go evil follows. Good men and women turned away from the lord to worship false idols!"

"I've never asked anyone to worship me."

"LIAR!" The man reached into his cloak and Elsa tensed, but all he brought out was…oh no.

The runestone was like a dozen she had seen in the castle, but this one was slightly different. The iron chunk was coated in red. She knew what it was. "SEE! The sign of the beast!"

Elsa could feel Anna behind her, hand on her sword, her mind buzzing with anger. She didn't know how she knew it, but she knew Anna was seconds away from doing something…drastic. Part of Elsa wanted her to do it. Wanted her little sister to leap forward and use the sword she had given her. But maybe there was still a way. "I have guards inside this house. If you stand down now and answer for your crimes I promise fairness," she said, remembering the few times her father had said similar things to magistrates and lenders in the town who had gotten a little too greedy.

"The servants of the Lord will never bow to Satan," the man said, and tossed the stone. It hit Elsa in the chest, leaving a red mark against the white cotton of her nightgown. It fell into the snow and Elsa looked down to see it there, red against white. Red against white. Just like that night years ago on her birthday when the bear had come for them.

Another bear was here, now. And neither of them were children anymore. "Anna," Elsa said, wondering if she was really going to say it. Really ask.

"Elsa?" Anna replied, wondering the same thing. Wondering if she really could. She could feel her hand shaking just a little on the sword. This wasn't a wolf or a bear. It was a human being. It…

"This is your last chance," Elsa said, trying one last time.

"No, it is yours. Step down and be gone from this place and let a true ruler take your place, creature!"

"Never, NEVER!" Elsa shouted.

"THEN THE DEVIL WILL NEVER SIT THE THRONE OF ARENDELLE!" the huge man roared, and swung his cross, the iron head of the thing flashing in the torchlight and blinding her.

Elsa raised her hands, but she needn't have bothered. Three blinks, and that was it.

One: The fanatic stood feet planted firmly on the ground, swinging the huge wooden cross at her face.

Two: A white flash and a blue glow that flowed past her gracefully, almost like water. A graceful sweep of a white dress and Anna was between Elsa and her attacker, already swinging.

Three: Red covered white as the blue glow flowed past her and through the man, where his head met his body.

Elsa held her breath as Anna stood in front of her, sword resting with its tip on the ground as her swing finished its glittering arc. There was dead silence in the square, the only noise the howling of the wind and the guttering spittle of burning torch-wax.

"I…I guess I can," Anna whispered, and Elsa was the only one who heard it, as the fanatic fell to the ground, his head severed cleanly from his body.

"Anna. Anna are you alright?" Elsa said, watching as Anna stared down at the man, her mouth moving but not speaking.

"Yes, I…I…" The redhead looked up. "Never mind me! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. But…"

The others hadn't moved a single inch, but she knew that wouldn't last. She strode forward, past the body of the man Anna had cut down, and faced them all. I'm Elsa Arendelle. The crown-princess. The future queen. I don't have to be afraid of these people. I am their ruler.

Now, prove it.

"ALL OF YOU!" she shouted, as loud as she could. "I AM YOUR SOVEREIGN AND I COMMAND YOU TO LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS!"

At first there was nothing, and one wild second Elsa felt the power surge through her and thought; this is it. Then, after two agonising seconds, one of the hoods at the farthest end of the semicircle around her dropped his blacksmith hammer, where it hit the cold snow beneath with a dull thud.

After that, the rest followed, and Elsa felt herself breathe a sigh of relief. She gathered it back in, and spoke: "Regardless of what people may say, I have never asked for your worship," she said. "I have never – and I will never – force you to turn away from what you believe." She swept her gaze across them all. "But I am the queen of Arendelle, and I will not suffer attacks against my people from rabid creatures and fools."

"Your highness!"

Were you calling me that when your priest led you here? Or were you calling me demon and witch? How quickly people change. "Your punishment is to go and repair the damage you've done today. Put out those fires. Help re-build those homes you've burned down."

"But…but they'll kill us!" one of the hooded figures wailed. It wasn't a semi-circle anymore. More villagers had approached from the darkness, watching, and the confused sect was breaking up, clustering into groups like sheep when the wolf came calling. They were twenty people in a village of two hundred, and their leader lay dead at Elsa's feet and they were broken without their head to lead them.

"No, they won't," Elsa said, loud enough to make sure the villages watching from beyond the circle heard her. "You will throw yourselves on their mercy, and maybe they'll work you like dogs, but they won't slaughter you like animals."

She gazed at them, cold blue eyes and fierce expression staring out at them from among the red and white of the blood and snow, and not one of them there didn't feel spellbound and terrified.

"Yes,"

"Yes what?" Elsa asked, almost whispering.

"Yes, your highness."

SCENE BREAK

"You were amazing!" Anna said, gushing, as they walked back into the townhouse and Leif closed the door. The young man gazed at her as she entered, awestruck.

"I felt scared," Elsa admitted, and lied. She had felt scared, but not for long. She had felt angry, vengeful. Then she had felt vindicated, and triumphant. Let them wave their torches father, she though.

Anna was practically bouncing across the room. "For a second I thought you were just going to freeze them all solid!"

I wanted to. "This is better." I wanted to. "Anna, are you alright?" she asked delicately.

Anna turned to look at her, a smile on her face and her cheeks flushed with joy. "You're fine, so I'm fine," Anna said, and meant it.

Anna, you just killed a man, Elsa didn't say. She couldn't work up the effort to feel sad at the fanatic's death. Somehow she knew there would be trouble about it, but right then in the house with her sister by her side she simply didn't feel sad at all. "I'm just worried. Are you sure you're alright?" she asked her sister, who not long before had cleanly cut a man's head from his body as easily as she could ballroom dance.

Anna leaned forward and pecked her sister on the cheek. Her lips felt hot after the cold outside. "You're sweet. I'm fine, I promise," she said, green eyes so luminous in the candlelight of the house that Elsa felt it tug at her heart just a little. She was breathing hard, the cotton of the nightgown sticking to her where she was sweating from the fast change from heat to cold and back to heat. It took a little more out of you than you'll say, Elsa thought, watching Anna's chest rise and fall. Anna didn't want her to worry, and it just made Elsa love her more.

"You should change before you freeze to death." She did it for you, Elsa thought. Only for you. Anna just stuck her tongue out.

"Your highness," Leif said, stepping forward with worry etched on his face and making him look five years older. "We should go back to the castle. I insist. You aren't safe here." His hand was still on his sword, as if the headless body of the priest would stroll through, cross in hand, for a second try.

Elsa looked out of the window. "No, I'm safer here than anywhere else," she said, as from the kitchen door the village headsman and his family approached. He bowed before he reached her and said in a voice filled with awe;

"Your majesty."

Elsa didn't bother to correct him.

There will be more runestones around the necks of the villagers, she thought as she climbed the stairs to finally get some sleep, and didn't really know where the thought came from. She knew she would be right though, and it was a nice thought, somehow.

A year and a half, she thought.

She dreamed of a crown.