Summer came and went from the kingdom of Arendelle faster than anyone had hoped. Autumn was quickly upon the mountain capital, erupting the landscape in a dazzling spectrum of red and orange. The city was abuzz as its people scrambled to prepare for the inevitable cold of the coming months.

The looming threat of the northern winter meant a tripling of responsibilities for Elsa – she had to ensure that there were enough crops and supplies for the season, conduct inspections to make sure buildings and homes were properly insulated, and also make sure trade propositions would continue smoothly throughout the harsh, icy conditions in the mountains. It was all extremely exhausting and Elsa found herself with mounds of paperwork to finish. Just looking at it formed a knot in her stomach.

With all of the work that required her immediate attention, the queen barely had the time to even think about the situation that had come to light from her conversation with Liam. She hadn't touched Aaron's letter, either, and it continued to burn a hole in her desk as well as her mind. Even though it tore her up inside, she decided it would simply have to wait until she had everything in her own kingdom in order.

Anna, on the other hand, still thought about Astor quite often. While her sister had a million bureaucratic responsibilities as queen, the princess was often left with little to do around this time of year. With no public appearances to make and everyone's attention on less social events and occasions (which Anna was usually heavily involved in), the redhead found herself cooped up in the castle, bored to tears and cursing the world for making summer leave the kingdom once again.

Kristoff was also too busy to spend much time with his new fiancée. As the head of the Ice Delivery services for the kingdom, he was in charge of the harvesting excursions for the season. It was a duty that he had never asked for and hated doing each year, but Elsa insisted that his job title had to come with some responsibilities or else it wouldn't be taken seriously in the castle. Anna had agreed, much to Kristoff's dismay, and the former lone ice harvester was suddenly the employer of an entire group of men working for the royalty – a task that required a lot of attention and, regrettably, pulled him away from his recently betrothed.

Even Olaf seemed to be busier this time of year, trying desperately to take in as much of the summer as he could before it was over. He would often wander out into the gardens or the forest and wouldn't be seen for hours. What exactly he was doing out there by himself was anyone's guess.

With so much commotion, Anna found herself spending a lot of time with Sven (the only one with absolutely nothing going on besides sleeping and eating). She visited him in the castle stables and often talked to him in hopes of sorting out her recent troubles. Although he never replied, it was always nice to have somebody to listen.

"You know, I think you might like carrots more than I like chocolate, Sven," Anna said, reaching into her bag to retrieve another carrot, incurring a happy stamping from the reindeer. "And that's saying a lot."

Sven snatched the vegetable from her hands before she could even reach into his stall. Once he had swallowed it whole, Anna did her best impression of Kristoff's reindeer voice. "Thanks, Anna. You're my favorite Princess in the whole world!"

Sven stared blankly for a moment and then lifted one eyebrow. "You're right. Doesn't seem to have the same effect," Anna admitted, patting the beast on the nose.

The stable doors suddenly flew open, letting in a burst of wind and causing hay to fly up from the wooden floor. Kristoff stomped in, slamming the doors behind him and pulling off his scarf from around his face. He let out a huge sigh of relief as he escaped the chilly mountain air. When he noticed Anna, he attempted to play it cool.

"It's, uh… it's starting to feel like winter. I never thought I'd say this, but if I never see a block of ice again, I would be happy," he said as he walked over to Anna by the first stall and removed his bag from his back.

"You don't mean that," the Princess said, putting her hands on her hips. Kristoff came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, swinging her in a gentle circle before putting her back down and kissing her on the top of the head.

"You're right. Ice is kinda my life. Hey buddy," he said, turning his attention to his reindeer best friend who cooed in happiness at his arrival.

"Where have you been all day?" Anna asked. "I've been feeding Sven carrots for the last two hours. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna make him fat."

Kristoff reached into the bag at Anna's feet and picked up one of the carrots for himself, snapping it in two with his teeth. "Carrots don't make 'ou fat. Carrots are goo' for you!" he said with a full mouth, and Anna smirked, giving him a light punch in the arm.

"I'm just so bored! And I can't stop thinking about how we're just sitting here doing nothing while there's some psycho out there that might want Elsa dead!"

Kristoff rolled his eyes. Anna had of course filled him in on the situation, but he didn't seem to take it as seriously as she did. "You don't know that's the case. There's no proof he even exists besides that one guy's word. Besides, if there's one person on this planet that doesn't need to be worried about, it's Elsa."

Anna sighed and began pulling at her braids. "I know, you're right. But if everything Liam said was true then there's a whole kingdom of people living in fear and poverty. Not to mention Aaron and Sophie, who were my friends… I just wish we could help them."

"You can't save the world, feisty-pants," Kristoff said with a half-smile and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and buried her face in his muscular chest, muffling her next sentence.

"Ahh, what's the point of being a princess if I can't even save the world!?"

Kristoff chuckled at the vibrations her voice made against his vest. "Hey, stop worrying. We've got bigger fish to fry than some fire freak across the ocean. Like our wedding, for instance. Which reminds me, the reason I came here in the first place…" He reached into his bag on the ground and pulled out an enormous, gaudy silver bow tie. He wrapped it around Sven's neck and as he began to fasten it, Anna realized what exactly he was doing.

"Wait a minute… is that for… what I think it's for?" she asked, folding her arms.

"Yep! Sven here gets to be the best man at our wedding!" Kristoff beamed, and Sven stomped around in excitement.

Anna slapped a palm to her forehead. "Kristoff, this is a royal wedding! We can't have a reindeer in the chapel with us! Elsa would never allow that!"

"Well it's not her decision! Besides, didn't you ask Olaf to be the ring-bearer? How come we can have a magical snow-being there but not my best friend who just happens to be a reindeer?"

"They're way different, Kristoff."

"How so?"

Before they knew it, a heated argument had begun. It took the better part of the afternoon, but eventually a compromise was reached (Sven would be allowed at the wedding, but there would be no best-man speech from him). Although the couple would never admit it, even when fighting, spending time with each other was the best part of both of their days by a long-shot.

The queen wasn't enjoying herself quite as much as her sister. Elsa was just finishing up a meeting with a tiny weasel-looking fellow named Gilbert, the farmer's representative for the potato yield for the season, when Kai arrived, badgering her with more work to be done. His voice was like a siren in her ears.

"Your Majesty, don't forget the court order that is to be signed today and your meeting with blah blah blah blah…"

The queen unconsciously tuned him out as she marched through the hallway towards her quarters, pretending to listen to the man as he clicked behind on her heels the whole way. When she reached her door, she stopped and abruptly thanked Kai before entering her study and shutting the door in his face. She was pretty sure he was still talking from the hallway as she made her way to her desk.

She huffed as she sank into her comfy chair, relishing in the rare moment of peace. On the desk in front of her sat a stack of parchment as high as her nose. Dismissing the thought of even beginning to tackle that beast, Elsa sat back and conjured a glistening snowflake the size of a fist that hovered above her palm, its cold magic creating a chill that filled the room.

Ironically, Elsa found herself using her magic on a whim as a stress reliever at times like this. There was something soothing about unleashing her icy gift, like she was expressing part of herself that begged for release. It was almost addicting, taking advantage of the power that belonged to her and her alone. Nothing else was quite like it.

Naturally, Elsa's eyes fell on her drawer where Aaron's letter was still locked away like a prisoner in a cell. Even for a queen, there comes a point where curiosity outweighs common sense, and before she even made the conscious decision to read the letter, Elsa was holding it in her hands.

I might as well do it now while I'm already stressed beyond belief. How much worse could it get?

With a deep breath, Elsa broke the seal of the letter and unraveled the scroll. She steeled herself and began to read the hurried, yet elegant print that must have been Aaron's handwriting.

Elsa –

I know what you must be thinking, and I cannot blame you. I'm probably the last person you want to hear from at a time like this. However, you should know right away that I am risking my life simply to write you this letter.

Had your powers remained a secret, you likely would never have heard from me again. Now that all of Arendelle is aware of them, things are going to change, and I could not simply leave you in the dark about what this could mean for you.

It would be impossible for me to explain everything about the situation in a simple letter, so I will do my best to convey the most important points. The first thing you need to know is that you are what is known to me as a 'Highborn' – a human born to a royal family blessed with the magical power of the elements. There have been others like you throughout history and there will be others like you in the future. The only other Highborn currently alive that I know of is my uncle, Alexander Sinclair, who commands the element of fire. There may be others, but right now, that is not important.

The second thing you need to know is that my uncle is dangerous. He is power-hungry and sociopathic with little regard for anyone but himself. He believes himself to be a god and, as such, believes any other Highborn to be an imposter. Simply put, he wants anyone like himself dead and has been searching for other Highborn high and low for most of his life, using myself and my sister as tools for his hunt.

Hopefully I don't need to explain what this means for you. As of right now, as I write this, I don't believe word has reached my uncle about your powers being revealed, although I can't be sure. When he does find out, he will most likely make a move.

Fortunately for you, Astor and its military are not exactly in top shape or form and our kingdom doesn't have the largest pool of resources. That means you have time. What worries me, however, is that my uncle has recently made a connection with an outside source of income – a source that he is not even telling me or Sophie about. That by itself is suspicious. Alexander has an endgame that we don't yet know about.

My advice for you is this: Lay low, as a queen and as a kingdom. Prepare yourself for the worst. That means bolstering your military defenses and training your men. I cannot say for sure that he will attack with military force, but you have been warned. He will likely not make any indication that his attack is coming, meaning even your trade agreement with Astor will be undisturbed.

That is all I can tell you at this time. I will likely not be able to send you any more letters. If Alexander finds out I'm still communicating with you once your identity as a Highborn is revealed, it will mean my head. So this is goodbye, Queen Elsa. If we meet again, it will not be at a friendly banquet.

Prince Aaron

Elsa was stunned. A panic slowly welled up inside of her as she thought about all of the things this letter meant. She had received it two years ago, after all, shortly after the Great Thaw, meaning Alexander has possibly been building an army and planning an attack on her kingdom this entire time.

Idiot, idiot, idiot!

Elsa slapped a palm to her head. Her foolish pride had stopped her from reading this letter and now she had put her entire kingdom in danger. There was no way for her to see it coming, but still, it was a costly mistake and one that a responsible queen should never make. If Alexander attacked and she wasn't prepared, it would be entirely her fault.

For a few minutes, Elsa mentally berated herself, reading and re-reading the letter ad nauseam. Finally, she snapped back to the reality of the situation. She had screwed up, yes, but it wasn't too late. Between this letter and Liam's warnings, it was time to take action. Everything else could wait.

"Kai!" Elsa yelled as she hurried from her study down the hallway in search of her head servant. The red headed man was still close by and snapped to attention at the sound of his name.

"Find Captain Holdt and tell him I need to speak with him. Immediately."

Desmond Holdt stood along the stone wall of the southern watchtower, staring out into the harbor with glazed-over eyes, watching the ships on the dock bob in the calm water. Up. Down. Up. Down. It started to make him nauseous.

What was this feeling? Anxiety? Surely not. There was nothing to be anxious about. Was there? A premonition, perhaps?

Either way, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

"Y'alright, Cap'n?"

A voice to his left pulled him from his hypnosis. It was Alvar, a fairly new, young recruit that was just coming into his shift on the tower. He was looking up at his Captain intently, standing at attention. The scrawny guard was absolutely dwarfed by the captain.

Desmond grunted. "Alright is a relative term," he said with a flat face. When Alvar looked slightly disturbed, the captain chuckled. "I'm fine, recruit. Just a little underwhelmed, I suppose."

"What d'ya mean, sir?"

He wasn't entirely sure what he meant himself. Feeling in a sentimental mood, the captain indulged the recruit's curiosity. "When I first joined the royal guard, it was the most exciting day of my life. I thought it was the highest of honors to serve the royal family, live in the castle, all that. But what I wasn't told was that it would mostly be a bureaucratic job. That I'd basically be nothing but a babysitter for greenhorns like you who haven't even been within ten thousand meters of a battlefield."

Alvar looked down and mumbled, "Sorry, sir…"

Desmond chuckled again, louder. "Don't be offended, recruit. It's not your fault. After all, the biggest threat to this kingdom in more than a decade has been the Queen herself, and that whole debacle lasted less than a week before everyone was praising her as a goddess incarnate again. Peace and love reigned supreme once again."

The younger guard twisted his face in confusion, picking his next words carefully. "Isn't that…a good thing, sir?"

The captain nodded, close-lipped, realizing his unprofessionalism. "Aye. Of course. I suppose I'm just an old war-dog with a few screws loose," he said.

"So you've… seen combat, then, cap'n?"

Desmond was slightly taken aback at the question. His reputation wasn't quite as prominent as he had once thought. He had believed that every one of his men knew his story, but it appears that his legacy had faded over the years and the newest men in the ranks were oblivious to the fact that their captain was a war hero.

"Ever heard of the Battle of Sefield?" Alvar's eyes grew wide and he nodded. "Eighth battalion, second lieutenant."

"But I heard –"

"That there were no survivors," the Captain interrupted. "That seems to be the way it's known. People always like a story where there were no survivors. Sounds better than just a few survivors, after all."

Fifteen years ago, a kingdom to the south of Arendelle called Caed was under threat of invasion by an army from the east by the name of Breisa. Caed was a close ally with Arendelle at the time and King Adgar agreed to send a unit of three hundred troops to help bolster defenses around the border and try to scare off the Breisans.

The king hadn't expected the troops he sent to even see combat, but the Breisans were more ambitious than anyone had expected. They attacked the eastern border at a city called Sefield while the Arendelle military was there. There were hundreds of casualties on both sides and nearly every Arendelle soldier was killed in combat. A long political battle erupted in Arendelle over the whole thing; it had appeared as if the soldiers were simply sent to their slaughter. However, Caed backed Agdar's decision - their kingdom was successfully spared from a full invasion due to Arendelle's sacrifice.

The Captain continued, "It's true, we were almost all wiped out. But not me. No, I made it back to Arendelle, I was given all sorts of medals and honors, and I was placed in the royal guard. Here I've been ever since, and that's why it's no surprise that damn near everyone thinks nobody survived the Battle of Sefield."

"That's amazing, sir! You must be one hell of a warrior."

Desmond scoffed. "That's the shit of it, recruit. I didn't survive because I was the best fighter. A good fighter, yes, but certainly not the best. I didn't survive for being a coward, either. I survived from pure dumb luck, that's all there is to it." He leaned forward on the stone wall of the watchtower, staring off as he remembered the most horrifying hours of his life. Alvar simply stood and stared at the man, not sure if he should comfort him or not.

Desmond needed no comforting. In fact, he was glad to be able to say what came next. "There was a kid, a Breisian, probably no older than you. He caught me during the battle winded and out of position. Had a crossbow bolt pointed right at my chest – and he didn't take the shot. Looked right into my eyes and didn't pull the trigger. Couldn't bring himself to do it, I guess. He was killed for it, of course. Not by me, although I probably would've done it if given the opportunity. My commander saw him and buried a knife in the back of his neck – and that was it. My life was spared, and his was taken."

The captain spoke so casually, as if he had told that story a million times. The truth was he rarely talked about it at all. It was simply something that he had lived with for a long time now and it seemed easy enough to let out, much to the bafflement of the young Alvar, who was now shifting uncomfortably and fidgeting with his uniform.

"Soon after that, I was given this-" he lifted up his uniform and revealed a long scar running along his entire side, from his left armpit to the middle of his lower back. "I passed out from blood loss and woke up at a Caedian infirmary. Dumb luck. Nothing more."

Both guards remained silent for a moment, the captain running a hand through his red hair and peering out over the fjord. The somber air was finally broken when the watchtower doors slammed open and a third guard appeared, slightly out of breath.

"Captain… there you are…" he breathed.

Desmond spun on his heel and instantly transformed back to his normal, commanding self. "What is it?"

"I was watching the harbor… and I saw a something approaching from the southwest… I thought you ought to take a look," the guard stated, handing over his telescope.

Desmond took the tool and brought it to his eye, scouring the water. There were many ships in the water, some fishing boats and trade ships going about their daily business. It took a moment, but the captain eventually spotted what the other guard must have seen.

A medium sized sailboat was approaching the docks, its solid white sail visible just past the horizon. There were no markings or sigils indicating who the ship was associated with and, curiously, it appeared unmanned. Desmond squinted, trying his best to scan the deck and make out who was on board, but there was nobody in sight. It was either being manned by a ghost, or it had been deserted.

"At first I thought it was an abandoned fishing boat," explained the guard. "But it looks like no fishing boat I've ever seen from Arendelle, and the fact that it doesn't have a flag is suspicious. It doesn't look big enough to be a cargo ship, and notice how torn up it looks?"

"It certainly is strange. There's nothing in that direction for thousands of kilometers," Desmond observed. Most days, he wouldn't have put too much thought into an unmarked ship in the waters of the fjord, but today, there was something in the air that told him it was nothing ordinary. The direction of the wind was putting the mysterious ship straight on course for the docks. By a quick estimate, Desmond predicted it would be at the city in the next thirty minutes.

"You two come with me."

The guards made their way down from the watchtower and began to exit the castle through the front hall. Just as Desmond opened the door, Kai came running from the eastern hallway. "Captain Holdt! Her Majesty wishes to speak with you."

"She can wait, Kai, come with us," the captain demanded. By the time Kai could process the request, the guards were already out the door and heading towards the harbor. He huffed, but obediently followed.

By the time the full body of water entered the group's view, the sailboat had closed the distance to the city by half. By now, it was off-course from the docks and was heading too far north, straight towards a rocky shore near the foundation of the castle.

The guards, along with Kai, were forced to double back in an effort to intercept the boat. Unfortunately, by the time they made it to the landing site, it had already bottomed out and capsized on the harsh rocks, completely destroying the mast and sail and putting permanent damage on the rest of the vessel.

Desmond led the group as they finally made it close enough to the boat to investigate. There didn't seem to be any cargo on board, but as the group started to wade through the water to look for any signs of people, they spotted the figure of a man floating face-up near the destroyed deck.

"Is that…?" Alvar asked when the man's face came into clear view.

"It couldn't be…" gasped Kai.

"Well I'll be damned," the captain breathed as he squatted near the man in the shallow water.

"Kai, whatever the queen wanted to speak to me about, tell her we have a bigger issue on our hands. Aaron Sinclair just washed up at our feet."