Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the elements taken from Frozen are obvious, and while this version of Zorro is taken mainly from Mask and Legend, I've incorporated elements of his history from other adaptations. Even the original idea for this fic was inspired by the artwork of shishyoukai on DeviantArt, although I have created my own narrative for it; the artwork only inspired the idea of a certain sister becoming Zorro.

Feedback: Always appreciated

The Frozen Fox

It was a sad state of affairs when a man couldn't even be certain why he missed the wife who had vanished almost a decade ago.

Agnar had always understood the importance of his family's position in the kingdom and accepted his father's advice when the time came for him to marry, but he would have been lying to himself if he hadn't been relieved when King Runeard revealed that Iduna was his choice. When she had spent so much time around the palace in her role as part of the Northuldran envoy, it was only natural that she and Agnar had ended up spending time together, which had led to them forming a tentative friendship.

Agnar obviously wouldn't dare to assume what another person might feel, but for himself there was always a part that wondered if Iduna had gone along with his father's proposal that they marry simply because she didn't dare to say no to the king. He had enjoyed her company as she grew up as part of the court, and he liked to think that he had been a good husband to her during their marriage, but the thought that she had just decided to make the best of a bad situation…

He had never dared to ask the question, and that was before Elsa's birth raised further questions about their relationship. He had accepted his wife's plea to keep their daughter's gifts secret from his father, appreciating that Elsa could not be blamed for possessing magic apparently from birth, but when he heard his father's proclamations about the dangers of magic it was hard to believe that his daughter might be the exception. He had never doubted that Elsa had a good heart and that Iduna would do her best to keep the girl on the right path, but eventually, after seeing a farm that had been destroyed by an earthquake in an area that had always been geologically stable, Agnar felt that he had to let his father know the truth.

Actually, the prince had been impressed at how calmly Runeard had taken the news that his granddaughter had such remarkable abilities. In contrast to Iduna's concerns, the king had assured Agnar that he would do nothing to endanger Elsa, and he had faith that her parents would raise her to use her powers properly. Agnar had never been sure if Iduna had believed him when he told her about his father's reaction to the news, but Runeard had always been reasonable about it when talking with Agnar afterwards…

Of course, any plans to teach Elsa how to use her abilities safely had fallen apart when Iduna vanished. Even if Agnar had done his best to assure Elsa that her mother wasn't dead, Iduna's loss drove Elsa to a new state of despair and panic that nearly triggered a blizzard in the middle of summer. It had been easy enough to blame the disaster on some unknown sorcerer, but when Elsa had been unable to get control of her despair and pain, Agnar had been forced to turn to his father for help.

It was fortunate that Runeard's campaign to control magic in the kingdom had provided him with the tools necessary to bind and control Elsa's magic in turn, but Agnar couldn't stop himself wondering what his father had actually done to his daughter to accomplish that. He knew that the whole experience had required Elsa to be left alone for the better part of a week, attended only by some of Runeard's closest servants and associates, but he hadn't been allowed to know any more. Apparently, the whole experience had required Elsa to be unconscious for at least a couple of days, but beyond that he hadn't been allowed to ask for more details.

Whatever the ritual had actually involved, when Elsa had returned to daily life in the castle, she had shown no sign of her old abilities, and over time appeared to have forgotten about them all together. She had never actually mentioned her abilities again after that day, and Agnar had seen no reason to bring the matter up when there was no reason to do so. He still sometimes wondered what had actually happened to his daughter back then, but whenever the chance came to actually ask the question…

He didn't know if he was truly scared of what his father would reveal or if he just didn't want to know how far his father would go in his vendetta against magic. Agnar had witnessed his father go to considerable lengths to trap reported witches who had been known to use their power in certain ways, and there were all kinds of rumours about barriers around the kingdom itself to keep out more powerful entities, but considering what Elsa had been capable of as an untrained child… what would have been needed to properly suppress that power?

King Runeard assured Agnar that he had taken steps to protect her from the corruptive influence of her own magic, but since then, with such a potential fear out of the picture, Agnar's most constant priority had been to ensure that Elsa grew up seeing only the best of Arendelle. He was already making arrangements with Lieutenant Mattias for the older man to take his daughter on discreet tours of the kingdom so that she could meet with the common people and get a better sense of the changes she would make whenever she became Queen.

In the end, Agnar had chosen to deal with that problem the way he dealt with most of his concerns about his father's reign, by simply trying to ignore the problem until it essentially went away. His role as prince only gave him token authority in the kingdom so long as Runeard remained to overrule any decision Agnar might make without his approval, and it was easy enough to confirm that he didn't have support in the council to even try and defy his father directly.

A particular point of subtle contention with his father that Agnar could never allow himself to fully acknowledge was how uncertain he felt about his father's motives for his constant, albeit discreet, campaign against magic in the kingdom. He wanted to trust his father's assurances that everything he did was only done to ensure the safety of their people, but as far as Agnar was concerned, Elsa would never be exposed to that part of the world. The young princess may have apparently forgotten about her childhood powers, but Agnar would do his best to ensure that she understood that magic on its own was nothing to be feared. His father could route out the true dangers to Arendelle and Northuldra as he wished, but Elsa would be there to offer comfort and aid to her people, not to stamp them down out of blind fear. With Iduna gone and so little support for him in the council, Agnar was determined to serve his people by ensuring that Elsa was raised to be the best kind of ruler she could be. It was an interesting example of Runeard's fixation on certain plans and ideas causing him to overlook what was happening; from what Agnar had observed, his father was so focused on trying to find a way to legally end his marriage to Iduna without proof of her death that he had essentially stopped being a consistent part of Elsa's life. The king was a good grandfather to Elsa whenever they spent time together, but such moments were few and far between. He accepted Elsa's existence in public, but when he and Agnar were alone together, Runeard had still made a few comments that did everything but explicitly state that he wanted a grandson to continue his work as ruler of Arendelle. For his part, Agnar accepted his father's efforts to find a way to legally dissolve the relationship, but privately he was always relieved when none of his father's proposed loopholes proved practical.

He would always be troubled at exactly what could have driven his wife to leave Arendelle so abruptly and so secretly, but so long as he had no reason to believe that she had been made to do anything against her will…

Maybe some people would call it pathetic to be willing to wait for a woman who had left him under such circumstances, but he just couldn't quite bring himself to imagine that it had been that easy for her. Even Elsa, whose memories of her mother grew increasingly vague no matter how much he tried to tell her about her missing parent, never seemed to doubt that she had been cared for, which just reinforced Agnar's own belief that Iduna had left for good reasons.

Whenever Agnar learned the truth about what had happened to Iduna… regardless of how she felt about him, he would be able to say that he had raised their daughter in kindness and love, rather than fear and hatred.

He just wished that he knew for certain that such love had been returned by his wife…