Hey guys, I'm really sorry for all the cliffhangers. It's just that I have really limited time to write and to post weekly. I have quite a bit of schoolwork to do. So I promise all you readers there wont be many more cliffhangers. Anyways lets get on with chapter 6…

A near miss

Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock.

Shane woke up from his dreamless sleep by the sound of the door of his room opening. As he slowly opened his eyes, he managed to catch sight of a plump looking man walking to his window, before opening the curtains, allowing light to breach the dark room.

Shane winced and squinted as the light suddenly flared his vision.

"Ah, your awake. How was your sleep?" The plump man said with his back to Shane.

"Uh… good thanks."

The plump man walked up to Shane's bedside and placed down a tray of food. As Shane took a closer look to the plump man's features he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"K…Kai… is that you?"

The plump man stared at Shane, somewhat bewildered.

"Yes… how did you know my name?"

There was silence for a few seconds

Then it all clicked in.

"Shane! You're alive! I thought you were killed on… that mission. God, it's been such a long time."

"Y...es… it ha..s been a very lon..g time." He struggled as the butler wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug.

"My, my… look at you. Looking as strong as ever. You've grown taller since the last time I saw you. Have you got any girls yet?" Kai winked.

Shane felt his cheeks redden.

"No, I've been busy with business Kai, and the last time I checked, you had much more hair on your head and your stomach wasn't this bloated."

Kai rubbed his bald patch, "Yes, it was quite stressful ruling the kingdom until the young Princess Elsa's coronation, you know, after the old King and Queen died…"

There was a pause

"Kai, you haven't told them what actually happened haven't you?"

"No, it would hurt them very much, but someone, one day, will have to tell them the truth. It will hurt."

"I know. What I still don't get is why anyone would want to assassinate the Queen. The attacks the other days were no coincidence, someone must have planned them."

"It was just as well you arrived on time, or the Queen and Princess would have probably been dead by now."

Shane nodded

"Well, it's said that Queen Elsa apparently frozen Princess Anna's heart and it was thawed just like the rest of Arendelle was by an act of true love. Even though the incident is over there is still a lot of tension between Arendelle's neighboring kingdoms, especially the Southern Isles.

"Now, Arendelle is virtually on the edge of war. The other kingdoms are still scared knowing that an ice-wielding sorceress lives. Which brings me to my next question, where were you all this time? I mean, you never returned to Arendelle after the 'accident'.

"I was in Corona to search for assassins who have attempted to eliminate the Royal Family. Word has it that they were from the Southern Isles. When they disappeared I heard from and messenger that they were going to Arendelle to try and steal the crown. I left immediately."

After that Kai left Shane to eat and tidy up, ready to meet the Queen. Shane ate and showered, feeling clean for the first time in many weeks.

When he got out, his black outfit and weapons were neatly placed on his bed for him-they had been cleaned up as well. Shane got changed, tidied his hair and donned his weapons. He had been told by Kai to meet the Elsa and Anna in the study as soon as he was finished.

Shane left his room feeling clean and refreshed. He felt kind of at home, standing in the quiet, sunlit hallway.

As Shane quickly ascended the long fight of stairs toward Elsa's study, he couldn't help but notice the paintings that hung up on the crimson walls. There were literally hundreds of them.

They ranged from simple background paintings; to portraits of Elsa and Anna, and even the former monarchs-their once life filled eyes seemed to stare icily at Shane.

He shivered and quickly moved away.

Shane continued through the hallways, making no sound. Years of training had taught him to move stealthily wherever he was. One could never be too sure when someone might jump and ambush them-especially when they were alone.

As Shane rounded entered another hallway he was greeted with a massive hardwood door with a blue snowflake engraved in it. He'd arrived at the study.

Carefully, Shane walked up to the door and knocked.

"Enter" The Queen's voice was friendly but full of authority.

Shane slowly pushed the door open. It easily swung open without a sound.

Shane had to admit. Elsa's study was tidier than he had expected it to be. Sunlight streamed in from every window, making the whole room look majestic. A table stood at the center of the room. There was a small stack of paperwork neatly to one side of it, and a vase of fresh flowers at the other.

Elsa was seated in a large chair looking at some letters when Shane entered. She smiled and stood up to greet him.

"Good morning Shane, how was your sleep the night before?"

"Um… i-it couldn't have been better…" Shane seemed to always have a problem when talking to Elsa. His brain seemed to suddenly freeze.

Damnit, Shane said to his brain, Stop! It's looking so weird.

Luckily, Elsa didn't really seem to notice, and giggled at Shane's confused expression.

"It's ok Shane, I understand if you're still a bit tired. But Anna and I are planning to go out to town to do some shopping. We wanted to take you along with us, but if you're not feeling well then you don't have to…"

"No! It's ok I'm fine. I'll come with you."

Elsa was unsatisfied, "Shane, it's ok, the doctor said you should rest. I don't want you getting hurt even more."

"It's ok Elsa, I'm fine, besides you might need someone to defend you, in case there are more attackers."

Elsa laughed, "Ok Shane, you can come. You should get ready, we are leaving soon."

Shane pointed to his black hooded outfit and weapons.

Elsa blushed and looked down, "Oh… ok, looks like you are ready."

Just then, the door of the study swung open and Anna bombarded inside.

"Hi Elsa! Hi Shane! I'm here. Are we all ready? I want to go down and get some Christmas shopping done."

"Good morning Anna," Elsa replied smoothly, "By the looks of it, I take that you are ready to go down to town."

Anna nodded gingerly, "Yes, come on, I want to go. Wait, is Shane coming with us?"

Elsa nodded, "Yes, he wants to come."

Anna gave her a sly look and Elsa blushed. Anna stared hard at her, and Elsa stared back. Then, Anna raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to one side and Elsa shook her head.

Amazing, thought Shane, it's like their both having a conversation just by looking at each other.

Finally, after a minute of awkward silence, Shane cleared his voice.

"Ahem…Your Maj… Elsa, Anna, don't you think its time to go now?"

Both sisters looked up at Shane and blushed red, realizing what they were doing.

"Yes, l-lets go."

And with that, Shane, Elsa and Anna went outside and left to go to the town. But unknown to all three of them, a solitary hooded figure stood, hidden from sight, watching their every move…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Let's get that one"

"No"

"Ok, what about that one?"

"No"

"Fine, why don't we get…"

"Anna! We already have so many things in our bags, we can't carry anymore."

"Fine," Anna huffed, "Geez, you're no fun."

"Besides," Elsa added, "it's already getting dark, we should start heading back to the castle."

Shane looked up from his place among the tightly packed row of market stalls. He had deliberately placed himself hidden from an enemy's line of sight, but still close enough to help Elsa and Anna in the case of an attack.

Now, Shane slowly approached the 2 sisters, scanning through the crowd to see for any signs of danger.

Shane didn't know what it was, but he felt something in his gut. There was something not right, Shane could feel it, he just didn't know what it was.

Elsa looked around and saw Shane walking toward her.

"Shane, there you are, I was wondering were you went."

Shane nodded, but didn't reply. He kept his eyes trained on the crowd.

"Shane…is everything alright?"

The black hooded figure didn't respond, though his shadowed face was now glistening with sweat.

"Shane…please talk to me."

"We should go back to the castle." His voice was lifeless and cold.

Elsa was suddenly taken aback by Shane's tone. She had never heard him like this before.

"W-hy… what's wrong?" Her voice started to tremble.

"There's something not right. I know it's not. I can feel it. Somebody is watching us."

Panic filled Elsa's eyes and she quickly grabbed Anna and pulled her close.

"OW! Hey! What's happening?" Came Anna's startled response.

"Let's go back now…"

"Wh-What? Why?" Anna was getting impatient now.

"No time to explain… lets go!"

Without wasting another second, Shane led them down the busy street, back toward the castle.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A deadly silhouette stood on a dark rooftop watching a man in a black hooded outfit and the 2 monarchs heading for his trap.

He smirked and took aim on his crossbow.

He lined his iron sights on his most hated target.

He saw them get closer…

And fired.

No one saw the projectile soar through the darkening sky. No one heard the deadly hiss of the razor sharp head as it drifted closer and closer to its target…

Shane's heart

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Shane, in tough situations, things do not always go to plan. You may find yourself walking into an ambush or trap, set by the enemy, and you probably won't even know it.

"Sometimes you have to rely purely on instinct to save your life. You can suddenly know or feel that something is not right. You don't know why or how, but you just know it is. That is instinct. It is the feeling inside you that tells you something is wrong or a reflex that may just bring you out of harms way before you even know it."

The "mentor's" words were still embedded in Shane's mind

"This is something you can't learn, it is something you have…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shane had seen it, just a small speck, glinting in the early moonlight as it travelled closer and closer toward him. He had actually sensed it was coming before he had even spotted it.

In less than a blink of an eye, Shane had ducked and rolled to the right just as the arrow nicked the edge of his arm. Had he been half a second late, the arrow would have most certainly been deeply embedded in his heart.

For a second, Shane froze, unable to process what had just happened. He suddenly heard a scream and looked down to find a small trickle of blood run down his arm. He turned to see Elsa grabbing him and screaming his name, terror imprinted clearly on her face.

"Shane! Shane! Are you alright? What happened?"

Elsa was suddenly cut off by the sound of another arrow embedding itself a few metres above Shane's head.

Thuck

This time chaos broke loose. The whole marketplace went ecstatic. People went in all directions to find cover, screaming and running for their lives.

Shane saw an opportunity in this. He could blend in with the crowd to make it hard for the shooter to spot them.

"RUN!" He roughly got up and dragged Elsa and Anna out of the market place with him, following the large crowd.

As the trio ran, arrows whizzed past their heads, finding random targets. An unlucky woman was in the path of another arrow when it struck her just below her neck. She gurgled and fell to the ground lifeless.

Anna screamed when she saw the woman fall with an arrow sticking out of her neck. She desperately wanted to stop, but Shane's grip on her arm was like iron, leading her on blindly.

It felt like an eternity when the group, and some lucky survivors finally reached the bridge leading up to the castle. A squad of armed guards were already out to escort the Queen and Princess safely back when they got there.

As Shane entered the castle courtyard he saw a stocky, built man with blond hair and a reindeer approach Anna.

Instinctively Shane felt his hand drop to the hilt of his sword, until he saw the blond man give Anna a hug.

She looked pale and sobbed in his arms, as the trauma of what she had seen suddenly set in.

Elsa was with them as well, whispering comforting words in Anna's ear. She too, looked paler than a ghost.

After a while of comforting eachother, Anna and the blond man walked over to Shane.

"Shane, this is Kristoff, my well…er…boyfriend, and Kristoff this is Shane. I'm sure you've heard of him, he was at the town square the other day."

"Oh, you must be the one who saved Elsa and Anna from those mysterious attackers the other day. I can't tell you how grateful I am." Kristoff's voice sounded deep but strangely gentle.

"Uh… thanks, do you mind if we…. Woah," Shane suddenly felt the world spin. He swayed uneasily on his feet.

"Are you ok, dude." Kristoff's voice was full of concern.

"I-arrow hit my arm…losing blood…need to get inside."

"Ok, quick, lets get you inside and patched up."

Kristoff grabbed Shane before he lost balance and half carried and dragged him into the castle.

Shane felt his eyelids start to cloud and he felt himself being laid down. The last thing he saw was Elsa's worried face looking over his. He saw her say something like, "everything is going to be ok". Then everything went black…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Shane c'mon, we have to go!"

Shane looked at the redheaded girl next to him.

"Elise! Go! I'll distract them. Get to safety!"

The hooded men were getting closer. They were closing in on them.

"No! Shane, I'm not leaving you."

"Are you crazy! You'll get killed! You have to go."

"Not without you."

Shane knew that was final. Elise wasn't going to change her mind. Why did his sister have to be so damned stubborn at times?

Out of the corner of his eye, Shane saw one of the men pull his sword and run toward him.

"Elise RUN!" Shane grabbed his sister's hand and started to sprint along the dark houses.

Fast as he was, Shane was only a young, rookie assassin at this time and was not a very skilled fighter.

Knowing that the men were gaining up on him and Elise, he quickly turned around, pulled out his sword and slashed at the nearest assailant.

Shane was lucky the assailant wasn't prepared, and managed to slash him just below his chin. The assailant gurgled as blood spurted out of his neck, momentarily giving Shane the chance to finish him off.

Luckily, there were only a total of two men following. And with one already down, Shane turned to face the next attacker.

Click

Shane froze mid turn.

He could hear the unmistakable sound of a crossbow being loaded and cocked.

There was nothing he could do…

It was over…

Shane closed his eyes, waiting for searing pain he would feel when the bolt pierced his skin.

"SHANE! NOOOOOOOO!"

Strangely the pain never came…

Shane suddenly felt himself being shoved out of the line of fire and face planted on the ground.

He looked up and saw Elise standing where he was a second earlier… with a black arrow protruding out of her chest.

Shane got up and raced over to Elise just as she fell back on the hard cobblestones. The shooter saw what happened, and seeing that he had no weapon left, quickly ran off down the street.

Shane could see a lot of blood pooling beneath his sister's body as knelt beside her, holding her hand.

Her breathing was shallow and sharp and her face was getting paler by the second.

"Sh-Shane...?" Elise said in a small voice.

"Sh-sh… it's ok Elise, you'll be fine." Shane replied reassuringly.

"Shane… why us? Mom, dad… now me… why?" Tears started to pool her eyes.

Shane couldn't bring himself to answer, and just stood there holding his sister's cold hand with tears running down his cheeks.

"I'm…I'm so sorry Elise."

With the last ounce of energy she had left, Elise extended her arm and touched her brother's face for the very last time.

" I-Iove you Shane….this is not your fault…I love-" Her words trailed off as her chest suddenly stopped moving and her arms fell limply by her side.

Shane sobbed and closed her lifeless eyes with his fingers.

"Elise please!" he whimpered

"No Elise! Don't do this to me. You're the only person I have left."

"Please Elise…don't die!"

"ELISE!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Shane!"

Shane's eyes shot straight open, to see Elsa and Anna looking down at him.

As his mind wandered back to reality, Shane saw that he was lying down on a couch and a very comfortable looking room with a fireplace to one side.

"Wh-what happened?" He asked drowsily.

"After you passed out we brought you to the doctor so he could fix your wounds. Then we brought you here so you could rest." Anna added sheepishly, "it looked like you were having a nightmare, and you kept on mentioning someone's name…Elise."

"Who is she Shane?"

Anna looked unconvinced.

Shane sighed, "Someone I knew long ago. Look I should be getting back to my room it's probably late and…"

"No, no, no… you are staying here until you tell us what is happening." Elsa said sternly.

"What do you mean?" Shane tried to look innocent.

Elsa raised an eyebrow, "Those men who tried to kill us, who were they?"

"People you have no business in knowing of." Shane replied stiffly.

Elsa's anger seemed to flare, "What do you mean 'I have no business of knowing of'. These men tried to kill me and my sister, and frankly, by the looks of it, you seem to be the one behind all this."

Shane was one hardly to get angry.

But at the moment he was really pissed. He had just saved the Queen and Princess of Arendelle from mysterious killers, and even getting wounded in the process, and all they could give back to him was a hard-arse beating.

He was having none of it.

"Look, I just saved you and your sister from those mysterious killers and even getting injured in the process-twice. And now you hold me back as some sort of criminal."

Elsa smirked and moved her face an inch closer to Shane's.

"I'm the Queen and I can do what I want. So you better explain what is going on, or I'll hold you here until you do."

Shane sat up on the couch and Elsa sat next to him. Anna sat on the floor next to her. He knew he had no choice. They were going to find out one way or another.

Better get this done and over with

"The group of killers who tried to kill you is called Vendetta."

"What do they want with us? Vendetta sounds like a very er…. misleading name." Anna asked.

"Vendetta is very intent on trying to steal the crown of Arendelle. They always have been, even during your father and mother's reign. And hearing that a new Queen has recently been crowned, and has ice powers, they will stop at nothing to overtake your throne."

"And even if they do take over, what would they do with us."

"Well… seeing that your sister has ice powers, they may make her use her powers in a violent way against the neighboring nations to gain control and power."

"That's terrible! They would kill innocents, take over the kingdom, and make Elsa use her power against her will, just to gain power. And real-…"

Anna abruptly stopped as she noticed that Elsa was pale with fear, and trembling slightly. Shane seemed to notice as well and he placed a warm hand over her cool one.

"Elsa, it's ok. I'll protect you from these people. You have my word. They will not come near you." Shane soothed gently.

Elsa shivered and turned to face Shane, her blue eyes shining deeply with relief.

"Thank you Shane, I really appreciate your concern. It's that… my kingdom is in danger because of me; Anna is in danger because of me. This is all my fault!" At the last few words, Elsa's voice seemed to go up an octave and nearly into hysterical shriek. A thin layer of ice started to spread across the floor.

Shane gripped her hand tighter and stared her in the eye, " Elsa listen, nothing is going to happen. I will make sure that you and your sister won't get hurt. You have my word."

Finally, Elsa seemed to calm down and her breathing became steady and normal.

In a small voice, she said, "Ok, Shane, I trust you. Um… you can stay here with us for the time being…." She trailed off.

Shane smiled gently and nodded.

They stood looking at each other, and holding hands for a while longer.

It was Anna who broke the sweet silence.

"Um…Elsa, Shane, don't you think it's getting late, it's past midnight."

Shane and Elsa both blushed furiously and looked down at the floor as they realized what they were doing.

"Yes, of course, Shane it's really late and we should all head to bed."

Shane nodded and quickly got up and exited the room. Had he been for a second longer, the sisters would have seen that his face was the deep red colour of a tomato.

After Shane had left the room, Anna quickly turned to Elsa and grinned stupidly.

"Did you see that Elsa? He has taken an interest in you."

Elsa went red, "Don't be silly Anna, he just wants to protect me."

"You should go somewhere with him, and maybe even…" Anna winked.

"ANNA!" Elsa hissed. She could have passed out on the spot from embarrassment.

Anna giggled, "I'm just kidding Elsa. It's just he's really nice... and cute. You should get to know him better."

"Anna… you know I don't have the time for these kind of things."

"Hey, I'm just trying to make you happy. But whatever… I wanna sleep. Goodnight!"

Anna hugged her sister tightly.

"Goodnight Anna."

As Anna left the room, Elsa turned to the window and stared at the quiet moonlit streets of Arendelle.

She knew that her sister had a point. Maybe she should get know the mysterious man better. He seemed to be hiding something. Elsa could tell from his eyes.

But he seemed genuinely nice. He was kind and very protective.

Elsa yawned.

Whatever it was. Elsa would have to wait for another day. There were too many things at hand to be done.

But For now, Elsa knew she was safe. She knew Shane would protect her and her sister.

She could trust him…

Well that is the end of chapter 6. I hope you have all enjoyed it. Pleas review- all reviews are always appreciated. Like I said earlier, I will try to not use too many cliffhangers. Next post may be a while since I have a lot of schoolwork to do before the end of the term. So stay safe and see you all in chapter 7.