One thing before the credits: You might notice I retconned Hans' last name to more or less suit what has been recently announced by the writers. Also, thanks to emirael, I've done a little editing on the location in the previous chapter.

Thanks as always go to hybrid-rain as always for being an inspirational canyon and helping me come up with ideas and promoting this like mad, sporadic-tiger for agreeing to be my proofreader and nitpicker, and frickfractals, the-perfect-girl-is-gone, izzyvonheeringen, winterqueenelsaa, patronustrip , r9khaileyissuffering, 50shadesofelsanna,and fyeahkristelsanna for promoting and recommending my fanfics. These are good people on Tumblr and you should check them out. One thing that is truly amazing is how quickly the aforementioned list is growing. And of course, readers for your follows, favourites, and reviews. Seriously I know this isn't one of the biggest Elsanna fanfics out there so it means so much that you dig that extra foot of ground to find this one and try to shed some light on it. Thanks! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen and its characters, plots, etc and I do not make or intend to make any profit from this.

Kristoff could tell Sven was slowly getting worn out by the time they descended down the mountain but he still persisted. The last time they rushed into Arendelle like this, the city had snowed in, which meant most of its people were in their homes and the snow had formed convenient paths for them to run across. This time, it was a bright August day and the streets would be filled with oblivious citizens and, unless Kristoff wanted to pay for property damage, he would be forced to stick to those streets. He wasn't even in the city itself before he was stopped by two guards at the gates. While the gates were still opened, the two guards immediately stood under them, blocking his way inside.

"State your name and business, please," asked one of them.

Resisting the urge to snark at him, Kristoff said, "Kristoff Bjorgman, the Queen's Official Ice Deliverer and Master." He wasn't too fond of using that title but he hoped it would make things go faster. "I've urgent news to deliver to her. I believe this kingdom is under attack."

At first he thought they weren't going to believe him and he would be delayed by obstructive guards but after the two exchanged a look, they stepped back to let him through. He nodded his thanks towards them as Sven slowly began to gather speed. People instinctively moved away as the reindeer stormed through the roads but there were a few who didn't seem to hear the clatter of his hooves and only heard Kristoff's frantic cries for them to clear the streets. If he wasn't so distracted with trying to navigate through the streets, he would have noticed that Arendelle had a completely different atmosphere now. But he was too busy hoping Sven didn't accidentally run into someone to see that the streets weren't as crowded as they ought to be and the people were much too jumpy than usual. Miraculously they managed to reach the bridge without causing any harm or damage. Kristoff was surprised to see that the gates had been closed and that more guards were in the gatehouse and on the walls.

Again, one of them called, "Name and business, please!"

Wondering what he had missed in the past few weeks, he replied once more, "Kristoff Bjorgman, the Queen's Ice Deliverer and Master. I've urgent news to bring to her."

"And what news would that be?" the guard asked.

"That this kingdom may be under attack."

That got their attention and immediately the gates were pulled open. As he entered, he saw a small party of soldiers walking towards him, presumably to give him his red carpet entrance.

"Mr Bjorgman," the soldier who led the group said, stopping a respectful distance away from him. "I'm Captain Anglen. I'll be escorting you to the queen."

Kristoff got off Sven and said, "Very well." He then turned to his reindeer. "Stay here, buddy," he said to him, stroking his neck. "I'll be back soon. Hopefully."

Sven gave a short bray and stamped his hooves on the ground irritably. A couple guards began to approach him with their spears lowered, which aggravated both Sven and Kristoff who stayed his ground, his hands curling into fists. Despite the fact that he was unarmed, he was more than willing to fight, urgent message be damned. But before this could escalate any further, Captain Anglen barked an order and the two guards pointed their spears upward and stood back.

"Apologies for that, Mr Bjorgman," he said. "But I would ask you to calm your reindeer before we can continue. I'll explain when we're inside the palace."

Kristoff was still a bit annoyed but rather confused as well as he turned to Sven and said, "Listen, buddy. I don't know what's going on but I need you to stay here and behave. For now. If they do anything though, go ahead and attack them, all right?"

The reindeer looked rebellious for a minute but eventually he dipped his head. "Good boy," Kristoff reassured him as he gave him a few pats on his head. "Good boy."

He turned back to the captain who was looking at him expectantly and said, "He'll be fine. Just don't try to threaten him again. Do you understand?" His eyes narrowed at the last sentence. Not that he didn't know he was just doing his job but Sven was almost attacked for nothing and he wasn't going to take that laying down.

The captain, to his credit, nodded and commanded, "Let the reindeer be." He lowered his voice and said, "Now, may we continue? Enough time has been wasted and we have precious little of it if what you say is true."

Kristoff nodded in agreement and they began walking into the palace. He looked around the courtyard and before they walked inside, he counted no less than twenty-one guards posted on the castle walls and around the courtyard. Raiden-attje knew how many he missed. He had never seen this much security in the castle before. This combined with just how swiftly the guards believed the news of a possible invasion meant that something had been going on in Arendelle that he had missed.

"Captain Anglen," Kristoff asked as they ascended the stairs that took them from the public areas of the palace to the more private regions. "What has been going on here?"

"You haven't heard?" he asked in response. "There was an attempt on the Queen and the Princess almost a week ago. A band of mercenaries tricked their way into our docks and attacked them."

"Anna?" he immediately cried. "Is…is she all right?"

"Her Highness is fine. But there's also the Ordo Malleus."

"The what?" he asked. But before the captain could explain who or what they were, Anna and her pair of guards suddenly nearly ran into them as they came at an intersection in the hallways. There was an awkward moment with both parties of guards grasped the hilts of their swords before they realised their mistake.

"Kristoff!" Anna cried, ignoring the guards and rushing over to hug him. Kristoff was briefly confused but he soon reciprocated. When she pulled away, she continued, "What's going on? Why do you have those guards? Are you in trouble?"

"No, no, no," he immediately said. "I just have something extremely important to tell your sister."

"Well, that's funny," she said. "Kai told me that Elsa had something important to tell me. We can go there together." She turned to the captain who looked rather confused by the intimacy she shared with Kristoff. "Captain Anglen, thank you for taking the trouble of escorting my friend here but I believe I can take it from here. If you don't mind, could you resume your duties?"

Considering that Anna just tell the captain to "piss off" in the most polite fashion he had ever heard, Kristoff watched for Captain Anglen's reaction but all he did was bow and said, "Of course, Your Highness." And with that, he and his men departed, leaving Kristoff with Anna and her guards to walk off in the opposite direction.

"So what's been going on, Anna?" he asked. "Captain Anglen told me that you were attacked."

"Yeah, we were!" she said. "Some guys sent us a letter saying they had a bunch of children who needed a safe place to stay but when we let them in, it turned out it was just a trick to get us."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I mean, I had a few problems after that but they were mostly mental stuff. Physically I'm fine. And mentally now I spose."

Kristoff examined her closely as if he could see the scars of her mental problems on her face. He could normally tell when people were trying to hide true emotions but either she was really, really, really good at it or she was actually doing better. A passing though had him wonder whom she went to for help with those problems.

"And this Order something. Who are they?"

"Oh, the Ordo Malleus. They started out as this group of loonies who thought Elsa was a witch and had to die but they've been getting stronger and stronger."

"Were they the ones who attacked you guys?"

Anna tilted her head from one shoulder to the other and said, "Noo…but Elsa thinks they knew something was going to happen that day. But she has to wait for her spymaster to get proof otherwise she can't do anything about them."

"Wait, Elsa has a spymaster?"

"Oh yeah, it's this mysterious blonde woman. She spends so much time with her."

Kristoff could be wrong but he thought he detected a slight hint of jealousy in her voice. But he chose to ignore as he said, 'Akka, I missed so much. I shouldn't have just walked out on you like that."

Anna stopped and took Kristoff's arm. "Hey, it's okay," she said. "I know what I said to you that day had to hurt and you needed some time to think about it. But right now, my sister is waiting for us. We can talk about this later, okay?"

He nodded and patted her arms a few times. "Okay," he said. It was then he noticed a thin sword strapped to a green sash across her waist. Things must have been scary if she's taken to carrying a sword, he thought as they continued their path towards wherever Elsa was. It was only a few more minutes before they reached a door painted beautifully with snowflakes and flowers and flanked by four guards. They had been idly chattering until they heard them approach at which point they quickly stood to attention.

"Your Highness," they chorused.

"Good afternoon," she greeted. "I think my sister told me to come."

"Of course, Your Highness," one of them said. "And who is your friend here?"

Kristoff began to feel very self-conscious as Anna had to introduce him. He wondered why hardly anyone here remembered who he was but then he remembered he hardly spent any time with them. His two weeks here had mostly been spent with Anna or in his new job. No wonder they all kept stopping him and asking who he was.

The guard seemed satisfied with Anna's introduction because he then turned to the door, knocked a few times, and called, "Apologies for the interruption, Your Majesty, but Her Highness and Kristoff Bjorgman are waiting for you."

There was a slight delay before he heard Elsa reply, "Let them in please."

The guard opened the door for them and in they walked into Elsa's study. Besides the queen herself, there was a woman seated in one of the chairs in front of her desk, a woman Kristoff could only guess was her spymaster. They were both busy in discussion when the door opened but Elsa looked up from whatever she was reading and said, "Anna, there you are. And Kristoff, what a surprise to see you." The spymaster turned her head to give him a brief glance before turning back to face the queen.

"Your Majesty," he greeted, bowing slightly from the waist. He knew that Anna and Elsa were probably exchanging looks and tilting their heads at him but he figured he would at least show some courtesy with the spymaster present. "I'm sorry to disturb you but Arendelle may be under attack."

Anna gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. The spymaster whirled around from her seat to face him properly. Elsa's eyes widened a fair bit and she blinked a few times before she said, "Attack? Now?"

"Yes. Not twenty minutes ago, I saw four ships sailing from the north. Two of them had ballistae on their decks and I think the other two were icebreakers. I can't imagine they're here for a chat."

"Who else knows?" demanded Elsa.

"The guards at both the city and castle gates. I had to tell them so they could let me pass."

"Understandable. Hopefully they've relayed the message and the…"

Suddenly the door burst open and in stormed a man with grey hair and a hook shaped nose. He had a longsword strapped to his belt that was held tightly with his left hand. With a raspy voice, he said, "Your Majesty, I apologise for the sudden intrusion, but the guards are reporting that someone has said there is another attack on Arendelle."

"Yes, indeed, Lord Commander," Elsa replied, her voice far too calm to be natural. "This is the man who first saw them. And curiously, not our patrol ships."

It was clear the Lord Commander had an answer to that but Elsa cut him off. "We'll discuss that later. For now, Kristoff, could you please tell him what you just told me?"

Kristoff repeated what he had saw and then answered the Lord Commander's questions as he asked for more details about the ships. What colour were the ships, what flags were they waving, how many sails they had. When he was done with the interrogation, he turned to Elsa and asked, "Your Majesty, what are your orders?"

Elsa took a few minutes to think, aware that everyone including Kristoff was looking at her. He saw her take a noticeable breath before she said, "Bring everyone inside the city walls. I want you to send out riders to escort the villagers to the city and bring food from the villages with them. Julia, send birds to Corona, DunBroch, Berk and whatever allies we have and alert them to the situation. Have them escorted with our hawks. Inform the Harbourmaster I want the fjord cleared of all vessels. Do we have any naval vessels out at sea?"

"As I wanted to explain, Your Majesty, Director Fossen had our patrol ships out to meet with the Prussian diplomatic vessel. Our frigate, Lucreitia, however is still docked."

Elsa's face twisted in rage for a brief minute before she said, "Very well then. Tell the Royal Treasurer to establish martial rationing immediately. Oh, and tell the Home Secretary to begin distributing winter clothes for the people. I want everyone in my council room for an emergency meeting in three hours. That should give you enough time to carry out your orders, yes?"

"More than enough, Your Majesty," reassured the Lord Commander. "It will be done." He bowed sharply and quickly departed, followed by the blonde woman.

Elsa curled her left hand into a fist as ice began to form around it as she breathed deeply in and out. Kristoff didn't know what to do and instinctively shuffled away closer to the door in case she wanted him out as well.

Anna hesitantly asked, "Elsa, if it's okay to ask…what did you want to talk to me about?"

Elsa looked up from her hand and said, "Oh well…" She waved her hand at the general direction of the piece of paper Kristoff saw her reading before they had entered. "One of Julia's seeds reported that Hans has left Weselton two days ago."

Anna's eyes widened as her hand instinctively drifted to her sword and gripped the hilt. "Him! But…Weselton is at least five days from here… There's no way he could be here already…"

Elsa immediately went to her sister and wrapped her arms around her, whispering what Kristoff was sure were words of comfort. He was starting to feel like the fifth wheel of a carriage but just as he slowly walked backwards to the door, there was a sudden knock against it, followed by the muffled call of the guard.

"Your Majesty," he said. "The Harbourmaster has reported that the dock will be cleared shortly."

"Excellent," Elsa said. She took a few deep breathes before continuing, "Anna, Kristoff, you might want to see this."

And without seeing if they had followed her or not, she left the room. Anna and Kristoff exchanged a quick glance before they followed her out along with the guards who had lingered outside the study. As they moved, Kristoff began to note just how deftly the two sisters managed to run in skirts. Even when they reached the stairs, Elsa seemed to effortlessly run down the stairs. Anna only had a few stumbles but she managed to regain her balance without any help or slowing down the group.

When they got to the courtyard, Kristoff found it a blurry of activity. Orders were shouted and hollered as men grabbed crossbows and halberds from wagons. A few soldiers were strapping on cuirasses but either they didn't have many or most of them didn't bother with them because the majority of the men out there wore only their thick olive green coats with probably mail underneath. Outside the castle walls, he could hear the solemn tolling of the bells, alerting the citizens to the impeding danger. Birds were flying in all different directions, flocks of smaller messenger crossbills and jays guarded closely by eagles, kites, and hawks. He quickly found Sven, who was trying to stay out of the chaos as much as possible. Their eyes met and then Sven tilted his head to his left. Kristoff followed with his eyes and saw that Elsa and Anna were already halfway to the southern walls to the left. With a thanks that got lost in all the shouting, he quickly joined them.

When they crossed to the other side of the wall, they emerged onto an outcrop that led into the harbour. Elsa walked to as close to the water as she could and when she stopped, she lifted her right foot and slammed it against the water. Ice sprouted from where her shoe landed but didn't spread outward. Instead the ice darted across the water until it reached a point somewhere between the twin lighthouses. From there a pillar spiralled upward and as it rose, it also expanded so that an ice wall was blocking entrance into the harbour and continued to reinforce the existing walls. From where she stood, Elsa directed the movement of the ice with gestures of her hands and was now allowing the ice to spread about a yard further into the harbour. But not to form another wall. In fact if Kristoff was right, and he usually was about ice, he would say that ice formed behind the wall was considerably thin. Of course! he thought triumphantly. So if the invaders managed to scale the wall and get to the other side, they would just fall into the harbour. He would only be lying to himself if he didn't want to see what Elsa had done to the western side of the ice wall.

When it was all done, the first thing Kristoff noticed was the temperature dropped considerably. It didn't seem like another eternal winter would be settling on Arendelle anytime soon but the air felt more like that of the fading months of autumn than summer. Then he noticed that Elsa looked a bit tired, probably from using her powers. Anna had rushed towards her and stood about a foot away, her arms not quite touching her but close enough that she could grab her sister. But the queen soon recovered from the exhaustion with no incident.

"All right, all right," he heard her whisper to herself. She took a few steps away from the water with her left hand held out in front of her as if she was trying to calm a temperamental beast and her right reached out towards Anna. The princess instantly took her sister's hand and began stroking it with her thumb. In a fashion that Kristoff wasn't quite sure sisters would do. Then again the only sisters he knew besides them were trolls and they did things a bit differently. Still the last he heard from Anna about her sister was that she still flinched a foot away whenever someone got too close in her personal space. But perhaps that changed along with everything else.

Whatever the queen was hoping for seemed to come true. A noticeable look of relief washed over her face as she looked around the harbour as if to finally appreciate her work.

"Come on," she said, taking in one last view. "Time for that emergency meeting."

"Wait," Kristoff said. "Am I going with you?"

"Well, yes, of course," she replied. "You have to tell them what you saw."

He just groaned.

More than an hour after her sister raised the ice wall, Anna sat next to Elsa, trying her best not to fidget in the uncomfortable chair. Elsa never shut up about how annoying her chair was in the council room and she was starting to see why. Whoever made her chair should be put in the stocks…if they still had them, that is. But her discomfort wasn't anything compared to what Kristoff must have been feeling as he stood in front of the most powerful people in Arendelle. Anna tried smiling at him to help him relax but she had a feeling it didn't work as he told the Council what he had seen. Anna thought it just wasn't fair to him to make him go through this again. He already told Julia and the Lord Commander, the two people who actually needed to know about this, before this meeting.

And she was pretty sure some of Elsa's Council members didn't like Kristoff. Besides Julia and the Lord Commander, they were looking at him suspiciously as if they weren't sure if they should believe what he was saying. The Treasurer guy in particular glared at him like he was a common thief or swindler. When he finished, Kristoff shuffled awkwardly in his place, his hands behind his back. He looked straight in front of him but Anna noticed that he was trying his best to not actually make eye contact with anyone.

"Your Majesty," said the Royal Treasurer. "When I undertook preparations for rationing as you requested, I was under the impression that your fears were based on more than his testimony."

Wait, what? Anna thought. "Excuse me, Master Treasurer," she said with as much courtesy and politeness as she could shove into her words. "But are you trying to say that you don't believe that there are invaders at our door because Kristoff saw them?"

The Royal Treasurer blinked a few times before he said, "I just merely wish to have more proof before we take such drastic measures."

At that, Kristoff looked like he would like to do nothing more than thump him and Anna began balling her fists under the table. "What else do you need?!" she argued, discarding all those fancy words. "Do you need them to show up in front of our gates, waving human skulls and swords and chanting 'Death to Arendelle', to believe we are being attacked?"

The Royal Treasurer prepared to argue back but Elsa interjected, "Enough. Master Engelstad, what Kristoff had to say have already been confirmed by our scouts. They report four ships, two icebreakers and two galleasses, have entered our waters and nearly two hundred fifty men have landed on our shores." Then she turned to focus her glare at the Council member. "And for future reference, Kristoff here helped save my sister's life, my life, and most of the lives in Arendelle. If you are unwilling to change your perception of either him or his race, then I suggest you consider making an effort to at least conceal it, lest you find yourself without a job or title."

She turned to Kristoff and Anna noticed that her sister's face had significantly softened. "Kristoff," she said. "Thank you for alerting us to this threat. Had you not immediately gone to us, we would have been taken completely by surprise. Once again, you have helped save Arendelle. If you wish to remain here for the duration of the meeting or if you would like to leave, you may do so."

Anna figured Elsa gave him a choice to be polite because she thought it was fairly obvious what he wanted to do. Kristoff cleared his throat and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. If it pleases you, I would like to secure my reindeer." His voice sounded awkward and Anna felt like he was having trouble getting the words out as if he was.

"You may do that, Kristoff," Elsa replied. "And remember that you may stay with us as an honoured guest, if you have nowhere else to go."

Kristoff bowed and recited, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, Councillors."

He walked away from the room, the steps echoing in the silence. Anna felt conflicted as she sat in her chair. She wanted to get up and walk out with Kristoff, tell them that it didn't matter what the stupid Treasurer guy or anyone else thought about him, that of course she and Elsa believed him when he first came to them, and that she would always be there for him. But she knew that she had to stay where she was. Her place was at Elsa's side and to leave would not only look poorly on both her and Elsa, but it would allow the doubts in her capabilities and Elsa's ability to rule to fester and grow. And she would never do anything that would made Elsa look weak. Not in a thousand years. So tormented and soaked in guilt as she was, she remained where she sat.

Apparently her mental decisions had taken her some time because the topic had shifted without her notice.

"…while we were able to evacuate most of the villages, it seems that Belik had been taken by the invaders. One of the scouts who was sent there returned with an arrow in his shoulder."

"What do we know about these men?" Elsa asked at the same time Anna asked, "Do we know what they want?"

"The descriptions of their flags given to me by my men have suggested that the men holding Belik is a mercenary company named the Wild Band of Men. In German, at least. As to their goals, we cannot say. So far they have made no attempts to spread from Belik nor have they appeared to have moved additional men into the kingdom. If I were to guess, they're consolidating their hold before they make another move."

"Wouldn't the obvious thing to do is, I don't know, stop them from actually making that move?" the Home Secretary said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. But Anna knew why they hadn't even if he didn't.

"We would, if only they weren't holding a village hostage," the Lord Commander responded before turning to Elsa. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, but the reason we have not attacked back because I thought you would not want us to endanger your subjects."

"Thank you for your consideration," Elsa said. "In summary, what do we have to defend ourselves against this invasion? I reviewed your report on our armed capabilities but given that was nearly a month ago, there must be some updates."

"We have enough halberds, swords, and crossbows for eight hundred soldiers but I'm afraid we do not have that many men. Even if we issue a conscription, we would have only four hundred fifty soldiers."

"And if we also allow women to join?" Anna asked.

The Lord Commander blinked a few times before he did the math in his head. "Six hundred. Maybe more. But, Your Highness…"

"There are two hundred fifty men already in our kingdom," she interrupted. "Who knows how many more will be coming. We need more soldiers if we hope to win. And why should we deny the women a chance to fight for their kingdom? To defend their families and homes? Let's not forget who gave our last enemy a parting present." She glanced to her left and saw a slight smirk emerge in Elsa's face. She turned back to the Lord Commander, wondering if he was going to dispute her on this.

To his credit, he did not. "Very well, Your Highness," he said. "There will be a few things that I must talk to you and Your Majesty later but I'll see it done."

"Thank you, Lord Commander," Elsa said. She turned to the Foreign Affairs Director and asked, "Could you kindly please tell us why you assigned our ships away from their duties?" Anna felt a certain satisfaction as everyone glared venomously at him.

The old man sputtered for a few seconds and said, "Your Majesty, I thought it was prudent to not offend the Prussian emperor by refusing our protection for his envoy."

"No, you decided to leave our borders unguarded." Elsa didn't exactly raise her voice but Anna thought it would have been better if she did. She wasn't even the target of her rage and she could feel each word pierce her like darts. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw that ice began traveling from Elsa's chair and around the council room, blooming into icicles. "You placed my kingdom at risk and today that risk became a certainty. If it was not for Kristoff, it could have very well been too late for us to prepare for an invasion. When this ordeal is over, I assure you will be suitably punished for your stupidity."

The director apparently wanted to say something more but Elsa abruptly cut him off. "Not another word. Master Engelstad, if you will kindly tell us about how we plan to endure this war."

"Three of the seven emergency shops have been opened and fully stocked," the Royal Treasurer said. Whatever prejudice he had earlier was gone from his voice but Anna suspected he still held them. "The rest will be stocked tomorrow. Ration cards will also begin being distributed among the citizens tomorrow, and thanks to the Home Secretary, we will have both the shops and cards well-guarded."

"How much can a card buy?" asked Anna.

"We have different cards. Most families receive white cards which allow them to buy two pounds of bread, eight ounces of meat or fish, another eight ounces of vegetables or fruits of their choosing, six ounces of cheese, and six pounds of kindling. Purple cards are given to families with either children under twelve years old or pregnant or nursing mothers which allows them to buy a little more. And green cards are the same only they're given to families of both the City Watch and the military. Food items considered as luxury such as chocolate, coffee, and chocolate have remained unrestricted for now. We distribute these cards once a week."

"And under this plan, how long do you estimate our food to last?" asked Elsa.

"Four months, at the least," he replied. "Certainly long enough to withstand a siege until help arrives."

"Very well," she said. She then straightened her back and continued, "Lady and gentlemen, a great trial is coming upon us. I intend to see Arendelle prevail over this threat and once I've ensured her and her people have survived and thrived despite it, I will make sure whoever is responsible is justly punished for this heinous act of aggression. But to do so, I will need your help and your support. As long as we stay as one united strength, we will prevail."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the Council chanted, Anna almost joining them.

Impressive, Hans thought as he peered through the spyglass at the icy wall surrounding the fjord into Arendelle. Predictable but impressive. Of course he received word that the Snow Queen had taken immediate action but it was one thing to read about it in a hastily scribbled message, stuffed in the claws of a bird. It was another to see it with his own eyes. He collapsed the spyglass in his hand and turned away. It would be another two hours or so before Tilbel breached Arendelle waters or so the captain reassured him. A fortuitous burst of favourable winds had gained them nearly another day.

All things said, his plans were proceeding as he imagined. He had no doubts that the Queen and the Princess would survive the assassination attempt with Soliuan and indeed, he would have been very surprised if either of them were actually killed. But from what he heard, the damage he wrecked on the two had been quite significant. Similarly he had no idea if the two sisters were actually sleeping with each other. In fact, he was pretty confident the Snow Queen was incapable of romantic love. But spreading the rumours, or rather instructing the Ordo Malleus to spread those rumours, helped erode the people's trust in their queen and made them more willing to accept him as their new ruler. Because his father was right as he always was. His folly had destroyed his reputation at Arendelle and even if it hadn't, the Snow Queen would make sure any reception he received from the people would be a sour one. But fortunately he didn't exactly have to restore their good faith in him. At least not yet. All he had to do was make the Snow Queen a worse ruler than him. That given a choice between him and her, he would be the better choice.

The sound of a bird call reached his ears and he looked up to see a bird flying towards the ship from the direction they were sailing towards. Hans stretched out his hand and waited patiently for the pipit to land on top of it. As expected, he found a message tied to the legs. He carefully slipped it out and began to read it.

Arendelle maximum strength: 600. Queen has called for help. No reply yet. City can endure siege for four months.

He nodded a few times after he finished and extracted a match from his pocket. He then struck it against the railing and brought the message to the open flame. Hans watched as the wind blew the ashes out into the sea before flinging the spent match overboard. The message was simply adequate in the amount of information it provided. Spread over four mercenary companies, Hans had a little less than one thousand men at his command. Enough to crush the Arendelle forces in an open field. Not only did Hans know that but he also knew that the Snow Queen would know that as well and decide to cower behind her city walls. Which, according to the message, would give her four months. By then, winter would have come and her powers would be at their strongest while his resources would be depleted. Obviously he had no intention in letting her last that long but he was still struggling to find ways of accomplishing that goal.

He looked down the length of Tilbel towards the stern, noting the ballistae fixed on the deck and the pikes held in racks. He personally didn't know how much use they would be considering Arendelle didn't have much of a navy and even then the Snow Queen wasn't interested in an open water combat. They could be useful in bringing down the ice walls though. He would have to consult with the captain about that. Military strategy hadn't exactly been Hans' greatest strength. That was Valdemar's and Anton's field of expertise. He was more adept at the sly political machinations but he was fairly confident that he was at least better at warfare than the Snow Queen was even with her advisors. Or at least that was what he thought until the galleass drew closer to Arendelle.

The first thing he noticed was that it was suddenly rather cold. It was as if he stepped outside the Great Hall at home with its five hearths lit to the bitter cold of the North Mountain. Then he saw just how truly terrific the Snow Queen's wall was. There were two of them: one that spanned from lighthouse to lighthouse and blocked passage into the harbour and a shorter one that was some distance away from the first wall and surrounded the castle as well as the harbour entrance. In fact it was so short that he could see a tiny part of the castle wall above them. He also saw his other ships anchored nearby and he wondered furiously why the icebreakers hadn't began their work. His question was answered soon enough.

Ice spikes jutted out from the base of the wall and several feet away. Hans wasn't close enough to take precise mental dimensions but if he were to guess, most of them were at least a few yards long. They were spaced close enough that he doubted he could squeeze his icebreakers between the spikes. Precious time would therefore be spent cutting away the spikes before they could inch their way forward. Or perhaps they could simply walk across the frozen fjord and scale the walls but somehow he doubted the Snow Queen would make things that easy for them.

One thing he did notice was that the ice wall appeared to be unmanned. Maybe she didn't have enough men to guard it or she trusted the spikes to do all the defending. Either way, this was something he could exploit. The castle walls were guarded though and as the galleass drew closer to Arendelle, Hans pulled the hood up over his face. Not for a second did Hans believe the Snow Queen did not suspect him for the series of misfortunes her kingdom suffered recently. But there was a difference between knowing for certain that he was responsible and simply having a hunch.

"Vessel approaching!" shouted someone at the crow's nest. "Coming from larboard bow!"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Hans drew open the spyglass and peered at that direction. It wasn't anything from Arendelle. It was a small rowboat and, if he wasn't mistaken, led by Mr Michael Wattmann of the Wild Band of Men.

"Let them board!" he commanded. As he compressed the spyglass, he felt Tilbel's draw to a slower speed as her sails were rolled up. Minutes later, Mr Wattmann heaved himself over the railing and landed on top of the deck.

"Mr Wattmann," Hans said in lieu of a greeting. "What do you have to report?"

"We captured a village closest to the fjord as you requested. There's forty-seven people in there. Fifteen men, eighteen women, and fourteen children."

"Have they been mistreated?" Hans asked.

"No, my lord. Not yet, at least."

"Meaning…?" Hans asked, waiting for him to elaborate.

"They can be if you command it," Mr Wattmann explained. "We're waiting for orders, my lord."

Now this was a tricky situation. In his hands he had a village filled with the Snow Queen's subjects and if all went well with his plans, filled with his subjects. He could, as Valdemar would no doubt argue, have them all killed. Spare one to send to Arendelle to tell the tale and let them all know what happened if they stood with their queen. Fear could divide them, could separate them, and indeed could cause them to betray their beloved queen and her darling princess. But fear easily led to hatred and hatred would unify them against him. And he didn't know which side the people would lean towards. This was information he needed.

After a few more minutes thinking about it, he said, "Set the villagers free. But first tell them to spread the word. That we are here only for the Royal Sisters. If they let us take what we want, we will spare them. If they however wish to stand with them, then they can die with the sisters. In the meantime, there will no raping. There will be no torture. Is that understood?"

Hans couldn't tell if Mr Wattmann was disappointed or relieved when he received that command. "Yes, my lord," he simply said. "I'll let the boys know."

"Good. Once you've secured the village, send a bird and I'll bring reinforcements with me when I land."

"Very good. I shall see you then." The mercenary captain bowed and walked towards the railing while Hans turned towards the ice wall. One way or another, he was going to get the throne of Arendelle. Whether he had to kill two people or two hundred was not his decision anymore. It belonged to the people of Arendelle now.

It was suggested that I attempt to address the issue regarding the Sami in this fanfic. From what little research I've done, the Sami people have faced repeated attempts to have their culture, religion, and traditions erased in the past and I can sincerely hope my feeble efforts will help shed some light on to it. If any of my readers are of that culture and have ideas that you believe would help me bring the message about your people better, I invite you to let me know and share them with me.

Also, as you can tell, I'm trying to make sense of the technology used in Arendelle according to the movies and have decided no on cannons or muskets or any form of firearms. So if you were looking for that...sorry? Anyway there will be a few action scenes soon and I can't make a promise to you how many more chapters there will be but this is like the end of the second act/start of the third? I guess?

Once again, I welcome any and all feedback you might have to offer.