Thanks as always go to hybrid-rain as always for being an inspirational sounding board and helping me come up with ideas sporadic-tiger for agreeing to be my proofreader and nitpicker, emirael for helping with the world building, and frickfractals, the-perfect-girl-is-gone, izzyvonheeringen, winterqueenelsaa, patronustrip, r9khaileyissuffering, 50shadesofelsanna, and fyeahkristelsanna for promoting and recommending my fanfics. One thing that is truly amazing is how quickly the aforementioned list is growing. And of course, readers for your follows, favourites, and reviews. I might be an attention-seeking narcissist but I really like it when I hear you guys enjoy reading this. 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.
Elsa stopped before the doors and sighed. Now not only was she the first woman to take the throne in seventy years, the youngest monarch, and the first ruler of Arendelle to possess magic, but she was also going to be the first queen to lead Arendelle to war in nearly a century. She wondered if she received a prize if she collected enough "firsts". She tugged on her gloves, making sure they were secure over her hands, before she nodded at the two guards standing in front of the throne room. They opened the door with an aching creak, allowing her and her personal retinue of guards to walk in.
"All hail Her Majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle," announced Kai as everyone in the room either bowed or curtseyed.
She took her seat on the throne and watched as the courtiers rose.
"Please allow our guests in," Elsa commanded as she prepared herself to receive the first victims of this war.
The doors opposite of her were opened and in stepped less than fifty people, men, women, and children. They all looked remarkably well considering they had been roused from their homes and driven towards the city. She wondered if they had been harmed, either physically or otherwise, before let loose. She hoped to God they weren't. Not for her sake or theirs but for the Wild Band's.
"Who among you represents you?" she asked as soon as they all stepped as close to her throne as possible.
One woman stepped up and said, "Mayoress Edme, if it pleases you, Your Majesty."
"Mayoress Edme," Elsa said. "What do you have to tell this court?"
"Your Majesty, three days ago, our village was visited by a group of soldiers. There were forty in all but the leader of them said there were more coming. They demanded that we accommodate them and said that they would stay here with or without our consent. Fearing for the lives of my citizens, I surrendered my village to them. We stayed as prisoners in our homes for two days until their leader told us that we were all free to leave. That while our houses were theirs, we could still keep our lives. And…Your Majesty…" Mayoress Edme stopped to gather her breath. "Your Majesty, the leader told us to give you a message."
"And what message would that be?" asked Elsa, although she had a feeling she knew what it was.
"That the armies gathered at Arendelle are here for one and only one purpose. To remove the Royal Sisters from the throne. They only want the lives of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. The leader told me that once they possessed both, they would gladly leave our kingdom in peace. But that if we stood with the queen and her sister, then we would die with them."
Elsa closed her eyes and sighed as the court began to mutter furiously among themselves. She feared as much. There was no other cause for someone to invade Arendelle except her. Whether it was because she was an incestuous harlot who fornicated with her sister or because she was a powerful witch with near unlimited power, she was the one prize worth waging a war over. Even when she had her powers under control, she still was a threat to her kingdom.
"Have they harmed either you or any of your people?" asked Elsa, her words silencing the court in their wake. "Have you been mistreated in any way during your time with them?"
"No, Your Majesty," replied Mayoress Edme. "There was a small incident involving Mr Andvik and a soldier but the mercenary leader chose to dismiss it as a personal grievance." Elsa noticed that one of the men standing in the back did indeed have a bruised eye. "But other than that, they were rather content in letting us conduct our affairs. Until they told us to leave, that is."
"Curious," Elsa muttered to herself. She couldn't recall if she's ever heard such courteous mercenaries before. "Rest assured, Mayoress Edme and residents of Belik," she said louder. "When this is over, justice will be served to the men who banished you from your homes and livelihoods. In the meantime, accommodations and rationing will be arranged for you. If any of you wish to join the war effort, we would greatly appreciate your assistance."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Mayoress Edme said, curtseying. "God bless you and your reign." As she joined her people in walking out of the throne room, Elsa noticed that a few of them leaned against each other and more than once did she hear someone stifle a sob. Conceal, don't feel, she thought as she tried not to think of the lives she had ruined and will ruin because of the enemies at their doors. She wished she could go to each villager, man and woman, adult and child, and tell them that everything would be all right. But she didn't know if that was true and she wasn't good at comforting people. Except Anna perhaps. Anna would be far better at this than her.
"Kai, who else are we expecting today," she asked when she felt comfortable with her control over her emotions.
"Lord Lindahl and party," he replied.
Elsa tried to suppress a sigh but failed. "Let them in," she said with a noted lack of enthusiasm in her voice.
Seconds later, the lord himself entered the room, strutting like a peacock, surrounded his flock. It didn't escape Elsa's notice that Lord Gutherford was among them. Eight in all, they all bowed before her, too short and too shallow befitting proper courtesy. Normally Elsa wouldn't care but the fact that they weren't even trying to hide their disrespect for her meant that they clearly did not expect her to remain here for long. Or perhaps that was just her paranoia.
"Your Majesty," he began. "I had hoped to discuss a few concerns my friends and I share regarding the state of the kingdom."
"You may," Elsa said with a curt nod. She knew he wanted for a private audience but this was where she was willing to talk and nowhere else. She was too busy to entertain obnoxious lords who didn't even give her the respect she deserved in her study.
When it finally became clear to him that he would have to have his conversation at the throne room, he continued, "Your Majesty, we are concerned that the crown is interfering with our affairs. Just yesterday, I was told that the steel I've been holding has been confiscated. Lord Gutherford here has had the majority of his timber taken by soldiers, saying it's for the good of the kingdom. May I ask what is going on?"
"What is going on, Lord Lindahl," Elsa explained as calmly as she could in face of such blissful ignorance. "Is that there is a war. I dare hope that you gentlemen have not forgotten about that. Those men are acting on my command as suggested by the Lord Commander. We need steel to make crossbow bolt heads and armour for our soldiers and we need timber to raise supplemental barricades."
"Could you not simply conjure more with your magical powers?" asked Lord Gutherford.
"At the risk of condemning Arendelle through harsher weathers," Elsa said resolutely. "I've already placed my people through one early winter. I will not put them through any more unnecessary suffering."
"Which is exactly what we are going through!" shouted another lord. It was obviously he had more to say but he was hastily silenced by his peers before he could continue.
"And the rationing, Your Majesty," Lord Lindahl quickly said. "My steward came in yesterday with two packs of rationing cards. Am I to assume that I am to only receive double the normal rationing?"
"I believe you are rather mistaken, my lord," Elsa replied. "One pack is meant for you and the other is meant for your steward."
"So everyone receives the same?" he asked, as if the concept of rationing was completely foreign to him.
"No, but since you are neither an active member of the military or the City Watch, a nursing or pregnant mother, or a child under the age of 12," Elsa explained, tactfully leaving out her opinion that he acted like the latter. "You cannot receive more rations than allotted to you."
"But why, Your Majesty?" he said, further reinforcing his resemblance to a child.
"Because we are in the middle of a siege!" she very nearly shouted. "There are enemies threatening our kingdom and we need to …"
"Enemies who are after you!" Lord Lindahl interrupted.
Silence dominated the throne room after his outburst. Stunned by his insolence, Elsa leaned her head back as her eyebrows flew up her face. But before she could respond, one of the courtiers to her left snarled, "How dare you! This is the Queen you're addressing!"
"Lord Lindahl speaks the truth!" cried the rowdy lord. And this time he wasn't silenced by his fellow gentlemen. "Their demands are quite clear. They want only the Queen and the Princess! Give them up and we will have peace."
"Are you mad?!" retorted the courtier. Elsa took a closer look at him, noticing the gentle touch of age upon his face and hair. Yet for a man of probably fifty-five years, he had the verbal bile of a temperamental youth. "Do you think it'll be that easy? And have you forgotten your vows?! To be forever loyal to your queen?"
"A queen who sleeps with her own sister is no true queen!"
"Liar!"
"Suck-up!"
And within seconds, the court quickly dissolved into a cacophonic anarchy with shouts and insults hurled at every direction. Elsa looked from one lord to the next as they hollered and screamed at each other's faces, completely ignoring that she was present in her throne room. As hands began to close around sword hilts and her royal guards started approaching with half-lowered halberds and nervous steps, she knew she had to take control before a civil war broke out in her own throne room. But how to get their attention. By now, the combined voices was deafening and she never possessed a strong shouting voice to begin with.
Fortunately Kai stepped forward and shouted with a voice she hadn't known he possessed, "QUIET!"
That was sufficient to stop everyone present from talking and now she had a chance to use that silence for anything. But what she was going to do? Tell Lord Lindahl that he was right and she should surrender herself to the mercenaries? Berate them all for acting so childish like an irate school mistress? What she did now would determine the course of her reign and inevitably her own fate and Anna's fate. And then something bizarre happened.
She stood up from her throne and, before her mind could seize control of herself, she turned her attention towards the people in front of her and said, "Lord Lindahl is correct in saying that our enemies have stated that their only goal is removing me and my sister from the throne. I would not disagree with that but please let every ear in Arendelle hear my, these words. I come before you, not…" She swallowed her saliva as she tried to both think of the words to say and argue with other parts of her mind. "Not as your ruler or your queen, but as your humble servant. Whose only care is to provide peace, prosperity, and…and happiness to you. And my people." She took a deep breath to ask herself just what was she doing. She was hardly a great orator; she had no business giving an impromptu speech! But all eyes were on her, examining and observing her, and if she made one wrong move, she might as well give herself over to the mercenaries and save them the trouble.
"I know I was given this responsibility at a very young age and some people might see as a weakness. …A sign that I am not fit to rule. And if you do not think I should sit on this throne. If you think that I should surrender myself to the invaders at our doors and give in to this threat. If that is what you believe, truly believe, then please speak. If not, then please know that you and every man, woman, and child in Arendelle. Everyone has my solemn and sacred oath that I will rule this kingdom with wisdom, kindness, and justice. As my dear and beloved father did before me."
Everyone was silent for a minute and Elsa stood anxiously, feeling rather exhausted from the effort spent on that speech. Then someone moved forward. But it wasn't from Lord Lindahl or Gutherford or any of the others. It was the courtier who first spoke on her behalf.
"Your Majesty," he said. "I was a loyal subject of your great father. I am and always will be your loyal subject. You have my absolute faith that you will guide us to a greater future." He pulled out his sword, bent his knees before her, placing the sword tip down against the floor, and cried, "Long live the Queen!"
His cry was echoed by other people in the throne room. Even Kai said it a few times before he stopped himself. Although some refrained from carrying their demonstration as far as the courtier did, their support nonetheless amazed her. Elsa looked around and saw everyone had gone on their knees. Even Lord Lindahl and his party although they did not join in the chanting and one or two of them had pulled down. But she didn't care. She had a feeling even if someone had wanted her to surrender herself, it wouldn't have happened. Not if Anna had her way, at least. But it comforted her to know that they all had faith in her. For now, at least.
One week had lapsed since he landed on Arendelle and so far Hans was disappointed with the progress. Very disappointed.
When he arrived at Belik, his immediate plan was to spread out and capture other villages in the area. Unfortunately all the other villages on this side of kingdom had already been evacuated before the Wild Band reached them. On the other side of the city, his men gave a similar report. He supposed he should be grateful he managed to get at least one. The next step was ensuring he did have the people inside the city had no way of getting in or out. Only an imbecile stormed the walls of a defended city and Hans was no imbecile. But he had to make sure the city was actually surrounded. Otherwise the siege would be pointless. Messages from his other forces on the opposite end of the city told him they have secured their side. After inspecting where the walls merged with the mountains, he was confident that this side was secured as well.
Of course the main problem was that the city could last twice as long as he could. The mercenary companies arranged their own supply lines and it only took a few ducats to get supplies for himself and the Duke's bodyguards but he still needed to pay the mercenaries. And both bodyguards made it amply clear that the Duke expected this venture to end before mid-autumn, one way or another. At first Hans had no idea how Arendelle could even last that long, especially since he had seen their warehouses and was confident they only had enough food for a month and a half. But then when he was inspecting Belik, he found a peculiar building that housed the village's food at a cool temperature with a layer of ice lining the walls. With half a dozen of these, it was obvious that Arendelle could safely store its food without fear of spoiling for a long period of time. Which meant Hans needed a change of tactics and luckily he had prepared for that. Or so he thought.
For mysterious reasons, and perhaps the same reasons how the Snow Queen received her powers, Hans had a slight affinity with animals since a boy. He always was better talking to the horses in the stables or the hounds in the kennels than to his brothers or his peers and he found they were better listeners than humans. So he had brought with him in this voyage a cage full of specially-bred mice. They couldn't speak nor did they carry the plague but they were smart enough to understand him when he asked them to find passages in and out of the city and the castle and point them out to him. And if all else failed, they could also devour the food stores, breed, and help bring the siege to a swifter end. That was the plan, at least. A couple days after he released the mice, he received a bag from one of his scouts and was told that he was asked to deliver it directly to the leader. When he upended the bag, a small shower of owl pellets and mice skeletons fell to the ground. Hans still wasn't sure which upset him the most: the fact that he thought this plan would actually work, the fact that he had lost a mischief of mice rather soon in the siege, the fact that the Snow Queen had thought to defend herself against rodents, or the fact that she thought she had to gloat over her victory by sending this bag.
And it didn't seem attacking from the sea was having much luck either. They had already tried venturing across the frozen fjord. It ended with a person falling into ice. No one else seemed eager to try another attempt so they were stuck pushing the icebreakers forward. Hans had observed them work, digging specialised oars into the ice and rowing the ships forward as men chiselled at the icy floor below them and sawed away the spikes with ropes tied around their waists. It was incredibly time-consuming and as each day elapsed, the ships gained only a few feet across the ice. What made it worse for Hans was that even if they reached the walls, he hadn't the faintest what he would do. Scaling the ice wall only brought them closer to Arendelle crossbows and God knew what else was waiting for them on the other side of the wall.
Valdemar had said that there were only three ways a siege could be won by the attackers: wait for the defenders to starve to death or die from a disease of some sort, destroy or sneak through the walls, or get someone inside the walls to let you in. It was obvious that the first two were going to take too long to work so Hans was forced to rely on the third. He regularly dropped letters by bird into the city, telling them that surrendering was their best option. That the people had no reason to fear the invaders if they simply gave up the sisters. He ordered more torches and fires lit in the camps and on the ships to make it seem they were more grossly outnumbered. He was also confident that the Ordo Malleus was hard at work twisting this invasion into a sermon about sinful rulers defying the will of God or something like that and equally sure that a few factions in the city were festering with resentment and annoyance towards the Snow Queen.
There was a knock against the door in the office he occupied for the time being.
"Come in," he said absentmindedly.
The door opened and Hans looked up to see Fritz standing under it.
"What is it?" he asked promptly.
"Sir," the shaven-faced man said. "The lads out there are getting restless."
Hans didn't even try to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Why? They're essentially getting paid to do nothing. I thought mercenaries loved sieges for that very reason."
"Most, yes. But a few of them, they're itching for a bit of action. Especially since now that war's broken out in Poland."
"War's broken out in Poland," Hans repeated. He couldn't exactly say he was surprised but he wished he learned about it by himself. "Well, I guess that means Corona isn't going to be able to help. That's good news. For most of us at least." He heard that the Coronan military had gone through some heavy restructuring that might make it one of the more capable forces. Definitely not able to contest an empire but a substantial threat for a small kingdom. "What else? I know you wouldn't come here unless it was really important."
Fritz sighed and said, "Mr Bolvangar says that his letter of credit from the Duke is missing."
"Missing?" Hans repeated again. "What does he mean 'missing'?"
"He said he had it on his counter in his room over the tavern this morning. He locked the door when he went out to check on his men and when he came back, the letter was gone."
"Did he leave his windows open?"
Fritz hesitated for a second before he admitted, "….Yes."
Hans groaned as he cradled his forehead with both hands.
"…Is that a bad thing?" asked Fritz tentatively.
"For me, not particularly," Hans replied, his voice muffled by his hands. But the anger and frustration in his voice was still strong enough to make the bodyguard flinch. "For you and your boss, however, yes. The Snow Queen has it."
"How?"
"One of her pet birds has stolen it," he said, raising his head from his palms. "That's why I told him to close the windows. I swore I saw a Xiongnu falcon flying around here last Wednesday." He glanced at Fritz's direction and saw bewilderment starting to cloud his face. Hans hastily explained, slowing his voice like a tutor would when talking to a particularly dim child, "One of the smartest birds in the world. And she has one of them."
"I'll get the lads to hunting, then," Fritz said.
Hans just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes but he couldn't resist snapping, "Don't bother. They'll never get it." His lips twisted in a brief snarl in frustration as he growled under his breath. What worries he had about the Queen and her minions intercepting his letters were confirmed. He still had a few options but his bag of tricks were running out.
Far off in the North Mountain, inside the deserted Ice Palace, a mighty monster was roused from his sleep. A long low groan echoed through the icy halls as the beast slowly stood up. Something was wrong. His mother was in danger. With a triumphant roar, The Lonely King of the Mountain shambled his way out of the ice palace and towards the besieged city of Arendelle.
"The armies standing at the doorstep of our doomed city was sent by Our Lord and in His infinite mercy, He offers the innocent salvation and peace. And to the guilty, to those who support that lecherous witch who lies with her own sister, He will punish in the fires of war. AND Hell!"
"Wow, that guy is really something, isn't he?" commented Kristoff lightly as he stood with Anna and Sven among the crowd that had gathered around the bishop preaching in the town square further from the palace. Her two guards stood at a respectful distance from them but he was still a little uncomfortable with their presence. Members of his cult gathered around him, leering at anyone who seemed to look at them too long. "I swear I've seen some of those guys before," he said, narrowing his eyes at them.
"Wait, who, them?" Anna asked, looking at him, then the cultists, and back to him.
"Yeah, they came by a couple years ago when we were working. They told us that our religion was wrong and that we had to convert to Catholicism or we wouldn't be true citizens of Arendelle."
"What did you say to them?"
"I think I told them to get out or I'd throw him in the frozen lake."
"God, I wish you did…" she said as she turned her gaze to the bishop.
"I don't understand, what they're saying clearly isn't going to make things easier for your sister and her army. Why doesn't she just have them all arrested?"
"I tried telling her that but she says she doesn't want to abuse her power like that. If she did that, then more people would be mad at her."
Kristoff simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "I suppose she has a fair point. But, hey, at least you got your women soldiers."
Anna gave a small smile and said, "True. I mean, it took some planning with the Lord Commander but I think he said he managed to get four all-female platoons. And he's going to try to find female officers for them and everything."
"So when this is over, people are going to remember that you were the one who came up with the idea and got it to work." he said in an obvious fake excited voice.
But, much to his dismay, she sighed and said, "Maybe. Or maybe they all fail and people are going to remember that I messed up. Again."
She had told him about the attack at the docks and how she had thought she was the one to blame for it since she pretty much invited them over. And even though she said she realised it wasn't her fault, Kristoff had a feeling that part of her still blamed herself for what happened. But he wasn't sure how much help he'll be. If her sister and her fencing instructor tried and couldn't help her get past it, he doubt he could.
There was so much of Bishop Mathesien's ranting that Kristoff could take and eventually the three of them walked off to head back to the palace, Anna's pair of guards following them. They walked past an ice tower, one of several Elsa created in the city. Squads of soldiers were patrolling everywhere, more than he had ever seen his life. Anyone who was on the street didn't stick around for too long and most of them had a club or an axe in within hand's reach. They passed by one of the Royal Emergency Shops with the adjoining warehouse and Kristoff saw that a queue of people at the threshold of the shop. Sven glanced wistfully at the Shop and gave a small bellow. Knowing exactly what he wanted, Kristoff immediately rummaged through his pockets for his packet of ration cards.
"I know I have it here somewhere…" he muttered when he felt a tap against his shoulder. He looked up and saw Anna holding her own. And the first thing he asked was "Wait, why do you have ration cards? You're the princess."
"Elsa and I agreed to go on rations as well," she explained. "It wouldn't be fair to limit how much our people could eat while we ate what we wanted..."
"Yeah but don't you need them?" Kristoff asked, still staring at the cards in her hand.
She just shrugged and said, "I can give up one vegetable ration for Sven. Elsa won't mind."
They joined the queue and at first the people there were fairly oblivious to who was standing. But then one of them turned around for whatever reason and clearly recognised the princess. With a shocked "Your Highness", she stepped back and dipped into a curtsey. Soon everyone saw the royal in their midst and bowed and curtseyed. Then they all stepped back until she and Kristoff had a clear path to the counter in the shop. But Anna shook her head.
"No, carry on like normal," she said. "You all stood patiently to bring your food for your family. I don't want to spoil it for you guys."
It took them a while for them to actually get back in line but after Anna smiled at the brave person who inched his way into his former place, it wasn't long before everyone else joined him. Even still many people kept glancing at Anna as if they didn't believe she was actually there. The City Watch officers posted in the shop and the two guards scowled but Anna gave them a small wave when she noticed someone looking at her. They were also much quicker in getting their rations than Kristoff suspected they would normally. He was sure they would be waiting for at least forty minutes but almost twenty minutes later, they walked out of the shop with a bag of carrots for Sven.
"I'll pay you back, I promise," Kristoff kept saying as he fed Sven. "I just don't know why I couldn't find it. Must have left at my room, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Anna said, stroking the reindeer's neck. "Whatever I can do to help. I still feel awful with what I said to you. But…"
"Hey, it's okay. I'm…well, I'm glad you actually told me. Not a lot of people have that kind of courage."
Anna smiled at him and agreed to take a bite from the carrot when he offered it to her. After he finished off the carrot, the three continued their way back to the palace. Suddenly Kristoff heard a faint sound of glass breaking somewhere behind them. At first he thought nothing of it but then the wind brought a whiff of smoke to his nose. He whirled around and saw the shop he walked out of just minutes before engulfed in flames. Screams echoed across the streets as once more bells began to ring. Three short high ones, different from the low bellowing ones of invaders in the city. But Kristoff doubted that would make a difference to the people.
Anna turned around and saw the fire and then her eyes looked at something. "Look," she said, pointing at somewhere near the burning store. Kristoff squinted through the smoke and could see someone was running away from the fire. And he doubted he was running to get the fire brigade. But before he could react, Anna rushed towards him, deaf to his cries and with her guards hot at her heels. He groaned in frustration before turning to Sven.
"Sven, go get Elsa," he said. "I don't know if she already knows what's going on. And yeah, I know she probably can't understand you. But she's smart enough to know it's an emergency and she could lose a lot of food in the fire. Can you do that?"
Sven bellowed in affirmation. "Good boy, Sven," he said. As the reindeer trotted off, he turned back to the fire. He couldn't chase after the arsonist as Anna did. He already lost sight of them both. But there were people still in that shop and food that the city relied on and he needed to save them. Sure, most of the customers probably wouldn't think too kindly of him because of who he was and where he came from. And he had his doubts if they would be willing to rush into a burning building to save Sami people. The utter disdain and mistrust the Royal Treasurer gave him at the Council still stayed in his thoughts even as he worked to help the city in this war, toiling with Elsa's soldiers in raising the defences of the city and going through training with the other conscripts. It wasn't fair. Fair would be leaving the people to suffocate in the smoke and the supplies to burn in the flames. Fair would be getting Sven and sneaking out of the city. Fair would be never alerting Elsa about the invasion in the first place.
But being fair didn't always mean the right thing.
He sprinted towards the building and looked for the nearest City Watch officer. With all the new recruits, they didn't have enough uniforms to distribute and settled for purple and green scarves and silver pins. So it was a little more difficult to find one but Kristoff eventually found a woman with a purple scarf, keeping people away from the fire.
"Officer, is there anything I can do to assist?" he asked, showing his medal as Official Ice Deliverer and Master. He had about as much business helping out as the couple quickly scurrying away from the fire and he knew that. But maybe she didn't.
"Fire brigade's on their way," she said briskly. "Still don't know what caused the fire though."
"It could be arson," Kristoff said. "Heard a glass crack before the fire started and I think I saw someone running off." Seeing the look of frustration growing on her face, he quickly said, "But my…ehhh….associate is chasing him down." He didn't think it was a good idea to mention that the Princess of Arendelle was running after the arsonist like a common City Watch officer.
Although she still looked unhappy, she seemed content with his lie. "Very well," she said. "The fire started in the warehouse part of the shop so we managed to get all of the people out. Of course that also means nearly two weeks of food for the entire city will be going up in flames."
"Okay, so we gotta save as much of that as we can," he said, mostly to himself.
The officer nodded. "But unfortunately we have to wait for Fire Brigade before we can do anything…"
Kristoff just nodded and waited. And after three minutes, a large cart pulled by four horses stormed through the streets, accompanied by an entourage of firefighters. As several of them began assembling the hose with the hydrant, the rest with Kristoff went inside the burning building to rescue what they could of the supplies. All he heard was the roar and crackling of the fire as he lifted wooden boxes, objects wrapped in paper, and burlap sacks and handed them off to whoever's arms were free. The air was thick with smoke and even with the wet rag tied over his nose and mouth, it tasted foul. All was fine for a while until when Kristoff reached for a wooden crate, he heard a groan coming from the shelves and the next thing he knew, the entire thing was starting to lean towards him.
He quickly put his arms over his head and tried to scramble away but he only managed a few steps before the shelves collapsed on top of him, landing on his lower body. Kristoff ground his teeth as pain surged from his legs to his head but the fact that he was in pain meant he could still feel. He tried slipping his legs out but it seemed they were pinned. But hey, at least the shelves weren't on fire. Yet. He had no intention of dying here and not for something like this. For Sven, absolutely. For Bulda and his family, sure. For Anna, definitely. But for something as mundane as…food, heroic death this was not.
As if he thought it couldn't get any worse, he saw that some of the embers had landed on the shelves and soon enough, that began to catch on fire. Oh…great, he thought and as he felt the heat slowly surround and smother him, he tried his best to keep his breathing even and wriggle his way out of his situation. The top of the shelves dug uncomfortably through his clothes and he felt it scrap against his stomach. Similarly his boots were caught against a shelf. Then it was like someone dumped an entire bucket of panic over his head as he wondered if he was going to lie her choking on the smoke and abandoned by the very people he was trying to save. Suddenly someone stood over him. A few someones. He had not been completely forgotten as he had feared. As two of them lifted the shelves off him, another extended his hand out for him. Gratefully Kristoff grabbed and slowly pulled himself on to his steady feet. However that wasn't the end of his plight.
Part of the ceiling still on fire fell under the heat and then yet another set of shelves fell on top of that. While no one was under all that burning mess, the barricade was too high to climb over and with the flames closing in on them, it was plain to everyone they were effectively trapped inside. As they all immediately tried their best to clear the path, Kristoff instantly felt guilty. Because of his mistake, he was going to doom three more people who only tried to save him. He imagined the feeling was similar to how Anna must have felt when she found out Soluian was filled with mercenaries trying to assassinate her and her sister. But he felt too embarrassed to say sorry to them and did his best to not look at any of them as they worked.
With their axes, they managed to clear some of it away and but just as Kristoff pulled his axe back for another swing, the smoke became too much and he began coughing, his grip on the axe lost. He crouched on the ground and coughed for a good minute or so. When one of them stopped his work and went towards him, Kristoff waved him away. To him, it was more important that these three strangers went on and survived. They tried to save him once and they got themselves trapped in his mess for their troubles. They didn't need to try for a second time. And then he felt something hit his cheek and gently slid down on it. Something cold and something wet.
Kristoff looked up and saw snow drifting down from the burning ceiling and onto the burning flames. At first they just melted in the fire but the snow was relentless and eventually all the flames were smothered. Gradually the smoke cleared from the partially burned building. Kristoff tore the rag off his face and coughed a few more times before he joined the other firefighters in climbing over the debris. When they finally reached outside, he saw Elsa on a horse with her royal guards behind her and Olaf in her lap. Sven stood nearby and upon seeing him, dashed for Kristoff. He nuzzled his head against his shoulder, turning his head so that his massive antlers didn't touch him.
"Hey, buddy," Kristoff said, rubbing his neck. "I'm sorry to worry you like that. Won't happen again. Promise." He turned from Sven to see the queen approach him, still mounted on her horse. But it was Olaf who spoke first.
"Kristoff!" he exclaimed, bouncing off the horse and giving his leg a hug. "You're okay! Boy, am I glad to see you!"
Kristoff gave a weak chuckle, looked down, and said, "You, too, Olaf. You, too…" He looked back at the queen and said, "Your Majesty, I'm grateful for your assistance."
She smiled politely and said, "Once more, I must thank you for your courage, Kristoff. And your service to this kingdom. I'm very grateful to have you with us."
He blushed and idly scratched the back of his neck. "It's nothing," he mumbled. "I'm surprised you understood Sven though."
"I did the translating!" boasted Olaf as he waddled towards Elsa, still facing him. He took her outstretched hand and climbed back to the horse. "At first she didn't know what he was trying to say so I told her that Sven needed her somewhere important and she just had to follow him."
"Well," Kristoff remarked, still slightly surprised. "I'm glad it all worked out. So…how much of the supplies did we manage to save?"
"Oh, I wouldn't know until the City Watch finish their work," Elsa said. "But I have one more question."
Kristoff nodded and waited.
"Where's Anna?"
Just try to imagine an early Disney style or an American Tail style story going on with Hans' mice as they try to find all the secret passages in and out of the city and the castle. Only to be eaten by a cat or an owl. Yup, I'm a monster. :DD Hans being somewhat able to communicate with animals came from a headcanon I ran into on Tumblr and it seemed to make sense. Especially if he was mostly neglected by his brothers.
The old courtier will be a bit important. He was already mentioned once so I guess it's time for you to go back and try to figure out who he is. Should be fairly easy. Elsa's speech was actually going to be much more public but I decided that this would be a better place for her to have it especially when she's being questioned openly in her own throne room. At first I wrote the speech as a public speaker and then added little mistakes and pauses because Elsa is many things but an incredible orator she is not.
Once again, thank you for reading and I welcome any and all feedback or criticism you might have to offer.