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. You guys are seriously the absolute best.
lazerbem: With Anna wishing death, it isn't quite so simple. She knows that killing is wrong and she really doesn't want to do it. But she also loves Elsa to death and if killing someone means Elsa lives another day, she'll do it. She would beat herself over it a little bit but she'll do it. And when she attached the training dummy, she lost control of her emotions. As for why Hans dismissed Berk so easily, even if Berk is allied with Arendelle, Berk is so isolated from them and have their own affairs that Hans is certain they wouldn't help Arendelle without a good reason. Hans has a somewhat unusual idea of altruism, in my head. He knows that it has its uses and it would make him look good but ultimately he doesn't understand why people would do something at a cost to themselves with no benefits. And no, God isn't going to manifest Himself nor will the White Witch be appearing. I threw Berk in because, everyone's been doing it so why not.
Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen and its characters, plots, etc and I do not make or intend to make any profit from this.
In hindsight, it probably wasn't a brilliant idea to chase a random guy in the streets like she did. But, in the rush of things, Anna did what she thought was right and that was catching the scumbag who tried to burn down one of their warehouses and endanger the people. Despite the huge head start the arsonist got, she was quickly catching up to him. Then he started to do something very weird. He ran towards one of the buildings and began climbing up the window ledges. Undeterred, she climbed up after him. True, she sucked at climbing mountains but climbing windows was easy. She knew all the places to put her feet and hands. Unfortunately it didn't seem that Evald and Tormond did too.
She pulled herself over the roof and continued her chase as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop. As she ran, she prayed that her feet stayed steady and her clumsiness didn't flare up now all the while keeping her target in her sight and thinking of ways of ending this chase. Then the arsonist jumped to the streets below and Anna seized her chance. She pounced from the roof and landed on him. While her arms didn't close around his waist as she had hoped, she still managed to grab his legs and, with a pull, the arsonist fell to the ground. All of her breath was pushed out of her chest and she groaned in pain and shook her head to get rid of the stars in her eyes. However she was still the first to go up to her feet and as the arsonist struggled to stand, she stepped on his back, forcing him back to the ground. Then she unsheathed her sword and hissed, "Don't even think about it, mister."
With her left hand she grabbed him by the neck and pulled him up. He tried to writhe his way out of her grip but a knee to the sides put an end to that.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Why did you try to burn that warehouse?"
He didn't answer. She supposed she could try beating him to get some answers from him but she didn't think Elsa would exactly approve of that. Sighing with frustration, she half-dragged, half-marched the arsonist down the road, hoping to find Evald and Tormond…somewhere in here. She couldn't seem to recall if she has ever been in this part of the city. She was beginning to regret her reckless actions when she saw two City Watch officers. Upon seeing her with her prisoner, they ran towards her.
"Your Highness," one of them said as his partner took out a pair of handcuffs. "Who is this man?"
"The arsonist who tried to burn down one of the Royal Emergency Shops," she replied. "I think the City Watch would want to question him."
"Of course, Your Highness," the City Watch officer said. Then just as his partner was about to place the handcuffs on the arsonist, the officer took out his sword and swept it across his partner's throat. Blood erupted from the wound and some of it splashed onto Anna, causing her to shriek as she stumbled back.
"Get out of here," the officer commanded the arsonist as his partner's body collapsed to the ground. His voice sounded muted to Anna, almost as if she was hearing him through ears stuffed with cotton. She continued to stagger in shock until she saw him approach her with his sword coated in blood and swung it at her. She pulled her own sword up for a weak but passable parry and the sound of the swords hitting against each other was enough to pull her from her daze.
"Let's see what the princess can do," he sneered.
Anna stayed silent. Instead she mentally recited the mantra drilled into her as part of her training: A sharper focus beats a sharper blade, a sharper focus beats a sharper blade. She was not going to let this man's taunts make her lose her concentration. Not helping matters though was the fact that the officer's sword was a broadsword, significantly heavier than her rapier. She didn't know how strong her own blade was but she imagined one hit at the wrong place could break it.
He attempted another attack, a downward slash, and while she was more prepared to defend, she was still surprised how fast he was with the heavier sword. She parried, shoved his blade to the side and prepared for a lunge. However she couldn't decide where her point should land and he batted her sword away from him. As she kept her focus despite his taunts and exchanged parries and swings, she couldn't help but wonder where everyone was. Surely Evald and Tormond would try to find her. Surely there was another City Watch patrol or a squad of soldiers marching down this road anytime soon. Surely there was at least someone who saw the fighting and went to raise the alarm in concern. But for all matters and purpose, she was alone with the corrupt City Watch officer.
"Come on, princess!" he sneered. "This isn't some fancy fencing duel done in tournaments and competitions." And as if to prove his point, he parried her swing and then punched her in the cheek with his basket hilt. Anna staggered a few steps back with a moan, tasting the blood in her mouth. She just barely recovered in time to block his attack. A sharper focus beats a sharper blade, a sharper focus beats a sharper blade, she thought as she tried to gather her senses back. The officer made another attack and she dodged out of the sword's path, placing herself closer to her opponent. She swept her sword upward and though he too dodged the attack, she still managed to get a shallow cut below his shoulder.
He growled not in pain, Anna thought, but probably in frustration as he savagely swung his sword at her neck level. She quickly ducked, feeling the blade part the air mere inches above her, and stood up only to see him try to punch her again with his left fist. She wasn't going to have any of that though. Turning her sword downward, she then slashed up, the blade slicing across his extended arm. Had she had a heavier sword like the officer's broadsword, she might have cut his arm off. As it was, her sword still bit through the heavy coat and left a gash across the arm in its path.
The officer curled in pain but as Anna approached to deliver another blow, he suddenly and wildly swung his sword, slicing through her skirts and across her thigh. It was her turn to cry out again as the fire surged from her leg all the way up her body and towards her head. Again she stepped further back.
"You know what the people say about you in the streets?" he said, ruthlessly pressing his attack despite his injuries. He didn't seem to care about control or finesse or grace or anything a true swordsman practiced. All he did was just hammer blow after blow against her. And the worst part was that it was working. With every attack, her defence became weaker. One particularly poor attempt at a parry left her with a cut over her left collarbone. It wasn't particularly long but it was rather deep and her left arm felt numb and limp. An equally weak dodge from his attack left another cut across her back. "They say you're useless. They say you're stupid. They say they rather have an unstable witch as queen than a pathetic boring dumb girl like you. They're glad that you're just the spare."
At his words, Anna was at the verge of losing control of herself. She wanted to lash out against him, cut his disgusting tongue out, slit his throat for good measure, and impale the scum of a man with her sword right through the gaping pit he had instead of a heart. Ignoring her injuries and her pain, she struck back, whipping her sword in wild motions that did nothing but make her enemy laugh. Focus! her mind screamed at her. A sharper focus beats a sharper blade. But it was only after she slashed weakly one more time did she finally rein her emotions in. By then she felt exhausted and had no strength left to do anything.
The officer snickered as he swished his sword a few times. "Yield," he demanded.
Anna shook her head furiously, still trying her hardest to summon one last burst of energy. He simply shrugged, swished his sword one last time, and said, "Very well."
He stepped forward, his sword held high over his left shoulder so that his face was above his right elbow. But just as he brought it down to his right, Anna slipped to her right and stumbled forward to lunge with her sword, hitting the officer in his right shoulder. She then half-twisted, half-pushed her blade an inch or so further until the officer dropped his sword. Only then did she withdraw, watching him fall to his knees. Anna kicked his sword aside, placed hers under his chin, and snarled, "I'm much more than just the spare."
He coughed out a few drops of blood and said, "No, you're a bloody moron. That's what you are. Do you know even know where we are now?"
She looked around and saw that she somehow ended up in a small garden. Far from where she tackled the arsonist and certainly far from where the shop and Kristoff were.
"You're standing in the property of Lord Gyldenløve. And you've just attacked and grievously wounded a servant of Lord Gyldenløve. He will have your head for that, trust me."
"I'm the princess of Arendelle," she snapped back. "And I'm standing in the property of my sister, the Queen. And I've defended myself from the enemy of the crown."
"Hah!" he barked. "Not for long, you are."
"You there! Drop your sword and get down on your knees!" a voice suddenly shouted at her.
Anna looked up and saw five men dressed in black overcoats. Three of them had spears, one of them had a sabre, and the last one had a crossbow aimed at her. She could just surrender. It would be so easy for her body to do exactly that. Even without her injuries, the effort she put in in her chase of the arsonist and then her duel with the officer has drained her of everything. But she knew what they would do once they had her. They would demand Elsa surrender herself or else Anna would be harmed in some fashion. And Elsa being Elsa would either comply or simply rage through them like a blizzard. And she would push her people further from her. And they would eventually surrender to Hans' mercenaries who would do what they came here to do.
No way was she going to let that happen.
With a grunt of pain, Anna sheathed her sword, turned around, and ran as fast as her tired muscles would let her. She heard the crossbowman pull the trigger and instinctively ducked as the bolt flew past her head. Then she continued to run as Lord Gyldenløve's guards chased her. She knew she could climb up to the rooftops and escape that way. But with her left arm flopping uselessly at her side and the cut on her thigh slowly oozing blood, there was no more thrilling fancy running moves from her today.
Then she landed on her left foot wrong which made the wound feel a thousand times worse. Grinding her teeth hard, she managed to silence the cry of pain that was just trying to burst from her mouth. But she couldn't get any faster than a clumsy limp. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the five men have caught up with her. Resigned to her fate but determined not to go down without a fight, she turned around, unsheathed her sword, and waited for them to attack.
Suddenly she felt the air around her go cold and a small spray of snow hit her across the cheek. All five of the lord's men turned to their left in shock and Anna felt compelled to see what they were just looking at.
Her sister had come, riding a magnificent white horse with Olaf in her lap. Behind her there was an icy bridge stood above the buildings in the city. There was worry and fury in Elsa's face and as her horse neighed and tossed his head, she commanded, "Get away from my sister."
Either the men were incredibly brave or just stupid because their leader said, "Get her. Get them both."
The two of the spearmen approached Elsa while the third went for Anna. But all three of them only managed a step each before Elsa lazily waved her hand and encased their feet in ice on the road. The crossbowmen raised his weapon and pulled the trigger but a blast of ice froze the bolt and his hands to the crossbow. Cursing, the officer charged at Elsa, only to slip on a sheet of ice and hit his head with an audible crack. Smiling at her sister's awesomeness despite her pain, Anna limped towards her as quickly as she could. With Elsa's and Olaf's help, she managed to climb on the horse and settled into the space between them. While the cut on her thigh and shoulder stopped bleeding, they still hurt and when she sat on the horse, a sharp jolt of pain went up her body.
As the horse began to gallop on the icy bridge, the little snowman immediately turned his torso and head towards her and cried, "Anna! Oh god, I'm so so so happy you're okay. I thought we would be too late." He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face into her chest.
"Me, too," Anna said, placing her head on top of his. "Me, too." She moaned as she felt herself slowly drift away into unconsciousness.
"Hang in there, Anna," cried Elsa. "We'll be home soon. Just hang on."
"Stay with us, Anna," Olaf added. "We got you…"
Anna gave a soft smile and said, "I will, guys. I will…" Throughout the entire ride, Olaf never let go of Anna and Elsa always kept one hand wrapped tightly around Anna's.
"We have finished cataloguing the remains of the Nordstra shop, Your Majesty," Secretary Hovland reported. "We have lost three weeks of supplies for the district. We are able to redistribute the resources so the overall loss will be closer to around ten days if we stay with the current rationing plan."
"Would that still be possible?" Elsa asked, taking the paper that he had slid across her desk and placing it to the side.
"Master Engelstad believes so," he said. "He thought that it was important to not change the rationing plan for morale reasons."
"Well, he's not exactly wrong," she said. "What of Lord Gyldenløve?" She found out that the lord who ordered the attack on Anna was the most outspoken member of Lord Lindahl's party four days ago and immediately ordered his arrest.
"We attempted to arrest Lord Gyldenløve for conspiracy to assassinate the princess and treason last night," the Home Secretary replied. "But when we arrived, we discovered he had fled the city with at least a dozen men."
"How?" she demanded, gripping the edge of her desk and watching as frost trickled from her fingers and across the surface.
Secretary Hovland glanced anxiously at the forming ice and hastily said, "It seems that he has considerable influence over a few key members of the military."
Elsa just barely stopped herself from snorting in disgust. "First the City Watch, now the military," she said. "I want you to do a thorough house cleaning, Secretary Hovland. I expect the Lord Commander to do the same. I will not tolerate corruption or disloyalty among the men and women sworn to defend my people. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," he said.
"Do you have any good news for me?" she asked, lifting her hands from the desk. The frost still remained.
"Yes, I do. We've arrested the man who attacked Her Highness and he confessed to being planted in the City Watch as an agent for Lord Gyldenløve. However he had no knowledge of the arson."
"So the arson and the attempted assassination are two separate incidents," Elsa concluded. "I confess, Secretary Hovland, I'm finding this very hard to believe. That the arsonist flees towards the estates of a noble who is less than pleased with me and with a few members of both the City Watch and the military in his pockets. And one of his agents just happened to come across my sister as she tried to restrain the arsonist."
"Stranger things have happened before, Your Majesty."
"There is strange and there is…incredibly improbable." She sighed and continued, "Whatever, if this is indeed the sequence of events as it happened, then so be it. Now to prevent something like this from happening again." She pressed her fist against her lips as she contemplated her choices. They weren't going to be pleasant ones, she knew that for sure. "I want a curfew established from ten o'clock in the evening to six in the morning. No one is to be out on the streets except trusted officers and soldiers. I'll leave you to decide who best suits that criteria in your department."
"Very good, Your Majesty," he said, scribbling her commands down on a notepad he produced from his pocket.
"Have the royal hawks returned from their trips yet?"
"They have, Your Majesty."
"Good. Then henceforth, only royal messenger birds are allowed. Any other birds are to be intercepted or shot down."
The Home Secretary simply nodded as he wrote.
"Thirdly, I'm allowing warrantless entries from either the City Watch, the military, or Julia's operatives. Simply remind all of them that they are not to abuse this luxury and that all entries must have my approval or it will be considered as an act of disloyalty and punished accordingly.
"And lastly…I am disbanding habeas corpus until this siege has ended. I am to be personally informed of the cause but once I've agreed the cause of detention is reasonable, then it is given cause regardless of what the detainee may say. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Good, you may be dismissed," she said.
Secretary Hovland stood up, bowed from the waist, and said, "Your Majesty."
Elsa waited until the door closed behind him before she exhaled the heavy sigh that had been building up since she began her destruction of personal liberty in Arendelle. She had no idea if this was the right decision but it felt like the right one of all the choices she had. She knew what the people would say once they found out they couldn't send mail through birds or couldn't stay outside after hours or could have their homes entered with no warning or even thrown in the dungeon. But between the arson, yet another attack on her sister, and Lord Gyldenløve's treachery, she had to keep her people safe during this crisis.
Or is it Anna you want to keep safe? a voice asked her. She had sat by her bedside and watched as her sister received the sutures for her wounds. Held her hand and winced with her as the needle pierced her skin. That was the price of her lack of vigilance and what some parts of her called her lenience. Elsa wondered if she made a mistake letting the Ordo Malleus go on as long as they had. Or letting Hans live when she could have crushed him like an ant. Or letting the discontented lords fester and spread their influence. Or letting the people question her right to rule as their queen. After seeing Anna in bed from her wounds, Elsa knew she had to be harsh and merciless to correct her mistakes. And she could be. She could be the Ice Queen everyone, in one fashion or another, feared her to be. Everyone…including Papa.
She looked at the portrait of her father that hung opposite of her. For the longest time ever she could never figure what the expression he had on. Most of the time, she thought he just didn't have an expression at all. But then sometimes when she had lost control of her magic, she imagined he was disappointed in her. When she first realised she had developed intimate feelings for Anna, she pictured he was staring at her with disapproval but as their relationship blossomed, his expression warmed. The first time she thought he ever looked approving was when she brought an end to the winter she caused, was reunited with her beloved sister, and finally controlled the magic that had plagued their family for so long. Today though he seemed a little afraid to her, as if behind his stoic mask, he could see the monster she had stirring inside her.
"Your Majesty?" called a guard outside her study.
Jerked from her thoughts, Elsa jumped an inch from her chair. "Yes? What is it?" she asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.
"Mistress Julia to see you, Your Majesty," she replied.
"Send her in, please," she called back.
Seconds later, the door opened and Julia walked in and curtseyed.
"Your Majesty," she greeted as the door was shut behind her. "How is your sister doing?"
"She's resting now," Elsa calmly replied. It could be the paranoia and the fear but she wasn't exactly overly fond of her spymaster asking after Anna.
"I know you're eager to see her so I'll do my best to keep what I have to say brief," Julia said, taking a seat in front of her. "Firstly, a list of potential City Watch officers and military personnel that have conflicting loyalties. These have also been given to the Home Secretary and the Lord Commander." She withdrew a mercifully thin pile of paper from her portfolio.
"This list wouldn't include your own little seeds, would it?" Elsa asked, accepting the pile from her and gaining a smirk from the spymaster.
"While they do report to and serve me, their loyalty as well as mine lies in you, Your Majesty."
Elsa smirked back at her, not the playful ones she gave to Anna and only Anna but a gloating one. "I'll say this much, Julia," she said. "You're rather quick. I only gave Secretary Hovland the order to clean his department minutes ago."
For some reason, Julia sounded a bit hesitant as she said, "Forgive…me, Your Majesty, but I assumed you wanted to purge the dissidents among the City Watch and the military quite some time ago so I took the liberty to root them out for you."
Elsa glared at her. "And am I to assume you've done the same with your people?" she asked.
"Well, yes," Julia confessed. "I was forced to do a little…pruning."
"I'm surprised to hear that you have the same problem," Elsa said, leaning back into her chair.
"All gardens have weeds, Your Majesty. It's up to the gardener to cull them before they spread."
"Well, the next time you cull your weeds, do me the courtesy of informing me first."
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
"What else?"
"My plants in the banks have returned to me. With the help of the letter of credit the falcon retrieved for us, we have managed to identify all five of the Duke of Weselton's accounts, two held in his name and three held in aliases. Well, what's left of them."
"Depleted his accounts for this endeavour?" asked Elsa.
"That and he's been paying the price for the trade agreement between you and the King of Holstein. They say that he has less than five hundred ducats left. They have also given me a very detailed list of his transactions." Julia took out a thicker pile of paper and handed it to Elsa.
Elsa slipped her glasses on and read down the list, noting the amount of money the Duke was pouring into his revenge. Or rather his conjoined revenge with Hans.
"Two hundred twenty-five thousand ducats to the Oderverk Shipyard in Stettin, a combined sum of one thousand five hundred to the former Mr Rubik and company, thirty thousand to Mr Wattman of the Wild Band of Men…" she recited. "At last, evidence that the Duke of Weselton, at the very least, is involved in the siege of my kingdom. But we still don't have any proof that he's working with Hans."
Julia shook her head.
"Do you know how long one could keep the Wild Band of Men for thirty thousand ducats?" Elsa asked, drumming her fingers on the frost.
"Six weeks," she replied. "Which means…"
"If they're paying the rest of the mercenaries for the same duration, then they will leave before our supplies have depleted," she finished, feeling a little joy for the first time in a long time. "Get word of this to the Home Secretary and have the news spread throughout the city." Then a sudden thought came to her and crushed that small burst of elation. "Unless…"
"Unless what, Your Majesty?"
"They find alternative means of paying them. What options do you imagine they have?"
Julia looked up for a minute in reflection and then answered, "Borrow money from either the Swiss or the Italian banks, appeal to sympathetic lords or nations for funds. The Duke could raise a few hundred ducats if he puts a new tax of some sort. But in my opinion, those seem rather unlikely."
"Perhaps…perhaps not…" she muttered, scanning the list for any deposits in the Duke's accounts and finding none from the last two weeks. "I would like weekly reports on his financial activity."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Then she added, "Would you like to take any further action against the Duke?"
"Further action?" Elsa repeated slowly.
"I could arrange for his permanent removal, if you like. Both the Lord Commander's scouts and my own spies have reported both his bodyguards are here so he is rather vulnerable. The letter of credit with the Duke's seal and signature is proof enough should anyone deem our actions too harsh."
Elsa frowned as she contemplated that action. Having the Duke killed would not stop the siege since the mercenaries have already been paid for six weeks of service but it would stop them from receiving any further payment. But only from the Duke himself.
"How well does the Duke get along with his people?" she asked as she devoted a great portion of her mind to continue thinking what to do with him.
"General consensus is he is neither beloved nor detested. His recent fiasco here has undermined his popularity somewhat and I doubt that anyone would be terribly upset over his passing. He is childless so the duchy would pass to his cousin who, as I understand, has no particular love for him. However, he is both wealthy and simple-minded. More than the Duke, if you can believe it."
"So he could be easily persuaded into continuing his cousin's work," concluded Elsa. "And the King of Holstein might consider continuing the siege even if he was not fond of the Duke. Proof or no proof, he is not going to take the assassination of one of his subjects lightly especially if he has a chance of subduing us. No, I don't want you to kill him. Besides the Duke's death would introduce new players into this game and this is far too complicated already."
Of course, the real reason why she didn't want the Duke killed was actually staring at her behind Julia.
"That does not mean I do not expect him to answer for his crimes," she clarified. "When this siege is over, I will be seeking justice from him one way or another. If I have to personally lead an attack on Weselton, that is what I will do." She just wasn't entirely sure whom she was saying this to: Julia or herself.
"Of course, Your Majesty," Julia said. "Anything else?"
"Yes… I want you to plant whatever seeds you have left into the nobles most likely to defect."
"I'll try my best, Your Majesty. But I cannot guarantee I'll be successful. They will likely have taken measures to hinder me."
"Just do what you can."
"Very well. If there is nothing else, I'll leave to handle my affairs and you to yours."
Elsa nodded and watched as her spymaster rose from her seat.
"Please send your sister my deepest wishes for a speedy recovery," she said before curtseying and leaving her study.
Elsa quickly gathered the papers to the side before she too left her study for their bedroom. The palace was positively teeming with guards now. Not including the six guards trailing every step she took, there was a pair almost every dozen yards, more in the lower public areas. On top of that, she was more than confident Julia had succeeded in replacing almost the entire household staff with or recruiting them into her own seeds.
When she arrived, she found Anna's pair of guards on either side of the door, both of whom immediately bowed upon seeing her.
"Your Majesty," they both chorused before one of them said, "We wish to apologise once more for failing to fulfil our duties to the princess in her time of need."
"And once more, I accept your apologies and forgive you both," Elsa replied. When she returned to the palace with Anna and Olaf, she found out that when the guards lost sight of Anna, they had gone to the nearest City Watch station to gather a search party. They did everything they were supposed to do yet they still thought they had failed the princess through no fault of their own. Ultimately it was Anna who convinced them that they had not failed and told them that she would be sad to see them go.
The two guards opened the door into their bedroom whereupon Elsa saw Kristoff and Olaf gathered around Anna who was sitting on her bed and merrily chatting with them. But when she heard the door open, she looked up and beamed with a radiant smile.
"Elsa!" she exclaimed.
"Anna," Elsa greeted, walking towards the bed. Both Kristoff and Olaf scooted out of the way so the two sisters could share a hug, Elsa taking great care to avoid aggravating Anna's injuries. When they pulled apart, Elsa sat down next to her and asked, "How do you feel?"
"Fine, I guess," Anna said. "Actually I'm really bored. It sucks just sitting here in bed with nothing to do."
"Don't worry, Anna!" Olaf cried gleefully. "I'll make you sure you don't get too bored."
"And you'll do a great job, I'm sure," Elsa said, patting the snowman on the head. Olaf pulled his shoulders together and chuckled to himself. Looking back to her sister, she said, "Has Dr Tollesen seen you yet?"
"Yeah! Like just an hour ago or so. He looked at my stitches, checked to see if they were infected, and asked me to move my arms and legs a little bit. He said it'll be a couple more days before I should be moving about. But he said absolutely no fighting for at least a week." She added a little pout at the last sentence.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're doing well, Anna. We were all worried sick about you when you ran off like that."
"I know and I'm sorry. I know I should have waited and…"
"Hey," Elsa said, gently cutting her off and holding her hand. "It's okay. You got back here safely and that's all that matters."
"Did we end up getting the guy? The arsonist?" Anna asked.
Elsa sighed and felt herself sink deeper into the bed. "No, we couldn't find him. But we did arrest the corrupt officer, thanks to you."
"And the lord he was working for? Did we get him too?"
Elsa shook her head. She could tell that Anna really wanted her efforts to be worth something and knowing that the two main perpetrators have escaped justice must be upsetting.
"It's okay, Anna," she said, squeezing her hand. Olaf placed a hand on Anna's opposite shoulder. "We know who the lord is and who he's friends with. Julia has her people watching them now. You helped us prepare for the next betrayal."
"Next betrayal?" Kristoff repeated. "Do you think the other nobles will join Hans and his mercenaries?"
"More bad men?" asked Olaf nervously. "You mean besides that one group and Hans? How many of them are there, Elsa?"
"A lot," Elsa answered sadly. "I think there's a group of noblemen who want me out of the throne."
"They don't like you're the queen? But why?"
Like I knew the answer to that, she thought mirthlessly. "I don't know…maybe one of them is still upset that I refused to marry him."
"Of course he can't marry you," exclaimed the snowman. "You're in love with Anna!"
"Olaf!" shrieked Anna as Elsa's jaw dropped at his outburst and he immediately covered his mouth with his hands and murmured repeatedly, "Oh, I'm sorry, Elsa. I'm sorry, Anna…"
The three of them looked nervously at Kristoff and watched with bated breaths for his reaction. Elsa probably knew Kristoff the least compared to Anna or Olaf but she knew him to be a selfless man who practiced the virtues of kindness and gentleness far better than most "gentlemen" she knew. But she also knew that this revelation would be a bitter medicine to swallow especially since Anna had to break up with him to purse her own relationship with her sister.
But after opening his eyes in shock for a brief minute, the ice harvester shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Well…" he finally said. "I can't say it wasn't a total surprise. I mean, you're sisters. Shouldn't…I mean…isn't that a little…"
"Weird?" finished Olaf.
"Well, yeah, but I guess when the queen has awesome magical ice powers and you're best friends with a talking snowman…weird kinda takes a new meaning."
After a few minutes of silence, Anna said, "I meant to tell you this earlier but…you know everything that's been going on… And after, you know, talking to Elsa about it."
"I'm…I'm still trying to wrap my head around it…" Kristoff confessed. "There's one thing I want to make sure though."
Elsa and Anna exchanged glances before turning their eyes back to Kristoff.
"Anna, does Elsa make you happy?" he asked.
"Yes!" squeaked Anna, flinging her right arm around Elsa's shoulders and pulling her close. Elsa leaned close to Anna and rested her head on her shoulder.
"Then that is all that matters," Kristoff said with a sigh.
It would take some time but Elsa could tell Kristoff would eventually accept their relationship.
Anna smiled at him and with her other arm, brought Kristoff in for a hug. Naturally Olaf wanted to join in the fun and squeezed his way between Elsa and Kristoff to wrap his arms around them.
"Hey," Anna said, her head resting on her sister's shoulder. "You know, I'm glad we're all here together."
Elsa couldn't agree with her anymore. She was with family here.
Okay I'll be the first to say I have no clue what kind of swords they would use in Arendelle so I'm going to say it's a mixed bag. There's a definite direction towards broadswords, rapiers, and the like but some of them like Hans prefer the bastard swords and larger swords for various reasons.
Yes, Anna can do parkour. Because she's awesome, that's why.
Once again, thank you for reading and I welcome any and all feedback or criticism you might have to offer.