Twenty

All it took was the man's answer to make Elsa angry. She was under arrest under orders of her majesty? Custodian Ingvalda? That meant the woman had reassumed her position on the throne, one that she had no right to. Granted, Queen Elsa was a traitor now, but being caught for it made her all the more mad.

Had she listened to her mind for one moment, she might have lied to these men who surrounded them, saying the prisoner escaped with a band of his men, who were still at the docks and ready to be claimed. After all, Hans had all but forgotten about her. Why shouldn't she just forget about him?

But she slumped her shoulders, anger draining away and a passive depression swarming in her head. She was ready to give herself up.

Anna had other plans. She pushed her sister behind her and stood as a human shield. "If you even think about touching my sister, you've got another thing coming."

Another man- dressed in the Southern Isles' colors- replied, "Princess Anna and Kristoff Bjorgman are also under arrest for aiding the queen in her act of treason."

And that was enough motivation to set Elsa off. No one was going to take away Anna.

The ice queen shoved Anna aside and swiftly built a wall of ice, thin and mediocre because of her spontaneous mood swing. Emergencies couldn't expect perfection.

The princess stumbled with a little cry, but quickly righted herself with Kristoff's help. She gaped at her sister, then at the wall of ice. An excited smile quickly followed as she jumped close to her.

"What are we doing? What's the plan?"

The men were yelling and breaking through the thin ice easily. Elsa tried to fortify the wall with one hand and push back a rouge soldier with an icy wind. By now any and all townsfolk had screamed and ran from the scene, which unfortunately brought more guards.

"The plan is that we need to hold these guards off before they stop the ship," she said through gritted teeth. "We didn't go through all this pain and trouble to just to have it all crumble."

Anna nodded enthusiastically, like this was what she'd wanted to do all along. Elsa couldn't understand how she remained excited about anything from three o'clock tea to a heart-pounding, high stakes fight where Elsa wasn't sure any outcome would do them good.

"Right! Okay, what can- woah!" Anna was interrupted as a sword sliced through the ice and nearly hit her in the arm.

"Be careful!" Elsa and Kristoff cried at the same time.

Anna, though she'd been sobered by the sword, rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about me. Actually, Elsa, if you could get me a sword, that would be awesome."

"A sword?" Elsa asked, mind racing as the ice was beginning to shatter faster than she could make it.

"Yeah okay so you now that whole we're being complete honest with each other thing?" Anna said as Kristoff pulled her back to avoid Elsa's sharp blasts.

"Yes?"

"Well I've kinda been keeping a secret," Anna confessed, surprising Elsa enough to turn briefly. A sword ripped through the ice and struck just inches from her head. The queen yelped and froze the sword- arm and soldier still attached- into the wall.

"Yeah yeah get me that sword."

Though Elsa was confused and wary and wanted more than anything to just collapse and redo the day, she defrosted the fingers and pulled the sword out of the hand. The person attached was yelling on the other side and trying in vain to pull away.

Anna raced up to her sister, grabbing for the weapon like a kid with a very sharp, dangerous toy. Elsa was hesitant to hand it over.

"Anna..."

"I'm sorry for replaying this card, but trust me," Anna said, looking into Elsa's eyes with complete sincerity. The queen found herself unable to disappoint Anna, and handed over the sword.

Anna's hand slipped naturally into the hilt, holding the sword with expertise that Elsa didn't know what possible for anyone who smiled so brightly. The princess' eyes narrowed slightly, the smile never fading from her lips.

"Check this out," Anna said, slashing the weapon through the air smoothly. One of the men broke through the wall, and raced into their safe bubble. He held his own sword out, and lowered it just slightly when he saw Anna holding her own.

"Your highness," he pleaded. He was one of Arendelle's own guards. "I really don't want to hurt you. Maybe you can talk over the matter with Ingvalda-"

"Ingvalda isn't the queen, she's a wrinkly old meanie," Anna said. "I choose to fight."

The man frowned, distressed at fighting royalty, but raised his sword again. "It's your own funeral, your highness."

He lunged, but Anna was quicker. They swung at each other for a few tries, then Anna nicked him on the chin and he hissed. He looked angry now, and grunted as he swung, but Anna was unbelievably good. Since when had Anna become a master swordsman?

"Ha!" Anna said as she knocked the sword right out of the surprised man's hands. She jumped to it and held both swords out with a self-assured smile.

The guard held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, your highness, let's not do anything too rash-"

"Why don't you go run back to Ingvalda and tell her the same?"

The man didn't miss a beat in agreeing with her and running off. Elsa, who had been watching intently, nearly forgot about the wall until she heard it shatter on the side. She quickly iced it over before anyone could step through, though with Anna here, she believed they might have a decent chance.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Elsa sputtered.

Anna shrugged, grin never failing. "Ah, y'know. Just been training for years. Dad thought it would be a good investment. I... guess he figured we each had our own weapon."

Dad never got me lessons, Elsa couldn't help but think. She tried to wave away the poisonous- jealous, even- thoughts.

"So that's why you've always been so strong," Elsa said, thinking back to Anna lugging wood to fix the boat. Her memories went even further back to after she'd stopped the eternal winter when she wondered how Anna could have pulled the arm off of one of their armors in the hall. This girl had always proved to be more than docile, and Elsa even began to feel... better. Maybe because in return for Elsa's piles and piles of secrets, even Anna had one that she'd never shared.

"Sorry I never said anything, I just... I feel like it's kind of weird?" she explained, pointing out a crack in the ice that Elsa immediately fixed. "It kinda feels like dad would be disappointed if I shared it."

And that also made her feel better. Her dad had been a wonderful king, and maybe he'd had a plan for his daughters, but when he'd died it seemed like the girls had both been left with the burden of the secrets he made them keep.

Anna burst out laughing suddenly, her eyes on Kristoff. He hadn't said anything, but his face was bright red and he still stared at Anna with wide eyes. "You okay?"

He seemed to shake out of it, but his face burned even darker crimson. "You, uh... that was..."

Anna nudged Elsa with a grin. "I'm pretty sure that just made me twelve times hotter." Which caused the mountain man to choke and look anywhere but at the two women.

Elsa might have laughed if the scratching and yelling behind the wall hadn't suddenly gotten louder. She refocused on the wall, and knew they couldn't hide between the concrete of one side and ice of the other. They'd have to escape somehow.

Where, though? she thought, the shadows of the people outside the ice suddenly cryptic. With a sinking heart, she realized she would no longer be the queen of Arendelle. Thanks to Ingvalda and Elsa's own actions, she was under arrest. Unless her loyal subjects came to her rescue- and that was especially doubtful, since this wasn't the first time she'd been convicted of treason- she'd be trading places in her cell with Hans. She wasn't welcome in Arendelle anymore.

And as sad as that made her, a new opportunity suddenly struck her. There was an escape boat that was about to leave the harbor. Although the man on board had told her he would forget all about her, Elsa fantasized about jumping on just in time to sail away. And if she was on board with him, he wouldn't have to forget about her. They might even find a place to settle... maybe they'd be their own King and Queen of Somewhere New.

"Change of plans," she announced, heart thudding with joy that shouldn't have come from being accused of treason. "We're going to get on that boat."

"What?" Anna asked, sword tip placed in the ground. "Elsa, they might have already gotten hold of the ship-"

"They don't know he's on a ship!" Elsa said triumphantly. "They only know we got him out of prison."

"But... leave Arendelle?"

Elsa's mood faltered. "It's the ship or prison. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this, Anna. If I had known-"

"I just don't know if I can get on the ship," Anna said quickly, so fast Elsa almost missed it. And then it dawned on the queen; Anna's fear of sailing, which rooted back to their parents. Getting on that ship meant that old wounds were about to be ripped open.

"Oh, Anna..." Elsa whispered, plan crumbling before her eyes.

Kristoff, who'd been quiet, turned Anna towards him, firmly holding her shoulders. Her eyes were slightly widened in surprise "Anna, listen to me. You're the bravest girl I've ever met. You do the craziest things and I just..." he laughed a little. "I promise you everything will be fine on that ship. I'm here for you, and Elsa will be there for you. We just need to leave Arendelle, and we'll be back on land in no time."

Elsa could have hugged him if he wasn't so busy holding Anna. Leave it to him to help the princess conquer her fears.

"I...I..." she stammered, but eventually closed her mouth and let her lips do the talking. Elsa looked away while the two locked together, focusing on fortifying the ice.

"Yes," Anna eventually said, breathless. "I'll go, but only if you're there."

"I'll never leave your side," Kristoff agreed, and Elsa's heart felt as it'd been pinned with a needle. She wished Hans had lived by the principles that the mountain man did. Unfortunately, Hans was an ass.

"I'm going to break the wall," Elsa announced. "When it's gone, I want you two to dash for the ship. Get on it and leave."

"What?" Anna asked sharply. "We are not leaving without-"

"I know. I'll be there right after. I'll build an ice bridge, dissolve it as I go, and get on the ship. I'll even set up a ring of ice around the harbor so the ships can't leave. They can't follow us that way."

Anna's face lit with recognition and she nodded. She handed Kristoff one of the two swords she'd taken. "All right, Elsa. Ready whenever you are."

"Good luck," Elsa mumbled as she watched the shadows stab and claw at her ice.

"You too."

The ice cracked all over and shattered. Elsa closed her eyes as she felt the ice fall on her. It was like a calming shower, despite the screaming and confusion of the guards. When she opened them again, Kristoff and Anna had already bolted, a few men pointing and yelling at them. A few left to chase them, but the majority stayed near the ice queen, keeping their safe distance.

"Back down, Queen Elsa," called one person. "We don't want to hurt you."

"I'm not worried about getting hurt," Elsa said, palms held upright with ice curling at the tips of her fingers. "And if I'm still truly your queen, then listen to me and not Ingvalda."

The crowd of people murmured, confused as to who they should be taking orders from.

"She is still the queen."

"But she helped the prisoner escape!"

"What if she casts us into winter again? We can't make her angry!"

"We can't live in fear of her; she helped a murderer!"

To Elsa's dismay, it seemed like they'd all grumbled into agreement that Elsa was a foe, not a friend. She'd have to hold her ground until she could escape. And there was a lot more people than she had originally thought she'd have to fight.

She silently thanked Hans for lessons, no matter how troubled they'd both been during them. Because of those, she had learned a thing or two about using her ice to her advantage and not to fear it. She was the master of her powers.

Elsa held her hands in front of her and shot a blast of icy wind at the people, knocking down anyone in her path. The people yelled and all charged at once, scaring the queen. But she wasn't nearly ready to give up.

She froze one man's sword to another's, and they stumbled away trying to free themselves. Another sword nearly hit her arm, but she twisted around and blasted him. He flew back and hit everyone behind him. Elsa put her hands towards the ground and shot herself into the air, building an icy pedestal to stand on while the men below shouted and stabbed at the ice. One tried to climb, but slid down easily.

From here, she could see the docks. Anna and Kristoff must have already been on the ship, because it was leaving the harbor. Just a little further, and the queen would make a run for it.

A sharp pain suddenly hit her the back of her leg. With a cry, she collapsed to her knees. Her right calf was screaming with pain, and when she looked deep red slid from a sharp, messy cut. A sword lay beside her on the ice pedestal. Someone must have thrown it at her.

She grit her teeth, removing the bandanna from her hair and tying it around her leg then icing it over. She hissed a little as ice met the searing pain.

When she looked down, the men had begun using the swords as ice picks, and one was already at the top. He grabbed at her, but Elsa turned around just in time to dodge. Unfortunately, as she turned, she slid right off of the pedestal. The queen screamed as she fell.

She iced the ground below her, which didn't cushion the fall at all. She still hit the ground with a sickening crack. Now it wasn't just her leg that made her want to cry; she'd hit the ice hands first. Her right wrist felt like it'd snapped, and she'd flipped over onto her back, which now felt bad, but not anywhere near compared to her wrist.

The queen let out a cry as she sat up with great effort. Her hand was bent unnaturally, or maybe it was just the tears clouding her vision. She was biting down on her lip to keep from screaming.

The men all around her had gone still and silent. They didn't know how to handle this.

"Someone grab her," one person said. A few men cautiously approached the queen, who'd all but forgotten about fighting.

"Not by the wrists!" another said.

"Why not?" someone grumbled. "Doesn't look like she'll hurt us now."

Elsa tried to build a wall of ice around her so they didn't grab her, but the pain in her wrist grew worse when she tried, and all she could do was choke out a gasp.

"Nah, she's gone and broken her wrist. She won't wanna do magic now. Grab her by the shoulders."

Elsa was yanked to her feet by the shoulders and was now being shoved away from the courtyard. She had no choice but to follow, crying and trying but failing to not make noise as her wrists made her want to die.

The queen's heart sank as she realized this was it. She'd ruined everything. She had been caught, and couldn't escape even if she wanted to. There was no running with that hurt leg, and no magic with a broken wrist. Even if Anna and Kristoff and Hans had made it safely away, she couldn't join them. She was going to rot in prison her whole life.

As she was dragged back into the castle that would soon no longer belong to her, Elsa felt truly powerless.

This chapter was way too much fun for me to write. I can't wait to hear all of your outrage. Though I can't say much, I can tell you all that unfortunately, we won't be seeing many familiar faces for a while. But there's a few surviving brothers who are waiting to hear why their youngest isn't there for them all wrapped up with a bow.

The feedback I've gotten on this is totally overwhelming, and I love every review, every favorite, and every follow you guys give me. You're all too sweet to deserve all the sadness in this story.