With the glow on the horizon staining the fjords a fiery orange, the red-headed princess sits on the dock and stares at her reflection in the water. She touches the ice on her crown and sighs again when her fingers come away with more moisture. All hope of being back in the palace for supper had now been lost; it's been more than seven hours since she last saw Elsa, or any evidence of her presence. The buzz of activity which took place onboard the ships fades into a stiff quiet as the crews settle down for the evening watch, and whatever interest Anna took in the field trials quickly becomes a gnawing worry about Elsa's wellbeing.
Accustomed to speaking to inanimate objects during bouts of loneliness, her reflection provides a much needed companion to soothe the rising ache in her heart.
"Perhaps she's been served her supper on the ships, and there's no way for her to send for me, or she really took me seriously when I said I'd get seasick," Anna mutters to herself, wondering if she should've followed Elsa. For an answer – all she receives is the swaying of masts in the distance, and the never-ending creak of wooden hulls as they bob with the outgoing tide.
Anna adjusts the crown on her hair, sending a trickle of water trailing down the side of her face. Despite being inexplicably half-melted, the tiara has lost none of its glimmer beneath the setting sun. As the last rim of orange descends over the sea, a pale disc of white ascends over the hills, bringing with it an ominous silence as seagulls depart the ships to roost on the beach. In the distance, Anna barely makes out a boat being lowered from the HMAS Norge.
"They're lowering the launch!" Anna exclaims to her reflection, "She's coming back!"
The princess leaps to her feet and strains her eyes through the dimly-lit fog. She knows not why the ship crews have vacated the upper decks, or why the Arendelle ensigns have all been lowered from the masts, or why the standing army on the plains have vanished into the night – all she sees is the solitary boat sloshing through the fog at an agonizingly slow pace.
"Elsa is coming back!" Anna gasps, peering into the fog and trying to pick out the glint of Elsa's crown that will set everything right in her life. As the boat passes beneath the hull of another ship, it emerges from the shadow and betrays a shimmer when it slips beneath the moonlight. Anna's eyes light up at the sparkle, and her lips curl into a smile as she imagines how the long hours of waiting would pay themselves off the moment she gets to throw herself into Elsa's arms again.
The boat picks up speed as it nears the dock, and Anna stands at the very edge of the planks, bobbing up and down on her toes with glee. However, the grin on her face slowly melts into a grimace as she counts two men in the boat, and another one seated behind them rowing. The boat approaches a stone's throw, and a clenching sensation presses into her heart when she spots Elsa's crown lying on a red pillow. The pain sends causes her knees to give way, and she clutches onto the pillar for support
"No," Anna gasps, and tears spring from her eyes as the thought of her sister's cold, lifeless body being buried next to her parents slams into her head faster than she can think.
The boat reaches the jetty with a gentle thump, sending Anna falling over backwards and edging away from the soldiers on her hands and hips. Amidst her wide-eyed horror and hyperventilation, the crown, slick with melted ice, slips from her hair and shatters into pieces on the wood.
"No, no!" she shrieks, dragging her nails through the broken ice crystals.
With the solemnity of a funeral, two of the soldiers embark the pier with the Arendelle crown and take apprehensive steps towards Anna.
"The Queen is dead-" a soldier proclaims.
"No!" Anna screams, her voice slicing through the dark silence.
"-Long live the Queen!" the soldiers chime in unison.
Unwilling to accept her fate, Anna lurches forward and shoves the soldier carrying Elsa's crown, sending it clattering on the planks. She snaps her head to the sound of a jingle, and her eyes widen at the other soldier producing a pair of shackles from beneath his uniform.
"Your Majesty! You have to come with us! Now!" he snarls.
"No, no!" Anna shrieks, her eyes flit to the olive branch insignia on the two soldiers' epaulettes; behind the fog of her despair, a faint memory filters through into her mind. Hans. Southern Isles.
A sharp clank snaps the image of Han's smirk from her mind as he slaps the shackles on Anna's wrist; in the ensuing tussle, one of them comes loose, and Anna slaps it across his skull. The other soldier leaps forward to subdue her, right before his head snaps back as Anna's fist collides with his face, sending a trail of scarlet flying through the night air. In the darkness, two splashes are heard echoing through the silence and the other soldier in the boat begins inching away from Anna.
With a swift movement of her right arm, she loops the shackle around the man's neck and drags him onto the pier. His face goes white as Anna tightens the chain around his throat, and his flailing feet make thud thud thud sounds on the planks.
"Tell me what happened to Elsa, right now!" Anna snarls through gritted teeth, "or you're going into the water like the both of them!"
He scratches helplessly at the chains digging into his neck, rasping a hoarse, "C-C-C" noise from his throat
"What?"
The soldier's face starts turning purple, before he gasps, "Coup!"
Anna's gaze snaps to the crocus motif on his epaulettes, and she relaxes her grip.
"A coup? Against Elsa?"
"Yes, your…um…Highness," he pants, rubbing at his raw, bleeding neck.
She spots the scroll poking out from beneath his uniform, and snatches it from him before he can protest. With widened eyes and trembling fingers, Anna unrolls the parchment and races across the words, gasping as each word spells out the gravity of what has happened.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 269: ALL OPERATIONAL VESSELS, ARENDELLE FLEET
1: HRM Queen Elsa of Arendelle will be removed from the Throne at 1800hrs. Succession plan as follows:-
i – HRH Princess Anna of Arendelle is to be proclaimed Queen of Arendelle at 1800hrs.
ii – All Arendelle Flags are to be lowered from Sprit Topmast and Main Mast latest by 1800hrs
iii – All portraits of Queen Elsa are to be removed from Main Galley, Officer's Wardroom, Captain's Cabin latest by 1800hrs
2: All vessels are to be turned over to Southern Isles command. Boarding of Commissioned Southern Isles Naval Officers is to be allowed to enforce compliance.
3: All vessels are to remain in position and await further instructions.
4: Any and all interfering actions will be punishable by death.
BY ORDER
FLEET ADMIRAL GERALD BAUMGARTNER, ROYAL ARENDELLE NAVY
HRM KING ADOLPHUS SCHLUND OF THE SOUTHERN ISLES
"No!" Anna gasps, reading through the tear-stained scroll one more time, "this can't…this can't be happening!"
"It's already begun, but most of the military is divided over the legitimacy of the order."
The parchment rips into two between Anna's shaking hands, and she hurls the crumpled pieces into the water.
"Where is Elsa?" Anna screams, grabbing his collars and shaking him hard.
"HMAS Norge," he answers without hesitation, "y-your Highness, we don't even know if s-she's still a-alive."
The trembling in Anna's voice fades away into a stern voice as clear as day. "I don't care, just take me there," she orders. Without waiting, the princess leaps into the boat, forgetting how much she tried to avoid getting into one in the first place.
With the stealthiness of a snake stalking its prey, the boat slips beneath the dusk fog and slides past the Norge. Unlike her sister, the ship holds no meaning for Anna, having elected to take a nap during her military history classes. However, her heart aches as the boat brushes against its hull; she shakes the thought of Elsa's dead body lying somewhere within its compartments, and motions for the soldier to slow his rowing.
"Your Highness," he whispers, pointing at an open hatch by the side of the ship, "you may board here, although I know not where they've kept her Majesty."
Anna clenches her fists and stares at the opening. With the boat rocking to and fro in the tide, she swallows down the nausea bubbling in the pit of her stomach, and rises to her feet.
"There are men from the Southern Isles onboard all the ships. They won't harm you, but things won't go down well if you're discovered."
With a firm nod, Anna stops the boat by the hatch and gingerly eases a foot onto the ship.
"One more thing," the soldier continues, his voice breaking beneath the strain, "Prince Hans is onboard."
She snaps back a glance and her grimace deepens at his words.
"Good."
The ship's deck usually creaks beneath the weight of a man, but Anna's slender frame barely makes a squeak as she slips behind a pair of gruff officers from the Southern Isles enforcing the fleet-wide curfew. All the crewmen from cooks to Captain have been confined to their quarters after the coup took effect due to fears of mutiny; unfounded perhaps, but loyalty to the Throne runs deep amongst men infatuated with the Queen's powers.
Despite her determination to find Elsa, Anna inevitably finds herself hopelessly lost within the dark, narrow corridors of the ship. Although there're only two corridors running the length of the Norge, the dark, foreboding atmosphere and utter lack of company renders Anna sick from the unrelenting listing of the ship. The sight of rats gnawing on half-eaten bread in the galley does nothing to alleviate her nausea, and she ducks her head out of a porthole to retch out whatever little she had for lunch, spitting out the last of her regurgitated egg sandwich into the ripples below.
Anna's heart lurches as a gloved hand slams upon her shoulders and whirls her around. She lets out a shriek as she loses her balance and clutches on the offending party's uniform – but her blood turns to ice as his face comes into view.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Hans snarls, tightening his grasp around her arms. He pulls her up to his face, leaving her feet dangling an inch above the ground.
With her svelte frame squirming within his arms, Anna's face turns white at the thought of Hans having a part to play in her sister's imprisonment. Her blood begins to boil as his lips curl into a smile; the urge to rip apart his jaw overwhelms her mind – and her slender fingers curl up into shaking fists.
Hans's venomous snarling slips through his teeth in a gust of fog, "I promised your sister I'd-"
Without warning, Anna's body goes limp; she tilts her head forward and closes the gap between her lips and his. His eyes widen at the touch of her warmth, and his fingers relax – though they retain a firm grip on her arms. Anna slithers her tongue over his lips, and he spots a glimmer in her eyes when they part.
"I've been waiting for this moment ever since you left," Anna whispers.
"But I thought you-"
"Shh," Anna coos, touching a finger to his lips and kissing along his jaw. A smirk graces her lips as she sidles her knee up between his legs, and he edges her slowly to the ground. Amidst the gentle rocking of the ship, Anna allows Hans to lay her down on the galley floor, and his lips betray none of his desire as he kisses her with a furious passion.
The ship lists slightly, and Anna uses its momentum to flip over Hans and straddle him. Fear flashes across his eyes as they open to the sight of the red-headed brunette smirking down at him; he attempts to loosen his fingers from her grasp, but it's too late. With a feral grunt, Anna snaps both his wrists backwards with a sickening crack, and jams a handkerchief into his mouth before he's able to cry out.
"I've been waiting for this moment ever since you left," Anna scowls, grinning at Hans writhing beneath her, "now tell me, where is Elsa?"
Hans shuts his eyes amidst a trickle of tears streaming down his cheeks, he thrashes his head violently before Anna yanks it to the side by a tuft of hair. Slowly, she leans down to his ears and whispers, "I'm going to break your bones one by one until you tell me."
She dips an ear towards the cloth stuck in his mouth, and pretends to understand the unintelligible gibberish leaving his throat. A squeal pierces through the galley as Anna pops his fingers from their sockets.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Anna smirks, ripping the fabric from his teeth.
"Fuck!" Hans screams, staring at his bent and misshapen fingers, "I'm not-, fuck! My fingers! You sick fuck!"
The screams fall silent as Anna repeatedly slams her fist into his skull, sending Hans's head thudding back violently into the wood.
"Ok, ok! I'll tell you where your precious Elsa is!" Hans pleads, wiping his arm across the blood streaming out of his nose.
She pulls him closer to her ear and listens.
"Before I killed your sister," Hans whispers, freezing Anna's heart in its place, "I fucked her."
With a sweep of her arms, Anna lets out a roar and flings Hans before a galley bench. She pries open his quivering jaw and jams his teeth on its edge. Before Hans reacts, Anna raises a boot and slams it into to the back of his head, sending teeth clattering all over the floor and the bench up his skull.
"What the fuck?" A voice tears through the galley.
Anna whirls around and comes face to face with the captain of the Southern Isles guard, flanked by a pair of soldiers. The captain barely registers the sight of Han's bloodied head with a foot of wood up his throat, before Anna breaks a bench over his head. The two guards behind him draw swords and lose them at the same time as Anna rips them from their arms, dislocating their shoulders in the process. Limbs, heads, and blood splatter the galley floor as Anna slaughters them in a chorus of screaming and swearing.
"Stop! The Queen is Alive!" another sailor cries out at Anna, still hacking and slashing at their decapitated bodies. Behind him stands a troupe of Arendelle sailors, bearing axes, knives, and bits of rope. With bloodshot eyes brimming with tears, Anna drops her sword and grabs the nearest sailor, nearly a foot taller than her, and tosses him into the others like a rag doll. It takes three men several attempts to pin Anna to the floor.
"We're on your side, your Highness!" he snarls, flashing the crocus emblems on his uniform to Anna's face. With the weight of three men on top of her, Anna makes a feeble attempt at biting him, but soon relegates herself to a trembling, shaking mess as tears stream from her eyes.
"Elsa is…is…alive?"
"Yes, your Highness," he says, pausing before continuing with a tremble in his voice, "we heard her screams coming from the hold."
With a mighty heave, Anna lets out a feral scream and overturns the men holding her down.
"No, no, no!" Anna shrieks, clutching at her dishevelled, blood-stained hair with shaking fists.
"We can save her!" he yells, grabbing Anna by the shoulders and shaking her until her crazed eyes return to sanity, "but there're men from the Southern Isles guarding the-"
"We take the hold now!" Anna exclaims, her blood-soaked dress heaving with each staggered breath she takes. With a growl, Anna grabs a sword and marches off amidst the sounds of clinking weapons and men cheering on the Princess of Arendelle.