The Head That Wears the Crown

Chapter Six

Assassination

Elsa woke in a panic once again, panting heavily, heart racing. She had been having another nightmare, one of the worst yet. It had started out like the others: She had seen Anna's frozen body on the fjord. She had run to her, screaming, pleading for Anna to come back to life.

But then, the scene had shifted. She had been in the corridors of the palace, lights virtually extinguished. Someone, or something, had been pursuing her. She had tried to outrun it, running faster and faster until she was certain she was flying. Yet it still came after her, growing ever closer, until . . . until . . .

Elsa rose from her bed and walked to the washbasin. She splashed water on her face, trying both to calm her nerves and relieve the growing sense of foreboding she had felt since the previous day. Ingeborson's revelation had made it increasingly difficult to control the mounting sense of paranoia she felt. And although she knew he had long since left Arendelle—she had confirmed with the harbormaster that Ingeborson had departed for Siberia as she had ordered—Elsa nevertheless felt threatened by his cryptic words. Our members are spread throughout the highest levels of government, ingrained so deeply that you could never possibly ferret them all out. She shuddered involuntarily as the trade minister's words rang in her mind.

And then she heard it. Had she not been in a heightened state of awareness, she most likely would have dismissed it as either a figment of her imagination, or one of many of the assorted sounds the palace made in the night. But Elsa had long ago memorized the various sounds associated with the building, and this was most certainly not one of them.

Quietly, cautiously, Elsa tiptoed toward the door, holding her breath, not daring to make a sound. She willed herself to be silent, her hand slowly reaching for the doorknob.

Without warning, the door flew open, slamming into her head and sending her reeling across the room. Dazed, Elsa hardly had time to recover before she felt something—someone—heavy tackle her and pin her to the floor. She tried to scream, but a thick, gloved hand covered her mouth and nose.

Elsa's panicked cries were barely audible as the glove muffled her voice. She couldn't see anything—anything!—and she could feel herself begin to lose control. She kicked, she flailed, she squirmed, yet she still was powerless as she heard the sound of a knife leaving its sheath. She felt the cool touch of sharp steel against her throat and froze, not daring to move.

"Sorry about the inconvenience, love," came a harsh whisper in her ear, "But I've got a schedule to keep, so we need to make this quick."

Oh, God, no! No! No! Not like this! Not like this! NOT LIKE THIS!

"Please," Elsa whispered, hoping against all hope she could talk some sense into her attacker. "You don't have to do this! I don't know who you are! You can walk away right now and we can pretend this never happened!"

"Sorry, love," the man replied. "You're a nice queen and all, but unfortunately my employer was very clear that you were to be disposed of. Shame, really, having to snuff out a lovely young thing like yerself."

It was all Elsa could do to keep herself calm. Relax! Relax! RELAX! she screamed at herself. "Whatever he's paying you, I can offer more!"

The man pressed his mouth right next to her ear. "While that is tempting, love, I'm afraid it would ruin me reputation. Who's goin' to hire a mercenary who breaks his contracts if 'is quarry offers more cash?"

Elsa felt the knife leave her throat. The attacker grabbed her braid and pulled her head up to his face, and she felt him bury his nose in her hair. "Although, you do smell nice, love. I think we can 'ave some fun before I slit your throat. Whaddya say?"

NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The terror and the panic were too much for Elsa to control anymore, and without her even knowing what was happening, she felt the power surge through her body. A blast of ice and snow erupted from her, sending the man flying across the room and crashing into the wall.

Elsa pulled herself to her feet and turned to her attacker. In the dim moonlight, she saw him charging directly toward her. Without thinking, she grabbed a candlestick from her night table and brought it down as hard as she could on his head.

The attacker roared in pain, stopping long enough for Elsa to rush into the hallway. Her pursuer had already recovered and was hot on her heels. Terrified, Elsa turned and coated the floor behind her with a layer of ice. The man slipped, lost his balance and went careening into one of the many suits of armor lining the hallway.

The crash rang loudly down the hall, echoing in Elsa's ears. Not looking where she was going, she opened the first door on her right and threw herself into the room.

Her heart sank when she realized where she was. In her panic, she had trapped herself within the supply closet. Before she could recover, the door was ripped from its hinges and flung down the hall. A very strong, very angry-looking man stood before her, rage emanating from his entire body.

"Now, 'at wasn't very nice now, was it, love?" he said, teeth clenched. "I believe you and I 'ave some unfinished business to attend to." Grabbing her by the throat, he hoisted her above his head and threw her against the hallway wall.

Elsa moaned in pain and tried to stand, but her head was throbbing and she couldn't see clearly, couldn't think, all she could do was lie there and wait for the inevitable. Her attacker grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the floor, forcing himself on top of her.

Elsa closed her eyes. Let it be over soon! Let it be over soon! she thought to herself.

Suddenly, she heard the man scream in agony. Opening her eyes, she saw him holding his hands in front of him, howling in pain.

Looking closer, she realized that somehow, someway, she had encased the man's hands in thick blocks of solid ice. Her attacker pounded his hands on the floor, desperately trying to break the ice, but it would not shatter. Elsa lay on the floor, too dazed to move, as the man's howls grew louder and louder until—

Until they suddenly stopped. A loud crack echoed down the hallway. Elsa saw the man slump forward, unconscious. She looked up, and saw Anna glaring down at the man with a look of unbridled rage, a broken chair in her hands, surrounded by the palace guards.

Anna dropped the chair and bent down to her sister. "Elsa? Elsa! Are you all right? Elsa, look at me! Talk to me, Elsa!"

Elsa tried to speak, tried to talk to Anna, but the full impact of what had just happened settled upon her and she began to sob uncontrollably.

Anna embraced her sister, rocking her, trying desperately to calm her down. "It's okay, Elsa. It's going to be okay."

After several minutes, Elsa managed to stop her tears and regain her composure. Taking a deep breath, she allowed Anna to help her to her feet.

The two royals stared at the attacker, now manacled and restrained by the palace guards. "Elsa, did he . . . did he . . .?"

"No," Elsa whispered, her voice now hard, the terror she had felt moments ago replaced by cold anger. "He tried, but he didn't."

Anna let out a sigh of relief and held Elsa tightly once more. "I wonder who he is."

"He said . . . he said he was sent to kill me," Elsa said.

Anna was beside herself. She turned to the guards. "I want this man in the palace dungeon NOW! Let him rot in there for the rest of his life."

"Yes, Your Highness," said the ranking guard on duty. He turned to his men. "Take the prisoner to the dungeon."

"Wait!" Elsa said. The guards halted, staring at their queen.

"Elsa, what are you doing?" Anna asked. "We need to get him as far away from you as possible!"

Elsa took Anna's hand and pulled her down the hallway. "Think, Anna!" she whispered, not daring to let the guards hear their conversation. "How did one man manage to get into the palace all by himself, all the way to the upper floors, unnoticed by our security forces?"

"Elsa, did you see him?" Anna whispered back. "He looks like a professional mercenary. He's probably really, really good."

Elsa shook her head. "He knew right where my room was, Anna. He didn't get lucky. He knew precisely where to find me! Nobody knows where my room is except for you, a handful of the servants, and our security officers."

"Wait a minute," Anna said. "You think . . . you think someone on the inside let him in? Told him where your room is?"

"Do you have a better explanation?" Elsa asked. "You know as well as I do that the guards' hearing is so sensitive that you can hardly tiptoe in the hallway without them hearing you. Yet somehow he made it all the way up here?"

Anna's eyes widened in shock, the ramifications of what Elsa was saying sinking in. "So, what are we going to do? If you're right, the mole in our security forces will let him go the minute they're alone."

Elsa nodded. "That's why we're going to interrogate him ourselves. Right now." She turned and walked back to the prisoner.

"Wait, what?!" Anna said, hurrying to keep up with her older sister.

Elsa walked to the attempted assassin and slapped him several times across the face. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

The man's eyes finally opened. Looking around groggily, he laughed when he saw Elsa. "'Ello, love. So nice of you to see me again."

Elsa stood directly before the prisoner. "You are going to answer my questions. Truthfully. If you choose not to do so, you will not enjoy the outcome."

The man snorted. "Right. Like I'm goin' to be intimidated by a little waif like yerself."

Ignoring him, Elsa asked: "Who hired you?"

The attacker chortled. "I'm a busy man, love. Ain't got time to remember all the details of ev'ry job I do. All I care about is that I get me cash? Make sense?"

Elsa's face remained stoic, emotionless. "Who hired you?" she whispered.

"Aw, come now, love, I can't be runnin' me mouth about that sort o' thing. It's bad fer business."

Elsa's patience was gone. "WHO HIRED YOU?!"

The man turned to the guards. "I guess the stories are true! She is cold as ice, ain't she? Good thing we didn't 'ave more time alone to ourselves, or I would 'ave frozen me bollo—"

Elsa grabbed the man's shirt and pulled him inches away from her face. The sudden movement startled Anna. "Elsa?" she asked nervously.

"You want to talk about cold?" Elsa whispered, her voice barely audible. "I'll give you cold." She held her hand above the man's right leg and concentrated.

"What is this?" the attacker asked, laughing. "Is this some kind of joke? Blimey, this bitch is—" Suddenly, the smile slipped off of his face, replaced with a look of excruciating agony. He opened his mouth to speak, but his screams escaped first.

Anna gasped as she saw the man's leg completely encased in solid ice. "Elsa?"

But Elsa wasn't listening. Silently, she moved her hand over his other leg. In a flash of blue light, the man's other leg was surrounded by ice as well.

The once-cocky prisoner was now screaming at the top of his lungs. "AAAAAGGGHHHH! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"

"Who. Hired. You?" Elsa asked once more, moving her hand toward the man's right arm.

The man finally broke. "ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! IT WAS INGEBORSON! INGEBORSON!"

Elsa stepped backwards, stunned. Without thinking she moved her hand directly above the assassin's head.

"ELSA!" Anna cried. "That's enough! Please!"

Elsa shook her head, her rage subsiding. For the first time, she realized what she was doing. "No!" she whispered. Waving her hand, the ice vanished. "Take him away!" she ordered the guards. "I'll be in to speak with him again later.

He had best be there when I return!"

As the guards dragged the still-screaming man away, Elsa fell to the floor, staring at her hands. "Anna, what's happening to me? Why . . . Why did I lose control like that?"

Anna sat next to her sister, wrapping her arms around her. "Because you were nearly killed! Because it's normal to be that upset after surviving an experience like that!"

"Anna, I . . . I was going to kill him," Elsa whispered. "I could see it in my mind. I was going to cover his whole body in ice until his heart stopped beating. And I would have enjoyed it!"

"But you didn't!" Anna said. "That man deserves to die for what he tried to do to you! And you spared his life!"

"I'm not a murderer, Anna," Elsa whispered. "I'm not." She looked at her sister, her eyes swelling with tears. "I know I have the authority to sentence someone to death at will, but that's not who I am! Please! Don't ever let me do that again!"

Anna brushed a stray lock of hair from Elsa's eyes. "Don't worry, Elsa," she said. "I'll always be here to keep you from the darkness."

Elsa glanced downward. The Eden-stone on her hand glowed brightly in the dim corridor. Will you, Anna? Will you able to keep me safe from the darkness inside?

Anna stood, taking Elsa's hand. "Come here."

"Where are we going?" Elsa asked.

"You're staying with me tonight," Anna answered. "I don't want you alone."

Elsa nodded.

"Of course," Anna said. "If you kick me in the night, I'm throwing you out of the bed."

"I don't kick in my sleep," Elsa said.

"Really?" Anna asked. "You're going to argue with me about this again?"

"I don't! Do I?"

The two sisters laughed as they walked toward Anna's bedroom, eager to put the events of this night behind them, but inwardly dreading the dangerous new reality that awaited them in the morning.

AN: Elsa has skirted close to the darkness once again. Anna was there to pull her back to the light, but for how long? I hope I have not offended anyone with the implications regarding Elsa's attack, but this is necessary to explain Elsa's character development. I tried to keep it as cryptic as possible while still conveying what needed to be stated.