●Andy●

"What do you mean, 'marriage contracts'?" It was the first time Andy had spoken up during this whole thing, and when he did his voice came out squeaky. He cleared his throat, and tried again, "Marriage contracts for who?"

Axel raised both eyebrows at him, probably surprised Andy was not a mute after all. "Well, it means my sister probably had someone in mind for Krista to wed someday," he explained. "An arranged union."

Andy struggled for words and came up empty, "What?"

Krista seemed to be on the same boat as him, but she was not managing words at all. Her eyes glared at her uncle, but her mouth was open in confusion. At her lack of response, Axel continued, "Don't worry, they're probably from a good family. You know how your mother always wanted to, ah... rise up in the social ladder," he cringed at the way he put it, but continued on, "They'll probably be a good match for you, sweetheart. Your mom wanted what was only best for you. You will have a good marriage." Axel smiled, and it made something twist inside Andy.

Krista gripped the ice reindeer Elliott had gifted her like it was the only thing anchoring her to the ground. She stared at the smooth ice with a lost look. Meanwhile, Andy was in a panic. An alarm was ringing in his head. What did Krista's silence mean? Acceptance of... of this, whatever this was? The possibility of losing Krista suddenly became too real. They weren't officially together, after all that had happened, but with a little time, dating for a while, Andy thought...

It wasn't his place to say, it really, really wasn't. It didn't feel right, but he had to say something. "Krista doesn't have to do anything. She... she could honor her mom's wishes... but she doesn't have to," the words left him easily, and before he lost his nerve, he added, "Krista is her own person. She can choose."

Both blondes turned to stare at him, wearing very different expressions. Axel seemed irritated, and he stared at Andy as if he were seeing him for the first time. Krista was smiling at him, but it was a smile he hadn't seen before, it was both grateful and a little sad, and made whatever was to come worth it.

"Excuse me, I'm afraid Krista did not introduce us," Axel squinted at Andy, perhaps trying to make him feel small. "Who are you, young man?"

He lived for moments like this. It made him feel a little guilty and like a brat, but the satisfaction he got almost overshadowed those feelings. "Prince Anders of Arendelle," he said coolly, nodding at Axel's shocked face. "Pleased to meet you."

The snippet of memory came to him fast, but it came to him all the same. When he'd first met Helena and crashed into her, she'd been really mad with him at first. But the moment his title of prince came up, she was all smiles. It hurt to remember, so he blocked it out.

"My... lord," the man stammered and bowed his head. Krista's smirk was infectious and he beamed back. Looking a lot less confident, Axel stood up, "Perhaps we can talk another time. On our next meeting, I'll bring your mother's testament and we'll read it together, yes?"

"Fine." Krista nodded curtly at her uncle. He hesitated, his arms spread almost as if he wanted a hug, but Krista remained seated, eyes narrowed at him, "I'll see you some other time, then."

Dejected, her uncle's shoulders slumped, "Very well, Krista. See you," he bowed his head at Andy before hurrying away. Once out of earshot, both Andy and Krista started talking at the same time.

"Can you believe this guy-"

"Who did my mom want me to marry-"

They shut their mouths simultaneously. Andy smiled sheepishly, silently indicating that she should continue, so she did. "I don't know who my mom intended me to marry... I didn't really know anyone growing up."

"Except Suri." he said, trying to lighten things up. But he was secretly worried about this, what it would mean for Krista, for them...

"Except Suri," she agreed. The ice harvester sighed and rubbed the back of her head, "Can we ignore what just happened, at least until tomorrow? I, uh... would like to enjoy the rest of our day together." Her cheeks turned pink, and the prince was all too happy to follow that plan.

Andy smiled brightly, "We sure can."

Realizing Krista's inconsiderate uncle hadn't paid for his sandwich, Andy left a few coins on the table and left with the blonde, trying to get his positive mood back. But he still couldn't shake those words. Marriage contracts. They'll probably be a good match for you. Andy tried not to sneer.

"What did he mean... your mother tried to 'climb up in the social ladder'?" he asked as they entered a busy street, he reached behind him to take Krista's hand in his to not lose her.

He didn't turn to look at her, but he could feel the roll of her eyes. "She always dreamed of marrying rich. But, ah... she fell in love with my dad," her voice was affectionate, "I think she was happy with her choice in the end."

The corner of Andy's mouth rose. Krista's mom liked her choices.

And I like mine.

●Helena●

The royal physician, who went by Dr. Sweet, arrived in her room the morning after the king's visit.

It was obvious the man was not from Arendelle, he was probably new, from the staff Elliott had been hiring. He was a tall black man, completely bald, and very muscular, so he was not a bad sight. The only downside was how much he talked. Kept being loud and boisterous about places he'd visited, placed like Atlantis and things she honestly did not care to know about.

He sucked air between his teeth as he examined the bruise around her eye, "Whoever did this had a mean right hook, princess, jeez!"

She tried with all her might to not pull away from him, "You don't say." He only chucked at her flat, emotionless tone. Now Elliott was sending doctors to look after her, what kind of game was he playing? Why did he care?

He's a good person. A good person you tried to murder-

She pulled away from the man's grasp, as if that would stop the voices inside her head. Dr. Sweet wasn't affected by her rudeness, and he rummaged through his bag, looking for something. If the shame she felt now was unbearable, she could not imagine how it'd be with one of her sisters. She'd melt into a puddle, probably. If she was lucky the earth would swallow her. Having both Elliott and one of her sisters, together, judging her-

"Are you okay? You're looking a little pale there," he placed one big hand against her forehead, frowned when he found nothing wrong. "Huh. You don't want some fresh air?"

"Fresh... air?" Out of this prison?

The man shrugged his massive shoulders, "It could do you some good." Dr. Sweet pulled out a small jar and dipped his fingers in. "We can go for a walk," he smeared the transparent ointment around her eye and she almost shivered. The stuff was ice-cold. He smirked, "This is a new thing I'm trying out. King Elliott helped me create it with his magic. Ice is wonderful to reduce swelling." Of course the ice king wonder was involved in this. His kindness annoyed her more than it did her any favors.

She tried her best to ignore his empty promises of getting her out, but he was oblivious to that, as he continued to chat away, "By the way, I thought it was really nice what you did. While the prince and king were away."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Dr. Sweet laughed, like her obvious confusion was cute. "So humble! When no one else was here for the people, you were. I saw you giving that cloak that that woman," he winked. "And when you fed those children? The free glögg you gave out?" Hearing all the good things she did didn't cancel out the bad, but it did make her feel a little less shitty. "You kept everyone calm, you comforted them! How many royals would do that?!"

Since there was no mention of the awful things she'd done, she realized something. What had gone down between herself and the Arendelle family was a secret. No one knew outside that blonde girl that was with Andy. Duh, Elliott obviously did not want that to be known. She'd been this close to destroying them, and that kind of weakness would not be perceived well by the public. To the people outside she was still the heroine that had stepped up when no one else had.

"You're too kind, Dr. Sweet," she said, remnants of her manners coming back. She hadn't bothered with her polite facade since the Great Thaw, but if this man thought she was so wonderful, and the civilians did too, maybe escaping wasn't so farfetched anymore. Out of boredom she'd memorized the guard rotations, and since Dr. Sweet was here... there was no one outside her door. They probably trusted the doctor to not free her. But the doctor didn't know. The old fire inside her started to catch on, "And you are right, maybe fresh air will do me some good."

He grinned at her, "Perfect!"

He started to gather his things, and she sat here, not believing her luck. Could this be any better? But she was wary. The opportunity was too good to be true, this was all too convenient. Was this a test? Did Elliott want to press even more charges against her?

Who cares. You're already in a world of trouble, might as well try this.

She would not be getting another chance like this. She had to take it, she had to go before her sisters got here. As she followed the tall man out the door the actual unguarded door, she planned inside her head. Her title could only get her so far, she'd have to also rely on her looks, her cunning, whatever it took.

"We could visit the marketplace, see if they have something else for your eye," Dr. Sweet said as they went down the staircase. The staff of the palace gave her funny looks when they saw her, but nothing more. And no guards. She held her breath, waiting for someone to stop them as they strolled right out the open gates, but nobody gave her a second look. No Elliott, no Andy either!

"That would be lovely," she said absentmindedly, already craning her head in every direction to look for the perfect opening to escape. As she had suspected, once outside the palace walls every face that saw her was a friendly one.

"Princess Helena!"

"My lady!"

"What happened to your eye?"

She fake- smiled at the little boy that had asked the intrusive question, but offered no answer. People parted for them as they walked, and it felt so good, the looks on their faces so in awe, she felt herself swell with pride. "It's her, son! The princess that got that wood for our family, there!" a man pointed.

"Thanks to her we didn't freeze to death."

"See? They remember!" Dr. Sweet laughed beside her. She forced a laugh in return, but her eyes were looking at the few ships bobbing in the water.

If she managed to get on one, where would she go?

Any ship that would take her would be good, she decided.

Losing the man in the crowd was easy.

The Arendellans were preparing some sort of festival, she assumed it was the summer one because the solstice was so close. Because of that, the streets were more packed than usual, and all it took for her to get away from the doctor was duck away behind an alley and wait for him to notice her absence.

"Princess? Princess Helena?"

She would have laughed, but she didn't dare risk the sound. She was free. She traveled along the alley and popped up in another street, just as busy as the other one.

Helena pinned her hair up and carefully snatched away a man's hat right off his head as he passed by, he didn't even notice. She fixed it as best as she could so it would hide her face, if someone knowledgeable of the situation saw her, the black eye would give her away immediately. Her clothes were fancy, but not so that they would attract a lot of attention.

Hopefully her appearance would be enough to trick any ship captain into thinking she had any money on her. For jewelry she only had a gold bracelet and her pearl earrings, and now she cursed herself for not bringing the rest of it. Literally she'd left all of her possessions back at the cell, and the carelessness would cost her. Then again, packing up all her belongings would've looked suspicious with the doctor, so it was probably better this way. The bracelet would surely get her a nice ticket out of here, and she could always use the earrings for emergencies.

As she lost herself in the crowd she considered her options. Go to a pawnbroker straightaway and get some good money, or just straight up trade the jewelry for passage on a ship. Money would probably be the wise thing to do, and a hot meal would be nice as well. She shouldered her way through the crowd, careful to keep her hat on as it was the only decent thing about her 'disguise' if it could even be called that. If people looked carefully enough, they would recognize her, so she attracted as little attention to herself as possible.

That lasted for a good ten seconds before the crowd thinned and she tripped over a loose stone. If the world was good, she would have landed on her face and that would have been the end of it. But the world was not good and things were not in her favor, and she actually crashed against someone.

"Do you mind?" she cried, jerking away from the guy. She raised her hat to see who it was, and when she did, her heart most literally stopped.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I wa-"

Andy's voice died mid-sentence as his green eyes locked on hers. The tensest second of her whole life dragged on for an eternity. She got the most horrible flashback of when they'd met, that first encounter, almost exactly like this one, when Andy had crashed into her. The fates were cruel.

The spell was broken when a girl's voice said, "Andy?"

The blonde caught up to Andy, who seemed to be paralyzed. Then the girl followed his gaze to Helena's face.

"Shit!" she didn't know what fueled her arms, but she shoved the prince so hard it was almost worthy of that time this same blonde girl had shoved her off that boat after the Great Thaw. The prince cried out as he fell, but Helena wasn't there to see it, as she had already spun on her heel and she was running, running, running.

●Krista●

"Was... was that...?"

"That was Helena," Andy confirmed, still sitting right in the middle of the street after being shoved by that wicked little princess. He was still staring after her, as if his eyes alone would bring her back.

"How did she escape?" Krista demanded, not really expecting an answer. She thought the windows of her room were barred, the door guarded, and there was no way... unless someone had got her out. A feeling of cold dread settled on her stomach. Was that the thing Elliott and Andy were worried about, when they didn't admit a lot of ships in?

"We need to go after her," Andy got up slowly, almost like an old man. His eyes were still intensely focused on the path Helena had escaped on, like it was the only thing he could see. The tiniest pang of jealousy shot through her, but Krista quickly dismissed it. Andy wasn't infatuated with Helena anymore, the intensity in his gaze was something else entirely. Something between determination and crossness.

Still, the fact that the princess managed to look great even with a black eye and a ratty hat on her head was a little disheartening. If it was Krista sporting that look she'd probably resemble someone that had lost a bar brawl. Somehow, Helena had managed to make that look work, and it annoyed her to no end. "We need to tell Elliott!" Krista said.

Andy shook his head stubbornly, turning to look at Krista. His expression was fierce, "No, no, we can take her!"

"True... but if she gets on a ship, it's over," Krista reasoned. "Elliott's the only one that can give the order that no ships leave."

The prince growled, a sound so unlike Andy it surprised her. She loved the prince's sweet side, but she couldn't lie; this side was mighty alluring too. "I still think one of us should stay on her tail," Andy said.

"Fine. At your insistence, it will be me," she said. Andy's frown deepened, and he was about to protest, but Krista was already running. "Go get Elliott," she called back.

The blonde had seen the look on Andy's face when he'd encountered Helena. He'd been totally helpless, and if he caught her, chances were he'd be too afraid to do anything. That girl had traumatized poor Andy for the worst. That was not the case with Krista.

She'd shove that witch off fifty ships if she had to.


in case you didn't catch that, Dr. Sweet is from Atlantis!

i've been sick lately, and with a little bit of a writer's block, so i don't know when the next update will be, sorry about that:( but i hope u enjoyed reading anyway!:)