"... Yes. I'm Elliott. And you are Astrid," he finally said. He bowed, "It's... a pleasure. Truly."
Like they were old friends, the southern queen hooked her arm through Elliott's in a seemingly friendly gesture. But Andy could see her nails digging in, "We have much to discuss," her voice was too sweet for the icy look on her face. "Let us talk somewhere private."
Maddy
Maddy watched with mild amusement as the youngest of her siblings paced around the room, agitated out of her mind. She wasn't going to lie; Arendelle wasn't as bad as she'd thought it was going to be. So far it was a pleasant, rich kingdom nestled in a fjord. The palace was also very nice. The rosemaling flowers that decorated the architecture and even some of the clothes were really pretty.
"But what are they saying?" Helena asked for the millionth time, "They've been locked in there for, like, hours! What's Astrid telling him?"
"You don't want to know," Maddy said, proving for the umpteenth time how hopeless she was at comforting other people. Astrid's plan was still disgusting, and only a twisted mind such as hers could have come up with something so…. so E-V-I-L. That was the word, really. Maddy did not want to be the one to tell Helena.
"Um, yeah, I do want to know! They could be settling my death sentence in there," Helena finally stopped moving around and collapsed on the chair across from Maddy's, a defeated look on her face. Maddy tried not to wince. She really seemed as desperate as Sophia had described.
The prince Anders and his blonde lady friend had left them alone in one of the guest rooms after it was painfully obvious Maddy didn't want to make small talk with them. She only worried about Helena, even if it had been her sister that had caused all the pain for the boy prince.
She could, however, assure Helena of one thing. "You're not getting put to death, sweetling. At least not by Astrid, you're still useful to her. I do not know about Elliott."
Helena's face relaxed, "Oh. Okay. Elliott said something similar."
She and Helena were not the best of friends by any means, but the familiarity felt good. Helena seemed to have grown up from this experience if anything, gotten some humility. Gods knew this girl had needed to get rid of some arrogance.
"I still want to know," the younger princess said after a few seconds of silence. "What Astrid's saying," she insisted.
Maddy pressed her lips together until they were but a thin line. "You'll know. In due time."
"But I want to know now," the last word came out more whiny than the girl probably intended. She straightened and fixed Maddy with a hard, serious look. "What is Astrid after? What's going on?"
The second oldest princess of the Southern Isles took a deep breath, trying to get some of her irritation to roll off of her. It didn't work. Helena was persistent, and Astrid had left her to deal with the young one's restless curiosity. "Well, I suppose Sophia told you… we can't afford to lose Arendelle. We need them on our side."
"Yeah, I know. So what are we—Astrid. What's Astrid going to do?"
Maddy shifted in her chair, extremely uncomfortable under her sister's gaze. She ran her tongue along her teeth, looking for words but coming up empty. How did you explain this to a child? Not that Helena was really a child, she looked and acted more like a woman every now more than ever. But Maddy was still double her age, so the thirteenth princess she was still technically the baby of the family. She didn't want to tell her— she couldn't.
"She's handling it," Maddy said in a clipped tone. "I wouldn't bet against Astrid. She'll save you, and… and everything will be fine."
Helena leaned back in her chair, a distrustful expression on her face. "You claim she doesn't want to kill me because I'm still useful," she folded her arms across her chest, "You also say we can't afford to lose Arendelle, that we still want them as allies, despite what happened…"
Maddy realized too late what was happening, "Helena, you—"
"And after what happened, after what I did, there is only one way that we can keep our alliance with Arendelle," her sister's jaw was suddenly clenched as she fitted the pieces of the puzzle all by herself. "You want to make a marriage alliance."
B-U-S-T-E-D. Maddy hung her head in misery. Helena was a little shit, but she was a smart little shit. She often forgot how much time the girl spent with Johanna. They didn't give Lena… Helena enough credit. She was growing up. "Yes, fine, you guessed it. Clever girl."
"Why would Astrid do something like that?" Helena said. Maddy glanced up. Her little sister didn't look as upset as Maddy had expected. She'd feared the girl would go on a rampage when she learned of Astrid's cruel plan. "Is Astrid really going to marry Elliott?"
It felt like Maddy's lungs got filled with lead. Helena had figured it out, but she'd figured it out backwards. She swallowed thickly and barely met the girl's green eyes, "No… no, Helena," Maddy said gently. She mentally steeled herself for her next words.
"It's you who will be marrying Elliott."
Maddy had expected Helena to start screaming, but her stunned silence was even worse.
Elliott
After five minutes of talking to the Queen of the Southern Isles, Elliott figured out two things.
One, he did not like her.
Two, she knew her stuff.
He couldn't find a more eloquent way to put it. This woman knew what she was doing. Everything she did and said was deliberate, like she'd been calculating it beforehand. From the way she walked to the way she talked, it all…it was all kind of overwhelming. No number of lessons could have prepared him for the fierce energy of this woman.
Still, Elliott was too stubborn to let himself get intimidated. He kept up with her banter as best as he could, but his fingers were tingling with nervous power. Small pieces of ice, like sand, gathered between his fingers and he had to discreetly wipe them off on his pants legs before the queen could notice. He was being totally unprofessional, but he didn't really care about appearances at that moment. She was like a snake, and he really didn't intend to let her bite him.
They talked in his study for a while, where she profusely apologized for Sophia's departure and swore up and down that it had been an emergency. Elliott didn't buy it, but he politely accepted the apology.
And then, finally, she got to the point.
"So, Helena."
"Helena indeed."
The corner of the queen's mouth twitched, like Helena's did when she didn't allow herself to smile. Astrid folded her hands on her lap and said, "She's an interesting girl, isn't she? Clever, ambitious, and so, so troubled…"
"I'd like to stress the ambitious part," Elliott said. "It's that particular thing that drove your sister to almost drive a sword through my back, and to leave my brother for dead."
"Hmm. Leave your brother for dead?" Astrid got a thoughtful, almost innocent expression on her face. "I've been informed Helena tried to give him a true love's kiss, like he requested. Your brother pressured her into giving him something she was not prepared to give. That part was not her fault."
Elliott tried not to grind his teeth in frustration. He didn't know the full details of what happened. Andy adamantly refused to give out the full story, he only knew bits and pieces but nothing entirely useful. Those moments were probably going to stay between his brother and Helena forever, with no other witnesses. Elliott noted the queen had decided to defend that first, and not acknowledge the drive-a-sword-through-my-back part at all.
"I suppose so," he finally allowed. He couldn't really blame Helena for Andy almost dying. That had been his fault entirely. His ice through his brother's heart. Helena had been under no obligation to…. never mind. One solid fact still remained. "Well, my Queen. Then there's the sword she almost killed me with, had Andy not stopped her."
"Yes… but, Your Grace, if you think about it… she was merely doing what was right."
Elliott tried, really tried not to take offence, "Excuse me?"
"Think about it," she withdrew her hands from her lap and spread them in front of her in a calming way, "Put yourself on my sister's shoes, if only for a moment. Think yourself a young girl, far from home, attending a grand coronation," Astrid's blue eyes were like chipped ice. "The ball, the food, everything is perfect! The crown prince dancing with you, both of you infatuated with one another."
Elliott wanted to argue that Andy's and Helena's relationship had been one-sided, and that Helena had only been pretending, but he wasn't certain of that. Andy had had strong feelings for her, that much was obvious, but he wondered if Helena had returned his affections. He forced himself to stay silent.
"Then there is a fight, there is yelling, and suddenly… the king summons a wall of sharp, sharp spikes of ice," Astrid said. Elliott tried his best to keep a neutral face on, but it was hard. Andy taking his gloves and asking why he shut him out was painful. "Let's jump forward a bit. The prince leaves to look for the missing king— and leaves you, the young foreign girl with a freezing kingdom in your hands. The people are scared. You're scared, but you can't be. You aren't allowed to, not when all the people looking up to you.
"Those were Helena's feelings. She took care of your people while you… dealt with things, away on the mountains," Astrid said. She'd chosen her words carefully. Dealt with things. Not ran away or abandoned. "Shall I continue?"
Was Astrid the master at reading people, or had Helena simply told her oldest sister what to say? It was too real, Elliott could practically feel what Helena must have felt from the queen's storytelling skills. Looking at things from the perspective of the thirteenth princess was… odd.
Elliott's eyes were probably as cold as the queen's by now. "Humor me."
This time the queen allowed a cocky half-smile. "…alas, the prince's horse returns, but no prince. You, the scared and confused princess, go look for your missing love. You fight a creature— a dragon— a creature that should not exist. With some hardship, you kill it. Then you find the king, and he's angry, and he's irrational, and he's about to kill two men…"
Elliott's head throbbed, the pain sharp and sudden and he almost gasped. To remember his lowest moment, when he'd been ready, to kill or be killed…
"You talk to him. You give him a choice. Then—"
"That's enough." He cut her off. "Just tell me what she was thinking when she intended to stab me on the back, if you please. Enlighten me on how it was the right thing to do."
The queen grinned. "Of course. I'll even keep it short… but I must ask to speak frankly, this may not be pleasant to your ears…"
"Go on. Be as blunt as you like."
Astrid's icy eyes pinned him with a hard, intense look. "You are the princess, and the boy you thought you loved just died because you didn't love him enough. Couldn't love him enough," she corrected. "And this boy died because his brother, the Ice King, the man who created the dragon, who froze the kingdom— he shot him with his ice. And this ice froze his heart. And you see this monster running across the fjord, escaping yet again—"
The queen kept talking, but Elliott's eyes glazed over at the word. Monster. The pain in his head throbbed some more. Andy had worked so hard the last few days to convince him, to get him to see that he wasn't a monster, that he was good, that…
But words didn't change actions, they didn't change facts. Astrid spoke the truth… a twisted version of it, but she wasn't lying. He still was that monster. By the time his scrambled brain finally decided to focus, the queen was almost done.
"…— sword in hand, what do you do? What would you do? If you thought that killing the person who brought so much pain and hurt to everyone else around you was the solution to end the eternal winter, would you swing it?"
"She didn't care about ending the winter," Elliott's voice didn't sound like his own. The words just poured out of him with spite. "She cared about getting my crown, because apparently, she and Andy got married before he died— and that was a lie."
"Your brother was dying," Queen Astrid said. "His veins were clawing with ice, his brain jumbled. I'm afraid that, concerning what happened on that study… we can only trust Helena's version as she was the only sound, coherent person in the room."
Your brother was dying. You made him that way. Elliott swallowed back his anger with effort, trying to keep his temper in check. It seemed Andy's Thing was just never going to be clear. But the fjord was undeniable. If Elliott said it right, if Astrid didn't twist the facts…
"Your sister attempted regicide," he made sure his tone was firm and left no room for discussion. "Multiple people saw her— she's even admitted to it. She tried to kill the king, and that's that."
"That's that," to his surprise, Astrid agreed. She folded her hands on her lap once again, her eyes were now challenging, "So, do tell… what's to become of the child?"
The child. Helena was practically a woman grown, but when worded that way… The queen was repulsively good at this.
"After what you explained I… I understand her point of view. It doesn't justify it, but… punishment should be in order," he said.
"I agree," Astrid said. "Let's discuss that. Her punishment. I don't think prison would do her any good… let's say, fifty lashes and… strip her of her titles? No more Princess Helena. Perhaps that will suffice."
Elliott tried not to curse out the woman right then and there. "Lashes? You want to whip you own sister?"
"You are right! Fifty isn't enough. We'll do it until we find the bone on her back—"
"What's wrong with you?" Elliott's couldn't hide his horrified face. What the hell. He didn't want to let Helena's actions go unpunished, but her sister was either joking or just a flat out sadist. And cast her out of the family? Would they do— yes. Why was he even wondering? Of course they didn't care if they banished one of thirteen. Elliott deiced he wasn't having any of it. "You misunderstand me, Queen. I want her to learn, not… what you suggested, it's…barbaric…"
She nodded, "Yes, that was harsh of me… I think we should settle for a more pacific solution that would benefit both sides here," he almost flinched when she placed her impossibly warm hand on top of his. He was surprised steam didn't come off, as his hands were ice-cold. "I am willing to offer a compromise that, I believe, holds the best possible outcome to this unfortunate situation that we've found ourselves in."
Warning signals set off inside Elliott's head. Every word out of her mouth set him on edge. The last thing this woman had was good intentions. But he was terribly curious about her proposal. He nodded at her to continue, an unpleasant blanket of dread settling on his heart.
Queen Astrid smiled gently, "We would very much like to keep our good relations with Arendelle— in fact, we'd like to take that alliance to the next level, so to speak…" the blonde wet her lips before she continued, "We'd like to arrange a marriage between you and Helena."
Elliott waited one second.
Two.
Three.
But the queen didn't say she was joking, or even laugh. Her face was dead serious. Slowly, very slowly, Elliott shook his head, "That's preposterous. I won't consent to that."
"So that's a no?" She actually looked disappointed. The nerve!
"Absolutely not! Never. That you would even suggest it—"
She withdrew her hands from his more violently than was probably necessary, her pleasant face changing into a scowl, "Then you are a fool, Elliott son of Agdar. I'm going to tell you your exact situation, and you better listen carefully if you care about what's best for your people. You may then reconsider my very generous offer."
Elliott barely registered the insult. He was too stunned with the Queen's snarling face, her biting words. The diplomatic front had melted right off her skin, leaving behind something ugly and mean.
"Your financial situation is shocking. I need only take one look outside at the Summer Festival's preparations to tell you that much. Your buildings are damaged, you are short on food. How much has the revelation of your power cost you?" She raised her hand, silencing him before he could even reply. It had been a rhetorical question. "How long until the money runs out? Until your people starve, since the crops died with the ice? Believe me, King Elliott, you do not want to see a hungry population. It's not pretty."
An angry and shameful feeling rolled in his gut, and snowflakes began to fall from the ceiling, the panels started to frost over. He clenched his fist. Conceal it, conceal it, don't feel it. The old mantra pierced his mind as effectively as Astrid's rant. And the rant was not over.
"There is also the fact that your people probably fear you. Distrust you. That is also never a good thing… but let's get back to the money, since I feel like it's the most relevant. Your money runs out, and you… what? Ask to borrow? From who?" She gave no indication that the snowflakes falling from above were bothering her. She simply blinked away the tiny flakes that landed on her lashes, "They will not help you. They, too, are afraid of your power. It's a threat. You're a threat. They knew your father, but not you. You've hid inside this castle for far too long, my dear King. How long until they decide to attack Arendelle? Eliminate this big threat?"
She was getting to his head, and she knew it, and he hated it. He remembered Zazu's warning about the very dangerous woman in front of her. He conjured up in his mind the image of Madeleine's scarred face and how the prime suspect was Astrid. He wholeheartedly believed it now.
"But it doesn't have to be that way." Astrid's eyes blazed with determination, her voice turned quiet and persuasive. "If you marry Helena, the Southern Isles will become your ally. We will support you in the financial struggles, give you all the money you need. We will bring food, supplies… whatever is required. We'll open the doors to other political allies, and I will personally assure other rulers that you are not dangerous to them. Arendelle will be stronger than ever. You will surpass your father's legacy. All you need to do… is say yes."
Elliott was quiet for so long Astrid probably thought he forgot how to talk. And he kind of had. He was speechless. Of all the things that could have happened during this talk, never had he imagined this is the course things would take. Astrid had him trapped, and her offer was both impossible tempting and ridiculously horrible. How could he marry his attempted-murderer? His brother's worst enemy?
The snowflakes fell more aggressively from the ceiling, in par with his emotions. He literally was at a crossroads, both with terrible choices. Someone would suffer in the end… but in one of the choices, his people would be fine. He would not. The thing with Elliott was, he was self-sacrificing, it was his nature. He had sacrificed half his life so his brother would live safe from his magic. He had planned to leave Arendelle so everyone would be safe from him…
"I will consider your generous offer," the words felt empty and feeble when they finally left him, but they seemed to please Astrid.
"Excellent. Hmm. Don't look so miserable, my King. If you do take my offer, you will save your kingdom," she patted his arm in a friendly way. "If you do not take it… you will doom it."
Elliott slid down on his chair feeling small, and like Astrid so perfectly described, miserable. He felt like he had his own personal cloud above his head, like General Winters. Only his cloud rained down self-pity and anger.
"I'll await for your answer when the sun sets," Astrid walked away towards the door, gracefully stepping over the ice that Elliott's distress had created on the carpet. "Good day."
One, two, three.
Once the soft click of Astrid's footsteps faded away, Elliott released a frustrated, guttural scream.
Andy
"Are you okay?!"
Andy burst through the doors seconds after the pained sound travelled through the palace— he hadn't been very far anyway. He didn't like the idea of leaving Elliott alone with Astrid one bit, so he had hung around the general area of where they were having their meeting. The woman had an evil vibe below her amiable face. In fact, he'd passed her on the way to get to Elliott. Helena's sister had had a little smirk on her face. It made Andy uneasy. She looked too pleased with herself.
Things didn't look too great when he got there. A miniature storm was raining down on Elliott, and his brother's knees were drawn up, his chin resting on them. Not very kingly. His brother looked upset— Andy automatically mirrored Elliott's feelings. Whatever upset him was bound to upset Andy as well.
He quickly and clumsily skipped over the fallen ice and climbed on the chair beside Elliott— probably where Queen Astrid had been sitting only moments before. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," he tried to pry Elliott's hands away from hugging his legs but it was hopeless. Whatever Astrid had told him, it had crushed his brother.
"Tell me what happened. It's okay," he repeated soothingly, slowly but surely getting his brother to release his legs.
Eventually Elliott gave in and let his limbs fall in defeat. He was sprawled on the chair, his whole demeanor unhappy. The talk hadn't gone well, that much was obvious. Andy really wanted to know what the heck had happened, but he didn't want to pressure Elliott. He waited somewhat patiently for his brother to speak.
"Queen Astrid, she…" Elliott pressed his lips together, a tint of anger clouding his eyes, "She's too good, Andy. She knows how to play the game better than I do."
"What game? What are you talking about?"
Elliott's face did something between a sneer and a grimace, "She got me, Andy. She knows… about the problems. The financial problems. She is seeing our weakness and— and she's going to exploit it if I don't… if me and…"
"Elliott, it's okay, okay? Whatever she wants— we won't give it to her! Helena tried to kill us! She's the one that should be giving us stuff!"
A dozen more snowflakes fell from the ceiling before Elliott answered. "I know. They wronged us. And yet… we still lose. Look, Andy, after my coronation…"
His brother let it all out. The money problems, the shaky alliances with other countries that were scared, the people, the threat of war… As Elliott kept talking, blurting out his insecurities and problems, Andy listened. Because they were his insecurities and problems too. He wouldn't let Elliott burden it alone. Never again.
"We'll cancel the Summer Festival," Andy said when Elliott finished. "We'll plant more crops! We can talk to the other kings and queens, get them to see, get them to understand…"
It broke his heart to see Elliott so sad, "Half those things can be done, but… Astrid has the upper hand. My hands are tied for lack of a better word. She has more influence over the other lands. Her army is probably perfectly capable of invading us, while ours is… not. My— my powers, the winter… so many things were destroyed, Andy. Our defenses are at its lowest. It was not meant to snow in July, we weren't prepared…" his brother ran a frustrated hand through his platinum hair. "I'm handling it as best as I can but… I don't… ah. I wish Papa were here."
Elliott sighed from deep in his self, and Andy joined him. He missed their parents, too. Hm, that reminded him… "What is Astrid asking for, anyway?"
"What she's asking is despicable. She has no shame. It's awful… and it must be done," he said the last part quietly. His brother raised his eyes slowly to meet his green ones. The reluctance was clear, but he could also see some determination. "She is offering an alliance between Arendelle and the Southern Isles via me marrying Helena."
As soon as the words were delivered they immediately made Andy jump out of his chair and started yelling. "She can't do that! That is so wrong! No, no way. I won't have— my sister-in-law— No! Don't do it, Elliott. Don't you dare!" he meant to sound serious, but it came out as a plea. And maybe he was pleading. It didn't matter. He knelt in front of his brother's chair, "Please, please don't marry Helena. You can't. You mustn't!"
Elliott's mouth was set into a grim line. "I need to maintain the King's peace."
"No!"
"It's the only way."
"Let's go to war with them," Andy urged, jumping to his feet. "We will fight! You alone count as a whole army. Make thirty Blizzard Dragons, some Meltlings! Five thousand General Winter's!"
Andy didn't realize he was crying until Elliott stood up and gently wiped the tear away. The prince wiped his arm across his face, embarrassed. "We can win," he whispered.
"It's not that simple. They could siege the fjord, starve us out. If the Southern Isles has something it's an incredible navy. We wouldn't be able to survive on the mountains, the people…" Elliott, ever the self-sacrificing idiot smiled pitifully. "We will be okay. Astrid promised supplies a-and food. She can put in a good word for me that I'm not a monster to, uh, other kings. No war."
"Everyone will be okay except you!" Andy punched his brother in the arm without much force. It was frustration more than anything. He let himself fall on the chair."Arranged marriages are ruining everything!" He slammed his fist down on the armrest. Krista's mysterious intended lover never left his mind for long.
"Krista has a choice," Elliott said. "She'll pick you, don't fret."
"Are you sure you don't want to start a war?"
Elliott gave a tired, empty laugh as he sat down yet again, "I'm sure."
Andy tried to accept the idea… but he could not. Helena and Elliott… no. There should definitely be an universal law against such an union. Elliott didn't make things better by thinking of everyone else's needs before his… then again, that's what being King was, wasn't it? Putting others before you. Andy would make a terrible king, probably. The hard decisions, the ones that counted, like this one… he wouldn't be able to make the right call. The prince remembered the days when Elliott put Andy's needs before his own and thinking that it counted as love.
"Then… that's it? You will marry… Her?" Andy rubbed his hands over his eyes, still not believing it. It was like trying to swallow a rock.
"I will do my duty."
"And what's your bride got to say in this, huh? I bet this was her idea!" Andy tried to keep the bitter resentment out of his voice and failed. "She'll get what she came after, in the end."
'I knew I'd have to marry into the throne somewhere' he remembered Helena's evil speech like it had happened yesterday. She would be getting her dearest wish, and poor Elliott was going to be the scapegoat. It made Andy's blood boil. It also made him want to weep.
"I don't think Helena's aware of her sister's plans," Elliott said, but he didn't look too sure. "Anyway, I should… I should talk to her. Then I'll give Astrid my answer."
"Ugh, Elliott, please don't," Andy pleaded, but Elliott was already up and walking towards the door rather stiffly. The snowflakes had stopped, but the cold, apprehensive aura followed his brother. He got up and followed, "You don't have to—"
Elliott opened the door to reveal his bride-to-be. Helena had a hand raised, ready to knock. It seems she and Elliott had the same idea that they just had to talk to each other. Andy tried to ignore her red-rimmed eyes. Maybe she hadn't known about her sister's plan after all, but he didn't pity her.
"Helena?" murmured Elliott.
And then she started to cry.
+++ before ya'll set me on fire, be calm! the story is still not gonna be Elliott/Helena— at least not romantically. this was part of the plot I had from the start, before I started writing the sequel. it's an interesting thing I've been wanting to do for a while, and even if it's not deliberate, Helsa shippers can also be sort of happy, so… win/win?
++this chapter came along quicker bc in case u didn't know… Once Upon A Time is having frozen characters this season and its rly great and I love it and I got inspired… IM NOT GONNA LIE THIS WAS RLY FUN TO WRITE HEHE
+and shoutout to thesketchamateur for drawing fanart about the story! it seriously made me very happy :) I stumbled upon it while on tumblr, but if you ever do any sort of fanart, do tell me! I'd love to see it!
i didnt have time to proof read so pls excuse any mistakes!
thank you for reading!:)
