ANDY

Andy could not wait to share Krista's plan with his brother.

The more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself that it would work. If it went well, Elliott wouldn't have to get married to Helena. The Southern Isles would leave them alone at long last. They would be free.

If Brandon, Krista's not-entirely-fiancé- agreed to do the mission. To prove that Queen Astrid had had a hand in her own mother's death/assassination/whatever. It would throw Helena's homeland into political turmoil. There would, hopefully, be a new queen. Astrid would step down— if the gods were good, the punishment would be exile and they would never have to see the vicious woman ever again.

Unfortunately, his brother was proving to be very difficult to find. The last time he'd Elliott, he'd said he would agree to the marriage, just as the princess burst in with tears in her eyes. That had made Andy uncomfortable enough to make him leave. The sun was gone, it had been hours since that. Andy hoped not much had changed since then, that Elliott hadn't gone and done something stupid like say yes. He hoped. Lately, he'd been feeling that a lot. Hopeful.

He jogged down the main hall in a very unprincely- manner. Chances were his brother was probably in his own bedchamber—

He heard the soft sound of feet dragging against the carpet behind him and immediately stopped. The prince listened, trying to guess who they belonged to— perhaps to Elliott— but no. They didn't sound heavy enough. In fact, it sounded like the owner wasn't trying to be heard at all.

Andy waited for them to get closer until they were face-to-face. It was Helena's sister— er, the one that wasn't Astrid. Madeleine… Maddy. Yeah, Maddy.

"Hey— hey, sorry, excuse me— have you seen my brother?"

Madeleine Westergard looked exhausted. Andy's eyes briefly flickered to the scar down her face, which looked even scarier at dusk— okay, maybe the word wasn't scary. Maybe striking. Yeah, striking to look at. He forced his eyes away to meet her gaze.

"I have not," Was her curt reply. She seemed… distracted. Andy considered asking if she was okay until he remembered that it was none of his business and he didn't really have to know. He was probably staring too intently at her, because the princess noticed. "You look anxious, Prince Anders." Her blue eyes, almost black in the dying light, narrowed. "The good kind of anxious… almost excited?"

"M-Me? Excited? About what?" he stammered. Was the hopefulness in his face that obvious? Was Krista's plan so clear on his features? Maybe so. It was almost impossible for his freckly face to be as stoic as Elliott's could sometimes be. He should work on that…

"Perhaps you're looking forward to the wedding," Maddy smiled, but it was miles away from reaching her eyes, it looked so forced and painful. "To us becoming… family." She said the last word like it was a death sentence. Her long, slender fingers reached up to her own face— absentmindedly touching the scar.

He tried not to flinch, "Mm. Yeah. The wedding… I'm sorry, Lady Madeleine, but, uh… does your face… does it hurt?"

She blinked out of her trance and immediately dropped her arm. "No— No. I…sometimes when I'm upset it burns— never mind. Ah, really, forget you saw that."

Upset at her family? Andy finally noticed how she was really alone. No Astrid or Southern Isles guards in sight. Did they have a fight? Was it big enough to play a part on Krista's scheme?

"My lady?" Andy said before his brain could catch up to what his impulsive mouth was saying. "Are you unwell?"

The second-born princess of the Isles forced another polite smile, stretching the thin scar over her otherwise lovely face, "I am fine, Prince Anders. Thank you for your concern... truly."

She was dismissive but not unkind, and it left Andy uneasy, his curious and helping nature kicking in. Part of him felt like he had to know what was bothering Helena's older sister and to fix it, but the stronger part of him insisted that he didn't care. He shouldn't care. But why did he?

"You look pale and, uh..." He tried to look anywhere but at the scarred part of her face. "I...if there's anything you need, anything I can..."

"Really. I am okay," she insisted, only confirming Andy's suspicion that she was in fact not okay. "I just... had an unpleasant flashback of a part of my life I'd rather forget, is all."

His eyes immediately landed on the one part of her face he wasn't supposed to look at. Had she been having nightmares about how she got it?

"It-It's not my place to say," he stammered out before his dumb mouth could be stopped again, "But if you really, really wish to forget a particular memory...I, um... I have some troll friends that could be of some help? If you'd like?"

He meant Krista's troll family that had erased his memories of Elliott's magic so long ago when he was little. He still wasn't completely sure he forgave his parents for doing that, but sharing the information with the tortured soul of a foreign princess couldn't hurt... right?

Maddy's mouth made a pretty 'o' shape of surprise, and just then did Andy notice how stupid his sentence had sounded out loud. But before he could amend his poor choice of words, the princess nodded firmly, "Yes, my husband Josef has... mentioned those trolls, and their magic. Earth magic- not unlike your brother's ice one."

Andy pressed his lips together, suddenly afraid he'd said too much. Would Maddy tell Queen Astrid about the trolls? If they somehow hurt Krista's family because of him—

"However, I don't think I'll be seeking them out anytime soon," she said, to Andy's great relief. Her blue eyes, same shade as Astrid's but somehow less hostile, shone with sadness. "Some memories are best left alone."

"Agreed," Andy's shoulders slumped, free of the tension he felt from a few seconds before.

The second-born children stared at each other with newfound interest. Maddy was like him. She hadn't been born to be queen. That role had already been taken by someone else, the heir. But Elliott had been a good older brother, a fantastic one— until the whole freeze-your-head-accidentally business. Astrid just... didn't seem the type. But the scar... Andy prayed his assumptions about it were wrong. Astrid did seem like the type that would... The prince shook his head, clearing his suddenly dark thoughts.

Stop trying to relate to her, he scolded himself.

He had a plan, he had a goal; and it was to share the new strategy with Elliott. To tell him about Krista's idea and Brandon's involvement. Andy forced himself to stay focused on his task.

He saluted with two fingers like an idiot before his etiquette training could reel him back. "Anyway... Have a good evening— night? I don't even know."

The princess smiled, again forced. "Late evening. The Northern Lights of your country do not cross the skies yet— so it's not night."

"R-Right! What you said!" he offered her another polite smile, praying he didn't look anymore suspicious than he already did.

He took off running, a bewildered Southern Isles princess stared as he fled.


The door to Elliott's room was coated in a thin layer of ice, already dripping from the heat, creating a puddle at the bottom.

He's in there, Andy realized.

The prince's face flushed with apprehension as he knocked on the door three times, his own flashbacks plaguing his mind. How many times in over eighteen years had he knocked on this very door only to get no reply? The damn piece of wood still made him nervous about rejection and reminded him of their mutual isolation.

The last time he knocked had been after their parents' funeral... almost three years ago?

His customary 'Do you want to build a snowman?' Almost left his mouth without his permission. Instead, he asked "Elliott?"

For a tense moment, nothing happened. Then, softly, his brother's voice. "I'm in here."

Andy's already fried nerves intensified at Elliott's tone of voice. The mix of anger and hopelessness that those three simple words carried somehow traveled through the door and punched Andy right between the eyes. Hearing him sound like that, it made his own heart break.

He opened the door hesitant as ever, "It's me, uh... I'm coming in. That okay?"

An answer never came, so Andy just pushed the door open and let himself in. The room hadn't changed if at all. The four poster bed with the blue canopy was the same, with simple furnishings and barely any decoration. It was a stark contrast to Andy's room which always looked like it had been assaulted by a hurricane.

The king of Arendelle lay on a cushioned chair like a kicked puppy, with his head back and staring blankly at the ceiling. All this pity-party image that he had created needed was a little cloud over his head similar to General Winter's and he'd be set. Maybe even some tissues.

Andy knew his thinking was cruel, but Elliott's reaction was infuriating. He wasn't married yet. The Southern Isles weren't invading them yet. The end of the world wasn't here yet. But his brother acted like it was.

"I did it," Elliott spoke directly to his ceiling.

"You did what?" Andy said calmly, patiently. He had been harsh to dismiss Elliott's feelings earlier inside his head. Of course he was taking this so... so personally. It was his life, and for him, it was the end of the world. He had every right to act like this.

"I did it, Andy. I— I said yes. I went and I told Astrid I accept her demands." Elliott finally forced his gaze away from looking at nothingness and to look into Andy's sea-green eyes. "I will marry Helena."

"What?! No! You can't! We—" "

"We've been over this. I wish things could be different— "

"You don't understand

"My duty—"

"JUST LISTEN!"

Both brothers stopped talking over each other. Andy's outburst surprised them both, and for a second the youngest of them looked embarrassed at silencing the king, but then he took it on stride. "Krista has come up with a plan— a really good plan. Our only chance, I think."

He grabbed the matching small cushioned chair like Elliott's and dragged it across the room to talk to his brother face-to-face.

"There's no stopping her, Andy," Elliott was too clouded by misery to really listen. "Astrid's greedy sight has been set on Arendelle and we cannot possibly hope—"

Andy had temporarily forgot his brother's fatal flaw; his nobleness and sacrificing nature. Sometimes endearing but right now very annoying. How Elliott put others before himself, that as long as everyone else was okay, he thought it was acceptable that he wasn't.

"Holy baloney Elliott, please! Stop! Stop!"

At least it distracted him from his self-pity, because Elliott's face fell into one of confusion. "Holy baloney?"

"It's an expression!" The prince quickly defended. "And you're not listening to me!"

Andy had just sat down, so of course Elliott had shot up to his feet and began pacing, his hands clasped behind his back in worry. "She's forcing this so it happens sooner. Astrid said two weeks— but that doesn't make any sense, the Summer Festival will be happeni— oh. She wants it to be during the festival! That's why she's pushing it to be so early!"

"What? The wedding?" Andy asked.

"Yes. Oh my gods. Since the Southern Isles are going to help finance the Festival— what better way to end it than with a royal wedding? Astrid wants the transition to be easy. You know, she'll be all generous, giving food and supplies—" an icicle shot out from Elliott's open palm and landed against the paneling of the wall with a thunk. Neither brother cared. "— and since they already all but adore Helena, they won't protest, there'll be no opposition… GODS!"

Andy pretended to be fixated on his nails, "You done over there?"

Elliott's eyes widened as he finally looked at his brother, really looked and 100% acknowledged his presence, "How dare—"

"I've been trying to tell you something for the past five minutes, but you're so used to dealing with things on your own that you won't let anyone help you! Well, guess what! I'm here now and I'm going to help!" Andy stood up on the chair and glared down at his older brother, whose hands had snowflakes raining down from them. Usually, he'd feel bad about trying to intimidate his brother into anything but if he only listened for two seconds

"I know you're upset, yeah. I totally get it. But! Krista found a crack. You ready for this? We're baking up a plan." Andy said, pouring as much confidence as he could into his words. "Okay. Look. You know the rumors about how Astrid killed her own mother to get the throne, right? Well. If we found proof of that, then—"

Elliott's lips parted in surprise, "— you could accuse her of regicide. Plus matricide."

A lot of cide's there, but at least Andy understood 'regicide' was for killing a king / queen, and matricide for killing a… parent? Yeah, for killing a mother. The other word for it, patricide, that was for killing a father.

"Yes! Krista knows this guy, Brandon. He's apparently very good at getting information. We were thinking he could help us out," Andy stepped down from the chair, hoping Elliott wouldn't notice he'd left some mud tracks on it from his boots. But his brother didn't care about the chair. No, right then his blue eyes shone with admiration— admiration aimed at him¸ Andy. The prince couldn't help it when his chest puffed up a little bit with pride.

"If this Brandon could prove it, then…" Elliott's whole body language changed, and his face it up with something that inspired greatness. "Astrid's birthright would become invalid, last I checked… stripped of all titles… and the throne would pass on to Madeleine!"

"In theory," Andy cut in, his previous hype was returning. Planning to overthrow a person was actually really exciting. "What we're hoping is that, seeing as Helena's sisters are a bunch of sharks, that they'll fight over queen-hood— or whatever. The Southern Isles will split between supporters for each sister and… yeah. Civil war!"

A crooked yet handsome smile spread across the face of Arendelle's king. "That's… that's actually really good. I mean— if we can pull it off."

Andy smiled right back. We. He'd said we. He was in!


ELLIOTT

It was amazing how just hours before he'd been talking to Helena of all people about consummating marriages and about submissively accepting his fate— and now he was talking about overthrowing the evil mastermind whose plans they had been in the first place.

What Andy said made sense— or at least, Elliott wanted for it to make sense. He desperately wanted it to. The logical side of his brain was barking out all the flaws with Andy's plans— but the bigger part of him clung to this crazy idea, like a man drowning at sea. If this was going to work they would have to plan it perfectly.

"Of course we can pull it off," Andy said, his dimpled smile provided some reassurance. "Look, Brandon is coming back in one week, and we'll figure out all the little details—"

"Wait, you mean… this Brandon doesn't even know? He hasn't even agreed? And you're pinning all our plans on that?" Elliott's perfect mental bubble of short-lived happiness burst immediately. Like Queen Astrid herself had jabbed it with her long fingernails.

Andy winced, his bubble getting a puncture too. But he quickly seemed to tape it up with another smile, "It's okay! He owes Krista a favor, he'll do it. And… look, even if he doesn't… we could send, say, a team of three people to the Southern Isles and have 'em find the information we want."

Elliott leaned against the bedpost of his bed, his gaze fixed on the setting sun over the window. He'd allowed himself to get excited, he'd let Andy's enthusiasm cloud his rational thoughts. If this plan were a cake, it just got burned.

"What if… the information doesn't even exist? What if Astrid covered her tracks well? Then what?" Elliott didn't want to, but he'd just landed another hole to Andy's plan. He pried his eyes away from the window and to Andy's face.

"But it will," he said between gritted teeth. Elliott raised an eyebrow. "We'll find something! Maybe… maybe Maddy knows."

The king was tired of playing devil's advocate, but he had to. All the glaring flaws on the plan had to be fixed, mistakes corrected before they even happened. Only then would Elliott begin to look for the sunshine amid all of the terrible weather.

"You think she could become our ally?" Elliott asked.

Andy seemed to think about it, long and hard, and eventually… he nodded. "Yes."

Elliott scoffed, "What makes you think she'd turn against her own sister?"

" 'Cause I think she tried to, once. When she got the, uh…" Andy gestured at his own smooth skin. Where there was a scar on Princess Maddy's face. "I think Astrid did that. We spoke about it briefly in the hallway. Kind of… it was implied? Maybe I read too much into— No! I am sure."

Would she, though? Plot against her own sister? Elliott tried to recall his earlier meeting with Astrid, when he'd all but snarled that he agreed to her demands. Maddy had been there. Had there been any hint, any indication…?

Elliott tried to swallow the dryness in his throat. They were putting too much hope into ifs and maybes. He wanted hard, concrete facts. He needed them. Or else, he wouldn't move a finger against Astrid. Unless he was absolutely certain they could win. "Okay, that's one ally, Madeleine… how about… Helena?"

The name immediately made his brother's eyes narrow and his jaw clench. "Absolutely not. We're doing this to oppose her, remember? Including her would king of defeat the purpose."

"I spoke to her earlier, too. Trust me when I say— she's not happy about this arrangement anymore than I am."

Andy seemed to choke on his own indignation before he growled out, "Not happy? This is what she wanted! From the beginning! She wanted…" he pointed to Elliott's whole self.

He remember the talk he'd had earlier with the thirteenth princess. Her exact words 'Why don't you fight her? How come you're just giving in?' Somehow, that sounded rebellious enough. Besides— what did she have to lose by joining them? It was either this plan or the marriage. And he already knew how she felt about that.

"Andy, I talked to her. She was like you, completely against the union. She wanted me to fight Astrid, to start a war over this. And excuse me if I quote you incorrectly, but you once said 'They owe us'. Helena may honor that. If she is seeking our forgiveness… then I see no better way for her to get it," Elliott said, all in one big, ridiculous leap of faith. He was vouching for the girl who almost put a sword through his back.

After his talk with Astrid, he'd begrudgingly agreed that Helena had not really been to blame for Andy's frozen heart. She'd left him, yes. But she had also kissed him. The fact that it hadn't been a 'true love's kiss,' was the problem. Otherwise, his brother would have been fine. Andy's frozen heart had been entirely Elliott's fault. If not for Andy's sacrifice, had he not put himself in front of that sword…

Elliott shook his head, his head suddenly pounding with the familiar feeling of guilt. Andy must've seen it on his face, because he relented. "Fine. But if she betrays us —yet again— I am not responsible for what I'll allow General Winter to do to—"

"Point taken, threat ignored," the corner of Elliott's mouth quirked up into a half-smile. Even angry Andy managed to be like an adorable puppy. "And, yeah, trust me— if Helena betrays us I'll be the first to turn her into an ice cube."

Andy nodded his approval before the light mood dropped down to gloomy, murder-mystery-investigation-planning again. "Brandon will be here in a week, and we'll pull up a perfect plan, yeah?"

"If he's here in a week, that just leaves another week till the wedding." The clock now counting down in Elliott's head made him nervous. "Do you really think—? There'll be time to sail to the Southern Isles and back? Even if Maddy or Helena confirm our claim that Astrid killed their mother— we'll need some solid proof. And I seriously doubt they carry it around in their pockets."

Andy raised his arm "I volunteer to go to the Isles and get the evidence myself. Krista can come too— and obviously Brandon. And, uh, maybe General Winter, just in case?"

"You'll leave me all alone?" He'd meant to make it sound like a joke, but the hurt overwhelmed the jest. And he felt extremely reluctant about letting his brother just go on a merry voyage to a country that could very well become their enemy.

His brother's arm dropped and he shook his head, "True. The General stays here. Krista, Brandon, and I will go in a small party. We'll figure out some fast transportation later. I'm sure the trolls can come up with something. And… and tomorrow, we should ask Helena and Maddy to join the alliance. No time to lose!"

What terrified him was either of them betraying their plans to Astrid. He didn't really expect it from Helena since half of what she said was pure undeterred hate towards her sisters. But Maddy… she was so quiet, and her eyes showed nothing, he didn't know how she would react if— when, he corrected himself—they asked her. Start screaming bloody murder? Or happily join their plot? It drove him nuts to think about. For starters they didn't even really know if the scar on her face was Astrid's doing.

"Hm. Very well." Elliott nodded before another small concern popped up, "Wait, even if you do accomplish everything you say, by the time you return to Arendelle… the wedding day will be here. I'll be hours from the altar, if not minutes. The timeline's very tight… you'll literally have to storm in, prove beyond doubt that Astrid's responsible for the murder, and have Maddy or another sister backing you up with their own claim so Astrid doesn't have her army or anyone to fall back into."

Andy said nothing, but held up a scrap of paper, his face as serious as he'd ever seen it.

Elliott squinted at it, "What's that—"

"My list. Our list," his brother held it up to the light so the king could see. He recognized Andy's lazy scrawl of handwriting immediately. It was the infamous 'Things Elliot And I Will Do At All Costs', right there on print. Elliott couldn't help but smile a little bit. He'd never actually seen the physical copy of the list. The small paper reflected on Andy's personality. The corners were torn and there were blotches of ink everywhere; with various sentences crossed out replaced by new ideas. There was tiny writing on the margins too, even a little doodle on the corner—

Elliott felt a pang of guilt. He'd completely forgot about this. The sleepovers and the horseracing and the baking and all his promises. In his defense, he was suddenly getting married and had to plan an unwanted wedding. A bomb like that could easily make one forget things— even really important things, like the list. Plus there was also the matter that was the Summer Festival.

"Our list," Elliott agreed, allowing the small smile to become a grin. "Yeah, we should tackle some of those points before the big day—"

"I added something new," Andy's serious face didn't falter, didn't give away into a smile. He jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the paper, to a sentence that had obviously been added recently, "This is what I'd like us to do."

The ice king squinted at the paper once again, trying to decipher the words from his brother's third-grade handwriting. Either it was hard to read or he needed reading glasses. Elliott gently placed the paper between two fingers and took it away from Andy to read it closer. He practically held it up to his nose.

And there, at the bottom, it read:

Sabotage the wedding.


++++I'm sorry there's probably a LOT of spelling mistakes + other issues but after a 4-month hiatus I didn't want to drag on the wait any longer, so here! pls excuse the errors, I wrote this on my phone and kinda polished it up in my computer.

+++it's a little short, but it should pick up in the next few chapters, till the grand finale. I'm planning on making it about as long as A Brother More Like Me.

++ ahh and I'll try to update more frequently, I'm just really busy with school till june. girl gotta pass all her classes. also, a little reminder about updates is nice once in a while— but guest spam is sometimes stressful/irritating. what inspires me most to write faster are reviews —insightful reviews— about what yall like and don't, your thoughts and feelings… that sorta thing :) idk

+aaaaand lastly, those who asked me on tumblr and maybe didn't see the reply; I will not be doing a genderbent version of Frozen Fever. I just don't have time time, but it would be fun!

thank you for reading !:)