In the end, only Loren and only a few other soldiers were chosen by Kaya to come along to the Congregation for the queen's security. Kaya knew they wouldn't be the most help in a fight, but they were among the most diligent and dedicated to their Queen. Loren just seemed to be thrilled about getting out of Arendelle for a few days.

Kaya's energy declined more as the days leading up to the Congregation went by. Her shoulders felt like she was carrying a great weight and she was on edge all the time.

By the time the day of departure arrived, most everyone had felt Kaya's shift in mood for the past few days. Even the good-natured Olaf was a little wary of approaching her while she was in this state.

The captain closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the fog that clouded her mind. The fog that she knew from experience would only get worse as the solstice approached. Until it passed, she would have to make a larger effort to keep her usual calm.

This is why I didn't want to go. But as Kaya held Elsa's horse as the queen prepared to jump up, their gazes met, Elsa smiled, and the building weight in her chest seemed to lessen just a little.

Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad.

A slight wave of dizziness forced Kaya to place a hand on the neck of the queen's mount to steady herself. Or maybe not.

Kaya tried to fight off her growing exhaustion in the days of travel that followed. The trip itself was mercifully uneventful, but she couldn't stop staring at the Snow Queen every chance she got. It didn't matter if the queen was on her horse quietly or sitting by the fire, chatting with her guards, Kaya was captivated by everything the woman did, every gesture she made.

It was seriously starting to irritate her.

Halfway through the journey, after Kaya had dismissed the rest of the soldiers for the evening, Elsa sought her out.

"Captain Kaya?"

Kaya remained calm. "Hm? Queen Elsa?"

Elsa said nothing, but perched herself beside Kaya and just stared at the fire.

"Thank you for lighting the fire for us."

Kaya scoffed. "It was no trouble." She looked at Elsa out of the corner of her eye. "Besides, I doubt you're one to be bothered by the cold."

Elsa laughed. "I guess that's true."

They sat there for a while, with Elsa doing most of the talking, and when she wasn't, they sat in a very comfortable silence. Kaya found that she was able to forget, if only briefly, the impending solstice.

Kaya was nothing short of relieved when the group reached Corona without any problems. Her head was splitting and her chest felt like it was about to explode from the amount of heat she was holding back.

They were greeted graciously by the king and queen of Corona, as well as by the Lost Princess herself and the Prince Consort, Eugene. Elsa inclined her head at the king and queen in greeting. Princess Rapunzel and Elsa seemed to get along quite nicely, considering they were cousins, though Kaya suspected that Rapunzel and Anna would be two peas in a pod, were they ever in the same room.

"Captain Kaya?"

"What is it, Queen Elsa?"

Elsa looked unsure. "There isn't much to be done until the ball tonight..." She met Kaya's gaze. "Why don't you take the afternoon off and I'll see you in a bit?"

Kaya didn't even have enough energy to tease the queen and ask if she wanted her gone that badly, she could've just said so. No, she ended up spending the afternoon in the forge. Exhausted though she was, this was the only place she could think of that she could let off the heat that was building without anyone really noticing the difference in temperature.

The fire-user had cooled off a bit by the time she had to get ready for the Congregation Ball, but the heat would not let up until she had let it all out, and she couldn't do that just yet.

She was afraid to think of what could happen to Elsa if she were too physically close and Kaya couldn't control her magic anymore.

She shuddered. At the very least, she would never stop having nightmares about the events, not unlike Elsa.

Once she had bathed and changed, she awaited Elsa in the receiving room that adjoined to the ballroom. Kaya steeled herself for a night of listening to politics and more politics. Her headache would no doubt be much worse before the night was out.

"Are you alright Captain?" Elsa spoke softly to her.

"Quite well, Your Majesty." Kaya's tone was stoic as always. She didn't bother turning around.

Elsa still didn't believe it, but hoped that the afternoon off had helped her captain regain some of her energy; she seemed fatigued as of late.

"Alright, if you're sure, Captain."

"Of course I'm sure, Que-" Kaya started to snap, but as she turned around, her breath caught in her throat.

Queen Elsa looked lovely. Her normally borderline scandalous ice-blue dress with a slit up the side had been replaced with a more modest, but just as flattering, lilac ballgown with what looked like white fur decorating the collar of the gown, although upon closer inspection Kaya noticed that the fluff was not fur, but fine snowflakes crafted by Elsa herself. The pristine, snowy collar ran down the middle of the dress to meet only once at Elsa's waist, then fanning out in a manner that only emphasized how mature a woman the Snow Queen really was.

Kaya couldn't remember the last time a woman's appearance had left her so speechless. Zmeya's allure had been mere instinct, a trained response, and no could have blamed her; the sensuality of the woman was almost tangible in the space she occupied.

The reason Kaya found Elsa attractive wasn't because of mere physical aspects. If she wanted a purely physical relationship, there were plenty of willing women that she could choose from, if not in Arendelle, then somewhere close by.

No, it was completely different with Elsa. She had qualities that Kaya had never found in anyone else, or at least anyone with who possessed the combination of flattering qualities that Elsa did.

"Captain?"

Kaya somehow found the will to tear her eyes away from her stunningly beautiful Queen.

"Are you ready?" She asked instead, offering her hand as a formality so the queen would not have to enter alone.

Elsa looked as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she stayed silent and nodded, taking the offered hand.

The guards opened the door and Kaya winced as another bolt of pain sliced through her head. Her hand tightened on Elsa's briefly, leaving the queen wonder as to the reason, but was soon swept away after her introduction before she could ask.

Kaya took her place on the side of the room, along with the multiple other bodyguards that had accompanied the various royals from all around the continent.

There were, of course, the King and Queen of Corona, this year's host kingdom. The Prince Consort and Princess Rapunzel were present as well, animatedly conversing with Elsa and a few other nobles not far from where Kaya stood.

Princess Anna and Kristoff had wanted some time to themselves, and Kaya had insisted that the whole royal family not travel together as one to the Congregation, as doing so would make both Arendelle and the royals themselves bigger targets, as only one well-timed attack could throw Arendelle into chaos. Queen Elsa had seemed reluctant to think in such a negative manner, but she was logical by nature, and had consented to the two younger adults staying behind in Arendelle.

As the night progressed, nobles had come and gone from the group that Queen Elsa was in conversation with. One noble in particular, a young man in his twenties, had been one of the few who had remained close to the queen for the majority of the evening. This was odd, considering he hardly contributed anything to the ongoing discussion of peace between the kingdoms. Kaya noticed that he only ever opened his mouth to say something arrogant or condescending.

Kaya supposed the dolt (she'd heard one of the women call him Lord Stephan), could be considered handsome, if she had ever looked at men in that way. His locks were neatly combed back and his shoulders were broad and sturdy, though Kaya suspected his mind was anything but. Still, his smile had most of the women in the vicinity swooning, blushing, or struggling to form a coherent sentence when its disarming ability was unleashed on them.

She heard Orinda giggle in her mind. Your queen doesn't seem to be fooled, though.

Kaya couldn't say. The appearance of the demon's voice in her head had doubled the pressure in her head, making her want nothing more than to have her queen blast her with her ice magic just to make some of the heat go away. It was hard to concentrate on anything else.

If that wasn't enough, the lord had been asking Elsa to dance for half the night, only to have the queen refuse him every time. This didn't satisfy Kaya very much, though, considering the fact that, every time he was refused, his attraction to the Snow Queen only seemed to intensify, leading him to start standing closer and closer to Elsa and the night wore on. The ever-present, refilled glass in one of his hands was not a very reassuring sight either.

The captain tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to put a lid on her rising temper. It was only when the idiot man had had one too many drinks that her temper rose to the surface. He had tried to persuade Elsa, once again, to dance with him. Under different circumstances, the look of disdain on Elsa's face as he took her elbow in what looked like a too-tight grasp might have calmed Kaya down a bit. At least enough to not knock the insolent boy into next week. .

But the sight of someone touching her queen without said queen's consent was enough to propel Kaya rapidly across the ballroom, grab the boy's wrist and twist it harshly behind him, unmindful of his yelp of pain and surprise.

"Captain!" Elsa cried, lowering her voice to hiss, "Release him, now!"

Kaya almost growled at the boy who was struggling to get free of her iron grasp. It felt like there was an inferno raging just beneath her skin, fighting to sear its way through to the surface. Steam was probably radiating off of her by now, and judging by how the young man started to sweat profusely, despite the temperate climate of the room, her skin was just as hot to the touch.

The haze suddenly receded from Kaya's gaze and she saw the horrified look on Elsa's face. If there was one thing Kaya hated doing more than losing her temper, it was losing her temper in public, for all to see.

She abruptly dropped the boy and turned on her heel, barely keeping from snarling at the onlookers who scrambled out of her way as she strode to the door.

Kaya didn't even realize Elsa had followed her until the doors behind her were shut loudly with a bang!

"What was that all about?"

The exhausted fire-user had neither the time nor the energy to waste on hearing Elsa berate her for doing something that Elsa should have done herself, which was shoving the bastard away.

Maybe you just don't want to admit to the possibility that she liked his touch. Orinda taunted.

Kaya didn't want to admit to that, and the reason why was starting to become clear to her. Her anger simmered, barely contained, just below the surface. Elsa, however, had learned to read her too well to not notice that something was definitely off.

"Captain..." Elsa approached the woman as if she were trying to console a frightened, dangerous animal. Kaya didn't move, but Elsa could practically taste the trepidation that Kaya exuded from where she stood, even from several feet away.

"I've never seen you so anxious before." Elsa couldn't understand what had made Kaya so on-edge. "What's wrong? Are you sick? Is there -"

"Fine." Kaya hissed. She'd known Elsa long enough to know when she wasn't going to let something go. The woman wouldn't give up until Kaya had answered all her questions, and then some.

Unfortunately, none of those questions were ones that Kaya was prepared to answer.

After hearing the acid in Kaya's tone, Elsa seemed to freeze. She'd never heard Kaya sound so...aggressive. Where was the woman who had single-handedly, and with a straight face, tenderly comforted her after a nightmare?

"You want to know what's wrong?" At this point, the Palladonian wouldn't have been surprised if her eyes had appeared crimson with rage as she spoke. "What's wrong is that I've been wasting my time here."

The platinum-haired queen looked puzzled, as if unsure where this outburst had come from. "I-"

"I don't think you realize how far I could-should- be away from Arendelle." Her breaths came harsh and fast and they tore through her throat. "I didn't have to stay, but do you know why I did?"

Elsa didn't, but she had certainly wondered. She shook her head.

Kaya stalked a few feet forward, still keeping plenty of space between the monarch and herself.

"I thought I could see a strength in you that you didn't even know existed." She said. "I thought that your ability to say 'no', to exercise your authority as a queen, but still be kind and gentle, were your best qualities." Her eyes narrowed.

Elsa's brows furrowed.

Kaya continued, shaking her head. "I didn't realize is that you'd let just anyone get away with touching you, like some common harlot, if it meant you could avoid offending an idiotic foreign dignitary."

Tears pricked at the corners of the Elsa's eyes, but she knew instinctively that there was something wrong; her captain would never insult her so heartlessly without a reason.

...Right?

Elsa reached out so that she might offer some form of comfort to her off-kilter companion.

"Don't touch me." Kaya hissed like a viper spitting poison into the eyes of its victim. "Don't ever touch me." She scoffed, backing further away from her queen, almost stumbling over a table in the process. "You just don't know when to stop, do you?"

Kaya knew she had hurt Elsa's feelings, and her heart clenched painfully at the watering of the queen's eyes. She wanted to take it back, but all she wanted was for Elsa to just leave her alone.

Her head was splitting and her chest hurt when she thought of how much she must have wounded Elsa with her words.

Before she could contemplate the implications of her actions, Elsa had picked up the hem of her dress and had fled the room before Kaya could stop her.