Chapter 14: The Bandit Queen
Anna was standing stark still, staring up at the woman standing on the balcony. She had been standing like this for about twenty minutes now, and Decker was starting to get worried. "Say little feller. D'ya think we ought to be doin' something about this?" He asked Olaf while jabbing a thumb in Anna's direction.
Olaf was looking about the ridges above the valley, before turning his attention back to the princess. "Oh, that. Yeah, I've seen Anna have that look before. Usually when she's reading a book that she really gets into. Like one time she found a copy of a book called Emma, and she completely ignored me and Elsa for like two whole days. She'll just totally tune everything else out so she can concentrate on reading."
Decker eyed the two women, still engaged in the most epic staring contest he had ever seen. "What do ya reckon she's readin' now?"
"I guess she's reading her mother's face."
"So this gal up here. She really the late queen of Arendelle… I guess not so late anymore?"
"Oh yeah." Olaf answered. "That's totally the old queen. I recognize her from the pictures."
"Huh, guess that means that trade deal I signed with Elsa ain't exactly legal no more."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, I'd worry a lot more about those bears up on the ridge. Man do they look hungry."
Pebble was escorting the two prisoners across a newly formed ice bridge between the two ships, as she heard Elsa talking with the captain.
"You will of course sail back to Arendell with all speed. Take these bandits with you as well to stand trial," Elsa said.
"But your majesty, what of your ship? Surely we should escort you wherever you –"
"My ship is under magical whale power, and I'm afraid your vessel couldn't keep up. We need to keep up our speed for the journey ahead. But these scoundrels," she gestured to the two bandits Pebble was pushing along, "They need to go back. And we don't have a brig on the ice boat."
"Very well, I will sail the Atreus back to our home port. But surely you want some of these men to go with you. You don't even have your royal guard—just the Ice Master and what appears to be a walking rock. Perhaps some experienced sailors would do your company good."
"As I said, Captain, speed is of the essence. Our party of two, plus magical creatures, can move fast."
"As you say, your majesty."
With that, Elsa turned and started walking across the ice bridge. Pebble handed the two prisoners off to a pair of sailors, and then ran to catch up with Elsa.
"Are you okay, Elsa? You seem like you're in a hurry to get away from Captain Fishypants over there," Pebble said to her. "Is there something weird about him that I should … are his feet pear-shaped!?"
"What? No. Nothing's wrong with him," the queen answered, with a sigh. "It's just… I don't remember his name." She flashed Pebble an embarrassed smile, before continuing. "And, see a queen is supposed to know all of these details, about her royal guards, and the navy, and the members of the clergy, and there are just way too many of them. So I've been introduced to Captain … fishypants, but it just flew out my other ear. And now it's been too long that it would be awkward for me to ask him again. In fact, the only crewman whose name I remember is the first mate Mr. Errol."
"Is that why you don't want any of them to go with us on this rescue mission?"
"No, what I said to the captain was still true. We need to move quickly, and the five of us plus Moby would be the quickest."
"Hmm." Pebble though about this for a moment before going on, "So, do you know the way to the Bandits' Fortress up on Svalbard?" Pebble asked her. "Cause I sure don't, and I'm pretty sure Kristoff and Sven don't either."
"I …" Elsa looked to the horizon, and let a sea breeze blow through her braid. Her face wore a look of contemplation, that twisted into concentration, that twisted into a frowning pained look.
Oh no, Pebble thought, Is Elsa getting seasick again? Do I need to go fetch her a barfbag?
"No," Elsa finally answered. "I don't know the way."
"I bet one of those Bandits does," Pebble offered. "He could be our guide."
"Of course you're right." Elsa said to the troll, before turning and calling, "Oh Captain, bring back one of the prisoners. The leader. I believe his name is Johno."
Anna could tell that the Bandit Queen wasn't happy. Not the Bandit Queen, my mother Queen Idunn. She was still having a hard time grasping that, in spite of her half-hour long swim through the Queen's memories—a swim that was rudely interrupted by Olaf.
The snowman had thrown his nose up at the balcony and hit Idunn square between the eyes. Apparently he had tried poking Anna first a few times, but she was too absorbed in her trance. Once the Queen broke their connection, Anna was thrown back to reality so violently that she promptly fell into the snow and spent at least a minute trying to stand back up.
All of this over bears on the horizon. Hadn't Olaf seen bears before? Well neither had Anna, but Idunn scared them away with a magic whirlwind, and it was all over so quickly that the princess was sure bears were no real threat.
Now she was back on her feet, looking up at her mother, the Bandit Queen. Seeing that face, wearing Elsa's tiara and purple cape, still flooded Anna with a torrent of emotions: grief, confusion, anger, hope, joy—all boiling over. All she could get out in words was, "But Mama, how … why? Why couldn't? … And if … how?"
"Hush child," Idunn answered. "There is much more to the story."
She pointed to her eyes, and Anna stared deeply into them. Then, once again she was tumbling through the void.
Anna woke up again re-living the memories her mother had lived two years ago. Idunn was crouching with a gang of the bandits, just north of the Valley of Living Rock. Among them were Askel, Kjerstin, Mousy, and another pair that Anna didn't recognize.
"Tell me again," Idunn asked Kjerstin. "What did they use to repel you when you visited three years ago?"
"It was mostly control of elements—fire, water, wind. The geysers too, I think the trolls could control them. Also smoke, they hid behind magic smokescreens. And don't forget these trolls are living rocks, and can pack a lot of punch without any magic. But what do you think you could do your majesty?" A clear tint of derision colored the last two words.
"They have magic. Well I learned a few things from that witch Hyacinth. And I've got some special tricks of my own as well." Idunn concentrated on Kjerstin's eyes, felt her own crystalize over, and thought the spell ask me no more questions, silly girl.
"You really think your magic is going to out-whit the trolls?" Kerstin asked.
That's weird… it didn't work. Idunn frowned before answering, "One way or another. I'm going to get that fire crystal."
Mousy walked up to her and handed her a bandana. "Remember, you is a Bandit now. And the Boreal Bandits don't show no faces."
Idunn looked down over the valley, and could see trolls rolling about. There was something unsettling about them. Certainly they looked abhorrent, but what unnerved her was a feeling of deja vu. She tried to remember what it was about these trolls. Had she seen them before?
Anna sat in her one-person theater box watching the scene, and thought to herself, it's her mind … her mind is closed to her. And these trolls don't take any place in her heart.
The raid on the trolls flashed as a blur before Anna. Idunn's vision was constantly fragmented with sights through the eyes of trolls squeezing their crystal necklaces, launching fireballs, or summoning gales, or smoke and steam. From what Anna could see, the world was in an impossible disarray, but apparently Idunn could make sense of it all. She started shouting, "Askel, duck left—geyser. Kjerstin, bat the fireball my way. You boy, corner the yellow-toothed…"
"I's Thor, I is," the boy tried to answer.
Four bandits fell back, as a chevron of rocks rolled their way, but another two leapt from behind a large granite slab, cutting off the smallest trolls from the wing of the flying "V". That was the plan—divide and conquer.
The small troll tried to roll away—to the left cut off, behind her cut off, so onward and to the right. The pair of bandits corralled the rock up against the walls of the valley, where Idunn stepped from the shadows, and gently lowered her foot onto the rolling boulder.
The rock unraveled itself into a troll girl, who looked up at the queen with no recognition in her face. The queen could simply reach down and pluck one of the crystals from her necklace, then dive back into the shadows to watch the raid continue through her magic eyes.
Across the valley, individual trolls were being singled out and cut away from their kin. When they tried to use magic, the bandits always had a warning. So the trolls opted to roll away, but the bandits could herd the rock into a corner, where Askel or Kjerstin would pluck one of the magic crystals from the trolls necklace. Blue ones, green ones, yellow ones, a few brown ones—and finally a red one.
Fire crystal in hand, Idunn called out, "Bandits—mission accomplished!" then dashed away from the valley as fast as her legs could carry her.
The bandits re-grouped in a clearing in the woods.
"Haha!" Askel shouted in a cheer. He leaned in to hug Idunn, but seeing the dark look on her face, held back. Instead, he held out the half dozen crystals he managed to loot. "I daresay, that went well, miss … well if you are one of us now, you'll need a proper name."
"I happened to like being called Your Majesty."
"Oh, you still have ambitions to be a Bandit Queen, do ya? Well one successful raid does not a queen make."
"I see, so I must prove myself to you." It was a statement, not a question. Idunn simply walked away.
The memories presented before Anna jumped again. Flashes of visions. Brief glimpses of raids on gilded carriages, when a lone bandit would stand in the road to stop the cart, then Idunn would walk up to the occupants, allow her eyes to glass over, wave her hands, and the occupants would hand over anything she wanted. But the magic she used left the victims feeling like they generously giving to some poor needy folk. No alarm was ever raised. No reason to ever bear arms.
Again and again, this pattern of banditry repeated. Idunn's hypnotic magic allowed the Boreal Bandits to roam the roads unchecked. Seasons changed again, fall to winter to spring. Time was catching up with the present.
Eventually, Anna was dismayed to see the Bandits were stopping a carriage trimmed with teal and purple, with a golden flower painted across the door. A carriage carrying some officials from Arendelle. Again, Idunn put them under a spell, and a pair of Bandits rummaged through the trunks for anything valuable.
"Askel, you'd better look at this," one of the bandits said. Was this the same one who wanted to be called Thor in a previous flashback? He'd grown quite a bit.
"Oh, ho!" Askel said, looking into the trunk. "Nice catch, Hamburt."
"What is it?" Idunn asked.
"Oh, nothing to concern you, just news of an old acquaintance." Askel answered. "But I must admit," he continued, "These past several months have been the most prosperous for our band of bandits. And that is largely due to your magic. We would hate to see you take that anywhere else. So to ensure you remain with the Boreal Bandits for a good long time to come, I daresay I'm ready to call you Your Majesty."
This revelation came as a surprise to Idunn, but not quite a shock. "So I've finally proven myself to you. Very good."