"Kidnapping the princess? I daresay, your majesty, that's as serious an offense as they come. Their punishment must be equally serious."
Elsa nodded at Haakon. Elsa had been back in Arendelle for two days now, her ship slowed by their lack of Moby, but sped by its slick icy hull. Haakon's ship, as well as the small armada of his companions had just arrived that afternoon. And with them, he brought a dozen of the captured Boreal Bandits as prisoner. As far as she knew, they were still in the brig of Haakon's ship.
Elsa turned to look out the window at the dark clouds that hugged the mountain. It was mid November, and the crisp Autumn days were giving way to wet Autumn nights. But one of these nights it would be cold enough…
"Your Majesty?"
Elsa turned back to the palace guard. "This puts us in a bit of a fix, Haakon, because as they would put it they were rescuing her and adopting her."
"Against her will?"
"But according to her mother's will. According to Arendelle's Queen's will."
"Still, your majesty, they are bandits…."
"Askel, their leader, has already been sentenced to a hundred year sleep in the icy arctic north. Surely that is enough punishment for him and a few others."
"Ahem, if I may make a suggestion?" Anna put in. Elsa was a little startled seeing her sister there. But Anna wanted a place in their court, so here she was. "I saw them fight on board my ship to Denmark." Anna continued. "Six of them could throw a dozen sailors overboard. They even out-fenced me. They would make excellent defenders of Arendelle's fleet … so let them serve out their sentence as merchant marines."
Elsa gave a nod. "There you are Haakon. Justice is served and the Kingdom is served." She returned to looking out the window at the dark grey clouds hanging over the high cliffs, a fine drizzle falling. "I believe even the prisoners will agree …" She cut herself short as she saw amongst the rain drips a single crystal of ice floating through the air. She turned to Anna with a big smile across her face.
"You saw it?" Anna asked. "The first snowflake of winter?"
"Let's go!" The two of them rushed to the door together, before Elsa called back over her shoulder, "Remember Haakon. Serve justice by serving the Kingdom."
Together they rushed to the tallest tower in Arendelle Castle. A dark window was starting to frost over along the edges. Anna pushed it open and looked about in the open air. In front of her, a large white platform floated in mid-air, slowly twisting. As Anna approached, she noticed that it had the shape of a snowflake. She spared a sideways glance at Elsa, questioning, did you make this? Elsa shook her head.
Anna tentatively poked at it. The snow seemed to be whispering, it's perfectly safe. Climb on board. She pressed her arm against it, and deciding it was sturdy enough, leaped through the window onto the rotating snow platform. "Come on Elsa!" she called back.
When the older sister stepped aboard, the platform rose slowly into the air, then sped off into the clouds.
"This is amazing!" Anna shouted through the wind. Elsa was less convinced, and dug her hands into the snow to try to get a sturdier grip. Minutes later, the flying snow slowed to a stop near the pinnacle of the North Mountain. A figure of blue ice stood on the balcony of Elsa's snow palace.
"My dear daughters," Idunn's icy appearance said, as the flying snowflake deposited the two sisters next to her.
Anna leaped at her mother and embraced her in a flying hug. "Mamma!" she shouted. "You look… Well, blue really suits you."
"Thank you, my dear child. And you look lovely as ever." She turned to the queen. "And Elsa, this ice palace… it's amazing! If only I knew when you were a child, but I never realized what your powers could do."
Elsa blushed slightly and nodded. "But they're your powers too now."
Idunn shook her head. "No, my magic is in the magic of changing seasons. Powerful though it may be, such magic is not so intricate as this."
Anna had released her mother from the hug but was still holding onto her icy hand. "What's it like, mamma, to be the Snow Queen?"
Idunn looked up at the sky to see dark clouds twist in air currents. She concentrated on them, and the clouds broke into a light snowy flurry. "Far more work than the fairy tales of the Snow Queen made it seem. I know you've seen it on a map, but have you ever realized how big Russia is? And it all needs snow. But to know that Arendelle is safe from winter's onslaught, and to understand Elsa's powers a little better…that makes it all worth it."
Idunn smiled at each of her daughters in turn. Then she sighed, "But it is a lonely life, to be the Snow Queen."
Elsa looked downward and nodded. She had been prepared to spend her life in this palace alone, under the title of Snow Queen.
But Anna perked up and looked at the giant snowflake platform, still hovering about near the doorway connecting the ice balcony to the palace proper. She turned toward her mother but walked backward to the hovering platform as she said, "Well I can think of someone who would love to spend his life flying among the snow clouds with you." She turned as she reached it, hopping aboard. "Especially if you let him use this!" She pulled up at one end, guiding the snowflake upward into the air.
"Anna? Who are you…" Elsa asked
"Decker, of course! All he's ever wanted is to fly… but in the cool of a snow flurry, with the grace of a snowflake. I'll just go fetch him!" With that, Anna pushed the front end of the giant snowflake downward and zipped off into the clouds.
Elsa stared at the mist swirling around the hole Anna punched through the cloud. At last she turned to Idunn. "Decker is … nice. You'll like him."
"Oh, we've met. I'm sure Decker and I will become great friends."
The gentle snow that fell paused as the mist lifted off from the valleys below. Idunn could see down to the Arendelle port, the city shimmering in a soft white of freshly fallen snow. Somewhere down there was her headstrong daughter, flying through the air on an enchanted over-sized snowflake.
"Can you sit with me for a moment, Mama?"
"Of course, sweetheart."
The two sat for a moment. Elsa turned to the woman in white with blue skin, and tried to open her mouth, but no words came out. Instead Idunn began, "Tell me about the blond man with the reindeer. I noticed him in the Snow Queen's cavern. Anna seemed particularly taken with him."
"Kristoff? Yes, he was an important part of my rescue party, when I was saving Anna from …"
Idunn looked down at these words. Guilt is hard to convey on a face made of ice, but Elsa could still read it there.
"…from Askel and his schemes." Elsa concluded. "He also helped save Anna after I froze …" Now it was Elsa's turn to look down.
Idunn grabbed Elsa's hand. "Magic is never an easy thing to live with." Idunn's hand was cold against Elsa's, but Elsa felt comfort in the chill.
"Kristoff plans to ask Anna to marry him. He's asked for my blessing, and I approved. But I suppose he should ask for yours as well."
Idunn smiled at her daughter. "He sailed up to the North Pole to save her for a second time. I'm sure he will take excellent care of Anna-as I'm sure you will take excellent care of her too."
More snow began to fall. Elsa held up her hand to catch a few falling flakes, knowing they wouldn't melt at her touch. She closed her eyes to listen, and could almost hear a hum coming from them. "The frozen bees are calling their queen. I suppose you must be going," she said to her mother.
"In time, my dear Elsa. But I can sit for a little bit more."
Together, the two women sat on the balcony. Both queens of Arendelle. Both queens of the snow. From the North Mountain, they admired their kingdom.
The End
Where are they now?
Every year from then onward, Idunn visited Arendelle at the first snow. With Decker by her side she toured the globe, ensuring a proper winter followed every autumn, and was gone by spring. But under Decker's advice, she decided that winters would not have to be as harsh as they had under the previous Snow Queen. Over the next few years, she pulled back on winter's advances. Modern climate historians now consider 1848 to be the end of a Little Ice Age, an age that began in the 12th century, under the reign of the Last Daughter of Negefok.
The Boreal Bandits, at least those not serving sentences as marines in Aarendelle, tried to re-group under a young leader who called himself Thor. They sailed back across the Norwegian Sea and made their way to their fortress in Lapland, where a local farmer recognized the young man as Hamburt. It wasn't long before mutiny broke against Hamburt, ending his short reign as Bandit King. Unable to settle on a new leader, the bandits fell to disarray until they finally disbanded.
One hundred years later, Askel woke from his century long slumber to find that Svalbard, and indeed all of Norway, had been taken over by Germans. With no love for the Germans, he joined the Norwegian resistance, and using the magic of the Gyser Stone, helped turn the tide against Nazi Germany.