DISCLAIMER: Frozen and its characters do NOT belong to the Frost-Siblings. Only the plot of this fanfiction and any original characters introduced along the way.
- Kristoff's Worry -
If there was anyone who felt as lost as the Princess, it would be Kristoff Bjorgman. He was there when the Queen ran away. He was there when she kicked up the blizzard after Anna ignored her. He was there when the Queen struck her own chest with her own powers.
Did she really freeze her own heart? Was she deliberately trying to kill herself? He wondered as he settled down in the guest room. The Queen's royal servant Kai was kind enough to let him stay in the castle, in case the Princess needed him. But even Anna would not see him.
He sighed and buried his face into his mitten-covered hands, the dampness of melted snow stinging his skin more than usual. Regret washed over him like relentless waves as he began to question his previous actions. What if he had let Anna go to Elsa? Maybe things wouldn't have taken this drastic turn for the worse then.
Kristoff Bjorgman had known of the Queen's slight advertence of him - her sister had tried to marry a man she just met on the same day. And he had kissed Anna just after a short period of two days after meeting her. Elsa would be very well wary of him.
But there was one thing he couldn't understand then. He and Anna had been going out for about a year now, so it beat him as to why the Queen still didn't like him. Not until their encounter outside the the castle library. He didn't want to admit it there that he felt Elsa's treatment towards her sister was cruel and uncalled for.
Then she'd looked at him in the eye. Their eye contact both froze and burnt him, and the Queen suddenly spoke. You are a lucky man, Bjorgman.
It hit him, then. Elsa did love someone and that someone was currently singing to her cold body in her bedroom.
Only, it wasn't just sisterly love, wasn't it?
Oh no, does Anna know?
Sometimes being raised by love experts can be a real chore, especially when you pick up more things than you should have. But on the plus side, you know who to go to when someone you love has love issues. In the guest room, the ice harvester made a decision.
That decision resulted in a miracle, happiness, death and grief. All in a span of ten minutes.
Yes, being raised by love experts can be a real chore.
I was curious, then, about what Kristoff's decision was. I knew it had something to do with the trolls because it was in their direction Kristoff fled to on Sven. Notice I said 'fled'? It was because even for a man who had spent years in the frigid atmosphere of North Mountain, Kristoff Bjorgman felt cold in the palace.
He had tried to coax Anna from her place next to Elsa's still form or to at least get her to wear warmer clothing. She had refused, quoting Elsa.
A STUBBORN SISTER'S WORDS
"The cold never bothered me anyway."
Kristoff knew there was no moving Anna. Back at Oaken's barn, a lifetime ago, did he detect the princess' stubbornness. He quietly left and begged Kai to persuade Anna to wear warmer clothing before fleeing for North Mountain back to his family.
Now here he was. Back among the rocks he called family. The trolls' bluff cheer were marred by seeing Kristoff's expression. One of them asked, "What happened?" Kristoff spared no time honeying it; if there was one thing about him he knew, it was that he was blunt.
"The Queen is dead."
Gasps. Cries. Questions. Kristoff blocked them all out. He only had eyes for Pabbie, the wisest of them. Pabbie recognized the ice harvester's meaningful glance at his direction. With a wave and some quiet words here and there, Pabbie separated the rest of the trolls into small, whispering groups.
Kristoff sat across Pabbie in the elder's alcove. He laid it out bare to the moss-covered troll.
"Then Elsa...she, just...Pabbie I can't say it." Kristoff's voice cracked as he told his tale. Pabbie waddled forwards to lay a hand on the man's lap. "Does Princess Anna succeed her sister?"
"I...I can't say. I left the castle almost immediately, after-" The big man's voice cracked with emotion. Pabbie patted Kristoff and murmured, "And I had thought that the queen had thrown off the chains of her past, but it seems this is not so. You bring grave and terrible news, Kristoff."
Kristoff nodded absently. Then Pabbie's words struck him in the heart, almost physically so.
"YOU KNEW?"
Yes, he was gruff, yes he could be blunt but Kristoff had never directed his voice to any of the trolls with such vehemence as he did now to the elder troll, who only looked on impassively at his distress. Kristoff stood, now fully realizing this betrayal and repeated his question.
Pabbie only nodded in assent. "I would not deny it. 'tis true I have full knowledge of the queen and where her feelings truly lie."
"You said Anna helped to thaw her heart. Didn't she change then?"
"She changed, yes. That only meant that her feelings now burn brighter than ever before."
"YOU COULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING!"
At his outburst, the trolls fell silent and turned towards Kristoff. Pabbie could only look on in his customary silence as Kristoff roared his throat raw in anguish.
Now, I was only an onlooker throughout the entirety of this story, so I could say nothing of what Kristoff was truly thinking. However, my previous situation seemed somewhat similar to his then, so I could relate a little to how the big man was feeling.
Betrayal was commonplace where I used to live. Black-handed dealings, backstabbing and false-faced rumours were spread around like flies. The first time I got a taste of this human cesspool, and from someone no less than a blood relative, I broke.
I had raged.
I had cried.
I had anguished.
I had been betrayed by someone who was closest to me.
But you must remember, I was human then, and humans are like to adapt to any situation with complete mastery of themselves. Thus, when Kristoff calmed from his sorrow, I spied a tightening of his jaw and the renewed hardness around his eyes.
Throwing a dark glance at Pabbie, Kristoff turned and stalked away from the trolls' clearing to where Sven rested.
A MAN'S WORDS
"Don't come after me.
Don't ever think of going near anyone.
You're a monster."
Bulda, the one troll close enough that Kristoff could call a parent, edged closer, a wordless cry on her lips. Pabbie thrust out a warning hand, his own gaze trained firmly onto the big man's retreating back.
"If that is what you wish."
Kristoff did not acknowledge the elder troll. He climbed atop Sven and took one last long look at the clearing he had lived in for far too long.
With an uncharacteristic snarl, the Ice Master growled, "If you had any sense, you'd help way before anything happened. But you can't fix this now. Leave this to humans."
Shouting, Kristoff directed Sven away from the trolls, away from the ones who had lied to him, who had refused to interfere when they were needed. He ran away from the only family he had. I could only pray for his decision.
Pabbie was not so made of stone that he could not feel.
He loved Kristoff more than any other.
Kristoff was his son. His pride and joy.
He murmured to Bulda, now openly weeping. "Go. Go after him. Take care not to be spotted." The female troll did not require another word. She rolled away after her son. The other trolls did not dissolve into murmurs this time. They rolled back to their places, retreating among themselves to mourn privately.
Only Pabbie was left standing among the unmoving rocks. Would Kristoff had stayed, he would have seen Pabbie's expression. He would have heard his reasons for not interfering.
"It is already too late."
When I looked in on the palace's inner chambers, I must confess I was shocked, yet not that surprised, that the advisors had begun a secret meeting. The only ones I recognized was Kai, who stood next to where the late queen would have sat, and Gerda, who stood in the shadows with the guards, silently weeping as the advisors argued among themselves.
The Agenda
-The Queen is dead
-Princess Anna cannot lead yet
-A regent must be found
-Should the news be broken to the people?
Kai coughed at the second item on the agenda. The advisors at once fell silent. Despite getting on in his years, Kai was credited with the former King's trust and the love he had for the two princesses under his charge. His word carried weight, and they were used with grave effect.
"The queen is dead, no doubt. But after the Great Thaw, I am inclined to have Princess Anna head Arendelle." The advisors started to argue again. Gerda's weeping became more pronounced. The guards in their armor shifted nervously.
"Enough."
The command was spoken quietly, but in the cavernous room it boomed to all who were present. The advisors fell silent. Kai laid gloved hands on the table and spoke, "Now is not the time for strife. Queen Elsa did what she could for Arendelle. Now it is our time to place our trust in her sister, as we did before with her."
The advisors did not argue this time, after seeing the stoic butler's lips tremble with emotion. However, one particular advisor, the same man who had pestered the late queen on finding a suitor, had more pride than sense.
"A suitor has been found. We cannot turn him away, for he is already more than halfway across the ocean towards us." Kai glared at the advisor, who stubbornly held the butler's gaze.
"You did this? Without the queen's consent, nonetheless? You think too highly above your station. Do you not realize?" The last the butler almost shouted, causing everyone in the room to jump; rare was the time the sisters' butler raised his voice.
With newly shed tears and a shaken voice, the butler repeated, "Do you not realize? The queen is dead, there is nothing the suitor has to come here for."
The room fell silent again, even the advisor who had rebelliously acted did not offer more loaded words to further agitate the others. They all stared at one another, each lost in his or her thoughts, all minds no doubt being drawn towards the two sisters.
The peace, as I ironically called it, was broken when a high-pitched shriek rocked the royal halls. Kai jumped, saying to himself, "Princess Anna!" And with a flurry of coattails, left the room, Gerda and the guards following close behind.
A WISP CAN LOOK BACK, YOU KNOW
I was struck dumb by her scream
Never had I heard her express herself so
So I raced with her servants to where the Queen lay
And found something even I did not foresee
Even as the guards and the princesses' faithful servants neared Elsa's chambers, I could feel the toxicity of a sinister presence surrounding the room. You may not know it, but I see the world more in swirls of color and sounds than through the eyes of the humans.
This vision provided many things. It told me something had gone terribly, horribly, wrong. I should have known then Anna's scream signified disaster, and the presence I sensed leaked purple poison through the gaps of the shut bedroom door.
I wanted to shout a warning to the rushing servants
I did
They couldn't hear
I caution you so, never hear a wisp groan in despair. Before the scene could truly unfold in all its horror, I followed Kristoff Bjorgman's footsteps and fled the castle, leaving the servants behind, who also shouted, then screamed as the terror inside that bedroom burst outwards and swallowed them whole.
THE QUEEN IS DEAD
All hail the Snow Queen
All I could hear, even after the screams had faded into the cold, still air, was the laughter of a prisoner finally broken free from their jail.
A/N from the Frost-Siblings
Wes: Hi all. If you haven't noticed it yet, the writing style of this fic has changed. Yep, due to the piling up of her work, Jez will be temporarily unable to contribute to this fic, so for now, I'll be completing the chapters we have mapped out for you lovely people. Do continue to stick with me and I promise Jez and I will be working together again as soon as possible :)
Frost Siblings signing off! See you in the next chapter!
