After they left the tavern they were taken straight to the garrison three hours further south. They only stopped to acquire some new metal before taking off again. So when the contingency of guards stopped next to get some fresh water and a bite to eat, Anna decided to strike up a conversation with Jonas.
"You're looking a bit pale there Jonas, you okay?" Anna asked the man slumping in the corner.
"I'm fine, haven't you ever seen people become white as ghosts before?" he joked, although the joke went right over Anna.
"Yeah I have, well good then, don't want you to kick it before we manage to escape" he chuckled but winced a bit, that of course, got noticed.
"Hey, be honest! What happened to you?" she asked but didn't move to help him. She didn't know if she could trust him or if everything was just an act, another test. Robert on the other hand expressed real fear, he was so damn easy to read to Anna, even when he was off in dreamland, he could be trusted. But Jonas was a snake in human form, too mysterious, too unknown.
"Hrmm, blood magic has its pros and cons. One of the positive things about it is the fact that it can be performed even in this cage. Have you noticed your magic hasn't returned to you?", he stopped and waited for an answer, "Yeah, I have actually", he nodded and proceeded explaining, "It has been about a day and a half by now, and you should have recharged but you haven't. Blood magic draws power from the life-force inside the blood. Yours draw on the nature around you, and this cage cuts you off from that. Fortunately, they can't cut me off from my own blood. But that is where the negative side of my magic shows itself. If I use the blood inside my veins without draining it from my body, it feels like acid is being pumped through my body, every nerve is boiling, my head feels three sizes too small, but it works in a pinch. Not many people know the fact that we can bypass any magic defenses, and I hope that trusting you with this will help you trust me." he offered a smile.
"Who says I don't trust you?" Anna asked in defence.
"Come on, I know your training made you an incredible fighter, but you don't know people like I do. Your body language when you talk to me, the way you avert your eyes when you make eye contact. It's all in the minor things, you're turned slightly away from me even now. Nothing you do shows trust, and with good reasoning I know. But I truly am on your side. Now you said you wanted to revive your kingdom, how do you want to accomplish that?" he raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I don't know really. Make my name known first. I am not expecting people to follow some unknown and foolish girl. But I have no idea how being a Queen works. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I even want the title. I mean, from what I was taught, being a Queen is really boring, staying inside a castle all day every day. No thanks. Besides, my writing hand is presently absent, how am I ever going to write letters?" she chuckled as she held her right arm in front of her to emphasize her point.
"Hah, yeah you got a point." a moment of silence fell over the two, Robert was still fast asleep, and there was only a couple of soldiers in view, "Oh before I forget, how have you adjusted so fast to it? I still try to rub my shin where the sword were. But only realise that it's gone when I can't scratch the itch, and it's driving me crazy." He asked lightly as he scooted a little closer to Anna.
"I just filter it out I think?" she shrugged, as he got even closer.
"Do me a favor, lift your right arm again" he said as his expression turned serious, she did as she was told, "Now hold still", and she did.
Jonas looked around to check if anyone was looking their way, but after more than 24 hours of being around them none of the guards seemed to be afraid anymore. So Jonas had begun formulating a new plan, a very risky plan. For now he had to focus on Anna. He examined the ice, moving her arm around to see everything before acting. He had been curious about whatever magic that kept Anna from bleeding out, his own leg was crudely burned to stop the bleeding. Annas wound was different, the ice should have melted by now, the host had to be far away, and there are range-limits between user and magic.
"The ice have bonded to your flesh, see here and here" he pointed out the small icy vines that had crept up her arm and to the point where they disappeared, "and from what I can see it also healed the cut. So why is it still there?" he went off into his own world, speaking more to himself than to Anna. "There must be an explanation, think facts. Cold skin, we are in the colder half of the year and she's in a thin garb, she's perhaps a tad too cold. Lightened skin tone, loss of blood, easy. White strip of hair, magic, no doubt about it." he twirled the white strands once or twice, "Think, think, think." he began biting his nails, scratching at the back of his head, massaging his temples, and then, epiphany, "Have you felt the cold ever since you woke up in the cage?"
"N-no I haven't" she said quietly.
"I see, can you close your eyes for me please?", she complied and closed her eyes as she felt a hand on her forehead, "Good, focus on your own heartbeat and relax, listen to the rustling trees, feel the wind on your face".
She did as she was told, listening to every thump her heart made, to every leaf brushing against another, and the wind blowing in from the east. It was very relaxing, nothing she could remember felt like that, the south may be full of hate towards her kind, but this moment was extremely relaxing. Soon she began noticing different sounds, the light chirping of birds, the growling of dogs and a sharp clanging sound she knew all too well, swords colliding. She opened her eyes to see Jonas smirking at her.
"Great, seems like your power will return in a couple of hours, then we can bust out of here!" he said with enthusiasm.
"What? How?" she gasped, leaning a bit back from him in surprise.
"How do you think they made this cage? Never mind, don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question. They made it with magic", she interrupted, "They made anti-magic.. With magic? That doesn't make sense" she raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, how else do you think they did it? With hopes and dreams?" every word dripped with sarcasm.
"Hey, don't make fun of me, I don't know about this stuff" she defended.
"Sorry, sorry, that was a joke, no need to get all defensive. Anyway, yes. As I said, blood-magic has no need for the natural element to work, so I merely weakened it a bit, I tried to completely negate it but the one who made the enchants on it has some incredible skills. I have to say that I'm impressed, he must be a great mage" he was almost in awe of the skill it required to make a spell so dense and powerful.
"And then what? Robert doesn't want me to do anything, he's like an overprotective brother".
"Well that's not really up to him is it, my Queen?".
"No.. It isn't.. What do you want me to do then?" she asked the man with a plan.
"Do what you do best. Fight! Now sit there and meditate, we need you to gather as much magic as possible before we get to the next town, if we reach that we're dead." He warned her. And that was all it took to get Anna on board. She sat down and began her meditation.
"My King, are you sure that this is necessary?" Wimarc asked in surprise, he sat with a letter from his old master, she was an old lady living further up north near the border. In the letter it detailed the current state of the northern princess' powers. How they had developed, what they could expect if they went to war. But the most important part of it was the fact that she had told the girl to hide away, to keep her emotions suppressed. Which would slowly break the her, and when that happened, the north would no longer their biggest asset when war came knocking.
"Of course it's necessary, we need more power. Take whoever you want, I don't care how old they are or how young. Just make sure my armor is strong enough to withstand any magic thrown at me. I'm not going to say it again." the King ordered.
"Right away your majesty, I will report back when I'm done" Wimarc bowed and left his king's side, walking down the hallway towards his lab in the back of the castle. On the way he made a few stops to make sure he got the supplies he needed as fast as possible. In his lab he removed the old bodies he had already worked on, prepared a few tables and his tools. He then sat down at his desk and started working on a letter to his old master, lady Aurali. After a few minutes of scribbling his door opened up, multiple soldiers stood ready to receive orders, all of them in the colors of Westergaard, green and gold.
"Bring me more subjects, the King is growing impatient, he will not wait much longer before marching his armies into the north. We need to be ready to strike if anything goes wrong" he said, never looking at the men, but his voice carried authority almost equal to the King.
"Right away sir" the men said in unison.
Up north in the unclaimed lands between the Westergaard kingdom and the northern Union, the two siblings had made camp and sat by a small fire, trying to warm up. The sister didn't need it, but to the brother, snow and cold was undesirable. He was a big fan of summer and heat, just as his father.
Most of the time that had passed since they fled was spent in silence. Elsa wasn't normally talkative, but Kristoff hadn't been able to pry a single word out of her. And here they were, sitting in even more quietness.
"The sun is coming up soon, we should pack up and get going" Kristoff tried. Again.
Elsa didn't look at him but she stood and began packing up some of the food they hadn't eaten. After that, she saddled her horse and hoisted herself up, "Let's go then" she said in her regal voice, the one that was calm and emotionless. She spurred the horse to a slow walk allowing Kristoff to get ready without getting so far away that they lost track of one another. Kristoff taken by surprise at her sudden words stood stock still for a few moments before saddling his own horse, catching up to Elsa only a few minutes later.
"So she speaks again?" trying to lighten the dark mood that had enveloped Elsa, he figured it was from the blood and violence she had seen. But all Elsa cold think of was the girl they had left behind, she had told him she didn't blame him or herself. But she did blame herself, whenever she tried closing her eyes she saw the girls face. She saw the skin becoming lighter, she saw the strand of hair turn white. And her skin couldn't forget how the heat that dissipated from the redhead, she feared she had killed the girl by leaving her there. And the fear rooted itself deep within her heart.
She faintly heard Kristoff as he talked to her. Yet her mind was to preoccupied to even register what words he said to her. She couldn't bring herself to care right now, she just wanted to go home and lock herself up. Kristoff on the other hand grew more worried by the minute. His sister was closing herself off again, he could see it in her rigid posture and the lack of focus in her eyes.
She had done it once before. When Elsa was twelve years old, she accidentally froze one of the handmaidens and couldn't undo it. She had kept to her room for almost a year, before their parents had finally talked her out of her room. He couldn't let that happen again, even if he did think she was a bit crazy.
"Elsa, please talk to me, don't let it control you. You are the one who decides what to do, you are the one who controls the magic, it doesn't control you" he put a hand on her shoulder and she almost fell off the horse by the jerk she made from the contact.
"Do you hear me? You are in control, okay? Don't let it take over!" he said.
"I-I'm sorry, I was.. distracted" she managed to pry her mind from her wallowing, enough to actually talk to him.
'You can do this Elsa, just talk to him. Beat yourself up later' she thought to herself.
"Yeah i see that, are you sure you're okay?" he still had a hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.
"Yes, I'm fine. I think. But... I... I can't get her face out of my head. I killed her didn't I? Like I killed that handmaiden?" tears welling in her eyes, quivering voice and shaking.
"I wish I could tell you she's fine.. But I honestly don't know. I'm sorry.. Damnit, now I feel bad too" he averted his gaze to the road. He hadn't been thinking about the girl, but he certainly was after that.
"No, I'm sorry, I didn't want you to feel bad. But I just can't stop thinking about her. I really hope she is okay" she tried giving him a meager smile, but when she raised her head she could see his eyes looked a little glassy. She suddenly felt worse than before, now she had pulled her brother into her anxiety riddled thoughts.
"Hope is good. Hold it tight and never let go," he let his hand drop to the reigns, "Let's hurry up and into safe territories". With that said they both felt lighter, possibly a tiny bit happier. So they picked up their speed as the sun rose in the east, covering the woods in a bright orange glow. It was like the world told them that today would be a better day.
"I can't believe you agreed to do this" Robert crossed his arms and glared at Anna, he had been told of their plans, and that Anna would be the one to fight for them again. He wasn't usually the one to stand in the front of a fight. Not that he didn't know how to, but he was more at ease helping the ones who came back with wounds. And he had some remarkable skill in healing, if he was to believe what other people had told him.
"Wether you like it or not, Anna agreed to help get us out of here. By her own accord, there's no need to feel bad for 'using her' as you so eloquently put it" Jonas said.
"I'm still opposed to the whole fucking idea. She's eleven years old!" Robert exclaimed.
"Hey, I'm right here you know! Don't talk like I'm not!" Anna angrily voiced from her meditative pose.
"It's not like I don't know that! We're inside a small cage. It's been almost forty hours since we got thrown in here, I'm hungry as hell. I need to take a dump and now I have to rely on a little girl" he said in exasperation.
"You are not alone buddy, you are not alone" Jonas laughed and punched his shoulder.
"I told you guys to just get it over with, I'm not a delicate girl" Anna was tired of listening to complaints, being in such a small space with two grown men was exhausting. She had gone more than four days on multiple occasions without food, she knew that staying calm and conserving energy was the smartest move. She even shared that information, but the men weren't used to it as she was. So they just told her she was a smartass and kept up their bickering.
Jonas had tried to weaken the cage even more, with mediocre success. Anna had been meditating and could feel her powers again. And soon enough she would be strong enough to rip the cage door open and escape. She was hit with a solemn thought, 'Is this what the world has in store for me, escaping and hiding?' Soon she would be able to evaluate that on her own. Only thirty more minutes until freedom.
Hey there, a little on what is going on in the Westergaard castle, a little of what is going on with Elsa, and the lead to Anna and co.'s escape. Soo, yeah. Not much to say, just had to get this done to make room in my brain for some hopefully good ideas in your opinon.
My day at work was slow today so my mind had time to run rampant and come up with some fights, some fluffy shit because holy fuck there's a lot of that in other Elsanna fics. Like a shitload of fluff and smut out there, guess that pulls some readers?
On a sidenote I like that the few of you who have reviewed liked the fact that Anna is royal, thank your fellow reader. I was a bit on the fence with that one, and he pushed me in the right direction. I promise you that the cage is done in the next chapter, the adventure needs to begin. This slow start has simply helped me get some stuff under control with plot and whatnot.
Love Mr. Turtle