Part Five: The Return
The Ice Palace appeared to be deserted. There was no sign of Elsa or the reindeer made of snow outside. As for inside...
"Do you think it's still here?" Anna whispered, hand hovering over the door.
"If it is then we shouldn't be!" Kristoff hissed. Their last encounter with the towering Marshmallow hadn't exactly been friendly. He glanced down at Sven who waited at the foot of the bridge before squinting at Anna's raised hand. "Why are you knocking?"
"Because it's polite." The Princess gently rapped her knuckles against the large pane of ice. The blond man felt himself pale, trying not to picture the giant snow boulder hulking behind the door as it silently swung open.
"Oh thank the skies..." He breathed as no monster materialized. With a happy smile, Anna waited for the door to open fully before stepping in, her boyfriend following close behind. No way was he sitting on the step outside this time.
As they slowly stepped into the main atrium of the building, Anna nearly slipping as she had the first time she had visited, Kristoff got to properly enjoy the sights of the frozen fountain and architecture on the inside. All thoughts of this place's enchanted guardian were forgotten as he felt a familiar tear come to his eye at the sight of the Queen's more beautiful creations.
"Elsa? Elsa..." Hesitant and small, the redhead's voice seemed to carry strangely far in the quiet emptiness of the space. Finding no sign of Queen, deer or Marshmallow on the ground floor, the two nodded, each ascending opposite ends of the staircase leading up to the mezzanine and floors above.
Splitting once more at the mezzanine, the two grew bolder. Kristoff scaled the steps in twos and threes, eyes scanning the ice around him, trying to see what he could through the walls that weren't entirely opaque. Anna too quickened her step, putting her voice to good use. It wasn't long before the whole building rang and sang with the Queen's name.
Meeting in the ante-chamber to the big hall on the upper floor, the ice master and the princess shared a worried glance. The room they were about to enter hadn't left them with the best of aftertastes. His hands were gently holding onto her shoulders as Anna clutched at her heart. Hesitantly they stepped forward side by side, ready to face whatever was through that arch.
"Elsa?"
Anna's voice cracked as she saw the chaos in the room, Kristoff's hands slipping as he took in the damage. The beautiful door leading to the balcony was gone, smashed apart by a rough protrusion of ice, several spikes and outcroppings littering the walls and floor. When they had last seen the room, dark shadows had been forming in the bright blue ice, but it had still been tidy. Last time there had still been a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, not a carpet of broken ice a foot deep. There certainly hadn't been a big drift of snow right in the middle, sat on top of the shards.
"Hrn?"
Oh...
Petrified by the vision of the hollow eyes that had turned to face them, it took Anna a moment to remember to breathe. As Marshmallow rose, she debated which would remember how to move first, her mouth or her feet? When the golem turned to face them, however, all her fright was instantly forgotten.
"Please..." The snow giant said gently as he cradled the unconscious Queen in his arms. "Help?"
"Elsa!" Like lightning, Anna propelled herself to her sister's side, hand reaching out for the older woman's flushed face.
Kristoff remained still a moment longer, his mind puzzling at the scene before him. Why had the snowman brought the Queen here? Why, of all places, would Marshmallow think this room, that had clearly seen a great battle if the crossbow bolts in the walls were any indication, was appropriate for it to nurse its creator in? Did it not know what other events had transpired here, and how they had affected Elsa?
It struck him as he edged closer, boots clinking broken pieces of ice against one another, nudging apart other pieces that had fused in the months since they had fallen. As Anna fussed about Elsa's temperature and took off her cloak, Marshmallow watched on with equal attention and concern, its face clearly showing how much it was at a loss before its creator's illness, and how pained it was.
This was the room Elsa created Marshmallow in. This was their place. It was probably the only place where, despite all the evidence otherwise, Marshmallow felt at home and safe.
"Mama..." The golem whispered as Anna began to wrap Elsa up warm. Volunteering his own fleece, Kristoff helped the princess and Marshmallow ease her into a better position, clearing some debris off the floor and using part of the broken door as a makeshift bench.
"I'll go get some fresh water," he volunteered, once Elsa was settled, the princess at her side. Anna looked at him, a sad smile accompanying the gratitude in her eyes. Ruffling her hair, he stood. "For now, you stay with her."
"Thanks again, Kristoff."
The tender look Anna then turned to her sister as she slept was enough to melt Kristoff's heart ten times over.
It wasn't long before Elsa had recovered enough from her ride to groggily greet Anna. A few flecks of snow started to fall again as the blond felt her fever cloud her senses once more. It wasn't as bad as it had been earlier on in the afternoon though, the small outbreak melting away as she swiped her hand at it. Her throat felt parchment dry though, so when Kristoff sauntered into the room, a water skin in one arm and some warm blankets in the other, she was most grateful.
It wasn't until she'd finished a big swallow of the glorious liquid that she heard Anna's exclamation or truly noticed the state of Kristoff's face.
"Oh my word, Kristoff!" Anna's hands flew straight to his cheeks as he winced, batting her arms out of the way. "What happened?"
"Nothing, nothing happened!" He was grumbling. His eyes glanced away as he rubbed his nose. In an attempt to divert his girlfriend's attentions from the rising red lump on his brow, he politely deposited one of the blankets on Elsa's lap. "Ma'am..."
"Kristoff Bjorgman! If you think for one minute that a pair of blankets..." Momentarily muted by the green blanket the blond man had dropped on her head, Anna had to start again, index finger pointing out the wound on his face, "a pair of blankets and some water is going to get you out of explaining that..!"
Elsa felt a short spell of dizziness as Kristoff muttered something unintelligible in response. Bringing her hand to her forehead as she wrapped the soft and warm material around her shoulders, she held back a groan in favour of asking the same question herself.
"What happened, Kristoff?"
"I said, Oaken punched me. Ah, ah-ah!" Shaking his hands in Anna's general direction, he tutted her to a stop. She had looked ready to rush out and show that Oaken what for. "To be fair, I'd been expecting that ever since I punched his other half, so now we're fair and square... And he let me buy some blankets and a water skin! So we're good, alright?"
Decisively dropping the remaining blanket on the plinth Elsa had been resting on, he sauntered off to the corner where Marshmallow was laboriously collecting all the rubble that had been in the room, the iceman's gruff voice congratulating the snowman on its efforts. She frowned a little at the visible reminder of the snowman's limp, but seeing her creation grin happily at the praise, Elsa smiled.
"Someone looks like they're feeling lots better!" Anna quipped. Feeling the warm embrace of her little sister as she turned to see her face, the Queen smirked.
"Yes, I do believe I am." After a short moment fighting through the various layers they had smothered her in, much to her warm pleasure, the blonde returned the hug, Anna pretty much inviting her to sit in her lap. Remembering how they had gotten to the Ice Palace in the first place, she cringed. "Sorry about riding out on all of you, I... I must have given you a big fright."
"It's alright!" The princess replied without missing a beat. "It's fine Elsa, really. So long as you are okay. Just, you know, don't do it again? Please? At least not without prior warning..."
Rising a hand to her mouth, Elsa chuckled.
"Next time I feel like I'm having a really vivid dream of running past you, I'll be sure to let you know what I'm up to."
The swat she got in response was well and truly deserved. Anna was now truly past worrying about intruding in her big sister's personal space. The two settled in the dark of the hall, Elsa taking another drink from the water skin before sharing it with Anna, the girls enjoying the slight golden glow of the ice around them. Elsa still didn't feel strong enough to do any proper magical repairs to the palace, but it didn't stop her from planning them out in her head. So involved was she in thinking out various changes she could make that she nearly didn't hear Anna's next whisper.
"It's beautiful by the way..."
"Ah? Sorry, what?"
"Your reindeer. What happened to it?" Anna smiled warmly at Elsa, her hands gently stroking her blond hair. "Does it have a name?"
"Oh, Neva?" Blushing, the young woman fought a moment to come up with a response. At the vocalisation of her Reindeer's name, she felt her power fluctuate, a circle of snow surging momentarily around them before disappearing. Anna hadn't seemed to notice, but it did comfort Elsa. "She'll be around when she's needed."
Anna let out a small laugh.
"Why Neva?" It was a far cry from names like Olaf or Marshmallow, even if Anna hadn't confirmed with Elsa that that was indeed the snow giant's name. "When I saw that she looked identical to the one you had described to me when you, you know," she gestured at her sister's icy cast, "I thought for sure that she'd have a name similar to Sven's or something."
Thinking back to Snow, the first horse that Anna had tried to teach her riding with, Elsa winced. Neva's name was basically the Latin version of that horse's name. Hoping to distract her sibling, the Queen grabbed the water skin once more.
"It's Latin," she replied simply, suddenly inspired as she cast her mind back to their childhood days. "You'd be amazed by how well that subject lends its self to daydreaming about horse riding."
It had always especially been so when a certain redhead was learning the latter just outside of Elsa's class room window.
Now it was Anna's turn to blush.
"Yeah, I kind of spent most of my Latin classes actually on the back of a horse." The freckled girl's head threatened to disappear beneath her shoulders. Elsa felt the younger woman shiver. Or maybe she was the one shivering, as small specks of white were beginning to dot her vision. It wasn't long before the princess spoke up once again.
"Hey look!" She said, nodding at what remained of the balcony. "The sky's awake."
And with that, the two sisters smiled happily, leaning one against another to admire the colours lazily swirling across the sky. It wasn't till Kristoff came up to them with a lit torch in hand that they'd noticed he had been gone. Anna seemed to feel guilty about this, but Elsa just drowsily accepted his return. Even if she had spent the larger portion of the day resting, today had been a long day. She could tell when she heard her sister's stomach growling.
"Hey," the ice harvester said, "Kai's brought some guards and horses up to the palace. You girls ready to head home?"
With the shortest of glances, both girls nodded, Anna voicing an enthusiastic response.
"You bet!"
After tending to the nasty cut through Marshmallow's leg, the concentration required for that small act of magic more taxing than she had expected, Elsa graciously accepted the construct's now more able-bodied help. Thus the Queen managed to descend the stairs out of the palace to the men waiting outside; her body dwarfed by the creature's imposing presence at her side. Thankfully the guards had the presence of mind to keep their weapons sheathed, merely eyeing up her guardian from a considerably safe distance. She discovered with great pleasure that Kai had graciously brought an actual coat and some boots for her to wear. Donning the garments, she turned to thank the Palace's resident for looking after her.
"Thank you, Marshmallow," the snow creation's ecstatic look at hearing her use its name as she stroked its cheek certainly helped her to ignore Kristoff's bewildered look and Anna's cheerful fist pump. "I promise I'll be back to visit soon. We need to clean up the place."
Warily she eyed the broken pieces of banister along the stair to the palace's entrance. She wondered if there was any more damage that she hadn't noticed. Returning her gaze to Marshmallow, she added, "You look after it for me, okay?"
She smiled as she noticed the tiara on Marshmallow's head. The snow giant was definitely a more suitable queen for the palace than she was. She embraced Marshmallow in a warm hug before stepping back. The construct grinned and nodded before returning to the main door, not without glancing meaningfully at Kristoff and Anna on the way.
Marshmallow needn't have worried. Elsa was going to be fine.
At least she thought so until Kai led her to a small, familiar looking white horse. The head of staff remained resolutely tight-lipped as she looked into Snow's dark brown eyes. Kai wasn't letting any of his thoughts show.
For a sharp, short moment, Elsa recalled the frightful moment of her fall off Pet's back. In the blink of an eye she was reliving the more nightmarish part of her dream, where dark horses had cantered menacingly around her. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. When they opened once more, Neva was standing at her side, ice blue antlers reaching into the heavens as the deer proceeded to lick her face. She was going to have to get used to that. Trying not to feel too mortified by the unladylike squeak she had let loose, she watched as the deer turned its ice-gold eyes to Snow the fjord horse. Everyone else was gazing on in wonder, still too stunned by the reindeer's sudden apparition to find their words.
Seeing the Reindeer made of snow step closer to her, Snow's ears turned back in apprehension, the normally placid horse's body tensing. The horse's unease didn't last long though, as Neva soon lowered her head to nuzzle at the horse's cheek. Whatever the snow deer had done seemed to have the desired effect, as Snow instantly relaxed. Turning her gaze back to her creator, Neva clicked into a kneeling position, soon imitated by the white mount beside her. Gold eyes seemed to roll in their sockets as Neva impatiently flicked her antlers in the direction of Snow's saddle. Hesitantly at first, Elsa took the hint, but not without remembering all the advice her father, sister and manservant had given her with regards to horses. Steadying herself, she strengthened her posture and stepped to Snow's side. With a gentle pat on the horse's neck, she swung herself onto the saddle, feet slotting into position as her mount swiftly rose up once more. Her heart was pounding, and though she still felt slightly faint from fever, there was a certain elation coursing through her at being alone in the saddle once more, on Snow of all horses no less. The mount in question flicked its ears contently in her direction.
"Wow," Anna's whisper of wonder seemed to break the stupor everyone had fallen into, and, just like that, life seemed to resume as normal. After looking around a moment, turning to Kai, the Princess tilted her head. "Hey Kai, where's Pet?"
"Ma'am," Kai ignored Anna's dubious facial expression at the appellation. He knew full well that she perceived the word as one used for her mother or the queen, not herself, but there were times where he felt it more appropriate an appellation than any other he could think of. After seeing Queen Elsa subdue her horse with the aid of her magically summoned reindeer, he was feeling particularly official. "Your horse is nearly fully recovered from the scrapes and bruising it suffered, but I deemed another day or two of rest were necessary. I presumed you would wish to ride alongside her majesty..." Seeing Elsa sat upon Snow's back with such newfound confidence after their discussion that afternoon, Kai's presumption felt remarkably ill-made, though he did allow himself a warm smile. For his error he could only offer Anna an apologetic frown. "Or one of us, if you would rather." He didn't quite want to offer up Kristoff and his reindeer, but he knew Anna would consider it an option.
With a smirk upon seeing Anna's hesitation, Elsa exchanged a look with her sister's boyfriend. Catching the meaning behind the queen's glance, the outdoorsman grinned ecstatically, nearly releasing Sven whom he had been holding onto for dear life ever since Neva had appeared. Seeing him nod, the blond woman nudged the reindeer of snow with an outstretched hand. Neva nickered, the sound not too dissimilar to icy chimes clinking together, as she stepped up to a startled Anna's side.
"Ah... Hi?" As the snowy reindeer nuzzled her forehead, the ginger-haired princess gave Elsa a hesitant, puzzled look.
The older sibling just shrugged, a mischievous smile plastered across her face. Just as Neva managed to shove Anna down into the snow to lick her face, Elsa chuckled. "I think she likes you. I'm sure she'll let you ride her down the mountain."
"Wow really?" Turning an awed gaze to the reindeer above her, she asked her directly. "You'd do that for me, Neva?"
For all response the deer of snow leapt back and knelt, inviting Anna to hop on. It wasn't long before the princess and her boyfriend were racing reindeer down the slopes, leaving the Queen and her men to follow at a much more sedate pace, Kai never wandering far from Elsa's side. For this the blond woman was glad. She still felt weak and prone to outbursts of magic. It wouldn't do for her to spook Snow from mere fatigue.
The ride back to the castle ended late in the night, with thankfully few bystanders to witness their return. Stories of the Queen's magical escapade spread like wildfire, hundreds craning their necks whenever she announced an outing on horseback through the town. She never did feel the need to ride on Neva's back again, instead building up her confidence on Snow to ride alongside Anna and Pet. That didn't mean Neva didn't make any more appearances, far from it, much to Sven's delight and Kristoff's awkward embarrassment at his reindeer friend's keen interest. The reindeer of snow would often make an appearance alongside more private rides or walks through the woods, clicking merrily by them with golden eyes full of merriment.
Now if only Elsa could find a way to stop Anna from putting on a voice for Neva... Oh well.
End.
Author's note: Special dedication to Curry, whose encouragement and warm hugs helped bring this "shiny deer fic" to completion. Love you Curry!