CHAPTER 18
The snow flew past her in white streaks that contrasted sharply against the darkness of the night. The only thing she could hear was the frantic beating of her heart and the choked sobs escaping from her throat. The wind caught in her hood, removing the shroud from her head and exposing her pained expression to the night. Her vision tunneled as the castle gates came into view, but the outline of the rapidly-approaching structure was blunted by the moisture gathered in the corners of her eyes.
Elsa.
She needed to get to Elsa.
Elsa would know what to do.
Elsa would make it alright.
The guards on watch must have seen her crossing the bridge, as the gates began to open as she neared them. She ignored the calls of "Your Highness" and "Are you alright?" from the guards and simply sprinted past them and into the castle.
She ran through the hallways, ignoring the worried faces of the staff, until she reached the grand staircase. She took the stairs two at a time, and before long she was standing outside of Elsa's bedchambers. She tried to lift her hand to open the door, but her body wasn't responding. The shock and fear that she felt during the assault finally caught up to her, and it was paralyzing. She just stood, rigid as a statue, staring at the intricate design on the portal. She thought she heard herself call out for the Queen, but she wasn't sure. It sounded too distant, too quiet, to be coming from her.
Suddenly, the door in front of her creaked open. Light from the room flooded her eyes, completely overwhelming her senses. From the glare came a voice, calm and collected, calling to her questioningly. A feminine figure stepped forward, the light forming a halo around her.
"Anna, are you alright?"
Words got stuck on the tip of her tongue, unable to completely form. She just stepped into the room and fell to her knees, eyes dropping to the floor as she did. The woman closed the door and rushed to her side.
"Anna, please! Answer me!"
She suddenly felt cool hands press onto her face and her eyes came up to meet pure, icy blue. Her vision focused and she saw Elsa.
Elsa would know what to do.
Elsa would make it alright.
At that moment, the weight of the night's events came crashing down.
Princess Anna leaned her head into her sister's shoulder, grasping at her clothing for dear life, and wept.
"Anna, are you alright?"
Queen Elsa had been reading quietly in her room, awaiting her sister's return, when she heard a whimpering outside of her bedroom door. She placed her book down and went to investigate the noise. Upon opening the door, she found the Princess and was relieved to see her sister back safely.
Something was wrong, though. Anna's eyes were unfocused, the lids puffy and red. Her hair was mussed up, she was covered in dirt, and her breathes were shallow and quick. On top of her disheveled appearance, she also had a pistol strapped to her chest.
The Princess suddenly began moving forward, reaching the middle of the room, where she fell to her knees. Elsa immediately slammed the door shut and rushed to meet the younger woman. She fell in front of Anna and took her face in her hands, forcing the Princess to look at her. Her eyes were still unfocused, though, and this made Elsa nervous.
"Anna, please! Answer me!"
The sound of Elsa's voice must have had an effect on the copper haired woman, because the Princess' teal eyes immediately converged onto hers.
Before Elsa could react, the Princess fell forward and began sobbing madly.
"Anna, what happened? Please, talk to me!"
The Princess didn't respond. Something bad must have happened, but Elsa knew that she wasn't going to get any information out of her sister while she was in this state.
Instead of prying further, the Queen wrapped her arms around Anna and began to softly whisper calming words to her.
Elsa felt something hard jab at her chest and remembered the firearm still holstered on Anna. She gently pried the weapon from between their bodies and placed it as far away as she could before embracing her sister once more.
Concern marred the Queen's features as she tried to imagine what could have caused Anna to break down in such a way. A precursory check of the younger woman's person uncovered no signs of physical injury, so it had to be something she saw or heard.
'Maybe someone at that tavern insulted her,' Elsa thought. 'but words don't elicit this kind of reaction from someone.'
The sisters stayed in that position, in the middle of the floor, for the better part of an hour until the intervals between Anna's sobs grew larger. Eventually the girl stopped crying altogether, but the pair remained on the floor, neither one wanting to let go of the other. Elsa gently caressed her sister's hair and intently listened to the Princess' breathing, which was finally beginning to steady.
"There was a woman... in the alley..."
Elsa was startled by her sister's barely audible voice. She moved her head from Anna's copper hair to better hear the Princess.
"She was laying on the ground," Anna continued. "and a man was sitting on top of her. He had a knife to her throat and he was holding his hand over her mouth."
Elsa gasped at the revelation of the attack, but otherwise remained quiet.
"She fought him away for a second, and screamed for help." Anna paused to sniffle. "Then he hit her in the face."
Elsa saw fresh tears welling in the corner of the Princess' eyes and pulled her back into an embrace.
"I had the gun, and he was going to rob her, or... violate her... or... or..."
Elsa winced as a small sob escaped her sister.
"I jumped down into the alley, and I pointed the gun at him, and I... I..."
'Oh no' Elsa thought.
"Anna... did... did you-"
"He saw the gun and he- and he ran away, but..."
The Queen let out a sigh or relief, and Anna continued her story.
"What if he didn't leave? What if he attacked me? I couldn't shoot him, and he could have killed the both of us!"
Now tears were beginning to blur Elsa's vision, and despite the awful circumstances, a feeling of pride began to overtake her.
"Anna, that doesn't matter." the Queen finally responded. "You saved that woman's life! You should be proud; you're a hero!"
"I'm a coward, Elsa." Anna rebutted. "I couldn't do it, and I put my own life in danger because I was too scared. I got lucky."
"You did exactly what was necessary, my love," Elsa countered. "and I couldn't be more proud of you."
"...but I couldn't-"
"You didn't have to, and that's all that matters." Elsa interrupted. She took the Princess' head in her hands and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You have to look at this from that woman's perspective; you saved her. Do you think she cares how?"
"He's still out there, though," Anna cried, voice laden with despair. "because I let him go! What if he finds her again?"
With that, Anna broke down again. The Queen frowned; she was used to her sister thinking that she could always do better, but not involving anything this extreme. Elsa was sure that her sister had gotten over the "spare" mentality that caused her so much grief, but it seems that this incident had caused a relapse.
"Anna, you need to give yourself some credit." Elsa cooed and held her sister tighter. "That woman is alive and safe because of you, and that's all that matters; you should be proud of yourself."
Anna sniffled and wiped a stray tear.
"D- do you really think so?"
"Yes, I do," Elsa replied. "and so should you."
"O-okay." the Princess answered shakily. "I'll try."
The sisters sat in a calm quiet, still not wanting to leave each others embrace. For several minutes, the only sounds apart from their breathing was the occasional sniffle from Anna.
"I was so scared, Elsa..."
"I know, my heart," Elsa whispered. "but there's nothing to be afraid of anymore."
Anna looked up at the Queen, a weak but sincere smile across her face. She nestled her head back into the crook of the older woman's neck, closed her eyes, and let out a long, deep breath. As she did, a peculiar thought crossed Elsa's mind.
"Anna, why did you have Mattias' gun?"
Anna's eyes shot open.
"Umm... well, y-you see..."
"Anna."
"Well... he... wasn't there."
Elsa separated herself from the Princess. Her brow fell and her eyes narrowed; the question didn't need to be vocalized to be asked.
"He was... well, he was... drinking... with Kristoff..."
The Queen's eyes widened with disbelief and the temperature dropped noticeably, but much to Anna's surprise, she said nothing; she simply embraced her sister once more.
"You're safe and that's all that matters." Elsa said as she released the embrace and stood up, offering her hand to the Princess as she did. "Come on, let's get some sleep."
Anna nodded and stood up, taking Elsa's hand as she did. Together, the sisters prepared for bed, and before long they were snuggled together under Elsa's duvet. Anna settled into the Queen's side, but she couldn't get comfortable; something Elsa had done- or rather, hadn't done- was nagging at her mind.
"Elsa?"
"Hmm?"
"Why are you so calm about this?"
"I can't plot Mattias' death in a panic, Anna."
"Oh."
"Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight, Elsa."
Princess Anna yawned as she walked through the castle. Elsa had managed to calm her down enough to have a rather restful night of sleep, despite the trauma that she witnessed earlier that evening.
The previous day's storm had passed and the sun shone brightly down on Arendelle. Anna stopped next to a window to bask in the light. She drew in a deep breath as the sun's warmth flooded her body, filling her with a sense of ease that was easily shattered when the light reflected off of the object in her hand.
Anna frowned as she looked at the pistol, memories of the previous night flooding into her mind. She shook the unpleasant thoughts out of her head and tried to distract herself by examining the weapon closely.
The light from the sun glinted off of the finely polished pewter. The raised metal ran along the sides of the barrel, twisting and turning in an elaborate, flowing design which ended where the barrel met the grip.
The Princess traced the design with her hand, stopping where the silver lines met. The weapon seemed to flow to this point, and Anna noticed that even the carvings in the stock of the weapon seemed to point there.
At the epicenter of the design was a black stone medallion that shimmered as the light hit it. The medallion was almost triangular, though the bottom edge was open in the middle with the two spurs curving downward. Each side of the medallion was adorned with the silhouette of an eagle; Anna recognized it from the flag of Ørnhavn.
Anna made a note to ask Mattias about the symbol before continuing to her destination. She hadn't woken up to train with the Prince, so she was headed to the ballroom to explain herself, as well as return the weapon to it's rightful owner.
As the Princess entered the ballroom, she immediately heard the sound of metal striking metal. After quickly scanning the room, she found Mattias locked in a fierce sword fight with the stolen suit of armor.
Anna giggled to herself as the Prince danced around the suit of armor. He flitted about with exaggerated gestures, shouting the whole time. Cries of "Take this!" and "Aha!" filled the ballroom. Anna couldn't hold back her laughter when he yelled out "You'll never defeat me, you scoundrel!"
Mattias heard the chuckling and stopped his faux sword fight and turned toward Anna. A smile grew on his face when he realized who the intruder was.
"Anna, good morning!" he called out to her before gesturing between himself and the armor. "Enjoying the show?"
"Quite a lot, Mattias." the Princess answered.
"I take it you're not here for training?" the Prince asked as he pointed to her. Anna frowned; Mattias must have noticed that she was wearing a casual dress instead of her usual training outfit.
"I'm afraid not." she said forlornly. "I... I don't know if I can do this anymore."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." Mattias said. "What made you decide to stop?"
Anna looked at the pistol still in her hands. A single tear formed in the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek.
"I couldn't do it, Mattias."
"Do what?"
Anna sat down on the floor and retold her account of the assault she witnessed to Mattias. He sat in silent attention as she told him every detail of the encounter as well as every feeling she had about it.
By the end of the story, the Princess was openly crying once again. Mattias stood silently as he processed everything he had been told. Anna could feel his eyes boring into her own and squeezed her eyelids shut, hoping to escape his judgmental gaze.
A moment later, she felt a hand reach across her back and rest on her shoulder. Anna opened her eyes to see the Prince sitting next to her with a worried look on his face.
"That's... unfortunate." he said. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
Anna just nodded, unable to speak past the lump in her throat.
"I will say, though, that I agree with Elsa. You should be proud of yourself. Not only did you save that woman's life, but you stayed true to yourself."
Anna sniffled. "What do you mean?"
"You didn't let the situation compromise your character." Mattias continued. "If you replayed that scenario a thousand times, I don't think you would pull the trigger even once. It's just not who you are."
"But I-"
"Resolve that strong is rare, Anna." the Prince interrupted. "You should embrace it. That resolve is what makes you such a strong person; what makes you such a genuinely good person."
Mattias shifted so he was sitting directly in front of her and put a hand on each of her shoulders. He smiled warmly at her before continuing.
"If you take anything away from last night, let it be this: In the face of adversity, your spirit remained pure and incorruptible, and that is something to be proud of."
A weak smile formed on Anna's face as she processed the Prince's words. They seemed genuine, and Anna could tell that he truly believed what he was saying.
"Thank you, Mattias." she said quietly. Her eyes fell back down to the pistol in her lap and she began tracing the designs once again.
"It's odd, isn't it?" Mattias asked.
"What's odd?"
"That something so beautiful can be so dangerous."
"Yeah," she replied. "just like El-"
Anna cut herself off.
'Just like Elsa.'
Memories of the coronation flooded into her mind; her sister's ice destroying ships in the fjord. Marshmallow, the snow golem, chasing her and Kristoff over the cliff. Ice penetrating the walls of the castle.
Elsa and her magic are both incredibly beautiful, but undeniably dangerous. She could see why the Duke was concerned.
'What?'
Her own thoughts startled her. Why would she think that? She loved Elsa more than anything.
Anna shook the thought out of her mind.
'She was dangerous,' Anna reassured herself. 'but she can control it now. She's not a threat to anyone.'
"Is everything alright, Anna?"
"Nothing," she shot back. "it's nothing."
Mattias looked at her, eyes laden with suspicion.
Anna couldn't believe her own mind. She had never thought anything like that before. It was unlike her to have any negative thoughts about Elsa. After all, Elsa was perfect.
"What is this symbol here?" Anna asked, quickly changing the subject and pointing to the stone medallion on the gun.
"That?" Mattias replied. "It's the, uh, the symbol of the Ørnhavn Special Military Forces."
"It's very beautiful." Anna said, taking note of the Prince's hesitation.
"It's made of obsidian." he replied. "It reflects black or gold depending on how the light hits it."
"I've never seen anything quite like it before." Anna said as she turned the gun in her hands, watching the colors shift.
"It's from Syria, in the Near East." the Prince replied. "It's very rare outside of that region."
"How did you get it?" Anna asked.
"It was a gift from an Ottoman nobleman that I met during my travels." he replied. "I bought the actual gun from an American man who was visiting Ørnhavn."
"A gun from America, decorated with a gem from the Near East, wielded by a prince from Ørnhavn." Anna chuckled as she handed the weapon back to it's rightful owner. "This is a very worldly pistol."
"It certainly is." the Prince replied as he took the weapon from Anna's hand. "It's my prized possession. I'm glad it was able to help you."
"Yeah..." Anna mumbled, and the two fell into silence.
"If you ever want to train with me again, you're more than welcome to." Mattias finally said. "My offer stands."
"Thank you, Mattias, I'll..." Anna replied. "I'll think about it, but for now, I need to stop."
"I understand." the Prince exclaimed and stood up. He offered Anna his hand and she took it as she too rose to her feet.
Anna looked up at the man, who was smiling down on her with knowing eyes. She wrapped her arms around the Prince, who seemed to flinch at the movement before returning the embrace.
"Thanks for the pep talk, Mattias." the Princess said. "I really needed it."
"Any time." Mattias replied.
Anna separated herself from the Prince and turned to leave the ballroom.
Several hours later Anna was in the library, scouring through books, searching for the symbol from Mattias' pistol. The way he hesitated to tell her what it meant hadn't gone unnoticed and Anna took that to mean that he was lying.
The Princess sat at Elsa's desk, surrounded by every book about the Near East that she could find. She had read through a little more than half of the pile with no results.
"Ugh, still nothing." Anna groaned as she closed yet another book and placed it to the side. She sat back in her chair with a frustrated look on her face. The sun had long since gone down and the strain from reading in candlelight was starting to make her eyes ache.
With a loud sigh, she picked up the next book. The leather binding was worn down and tattered from years of use. It was easily the oldest book she had found, and judging by it's condition, it could quite possibly be the oldest book in the library. The Princess opened the cover and looked at the torn, yellowed pages.
The book was written in a language that Anna had never seen before. The characters were linear and streamlined with smooth curves that flowed elegantly across the page. She flipped through the pages, finding more of the same indecipherable language with every turn.
"Well, this one is useless." she said with annoyance.
Anna continued to root through the pages, finding nothing that could help her. Just as she was about to move on from the book, she came across a page that was covered in illustrations.
The drawings depicted what looked like a large-scale battle. On one side were knights of old, adorned in chain mail and wielding long swords and shields emblazoned with red crosses. Behind the knights was a bald man mounted on a horse, sword held high in the air.
Across from the knights was a legion of men in white, hooded robes. Some of the men in the drawing were holding swords as well, but several others seemed to be holding small daggers. At the back of their ranks was a bearded man in a robe similar to the others, though his was black. He too held a sword above his head.
What truly caught Anna's attention, though, was the background. Both groups of soldiers stood in front of a large castle that rose high into the air. Above the tallest tower was a golden orb with black lines tracing across it's surface that was radiating light.
The orb seemed to be the focal point of the picture, but it was the white banners that adorned the parapets that made Anna pause.
At the center of each of the banners was the same symbol that was on Mattias' gun.
"Anna?"
The Princess' head shot up to see Elsa standing in the doorway.
"What are you doing?"
"Who, me?" Anna said. "Just uh... just... reading! Yeah, just doing some reading."
Elsa raised her brow questioningly.
"But... I'm done now!" Anna exclaimed as she flipped the book over in order to save the page. "What's up?"
"It's getting late." Elsa responded. "I was just coming to see if you wanted to go to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow; we should get a good night's rest."
"Busy day?"
"...our monthly official good-will trip into the city?"
"Oh. Oh, right, of course!" Anna responded as she stood up from her chair. "I totally didn't forget about that. No, ma'am."
"I'm sure you didn't." Elsa answered sarcastically. "So are you coming to bed?"
"Yes, of course!" Anna shouted as she raced past the Queen. "Waiting on you now!"
Elsa laughed as she watched her younger sister run down the hallway. Once the Princess had turned the corner, Elsa turned her attention back to the library.
The Queen quickly entered the room and walked straight to the desk that Anna was sitting at. She sat in the chair and wasted no time in turning the old book over.
Elsa took in the scene on the page, rapidly scanning over the illustrations. She recognized the script as Arabic, but was unable to interpret it. She ran her hand over the page, tracing the outline of the illustrations and the curvature of the script.
'I wonder why Anna was reading this.' she thought.
Not wanting to rouse any suspicions from her sister, Elsa put the book back on the desk in the exact position that she had found it in and headed out of the library. Along the way to her room, she saw Kai and summoned him over to her.
"Your Majesty." he said with a bow. "How may I be of assistance?"
"There is a book written in Arabic on the desk in the library." Elsa explained. "It is opened to a page with an illustration of a battle on it. I need that page translated."
"Right away, Your Majesty." Kai responded.
"When the translation is finished, it must be put back exactly how it was found. Understood?"
"Absolutely." the servant said. "I will see to it personally."
"Thank you, Kai." Elsa replied. "That will be all."
"Your Majesty." Kai bowed and took his leave
Elsa then headed for her room, eager to put the day behind her.
"Where's my blue day dress?"
Queen Elsa sat at her vanity, quietly brushing her platinum blonde hair as Princess Anna rifled through her closet in search of the missing garment.
"Hmm?" Elsa answered while continuing to run the brush through her hair.
"My blue day dress." Anna repeated as she stuck her head out of the closet. "Have you seen it?"
"Did you check your closet?"
"Why would it be there?"
"Because it's your dress, darling." Elsa replied as more and more outfits flew across the room. "Your dress should be in your closet."
"I suppose that makes sense," the Princess replied. "but I'm... pretty sure that... ah! There it is!"
A moment later, Anna stepped out of the closet clad in the dress she had been so fervently searching for.
"So? How do I look?" Anna asked. The Queen stopped brushing her hair and turned to her sister.
"Beautiful," Elsa replied. "but why was your dress in here?"
"I spend more time in your room than mine," Anna responded. "so I moved some of my things into your closet."
"Without asking me first?" the Queen asked, with a stern look on her face.
"Well, yeah." Anna stated as she took Elsa's hands into her own. "It's not like you would have said no."
Elsa tried to maintain her serious composure, but found it difficult in the presence of her lover and a smile breached her façade.
"No, I wouldn't have." Elsa said. She then reached up to kiss the Princess' soft, rosy lips. "Now then, did you ever ask Mattias if he was coming with us?"
"Mattias? Well... no." Anna replied. "I forgot."
"Why don't you go do that now?"
"Sure." Anna smiled and kissed the Queen once more. "I'll see you later."
Elsa returned the smile and watch the Princess bound towards the door. When she got there, she threw the portal open and nearly ran headlong into Kai, who had his fist raised as if he were about to knock on the door.
"Oh, sorry Kai." Anna exclaimed as she shuffled past the head servant. She was gone before he could react, so he turned his head towards the Queen.
"Your Majesty," he said with a bow. "I've taken care of the task you gave to me. May I come in?"
"Please," Elsa affirmed. "and close the door behind you."
"Certainly." Kai said as he entered, making sure that the door clicked closed as he did. He then made his way over to where Elsa was sitting.
"I had one of our foreign ambassadors look at the document." he began as he handed a folded sheet of paper to the Queen. "He tells me that this translation is accurate to the letter."
"Thank you." Elsa said as she took the paper. After unfolding it, she began to scan the page. What she saw there made her eyes widen in shock. Unbeknownst to her, the temperature of the room had sharply declined.
"Is... everything alright, Your Majesty?" Kai asked. Elsa looked up at the man and noticed that she could see his breath.
"Yes." Elsa lied. "Did you read this?"
"No, Your Majesty."
"Good." Elsa said as her eyes fell back to the document. "Tell the ambassador that if he ever discusses what he read to another living soul, his position will be terminated and he will be prosecuted on the grounds of treason."
"Treason, Your Majesty?" Kai asked with slight bewilderment. "That seems a little-"
"Just do it." Elsa said sharply, cutting the man off. "No questions. Mention this to no one."
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
Elsa continued to stare at the paper as the head servant quietly left the room. She made no attempt to return the temperature of the room to normal or stop the ice that was now crawling across the page. She was far too distracted by one of the words on the page.
The ambassador had traced the symbol that was on the flags in the book. Under that symbol was a word that made Elsa's blood run cold. A wave of terror flooded the Queen's body as the word made it's way past her lips.
"Assassin."
"Mattias? Are you in there?"
Anna knocked at the door of Mattias' bedchambers and waited.
"Just a second!" the Prince called out.
Anna heard movement coming from inside the room, followed by a loud crash that made her flinch. Several seconds later, a disheveled-looking Mattias opened the door.
"Anna," he said. "how can I help you?"
"What was that crash?" Anna asked. "Is everything okay in there?"
"Hmm?" Mattias hummed as he looked back into the room. "Yup. Everything's fine in here. Did I mention you look very beautiful today?"
"Umm... thank you?"
"Yes, very beautiful." Mattias continued. "That dress looks lovely. You should wear blue more often."
"I'll consider it... are you sure everything is alright?"
"Absolutely." Mattias reaffirmed. "Everything is perfect."
"Okay then." Anna replied. "Today is our first official trip into town since you arrived, and Elsa and I were wondering if you wanted to come with us."
"Oh yeah, Elsa was telling me about that yesterday." the Prince exclaimed. "Say, on these trips, do you go to the Ice Palace that Kristoff told me about?"
"No, we don't." Anna answered. "We just go into town to greet the people and talk to local merchants."
"That's too bad." the Prince replied. "I'd like to see it. Perhaps you could take me there one day?"
"Sure, I can do that." Anna said. "So are you coming with us?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to pass." Mattias answered. "I received several letters from my brother this morning that require a timely response, so I have to have them on the way to Ørnhavn by nightfall."
"I see." Anna said. "Maybe next time, then?"
"Maybe next time."
With a small wave, Anna turned and headed for the castle entrance.
Queen Elsa paced back and forth at the castle entrance, waiting for the Royal Guards that would be escorting her into town to arrive. The translation of the book that Anna was reading flashed through her mind over and over again.
'Assassin... Viggo was right,' she thought. 'but why was Anna reading about assassins?'
"Your Majesty."
Elsa was startled from her thoughts by the gruff voice of Guard Captain Stenson as he announced his arrival. He was flanked by the same four-man squad that accompanied the sisters on every official trip into town.
"Captain Stenson." Elsa replied. "A word, please."
"Of course." he replied. "At ease, men."
With practiced precision, the four guards shifted their stance as Elsa led Captain Stenson into a secluded corner of the foyer.
"Captain, I have recently been made aware of an unspecified threat to the kingdom. I need you and your men to be on high alert today. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Good." Elsa replied. "You may return to your command."
With a salute, Captain Stenson returned to his men, and the Queen went back to pacing. After several more minutes, the Princess arrived in the foyer.
"Hello, Your Majesty." Anna said as she curtsied.
"Your Highness." Elsa replied as she tried to stifle a giggle at the formality. "Where's the Prince?"
"Mattias will not be joining us today." the Princess answered. "He said he has to write some letters to King Aleksander. At least, that's the reason he gave me. I think he doesn't want to come because we aren't going to your ice palace."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he asked if we were going there today and got upset when I said no." Anna replied. "I told him I would take him another time."
"How did he even find out about the palace?" Elsa asked.
"Kristoff." the Princess said matter-of-factly. "Who else would it be?"
"Of course." Elsa stated with a giggle.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness." Captain Stenson interrupted. "Are you ready to depart?"
"Yes, Captain." Elsa responded. "Please, lead the way."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Wolf, Hagebak; take point!" he called out. ""Holt, Carlson; you take the rear. Move out!"
Multiple cries of "Yes, sir" rang out and the soldiers were on the move.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, please stay in between myself and the rear guard." Captain Stenson instructed.
"Of course, Captain." the Queen replied and gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"
The Captain nodded and took his position behind the lead soldiers. Elsa and Anna followed, and as they took their position behind the Captain, the group began their journey.
Servants opened the main doors of the castle and the guards began to march ahead. Elsa held onto her sister's arm as she usually did, but Anna noticed that her grip was tighter than usual.
"Elsa, you're squeezing me really hard." she whispered. "Are you alright?"
Elsa turned to the Princess, and Anna saw the answer in her eyes.
The Queen's brow was furrowed, and the only emotion that Anna could see in the icy blue orbs was fear. Something was definitely wrong.
"Yes," Elsa replied. "I'm fine. Just... I'm fine."
"Okay..." the Princess murmured.
Elsa maintained her death grip on Anna's arm as the group continued their procession across the courtyard and towards the gates. As they approached, the two guards manning the gates saluted the captain and bowed to the Queen and Princess. After the group has made its way through the gates, the guards closed them.
Several steps later, all hell broke lose.
Elsa watched as the Captain reached for the hilt of his sword. For some reason, time seemed to slow down as she heard the metallic sound of the sword being unsheathed.
The Captain let out a cry as he brought the sword up and spun around. As he lifted his hand to strike, a shadow blocked the light from the sun and Elsa's vision darkened.
Captain Stenson raised his sword to strike, and Elsa threw her hands up in a defensive posture, turning her head and closing her eyes as she did, waiting for the pain of the blade sinking into her flesh.
The strike never came though. Elsa's vision brightened as her eyes were re-exposed to the sun. Then she heard a loud thud and a cry of pain, followed by the sound of Anna screaming.
Elsa opened her eyes to see a hooded figure crouched on top of the now-fallen Guard Captain with a hand planted into his shoulder. The figure drew his hand back, exposing the blade that was just embedded in the Captain's chest and throwing a trail of blood from it's edge.
The hooded figure stood up and drew two swords from his belt before turning towards Anna and Elsa.
"What the..."
The Queen locked eyes with the figure. Icy blue meeting stone gray, and she immediately realized who the mysterious assailant was.
Elsa gasped.
She was standing face to face with Mattias, Prince of Ørnhavn.