Convincing Pabbie to leave the troll territory and travel via cart into Arendelle hadn't been as easy as Kristoff had imagined. At first the grizzled old troll had flat out refused, telling his adopted grandson that troll magic was not something he wished all humans to know about. The fact that the Arendelle royal family knew was quite enough for his liking. The conversation would have ended there had Kristoff's adopted mother Bulda not taken her son's side and stubbornly argued his case. It didn't take much to sway the tribe, and after a thorough thrashing, most, if not all, of the trolls loved both royal sisters for various reasons, Pabbie reluctantly agreed.

The ride back to the castle was a little slower going, Sven's cart weighed down by at least two hundred pounds of solid boulder. Pabbie refused to be seen outside his camouflage state, so Kristoff drove back to the kingdom with a man sized boulder in the back of his cart. Only a few people gave him a passing glance as he threaded through the outer kingdom and drove into town. It wasn't until he reached to the castle gates that his progress was halted.

"Who goes!" shouted a guard from one of the murder holes in the parapet. The assassination attempt had put all the city guards on edge and they seemed to be taking no chances. Kristoff raised the lantern swinging from its hook beside him and waved it in front of his face so the guard could see him.

"It's Kristoff!"

"What do you have with you in the cart, Master Ice Harvester?"

"A request from Princess Anna. If you don't believe me, send for her yourself!"

The guard did just that, returning ten minutes later and opening the gates fractionally. Kristoff nudged Sven forward, and the heavy cart rattled into the courtyard beyond. A squad of castle guards was waiting for them; the head of the group, a tall dark haired man Kristoff knew all too well, saluting sharply.

"Master Kristoff, her Acting Majesty has instructed us to help you in any way we can."

The mountain man scowled. Either Anna had forgotten that he hefted huge blocks of ice for a living or the guards were taking her order of "help Kristoff" too literally. Nervously he looked back at Pabbie, unsure how the old troll would feel being manhandled by half a dozen armor clad humans.

"Thank you, Captain Revel, but I'm perfectly capable of delivering this myself," Kristoff said jumping from the cart. "I would, however, appreciate if you could stable Sven and make sure he's fed. Three rations of carrots should be enough."

The guard captain looked skeptically over Kristoff's shoulder at the massive boulder weighing the wagon down. He was about to offer a polite rebuttal when a small white blob of snow skidded into the courtyard and crashed into the squad. Kristoff fought back a sigh of relief as Olaf scrambled to his feet, apologizing as he retrieved bits and pieces of himself.

"So sorry my metal clad friends! I have no traction on these stones at night." Olaf straightened himself one last time, readjusting his nose twice, before he noticed Kristoff sniggering a few feet away and rushed over to him.

"Kristoff! You're back! Gosh, have you still not found Elsa and Anna? I could have sworn I saw Anna running in here beside you this afternoon. I've been all over the castle looking for you guys!"

The mountain man's heart dropped as he realized Olaf had no idea what had happened. Slowly, he lowered himself down to the little snowman's level.

"Olaf, something's happened."

The little snowman bounced from foot to foot, black eyes shining with a strange intelligence. "I know! The parade was canceled and so was the ball. That's ok though, we can still have fun behind the castle. Oh! I wonder if Elsa will freeze the hill again! I'll bet she—"

"Olaf, that's not what I meant," Kristoff said cutting him off mid-sentence. The little snowman seemed to realize there was something amiss and his face scrunched into an expression of confused concern.

"What's going on, Kristoff?"

"Someone attacked the queen this afternoon at the parade. That's why the rest of the festival and the ball were canceled."

"What?" Olaf gasped, fear overtaking his usual jovial expression. His little stick arms came up to his mouth in an eerie expression of complete shock. "Someone hurt Elsa?"

"Yes, which is why I'm out here getting this," Kristoff motioned over his shoulder at the Pabbie boulder. The little snowman seemed to instantly recognize the boulder but had enough sense not to say anything. For now at least.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"There is," Kristoff said leading the snowman to the back of his cart and away from the sharp ears of the guards. "I need you to stand guard outside Elsa's room. No one can get in, alright?"

The little snowman practically beamed with happiness, his infectious smile once again dominating his triangular face. "Oh! Oh! I can do that. No problem. You can count on me!"

"Good, now head on up while I unload."

Kristoff heaved Pabbie out of the back of the cart, securing the troll boulder to his back with a series of complex leather lashings. This wasn't the first time he'd had to move a troll long distances, but Pabbie was the biggest and heaviest, so it took a little more effort to set off towards the castle. The squad of guards watched in transfixed wonder as the mountain man huffed his way into palace, leaving an irritated Sven for them to care for.

Had the trek to Elsa's room been a straight shot on level ground, Kristoff would have had little problem getting there. As it was, he had to climb an entire spiral staircase, bent nearly in half and using his hands as support, and trudge down an absurdly long hallway before the royal bedchamber doors rose up before him. He didn't have to raise his hand to knock, Anna swinging the door open for him. Olaf waved as he passed, taking his place next to the door just like Kristoff had asked.

"I sent the guards to help you!" Anna frowned as her fiancé trudged into the room and let his bundle fall to the floor with a resounding crack. He was sure he'd heard floorboards splintering but didn't care to look.

"I….I….didn't need…their help," Kristoff panted, sweat rolling down his face in rivulets. Anna fetched him a glass of water from the nightstand and the mountain man drank it greedily before pulling off his sweat soaked shirt and throwing it across the room. Anna flushed, her eyes scanning his chiseled chest and arms until he caught her staring and she looked away.

"So, how did you persuade him to come?" Anna coughed daintily into her hand, attempting to cover her embarrassment.

"You don't want to know," Kristoff muttered reaching for her to help him up.

"Oh, so now you need help?" Anna asked arching an eyebrow.

"Come on, Anna. Do you really think Pabbie would have liked being manhandled by six strangers? I was barely able to get him to come. Bulda was the one who finally talked him into it after the clan threatened a full revolt if he didn't help Elsa."

"He really didn't want to come?" Anna asked helping her fiancé to his feet, unable to keep the hurt from her voice. She and Elsa had made it a regular practice venturing into the troll kingdom and spend time with their extended family. So for Pabbie to outright refuse to come to Elsa's aid stung more than Anna realized.

"It's not like that," Kristoff said quickly, fairly sure he'd explained things the wrong way. "You know how the trolls are around kingdom people. They love you and your sister, don't misunderstand me, they just aren't fond of the castle. It's all the dead stone. Pabbie says he can't feel the earth's song this far in the kingdom."

Anna nodded, unsure she fully understood but happy that Kristoff had managed to get his adoptive grandfather to come regardless.

"So, we just wait for him to unroll," she asked walking around to sit on the edge of her sister's bed. The queen didn't look any different than when Kristoff had left, and he guessed that could be counted as a good thing.

"Shouldn't take too long…"