Pabbie unrolled like a giant stone pill bug, joints popping and snapping into place as he put weight on his stubby legs. The room was dark save for a small fire snapping and crackling in fireplace at the far end of the room and the glowing yellow stones around his neck, but even in the dimness he could make out the figure of the queen laying on her bed, her sister at her side.
"Help me up, my blond grandson," Pabbie said motioning for Kristoff to lift the little troll onto the bed so he could have a better look at the young queen. The mountain man grunted as he heaved the troll onto the end of Elsa's bed, the boards and mattress creaking and groaning in protest as his full rock weight settled into it.
With a better view of the queen, Pabbie could see just how dire things had become and cursed under his breath. She was paler than usual, sweat clinging to her face and hairline like dew on grass. Her chest moved unevenly as if something were pressing on her lungs and a light frost was leaking from her fingers and crawling up the walls behind her. Elsa had been in control of her powers for more than two years. There had been no accidental anything since the Great Freeze, no freezings, no ice stalagmite waves, no nothing; but seeing that frost slowly making its way from her chilled fingers up the wall, Pabbie knew Elsa was in hellish pain.
"This is not good," the old troll said in a gravelly voice, bushy yellow eyebrows draw with concern as he moved further up the bed until he was sitting next to the queen. He didn't have to look to see where the wound on her body was. If the bloody gauze patch wasn't clue enough, Pabbie could sense the metal lurking under Elsa's skin, calling to him in the language of the earth.
"Can you do anything?" Anna asked quietly, her bright blue eyes searching the old trolls face. "Our physician said a piece of the blade is still lodged in her somewhere, but he can't see it to remove it."
"He is correct, little one. The blade still lingers in your sister's body."
"Can you tell where it is?" Anna clutched her hand to her chest, fighting off her growing dread as she watched the old troll watch her sister.
"Give me a moment," Pabbie mumbled, flexing his stubby fingers and waking the earth magic chambered within him. The yellow stones around his neck twinkled like flickering candlelight before glowing a solid, sunshine yellow that lit up half the room in an eerie half-light. Gently, the old troll removed the gauze patch, revealing the grizzly gash in Elsa's skin, and set his hands lightly atop her abdomen, closing his eyes as he honed in on the song of fire forged steel. He worked his way up, inch by inch, until he dared go no further, his hands just beneath the queens left breast.
"Young princess, I ask your permission to proceed further," Pabbie said turning his dark eyes onto Anna. The strawberry blond didn't seem to understand what he was asking and gave him a quizzical look.
"It is improper to touch a woman in such a way without permission. If the queen were conscious I would ask her, but I turn to you now, you being her only sister."
"What are you talking—"
"Anna, he has to check her heart," Kristoff mumbled softly into her ear. "He has to put his hand on her…" he trailed off and motioned at the queen, a small bit of blush coloring his cheeks. Suddenly Anna understood and could have slapped herself.
"Oh. Oh! Yes. I'm sure she won't mind…I mean she would — no one likes being groped. Not that that's what you're doing! I just meant — in a situation like this…" Anna trailed off feeling more and more like a fool. Elsa would never have gotten so flustered. Pabbie didn't seem to mind and smiled affectionately at the princess before returning to his work.
He placed his magically charged hand atop the queen's left breast and kept it there, listening with eyes closed as the metal sung him a song he could see clearly in his mind's eye. After a moment he withdrew, nodding his head.
"The blade does not seem to have pierced your sister's lungs or internal organs. Either her assassin was quite skilled and knew exactly where to strike or your sister is very, very lucky. But I'm afraid it is worse than your physician believes. Though the assassin may have not damaged your sister internally, the broken blade tip is resting a hairs breath from her heart. Should she shift in any way it could dislodge killing her instantly."
Anna covered her mouth with her hand, fighting to keep the sob building in her throat from escaping. Eyes squeezed shut, she breathed heavily through her nose for a few moments before she was able to master her emotions. Kristoff, on the other hand, swore openly and pulled his fiancé towards him, doing his best comfort her.
"Is there anything, anything you can do, Pabbie?" Kristoff pleaded as Pabbie leaned back and sat heavily, his yellow stones dimming.
"There is."
Anna let out a startled gasp and all but lunged at the old troll. "Please, Pabbie. Save her. Save my sister!"
Pabbie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his dark eyes lingering on the pale face of the queen. "There is a way to remove the blade from her body without further injuring her, but," he held up a finger before Anna had a chance to interrupt, "there is a price for such magic, young princess."
"Name it! I'll pay anything. Anything you want, it's yours!"
"Anna," Kristoff admonished, feeling a little wounded. She knew the trolls had no need or sense of monetary value. Their existence was solely to serve the earth, so it stung a bit that his fiancé would immediately assume that the price Pabbie was talking about somehow meant he wanted gold, or jewels, or a title as payment.
"It's alright my blond grandson, she does not yet understand. And how could she? She was raised in the realm of man with their love for money and power." Turning to Anna, Pabbie said, "Anna, the payment I speak of will not come from your treasury or your vaults. It comes from your sister. In order for me to save her, I need to draw the blade from her body. That is the easy part, I'm afraid. What comes after is the payment. To keep your sister from harming herself or any of you, I will need…" the old troll winced, hating himself for even speaking the words, "I will need to cap her power temporarily."
Anna stared stupidly at the troll, her mind spinning. Cap her power? Was that even possible? And if it had been, couldn't he have done it years ago when Elsa's power nearly killed Anna and two years ago when she unwittingly brought the Great Freeze down on her kingdom? Anna said this much to Pabbie who only shook his head, yellow stones tinkling.
"A cap is not always a permanent thing, like a wax seal on a piece of parchment. If I had capped your sisters power as a child, when the cap finally eroded away, her power would have burst from her like water behind a dam and she would have more than likely destroyed herself along with the entire kingdom. What I do today will only be a temporary thing, stopping her magic until the blade is removed. It may last a night, it might last a fortnight. It all depends on how quickly your sister heals."
Anna felt numb and slightly dizzy. Somehow capping Elsa's power sounded like the worst thing that could happen, but if it mean saving her life…
"Do it," Anna said with as much authority as she could muster. Pabbie was silent for a few moments, compiling his thoughts before standing unsteadily on the bed.
"Kristoff, lock the door and bar it. Once I begin I cannot be interrupted. If I lose connection with the blade it could spring back and kill the queen." Kristoff did as his troll grandfather instructed, locking the door from the inside and moving one of the large wooden dressers against it should the guards try to force it down.
"Anna, I'll need you to hold your sisters arms. I've no doubt she'll fight us, but you cannot let her move, do you understand?"
Anna nodded, fighting off the waves of nausea twisting around inside her stomach like a snake. She crawled atop the bed, pushing the pillows aside, positioned herself behind her sister, and gently grabbed her by her upper arms, pinning her. Kristoff returned and Pabbie instructed him to hold Elsa's legs should she kick.
"There is one other thing I did not mention," Pabbie said as he straddled Elsa's right leg, angling himself so that the knife wound was directly in front of him. He lifted his eye towards Anna, and the regret in them made her go cold. "Elsa must remain conscious while I remove the blade. I cannot touch her magic while she is unconscious. I am sorry."
Before Anna could so much as protest, Pabbie reached up and touch the queen's forehead with his fingers, a small spark of yellow electricity arching between the two. Elsa's cerulean eyes fluttered open, heavy lidded and glassy with pain.
"Majesty," Pabbie said drawing her attention away from the room and into himself. "I apologize in advance for what you are about to feel. If I had had enough time to prepare I could have brought an herbal bundle to help with this process. As it is, I must use my own personal magic on you. If there was any other way, believe me I would do it, but in order to save your life you must bare this pain."
Elsa seemed to realize much faster than Anna want was about to happen, and despite the drowsy fog pulling at her from all sides, she nodded silently and clutched the blankets on either side of her so tightly her knuckles turned lily white. Pabbie took this as permission to proceed and removed the weak sutures from the knife wound with the wave of his hand. Only when the wound was free of human medicine did the old troll began to sing a soft, wordless melody.
It began slowly at first, the song like a lullaby. Anna braced herself but her sister didn't budge, her eyes closed and jaw clenched. The only trace of discomfort on her face was the periodic flaring of her nostrils. If only it had remained that way. Maybe then Anna wouldn't have had nightmares years later of her sister's cries of agony.
When Pabbie's song struck a sharp note, Anna felt Elsa buck, her body rising fractionally off the bed. The princess firmly pushed her back down, but she could feel Elsa's body starting to tense, the sinewy muscles of her arms straining against her sisters hands. Her breath was coming in rapidly now through her nose, chest heaving as she groaned behind her clenched teeth. Anna looked over Pabbie's head at Kristoff who was faring just about the same as she was, holding the queen's legs down as she began to struggle. It wasn't until the old troll put a hand over the knife wound that Elsa began to scream in earnest.
Anna squeezed her eyes shut and continued holding her sister down, bent over the queen so that her entire body weight rested on her upper arms. Elsa's hands suddenly clenched around Anna's forearms, nails digging painfully into her skin as she writhed. The princess could feel the biting cold creeping into her sister's palms, her powers struggling to be free, but just as quickly the frost retreated and Elsa thrashed all the harder. Anna tried to drown out the screaming, she tried telling herself this was the only way, but she just wasn't strong enough. When she opened her eyes, tears rolling off the tip of her nose and splattering against Elsa's forehead, she caught the pained look on Kristoff's face as he stared out the window, visibly shaking. When he noticed Anna watching him, he swiveled his head around and mouthed 'I'm sorry' over and over as Elsa's screams reached a cataclysmic pitch.
The banging made the couple jump in unison, and they turned to see the heavy wood door shake as an armored fist beat against it.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Captain Revel called from the other side of the door.
"Queen Elsa, what's going on in there?"
And then came Olaf's voice, as cheery as ever. "Hello my metal encrusted friends!"
"Stand aside snowman. Her Majesty is being attacked!" That was Malkof's voice.
"No, no, no, you're confused. Queen Elsa's being healed! If you could just—"
There was the sound of a blade being pulled from a sheath and Anna felt her heart sink.
"Oh look, that's the second time I've been impaled," Olaf chuckled.
Just keep them busy, Olaf. Anna pleaded, sweat rolling down her neck as she fought to keep Elsa pinned to the bed as she thrashed. Her sister might have been about as big around as a stick but she was deceptively strong. Anna guessed it had to be an effect of her magic, but if Pabbie had capped it, how and when she wasn't able to tell, then this was just her raw strength coming out, and it blew Anna away.
"Hold her still," Pabbie hissed, eyes screwed tightly shut and brow scrunched while his hand quivered over the knife wound. He'd stopped singing only seconds ago and it only made the pounding and shouting on the other side of the door seem that much louder. Anna even thought she could hear the sound of wood splintering.
"Hurry, Pabbie!"
"Hold her!"
Small rivulets of blood began leaking from the four inch gash, trickling down Elsa's smooth stomach and staining the mattress. At about the same time the blade came shooting out of the queen's abdomen, her eyes flew open and locked on Anna's, and her sister felt her entire body freeze. The cerulean blue that had once dominated her sister's beautiful eyes was gone, replaced by a swirling tempest of gray and white. Elsa took one last ragged breath, body arched with pain, before it all became too much and she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Anna, Anna!" Pabbie was shaking the princess back to her senses. "Take the blade and move over to the door. Quickly. Kristoff, you as well. They cannot know I was here."
Before either of the two could protest, Pabbie opened his hand and blew a blast of winter air into the room, encasing everything within a twenty food radius in frost. Anna felt her breath catch as the cold hit her, and suddenly realized what the troll was doing.
"Move the dresser away from the door, Kristoff," Anna whispered. The mountain man did as he was told and shifted the heavy wood dresser. The second the barricade was out of the way, six heavily armored guards stumbled in, Revel at their head, slipping on ice as they went.
"Guards, seize—"
Physician Malkof stopped dead in his tracks taking in the ice covered room and Anna standing at the foot of the queen's bed, knife shard in hand.
"I…uh…" Anna had about thirty seconds to come up with a believable story. Since Pabbie was quite literally a stone in the corner, well hidden by the shadow of Elsa's eight foot dresser, there was only one logical explanation she could come up with on short notice.
"Acting Majesty, what have you—"
"Physician Malkof, see to the queen," Anna said standing at her full height and using the same firm but gentle tone she'd heard her sister use when speaking to the staff. Thankfully her voice didn't crack, furthering her authoritative appearance, but she still felt like she was participating in a bad pantomime.
Malkof blinked, suddenly at a loss for words. When he didn't move from his position by the door, Anna scowled and raised the broken, bloody blade.
"Physician Malkof, it appears my sister's magic is stronger than we previously thought. Her body rejected the broken blade. Now, tend to my sister, your queen."
"Of course, Acting Majesty," Malkof mumbled, a look of bewilderment and disappointment flashing across his face.
Why disappointment?
Anna watched the little man move back into the hallway where his medicine bag rested against the wall and approach Elsa's bed hesitantly. He took one look at the slowly spreading blood stain and paled, furthering Anna's confusion. In all her year living sequestered behind the castle walls, Anna had never seen the Physician react in such a way. Granted his queen was lying in a pool of her own blood, a four inch blade tip forced from her body, but Anna knew he'd seen his fair share of ghastly things and this shouldn't have fazed him.
An uneasy feeling twisted in Anna's stomach, but she squelched it under a tide of pretend authority. Right now she had to be the strong one, for Elsa's sake. Turning to the tangle of guards still trying to get their feet under them on the icy floor, she dismissed them to their rightful posts. They turned, if not a little awkwardly, and quickly made their way from the room, leaving Anna alone with Malkof and Kristoff.
It took the Physician another half hour to stem the flow of blood and suture the wound completely closed. When he was finished, the older man stood with a groan and gathered his bag.
"I've done all I can. Her Majesty will have to do the rest. If you'd prefer me to remain by her bedside tonight—"
"That won't be necessary," Anna said from her chair next to the fire, her knees drawn up to her chin. In the firelight her blue eyes seemed to glow and dance as she watched the Physician. Malkof seemed to visibly relax and walked over to Anna, ignoring Kristoff completely.
"I do not know how she did it, but your sister has defied the odds. It seems that she was, in fact, born under a lucky star like your mother and father said," Malkof smiled but Anna saw no happiness behind his eyes.
"We both were," Anna replied quietly, glancing at her fiancé who gave her a bright smile.
"Should her Majesty need any more assistance, please send for me. Until then, I believe I'll retire to my apartment. It has been a….trying day."
"Thank you, Physician Malkof. Should we need you, I'll send a runner."
And with that the little man departed, shutting the door quietly behind him. Anna didn't move until she heard the last of his footfalls drift away down the hall. Only then did she allow herself to breathe a deep sigh of relief. Anna threw out her arms and slid to the floor, headless that the fabric of her skirt was bunching up around her waist.
"You know, after today, I think I'm going to need a vacation," Anna said halfway between the wingback chair and the floor.
"My mountain cabin is always open," Kristoff replied with a sly smile.
"Oh, I'm sure my sister will let," Anna cleared her throat and attempted to imitate her sisters disapproving voice, "an unmarried couple traipse unsupervised through the forest."
"She could come too, you know." Kristoff laughed at the look Anna gave him, feeling all the stress of the day drain away. Anna laughed as well, reveling in the light hearted feeling swirling within her. Elsa was officially on the mend, and she couldn't have been happier. The sound of stone rolling across hardwood brought the couple's attention to the troll popping up between them.
"Young princess, it is time I took my leave. I trust that your sister will heal quickly. Should you need me, you know where to look."
Anna slid down fully to the floor and wrapped Pabbie in a hug she wasn't sure he could feel. "Thank you, Grand Pabbie. I owe you so much."
Pabbie patted her head and returned the hug, though his was more rough and vice-like. "I have watched the two of you since your father brought you to me the night Elsa struck you. You have both grown into exceptional women, and it is my honor to serve the Arendelle throne with such a magnificent queen and her equally magnificent sister standing by her side."
Anna grinned till it hurt and hugged the old troll one last time before Pabbie turned away. Kristoff had opened the door to check for guards, and, upon finding none, motioned that the coast was clear. Olaf was still there and gave the mountain man a cheery wave before dozing back to sleep. Kristoff still found it eerie that the animated snowman acted so human, even going so far as to sleep whenever he deemed it necessary.
"I'm not carrying you out this time. You can walk," the mountain man grumbled as he watched Pabbie prepare to pill bug into himself.
"And risk a servant seeing me? No, my blond grandson, you will carry me." Pabbie smiled broadly and rolled into a ball before Kristoff could say more.
"Fine, you old rock troll. Be thankful I don't drop you into a river." Kristoff tuned to his fiancé and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back before morning. Are you sure you're going to be alright without me?"
"I think the worst is behind us," Anna said glancing at her sleeping sister. Her breathing had evened out. Now it just looked like she was coming off a bad cold rather than nearly bleeding to death with a knife shard lodged under her ribs.
"Alright, but please at least lock the door. For my mental wellbeing."
"Fine, fine. Lock it I shall the moment you are past the threshold," Anna said sarcastically. Kristoff made a face at her as he bent down and hefted his adopted grandfather onto his wide shoulders, grunting as he shifted the boulder into place.
"They never get easier to lift. One of these days they'll break my back, and then where will I be?"
"Solely at my mercy, I should think," Anna said with a wicked smile that brought a line of blush to her fiancé's face. Bidding his love goodbye one last time, the mountain man set off for his cart where Sven would no doubt be waiting impatiently.