A Tale of Ice and Snow-Chapter 3
Sorry for not posting for quite a while! I've been a little busy these days :/ Also, please review! It'll mean a lot to me :)
Anna was so angry, she spat the gag out. "Three years. I'd thought you would repent. Turns out you're still that filthy motherfu-"
"Now, now. Be more ladylike." Hans put a finger to her lips, silencing her. Anna bit his finger hard and tasted the sharp metallic taste of blood on her tongue. Hans jumped and rubbed his finger indignantly.
"Restrain her." Hans ordered. A figure wearing a black hood walked to her, behind her, and grabbed her arms firmly. Hans took a small brown pouch out of his pocket and took a test tube out from his pocket. It was filled with dark brown liquid. He opened the cork.
Anna shut her mouth and held it firmly. Even if that thing were melted chocolate, no way would she let it touch her mouth.
Hans forced her mouth open. Nonononono… Anna tried to resist, but she was too weak. Hans poured the foul concoction down her throat. It tasted horribly sour and bitter. Force it up, she thought frantically. Vomit it out. But she couldn't muster the strength to gag and it trickled down her throat. She felt her head throbbing, the world a dizzying blur and her heart felt weird.
"What… what was that…" She croaked.
"A concoction I obtained." Hans said simply.
"In five days, your heart will turn to stone, and you will be my slave." Hans grinned evilly.
Anna tried not to scream.
xxxxx
Elsa sat up rigid on her bed, her heart thudding against her chest. She took a shaky breath.
Nightmares. They were coming back again. Her parents' funeral, her sister dying, her burning at stake by her own people.
She shook her head, once, twice. She had to be focused. Her sister was kidnapped. Nightmares would just distract her.
A few more hours till she had to leave. Elsa walked to the next room, Anna and Kristoff's room, and knocked. Kristoff opened the door and rubbed his eyes. He was still wearing his tuxedo. "Yeah?"
"Er, Kristoff… have you stayed awake all night?" Elsa asked, noticing his large and dark eye bags. Kristoff shook his head wearily.
"Nope. Any news of Anna?" Kristoff asked, concerned.
"Well… no. I'll have to leave Arendelle in secret, if not the kingdom is bound to know of Anna's… predicament, and Arendelle will fall into unrest. Kristoff, figure out a way to cover my absence with Olaf. I'll have to leave soon. And… thank you." Elsa told Kristoff. He nodded slightly.
Elsa changed out of her nightgown and dressed hastily, wearing a blue dress. She tied her hair in a quick ponytail. Not so fashionable for a queen, but who would bother about fashion when one's sister's life was at stake? She took out a brown leather bag, and filled it up with some supplies, and rushed to the castle gates.
No, it wasn't dawn, but when Elsa arrived, Jack was already standing there. She raised an eyebrow.
"I slept here." Jack shrugged.
"How? It's… so cold." Elsa finished lamely.
"Well, as you would probably put it, the cold never bothered me anyway." Jack grinned.
"You know I said that?"
"Well, it's your signature line, isn't it?"
Elsa blushed.
"Ahh well… you said you've got a way to get there in time?" She asked quickly.
"Yeah, I'll need a carriage though. Trust me, it will blow you away." Jack promised, eyeing one of the castle's carriages. It was a beautiful one, made of rosewood and painted red with shiny wheels. "We should get it to the courtyard first though."
xxxxx
When the carriage was moved to the courtyard, Jack sliced off the wheels with a shard of ice. "Wouldn't be needing those." He then froze two long lengths of ice onto the wheel-less carriage so that now it looked like a magnificent sled. "Perfect." Jack smiled.
"Well, what now?" Elsa asked quizzically.
Jack raised his staff and waved it. A long stretch of ice flowed from the roof of the tallest tower in the castle then to along the courtyard, like a steep slide, but it ended with a small sharp escalation.
"Now to just get the carriage up there, or should I say, sled." Jack smirked.
"I'm not getting where you're going…" Elsa mumbled, marveling at the ice slide. Such elegance!
"Ahh well... I should tell you how. Ever heard of a snow elevator?"
xxxxx
A snow elevator, apparently, was standing somewhere and piling snow below oneself such that one was always standing on top of the snow pile.
Elsa positioned herself beside the carriage. She put a hand towards the ground and focused. A wave of snow came rushing out. She felt herself rising, shooting upwards, the ground shrinking, the ducks in the pond becoming smaller till they were like ants. Beside her, Jack smiled warmly and inched his hand closer to her free hand. Elsa flushed and moved her hand away.
"Jack, we're here." Elsa murmured. Indeed, they were on the rooftop of the tower. Jack poked the sled with his staff and loaded it on the slide. He opened the door and did a dramatic bow.
"Hop in, m'lady."
"Jack!" Elsa blushed furiously and pushed his shoulder gently. She stepped onto the carriage. Behind her, Jack shut the door, went behind the sled and pushed it gently. The sled tipped forward precariously. Jack jumped onto the front of the sled, where the coachman would usually sit, and the sled came rushing down.
Elsa felt like her guts were going to be ripped out, yet for some strange reason, she enjoyed it. She let out a shriek, not of fear, but of elation. Well, maybe a little from fear. "JACK, IF I DIE, I WILL KILL YOU!" She yelled.
"YOU CAN'T KILL ME IF YOU'RE DEAD!" Jack grinned and stuck his head through the window. Elsa giggled, despite herself.
"So… how long till we reach the Southern Isles?" Elsa wondered aloud, her heart suddenly dropping like a stone at the thought of Anna.
"Probably a few days? Two or three, I guess." Jack shrugged. "Just sit back, Elsa. We'll hit the ice road I created in a few seconds, and then all will be smooth. In three… two…"
They hit the ice road.
Elsa jolted. It was as if she had crashed down on something brittle. Well, ice is brittle, she thought.
But the ice that Jack had created was thick, so thick that you could stick a spear in it and the ice wouldn't shatter.
Maybe she was terrified that Anna was as brittle as a shard of ice. Maybe she was still afraid of her powers, deep inside.
Why couldn't Hans keep his stupid arse in the dungeon? Then none of this would have happened. Anna would have been happily living in the palace, attending parties and ice-skating along with her sister.
The sled was going smoother now, as Jack promised.
"Uh, Elsa, you okay back there?" Jack's voice floated over to her. Elsa realised that she had been silent for quite a while.
"Well yeah. Um, actually, no. I'm worried for Anna." Elsa stammered. She covered her mouth with her hand before she could babble more, her colour of her cheeks rising to a bright red.
Jack crawled in through the window and landed smoothly beside her. "Hey, it's alright. Everything's gonna be fine. And no need to be embarrassed. If my sister was in danger too…" He looked away.
"Is-Is there anything wrong?"
"I should probably tell you. My ice powers… I saved my sister from falling through ice in a pond, and I-I died. The Man in the Moon brought me to life and chose me as a Guardian, and that's how I got my powers." His face was grim.
"I… I'm so sorry, Jack…" Elsa put a hand on his shoulder tenderly and hesitantly.
"No, no, it's okay. I'm over it." He shrugged. "Anyway, if you want to, I could sit here with you. I'll only need to stretch the ice road again in the evening."
"Well, alright."
xxxxx
"Why?" Anna took a shaky breath. Calm down, calm down. He's probably fooling you, she tried comforting herself. Yet at the back of her mind she knew that he didn't.
"Why? What if I just don't like you?"
"You know that's not the reason why, you ugly ass."
Hans seemed unperturbed. "You see, my dear Anna, if I cannot be a king with my charm, I will have to use force, to speak simply." Hans gave an evil grin, the look of triumph displayed prominently on his face. Anna felt like throwing up, and not just from the concoction.
"After I was thrown in prison, you know what my parents did? They disowned me. Because of you, and your darling sister!" He spat out the last sentences.
"But no matter. After my plan is finished, I will be a king, as I have always meant to be. Now, I will free you from your ropes. Feel free to walk around, but give up on the idea on escaping. My assistant has made sure of that." Behind him, the hooded figure nodded slightly.
"Now, get up and sit on this chair. I treat my prisoners kindly." Hans grinned smugly.
"Never in your life." Anna glared.
"Oh, you will. Or else." Hans took out a dagger and pointed it at her, his eyes piercing. Anna remembered what he had tried to do to her sister. He wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
Anna got up reluctantly. Elsa, please come quickly. I need you desperately.
Hope you like it :3 I'll try to put up the next chapter as soon as possible :) Meanwhile, as always, please review!
~Silvershadow Mockingjay