By the Nine, this took longer to put out than it should have! My sincerest apologies, but fixing the chapter took longer than I expected, and just before I was ready to get this to you, I break my phone and lose electronics privileges for a month. I'm still not technically allowed to be doing this right now, but who really cares, right? Anyway, next chapter should be up significantly sooner than this one was.

Chapter 14 - The Truth

Esben raced through the nearly abandoned streets of Arendelle towards the shabby alehouse, mounted on a horse he'd stolen from a farm not far from his clearing. When he arrived, he quickly dismounted and tied the horse to a railing, then ran inside. Ignoring the looks he received from the patrons, he sprinted up the stairs and began pounding on Bjarne's door. When the door finally opened, Bjarne gave the bandit an irritated look.

"This had better be important, Esben. What is it?" Bjarne said, stifling a yawn.

"The deal's off, Bjarne." Esben replied. "I don't want anything else to do with this."

"What?! You can't back out, we have the witch ready to abdicate!"

"I may be a bandit, Bjarne, but I'm not stupid. Some thing came into my camp, probably for the princess. Half of my men are dead, and the other half is scattered for miles. I couldn't get them together again if I wanted to, and I'm not interested in dying for politics. We won't be seeing each other again." With that said, he turned and left.

~`~ ~'~

Elsa and Anna clung to each other for a minute after Hjadvaar cut the rope around Anna's wrists, with Kristoff standing fairly close with one arm draped over Sven, who had arrived seconds after Hjadvaar had become Hjadvaar again. After they ended their embrace, the sisters joined Kristoff in watching Hjadvaar checking the fallen bandits for signs of life and valuables.

"Do either of you know what he just did?" Kristoff asked after a moment, to which they both shook their heads. A minute later, Hjadvaar finished his grim rounds and approached them.

"Let's return to the castle." he said. "We have no more business here." He then turned to walk back to the road.

"Hang on!" Kristoff said. "I want to know what you just did before we leave."

"If I was going to do you harm, that would be a very foolish decision." Hjadvaar replied after a pause, then sighed. "I had hoped you would learn of this under different circumstances, but I suppose there's no getting around it now." He turned to face Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff. "I am a vampire, specifically a Vampire Lord, as is Serana. What you just saw was our true form."

"So, wait, if you're a vampire, how can you move around in the sun?" Anna asked, eliciting a groan from Elsa.

"Very painfully. Your legends of us burning in sunlight are grossly exaggerated. It cripples us, but does not destroy us."

"So, uh, you drink blood then?" Kristoff asked, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Aye, but only enough to tolerate the sunlight, and never enough to cause permanent damage." The Nord then looked squarely at Elsa. "If you find what we are distasteful, we'll leave on the next ship to Skyrim. However, if you can accept us for what we are, we'll be more than happy to continue our service." Elsa struggled with herself for a moment, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, the knowledge that her bodyguard was a powerful vampire was extraordinarily disturbing, but on the other hand, he'd proven himself willing to endanger himself to defend her. Finally, she sighed.

"If I told you to leave based only on this, I'd be a hypocrite." she said slowly. "You've given no reason not to trust you, and several reasons to trust you. On top of that, you've put yourself in danger to save me, and I'm grateful for that." Hjadvaar bowed his thanks, then turned and began walking back towards the road. Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff looked at each other for a few seconds, then followed.

"You should probably know that his horse is a little unnerving." Elsa murmured when they neared the road.

"Oh, I'm sure it can't be that - oh my god!" Anna exclaimed, staring at the skeletal horse standing in front of her.

"Mount up, everyone." Hjadvaar said after a moment. "The royal tour was scheduled for tomorrow, so I'm sure you'll want sleep."

~`~ ~'~

Fredrik heaved a vast sigh of relief as his ship pulled into the harbor at Civitavecchia and he prepared to disembark. The trip had been a living Hell for him, with high seas, high winds, and unending sea sickness, and quite frankly, if Fredrik never saw another ship again, it would be far too soon for his liking.

Momentarily putting those thoughts out of his mind, he found a caravan loading barrels of fish onto wagons, and when Fredrik asked where the caravan was bound for with the assistance of a nearby merchant who spoke both Norwegian and Italian, the answer was Rome. Fredrik didn't have enough money on him to fully cover joining them for one trip, but the caravan leader was willing to let him pay by loading some of the barrels, which didn't take all that long. When that was done, the caravan leader used hand gestures to indicate that should be by the northern edge of town in about an hour. In the meantime, though, Fredrik could eat in a nearby tavern.