Author's Note: Okay, you know how I said I'd be updating soon last time? I lied. I'm sorry, but I actually mean it this time. Probably. Regardless, writing has currently been moved to the role of 'hobby', so don't expect rapid-fir updates like at the beginning. On the plus side, quality seems to be generally improving, so yay for that.

Also, to the anonymous guest reviewer I can't respond to via PM, 'stark naked' does, in fact, mean no clothes whatsoever. Enjoy the mental image. :)

Chapter Fifteen - Royal Tour, Take Two

Elsa was walking down the main street of Arendelle, accompanied by Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Hjadvaar. People walked around her, some bowing and greeting her, some muttering to their friends, some ignoring her altogether. Quite suddenly, one face she recognised all too well approached her - a face with red sideburns.

"Queen Elsa." he said, bowing slightly.

"Prince Hans." Elsa replied coldly. "You were banished from Arendelle for life, on pain of death. Why have you returned?"

"Well, you can hardly keep me away from my betrothed, now can you?" the Usurper replied, smugness creeping into his voice.

"You stay away from my sister!" Elsa shouted fiercely, eyes blazing. Hans and Anna only laughed.

"He's not talking about me, Elsa!" Anna said, barely containing her mirth. "He's talking about you! You signed the agreement last month!" Elsa was suddenly filled with dread. Had she really signed an agreement like that?

"No, there - there's been a mistake! Hjadvaar, isn't there something to make this not happen?" Instead of answering, though, the Nord just grinned at her, revealing a set of teeth that shouldn't have been able to fit in his mouth, then bit down on Anna's neck and began to feed. Elsa's ice erupted uncontrollably, launching icicles through the air at unimaginable speeds, many of which struck nearby pedestrians, eliciting grunts, gasps, and shrieks of pain.

"Monster!" many unharmed passerbys shouted, pointing at her.

"No!" Elsa cried, more terrified than she was even at her coronation. "No, I - I didn't - I'm not - Kristoff, Olaf, tell them I didn't mean to!" But Kristoff was leading the angry townsfolk, and instead of seeing Olaf smiling at her, Elsa saw Marshmallow snarling and advancing on her with claws sharpened, all the while Hans and Anna laughed and Hjadvaar drank his fill. Elsa then felt a rough hand on her shoulder, and she sat bolt upright in her frozen bedchamber, breathing heavily and with beads of ice glistening on her brow. It was just a nightmare. she told herself, trying to calm down.

"Are you alright?" Hjadvaar's voice said from next to her bed, sounding concerned.

"Yes. Yes I'm fine. It was just a bad dream. Could you please light a candle?" Hjadvaar raised his hand, and an orb of pure light began to float above his head. The light was hard, cold, and not very bright, rather similar to sunlight shining through a thick layer of ice, but that didn't bother Elsa. What did bother her was that the light revealed a large icicle protruding from Hjadvaar's left shoulder with blood welling up around it, and one of the numerous ice spikes that protruded from the floor had it's tip broken off.

"Oh god, I'm sorry Hjadvaar! Are you okay?" Elsa asked, struggling to remain in control of her powers.

"I've had worse." Hjadvaar said, casually pulling the shard of ice out of his shoulder and using some magic to heal himself. "There was this one time, not long after the Great War, I was in Hammerfell -"

"Ah - I'd love to hear that story, but perhaps another time. For now, thank you for waking me up, but I'd like to go back to sleep now."

"Of course, Queen Elsa. My apologies." With that, he turned and left the room, his pale light following him.

XXX

When Elsa emerged from her bedchamber in the morning, she found Hjadvaar waiting on guard outside her door, dressed in a suit of armor Elsa hadn't seen before. It looked as though it were made of bone and scale, with horns protruding from the helmet and a similarly crafted shield, though of what beast she couldn't say. What she did know was that this armor very clearly said 'Don't mess with me.'.

"Is all in readiness for the royal tour?" the Nord asked.

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Good." Elsa then lead the way to the courtyard, where she noted with some dismay that the procession included nearly three times more guards as last time, and only half as many nobles. Quite suddenly, Elsa made an uncharacteristically impulsive decision, and turned to face Kai, who was waiting nearby.

"Kai," she said, "Please tell everyone to go back to their daily work. The procession will only be me , Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Hjadvaar."

"I must question the wisdom of this decision." Hjadvaar said as Kai told the assembled procession to disperse.

"This is for me to get to know my people, Hjadvaar, not to impress them." Elsa replied, though that was as untrue as possible in the original plan the Royal Council had forced onto her. Elsa expected to see a disapproving look on the Nord's face, but when she looked, she thought he seemed more satisfied than anything else. The look was replaced by an emotionless mask almost instantly, however, leaving Elsa to wonder if she had even seen it at all. She then put the thought out of her mind as she and her family crossed the grand causeway and entered the city.

Before that day, Elsa's only experience of her city was watching from her bedroom window, riding at the head of a large procession announced by trumpeteers and men-at-arms, or sneaking about in the dead of night. Therefore, she was totally unprepared for the amount of life in Arendelle. Merchants shouted their wares and prices, children played in the streets, men and women walked to and fro on business known only to themselves, and she was right in the middle of it all.

The first part of the city they visited was the docks, partly because of proximity and partly to get it out of the way. Neither Elsa nor Anna had fully trusted ships since whatever caused their parents to not come home three years ago, and Anna being frozen solid while the Usurper tried to cut Elsa in half on the harbour hadn't done much to lessen their distaste for the idea of sailing. Now that Elsa was actually mingling with seamen, however, she began to wonder if that dislike was fully justified. Despite the fact that many of the sailors wandering the port seemed just a little drunk or hung over, a few weren't, most of the dockworkers seemed mostly sober, and quite a few seemed like solid, dependable people.

After a short period of time exploring the European portion of the docks, the party moved to the Tamrielic enclave, where there was a marked increase in the diversity of the inhabitants. Elsa saw mostly Nords, but there were also Imperials, Bretons, and Redguards. Hjadvaar pointed out haughty Altmer, tanned and tattooed Bosmer, bitter Dunmer, and crude Orsimer. Quite suddenly, however, Anna gave a small grunt as she collided with a passerby, then a cry of surprise. Elsa turned in order to watch Anna apologise, but saw something that made her blood run even colder than it usually did. Right there, looming over a frightened-looking Anna stood what appeared to be a demon from the pits of Hell. It was tall and reptilian, with a scaly hide and tail and curving horns growing about it's head, complete with dead reptilian eyes. It opened it's mouth, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth, and spoke in a raspy, hissing voice that chilled the souls of all who heard it.

"Watch where you're going." it said, then walked off.

"What in God's name was that thing?" Kristoff asked as he made the Sign against evil.

"That was an Argonian, Bjorgman." Hjadvaar replied, completely unfazed. "They hail from the province of Black Marsh, and are one of the few things I refuse to fight in their natural habitat, though they're not so aggressive as the Orsimer." The procession continued, now heading towards the commercial district and main market square as Hjadvaar told them about the Argonians and a feline race apparently called the "Kah-jeet", native to somewhere called "Elsewhere". The beastfolk seemed most interesting to Anna, who pelted Hjadvaar with questions for almost a solid hour until the proprietor of a bookstore called the Nord over. The two talked for a moment, then Hjadvaar said something about his knowledge being needed to complete one of the books and followed the bookkeeper inside. A few moments later, a soft glow shone from the windows for just a few seconds, followed shortly by Hjadvaar emerging from the doorway with a wrapped package tucked under one of his belts.

"What's that?" Kristoff asked, eyeing the package suspiciously.

"Nothing overly important just a curiosity I believe Princess Anna would appreciate."

~`~ ~'~

Anna was convinced her heart had stopped for a moment. The spellbook finished getting translated! she thought to herself as Hjadvaar approached her, pulled the package from his belt, and handed it to her. She unwrapped it with trembling hands, using all the grace she could muster. When the package was unwrapped, she held in her hands two thin volumes: The Lusty Argonian Maid v1 and v2. Feeling more than a little disappointed, she opened the first book to reveal a note inside the front cover.

I have your actual present in my satchel. Let's keep it a secret for now and surprise Elsa. Consider the books a bonus. We'll meet after the evening meal in the same room as last time.

Hjadvaar

Anna struggled to compose herself, and stammered out a quick thank-you. If - no, when - this worked, Anna would be able to do so much to help so many people who'd gotten hurt! Who knew, maybe she'd be able to travel to Tamriel herself one day and learn more of their healing arts directly from them. With a bit more bounce to her step, she followed the little procession, humming quietly to herself.

~`~ ~'~

Elsa had to admit that she was enjoying this royal tour more than she'd thought she would. She was particularly pleased about whatever present Hjadvaar had given to Anna, which had obviously made her sister very happy. Honestly, though, Elsa was just a little surprised that Anna had reacted so positively to books. Normally, she didn't seem to be a fan of much other than cheap romance novels. Not that Elsa was complaining, mind, just surprised. She was jerked out of these thoughts quite suddenly, however, when a dirty looking man dressed in ragged clothes suddenly threw himself to the ground at her feet.

"All hail!" he cried, prostrating himself before the Snow Queen. "All hail the Lady Elsa, Goddess of Winter and Snow!"

"What?!" Elsa said, not fully comprehending what exactly was going on.

"We beg for your favor, O Lady of Snow, that you might show us lenience for defiling your sacred Halls!"

"Wait, I don't -"

"I am Edvin Henriksen, most faithful of your followers! What would you have me do, O Divine One?" Elsa felt her face begin to redden as sudden realization struck and a crowd gathered. What she did right now would make her either a saint or a devil in the eyes of her people. Finally, she sighed.

"I'm not a goddess, Edvin." she finally said. "I'm just someone with an unusual talent. I don't need your worship, and I don't want it."

"Do you want me to kill him?" Hjadvaar asked in that freakishly calm voice of his.

"No! Just - just run him off, please."

"Kill me if you will!" Edvin cried, scrambling to his feet. "I do not fear death, for I am the prophet of the great Lady Elsa!" Hjadvaar stared at him for a moment, then his hand shot forward, and a bolt of sizzling lightning leapt from his outstretched palm and fell at the fanatic's feet, causing him to leap backwards. This continued for a short time, lightning hissing through the air and the self-proclaimed holy man hastily retreating until at last he shook his fist at the group and ran away. Elsa found herself staring at the Nord in awe, along with the rest of the people who'd witnessed the spectacle. She quickly composed herself as Hjadvaar turned towards her.

"So, you have lightning powers, then?" Elsa asked, carefully keeping her voice neutral. Somewhat to her surprise, he only shrugged at the question.

"A simple spell, easily learned with some coin and effort. Shall we continue?"

"Yes, of course." Elsa said, and began to walk back towards the castle as the huge Nord cleared a path through the crowd. So, anyone in Tamriel can learn magic. she thought to herself. So if that's the case, they probably have a school. I wonder if they might know anything about my powers. She didn't realise that her sister was having a very similar thought just then as well.