A/N: I apologize for the wait, I've been busy with life, and a plethora of tests at university. I will be finishing this story, and if you can't tell, we are getting pretty far along in it.

One more thing before you start, I'll now have an update schedule. I will be posting a chapter every two weeks exactly. So 14 days from when this is posted, I will be posting chapter 12. I've found my groove as far as studying for these classes and have found time to write every day, so I can keep this schedule. This schedule is largely to help you wonderful guests to know when to check for another chapter, even though each and every one of you all following this fic are amazing :)

Thanks to all of you, here's chapter 11!

The next day, Anna got hungry. Right, you idiot, Anna still needs to eat! With that thought, Elsa was reminded of her own hunger. She knew it was light out, which presented a major problem.

"We can stop at the next town and you can get something to eat."

Anna blushed. "I um, I kinda forgot to- or rather couldn't- bring any money. I don't know, I just- well, I-"

Elsa hushed her with her hand. "It's okay, I- I know. I have some. I'll give you some so you can buy something to eat."

"Are you sure? I mean, I-"

"Shh, Anna, yes I'm sure. You agreed to come with me, the least I could do is provide you with food."

"O-okay, yeah, thanks Elsa!" She leaned forward and pecked the woman on the cheek. It was exhilarating to do that so candidly. When she saw Elsa's reaction, Anna overflowed with affection. The woman smiled to herself, looked down, and gently caressed her own cheek where Anna's lips had been.

A few hours later, they stopped. Elsa handed Anna some money and the red head made for the door. When Elsa made no motion to follow, Anna inquired about it. "Aren't you coming? You've got to be hungry."

Starving. "No, I'm fine. Really."

Confused, the red head retorted. "Okay, well, um, do you want to come with me? It'd be nice to get out of this little carriage for a while."

Elsa thought frantically for a good excuse, but they were more slippery than eels. "We really shouldn't stop long, we can't let Hans catch up."

Anna frowned. Oh yeah, Hans. The remembrance of why they left hit her like a lead weight from the sky, pummeling her spirit. The story Elsa had spun, the incident a couple of nights ago, they both came swimming back. She was a little hurt that Elsa didn't seem to want to come with her. "Okay then."

The curt answer and intonation tipped the shopkeeper off. "Anna, it's not that I don't want to it's..." Am I really going to do this? The woman's heart beat hard, the trembling of its impressive contractions jarring her entire body. "I can't."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

With a deep breath Elsa began to speak again. She was careful how she wove her details, taking care more care than an expert seamstress. "I can't go in the sunlight it's- it's part of the spell that makes me immortal. Just one more thing I have to endure, I suppose."

"The hag did that to you? Why?"

"Because she's evil. The only intents the witch has are malicious, any way she can make someone suffer, she will."

The red head pondered this for a while. Thankfully, Elsa didn't notice any gears connecting in her mind. "What happens? In sunlight, I mean. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked, I-"

"No, it's okay. It's like..." The older woman's face became very serious. "Have you ever been stabbed?"

Anna looked up, as if she could see her own brain and pick memories from it. "Not really. When I was a kid, I fell on a sharp stick, though. That hurt, I cried for a long time until my parents- well, my dad helped me."

"Well," the other lady continued, "imagine that feeling, but much, much worse, like that stick was on fire. Now, imagine that all over your body."

The red head winced. "ouch."

"It's crippling pain, it's so overwhelming that I can't move or think, I just... am."

Both women were silent for a moment, Anna unsure of how to respond.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. Elsa asked a question. "You said your dad helped you with your pain. What exactly did you mean?"

"Oh, um, well he just told me to think about what pain is. It's in your head, right? He told me to just... replace the pain with something that feels good. Like being tickled." The younger woman looked down and began to fiddle with her fingers. Her voice became solemn. "That's one of the ways I coped with the pain losing my parents."

"That's..." the pale woman pondered the notion for a while. "A good way of looking at it."

There was an almost painful pause. Finally, Anna had to break the silence. "I'll see you when I get back."

All in all, Elsa felt good for getting a little more off of her chest.

That night, Hans arrived back in Arendelle. This time, with several of his men alongside him. With him, he brought two bodyguards and his own man to deal in the mysterious art of magic. For lack of a better term, his wizard.

With the title of prince backing him, it was easy for Hans to knock on doors and obtain information, even in the blackened hours of the evening. For this reason, finding where Anna lived was no problem. After all, she was easy to describe, memorable, and just so happened to be at the market most days. A sickeningly villainous grin crept over Hans' face. He knew if he found Anna, he'd find Elsa.

Sven suddenly started barking furiously outside, raving about something unwelcome. The loud woofing and growling woke Kristoff, immediately communicating that something was amiss in the night. The burly blonde grabbed his knife from the nightstand and, as hushed as he could, sneaked into the kitchen.

"Silence that infernal dog," the prince spat. The wizard nodded, and quickly cast a spell of hypnosis over the animal, sending it instantly into a deep sleep.

Kristoff heard the barking abruptly stop and breathed a sigh of relief. He lowered his weapon and guard, allowing adrenaline to drain from his system like unwanted waste.

Bang

The door flew open, alarming the blonde. He jumped back while his heart momentarily suffocated itself and lost control of his faculties for the briefest of seconds. The knife tumbled to the ground.

"Don't even think about it," a strange man with short, brown hair warned.

Straight away, Kristoff's hotheadedness took the reigns. "And just who do you think you are, barging into my house and giving me commands?" He balled his hands into fists, clamping to the point of blanched knuckles and stepped forward.

He was met by a confident reply. "I'm Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, and I'm here to arrest your sister, Anna, for aiding a fugitive."

Prince Hans? Prince... Kristoff flashed back to the night his sister came home in a wreck of tears. She mentioned a prince that had a warrant for Elsa's arrest. It's him! Outrage boiled into his brain like a ferocious parasite, taking control of his mind and spitting out his next words for him. "Anna isn't here, and if you ever go near her, if you so much as touch my sister, I swear by the gods above and below, that I'll make you pay for it. She did nothing wrong!" He inched closer yet again. The two were like like lions in a battle of territory, sizing each other up, pacing around to find the slightest opening, the smallest hint of weakness to pounce on.

"On the contrary, you'll give her up, or you'll pay for it."

The blonde thought of his baby sister. The years they'd spent together, the laughs they'd shared, the tears they'd fought side by side. He loved her dearly. When it really came down to it, her being homosexual didn't make the slightest difference. Kristoff would protect Anna at all costs. "You'd better come back with a warrant for me, then, because I'm sure not giving her up without a damn good fight."

A sinister smile snaked onto royal cheeks. "Oh, don't worry yourself with all those formalities, this is strictly an.. under-the-table situation. Guards."

As two well built soldiers inched forward, Kristoff realized what Hans was implying. He was going to choose between giving him Anna or being tortured, or worse, killed. Give it your worst, you cockroach.

"So, what's it gonna be?" The brunette brandished a blade, menacingly running his gloved hand down the length of it.

The blonde spat in Hans' face. He leaped sideways once the guards made contact with his arms, knocking one off balance. Thinking fast, he dove to grab his knife, regaining his footing as swiftly as a cat. Unfortunately, once he took a look around to size up the fight, he was met by a very solid fist to the temple and collapsed. The split second it took him to pick up his knife had given the guards enough time to retaliate.

A pounding headache was all Kristoff could feel when he came to. His vision was blurry, and he tasted iron in his mouth. Through excruciating throbs in his brain, he spat the pooled up blood out. He couldn't see where it landed, he could only make out the general shape of four men in front of him. It took him a few moments, but his mind caught up and he realized what was going on. His eyes shot wide open in alarm, adrenaline once again bounding through his arteries, granting his muscles extra rigor and strength and his mind extra drive. He thrashed and screamed, but he was tied tightly.

But wait a minute, something was off.

Kristoff tried to yell once more. Nothing. Not a single sound broke the barrier of his lips. He could feel his throat vibrating, but there was no verbal recourse. A haze of confusion intruded on his already spotty thoughts. What in the...?

"I see you're just figuring out that you can't talk. Interesting, isn't it?"

Kristoff scowled and tried to rebut, but nothing came through.

"I wouldn't waste my energy if I were you, you're going to need it. Here's what's going to happen. Either you're going to nod, agreeing to tell me where Anna went, or we are going to... take... the knowledge from you. I would advise you to choose very carefully." Hans made eye contact with the other man and with a perfectly smug look gave his ultimatum. "So, what do you say?"

Through all of this, Kristoff's breathing became irate, he struggled to loosen the knots binding him, but fell short of success. He narrowed his eyes and once again spat in the royal's face.

Hans flinched and wiped the goop away. "Very well." He turned to one of his men. "Begin."

Kristoff felt... nothing. No pain, no intrusion, nothing. Who was presumably the wizard had stepped forward and was staring intently at the blonde with his eyes loosely shut. It seemed fake. Like an elaborate scare technique, nothing more than a royal hoax. Kristoff began to inwardly laugh. They really think I'm going to fall for that? His heart eased, blood sauntering through his veins at a comfortable, leisurely pace.

That is, until the wizard spoke. "They're going to Corona, sir."

Kristoff's heart sank, flipping his insides into his throat, constricting his breath like a hungry snake. What? How? No!

That stupid smile persisted on Hans' face. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

This makes no sense, how did they- they must have known. They must just be playing me for a fool. But then, what's their game?

Swiftly, the prince knelt down once more, his face inches from Kristoff's and his blade shattering the plane betwixt them. The blonde's spine crawled. He knew nothing good would come of this. In a barely audible, deep, and ice cold tone, the royal spoke. "We can't have anyone getting word of this little... indiscretion, can we?"

While Kristoff tried desperately to uncover the meaning trapped behind the words, Hans stood once again. "Guards, take care of him."

Only then did it become clear. Clear as day, clear as the line between life and death. Kristoff's stomach sank. He wanted to curl up, he felt sick and had to hold vomit down. His mind rushed with hundreds of thoughts: of his parents, of Sven, but mostly, of Anna. His sister. He relived their entire childhood in an instant, the emotions swelling and overwhelming within. His eyes burned as a tear dripped down. Bitter sorrow and regret clogged his throat. They're going to kill me.

"Any last words?" The snarled words hit Kristoff's eardrum like a hammer. "Oh wait, you can't speak."

Kristoff tried to scream, he tried to yell at the top of his lungs, threaten Hans, but to no avail.

The peasant closed his eyes. Anna if you could only know what I'm thinking now, he thought, knowing all too well that she couldn't, I love you. I was wrong to reject you and... and I just want you to know, more than anything, that it doesn't matter who you are, I just want you to be happy.

As he finished his thoughts, a twisted guard pressed his sword against Kristoff's throat. The metal was cold and chilled him to the bone. That was the last thing he felt as the sharpened edge slid and broke his skin. Blood spurted out like a fountain, the red curtain oozing out and pooling upon the floor as Kristoff choked on his own claret. The relentless gore did little to phase the prince. He could smell revenge getting closer in the metallic air.

"To Corona."

A/N: questions, comments, concerns, or angers? Leave 'em!