Frozen Together Chapter 14
After a few days of Hans' firm leadership, the worst of the crisis had passed. There were still many problems to solve, like where to house all the coronation guests who had planned to live in summer pavilions, or how to feed Arendelle's livestock when the grass was under five inches of snow. But no one was in danger of dying, and it was time for Prince Hans to try and find Arendelle's rightful rulers and bring them back to the palace.
He rode with the Duke of Weselton at his side, along with eight of the queen's guard and the Duke's two bodyguards. They had no idea where they should look, or how long it would take, so they took dry provisions and money to buy supplies. They went fully armed, so as to be prepared for anything.
"Just remember," the old Duke growled quietly as they set off. "We need your princess to legitimize your claim. Marrying her would be best, but even an engagement will be good. The queen, on the other hand... is expendable."
Hans suddenly held up his hand. "Halt! Men, stand at ease. The Duke and I need to discuss our tactics." The two of them rode a few yards away so the guards couldn't hear them.
"No one said anything about killing the Queen!" he burst out.
"Do you want the throne of Arendelle, or don't you?" the Duke demanded. "And if you want it, how do you plan to take it if the Queen is already there? Were you planning to sit in her lap?"
"She's discredited herself!" Hans protested. "There's no need to kill her. We can make her reverse this unnatural winter, and then have her deposed!"
"Hans, Hans, Hans, you naïve little boy," the Duke scolded him. "You're assuming far too many things. You're assuming that she's able to reverse the winter on command; you're assuming that she's willing to do so; and you're assuming that the people will still reject her after she fixes the weather for them. All she has to do is say, 'Oops, my bad; it was just a minor problem with the climate control; sorry about that,' and everything will return to normal, which is the last thing we want!
"One of the rules of the grand game is that you leave nothing to chance. If we give that witch-queen any room to wiggle out of the hole she's dug for herself, she may find a way to do it. But if she is permanently out of the picture, the kingdom will have no choice but to crown Anna, and I hope you know how you could profit from that.
"Still, I understand your squeamishness. I remember the first time I took permanent action against someone; the first time is always hard. In this case, it would be better if you stood aside, looking horrified, while my men and I do what has to be done. You'll banish us from the kingdom afterward, of course; but your hands will be clean, your claim to the throne will still be in play, and our deal will be that much closer to fulfillment."
The Duke leaned closer. "If, on the other hand, you're thinking of trying to warn someone in advance, just remember – all the guards and their weapons will be behind you, and you wear no armor. It's too late to back out now." He wheeled his horse around and trotted back to where the guards waited. Hans followed, much more slowly.
Queen Elsa isn't even a person to him, he thought. She's just an obstacle in his path, to be stepped over or stepped on. He'd kill Anna just as quickly if she got in his way. Or me.
Luck was with them that day. In the first village they visited, they asked if anyone had seen two young women in royal dress. No one had seen them, but several of the citizens commented on the big, bright, shiny thing that had suddenly appeared on the North Mountain a few days ago. They could see it reflecting the mid-morning light, even from down in the valley. They couldn't tell what it was, but it certainly deserved a good look. The royal hunting party began climbing the mountain.
There was only one way up that horses could take, so they went that way. They came out at the edge of a rocky spur. The space between them and the next spur was spanned by a beautiful, fragile-looking stairway made of solid ice. On the far side stood the most heavenly-looking building Hans had ever seen. On the near side, a solitary man and a reindeer stood by a sled, just staring at the ice palace. He turned, surprised, when he heard them approach.
"Out of the way! Queen's business!" the Duke shouted as the twelve horsemen trotted past him. He wasn't actually in their way, but he stepped aside anyway, and watched as they stopped and dismounted next to the ice stairway.
The only sounds they could hear were the breathing of their horses and the chill mountain wind.
Hans took charge. "We'll cross one at a time, and wait on the far side. If this bridge collapses under us, we won't lose more than one man. I'll go first." He hesitantly put his weight on the first step, then the next. He slowly went faster as he crossed, but he never felt fully safe until his feet were on solid ground.
"It's ice, so watch your footing, but I think it will hold us!" he shouted from the other side.
"I could have told them that," Kristoff said in his Sven-voice.
"Yeah, but nobody listens to a reindeer," he replied in his own voice. "Except me."
The entire party was eventually gathered in front of the icy castle. "We are here to find the royal family of Arendelle and bring them home," he reminded the guards. "If they do not come willingly, we may have to compel them, for the good of the kingdom, but they are not to be harmed! Is that clear to all of you?" The royal guardsmen nodded firmly; the Duke kept his face passive; and Weselton's bodyguards glared at the Prince with barely-concealed irritation.
Hans climbed the steps and opened the door.
The inside of the palace was even more unbelievable than the outside. The floor was a perfectly flat sheet of ice. Two rows of suits of armor, sculpted in ice, stood by the doorway. Icy reproductions of famous paintings hung all along the walls. In the center of the room, a clear sculpture of a dragon reared its head up twelve feet off the ground. Two lacy stairways, much like the one they'd just crossed, curved upwards. Everything was lit with an unearthly blue light. The men entered silently, nervously, unsure of what to expect. They had no frame of reference to make sense of the things they were seeing. The place was uncannily quiet, which made them even more nervous.
They climbed the nearest stairway hesitantly, worried that this might be some kind of trap, until they emerged on the second floor. This floor was decorated like an enormous, exquisite snowflake; instead of sculptures, it was furnished with ice tables, chairs, and a couch. It looked surprisingly homey, considering it was made out of frozen water.
On one wall was a door that led to a balcony. Elsa and Anna stood by that door, watching them.
Their appearance, to Hans, was the biggest surprise of all. The Queen had transformed herself from a demure-looking twenty-one-year-old girl into a dazzling, almost sensual vision in blue and white. By contrast, Anna looked almost dumpy in her out-of-style coat and hand-knit bonnet. Neither of them fit the image of "royalty" that Hans expected queens and princesses to strive for.
Anna took one look at him and almost rushed to his arms. But the armed men behind him made her hesitate, and the presence of that Duke who had brought such misery to her sister... doubly so. It took all her strength to stay at Elsa's side, but she realized that was where she needed to be.
"Why are you here?" Elsa asked quietly.
Hans took a breath and tried to explain.
"For the first time, we're together, since you fled your native land.
"We have made a long endeavor just to tell you you're not banned.
"We all want you back; however, if you won't come on your own,
"We will find a way that's clever to take you to your home."
Elsa held up her hand.
"Please go on back. It's not too late.
"We'll use that palace for affairs of state.
"We'll live here, Anna and me.
"If someone needs me, they can come and see.
"It's best to keep the kingdom safe from me."
The Duke took a long stride toward them; Anna stepped protectively between them, Hans stood beside his mentor, and they had a short, sharp exchange:
Hans: "Actually, they're not."
Anna: "What do you mean, they're not?"
Duke: "Your sister threw a royal fit!"
Anna: "So what? Who cares a bit?"
Duke: "Arendelle's in deep, deep, deep, deep –"
"...snow," Hans finished.
"What?" Elsa couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Your Majesty, when you fled your kingdom, you set off an unnatural winter all over Arendelle!" Hans knew he had to persuade her quickly, before the situation escalated and the Duke got his chance to strike her down. "People are freezing! There isn't enough food! You owe it to your people to come home and undo what you've done!"
The Queen looked at her hands, half-panicked. "I can't... I- I don't know how!"
Hans looked firm. "Nevertheless, Your Majesty, we must insist that you return to your throne and your people. They need you at this... desperate... time..." He broke off and glanced upwards. Snow was beginning to fall inside the palace. Anna quickly took her reassuring position behind Elsa; Hans tried to keep his focus on the royal pair; the Duke suddenly looked fearful; the Arendelle guards glanced around nervously; and the Duke's men quietly released the safety catches on their crossbows.
Then everyone was talking at once.
Hans: "For the first time in forever..."
Elsa: "I cannot rule! Why can't you see?"
Hans: "You can rule by your command."
Anna: "Elsa, stay where it's warm beside me!"
Hans: "You can fix this winter weather..."
Duke: "The witch has brought a curse!"
Hans: "Which I see you hadn't planned."
Anna: "Stop it, Hans, you'll only make things worse!"
Hans: "Unplanned, but you can make the sun shine bright!"
Elsa: "Don't interfere! Please leave us here!"
Hans: "Don't you dare just say, 'Whatever'."
Anna: "We are fine! Don't come and get her!"
Duke: "Will you let her live forever?"
...and suddenly Elsa screamed, "STAY BACK!" The soldiers had gotten way too close for comfort.
She took a long step backwards, forcing Anna to jump sideways to avoid being knocked over, and swept her hand in a wide arc in front of her. A visible wave of pure cold radiated out from her fingers. It was a short-ranged wave, meant to make the soldiers back off, and it succeeded. They all jumped back five feet or more. One guard had been holding his spear in front of himself; he suddenly found the spear covered in frost crystals, and it became too cold to hold. When he dropped it on the ice floor, it shattered.
But Anna had jumped to the side, not back as Elsa had assumed, and the Queen swung her hand a little further than she meant to. Anna took a full burst of cold that was never meant for her.
Elsa didn't notice at first; she was fixated on the armed men in front of her. It wasn't until the Duke hissed, "The witch has struck down her own sister!" that she glanced to her right. She saw Anna stagger back, struggle to stay on her feet, slowly fall to her knees...
...and Elsa knew, with a horror beyond words, that she had just made her own worst nightmare come true.
"Cut her down!" someone shouted. The Duke's men both fired at once. Elsa's response was more a reflex than a planned defense. She held out both her hands protectively. Two ice shields, much like the ones that lined the outside walls of the palace, appeared in front of her; each shield bounced one crossbow bolt away. Then she raised her hands together, and a six-inch-thick wall of opaque ice rose out of the floor to the ceiling, and swiftly stretched to both walls of the palace, crushing the ice furniture to powder as it spread. All the men were caught on the far side of the wall. They began hammering at it with their sword pommels, but it would take them at least an hour to make a hole big enough for a man to get through.
"Anna!" Elsa knelt in front of her sister and tried to lift her chin. Anna was visibly pale and was beginning to shiver. She was clearly in pain. The expression in her eyes... Elsa couldn't bear to look any more.
It was not anger, or fear, or resentment in Anna's eyes, but simple shocked astonishment that her precious sister could have done this to her.