The sunlight had faded fast. One minute it had been shining down on them, and the next found the last dregs of twilight dwindling behind the mountains. At least it felt that way to Elsa, but she knew that it was her gathering anxiety that propelled time faster and faster. They had done a complete circuit of the walls and surrounding lands with nothing to show for it. Hoofprints were everywhere, but so were farms, farmers, horses, reindeer, you name it.

Where could they have gone? From her vantage point atop a small rise overlooking the wide river, she could see much of her kingdom. The city and the castle, the farms and the now-empty market, the mountains and the fjord itself. It seemed to her that the life had drained from her home, not from the setting of the sun, but from the loss of her Princess.

She forced away the tears in her eyes. There was no question as to whether or not she would find Anna. Failure was not an option. Her eyes scanned the quickly-darkening horizon, hoping for anything that would give her a clue.

"Majesty!"

Her head whipped around, her hands bringing the reins with it. Her horse sped down to Captain Tendro. "Captain? Tell me you have good news."

"I have… news, Your Majesty. I leave it to you to decide its quality." He nodded at a young Guard, not even as old as Elsa herself.

"Your Majesty," the boy began to kneel, but Elsa stopped him.

"No time for that. Tell me what you found." The boy looked so nervous. It was hard sometimes to remember that the Guardsmen cared so much about her and her sister. She had spent so long alone, this was a whole new experience for her. "Please," she added.

He might have looked a little less nervous now. It was hard to tell. "Majesty, we found, that is, Runi and me," he nodded toward another youth nearby, "found an old abandoned building. Just a little hut, probably for miners who didn't have homes back in the town proper. Anyway, the building had a stone wine cellar beneath it. It only had a chair in it though."

"A chair," Tendro sounded skeptical.

"Yes, Cap'n," the boy nodded eagerly. "Seemed like a right kind of place to keep someone prisoner." He suddenly looked less eager, and less toward Elsa, "If someone were so horrible as to do that."

"Show me, Private…" Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"Sveinn, Majesty. Private Sveinn." He knelt. Elsa stopped herself from stopping him again. Let the boy do what he knows. This isn't easy for them either.

"Sveinn, please take me to this building as fast as you can." It took everything she had to keep herself from yelling the words at him. If Anna had been held in this building but was already gone, they didn't have a lot of time left.

"Yes, Majesty!" He didn't kneel this time, thank Odin. He scrambled onto his horse and rode away from the river.

Elsa wasn't a great rider, not having had any practice since she was a child, but she managed to keep up. There was nothing that would keep her from this. The fear was pounding in the back of her mind. Fear of being too late, fear of more false clues, fear of losing the love she had only just begun to let blossom, fear of losing her sister. She had never been more scared in her life.

She was confused when they stopped at a small building. Why was Sveinn shivering? It wasn't cold… oh. It probably was. Since it was snowing and all. She promised herself again that she would learn to keep her magic separate from her emotions once this was all over. But for now, there just wasn't time to worry about that too. She tossed the kid the blanket off the back of her saddle, it seemed like a silly thing for her to have anyway, and ran into the house.

"Stay out here and make sure nobody tries to sneak up on us," she said over her shoulder.

It was just a regular wooden house. It had an old dusty scent to it, and didn't look like anyone had lived here in a while. The mines were usually pretty active in the summer, but recent events had chased everyone off the mountains. She really had affected a lot of people's lives. Just more things to make amends for, she supposed. And she would make amends. For everything.

Across from the two beds, there was a long, wide ramp leading down under the stone ground. Wide enough to roll a barrel. Sveinn was a smart kid, it seemed. She hurried down and opened the door at the end. Sure enough, it was just a room empty but for a chair in the middle. Could Anna have been here? Maybe… ugh! She needed more than maybe! There was nothing here but a measly chair!

She sat down in the chair and looked around for anything at all that might give her a clue. She saw stone walls, and that was it. Elbows on her knees, she let her face fall into her hands. Another false clue. This place was just-

Wait. What was that? She knelt down and looked closely at the stone floor. There were a couple dark specks of… her vision started to fuzz at the edges. Everything in the room took on a slight reddish hue. Before she knew what she was doing, she was running back outside to her horse.

The temperature had dropped noticeably. "Tendro!" she shouted. "Get Captain Tendro!"

There would be tracks nearby. There would be a trail to follow. And there would be someone to make pay for what had happened here.

Someone had hurt her Anna.

Anna shivered on her mattress. If only her bonds were just a bit looser, she could at least wrap her arms around herself for warmth. Who knew that being afraid could make someone so cold? Apparently her fear wasn't as impressed with her oh-so-funny bravado as Mr. Emotionless had been. At least he had given her a place to lie down.

She looked out the small window at the ocean. The sound of the waves lapping against the hull of the ship would have been calming under any other circumstances. Had they put her on a side that didn't face land on purpose?

She considered shouting for help, but decided it was pointless. After Mr. E had shown just how little it bothered him to hit a woman, she didn't think it was wise to give him an actual reason to repeat himself. Especially when she was obviously so far from help.

The ocean. That was the ocean. She had never actually seen it until now. There were paintings in the castle, of course. But she convinced herself that the fjord was just a smaller version of an ocean. Boy, had she been wrong. Even at night, it was clear that it just went on and on forever. There had to be other places out there somewhere, she was sure, but there was no way to see them from here. This was the most vast, massive, and breathtaking sight she had ever seen. And this was the worst way she could think of to see it.

Plus, it was cold. Like really cold. It did feel nice on her bruised face, but not on the rest of her. She hopped away from the window as quickly as the ropes around her legs would allow, and huddled in the corner. She probably looked ridiculous, but that wouldn't have mattered to her anyway. The part of people that made them care what others thought just wasn't there for Anna. She had always thought it was silly to try and be someone you're not just because other people didn't like who you were. Thank goodness she had Elsa.

Elsa… Elsa, who loved her just for being her, and who didn't need to be anyone else for Anna. The last time she had seen Elsa was the least guarded that Anna had ever seen her. They had been so happy. They were still going to be so happy. Anna was going to get out of here, and she was going to strip down Elsa's walls, and make her happy.

She felt her cheeks warm when she realized how that last part sounded. Then the warmth spread when she thought about exactly how she might do that. She let herself get carried away in that fantasy. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do. Plus, the warmth was helping fight the summer night's unusual cold.

It was hard to say how long she had been lost in her thoughts about what to do to Elsa when she finally got out of this mess. And what Elsa was going to do to her… That thought nearly dragged her back into the fantasy. It might have succeeded if it weren't for the voices outside.

"...go now," said one voice.

"It's still dark. We can't navigate the rocks in the dark."

"You can tell that to the blasted Guards when they get here!"

"Guards? Here?"

"Must be. Who else would be moving about in the trees? They must have followed Bernhard and Emil. We have to go now."

"What about those other…" the voices trailed off away from her room.

The Guards were here?! Maybe it wasn't too late after all! Was Elsa with them? Then Anna started laughing.

No wonder it was so cold tonight.

Elsa had come for her.

"Your Majesty, there is going to be a battle. That is no place for the Queen. Please, you must remain here!" Captain Tendro was visibly restraining himself from shouting at her. While she appreciated his concern, she was the one monarch that she knew of who did not need such coddling from her Guardsmen.

"Captain, you have seen what I am capable of. You know I am by no means defenseless. And you know that they have my sister." His willpower was wilting before her eyes. "I am going to get her. Are you coming with me? Or do you want to stand here arguing with yourself all night?"

Only a brief hesitation before he nodded. "Yes, Majesty. As you command."

It can't be easy. He thinks of Anna's abduction as his failure, and now you're throwing yourself at the same men who took her. He's as loyal a Guard as any Queen could ask for. Sometimes it seemed that her subconscious was the only one keeping its head around here. She put her hand on Tendro's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"I'll be fine, Captain. I can handle myself."

His tension didn't disappear, but she saw some of the worry leave his eyes. "Yes, Your Majesty. Let's go get the Princess."

Everything inside of her was such a roiling mass of emotions. She was worried that if she let it go now, everyone, friend and foe, would be killed. The fear was much less now that she knew Anna was close. And the hope was rising dramatically. Even the excitement was building, which she found a little unsettling. But none of that was anything compared to the anger.

She could feel the rage inside like a beast all its own. So much of her concentration was being spent keeping the weather from getting worse. Temperatures were already dangerously low, and the snowfall was getting heavier. She couldn't imagine what would happen if she didn't keep the anger in check. It was begging to be let out, and there was a big part of her that desperately wanted to let it. To unleash her fury on everyone who had dared to come into her home and steal Arendelle's beloved Princess. That wasn't an option though. There was no way of knowing where Anna was, and Elsa could not risk hurting her sister. So they had to do this Tendro's way.

They were almost to the narrow beach that separated the trees from the ocean. It would only be a short run to the dock. "I will stop any arrows," she whispered to Tendro. "Just run." He nodded and passed the word to his men. "Oh, and Tendro? We only need one prisoner to tell us who's behind this." She could feel the anger churning in agreement.

"As you wish, Majesty. Here we go. No mercy, men."

Quickly and quietly, they ran. Part of Elsa was surprised that they weren't immediately assaulted by a hail of arrows from the ship. Maybe that was a good sign. Maybe they really had gotten here undetected, and this would be easier than she had hoped. Then an arrow flitted out from the darkness of a window, barely missing one of the Guards before burying itself in the sand.

Woah. That was close. Pay attention! Her eyes narrowed, and she focused on the outline of the ship. Any change that she saw would give her a hint-

There! A pillar of ice shot up and stopped the arrow mid-air. They were close enough now that she was able to hear a curse from the ship, followed by, "It's her!"

Elsa fired an icy blast towards the voice. She was rewarded by a gasp and a gurglling sound that was drowned out by more shouting as her men were set upon by the enemy. Several men in dark clothing pounded down the plank leading up to the ship, and immediately engaged the Guards. A frosty gust of wind sent two of the men tumbling into the dark, cold water below. Elsa smiled, and used her magic to bat another arrow from the air before returning fire at the archer.

The sound of clashing swords was almost overwhelming. How did men manage to think during battle? She could see that the Guards were pushing the other men back, and she followed behind, making sure to watch for any more arrows. She nearly tripped on a man's body, he wasn't one of hers. Good.

No more arrows… wait, what was she waiting for? She didn't need to get to the ramp up to the ship, and it was obvious that her men were going to be fine. A quick burst from her hands and she had a staircase leading exactly where she wanted to go.

The voices were shouts now. And panicked ones at that. Something was definitely happening outside. Cold forgotten, Anna peered out the window, hoping to see something that would tell her what was going on.

Was Elsa okay? Were the Guards winning? Was she about to be used as a shield by a desperate captor? Why did she have to be on this side of the stupid ship?!

She growled in frustration just as she saw a man fly from above her into the water. A man coated in a layer of frost. Elsa. Elsa was right above her!

"Elsa!" Anna shouted out the window.

The door to Anna's room burst open, as if in answer to her call. She smiled as she turned. She turned just in time to see the back of Mr. E's hand before it hit her swollen cheek. Again, she tumbled to the ground, face burning with pain.

"I told you to shut up, girl."

"Elsa! Help!" Anna yelled again.

The big man pulled her off the ground and brought her face close to his. Her nose hurt when it wrinkled in disgust at the smell. She could feel blood trickling from it, but that hardly seemed important at the moment. "Make another sound, and I will kill you right here," he said quietly.

Even now, there was no emotion in his eyes. She believed him. He really would kill her. What an angry man he must be inside. She couldn't keep herself from feeling sorry for him. What kinds of horrible things must he have gone through in his life to bring him to the point of killing innocent girls?

Over his shoulder, she saw another man, this one carrying a sword, run by the door without looking inside. A fraction of a second passed before he went by the other way. But this time he was unconscious, upside down, and covered in ice.

Anna gave Mr. E an apologetic smile.

Elsa was alone in the ship's hallway. Well, alone other than the now-frozen fellows that she had found running around down here. She knew Anna was close. It wasn't that big of a ship, and Anna had yelled from directly below her only minutes before. She looked in each room as she passed. Empty… empty… she stopped.

The third room was dark, but her sister's hair glowed like fire in the moonlight. Elsa could see that she had been hit. The bruise was still fresh. The red tint returned to Elsa's vision. She could see the man's hand around Anna's waist, his other holding a cruel-looking knife to her throat. His back was to the wall in more ways than one.

Panic fought blinding rage inside of Elsa, but she didn't allow her face to show either. "Let her go." She was surprised at how calm her voice sounded. Cold as ice.

"Get off my ship."

Anna's eyes were wide and frightened. Elsa had never seen her sister look so scared. Elsa's anger was winning.

"No second chances. Let. Her. Go."

The interior of the ship began to freeze. Elsa was losing her grip on her emotions, and it wasn't going to end well for any of them. Outside, the waves had stopped. Some of them shattered as they froze mid-fall. The loud cracks of the hull being crushed by the ice were deafening in the little cabin.

The man looked for an escape. Even in the darkness, Elsa could see terror in his eyes. There was no way out of here for him. She could see that letting Anna go wasn't going to happen. He growled and moved his arm to draw his knife across Anna's neck.

A blade of ice shot out from the wall behind him and shattered his elbow, making him drop the knife with a scream. Now unsupported, Anna collapsed in a heap. Tendrils of ice lifted the man against the wall, ignoring the blood gushing from his ruined arm. A frozen hand rose from the icy prison and gripped his neck.

There was a joyous fury inside of Elsa as she raised her own hand. Here was the man who had hurt her sister. Mimicking her own movements, the icy grip began to clench along with her. He tried to scream again, but only a choked wheezing escaped his lungs.

"Elsa! Stop!"

What?

"Please, Elsa. No." It was Anna. Even in the throws of her frenzy, Elsa felt her heart melt at the sight of her sister. Anna was lying on the cabin floor, beaten and tied up. She had been stolen from her home by men who planned to do who knew what. And she was pleading for the life of the man who had done it. She was the most beautiful creature Elsa had ever seen.

The rage was gone. The hand melted. The man, still frozen to the wall, was gasping for air. Elsa used her nearly-forgotten sword to cut Anna's bonds, and helped her to her feet. She didn't trust herself to speak yet, and settled for leading her sister to the top of the ship.

Tendro and some of his men were heading belowdecks just as the two girls were coming up. "Your Majesties! Are you all right?"

Elsa felt as though her mouth was speaking on its own, "We're fine, Captain. There is a man down there waiting to be taken prisoner. He's not in too much of a threatening mood though, no need to worry."

The men went about their business of clearing the rest of the ship while Elsa helped Anna down her stairway onto the docks. The world was still hazy to Elsa as if everything were surreal. She and Anna helped each other avoid fallen men as they made their way to the snow-covered sand.

As soon as their feet left the docks, everything seemed to come back into focus. "Oh, Elsa!" Anna hugged her so tight. "I told you I would always wait for you," Anna said quietly in her ear.
Elsa let her tears flow. She was terrified that if she let Anna go that she would lose her all over again. She couldn't bring herself to speak over a whisper, "I was so scared. I thought I had lost you."

"I knew you would come for me."

"I will always come for you, Anna." Elsa thought about that for a moment. "But that doesn't mean get yourself kidnapped again!"

Anna laughed, "Ow. Laughing hurts." Elsa pulled away and pressed a hand to Anna's bruised cheek. Her sister's eyes closed, and she gave a contented sigh. "Mmm the cold feels so good."

Elsa wished there was more she could do. "I can't do much, but the cold should help for now. We need to get you home."

"Yeah, probably not a bad idea. I really need some sleep. But first," Anna pulled Elsa closer and kissed her. Not hard, not intense, not hungrily, but wow. Elsa felt that kiss in her bones. She let out a soft whimper that was half-pleasure and half-my-love-is-really-safe-I-can-finally-relax.

Tendro and his men came down to the beach a short while later, just as the first hints of sunlight were cresting the water. "Majesties, we've taken the man from the cabin into custody. His injury was severe, but we managed to stop the bleeding for now." He looked at Elsa, "I think the ice helped that a lot. I'm going to send him with you and most of the men back to the castle."

"Do you mean you're not coming?" Elsa asked.

His jaw clenched. "No, Majesty, I am coming. I will just be a little late." He swallowed. "I will be helping bring back the Guards who didn't make it."

The two women sat in stunned silence. Elsa hadn't even thought of the other Guards. Anna had been her only concern. Now some of them had died to bring her sister home. Elsa felt Anna hold her, crying softly.

"Is there anything we can do, Captain?" Elsa asked quietly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, but no. You and the Princess need to get home. You have a lot of resting to do."

Elsa nodded once. Her head felt heavy.

"Your Majesty?" Elsa looked up. It was the boy from earlier. Sveinn. "I'm glad we found the Princess." He looked around. "We all are. Some people are worth dying for, Your Majesties. And...," his voice cracked a bit, "and none of us would have been out here if we didn't believe you weren't worth every bit of it."

He turned and walked quickly away. It had obviously taken a lot of effort for him to get all of that out. Elsa wished that he could know how much his words had meant to her. But for now, all she could do was hold her Anna and cry.