Elsa pretended not to see Kristoff nodding off from the corner of her eye as the servant across the table answered her questions. This was the eighth interview in the council chamber that evening. They hadn't even gotten to the dignitaries yet.

"So you didn't see the princess after the coronation ball?"

Sofia, the girl before her, had been helping out in the kitchens that evening. There was something about her that reminded Elsa of her little sister. It was possibly the two long braids. But Sofia had dark hair and she was terribly unlike Anna in that she was shy.

"I know we weren't supposed to be up out of the kitchens," Sofia said, avoiding eye contact with her queen.

"I'm not concerned with that right now. Please confirm when you last saw my sister," Elsa said. Kristoff snored beside her, but she ignored it.

Sofia nodded, blinking down at her lap. "Well… that would've been when Egil and I were watching the ball from the recess," she started. "It was curtained off... none of the guests saw us, Your Majesty!"

"Go on," Elsa said, giving Kristoff a sharp glance when he let out a louder snore. She nudged his foot under the table.

Kristoff shuddered to alertness. "Huh?! What? Icicles."

Elsa cleared her throat. "Please continue."

"Was I asleep?" Kristoff whispered as Sofia picked up from where she'd left off. Elsa ignored him.

"Gerda caught us and sent us away. That was when Her Highness approached Your Majesty with the handsome prince."

"Handsome villain," Kristoff corrected her. "Villain."

Elsa and Sofia both looked toward Kristoff in surprise now that he was suddenly participating.

"Right… Your Majesty, I never saw the princess again after that. We were hard at work in the kitchens when the… blizzard… hit. Trying to make extra food for those townspeople who needed it," Sofia said.

Elsa was the one to avoid eye contact this time, not wanting Sofia to see her shame.

"Yes, I understand. Thank you. You may go," Elsa said.

Sofia hesitated before she stood and curtsied. Elsa waited for the girl to leave before she sighed and rested her head in her arms on the table.

"Your Majesty?" Kristoff said.

"I should have started with the dignitaries. I was putting them off," Elsa said. She dreaded the questions they would have about her powers. She looked at Kristoff, only now noticing the dark circles under his eyes. "You should rest," she said. She was about to say they could resume interviewing the next morning when a heavy hand knocked upon the door. Elsa had not invited them in, but the door opened anyway. In walked Lord Harald, not exactly someone she wanted to see.

Lord Harald bowed. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty. I thought you were finished."

"What is it, Harald?"

Harald did not flinch one bit at Elsa's impatient tone. He even smiled as he helped himself to a seat at the council table. "This matter with the prince and princesses's disappearances," he began, pursing his lips as he paused. "I really hope you've reconsidered your decision about writing to the Southern Isles… especially now that Her Highness is involved."

"It has not crossed my mind since we last discussed it. I'm a little preoccupied right now with my sister missing," Elsa replied. She made a conscious effort not to make the room temperature drop even though Lord Harald was irritating her.

Lord Harald merely answered, "Ah." It seemed he would let the subject drop again for the moment. Suddenly he looked up at her, a real pondering look on his face as he said, "It's so suspicious. You don't think they've eloped, do you?"

Elsa's eyes went wide. She felt, rather than saw, Kristoff jerk forward in his seat. She put an arm out to keep him from leaping across the table.

"How dare you," Elsa said. With great effort, she kept her voice even and cool. "You know what he nearly did."

"Ah, yes… The princess would be most foolish to run away with the man who tried to kill her sister," Lord Harald admitted, frowning.

"Please leave. I've had enough grief for one day," Elsa said.

Lord Harald studied her quietly for a second, ignoring the commoner glaring at him from Elsa's side. He nodded after a while, mumbling an apology and wishing the queen much rest and recuperation.

He turned around to say, "The kingdom trusts you." Then he bowed and let himself out.

Kristoff scoffed. "The nerve of that guy."

"He is right about one thing." Elsa sighed. "I should write to the Southern Isles. Hans could be on his way there now. They won't know to seize him if he arrives."

"What about Anna?"

Elsa observed the tired man next to her. Even though he'd had to fight to stay awake during the last couple of interviews, he still fretted over her sister. It didn't matter that they were strangers; they both cared for Anna. She tried to imagine how Anna had come to meet him. She was sure it would be a great story.

"I'll search for her myself tomorrow."

Olaf fell on a harsh stone floor when his captor dumped him out of the sack.

"Yow!" Olaf yelped. "That was scary! First it was dark, next it was bumpy. Then the worst part was that body odor…"

"Silence!" a pair of boots shouted at him. But Olaf looked up and saw it was not the boots, but one of Arendelle castle's guards.

"Hello!" Olaf waved upon seeing how grumpy the guard was. "My name is Olaf and I like—"

"I said be quiet!"

Olaf sucked in his breath to keep from finishing his introduction. My, he's in a bad mood!

"Wanna hug?" Olaf asked, stretching his arms wide.

"Gak!" The guard ripped a torch from the wall, waving it down to keep the little snowman away from him. "Look, you obviously don't understand the situation. I will spell it out for you. You are a prisoner. You'll answer my question or you'll get this torch."

Olaf squeaked, backing away in alarm as the guard waved the torch a little closer. He loved summer and sunshine, but fire was dangerous!

"Good. So you understand now," the guard said. "Did you or did you not see Prince Hans leave the kingdom?"

"Uh…"

"Well?!" The guard pushed the torch right up to Olaf's face. Olaf shrieked and rolled backward until he hit the wall.

"I didn't see him," Olaf admitted, trembling with something he hadn't felt since watching Anna freeze to near-death: fear.

The guard smirked, setting the torch back in place on the wall. "Good," he said. "That was all I needed to know." He turned away from Olaf, preparing to leave the cell.

"Yeah?!" Olaf said, a new emotion creeping over him. Something about the way the guard had bullied him into breaking part of his promise to Anna…it made him feel strange. "Well, no matter how you threaten me, I will never, ever tell you that Princess Anna left Arendelle to look for Prince Hans! So, there!"

When the guard looked over his shoulder, Olaf realized what he had done. He clapped both his little hands over his mouth and shrieked.

"Oops."

The splash was the only sound as she fell backwards. Water swallowed the summer sky. Soon it was cold all around her. It wasn't the bright cold of snow. It was black cold. She'd never learned how to swim, so she just sank into the deep. She thought about struggling, but her limbs would not respond.

Anna jolted upright, roused by crashing thunder. She was disoriented at first, blinking around the strange room surrounding her. Her eyes came to rest on the old woman in a chair by the fireplace. Then she remembered.

There were other sounds outside: snarling and snapping tree branches. Footsteps shook the ground, making everything in the cabin tremble. Anna choked back her panic.

"The Stallos are out. They're looking for Arendelle dwellers," Judet told her.

Anna shivered and clutched one of the gaktis; it was more to still her trembling than for anything else. She said, "But Hans said the giant wouldn't come this far… there are more of them?"

One of them—'Stallos', Judet called them—roared outside.

"They're weaker during the day. They won't challenge the king's law. But at night, the forest is theirs… they won't bother us in here, so don't fear. They have no quarrel with outcasts. It's Arendelle they hate."

"But why?" Anna asked. How could Judet be so calm when there were monsters lurking around her home? Then Anna dropped the gakti she'd been clinging to, confusion settling in. "Wait… did you just say the king's law?"

A/N: I'm attending a wedding this weekend, so there probably won't be another update until next week. Thank you for reading!