The next morning, Judet sliced the moldy end off a loaf of bread before she added it to a basket for Anna. Anna wrinkled her nose at first. But it occurred to her that the bread might be Judet's last until Judet went to Arendelle's market again.

"It's only a few hours to Arendelle," Judet said. "This is just in case you get hungry along the way."

"Thank you," Anna said. Standing next to the fire, she was starting to sweat in the boots and large coat Judet had put on her.

Hans cleared his throat from the cottage door. "We should get going," he said. Then he held up his tied wrists, his face souring. "Is this necessary? I could have killed you yesterday if I wanted to."

"Quiet, you!" Anna snapped. She looked at him in warning and then turned toward Judet to accept the basket. "Which way leads to Arendelle?"

Judet smiled. "In back of this cottage, there's a trail to the forest… follow that for a mile. It will take you back to the main road. Once you come upon the road, turn right. Then just keep walking until you see the castle."

"That sounds easy enough." Anna looked over her shoulder. Hans was resting his forehead on the wall next to the front door. Judet had said his wound was not serious. He'd just have a headache for the next few days…and a bump on the back of his head.

It was still a possibility that the head trauma was worse than it looked. But Judet did not seem to think it likely. Anna would only know if Hans suddenly became confused, nauseous or dropped dead, she had said.

"Think about what I told you," Judet whispered, drawing Anna's attention away from the prince. "You may be the only one who can help him."

Anna frowned. Help Hans? She was supposed to be escorting him to Arendelle's custody, not helping him.

Judet actually looked frightened by what she was trying to tell Anna.

"I'll do what I can. But Hans committed several grievous crimes. My main concern is getting him back to my sister—the queen."

Judet's forehead scrunched up at the mention of Elsa. She raised one eyebrow, then looked away as though trying to recall something.

"I didn't know the queen had a sister," she said. "The king has two, I know. But they've been living married in other kingdoms for some time now."

Anna's grip on the basket tightened as she watched Judet fidget in confusion. Her mind must not be what it was. She's old, Anna thought. And she lives all alone…

No, she would not say anything that might confuse Judet further. "Thanks for everything," Anna said with a smile.

Judet put a hand on Anna's shoulder as she walked her to the door. "Good luck to you both. I am glad you found your way here last night. Avoid the forests at night next time," she advised. She gave a slight bow as if in afterthought.

Anna hid her uneasy expression from Judet as she unraveled the 'lead rope' from around one of the table legs. She wrapped the extra rope around her hand and gave a test pull. When Hans's wrists moved, he rolled his eyes.

Anna ordered Hans to walk ahead of her since she couldn't trust him at her back. Hans had smirked but complied. As he passed her, he said, "Oh, Anna. That hurts." The smile in his voice was sharp and clear.

Ignore him.

It was hard to pay attention to much else in a silent forest. No birds chirped above. No creatures skittered away from her. There was only the soft crunch of snow under their boots.

As she walked, Anna watched the back of Hans's head. There was no trace of blood in his hair, or else it blended in too well with the auburn.

How many more times would she have to worry about the man who had scorned her so horribly?

"Why?" she asked. The question came out on impulse. She halted, biting her lip. There was no point in asking, of course. She knew why. The reason would be any one of the things that drive a human to do something terrible: fear, power, madness or all of the above.

Hans's end of the rope jerked back, forcing him to stop.

"Why what?" he asked.

Anger jolted through Anna. He had to know. He must know the questions burning inside her. Why did he do it? Did he plan it all along? Did he have no conscience whatsoever?

A distant sound in the background reached her ears. Anna tried to strain her ears to listen. It sounded like…

"Is that a waterfall?" she asked. "Did we go the wrong way?" She turned about circles and tried to discern which direction the sound came from, unmindful of how her movement drew Hans around by the rope.

"Anna, cut the rope."

She ignored him and bolted off of the trail, following the noise. Hans yelled after her with no choice but to follow.

Anna dashed through the trees, squinting at what looked like a field ahead. When she broke through the tree line, she nearly tripped over several tree stumps before she came to a full stop. She realized immediately that it was much larger than a normal clearing. All around her were acres cleared of trees, ghostly stumps the only remains.

"What is this place?" she asked, oblivious to Hans cursing behind her.

"A little warning next time?" he said.

"Shh." Anna spotted a structure at the far left edge of the land. "I think the water's that way."

Hans groaned as Anna led the way. They stuck to the trees as they approached. The building appeared to be built on a slope in the land. The slope descended into the southern tree line. The rushing water was much louder now. Anna finally understood when she saw the tunnel attached to the building and the dam built onto the creek beyond.

"A sawmill? But I thought those shut down once the ice trade took off… That was years ago," she murmured, staring.

"Would you kindly free my hands?" Hans hissed. Anna raised her eyebrow at the urgency in his tone, but then she saw two mill men approaching them. One raised his hand to wave.

How do they keep the water from freezing? Anna wondered. Judet's coat had done such a fine job of keeping her warm that she'd almost forgotten about the snow all around her.

"Hans! You're back!" one of the men said, now only feet away. He looked the younger of the two workers, possibly a decade older than Anna. He wore a white knit cap that clashed with his black beard. The other man's head was uncovered, but he wore a thick coat.

Anne raised one eyebrow and turned toward Hans. "They know you?"

The mill men looked questioningly at the rope around Hans's wrists. Hans chuckled charmingly before either of the men could ask. Anna looked from the men to Hans, then back at the men again. His laughter disturbed her.

"This little lady," Hans said, indicating Anna with a tilt of his head. "is my lovely wife. As you can see, she's furious that I set out by myself." He held up his bound wrists and flashed a knowing smile, as if to say, 'Women.'

Anna's face flushed with rage. She was about to cut in when the men buckled up with laughter.

"Doesn't she know her husband's a hero? Funny little wife," the hatless man said.

Anna swallowed her bewilderment. Keeping her face as blank as possible, Anna said, "Which way is Arendelle?"

The men settled down when they saw that Anna was shaking. They exchanged nervous glances with one another before giving Hans sympathetic eyes. They assumed he was in for an earful. They had no idea it was their princess standing in front of them.

The older man pointed to the far side of the cleared land behind them. "The road's that way. You can't miss it."

"Thank you."

She whirled around and stomped off in the indicated direction, dragging Hans behind her. When they were well out of earshot, she stopped and spun toward him.

"Explain. Now."

"Am I doing it right? I'm not, am I?" Rocky asked.

Bulda looked away from her own glowing fire crystal. The training cave was full of students talking among themselves; their crystals all shined various intensities of red. But poor Rocky couldn't even get his fire crystal to flicker.

"That's all right," Bulda assured him. "Everyone learns at a different pace. Actually, Grand Pabbie says that those who take longest to master Illumination often have the brightest crystals."

"Really?" Rocky's eyes grew with excitement. Bulda nodded, rubbing her arms. The training cave was unusually chilly for so many active fire crystals in one place.

"Haha, look! Rocky's crystal's dull!" one of the other students shouted. A few of the other young trolls looked toward Rocky and sniggered.

Bulda looked at the rest of the class, growing stern. "Enough! Recite the pledge."

They all stood up in unison and recited:

"I solemnly swear to be honorable,
To use my crystals for the good of
The forest, my family and the crown.
I shall not mock, ignore or take advantage
Of the misfortunes of others.
I shall not act out in anger, fear or stress.
Rather, I shall help those in need
And act with patience, courage and peace.
Only thus will I earn the title 'Troll'."

When they were finished, the students took their seats and stared at their instructor, waiting.

"Very good. But remember, it's not enough just to recite it. You have to live by this code. Our ancestors passed it down to us for good reason," Bulda said. By the time she was finished, most of the students had resumed talking to their respective cliques.

Bulda sighed. They were still young; they would understand eventually.

Gasps suddenly erupted from the back of the cave. Someone yelled, "The floor!"

Bulda glanced down. The floor was icing over. "What the…? Up on your seats, everyone!" She was thankful to see all of them obey her instructions. "Stay put! Do not leave this cave until an adult comes back to get you!"

Bulda lit her air crystal to hover and then glide down the aisle and out of the cave. The ice was outside too, but already the blue dome of a protective barrier was up around the valley. She saw Grand Pabbie and Cliff at the head of a group working to hold the barrier. She rushed to join them.

"What is it?!" Bulda asked. Everyone's eyes were on the dark forest just outside of the valley.

"Grand Pabbie sensed it earlier… something hostile is coming," Cliff whispered.

Without warning, an ice lance struck. The barrier cracked, but stayed standing. The trolls huddled tightly together, watching the ice lance fall to the ground on the other side of the barrier. They all held their breaths.

A second lance shot out from the forest, striking a higher part of the barrier.

"Together! Hold the barrier!" Pabbie commanded. Each troll held out their master crystal, focusing on keeping the barrier intact. But then several ice lances flew out together. One pierced through a high spot on the barrier. The intrusion broke most of the trolls' concentration. The momentary lapse caused the barrier to fizzle and fade.

"Ready your crystals!" Pabbie shouted.

Bulda braced herself, cradling her air crystal and ready to summon an offensive gust if need be. She hesitated when a woman stepped out from the trees; hair white as snow, eyes and lips blue as ice. Bulda felt her comrades tremble at the sight of her.

"What do you want?!" Pabbie demanded, holding his arms out like a shield over his people.

"You have something of mine," the woman answered.

Bulda shuddered as something crawled over her toes and up toward her ankles. She looked down and saw it: ice.

A/N: I had a lot of fun writing about the trolls here. Thank you for reading, following, etc!