A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait, I could come up with a number of excuses but it doesn't matter all that matters is my exams are now over and I'm free to do what I wish, therefore I'm now going to spend most of my time writing and trying to finish this, as I will finish this I'm determined! For anyone that's interested I think I did ok on my exams (fingers crossed, touch wood etc) Anyway for anyone that's actually still reading this I hope you enjoy this chapter.

WARNING: Incest, violence.

I don't own frozen.

Chapter 12: On the brink of war

Everyone was silent. Not a sound was made as the two royals stared at each other, waiting for the other to back down. It seemed like hours had passed by before the King finally made a sound, with a small chortle he bowed ever so slightly to Elsa, "Oh where are my manners, I have a reputation to uphold, What would people think of me if they find out I didn't respect another royal, especially the noble renowned ice Queen." He made sure to emphasis, 'ice Queen' which resulted in his troops sniggering at his supposed insult.

Elsa's men all shift around as if ready to jump up and destroy anyone who insults their beloved Queen, but she shook her hand ever so slightly warning them not to do anything, not yet anyway.

Elsa crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side, with a mock confused look on her face she replied, "That's funny, because I'm pretty sure they would think the same things they do now, that you are a barbaric King who doesn't care for his people and only cares for war and suffering." Elsa smirked with satisfaction as she watched King Ivan's own smirk disappear to be replaced with a scowl.

The King's whole demeanour went from playful to serious in a matter of seconds, and Elsa wondered if maybe it wasn't a good idea to wind him up, but the damage was done now, she would have to suffer the consequences.

Although from his body language you could tell he was no longer joking around, Ivan still smirked at her but this time it was more menacing and made her feel inferior. He nodded his head in agreement and stated, "I must agree with you on that one, I am many things but at least I am an honest man who keeps no secrets, so you would do well to listen to me and believe me when I say your men stand no chance against my troops, so they may as well come out from behind those barricades" he motioned to the walls either side of Elsa where Arendelle's army was waiting in ambush.

Somewhat surprised that he knew that, Elsa was caught off guard at his words which caused her to hesitate with a reply, making it obvious that Ivan was the one with the advantage in this situation. She laughed, "Big words for a man with so little followers, I can assure you that my troops outnumber yours three to one from the number of men I can see."

"Ah but you see that's where you are mistaken my dear, for you can only see a small fraction of my men, the rest are surrounding all of Arendelle making it impossible for you or anyone else to escape" his smirk became even larger until he was once again showing his yellow teeth, "I have thousands of men at my disposal, all devoted to serve me and my cause, so I'll repeat what I said, tell your men to come out or I'll make them come out" his voice dropped very low when he spoke the last sentence, it caused a shiver to run down Elsa's spine, she truly hadn't realized what she was getting herself into and for once wished she was still up in her ice castle away from all of this.

Watching Ivan carefully to make sure he wasn't up to anything, Elsa turned to face her captain who was shaking his head at her, trying to tell her not to do this, but she had no other choice. She gave him a look that told him she knew what she was doing, she didn't but he didn't have to know that. With a sigh of defeat the captain ordered his men to reveal themselves, within seconds all the soldiers that were waiting in ambush were stood by Elsa's side along the barricades, their weapons drawn to show the enemy that they were still ready to attack them and defend their Queen if the need arised.

The enemy soldiers shifted anxiously at the sight of all the men behind the barricades with various weapons chosen specifically to injury, or worse kill them. In the background a horse could be heard whinnying in distress, the rider trying to keep it under control.

Ivan nodded with satisfaction that his orders had been followed; he obviously took great pleasure in being in control over others. He spoke in a sickly sweet voice that made the hairs at the back of Elsa's neck stand on end.

"Good, now why don't you just surrender that way no one will get hurt, then we can start discussing the new arrangements, such as how you and all your citizens will answer to me from now on as you King."

Without backing down Elsa replied confidently, "I think not Ivan, you will never take this kingdom so long as I have anything to do with it!" while saying this she allowed her emotions to influence her powers, causing an icy blast to radiate around her and freeze the ground spreading out from her feet up to just in front of King Ivan. His horse snorted at the sudden change of temperature, and pawed at the ground with his hoof before returning to normal. Ivan however didn't react to Elsa's display, he merely continued to smirk, what exactly was he so happy about?!

With a pretend sigh and a smile still upon his face, Ivan stated, "I was afraid I would have to do this, but you leave me with no choice" he turned to the man at his left, "Bring him here." The man nodded and shouted some orders to someone out of sight. There was a low buzz of noise as everyone behind the barricade stretched to try and see what's going on, but they only had to wait as they would soon find out.

From behind the man at Ivan's side there was a lot of movement as someone emerged from the crowd and eventually arrived at his side. The King nodded and the man dragged 'him' in front of the king, in the middle of him and Elsa, for everyone to see.

There was a collective gasp as Elsa and everyone behind the barricades realized who it was in front of them, battered and bloody, with their hands tied behind their back and mouth taped. As Elsa stared wide eyed at the blonde man kneeling in the dirt, slightly shaking his head at her as a warning not to do anything, she realized that she already knew who it was going to be. After all hadn't Olaf tried to warn her? If they had been just that bit quicker this might not have happened, they could have prevented this.

Elsa shook her head, her hands bawling into fists as she tried to fight back her emotions, "No, no, Kristoff, I'm so sorry" her voice came out as nothing more than a whisper carried on the wind, but it was still loud enough for everyone to hear.

King Ivan chuckled at her pain, then gestured to the man who had dragged Kristoff there. The man was just a bit taller than Kristoff and was a bigger build than him, he smirked and didn't hesitate in kicking Kristoff in the stomach causing the blonde to cry out, however it was muffled by the tape covering his mouth.

"No Kristoff!" Elsa exclaimed, her hand shooting up in a reaching motion. Her voice was thick with emotion that also showed on her face; Ivan had her exactly where he wanted her, wrapped around his little finger.

The King stopped laughing and put his hand out, the man backed off and returned to his place in the crowd. With the same menacing smile as before he said, "If you know what's good for your friend here, you'll do as I say, unless you want him to get hurt?"

"That's a dirty tactic and you know it!"

The comment had come from someone in the troops behind Elsa, but she put her hand up to silence them. She looked from Kristoff to Ivan, she was done playing games.

In a serious tone she retorted, "Two can play at that game Ivan, it would seem you aren't the only one with a hostage."

The man in question just laughed, "Oh and who would that be then?" She could tell he was wary, even though he was trying to seem in control, she could see the flicker of concern in his eyes.

"I'm not sure if you're entirely aware of this but, have you forgotten about your son, Eldric?" Ivan's smile faltered and turned into a frown, perfect. "He's currently spending some time in the dungeons after he tried to assassinate me, his attempt was pitiful really, but I'm sure you wouldn't want any harm to come to your own son now would you? So if you know what's good for you and your son, you would do well not to threaten one of my citizens!"

The King was scowling now; any signs of his joking nature were completely gone, replaced with seriousness and anger, but Elsa wasn't going to back down, she returned his scowl and continued to stand her ground.

For a long time nothing happened. Everyone just watched and waited as Ivan and Elsa stared the other down determined to be the victor. Eventually Ivan shifted ever so slightly and gestured to Kristoff, the man from early appeared again and dragged the blonde back into the crowd. Ivan announced, "Well if we aren't going to act like civilized human beings, we'll act like the monsters we are" he pulled on the reigns of his war horse who whinnied in response then turned to the side, the rest of the men behind him started to withdraw. "The next time we meet Queen Elsa, it shall be in battle" He spoke with a dark tone, before turning to his soldiers, "Move out men!"

Just as he ordered, the enemy ranks withdrew into the surrounding forest, but it wasn't until every last one of them was out of sight that Arendelle's army dared to move. All around Elsa there was action as the captain ordered small groups to scout out the forests surrounding the town to find out just how many troops Ivan had, and to find where they were making base.

Just before Elsa went to return to the castle, a runner came back with information that Ivan had set up their main base just outside the town's main entrance on the forests outskirts, but he had several other smaller camps surrounding the town and area around the castle.

Elsa scowled and sent him away; she turned back to the castle leaving the captain to sort things out there. How could she let this happen, everyone was in danger and it was her fault. She had a lot of explaining to do and she wasn't looking forward to it.

Stood there at the front of the throne room with hundreds of eager awaiting faces watching her every move, made Elsa wish she was back in the barricades talking with Ivan. She took a deep breath to relax herself before giving them the bad news.

"Earlier today you were informed that there was a possibility that Arendelle was going to be attacked, well I'm sorry to say that this information was correct," there was a flurry of whispers throughout the crowd as people took in what was being said. They were silenced by Kai before Elsa could continue, "But it is much worse than that, as of right now Arendelle is at war with Northwind," she paused to let it sink in, yet she was only met with silence and frightened faces, "As your Queen I swear that I will do everything within my power to protect this kingdom and all who inhabit it, we will bring Kristoff back safe and sound, and I hope you will do everything you can to help."

The silence continued for a few seconds before the room burst into noise, several people shouted that they wished to help protect their families, and so the captain announced that anyone who wished to help in anyway should report to him or one of his lieutenants. The rest of the room talked about what they had just heard, several panicked voices were hushed by people telling them, 'they're silly and that the Queen promised to protect them'.

As her service was no longer required, Elsa started to make her way out of the overcrowded room, she didn't make it very far before she was stopped, luckily by the only person she wanted to see right now.

"Thank god, I was so worried, I'm glad you're ok" Anna said, the relief thick in her voice as she hugged her sister tightly. Elsa returned the hug pulling Anna closer to her, she didn't know if she would ever see her again, and so was cherishing having her in her arms again, exactly where she belonged. They stayed in each other's embrace until Anna leaned back and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Elsa could only sigh, she shook her head slightly in defeat, "I honestly don't know, all we can do it wait for them to come to us, it would be suicide for us to attack them since they have us surrounded, they have the advantage. All we can do it wait, and when an attack does happen we try and stop him taking over."

"Hey now, don't talk like that, you sound like you've given up already" As Anna spoke she placed her hand under Elsa's chin, forcing her to look directly at Anna, "I believe in you, I know you can protect us all and save Kristoff," She smiled at her older sister and caressed the smooth skin of her pale cheek, "Everything will be ok, I know it."

Elsa smiled back, "I hope your right."

"Of course I'm right! I'm always right" Anna quickly retorted, causing both of them to laugh.

What neither of them knew was that this was the last time in a long while they would ever laugh like that again.

The night was quiet, not a sound could be heard but those made by nature, insects buzzing, owls hooting and wolves howling in the distance. As it was early hours of the morning not many people were awake, other than the few soldiers on patrol waiting for Ivan and his men to attack. However as well as being a barbaric man who loves bloodshed, he was also known for his cunning and wit, which is why he wasn't just going to make a frontal attack, he was going to make an attack from the inside as well.

"Oi watch where your stepping!" a deep male voice whispered into the darkness. A man stepped out from behind the greenery just outside the castle, followed by another shorter man.

The shorter man whispered back in a higher tone, "Sorry."

The taller of the two looked around to check they were alone before turning back to his companion, "So you remember the plan then?" it seemed he was the smarter of the two.

"Oh ugh yeah, we sneak in, act like townsfolk, then in the middle of all the chaos, we rescue Prince Eldric, kidnap a girl and take her back to Ivan as a new hostage" the smaller man whispered, he used his fingers as he listed of each task, once he had finished he smiled feeling good about himself for remembering that.

It didn't last long though as his taller friend smacked him around the head before annoyingly correcting him, "No you idiot! Not just any girl, the Princess. We sneak in, blend in with the crowd, break Eldric out, then we nab Princess Anna and high tail it out of there before anyone notices."

The smaller man rubbed the back of his head before smiling goofily, "Oh yeah right."

His friend shook his head, then looked around again to check the coast was clear, he nudged the smaller man with his elbow before hurrying over to the castle wall, "Come on then, we better hurry and get inside, Ivan's gonna start the attack soon and if we aren't in position before that then the plan won't work."

They both hurried down the length of the wall, just avoiding the patrol at the top and somehow managed to sneak into the castle grounds. It wasn't long before they were hidden from sight waiting for the signal to carry out the plan.

Elsa was rudely awoken from her peaceful sleep by a loud banging on the door to her room, whatever it was that someone needed to tell her it was obviously important, but couldn't it wait till later and couldn't they be a bit quieter!

The Queen rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched as she sat up. To her left Anna was sleeping like a log, her arms and legs all over the place in a tangle of limbs, her hair wasn't fairing much better and was a mess that covered most of her pillow. Elsa smiled and giggled slightly at the sight, she had to admit though she was mostly the cause for Anna's bed head since she was the one that had messed it up when she was holding her head in place earlier.

She blushed at the thought, but she didn't have time to dwell as she jumped when the banging on her door started again, but this time it was much louder.

"Alright I'm coming hang on" Elsa shouted groggily as she stood up and grabbed her dressing gown, putting it on before she opened the door to greet whoever had woken her up in the middle of the night.

The fogginess of her mind was cleared when she saw it was one of the captain's lieutenants, this could mean only one thing, and it wasn't good.

The man saluted, "Your majesty, the outer wall has been breached, it's time to defend Arendelle."

She nodded to him, "Alright, thank you for informing me, tell the captain I'll be right there."

Without saying another word he nodded back and hurried down the hall and disappeared from sight round a corner. Taking his example, Elsa shut the door then rushed around the room getting changed into more appropriate wear and getting Anna something to wear.

Once she was ready, Elsa returned to Anna's side and shook her awake, "Anna get up, it's time."

The strawberry blonde tried to resist the shaking and stay asleep, but it's no use, eventually Anna sat up and stretched before blinking sleepily at Elsa, "Wha-what?"

"I said it's time, were being attack right now, I need to get out there and help with the fighting, you on the other hand need to make sure everyone in the castle is safe," Elsa hurriedly said while dressing Anna herself since the girl was still caught in sleeps grasp.

At hearing this though Anna fully woke up, she took the dress from her sister and finished dressing herself. "Elsa wait" Anna grabbed her sister's hand stopping her from rushing out the room like she had been seconds before.

Elsa turned to face Anna and was going to argue that she had no choice; she had to fight, until she saw Anna's sad expression and the tears building up in her eyes. "Please be careful" Anna's voice quivered as she tried to stop her tears from flowing down her cheeks.

The blonde quickly pulled Anna in close and kissed her, prolonging it for as long as possible before breaking away and wiping away her tears, "I'll be fine, I promise I'll come back no matter what, now you get going you have an entire castle to look after" she smiled trying to lighten the mood somewhat, it seemed to work as Anna smiled back.

"Right, I better see you later or you'll be in big trouble" She joked before giving Elsa a quick peck and running out the room down the hall.

Elsa laughed before the situation caught up with her and she became morbid. She hoped that these weren't there last words to each other. Shaking her head to rid her of those thoughts she followed Anna down the hall but instead made her way to the courtyard, she could hear the fighting in the distance; it wasn't going to be hard to find her way to the captain.

The closer she got to the outer wall the more chaos that surrounded her. People were running around with weapons that needed fixing or were replacements, and many people were injured and having medical care. Ignoring what was going on around her Elsa focused on finding the captain; it didn't take her long as she spotted him easily fighting with one of Ivan's soldiers. Without hesitation she focused her power and shot several spikes of ice at the enemy soldier, they struck there target with a sickening crunch as they pierced through his armor and into his flesh and bone.

The man cried out in pain and gave the captain enough time to strike him down, with a fatal blow to the helm; the man fell to the ground never to get up again. Elsa hurried over to the captain, it seemed as if that soldier had been the last in the first wave of attack, the others had either fled or had been killed already.

The captain panted as he tried to regain his breath, Elsa guessed he had been fighting long and hard, and the battle had only just begun. "Thank you ma'am, if not for your help I would have surely been killed," he bowed his head in respect then continued to regain his breath.

Now that the immediate danger was gone, the initial shock was wearing of and Elsa realized what she had done, she looked down at her hands. She had just killed a man with these hands. Without warning she dry heaved as the thought washed over her.

"It's alright your majesty everyone does the same after they witness a battle first hand, don't dwell on it too much, we can sort that out afterwards, but for now it's either kill or be killed" the captain stated as he walked over to Elsa and rubbed her back to ease her suffering.

She eventually got control over herself and took some deep breaths before standing up straight; it was going to be a long day.