Chapter 8
The next morning, Naeil and Ragnar were setting up the targets at the archery range when Elsa arrived, wearing what she thought of when Naeil had directed her to come out wearing something "comfortable and non-restricting." So, she'd worn her riding clothes, which consisted of some britches and close fitting but not too tight bodice. Out of habit she'd thrown on the over-skirt for the britches, knowing that if need be, she could lose it in a second. She gave him a warm smile as she spotted him wearing a plain white tunic and some dark pants of his own, as well as his gray/white cloak, but was a little taken aback when he didn't return the smile. She could sense he wasn't exactly thrilled with this scenario, but she wasn't sure why. However, she did get smiles from Anna and Kristoff, who sat off to the side to provide "Moral Support". As Naeil and Ragnar adjusted the final targets, Naeil looked at Ragnar, who gave him a stern look before he approached the Queen.
"Well," she said cheerfully, twirling in front of him. Why is he being so cold to me all of sudden? I thought we'd made up over the whole dinner debacle?
Naeil's ears flicked, as he fought down the urge to tell her that he thought she looked exceptionally cute. He respected her desire to want to fight for her people, and he understood it. However, that meant he couldn't be the love-struck prince to her...not at this moment.
"That will do for now, but you should trade the dress for some pants. A dress can get grabbed, caught, or tangled. Battle is ugly, so there is no need to be fashionable."
Elsa was briefly taken aback by his cold demeanor, but she also noticed that his body language was that of a man being torn. That night in the garden, Naeil had spoken of his mother, and of his aunts and cousins, and even of Holo herself. Weak females did not do well in the halls of the Wolf Palace, and Naeil had been raised alongside women warriors. Fully half of the Wulfen Guard contingent in the castle were women, she'd learned. She had pushed him to let her do this, and he was merely doing his best to prepare her. But, he was nervous, perhaps because he was worried he might set her off on another tantrum like she'd displayed at dinner. She decided she needed to show him that he had nothing to fear from her.
"Very well," she stated, and within seconds, she'd untied the skirt and kicked it off to the side.
Naeil looked at her, a stunned expression on his face, and she walked up to him, placing a hand on his cheek and stared into his eyes. "I get that you are doing this to help me defend Arendelle. I trust your judgment on these matters, Naeil. I trust you. I only ask that you also trust me."
Naeil gulped as he stared into those blue eyes, and then relaxed his shoulders. "You are also going to need to either tie up or cut off your braid. Again, it makes a great grab handle."
Elsa pulled a dagger and was going to cut her braid off but Naeil stopped her. "We're not in battle, and I would prefer if you just tied it up."
She looked at him, and noticed a faint smile on his face. She returned it and nodded.
Looking at the targets, Naeil waited for Ragnar to join them and then turned to Elsa. "Okay, show us what you can do. Those targets are the enemy...freeze them, impale them, whatever you believe is the best option. However, I would suggest you start out with that one that's closest to us."
Elsa nodded and reached out with her hands, sending a bolt of blue energy flying to the target. It became surrounded with ice in a matter of seconds. Naeil nodded and motioned to Ragnar, who walked over to the target, he looked at the Queen, shook his head, and then hit the ice, causing it to shatter instantly.
"What was wrong with that?"
Naeil was calm, and direct, "You hit an unmoving, unarmed, target at 25 ft away. And you wrapped him in an ice sheet. He would be incapacitated...until he fell down or was helped by his fellows." He sighed, "Elsa, I understand that you've worked hard to make your powers safe. Anna and Kai briefed me about the events following your coronation. I also have heard about how you handled yourself when they came after you in your Ice Palace. I know you are not weak and are more than capable of taking care of yourself. However, if you really intend to follow this course, you can't hold back. Weselton's army isn't going to hold back if they get their hands on you."
Ragnar had returned uprange, so Naeil nodded, "Ok, Elsa...hit him again. If you're going to wrap him in ice, you need to securely wrap him. Until you make it thick enough that Ragnar can't break it...it's not thick enough."
Elsa nodded and looked at the target once more. She thought of the fear she'd experience in her Ice Palace, and the anger. That arrowhead mere inches from her face. She remembered the agony she'd felt when she realized Anna had thrown herself in front of Han's sword, turning into an ice statue just as the blade had struck. The Wolf Prince was right, those coming to Arendelle would not show her mercy, and while she would be happy to offer mercy when the fighting was over, she would make herself as cold as she needed to be for the fight. She narrowed her eyes and flung her right hand out.
The target was knocked over by the force of the impact, turning to ice as it toppled and shattering upon hitting the ground. Ragnar and Naeil stood speechless and even Anna and Kristoff were slightly taken aback. Elsa breathed deeply, and then looked at the two Wolf Kind.
"Better?" she asked.
Naeil, still stunned, simply nodded. This woman is dangerous, perhaps even more than I'd anticipated. Why do I find that makes her even more attractive?
Ragnar and Naeil put Elsa through a rapid series of trials, and learned that not only were Elsa's powers perfectly capable of being fatal, she apparently had a range equal to any archers' and an accuracy that would put most sharp shooters to shame. Even when they had shifted her to the moving targets, and had set up a running slalom course for her, she could still hit the targets every time.
As the group paused for lunch, Naeil excused himself, saying he needed to get prepared for the "next phase" of her tests. When Anna had cornered Ragnar, chatting him up about what she should be doing in the upcoming battle, Kristoff approached Elsa.
"You seem to be doing really well," he stated.
She looked up and smiled, "Thank you, Kristoff. She looked over at Anna who seemed to be insisting that she should be getting trained too, and Ragnar struggling to let her down gently, or trying to honestly figure out if she could fight. "How are you two holding up?" asked the Queen.
Kristoff paused, and then smiled, "We're worried. We want to help, but, I'm not really a soldier."
Elsa smiled, "I don't have a problem with that, Kristoff. I couldn't live with myself if either of you got hurt...besides, think of poor Sven."
Kristoff laughed, but then gave her a serious look. "You know, Anna knows why you're doing this, but she's not very happy about it."
Elsa sighed, "I'm not exactly thrilled with it myself."
Kristoff nodded, and Elsa noted he was fidgeting. "You've been talking a lot, but you haven't actually said what's on your mind."
Kristoff looked at her in surprise, but then grinned sheepishly, "Hmm, you're getting good at reading people."
Elsa smiled, and the Mountain Man took a deep breath, "Well, you know I care for your sister, very much. Even in the few short months we've been together, I find I can't imagine living without her. Uhh...well, I realize that this is probably the worst of times, and I wouldn't want to actually plan anything until the danger has passed...but...well, if you're okay with it...I wanted...well."
Elsa took a very serious look on her face, and Kristoff gulped, but then she broke out in a grin, "Of course, Kristoff. I can't tell you how happy I am, for the both of you. I know you'll take good care of her, because if you don't..." a snowball dropped onto Kristoff's head.
Kristoff grimaced, but then broke out in wide grin. "Of course! Thank you very much.."
"Thank you for what?" asked Anna, who had walked over to the two, leaving Ragnar to reset the targets.
Elsa smiled sweetly, "Nothing, Sis."
Anna looked between the two, and pursed her lips, "Secrets, eh? Hmmm, well I know how to get you to talk," she said, jabbing Kristoff in the chest.
Elsa giggled and then turned at the sound of a horse coming down the path. "Snowflake?" she said in surprise, as she saw Naeil guiding the horse down to the range. Standing up she walked up and patted the horse's muzzle, giving the prince a confused look.
Naeil smiled lightly, "This is the next phase."
As he helped Elsa into the saddle, she bore a confused expression on her face, "I don't understand, she's not a warhorse."
Naeil nodded, his ears giving a slight twitch as he helped secure Elsa's legs firmly into the stirrups. She blushed slightly but waited patiently for him to explain his thinking. "This isn't about you learning to fight from a mount, although, that will be a side benefit. I can only get the moving targets to go so fast, and you can only run so fast. If you can continue hitting this targets from the back of your horse, then you and I will have the confidence that you can pretty much hit anything, no matter how fast it's moving.
Elsa nodded, but then, shook her head. "But I need my hands free to do directed spells, how am I supposed to steer Snowflake without the reigns?"
Naeil smiled, "That's why I'm using this archer's saddle we brought with us. It has special stirrups to allow you to stay securely in the saddle, while using your legs to guide Snowflake, we'll start slow and you just get used to riding without holding the reigns. If it looks like you're up to it, then we'll go back to target practice, but don't worry too much about it. Like I said, I'm only doing this to see if we can get some more speed for you to deal with on your targeting."
Elsa was nervous, but Naeil kept a firm hand on the reigns, and gave her a reassuring nod. Over the next couple of hours, she and Snowflake got used to the hands free maneuvering. She was even able to handle being at a light gallop, and Elsa grinned in excitement. It was a sensation unlike any she'd experienced, almost as if she was flying. The sun was starting to set, as Naeil set her back on a target slalom. It took her a couple of tries, but soon Elsa was back on her record setting streak, even with the horse moving at a gallop. Naeil was genuinely proud and impressed, and decided it was time for one more test. Ragnar, however stepped up to him.
"Are you sure about this? She's done extraordinarily fine, but she's obviously getting exhausted, and with all due respect, you aren't much better."
Naeil sighed, "I'm fine, and we...I need to know...Have her set up for another run through the course."
Elsa sat in the saddle, tired but feeling great. She'd never exercised her powers like this, and the day had given her complete confidence that she could handle any situation thrown at her. She saw Ragnar approach her, and momentarily thought it was odd that Naeil wasn't anywhere to be seen. She put it out of her mind as Ragnar congratulated her on the day's training, and asked her to run the course one more time, as fast as she felt comfortable with.
"Sure thing, Sergeant...I hope you're timing this one."
The sergeant nodded, and smiled, his tail flickered underneath his cloak.
"Wow, that was unusual," she thought.
Guiding Snowflake to the start, she took a deep breath, and kicked the horse in the sides, raising both of her hands as she ran through the course as she had several times before. The still targets were almost instinctive at this point, so she focused more on the moving targets. Each one was hit and she was coming up on the final stationary target, sitting out on the edge of the range. Grinning triumphantly she flung out her hand...
Naeil was standing directly in front of the target. He realized he'd pushed too hard the second he saw her expression. That look of shock and horror cut him to the core, and he regretted being the cause of it. It also slowed his reaction time a split second longer, and combined with his exhaustion, slowed him down far too much. Even as he attempted to dodge, the spell slammed into his shoulder, and he felt a cold he'd never experienced before. The last sound he heard before plunging into darkness was the most horrifying scream he'd ever heard in his life. Even animals that he'd killed in his wolf form had never made such a sound. It was the sound of Elsa's voice screaming in horror and regret.