Chapter Five
Astrid huddled against the cot, refusing to use the moldy blanket and pillow, preferring the ground. A thin layer of dust coated the area. It seemed like peace persevered here. Wherever she was. At the very least, no one had used this place in a while. That thought comforted her. She hadn't landed in a warring kingdom and put Berk in jeopardy. Not yet, anyway. Well, a human war anyway. Her shoulders tensed. The dragons this kingdom could have a problem with.
She stood, wrinkling her nose at the musty earth scent permeating her dungeon cell. A window looked out over the gardens. A band of guards stood at attention around Stormfly. The ice woman – what had the brunette called her? Elsa? – kept Stormfly contained in a cage of ice. Stormfly had tried to get free, tried to stop the guards from taking Astrid away, but that woman kept her hold on Astrid's dragon.
Stormfly hadn't calmed down yet. Not since they took Astrid away. Her dragon paced the cage and kept hurling spikes. The ice woman shielded them away. Stormfly even tried to run into the cage, to break the bars, but the ice woman deflected that attack, too, freezing Stormfly in place. She finally settled down. As much as she could, at least, while glaring at her captures.
"Good girl," Astrid muttered. If Stormfly writhed any more the ice woman might not be so forgiving.
The brunette kept trying to get closer to Stormfly but the ice woman pulled her back for the third time and pointed at the miniature dragon. The brunette gestured widely, almost knocking into a guard. Another man, dressed in full mountain gear, drew closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
The ice woman went to the miniature dragon too and knelt down. Astrid held her breath. Her fingers itched for her axe. Would they torture it right now? Astrid squeezed her eyes shut.
"Oh for heaven's sake, Anna, just leave that dragon alone and take care of this one." Elsa glanced at the snow dragon still cowering in its makeshift cage. She poked her finger through and rubbed its trembling neck. "Hold on, little one."
She yanked the spikes from the ground. The spikes had been embedded so deep in the dirt it took more strength than she would be willing to admit. Anna still hadn't made her way over. Elsa glanced over her shoulder and shouted. "I made you this one, now get over here!"
Anna stopped in her tracks, one hand reaching for the enemy dragon, the other being yanked back by a guard. Anna took one more last look at the blue dragon, untangled herself from the guard, and darted to Elsa's side. Kristoff stayed by the guard, staring at the enemy dragon. As Anna fell to her knees beside Anna, Elsa noticed him shift ever so slightly to the side, blocking Anna from the dragon.
"Sorry, it's just seeing two dragons in one day. One so small, and the other one so huge, it's crazy I didn't know they even existed until now and even then I –"
"Anna." Elsa sighed. "Please just help me get this little one free. I need to speak to the prisoner."
Ann slipped forward, digging her hands into the dirt and prying a stake out of the ground. Chunks of dirt splattered onto her gown. Some even caked into her engagement ring. "And that woman! Who does she think she is, talking to you like that? But then again she does ride a dragon so that's pretty impressive. She rides a dragon. A dragon! The books said nothing about that."
"The book say nothing about dragons being real, either." Elsa tilted her head towards the blue dragon. "But clearly they are." She lifted the one more spike from the earth and the miniature dragon rushed out. It cooed a thanks then shuffled beside Elsa's skirts. She patted its head.
Elsa took Anna's left hand in her own and cleaned off the ring. Anna didn't seem to notice. But later on, once all the excitement died down, she would.
"Well, clearly! I can't believe you made it for me." Anna gestured to the snow dragon. She tried to pet the little dragon. It cowered away, shaking. Anna frowned. "I'm not going to hurt you, sweetie."
Elsa stroked its neck, trying to calm the trebling creature. "Well you did drop it, Anna."
Anna arched an eyebrow. "And you broke its tail in half, Elsa."
The dragon wrapped its tail around its body. The scales glinted, its tail long and whole.
"I fixed it though." Elsa whispered, running her fingers across its back. "I didn't mean to hurt it."
Anna covered Elsa's hand with one of her own and squeezed. "I know."
"I just can't believe how fragile it is." Elsa tucked the dragon closer to her knee. The coldness of the dragon didn't bother her anyway, and perhaps the dragon needed comfort. It had stopped trembling and seemed fine. But I broke its tail. Elsa groaned. "Olaf isn't this frail. He could get impaled and still be okay. He takes himself apart!"
Anna placed her hand on the ground and slid it slowly towards the dragon. Its eyes widened as Anna moved closer and closer. Her voice quieted. "Well, this dragon is made of ice, and Olaf is mostly snow. Maybe snow behaves differently than ice. Ice can shatter more easily. Just like this little guy."
Anna's fingers finally made contact with the dragon's snout. The dragon stilled for the barest of breathes, then reared back, pushing itself into Elsa's leg and almost toppling over. She caught it before it fell all the way. It's so light. The dragon cooed, and nuzzled closer. It's back pressed into Elsa's side, wings curling around her arm, tail wrapping around her , but comforting. Ice. An ice dragon. Not a snow one. Elsa let herself enjoy the feel of this dragon in her hands for a few more seconds, then rose.
Anna looked up. "Be careful when you speak to her."
The ice dragon looked up, too, its wide eyes blinking.
"I will. And you be careful with her dragon." Elsa made the smallest of gestures to the blue dragon. Anna nodded. The strange dragon seemed calm. It had finished thrashing around at least. But Elsa didn't want to leave Anna alone with the enemy, not even for a second.
That huge dragon eyed Elsa as she made her way into her castle. Challenging her it seemed. She frowned. The dragon titled its head, moving its tail back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Its spikes dug little rows in the ground. Yes. Definitely a challenge.
Elsa took one last sweeping look at the gardens before closing the doors. Kristoff, standing in between Anna and the strange dragon, the guards milling around it, Kristoff's family hiding in plain sight. Anna would be fine. Just for a little while. Elsa turned away and shut the doors. Her heart still pounded against her chest. She took a few deep breaths.
"Time to calm down, Elsa," she murmured to herself as she made her way down to the dungeon. "Calm. Control. Everything will be all right. Calm. Control."
But her thoughts wouldn't calm down. The air around her chilled, ice pooled in her palms. With every thought came a new terror. There are just not one but two dragons outside, one frolicking freely that Elsa herself had created and another one that attacked her kingdom.
And the first prisoner Arendelle had in years (not counting herself) currently sat in her dungeon. How would she ever go about interrogating a prisoner? Her parents had never taught her that. Now more than anything, she wished her father was still alive. What would he have done?
She reached the dungeon, the air taking on a distinct damp scent. Memories flooded back to her. The eternal winter she created. That idiot Hans trying to take over. How she almost killed Anna. Elsa bit her lip. She had to calm down.
Elsa stopped just short of the guards at the prisoner's cell. Taking another deep breath, she approached them. The air lost its bite, but just slightly.
One guard shifted, pulling his jacket a little closer to his body. The other female guard nodded to the cell. "She hasn't said a word, your Highness."
Elsa tilted her head. "Very well. Let's hope she doesn't make this too difficult."
Was that the thing to say in this situation? Elsa didn't know. But the guards seemed to agree. They unlocked the cell and swung open the door for her.
Elsa cleared her throat. "Keep watch."
The female guard's brown eyes softened, and she smiled. "We will, your Highness. You need only call."
Nodding, Elsa stepped into the cell.
The ice woman walked in. With her shoulders thrown back and her hands clasped in front of her, she seemed tense. Nervous. What did the she have to be nervous about? She wasn't the one locked in a dungeon without her dragon.
Astrid looked away, focused on the far wall, the one with a crack the size of her fist. There was dirt in that fissure, too. Did no one clean this place?
The woman came deeper into the room. She stopped by the window and put her hand on the sill. Light spilled through the window, capturing minuscule sparkles sprinkled throughout this woman's hair, glinting off the sequins in her dress, and accentuating her high cheekbones. Beautiful. Astrid blinked. Beautiful? Gods no.
The woman turned to stare at Astrid. "From where do you hail Astrid Hofferson?"
Astrid shivered. Her name dropping from this woman's lips caused it? A tingle raced down her spine.
She rubbed her shoulders and frowned. "I could ask you the same question, Elsi."
"Elsa." The woman tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then clasped her hands again. She shifted from one foot to the other before settling down.
"What?"
"My name is Elsa." Elsa straightened. Still, she didn't seem too sure of herself in here. "I am Queen of Arendelle. Queen of this kingdom. You must be from a far away to not recognize my name."
Astrid frowned. Should she tell the truth? The woman tortured a dragon. And she captured Stormfly. But lying wouldn't help the situation if she found out the truth later on it would only set her on edge. She wished Hiccup were here, he always knew how to handle these situations. To talk it out. He'd know how to talk his way out of this.
And he would tell this woman the truth. "I'm from Berk. It's more than a night of dragon-flying to get here."
"You flew here on your dragon."
It was more of a statement than a question. Astrid rested her back on the wall, the cold permeating through her armor and tingling her neck. Her dragon.
This woman stared at her for a bit too long. It made her uncomfortable, but a nice uncomfortable. The woman was quite pretty. But this woman also tortured the miniature dragon. "Don't hurt Stormfly."
Elsa bit her lip. She seemed to think better of it. "Why would I hurt your dragon?"
Astrid leaned forward. "Um, how about because you smashed that miniature dragon's wing and broke its tail."
"I didn't mean to." Elsa turned away, her braid swinging over her shoulder.
Her words came out so fast, Astrid had to strain to hear them. "You didn't mean to hurt it?"
Then what did this woman mean to do?
A chill settled in Astrid's stomach. Oh gods. "Did you mean to kill it?"
Elsa spun back around, her blue eyes wide. "No, heavens no. Why would I want to kill it?"
Astrid's head pounded. This didn't make sense. A chill that had nothing to do with Astrid's stomach settled in the cell. Astrid wanted to rub her arms, but forced herself not to. "Then what did you want to do."
Elsa shook her head and straightened. She took two deep breathes before answering. "That is none of your concern."
Astrid titled her head, but Elsa continued before Astrid could speak.
"I-I will have my council verify your location and come back for more information later." Elsa started for the door.
Rising to her feet, Astrid strode over and grabbed Elsa's arm. Even the woman's skin was cold. But Astrid found, in an awkward way, she kind of liked the chill under her fingers. It felt good actually. Too good. Astrid shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Please don't hurt Stormfly."
Elsa stared at Astrid, her gaze flicking down to Astrid's hold. A slight blush crept up Elsa's cheeks. "I will be back later for more information."
Astrid released her hold and Elsa knocked on the door. Someone – the guards Astrid figured – opened it from the outside and Elsa slipped out. The heavy metal door clanged shut.
Elsa walked down the hallway towards the main hall. The council would be there. She willed the heat to ebb from her face, sending a breeze of cold air towards her cheeks to help the process.
The interrogation had been a wash. She'd done horribly! Stumbling over words, blurting out too much, heavens she didn't even know where to stand in the stupid tiny cell. Too close and she got uncomfortable, too far away and she didn't feel intimidating enough. Plus, she thought eye contact would be good, but her gaze kept straying to the woman's lithe form. Nothing went right.
And the boldness of that woman shocked her. Grabbing Elsa's arm like that. Heat crept again up her neck and flowed into her cheeks. She pressed a hand to her forehead. Astrid had been so close Elsa could see the different colors in the woman's eyes, how a bit of brown flecked the surface. Elsa could still feel Astrid's palm pressed against her skin. And the heat it left behind.
Elsa rubbed her arm. Where had her thoughts wandered to? Ah, yes, the boldness of that woman!
She was Queen! She should be able to handle any situation that came her way. She passed by a window overlooking the gardens. At the dragons still outside. Any situation. Her thoughts strayed to the prisoner, the one named Astrid Hofferson.
But Elsa had a hunch that the pretty barbarian would be a situation all her own.
SQ: Sorry this is later than I would've liked. A friend of mine got married and I quit my job, so it's been interesting around here lately. I'm flying to Portland on Wednesday so expect delays then. I'll try to update normally, of course, if I can.
Also – for fans of The Fire In Her Eyes, I'm working on the next chapter of that, too, and hope to have it up soon. As like this one, life's been getting in the way a bit.
Thanks for all the comments, favorites, and followers thus far! Don't forget to review, I love hearing your thoughts.