For My Kingdom
A Frozen Fan Fiction
Author's Note: I think it's time to reveal the villain, don't you? Did you guess? Or was it a surprise? BTW, Athena and Artemis are now Charlotte and Faust!
Chapter Fourteen:
Conspiracy
Charlotte stood just inside the gates as promised. Night had fallen completely and the only light came from the lanterns and stars. There was no moon. Not having had the opportunity to participate in helping serve at the banquet, she headed down early so she could stargaze. She brushed her white blond bangs from her eyes, and out of the corner of them she noticed a man walking casually toward her. She hadn't expected "Ocean" to arrive so soon, but upon closer inspection she realized it was Faust. Smiling, she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the cobblestone, resting her back against the wall.
"Hello, brother," she said, returning her attention skyward. Her hands rested delicately in her lap.
"Sister." Faust responded, taking a knee before her so that he was more at her level. He looked around the courtyard and up the wall. "I have news."
Hearing the preoccupation in the man's voice, Charlotte's eyes lowered from the heavens to see that his face seemed concerned as well. "So soon?"
"I'm afraid so." He bowed his head slightly, almost as if ashamed.
"Afraid so?" Though she kept her voice even and innocent, her eyes radiated an otherwise well-hidden anger.
"The queen lives." He looked hesitantly up at the dangerously reserved woman. "And she has come to recognize that the poison will only work on her. She has now said she will freeze all her drinks before she will touch them."
She raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Well that was an expensive batch of magic wasted."
"I apologize... She was about to drink, but some fool at the banquet seemed to touch a nerve. She froze the goblet before having a chance to so much as taste it." His gaze moved downward again.
The woman clicked her tongue with disappointment. "Elsa, Elsa, Elsa... Someone needs to learn to control her emotions better. Not befitting of a queen to go about freezing things willy nilly." She lifted a petite, pale hand and rested it on the man's chin, tilting his face upward so she could touch her lips against his.
Faust shuddered as an icy chill seemed to slither from his lips and into his chest.
Smiling lovingly, she gazed into his eyes with every ounce of seduction she possessed, her skin never breaking contact with his. "I'm growing tired of these games... Aren't you?"
He nodded slowly, a glazed look seemed to take hold of his expression.
Gently running her fingertips over his neck, she continued, almost in a cooing voice. "That witless little snowman should be arriving any minute... The queen must die."
The glazed look began to fade from Faust's eyes as she pulled her hand away, returning it to her lap. He nodded again and replied, "How? When?"
She smiled back and and rested her head against the wall, resuming her stargazing. "Tomorrow night," she said. Faust was stunned, but he didn't say a word to question her. "You will go into her bedroom while she is asleep, you will take your sword, and you will drive it through her chest. Preferably her heart." As she voiced the murder to her comrade, she could see it all happening as clear as day in her mind. Her heart leapt with cruel delight.
Faust nodded and stood. "Yes, your majesty." He turned sharply on his left heel and walked back toward the main hall.
The woman sighed tiredly and combed her fingers through her boyishly cut hair. She couldn't stand it when it was long.
With another attempt failed, she probably couldn't expect that Olaf would come out to her. He would be worried and remain with the queen. Standing, she brushed the dirt off of the skirt of her ghastly servant's gown and began heading back toward the castle, her mind deep in thought.
Queen Elsa... How she had managed for so long was mystery. She hid from public and even private eye for thirteen years. She froze summer after her coronation for goodness sake! How is she in the good graces of her people? She doesn't even know the extent of her own power... She can't even control it! In peacetime maybe, sure, but throw her in wartime and she was like dust in the wind: malleable. So whimsical. So... emotional. Emotions make you weak. This was a lesson the Snow Queen learned a long time ago. With seamless transition, Charlotte entered the castle. The real Snow Queen was left behind at the wall. Someday soon, though, she knew she'd be free.