For My Kingdom
A Frozen Fan Fiction
Chapter Eighteen:
A Price to Pay
Author's Note: FINALLY.
No one knew anything was wrong until early the next morning. A young man went out to feed the horses and discovered Faust's broken body beneath the queen's balcony.
The alarm was raised and, of course, Anna ran straight to Elsa with the master of the guard hot on her heels. What she saw when they reached the corridor stabbed at her heart with the force of a charging bull.
Isaac, the guard that had been stationed outside of Elsa's bedroom that night with Faust, was dead. There was no blood. Someone surprised him and knocked him over the head hard enough to kill.
A horrible dread filled Anna's soul like a grave. She ran to Elsa's door with tears falling so fast it was a miracle she could even see where she was going. She went to the door handle and tugged desperately. It was locked from the inside.
No... No, no, no! NO! "Elsa!" Anna cried, her entire fist pounding on the door almost as if she were the one who was trapped. Her fist began to bruise as the beating of the door intensified. The guard, Carlisle, came up behind her, picking her up to clear the door. "ELSA!" Her cries turned into horrible screams as she fought against his arms.
Kristoff had been trying to find Anna all morning since the alarm, but he finally found her at the right moment. As he turned the corner, he ran toward the two struggling people, took his exceedingly distressed wife from the guards arms, and held onto her tightly. With the exchange, Anna's screams turned into heart-shattering sobs as she gripped her husband as tightly as she could.
With three heavy shoves, the door to Elsa's bedroom crashed open. Breaking free of Kristoff's arms, Anna bolted for the door. The room was completely glazed over with ice. It was so cold, her tears froze to her cheeks. Stepping through the splintered door, she found her sister lying in a sad heap to the side of the door. She was still in her nightgown, and her loose, white-blond hair laid over her face and splayed out over the floor.
"Elsa..." Anna fell to her knees and crawled disbelievingly toward her best friend and sister. Shock had set in to Anna's bones, so all she could do once she reached Elsa was clear the hair from her face and rest her head on the queen's chest. Her head bounced right back up though when she heard a steady, if quiet, heart beat from within. Hopes rose, though she knew it could have easily been a trick played on her ears, and Anna knelt by her sister's head, lifting it onto her lap. Combing through her hair, she whispered, "Elsa?"
Kristoff and Carlisle entered the room, but stood off at a distance to give Anna space.
"Come on, Elsa... I know you're in there..." Anna's eyes began to produce tears again. "Please, Elsa..." Her voice cracked as she caressed her sister's cool cheek. "Do you want to build a snowman?"
Elsa's eyelids twitched infinitesimally, but it was enough. The princess's heart leapt and she looked to the two men by the door. "She's alive! Help me get her to her bed!"
Kristoff looked hesitantly toward the bed. "Um..." It was solid ice. "Perhaps, we could move her to a... more comfortable place?"
"Oh." Anna saw the bed too and glanced back down at Elsa. Even unconscious, the woman looked troubled. "There's a guest room downstairs on the next floor... Can you get her there?"
"I'll get her there, my lady." Carlisle approached Elsa and Anna and carefully took the queen up in his arms and left the room, followed immediately by Anna who was followed immediately by Kristoff.
They had almost reached the staircase when a frenzied pair of footsteps ran up them. When the owner appeared at the top, Anna was surprised to see that it was Prince Alexander of Denmark. She hadn't really talked to Elsa about how their little date went, but she knew they were gone for hours, Britta had bolted, and Elsa didn't hate him anymore.
The prince saw Elsa unconscious in the guard's arms and his worried face fell into of that a dazed shock. "Oh gods..." he whispered and turned to Anna. "Please tell me she's not..." His face was a pallid green color like he was going to be sick.
"She's alive," Carlisle said, "But her bedroom is frozen solid. We're taking her to the guest room right downstairs."
Relief flooded into Alexander's face and stance like high tide. "Thank the gods..." He moved quickly to the side and followed the party back downstairs and to the guest room where Carlisle rested Elsa on the bed.
As her head hit the pillow, Elsa let out a low moan that sounded as if she were in pain. Anna rushed to her side and held her hand tightly. "Elsa, it's ok. I'm here."
The queen's eyes flickered open slowly and gradually, until they gazed tiredly at the princess. "Anna?" she whispered.
Anna couldn't keep the smile of complete happiness from forming. "Yes, Elsa, I'm here."
"Faust... Is he dead?" Elsa asked, her voice quickly gaining strength as memory of that night filled her with an icy stabbing of anger.
Not knowing how the guard had reached his demise, Anna nodded her head sadly. She had though that this would upset Elsa. "Yes."
"Good."
Anna's head jerked back, startled by the cruelty in the queen's single syllable. "What do you mean, 'good'?" she asked.
Alex was just noticing that Elsa was awake. Carlisle and Kristoff had left, but he had stayed with Anna, even if he was just hovering in the corner.
"I mean that he was a traitor and tried to kill me." Elsa replied. Her eyes were dark and distant. It took Anna a few moments, but she finally put together a pretty good idea of how Faust ended up pancaked.
She shook away the deeply disturbing thought and asked the next thing that was on her mind. Since Elsa's alive and if her guess of what happened was true (which it was; Anna's a smart girl)... "How did you end up unconscious? I..." Anna took a deep breath. "When you didn't open the door, I... I thought you were dead."
Elsa didn't even contemplate telling the truth. "Must've been shock, I guess." She removed her hand from Anna's and pushed herself up. Anna tried to stop her, but she gently brushed away her arms. "I'm getting up, Anna."
Anna backed away. For the five minutes or so Elsa had been awake, she already seemed like a whole different person.
As she got up, Elsa noticed the prince standing quietly in the corner of the room. She curtsied sarcastically in her nightgown. "Enjoying yourself, your highness?"
Anna wasn't the only unpleasantly surprised person in that room anymore. "No, your majesty" he replied, trying to talk past her sarcasm. "I'm quite concerned. Is this an appropriate time to ask if you are alright?"
Elsa rolled her eyes. "Yes. And yes, I'm fine." She turned back to her sister. "I'm going to my room to get dressed. That man we have in the dungeons: when is his trial? It's meant to be today isn't it?"
"Yes..." Anna was watching her sister carefully and honestly was a little scared. "Elsa, I really don't think it's a good idea..."
Before Anna could finish her though, Elsa was out of the room with determined flourish. She turned to look back at the prince who appeared about as dumbfounded as she felt. Their eyes met, each filled with a mutual concern for the queen as they wondered, 'Who's that woman and what happened to Elsa?'
ooo
It took Elsa all of about a half hour to dress. She hadn't made a dress using her powers since that lonely night on the North Mountain two years ago, but she did then. Was it out of ease or something more sinister?
The news of the third (or, as far as most of the people in the castle were concerned, second) assassination attempt had already passed on to about 99% of the staff. Some people were quite certain the queen was dead, others thought she had disappeared... So as she strode through the castle with her head held high, never looking anywhere other than forward and up, most everyone stopped and stared at her in awe and shock.
As Elsa made her way toward the dungeons, she passed Jenny who was dusting the portrait of the former king and queen. Seeing the queen out of the corner of her eye, Jenny dropped the feather duster and rushed after her. "Your majesty!" she called, but Elsa had already turned a corner and was gone.
The guards that stood in front of the dungeon were less privvy to what had gone on the night before. They had been holding their position since midnight, so seeing the queen walking toward them was less of a shock and more of a "I wonder what she's doing down here."
They stood at attention at the queen's approach. "Your majesty," the guard on the left said.
"Let me in." the queen ordered, looking at the guard straight in the eye.
Somewhat confused by the abnormal behavior of the normally timid queen, the guard replied, "Of course." He pulled the keys from his belt and turned to unlock the door. "Are you aware of Isaac's and Faust's whereabouts? They haven't checked in-"
"They're dead."
The door creaked open and the guard spun around. "What?!" He looked devastated, but the queen remained unmoved.
"Faust killed Isaac shortly before attempting to kill me" Elsa explained coolly, tossing her blonde braid behind her shoulder. "I'm here to speak with the assassin we have in custody. Sort out the confounded mess that a certain group of armed and trained men have failed to prevent."
Her words cut the guard deeply, and garnered the surprised attention of the other guard who had been watching them with a distant and impassive stare. The man wanted to say something, but the queen's eyes warned him no. If Faust tried to kill her, she's alive, and he's dead… The fact that none of the guards knew what happened soon enough to let the dungeon guards know led to one possible answer to the puzzle. The queen killed Faust while defending herself, and was clearly in a foul mood about it… but who could blame her?
"Yes, your majesty" he mumbled and swung open the door to the dungeon.
The guard that stood in front of the prisoner's cell had overheard the entire conversation thanks to a barred window in the door to the dungeons, so it only took a dangerous glare from Elsa for him to open the door to the assassin's cell.
The man who had attempted to kill Elsa the first time still sat in the corner where he had been the previous day when Anna came to visit. Then, he hadn't been much more than amused. However, when the queen herself entered the small and empty room with anger burning in her eyes like a volcanic eruption, he couldn't help but laugh. "I suppose you met Charlotte then" he chuckled, his bright, blue eyes flashing in the sparse light of the cell.
With a brandished arm and heavy clinking of chains, the assassin was off the floor and his back slammed against the wall. Without touching him, Elsa held the man immobile as she approached him furiously. "Tell me what she did to to me, you low life son of a bitch." Her voice was low and almost growled.
The man shook his head slowly as he stared right into her death glare and chuckled. "She freed you, of course."
"Freed me from what?" she demanded. Her fists clenched tightly and the man stirred a little with discomfort, but otherwise he showed no change in demeanor.
"Fear" he replied, a knowing smirk lifting his lips.
Elsa's eyes narrowed as she threw him back to the floor. His body hit the stone with a heavy thud. "That's not all she did!"
With a quiet hmph, the man lifted himself off of the floor and sat back in his corner. "'Course not. All magic has its side effects." He paused to brush some dirt off of his pants. "She may also have removed every ounce of love you've ever felt." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "No big deal."
An icicle with the size and severity of a dagger formed in the queen's hand. "But what about Anna?"
Eyeing the ice dagger warily, he added, "Yeah, well, magic has its limitations too. Doesn't work too well on family members."
Outside of the cell, the guard that had been standing outside of the cell and the guard Elsa had talked to outside stood watching the exchange in horror.
The icicle shattered against the stone just to the right of the assassin's head.
"I sure hope your deal with devil goes poorly for you" Elsa snapped, before turning around to face the eavesdroppers. "I'm done here. Trial over. I want him dead."