A/N:

Just a casual reminder that this is an AU-fic and is in no way an accurate historical representation for this time period.

The large paws of Elsa's ice snow leopard dug into the ground, crumbling dried shrubbery as the beast bounded through the forest. The rich aromatic scent from the fir trees was heavy in the air as Elsa cautiously approached the fire; the heat releasing the essential oils within needle-like leaves. With the dried underbrush and the oil rich trees, the fire had ample fuel to burn for extended periods.

The air was growing increasingly warmer, the heat making it harder to breathe. A trail of frost was left in the wake of her snow leopard's steps, the ice spiralling across the ground, leaving a layer of pale white frost that melted from the heat emanating from the earth. The moisture would help delay the flames just a little, hopefully enough while she dealt with the source.

Her snow leopard whined and Elsa realised with a start that the beast too was steadily melting. Its large paws were misshapen, resembling stumps of irregularly melted snow and ice. Even the rest of its muscular body was glistening, droplets of water rolling down its form to splatter with a hiss on the hot earth.

"I'm sorry little one… Just a little closer…" Elsa murmured apologetically to the creature.

With a final burst of speed, it brought Elsa as close to the cackling flames as it could before collapsing into a pile of rapidly melting snow that was greedily lapped up by the heated ground.

Elsa landed in a crouch, her armour searing against her skin. She surveyed the clearing; fir trees toppled atop each other like blacken matchsticks while long tendrils of flame devoured the surrounding foliage. The fire was clearly intentional. Large, unmarked wooden barrels charred from the viciously licking flames were lined around the clearing. A few barrels had been toppled, its contents spewed across the dirt in streaks of black ooze that ignited readily.

Elsa eyes watered and her nostrils stung as she was assaulted by the stench of sulphur. Her mind spun as she put the pieces of the puzzle together. Weaselton warships were probably carrying barrels of oil, resin and animal fat. They had one ship run aground into the rocks, forming a bridge of sorts for barrels of the flammable concoction and potentially troops to be unloaded onto land. Then this little trap had been set for her. The Duke of Weaselton was not capable of such meticulous and twisted strategy which could only mean Hans had been responsible and Elsa had walked straight into his trap.

Like a chess game, Elsa's king piece had been checked but the game was far from over. Elsa snorted in amusement. There was no point in fighting back. Her defeat here was imminent, written in stone. Hans's had accurately predicted her moves but she still had one last trump card left up her sleeve. She could only hope it wouldn't be too late then.

The heat from the flames was smouldering, dense smoke choking her. Her armour and chainmail scorching her skin beneath the thin layer of cotton and leather. She was sweating profusely beneath her protective gear, yet not a single bead of sweat rolled down her brows. The temperature from the flames was so high that it evaporated any molecule of moisture in an instant. Her brain felt like it was sizzling in her skull. She wondered vaguely if this was what it felt like in an oven; her delirious mind drawing parallels with a ball of dough as it bakes.

Her lips pursed in determination, Elsa began channelling her powers, letting it flow unchecked through her body, building up a pressure within her then releasing it all at once in a burst of white.

Fallilng to her knees in exhaustion, Elsa collapsed onto the hot ground on her side. The cold had never bothered her and now neither did the heat. Before she succumbed to the comforting darkness as she passed out, Elsa saw the first sprinkle of snow shimmering as it fell from the sky.

One by one, the incendiary barrels exploded in forceful blasts of hot pitch and oil, ignited by stray, glowing embers and transforming into tongues of red-hot blazing flames. Elsa's vision went black as she slipped into unconsciousness.

xxx

"What's that?"

There were growing murmurs of dissent as the soldiers at the top of Arendelle's battlements pointed into the distance.

"Anna!" Kristoff hurried to the princess's side at the top of the southern watch tower.

"I see it." Anna squinted at the large snowflake that hung horizontally in the sky, revolving slowly as tendrils of fire tried desperately to reach towards it.

The ethereal snowflake spun faster and faster, turning into a whirling arc of bluish light before coalescing into itself, leaving streaks of white in the sky as it drew into a pulsating sphere that burned brighter than the sun. The unnatural orb exploded with a force so great that it was visible as it spanned outwards in a growing radius, trees rustling wildly as they were caught in the blast wave.

"Get down!" Someone shouted in warning.

Kristoff yanked Anna down, using the parapet as a shield as the blast wave hit the castle's battlements with a resounding thud, loosening stone fragments in the wall and sending them bouncing across the stone floor.

Around her, the men too had taken refuge from the aftermath and it was several long minutes before anyone dared to peek over the protective parapet and ascertained that it was safe.

It was a good thing that they had retreated behind the castle walls. The frozen fjord had cracked from the blast, large chunks of ice splitting apart, the bodies of the dead and wounded alike slipping to their watery graves. A wave of silence spread over the battlements as the men honoured their fallen comrades, watching as the tiny specks of bodies littered across the ice disappeared forever into the fjord. There were loud cracks in the distance of snapping wood as the Weaselton warships, thoroughly wrecked and freed from the icy grasp of the once frozen fjord, sank. Within moments, all that was left of the battle on the frozen fjord were blocks of ice floating on the dark waters.

A sprinkle of snow fell from the sky, pale, white powder fluttering as they made their descent. Anna rose to her feet, gasping in surprise as her eyes raked back towards the forest. The fir trees were capped with snow, the fire that was burning in the distance all but a smouldering mess of blackened trees and soot. There was snow everywhere, a thick layer of the powdery white particles coating everything in sight even as more fell from the sky.

"Queen Elsa!" The men cheered loudly, their thunderous cries echoing over the snowy plains as they celebrated their small victory. It hadn't been too hard to figure out that Elsa was responsible for putting out the fire. They had seen her powers at work often enough.

Anna allowed the men to bask in joy for a brief moment before addressing them. "Hold your positions, gentlemen. Until our Queen returns, we will not rest."

"Hurry home, Elsa." Anna stared wistfully at the dirt track leading from the forest. "Please hurry…"

xxx

The rising sun casted a warm orange hue over the eastern wall as it began its daily ascent, its rays filtering weakly through the thick clouds that hung over Arendelle, reflecting off the pure white snow that blanketed the kingdom as more fell from the sky.

"Rider!" The far eyes, a scrawny soldier perched in the southern watch tower called out, alerting the guards situated at the barbican.

Anna hurried up the stone steps to the top of the battlements, leaning out through the crenels to peer into the tree line of the forest. True enough, a figure on horseback trotted along, like a shadow emerging from the darkness of the forest. Anna waited with bated breath as the rider approached the barbican, the archers assigned to the battlements readying their bows in case the rider was hostile.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The soldier manning the gate demanded.

The rider continued his approach, his charcoal black destrier trudging knee deep in snow, leaving gorges in its wake. His armour was that of a knight, the metal a matte black that blended well into the shadows.

The archers on the wall notched their bows, drawing back on the bowstrings, ready to let loose a deadly wave of iron tipped missiles.

Anna made her way to the barbican for a closer look.

"Wait!" She held up an arm and the archers lowered their bows a fraction of an inch.

Anna easily recognised the blue and white plume that bobbed on the knight's half-helm as Elsa's but she couldn't be entirely sure without catching a glimpse of the knight's face, despite the Arendelle crest emblazoned in gold on the breastplate and the colour of the armour. Besides, Elsa had ridden into the forest on one of her creations. Where then had this stallion come from?

The destrier stopped as it neared the gate, its rider sitting motionless, gloved hands still curled around the reins. Before anyone on the wall could react, the rider slipped sideways off the saddle and collapsed noisily onto the cobblestone ground, his helm clattering noisily as it rolled off.

The lifeless eyes of the Duke of Weselton stared unseeingly into the sky. The sun broke across the treetops, weak rays of blood orange casting a warm glow over the Duke's wispy white hair as his glasses, skewed from the fall slid off his face to shatter against the ground.

Anna glanced to Kristoff in disbelief, wordlessly seeking clarification that what she had seen wasn't a figment of her imagination. Kristoff stared back at her grimly, confirming her suspicions. Without another word, the Field Marshal turned away to issue orders.

The portcullis was raised partially after confirmation from the watch tower that there were no enemy forces lurking within the shadows of the forest. Four soldiers pulling a cart hurriedly made their way through the narrow side gate under the watchful eyes of the archers on the battlements. The Duke's limp body, clad in Elsa's armour was retrieved, placed onto the cart and wheeled into the castle courtyard.

Anna watched intently as the Duke was stripped of the poorly fitting armour, the metal pieces reassembled on a bench. There was no doubt about it, the armour belonged to Elsa and the Duke with his smaller frame had literally been stuffed into the protective equipment; balls of hay filling up the empty spaces to create a better fit, bones broken as the armour was arranged into a believable pose on horseback. It was horrendous and the castle bred Anna would have found herself throwing up the contents in her stomach but she had seen far too much death and mutilation that morning to be affected.

"Grand Marshal!"

The used of her new title had sounded so foreign that Anna almost did not realised it was directed at her. She had always associated the title with Elsa, what with how the position was created for the blonde in the first place. Anna tore her eyes away from the Duke's prone body still in his official drab, pushing away thoughts of how long he had been dead.

One of the soldiers that had retrieved the Duke's body held out a folded piece of parchment.

"We found this in his hand, Grand Marshal."

Anna took the proffered item and carefully unfolded it. Her brows furrowed as she skimmed across the words then gritting her teeth as she read it over a second time. Her eyes hardened in steely determination and she crumpled the note in her fist as she marched towards the gates, brusquely brushing past a concerned Kristoff.

"Where are you going?" Kristoff asked, falling in step with Anna.

Anna simply tossed the crumpled parchment at the blond in response before picking up her pace. Kristoff smoothened out the creases as he tailed the silent redhead, his curiosity piqued.

His brown eyes flew across the words written in neat cursive script, a scowl quickly forming on his face as he read. "My dearest Princess Anna. I have your beloved Queen. If you wish to see her, my steed will take you. I'm sure you'd have figured out by now about what I'd do to those whom I no longer have any use for. Come alone. Don't keep us waiting." The note wasn't signed but Anna clearly knew who it was from.

"You can't go. It's a trap." Kristoff hissed as Anna waved to a guard to raise the portcullis.

"I can't not go. He has Elsa!" Anna snapped.

"I'm coming with you."

"Which part of come alone do you not understand?"

"You are the last Arendelle! I hate to say this, but Elsa would want you to stay."

"I know she would." Anna grimaced. "But I have every intention of coming back alive and with Elsa. I have faith in her."

"What even makes you so sure that she's still… alive?" Kristoff asked quietly, the thought of Elsa dead paining him.

Anna held out an open palm, catching a few snowflakes on her leather glove. "She is. If she isn't… the snowstorm would have stopped."

Leaving a frustrated Kristoff in her wake, Anna slipped through the side gate and clambered onto the waiting destrier. With a nudge, the stallion began retracing its steps, clopping through the snow covered ground and making its way towards the forest.

"Hang on, Elsa." Anna murmured. She knew what she had to do. There was no other alternative.

xxx

Elsa's head lolled from side to side, occasionally bouncing against the wooden boards of the wagon she was laid out on. Her body felt lighter or maybe she was just light headed from inhaling so much smoke. She pried one eye open with difficulty, a swirling haze dampening her attempts at cognitive function, slowing her thoughts into incoherent slurs. She vaguely registered towering trees moving past her motionless form, silent giants of nature watching over all that happened in the forest.

The acrid stench of burning wood, oil and sulphur no longer stung her nostrils. The air was clean, crisp and fresh like after a fresh snowfall. The sky had visibly lightened, rays of pale sunlight filtering through gaps in the overhead canopy and bouncing off falling snow. Snow. That was a good sign. A light layer of snow blanketed her body, a refreshing chill against her feverish skin. Someone had removed her plate armour and chainmail, leaving her dressed in her thin cotton shirt and pants, her feet bare. Not that it mattered. The cold never bothered her anyway.

Elsa tried to move and found her body unresponsive and sluggish. Relaxing back onto the uncomfortable wooden boards, she methodically began the arduous task of bringing some semblance of sensation to her limbs; starting with wiggling her toes, sending pins and needles spiking along her nerves. Shifting her focus to her hands, she soon realised that they were encased in hollow iron stumps, her fingers forced into loose fists. Some part of her barely functioning mind noted the cool metal strips around her ankles.

The rear wheel of the wagon caught against something beneath the thick layer of snow coating the ground, jostling Elsa and she struck the side of her head against the wagon's walls. Darkness swarmed her vision again and Elsa, too exhausted to fight it, succumbed into its welcoming arms.

At least Arendelle was saved from a blazing end.

xxx

Elsa jolted awake again, the sound of raised voices rousing her from the depths of unconsciousness. She peered blearily through barely opened eyes, unwilling to let her captors know that she was conscious. The lush greenery that she had seen earlier was still towering overhead, but there was something different from before. The air was no longer as refreshing and instead hung heavy with smoke from burning wood and oil that reminded her of the fire from what seemed like hours ago. It was considerably warmer too, so much warmer that the snow that covered everything had partially melted into a dirty slush mixed with dirt.

The wagon sloshed past a low wall built from stacked stones held together with mortar, most likely to keep out wild animals than for actual protection against a siege. The thatched roofs of several squat buildings crossed her limited field of vision before a group of soldiers dressed in the indigo and magenta tunics over chainmail block her line of sight. She knew without a doubt that she was currently in Arendelle's abandoned southern outpost.

Elsa would have smirked in triumph had her circumstances been different. As she had predicted, the Southern Isles troops would take advantage of the lack of Arendelle forces patrolling the forest. Her orders for her scouts to abandon their base camp several miles outside of the city outskirts had seemed like a poorly calculated move, considering that it meant enemy forces now had a fully operative base all set up for them to take over. Hans may have been a brilliant strategist with his cunning and manipulative ways, but he had played straight into Elsa's hand this time. She had drawn the enemy from their hidden locations within the forest to a site that she knew as well as the back of her hand, eliminating the need for her troops to comb through the forest.

All that was left to do was to wait for the opportune moment to strike. She will keep Hans distracted, buying time for Anna to bring the cavalry and swarm the outpost. They had the advantage of home ground after all; her men knew the forest well.

The wagon stopped and Hans's face loomed into Elsa's view, an arrogant smirk on his features as he stared down. Elsa kept her expression neutral, fighting against showing any form of hostility, a feat that was surprisingly difficult despite the sluggishness of her body.

"I see you are awake, Queen Elsa." Hans sneered. "A very good thing too. I've got a little surprise planned for you."

He moved away from the wagon and began shouting out orders. "Take her to the pit. Our guest is awake and ready to play."

There were a few chuckles as the wagon began moving again.

Another few minutes of being jostled about, the wagon stopped and a pair of large hands grabbed Elsa roughly beneath her arms. She caught a glimpse of another soldier unfastening the thick iron chains attached to her shackles from a ring embedded into the side of the wagon before she was unceremoniously slung over a broad shoulder with a perfect view of the man's back.

It was getting a lot warmer; so much so that she could feel the blistering heat hitting her thinly dressed body in waves even in her disoriented state. She heard the crunch of boots against gravel, quickly joined by another two sets of boots that she could see from her peripheral vision. Then a pair of gloved hands grasped the chains linked to her covered hands and she was yanked upwards, the shackles around her wrists biting painfully into her skin as her body was held aloft by the muscles in her arms. Another hard tug and her legs were parted, the shackles around her ankles pulled taut. She was suspended in the air, limbs splayed out in a cross, flanked by a pair of iron pillars to which her chains were attached to.

Hans surveyed his handiwork, a smug smile on his features, his green eyes glinting with malice. With a curt nod, a pair of soldiers began shovelling a mixture of stones and broken dried wood into a growing pile beneath Elsa's limp body, spanning out in a circle that encompassed the iron pillars hammered into the earth. Another pair of soldiers emerged from a blacksmith shed carrying shovels of glowing red-hot coal lumps that they added to the pile, creating a large, open air forge fire. Larger chunks of stone had been arranged around the perimeter, holding in heat.

The dried wood burned quickly, creating short bursts of flames when combined with the glowing coals to heat up the stones, creating a wide pile of lumps that pulsated with varying colours of red and orange. Within less than an hour, the iron pillars had heated up considerably, conducting heat through the chains and into the shackles around Elsa's limbs.

Elsa was fully conscious now, her concentration fixated solely on the iron bands around her ankles and the stumps around her hands. She repeatedly created layers upon layers of frost over the metal, chilling it just enough to make the radiating heat bearable. It hurts, so much more than any physical infliction that she had ever endured. But she refused to give Hans the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain. She took some joy at seeing the look of frustration on Hans's face at her lack of reaction.

"You really are an ice queen, aren't you? And I'm not talking about your powers either. Your heart is cold as ice. But fret not. I'm sure we can thaw you." Hans grinned manically, hopping off from the back of the wagon that he had been sitting on while he watched.

Elsa's eyes never strayed from Hans as he approached, mocking him with her silence.

"You may be wondering why I'm keeping you alive." Hans casually brushed at some imaginary dirt on his polished armour. "You see, as frustrating as it is for me to admit, I still have need for you. Besides, it is very entertaining to watch you in your fruitless struggles. The undefeated Elsa Frost, strung up like a roasting pig over an open fire. Ahh… What I'd give for the world to see this. But I digress. Your wife is currently on her way." Hans divulged with a sinister smile. "Now, don't you worry. I am a generous man. I'll give you both a moment together. Only a moment, don't get greedy now." He chastised before lowering his voice. "Then I will ravage her before your very eyes. And when I'm done with her, I'll let my men have their turn, while I slit your throat and your darling Anna watches you bleed to death as she is pumped full of my men's seed."

Hans threw back his head in malevolent laughter as the look of absolute fury that Elsa shot him. "I've struck a nerve, have I?" He taunted with glee. "I'd have treated her well, you know." Hans looked almost forlorn. "But you just had to get in my way. Regardless, this is so much more exhilarating. I didn't get to kill the former King and Queen with my own hands. But I'm sure taking your life will more than make up for it." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "But before that, let's hear you scream." He whispered, eyes glinting madly.

A soldier brought forward a barrel, sloshing black ooze as the lid was pried opened. Hans took a coiled whip of boiled leather from the soldier's hands, his fingers curling around the wooden handle to which one end of the whip was tightly wrapped around. Unfurling the whip, he swung it through the air menacingly, the leather cracking as it straightened. Making sure Elsa's eyes were fixated on him, Hans dipped half of the trailing whip into the barrel of resin, oil and animal fat, coating it and letting the excess drip off into small puddles. His lips curled into a gleeful smirk as he held the whip at arms-length, carefully touching the tip to a flaming torch stabbed into the ground. The sludge ignited in a flare, engulfing half of the whip in hungry flames. Hans held it away from his body as he moved around the large forge pit.

"Scream for me." He murmured more to himself as he sent the flaming whip arcing into Elsa's back with a flick of his wrist, his face twisted into a maniacal grin.

The pain was excruciating. Elsa squeezed her eyelids shut; biting back the cries in her throat as the burning whip left streaks of blistering, angry welts across her back. Her cotton shirt was ripped, frayed edges blackened and bits of the fabric crumbling off in glowing embers. Elsa gritted her teeth, fighting to remain conscious, black spots already appearing in her vision as the burning whip lashed against her back again and again, tearing apart skin and searing her with its flames.

Conceal. Don't feel.

The whip whistled through the air, slapping against her back in a sickening squelch that sent droplets of blood flying through the air as the burning leather was pulled away. In a way, the heat from the fire helped to cauterise her wounds, preventing her from bleeding out too quickly and further prolonging the agonising pain.

Multitasking was becoming far too difficult; her concentration solely focused on remaining silent. Her hands and ankles were blistering from the heated restraints, her arms feeling as if they were about to be ripped from their sockets as her body jerked from the whiplash. But Elsa resolutely refused to vocalise her pain. She would rather die without making another sound.

Hans grunted in annoyance behind her and the whip was tossed to the ground where the flames died out. Without another word, the auburn haired prince stalked away in irritation.

"More coal!" Hans barked at a passing soldier. He would get a reaction out of Elsa eventually.

A/N:

Sorry. =/