(Salathi = Lord Redmoon)

(old)Author's Note: First things first I just wanna say… WOW ok I thought you guys would like this story but I didn't know you would like it this much! Almost 80 follows for just the first chapter? Gesh I am honored. Next up, below you will find some more about the world of The Winter's Queen explained. Some more fae facts, and history for one of the other Queens who will be introduced in this chapter.

Merida's History: Merida is the Queen of the Autumn Court and sworn enemy of Queen Elsa. Many years ago Queen Merida was married, though not to her true love, she still loved the man dearly. It was his death that sparked a war between the Sisters about who would be Queen of all fae. For reasons I will reveal later Merida blames Elsa for his death. Since his death Merida has sworn against all men and has taken no lovers of any kind.

Fae Fun Facts: Skin colors! Alright so for the fun of it I decided to give you guys a little bit of info on how the fae look in my world. There are the fae of noble family who have human like appearance (like the four Queens) this fae though in body structure are similar are all very different. Fae from the Winter Court all possess ice blue skin of varying shades. Those of the Autumn Court rang from amber to orange, the Summer Court is shades of green and the Spring Court range from pink to pure white. This skin color distinction didn't exist before the four Kingdoms came into place but once the four Queens sat upon their thrones their followers slowly changed (the winter fae becoming immune to cold for example) to better personify the season from which their kingdom drew its power.

Cover Art: I had a lot of trouble picking out a good piece for this story but I settled on a beautiful and very detailed piece by artgerm on DeviantArt.

My Awesome beta reader: Heroism as he is known on fanficiton has put forth is almighty skill to make sure that this piece of work is free of grammatical errors. He has also had many helpful pieces of advice to improve my writing in general.

Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen or its characters. Bam I said it now I'm safe... right? Lol

The Winter's Queen

Chapter 2

-^-v-^-(Elsa)-^-v-^-

"Elsa!" I heard her call a second time as I raced through the gardens, chanting—Conceal don't feel—under my breath. My carefully constructed world was crumbling. I had built up a strong friendship with Anna and now that was in danger of being destroyed.

The sorrow building in my heart from the look of disgust on her face and the fear of losing our bond was breaking down every bit of control I had over my magic. I had to get away quickly before I brought suffering to this nation that had harbored me for so long. So I ran; I ran for all I was worth straight through the courtyard and out the front gates where I immediately leapt off the bridge and onto the water below, it freezing as my feet made contact. Then I ran as hard and fast as I could for the open sea, using every bit of focus I had to keep my powers in a tight ball around me.

I ran all night with a small blizzard howling around me, the rhythmic thudding of my feet making a symphony of sound which I focused on to the exclusion of all else. I didn't let myself think about where I was going; I didn't think about what I was running from, but most of all I didn't let my mind wander to the image of Anna's face right before I left.

When my legs finally gave out underneath me and I couldn't will them to pick me back up, I formed a bubble of ice around myself and laid there. I let the darkness around me fill my thoughts, but no matter how hard I tried, without the physical exertion to distract me, my thoughts went to one place and one place only.

Finally my mental torment became too much and I was unable to keep it locked inside any longer. A scream tore itself from my throat, reverberating off the domed ice around me. It became a jumbled discordant noise that hurt my ears, but I didn't care. I screamed, I sobbed. I beat the floor with my fists until they were bloody; I pulled my hair and scratched my body in my anguish, for I was convinced now more than ever that Anna would never be mine. I knew my powers were wild, unchecked—possibly reaching all the way back to Arendelle itself—and most terrifying and painful of all, I feared that Anna would never wish me to return; that she would be so disgusted with my feelings and knowing what they truly were that she would be unable to look at me, to be around me anymore. Sure, she had pursued me but that was in the spur of the moment. Now with my absence she would have time to calm down, time to think and really work out what I had said. I hardly noticed the movement of the sun and moon as I lost myself in my sorrow.

-^-v-^-(Anna)-^-v-^-

"Tell me about The Winter Queen." I asked, bouncing up and down in my chair. I was seven and had just finished my English lesson from my caretaker, teacher and guard Elsa. But in my eyes she was just like an older sister. She had always been there from my very first memory. She was at my side night and day; serving me, protecting me, playing with me and teaching me everything I knew.

I didn't notice then but I definitely noticed now as the memory flowed through my dreams. There had been a dreadful look of pain and something else I couldn't make out on her face when I'd given her my request. But she quickly hid it away and pulled up a chair across from me at my desk.

"What do you want to know, Snowflake?" she asked with a big smile on her face.

"Well.. what does she look like? Is she beautiful?" I asked even more excitedly, now that I was sure Elsa would tell me about her.

"Well, many consider her beautiful, yes." She told me, a smirk on her lips.

"Is she even beautifuller than you?" I asked and Elsa laughed.

"Not beautifuller; more beautiful and.. I don't know, perhaps if you meet her one day then you can tell me which of us is prettier."

"But what does she look like?" I insisted wanting more details.

"Hm... Her appearance changed when she took the Winter Throne, and very few remember what she looked like before then. But now her eyes are a deep glacier blue and some say that her very gaze can freeze you in place. Her lips are a color of purple close to the grapes you sometimes eat. Her hair is the same color as polished silver and her skin is the same shade as all winter fae; a very light ice blue."

"But aren't you a winter fae?" I asked in confusion as she finished her description. "You're not blue!" I said loudly and glared at her, thinking that she'd been lying to me my whole life.

"But I am, dear one, I promise. You know I have magic. I have made myself look human so that I fit in," she told me and I continued to glare at her as a small pout formed on my lips.

"I want to see you blue!" I commanded and she sighed heavily, but smiled nonetheless. Suddenly her skin shimmered and went from a gleaming pale white to the color of ice, though it didn't appear at all crystal-like; it looked like normal skin, just a different color.

"Pretty…" I said, leaning over my desk to take her hand in my much smaller one. I examined her skin more closely.

"You like it?" she asked. Again, as that seven year old child I hadn't noticed the tremor in her voice, nor the pleading yearn for acceptance in her eyes as she watched me. But I did now.

"I love it!" I said in a gleeful shout. "I want you blue all the time!" Elsa broke into a big smile at this and leaned forward to kiss my forehead.

"I will be blue for you whenever it is just the two of us. But when others are around, I will have to be normal, ok?" I pouted for a moment so she kissed each of my cheeks and tickled my ribs a little until I giggled. I gave in.

"Ok, ok!" I said and smiled happily up at her, content in the knowledge that Elsa would always be there, and that I would get to see her blue all the time.

I gasped loudly, my heart thudding in my chest as I woke up. Normally that dream wouldn't be a nightmare; it was usually a very nice and comforting one. However, this time it wasn't so pleasant at all. It was a nightmare because Elsa—my steady, consistent, always there Elsa—has been missing for three days.

I turned my head slowly to gaze at my bedside table where the snowflake necklace Elsa had gifted to me so long ago I couldn't remember had lain on a satin pillow. A few hours after I watched Elsa run through the open sea, away from Arendelle, I was struck with a grief so powerful that I had fallen to my knees and burst into sobs before I really understood what I was feeling. It was radiating from the snowflake at my neck. I could feel it almost as if waves were crashing into my chest where the charm met my skin. And for the first time since putting it on, I took the charm off. I couldn't handle the sorrow that rushed through me whenever I touched it, so I had folded it into a handkerchief and kept it in a pocket of my dress instead of around my throat. I knew, somehow, that what I felt coming from that charm was what Elsa was feeling; except she must be feeling even worse. I feared it wasn't even close to what she was feeling. I had never felt anything from the charm before—not even a single hint of her emotions until now.

I sat up and got out of bed, no longer tired, even though it was only an hour or two past midnight. I walked over to the door that would lead me to Elsa's bedroom.

Ever since Elsa had left and I felt the emotions from her snowflake, I had come to realize that it was no simple tracking charm around my neck. I mean, why would I feel her emotions if the charm was only meant to let her find me wherever I went. I had immediately gone to the library in search of a book on the fae, desperate to learn more about Elsa and the charm around my neck only to find an empty stretch of shelf where the book used to be. It was clear the books had been removed long ago because of all the dust that had settled on the shelf in their absence.

"But maybe…" I muttered to myself as I reached for the door handle, "Just maybe I can find my answers in here." The door was unlocked. It opened silently for me into a completely dark void—I quickly turned around and grabbed a lamp. Once lit, I returned to the door and walked into Elsa's room.

It had been years since I'd stepped foot in here and I hadn't realized how small it actually was; nothing much more than a closet, really. The bed took up over half the room, there was small chest at the foot of her bed and many shelves were along the walls. I immediately went to the shelves in hopes that the books from the library would be there. There were only a few children's books to be found, the ones she would read to me many times when I was younger. The rest of the shelves seemed to be filled with meaningless little trinkets.

I picked up a small blue stone that rested next to one of my favorite stories and examined it closely. It looked so familiar yet I couldn't place it in my memory. Then, suddenly, images flooded my thoughts.

I was looking down at my four-year-old self. The little me was splashing happily in a spring not far from the castle, obviously having great fun as she searched for shiny rocks under the water. She let out a loud cry of joy and ran up to me, stopping just in front. Bouncing energetically, she lifted both her hands up to me and resting in her palms was the blue stone. I noticed how even at that age I wore the snowflake charm around my neck.

"For you Elsa!" she said excitedly and I giggled softly—wait, no, it was Elsa who giggled softly I realized as I saw her hand as if it was my own reach down to pick the stone out of little Anna's hands.

"Why, thank you, Snowflake." Elsa said, holding the stone as if it was a priceless jewel. And I knew just as Elsa had herself at that moment; that it was a priceless jewel, at least to her.

"But, why give it to me? Why not keep it for your collection?" Elsa asked, kneeling down to little Anna's height to look her in the eye as she gestured past Anna. There was a small pile of rocks by the river side.

"It matches your eyes!" was Anna's simple reply, causing Elsa to giggle again, pulling her into a tight hug as she clutched the blue stone to her heart. It was a gift from Anna more valuable to her than any gem in the world.

I gasped as the images faded and my sight returned. I gazed in awe at the stone in my hands. "Had Elsa enchanted it with memories?" I thought in wonder, both at the fact that I had just experienced Elsa's memory and at the emotions I had felt—or, rather, Elsa had felt at even such a small gift as this.

I placed the stone back on the shelf and eagerly reached for another item, hoping that something similar would happen and I would get to see Elsa again.

This time the item was a small seashell necklace, and this piece I remembered right away. Elsa had fashioned this necklace out of seashells when she took me on a trip to the beach. I was 12 years old at the time. It was a beautiful thing, though I hadn't liked it very much. One day I decided to "lose" it and tell Elsa I couldn't find it. The fact that it was here in her room told me she was never fooled and I felt a small twinge of guilt at the memory of myself dropping it over the castle wall. I was about to put it back on the shelf when memories started to flow from the trinket.

I was twelve years old at the time. Obviously, I thought I was walking alone along the castle wall overlooking the harbor, but clearly Elsa had been watching from a distance as that's where I was currently watching the memory unfold. Elsa felt content and happy as she watched me. Suddenly, my other self stopped and reached into her pocket. I watched myself pull out a small object that simmered and caught the light. Other-Anna dropped it over the wall. There was a sharp pain in Elsa's chest as she realized what the item was and she quickly jumped over the wall herself, landing like a cat on the rocky shore below. Looking up to make sure I wasn't looking down to where it had fallen, Elsa made her way over the boulders until she found the shells shattered on a stone. Elsa gathered the pieces together and started to sing. It was a song I had never heard her sing before and I didn't know any of the words spoken, but I was amazed as I watched through Elsa's eyes how the shells started to reform and connect as if they had never broken in the first place. The thick thread she had used to string it all together did not fix itself, however, though she did pick it up, intending to fix it completely...

This time I was shaking when the memories ended. I was heavy with the weight of guilt on my heart and shoulders. I had tossed her gift away without any thought, other than how I could do it without her finding out. A gift she had crafted herself and I treated it like trash.

I gazed around on the shelves more carefully, this time looking for other trinkets I recognized. My eyes settled on a small wooden knight that I remembered playing with as a child. I reached for it gingerly and cradled it in my hands as I waited for the memories to take hold.

I was five years old this time—Elsa and I were acting out a story from one of my story books before bed. We acted it out, with me changing a few lines and actions to fit where my little mind was taking the story. Elsa took everything in stride, laughing where I wanted, making different voices for the different characters.

By the end, the story was a confusing jumbled mess that made no sense at all but I didn't care; I was gazing to Elsa as if she were the best thing in the whole world. And I could feel Elsa's joy to be with me, to give me what I wanted.

I ended up falling asleep on the floor and Elsa picked me up gently, as she had many times before, and carried me to bed. She tucked me in all snuggly and kissed my forehead softly before she whispered,

"Goodnight, little one. I love you." I stirred at her words and cracked my eyes to peer up sleepily. I then reached one hand up and pulled her head down to me, kissing her on the forehead like she done to me.

"I love you too Elsa. Goodnight." I said in my small, child-like voice.

The strength of the emotions that slammed through me at those words caused me to stagger back a step and drop the wooden knight out of my hands. Tears of joy—not mine, but Elsa's—were already streaming down my face.

Wiping them away furiously, I stared down at the small knight, remembering the jumble of emotions my words had caused.. and for the first time since Elsa had said it the night of the ball, I started to believe what she had said.

"She loves me…" I whispered softly to myself. The realization confused me even more. I had no idea how to feel about it. I mean, for one, Elsa practically raised me. For a long time I saw her as more my mother than the Queen; then as I grew older she had become my older sister, friend and mentor. And besides that I have never thought of a woman in any romantic away. I wanted a prince, a happy family and a fairy tale ending like in all the stories Elsa had read to me as a child.

I stormed out of her room, trying to outrun my confusing thoughts as I hurried to get dressed and head down to an early breakfast. The sun was still below the horizon.

-^-v-^-(Elsa)-^-v-^-

It has been five days. I think and the storm inside me is finally contained behind a mask of complete emotionlessness; a trick I had been forced to master while in the Winter Court, but for the past seventeen years I have used very sparingly. But I had to return to Anna, and the only way I could do that was with my powers firmly intact and my emotions firmly in hand.

"Mother…" I whispered softly as I stared up at the sky above. I hadn't spoken to my mother in over a hundred years. I knew she was dead and gone, but for a long time I still spoke to her as if she was looking down from the stars. I had always been looking for help and for guidance. If ever I needed her help and her guidance.. it was now. I had ran like a fool into the middle of the ocean without any food and I had not been able to sleep more than an hour at a time for the last couple of days. I was spent and could barely find the energy to so much as stand anymore.

"I know I haven't spoken to you in a while—and I'm sorry." I continued to speak as firmly as I could, not letting my voice stutter or crack with emotion or exhaustion. I honestly wasn't sure switch of myself. "I need your help, mother; your strength. I now understand the struggle you went through with your own true love, and, honestly, I don't know how you did it—how you survived and still were able to show such love to my sisters and I. I need that strength now if I am to face Anna again and continue to serve her as I always have."

At the end of my words, a strong gust of wind blew across the frozen water, grabbing and pulling at my clothes as if trying to lift me to my feet. I jerked away, startled, and once again the wind came stronger than before and it nearly rolled me over. It was on the fourth gust of wind, all in the same direction, that I noticed they were pushing me in the direction of my croí fíor—of Anna—and I smiled slightly, getting to my feet and starting the slow and painful walk home. I stumbled and I fell many times, weak as I was from hunger and energy spent, but each time the wind came again to pick me up.

-^-v-^-(Merida)-^-v-^-

"I think we have found her, Your Majesty," spoke an amber skinned fae as he rushed over to me the moment I returned from my morning ride. Once he was within a few feet of me he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

"Found who, Kris? Be specific." I snapped, swinging off my horse. I was in a very foul mood this morning, for the first time in years I had not returned with a game kill for this evening's meal. I had, in fact, seen no large game at all on my entire ride. There were plenty of birds, a few small rabbits and other small creatures of the forest, but nothing worth my time.

"The Winter Queen, Your Majesty. We think we have finally found her." That roused my attention immediately and a predatory grin spread across my face at the thought of finally locating my sister, without the protection of her guards.

"Where?" I asked, walking past him towards my castle. I was already planning who and what to take on my next hunting trip.

"A small human kingdom called Arendelle, Your Majesty. We have had reports of a winter fae living in the castle but we paid it little mind. Elsa had always let her fae mingle with humans. But nearly a week ago a large surge of winter magic was felt from hundreds of miles away by many of our scouts. By all their reports, it seems the surge came from Arendelle's capital. I think the winter fae reported to be living there may, in fact, be the Queen herself."

I just nodded as he finished his report and I waved him off as a silent dismissal upon entering my throne room. There at the foot of my throne rested a large black panther currently basking in the sunlight coming through the large windows.

"Kisha, come!" I barked, causing the panther to rouse instantly and bound over to me. I tenderly scratched his jaw as he rubbed into my side. His shoulders were nearly as high as my own. His fur was a sleek tar black and his eyes a bright piecing green. "We have a big hunt ahead of us, boy." I whispered into his ear before heading to my room to pack for the journey. Kisha would follow in my shadow.

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the love you have given this idea of mine :D I am having great fun writing it and I hope you all had as much fun if not more reading.