A/N: Okay, so I know how I keep talking up how behind I am (it's just cause I'm paranoid that people will think I abandoned the story if I don't update on time!), but just so I can feel better that we're all on the same page here, I'm gonna give you the rundown: I probably won't be ready to post the next chapter by Saturday. By Sunday I probably will be, but for the rest of next week after that, all bets are completely off, because next week is band camp (which, for those of you who don't know, is the longest and most intense week of the year for a marching band member). After camp is over, I'll work on trying to get back on track and finish up this story.

*sigh* Okay, I feel better now. In the meantime, here's this chapter for you to read. And also (and I don't want to nag, so I'm only gonna say this once), don't forget to leave your feedback! It can be good or bad, I don't really care! I just like to see your reviews so I know you guys are actually out there!... Okay, now I'm done! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I guess I'll just say, 'I don't own Frozen', even though that's such an overused phrase.

Johan and Elsa were locked in a staring contest with the boy. None of them moved for several moments. The boy had not lowered his knife, but he did not seem like he could muster up the nerve to try to attack them. He seemed more inclined to run away, but he couldn't get himself to move, despite the fact that he had long since freed his pant leg from the bush.

Slowly, Johan began to inch his way forward.

"Alright, take it easy there," he said softly as the boy tried to stay away from him. "Just give me the knife, and you can come with us. We're not gonna hurt you."

The boy shook his head as he got his footing and turned around to start running into the forest. He slipped, though, when Elsa created a patch of ice under his feet. Johan wrapped one arm around the boy's waist from behind and used his free hand to wrestle the knife from the boy's grip. He slid the knife under his own belt while keeping a firm grip on the boy as he tried to run away. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and carried him back into the garden, as the boy flailed his limbs in a desperate attempt to get free.

"Put him down and turn him towards me," Elsa said.

Johan obliged and held the boy under both arms as Elsa bent down to be at eye level with him. The boy kept struggling, and Elsa put her hand on his shoulder to try to get his attention.

"Please, calm down!" she said gently. "We need to ask you a few things."

The boy stared at her for a moment, panting from his effort to escape, and he physically relaxed as he realized he couldn't get away.

Elsa took a moment to take in his appearance. He was very thin, more so than a boy that age should be. And his dirty body and ragged clothes showed that he had not been well taken care of.

"What is your name?" Elsa asked.

The boy hesitated, somewhat taken aback by the question.

"It's alright," Elsa said, trying to calm him a bit more. "I'm not asking anything else yet. I just want to know your name."

"Fredrick," the boy said.

"And are you related to a man known as Gustav Jacobsen?" Johan said, his tone not quite as gentle as Elsa's.

"Yes," Fredrick said. "Yes, he's my uncle."

"Did he send you here?" Elsa said.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To sneak into the castle through the secret passageway in the wall."

Johan furrowed his brow. He knew exactly what secret passageway Fredrick was talking about. He had discovered it as a child, and it was too small for anyone other than a child to fit through.

"How do you know about that?" he said.

"My cousin told my uncle about it," Fredrick replied.

"Your cousin?" Elsa inquired.

The boy nodded. "Noah."

Elsa glanced at Johan, who was clearly surprised, before she turned back to Fredrick.

"Is Noah helping your uncle with this attack?" she asked.

The boy hesitated. "Uh... sort of."

"What do you mean?"

He swallowed. "Well, he's not exactly helping with the actual attack, but..." He trailed off, unsure how to explain.

"Let me put it this way," Johan said. "Did Noah willingly give your uncle information?"

"Not exactly," Fredrick said. "When my older brothers, sisters, and cousins broke him out of prison, they brought him back to our house and my uncle had him tied to a chair. But then he sent the rest of us away."

"Then how do you know he got the information from Noah?" Johan said.

"Well, a little while later, my brother and I snuck downstairs to get an apple, and we could hear all the yelling from the room, so we watched through a little hole in the wall. My uncle was trying to get information about the castle security from him and he eventually gave in."

"What made him give in?" Elsa asked.

Fredrick looked into her eyes, and she could tell that what he had seen had scared him.

"Daniel had the princess at gunpoint."

Elsa and Johan both gasped and sent frightened glances at each other.

The boy sighed. "I heard Noah say, 'Don't hurt her and I'll tell you what you want to know.' Then he started telling him about ways to get into the castle."

"What exactly did he tell him about, other than the secret passageway?" Johan asked.

"I don't remember," Fredrick replied. "But that's when my brother and I realized how serious all this was."

"Are you afraid of your uncle?" Elsa said. "Are you helping him because you're afraid he'll hurt you if you don't?"

"Well, at first we were all helping him because he told us that it was our duty, our honor. But now, yes, most of us are afraid."

Elsa looked at him with pity, and then she looked up at Johan. "What are we going to do?"

Johan thought for a moment before he suddenly gasped. "The ball!" he cried. "We have to warn them!"

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Elsa exclaimed. "Bring him and come on!"

Elsa stood up and started toward the door, while Johan grabbed Fredrick under the arm and pulled him along. The queen got the guard at the door to let them in, and Johan stopped to tell him what happened.

"Alert the captain that the suspects are here," he instructed. "We found this boy hiding in the bushes and we are taking him to the king. There are others here somewhere and they have inside information about the castle, so search everywhere."

"Right away, Your Highness!" the guard said before running off.

Elsa entered the ballroom to see that nothing of importance had happened while they were gone. She saw Anna, Kristoff, Leah, and Isak standing nearby. Anna noticed Elsa enter and walked over.

"Elsa, we were wondering where you guys were. Did you sneak out?"

Elsa nodded. "Yeah, and we found out we have a problem."

Anna noticed Johan coming in behind Elsa, with Fredrick in tow. "Who's the kid?" she asked.

"We can explain. Come on!"

Anna followed them as they headed toward the throne, and the others followed suit in the suspicion that something was wrong.

"Father!" Johan cried as he approached the king.

"Johan? What's wrong?" he said.

"Elsa and I were out in the gardens when-"

"Johan!" the king interrupted. "I told you to stay in the ballroom!"

"You can yell at me later!" Johan said. "But when we were out there, we found this boy in the bushes-" He motioned toward Fredrick, who stood there cowering in fear. "-and when we tried to help him, he pulled a knife on us!"

"What!?" the king cried as he stared at the boy in horror.

"He's one of them, Father! They're here!"

"We need to alert the captain immediately!" the king instructed.

"I already sent someone," Johan replied.

"We'll find them yet! They have lost their element of surprise!"

"But Father, there's another issue," Johan said. "They have inside information about the castle and ways to get in past the guards."

The others quietly gasped when he said this, knowing what that meant.

The king scowled. "Noah," he concluded.

"It's not what you think though!" Johan said. "They had to coax the information out of him!"

"Then why did he give in?"

"Because they were threatening to hurt Julie!"

The king's expression softened as he realized how much had gone into this. Johan turned his gaze to Elsa and the others, who all glanced at each other in total silence.

Then, he heard Fredrick gasp and felt him slightly move within his grasp.

"What's wrong?" he said staring down at the boy, who clutched his hair with his free hand and stared blankly out in front of him.

Then, Elsa gasped. Anna bent over her as she dropped to her knees with her hands on her head and her eyes squeezed shut.

"Elsa?" Johan said.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd screamed at the top of their lungs. Every head in the room turned in that direction to see what was going on, until another person on the other side of the room started screaming as well.

"What's going on?" the king said, startled.

Then, suddenly, Johan felt it, along with everyone else in the room. It was like a sudden splitting headache had overcome him, only it didn't feel natural. He held his head with his hand and felt his grip on Fredrick loosen.

Elsa could barely hear the screams that echoed through the ballroom as people felt the pain. It had overcome her quickly because she had felt it before and immediately recognized the sensation. It was the sensation that she had always felt before hearing the voice. Gustav Jacobsen was trying to send them a message.

Then the voice came, and everyone could hear it.

I know many of you are frightened as I speak, as you know that I am near. But it is not my wish to spill blood tonight. I have only one goal. I now speak directly to King Magnus and his family. It would be such a pity for there to be bloodshed over the crown that you wear. When I arrive there to take what will be mine, surrender the throne to me, and I will leave everyone else untouched. Surrender the throne to me, and the lives of your citizens will be spared. If you do not, I will kill every one of you, along with anyone who tries to protect you from me. I will be there soon.

As the voice faded and everyone felt normal again, commotion arose in the crowd. Many were talking at once, a sense of panic in their voices.

"Everyone please remain calm!" King Magnus's voice rang through the hall. The chatter quieted slightly as everyone listened to him. "The guards will begin evacuating you immediately. If you would all please be patient and follow any instructions that are given to you, then we can get you all to safety as quickly as possible."

The guests began to file out as the guards directed them toward the main doors. Johan handed Fredrick to the nearest guard and walked over to where Elsa stood.

"Elsa," he said, gripping her shoulders, "you three need to get out of here!"

"What!?"

"He's not after you right now, but if you stay here he will be! You, Anna, and Kristoff need to flee to Arendelle while you still can!"

"No, I'm not leaving you here, Johan!"

The prince opened his mouth to protest, but he stopped when a peculiar smell his his nostrils. He sniffed the air as it became stronger.

"What is that smell?" he said, as he looked around to figure out where it was coming from. He followed his nose to the door behind and to the right of the throne, the same door that they had entered through earlier. The guards that were standing there had backed up from the door and drew their swords. Johan slowly inched closer to it until he could hear something burning. His eyes widened as he realized what was on the other side of that door. He turned around and sprinted back to the others.

"It gunpowder!" he yelled. "Everyone duck and cover!"

He grabbed Elsa's hand as they all ran to duck behind the pillars on the opposite side of the throne.

The explosion went off before they could reach them, though, and Johan pulled Elsa close to him and shielded her from the blast with his body. All of them were knocked off their feet, and they tried to brace themselves as they hit the floor.

All of the guests who were still in the hall screamed and started running and pushing each other out of the way to get out. Nearly every guard in the castle had come running into the ballroom.

As the rumble of the explosion dissipated and his ears started to stop ringing, Johan looked up. The wooden door was in splinters, and the two guards that were near it had started running too late and now lay unconscious on the floor.

From the wreckage, about a dozen teenagers and children came running in with crossbows and swords in some of their hands. The guards started fighting with them, and they proved themselves to be more of a challenge than the guards had first thought.

Several more of them emerged from the fleeing crowd, pushing people out of their way as they went. They engaged in the fighting and were careful to make sure none of their siblings or cousins were hurt.

Johan looked at the other royals as they all got up to start fighting. Kristoff, Anna, and Leah started punching at anyone who came at them. Elsa tried holding them off with her powers, but they were very fast, and she was being timid in fear of hurting anyone.

Johan, Isak, and King Magnus all picked up swords from guards who had been knocked out, and Johan engaged in a sword fight with a boy who seemed to be around eighteen. Looking to his side, he saw two twin girls that were about fourteen take out the guard that had been holding Fredrick and guide the boy to safety.

Elsa began to notice that the children had surrounded all of the royals around the throne, and they were doing everything they could to keep the guards from getting to them.

"Stop!" someone yelled.

Everyone froze and looked to the main doors. There stood a middle-aged man with brown hair and the stubble of a beard growing on his face. His piercing hazel eyes stared down the scene, and no one dared move. They knew that this man was Gustav Jacobsen, the man who had attacked the queen on the beach. This time, Elsa was sure of it.

"Drop you weapons," he said, glaring at the king.

King Magnus simply glared back. "What makes you think we would surrender so easily?" he sneered.

To their surprise, Gustav simply smirked and called behind him over his shoulder. "Daniel?"

At that moment, Gustav's oldest loyal child walked in, pushing a terrified girl in front of him. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, and in his free hand was his pistol, which he rested on her neck.

Johan eyes widened. "Julie."

Gustav turned back to the royals, who stared at the princess with panic in their eyes.

"Now drop your weapons and tell your guards to stand down," he repeated. "Or your precious princess dies."

For a few moments, nobody moved. The king looked into his daughter's eyes, which were filled with panic. She silently mouthed 'no', but he wasn't about to let her down again.

He slowly lowered his sword, not for a moment taking his eyes off of her. "Stand down," he said, but the guards hesitated. "Stand down!" he said again, and this time, everyone immediately obliged and dropped their weapons to the floor.

Johan looked around as he put down his sword. He could see that several guards had been killed and were now lying on the floor. Surprisingly, though, none of Gustav's children had been killed, although several of them had been severely injured.

Gustav smiled and laughed evilly at his. "Finally," he said. "After generations of oppression on my family, now the royal family will at last be forced to bow to me!"

"Not if I have something to say about it!"

Much of the room gasped, and even Gustav seemed surprised by the voice that came from behind him. He scowled as he turned around to face him.

There, in the doorway, stood Noah, with a crossbow pointed at his father.

Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63