Chapter One

Chapter 14: Reunited

ANNA

After their unpleasant meeting with the king of the Southern Isles, she and Kristoff had left the kingdom in a hurry. They knew very well that they were unwanted there, and the sooner they were out of hostile territory, the better.

On the journey back to Arendelle, Anna and Kristoff had largely remained silent. Anna suspected that Kristoff had the same thoughts as her, either that or he was brooding about something else entirely which wasn't very likely given the circumstances. She needed time to process what she'd learnt from the meeting with King Ulrich as well as think of a way to find his wretched son Hans, and she greatly appreciated the silence apart from the crashing of the waves against their ship.

Upon arriving back in Arendelle via the ship, Kristoff and herself had dropped off their baggage with the servants who were waiting for them, and had travelled back to the castle via horse carriage. It felt so much better to be back on friendly home ground. She was surprised though, when she found the entire tribe of Northuldra setting up camp in the castle courtyard.

"What's-" Anna's mouth gaped open in astonishment. The entire courtyard was literally strewn with laavus and people were making fires around the place with wood they had gathered from somewhere. Children were playing and various herds of reindeer were grazing out at a nearby plot of grass. "What's going on here?"

"It's the Northuldra." Kristoff said, looking equally as befuddled. "What are they doing here?"

"That's what I'll like to know!" Anna looked around in bewilderment. First a threat of war from the Southern Isles, and now the entire tribe of Northuldra are camped out in the courtyard of the castle? Could the day get any stranger?

"Anna! Kristoff!"

She turned to see Honeymaren and Ryder running up to them. They were a sight for sore eyes.

"Guys, what's going on?" Anna asked.

"Long story." Ryder grinned.

"Okay, so the forest was attacked by soldiers, and your sister defended us." Honeymaren began.

Good old Elsa, taking down hostile soldiers by herself. That brought a tiny grin to Anna's lips though she tried to keep it suppressed. Smiling while someone was telling her about a near-invasion of their home simply wasn't polite.

"She insisted that they were only the beginning, the first wave of a larger army or something." Honeymaren continued.

"And Elsa convinced Yelena to evacuate the entire tribe out of the forest and into Arendelle." Ryder added. "She said that you'll be okay with it."

"Are you not?" Honeymaren asked anxiously.

"No, no, it's cool." Anna said quickly. "You're welcome here. You guys can stay. It's just that…I wasn't expecting this at all."

"And I thought the disappearance of Hans was the strangest thing to happen today." Kristoff mumbled.

"Is Elsa with you?" Anna asked.

"She left with two other girls." Honeymaren pointed at the castle. "They went inside."

"Thanks." Anna grabbed Kristoff and headed into the castle. Arriving outside the drawing room with Kristoff, Anna heard her sister's anxious voice and cleared her throat, stepping into the room.

"I wasn't waiting for an entrance line or anything, but well, I'm back." Anna spread her hands sluggishly. The sofas in the drawing room looked extremely welcoming right about now. She mustered up a smile. "I see the party started without me."

"Oh, Anna!" Elsa fell on her neck, almost dragging her down.

"Elsa, you know I love seeing you too, but…" Anna staggered slightly.

Her sister let go of her. "Are you alright?"

"Pfft. Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You went to the Southern Isles."

"Yeah, so I did." Anna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? You went to the Southern Isles, and you didn't think to tell me?" Elsa said fiercely.

"I'm a big girl, Elsa. I can take care of myself." Same old Elsa. Still as protective as ever.

"It's not about that. You could have told me and I would've gone with you." Elsa insisted.

"If it's any consolation, I went with her." Kristoff spoke up.

"I'm sensing some family tension here." Tracy croaked, sitting up from the sofa.

Anna then remembered that she had guests other than Elsa. She glanced round, putting on a smile. "Tracy! Nice dreadlocks."

"Thanks!" Tracy grinned weakly. "At least someone else around here can appreciate good style."

"I heard someone teleported the entire population of Northuldra into my front porch." Anna sat down on the armrest of the sofa beside her. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

"You're welcome." Tracy said.

"Actually, that's my line."

Anna turned to Maui. "That's new too." She couldn't help but stare longer than what was deemed polite. "Can't say I'll get used to this look any time soon."

"Hah," Maui shrugged nonchalantly, rubbing his big palm over his bald head. "It's not for everyone."

Everyone exchanged greetings with Anna and Kristoff, even though formalities weren't exactly necessary. It was more like friendly banter, to be honest, especially between Tracy and Kristoff, both of whom had a tendency to get into little arguments with each other every now and then.

"If you guys are here," Kristoff said apprehensively. "That probably means there's some sort of trouble or mystery, isn't there?"

"What do you mean by that?" Tracy grinned obnoxiously.

"I mean, wherever the Warriors go, there's bound to be something up."

"Aww, I think he misses us." Tracy feigned a sweet, sickly tone and Kristoff scowled back.

"He's right though." Melody said. "We have a problem. A big one."

Anna slumped in one of the comfy sofas beside Tracy. "Can't possibly be bigger than mine, unless you're also talking about another all out war on Arendelle in a week's time."

"What?" Elsa bristled, and the rest seemed equally alarmed.

"Well, so this morning I got an urgent message from Han's dear old dad." Anna explained. "His son is missing and he thinks I captured him from under his oily nose."

"You didn't, right?" Tracy said.

"Of course not!" Anna exclaimed defensively. "But he didn't want to see reason. He wanted to blame his son's disappearance on someone, and he gave us an ultimatum. If we don't magically produce his son at his throne in-" Here she paused dramatically and glanced at the clock on the wall. "-six days, he's waging an all out assault on Arendelle on the seventh to assert his masculinity in the name of his kingdom's honor."

The room was silent for a while as everyone absorbed what Anna had said.

"Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse." Elsa muttered.

"Don't tell me your story beats mine." Anna said. "I'll be crushed."

"Well actually, it gets worse." Melody replied. "Quodrun, and now Denmark, have been invaded by the Imperial Horde, and now are under the domain of the Empire. And they're coming for Arendelle next."

"Oh you got to be kidding me." Anna buried her face in her hands. The day had been an utter disaster thus far and she felt like breaking down. She looked up at Melody. "I'm sorry about your home."

"Me too." Melody said unhappily. "But that's why we're here."

"What, you need the Arendellian army?"

"Well, we need more than just your army. We need you." Maui said.

"I'm touched." Anna leaned back into the cushion. "But why do you need me?"

"We need all hands on deck. Each of us have a knack and a skill that'll come in useful." Melody said.

"Alright, since you asked." Anna grinned. "Count me in. But you gotta help me with my problem too."

"Deal." The two shook hands.

"So now what?" Maui asked.

"Now." Melody stood up. "We should regroup with the rest."

"You brought more?" Anna glanced up lazily at her. "I was beginning to be worried that this was all we had to fight the Empire."

"Granted, it ain't that many more." Tracy chipped in. "But every sorcerer counts, right?"

"Right." Anna pursed her lips. "So where are they?"

"They're with Colonel Frederick now, explaining the situation to him." Melody said.

Anna stood up. "To the base, then."

###

From what she understood, Tracy had been drained from her effort to teleport the entire Northuldra population from the forest to the Arendelle in one fell swoop, so they had no choice but to rely on horse carriages as regular people generally did. Arriving at the army base, a sergeant was already there waiting for her by the entrance, most likely on orders from Frederick or Mattias, vouching for her and her friends to enter the restricted base without prior clearance.

The sergeant explained to them that Frederick had to attend to the task of inspecting the standards of the troops under his command and couldn't be available to meet them. He took them through the base and Anna looked around. She had been here before, but with the knowledge that the Southern Isles and the Empire were threatening to wage war on Arendelle, it made her feel slightly better to see the troops in training exercises and performing drills.

They arrived at the Command Tent and the sergeant scratched at the tent flap before opening it for the Warriors to enter.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty." General Mattias bowed. He then noticed Elsa at the back of the group of Warriors, and appeared surprise to see her. "Your Highness! I haven't since you since…that mysterious business with the forest. Welcome back, Your Maj-I mean, Your Highness."

Elsa smiled. People she had bumped into on the way had been making that mistake. They sometimes seemed to forget that she was no longer the queen of Arendelle. "Thanks, Mattias. It's good to see you too."

"So this is everyone?" Anna glanced round. There was Jade and her brother Jordan, two others she remembered: Vonco, his hulking friend Cornelius, another boy she didn't really recognise and a petite looking girl who was in her mid teens called Holli, and…Will Daltrey? What was he doing here?

"We dragged Will with us after the Battle of Quodrun." Tracy explained, as if reading her mind. She had more or less recovered from her exhaustion by now.

"Ah." Anna looked at Will. "I'm sorry about Quodrun."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Will said.

Anna turned to look at Melody. "That's all?"

"We couldn't possibly bring the rest of the League. There's still sorcerers in training and others who have to handle other more minor threats around the world." Melody explained. "Florie is helping us run things while we're gone."

"Isn't this major enough to bring everyone available on board?" Anna held up her hands. "Never mind. I've got no place telling you how to run the League."

"Speaking of running the League," Melody turned to Elsa. "I'm officially passing back the leadership title to you. I wasn't crowned the Pilgrim."

"Thanks." Elsa said uncomfortably, glancing round. Looking at her were the faces of the League members she had "abandoned" about a year ago.

Anna couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her sister. Perhaps Elsa felt that she couldn't really blame the sorcerers if they felt like she had left them behind. Elsa had, in fact, under the legitimate reason that she needed to be done with the adventures and missions. And yet, here she was. This must be awkward for Elsa.

"So," Anna said. "What's the latest with the Empire? What's our war plan?"

General Mattias cleared his throat again and rotated the map on his desk around for Anna and the others to see. "According to what I know and what our new allies have told me, here's the latest update you requested regarding the threat of the Empire of Exon."

"Wait," Elsa interrupted and stared at her sister. "You knew about the threat of the Empire?"

Anna swallowed hard. Now it was her turn to feel uncomfortable.

"Anna?"

"Yeah, I knew about them. I knew that the Empire was expanding its territory and are marching North towards us." Anna said quickly. There. At least I got that off my chest.

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"You knew about them." Elsa echoed slowly. "How long have you known?"

"Since yesterday."

"And you didn't think this was important enough to tell me at game night?" Elsa said with a little hint of anger in her voice.

"You said it yourself. Game night." Anna pointed out weakly. "We were supposed to be enjoying ourselves. I mean come on, we only see each other once every two weeks."

"That's not the point! You're supposed to share these sort of things with me!" Elsa snapped.

"That's so the point! You're enjoying your life with the Northuldra, finally free from the burdens of kingdom matters, and you expect me to drop a bombshell like this on your head?" Anna blurted out. "How would you have reacted then? I didn't want to drag you into this, not when you're finally happy and free from being the queen! I figured that in that moment, game night was more important for us both. I could deal with this after you went back to the forest."

Elsa put a hand on the side of her head. "Anna, this is war we're talking about! Not just some little trivial matter that I used to tend to as queen! Don't you think I deserved to know about this?"

"You deserved to be happy." Anna said helplessly, almost in tears. "I didn't-I thought…"

Elsa shook her head angrily. "I thought we were supposed to be a team. Siblings are supposed to share burdens with each other."

Anna realised that she had nothing else to say. No defence. No excuses. But the truth was, she had done it for Elsa, even though her sister was too upset to see it.

The Command Tent fell silent. It was then that Anna remembered that everyone else had been awkwardly forced to listen to the siblings squabble in the middle of their meeting.

General Mattias cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. May I speak?"

"Yes, please continue." Anna said stiffly, trying to sound calm and composed.

"Very well. The Imperial Horde has invaded Quodrun, and most likely the rest of Denmark by now, judging by their swiftness and cohesiveness. The Empire of Exon has claimed them under their banner, but now at least we know where they are. Two hours away from across the ocean, but they won't attack us from the water."

"Why not?" Melody asked. Anna guessed that she too was eager to steer the conversation away from the tense atmosphere that still lingered in the tent.

"The element of surprise." Mattias said. "From what you guys have told us," he glanced at the sorcerers. "And what we've observed for ourselves, the Empire likes to strike unexpectedly. Shock and awe tactics cause panic and confusion, giving the Imperial Horde the advantage to cripple the defences and invade the city or kingdom like a plague.

"So you're suggesting they'll take the long route through the Kreshein Forest?" Kristoff asked.

Mattias nodded. "The only way they can maintain their element of surprise and conceal their movements is by coming through here." He traced his finger on the map from Denmark, up through a long bridge connecting Denmark to a place labelled Fort Kroxendal across the sea, and then in an arc covered by nothing but dense forests with a giant pencil label naming it the "Kreshein Forest", and finally circling round to the side of Arendelle.

"There's almost nothing but forests." Tracy pointed out.

"Exactly. Which means we won't be able to keep track of their movements, and they can strike anytime. There's no telling how fast these guys move." Mattias said.

"Hold on." Melody jammed her finger at a spot on the map. "You said that there's a long bridge here that they'll have to cross?"

"Yes."

"That's the only time they'll be out in the open. The moment the Imperial Horde leaves Denmark to continue their campaign towards here, we can attack and cripple them."

Mattias shook his head. "How? Our artillery guns don't have the range to hit the bridge from here."

"What if we move the guns closer to the bridge?"

"We don't have many guns, and we certainly don't have siege pieces. Not enough, especially since we know that the Southern Isles is going to attack us too. We're reserving our big guns to face the fjord where the enemy ships will come from." Mattias explained.

"Even if the army could get our guns out there, we won't know when they're crossing." Elsa added. She too seemed eager to forget about the argument for the time being. "And before they cross, I'm certain that Kane will be thorough enough to make sure there aren't any enemies waiting for them on the other side of the bridge. If he spots our forces and weapons, he'll just use his own guns on us."

"Knowing Kane, he'll have thought through this." Melody said. "Okay, scrap that. The only way we can stop the Empire from expanding their occupation any further is by stopping them where they are right now."

"That's easier said than done, miss." Mattias cocked his head in amusement. "If Denmark has been taken by now, the Imperial Horde would have been dug in securely around the entry points. There's no way Arendelle's army can get anywhere close to liberate them. They'll spot us a mile away and if they bombard us with their artillery while we're on the march, we'll be done for."

"We also can't afford having a war in the streets. Too many civilians will get hurt in the crossfire." Melody said, frowning.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't see any way that the Arendellian army can get involved without more innocent people getting hurt." Mattias said regretfully.

Melody appeared to be deep in thought, and then finally broke the silence. "Then this calls for a more precise approach."

"What do you have in mind?" Anna asked.

Melody spun the map around to face her and studied it, deep in thought. After a minute of contemplation, she glanced round. "Okay, I have a plan. Or at least, the beginning of one."