Chapter Fifty

Desperate Measures

ANNA

"Your Majesty!" The pair of Arendellian sentries standing on guard by the gate straightened and bowed in unison. "Welcome back. How may we be of service?"

"For starters, I need to find Lord Bjorgman and your commanding officer." Anna said as she dismounted the big brown horse. "Are they in there?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." One of the two sentries said. "We can take you to them."

"Either General Matthias or Colonel Frederick. Whichever one of them is with Lord Bjorgman at the moment."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Lord Bjorgman is with Colonel Frederick at the range. Allow me to escort you there."

Anna gave Maui a quick glance and he gave a slight snort in acknowledgement. In his current form of the equine species, the soldiers definitely wouldn't let him into restricted access territory.

She left Maui outside the gate and followed one of the sentries who showed her into the camp. As she passed by, soldiers stiffened up and dropped whatever they were doing, bowing with a domino-like effect. All she could manage was a brief wave every now and then, and she couldn't even muster up her usual smile or engage in chatter at random. There was no time for that now.

Arendellian soldiers of various companies were training on the parade ground in unison, and all the able bodied Northuldra were training with them. Sergeants and lieutenants in Arendellian green were barking commands at their privates and corporals which were mixed in with Northuldra men and women.

Not a few yards to their side, a Northuldra commander was overseeing the execution of a certain manoeuvre with weapons, guiding and training a hundred people made up of soldiers and tribesmen alike.

It was as if they were just one big unit, without distinction between race, culture or tradition. War, it seemed, bonded desperate people. People determined to defend their home and loved ones. The one distinction between the two forces was that the Northuldra were still dressed in their traditional garb and were wielding staffs, spears and bows. On the other hand, the Arendellian soldiers were geared up in full battle order, with their military vests in place and muskets with bayonets attached in their hands.

By the looks of it, the training collaboration between the Northuldra and the Arendellians looked to be going smoothly, better than she had expected in fact, and that brought a tiny bit of comfort to her. Knowing that her forces were ready helped a little, even though they still had a steep uphill battle to fight against the fearsome numbers of the Empire's Imperial Horde.

Despite the professionalism and the effectiveness that everyone was showing in their drills and exercises, Anna could sense the air of urgency among the soldiers and Northuldra alike. The dreadful air of impending war was so thick that she was quite sure she could cut it with a knife and slather it onto a loaf of bread.

"Sirs!"

Anna was hauled from her observations and thoughts back to what was in front of her. They were approaching a shooting range where both Arendellian soldiers and Northuldra were engaged in target practice with muskets. Colonel Frederick and Kristoff were watching the exercise intently, but both turned when the sentry called out with a loud voice.

"Sirs," the sentry saluted. "The Queen requested to see you both."

"Thank you, Lance Corporal." Frederick dismissed him, and both he and Kristoff stared at Anna as if they were looking at a ghost.

"Anna!" Kristoff fell on her and scooped her up in his broad arms, and very nearly squeezed the air out of her lungs. "We heard from Hayley that you just got back. Are you're alright?"

"I'm fine!" She gave an undignified squeak as her windpipes seemed to contract and it became hard to breath.

Fortunately, Kristoff finally set her down and cleared his throat, awkwardly aware that some of the soldiers had been distracted by the commotion and had just witnessed him informally hugging the queen.

Frederick just gave them a casual glance, and they all swiftly got back to their business, and the piercing sound of musketry resumed at full volume.

"Your Majesty." Frederick said, with his usual calm and restraint. "It is good to see you back. When there was no word or messenger with news after your departure, we feared that-"

"No, no," Anna interrupted. "I'm alive and kicking. Just a little tired and annoyed with everything, but I'm fine."

"Where's the rest?" Kristoff asked. "Elsa, Melody, where are they all? Are they still alive?"

"Melody and Maui's alive, that's for sure." Anna said. "Truth is, I don't know what happened to Elsa and the rest. Last I knew, they were still back in Denmark, and Elsa's team got captured."

"What-"

"Look, I'm worried to bits about Elsa and the rest too, but I made Melody promise to check up on them and keep them all safe once she got back to Denmark." Anna bit her lip. In what little time they had left, she hadn't been given the luxury of checking in with her sister in Denmark first to make sure she was alright. No, as she had told herself a thousand times already though it was tearing her apart, there was simply not enough time.

"Hold on, I'm confused." Kristoff frowned. "You make it sound like you guys weren't in Denmark."

"Long story. Look, there's no time to go over details now. But here's what you need to know." Anna glanced between the two men. "Eleanor, the Empress that is, wanted us to go to Denmark. It was all a part of her plan to lure us in, which worked. And that's not all. She has been hiding the fact that she has magic of her own."

Frederick cocked an eyebrow. "Magic, you say?"

"She can alter reality on various degrees." Anna explained. "You said before that Exon has never had a significant army of any size. My guess is that she supplied herself with the manpower using her magic, and put Kane in charge of them. Right now, the Imperial Horde is headed straight for Arendelle."

"We're aware of that last bit." Kristoff said. "The reconnaissance unit spotted the Imperial Horde moving out of Denmark and up north towards us. We estimate that it'll be a day before they emerge from that forest and attack."

"And I'll like to think we're ready." Frederick glanced at the range of firing men and women. "It was a little rough at the start but we made it work, with the cooperation of the Northuldra leaders. The troops and tribesmen were a little hesitant at first, but they can get on fine, as you can see."

Anna followed his gaze, to see a group of Northuldra and soldiers sitting in a circle together with their weapons laid beside them, sharing a meal over a small fire in the middle.

"That's a relief." She said. "What about General Matthias? Is he being kept in the loop?"

"For now, he's pulling double duties." Frederick sighed. "Trying to keep abreast of what's going on here, and doing the job of the Minister of War who has chosen to retire at a time like this. The general's stretched thin at the moment, and he's left me in charge whenever he's otherwise occupied with handling politics. Besides, he's caught up with overseeing the battalions digging in at the coast road to prepare for the Southern Isles' Navy."

"Remind me to give him a promotion when this is all over." Anna muttered. "Someone could really take over the Minister of War spot."

"Yes, Your Majesty. As for our current situation, we know that the Southern Isles' navy is coming in two days time, and so is the Imperial Horde. We need to deploy forces on the coast road facing out into the fjord where the Southern Isles is going to strike from, and the majority to the western border of Arendelle, where the Imperial Horde will emerge from the Kreshein Forest."

"Wow." Anna said. "Looks like you've all been busy."

Frederick chuckled humourlessly at the understatement. "You could say that."

"Since you're effectively commanding the two brigades here while General Matthias is manning the coast road, I think you could use a promotion too." Anna said.

Frederick raised a signature brow. "Your Majesty, I would think that now's hardly the time."

"It won't be strictly official, of course." Anna explained. 'Not for now at least. We'll have to go through all the proper paperwork and stuff when this is all over, but for now, I'm brevetting you to the rank of Division General, effective immediately."

Frederick hesitated, looking unsure, but then bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Congratulations, Frederick." Kristoff clapped him on the back. "It's well deserved. Sadly though, I don't think we have time to find a quartermaster to have the stars sewn to your shoulders in place of the eagles."

"Thank you, My Lord, but we certainly have more pressing matters at hand."

"Anyway," Kristoff turned to Anna. "As for the Southern Isles, I tasked Hayley with sending messengers to King Ulrich to get him to reconsider, but he's ignored all our attempts to negotiate peace. We've run out of time to give him his son, and something tells me he's all too happy to send his navy down to us. For some weird reason, I don't think that idiot actually cares if we're holding his son hostage."

Anna gave a dry, humourless chuckle. "Ahh, you won't believe who I ran into in the Empress' den."

Kristoff's eyes grew wide. "You're not serious."

Anna blew out a long breath.

"Your Majesty. Please excuse me. I have other preparations to make before we break camp tonight." Frederick somehow sensed that the couple had other issues to discuss.

"Alright, General. I'll need you to leave some of the troops behind to aid with the evacuation."

"I'll handle that, Your Majesty." Frederick bowed. "I believe you have other matters to discuss with Lord Bjorgman."

"He's right." Kristoff said when he and Anna had walked out of earshot of any potential nearby eavesdroppers. "We do have other things to discuss. Like Hans being in Denmark, for instance."

Anna sighed. "He's been working with Eleanor this whole time. She broke him out of prison because she knew how the Southern Isles would react. She wanted to create a scenario where both the Southern Isles and the Imperial Horde would attack us simultaneously. And then when they'd beaten us, Eleanor would take advantage of the situation and devour the Southern Isles as well in their worn out, undefended state."

"She sounds cunning."

"She's been planning this for a long time." Anna said. "She offered Hans a chance to rule by her side. Hans told me that he was promised Norway once they were done with their campaign. Eleanor's going to make him the king of the entire Northern region."

"Not if we can help it." Kristoff said. "We'll stop him and the Empress."

"You don't understand, he's a lot more dangerous than he was the last time. He's unhinged in a new, scary kind of way." Anna shuddered at the thought of the dinner they had shared back in Denmark. "He told me himself. He's come back to threaten everything we have and he won't stop till he has his revenge. I'm not sure if we can stop him this time round."

"We will." Kristoff put his arms around her and drew her in close. "I promise. We won't let him win."

"How?"

"We fight this war together." Kristoff gently caressed her cheek. "And when we've won, I think it's time to finally get married. We've put it off for far too long, and there really isn't going to be a better time."

Anna gazed into his big kind eyes for a few quiet moments before leaning in to plant a kiss on his lips.

"You're right." Anna said when they finally pulled apart. "I've been wanting to save our wedding for a time when things are finally peaceful and back to normal. But at the rate things are going, even if we fend off the Southern Isles and the Imperial Horde, things are going to be far from over. There'll never be a perfect time for us to finally settle down, not in the world we live in now."

"Exactly." Kristoff gave her an assuaging squeeze. "I'm glad you agree."

"Agree? Of course I agree," Anna grinned. "I've been waiting to marry you for the longest time."

Kristoff sighed in relief. "Great. So what now?"

"Now," Anna took him by the hand and started off back the way she had come. "We get ready to evacuate the kingdom."