Chapter Forty Two

Sisters Reunited

ANNA

The rest of the battle had gone spectacularly as Frederick intended. Anna had seen the first part of the battle for herself on top of the hill, but once the Coalition had broken through and took the fighting into the city, she had other concerns. Namely, the rescuing of her sister, which went quite smoothly in her book.

Once the fighting died down, Melody had somehow managed to find Anna amid all the chaos, and relayed to her what had happened. Apparently, the other five divisions on the left flank of the city had quickly punched through the thin line of defences that had been mustered up in haste. The Exonians hadn't managed to dig in deep enough, and due to Marshal Frederick's intelligent tactics, the Coalition's attack had been timed quite nicely.

Not long after the left flank of the city had been invaded, the other five divisions that Anna had been with broke through the enemy's main lines and into the city. Once inside the city, the entire Coalition methodically pushed the remaining Imperial Horde soldiers farther towards the rear of the city.

Eventually, the Exonians had to retreat and flee the city over a bridge. A thundering boom had signalled the bombing of the bridge to ensure that the Coalition would not immediately follow. It was common practice to blow up a bridge once you were done with it, so that the pursuing army would be slowed down and forced to find an alternate crossing before they could give chase.

But for now, the Confederation members seemed content with the city. No doubt they would soon demand that the Coalition march again, but that wouldn't come until tomorrow, at least. There was so much to be done after the battle. Losses to be tallied, men to be buried, battalions to be reorganised, the city to be reassured of freedom, and a thousand other things. By the time night had fallen, things were still nowhere near completed. They wouldn't be moving again for another day or two, hopefully.

However, Anna was skeptical that the time they had would be sufficient. After all, now that they had captured Hans, there was quite a fair bit of interrogation to do, and she had a feeling he wouldn't crack so easily. Knowing him, he would take pleasure in seeing his interrogators grow frustrated after hours of wasted time.

In any case, his interrogators wouldn't be Confederation members. None of them knew that Hans was in their custody, and for good reason. Anna didn't want them to know. If they knew, they would immediately have him put on trial for war crimes and have him executed within days.

No, Anna shuddered a little at the thought. Too much is at stake here for that to happen.

"Not going to get some rest? It's late." Melody said, breaking the long period of silence. The Danish Princess was still covered in black powder, clothes smelling distinctly of smoke and blood. She was however unharmed, which didn't really come as a surprise to Anna.

"I'm not tired." Anna lied. Of course that wasn't true. After a day as eventful as this, it was impossible not to feel tired. Well, technically she wasn't charging at the enemy with a musket or sword, but she still felt drained. Maybe it was the aftermath of the battle that had drained her. Deciding with the Confederation members what to do next was like trying to drag a stubborn donkey to the water trough.

"Both of you should get some rest." Maui said. "Especially you, Melody. You've been going non-stop since you broke into Stormtide. You need to get a good sleep."

Melody relented and nodded lethargically. "Well, if you're not tired," she turned to Anna. "I am. I'll see you in the morning."

"Have a good sleep." Anna called after Melody who trudged towards the stairs.

"You too, Anna." Maui was gentle but firm. "He's not going anywhere. I'll be here all night to watch him."

Anna spared a glance at the room they were using to hold Hans. They didn't dare to risk transferring him to a separate building for fear of his sudden attempt to escape. No one knew what was going on in his cunning mind, and Anna had decided that she didn't want to give him any opportunity to break free.

And thus, they had decided to keep him in the basement, in the very room that he had used to imprison Elsa. Hans had been searched for weapons or anything that could aid his escape, and then locked in the room with nothing but water and some army rations to last him through the night.

Oddly enough, Hans seemed to take it all in stride, almost like he had resigned to the fact that his days of running free were over. Still, something didn't really sit right with him. Was he planning to escape somehow? It would be impossible with Maui guarding him, anyhow.

"He'll hold till the morning." Maui reassured her. "And however long we decide to keep him in there."

"God knows I wish we could just throw away the key and forget about him forever." Anna muttered. "But we need answers."

"And we'll get them tomorrow. For now, you need to rest."

He was rather insistent, and Anna found herself leaning towards the prospect of having a good night's sleep. So, she bade him good night and ascended the stairs up to where the Warriors were quartered.

Elsa, Janus, Tracy, Jade and Deirdre had gone to rest earlier, and Melody had just gone to join them. Kristoff was still out with Field Marshal Frederick and the general staff to go over military matters. She couldn't fathom how Kristoff was still on his feet after a tense day of battle. Still, that was where he excelled, and so she decided to leave him to it. He knew where to find her.

The Warriors made their quarters in The Central Grand, which was in the middle of the city of Korynes. It was the same building where Tracy had located Elsa and Hans, and it certainly made for a good stronghold. The small cadre of Arendellian servants and staff members were staying here too, as long as the Coalition was still in the city.

Anna had given strict instructions to her staff that they were to remain tight lipped about whatever they saw. She trusted that her Arendellians weren't quite so radical as the Molcorrans or the Einsfeltai, and that they would harbour the Warriors for now. No one else outside of The Central Grand knew that the wanted sorcerers were here with her except for Frederick and his own Arendellian military staff, who could be trusted to keep their secret.

It was a messy and extremely convoluted affair, if Anna was being honest, and she was getting tired of keeping track of who knew what. With the knowledge of Uxzas' private alliances, all they needed was evidence of his treachery, and the hope was that the CAST would topple soon after. But that was thinking very far ahead. First, they would need to get Hans to talk.

Anna walked through the foyer of the Grand Central which was quiet and almost empty, apart from a few servants speaking in hushed tones, carrying folded clothes, bedsheets, and other comfort items. They bowed to Anna as she passed by, and she forced a smile, waving them back to their conversation and tasks.

The Warriors were staying in the rooms on the second floor, which had been vacated probably some time before the battle. Most of the civilians were on the other side of the city, having sought shelter from the siege. It was a miracle that not many of them had been caught in the crossfire, but of course there were inevitably some civilian casualties. But at least the city was finally free of the Empire's oppression.

Hand brushing a gold-paved banister, Anna climbed a set of wide, shallow steps which had gentle curves that overlapped each other at the very corner. The second floor of the hotel had a long, blue carpet which stretched all the way down the hall.

Her belongings had been sent to a grand suite after the battle concluded and things settled down, but she hadn't been to her room yet. And she wasn't going there right now. First, she was going to make a stop at Elsa's room to check on her. In all the chaos, Anna hadn't gotten the opportunity to have a proper reunion with her sister.

Anna passed by Melody's room, and then Deirdre's and Tracy's. Jade had taken the room further down the hall, still preferring to be alone for some time. It couldn't be easy dealing with the death of one's only remaining family, but Jade seemed to be doing better under the circumstances.

Finally, Anna came to Elsa's room, which was right beside her own. Even from outside, she could hear her sister talking with Janus with whom she was sharing a room with.

"You should have told me you were going to pull something like this." That was Janus' baritone voice, clear and unfiltered by his mask. "I was so worried that you were…" he trailed off.

"What matters is that I'm alright." The second voice was Elsa's, calm and cool. "It had to be done, Janus. There was no other way to find out who the brown cloaks were."

"There's always another way," Janus insisted. "If you'd told me about it. I could have helped. Instead, you allowed yourself to be captured by Hans and put yourself at his mercy. He could have hurt you or worse!"

"But he didn't, did he?"

"That's not the point." Janus sounded frustrated. "Elsa, you should have told me your plan. How do you think I felt when I returned to Stormtide to find that you weren't there? That you'd been kidnapped by the brown cloaks?"

"I've been dealing with danger long before I met you, Janus." Elsa's tone was chilly. "Or have you forgotten that you were the one who drugged me for Ingrid and served me up to her?"

"I-" there was a slight hitch in his voice and a long, awkward pause. "If you'd let me in on the plan, at least I would have known that you were going to put yourself in harm's way."

"And what good would that have done? You were escaping from Stormtide! All the sorcerers in Stormtide were depending on you to break out and bring back help. How would telling you have helped your focus?"

"It's not about my focus, damn it."

"Then what is it about?"

"You allowed yourself to be captured, and for what? Finding out that Hans is behind things? What good did that do?"

"Now we have a solid lead. I knew that Tracy would have found me and you would all come to my rescue. I had no doubt of that."

"And what if Tracy's powers didn't work? You saw how she'd been affected by the Witch Hunters' attack."

"It was a necessary risk we had to take. Look where that got us?" Anna imagined Elsa waving a hand at the basement down below. "We have Hans in our possession. One of the most dangerous criminals this continent has ever seen. I think it was worth it."

"It wouldn't have been worth it if you were dead!" Janus raised his voice. "Elsa, you can't keep throwing yourself into danger like that!"

"Will you stop treating me like I'm a fragile doll?" Elsa shouted exasperatedly. "I would have thought that after months of being together, you'd have known that I was more than capable of taking care of myself. I've been doing this for close to three years now. Do you think I would still be here arguing with you if I weren't able to defend myself? Don't you think you're being way too overprotective? You're starting to sound like my sister!"

Hearing this bit, Anna cringed a little.

"Can you really blame me?" His voice was quieter now.

"Janus, don't you see? I'm always going to be in danger and so are the rest. We're fugitives from the Confederation, for God's sake. It'd make my life a little easier without having you constantly trying to keep me out of danger. Please, stop being so damn chivalrous!"

"I-" Janus paused, and things went silent for a while.

Then, there was a click from inside, and the door suddenly swung inward. Anna jumped a little, having not expected that at all. She'd been so curious pressing her ear to the door and listening in to the couple's argument that she'd completely forgotten that she was actually rudely eavesdropping.

Unmasked, Janus stood at the door half dressed, staring at her blankly. He held the door half ajar, and Anna could almost hear the wind blowing in the uncomfortable silence.

"I…" Anna said sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I came to talk to my sister. I'm assuming this is a bad time."

"Anna?" Elsa called from inside.

Without a word, Janus held the door open for Anna to enter. She cautiously stepped into the lion's den. The suite Elsa and Janus were sharing was big, and under other circumstances it would have been utterly romantic. Only, there seemed to be some heavy tension in the air between the two lovebirds.

"I can always come back tomorrow." Anna said awkwardly.

"No, ummn…" Elsa said hurriedly and paused. She glanced at Janus.

He sighed quietly. "No, we're done here anyway." Giving Anna a respectful bow, he excused himself without another word. The door closed behind with a soft click, and his almost non-existent footfalls faded away.

There was another moment of brief silence as Elsa stared after him, looking to be deep in thought. Anna studied her sister briefly. Elsa had spruced herself up, and had changed out of the filthy prison clothes that Anna and the others had found her in. The magic dampening collar around her neck had been removed too, and her magic had returned to her. She looked and smelled fresh, but there was something a little off about her. Something was bothering Elsa.

Anna cleared her throat. "Sorry. I didn't mean to cut in at such a delicate moment."

"No, no, it's fine. You couldn't have known." Elsa put on a smile which betrayed a hint of sadness.

"I've missed you, Elsa." Anna spread her arms and hugged her sister. She felt a sweet release, a catharsis as she embraced her flesh and blood. Warm tears pressed against her eyes and she blinked them away. "You can't imagine how it's been like without you."

"We don't have to imagine." Elsa smiled ruefully. "We've already been through it. I've missed you so much, Anna. It's been so difficult without you by my side."

"Same here." Anna let go of her sister. "I can't pretend to understand what you and the rest have been through, having to live on the run for the past few months, being hunted down and getting thrown in jail. What was it like in Stormtide?"

"Horrible." Elsa shuddered. "The food was like mush, and the beds were hard as stone. And don't get me started on the communal bathing areas."

Anna gave a light chuckle. "Sounds bad."

"Like nothing I ever experienced before." Elsa said, a tortured look passing over her expression. "And nothing I want to experience ever again."

"We're going to figure out a way for you all to stay, alright?" Anna said. "I will-" she paused, instantly, she felt guilty. That was the promise she had made Elsa earlier this year, when the CAST had just been put into place, and so far she hadn't managed to deliver. Don't make promises you can't keep.

Elsa shook her head as if reading Anna's mind. "It's alright, Anna. I know you've all been busy. Trying to run a campaign and win the war is no easy feat. I wouldn't have been able to do it if I were still queen. You can't imagine how proud I am of you."

"For all my efforts, I still couldn't get the CAST repealed." Anna felt ashamed. "I owe you and the others an apology."

"No. It's not your fault." Elsa took her sister's hands in her own and guided her over to the side of the bed where they both sat at the edge. "You didn't bring this upon us. We know better."

"The Crimson Order." Anna muttered under her breath. Elsa had a rather confused look on her face, which told Anna that Elsa didn't know about the name of the organisation the brown cloaks were running. And so, she told Elsa the story of how she had baited King Uxzas into giving away the game that night, riding out into the dark alone after him and finding the brown cloaks.

Elsa's eyes widened as Anna told her how she'd been chased by one of the men, and sent tumbling off her horse and getting into a death match with him. Her tense frame relaxed when Anna came to the bit when Kristoff showed up.

"You should've seen the look on his face when I told him what I was doing so far from camp." Anna snorted.

"Looks like you've been busy while I was gone." Elsa herself had an incredulous look on her face. "And what about King Uxzas?"

"So far he hasn't said anything." Anna said. "Either he doesn't know that I know, or he's keeping quiet and pretending everything's normal. I can't decide which."

"So he's not going to be a problem?"

"No," Anna sank a little deeper into the soft mattress. "Not when we know who's really behind things now. This High Priest person. Who do you think he really is?"

"That's what I'll like to find out." Elsa pursed her lips. "Hans knows, that's for certain. I couldn't get him to talk while I was his prisoner, but maybe he'll be more willing to talk now that the roles are reversed."

"Did he say why he captured you?" Anna said, feeling anger rise within her. It still made her feel indignant to know that Hans had succeeded in taking Elsa as his prisoner not once, but twice. He really had a vendetta against her, for some demented reason.

"He wanted to torture me, that's for sure." Elsa said grimly. "But he didn't have the time, he said."

"What do you mean?"

"He had an agenda." Elsa explained. "He said he had a task to learn where the League of Sorcerers was hiding."

"You're sheltering the refugees in Swynvort." Anna guessed.

Elsa nodded without a word, as though afraid the enemy was listening. "He knew that with the Coalition beginning the siege, he didn't have much time. So when I refused to tell him, he…" her voice caught in her throat.

"Did Hans…" Anna trailed off, mortified by the implication and not wanting to voice the words.

"No, no. Not that." Elsa shook her head. "He's a snake, but I don't think he'll stoop that low. It's not what he does. No. He had this other man in the room, dressed in a brown cloak. Hans called him 'The Dreambinder'."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "'The Dreambinder'?"

"He made me hallucinate." Elsa went on, clearly uncomfortable at the memory. "When I refused to tell Hans what he wanted to know, he brought in two people. You and Janus."

Anna was a little taken aback by that. "Wow. I did not see that one coming."

"Neither did I. He threatened to shoot you both in front of me." Elsa's voice quavered. "I couldn't. I couldn't just betray the hundreds of sorcerers who trusted me to keep them safe. And so he killed you both. I…I'm sorry."

"Hey, we're both fine." Anna placed a hand gently on Elsa's knee. "It wasn't real. We're alive, aren't we?"

"I know." Elsa closed her eyes. "But I can't get the thought out of my head. How I was willing to sacrifice you both to protect the League. Either way, no matter what I chose, I was going to lose."

"I don't blame you." Anna said firmly. "And I'm pretty sure neither does Janus, if he knows."

"He knows."

"And what did he say?"

"The same thing you did."

"Exactly." Anna looked into her sister's eyes and saw only guilt. "In your place, I would have chosen the same, no matter how painful. I don't know if I can speak for Janus, but my life isn't worth hundreds. You did the right thing, Elsa."

"Doesn't change the fact that there are two dead civilians because of me."

"It's not your fault." Anna felt her blood boil. "It's Hans'. He's the one causing us all misery and suffering. Maybe I should've just let Janus slit his throat."

"No." Elsa shook her head. "We need to find out what he knows. About the Crimson Order. About the brown cloaks. About everything. He's the key."

"I know." Anna agreed reluctantly. A long silence was drawn out as the two sisters sat at the edge of the bed, enjoying each other's presence. Something still burnt at the back of her mind, and Anna felt the urge to say it.

"Are you and Janus going to be okay?" Anna asked. Better to just feign ignorance and let her tell me herself if she wants to.

"I don't know." Elsa admitted. "Janus is…he's extremely old fashioned. He's the type that thinks we women need protecting all the time, and should be locked away in a safe house somewhere for the rest of their lives."

Anna balked. "Surely nothing that dramatic."

"No, but you get the point. He's insistent about wanting to keep me safe, but that's ridiculous given our…kind of lives that we lead. I know he's gallant and protective and all and he cares about me, but it's so frustrating sometimes."

"Honestly, I can't really blame him." Anna admitted. "When I saw the others come back without you and heard that you had gone and sacrificed yourself to learn the truth, I was pretty damn annoyed. You have a tendency to charge into danger alone, not trusting anyone to help you and believing that you're the only one who can fix things."

"That's…" Elsa argued weakly. "That's not true."

"I should know. You tricked me and sent Olaf away on that damn ice boat. We ended up in a dark cave with no way out, by the way." Anna was reminded of that dark time in her life, and tried to shake off the memory. I've been through worse since then. "As a result of that, you nearly died, and I almost had to live the rest of my life without you.

"Haven't you learnt by now? You can't do things alone. You don't have to carry the weight of the world all on your shoulders. You have us around to help you. Don't push us away. Janus, as rough as he might be sometimes, he just cares about you in his own way."

Elsa drew in a sharp breath and exhaled quietly. "I suppose you're right. That's my flaw, I guess. I just don't want to put the burden on anyone else if I can do it myself."

"We're a team for a reason, Elsa." Anna said. "No more sacrificing yourself, got it?"

"Alright." Elsa gave her a tiny smile. "But look on the bright side. It got us Hans. He won't be causing us any more trouble."

"Ugh. I've had enough of him for a lifetime. We'll deal with him tomorrow." Anna yawned and stood up, feeling exhaustion threaten to sweep her off her feet. "Maui was right. I do need sleep. I should probably go. I promised Kristoff that we would share an undisturbed night. God knows we need one."

"Kristoff stopped by to check on me earlier. He looked really tired." Elsa pointed out.

"Yeah. I did make him the new Commander-in-Chief of the Coalition."

Elsa nodded. "I know, he told me. Doesn't take much to see that he could really use your company tonight." She let slip a small, joking grin. "I suppose this counts as a honeymoon for the two of you, doesn't it?"

Anna rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Fighting a war together is a more epic adventure than most honeymoons, I guess. Now that we're done with this leg of the campaign, here's hoping we actually get to unwind and enjoy each other tonight." She got up to go, then turned round. "Should I go get Janus?"

"No." The response was a rather short and sharp one.

"You two sound like you have some issues to work out." Worriedly, Anna studied Elsa. "Are you sure you two are going to be okay?"

"I don't know," Elsa admitted. "But then again it's been a very long couple of weeks. There's a lot for me to process by myself, even without Janus involved in it all."

"Right, but you should probably talk to him, you know?" Anna offered her two-cents worth rather pensively. "Whenever Kristoff and I are a little pissed at each other, we try to make an effort to talk it out. Nothing good can come from all this repressed anger at each other."

"Not all of us can be the perfect royal couple." Elsa flashed a rueful smile at her. "Don't worry. I'll work things out with Janus eventually. But for tonight he can sleep out in the corridor."

Author's Commentary:

I love the tension between Elsa and Janus. It just makes their relationship much more realistic, having them squabble and argue. On one hand, Janus is worried about Elsa's safety. For another, Elsa wants him to understand that she's capable of taking care of herself.

I believe it gives their relationship a new dimension. So far they've been on rather good terms, so it's time to create a little tension and throw a wrench into their relationship. Like any other couple in reality, they're bound to argue at some point!