Elsa put down her quill after she finished signing one of the last documents that required her signature. It was a trade agreement of some kind that she knew she could recall if she tried but could also admit she was going through the motions. Her mind was thinking of what she was told six months ago.

Rebuilding had come quickly where people had homes to sleep in after a few days. The economy had taken a hit but with Weselton's grudging assistance, she was able to create relief programs that allowed the people to get by financially without making a permanent scar on Arendelle's financial status.

With her people's welfare now secured, it allowed her the opportunity to worry about her personal matters. Garret and Edward's nonstop slumber as well as Walter's disappearance. Garret was of no consequence as not many people were privy to his existence and she was quite sure that he wasn't a threat so she had him confined to a guest room. His wife and child were allowed to visit but there was always a four man guard right outside their door in case something happened.

Walter and Edward were a different matter.

Walter was a prominent figure in Arendelle and his disappearance was glaringly obvious. As she couldn't explain exactly what happened to the Captain, she had to declare him missing in action. After announcing that, Hector pulled her aside and asked if Stonewell was dead. For all her intelligence, she couldn't offer anything concrete and simply told him what she saw.

Hector immediately left for Stonewell's office without a word.

Edward was a difficult subject to think about. As he and Garret were both unconscious and with Rahim being the last one in control of the young man's body, she had him imprisoned. None of the guards or staff knew of this decision, only those in her inner circle knew where. She had placed him in the cell that was built for her, under the castle, with ice fortifying the inside and him being shackled to the bed.

Elsa had made sure his restraints were next to impossible to get out of. His arms had been tucked under his armpits and a thick sheet of ice encased his torso with thick frozen chain links hooked onto his back. His legs were completely encased in ice making it impossible for him to even walk as the chains on those were kept him from moving but a few inches off the bed.

After she finished, her whole being was engulfed in disgust.

Never before had she used her powers in such a fashion. She imagined Edward waking up right then and there, feeling exactly as she did the moment she woke up in this room with her hands shackled. Back then, she felt it was barbaric the way they restrained her. What she created was far far worse. The only part of him that could move freely was his head; every other part of him was secured.

The Queen of Arendelle knew why this needed to be done. If Rahim was in control then he couldn't be allowed to escape, he had already tried killing her and there was no telling what he would do if he woke up in a guest room with no one watching him. Even if she had people watching him, she couldn't take the chance of him being well rested. He went toe to toe with Walter Stonewell, the undisputed strongest warrior Elsa had ever seen, while he was exhausted. He also had all of Edward's memories of their weaknesses, Stonewell was right in saying he couldn't be allowed to leave.

Elsa hated herself when she agreed it was the only thing they could do. She looked at someone, anyone, to offer her another suggestion, to look at her with disbelief at her actions but they all were solemn and agreed.

Kai and Gerda checked in on him multiple times a day, they were the only two that could discreetly go down there with trays of food in case he woke up hungry.

The blonde would visit him every night, just watching him, silently begging for him to wake up and be the man she missed more than anyone. To no avail as he continued to slumber, it was a hard few days until she finally got a break.

Garret had woken up and asked if he could speak with her. She met with him immediately and the first question he asked was where Walter and Edward were. After explaining what had happened while he was sleeping, Garret cursed. Elsa wanted to know what he was thinking but he told her he'd tell her and anyone she trusted with the trust but one thing he could say was that Rahim was gone and the young man could be released.

Elsa was ecstatic to hear that but the Queen of Arendelle asked how they could be sure this wasn't some kind of trick. Garret simply told her that she could take whatever measures she needed but when she walked down to the cell she kept Edward in, she'd understand why it was not necessary.

The two of them went down to the cell and caught Gerda just as she was opening the door with a tray of food. The three of them walked in to see the young man's eyes tiredly staring at the ceiling. His eyes had heavy bags under them and his gaze was faraway. Elsa called out to him using Edward's name but he didn't respond, he just continued to stare.

Garret shook his head before taking a knee next to the young man's head.

"I know you're having a hard time getting your thoughts together but yo-"

"I know exactly who I am, where I am, and what happened."

The young man shifted his eyes over to Garret as he spoke with the same vacant expression on his face before looking back up at the ceiling. The bespectacled sighed before getting up to his feet and turning to the two women.

"I can tell you everything," Garret then gestured to the bound man. "I'd just prefer he hears it as well."

Elsa wanted to know immediately but felt that others should know too, so she gathered everyone that she could trust who already knew enough and they all prepared to listen to something that would turn their world upside down.

Elsa had made little chairs that herself, Anna, Gerda, and Kai had used to sit but watched as Garret, Kristofff, and Hector remained standing. The cell's occupant didn't seem bothered in the slightest that he was still restrained even when Elsa had offered to allow him to sit up, he remained silent.

He didn't even look her way.

Garret watched the exchange with a frown before clearing his throat. "As you know, I attempted to save Walter's life by transferring Wrath or Envy's healing abilities to his dying body. I originally planned on using Envy's soul to do so while placing Edward's consciousness in charge of my son's body so that Walter and Edward would be saved. You could say I succeeded but there were some things I failed to take account of."

The imprisoned young man's face took on an expression of great turmoil.

"What I never considered was that the reason why Wrath had different people controlling his body was because he had broken himself up into different entities to reconcile the conflicting point of views that ran rampant in his mind. Edward, the one you've all met, was Wrath's guilty conscience. He was the container for all the feelings that Wrath couldn't handle all at once. All of his regrets and despair gave form to a persona who hated himself and wanted to end his existence."

Everyone in the room looked at the young man and watched him turn his head toward the wall to hide his face. Garret continued, there was so much more that needed to be said.

"Then came the Wrath, the one who tormented Edward. That persona was his survival instinct, the core of who Wrath was as a being. Whenever Edward's life was in danger, Wrath would do whatever it could to protect it. Even if that meant destroying every cell in their body then threatening to take over and slaughter total strangers. Ultimately this was a bluff as Wrath knew that Edward would push them both over the edge and kill them both, which was why Wrath wanted to completely take over Edward, to preserve their life. Over time though, some of Edward's conscious managed to blend over to Wrath's, priorities started to change…"

Garret turned to Elsa then eyed the other people in the room. "Wrath started to put others' lives ahead of his own. With time eventually Edward and Wrath would've melded into one consciousness, however those two weren't the only two personas in Wrath's soul. Finally, there was a third, I have no idea who or what he is but from what I can gather, he has the most say over Wrath as a whole. I assumed it was Father's Wrath, the anchor that ultimately drove Wrath to obey Father but after what happened to Walter, I'm not sure."

Hector stepped forward with an intense expression. "What happened to Walter? You just said that you succeeded in making sure Walter didn't die. Is Walter the one in control of his body?"

The bespectacled man's eyes met the noble's with a frown. "The first thing me and Walter noticed upon entering Wrath's soul was the myriad of different weapons. There were hundreds of them and with each of them, I could feel an echo of a soul ravaged by rage. Over the years of fighting, Wrath had taken the fading vestiges of rage from his victims and fashioned them an anchor to store that rage. Rahim had one, his was made special as his actual soul was stuffed into his anchor."

Hector took a step, annoyed that his questions were ignored but Gerda grasped his wrist in a firm grip. He looked at her and was about to shake off her grip but he felt her dainty hand start to shake. Walter was a secretive man, he kept anything personal locked from everyone. The noble knew this, but he also knew a few things most didn't. He rarely noticed the careful movements Walter made whenever he was around Gerda, his confidence was there but he was deliberate in his actions, always aware of how much strength he should put into interacting with her.

If it were a normal person, Bowman would've thought that he had affection for the maid. He always labeled those thoughts as impossible because Walter Stonewell was an uncompromising, psychotic, and unrepenting asshole who probably got off on maiming others. It wasn't until he got to catch a few hints of Walter actually acting like a human being, they were few and far between but most of them were because of Gerda getting him to relax.

From the way her hand was shaking, he could tell something bothered her. The thought of someone who held an affection for her not having control over his own body was a distressing thought. With a quiet grunt, he planted his feet and waited for Garret to get to his question.

"Since Rahim's soul was stuffed into that anchor, he didn't have much power over Wrath's soul or his own body. He was essentially another weapon in the collection that Wrath had collected. When Walter and I found Wrath, we were met with that other persona, commanding an army of copies of what seemed to be Rahim in his Blackdust uniform. I expected that as soon as we interacted with Wrath, we'd be attacked by the copies all around us."

Garret then faced Hector as he continued.

"This would've been the case had Walter not somehow managed to connect with the persona. He managed to convince the persona to not only spare Wrath but to bind itself to his soul. Before I could stop them, the two of them used the anchor I made for Walter to return to his body to suck Rahim, Envy, the copies, and Wrath's collection of weapons as well as his abilities into Stonewell's body. I was able to preserve Wrath's consciousness but it had been broken when his soul was ripped apart. I've spent days trying to piece together what I could, during that time, I managed to find Edward."

The bespectacled turned to face the young man who still hid from everyone in the room.

"He had been ripped apart by the persona that had left, likely he saw Edward as a representation of Wrath and tried destroying him before he did the same to Wrath. Thankfully, there was enough to piece together Edward's thoughts and feelings into Wrath's soul so that I could make a soul structural enough that I could bind it to a body. A body already altered to accommodate an echo of a soul, no matter how many different pieces it was made of…"

"You can stop now, you've said enough."

Elsa didn't expect the young man to speak in such a way. His tone was firm but there was an underlying sense of pleading in it. Garret sighed.

"When I looked over your memories, there was always one blank section that even though I know what happened, I could never see from your point of view. It was the night you killed Dawn. I never knew why that night was so special, I pushed it to the back of my mind. I never asked why you would hesitate to finish off Rahim when you had him in your grasp, or why you'd have a psychotic split when you killed a woman that looked like Dawn. Finally, how someone who was supposed to be the echo of my son's soul who sadly never understood the concept of love, could have so much of it for the people he cares about. All of it points to one conclusion…"

"Please stop."

Garret looked as if he was almost on the verge of tears.

"My son wasn't the one who gave you the gift of thought, my wife did."

The room was filled with shock with that last line, Anna's hands flew to her mouth, while Kristoff's mouth fell open and Elsa and Hector's faces looked to be in disbelief.

"Dawn's soul echo managed to engrain itself into yours enough to give you a conscience, the ability to feel and have regret. In an attempt to protect Rahim later in life on the chance you two ever met again, she hoped that you'd have enough feeling to hesitate. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough but it did lead to you growing to care, grieve, and love others like a human. Rahim, Walter, and that persona are gone. Who you are now, is the culmination of Edward's feelings, Wrath's memories and soul, and Dawn's soul echo."

The young man said nothing, he refused to turn to let them see his face. He felt the ice that imprisoned him melt away, revealing his gray thin long sleeve shirt and black pants. His left arm was still a stump and his right hand lifted itself to cover his face. His shoulders started to shake as Elsa placed a delicate hand on him and gave a gentle tug.

His legs curled so his feet could plant themselves on the stone floor as he sat up still trying to keep his hand covering his face but it was easy to see. Tears were falling from under his hand as he silently wept, everything he felt hitting him all at once. It was just like that time he felt Edward's guilt leak into him when he felt all his weapons' rage. He couldn't make the tears stop, they had him completely at their mercy. Magic snow didn't come down and ease his burden this time, he felt arms wrap around him.

Winter peppermint. Elsa.

Small and lovingly tight. Anna.

Large and gentle. Kristoff.

Dainty with feathery touch. Gerda.

He didn't know what to do. He remembered Elsa doing this for Edward and thought it helped feel better but it didn't. The tears continued, what good were they holding onto him, 'comforting' him if they couldn't make him feel better? There was no logical answer, but he already had one that faintly echoed in the back of his mind.

Because they love you.

He's heard her voice twice now, how can such a soft voice have so much power? It pulled him away from all those copies when he was drowning in his own darkness, now it crippled him and caused his silent tears to become sobs.

After they had learned who exactly Edward was and what had become of Walter, more questions appeared. Mainly what were they to do now, that they had no Captain for the Royal Guard and if they should consider Walter a threat. Elsa didn't even know what she should tell her council, she already knew that they would label Walter as a threat and attempt to use Edward against him.

A lot of good that would do…

Since learning his origins, Wrath had fallen into a state of deep depression. Part of it most likely came from the fact that he felt the name Edward wasn't even his. The notion was easily dismissable by anyone but him, he wasn't Wrath anymore and taking over the scapegoat he used to house his emotions weighed heavily on him.

So heavy in fact that he distanced himself from the castle and anyone in it. He quit his job as an instructor for the guards and joined the rebuilding efforts. She had seen him around every so often, always working from sunup to sundown. Even though he had lost his abilities, his body was still enhanced and he made use of it everyday.

If they approached him, he'd respond to them but it was too easy to tell that there was a wall between them. She had also caught him standing in front of the pedestal that was engraved with all the fallen guards from the invasion. He'd stare at it for hours through any kind of weather, always looking for something that isn't there.

She had no way to explain it but Elsa could swear that if she closed her eyes and thought of nothing but him, she could feel what was going on with him. There was sadness there, whenever he'd stare at that memorial, she could feel nothing but debilitating sadness from him. Loneliness was also a part of it too, she knew he longed for the people on his mind but whenever he thought about them, she'd get a mix of fear and guilt.

Fear that just him being there could put them in danger and guilt from all that has happened since he had entered their lives. She tried multiple times to explain to him that what happened wasn't his fault but it seemed he learned from her how to deflect topics.

Elsa sighed as she sat back into her chair.

She barely remembered their argument in the throne room, it had seemed so long ago when they were screaming in each other's faces. It was the last heated exchange between the two of them and part of her wished they'd argue again. While it hurt at the time, what they said to each other, it also showed how much they cared about one another.

She argued that she was just protecting him from his past while he was trying to protect her from the very same thing.

The blonde couldn't remember a time before Edward she felt so intune with her emotions. She'd always try to conceal and don't feel but with him and they'd always just come gushing out. Her walls would crumble for him whenever he asked and she knew he'd take anything she could dish out. The Queen of Arendelle, the title that had bound her for so long, feared Edward's ability to set her free with just his presence. All of her thoughts and feelings were desperate to unleash themselves to him, even her attempts to hold back were met with little success as those stirrings would grow until they were a hurricane.

Yet, there was one thought she had kept restrained. One feeling that the Queen of Arendelle kept at bay at all costs. She knew that the moment that she let go of this last feeling she held onto then it would be over. The Queen of Arendelle would disappear if this feeling got out because once it did she would do nothing to stop it.

I love you.

Those three words, she's never told him face to face that she loved him. Anna knew she did, Kristoff too, plus Gerda, Kai, and even Walter. Edward himself probably knew but there was power in her saying it. Once she said it, she knew it would be the last straw, she would move mountains for his sake.

She had immense love for Anna and it was because of that, she chose to run away the first time and was completely fine for being isolated for the rest of her life. It was also that same love that allowed Anna to brave the odds and come out on top with the deck stacked heavily against her.

The difference between Anna and Edward was that with Anna, she knew she could be the Queen of Arendelle and Elsa. She was the older sibling so she would always be looking out for her sister, but her sister was now married, to a wonderful man how'd do anything for her. Elsa trusted Kristoff to look after Anna and she could focus on Arendelle as she had faith in Kristoff as well as the people that surrounded them.

Edward on the other hand respected her title as Queen and never pushed its boundaries, save that one argument. The thing was though, she didn't like being the Queen of Arendelle around him, all she wanted to be was just Elsa because that was all he saw when he looked at her. He never allowed her position to cloud his view of her, he always saw her, no matter the circumstances.

But now…

He didn't smile anymore, his eyes always looked so haunted and he'd always look so tired. It wrenched her heart to see him in such a way and there was nothing anyone could do to change it. Anna and Kristoff tried in their own ways but he'd brush them off in favor of working. She wanted to change that but she had no idea how and with everything else going on, for now, she needed to remain Queen of Arendelle and not Elsa.

Hector had found himself to be irritable the last six months. Since Stonewell's disappearance, he had been filling in for the Captain's duties as well as his own. The other guards had their thoughts about it but with Edward sulking and Stonewell gone, it made sense for the Queen's personal guard to take over.

The noble had requested additional guards from rotations outside of the village to bolster their numbers and had adopted Stonewell's overlapping routes for security. He even had his father recall some of the Bowman Expeditionary Force's mercenaries and had them guard less sensitive positions as they were just hired swords.

With so much to do, Hector couldn't even begin to entertain Earl Edward's questions as he found himself working in Stonewell's office most of the time.

He still had yet to read the will that Stonewell left in the event he was no longer there. Hector had refused to read it as he knew the old man was still alive and there was a chance he'd return. Unfortunately for Bowman, there was someone else who knew of its existence.

"Why haven't you read it yet?"

Hector kept his eyes screwed shut and pretended not to hear her. The covers on the bed moved as he could feel her shadow loom over him. Her skin was flush against his was so warm but he knew that her gaze was as intense and focused as a certain Captain was whenever he fought.

"You already told me that he wanted you to take his place and deliver his last words to Her Majesty, why are you taking so long?"

Bowman sighed as he turned over to meet Grace's gaze. As usual her eyes were as focused as they were on any given day or time, she was always looking toward the next task, the next step that was for the good of Arendelle. All the time he's spent with her, he could count on one hand the times he'd seen her express an emotion besides anger. What made it ironic, it was usually aimed toward him over the most abysmal affairs.

In the beginning, she was only a conquest, a brief fancy as she was the only woman who could remotely keep up with him while in the basic training phase for the Arendellian military. He tried all of his pickup lines and tricks to win her heart so he could have her way with her but absolutely nothing worked on her as she saw all of his attempts from a mile away. It wasn't that she was against it, she just found his attempts to be more annoying than anything as they always beat around the bush and took a more devious approach.

One day in a fit of anger, he outright said that she 'wouldn't be such a cold bitch if she got some good dick'. He fully expected her to lash and throw a punch but she just stared at him with her piercing eyes and asked.

"And you'd be the one to do it?"

She didn't say it in a way that mocked him but it poked at his ego for her to say it like that so he stepped to the plate and they did the deed. He had been with plenty of women until that point but with her it was…odd. He wasn't going to say it was life changing or he finally found his true love but when he was with her, he could tell that she wasn't there. Her body was there, she participated, albeit with her expression cut from stone, but it was like her heart was elsewhere. Her body was satisfied but he could tell that she wasn't.

That should've been the end to it, he got what he wanted from her so she should move on but he found himself being with her as time went on. He was there when she got plucked out of training and assigned to Duke Eren, a rare occurrence she didn't ask for, but also wasn't surprised it happened. She had walked in on him with other women as the two of them were never exclusive and only indulged each other under the right circumstances. She was also there for him when his friends froze to death, she made no attempt to comfort him, she might as well have been furniture because she was just there silent yet present.

She was an enigma.

She devoted her entire being to Arendelle, she made very little room for anything else, like a certain someone he knew. It was curious, when she told him who she truly was, he imagined that she'd have nothing but hate for this kingdom. It wasn't the land she was born in and it was part of the reason she lost her father. He thought she might have been a threat which was another reason he watched her so closely but it became painfully obvious all she did, she did for Arendelle.

"He isn't dead, Stonewell is just missing in action."

He didn't tell her what happened to the Captain. He could tell she knew there were things he was keeping secret but did not push him to reveal them. Even if she knew about Father, the Sins, and Edward, he didn't want to tell her because he didn't want to close the door on a hope he knew she had.

Grace stared at him, her eyes pierced his and she tore through the thoughts he tried to keep from her. Her facial expression didn't change but a flicker in her eyes told him enough as she laid back down and turned over exposing her bare back to him. Hector exhaled through his nose and scooted up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Tomorrow, you're going to deliver that will to Her Majesty or I will. Arendelle cannot afford you acting like a child when it comes to its security."

He was used to her biting words; he got them almost daily either from her or Stonewell. What he wasn't used to was the vulnerable look in her eyes as she curled her arms around herself in his arms. Hector knew she wouldn't cry and tomorrow she'd be the same as she always was, but for now, he could be there for her.

Hey guys hope you enjoyed the chapter, please let me know what yall think. Have a nice one.