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"Garret? That doesn't sound very… I mean it sounds like it's not from this region at all…" Anna remarked with a dumbfounded expression as they walked their way towards Arendelle.

"As am I," the name's owner explained. He immediately saw Anna's face light up and Kristoff wince. He shot the man a questioning look, only to receive an almost apologetic grimace that seemed to say one thing.

Get ready.

As fast as lightning, the Princess burst in front of him with glittering eyes, folded hands and a plethora of questions.

"Ohmygodwheredoyoucomefromisitfarisitexoticdon'ttellmeit'sFranceohmygodiloveFrancetheyhavethoselittlecroissantsthingsthey'redeliciousandalsotheysingbeautifulsongssandIhadthiscousinthat…"

Garret couldn't contain a look of surprise.

Huh, this is a new feeling. Drowning in words, he told himself.

"Uh… Your Highn…" he tentatively said louder.

"Or maybe Greece or Italy or…" Anna suddenly inhaled, her traits bright as if she had just solved a centuries-old mystery. "You're from that land of freedom or whatever? I always wanted to see it for myself… Some say they have gigantic carts without horses, but, like, how stupid is that…?"

"Uh, yeah, they're called trai—" Garret couldn't help but try, but without much surprise, she didn't even hear him.

"Carts without horses! And what is it that drives the whole thing? Wind?"

He really didn't know what to do and simply stood there until his salvation came from Kristoff. "Anna!"

She turned around with a curious frown. "What?"

"You're scaring him," Kristoff said while motioning to where she was standing.

She turned back to see a very uncomfortable looking Garret leaning away from her as she heavily invaded on his personal ground. She was perched on her toes and towering over him at that point.

"Oh," she took a few steps back and sheepishly played with her hands while casting her gaze down. "I'm sorry…"

"N…No problem…" answered a very astonished but slightly chuckling Garret while he brought himself up.

"So… where are you from?" Anna asked with a more civil demeanor as they began walking once again.

"I actually hail from the Kingdom of Britain. The Eastern part," he finally said.

"Bri'en?" Kristoff questioningly whispered as he leaned towards Anna.

"Britain. That's England," she clarified with an even lower voice. "Explains the accent."

They probably thought he hadn't heard them.

"Among other things," Garret said with just a tinge of amusement.

The couple jumped away from each other with sheepish looks. He laughed and dismissively waved his hand.

"Don't worry, I have gotten used to being notified of my particular way of talking. No offense taken."

The group then just followed their track, falling in a very awkward silence that was broken by Kristoff a few minutes later.

"Now that I think about it," he began. Garret turned his head to look at him with raised eyebrows. "I just realized. The way you fought… It was formidable. I mean, you managed to take out those bastards on your own!"

Garret brought his face back to the road. "You helped me, though…" he said, sighing as if he had been expecting such a question.

"I more or less distracted one of them. Wasn't much…"

"Yeah, Kristoff's right!" Anna added. "You just burst in and then you were like punch here punch there and they were all on the ground just in a few seconds. Pretty amazing if you ask me."

"This kind of ability is not very common…" Kristoff pensively said.

"Well, what can I say? I was always skilled in brawling… Had to protect my lunch from thugs and all…" Garret tentatively tried to explain, but his words felt hollow to his own ears.

"Nah, doesn't just come down to that…" Kristoff thought out loud while scratching his chin.

"My whole… background… has given me some special abilities, I guess…"

"Does that background explain why you're leaning more on your right leg than your left?" Anna innocently asked.

Both Garret's and Kristoff's eyes brutally widened.

"You're hurt?" Anna's companion panicked, already scolding himself for not paying enough attention.

Garret hastily brought his hands up. "No… No, I assure you. I'm fine, they didn't even graze me."

"Then what are you talking about, Anna?"

"Um… It's just that we walked through a little mud earlier, and his footprints were not evenly deep in the soil. Figured that would be it…" she said in a gradually lower voice.

Few times in his life had Garret been truly impressed by a simple observation. "That's…" he collected his thoughts. "That eye of yours is one of the keenest I've had the chance to meet. You're actually the first to notice in a long time," he said with a chuckle.

Anna lightly blushed at the praise while Kristoff obliviously raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it turns out you're right. I do rely more on my right leg…"

"And that's because of something in particular?"

Garret's face fell at her question. Being brought back to it never felt good.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to be rude," she immediately apologized.

Garret remained mute for a few seconds.

Well, she did notice. Maybe not all of it, but still...

"Don't worry about it… It was a requirement of my previous job…"

"Oh…" Anna didn't know if she was fine with him answering. His expression was one of sad nostalgia.

"What job asks of you to hurt your own leg?"

Anna turned around. This time it had been Kristoff's turn to speak.

"I never said I hurt it myself."

"What do you mean?"

"The army," she responded in Garret's stead.

He knew his face was wearing a shaky smile. He readjusted his cloak over his shoulders and brought his expression back in check. "Exactly."

Another silence and a tense atmosphere ensued. Sensing that it was mainly because of him, Garret tried to lighten the mood. "So… You said you were the First Princess. Is your father the king?"

"Oh no," Anna answered with a knowing but small smile. "Arendelle's ruler is a queen. I am her sister."

Garret was mildly surprised but eventually just nodded in understanding.

"You don't know much about our country do you?" Kristoff remarked.

"To be fair, I spend a lot of time on the road and don't really seem to get my mind around the fact that knowing a few things about where I am is probably for the best. And that's when I know where I am. I still have to work on that…"

"Feel free to ask anything you want," Anna suggested.

"Since you so kindly offer, while we're at it, what can you tell me about the queen?"

"Well, she's a bit young so she still has to appropriately get the hang of a few things, but most people in the kingdom agree to say that she's doing marvelously well."

"Oh, age is not the most important factor in wisdom for royalty you know. If she's just as cunning as you, I'm sure she'll do fine. Our queen is very young compared to her father when he had begun to rule, but she's a lot better at it than he was. Besides you have to define young… You said that she was your sister, so she couldn't be that much older than you. I'm guessing you're around twenty, so what does that make her? Thirty-five, forty at most?"

Anna snorted while Kristoff smirked.

"That's around it, yeah," the latter sarcastically said. Anna playfully jabbed his shoulder while she giggled.

Garret raised an eyebrow with a little amused smile. "What, is she thirty? Doesn't change much…"

"She's twenty-two, Garret," Anna clarified.

Surprise replaced amusement on his face. "What? But that's… It's…"

"I did say that she was young…"

"Yeah you said young but… Twenty-two?" Garret tried to accentuate his point. "Accomplished rulers of that age are very rare!"

"She does her best…" Anna fondly added.

Garret whistled out of admiration.

That young… Her parents must have prepared her early.

He then realized something and addressed Anna in a less than joyous tone. "But that means that your parents…?"

Anna and Kristoff's traits visibly saddened.

"Gone. A long time ago," the princess almost whispered.

Way to lighten the mood, genius.

"I'm sorry," Garret simply stated, his expression now one of sincere sympathy. He could empathize with that. It wasn't easy.

"Thank you," she responded with a grateful smile. She then immediately proceeded to regain her enthusiasm. "Anyway, back to Elsa!"

"Elsa?"

"My sister. That's her name."

"Oh. Understood."

"She's very protective of our people; she cares for everyone and you'd be surprised to see how much. Then there's, of course, her special condition…" she teased with a smirk.

"Special condition?"

"Well, she is nicknamed the Snow Queen…"

Her smile grew even bigger when she saw his eyes slightly narrow.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't realized that she was that type of person…"

"Oh no, silly you," she giggled. "Elsa has special powers. Ice magic or something like that. She can create and control snow and ice at will."

She certainly caught through her proud grin how Garret's eyes widened or how he lightly swayed at her statement. What she was mistaken about, however, was the cause of such a stunned look.

ATCHUUUU

"Bless you, your Majesty," Kai said.

Elsa wiped her nose with a handkerchief that immediately dissolved as soon as it left her hand. "Thank you."

Upon seeing his queen tiredly explore the pages of a dusty law book, the butler expressed his worries once again. "Your Majesty, I deem it wise to consider giving yourself one or two more days to fully recover from this cold you're suffering," he insisted.

Elsa sighed. "I really appreciate your concern, Kai, but I really need to get this done as soon as possible. Besides I'm already feeling well. It just tickles a little now and then."

Ever since she felt ill on Anna's birthday a dozen days before, Elsa hadn't been able to concentrate much on her tasks. And her sister pinning her to her bed for almost a week had made it incredibly hard for her to tackle some urgent matters.

As soon as she felt that she would be able to walk out of her room without summoning an entire army of little snowbabies, she had rushed-as in walked very awkwardly-to her working place. She had promised herself to go over all the laws that guided the kingdom's life for the last centuries and had been horrified with some of the most ancient examples, swearing to abrogate them hastily. They weren't applied anymore, but a bit of solemnity never hurt anyone. The prospect of making her people as content as possible was a drive that she couldn't contain, and she wouldn't risk a single mistreatment.

The castle's library, her makeshift office, was also something that kept her duty as important as it was for her. In her younger days, she would always enter the immense gallery as soon as she could, and just stay there, going through several books in a few hours, reading adventure novels, learning new languages, checking on the world's state. It had been a shelter for her during the many years of complete solitude she went through, and thus constantly reminded her of how just the tiniest anchor could make a difference between order and chaos. She wanted to be a beacon to her people as much as Anna and the library had been for her.

Elsa smiled fondly at the memory of a few precious stories she had read in the room–the German fairy tales and the Arthurian legend had been her favorites-snapping back her attention to the many scrolls and volumes before her with a sigh.

She then heard a light cough and noticed that Kai was still standing beside her.

"Oh, excuse me, I completely forgot to answer," she hurriedly said while straightening her position on her seat. "Yes, yes, of course, the castle will be open at the celebration. Everyone is welcome. Anna wouldn't have it any other way at all," she said with a quiet chuckle.

The castle's celebrations had become a tradition at that point. Every small festival was an occasion in which the whole town gathered in the palace's outer court and Elsa gave a speech, often punctuated by Anna launching a few rounds of applause, much to her sister's dismay.

"We'll have a normal reception scheme. I'm thinking around five hundred plates. You can add more if you feel the need arises. Two main courses, one or two fruit baskets per table, and of course as much chocolate as possible, thank you."

Kai lightly bowed. "Very well, Your Majesty."

Elsa smiled at the retreating silhouette of the royal butler before bringing her eyes back to her desk.

A few hours later, she stretched with a tired yawn, lifting her groggy eyes to the window before her while she rested her cheek on her palm. Anna had said that she wouldn't come back too late and it was now well past sunset. While her sister had already been away from home for much longer time periods, Elsa couldn't help but slightly worry, even though she knew Kristoff was with her. She probably should ask if she was back.

I'm done working for the day anyway.

Elsa exited the gigantic library, only to run into the castle's security advisor, who formally bowed as soon as they reached each other.

"Honor to you, Your Majesty," he saluted.

"Sir Jürden," she greeted back with her hands clasped before her and a slight tilt of her head. "I was just coming to see you."

"The same could be said for me, excellency. I wanted to request a quick audience," he said.

"I am listening."

"I am here for two things. First, I figured you would like to be notified that Princess Anna and Sir Kristoff have been spotted approaching the city..."

Elsa visibly relaxed.

Wonderful.

"…and that they are accompanied by an unidentified man."

She tensed right back up. "Is... that concerning?"

"Not at the moment, they just seem to walk together. But I wouldn't advise against a little suspicion."

"Right. You said you had something else to tell me?"

"Yes, Milady. I know that you value your people the most, but we cannot completely disregard your own safety. I have personally made a selection of the city's finest officers…"

He interrupted himself when he saw Elsa lift her hand.

"If this is about the personal guard, you can save yourself the effort. I already told the Captain that I don't need it."

"With all due respect, Milady…"

"I am fully capable of defending myself."

"I am aware of that fact. However, for a person of your importance, not having a personal escort can be seen as a weakness by other countries. Especially when considering some aspects…"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "What aspects?"

The poor man gulped under her calm stare.

"Your Majesty, I pray that I will not appear as rude as I think I will, but the fact that you are… a woman… has a lot to do with the opinion other kingdoms have of you. And in situations that will not allow you to use your powers, a personal guard would certainly be an asset for… appearances, at least."

He brought his eyes to meet hers and wasn't even surprised to find a cold gaze fixated on him. "I hope you understand that this is absolutely not my own opinion. You know how highly I think of you. However, until they realize how misguided they are, we cannot ignore the fact that foreigners do not think like us…"

"I know, Sir Jürden."

He bowed again, this time out of sadness. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

Elsa sighed.

He wasn't the most tactful about it, but he sees the hard truth.

"I'll… I'll give it a thought. But I'm not making any promises. You are dismissed."

"Very well. Thank you, Milady."

As the man walked away, Elsa tiredly massaged her temples.

"Your Majesty? Princess Anna is back," one the maids announced.

"I'm coming," Elsa answered.

Garret had been strangely quiet for what remained of the trip but was completely baffled by the city's picturesque charm once they reached it. The small town was buzzing with activity even at that quite late hour, with people going out admiring the stars and the aurora that was forecast for the night. A few children ran past the walking trio as they entered the main street.

"I am a frost dragon, my breath should have frozen you!"

"It'd have to get past my legendary sword!" they heard them shout enthusiastically.

"You didn't tell me it was going to be this…" Garret began in a low voice.

"Loud?"

"… Lively. I was going to say lively."

"I guess we forgot," Anna happily chirped.

They quickly traversed the town and eventually reached the castle. Garret was getting a little too nervous for his own comfort. He stuck his hands in his pockets to hide their itchy shaking.

As soon as they passed the gates, Anna broke into a full sprint towards the building's main doors, jumping in the arms of a very pale but stunningly beautiful platinum-blonde woman that had just exited its hall. Garret stopped in his tracks when he caught her name.

"Oh Elsa, you can't imagine how happy I am to see you!" Anna almost cried, burying her face in her sister's hair.

"And I, you, Anna," the latter replied, slightly surprised but evidently not bothered at all by the sudden display of affection.

"You won't believe what happened today!" the sprightly princess said as she stepped back, keeping her hands on Elsa's shoulders.

The queen-because apparently that was her-covered her mouth and lightly laughed. "What happened today?"

"Kristoff and I almost got kidnapped!" Anna finally said with a tone that was absolutely not matching the nature of the news she was breaking to her sister.

"Oh, real—wait, what?"

"Yeah, we were just coming back from your castle and then there were these creepy guys with no teeth and they tied us to a tree and they talked about selling Kristoff and me and we were like OhMyGod how do we get out of this…"

Anna was interrupted by her sister's panicked look. "Are you being serious?"

"Well, yeah," she said with an almost dismissive shrug.

"How did you…"

"It's thanks to Mister Hero just right there," Anna excitedly pointed towards where Garret was shifting awkwardly on his spot next to Kristoff, just down the stairs. "He kicked their butts and rescued us."

"He saved you?" Elsa asked in a low voice. Her sister nodded and was almost immediately brought into a fierce hug by the queen.

Elsa's eyes, at first disbelievingly wide, slowly began to water, and the temperature ever so slightly dropped around her. Garret wavered.

Anna hadn't been joking.

"I almost lost you…" she whimpered.

"But everything's okay now, sis'," Anna soothed.

"And what about the kidnappers?"

"They're all unconscious, tied to a tree. He took their weapons and assured that they would be out cold for a few days without exterior care," Anna answered. "We can send some guys to collect them as soon as you want."

The two broke apart a few moments later. Elsa then quickly checked up on Kristoff, enveloping him too in a much quicker but still relieved hug, before turning her attention to the mysterious stranger.

Garret was avoiding her direct gaze as much as possible but relaxed when he saw that she was giving him the warmest smile he had ever seen. She slowly walked until she was just two feet away from him and very regally bowed.

"I cannot thank you enough for the service you've done for my family and for my kingdom. Your deed will not be forgotten, I assure you of it, Sir…"

"Garret, Your Majesty."

The queen's eyes lit up in the same fashion her sister's did a few hours before, her mouth imperceptibly contorting into a small excited grin. "Oh, you're British, aren't you?"

The man was now more impressed than intimidated. This far from his homeland, few people ever pinpointed his origin.

"I am."

"Well, Sir Garret, in order for me to express my deepest gratitude, I will give you whatever you wish for. Name your reward, and it shall be yours," Elsa stated proudly.

Garret was finding it increasingly harder to focus. Her big glittering navy-blue eyes not leaving his were certainly not helping. He shook his head and lifted his hands.

"Milady, it is an honor. But I already told your sister that I don't ask for a reward. I wouldn't consider myself human if I didn't help someone in such a delicate situation. I simply did what I had to do."

He almost took his sentence back when he saw the queen's face slightly fall in disappointment.

"Don't belittle yourself, buddy," Kristoff said with a knowing grin. "You deserve at least a little something."

"I assure you, I am fine."

"You know what?" Anna barged into the conversation. "I think he's not going to hear anything of it for now. So, Garret, I suggest that you stay here for the next few days; you could attend the Summer celebration with us while we think of something?"

Elsa happily clasped her hands. "That is actually a wonderful idea. What do you say, Sir Garret?"

"I… Uh…"

Damn those eyes.

"I'll… consider the offer. But please Milady, just call me Garret."

"Very well, Garret. Of course, we would be happy to provide you with the necessary accommodation," Elsa added as she pointed towards the palace.

Not a good idea to stay that close for too long, he thought as he tried to dig his fists further into his pockets as much as he could. He was feeling much more comfortable around her than when he was introduced, but the itchy sensation in his hands was becoming more and more noticeable. The last thing he wanted was for steam to leak out of his pocket.

"Oh, that's very kind of you, but I think I'll just take a room at the inn. I don't want to intrude."

Anna pouted. "You sure about that?"

"Don't worry princess, I promise to come as soon as I can."

"Or I can come to fetch you! I'll show you around," she squeaked.

Kristoff smirked. "She's gonna do it, you know."

"Well, it's not like she is going to take no for an answer?" Garret said with a small smile.

"No. No, she won't."

The men laughed when they felt Anna's tiny hands angrily slap their shoulders. Garret then quickly bid his farewell and walked towards the castle's gates.

Elsa's gaze followed the retreating man until he disappeared while Anna and Kristoff entered the main hall.

He had seemed very kind at first, but she had started to feel a very strange sensation when staring into his eyes. She brought her palms up and sighed.

The last time her fingers had started emitting steam on their own had been a long time ago. But then again, that day was the first real emotional rush she had had in a year.

She finally shook her head and joined the couple inside, dissolving the forming mist as she walked.

Garret let himself fall with a grunt on a chair in the middle of the room he had rented. That day was the first time he had fought in a while, but he had managed to keep everything under control without much problem. However, his mind was occupied with other thoughts.

They didn't lie. We're at least two. And she's just a walk away from here.

As much as discovering that she had powers was a slap to the face, the fact that she didn't seem bothered by them was what really intrigued him.

He didn't know whether he wanted to tell her or not. She was the first he had ever met. And if she had reacted the same as himself, she was probably also aware that something was off.

The man took his left hand out of his pocket and examined the tiny ice crystals protruding from its back.

Suppressing them was going to be a lot more complicated with her around.

AN: Thanks for reading! This one is just a follow-up to the previous chapter (well, duh) in terms of exposition. We should get down to business in the next one.

Please consider reviewing to point out anything you think I should look into, be it positive or negative! Thanks in advance!

Also, about the title, I realized that a Destiny Rifle was named just like that... Yay.

Just so that it's clear, it comes from Tolstoy, a quote that is pretty easy to find. So... yeah.