Arendelle

There was a light. Not any light. One that came from within. A pulsating spark that grew and grew and grew.

Tears as well. Why? Why tears?

She lifted her eyes. Anna was there. She was hunched forward, just like she did when she'd eaten too much. But there was something wrong. She called for her.

Her sister gave her a strained and contrived smile. There was blood flowing out of her mouth. She was holding her chest tight. What was wrong?

She soon understood. There was an icicle piercing her heart. Her icicle.

Elsa jolted awake, her eyes wide. The steady dripping of water from the cavern's walls above her, the loud beating in her ears, and her quickened breaths were the only sounds she could hear.

Another one of those dreams.

They had been very frequent during the times just after the Great Thaw, but she still had them on rare occasions lately. Fortunately, this one hadn't been the most vivid. Stress, probably.

She slowly massaged her eyelids.

Alright, Elsa. Don't let it get to you.

The visions were but figments of her imagination. Anna was alive and well. She couldn't let her own mind play games on her at such a crucial moment.

Elsa's hand fell to her lap; her breathing had gone back to its usual rhythm.

She called for her ice, and to her joy, a few snowflakes appeared on her palm. She threw her hands to her sides and let the familiar surge power through her arms. The snow danced and spiraled and rejoiced with her, as if happy to retrieve an old friend.

Welcome back, Elsa thought with a smile, the snowflakes dissipating away with a pitch that resembled a giggle.

The day was already well underway according to the flow of light that streamed inside and dully shone off the pebbles scattered on the ground. The fire not far from her had been extinguished for a long time, leaving only ash and dust in its wake. Her eyes swept the makeshift shelter Garret had found the day before and she realized that he was nowhere to be seen. She didn't want to panic, but her rising heart rate was indicating otherwise. There was a rustling just outside that overlapped with the echo of the wind crashing against the stone walls inside the cave.

"Garret?" she called, her voice hesitant.

The strange sound stopped immediately. Garret's head popped out of the right side of the entrance to the cavern, his gaze curious. Elsa brought a hand over her chest and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh! Good morning, Your Majesty," he greeted as he dusted his hands, coming into full view with a quick step to bow as awkwardly as he ever did. "Hope you slept well."

"Hello," Elsa responded. "I…did. Thank you. Although I thought you would have woken me earlier. How long have you been up?"

He lifted an eyebrow but eventually shrugged it off. He shot his gaze to the sky, seemingly looking for the sun for a few instants. "It's only around 10 o'clock, so I've been up for…threeish hours? I figured you'd like to sleep a bit. You needed the rest. There are some berries and apples in the bowl next to you. We can discuss what to do after you fill that belly?"

Elsa nodded. She devoured her breakfast in no time—she had been hungrier than ever before—and came outside to sit next to a busy Garret.

"Thank you for the meal," she said with a smile when she reached him.

"You're welcome," he answered.

He put down what he had been working on until then: a frozen arrow, similar in shape and form to the first he had shown her, yet purer, less clouded and thorny. There was an entire pile of them, neatly arranged in a perfect alignment she found surprisingly satisfying—she could even guess the relative progress between his first and last attempt just from the gradient of color. On their right were a quiver and his longbow, whose crystal-clear ice allowed her to see for the first time the different pulleys that gave it its bending properties.

"You've improved!" she realized aloud, gingerly picking up the latest of his creations to examine it with a closer eye. "This is even more solid than what you showed me yesterday!"

"Thanks," he muttered, his face flushed in embarrassment but still beaming with a proud rejuvenating smile. He looked so much like a happy child Elsa couldn't repress a small grin from curling up her own lips. "I figured actually trying after your advice would do no harm."

"The joints, the crystals; everything is stronger. It does seem to work just fine."

"Yes, it does."

"Why are you stockpiling them now, though? Can't you cast them on the spot?"

"I can, but it takes time. I'd rather have a stack to pick from if I don't have the choice. We're going to need a lot of them. We're assaulting an entire castle," he said, falling back on a more serious tone. "And about that, the first thing I can say is that we have to get inside as soon as we can. I suggest we find an elevated point. I need to study Arendelle's layout to figure out something to do. You wouldn't know of such a place now, would you?"

Elsa gave it a few seconds of thought. Her first trip to the North Mountain so long ago had taken her to somewhere she had drunk in the sight of her home for what she thought would be the last time.

"I think I know somewhere."

Garret laughed with a roll of his eyes. "Of course, you do," he said as he stood and flicked his bow over his shoulder. "What are we waiting for, then?"

The trip was calm, but the pair nonetheless remained vigilant, watching over each other's backs and scanning their surroundings with every step they took side by side. Garret had nocked an arrow on his bow, ready to fire at anything he found suspect. Elsa was tense, her hands cocked and charged with magic—just in case.

The complete quiet around her was driving her crazy. She tried to damp down the shaking in her legs, in her arms. She liked the comfortable silences she had shared with Garret on less risky situations but remembering Anna's ramblings on a whim made her crave a conversation, of all things.

To keep her mind off her own trembling, she took some time to think over her exchange with Garret the previous night. She was beyond happy that he had chosen to share his burden with her, that he had opened up fully: she had once again helped him. And, if she was to be honest with herself, it also felt good to talk about what she had done, and to see him accept her mistake too. There was however one aspect that he hadn't mentioned and that felt as important as the others to her.

"You didn't tell me what happened to your father, yesterday," she murmured, her words going out faster than her thoughts could contain them.

He turned around to face her with an eyebrow arched. "Now?" he whispered back.

She felt sheepish for letting her thoughts escape out, but the anxiousness was still nagging at the back of her head. "It's just—it was so silent…"

Garret sighed, letting his shoulders slightly slump down. He observed her for a second, seemingly realizing how nervous she was. "Yeah, conversation can help us stay focused. We just have to keep it down, okay?" She eagerly nodded and he brought his eyes back ahead. "He's still alive for all I know if that's what you're wondering about. I haven't seen him ever since I left. I didn't mention him that much because—" He stopped for a moment, throwing a quick look to the trees around. "—because last time we spoke wasn't the merriest of my memories with him. The circumstances were…It was just after my mother was…you know. He was angry, I was lost…We both said things we shouldn't have. Hurtful things."

"Hurtful things?"

"That's a tame way to put it. He lashed at me for basically everything. And I pretty much did the same."

Elsa knew too well the power of words spat in anger. Her own had triggered the gigantic catastrophe her kingdom had suffered a year ago. She pushed the thought away.

"You don't look like you meant them. I'm sure he didn't either."

He gave her a smile, but he had gone back to his tired-looking façade. "It's hard to find people as optimistic as you are, excellency."

"Optimism is in short supply. I try to learn from my sister to always try to seek the positive in every possible situation...I don't always remember to, mind you."

"I see. Noble outlook on life, I must say. Anna and you do seem to form quite the pair. Except for dancing maybe…"

Elsa's face flushed. "Oh, yes. She always has this idea that she has to teach me to dance…"

"You don't know how to?" Garret asked in dumbfounded confusion.

"Oh, I do. I just don't want to," Elsa replied with a shrug.

"Huh. Don't like eyes on you?"

"That…is a part of it."

"Understandable."

Elsa's eyes narrowed. "That's it? No more questions? People usually inquire further."

"Nah. I can see you're not very excited to talk about it. Bet you looked good during practice, though," he said with a broad smile she returned immediately. She was fond of the little attentions Garret dropped here and there whenever they talked—they were always thoughtful and warmed her heart. "But now that you asked about my family, do I get to ask about yours?"

"Depends on what you ask."

Garret took a quick inspiration. "When we talked about my time in the army, it seemed to irk you that my father drew my path for me. Do you…Do you resent yours? Father, I mean. Not path."

Elsa had anticipated something like that. It was a question she'd asked herself on many occasions. But each time her answer was the same.

"He did a mistake too, but I couldn't resent him. Nobody can be prepared to have their child be like me. He loved me with all his being, I know that. Though he didn't always show it…"

"Most fathers do not. I like to think it's to keep their sleeping intact."

Elsa lightly laughed. "Maybe. But everything he did—everything they both did—they did it to protect Anna and me. I only wish I'd been more vocal myself. I'd give anything to have him know how much I love him," she said as she played with her fingers.

"I have a feeling he knew," Garret said after a quick pause. He was smiling, his gaze cast to the ground.

"I can only hope. Sometimes I think of them when I summon my ice. The idea that they're so far away now…"

Elsa sighed. Ever since Anna's accident and up until they passed away, her relationship with her parents had always been strained. Not conflictual nor animose, but stiff nonetheless. One more regret that was buried at sea with them.

She threw a glance at the forest around and realized that they had almost reached their destination when she caught the sight of the opposing bank of the fjord.

"We're here," she notified as she straightened her back.

The panorama was as magnificent as she remembered it and somewhat raised her spirits. The fresh whiff of the western sea rippled through her platinum locks and the crisp marine puff filled her lungs. Arendelle lay and sprawled in the fjord below like it had stood for as long as time went back, beautiful as it had always been. The castle marked its center, its spire flying high.

"The kingdom looks incredible from up here," Garret mused, voicing her thoughts.

Elsa heaved a longing sigh but quickly jumped at the occasion to tease him—an activity she was starting to find very entertaining. "Does that mean it looks horrendous from ground-level?"

Garret tensed up in a way that almost made her burst out laughing on the spot. However, as soon as he peeked at her playful air, he sealed his eyelids in comprehension. "Why do I have to say things out loud?"

"You almost took me seriously," Elsa said with a quick giggle as her hand unconsciously lifted to her mouth.

"The contrary would have been a bit more embarrassing. For someone so noble, you do seem to enjoy teasing a whole lot, excellency."

Elsa brought her hand down. "Just the people who make the best faces."

Garret chuckled and kneeled to the ground. He lifted a pensive hand to his chin as he examined every single inch of the terrain below them, muttering one or two undecipherable syllables now and then.

After five minutes of—almost—silent rumination, he smacked his knees, stood upright, and put his hands on his hips. "Now, for our window…"

Elsa narrowed her eyes. Which conclusion had he reached to voice such a question? She tried to understand his reasoning by following where his eyes had rested. She slowly crouched down and examined Arendelle's main avenue—too obvious, it would be guarded—the former and current ports—too difficult because of the water, and probably guarded— and the entrance to the barracks—guarded, too. She was no expert but if he was looking for a window of opportunity, all accesses were pretty much the same. And all looked dangerous.

The slope of the cliff was steep and open, she couldn't even understand how they would walk it down without being seen.

What is he—Oh, no.

She suddenly realized why he had said that word. He was looking for an actual window. She faced him, her heart pounding and her eyes wide.

"Garret?" she called.

"Hmm?" he answered, briefly interrupting his intense session of brainstorming.

"No."

"Oh." The small apologetic grin that appeared on his face was not a good sign. He nodded quickly. "Yes."

"Garret, no."

"Garret, yes."

"No!"

"I'm afraid it's yes," he insisted with a small wince.

Elsa let her gaze go to her kingdom once again. "Is it?"

His eyebrow rose in begrudging acknowledgment with a light cocking of his head. "Yes…"

"Is there any other way?" she asked, her tone a mix of hopefulness and fearfulness.

"We have to go inside the castle without them seeing us coming. We can't sneak in, nor brute force in. The only way is to go in so fast they just can't catch us. We happen to have ourselves a nice downhill slide…" he explained as he vaguely mimicked the slope, his voice uncertain. "We're literally blasting inside like a cannonball. It'll be fun! Hopefully."

Elsa closed her eyes. "I can't believe we're about to do this."

"Neither can I. This is probably the craziest idea I've ever had."

"That's not very reassuring…"

"Here's how we'd go about it." Garret pointed with his finger. "I had that window in the east wing in mind. Is it something important, somewhere they would keep someone in?"

Elsa squinted her eyes. "That's my room. Would they have someone there?"

Garret chortled. "Oh, they would. What about the one just on its right, one level down?"

"I believe that's the library."

"That'll do. So, here's what I'm thinking. We…slide in. Do you know how to skate?"

"Everyone in Arendelle does."

"Great. So, I say we form a kind of toboggan. We can create a sheet of ice under our feet and a ramp at the very end."

"I—I can handle those. I just have to figure out which angle to give the ramp…"

Garret smiled. "Darn right, you can. I'll handle opening the window and the whole not-dying-on-the-way aspect of things. Once we're inside, we look for your family. Roger will probably be near them; we aim for him. We get him, and his men will either surrender or flee. Say what you want about him, but he's as smart as he is brutal. His lieutenant is also someone we should pay attention to—he's less sharp but more ruthless. We'll have to be ready for anything. I'll try to form a frontline; you stay behind and can intervene, but you protect yourself first and foremost. Don't hesitate to use your magic but be careful not to tire yourself too quickly. I'm not very aware of your limits, so we should conserve our strength."

Elsa quickly blinked. "You really have the oddest talent for plan exposition."

"Can't be bloody daft all the time, can I?"

"You're not daft!" she chastised.

He simply laughed. "Just a quip, majesty."

Elsa took a few breaths while eyeing for one last time the town that now appeared a lot farther down than it did a few moments ago. Her arms curled around her body once again. "Can I…have a minute to come to terms with all this?"

"Majesty," Garret called her eyes to him with a caring tone. "You take that minute, we don't jump." He then extended an open palm while giving her the widest smile she'd ever seen on his face. "Do you trust me?"

His tone, his expression, his hand—everything about him was oozing a feeling of security, a sense of protection that radiated around his body like an aura. She didn't know exactly why, but something inside her told her that everything would turn out okay. That she didn't need to worry as much. Grand Pabbie's words of warning rang in her head, but this time they rang hollow.

Did she trust him?

"Yes, I do," she answered with a sincere smile. Her hand came to meet his in a gentle, careful movement; she didn't have to fight the idea of contact this time. He guided her up in one easy motion.

"Thank you," he said. He proceeded to unsling his bow from his back and bent forward. "Let's go. Hop on."

Wait, what?

"What does that mean?" Elsa asked with unhidden bewilderment.

"Climb on my back. Just…keep the more sensitive parts in mind, please."

"Why would I climb on your back? Weren't we going to skate all the way?"

"It just occurred to me that a heavier body would go faster…"

Elsa was going to object, but his argument made too much sense for her to do so.

He's not wrong…

Garret shrugged. "I would've suggested lifting you in my arms, but I need them to shoot the window open."

"That…is a fair point," she admitted, and he smiled gratefully. She took long breaths to calm herself. They were indeed short on options and time.

"Put your left foot here, your right foot around here, and grab my shoulders," Garret explained, giving a quick tap on each of his body parts to make it clearer.

She followed his instructions to the letter while paying attention not to gore him with her heels, though her clumsy fumbling made her wonder if she could have been more awkward about it. She tried to ignore the shaking that invaded her limbs and instead focused on how strange his back felt against her. Were all men's backs this…uneven? And hard?

After a few 'Ows' and 'Ouches', she settled in place. Her legs were wrapped around his hips in an almost clownish way, and her arms had trouble circling his shoulders' full width.

"This is not a comfortable position."

"I know, excellency. It'll be over soon." His voice was calm, but she discerned a tinge of mischief that made her swell her cheeks in pouting.

"You're enjoying this, aren—Ah!" Elsa yelped.

Interrupting her sentence, Garret stood to his full height and hoisted her up a bit too quickly for her taste.

"Sorry about that," he said, his tone sincere. "But, uh, majesty—" Garret turned his head to face her. Her hands had darted in reflex to the first thing they had found to keep her on her temporary perch, and they were now covering his eyes completely. "—I don't think I'll be able to aim like this," he added with a suppressed laugh.

"Oh," she said with a nervous chuckle. She cleared his field of view and shuffled back to her position. "I apologize as well."

The pair then took one long and simultaneous breath, their gaze facing Arendelle.

"You ready?" Garret asked, cocking his bow between his hands.

"As much as I can be," she answered as she tightened her shaky grasp around him a bit further.

"Hang tight!" he thundered, his feet powering an almost scary dart forward.

He sprinted relentlessly, every one of his steps detonating against the ground as he went, sending vibrations through her spine. He didn't even slow down before the gigantic crevasse they were going to jump over. Though she already had had the experience of falling off immense heights before, the sensation of her entire entrails coming up to greet her wasn't going to be the most pleasant. She braced herself and at the last possible moment, he propelled their two bodies into the air. Elsa's eyes closed as her heart bounced up to her throat and the wind's howl swooshed and crashed against her. Time seemed to freeze when they reached the apex of their curve, floating into the skies.

"Majestyyyyyy?!" Garret called, anxiousness starting to seep into his voice when gravity started to do her work and pull them down where they belonged.

Oh!

Her eyelids popped open and she yanked her right hand toward the ground in a panicked trance, the glittering of her magic appearing under them just in time for them to land with a reverberating rumble on a sheet of slippery ice that grew as fast as they went.

"Yeah!" Garret shouted enthusiastically as he jerked his torso forward.

The trees passed in an undefined blur around Elsa while the wind screamed in her ear. They narrowly evaded vague silhouettes on their way—were they houses? Rocks? Other trees? They passed one, then six, then she lost the count. Her eyes couldn't process anything that showed up in front of her before it became a distant afterimage that was now far behind by the time it had reached her brain. She couldn't fathom how Garret could see anything—let alone dodge everything. Her hair fluttered against her back with each turn, mirroring the furious flapping of her dress. Her kingdom grew with every second, filling more and more of the space in front of them.

She held onto his body as tightly as her now sore fingers allowed, clamping his shoulder so hard she wondered how it wasn't breaking. Her eyes remained open the entire way, the air that blasted against them drawing the tears it created away from her face.

But she was not scared. She didn't know why, but she wasn't scared. Her heart raced as fast as she traversed the hill's slope, but she wasn't scared. Her legs shook, trembled and quivered but she wasn't scared. The ends of fingers in her left hand were probably white from how much she was squeezing them against Garret's torso, but she wasn't scared.

Had she not been completely stunned into silence by her stupefaction, she would have been crying her lungs out in exhilaration. Garret was a bit more vocal about his own excitement, letting out some shouts along the way. She didn't have the luxury of savoring the moment, however: the end of their slide was quickly approaching.

"Our launching thingy, majesty!" he eventually roared over the wind.

Quickly going over the rapid calculations she had made just before their jump, she visualized what they needed and projected her creation as precisely as she could. The transition from the smooth surface to the inclined ramp drew a gasp out of her from the brutal change in acceleration, and soon enough they were flying under the zenith sun once more.

Garret's body shifted and she felt his back's muscles clench even harder against her as he drew on his bow. The arrow flew and hit its mark just above the lock, the windows to the library slamming open from its power. He immediately took her hand away from him and spun around to bring his arms around her while facing away from the castle. Elsa summoned a cushioned blanket of snow on their landing zone and braced for the impact.

They touched ground with force, and Garret let out a few grunts. They progressively slowed down thanks to the cold mattress under them, but they had almost reached the library's door by the time the snow that gradually accumulated behind his back had stopped them completely. It had done a marvelous job amortizing their touchdown.

Elsa lifted her head away from the immaculate powder and shook it off her hair. Garret's face emerged from under her almost immediately, but he had evidently let some of it enter his mouth. He coughed the gleaming snow away and their gazes crossed. For a second there, they stared into each other's eyes without a word as they heavily panted. They then—in a surprisingly simultaneous burst—exploded into heartfelt laughter they immediately tried to restrain.

Garret threw his arms up and his head back with a victorious grin while Elsa let her forehead rest on his chest in relief as the chuckles rose and died down.

"We did it! I have no idea how, but we did it," he uttered as if he was still not realizing it. "If someone ever told me I'd one day get to stick a tactical landing between two library shelves, I think I would have asked for a day off."

Elsa threw a glance at the aisles around her. "Between 'Peace Treaties' and 'Arendellian Fauna and Flora', no less," she said.

"Only makes it better," he added with another laugh. Garret then brought his eyes to meet hers once more and lifted an open palm. "Well done, majesty."

She eagerly grinned and delicately gave a small tap on his hand with hers. "Well done, Garret."

They took a few moments to catch their breaths, not leaving one another's gaze. Elsa was lost for a bit in the moment and in the green that burned as bright as the sun's rays outside—she could also swear there was a streak of blue that pulsed in his irises—her hand refusing to move from where it had come to rest just above his heart. She was however brought back to the pressing matter of winning back her kingdom.

"We have to find Anna!" she said a bit too quickly, reminding him and herself at the same time. She stood up, dusted her robe, and dissolved the snow, extending a helping hand toward Garret which he gladly accepted.

The latter's strange gaze—it almost seemed disturbed—hardened as soon as he was on his feet. "That's right, we have to move. They're probably coming here as we speak if they heard us. Do you have any idea where they'd be keeping her?"

"I would suggest her roo—"

Her answer was interrupted by a blast cracking around the castle. A gunshot?

"What's that?" she asked in dismay. "It came from the courtyard…"

"Probably not good news," Garret answered simply, his air grave. "God-freaking-dammit. Let's get out of here."

He opened the library's door as stealthily as he could, Elsa closely following in his steps. She suppressed a small shout when he reeled his head back in one brutal movement.

"There's three of them in the corridor just outside on both sides, and they're coming here fast," he announced. "No gun in sight, but stay behind me." She nodded in acknowledgment, gulping nervously. "Just like yesterday," he added, his voice softer.

He then darted outwards, the three henchmen's surprised gasps echoing immediately. The sounds of clanging steel and strained grunts followed closely, and Elsa mustered all her courage to step out.

The first streak of brown and silver came from the left. Garret blocked the dagger blow aimed at her with the icy frame of his bow and pivoted, sending the weapon away from its owner's hands. The other two rushed in toward Garret. Elsa reflexively brought her hands up and formed a crystal sheet where their feet were going to land. The light tripping was enough to send both off course and gave enough time to Garret to smash the first's guts with two fast punches. He then dodged a left slash and countered with a swing of his bow that seemingly cracked a bone.

Unfortunately, the third mercenary had recovered and struck his back; Garret let out a pained groan. He drove his elbow into his adversary's chest and jumped away, breathless.

Meanwhile, the other two had focused their attention on Elsa after catching their breaths, slowly getting closer to her with malicious grins that made her insides turn. She took a step back, prepared to channel her ice at them—they, however, had to plunge to evade the frozen arrows that struck the walls beside them.

Garret dashed at her side and checked on her, his expression constrained by dolor, while the three mercenaries stood back to their feet. One of them threw a dagger to their now weaponless companion and unsheathed his sword.

Garret slid three arrows out of his quiver on his hip and stepped in front of her. "Here goes nothing."

Elsa's mind went back to Garret's words. Be careful not to tire myself? He had said that, yet he was the one already breathless. Did he even care about whether he lived or died?

The henchmen jumped at the same time with feral cries. Garret held his breath and pulled on his bow. Elsa closed her eyes and jerked her hands forward.

Silence was what she heard. She wasn't in pain, she wasn't hurt. She let her eyes flutter open and uttered a gasp. The mercenaries were stuck in the air, frozen in place by columns of her ice that reached up to their necks.

Garret eased the tension on the string and whistled lightly, clearly impressed. "Might I suggest…starting with this one next time?" he said with a small strained laugh and a cocked eyebrow.

"I'll…I'll try to keep that in mind," she responded. She wanted to scold him. He was being reckless. But this wasn't the time.

"Are you alright?"

"I believe I am. And you?"

"I'm standing. Let's go."

The night had been long. Anna usually never had trouble falling into Morpheus' arms—Kristoff always said she crushed that puny god with her full weight every single time—but the band of crazed witch-hunters that roamed around her castle was not really going to put her mind at ease.

The curtains were closed shut, yet the still slumbering fjord's bright light that traversed the thin layer of cloth was overwhelming the simple flicker of the red-topped candle that burned in the corner of her room, the traces of dust inside materializing its beams like a myriad of celestial strings.

She paced in front of her window, barely containing her angered growls. She wanted to run out, to stomp on the invaders. But the two men posted just outside her door made sure that she was incapable of any frivolity.

Ugh, this is so frustrating!

"You're going to dig a circle in that poor carpet," Kristoff said from the other side of the dimly lit chamber.

She glared at him. "This isn't really the time."

"You have to settle down, Anna. There isn't much we can do."

"We can't just stay here twiddling our thumbs!" she bellowed. "I'm not sitting around while those pricks wait in my own house to kill my own sister!"

"They have guns!"

"I have fists!"

"That's supposed to be a compelling argument?" Kristoff asked, shaking his head in disapproval. He stood up and came near her, trying to embrace her despite her small protests. She eventually gave in, a few sniffles springing out from her chest as her head gently came to rest atop his shoulder.

"I just can't bear her being alone, Kristoff," Anna moaned. "She's—She will—"

"She's strong, Anna. Way stronger than any of us."

"I know. But she doesn't, she never seemed to see that strength in her…"

"There's Garret with her too, don't forget."

Anna sighed. "I don't know how helpful he can be…He seemed very off himself…"

"How would you know that?" Kristoff asked with a quick raise of his brows.

"Come on. I spent my entire life waiting for a girl that had the exact same eyes the day I finally saw her again and we know how that turned out. He was definitely off."

"Maybe…But he's a fighter. A damn good one at that. They're safe as long as they stay together—and they're both clever enough to stay together."

Kristoff passed a hand through her hair. She melted under his caring caress with a satisfied sigh that seemed to blow the steam out of her brain. He may have appeared boorish and brutish, but her man knew how to calm her better than anyone—except maybe Elsa. She clasped her hand with his and met his gaze.

"I don't want to lose anyone else," she said, her eyes welling up with tears. Kristoff wiped them away as gently as he could; his fingers brushed her cheeks, caring and tender, warm against her cold skin. "You have the softest tough hands out there," she added with a weak smile. She perched on her toes to plant a thankful kiss on his lips.

"Perks of working with gloves," Kristoff replied with a grin of his own. "Ice tends to round the edges."

"That's what they say…"

A heavy knock thundered on the door, banging like a war drum. Jack walked into the room without waiting for any signal to enter.

"At least have some manners, psycho!" Anna spat the instant he set foot inside.

"Manners I leave to the people who care about them," Jack answered matter-of-factly. "Speaking of which, Roger asked for both of you. Let's go."

Anna and Kristoff stayed motionless, staring daggers at the intruder. Jack rolled his eyes, pulled a pistol, and closed in, his shadow towering over even Kristoff.

"I don't want to say it again."

Of course, he has to bring guns into the discussion. If I had one of those, he wouldn't be acting so mighty, Anna thought.

Jack led them in complete silence to the castle's courtyard, where Roger and his men stood vigilant alongside all those who happened to be inside the premises when the witch-hunters invaded. Anna could see Kai, Gerda, and Einar standing amidst the crowd. The latter's face was lightly puffy and reddened, and he was massaging his right side with a clear wince.

What's wrong with him? Anna thought with worry.

"Einar!" she called.

"Ah, Your Highness. And…whoever that guy is," Roger greeted with a broad smile. "Don't worry about your guard…much. My men found him sniffing around the armory this morning, and good old Jack here simply reminded him to stay calm. Please, take a seat, make yourself comfortable."

There were no chairs in sight; he had motioned toward the ground. Jack's enormous hands came to their shoulders and forced them down.

"Great. The crazy guy who wants to kill my sister can crack jokes," Anna sputtered in disdain.

"Ugh. Burn the witch, highness. There's a nuance."

"Same difference to us," Kristoff said in anger. "It won't happen either way."

"I—" Roger sighed as he brought two fingers to his forehead. "I will not get into this with you again. I have gathered you here for a very specific purpose. Please, boys."

He motioned with his head nonchalantly. Two of his henchmen hurried at his side, throwing a heavy-looking linen bag at his feet with a thud, mere meters away from Anna.

"I believe your kingdom is in mourning. I understand that," Roger began as he paced around it with his arms in his back. "I too have lost people dear to me. Family."

Anna heard a strange noise coming from the bag. Were they…whimpers?

"I can picture the pain that you are currently going through. And I want you to know that I share it," the chief hunter continued. "He was a victim of an odious crime; one that demands reckoning, payment."

He grabbed the tip of the bag and pulled, revealing a gagged and tied Duke of Weselton. Anna gasped in surprise along with her fellow Arendellians.

"This man committed a cardinal sin," Roger boomed, his finger pointed at the trembling duke below him. "He let his Wrath consume him, and in a demonic rush, killed a creature of God. I am, of course, extremely saddened that he performed this atrocity under my watch. I could have prevented this tragedy without the intervention of the Armored Demon. The weight of this failure I will shoulder for the rest of my days. Just like you endured the torments of the Snow Queen, your compatriot suffered a tragic fate because of sorcery I couldn't stop. However! I will promise you this. Evil will be cleansed from your lands. I can and will right their wrongs."

The whisperings grew among the small crowd, but Anna was the only one to clamor. "Elsa is no evil! Neither is Garret!"

"You say that even when you witnessed how destructive she was to your own land not a year ago?"

Anna didn't want to hear his words. "She fixed it!"

"And what if she doesn't next time? Are you to live under her whims, fearing her next outburst? Waiting for her to repair what wouldn't have been broken without her? As for him, I'm sure he kept his atrocities to himself. I lost someone to that Demon. And an entire village perished because of him."

The whispers gained in intensity, more insistent and shocked—but Anna simply glared, her nerves on edge. "I don't think you care much about me interrupting your pretty monologue. Keep talking. We'll keep not believing."

Roger sighed once again. "I will snap you out of the sortilege you suffer. In the meantime, I offer you balance. A life, for a life." He then seemed to perk up at something only he could hear, a wide grin spreading across his face. "And exactly on time, too."

The duke's eyes were shining with tears, his entire body quivering like a leaf. Anna had little sympathy to spare for him, but she still sensed a swell of pity overtake her mind at the miserable spectacle before her.

"I bring you atonement. I bring you…justice" Roger stated, his words final. He took his firearm out of its holster, cocked its hammer, took aim, and fired.

The gulf of blaze and flame made Anna jump on her spot, and she involuntarily let out a piercing scream that melded with the small assembly's cries. The brilliant flash imprinted on her retina, the smell of burnt powder scorched her nose, the impact of the bullet banged against her eardrums.

Dead silence fell over the crowd as the duke's stiffened arms met the cold ground. Anna's hands had shot up to her mouth in horror. Her first thoughts went to the children who had had to witness such a display.

Roger reloaded, put his gun away, and gestured for his men to come closer. They hurriedly stepped in and lifted the body away from the courtyard, only leaving a bloodied trail behind.

"And to further demonstrate my willingness to help you, I make an oath to you. I will do my best to purge the two of them," he then said, his grandiloquence betraying his own pride of what he probably thought was a favor he was doing them. "I had planned to simply shoot the Demon asunder, but I can see his influence has gotten to you as well. To lift it, I will have to burn him too. You will be liberated. The Snow Queen will be no more. The Armored Demon will be no more. The curse upon this country will be lifted."

Kai slowly rose from his place as all eyes were drawn to him. "You will not succeed. I've heard of men like you. They never succeed."

Roger lifted an eyebrow and cocked his head. "Oh. The chamberlain. And what extraordinarily tantalizing secret life experience got you to that conclusion?"

"I don't need experience. Just a bit of strength of belief. You wish to have us think she is a monster, yet you shoot one of yours without trial and hold an entire kingdom hostage? My queen—our queen—is twice the human you'll ever be. And if she chose to let Garret into Arendelle, that's good enough for me."

Anna followed him up, bolstered by his words. "We both know she's coming for you. And we'll stand by her. You want her? You go through us."

Kristoff stood as well. "She'll have us all."

Einar was next. "Even after my last breath."

Then it was Gerda, Oaken, Greta, the Ljorns, the Trogsons, the Guard, the old couple she never asked the name of… And one by one, Arendelle rose in defiance.

"I have been confronted with lost peoples who think their monsters to be their saviors," Roger said, his gaze hard and his confidence unwavering. He aimed at Kai with his firearm. "Fortunately for all of us, I'll get a chance to honor my oath and this will all be over very soon. I will not, however, tolerate impious insubordination. I will have to take your hand for that."

"You're only half-right."

This wasn't a voice she was expecting to hear so soon. Anna whirled her head to the great hall's gate. Her heart leaped when she caught sight of her sister standing in the door frame, her eyes blazing and her hands steaming, the blue shimmer of her magic swirling around her like a storm.

"This will indeed be over very soon."

AN: Hope you enjoyed this one! Thank you Grand_Paladin for reviewing this chapter!

Gosh darn, already past 85k... The story wasn't supposed to be much longer than 70k when I first planned it lmao.

Four (or maybe five depending on separation) chapters to go for this first arc, so this is the start of the endgame; I'll give you more detail on what is coming when we're done with it. Thank you all for reading, commenting, and sticking through, I am eternally grateful and hope you'll like what's next!

As usual, anything you want to share with me I welcome with open arms!

Next chapter's theme is One Last Battle by Edgar Hopp, on YouTube too.

Peace,

CalAm.