woops sorry for the cliffhanger folks!

Kai led her through the castle, towards the front entrance. There was a small group of people, mostly maids, huddled in a circle. Elsa couldn't find her voice to command them to move, but Kai could.

As soon as they noticed their Queen, the moved right out of the way, though no one returned to their duties. Elsa couldn't blame them, not when she spied what they'd all been staring at.

A soldier – one of her soldiers, and she could guess his duty, though not his name – was standing in the centre of the room, holding something.

Someone.

"Anna..." she breathed, barely more than a whisper. For it was the girl – Elsa could see some of her hair. She could also see some of her skin, cracked and red from the cold – or, was that something else?

Because already, she could also see a darkening mark on one leg – and was that blood?

"Right, Halfor, please take her to the guest room – the one in the east wing that was made up for Ambassador Selvig-"

"No."

Elsa almost couldn't believe she'd spoken until the whole hall froze to look at her. She cleared her voice, and took a breath. If she didn't, she knew the tremble would be obvious, and that was the last thing she wanted in this moment. She was a monarch – a Queen – and she had to act like it. "No, take her to my room, please. It will be much warmer and is closer. Kai-"

"I have already called for a physician," he said, as good as psychic. She shot him a grateful smile. "I will wait here for his arrival."

She nodded, then pointed at two of the maids who were in the crowd. "Girls, please go and fetch some clothing and water. If Cook still has some of that stew from last night, please heat it up, too."

She waited for them to nod their acknowledgement before she turned around, following the soldier. Halfor, his name was. Already, there were mumblings and murmurs in the crowd; very few people knew of the girl, and fewer still knew that Elsa knew of her.

But all of that was irrelevant.

It was only as she neared her own bedroom that she finally acknowledged the chill in her chest. There was something gravely wrong. She knew it.

They physician arrived within ten minutes; Elsa hadn't expected him to take much longer. Fringe benefits of being queen, she supposed, though in this moment she would trade it all to ensure that Anna would be okay.

She had dismissed Halfor after he had laid Anna atop Elsa's sheets. She'd moved to the fire herself, stoking it and adding some wood. Her room was not cold, but it could definitely be warmer.

Anna did not awaken. She simply laid there, as though sleeping.

She wasn't though. Her chest still moved, but her breath was shallow. There were fresh cuts and tears in her clothes, and Elsa noted with some small amount of surprise that they were damp.

As soon as the maids arrived with the clothing and food, Elsa set about changing Anna from her wet clothing and into the drier ones provided. She'd hoped that the smell of the food would awaken her, but no luck. It was only when she was taking off Anna's dress that the true extent of her injuries – the ones Elsa had noticed earlier, in the hallway, were revealed.

Her whole heart fell; grew colder than the ice she wielded because it was so much worse than she could have imagined.

She'd never wanted to imagine it.

Anna's skin was patchy black and blue, though some marks were fading into an ugly yellow. It was obvious what had caused these injuries, but not obvious as to who. Elsa could guess.

She hadn't quite gotten around to dressing Anna once more before there was a knock at the door. Kai stood there, an older gentleman behind him.

"Is this the child?" he asked. Kai nodded, and Elsa stood.

"Anna. Her name is Anna."

Perhaps it was lucky that she hadn't dressed her. It was easy to show the physician the extent of Anna's injuries – though, almost to Elsa's surprise, he wasn't concerned about that.

"It will heal," he told her. "Though it will be tender for some time." He gently pressed along Anna's ribs; she let out a small sigh, but did not wake, and he nodded. "No broken ribs. Good. I am, however, more concerned about this."

Moving away from her middle, he approached her feet. Elsa hadn't even noticed, but there were large blisters on each of Anna's toes – it looked very painful, as though each toe were growing a second one. It made Elsa ill just looking at it.

"She has frostbite – or the first stages of it. Once the blisters form, there's really little that I can do. She will probably end up losing those toes..."

Oh Gods above. "W-Why? What would we have to do to prevent that from happening?"

The physician sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Slowly rewarming the affected areas are key," he began. "From what we've been able to ascertain, there are small ice crystals that form below the surface of the skin. As they freeze further, it expands, creating the blisters you see here. If we are not careful, they will burst, leaving her open to infection. I recommend wrapping them in warm, dry bandages and elevate the limbs. If need be, we can lance the blisters in a sterile environment, though I would rather not do that if it can be helped."

At those words, he finally stepped away. He gave Elsa a sad look. "Hope for the best, but I would not expect any significant improvement, Your Majesty," he said grimly. "It would appear that the poor child is no stranger to hardship – it's any wonder why she has not been affected before now. I shall return in two days, or earlier should you call for me."

"Thank you, Doctor. Kai?"

The manservant gave a stiff nod and began leading the physician away, leaving Elsa alone with the girl.

She sat on the bed near Anna's head, brushing her hair from her face. It was much warmer now that the fire had been stoked, though she still had little goosebumps on her arms and legs.

Anna didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve any of this.