Chapter 23.

"How long do you think it'll be till we arrive?" I ask Anna as I look out of the carriage's window.

"I'd guess at least six more hours." She grimaces. "It's midday, so I hope that means we'll arrive just in time for dinner."

I sigh. I don't want to have six more hours to torment myself with thoughts about how this meeting will go. I've been wondering who is the Ice Queen ever since I woke up this morning, and worrying she might be as evil as they say, and perhaps even more powerful than me. I'm also concerned about remembering everything at once and not wanting to return, or the possibility of completely changing my personality… but no. That wouldn't happen. At least, that's what I've been trying to convince myself of.

Oh yes, we're on our way to the Northern Lands, not even a week after our meeting with the council. Anna insisted on tagging along, but thankfully she agreed to stay at Nordfkerk (the town closest to the Northern Lands) with four guards to protect her, while I go deal with the Ice Queen. I made her promise to go back to the capital immediately if something were to happen to me… but I somehow doubt she's going to keep her word.

Anyways, unsurprisingly, despite her insistence on coming on this trip, she's spent the majority of it sleeping. And I really can't blame her; riding for a ridiculous amount of time is extremely boring, and I'd probably follow her example if I could. But I can't. I'm too anxious to be able to abandon myself to the land of dreams.

"How are you doing?" Anna asks after a while, and I reluctantly turn to address her, even knowing she'll worry if she knows I'm worried.

"Fine." I try to lie, but she frowns and I know she doesn't believe me. "Okay… I'm a bit worried, but fear not; I can handle it."

"Wouldn't you feel better if you talked about it?" She asks, skeptical. "I mean, you've been acting pretty weird ever since I accepted your request to be the ambassador."

Damn! I thought she hadn't noticed. Well, I guess I'm not as good at concealing my emotions as I thought.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just nervous about going back to the place where I grew up but don't remember."

"I see…" She hums. "Have you recovered more memories recently?"

"No." I admit with defeat. "Just a couple of small fragments. One was of me playing in the snow with Helen and Olaf, and then another one having dinner with my… family." I hesitate saying that last word. After all, they raised me, but we weren't related by blood.

"You'll remember more once you set foot on the Northern Lands, you'll see." Anna says, optimistic as ever. I give her a small smile, just so she drops the subject, but I honestly still have some doubts regarding how much I'll remember when I get there.

"You sure you don't wanna talk? You still look worried." Anna insists, apparently unconvinced by my fake smile. She's getting good at reading me.

"I'd rather not." I grimace. "That'd only stress me more."

"Oh, that's okay. I know how to cheer you up!" She says before getting up shakily, trying not to fall because of the carriage's movement. I look at her, confused for a moment, until I see her approaching me with a very mischievous smile on her face. Oh god, I hope she isn't thinking what I think she is thinking.

"What are you…?" Before I can finish my question, Anna sits herself on my lap, her legs at either side of mine, and starts kissing me rather passionately. I try to resist her, telling myself that this is not the time or place to be doing this, but apparently my libido doesn't hear reason. I immediately find my arms wrapping tightly around Anna as I try to get as much contact as possible, and I respond to the kiss with as much passion as I can.

I don't know why, but this usually happens when I kiss Anna; I just forget about everything except her, and the taste of her delicious lips over mine. Might be because we just started our relationship, but I seriously doubt I will someday stop wanting more.

"Elsa." She moans my name into my mouth before sucking my lower lip and biting it slightly. I try to respond, but all that comes out of my mouth is a shaky moan of my own, intensified by the fact Anna's hands move from their previous spot on my shoulders to my chest, just slightly above my breasts.

"A-Anna…" I stutter, trying to communicate my desire to have her even closer, but I'm silenced by her pouring open-mouthed kisses all over my neck, making an explosion of heat run throughout my whole body, specially my nether region.

"You like this, don't you?" She says against my skin, wet with her saliva. I can just nod in response when she kisses my neck yet again. "You feel so hot. I mean, compared to your normal temperature."

"Please…" I can only say, wanting her to touch me more, to kiss me more. I want her to make me hers, and I want to make her mine… though maybe not right now.

However, it seems like Anna has other ideas, and doesn't have a problem with the fact we're in a carriage, and that there are like ten guards right outside. No, she just grabs my right breast and starts fondling it as she kisses my mouth once again. I'm so overwhelmed by the intense pleasure I feel at her actions, that I can't even think about stopping her, and all that there is in my mind is the desire to take Anna on the spot; to let the heat I feel emanating from our bodies merge and intensify until we are one.

However, just when I feel her reaching for my dress' buttons, the carriage shakes very strongly, making her almost fall off from me. It felt like we hit something, which wouldn't be so strange by itself, except that we suddenly stopped.

Anna and I separate, and she gets up from my lap, looking at me with an apologetic expression.

"Give me a second." She says before opening the carriage's door and stepping outside. I decide to follow her, just in case something dangerous is happening outside. But as soon as I get out, I think everything seems normal… I mean, there is snow falling from the sky, in summer, but we're already at the mountains, very near the Northern Lands, so I would say that's not incredibly strange.

"Captain?" She calls the soldier of highest rank here, who is next to her in an instant, wearing a worried expression on his face. I don't like this. I don't like this at all. "What happened? Why aren't we moving?"

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry for not informing you of this before; I didn't want to worry you, but… it's snowing." He says all of it very quickly, and he looks agitated.

"Yeah, I can see that." She deadpans.

"No, you don't understand. It's not natural! I suspect Northerners have been following us for a while. And now the carriage won't move!" He points to the thing in question, and just as he says, it doesn't move, even when the horses keep pulling it and the men try pushing it from behind.

"Okay… that is suspicious." Anna agrees, looking intently at the carriage, only to discover the wheels are frozen to the ground. "And there have been reports of bandits, apparently Northerners, attacking around this area." She sighs. "This can't be good. Elsa, can you…?"

Before she can even finish the question, a very strong wind blows in our direction, carrying lots of snow and making it difficult to see, more so because we have to cover our eyes in order to shield them from the sudden snowstorm and try to identify our attackers.

I still try to unfreeze our carriage though, thinking maybe then we'll be able to somehow escape, but it just keeps freezing all over again. I quickly realize it wouldn't be of use anyways because the horses are too scared and the guards have stopped pushing it and instead are now holding their weapons, forming a protective barrier around Anna. Of course, only Kristoff is protecting me. Not that it matters anyways; I'm powerful enough to defeat any ice-wielder.

We're now all waiting tensely for something to happen, our fear intensified by the silence of the wintry forest, only disturbed by the blowing wind. Not even the animals are making any sounds. It's like everything is just waiting. My heart starts racing and my body tenses in anticipation, and I use my fear to fuel the magic that's now at the tips of my fingers. I know using fear can be dangerous sometimes, since it reacts uncontrollably, but I can't possibly summon any other emotion right now, so it'll have to do.

Suddenly, I hear steps of someone getting near us, but thanks to the storm I can't really distinguish where they're coming from. More so, it sounds like they are from various people, probably ten or more.

Before I can even start planning a strategy, maybe to surprise them with some magic, seven men dressed with heavy clothes and wielding rusty swords and hammers come out from behind the trees and start attacking us. For a moment I'm too surprised to do anything, but then I recover and try to evaluate the situation so I can interfere adequately.

There are more soldiers than bandits, that's for sure, and the soldiers are much better at fighting than them, so we should be fine… but wait, none of the bandits appear to be ice-wielders, and though they're not casting magic, the soldiers' swords keep freezing and icicles are appearing on the ground, preventing us from moving much. But I can't distinguish where this magic comes from, though I feel like it's my duty to deal with the Northerner, since I have powers of my own.

"Oh no, don't even think about it!" Kristoff yells at me as he keeps fighting with one of the bandits. Apparently he figured out I'm thinking about going to fight the ice-wielder myself. "It's my duty to protect you! I can't let you…"

Before he can finish talking, I release a powerful blast of magic and send his enemy flying till he hits a tree and falls unconscious. I'd do the same with the other bandits, but I'm afraid the Northerner will run off if he sensed all his comrades are falling like flies, and I really want to capture him, and see what he has to say.

"Okay then." I tell Kristoff so he turns to look at me with wide (and slightly scared) eyes. "If you want to protect me, help me catch the ice-wielder." He purses his lips at my words, and turns to look at the other soldiers, who are still fighting off the attackers, with Anna standing in the center of them, looking both angry and terrified. For a second, I also consider going to help them, but I realize they are ten highly trained soldiers fighting against a bunch of brutes. "I think they will be fine." I reassure Kristoff. "Come on."

And with that, I disappear into the forest, and smile in relief when I hear my guard's heavy steps behind me. For a moment I thought he would stay and fight with the others.

"So what's the plan?" He asks when he sees me hiding between a bunch of bushes and rushes to do the same. "Can you sense his magic or…?"

"No." I shake my head, furrowing my eyebrows as I try to concentrate on making a plan. Fortunately, the falling snow gives me an idea, after all, how can he attack us from a distance without seeing us? "But I can use my powers to locate him." I inform Kristoff, smiling at my clever solution.

I immediately put it to practice, producing a bunch of tiny snowflakes and sending them flying in the surrounding area. I can sense the position and trajectory of every one of them, though I can only concentrate on a few at a time, and soon, I feel them colliding with an object that's not either a tree, nor at animal. A person.

"There." I tell Kristoff, pointing to a spot to the left, about twenty feet away from us. "He's hiding behind that tree."

"Alright. I'll capture him, you stay here." He orders me before taking his crossbow, which he'd apparently loaded while I searched for the Northerner, and standing up to shoot in the general direction of the ice-wielder. And effectively, the man in question gets scared now that he's been discovered and tries to run off to hide somewhere else. Kristoff reloads his weapon and shoots again, but misses. Then he goes to load his crossbow again, but the ice wielder is fast, and he's getting away. There's no time for that!

Ignoring his protests, I get up and run to catch him myself. Once I'm close enough, I start shooting blasts of ice at his feet to slow him down, which surprised him to the point he ends up falling and looking back at me with wide eyes. I suppress a smirk; this isn't over yet, I have to immobilize him before he escapes or attacks me, and I shouldn't feel overly confident.

Sure enough, once he recovers from the initial surprise, he shoots ice at me as well, but I easily block it with a shield of ice. Then I make ice chains appear on his feet and hands and chain him to the ground. Unable to move, he still tries to cast magic and free himself, but I made sure to make the ice as hard as possible, so he can't, but he still keeps trying.

"Elsa!" I hear Kristoff say as he arrives to my side, sword in hand. "Don't do that again, you hear me? That was too dangerous!"

"I caught him, didn't I?" I retort, upset he's scolding me for doing something good.

"Wh-who are you? You traitor! Why are you helping a royal guard?" He looks at me with hatred, but also fear, no doubt because I defeated him so easily. Only now do I take the time to notice his features, and realize he's about forty years old, has light blond hair and a slightly disheveled beard, and is wearing heavy clothes, despite not needing them. He looks very much like the other bandits. Except he has magic.

"I'm not a traitor." I answer, trying to remain calm in hopes he'll calm down too and stop struggling. "I'm loyal to Queen Anna of Arendelle. What about you? Are you one of the Ice Queen's men?"

"I have no queen." He spats. "When people were trying to crown a young girl as Queen just because she was good at magic, I came back to Arendelle. But I'm never going to accept any member of the royal family as my ruler. They ruined my life!" By the way he speaks so angrily about the subject, I can sense he's very passionate about it, so I decide not to argue with him, and instead I turn to Kristoff.

"Should we take him back?" I ask.

"I guess that'd be the best course of action." He agrees. "Hopefully the prison in Nordfkerk will be large enough for them… and will have ice-proof shackles." He adds, looking nervously at the Northerner's hands.

"Oh! That's right." I nod, remembering the shape and thickness of the things that were able to contain my powers. That shouldn't be too hard to replicate. And sure enough, the shackles that were binding him before, turn into ice-made ice-proof shackles, which is kind of ironic, but hopefully will work. "There. Let's go back with the others."

When we arrive, Anna almost kills me. Literally, she was about to choke me without even letting me explain myself, but thankfully Kristoff prevented it and told Anna what had happened. As I expected, without the interference of the Northerner, Anna's soldiers were able to deal with the bandits rather quickly, and had now chained some of them and killed others. I can't say the smell of blood and the sight of the bodies didn't make me want to puke, even if I know I have seen scenes a lot more grotesques. But I refrain myself, and concentrate on what Anna is saying; she decided to ask the Northerner a few questions before we keep going.

"Okay, so… Henrik. That's what you said your name was, right? What can you tell us about the Ice Queen?" She starts her interrogation, the man in question kneeling in front of her and being held back by two guards.

"Why would I tell you anything? You're going to kill me anyways." He answers angrily, and yeah, I can't blame him. Arendellians do have a tendency of wanting to kill Northerners on sight.

"I won't." Anna promises. "You'll have a fair trial once we go back to Arendelle, and probably will end up spending a few years in prison. But I could lower your sentence if you cooperate with us now and answer our questions." He hesitates, looking at me for a moment, and then at Anna, probably considering his options and asking himself how likely is of the Queen to keep her word to a criminal. At the end, he sighs and answers with a bitter tone.

"I guess I don't lose anything for answering a few questions." He shrugs, and I see Anna smile at his words. "Anyways, I don't know much about this Ice Queen everyone keeps talking about; just what I was told. They said she was a powerful woman, capable of wiping out an entire army without breaking a sweat… and yet she didn't do anything to get rid of the Arendellian soldiers for years. Why? I never knew, but one day a few members of a rebel group came to our little village, which was one of the smallest ones of the Northern Lands, and said they had a plan, and they would free us in three days."

I listen intently, wondering if this rebel group is the one which Hans introduced me to. And if so, and their plan succeeded, why they didn't attack Arendelle?

"Of course I didn't believe them, but they kept their word." He continues. "Three days after their arrival, a great snowstorm invaded the entirety of the Northern Lands, and they started attacking the soldiers. Granted, since I lived in a small town, there were only like five soldiers, so it wasn't that hard for the rebels to deal with them, especially since the storm distracted them."

"People started saying that the ice-wielder woman we'd all heard about was the one who caused the storm and wiped out most of the Arendellian army, and that she would be crowned Queen of the Northern Lands." He makes a pause, looking intently at me in a way I can't quite decipher. "I started getting exited, thinking that maybe now we'd be able to get some peace and order there; that maybe she would attack Arendelle and get back what was rightfully ours, but…" He chuckles bitterly. "When she finally went to visit out village, she was a child! A sixteen year old girl that looked terrified and like she didn't know what she was doing. And I thought: That's our new Queen? She doesn't have any experience! She probably can't even control her own magic very well! There's no way people will accept her."

At his words, Anna tenses, no wonder thinking back at her own situation. Getting crowned at eighteen and being treated as a child by her own subjects. I bet she's actually feeling empathic for this Ice Queen. I know I am. It couldn't have been easy.

"And yet…" He goes on, ranting about the ruler of the Northern Lands. "With a few fancy words and magic tricks she had everyone eating from her palm in a few seconds. What a bunch of idiots! I knew I wasn't going to stay and wait for her to ruin my life any more, that's for sure! So I escaped, came back to Arendelle, concealed my identity and started working as an ice harvester."

"Ice harvester? Didn't seem like you were harvesting ice back there." I say rather coldly, upset by the way he was talking about the Ice Queen, for some reason.

"I wasn't." He says, unfazed by my attitude. "I joined the bandits when they found out my identity and threatened to turn me over to the authorities if I didn't help them. I've been with them about a year."

"You really want us to believe that?" I practically spat, still very mad at him for what he said. My powers respond by making it start snowing lightly.

"Okay." Anna interferes, shooting me a look that clearly says 'calm down'. I just sigh and cross my arms over my chest so I don't end up freezing the ice-wielder. "Can you tell us what the Ice Queen looks like?"

"Well… I suppose she's grown up now, must be twenty one or twenty two years old." He answers. "She has platinum blonde hair, which she had combed into a bun when I saw her, and she wears a crown made of ice. She also has blue eyes, thin complexion, and very pale skin. Even back then, she was very beautiful. Maybe that's one of the reasons they chose her." He pauses, and turns to look at me once more, in that same weird way he did before. "Actually… you friend here looks a lot like her, just with a different hairstyle."

Upon hearing his words, my heart skips a beat and my stomach does a little twist. He just fueled my suspicions and incremented them tenfold. There's little to no doubt now. I'm the Ice Queen. But… if that's true, what am I doing here? Why is there a storm in the Northern Lands? Did something happen and I left to seek help? That sounds risky, so I don't think I would come up with such a plan. Ugh! I wished I could just get my memories back! I have a feeling that it's extremely important I do get them back before arriving to the Northern Lands.

Maybe if I try to remember what this man just told us I'll be able to recall some more? I mean, I think not too long ago in one of my dreams I fought against Arendelle's army, intending to get rid of every soldier in the Northern Lands. Yeah! I remember more now. I remember… how did it all started, again? I-I I think I was… I think I was helping Bulda make dinner, and then… Helen. She arrived and told me the guards had captured Hans and were going to kill him. Yes! I remember now!

"Elsa! Elsa!" I hear Helen's panicked voice before I see her enter the cabin in a hurry. I was chopping some roots Bulda sometimes uses to make some kind of soup (they taste horrible, but at least they fill our stomachs), but I drop everything instantly once I realize how agitated she looks, and quickly run towards her, trying to see if she's hurt.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" I ask hurriedly.

"No. Elsa, it's Hans!" She exclaims, looking very worried and out of breath, like she ran all the way here to inform me. "Please, you have to help him! Please, you're the only one who can do it!" She says, now on the verge of tears.

"Okay, calm down. Tell me what happened." I command, trying to keep calm, even if her nervous state is making it difficult for me.

"H-he…" She swallows, obviously trying to prevent herself from crying. "He attacked a guard who was hitting a child for using magic." I feel my blood run cold at this. Attacking a guard is a serious offense. "Please Elsa, you can't let them kill him!"

I feel myself being torn about what I will do. On one hand, I wouldn't want anything to happen to Hans, since he's my friend (even if he's been distant ever since I refused to join his resistance group) and Helen's only family. And she surely wouldn't forgive me if I didn't help him. On the other hand… I promised myself I wouldn't kill anyone ever again, and I doubt there's a way to save Hans without killing the soldiers, since my powers are still very unpredictable.

"Helen." I sigh. "You do realize what you're asking of me… right?"

"I know." She looks down, appearing sad and regretful. "B-but… Hans is my brother! Practically yours too! Please, you don't have to kill them, just… help him, please."

I look down to my hands, refusing to use my powers, but ultimately knowing I can't really just ignore Helen's request. I'd hate to see her heartbroken if Hans gets murdered. It doesn't matter if I have to sacrifice my own soul; I'd do anything to see her happy.

"Where is he?" I ask, already hating myself for this.

"The whipping pole. We need to hurry!" She takes my hand and quickly leads me outside and across the town to where said pole stands, but I stop her before we arrive. She looks at me confused for a moment, and I rush to tell her what I want to say.

"Go back home. I don't want you to see this." Fortunately, she seems to understand immediately what I mean, and doesn't protest, instead kissing my cheek and wishing me luck before going back to our cabin. In other circumstances, I'd probably be too flustered to function, but right now I'm entirely concentrated on what I'm about to do.

My breath quickens, my heart beats so hard against my chest I think it's actively trying to get out, and my magic starts escaping from my flesh, making everything around me significantly colder. I'm scared, but not for my life, or Hans' life, for that matter. I'm scared that I'll have to kill more people than ever before; that I'll accidentally kill someone who is not a soldier. And I'm angry that I'm being forced to do this. I'll have to use these emotions to fuel my magic, though I know they aren't ideal.

I arrive to the whipping pole and, effectively, see Hans tied to it, the guards loading their crossbows in order to execute him. He looks angrier at them than scared, but by the way his chest moves up and down when he breathes, I realize he's probably just trying to conceal how afraid he truly is. After all, he doesn't have powers; he can't possibly get himself out of this without help.

Then, his gaze turns to the crowd that has gathered to see what's happening. There aren't many people; most prefer not to witness executions, but today at least twenty have stayed to bear witness, which is a conservable number. I guess they heard what happened with the child who was using magic and came to help… only to see Hans had already been captured. Suddenly, his eyes lock in mine, and they instantly turn hopeful. He actually manages a little smile, before mouthing two words: 'help me?'.

Honestly, I want to slap him more than I want to help him, but I still end up getting off my gloves and blasting his chains away. Then, hell starts. My powers form a huge storm without me really intending it, and the soldiers start trying to kill me. But I'm too powerful; they are like flies to me. It doesn't take too much effort for me to murder them. Actually, I'm not even trying. I was trying to chain them, or disarm them, but… yeah, fear and anger aren't the best emotions to do magic.

Then, something I wasn't expecting happen; everyone around me… No. Everyone in the town get out improvised weapons, or take those of the fallen soldiers and start fighting at my side. The ice-wielders do the same, but they just use their powers.

The soldiers then start being much more merciless and brutal, murdering everyone in sight, including women and children, even if they aren't actively trying to fight. Ice and blood mingle everywhere. Steel cuts through flesh and ice pierces the soldiers' hearts.

I didn't want this. I didn't mean to start a war. I don't want to kill anyone, and yet… I have no option but to defend myself, and to defend the other Northerners. My superior powers don't have any problem killing every single Arendellian soldier in sight, and a part of me thinks they deserve it, but I don't take any pleasure in this.

I wished it didn't have to come to this. But apparently Hans was right; Arendelle just won't leave us alone unless we send a clearer and much more brutal message. They have been sending more soldiers here lately, and their rules and punishments are stricter, so I guess it is in our best interest to liberate ourselves from their tyranny. Not that I'm doing this massacre for that purpose, but the revolution has started and, if I can't stop it with words, I may as well do it with ice.

I know we're all in danger until the last soldier falls.

It's already dark outside once the battle ends, which means it lasted a couple of hours. But this isn't over yet. I have to use what little energy I still have to make sure Arendelle won't take possession of the Northern Lands ever again. And so, feeling as yet another significant part of my magic leaves my body, I let it form a protective barrier. The ice encases the stone, forming large icicles to keep anyone from crossing the wall. My magic extends throughout the whole frontier and, in only a few minutes, it's done. We won't have to worry about an invasion.

I sigh, closing my eyes and resting my forehead against the wall. I'm so tired. Physically and emotionally. My whole body is trembling. My skin feels gross and sticky from sweat and blood. The stench is horrid. I just want to take a warm bath for once, get a good night of sleep and forget what just happened.

I shouldn't have killed those men. There was no need. I didn't want to. My magic is just more and more unpredictable every day. And when those people stepped in, I had to defend them. I had no choice. Yet… I know I won't ever forget the terrified faces of the soldiers I killed, their screams, and how easily my powers took them down. Or how exhilarating it was at the moment. These memories will surely haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

Finally, I open my eyes and turn around, ready to head back home… and find the whole town staring at me in awe, and silent reverence. They have a look in their eyes that makes me feel awkward; a look I also find in the green eyes of Hans, who is just a few steps away from me.

"My Queen." He says, before kneeling on the ground. Then, everyone else, one by one, start gradually doing the same.

It takes me a couple of seconds to realize what is happening, but when I do, it terrifies me. They saw my incredible displays of magic, witnessed me destroying Arendelle's forces in just a few hours, and reinforce the entire wall with a thick layer of ice in less than that. And because of that, now they want me to be their Queen.

But I'm sixteen! I can't handle this! There are tons of people more appropriate for the job! I can't. I just can't. And I won't. I won't ever be their Queen!

And so, I push past Hans and the rest of the crowd. I run away, even if I'm exhausted. I run, going nowhere in particular. Just far away from here.

A/N: Hi, everyone! Happy Valentine's day (I mean honetly, what better way to spend Valentine's day than reading/writing Elsanna fanfiction, right? XD). Anyways, thanks for reading, and if you liked this chapter, please leave a review, it may encourage me to get faster updates (sorry about the delay, btw).

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13 :)