Evangeline leaped off the branch, jumping towards Anna. Both knives were angled at the Knight's throat.

Forced to meet the attack with her sword, Anna was startled to suddenly see herself facing a dissipating cloud of mist. Acting purely on instinct, she whipped around with her blade at the ready.

Only superhuman reflexes allowed Anna to parry the knife thrust at her chest. The Knight's sword met Evangeline's dagger with little momentum, but the glancing contact proved enough to deflect the attack entirely.

Anna's leg lashed out at the spymaster, but it met with nothing but black mist. Turning around again, the Knight laid eyes upon Evangeline standing several meters out of range.

There was a glint of metal as her enemy hurled one of her spare knives through the air, then dissipated into mist almost instantly. Even as Anna raised her blade to intercept the projectile, Evangeline materialized less than a foot from the Knight's side.

Simultaneously, the Knight batted away the knife with a one-handed slash and dodged Evangeline's rapid stab at her stomach. Anna punched out at the spymaster with her free hand, but Evangeline simply teleported away.

Stalemate. Evangeline attacked Anna from all sides, throwing knives from a distance and teleporting close in at any available opportunity. The Knight's reflexes allowed her to weather the vortex of steel unscathed, but even she wasn't fast enough to land a hit on the spymaster constantly teleporting across the battlefield.

Then the pattern changed.

Evangeline teleported behind Anna, attacking with a perfunctory thrust that the Knight sidestepped easily. But Anna's retaliatory kick was not met with a familiar cloud of black mist. This time, the spymaster relied upon her own reflexes and instincts to dodge Anna's blow. Caught by surprise, the Knight missed completely. Then Evangeline was taking a rapid step, bringing her inside Anna's guard and allowing her to swipe a dagger at her enemy's neck.

Anna desperately leaned backward, bringing up her sword in an attempt to ward off the strike. Yet for a moment, it was her right arm taking the blow as Evangeline's knife swiped along the edge of her skin.

Then steel met ice. Ignoring the pain, Anna finished her parry with as much force as she could muster. Evangeline was barely able to maintain a hold on her blade. The spymaster was sent stumbling backward wildly, her momentum only stopped by back crashing into a large tree trunk.

The Knight took the chance to look down at her arm. A long line of red had appeared along her skin, and pain began to flow as freely as her blood. But Anna's reflexes and toughed skin had relegated what may have been a crippling strike into a shallow wound.

She charged forward, striking at the winded spymaster. Evangeline reacted just in time, vanishing in a cloud of mist and leaving the tree trunk to be sliced in two by Anna's blade of ice.

"They'll hate you forever, you know."

Anna wheeled around, blocking another thrown knife with a flick of her sword. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. The Knight threw one of her own projectiles as she spoke, but Evangeline was far too experienced to fall for the trick. She vanished yet again, reappearing several meters to the right and continuing her verbal assault.

"You always enjoyed being well-liked by the small-folk, didn't you? Even as the nobles hated you-" she teleported to Anna's side, only to be forced away by an immediate attack. "The commoners loved having one of their own as consort to the Queen," Evangeline finished as she re-materialized again.

The spymaster leapt to the side, dodging Anna's next thrown knife. Then she was sprinting to a large tree trunk and...beginning to climb. Anna hurled yet another knife, but Evangeline quickly jumped to the next handhold, leaving the metal to sink harmlessly into the wood. Within another moment, the spymaster had disappeared within the dense foliage.

Why didn't she just teleport up?

Many of Arendelle's trees retained their leaves early in the winter. And in a forest such as this, all of the area above the thick branches was almost completely obscured from view.

Hiss!

Anna jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the arrowhead aimed at her heart. Looking up, she briefly glimpsed Evangeline teleporting above the forest canopy. Her bow was at the ready.

Arrows were coming at her from all directions. Anna blocked, dodged, and rolled, but the multi-directional attack strained her reflexes to the breaking point. And even as she continued firing and teleporting, the spymaster resumed her other line of attack.

Deflect! "You couldn't wait to be a 'Queen of the People', could you?" Dodge! "The reality can't be further from the truth. Thanks to my little smear campaign, and the threats you delivered to an entire village, Arendelle will remember you as nothing more than a demented serial killer." Move! "Even as they grow accustomed to their new lives as slaves to the Goddess, I'm sure many of them will tell tales of the Butcher of Elverum."

The Knight jumped into the trees. Elbowing her way through the canopy, she found purchase on a thick branch next to a large tree trunk. Hiss! Anna swerved around the arrow and threw two of her knives in rapid succession. Eyes widening, Evangeline disappeared into a black cloud.

A rustle of leaves erupted behind her, but it was her instincts that alerted Anna to her enemy's immediate presence. Anna ducked the swipe at her head, and- in the same, smooth movement, jumped off the branch entirely. Knowing it would take Evangeline only a moment to recover, the Knight slashed through the tree trunk as she fell.

Slam!

The results were immediate. Trunk, branches, and leaves crashed to the ground, burying both women under a tangle of wood. For a few moments, all Anna could see was an array of sticks and leaves. Then, overcoming her instinctive panic, the Knight called upon her inhuman strength and endurance to burst from the rubble.

Landing on her feet, Anna frantically cast her eyes about in search of Evangeline.

A rustle several feet away caught her attention. Two black-clad arms were moving frantically to clear away a path through the leaves. Anna jumped towards her target, but was only in time to see Evangeline's head briefly poke out of the devastation before dissipating into smoke yet again.

Why didn't she just teleport away immediately? Evangeline could have just... And then Anna began to understand. The spymaster couldn't teleport where she couldn't see; it was the only reasonable explanation for her actions.

Anna had assumed the limiting factor was simple distance, not eyesight. But this...this presented an opportunity.

Evangeline reappeared in front of her, hair and cloak tattered almost beyond recognition. Judging by her ready stance, however, the spymaster was far from finished. It was time for Anna to take the initiative.

Her eyes, her eyes...

\

The girl was proving a difficult opponent, Evangeline admitted to herself. Her wound was barely slowing her down, even as the spymaster herself began to tire from the constant teleportation.

Even her verbal assault had failed to noticeably unbalance the other woman. Perhaps Anna assumed that she was simply lying. If that was indeed the case, the girl would be disappointed. With or without the aid of further Faithful propaganda, Anna's name would live on as the moniker of a hated pariah, the perpetrator of one of the most evil crimes in the history of Arendelle.

It was a thought that gave Evangeline strength.

Anna was charging forward. The spymaster threw the last knife from her belt to slow her enemy's momentum, then transported herself behind the younger woman. It was time to trap Anna into a pattern.

Evangeline lashed out with her blades, found her strikes avoided once again, then teleported a safe distance away before the former Knight could land a counterattack.

Then she was preparing to meet Anna's next charge. Right before they could meet, she melted into darkness and rematerialized to the former Knight's side. Evangeline attacked, was evaded once again, and glanced just to the right. This time, there was to be no distant retreat. As Anna stabbed forward, the spymaster was already teleporting to her chosen location-

Pain!

Evangeline stared down in shock. Anna's sword was rising from its slash, the blade still shimmering with drops of the spymaster's blood. Looking upwards, Evangeline immediately teleported a dozen yards away.

The warm liquid running down her left calf confirmed Evangeline's worst fear. Anna had scored a glancing blow to the back of the spymaster's leg. For several moments, even the pain was drowned out by incredulity. How could Anna have predicted her destination with such accuracy?

Anna was staring hard into Evangeline's eyes, awaiting the older woman's next move.

She's learned how my abilities operate. This was nothing short of a disaster. Evangeline would be hard pressed to take her opponent by surprise from this point on, and it was clear that Anna was tiring slower than she.

Rage and frustration clawed at Evangeline's breath. All she wanted, all she needed, was to make Anna suffer. But if she continued to fight, there was every chance that Anna would walk away the victor. Evangeline would return to her Goddess empty-handed. In a coffin.

The spymaster met Anna's stare with her own. So triumphant. So arrogant. You'll wish that you had died here and now. An eternity as an ice statue would serve you well indeed-

Wait...

It was a course of action not completely in tandem with her orders. But given the circumstances involved, it would their objectives just as nicely. Anna and Eugene undoubtedly wanted to interrogate her for information. But there was nothing she could say that would help them now.

I could continue to fight. But I would just be doing you a favor.

\

"I surrender."

What?! Anna stared, open-mouthed, as her hated enemy knelt down in the snow. The Knight kept her guard up, but Evangeline's only action was to rip a large piece of cloth from her robe, place it over her eyes, and tie the ends behind her head.

"You've discovered my secret. I need my teleportation to see. This battle has become a hopeless one, and I have no desire to face my end today or return to my Goddess with another failure," the now blindfolded spymaster intoned. "Knock me out. Take me prisoner. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

It made no sense. Evangeline could always teleport away now, heal, and strike again in a few days. Was she really so confidant that she could resist any and all of their efforts at interrogation? Even the Faithful's spymaster could not be so arrogant-

But Evangeline did nothing. Not when Anna approached her with the utmost caution. Not when Anna came to a stop at her side. And not when Anna (with a certain amount of satisfaction) slammed a fist into the back of her skull.

December 2

Evangeline was finally starting to stir.

Anna and Eugene had dragged the unconscious spymaster to an abandoned shack some miles from Elverum. Given the fear that the Knight had reluctantly instilled in the townspeople, it would likely be some time before a pursuit was sent out after them. Upon arrival, the Prince had firmly tied Evangeline to a chair using a convenient coil of rope that had been left on the dirty, wooden floor. Cloth taken from old clothes was serving as a tight, multi-layered blindfold.

They'd been waiting for an entire day. Anna had hit Evangeline's skull a bit harder than she'd intended.

Snow continued to fall outside, and only a soft glimmer of light managed to penetrate the cabin's small cracked window. The dusty, dark room wasn't doing much for Anna's morale, but she couldn't help but think that it was a perfect atmosphere for the task they were about to perform.

From the bottom of her heart, Anna hated Evangeline. The woman slumped in the chair before her had been responsible for too many atrocities to count, and few would deny that she deserved death for her actions. Drell, Pabbie, Kristoff, Gerda, Kai, and Elsa wouldn't be dead- or worse -if not for the Spymaster's leadership of the Faithful, and the Knight felt a powerful pull to avenge them.

And yet she couldn't bring herself to enjoy inflicting pain, even on a woman she despised. It just seemed so...pointless. Inflicting suffering for the sake of suffering wouldn't recall her friends to life, or annul any of the spymaster's crimes. It was a means to an end, and Anna had no choice but to weather it.

A groan from the chair. "I must admit, Anna, you managed to make that hit hurt," the spymaster grunted, her eyes creaking open. "Of course, it only makes me happier that I made the choice I did."

"Yes, you surrendered," Eugene supplied. The Prince stepped forward, grabbing Evangeline by the chin. "I can't say I'm not curious about that. Is the guilt over all the things you've done finally starting to catch up with you? No, probably not. So why didn't you simply poof away after Anna had you beat?"

Evangeline shrugged. "I didn't think I could win, and I swore not to return to my Goddess without her head." She smiled, her face a picture of graceful concession. "Only cowards run away rather than deny their enemies a rightful triumph."

"We all know by now that rightful isn't exactly a word in your vocabulary," Anna remarked. She stepped forward, walking slowly towards Eugene's side. "You were ordered to kill me, and you've never been one to disobey her orders. Why didn't you flee to try again later, or simply keep fighting to the death as if honor actually mattered to you?"

"Perhaps I simply enjoy our conversations."

Anna's eyes shifted to the side, finding the Prince's gaze. A mutual look of incredulity and fear passed between them. Something was very wrong. The spymaster had surrendered for a reason, and it certainly wasn't in anticipation of the ensuing 'discussion'. Evangeline had to have known that they would interrogate her for information...potentially useful information. So why...?

"I'm guessing I was asleep for around...twenty-four hours, was it?" Evangeline paused briefly, listening to their startled silence and finding confirmation of her assumption. "You did hit me pretty hard, Anna. A shame, really-"

Eugene darted forward, wrapping his hands around Evangeline's throat and shoving her back against the wall. "That's enough! You're going to tell us what you're up to, and then give us a way into the Castle. If not, I have no problem-"

"Torturing me?" The spymaster let out an amused chuckle. "Is that really what the brave heroes are up to these days? And it would all be such a waste, regardless. There is nothing I could tell you that would do you the slightest bit of good."

Anna frowned. "I think a way into the Castle would be more than enough."

"You still don't understand, do you?" the spymaster smirked. "You've been playing our game since the very beginning. Like I said earlier, Anna: you've already lost. You lost months ago, ever since you accepted our lies."

Anna had no idea what that older woman meant. But judging by the horrified gasp from the Prince, Eugene was beginning to catch on. "Oh gods...no. That was the real reason you came to the trolls' camp that night, wasn't it? But...but how...Kale heard you talking to Kayla..." he stuttered.

"The only ones aware of the truth were the Goddess and myself. Originally, it wasn't crafted for you, of course. The Goddess wasn't ready to discount the possibility that none of the Faithful would betray her, the very thing that wrong about her downfall millennia ago," Evangeline smiled. "Once you became a problem, we simply made sure you believed the same lie. It worked out well, all things considered. Tell me Prince, do you think your wife has gone into labor yet? I hope so. Two statues are better than one, after all."

Eugene's face was contorted in horror, and Anna had heard enough. "What are you talking about?!" she demanded. "What lie?"

Evangeline shook her head in exasperation. "How an idiot like you ever posed a threat to our plans, I will never know. The ritual, Anna. It won't be finished on the 21st. The Goddess had to begin preparations during last year's Winter Solstice, but she doesn't need to release the energy on any specific day. She just needed to wait for enough power to accumulate."

Anna's heart seemed to freeze in its tracks, refusing to pump its now ice-cold blood through her veins. Her mind going blank, the Knight only had enough conscious thought to utter a single word.

"When?"

\

Elsa sat on her throne and smiled.

On her orders, the entire interior of the Castle had been emptied of all mortals. All guards, servants, and guests now stood in the entrance courtyard. They were bewildered, even alarmed, but none of them could question her commands. Even the ranks of the Faithful stood among them, some perhaps having guessed what was about to happen.

The Goddess wanted complete solitude in this pristine moment. For thousands of years her essence had been scattered throughout the layers of magic, allowing humanity to flourish and take what was rightfully hers. They'd multiplied like ants, built their pitiful monuments, worshiped nonexistent phantoms, and celebrated a code of morality that protected weakness.

It all ended today.

Months ago, Elsa had calculated the date that would see her have collected enough energy to initiate the final ritual. Her prediction had been correct: the 2nd of December. Lying to her followers had been a stroke of brilliance. Hesitating to attack such a well-fortified Palace and determined to find any possible advantage, any of her enemies would have waited until the very end to make their move.

Now, it was too late for any of them. Elsa had been ready for any potential rebels to deduce what was happening and try a last ditch effort, but none had emerged. The Faithful had remained loyal, and for that they would be released from the ice that was about to engulf humanity.

She couldn't shield them from the wave of magic that would spread throughout the world, transforming everything in its path. All life had to be subsumed by the element of winter; only then would her lost divine power return to her. Elsa's connection with her lost divinity had been severed by her destruction, and the slight magical energies emitted by all life maintained that separation. Only once there was no other life or non-winter magic on the planet, eliminating all interference, would her true power reunite with the rest of her essence. It would return automatically and instantly, and Elsa would be invincible and all-powerful once more.

The Faithful would unfreeze and awaken to a new world. Two-thirds of humanity would join them, quickly learning how to serve their new overlords. The millions who remained frozen would serve as an excellent example to any who might have considered defying the new order.

Elsa reached into her very core, calling upon the magic she had been storing for months. Finally. The energy swept into her body, completely under the command of the Goddess. She focused all her will onto the task at hand, demanding that the energy spread across the entire planet and transform all sentient life into ice.

Now!

A wave of blue energy erupted from her body, spreading out in all directions. Within a few moments, it had passed harmlessly through the walls of the Castle and out of sight. Excitement building within her, Elsa left her seat and quickly made her way to the front hall.

The Queen couldn't resist the urge to attempt to leave the Castle and examine the statues more closely. As before, however, her body simply would not move beyond the confines of the Castle walls. An invisible force continued to bind her to the source of the ritual, and Elsa accepted that her imprisonment would continue until the ritual had done its work. Reluctantly, she settled for looking out through one of the Palace's large windows.

None of the architecture had been touched in the slightest way. But the formerly cloudless sky above the Castle had now been darkened by a sea of clouds, and a heavy snowfall had begun. Yet what truly made the Goddess's heart leap was the sight of every man, woman, and child in the courtyard now replaced by a statue of flawless ice.

None could reach her. None could harm her. An ever-expanding circle of energy now stood between Elsa and the remainder of humanity, transforming all in its path into helpless monoliths. Judging by the glint of blue she observed now moving somewhat slowly through the city, the process would take some hours or days to complete. But it didn't matter; Elsa had all the time in the world now.

She had won.

\

December 3

They had left the cabin running, ignoring Evangeline's manic laughter echoing behind them.

Their horses had been galloping for hours through the dead of night, spurred on by their desperate riders. But for all their speed, Anna couldn't ignore the horrible instinct that they were already too late. Evangeline had known what she was doing. The spymaster would never have given the game away if there had been a chance they'd reach the Castle in time.

Four hours at full speed had allowed them to cover a third of the distance between Elverum and the capital. Through it all, the same thought kept circling through Anna's head. We've been played for fools this entire time. I failed you. I'm sorry, Elsa. I'm sorry...

Anna and Eugene had reached the edge of the forest, making their way into the wide open plain that encompassed a portion of Northern Arendelle. Miles of grass, good farmland in the summer, were covered with multiple inches of snow. At the moment, however, the weather was clear.

So clear, in fact, that Anna could see a faint blue light cresting over the horizon. As the Knight watched, it grew ever closer, seeming to reach from one end of the world to the other.

It was moving fast. Most would not even notice it.

Storm clouds bellowed behind it, invading what had formerly been a completely clear night. Without even comprehending their actions, the two riders had brought their horses to a stop beside one another and stared silently at the approaching wave of magic.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry... Anna opened her mouth to say the words, but her muscles would not obey her. Eugene was trembling in absolute terror, and the Knight soon realized that she was doing the same.

The light was quickly growing brighter and closer, sweeping across the plain faster than any horse could travel. A single tear sliding down her cheek, Anna shielded her eyes as the wave of magic was about pass through them.

For a single moment, a bright blue light invaded Anna's vision as the magic finally reached her.

And then the light was gone.

A/N: Next chapter will be up in two days; it's small, but should give everyone a clear idea about where the story is headed. Anyone interested might want to read previous private dialogue between Evangeline and the Goddess; this development was hinted at more than once.

Responses:

Guest 1: She certainly is a bitch.

Claire Cooper: Kinda on point with that one.

Penguin Vuelve: Sure she will.

Arekanderu: The clues are there…

Andilite: Completely devoid of all empathy, that's for certain.

DimmensionalLover: Anna is a good person to the core, yes.

Spooths: You'll have an answer soon enough.

UnSweetForest: That's what the early chapters were for!

CoolNickNac7112: Thanks for the updates to that page!

Guest 2: They certainly deserve one.

LexQuest: Already tried that. Didn't work.

TheChronicle: I don't think Anna knew that beforehand. I couldn't find that anywhere in the story and I certainly looked.

Kurojistou: Plenty of unfortunate characters in this story.

Guest 3: Intended reaction.

Keanan765: Thanks! Character development is always tricky to get right.

JenniferSmith: Nice one!

FrozenChris: Consorts all had the same abilities as one another. Anna only has a small portion because Elsa doesn't have most of her power. Evangeline only cared about Kayla as a tool, not as a person. It's how the Faithful operate.

ObsessiveImaginings: She was certainly meant to be hated.

Danymah: I think this was the first chapter in December.

WinterWolfDragon: Thank you!

Coincidencless: Yes, I am telling you that. You picked up on the hint earlier. Well done!

Velasco Anna: I'm doing my best! Thanks!

Frost108: Keep waiting. Some injuries, though.

Striga889: Now it's missing. Odd.

Frost 108: Take a guess.

Kurei 555: Thank you very much! Is there hope? I hope so!