Chapter 24: The frozen fjord.

"You know you will have to tell her sooner or later, right?" Percival voice sounded from behind her, making Elsa turn from her previous spot staring at the sky from her balcony, and glare at him. She had just woken up like fifteen minutes ago, and went there to wait until her sister woke up, but apparently she couldn't have a minute of peace and silence.

"Tell her what?" She asked defensively.

"That you're not going to thaw Arendelle." He shrugged, approaching her and stopping at her side. "It's already been a week, and you haven't taken her to see it. She'll start asking questions."

"It doesn't matter. I am going to thaw Arendelle; it's just taking me a little more time than anticipated." She answered, obviously trying to appear calm and in control.

"Really? Because I didn't think you'd really choose to have a foolish girl as pet, instead of being feared and reverenced throughout the land." He'd been upset ever since Anna came to the palace, arguing it was making Elsa's softer, but she was having none of it.

"I don't care about what anyone thinks of me." She snarled. "Except Anna. She's all that matters."

"And yet you keep raping her."

"I have not done such thing!" Elsa yelled, magic at her fingertips, utterly outraged by the accusation.

"You will, if you haven't yet." Percival answered, showing more arrogance and defiance than he'd ever done. "You know she doesn't love you back, and that all she wants is to run back to the arms of that Prince Hans of hers. She'd kill you if she had the chance."

"She wouldn't…" Elsa started, but was promptly interrupted.

"Maybe yes, maybe not, but what is true is that she doesn't love you. Not the way you love her, at least, and if you're ever going to be truly happy, and claim what you think is yours, you'd be raping her. She'd hate you more, and probably run away." He paused, smirking sinisterly. "And what would you have then? A thawed kingdom that wants you dead, a sister that hates you, and a broken heart."

"That's enough, Percival!" Elsa yelled, beyond angry at her servant, and shaken by his words, more so considering they weren't blatant lies. All he had said could potentially happen. "You will never speak of this again, or I swear I'll freeze you limb by limb, until you beg for the sweet release of death."

"Sure, Elsa, whatever you say." He shrugged, not at all frightened by her threat. "Why should I fear a Queen that doesn't keep her word?" And with that, he left.

"Percival, have you seen Elsa?" Anna asked as she ran into said man at the main hall. She'd been looking for Elsa everywhere after having breakfast, but her sister seemed to have vanished. Come to think of it, she had been avoiding her the last couple of days, making the princess worry she had done something to offend her.

"Not since this very morning." He answered, apparently trying to be friendly, but the way he looked down upon Anna revealed his true opinion about the girl. "What do you need her for?"

"Well… nothing in particular." She admitted sheepishly, wondering why she even wanted to see her sister anyways, since all she seemed to be interested in lately was shoving he tongue down Anna's throat. She was getting used to it, but she still couldn't say that she liked it. "I'm just bored, and I wanted to ask if maybe we could go out for a little while." She said at the end, deciding that was the most likely reason for her to be searching for her sister. It's not like she had anything else to do anyways. Or anyone to talk to, for that matter.

"You want to see Arendelle." He rolled his eyes. It wasn't a question.

"Well…" Anna blushed, unwilling to admit he'd read her so easily.

"It's okay. I guess it's understandable considering you basically accepted to become Elsa's pet in exchange of her thawing the kingdom." He reassured her.

"Y-yeah, but… I mean, do you think it's thawed already? She did say it could take a while."

"Honestly, I don't know." He lied. "But I'm gonna get some supplies today. Why don't you come with me and see it for yourself?"

It was a tempting offer. After all, she was concerned that maybe the reason Elsa hadn't taken her to Arendelle was because she just wouldn't keep her promise about thawing it. On the other hand, seeing her kingdom again was something she would have preferred to do with her sister; maybe even have a little picnic on the forest and make flower crowns for her. And besides… if Elsa found out she went out of the palace without her permission, she'd probably get really mad at her and do something rash.

So, no. She preferred not to become an ice statue.

"Uh… thank you for the offer, but I'd rather go with my sister." She excused herself, ready to turn around and keep looking, until Percival's voice stopped her.

"Are you sure? She did say you could come with me to buy supplies if you wanted to. She said you've never liked staying in just one place."

"S-she said that?" Anna asked, surprised her sister still remembered her hyperactive nature and had told Percival about it, but still not very convinced about all of this.

"Yes. I mean, the path I normally follow doesn't come close to Arendelle, but there's a cliff nearby from where we could see it." He gave her a small smile. "It would be a five-minute detour, at most. I don't think she'll mind. Or even notice."

"B-but…" Anna started, then bit her lip. After all, it wasn't her damn fault her sister had been too busy to spend even one minute by her side the last few days, and she was really starting to feel trapped inside the palace, and figured a bit of fresh air would do her some good. Still, she wanted to avoid, at any cost, making her sister mad. "Okay. I agree to go with you. But I don't want to see Arendelle; I trust Elsa to show me when she's ready." She finally responded, coming to a compromise with herself.

"Alright." Percival shrugged. "Less work for me."

And with that, he went to the stables, with Anna following him close behind.

As Percival had said, it didn't take too long. Basically they just went to Oaken's, where he bought some food and clothes, both for him and for Anna. And he acted annoyed all the time the princess tried on yet another dress, before finally deciding for the first one she'd seen (a simple and warm one, with a blue skirt and a black bodice, coupled with a pink cape). And he also refused to buy her chocolates until she threatened to tell Elsa about it, and he relented.

All in all, it was quite fun, and Anna did enjoy very much talking to another human being for a change (Oaken). Besides, she got herself a new dress to surprise Elsa with the next day, so that was a plus. That is, unless her sister wanted to take it off her the moment she saw her… but no. That wouldn't happen. She hoped.

Still, she couldn't wait to get back to the palace. Traveling by snow horse wasn't quite as fancy or satisfying as flying on an ice eagle, and the sun was starting to set. And the idea of being alone at night, in the middle of the forest, with a man that looked like a sleep-deprived psychopath didn't sound all that pleasant.

However, when they were nearing the path to Elsa's palace, Percival tugged the reigns slightly and made the horse deviate into the line of threes. Anna briefly considered not saying anything, in case he got mad at her for asking questions, but then decided that, if he was deviating from the main road, it was probably not for something good, so she may as well ask and plan an escape if necessary.

"Uhm… Percival?" She called him, her voice shaking a little from nervousness. "Why are we going off the road?"

"I just need to pick up something. Don't worry; it shouldn't take that long." He assured her, not even turning to look at her when he said it. But he was curt and cold, and Anna couldn't help feeling like he's lying, which incremented her fear tenfold.

"Oh. Okay." She answered, trying not to reveal just how afraid she truly was… and failing. She needed a plan! Quick! But her dagger wouldn't be of use at all, considering Percival had a sword and most likely knew how to use it. Her best option would have been to alert Elsa of what was happening, but she was all the way back at the palace! Even if she somehow managed to send her a smoke signal or something without Percival noticing, she probably would take too long to arrive.

So what could she do? Just resign to her imminent death? Or was she simply being paranoid?

Suddenly, Percival stopped the horse and got down, then offering his hand for Anna to take and get off their steed as well.

"Come with me, princess. It's dangerous for you to be in the forest alone." He said, but as soon as she caught a malicious glint in his eyes, all she wanted to do was punch him and run away. But she decided it was better to avoid direct confrontation until it was absolutely necessary, so she steeled her nerves, and descended from the horse.

Once she was on the ground, they started walking through the forest (Anna tried to memorize the route they followed, so she could get back later), but it wasn't long until they came to a stop, Anna behind Percival.

"Well, Anna, it seems we've come to our destination." He said, turning around and smirking maliciously.

"And where's that, exactly?" Anna asked.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" He answered, and stepped aside to reveal a snowy cliff.

The first thought that entered Anna's mind was that he literally was going to push her off a cliff and to her death, but she wasn't close enough for that. However, she stepped closer on her own accord once she realized what he'd taken her to see. It was Arendelle. Far there in the distance, the capital of the kingdom could be seen surrounded by tall mountains and a frozen fjord.

A frozen fjord. Everything, as far as the eye could see, was frozen. Covered in ice and snow. Despite Elsa telling her she had already thawed part of it.

But the storm hadn't receded; it had actually picked up a little. The town looked like it wouldn't keep standing for long, unless someone stopped the eternal winter. And apparently, that someone wasn't going to be Elsa.

Anna felt betrayed, and outraged. How dared she lie to her?! How dared she kiss her, touch her, and keep her locked in an ice palace, if she wasn't planning on fulfilling her end of the deal? Why make a deal in the first place? To give Anna a spark of hope only to then take it away?

Oh, she wasn't going to get away with this! Anna would bring back summer, even it costed her own life!

Or her sister's.

A/N: Cliffhanger! Muahahahaha, better get used to those, because you will be seeing them quite often from now on XD

Anyways, thanks for reading. If you liked this chapter, please review, tell me your thoughts or whatever. Reviews really motivate me to continue writing :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.