A/N: Sorry for the wait; I've had a few family emergencies over the last month that have cut into my writing time. Thankfully, everything's turned out well, so my usual pace should resume.

Also, just because a lot of people have had questions about this, Anna is not going to remember the dream she had with the Goddess. It's just one of countless dreams that she (like everyone else) has completely forgotten as soon as she awakes. Unlike the memories removed by Pabbie, she didn't forget about it because of a spell/injury, so Rapunzel's tears won't do anything to bring it back.

November 1

"Have all of our mages replied to the summons?" Elsa questioned calmly.

Evangeline nodded. "The last will be here in a week; she's coming from Albion. As soon as she arrives, the seven of us will set off," the spymaster promised.

"Good," Elsa replied. At last, the Goddess had finally decided that it was time to wipe out her enemies. With Kristoff and Eugene having found Anna and almost certainly having made their way to the trolls with knowledge of her plans, there was no longer any point in holding back from destroying that group of pests. Unable to leave the Castle herself, the Goddess would entrust the task to a group of her most deadly Faithful.

But first, there were preparations to be made.

She fixed her gaze to the spymaster. "You leave tonight," Elsa said.

Evangeline's eyes widened. "You want us to attack immediately?" she questioned. "I thought you intended to wait until our strike force was at full strength. Three of our number still have not yet arrived."

The Goddess shook her head. "You're going to go alone," she revealed. By herself, Evangeline could make her way to the North Mountain in less than two days. Her teleportation could carry her very far, very fast. Using her magic drained the spymaster of energy, but her speed remained great even when accounting for the necessary periods of rest.

Evangeline's mouth began to gape open, and Elsa decided to end the suspense. "I don't intend for you to attack alone," she assured the spymaster. It was true; Elsa would never throw away the life of a valuable servant so rashly. "I simply need an agent to make their way to the trolls' camp and back before we set out to attack, and you're by far the fastest."

The spymaster answered her with a bow. "Of course, Your Worship. But if I may ask...why?" Her tone was one of genuine confusion.

"After you arrive, you will tell Anna and her friends that you are there to negotiate. Promise them that if they surrender peacefully and agree to return to this Castle as prisoners, their lives will be spared. And that Eugene's lovely whore and her family will not be kept frozen when my magic sweeps the earth," Elsa said.

Evangeline frowned. "That's a lie they will see through easily," she noted.

"Of course they will," Elsa agreed. "They'll know you have an ulterior motive; that offer is simply the excuse you will use. Eventually, you will allow them to believe that your true purpose in showing yourself is to ascertain whether Anna has returned."

"Which we already know, thanks to Kayla's falcons," the other woman said.

The Goddess smirked. "Your real objective is one they should not become aware of. This mortal body only visited that campsite once, and it was very brief. I do not quite know what magic the trolls are capable of, and your strike force must be ready for any eventuality. Scope out the terrain as much as you can, and see if they have any nasty surprises in store for us."

Evangeline frowned. "From what we know of their magic, that's unlikely."

"Yes," Elsa agreed. "But we must be sure. I have no intention of sending my most powerful agents into battle without first sending a scout to survey the battlefield. Of course, should the opportunity arise, you are more than welcome to stab Anna or any of her friends in the heart."

They'd discussed this before. Evangeline had offered to simply teleport into the camp and stab Anna and Eugene in their beds, but Elsa had quickly vetoed that idea. The barrier around the troll's campsite prevented magic from directly passing through. Her teleportation could not carry her directly into the trolls' huts. She could take the mundane option and simply walk through the barrier, but that would expose her to attack to a greater degree than Elsa was comfortable with.

Taking Anna's life at the cost of Evangeline's was not an even trade.

By the time for the attack arrived, Elsa's Faithful would have completed their spell designed to destroy the barrier, but that moment had not yet arrived. Elsa had to be sure that the barrier was the only defense the trolls had. The trolls, Pabbie in particular, were so proud of their magic that they vastly overestimated its power; they were likely more than confident in their shield…a shield that would quickly fall to the Faithful's spells. But if the old troll was wiser than he seemed and had prepared additional surprises, the results could be rather unpleasant.

The spymaster bowed and turned to leave, but Elsa stopped her with a small cough. Quickly, Evangeline turned around to again look upon her Goddess.

"One more thing," she intoned, her lips curving into a small smirk. "Make sure you remind them exactly how much time they have left."

\

November 3

"Kristoff, I'm not arguing about this again. You're not coming. Don't make me remind you why."

The ice-harvester bristled with anger. "I'm not going to just sit on my ass in the middle of camp while you and Eugene risk your lives! he protested. "I'd never be able to live with myself."

"No?" Anna questioned, her voice tinged with mockery. "As I recall, you were perfectly happy to sit on your ass the last time Eugene and I were fighting for our lives. I'd rather you do it here rather than in the middle of Arendelle; that way, I don't have to worry about looking after you."

Kristoff offered her a guilty grimace, but the determination remained etched on his face. "I froze up then," he said. "It won't happen again."

The former Knight frowned. "Even if it doesn't...how exactly are you going to be useful to us, again? You're strong, but you can't climb. I think the guards in Corona can testify to that. You don't know how to fight. Look, Kristoff...I know you want to help, but there's a lot more at stake here than your personal ego. We're breaking into the most secure prison in the country, and if we fail, all of humanity is screwed."

Teeth clenching, Kristoff could only glare at her with impotent anger. Anna knew her words were harsh, but they were all too true. Drell was being held in the Tower of Venesala, a massive structure situated at the center of the city with which it shared a name. Grand Pabbie had spent the past two days making replicas of the potion of concealment that Kristoff had not-so-spectacularly used in Corona, but even with that advantage, Anna and Eugene (both excellent climbers) would be hard pressed to sneak in undetected.

"How about a compromise?" Anna turned to see Eugene walking towards them. "Kristoff can come with us to the city, and help keep watch as we sneak over the walls. He won't come in the prison, and he'll stay away from any guards he sees. Fair enough?"

Anna let out an exasperated sigh,. "…Fine."

She had little time to argue the point. They would be leaving for Venesala the next day, and Anna's mind was still in turmoil regarding their 'plan'. Thinking of Drell brought up memories that were second only to thoughts of Elsa in terms of sheer mental pain. All that time they'd spent together...training, going through the forms, laughing about the absurdities of Castle politics...he'd been thinking of ways to murder her.

Even though he'd turned out to be right about Elsa, Anna would never be able to forgive him for so willfully discarding her life...and the lives of countless innocents who'd suffered during the rebellion he had masterminded. Anna didn't doubt that part of Drell had cared about her. Somehow, it only served to make the memories even more painful.

Unfortunately, Eugene wasn't done with her just yet. Now that she focused on him clearly, Anna could see the familiar sword he was half-halfheartedly concealing behind his back. Noticing her gaze, the Prince frowned ruefully and presented the blade to her.

"You need a weapon, Anna. The best weapon. This sword is lighter and harder than anything I've ever seen. I...I know how you must feel about it, but we can't afford to give up the few advantages we have," he said.

Her sword. Elsa had given it to her on Anna's 'birthday', a day that the Queen had arbitrarily chosen after Anna had revealed that she had no idea when she was born. No...don't think about that...she tried to tell herself as another wave of heartbreak rushed through her.

It was a beautiful weapon. With a handguard in the shape of Arendelle's symbolic crocus flower and a blade composed of pure blue ice, it was as pleasant to look upon as it was deadly. Elsa's financial wealth and magical abilities had combined to give Anna the sharpest and hardest sword in the known world. The weapon had been by her side for months, protecting her from nearly all harm. Just like Elsa had been.

The gift had been just another part of a lie, designed to manipulate Anna into falling ever further into love with a woman who would never feel the same. But while Elsa's intentions may not have been pure, the blade itself was still as strong and sharp as ever. Eugene was right; she couldn't let sentimentality prevent her from using an ideal weapon.

Wordlessly, she took it from his hands and shoved it into the sheath already on her belt.

"Someone's coming!"

\

Even with the cover of darkness, Evangeline had eventually been spotted.

She couldn't see the campsite, but thanks to the Goddess's instructions, she knew where it was. And while the barrier that surrounded it prevented the spymaster from seeing directly into it, the sounds that its occupants made were all too audible.

Evangeline teleported directly in front of where she knew the barrier to be. Immediately, she knew that passing through would be a bad idea. The spymaster didn't know precisely what would happen, but she sensed a stirring of hostile power emanating from the barrier. Although the trolls' magic was nothing compared to that of her Goddess, that did not mean it wasn't formidable.

Teleporting through would likely end just as badly...if it had even been possible. The spymaster could only travel to places that she could see at the current moment, and the barrier preventing eyes on the outside from looking in.

A small purple figure suddenly appeared before her, standing at the barrier's threshold. The wizened old troll that stood before her was just at the edge of the magical protection...still inside the shield, but visible to those outside the barrier.

"I am called Grand Pabbie. Who are you, and what is your purpose here?" he asked simply. Evangeline smirked, pleased by his straightforward questions. The less time she spent here, the better.

"A loyal servant of the Divine Empress, this planet's one true ruler. She bears you and your people no ill will, but it has come to her attention that you are harboring two of her enemies. Give me the Coronan Prince and the Arendellian sneak-thief, and neither she nor her subjects will trouble you again," Evangeline offered.

The troll shook his head sagely. "I know not of whom you speak. An Arendellian woman did come to us some months ago, seeking to relinquish some painful memories, but she is long gone from our camp. And to the best of my knowledge, I have never met a Coronan Prince."

Evangeline chuckled, but the mirth never reached her eyes...eyes that were now staring directly into the troll's own pupils. "I will only say this once, so listen well. Our Empress is only months away from regaining all of her former power. When that happens, nothing on this earth can hope to stand against her. Produce the fugitives now, and she will leave you in peace. If not, you and all of your people will die. That," she smiled, allowing her hand to drift lightly onto the hilt of her sheathed sword, "Is a promise."

Pabbie frowned. "And I repeat, we do not-"

"Enough," a familiar voice spoke. "She knows we're here, and Elsa's going to burn this place to the ground no matter what you do. So tell me, Evangeline...what the hell do you want?" Anna demanded as she stepped into view, stopping right next to the old troll.

The spymaster couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of the younger woman. Scarcely a day had gone by during her stay in the Castle that Anna had failed to prance around the halls, happy to the point where Evangeline had been surprised that even the servants hadn't found it sickening. The Knight had been so full of life, ecstatic to be warm, fed, and sharing a bed with a Queen...instead of sleeping out in the snow like she'd deserved. And Evangeline had been forced to completely hide her displeasure for an entire year, only able to dream of the day that the red-haired thief would be put back in her place.

That day had long since passed, and the results were glorious. Simply looking at Anna was enough to ascertain that the younger woman had spent several months as cold and hungry as ever, but the pleasure of that realization was nothing compared to the utter glee she gained simply by looking into Anna's eyes. The former Knight had been broken. Blue pupils that had once been so full of life and happiness had been replaced a dull, constant anger. And beneath that mask of rage was a frightened, depressed girl doing anything she could to avoid confronting her grief.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Anna. You're looking...well."

Anna tried her best to hide it, but the spymaster could see her face twitch in rage. "What do you want, Evangeline?" she demanded.

"You're being blunt. Out of respect for that, I will return the favor. You know that Elsa is preparing to enact her ritual, and that there's nothing you could do to stop it. She sits at the center of her Castle, surrounded and protected by the most powerful members of the Faithful. The parlor tricks of these purple rocks cannot hope to match our power; neither can you and your Prince defeat us with your blades. Your own magic is long gone...removed by the Goddess long ago," Evangeline intoned.

"Your point?" Anna asked. "I'd rather die fighting than spend eternity as one of Elsa's ice statues."

Evangeline shook her head. "You don't have to do either. The Goddess holds no ill will for her family members. And although she grew tired of your company, Elsa appreciates your role in safeguarding her from Drell's Order. If you all surrender, she will allow you to live out your days in a...comfortable prison."

No sooner had she had the words then a third emissary stepped into view. The dark drown hair, tan face, and ridiculous goatee he sported marked him as the Coronan Prince. To his credit, Eugene's sword was already unsheathed and leveled in Evangeline's direction.

"Cut the crap. Thanks to your utterly insane cultists, my brother-in-law is lying in a coma! My pregnant wife was stabbed and nearly killed by one of your spies," he hissed. "And you expect us to believe that she appreciates Anna? If so, trying to kill her and throwing her in a dungeon for absolutely nothing was a fabulous way of showing it."

"I'd reconsider your attitude if I was you, Your Highness," Evangeline replied with a calm smile. "The day of the Winter Solstice, the Goddess's magic shall sweep over the entire world. You have less than two months before the world cowers before an all-powerful Goddess. Tell me...do you think your child will be born by then?"

Eugene's fists clenched, but the Prince remained where he was. Anna, however, had unsheathed her sword and was clearly on the verge of leaping through the barrier. And if that happened, she would be defenseless before Evangeline's abilities...sword or no sword. The Prince, no doubt, would end up following her to her death. Perhaps this would be easier than any of them had realized.

"You know, Anna, you're lucky you escaped when you did," the spymaster said, deciding her abandon her pretense of offering a peaceful surrender. "That scar on your cheek hasn't really healed well, has it? You're lucky you escaped from the dungeon when you did; Elsa was planning on giving you a matching mark on the other cheek the next morning. We still have the brand ready-"

Anna leapt forward, snarling viciously as she angled her sword for Evangeline's neck. For a moment, the spymaster's heart soared as Anna darted within inches of her grasp. Then a strong arm shot out from the Prince, blocking his friend's path and hauling her further behind the barrier.

"No, Anna!" he warned, again shoving her back as she made another attempt to reach Evangeline. "She can teleport- the trolls saw that. We leave the barrier, and she kills us. Why do you think she's here in the first place?"

The rage on the former Knight's didn't diminish, but Eugene's words were enough to convince Anna to stop struggling. Evangeline cursed the Prince's foresight, but that didn't mean her presence here would be a complete waste. Already, she had scoped out for any other magical defenses in the area, and there were none. Plus, there was the matter of her other objective.

She shook her head disdainfully at the pair. "Well done, Your Highness, well done indeed. Unfortunately, this little barrier won't protect you from the Goddess's wrath. The day of the winter solstice, her power will spread across this entire earth; it will brush aside these rocks and their parlor tricks within seconds. If you're smart, you'll kill yourselves before that happens; death is so much quicker than remaining stuck as an ice sculpture for eternity. I hope you gave your lovely wife the same advice."

The Prince frowned. "As a matter of fact, I-"

Then, without warning or hesitation in his speech, Eugene whipped his arms forward...throwing his sword like a javelin! The blade was not a weapon made for throwing, and in the few feet it traveled the point dipped from Evangeline's chest towards her thighs.

The barrier blocked hostile attacks- to an extent -from the outside, but the reverse was not true. Evangeline's reflexes were razor sharp thanks to her decades of training, but they were not enough to entirely save her. She rolled to the side, avoiding a full-on thrust into her flesh, but the blade still cut deep into the side of her right leg.

Pain! Never had she been wounded so grievously. And it had been by an Ungifted, no less! Her weakened leg stumbled, and the furious spymaster crumpled to her knees. A dart of movement out of the corner of her eye alerted her to the fact that Anna was once again charging forward...and this time, the Prince was not stopping her.

She glanced to the right, allowing her field of vision to drastically expand. The moment before Anna's blade could reach her neck, Evangeline traveled swiftly though the darkness. By the time the former Knight realized what had happened, her enemy was a hundred feet away.

For a moment, Evangeline considered going back and killing both of her assailants, but a glance down at the blood gushing out of the wound quickly dispelled that idea. The spymaster was in no shape to fight. Given enough time, the wound itself might be enough to kill her on its own.

Ruefully, Evangeline turned away from the campsite and started to teleport down the mountain. All the while, both of her hands pressed hard down on the wound, stemming much of the flow. Thanks to her abilities, Evangeline would reach the nearest settlement well before she bled out. And she had more than enough money to pay a healer. With luck, she would recover in time for the true assault.

The Prince would pay. She had already planned to kill him, of course, but that was no longer nearly enough. After he and Anna fell to the power of the Faithful, Evangeline would beg the Divine Empress leave to travel to Corona. There, she would do what their previous agent had failed to accomplish.

Eugene's unborn child would drown in its mother's blood.

\

November 4

They left the next morning. There was nothing to gain by waiting, and if Evangeline returned before they left, their quest was over before it began. Eugene had received one of Pabbie's anti-locator spells, and the trio had departed as soon as the two batches of concealment elixir were finally prepared.

Pabbie remained uncowed by Evangeline's threats. Anna and Eugene both suggested that the trolls abandon the camp and find somewhere else to settle; Elsa's minions knew exactly where to find them, and were now also aware of the fact that the trolls were harboring their enemies and preparing to counteract their plans. But the old troll was confident in the power of the barrier, a defense that had taken decades to create, and believed that leaving would make them far more vulnerable. A siege was a possibility, he admitted, but if that was the case the trolls were more than equipped to sustain themselves indefinitely.

It was on the first night of their journey that Kristoff made his request. He approached the Prince, holding out the borrowed sword he had taken from the trolls' camp, and simply said, "Teach me."

Eugene eyed him skeptically. "If that's what you want; it's not like I have anything better to do at the moment," the Prince replied hesitantly. "But, to be honest, I doubt it will do much good. We have less than two months to confront Elsa, and learning how to wield a blade with any sort of skill takes nearly half a year."

Kristoff couldn't suppress the frown that broke across his face.

With a wry smile, Eugene placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You already have the strength, and that's a good start. But technique is all-important, and striking a pickaxe into a mountain isn't exactly similar to fighting with a sword."

A short, humorless laugh drew his attention to Anna. "I was a natural with a blade, and it still took me three months to hold my own with soldiers in terms of skill. Something tells me you won't show quite as much aptitude."

"I think the magical powers you were lucky enough to have played a big part in that," Eugene snarked. Anna merely fixed him with a hard glare before storming off into the trees, muttering that she needed to find firewood.

Kristoff sighed. "You shouldn't tease her." Calling up memories of her former life wasn't going to do Anna any favors.

"Maybe not," the older man agreed with a tinge of guilt, "Anyway...back to your situation. I'm not saying I won't train you; any little bit of skill might make the difference in the end. But don't expect to be charging into waves of enemies at once, striking down soldiers left and right."

The ice-harvester nodded firmly.

"Then let's get started."

\

For the next three nights, their campsite was filled with the clacking of wood on wood as the two men went about with their exercises. Anna did her best to tone the noise out; it reminded her too much about her early days training with Drell. Unsurprisingly, Kristoff had been disappointed to learn that training with their steel weapons was out of the question. Finding out that most of his instruction would consist of learning and practicing the various forms of bladework rather than actual sparring was an even larger blow to his eagerness.

Yet Anna watched as he continued on, his lips set in a determined line. As she'd predicted, Kristoff was by no means a natural swordsman, but his determination coupled with Eugene's patient instruction did produce some noticeable improvement. With luck, by the time Winter Solstice arrived, he would be able to temporarily fend off a trained soldier.

Anna couldn't fathom what good that would do. Even skilled swordsmen such as Eugene and herself weren't an even match against a talented mage...let alone Elsa herself. But if training made Kristoff feel better, he was welcome to do it.

At times, she picked up her own blade and sparred with Eugene, steel against ice. To Anna's relief, her skill with the blade hadn't atrophied nearly as much as she'd expected given her year-long hiatus. It wasn't enough to make her Eugene's equal; without her powers, her natural skill and year of training were enough to allow her to hold her own against Prince's near-decade of experience, but no more than that. To his credit, Eugene abstained from mocking her, and for that she was grateful.

The exercise was enough to briefly drive thoughts of Drell and Elsa from her mind, but each night they returned long before Anna drifted off to sleep. A thousand concerns weighed on her soul. Would Drell be willing to assist her? Could he assist her? She spent hours on end thinking about what she would say to him, yet her mind refused to provide her with more than the faintest of ideas.

\

November 8

Through the window of the room at the inn, the three travelers could clearly see both the Tower Prison itself and the massive wall that enclosed its surrounding courtyard. The sun was still high in the afternoon sky, leaving them several hours to plan.

"You could climb over the wall, ambush two of the guards on patrol, remove the invisibility spell, and then steal their uniforms. All you'd have to do then was wait for the next shift change; when the patrols switched, you could go with the rest of the guards and make your way inside," Kristoff proposed.

Anna resisted the urge to laugh. "Are you serious? This is the most secure prison in the country! They check the identities of the guards before they make their way inside. I was Elsa's Personal Attendant for a year; I learned a few things. You think we're the first people to try to break into a prison? They know the usual tricks."

"She's right," Eugene agreed. "These guys aren't going to be fooled by any amateur-hour crap. The good news is that they've probably never had to deal with a spell of concealment before. That's our one advantage, and we have to use it right."

With a sigh, Anna pulled back from the window and sat down on the carpet. "It's not our only edge. Both the wall and the Tower itself are strong, but they're also old. There's enough chips and breaks in both that the two of us could climb up and over without too much difficulty. The only question is how to avoid being spotted."

"The spell-" Kristoff started.

"Doesn't make us completely invisible. With enough torchlight and enough time, the guards will almost certainly notice us before we can climb the Tower itself; they might even spot us making our way up the outer wall. And each guard stationed on the wall stands next to a torch. If we knock out the one in our way...and we will definitely need to do that...it won't be long before the other guards notice that a man is missing," Anna finished solemnly.

Eugene frowned. "Once we make it to the top, I can take the counter-spell and remain behind. I'll throw on the jacket of whatever guard we take out and take up his torch; there's enough distance between each man on patrol that the others won't be able to tell the difference."

"Even still, it's too dicey. If we're unlucky, which we usually are, the rest of the guards will notice us ambushing our target. And even if you do manage to take his place, that leaves me to make my way across the courtyard and climb into one of the Tower's windows. It will be a miracle if I'm not spotted."

The Prince bit his lip, staring down at the floorboards in an uncharacteristic display of hesitation. "There's...a church nearby, right?" he asked, his eyes moving to the window. "One of those Pacifist churches. Big wooden building, easily visible from the outer wall?"

"Yeah," Anna replied uncertainly, unsure of where he was going with this.

"Do they hold ceremonies at night?"

\

Eugene hated himself.

The Prince wasn't the biggest fan of organized religion, but he respected the rights of others to believe whatever they wished...so long as they did not impose those beliefs on others. The Pacifist church was an old, relatively small religion that emphasized a rejection of modern technology in addition to a total commitment of non-violence...even for the purpose of self-defense. But however inane their tenants were, its members mostly kept to themselves, and rare was the occasion that they attempted to meddle in the affairs of others. None of them deserved this.

"No one will be in the church at this time of night," Anna said, keeping her back pressed against the wall of the alley they were lurking in. Fifty feet away, the outer wall awaited...ten meters high and patrolled by over a dozen men. "There's a lot worse that would happen to them if we fail." Her voice was firm, but Eugene could tell she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to comfort him.

It's for Rapunzel. Her, and our child. "What if it spreads? There's more than one building really close to the church. Even if the city guards respond quickly, it might grow too fast for them to control."

Anna winced, but there was nothing for her to say.

It started just after midnight. A speck of reddish yellow visible in the distance, it soon ballooned into a conflagration that threatened to consume the entire church. By this time, Kristoff would be sprinting away from the church towards the edge of the sitting, leaving behind the fire he had created.

Shouts echoed through the air as panicked residents attempted to rouse the Watch and evacuate all of the nearby buildings. In the chaos, no one noticed the two fugitives both sprinting towards the outer wall, both rendered almost completely shaded out of view by Pabbie's concealment spell.

The guards stationed both in the Tower and on the outer wall itself would be far too disciplined to leave their posts in response to the fire. With luck, however, the vast majority of their attention would be fixated on the blaze that threatened to destroy one of the city's largest and oldest buildings.

Then they were climbing up the wall, one loose brick at a time. Forcefully pushing thoughts of the fire to the back of his mind, Eugene placed his attention on the guard stationed several meters above him. If the man managed to loose a shout, all of their sacrifices and careful planning would come to nothing.

He needn't have worried. As he reached the edge of the wall...several feet to the right of the guard, he could see that the man's gaze was fixed on the burning church. Drawing upon his years of practice, the Prince silently hoisted his way over the ledge and landed on the top of the wall. Only the very edges of the guard's peripheral vision would have been capable of spotting him, and thanks to Pabbie's spell, it was not enough.

Eugene's fist crashed against the back of the man's skull, sending him falling to the stone below with nothing but a soft groan. A quick check of his person confirmed the man to be unconscious. Nodding in satisfaction, the Prince hurriedly released the antidote to Pabbie's spell. Now fully visible, he snatched the jacket off the guard's prone form and placed it on himself, before dragging the body out of view of the torchlight.

He glanced silently at Anna as she crept over the ledge of the wall, still shrouded by the spell of concealment. She nodded before hurrying to the other side of the wall and beginning to scurry down towards the courtyard. With any luck, it would be deserted at this time of night.

All the Prince would have to do now is stand at his post. A quick glance in both directions told him that the other guards had not noticed the brief altercation, distracted by the fire below. Now, he only had to wait for Anna's return, being alert for any signs that the downed guard was stirring back to consciousness. Thanks to their surveillance during the past night, Eugene knew that the next shift change would not occur for several hours.

It was with both relief and regret that he noticed that the fire continued to burn.

\

Anna crept along the hallway, holding her sword at the ready. Running across the courtyard had been easy enough, and Anna had made far more difficult climbs than her trek up to one of the Tower's second story windows. Now, of course, came her more difficult task. Most of the guards were asleep in their quarters, but for the moment that was as much of a curse as it was a blessing.

She needed someone to interrogate, or finding her former teacher would be an impossibility. It wasn't the keys to his cell she was after...Anna knew those were probably far out of her reach...but simply his location. Each cell in this prison was hidden from view by a wooden door, one designed not as an extra layer of security but as a way to keep prisoners in the dark. Men bereft of light were more likely to become resigned to their fates.

"My god..." a small, shocked voice echoed from around the corner. Hardly believing her luck, Anna peered around the corridor to see a single woman standing at one of the windows, staring out at the growing blaze. She was young, only a few years older than Anna, with a long mane of blond hair not yet marred by streaks of gray. If not for the uniform she wore, Anna would never have guessed that she was a guard.

Anna wouldn't have survived years of thieving if she hadn't learned to move silently. Creeping up behind the woman, Anna waited until mere inches separated them to throw her sword around her throat.

"Scream, and you die." An idle threat, but this woman didn't need to know that.

For a few moments, the only sound that erupted from the guard's mouth was heavy, laborious breathing. "I-I...what do you want?" Anna's prisoner finally managed. "I don't have the keys to the cells; they're locked in the captain's offices."

"Arms Master Drell. A traitor that the Queen imprisoned over a year ago. Where is his cell? Tell me, or I'll find another guard who will. I'm not trying to release him, but I need to speak with him," Anna said. "Tell me, or you will regret it." Elsa will make sure of that. "Refuse to answer, and you die. Lie, and I'll come back to finish the job. Now talk!" she hissed.

Squirming in Anna's grip, the guard accepted the inevitable. "Top...top floor. The second cell on the right in the first cellblock. Please...I have a husband...we're going to raise a family...don't take that from me-"

"I won't," Anna answered. "In fact, I'm your only hope of ever achieving that dream." And in the older woman's moment of confusion, the former Knight briefly retracted her sword before slamming the pommel into her prisoner's skull. It was a hard blow- Anna had to ensure she didn't wake for several hours -but despite the thin line of blood running along the floor, she was confident that the guard would live.

Now that she was inside the prison itself, perhaps Kristoff's initial idea would hold some merit after all. Anna quickly took the antidote to Pabbie's spell before placing the guard's uniform on herself. This deep into the prison, she doubted that any of the remaining guards would suspect an infiltrator. Quietly, the former Knight finally placed her victim's prone form inside one of the outer cell doors, hoping the prisoner inside the inner bars was too deep in sleep to notice.

\

No one challenged her as she made her way through the prison; the few guards who glimpsed her way were too intent on watching the efforts to fight the fire to care about a face they didn't immediately recognize. From the sound of things, the City Watch were waging a pitched battle against the flames, and Anna was tempted to pause and glance at their efforts. No. I have to stay focused. Their sacrifice…the sacrifice we forced on them…has to be worth it.

In no time at all, she had arrived on the top floor of the prison. It was utterly devoid of guards. It was at that moment, with no opposition left between Anna and her destination, that all of Anna's misgivings returned- stronger than they had ever been. Part of her had never believed she would make it this far; now, there was no avoiding a confrontation with her devout teacher and hated enemy.

It can't be worse than spending eternity as an ice sculpture. Right?

Step by step, Anna walked towards the cell, stopping only to snatch a torch from the wall. For a brief moment, despite all that depended upon her desperate hope of Drell's knowledge, part of her hoped that the guard below had lied. But as she pushed the wooden door open and held the torch aloft, Anna knew that it was not to be.

"I knew you'd come sooner or later," Drell said. "I believe we have some things to discuss."

Responses:

YuriLover24: Wrong story; that's the Royal Commoner (which I recommend!)

DimmensionalLover: Well, sort of.

LordWestGordon: Yes, but how much help he can offer remains to be seen.

Frost108: Drell.

EagleRay: Evangeline was simply wrong; it caused Elsa to be possessed by her former incarnation. It was a lot more than returning her memories.

CoolNickNack: Yes!

.sato: Hang in there!

FrozenChris: Seeing someone hurt right in front of you is a lot more provocative than simply hearing about it.

WinterWolfDragon: Thank you!

Vesfarhloc: It's very important to me that every character has their own identity.

Gwiley16199: She can't remember that dream, unfortunately.

Andilite: Kayla is certainly a major threat.

ObsessiveImaginings: It's a desperate plan, but it's a plan.

ClaireCooper: Me, make you feel bad for characters? That would never happen.

Amberyln007: That does sound pretty dark…

Arekanderu: That was the intention.

Veoviing: Yes. He was imprisoned, not killed.

Zanderh11: Ah, the joys of binge-reading…

Coincidencless: As a TV Tropes fanatic, that was something I had to include.

PascalDragon: Drell, not the memory of that dream.

Scot1134: No promises.

Amateraszu: Thanks! Sorry it took so long!

JacklynFrost: Next update very soon.

Guest 1: Sorry.

BreeBear98: Here you go!

Thorneux: Huh, I forgot to mention that. You could say it was the part of the sheathe of her sword that she left behind.

TheChronicle: Wow, that's a lot of reviews. Let me go through them one by one; each number is from the chapter that you reviewed during your reread. Thanks for all your input, and I often take reader suggestions into account for non-plot critical details.

81: Good suggestions! I actually had a scene introducing some of the other mages planned for this chapter, but due to it already being overstuffed, it's been moved to next chapter.

18: Their roles were indeed planned from the start; that scene was meant to hint at their duplicity. They didn't want Elsa having a powerful protector (they didn't quite know how large of a threat Drell's group posed) so she would be vulnerable to future kidnapping attempts.

20: You can imagine how it felt to write that promise back then, knowing how it would all turn out. And yes, I often reread chapters.

21: That 'leader' wasn't Drell, simply one of his lieutenants stationed in the city. I'll admit, I should have put more thought in geography…I mean yes, it's harder to travel in winter. Exactly what I was going for.

23: Those were certainly intended hints; I included so many that I don't remember a lot of them until you remind me.

24: Something like that might come up eventually.

27: That group was the Faithful, yes. You're right that they don't know why Elsa had waited to start her ritual; though to this point it's safe to assume that they figured it was due to the fact that she wanted to wait until the threat to her reign was defeated (as the storing of her power for the ritual makes her weaker), or possibly some planetary alignment BS. Don't worry, this will be addressed in-story.

A lot of seemingly trivial things in the early chapters were meant to set the tone of the story. Elsa having to let a rapist go and Anna losing her first practice bout against an asshole were both inserted to establish that the heroes of this story can and will lose some of their battles. Anna sleeping around demonstrated that she didn't hold up to traditional notions of purity (and really, what's the big deal about sleeping with people before you met your true love?) So yeah, even in the happiest part of the story, there were hints that not everything would be fluff and happiness.

29: That's a good point.

31: A lot of this can be explained by the fact that Anna sleeps with her door closed, and Evangeline can only teleport to places she can currently see. Assassinating her was still a possibility, but if Evangeline was caught directly in the act, her plans were screwed. She couldn't straight barge in due to the guards that were around, plus the fact that Elsa had a Creation watching both herself and Anna while they slept (I think that was mentioned at one point, although I don't remember for sure. Even if it wasn't, I still hereby declare it canon. Yay, Word of God!)

Also, remember the only reason that David went out of control was because Anna proposed a radical course of action and Elsa listened to her. The Faithful had no idea Elsa would stop the war, and hoped that the fallout from it would distract her for months while not putting her life in danger.

32: Fair point. I would point out that Pabbie's records go back thousands of years (not quite all the way back to the Goddess's first reign, but a few hundred years after) and unlike the rest of the world, the trolls know a lot about magic. So if they haven't heard of something, they can discount it more easily than others.

33: I appreciate the defense of this story, though of course all reviewers are entitled to their own opinions. That bit at the end of Chapter 33 was actually a bit of double-layered foreshadowing. It was designed to make readers think that it was foreshadowing the presence of a mage as powerful as Elsa, thus redirecting them away from the notion that the threat would be Elsa herself.

35: The headache here was just a normal migraine.

38: Again, remember that the situation in Corona only turned out the way it did because Anna was a true Spanner in The Works. And also remember (yes, this should have been mentioned earlier in-story, so my bad) that Evangeline can only teleport to places she can see, so Elsa's bedroom at night is off limits. As for the Goddess stating that Anna can't get her powers back, that was a clear mistake on my part and has since been edited.

39: That was some heavy-handed foreshadowing.

40: Yes, there are definitely some anachronisms in this story, but it's easy enough to just say that this is a different world.

43: Her PTSD is definitely still an influence on her, but at this point the fact that so much time has passed means that it's less damaging to her at the moment than more recent traumatic events.

44: It was certainly a take-that to fundamentalist Christianity, as well as a take that to religious fundamentalism in general. The fact that Ungifted was capitalized was indeed intended as a hint.

45: Evangeline was playing the long game at the moment. She was intent on deflecting any possible suspicion away from herself and her allies, and knew that giving that advice to Elsa would subconsciously increase the trust that the Queen had in her. She knew that no matter what she said, Elsa was going to stick with Anna; being neutral wouldn't have dissuaded Elsa in the slightest. Better to accept the situation as use it to her advantage, increasing the 'bond' between herself and the Queen.

46: Drell was an Arms Master, not a guard. The reason that Durron was making sure that he was not ambitious is because Drell does have some noble lineage (most Knights do, and Arms Master is a prestigious position) and is a popular figure in the military.