Chapter 18.

Tonight's the night. Tonight, Hans will take me to the place he's been escaping to every month for almost a year now. What's this secret place? I don't know for sure. Hans only said that they're working to make the Northern Lands a better place, and that after reconsidering it more then a few times, they decided they need my help, even though that'd make me the youngest member of the group.

"Promise me you'll come back early." Helen says to both her brother and me as we put on some dark capes that will hopefully make it more difficult for the soldiers to spot us in the dim, cloudy night.

"We'll be back before sunrise." Hans promises her with a gentle smile, and then steps out of our cabin, turning around as soon as he's out and looking expectantly at me.

I want to say I won't go. I want to yell at him that I'm only a girl, and that I'll surely be of no use to them. I want to make him realize that there's no way a handful of us could make the Northern Lands a better place… But I can't. I've argued with him about this multiple times already, and he promised I could leave anytime I want to. I just have to show up to their little reunion tonight. Then, I can forget all about this.

Still, it's making me more nervous than I want to admit. It's against the rules. Going out after midnight, forming a meeting that involves more than five people without supervision from the guards, conspiring against the stablished order… I could even be charged with treason if they found me! The sole thought makes my insides twist painfully, and a layer of frost forms on my gloves. Still, I swallow my fear and give Helen a reassuring smile.

"Don't wait up for us." I say, before following Hans into the night.

It thankfully doesn't take us long to reach the cabin where the meeting will be held, and we manage to avoid all the soldiers with relative ease. The cabin is actually like any other cabin here; a bunch of wooden boards poorly nailed together by unexperienced people. The door isn't more than some animal's fur hanging from the doorframe, and the curtains are actually old rags. Inside, the only furniture are three "beds" that consist on a piece of wood covered by old cloths. Yes, this cabin is almost an exact replica as Bulda's. Though maybe hers is bigger.

At the thought of Bulda I feel more than a bit guilty. We did sneak out without her permission, and had to buy Olaf's and Marshall's silence with our dinner, but if I hadn't done that Hans would have continued pestering me until I agreed to come, so… I didn't really have a choice. Still, I prefer not to lie to Bulda.

I don't have much time to think about that though, because soon Hans moves one of the beds, revealing a trapdoor made of ice, obviously by magic. He opens it and a set of stairs is revealed, as well as a blue light coming from far underground.

"Go ahead." He says, pointing to the opening. "I'll close it."

I do as instructed, and soon find myself at the bottom of the stairs, which surprisingly enough, isn't all that deep into the ground. There, a circular room with walls made of ice and a table and chairs of the same material (though covered in cloths, for non-ice-wielders) is illuminated by a giant magical snowflake that floats just above the table. At said table, around ten people are sitting, varying on ages from around twenty, like Hans, to sixty, like a man with a severe expression. Most are men, but there's also a couple of women, one that has ice powers and another who clearly doesn't, judging by her auburn hair combed into a ponytail. Of the men, six have the pale complexion of ice-wielders, but the other two don't. I'm not surprised by this; there are a lot of non-ice-wielders within the Northern Lands, and yet they are still treated quite poorly by the soldiers.

I stand there awkwardly for a few seconds, feeling uncomfortable when all eyes turn to me, but thankfully Hans steps in to save me soon enough.

"Goodnight." He addresses them with a polite nod as he takes off his cape and comes to stand behind me. "I'd like to introduce you to my little sister, Elsa." At this, he puts a hand on my shoulder and take that as my cue to also take off the cape, revealing my face.

I don't bother to clarify that I'm technically not his sister, because ever since Helen made it clear she doesn't mind, Hans hasn't stopped calling me that, and I find it quite endearing. Though I'd never call him brother, or call Helen my sister, for that matter.

"She's too young." One of the men say, raising an eyebrow. "How old is she, twelve?"

"Fifteen." I correct, my voice barely above a whisper due to my nervousness. I hug my stomach as they keep examining me as if I'm a circus freak, feeling the knot in my stomach get tighter and tighter.

"And she's more powerful than all of you combined." Hans states, pride filling his voice. I've told him a million times not to mention the extent of my powers to anyone, but I guess it's the only reason I was invited in the first place, so I'll let it slide.

Before any of them can say anything though, Hans sits down at the table and gestures to the only other available chair, so I go and sit next to him. This close to the others, it's even easier to see their disbelieving but curious stares, like they don't truly believe what Hans said, but are eager to be proven wrong.

"Elsa?" The non-ice-wielder woman says, in what's probably meant to be a soothing tone. "Would you like to give us a little demonstration?"

"What do you want me to do?" I ask doubtful. After all, it's always dangerous to use magic. A soldier could notice. How? I don't know, considering we're underground, but I'd prefer not to risk it.

"Cool down this room as much as you can." One of them promptly suggests, but I only frown.

"That'd be way too dangerous. Non-ice-wielders would die." I say it with such certainty they are all left surprised. All except Hans, that is.

"Why don't you make a miniature Arendelle town?" He suggests instead. "Make it the size of the table."

Now, that's something I can do. I've been doing it quite often ever since I came here, after all. It's the only way I have to ensure I'll never forget my birth town.

"But that'd take hours, there's no way she can…" Before the oldest man can finish saying what he was saying, I take off my left glove and, with a wave of my hand, make Arendelle materialize on the table. I don't even have to concentrate anymore; it just comes naturally to me. The emotions I channel when I make it are all mixed up, like my feelings for said town, yet each one makes a small part of the model, and they find balance.

"I… I have to admit it's pretty impressive." A young man says after a few seconds. "I mean, I left Arendelle when I was quite young, yet I can still recognize some places, like the market, or the port. You even put some ships in the harbor!"

"The amount of detail is certainly something worthy of admiration." The ice-wielder woman adds. "Even more experienced ice-wielders would struggle making such an accurate model of the castle, yet you even added the correct number of windows and towers. Not to mention all the little houses! They're all very well crafted."

"What surprised me was the explosiveness of her magic!" The old man adds. "It wasn't released gradually. It was sudden and precise, and she was in complete control."

"Hans, you certainly didn't lie, this girl has potential." Another one says, making Hans' chest swell with pride as he adopts a rather smug expression. I don't like it at all. I wished I hadn't come. I don't want to use my powers.

"How old were you when your powers manifested?" The old man asks. I don't want to answer, but I feel pressured by all the eyes in the room that look at me waiting for an answer, so I whisper it against my wishes.

"I was born with them." At this, everyone in the room falls silent, looking at me, both as if I'm a ton of dynamite about to go off, and as if I'm some kind of God, worthy of reverence and admiration. I shift in my seat uncomfortable. This is why I didn't want to tell them.

"You must be the most powerful ice-wielder alive." He finally speaks after a long silence. "Please, it would be a honor if you could help us in our mission." He bows his head as a sign of respect, and the others do the same, but this only makes me feel more pressured and, therefore, nervous.

"W-what is your mission, exactly?" I ask cautiously.

"We want to build a better life for ice-wielders." Hans is the one who answers this time. I nod, indicating that I already knew that and silently asking him to elaborate. "To do that, we of course have to take control over Arendelle."

"Y-you mean… invade them?" I ask with a trembling voice, not liking the idea at all. I thought he just wanted to cast away the Arendellian soldiers, and take control over the Northern Lands, not this.

"Of course." He answers naturally, and everyone else in the room nod in approval, confirming his words.

"B-but… many would die." I protest with a weak voice. I don't want to openly contradict them, after all. I don't like when people get mad at me.

"And that is a shame." The old man agrees. "But thanks to our magic, I expect our loses to be minimal, compared to theirs."

But they are still people! I want to scream. They are still our people. They were your neighbors, your friends, your family! They are just innocent civilians that happen to be on the other side of the wall! Even if you just killed the soldiers (which I doubt), they are also people. Many are only in the army because they couldn't find another job, but that doesn't make them bad! Most have a family waiting for them, and yet you'd kill them without a second thought?!

However, I don't say anything. I'm just a girl after all, why would anything I say matter to them?

"Besides." Hans adds. "After we kill the royal family, we expect all the Arendellians to surrender. I bet that will save many lives."

This last commentary drains all blood from my face, and I feel like I will throw up. Hearing Hans so casually talk about murdering a family… a family that includes a little girl… it's just too terrible, too disgusting. Enough to make me see him in a completely new light. Sure, maybe he doesn't know them, and maybe the king is responsible for our current poor living conditions, but… that doesn't give him, or anyone else, the right to murder an entire family, alongside countless soldiers and civilians.

No, there has to be another way. We could just take control of the Northern Lands, and then try and negotiate with other kingdoms in order to obtain their protection and an opportunity to exchange goods. Without the soldiers here, we surely would be able to grow crops during summer, or even open some mines in the mountains. Maybe then we could even make a peace agreement with Arendelle. Sure, many lives would still be lost then, but I'd try my best not to kill anyone unless necessary.

However, I don't say anything and the reunion continues like they assumed my silence means I agree with them. The only comforting thought is that I'm pretty sure they won't be able to implement their plan without my help. Probably. And I don't intend on coming back here again. Ever.

Today is the day. The very anxiously awaited day to meet with Anna's council, so I can't afford to dwell much on the memory I got last night during a dream. All I can do as soon as I wake up very early in the morning is get ready, have breakfast and go over what I'm going to say. Still, as I wait for the time to arrive, I feel my stomach twisting painfully, my body shaking with anxiety. It gets so bad I think it won't be able to hold my breakfast in. However, when my hands start trembling and I accidentally freeze the papers I'm holding, I decide to lay down on my bed and take some deep breaths, hoping I'll be calm enough when Anna arrives.

Of course, that doesn't take long, and soon we're walking at a fast pace towards the meeting room. We barely even talk; I can see in her eyes she's as nervous and worried as I am. Plus, she has black circles under her eyes and looks a little pale, and her posture isn't exactly relaxed. I wonder how tense we would look if we hadn't taken a break yesterday.

At least she looks elegant enough, wearing the same dress she wore at Rapunzel's ball, together with the very regal red cape. She also has her hair up in a bun, with her tiara resting proudly on top of her head. She surely commands respect while dressed like that. She looks older, and more serious than usual.

I, on the other hand, opted for a dark blue dress with an equally dark blue jacket, and white gloves. Elegant, yet simple. And a little masculine, I suppose. But I like it, and I think it makes me look more sober. It looks better with my real hair, as it makes a nice contrast between dark and white, but of course I have my wig on, braided in my usual hairstyle. We don't want anyone freaking out after all.

When we arrive to the meeting room, only three members of the council haven't arrived, so we have to sit down and wait for them, but it thankfully just takes a few minutes, in which I put my notes in order. Then, when everyone is here, Anna gets up and clears her throat before speaking in a voice that wavers a bit with nervousness, but not too much, and hopefully they won't notice.

"Good morning, gentlemen. And thank you for coming to this meeting." She says. "I've asked for your presence today to discuss a topic of utmost importance to the kingdom; the Northerners." At this, all their faces become curious and more attentive, probably because the Queen had refused to touch the matter ever since she ascended to the throne. Seeing this, Anna shifts uncomfortably because she knows what she'll say next will piss them all off.

"As we all know, this war between us and the Northerners has cost many lives and countless resources, while resulting in considerable damage to our remaining territory. As such, I say it'd be ill-advised to prolong this conflict any longer, and so today I propose that…" She pauses, biting her lip, and I have to nudge her for her to go on. "That we abolish the laws imposed by my father with regards to ice-wielders, and allow them to return as citizens of Arendelle." She says this without pausing to take a breath, however, I bet the silence that follows isn't because they didn't understand her due to how quickly she said it.

All councilmen have equally stunned faces, like they were expecting anything but that. Most clearly hope she's joking, and that she will burst in laughter and say something like "got you!". But no; this is real, and once the realization kicks in, the protests aren't held back.

"What did you just say?!" The General exclaims, his voice raising above the others, both angry and alarmed. The others quickly back up his position.

"That's just self-destructive! Are you trying to bring Arendelle to its ruin?" Another councilman speaks, as enraged as I guessed they'd be.

"The Northerners are dangerous! We can't just let them walk back into our kingdom after everything they've done." A man in his fifties say. Aaron, I think is his name. He's the one who interrogated me the first time I met with the council. All in all, it doesn't surprise me that even him (who appeared to be the most reasonable) is against Anna's proposal.

"Yes! They're murderers and thieves and…" Before this councilmen can continue, I decide to stand up and speak, tired of their hateful commentaries.

"Gentlemen, please!" I pretty much yell, putting up my hands as to demand silence. It takes a few moments but, thankfully they're respectful and civilized enough to shut up once the Queen herself sits down to listen to what I'll say. Even if she already knows my whole speech. "I know it's easy to hate Northerners, and to blame them for all of our problems, but the facts and numbers tell a different story than the one we're so happy to believe."

At my words, many look confused and unbelieving, and the General downright looks at me like I just said the stupidest thing ever. But I don't let that stop me from telling the horrible truth I found out. The truth even I was surprised to learn. What they do with this truth, however, is up to them.

"The truth is… Northerners haven't killed that many Arendellians, or committed as many crimes." I pause, letting that information sink in as I take a look at my notes. "In total, 3122 people were exiled to the Northern Lands, and only about two thousands of them were ice-wielders. You know how many people live in Arendelle? No?" I pause, alternating my gaze between them, but if they know, they decide not to say anything. "Around one million. And yet, we gave almost a quarter of our territory to the Northerners."

Huh. It sounds even dumber when I say it like that.

"And yes, it's mostly cold and barren mountains where almost no one lived beforehand. But there were mines! Those mountains are full of natural resources and precious gemstones!" I exclaim, hoping they'll see where I'm going with this. After all if they know a lot about something, it has to be logical business decisions.

"Construction of the wall cost the Crown more then the entirety of the previous war with Corona. And… was it really worth it? What was the point of exiling them?"

"What was the point? It was a safety measure." One of the councilmen answers, clearly uncomfortable about the facts I just presented. "Some sacrifices have to be made to ensure the safety of the entire kingdom."

"Safety? I don't think so." I shake my head, partially amused and partially horrified by what I'm about to say next. "This was clearly just an act of revenge enacted by the former king." When they're about to protest loudly again, I raise my hand and say: "Let me explain."

"The number of crimes committed by ice-wielders before the laws were imposed was approximately five per year. Five. That's less than a hundredth of all crimes committed in Arendelle. And most of those crimes were non-violent robberies."

"Where did you get those numbers?" Lord Aaron says, with disbelief clear in his voice.

"The Royal Archives, Arendelle's judicial system loves their record keeping. The Queen can testify, and you can check their records out yourselves if you want." I answer, unable to suppress a triumphant smile at their surprised faces. I bet they thought I was making this all up, or had unreliable sources.

"Anyways, during the ten years or so that ice-wielders still lived amongst Arendellian citizens, there were only two mass murderers, who were brought to justice without much trouble and punished accordingly." I continue. "Similarly, the thirteen people who conspired and killed the former King Oscar, who by the way were all from the same family, were executed the very next day. More so, they only did it because they would have had a claim to the throne if they had killed the royal family. It had nothing to do with them being ice-wielders; in fact, some of them weren't. It was a power grab, plain and simple."

"But if you look at the numbers, the crimes committed by ice-wielders increased considerably after the laws were enacted." One of the councilmen wisely speaks out, and I have to nod at that. This, despite what they may think, only makes my case stronger.

"That is correct." I admit. "Crimes committed by ice-wielders increased about tenfold after the King started exiling them to the Northern Lands. And I firmly believe this was because they killed mostly out of self-defense." I make a pause to allow them to catch up. "I mean, think about it; people started being afraid of magic. Ice-wielders were being hunted, and sometimes downright murdered, by their closest friends and even family. And why? Because of something they had no control over. There were even many tragic cases of people who only looked like ice-wielders, but didn't have any magic, being killed by a mob whipped up into a frenzy."

I take a moment to breathe, so I don't get to emotionally invested in this. That'd be weird, considering I'm supposed to be a Coronan noble. But truth to be told, going over these facts all over again still makes me more than just a bit angry. So angry in fact, that my magic starts agitating a bit and my pulse and breathing quicken noticeably. But I can't let it show. Not here, not now. I take a deep breath and find comfort in the fact that at least now I'm doing something to solve this awfully unfair situation.

"Yes, that may be true." Lord Aaron says reluctantly after a moment of silence. "But what's also true is that escaped Northerners murdered entire villages in numerous occasions. And that this went on for at least fifteen years."

"That's correct." I admit with a grimace. The facts can't be denied, after all. But I think I can still defend the Northerners pretty well. "The total amount of villages that were victims of these unfortunate attacks goes as high as seven, with a total death count of about 1500. This of course, also affected the economy, as many of the northern regions were abandoned by their previous inhabitants." I take a deep breath, sorting out my thoughts. After all, I can't defend the indefensible. What those ice-wielders did was evil and unjustified; the people they killed were innocents, and had done nothing wrong. But I still believe there's something I can rescue from all of this.

"The ice-wielders responsible for these attacks were a group of extremists consisting of twenty or so individuals, as far as we know. It took more than a decade, sure, because they all had powerful magic, but thankfully they were all brought to justice and executed as dictated by the law." I sigh. What I'll say next, they are not going to like. "They were all horrible people, and they did take advantage of their powers in order to abuse of others. However… they did what they did out of revenge; if they hadn't been exiled, losing everything dear to them in the process, they probably would have never done such atrocities."

"But what about all the soldiers that were killed in the Northern Lands?" Another councilmen objects understandably. "Young men don't even want to join the army anymore for fear of being sent to that hell hole!"

"Ah, yes… that's also an issue that needs to be addressed." I answer, trying not to cringe as I wonder yet again how many soldiers I've killed in my life. Going by my dreams alone, I'd say… a lot. "Every year since the ice-wielders were exiled, and until their "liberation", about twenty soldiers died in the Northern Lands each year. Of the three hundred assigned." I make a pause, letting that sink in. "I'm not going to lie, those numbers are worrying, but not as huge as one may think by the way most people here in Arendelle talk about Northerners. And again, these deaths could have been avoided if the former king hadn't decided to exile ice-wielders."

"But wait. You said only twenty died per year." The General interferes unsurprisingly. "Yet you didn't mention the hundreds of lives that were lost during the Northerners' rebellion." By his tone alone, I can tell he's really angry about this, mostly due to the fact he's in charge of the army, and yet they lost relatively easily to the Northerners. However, I'm not scared of him, or the issue he presented. I can handle it.

"Yes. Almost all of the three hundred soldiers stationed at the Northern Lands died, yet… that's somewhat justified." I can see all eyes boring holes at me, and even Anna looks surprised at how I decided to voice it out, so I quickly rush to explain myself. "I mean, I'm a firm believer that killing people is never the solution, but I can understand why Northerners did it. There's only so much abuse and mistreatment they could take before finally deciding that enough was enough."

"Mistreatment, you say?" Lord Aaron asks, clearly interested, but also more than a little doubtful.

"Yes." I nod resolutely. "According to the royal archives, torture and murder of people whose biggest crime was stealing food in order to survive, was reported on several occasions, with the blame falling squarely on soldiers who were stationed in the Northern Lands. However, these soldiers were never punished appropriately, despite having done something against the law."

"The law doesn't apply to Northerners." The General mumbles angrily.

"Really? And where did you get that idea? The laws imposed by the former King say nothing of the sort." I retort, knowing which his reply will be before he voices it out, and wanting to lead the conversation in that exact direction.

"Actually, as soon as they are exiled from Arendelle our laws stop applying to them." I have to consciously suppress a smirk at his words. This is the fun part.

"Well yes, but you see… they were never really exiled." As expected, they all look at me rather confused as soon as I say that. Anna just smiles knowingly. "The Northern Lands are still technically part of Arendelle's territory, and an act of exile is only valid when the person is actually required to leave the kingdom."

"So… the former king never declared that the Northern Lands were no longer part of Arendelle's territory?" An old man says, just as surprised as anyone would be with this revelation. The others are probably just too shocked to speak.

"No. And he didn't change the laws about exile either." I clarify. I spent hours checking out those laws, after all. This did seem too good to be true. "Maybe he just didn't realize this was a loophole, or thought it didn't matter as long as he was the king." I shrug. "Either way, all that's been done to the Northerners was technically illegal."

"We have to change that! Make the Northern Lands an independent territory." One of the councilman says what probably everyone else is thinking. However, this time Anna has an answer to that.

"I could do that." She starts carefully, and on cue, I sit down to let her take the reins from here. My job is done after all; I just had to present the facts.

Slowly, the rush of adrenaline I had since I walked into this room starts to fade, and my tense body relaxes gradually. I take comfort in the fact this is almost over, and I probably won't have to speak anymore. Saying something that goes against what everyone else thinks always makes me nervous. But I know it's necessary.

"However…" Anna continues. "That would only mean that all ice-wielders exiled to the Northern Lands from now on would actually be exiles. The others would be members of an independent nation. And I don't know you, but I really don't think that's a good idea with a potentially-hostile Ice Queen in control over there."

"And you think it's better to just let them waltz into our territory with no consequences?" The General answers, raising an eyebrow. "I really don't think that's a good idea. I wonder if the Northerner you're keeping here didn't trick you into making that decision." As he says this, he turns to look at me with all the intention in the world, and I'm about to retort when Anna does it for me.

"The decision I came to was made based on the facts Elsa presented to me, nothing more." She replies, clearly offended that he just insinuated she's being manipulated by her own guest. However, she thankfully remains calm enough, even if she isn't as good as me concealing her emotions. "And honestly, as things are, Northerners could waltz into our territory without any real legal repercussions; I'm just trying to make it official. But fear not, I wouldn't advise we do that before initiating contact with this Ice Queen, see what she wants, if she represents a real threat, and if we can negotiate with her."

"And how exactly would you plan to do that?" Aaron says, clearly not buying such a scenario is possible. "No one has been able to cross the wall since the Ice Queen took over the Northern Lands."

"We could send an ambassador with a white flag." Anna answers. "It's a stretch, but it's worth seeing if it works. If the ambassador is attacked, I'd actually start to believe the Ice Queen is hostile."

"And in that case, what would you do?" The General asks, probably hoping that Anna says something like "kill them all!", going by the sinister smile on his face.

"Well… I think we have to take this step by step and not get ahead of ourselves." She replies smartly, since we didn't discuss this matter in the days we spent planning this meeting. "The reconciliation between Arendelle and the Northern Lands is going to be a slow process, and should be approached carefully considering all the pain both parts have gone through, and how long this conflict it has lasted. Nevertheless, I do believe it's possible, and will make everything in my power to make it happen."

"Of course, the decision of what to do next about this is yours, and I will respect it as soon as it's reasonable and prejudice-free." At this, she turns to glare at the General for a second before smiling again as she addresses the whole council. "I do expect to hear it soon enough though." She adds, and the councilmen quickly nod their heads, to reassure her that'll be the case.

"Well, that'd be all for today's meeting, thank you for coming." And with that, the Queen stands up and goes to leave the meeting room. I do the same, and quickly follow her, surprised by this sudden conclusion. But I guess we couldn't have said much more to make them change their minds (not today anyways), and it's probably better to leave them to mull things over.

Besides, she probably was as eager as me, if not more, to get this over with. Except she actually has the power to end the meeting. Oh well, I just hope we don't have anything else tiresome planned for the rest of today. I could really use a day off right now.

A/N: Hi! I hope you liked this chapter, because I sure enjoyed writing all those arguments XD

Please review/favorite/follow if you haven't, and as always thanks for reading (and thank you for all your awesome reviews! They are more than 100 already :D), and see you soon with some Elsanna fluff :3

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.