Frozen 3

Chapter 76

Kristoff

Anna hadn't slept all night. She sat in the living room until Honeymaren returned, and even when she finally returned, she refused to come to bed. I had gone to sleep alone, without being able to convince her to do the same.

I opened my eyes, awakened by the light of day that was beginning to rise. Anna was standing in front of the bedroom window, arms crossed in front of her chest and worried face.

"What is it?" I asked in a still sleepy voice.

The young woman did not seem to hear me. Her eyes were on what was going on outside, not worrying about anything else, not even me. I stood up on the bed, stretched myself, yawning and resumed:

"Anna? Can you hear me?"

She did not move, but replied:

"They're going out, they've been in there all night. "

"What are you talking about?"

The tone of her voice was strange. She seemed ready to break with each sentence, so tight was her throat. Alarmed, I got out of bed, put on a short-sleeved beige top and approached the young woman. I put my hand on her shoulder; she trembled. The pallor of her skin worried me.

"You should rest... It's not safe not to sleep, especially right now."

"Look at them, she said in a bleak voice. They all gather in the middle of the village. Something is brewing, Kristoff. And you want me to go to sleep as if nothing happened... I wouldn't be able to."

Her eyes looked empty. I followed her gaze. She was right. Dozens of Northuldra gathered little by little at the old central fire place. They all came from one place, obviously having spent the night there.

"Erik's hut"... whispered Anna. "It's got to be this one. "

"Erik?" I repeated.

She nodded without explanation. Suddenly, the door of the room opened violently, revealing a wrinkled Ryder.

"Hurry!" he said, panting. "You have to... You have to come."

Anna and I looked at each other, realizing that something was wrong. We rushed to the young man whom we followed through the hut to the front door. As we were in the corridor, we heard cries outside. Everything was multiplied once outside. The screams grew to one voice. The crowd gathered there was raging. All the Northuldra present had their fists raised towards the sky and demanded in unison the presence of Yelena. Despite all this tumult, their leader did not appear, which only strengthened the power of their cries. As we approached, I noticed that women and men all held rudimentary weapons, craft spears for the most part. Anna tried to advance further. I held her by the shoulder, preventing her.

«I don't understand what they want,» shouted Ryder, trying to cover the screams of the crowd.

I gave him a worried look. We could always see the marks on his face. It was not pretty.

"Where is your sister?" I asked.

"There," he said, pointing to the crowd.

I actually saw Honeymaren trying to slip between all these improvised demonstrators without succeeding. Understanding that she would not succeed, she came towards us, her face grave.

"You shouldn't stay here," she said, speaking to Anna and I as we come up. "It's too risky."

Suddenly the cries ceased. A man climbed on a rock, overlooking the crowd. I recognized him immediately. He was one of Ryder and Honeymaren's three attackers.