When Fire And Ice Meet

Anna Heard Everything!!!

Anna padded up the long castle staircase in her stockings. It was nine in the morning and the light streaming through the castle windows was a bright white. She and Kristoff had eaten a full hour ago, which was the usual time they ate breakfast, but this morning, Elsa hadn't joined them, or even come down at all.

"Elsa?" she murmured, cracking open the large door that opened into her sister's bedroom. The thought came to her that just a little less than a year ago, she wouldn't have dared to do so. Not anymore, Anna thought with a smile, pushing the door open further.

Elsa was sprawled out on her bed, motionless. She hadn't bothered to take out her braid from the night before, and now it lay messy and partially unraveled on her pillow. The covers were thrown around her as though she had been wrestling with them all night long. Even now, there was a look of unease on her face.

"Elsa?" Anna asked again, this time a little louder.

"Princess Anna, honey, please don't wake the queen. She's had a long night and needs her sleep. I don't think she even got to bed until two in the morning." Anna turned. The elderly servant who had talked to Elsa the night before was standing at the door.

"Was something wrong? Did it...did it have to do with Braedey?"

"I'm afraid so. Queen Elsa went around the castle talking with her guards and then headed down to the royal guest quarters. She wanted the prisoner to be freed, I believe."

"Did they listen?"

"No. King Raleigh said that it would be far too dangerous and that his brother's crimes were too serious to be pardoned."

Anna gazed at her sleeping sister, longing to talk with her about Braedey. But she didn't want to wake Elsa if she needed her sleep. As Anna had learned from experience, when her sister was woken up without having had enough sleep, she could get pretty grumpy.

"Alright. I'll talk to her later," she sighed, heading out of the room and letting the servant close the door on Elsa. She headed back downstairs to the dining room.

"Where'd Kristoff go?" she asked Olaf, who was attempting to help the servants clear the table. They were trying to wave him off, as he had broken five plates already the last few times he'd tried to do so.

Finally, Olaf gave up and trotted over to Anna. "He went out to collect ice with Sven."

"It's the middle of April. I'm sure there's none left."

"There might be. It's still cold enough to snow out." Olaf pouted. "I want summer to come back." He closed his eyes and began to smile dreamily. Before he could break into song, Anna spoke up hastily.

"It's not cold enough to snow out."

"Yeah, it is." Olaf opened one eye. "It's snowing right now."

"What?" Frowning, Anna put on some shoes, went outside and studied her surroundings. Sure enough, everywhere around her snowflakes were falling.

"That's weird," Anna declared. "It hasn't snowed in nearly a month." Her breath caught in her throat. It isn't because of Elsa, is it?

She was distracted by voices and the stomping of horses from the front courtyard. "Is everything ready to go?" someone's deep, slightly rough voice called out.

Curiously, Anna walked around the side of the castle and saw King Raleigh sitting on a horse, ordering several servants around. They were loading supplies onto horses. Braedey was sitting behind a mounted guard with his hands chained behind his back in the irons that entirely encased his hands. He noticed Anna and glanced at her, but then quickly looked away.

"Almost everything is packed. Several men are just having trouble locating Braedey horse in the stables. They're not sure what to look for." He looked over at Braedey, who moved into a stubborn silence.

"It is a light red brown colour with two white socks. How hard can it be?" Ranson said impatiently.

"Several of them look that way, apparently," the man said apologetically.

Anna slipped past the men, trying not to be noticed. She didn't like Raleigh, and she didn't want to have to bid him a good morning. Soon, she found herself inside the stable after entering through the back door. I'll just take Freya for a short ride to find Kristoff, she thought. Maybe talking to him will settle my nerves.

She went into Freya's stall and patted her beautiful, spirited horse. "Want to go for a walk?" she asked her horse softly and lovingly.

Low voices drifted across to her and she realized she was not alone. She stopped talking to listen.

"I think this is the one."

A horse snorted uneasily.

"Easy now, boy. Easy now. At least you're not going where your master's going."

There was a short silence, broken by the first voice.

"Is King Raleigh really just going to throw Braedey in jail and try to forget about him? What if he escapes? He's bound to wreak havoc if that ever happens, and I'm surprised Raleigh would risk that."

"You really think Raleigh is going to just lock him up, after trying all these years to find him? Of course not. He'll get rid of Braedey sometime soon, once he can get him away from the public eye. I wouldn't put it past Raleigh to have our little prisoner experience an "accident" before we even reach Byron."

Anna crouched lower in her horse's stall. She could hear blood rushing within her ears and the loud pounding of her heart as the reality of what she was hearing began to sink in.

"So that whole prison thing is just a lie to keep the queen calm?"

The other man laughed. "Calm would hardly be able to describe her state last night, and she didn't even know Raleigh's real plans. It seems Arendelle's famous Ice Queen is softer than we thought."

"She said Braedey told her he hadn't really tried to kill Raleigh."

"Don't worry, no one believed he was telling the truth. Raleigh's made sure of that ever since the incident."

"But, Braedey could've told her more. Maybe she knows that the kingdom fire was actually started by Raleigh to keep suspicion off of himself."

"I doubt Braedey knows that. I'm sure he thinks he started it himself."

"What are you two doing, jabbering away?" a new, louder voice said. "It's time to go!"

"We were comin', we were comin'," one of the men muttered and Anna listened to all three of the men leave.

When she was sure they were gone, she got to her feet and realized she was shaking all over with both fear and rage. "I can't believe it! I just can't believe it!" she gasped. Her normally wide, friendly blue eyes were now slits. "I never figured out Hans' deception before it was too late. But I will not let the same happen to my sister! She must be told!"

Still shaking, Anna made her way out of the stable. She hid within its shadow and watched as Raleigh and his men left on horseback. As Braedey was taken away, Anna noticed that he'd twisted around to gaze at the castle and there were tears in his eyes. His lips moved briefly, and although Anna couldn't hear what he said in all the commotion, she could make out what he'd said.

Goodbye Elsa. Goodbye forever.

"Not if I can help it," Anna muttered, waiting until the last hoof-beat had faded away. Then she made her way straight into the castle, urgency thudding in every hurried footstep.