Queen(s) of the Forest (elsamaren)

Sacrifice

Hi just want to say sorry for lack of updates past couple weeks I was away camping I had a brother graduate so there was many parties!! I am back now tho ready to write and soooo excited to see I've reached 10k!!! Alright sorry for wasting your time onto the story.

   The three of them had unintentionally ended up in Elsa's room. Elsa laid on her bed, Honeymaren rested her head on her chest and Kassandra sat adjacent to the bed straddling the chair. Honeymaren was slowly dozing off and Elsa let a sigh of relief escape her mouth. Kassandra watched as Elsa freed herself from Honeymaren's grip and gestures to the mercenary to go to the balcony.
"We are going to have to get back in touch with Rapunzel. I have a feeling we will need a healer." Kassandra said.
"Your right, I'll send a letter tomorrow, I'm sure by this time next week she will come to meet us." Elsa agreed.  "Do you think there's anyone Elsa we are supposed to meet?" Elsa asked.
"I'm not sure, we have a full team but the more the merrier." Elsa looked back at Honeymaren as Kassandra spoke.
"I want her to stay out of this," Elsa said softly. "Sometimes I can't help but think about what it would be like to lose her. My life has changed so much since I met her and if she.... if she didn't make it I don't know what'd I do." Kassandra looked at her sympathetically.
"I think she would respect that. She's one of us, but she's not like us. She loves you very much and she would do anything for you if you asked." Elsa smiled and nodded a thank you. There was a brief moment of silence where they stared into the distance. The splash of the ocean echoed in Elsa's ears, bringing a certain calmness with it.
"Can I as you something?" Elsa said.
"Sure."
"Do you like Honeymaren." Elsa expected Kassandra to get defensive and deny it, but instead the mercenary sighed and leaned onto the railing.
"Honestly I don't know. She's pretty, kind, my type, but I'm not sure if it's her I want or the idea of her. The idea that someone could love me like she loves you." Elsa put her hand on Kass' shoulder.
"There's someone, I know there is, there's someone for everyone out there." Kassandra smiled and straightened her back again.
"You're right, I mean I have plenty of options, but I've been on my feet my whole life I don't know how to settle down."
"When the time is right you will." Kassandra nodded and the silence continued for half an hour or so before they called it.  "The room across the hall is empty you can stay there for as long as you need." Elsa told Kassandra.
"Thanks, I might just take you up on that." Elsa watched as Kassandra left and she returned her gaze to the landscape. As if cued Gale circled her, leaving her chuckling. Elsa went int the room and grabbed a paper and quill. She wrote on it and gave the note to Gale.
"No pressure," she told the wind spirit," but I think this an emergency." Elsa said. Gale nodded, as much of a nod as a gust of wind could, before disappearing into the night sky.

    Honeymaren rubbed her eyes and attempted to prop herself up with one arm. The headache from yesterday had faded so she could enjoy the sunlight peeking in the window. Elsa was nowhere to be seen so she got herself ready and cleaned up quickly to make her way downstairs. Anna and Kristoff sat side by side, Anna had her face in her arms as she listened intently to Kassandra who was sitting at the head of the table. Kristoff's jaw was dropped and even Elsa had stopped eating to listen to the story. Honeymaren jogged down the steps and caught the tail end of the story.
"It was clear, in that moment, that one of us wasn't going to be leaving this place. And I remembered what my mater told me, 'Greece needs you Kassandra. Hades, the world needs you' so in the end I won. It was quite poetic actually, I pushed him off the mountain, and after he hit the ground I made sure he wasn't getting back up."
"You killed your own brother?" Anna asked.
"Yeah. Not a day goes by where I don't think about it. I like to picture the life we would have had, but it's to painful. Alexios is still here though, I can feel him." Clearly Honeymaren had missed out on an incredible story, but the end was enough to have her eyes filling with tears. She recognized the look on Kassandra's face, it held no emotion, it looked blank. The face of a soldier. She had seen that look before and she knew what kind of pain was being concealed behind it. "Don't feel bad," Kassandra said to Anna who was practically balling, "In Greece we know these types of things happen. Our fates are sealed and I am great full that I haven't met mine yet." Anna nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. Honeymaren stood behind Elsa and rubbed her hands on Elsa's shoulders.
"Good morning," Elsa said looking up to Honeymaren with a smile. "Do you want the rest?" Elsa asked, gesturing to her crepes.
"Absolutely I'm starving." Kassandra told happier stories as Honeymaren ate, slowly they dispersed, Anna going to the bathroom, Kristoff to find Sven and Kassandra departed to the market to find new armour or something. "What's bothering you?" Honeymaren asked Elsa who was deep in thought.
"Rapunzel is a healer, she's incredibly important to the team, Kassandra is an experienced warrior, she certainly doesn't need my help in battle."
"Okay?"
"Well last night, after you fell asleep, her and I were talking. She said we had a "full team," and this morning when she was telling her story she mentioned that in the final battle of Athens and Sparta she had a complete team of mercenaries to back her up."
"Elsa come on."
"The healer. The attacker... and the sacrifice." Honeymaren felt her heart stop for a moment.
"Elsa that's probably not what she meant."
"Wha else could she mean? It's clear, I already almost fake- died, that was just the world's way of showing me that my role in this is clear. I am the sacrifice."