by Jen Calonita
“It’s not the weather,” Anna insisted, but she couldn’t explain what she was feeling. She knew it sounded crazy, but something told her they needed to keep going until they found Elsa. Maybe Elsa would understand what was happening to her. After all, she knew magic. “Someone’s got to convince her to bring back summer. She’ll listen to Olaf, and if not, we’ll make her listen to us.”
“It’s getting colder.” Kristoff put down the mug of soup, which Sven immediately started to lap up. “We can’t keep riding around when Olaf has no clue where he’s going. I know you want to help, but it’s impossible when all we have to go on is a vague suggestion that she was headed toward the North Mountain. Let’s face it: no one knows where Princess Elsa really is.”
“The Valley of the Living Rock!” Olaf blurted out.
Kristoff’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Anna told them.
“Neither have I,” Olaf admitted. “Well, I have heard of it. I heard a man say the name when he read Elsa’s letter from her mother. There was something about the Valley of the Living Rock. I’m just not sure where that is.”
“I know where the Valley of the Living Rock is,” Kristoff said.
“So you’ll take me?” Anna asked.
Kristoff ran a hand through his hair. “Do I have to?”
She squeezed his hand. “Please?”
The fire crackled and popped as Anna waited for an answer. Olaf leaned in closer. Sven snorted. All eyes were on Kristoff, who was staring at Anna’s hand. Finally, he looked up. His brown eyes were fiery in the glow of the flames. She’d never noticed his freckles before.
“Okay,” Kristoff said. “We leave in the morning, but you’d better bundle up.”
Anna smiled. For once, she didn’t argue.
Elsa had no idea how long it had been since she left the valley to head back to the North Mountain. If she couldn’t be with Anna, time no longer mattered. Grand Pabbie’s words played in a loop in her head. Be patient. She’d been more than patient! She had spent the past three years mourning their parents—whom Anna might not even remember—and had been without a sister since she was a child. Hadn’t they both lost enough? When would this curse break? She remembered Anna; she needed Anna. Wasn’t that what Grand Pabbie had said was needed for the magic to dissolve? Why didn’t Anna remember her past as well?
What if Anna never remembered?
If Anna didn’t remember her, then she didn’t want to go on. She would stay at the top of the mountain until the curse broke, and if it didn’t, then she’d stay there forever. Her people needed a strong leader, not a queen who was overcome with grief. They’d be better off without her.
Elsa’s sleigh came to a halt at the steps leading to her ice palace. When she got out, she no longer looked at her kingdom in wonder. She was lost in her own misery. Maybe that was why she missed the footsteps in the snow leading to her palace doors. It wasn’t until she was inside that she realized she wasn’t alone.
Elsa jumped in shock. “How did you find me?”
“It isn’t hard when you know where to look.” Hans put his hands up to keep her from running away. “I came alone.” He was dressed in a heavy navy coat and gloves, a scarf wrapped around his neck. Both a sword and a crossbow hung from a sheath on his belt. His boots were covered in snow, and his cheeks and nose were bright pink. She could only imagine the journey he had taken to get up the mountain.
“How did you…” Her voice trailed off.
Hans took a step closer. “When you ran off like that, freezing the fjord, I knew you were trying to disappear,” he said. “So I thought: where is the farthest place Elsa could go to escape? And I looked up and saw it: the North Mountain.”
Maybe Hans knew her better than she’d thought.
His eyes crinkled with worry. “Are you all right?”
No, she wanted to say. I have a sister. She’s alive. I desperately want to find her, but a curse is keeping us apart. But she didn’t.
Hans looked around in wonder. “You built this?”
“Yes,” Elsa said, feeling humbled again by her creation. This wasn’t some little igloo she had imagined. It had the architecture of her family castle, with snowflake designs and intricate patterns covering every wall and archway. Every pillar sparkled and glowed with a blue hue that bathed the whole palace in light.
“This place is incredible, and so are you,” Hans said. “Everything about you feels different somehow.”
She blushed. “Hans…”
“Is it your hair? You don’t usually wear it down. I like your dress, too. This place suits you.” Hans’s eyes flickered to the room behind her. “You’re here alone?”
She exhaled slowly. “I’m always alone.”
Hans moved closer. “You’re not alone, Elsa. I’m here for you. I always have been.”
Elsa wasn’t sure if it was the tone of his voice or the fact that he had journeyed so far to find her, but something inside her gave way. Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry I revealed my powers the way I did. I didn’t mean to scare you. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“I know that.” He took her hand.
“The Duke was pressuring me, the coronation was starting, and I had just learned—” She stopped herself.
“Learned what?” Hans pressed.
Elsa pulled away. “Nothing.” How could she explain Anna?
“I can’t help you if you don’t let me in,” Hans said. She was quiet. “I think what you can do is breathtaking.”
She looked at him. “You do?”
Hans smiled. “You’ve been given an incredible gift. Think of all you could do for Arendelle with your powers. The people are only scared because they don’t understand your magic. If you show them how you can stop this winter and how your magic can protect the kingdom, they’ll fall in line. You’ll see.”
“Fall in line?” Elsa repeated. She wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that.
Hans appeared flustered. “You know what I mean. They’ll respect your power the way they respect me for coming after you.” He reached for her hand again. “Think of all we could do for the kingdom together.”
Together. Elsa flinched. So that was it, wasn’t it? Why hadn’t she realized it before? Hans wasn’t there for her; he was there for himself. “You still want to get married?”
He got down on one knee. “Yes, even with these powers, I want to marry you! Come back and accept your crown, and we can rule Arendelle together. You’ll never have to be alone again. I promise you.”
There it was again: We can rule Arendelle together. Hans coveted the throne. He didn’t want her—he wanted power. “I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you. And I am not going back with you, either.” She started to ascend the staircase. “I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.”
“What?” Hans’s face fell. “You have to come back!” His voice had a sharp edge to it. “Only a monster would refuse!” He caught himself, and his eyes widened. “I mean—”
“Please leave,” she cut him off. Monster. Despite his pleas, Hans saw her the same way the Duke did.
“Come back with me. If you would just stop the winter…Bring back summer.” He sounded frustrated. “Please?”
“Don’t you see? I can’t,” Elsa told him. “I don’t know how, so I’m staying here, where I can’t hurt anyone. I’m sorry.”
Hans’s face was calm. “I see,” he said softly. “If you can’t fix things, maybe Anna can.”
The wind whistling around the palace was the only sound.
Elsa stumbled in shock. “What did you say?”
Hans pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and held it up. “I said, maybe Anna can bring back summer. That’s why you’re up here, isn’t it? You’re looking for your sister. I read everything in the queen’s letter.”
Elsa froze. “How did you get that?”
“You dropped it in your haste to get away from the castle,” Hans said as he read
it over again. “I guess you found it the day of your coronation. Why else would you have had a magic ice meltdown?” He smiled smugly. “I can’t say I blame you. If I learned I had a sister who had been hidden from me for years, I’d go a little mad, too.”
“Who did you tell about that letter?” Elsa whispered.
“No one—for now,” Hans said. “I was hoping you’d come back, marry me, and make this arrangement easy, but if you won’t, at least I have another option.”
Elsa grasped the ice railing in panic. “You wouldn’t.”
“As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn’t stand a chance.” Hans paced the floor. “I knew I’d have to marry into the throne somewhere, so when the Duke of Weselton told me about you and Arendelle, I was intrigued. But I could never get anywhere with you. You were always closed off, and now you’ve doomed yourself. Once I tell the people that you wouldn’t return or bring back summer, they really will think you’re a monster.”
“No!” Elsa rushed down the staircase at him, and Hans drew his crossbow and brandished it at her. Elsa stopped short in surprise.
She didn’t recognize the man standing in front of her. This wasn’t the man who had courted her for a year, sent her flowers weekly, and patiently waited for her to decide on their future.
In truth, Hans was the monster.
How could she have been such a fool?
“Thankfully, we now know Arendelle has another heir to the throne,” Hans said. “Once I show the people this letter and find Anna, they will be indebted to me for saving their lost princess. I am charming, so unlike you, Anna will probably want to marry me in an instant. Then all that will be left to do is kill you and bring back summer.”
“You’re no match for me,” Elsa told him. She felt a familiar tingle in her fingers as she prepared to aim at him.
“Maybe not, but I’m the hero who will save Arendelle from destruction.” Hans ran to the castle doors and opened them. “Guards! Guards! I’ve found the princess! She’s armed!” He grinned at her. “Help me!”
Hans had tricked her. Anger bubbled up inside her as she raised her hands, a bright blue glow hovering above her fingers. “You won’t get away with this!”
“I already have.” Hans pointed the crossbow at the ceiling and fired. The bolt hit the enormous snowflake chandelier. Elsa watched in horror as it shattered and fell toward her. She tried to dive out of the way but wasn’t quick enough. The crystals rained down on her, knocking her to the ground. By the time she got back up, she was face to face with Arendelle guards. Men who had dedicated their lives to protecting the crown were now holding swords aimed at their princess. Two larger men in red overcoats ran into the room behind them. Elsa recognized them immediately. They were the Duke of Weselton’s men.
“We’ve got her!” one shouted. “Come quietly if you don’t want to be hurt.”
How dare they threaten her? They had no authority in this kingdom. Elsa’s fingertips began to glow, and the two men raised their crossbows in unison.
“I’m not coming with you,” Elsa told them. “Just stay back!”
She heard the crossbows before she saw them coming for her. She put up her hands, creating a wall of ice as a shield. Their bolts pierced the frozen surface, and it started to crack. Elsa ran around the wall, trying to find a way out of the palace. She needed to find Hans and keep him from getting away, but the men kept coming. Elsa fired again and again, building icy barriers around her.
“Go around!” one of the Duke’s men shouted as he fought his way around daggers that sprung up from the floor. They came at her from opposite directions.
Elsa flung out her hands to protect herself. “I don’t want to hurt you! Stay back!”
“Fire!” One of the men threw his crossbow to the other one.
Elsa shot a steady stream of snow until it froze like an icicle, pinning one man to the wall and holding him there. With her other hand, she shot another stream across the room, creating a wall of ice that pushed the Duke’s other henchman into the next chamber, hiding him from her sight. Still, she kept pushing, thinking of Hans’s betrayal and her sister, who was unknowingly the prince’s target.
Her own guards ran into the room again.
“Princess Elsa!” one cried. “Don’t be the monster they fear you are!”
At the word monster, she dropped her arms in defeat. One of the Duke’s men took advantage of her hesitation and fired his crossbow again in her direction.
Angry, Elsa swirled her arms, and the walls around her crackled as new ice formed over old. Elsa imagined a great protector, and the ground began to shake. Ice flew around her fingers, spiraling like a cyclone until it formed a snow beast several stories tall. The beast’s eyes glowed blue as it let out a ferocious growl.
“Go away!” it seemed to bark, although even Elsa couldn’t be certain. It could have been the sound of the rumbling walls starting to fall around them. The guards raised their swords again and prepared to fight the beast.
Elsa took that moment to run for it. She burst through the palace doors into the snow and came face to face with more guards.
Fear entered their eyes as soon as they saw the giant snow beast. All of them raised their crossbows and aimed at her heart.
“Please.” Elsa’s voice was barely audible over the wind. “Let me explain.”
They didn’t listen. “Fire!”
Crossbow bolts flew toward her at the same moment the snow monster tumbled backward out of the palace, his icy left leg cut off. He lost his balance and crashed into the staircase, breaking through it and falling straight into the gorge. The remaining steps started to shake and tumble. Elsa tried to outrun the collapse, jumping before the steps fell into the gorge below. She fell down hard on the other side, ice crashing around her. Then the world faded to black.
The sun didn’t come up the next morning. The kingdom was shrouded in darkness thanks to the swirling blizzard that continued to drop snow onto Arendelle at an alarming rate. With the poor conditions, it apparently took Kristoff much longer than it normally would to reach the Valley of the Living Rock.
“I don’t understand,” Kristoff muttered to himself. “We’ve been traveling for hours. We should be there by now.” Kristoff pulled the sleigh to a halt.
“Are you lost?” Anna asked.
“You look lost!” Olaf commented.
Anna wouldn’t blame him if he was. It was snowing so hard she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.
“Shhh!” Kristoff lifted the lantern off its hook and waved it into the darkness. Sven pawed the snow uneasily as Kristoff peered into the distance.
Anna saw it at the same time Kristoff did: several pairs of yellow eyes were looking back at them.
Wolves.
A distinct growl sounded in the distance and the pack of wolves emerged from the trees. Anna couldn’t believe how sharp their fangs looked.
Kristoff placed the lantern back on the hook and grabbed the reins. “Sven! Go!” The sled lurched and Sven took off at top speed.
“Aww, look! Doggies! Aren’t they cute?” Olaf said.
“They’re not dogs, Olaf! What do we do?” Anna asked as Kristoff tried to stay ahead of the pack racing after the sleigh.
He reached behind their seat, grabbed a stick, and lit it from the lantern. It immediately flamed. “I can handle a few wolves,” he said, waving the fire in the air.
“I want to help!” Anna shouted.
“No!” Kristoff cracked the reins harder.
“Why not?” They were moving so fast the falling snow felt like daggers hitting Anna’s face.
“Because I don’t trust your judgment,” Kristoff snapped.
Anna set her shoulders. “Excuse me?”
“You’re not thinking straight! Who keeps insisting on going out in this weather when they’re clearly getting sick?” He kicked a wolf and it flew backward. Anna hadn’t even seen the wolf coming.
She reached for something in the sleigh to use as a w
eapon. Olaf handed her Kristoff’s lute. “I am not getting sick!”
“You keep passing out and mumbling to yourself,” he reminded her.
“That’s because I’m seeing things!” She swung the lute. It connected with a wolf, and the animal ran away.
“Whoa!” Kristoff actually looked impressed. “What kinds of things?”
Anna stopped swinging the lute and looked at him. “I know it sounds crazy, but I keep seeing myself with the princess when I was a little girl.” Kristoff held the torch over the side to keep the wolves at bay. “I mean, I guess it’s not entirely crazy. I’m pretty sure I was kissed by a troll once, but I don’t remember it happening.”
“You weren’t kidding about that?” Kristoff’s eyes widened. “Do you actually know Grand Pabbie?”
“Who is Grand Pabbie?” Anna asked as Kristoff singed a wolf about to land in the sleigh.
A second wolf snatched Kristoff’s overcoat. Kristoff tumbled out of the sled before he could answer her question.
“Kristoff!” Anna screamed, grabbing the torch before it fell. There was no time to signal to Sven to stop, and if he did, they’d be done for.
“Here!” she heard Kristoff shout.
He was holding on to a rope that was dragging him behind the sleigh. The wolves were gaining on him. Anna lit the first thing she saw—Kristoff’s sleeping sack.
“Ooh!” Olaf said as the fire ignited the bedding.
Anna picked it up and tossed it out the back of the sled. Kristoff screamed as the flames shot toward him, narrowly missing his head.
The wolves retreated, then came racing back again.
Anna rushed to the back of the sleigh to help him up. Kristoff was already pulling himself in.
“You almost set me on fire!”
“Guys?” Anna heard Olaf say, but she ignored him.
She pulled Kristoff the rest of the way in. “But I didn’t!”
“Guys?” Olaf tried again. “We’ve reached the end of the path!”
Kristoff and Anna both did a double take. A ravine was a half a mile in front of them and Sven was barreling toward it, spurred on by the sound of the wolves. Anna and Kristoff hurried to the front of the sleigh.