1. Frozen: Of Frost and Flame

CHAPTER IX

Norway. April 15, 1842. Arendelle Castle, Arendelle. Noon.

"We have waited for too long!"

Anna winced at the volume of the presumed-to-be-widowed woman's voice. She, Valhalla, was the wife of one of the men—namely Idunn Stagssen—and she was not happy in the slightest.

"You have told us to be patient, but have taken no action to recover our husbands!" Valhalla cried angrily, gesturing to the other probable widows behind her.

"I understand your concern, madam," the captain replied, struggling to keep the woman calm, "and rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to—"

"Everything?!" another woman interrupted incredulously. "By everything, you obviously mean sitting around on your backsides and talking politics instead of actually doing something!"

"Now, hold on a second!" Kristoff snapped, stepping forwards. "You're out of line, ma'am! Keep in mind that you're in the presence of the queen!"

"She is not our queen!" Valhalla shouted, thrusting a finger at Anna. "Queen Elsa would have marched up that mountain herself and done whatever she could to find our husbands! And what is this girl doing? NOTHING!"

Anna's blood boiled as the hormonal imbalance brought upon by her pregnancy took over. She stood to her feet and barked, "That's enough!"

Every person in the throne room turned to the normally well-tempered girl, surprise and shock evident on their faces.

"I won't stand for being insulted in my own throne room!" Anna yelled at Valhalla. "You'll either speak to me with respect or not at all!"

Valhalla, heated though she was, acknowledged her place and set her mouth in a stubborn line. "I apologize, Your Majesty," she said tightly. "I just want to know when you'll bring my husband back." Her eyes flooded with hot tears as she choked out, "I... I just want him back!"

Seeing her emotion come forth, Anna softened and looked helplessly at Kristoff.

"What do you want us to do, Valhalla?" Kristoff asked, his voice becoming softer as he addressed the broken woman. "I mean, we've already sent up three patrols, two of five and one of ten. None of them came back."

"What can we do?" the captain said quietly.

Valhalla collapsed into sobs, and the other women move forwards to comfort her as they became emotional as well.

Kristoff looked back at Anna. "We've been avoiding the truth for too long," he said in a low voice. "It's time we acknowledged the fact that... there's something else on North Mountain."

The rest of the room, which had been filled with the whispers of palace advisers and servants, fell silent at this declaration.

The captain was the first one to break the silence. "And what do you propose we do about this... something else?" he asked.

"Talk to it," Kristoff responded. "Whatever it is." He shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe it'll listen."

Firemonger Settlement, North Mountain. Quarter past noon.

Dala entered the war tent, having finally gathered enough moxie to confront her father about his careless slaughter of the twenty Arendellian men who'd ventured up the mountain.