A Saga Of Ice And Fire

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Conceal It And Don't Feel It

Agnarr Oldenburg sat in the armchair near the windows of their bedroom, a lit cigar clutched precariously in between his lips as he tried to calm down his fervent mind , blindly staring out the window in the room , not conscious of the fact that he couldn't see anything beyond the glass due to the mist pressed up against it from the outside. He felt like a lone sailor stuck in a tiny longboat in the middle of a sudden and unexpected maelstrom, trying to fight the way the carnivorous waters churned and tossed against him, toying with it's prey before it would turn him over and devour him whole. His own breathing was only outpaced by the rapid , soft breaths of his younger daughter, who lay in the middle of the bed, curled up inside the mountain of blankets, fast asleep ,unaware to everything that had transpired or was going on around her. Agnarr reached for the goblet of whiskey that sat on the windowsill, tipping it to his lips. The familiar dry, almost fiery sensation ran down the back of his throat as the liquid passed through and he grimaced .

What now ?

He had so many questions that plagued his mind. He hadn't even known the rock trolls actually existed before that night and his wife did not seem to show a single shred of doubt about her decision to go running off into the unknown based on same page etched in some old book. She definitely had to have known about their existence beforehand. He had never thought to ask Iduna much about her past for obvious reasons. He hadn't even stopped to ask her about it while they'd been getting ready to head out earlier given everything that was happening at the moment and the urgency of the situation at hand but a strange feeling akin to anger stirred inside him the longer he dwelled upon it, pricking him like a dull needle. The one person he kept absolutely nothing hidden from was his wife but apparently, as he'd found out, that sentiment was not something he received in return from her. What else was she keeping from him ?

Things had just begun to go well for him and his family for once in their life and yet again another curve ball had wedged itself in their path. Now Anna didn't even know about Elsa's magic anymore and if what the troll king said was to be true, there was no telling how Anna would perceive it due to the magic that had struck her head . He knew the trolls didn't say it outright because Elsa was also present but they meant they meant that there was a slight chance that things might not be the same they were if Anna had knowledge of Elsa's powers as the magic may or may not have warped her mind. There was no way of telling. And that was certainly a risk he definitely was not willing to take. He let out a heavy sigh, subconsciously attempting to heave the weight he felt pressing down on him on vain. Why was it always him?

The door clicked open and Queen Iduna slipped inside, shutting the door quietly behind her.His wife had been inside their daughters' bedroom for almost two hours before she'd returned. Their eyes locked and she glanced over to the wooden sliding partition door that led to the secondary section of their bedroom that was separated off from the main area. Understanding , Agnarr picked up his goblet from the window sill and headed over, proceeding to slide the door open. The room wasn't as extravagant as some of the others. All it had were two chintz armchairs that faced the fireplace, a few old books that sat lazily on the shelf built into the wall and a mirror. There was no window in the parlor so from the outside, you couldn't tell that such a chamber even existed.

"So?" Agnarr asked tentatively, sliding the door shut once his wife had followed him through.

"She wasn't sleeping." Iduna said after a hesitant pause, her voice trembling as if she was trying to hold back the damn that threatened to cut loose at any moment. "There was ice onto the floor . The bed. I've asked Kai to have the room cleaned out in the morning in case the ice is still there. "

"Dear god. . . ." Agnarr whispered, his demeanor that of an utterly exhausted man as he pressed his eyes and lips shut as if bracing for something. He subconsciously tucked the cigar back into his lips and inhaled deeply .
He managed to find his voice again after a while. "She's sleeping now ?"