CHAPTER 1- On the Road

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Day One, Morning

Conceal it...

The air grew cold around her, an icy breeze whipping up and stirring the loose locks of her pale hair. Fear jabbed at her heart like a pike, each jolt of emotion unleashing a pulse of uncontrolled magic, scattering out of her body to project winter onto the world around her.

No, not fear. Horror.

"Elsa!"

Elsa looked up, squinting through the tears in her eyes. Anna was there, holding out a gloved hand. Hurriedly, she grasped it, drawing strength from her sister, from their bond.

Breathe.

The air grew warm again. Offering her younger sister a grateful smile, she swallowed, and looked up again, at the human head which was fixed atop the iron city gate. The head stared back, or seemed to.

The gates of the city of Myrtle were heavy, thick and solid, veterans of old wars. Picked out in dark relief, great crows flew and dove and fed across their weather-beaten surface. Silent and still.

Well, it was official. This was the worst holiday ever.

I wish I were home...

The trip had been problematic from the start. Some of this was her own fault, she supposed.

Queen Elsa struggled with a fear of sailing. She had thought she could control her nerves, but on the voyage from Arendelle is had turned out that she really... couldn't.

It had only been a brief panic, but enough to almost sink the ship. Elsa winced, remembering the moment when she had lost control. She worked so hard not to give people reasons to distrust her, or be frightened of her, but then, the moment she worked up the confidence to try something new, nonsense like that would happen, and she would let everyone down again.

No one had died, but they had been forced to disembark at a fishing village some way from the city, while the poor captain and crew patched leaks and improvised new... decks...

Leaving us stranded here, oh God... breathe...

And so it was after an additional day's journey by road that their little expedition had arrived at last, on a warm June morning, in the little kingdom of Myrtle, where the royal family had been expecting them.

However, neither Elsa nor the royal family had been expecting the commander of the state's armed forces to stage a coup, declare martial law, and throw much of the court in prison.

Not knowing what had happened she, her sister and her entourage had ridden up to the city, through the ramshackle dusting of huts and small houses which lay outside its high granite walls, passing strangely silent residents who scurried away, or avoided their gaze. A palpable cloud of fear hung over everything. Now having reached the gates, they knew why.

Anna had spotted it first; she had cried aloud, pointing to something above them. Then Elsa had seen it. Perched on top of the entrance to the city, jammed onto a black iron point, was the head of King Rikhard II of Myrtle. The Crow King's eyes were pale, his white beard matted with blood...

Elsa had frozen. Anna had jumped from her horse and grabbed a nearby merchant, screaming at him for answers. It was Kaarlo, he had spluttered, eyes empty with the dazed terror of a trapped rabbit. The military had taken over the palace. Blood in the streets. He had put the king to the sword...

Still shaken, Elsa regarded the head of the unfortunate monarch. They had met maybe two or three times, but had communicated frequently by letter. Rikhard Marttila had seemed like a good man, and a wise king. Myrtle's trading influence had expanded hugely during his reign, as he had patiently coaxed his little kingdom out of its traditional isolationism.

Why would anyone do this?

A clattering commotion behind the gates signalled that their arrival had at last been noticed by the nouveau régime. The Arendelle party backed up steadily as the great doors swung out. From within, wall of pikemen marched out in close formation, arraying themselves in a semi-circle of black leather and steel. An honour guard for this Kaarlo. Each wore a neckerchief of crimson cloth.

A herald blew a horn, and announced the arrival of the usurper himself.

"The Lord Protector of Myrtle!"

Admiral Kaarlo Neva, now Lord Protector Kaarlo, apparently, appeared in the gateway astride a coal-coloured stallion barded in navy and crimson. He strutted out in front of them, remaining behind his guard- a red-faced, angry man in a carmine justaucorps matching his cheeks, with dark moustaches which curled like the antennae of a beetle.

Elsa could feel her powers starting to shake free again. Her fingers trembled. Just a thought, a stray impulse, at this moment, would be enough to cause a death, she knew. Or a hundred. For all his bluster, Kaarlo was hiding behind those soldiers- as if it would make a difference. The forum in front of the gate was full of people, and not just soldiers. If she lost her temper, here, now...

It must not happen.

Conceal. Conceal.

Don't feel.

She looked across at Anna, back on her horse, and also within the blast radius of any loss of control. A memory flashed before her- of still, unseeing eyes gazing out of a blue face.

No. She couldn't risk that.

Well then, time to see what the 'Lord Protector' has to say for himself.

Ravens cawed in the summer sky above them.

I want to go home.

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Day One, Afternoon

Queen Elsa of Arendelle stopped her snow-white horse, gripping the reins tightly. Shutting her eyes tight, she breathed out hard through her nose. Then she looked down the mountain path behind them, lush green with the summer grass, to the port city of Myrtle. The sun was still setting, glinting on the waters of the harbour, but the streets were already deserted, windows boarded shut. The towering grey obelisk which was the Myrtle royal palace cast a long, black shadow over the houses, the cawing of the ravens in its many rookeries the only sound breaking the tense and fearful silence. Arendelle's northern neighbour was normally a boisterous, joyful place, filled with music and singing and the curse-laden boasts of drunken sailors. Well, so she had heard, at any rate. It was to have been her first visit.

The year which had passed since her coronation had contained a lot of firsts. After thirteen years of struggling with her powers- barely leaving her room, reading every last book in the palace library and re-reading a lot of them- everything had changed, and she was finally free. Relatively speaking- as royalty most of her life was still pretty well planned in advance.

She had learned to ride, for one thing. Once she had grown confident enough in the saddle of her even-tempered little steed, she had taken the time to explore the little farms and hamlets that dotted her kingdom, and let her people meet their queen. Better they see the awkward blonde girl she was, rather than imagine her as the treacherous, ice-crowned demon of some of the wilder tales people had been telling...

Her sister Anna drew up beside her, looking no less agitated than herself. "What do we do, Elsa?" she asked, trembling slightly, and glancing back to the company of soldiers a short distance behind them. What indeed...

That odious Kaarlo had shown little interest in explaining himself, but had declared, without apparent embarrassment, that the state of Myrtle was under lock-down until 'the remaining agents of the treasonous king' had been rooted out, and the 'security of the royal family' could be assured.

Moreover, to ensure their safe, and prompt, return to Arendelle, Kaarlo had insisted they travel with a company of his soldiers. Around twenty men, led by a thick-set old captain with moustaches and mutton-chops, outnumbering her own party two to one.

All in all, it could have gone better.

Elsa also eyed the soldiers, frowning. "Right now, there's nothing we can do. We need to go along with it- for the moment."

"I know", added Elsa, seeing her sister's pained expression. Anna had not been happy about submitting to Kaarlo's marching orders. As if she was? "But we cannot act without knowing the situation and making a plan, or it will just be an act of war. Once home, we can seek advice, decide what to do."

"But it's ten days' journey through the mountains..." Anna suddenly stopped. "Um, Elsa? Your horse is freezing."

Elsa looked down. Her mare Linnea was visibly shivering. Pale patterns of frost had spread down the reins from her fingers, and the saddle was encrusted with a lacy network of ice. Yelping an embarrassed apology, she focused for a moment on calming herself and containing her powers. The saddle thawed out, and poor Linnea's breath stopped coming in gasps of white vapour. Elsa rubbed the mare's white neck, cooing reassuringly into her ear.

"I'm sorry girl..."

They were interrupted by the approach of the Myrtlean senior officer. He coughed politely through his grey whiskers, and addressed them in the coarse, nautical accent of Myrtle.

"Your Majesty, your Highness. I am Captain Rinne of the City Guard, as was."

Elsa frowned. "As was?"

The gruff old man seemed to hesitate. He seemed agitated at the question. He glanced back at his men- none were within earshot.

"The thing is, your majesties..." He scratched his head under his helmet. "... the Admiral, sorry, Lord Protector, is currently reviewing Myrtle's forces, hmph- and a city guard independent of military command is unlikely to appeal to him." He looked sour, especially when he pronounced Kaarlo's title. Clearly not everyone in Myrtle was pleased with the new regime.

But, he was still following the Admiral's orders... Ally or not, Elsa made a mental note not to trust him, at least not yet.

"Shall we get moving, your majesties? Our scout is waiting just up the path." The captain peered up the path ahead of them, shielding his eyes with a coarse, scarred hand.

He was right, of course, and they set out immediately. They had a seven day trek ahead of them. Elsa would have cursed herself for not at least trying to make the journey by ship, which would be faster by days, but their own ship, having finally limped into Myrtle an hour or two after them, had been greatly in need of repair. Unsurprisingly after that, the Admiral had not seen fit to spare any Myrtlean ship for the expedition.

At least the scenery was pleasant; at this altitude the landscape was a maze of rocky crags, patchily carpeted in mountain grass.

As they moved up the twisting path into the mountains, Olaf bouncing along in front of them obliviously, Elsa began to hear what sounded like music playing. And then a human voice.

Olaf suddenly started and ran further ahead, having noticed the singing. He rounded a corner and was out of sight.

Elsa slapped her forehead. It was going to be seven days of this. "Olaf!" she called. "Don't run ahead! I can't see you-"

Suddenly there was a loud shriek, and the music stopped. The two sisters glanced at each other, and then sped their mounts up the mountain path, to see what Olaf had gotten himself into.

They rounded the corner and came to a place where the path widened, and a campfire had been built.

Next to the fire, a young man in dark clothes stood with his sword drawn, a small lute lying forgotten at his feet. He was slender and long-legged, with a messy shock of black hair. His face was white as a sheet, his eyes fixed on Olaf. The offending snowman looked up at him curiously and quite unfazed, idly reaching out to flick the end of the man's blade- a small cutlass- with a sharp doing of wood on metal.

Anna stifled a giggle. Dismounting, Elsa walked up to the two, took Olaf's hand in hers, and cleared her throat loudly. The stranger looked straight at her, then at Olaf. Then he winced in embarrassment, sheathing his blade.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but seemed to hesitate. It was then that Elsa first noticed his eyes...

Serious eyes, deep-set on a long face, and a distinctive dark blue. No, blue within black. It gave them a magnetic quality, like... looking into a deep well, thinking you see something shining at the bottom.

Anna trotted up on her horse. "Is someone going to say something?"

The boy reddened. Then he picked up his lute, slung it over his shoulder, stepped up, and knelt in from of Olaf and Elsa, his long leather coat trailing behind him. He moved like a dancer, or a cat, with a natural, athletic grace.

"I must apologise to you both. I was... caught a little off guard." He looked at Olaf, then up at the queen. "I could not have known... the stories were true."

Elsa nodded to herself. It was so easy to get used to having Olaf around, she was always forgetting that, for those not from Arendelle, a living, speaking snowman could come as something of a shock. At least, when it comes barrelling round a corner at you...

The boy reached out a hand to Olaf, who shook it enthusiastically.

"I am sorry if I startled you in turn, master snowman. Might I know your name?"

"My name is Olaf!" the little creature beamed. He was always happy to make new friends.

"A pleasure to meet you, Olaf." replied the boy.

"And what is your name?" Elsa enquired. "Are you Rinne's scout?"

The boy stood up straight, adjusting his dark leather coat, then put a hand to his chest and gave a slightly theatrical little bow. "My name is Jani, and I am. Oh- your Majesty, Queen Elsa."

"Jani, we'll be travelling together, let's not stand on formalities", Elsa said, turning to walk back to her horse. Then she looked back at the young man and smiled. "Olaf isn't that scary, is he?"

His face turned pink.

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Note

I had an idea for a Frozen story, which I worried was un-writable. Hopefully it isn't, but we'll see how we go. In any case, I wanted to tell it before Frozen 2 came out with its inevitable Elsa straight-washing. I guess this story will be AU once F2 is out, although my story accounts for Frozen Fever. Except for the bit where Elsa's powers can dye a dress. Not sure what the hell that was supposed to be.

Gender identity issues will feature prominently in this tale, and, whether or not it is in fact possible to do such a complex and emotive issue justice, I hope my efforts will be enough that my friends outside the binary won't feel I've let them down. Maybe I just won't tell them I wrote it.

I also hope I've done justice to Elsa. The closet is bad. And since I don't really do emotional repression, writing it is, well, hard. It was like imagining having a tail.

The story picks up a bit from around chapter 7, so that's where to go for action. The pace is a bit slow in the early chapters, but I haven't decided whether to trim them down or not.