The day of the Arendelle spring harvest was like any other day in the kingdom save for the thousands of town's folk and visiting pilgrims flocking to the wharf and market squares to partake in the annual trade festival celebration. Revelers packed themselves in like jostling bushels of wheat in order to watch the parade and partake in the pageantry, hoping all the while to catch a glimpse of the queen and princess as they moved through the crowd. The royal sisters took their time, speaking with dignitaries and common folk alike, all smiles and warm embraces.

Two years had passed since the Great Freeze that nearly crippled a kingdom and brought Arendelle to its knees, and things had changed drastically as the queen grew into her role. Arendelle quickly become the premier city where the purchase of ice continued year round; great heavy cubes of flawless frozen water loaded daily onto ships destined for far away kingdoms and hamlets. The revenue from the ice harvest alone bolstered the kingdoms wealth exponentially, but it was Elsa herself and her tireless work to raise her kingdom to newer and greater heights that truly enabled Arendelle's growth. The queen had opened and established trade with new and neighboring kingdoms, building roads and port cities that allowed the endless flow of goods to ebb and flow ceaselessly. The harbor was reopened opened, the once condemned wharf renovated, and fishing in the deep sea out past Arendelle's fjord became available to the public for the first time in years.

But it wasn't just Elsa's mastery of the political game or the almost devious way she could arrange trade agreements that marked the queen as perhaps one of the greatest monarchs Arendelle had seen in decades. It was her kind, loyal, and unwavering love for her citizens and kingdom that had won the people of Arendelle over after the Great Freeze. So it was no surprise that the royal sisters, now twenty three and twenty, walked amongst their citizens during the festivals, eager to see what new and strange things had been brought into the city from within the bellies of great three masted ships mooring in the harbor.

The day was pleasantly warm with a cool breeze rolling in off the sea, bringing with it the salty tang of sea water and the occasional scent of butchered fish. Anna walked beside her sister, right arm linked with Elsa's left, a smile on her face so large she marveled that her skin hadn't split at the corners of her mouth. The princess couldn't remember a time when she'd been more happy. Everything was as it should be, and the peace she felt was profound. Two years of endless work on both their parts had led to two years of blissful prosperity, and it was like the sun finally emerging from behind dark clouds. However, thirteen years of gloom and sadness wasn't so easily displaced and there were still hiccups every now and then, but Anna would take those moments of partial gloom over the darkness and loneliness that had been her childhood.

"Are you sure you're not hot," Anna asked for the third time, awed in Elsa's choice of attired this afternoon. Despite the heat, the queen had chosen to wear a long sleeve turquoise underdress, a royal blue wool bodice with silver snowflake embroidery, and a cotton skirt the same color as her bodice that practically drug the ground behind her. Her hair was down at least, not in the messy braid she usually wore when lounging in comfortable clothes in the castle, but in a slender French braid that cascaded down her back and glittered with turquoise and diamond snowflakes. It had to be immensely hot in long sleeves, and Anna said as much.

"No, dear sister, I am not hot."

Polar opposite the queen, Anna had chosen to wear a light lavender sundress with a cotton bodice laced up the back with blue ribbon. She had no underdress on, opting to only have the straps of her bodice covering her shoulders. The hem of her dress came to just below her knees and had been embroidered with springtime flowers and creeping green vines. A pair of blue slippers was the only thing that separated Anna's bare feet from the cobblestone, and she itched to take them off and hop around barefoot. There was just something so satisfying about feeling warm stones under her feet.

"I just can't fathom why you'd wear long sleeves in the middle of spring!"

"Old habits die hard, I guess," Elsa shrugged trying not to roll her eyes, a small smile tugging the corner of her lips up. Anna had always been amazed that her sister could wear such snug, entirely covering clothing and not die of heat stroke. It had become a force of habit for Elsa during her years of self-imposed isolation. She had feared that should anyone happen to touch her icy skin her secret would be revealed. Even after the Great Freeze, when her power had been unwittingly unleashed for all to see, Elsa couldn't shake the urge to cover herself whenever possible: whether in cotton, wool, or ice. No gloves, thank god, and the neckline of her underdress wasn't as high as it used to be, but the queen was still covered.

"I know, but how are you not sweating? I'd be soaking wet by now if I were wearing the same thing!"

"It helps when you can do this," Elsa whispered and flicked a small coin sized ball of ice into the air where it burst like a firework, showering the two sisters in cold snow and a blast of frosty air.

"Hey! Hey! I'm in short sleeves here," Anna laughed shaking snowflakes from her hair. "Aim your flurries somewhere else!"

Elsa, ever the regal queen, barely stifled the laugh building in her chest and turned as stoned faced as she could back towards the crowd, but she couldn't keep the laughter from her cerulean eyes. Anna shoved her with her shoulder, and the two partook in some private giggles before continuing their advancement through the market square. Beyond the wall of people, in snippets of stop motion movement, the sisters could see the colorful parade marching by.

"So, dear sister," Elsa said in a conversational tone, "where has our Master of Ice gotten himself off to? I would have thought Master Kristoff would be here with us."

Anna didn't miss the friendly sarcasm in Elsa's voice when she referred to Kristoff in his proper title, and scowled. Kristoff hated the name, preferring to remain just Kristoff the mountain ice harvester, but just like everyone else within the castle, he had to adhere to the same rules. Elsa insisted he use the proper title of Master, enjoying the way it seemed to rankle him. It was good natured fun they could all laugh about behind closed doors.

"Kristoff hasn't returned from his mountain cabin yet," Anna said, stressing his common name. Elsa looked over her shoulder, one perfectly shaped eyebrow arched. The princess returned her sister's icy stare until she couldn't hold off the urge to blink and looked away.

"I see," Elsa nodded after a moment. She turned to look over the heads of the hundreds of parade revelers at the stables on the other side of the square. Anna stood on her tiptoes and attempted to look as well, hoping to catch a flash of antler or the little white body of Olaf who'd decided to accompany Kristoff on his mountain venture. Seeing no sign of either, Anna turned back to the parade with a sad sigh.

"I wish he'd hurry up and get here."

Had Anna been paying attention to Elsa she'd have seen a sly smile pulling at the queen's lips as she watched a large figure move through the crowd towards them. It wasn't until Kristoff was directly behind Anna that Elsa cleared her throat, catching her younger sister's attention.

"Perhaps he's closer than you think," she grinned.

Anna jumped when a burly arm snaked around her shoulders, spun her around, and drew her into a crushing hug. She didn't have time to utter a cry of surprise before Kristoff's lips connected with hers. The princess practically melted and threw her arms around her husband-to-be, deepening their embrace and holding him in place. After an obscenely long time, Elsa gently cleared her throat again as a way of reminding the couple of what they were doing, and the two withdrew from one another.

"When did you get back?" Anna asked breathlessly, practically bouncing with excitement. She couldn't help but plant another kiss on his cheek.

"About an hour ago," Kristoff shrugged.

"And it took you this long to come and find me?" Anna feigning a wounded expression that had only managed to fool her fiancé during their first few months together. The mountain man rolled his eyes, looking over at Elsa with a 'what are we going to do with her' expression on his face. The queen shrugged, hands clasped in front of her, and turned her attention onto the slowly progressing parade, giving Anna a few moments of privacy.

"Have you seen how many people are in Arendelle? It's a miracle I was able to get Sven stabled before tracking you and her Majesty through the very narrow and very crowded streets."

Elsa, thankful her back was turned to the two lovers, smiled at the mention of her proper title. It had only taken her a year to train the ice harvester to refer to her by her royal title while out in public. Hearing him use it without prompting just proved that what Anna had been saying about men being untrainable was completely false.

"And I also had to stop off for these."

Elsa heard Anna gasp and turned ever so slightly to see Kristoff hand the princess a beautiful bouquet of blue and white flowers tied off with a cream ribbon.

"Oh, Kristoff, these only grow near North Mountain. And on the sides of cliffs! How did you get them?"

"Well," he said stretching out the word as he leaned back and folded his arms across his broad chest, "I'll tell you that I valiantly climbed over the side while only using a single rope and a shallowly dug snow anchor to bring my wife-to-be back her favorite flowers, but Olaf will tell you he jumped off the cliff for them at my request. Details, details."

Anna punched Kristoff in the arm and tried hard to hide her smile. "That's for throwing a friend of mine off a cliff, you ass!"

"Hey, hey he doesn't have bones remember! Or a skull! And he insisted!"

Anna turned away from her fiancé and huffed overdramatically, "Doesn't matter!" After a few moments of giving him the silent treatment, she softened and turned back around, shy smile spreading across her face. "Still, these are beautiful." Anna planted another kiss, this one on his lips, and Kristoff took the open invitation and deepened the embrace.

"Where is Olaf?" Elsa asked trying to discreetly break the two apart but failing miserably. If they kept it up she'd be forced to blast the both of them with magic just to cool them down. Kristoff broke away first, blushing slightly as he looked sheepishly at the queen. Elsa cocked another perfect eyebrow, her poised posture not slipping an inch. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she preferred the company of the snowman to her sister and Kristoff's when they became overly affectionate with one another. It wasn't that Elsa was averted to romance, she often secretly dreamed about what it would be like to be in love, but her sister's romance could be tooth rotting at times.

"He's trying to get his nose back from Sven," Kristoff replied motioning over his shoulder at the stables. "Said he'd catch up with us later."

Nodding, the queen turned back to the crowd and began making her way towards the castle gates where the royal party could watch the tail end of the parade from the parapets snake its way down the main road and away from the castle. She'd only gone a handful of steps when a shout stopped her mid stride.

"Your Majesty! Majesty, a word if you would be so kind!"

Elsa turned in the direction of the cry and scanned the crowd. She saw a man jump down from a horse drawn cart and head towards her, but was unsure if he'd been the one who had called. Anna also paused and searched the crowd, but when no one came forward she shrugged and turned her attention back to Kristoff. Elsa lingered a moment more before turning back towards the gate and nearly came nose to nose with the man in front of her. Instinctively, she took a step back to widen the gap between them, surprised by his closeness.

The glint of metal was the only indication the queen had that something was amiss before a nine inch dagger pierced the wool of her bodice and slid home under her ribs. Suddenly, time stood still. The noise of the crowed fell away, the revelers fell away, and the parade dissolved into nothingness until the only two people on earth was the queen and her assassin. Her cerulean blue eyes, wide with shock, locked on to his cold gray ones, and her blood ran cold. There wasn't the slightest hit of malice anywhere on him. He was just a man with a job to do, and the ice in her veins dropped in degree.

He's a professional.

It was upon this realization that the pain struck her like a bolt of lightning out of a blue sky. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Heat was spreading through her body like wildfire through dry brush, licking at her from the inside out. Elsa wanted to scream, wanted to release the tension building in her abdomen as the pain amplified, but her body had locked up and refused to cooperate. It only took half a heartbeat for instinct to take over, and suddenly there was only one thing to do, the only thing Elsa knew how to do when threatened. A blast of arctic magic erupted between the two like a powder keg igniting. Stalagmites of translucent ice shot out in every direction like a porcupine springing its quills, and the man flew back in stunned silence. With an ugly thud he connected with one of the central square walls, dead with three long ice javelins pinning him in place. The concussion from the explosion rocked the square like a cannon blast, and all eyes turned to the drama unfolding behind them.

Elsa slammed into her sister and Kristoff, pulling them to the ground in a tangled heap of thrashing limbs and loud curses.

"Elsa, what the hell? Why did you—"

A shriek ripped through the suddenly, eerily silent square, tearing Anna's attention away from her sister. Her eyes followed the gap in the crowd where people were stumbling away from the corpse impaled on the wall. A pool of dark crimson was rapidly spreading under his dangling feet; his dead eyes staring at the crowd with detached shock. Anna felt a rush of bile work into her throat and had to swallow multiple times in order to keep from vomiting. Like falling dominoes, the eyes of the crowd slowly turned from the dead man to the queen, shocked and fearful whispers slithering from mouth to mouth like a virus. Anna heard the whispers, and felt the building tension of the crowd settle on her shoulders as a thousand questions burst into her mind, and she knew only one person could answer them for her.

"Elsa what the hell were you—"

Anna stopped midsentence and felt her world tilt dangerously to one side. Her sister wasn't looking at the man impaled on the wall or the crowd; her eyes were glued to the four inch gash in her bodice and the dark stain quickly spreading around it. Right hand trembling, she pressed it against the wound, the blood oozing out between her pale fingers shockingly red. Fractals of ice were leaking out of her clenched left hand and quickly spreading across the entire square in a jagged, half hazard pattern unlike anything Anna had seen before. Above, the cloudless sky had suddenly darkened as swirling gray and white clouds enveloped the sun, snow flurries already starting to fall along with the temperature.

"Oh God, Elsa!" the princess screamed and dropped down beside her sister, body trembling. Elsa's breath was coming in ragged gulps now as panic and pain set in. Anna reached out and put her own hand over the wound, pressing down with as much force as she could in order to stop the bleeding. It was then that the queen looked up with such fear and confusion shinning in her eyes, Anna was instantly transported back to their childhood. Queen Elsa, the wise, powerful, strong leader of the Arendelle had suddenly been replaced by the frightened eight year old girl desperate to keep her younger sister safe at all costs.

"Assassin!" The cry went up from somewhere in the crowd and suddenly the building tension that had been poised on a knife's blade snapped and square burst into action. Some people ran, others crowded around the bleeding queen and her entourage, angry cries of, "Protect the Queen," rippling from person to person. It wasn't until the royal guards shoved their way into the throng half a minute after the alarm had gone up that the crowd parted.

Kristoff, reacting faster than any guard, scooped a practically limp Elsa into his powerful arms and ran full tilt towards the castle gates. He bellowed and shoved people out of his way, all the while cradling his soon to be sister-in-law to his chest. The guards atop the parapets, seeing the princess matching the mountain man stride for stride, held their fire and allowed the party to pass under the gate, a squadron of ten guards following close behind. Anna heard the booming voice of the guard Captain shouting for the gates to be closed and locked ripple across the courtyard like thunder. The boom of the four foot thick wooded doors swinging shut and the rattle of bars sliding into place was the last thing Anna heard before she was dragged into the palace.