Antenora (15)
Declaration of War

Loki's reconnaissance only cemented Elsa's fears. The Jochins quickly made themselves comfortable as they marched and settled into Arendelle. They went no farther than the houses and shops surrounding the castle. It was impossible to ignore the cluster of round tents and fires from the battlements. Citizens were kept inside and discouraged from going out, otherwise the sight of the gathered Jochins would drive them into sheer panic. Anxiety and tension among the people were high enough. Even as Elsa retreated deep inside the castle, the sharp, acrid scent of fire followed her like a persistent hunting hound.

It didn't take the Jochins long to make their next move. On the day after Loki spied on them from above, they sent their own bird to swoop in on Arendelle. A steppe eagle. It dived down from the sky so fast that sentries stationed on the battlements didn't have time to raise and aim their crossbows. The eagle took off out of sight, leaving behind written parchment on the stone floor. It was addressed to the ruler of Arendelle.

In front of Anna, Kristoff, Loki, and Einar, Elsa read aloud the message in her office: "Let us meet on the hill of aspens under the flag of truce. Bring no weapons and soldiers, come only with your second in command, and I will do the same. Taichar."

As soon as Elsa finished reading, Kristoff said, "It's a trap."

Loki nodded in agreement. "We have no reason to trust this Taichar. I assume that he must be the leader of the Jochins." He narrowed his eyes. "How do we know to put any stock into his word?"

Elsa's fingers tightened over the parchment. "I want to know why he attacked my people. He owes me an answer. Kristoff, Loki, you may very well be right. This meeting could be setup for a trap. Still, I want to meet this Taichar. I need to see the face behind this invasion."

She expected protests, but Loki took on a thoughtful expression when she had been talking. Mischief glimmered in his dark eyes.

"Taichar left out 'no tricks' in his proposed meeting."

Elsa raised a delicate eyebrow at him. "What's on your mind, Loki?"

He smirked. "It's possible for you to meet him without the risk of coming yourself."

"Possible? More like impossible," Einar said with a snort. "How do you meet someone when you can't come?"

Loki curled his lip at him. "If you would give me a chance to explain, then you wouldn't jump to such a conclusion," he retorted.

Elsa had no patience for her advisor and Captain of the Guard bickering under such dire circumstances. "Einar, please. Loki, elaborate."

Einar meekly lowered his head at her exasperation, while Loki inclined his at her permission to continue.

The hill of aspens formed an approximate point for the queen of Arendelle and the leader of the Jochins to meet halfway. To the average undiscerning eye, Elsa and Loki appeared well on their way to meet Taichar, their hair and cloaks rustling under the breeze. If one leaned in close enough, one could see the faint flush on Elsa's cheeks, the wetness of her blue eyes, and breath pluming past her parted lips as even the Jochin fires couldn't completely expel the chilliness of spring air. If one leaned in close enough, one could hear the murmuring exchanged between her and Loki, as they attempted to predict the Jochins' intentions. Elsa and Loki looked real enough, sounded real enough. But if one was to reach out a hand at them, touch would break the illusion.

Taichar never specified prohibiting tricks in his message. So Loki produced illusionary copies of himself and the queen. Those copies would go forth to the hill of aspens, while the real queen and her advisor remained safely behind the castle walls, observing through the eyes and ears of their doppelgängers. Elsa could fulfill her desire to meet Taichar face-to-face, so to speak, without risking her life in the event of a trap.

She and Loki's copies reached the summit of the hill first. Minutes passed by, then they sighted two figures dismounting from their horses and steadily climbing up the hill. Both wore dark brown fur-lined tunics that wrapped around barrel-chested physiques. Fur also formed the brim of their pointed hats, which obscured their faces until the men reached the summit. Both had long dark hair in braids, trimmed beards, thick mustaches covering their top lip, and red eyes between narrowed eyelids, though one had a long scar cutting from the right eyebrow to the left corner of his lip, while the other bore no scars. The Jochins were as tall as they were bulky, so that even Loki stood a head shorter than both of them. They brought with them an aura of heat that made the very air waver around them, like mirages in the desert. A sign of their Fire Giant heritage. Elsa's quickening, pounding heartbeat translated over to her illusionary copy.

The scarred Jochin cracked a cold smile at Elsa. "Snow Khatun."

"Taichar."

Elsa assumed that "khatun" must be the female equivalent of a khan. Their way of calling her queen.

"Your reputation precedes you," Taichar said. "Word of your power had reached our steppes to the far east. I have been wanting to meet you for some time."

Elsa coolly met the devilish gleam in his eyes. "I have never heard of you until recently."

Taichar laughed and turned to the Jochin man beside him. "Oh, she is a bold one, Sukh."

The one named Sukh maintained his face of flat stone and said nothing.

"You speak our language well." Elsa didn't mean it as a compliment.

The khan smirked. "We are descendents of Fire Giants. They've passed down their Norse tongue as well as their flame." He gestured to the stoic man beside him. "I said that I would bring only my second in command Sukh, and I did. Who did you bring, Snow Khatun?"

Loki's voice rang with confidence and a tinge of disdain. "I am Loki of Asgard."

Taichar's eyes squeezed shut for a moment as he belted out a scornful laugh. "There's no use in lying to me. You're no Asgardian. I know a Jotun when I see one." His gaze roamed up and down Loki's figure. "I've never seen one this small before, though. You are a long way from home, Jotun runt."

Loki bristled, and Elsa resisted putting a hand on his arm. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you," she said into his ear.

"I know," Loki managed out through gritted teeth. He fought to calm himself down, but the blood pounding in his ears and cold numbness growing in his hands made that difficult. He was well aware how much the Jochins, especially their khan, outmatched him in strength and size. They could easily break him like a twig, if he had been foolish enough to attend this meeting in person. If they dared to seize him and Elsa, their hands would only grasp thin air. He had that to relieve him, at least, but he and Elsa still had to carry on as if Taichar and Sukh weren't talking to illusionary copies. As long as there was no bodily contact, the meeting should go on smoothly and Elsa would get the information she needed.

Taichar showed an empty quiver and an empty curved scabbard. Sukh did the same. "We come to you with no weapons, as promised," the khan said.

"So did we." Lacking the Jochins' custom, Elsa merely showed empty hands. Loki mirrored her gesture.

Taichar looked pleased. "Excellent. Now we may move on to discussing terms of surrender."

"Surrender?"

The khan merely looked amused at Elsa being taken aback. "Well, yes. Our empire extends past our homeland on the eastern plains, and grows larger and larger with every passing year. This is the farthest west we have traveled, and we don't intend to stop here. Arendelle will be absorbed into the Jochin Empire."

Loki and Elsa exchanged an alarmed look.

Taichar gestured to the tents of his people which the hill overlooked. "We've shown you what we are capable of if you don't comply. We have taken down entire nations on horseback, but only if they refuse to give up their power to us. It's in your best interest to surrender yourself, your kingdom, and your subjects completely to me."

Elsa's heart nearly stopped. She didn't answer right away. If she outright refused, she would be declaring war. If she admitted surrender, that would mean the end of Arendelle as she knew it. As the queen she may have the authority to decide, but she didn't know what to do. Of course she didn't want to submit to this foreign invader, but with the lives of her people in consideration, perhaps they were better off if her surrender could spare them from terrible deaths.

Elsa chose her words carefully. "If I surrender, can you guarantee that you'll stop the attacks on my people and let us live in peace?"

"Of course," Taichar replied. "There's no sense in setting my future subjects on fire."

The khan's sense of entitlement sparked irritation within Loki, but he hid it from his inquiry. "If you take over Arendelle, what happens to Queen Elsa?"

"She would become my queen, the fairest and strongest among my wives." Taichar leaned in toward Elsa, his blood-red gaze intent on her face. "What do you say, Snow Khatun? Surely that's a much better offer than a slow, cruel, and painful death by my hand."

Elsa stared at the khan in wide-eyed disbelief.

Loki felt a hot flash of anger, suddenly feeling very possessive of the queen beside him. 'She's mine. We'll make you eat those words when we chase you out of Arendelle.' He noticed her frozen indecision and looked back at Taichar. "Do you expect an answer right here and now, or will you allow more time for Queen Elsa to consider?"

Taichar gestured with a sweep of his gloved hand. "I can give her time if that's what she needs. What matters to me is that I want a clear, sure answer, however long it takes her to arrive to it."

Finally Elsa spoke. "Allow me to return to the castle and discuss your terms with my people. They deserve to know what they are facing before I can make my decision. I will give you my answer in three days."

Taichar nodded. "Three days, then." He jerked his head to Sukh and together the two Jochins turned away to scale down the hill. Then he said over his shoulder, "Decide if you want more burnt corpses or not. It should come down to that."

The merriment of his tone clashed unsettlingly with the threat. Elsa was left shaken and torn. Once Taichar and Sukh reached the bottom of the hill, mounted their horses, and rode out of sight, Loki made the illusionary copies blink out with a wave of his hand.

Though Anna, Kristoff, Einar, and Ermine remained in the queen's office, none of them could catch what Loki and Elsa had seen and heard from their meeting with Taichar.

Anna tensed when Elsa broke out of her stupor of staring off into the distance toward the hill of aspens. "Well, Elsa? What did the leader say? What does he want?"

Elsa struggled to maintain her composure. "This is something that the whole kingdom has to hear." She turned to Einar. "Gather all of our soldiers to the halls where we keep the refugees and patients."

Every step she took threatened to make her weak knees give way, but she clenched her jaw and continued onward to where her people could hear her. Anna and Loki flanked Elsa and remained by either side of her when she stopped at the top of the stairs overlooking the confused and frightened citizens. Given the subdued atmosphere among them, it didn't take much effort for Elsa to raise her voice and be heard.

"People of Arendelle, I have met and spoken with the leader of the Jochins, Taichar. He wants us to surrender so that Arendelle can be assimilated into the Jochin Empire."

Exclamations of horror and shock rippled among the soldiers and civilians alike.

Elsa forced herself to go on. "He guarantees that he will stop the attacks, but on the condition that I give up my authority over Arendelle and become his wife." She heard a gasp from Anna and felt her younger sister's hand over her shoulder. Elsa squeezed her hand back and turned to her subjects. "I am willing to do that if it means keeping you all safe. I don't want any more bloodshed. My people come first. I want to hear what you would like me to do."

A heavy silence ensued as people either stared at her in shock, or exchanged those shocked looks among each other. Elsa kept her hands folded in front of her and her back straight, waiting for input from the people she had to protect.

Finally, a young man hobbled forward in crutches and bowed as best as he could. His quiet voice was almost engulfed by the largeness of the hall. "Your Majesty, if I may speak..."

"Of course. What is your name?"

"Gunnar, Your Majesty. I watched those Jochins burn down my house and take my wife away. They brought her to the biggest and tallest Jochin of them all, the one with the scar across his face. Maybe that's Taichar. They brought my wife to him, and she—" Suddenly Gunnar was too choked up to go on, and he wiped his face on the back of his sleeve. His voice thickened and wavered. "There are children here, I don't know if I'm free to tell you..."

Another man rose and rested his remaining hand on Gunnar's shoulder to steady him. "Children have died and lost families, homes, and parts of themselves. We're no longer strangers to this kind of horror. Our queen deserves to hear everything." He turned to look up at Elsa with flint in his eyes. "My name is Isak, Your Majesty, and I also lost my wife to the Jochin leader." Unlike the more quiet Gunnar, pain and suffering hardened Isak's voice. "I was forced to watch him have his way with her before he killed her. I'm sure there are other men here who lost their wives that way."

Elsa noticed several silent nods to this.

"We know what the Jochin leader will do to you, Your Majesty. None of us wish the fate of our wives on you."

"The Jochins never wanted peace," a woman cried. "They want conquest. If they came peacefully, then they never would have set our houses and families on fire."

"I'm old enough to fight," an adolescent boy shouted. "I'd rather fight and die than give up and live under those savages."

Others took up his cry, and those who had fists pumped them in the air. The soldiers raised up the loudest call.

"We've stood by helplessly long enough."

"We've trained all our lives for this. Let us fight and defend our home."

"Fight for a free queen! Fight for a free Arendelle!"

Elsa had never seen such a frenzy stirred up among her people before. Their collective desire to fight for themselves, and for her, overwhelmed and moved her to tears. No dissenters stepped up to counter the majority. She turned to where the most important people in her life stood behind her, and though they didn't raise fists and shout with the people, fire burned in their eyes and muscles twitched at their clenched jaws. It was clear to her that they wanted nothing more than to stand by her, even if they would have to die trying.

Elsa turned back to her subjects and motioned for them to settle down. "Thank you for making your voices heard. I'll consider this when I send my decision to Taichar."

It was getting late. Kristoff herded his two children away to bed while Elsa headed back to her office with Anna and Loki not far behind her.

"There's no way I'm letting you become queen to that monster," Anna said fiercely. "I haven't even seen him yet, but he sounds like a real brute. If he wants you, Elsa, he'll have to get through me first." The princess rolled up her sleeve to prove her point, and Elsa couldn't help smiling at that.

"I agree with Princess Anna," Loki said. "I, on the other hand, have seen Taichar for myself and can say with certainty that nothing good will come out of you becoming his wife. I've seen the way he looked at you, Queen Elsa. He was eyeing you like a trophy to collect."

Disgust welled up within Elsa like bile as she remembered. Her hand tightened over the doorknob to her office's door with more force than necessary. "I don't intend to become part of his collection. Now with the people's say, I can be more certain about my refusal to surrender."

"It's war, then?" Loki flashed Elsa a tight smile. "I'll be more than happy to deliver that message to Taichar."

It didn't take long for the queen to pen a terse letter refusing surrender. Loki took that to the Jochins on raven's wings. Once he dropped the rolled up parchment from his beak, he banked in the air and flew straight back to Arendelle, so he wasn't able to get a glimpse of Taichar's reaction. He could only assume that either way, the khan would get what he wanted from the start: complete and utter conquest of uncharted territory.

Loki came back to find the window to Elsa's office coated in ice. He reverted into his more human form and rapped his knuckles on the window. "Queen Elsa? Open up. It's me, Loki."

No response. The layer of ice over the window was thick enough that Loki couldn't see through even if he touched his nose to the glass and squinted. There were other ways to enter the castle, but the window to Elsa's office was his primary and preferred way of flying in and out. He transformed into a raven to fly through the alternate route to Elsa's office: from the entrance to the castle and through the great hall. He wondered with a flare of worry if the queen was in danger. He ran down the halls to find Anna at the other end of her sister's office, behind a shut door. She frantically switched between knocking on the door and twisting the doorknob.

"Elsa, please open up," she called. "Let me in."

"What's going on?" Loki demanded.

Anna seemed to take no notice of Loki skipping formalities and politeness for once, and clutched at his dark sleeves. "Just after you flew off to deliver her message, Elsa freaked out. I mean, really freaked out. I was in the office with her when she had a fullblown panic attack. Her ice blew me right out through this door! She locked herself in and has been in there ever since." Anna chewed on her bottom lip. "I've never seen my sister this worried before. Not since the Great Freeze." She beseeched Loki with pleading in her eyes. "I can't get through to her. I think you're the only one in this entire castle who can. Please help her."

Anna's knuckles were raw and red from constant knocking on an ice-cold door. Loki had to admire the sisterly concern that emanated from Anna in strong waves. He gently released himself from her grip. "I will do what I can."

He turned to the door. Fire magic was not his forte, but he could channel a bit of it to defrost the doorknob. He turned it and opened the door gently. Anna remained outside the hall shivering while Loki stepped through. He remembered Elsa once telling him how she had accidentally hurt Anna when fear consumed her. Years later, though she loved her sister dearly, Anna didn't want to repeat the tragedy. So Anna kept a distance from Elsa's office while Loki, with Frost Giant blood, felt free and safe to enter.

Elsa's office was completely covered in a sheen of ice. Tiny snowflakes hung in the frigid, still air, and icicles hung from the ceiling. Loki spotted the queen curled up in her chair behind her desk, with arms wrapped tightly around her knees, eyes squeezed shut, and tears frozen on her cheeks. She was shaking, not out of the cold, because the cold never bothered her, but out of fear.

Loki slowly and carefully approached her desk. "Your Majesty, I've returned. I've delivered your message."

Elsa flinched and looked up. "Loki?" She whispered. "How did you get in here?"

"You and I aren't so different."

She lifted her head slightly, but didn't uncurl from her fetal position. "After I wrote that letter, and made my decision official, it all hit me. I've declared war, Loki. Arendelle hasn't been in a war since the time of my great-great grandfather. We have been a small, peaceful kingdom for years. We've forgotten the sights and sounds of real fighting. None of us here, not even the most experienced soldier, has ever properly fought on a battlefield. Who are we to start a fight with conquering nomads?" Elsa looked down at her trembling hands. "What have I done? Have I condemned us to fire and blood? Have I killed us all?"

Her breathing grew shallow and quick, and frost emanated from her body like a creeping, cold star. Fresh tears welled in her eyes and her trembling grew more violent.

Loki couldn't stand idly behind her desk anymore. Once more forgoing formalities and boundaries, he walked around her desk to kneel down and meet her at eye level. Sympathy for Elsa reached its peak as he rested firm hands over her shaking shoulders.

"Breathe, my queen. Long, slow breaths."

Elsa licked her dry lips and strived to obey Loki's gentle command. She felt numb, dizzy, on the verge of fainting. Opening her eyes and tilting her head up, she was met with concern and sympathy from Loki.

"Your reaction to all of this is perfectly natural."

"This is natural?" With one hand, Elsa made a wry, weak gesture to the snow and ice around them.

"Well, magical powers not included." Loki's hands moved from her shoulders to her upper arms, and she made no move to brush him away. In fact, she even seemed to welcome his touch. "You are a young queen and a stranger to war. Of course you are worried and scared." His grip on her tightened ever so slightly. "But your people have spoken, and you spoke on their behalf. Stand firmly by your decision, your conviction. No subject wants to follow a ruler who can't be sure of herself."

"You're right. The next time I see Taichar will be on the battlefield." Tremors returned to Elsa's curled up body. "I need all the help I can get if I'm going to fight this war." Her voice dipped to a small whisper. "I can't do this alone."

"You won't be. You have your sister, her husband, your Captain of the Guard. You have me. We'll fight by your side and see through this to the end." He tried to give her a confident grin. "You may have not seen war, but I have seen hundreds in my lifetime. I can guide you and your soldiers to victory."

"Even against all these odds? My six hundred or so men to their five thousand?"

"I have fought against greater odds. And won."

Elsa relaxed and straightened out her legs. Suspended snow faded away and the ice coating her office grew thinner. "I trust you, Loki. You've helped me before, and I don't doubt that you can help me again." She smiled up at him. "Thank you."

His heartbeat always quickened whenever he received a smile from her. He tried not to let the reaction reach up and melt the stoic expression on his face.

"Taichar gave us three days," he said. "Let's take advantage of those days to prepare for war and search for reinforcements."

Elsa nodded, and her eyes widened in recognition. "Reinforcements...that's right. We have an alliance with Leopold and Weselton. They're across the sea and the Jochins only have us hemmed in from the other direction, from the mountains."

"We don't have men to spare for a voyage. You need as many available, able-bodied fighters as possible." Loki rose to his feet. "I will fly to Weselton myself with your request for Leopold's help. He promised his support, and I'm sure he'll give it now."

"I really appreciate you doing this for me, Loki. You wouldn't have done this when we met for the very first time. But you've changed. Changed for the better." Elsa didn't want to say it aloud and offend him, but he had become less self-interested, less cunning. Now he was more selfless, more sincere. Loki didn't have to get involved in her fight, but he chose to, anyway. Elsa wished she could do something to repay his loyalty. Unfortunately she had other priorities to fulfill, namely preparing her people for the fight of their lives.

At Elsa's praise of him, Loki strived to maintain humility. "I can see why the people of Arendelle are so adamant on fighting for you," he murmured. He let go of her and bowed. "I am more than happy to fight by your side and triumph with you."

"Triumph...you seem so sure about that."

Anxiety and fear crept back into her voice, and Loki tried to swiftly stamp it out with his reply. "I can't foretell the future, but like you, I will do everything in my power to make a free Arendelle our reality."

Now that I have this chapter written, uploaded, and out of the way, I'm going to see Frozen 2 on opening night (tonight)!