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Elsa smiled; the day was crisp and bright as she approached her ice castle, or the summer home as it had been dubbed by Anna in one of her many moments of irreverence. It had surprised Elsa that the ice castle had even survived her episode after being forcibly removed by Hans and returned to the city. She kept a keen eye out for Marshmallow; the snow golem she’d created to guard the building just in case he didn’t remember the guard captain accompanying her.
“It never ceases to amaze me that you built this” a gruff male voice sounded behind her.
“It truthfully amazes me sometimes, I just thought ‘palace’ and there it was” Elsa replied, feeling a little embarrassed by the extravagance of it all.
“Your geometry lessons certainly served you well” the guard captain marvelled as they reached the stairs.
After tying up their horses at the bottom of the stairway; Elsa opened the doors, gently waving her hands to clean up some errant snow and icicles that had grown. With a simple gesture, she conjured up a table and chairs for them to sit on. The guard captain removed his helmet, placing it on the table and sat down while the Queen removed two steel goblets and a bottle of wine from the basket she had brought with her.
“So, aside from showing me an architectural wonder, may one enquire why I’ve been brought up here to be plied with wine?” Gunnar asked as the Queen handed him a cup.
“You may; it is because I wanted to say thank you for all your help these past few years. And to take a moment to reassure you that I understand you were ill when the incident with Hans was happening” Elsa took a sip of her wine as she sat.
“You should have let me hang that whelp from the parapets; to say nothing of those two assassins” he groused.
“In so much as his attempts to kill me and Anna would be cause for war, Hans acted independently of his own monarch, as did the Duke. Killing them would only engender a hostile response. Besides both the Southern Isles and Weselton sent very generous compensation for the various trespasses committed” Elsa’s eye twitched slightly.
“Out of curiosity, your majesty, if I’m not being too bold” he cleared his throat “What would you have done had Princess Anna not…” Gunnar trailed off as he finished his wine.
“That, my good captain is something I dread to imagine” Elsa occasionally had nightmares about that brief moment when it seemed Anna was dead.
Further discussion was muted by a sudden explosion as something rammed through the roof of the castle and impacted the floor, the shockwave knocking both Elsa and Gunnar off their chairs and giving them both a deafening ringing in the ears. Gunnar returned to his feet first; a lifetime around cannon fire making him accustomed to such noises. Drawing his sword and pistol he shook his head to clear the disorientation as he quickly surveyed the damage.
“My Queen?” he muttered and scrambled over to his monarch.
Elsa had (unconsciously it seemed) erected a barrier of ice around herself to both absorb the shockwave and lessen the damage to her ears. Still, Elsa stumbled a few times as Gunnar helped her to her feet before he took up a defensive posture in front of her.
“What in God’s name was that?” Elsa muttered, her equilibrium returning.
“I don’t know, but it has left a large hole in your floor” Gunnar observed wryly as they both approached aforementioned hole.
Hole was an understatement: crater was more appropriate as they got close to the lip. Gunnar observed that some of the edges were trickling water: whatever had hit them had been rather hot. Gunnar became excited; he’d heard tales of great weapons forged from iron that fell from the sky: Elsa was merely curious – her many books had mentioned the notion of rocks falling to the earth but she’d never seen anything like it herself. With trepidation they both looked down into the crater.
“Oh my” Elsa went a little red.
There was no rock sitting in the crater, but a woman. Tall judging by the length of her legs and her hair a bright blonde in contrast to Elsa’s platinum coloured hair. She was clad in red and blue, a crimson cape was sewn into the shoulders of her tunic: a strange coat of arms that neither Elsa nor Gunnar recognised was displayed prominently on her chest, along with what Elsa assumed was a skirt that was scandalously and (certainly for this region), impractically short.
“Your majesty, I’m not man of the sciences, but I’m fairly certain that hitting the ground hard enough to do this would kill a person” he muttered as the woman began stirring.
“Okay, even by my standards, OUCH!” the woman mumbled as she stood up, stumbling as she did so.
“Do you recognise that language?” Elsa asked in a whisper as Gunner levelled his pistol.
“It sounds like English, but the accent is unfamiliar” he replied, then turned his head to their guest.
“Identify yourself” Gunnar shouted in English; the woman looked up at them with her bright blue eyes, and studied them.
‘The uniforms; European…but why does the guard have a flintlock?’ she was confused “What year is this?” she asked, locking her gaze with Elsa’s.
“It is 1842” Gunnar answered.
‘Oh hell, time travel – my least favourite way to be dicked with’ the woman remained with her gaze on Elsa “I am Kara…” a spell of dizziness overcame Kara and she fainted before finishing.
“Well, this has certainly turned into an interesting morning” Gunnar muttered, holstering his pistol.
“We need to help her” Elsa blurted out; her senses coming back to her.
‘Damn it, I was hoping to have less insanity this year’ Gunnar wisely kept his opinion to himself.
Kristoff had just left Sven at the royal stables and was on his way to Elsa’s office: he had a series of documents that catalogued all the work he’d done for the season’s ice master duties she’d charged him with over the past two years. He’d thought the role symbolic, a title of thanks to keep the various nobles from loudly objecting to his courtship of Anna (thought it turned to one step of many). To his lasting shock; it had not been so and now Kristoff was found himself in charge of keeping meticulous records of where the ice was harvested, who sold it and to whom, and for how much.
“Good thing those trolls taught me to read” he mused as the guards greeted him.
Entering the palace, he was suddenly struck with how still it was. Usually the place was abuzz with servants and at least one person trying to dodge Olaf’s now famous ‘warm hugs’. However aside from the guards and a maid dusting the hallway, the place was basically deserted. As Kristoff continued to muse on the subject, Kai came into view from a side corridor.
“Ah, Master Bjorgman. Welcome back; I trust the harvest is in order?” Kai asked, helping Kristoff with his heavy winter coat.
“Yes, I’ve got all the records and missives here for the Queen’s approval. On that note, where is everyone?” Kristoff asked as he removed his icy boots.
“Well sir, it turns out the Queen and the Guard Captain had a bit of an adventure up the mountain; they discovered a young woman in the snow, seemingly abandoned or dead. They brought her back and are currently keeping her company in one of the guest rooms” Kai explained as he handed Kristoff a pair of clean shoes to wear.
“Best go see what’s going on” Kristoff left the documents he brought with Kai and headed upstairs.
It wasn’t difficult to figure out which guest room they were in, as he got closer he could hear Anna (who else) talking in her trademark mile a minute style, obviously quizzing her sister and Gunnar on their guest. Not even pregnancy had slowed his wife down in her never ending quest to be involved everywhere.
“Knock, knock” Kristoff called from outside the closed door, rapping his knuckles on her heavy timber.
“Come in” Elsa’s authoritative voice carried well in the castle.
Kristoff entered the room and took the scene in before him: Queen Elsa was seated beside the bed and staring intently at its occupant (while holding her hand): a blond woman who looked no older than Elsa herself. Guard Captain Gunnar was on the balcony smoking a pipe of tobacco, a habit he was forbade in the castle proper; Gerda was busying herself with examining the young woman and Anna was peering closely at a strange piece of clothing: it looked like a blue tunic with a cape on it.
“Hello dear, how are you both?” Krisotff asked of Anna as she bounded over to hug him.
“We’re fine; it’s Elsa’s new friend we’re worried about” Anna jerked a thumb at the sleeping blonde.
“Gerda; fetch Kai and two guards. Gunnar, when you’ve finished your pipe, please put the two men at either end of this corridor and then you stand a post at the door. A family conversation needs to take place” Elsa suddenly looked up, her voice steel.
Anna raised her eyebrows; Elsa rarely called a ‘family conversation’ unless there was a serious matter to be tabled between them. The first had been Anna and Kristoff’s marriage which had seen Elsa, The Crown Magistrate and Anna herself work overtime to find a legal loophole that would allow them to ennoble Kristoff sufficiently when it turned out a gifted position within City administration was not enough. A disaster skilfully avoided when the Magistrate thought to commission Kristoff as an officer in the Army and discharge him after a year of service.
The second had been even more critical to keep under wraps: Elsa had admitted to Anna, Kristoff, Kai, Gunnar and Gerda that her romantic inclination was for women. The two old retainers had taken it in their stride; though Elsa had been able to see disappointment in their eyes that the queen would bear no children. Gunnar had, in his own words, “Sworn an oath of loyal service to Queen and Crown and he’d defend her against peasantry and papacy alike”. Kristoff offered no objection; he was raised by Trolls after all. In the end it was Anna who had broken the somewhat awkward feeling by saying “So, should we start telling our trading partners to send eligible princesses then?” which made Elsa laugh so hard she actually cried.
“Your highness, I am here” Kai announced himself from the door way, two young guardsmen behind him.
“Gunnar” Elsa gestured for the retainer to enter while getting the Guard Captain to move.
“As you wish” He paused and turned his grey eyes to the two guardsmen “One of you at either end of this corridor, no one gets through. If the Lord Jesus Christ should appear, show him to a waiting room,” he barked.
The two men saluted smartly and marched at double time to their directed post “I’ll be just outside the door your highness” Gunnar walked backwards out the doors, securing them with a thud.
Elsa visibly relaxed, she shoulders dropping to a less tense position as she rubbed her face “Kai, there’s some brandy on the desk, and a pitcher of juice for Anna. Please pour everyone a glass” Elsa laid her head back, stealing another look at their sleeping companion.
‘Brandy? Elsa rarely drinks’ he accepted the glass “Elsa what is going on?” Kristoff asked, visibly confused.
“Yeah, you’ve been acting strange since your brought sleeping beauty over there home” Anna smirked as Elsa blushed.
“When we brought her here, Gerda and I undressed her to check for frostbite or other injuries from the impact” Elsa began, taking a gentle sip of the alcohol.
Anna and Kristoff looked at each other “Impact?” Anna enquired.
“We didn’t find her in the snow, she came crashing through the roof of my ice castle, and left a crater as big as the gazebo and as deep as that bed post is tall” Elsa pointed to the poster bed: each post was almost seven feet from foot to top.
“Was she climbing up the mountain?” Kristoff asked, sensing an obvious solution.
“No, it was as if she were shot out of a flying canon, but even then: Gerda and I could not find a scratch on her. No bruises, no broken bones….no injuries at all. Her clothing and boots are made from no material we recognise” Elsa handed over one of the boots “And before we decided to undress her, Gerda tried to cut the tunic off: the scissors went blunt in trying” Gerda nodded in affirmation.
While the occupants of the room discussed her, Kara had woken up. Indeed she’d been awake for about half an hour but had been listening, and observing them through her eyelids – one of the many benefits of X-Ray vision. Her waking had also allowed her to get a handle on what language they were speaking, Scandinavian, but she didn’t speak it herself.
‘Okay, so my competition is an old couple, a pregnant whirly top, a brick outhouse and…the one who held my hand for twenty minutes’ Kara observed around the room trying to think of the best way to calmly wake up.
Kara’s decision was made for her however when her keen hearing picked up a rustling noise about thirty or forty feet from her and then a sort of creaking noise, as if wood were bending.
‘That’s a bow being drawn!’ she then listened for the tell-tale ‘whoosh’ of the arrow flying before springing into action.
Kara suddenly sat up, far quicker than anyone would think her capable after her harsh encounter with the ground and shot her hand forward and clenched. Elsa jumped back, forming an ice shield in front of everyone and screamed for Gunnar.
“What’s going on?” he burst through the door, pistol at the ready.
Kara nodded towards her still clenched fist “Assassin, on the roof opposite the balcony” she spoke as her eyes tracked the now panicking man.
“By God. SOUND THE ALARM!” Gunnar screamed, leaping for the door.
Elsa meanwhile stared at the arrow: it had a barbed head and there was a greasy sheen to the steel as if it was coated in something “A poisoned arrow!” she exclaimed, tracking its planned trajectory to….
“Anna” Elsa barely breathed the last part as Kristoff checked his startled wife.
“I’d say someone doesn’t like the fact that you’re pregnant, honey” Kara was still tracking the archer, he’d made several amateur mistakes that she could make out ‘Shado, this man was not’ she thought, tossing the arrow to the floor.
“So, do any of you speak English, or French perhaps?” Kara asked, looking down at the rather old-fashioned nightdress she was wearing.
“I speak French!” Anna jumped up and down, any idea of terror banished from her mind.
‘Thank Rao’ Kara swung her legs out of the bed and stood up “My name is Kara, thanks for putting me up and helping me recover” Kara hoped her modern French was close enough to what Anna spoke.
“That’s okay. My sister, the Queen” Anna paused and nodded her head at the platinum blonde “Said you crashed through her roof: what’s up with that?” Anna asked.
“It would be easier to explain personally than through a translator. Do you have a French-Scandinavian index or dictionary somewhere?” Kara wanted to get on normal speaking terms as quickly as possible.
“In the library, my old one from when I learnt French should be there. I’ll get it” Anna turned to Elsa “I’m going to get my old French books, Kara wants to learn our language” she explained.
“Oh, well, that’s very nice of her. Is she hungry? Thirsty?” Elsa asked.
Anna’s eyes lit up and she spun on her heel towards the tall blonde “My sister wants to know if you’re hungry” Anna suppressed a giggle as she caught Elsa eyeing Kara from head to foot.
“Actually, I am really hungry. I’ll eat just about anything so whatever you can spare will be fine” Kara’s stomach chimed in with a rumble.
“Kai, our guest is hungry: could you arrange a hot meal for her. Kristoff, I’ll need your help with the books since I’m pretty sure they’re on a shelf I can’t get to” Anna grabbed her still somewhat shocked husband and led him out of the room, Kai following close behind.
“May I have my clothes back?” Kara asked of Gerda, pointing to the outfit to get her intention across.
Gerda nodded and handed the garment over to Kara with a warm smile. Kara returned the gesture with a nod and what she hoped was a grateful smile of her own. Then to Elsa’s extreme embarrassment, Kara removed the nightgown they’d given her. Elsa chanced a look at her, since the other stranger clearly saw nothing wrong with changing in front other women: Kara was tall; in fact stretched to her full height she was taller than Elsa by almost a full head.
Elsa noted that Kara moved with purpose; her whole body was lean but her muscular definition was incredible and with a face nearly as crimson as the cape she wore, Elsa saw that Kara was very…shapely and proportionate: an obviously healthy woman. Gerda watched the whole exchange with amusement: naked women were old hat to her after two younger sisters and helping raise both the Queen and Princess Royal.
‘God in heaven, those legs…’ Elsa watched as Kara pulled on her knee length boots “Excuse me!” Elsa suddenly turned for the door and left the room, just as Anna returned.
“Elsa?” Anna asked as her practically glowing sister hurried out with as much dignity as possible, a trail of snow following her.
‘Huh, she’s a meta-human…or magical, I can never tell these days’ Kara adjusted her tunic so that it sat across her bust properly.
“I hope I didn’t offend your sister by getting changed in front of her” Kara spoke as Anna offered her two large tomes.
“Offended? I doubt that very much” Anna chortled: so that’s why Elsa was so red “My sister spent a long time being….isolated and it’s left her a little unsure of herself around others she doesn’t already know, or those that she wishes to get to know” Anna was sure Elsa was developing an attraction to this woman.
Kara nodded and opened both books; a pair of reference tomes that contained alphabets and basic language information between the native tongue of the land and French, her current reference point. Then, to Anna and Gerda’s shock, Kara began flipping the pages at such a rate that Anna feared the paper would be set on fire, her eyes darting between them so fast that they seemed a blur of blue. When she reached the end of both books, Kara closed her eyes and began processing what she’d read.
“There we go, that should be enough to get me going. By the way, what happened to that assassin?” She asked in accented but grammatically correct Scandinavian.
Anna and Gerda just stared at her; until Gerda dropped the glass she was holding, causing Anna to jump and Kara to chuckle.
“How…how on earth did you do that?” Anna appeared in front of her; she was surprisingly nimble for a woman in late stages of pregnancy.
“I just can, well, here on Earth I can. Going back to that assassin…” Kara made the inverted commas motion with her fingers before realising Anna may not know what it meant.
“Oh, yeah. That. The guards got him. One of the roofing tiles came lose and he fell onto a balcony. Broke his leg apparently” Anna laughed as she described the rather inept hit-man’s failure.
“What’s your name, Ms. Very Blasé about nearly Dying?” Kara asked with a smile.
“Oh, right. I’m Anna, Princess Anna” the red head thrust her hand forward for a hand shake.
“Kara Zor-El, pleased to meet you” Kara returned the shake “Where’s your sister? I feel I should apologise for making her uncomfortable” Kara asked.
“Well, if I know my dear sister, she’ll be in her room upstairs trying to calm down” Anna explained.
“Is it above this room?” Kara made her way out onto the balcony, the evening air was chilly, but nothing she couldn’t tolerate easily.
“Two rooms to the left. I can…take….” Anna trailed off as Kara gently levitated herself up out of view.
“I see it; thank you princess” Kara called out.
“…Oh this is just not fair: how come I never got special powers” Anna stamped her foot comically and went to tell her husband of the miracle she’d just witnessed.