(A/N: there's a lot of switching between POVs in this chapter. The names are in the order they appear in the story in the chapter title)
Elsa's POV:
Kristoff helps Honey and I onto our horse and then climbs onto his own.
"So where do you want to start?" He asks.
"Split up. Ask everyone in town if they've seen her. Don't leave any house unvisited or any stone unturned. If you find her, bring her back here immediately. If we don't find her, we'll meet back here this evening and devise a plan to search outside of the kingdom. Okay?" I say.
"Got it," Kristoff says. We wish each other good luck and take off in opposite directions, ready to explore every inch of this kingdom if that's what it takes. Honey and I stop at the tavern first, since it's a popular spot for people to go for dinner and drinks and music. It's especially crowded tonight, and the smallest sliver of my brain thinks it's likely that Anna is in here, partying and drinking to try and let out her frustrations. If that's the case, she'll be in disguise so people won't recognize her. We wouldn't want people to see the princess at a peasant party.
"Doris! Have you seen Anna pass through here at all today?" I ask. Doris is the owner of the tavern, and she's usually good at keeping tabs on who goes in and out of the place.
"Why no I haven't your majesty. Of course there's more people here this day than I have seen in years, so it's possible she slipped right past me and is in the crowd somewhere. Feel free to search if you'd like, and if you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer what I can," Doris said.
"Thank you very much," I say, resting my hand on her shoulder. Honey and I split up, searching the crowd. Every female who wears some sort of covering over her face has it removed, and although they protest, I tell them it's protocol in the event a royal family member goes missing. Honey and I meet back up at the front doors after about an hour of searching every female in the building.
"Did you find her?" I ask, panic rising in my voice.
"No. But let's keep looking okay?" Honey says. I nod and follow her out, trying to keep my breathing under control as fear sets in.
Kristoff's POV:
I hop off my horse and secure her to a lantern post nearby. My first stop is Anna's favorite restaurant in the town center. She's here at least three times a week in the winter for her favorite peppermint tea, and since it's the onset of winter, maybe she retreated here.
"Kristoff! How wonderful to see you! Can I get you anything?" Eudora asks me. She's a very sweet middle aged woman who owned the restaurant. Anna adores her.
"Uh, not right now thank you. I'm actually looking for princess Anna. Have you seen her?" I ask. I'm careful not to step off the mat since my boots have snow caked to the bottom.
"No, surprisingly I haven't. Is everything okay?" Eudora asks. I feel my heart sink and panic kicks in.
"Yes, everything is fine. Thank you," I say and rush out of the building. I untie the horse and hop on her back and take off. If she isn't in any of the public places, she isn't in the kingdom at all.
Anna's POV:
The snowstorm is already raging violently out in the forest and in the mountains. Thank goodness I put on a couple extra layers, because it's freezing. I slow my horse down when we get deep into the forest and jump off, securing her to a nearby tree. I read a survival book I found buried way back in the library so now I know how to build a little shelter to protect myself from the elements a bit. I wander around for a bit to keep myself warm and gather up as many sticks and large rocks as I can find.
By the time I finish gathering the stuff for my little tent, the sun is setting. It's getting colder every minute so if I don't hurry and finish I'll freeze.
I spend another hour putting together my shelter and then lay down my extra cape on the ground. Luckily the foliage of the pine tree is thick where I put my shelter so there's no snow on the ground to melt into the fabric. I climb into the shelter and wrap myself up as much as possible. My horse surprisingly lays down inside of the shelter with me, which doesn't bother me because she's clean and we can help keep each other warm.
"Don't worry girl. We'll get moving again tomorrow and find a cabin or something to stay in. We'll be much warmer," I whisper, petting her nose. I don't want to fall asleep, because I'm afraid if I do hypothermia will set in. But the cold is just more and more tempting, and I have to fight to keep my eyelids open.
"Don't succumb Anna..." I mumble to myself. I force myself to stay sitting up and try to focus on petting my horse. Something to keep me grounded. I wish Kristoff was here with me. I could snuggle up to him for warmth. Then again, if we were together we'd be wrapped up in blankets in front of a fire in the palace, and not out here. This was a stupid idea. I can't believe I did this. I guess I thought I'd find somewhere to stay before I got so weak and cold. I curl up to the side of my horse and feel my eyelids sinking shut and as hard as I try to fight it, I succumb to sleep.
Elsa's POV:
"Kristoff, we have to search the woods for her! She's not anywhere in the kingdom!" I cry.
"What do you propose we do? Go out alone, at night, in a snowstorm to find her?" Kristoff asks. He rubs his temples from stress and sighs.
"Kristoff you love her too! Why is her safety and well being even an argument? If you don't want to go with me fine. But if I go to look for her and you don't and I find her, I expect you to be gone by the time I'm back. And you won't be coming back. Hell, I'd probably charge you with treason and have you banished or hanged!" I shout.
"I do love her! But if we go out there and we get killed, then what kind of help is that to Anna? We need a team. People to split up and cover more ground. If we die out there, we're just killing her ourselves!"
"We're killing her if we wait to go out and look for her! The longer we stay here, the longer she's out there alone, probably freezing to death! And she's already died that way one time, so imagine how heavily it's going to weigh on her heart to be dying that way again! She...she deserves so much more out of life than what she's gotten. So you go ahead and go waste time gathering your precious team for your search. Honeymaren and I will be long gone and much closer to finding her, if we haven't already."
Kristoff sighs and stuffs some of Anna's mittens, capes, and head wraps in a satchel so he can warm her up when he finds her. He stuffs another satchel full of matches, oil, and food and loads up his wagon. He isn't taking Sven out in this weather, so he hooks the horse up to it. He tosses the bags in the back and hangs a lantern from the hook and tosses a few blankets and stuff in the back. He pulls up in front of the girls, who are about to get on their horse to leave.
"Get in, let's go," he says sternly. The girls give each other a look before hopping into the back of the wagon and pulling a blanket over themselves to stay warm. Kristoff takes off through the streets of town and leaves the kingdom, taking them into the woods to continue their search for Anna. And hopefully, she's still alive when they find her.
YOU ARE READING
Frozen Heart (Kristanna & Elsamaren)
ספרות חובביםAnna knows how Kristoff feels about her. But ever since what happened with Hans, she can't bring herself to trust it. She's too afraid of love. She thinks that's all that love is; lying to and tricking the person you claim to love. Elsa has spent a...
