I suppose I owe a lot of people something else. Its quite the long story, but for those of you interested in 'this' story, I'll save mine for the bottom.

To the uninitiated, there were several peculiarities about the castle that sat in the middle of the fjord. While on the outside, it resembled an otherwise normal-looking castle; though no less majestic. However the stables, which held a number of thoroughbred horses, also contained a solitary reindeer. The expansive courtyard doubled as a skating rink on certain Saturday's. And along with the castle's population of staff, politicians, advisors and royalty, it also contained a talking snowman that enjoyed greeting newcomers with a rather twiggy hug. All of these singular oddities made much more sense when placed alongside the fact that the high queen of Arendelle was host to frighteningly beautiful powers.

While Queen Elsa's command over ice and snow were enough to send many assassins and enemies scurrying for cover, there was one enemy that no amount of flying icicles or eternal snowstorms could control.

Paperwork.

The sun hung low in the western sky as Elsa sat at her desk; a proverbial mountain of scrolls, papers, and books obscuring her view of her study's door. In the month since she had accidentally frozen her kingdom, Elsa's workload had exploded. Trade negotiations, offers of alliance, even the occasional marriage proposal kept her frequently bound to her desk. For those who dreamed of absolute control over kingdoms and people; they never had nightmares of the sheer workload that went into managing them.

The Snow Queen rose from her chair, arching her back and stretching. She was beginning to lose feeling in her feet and her royal rear end had fallen asleep around an hour ago. She was long overdue for a break from the tedium of queenship. She strode from her study and out into the hall. Elsa was unsure of what to do to break the monotony of the day. Such spontaneity was more of Anna's modus operandi. She was the plucky youth who could go from sitting still to inventing a new game with total strangers in the blink of an eye; almost the polar opposite to the formerly cold and introverted queen. Elsa was brought from her quandary by the arrival of her handmaiden Gerda.

"Oh your majesty, are you finished for the evening?" She bowed slightly before falling into step behind her.

"I've decided I've done enough for the day, but there will still be a mountain of work waiting for me tomorrow."

"I suppose we all have our limits. Is there anything I may do for you?" Elsa paused.

"Do you have any suggestions for relaxation?" She asked.

"Well, there are plenty of books in the library, but I'd assume your highness has read enough for the evening."

"Far more than would be healthy Gerda."

"Hmm, your sister is still out with that nice ice harvester."

Yes, Kristoff was certainly quite the nice young man. Elsa owed him more than she could repay in a lifetime. He had come to the aid of Anna, not only in her ascent up the North Mountain, but in her time of need after being struck by Elsa's ice. An involuntary shiver went down her spine; there was something she wasn't keen on reliving anytime soon. Ever since the great thaw; the two had been inseparable. When he was down in the city selling his ice, Kristoff and Anna seemed to be joined at the hip. Where one went, the other followed. It felt nice seeing such honest love in her sister after the traitorous Hans nearly snuffed her out completely.

Even when not in Arendelle, Anna and Kristoff enjoyed traveling through the surrounding countryside. Anna loved spending dinner talking about the hidden lakes; deep forests, and secret mountain paths Kristoff knew about. In fact, that was a good idea to take her mind off her work.

"Gerda, please have the stablehand prepare my horse." She announced.

"Going for an evening right your majesty?"

"A bit of fresh air sounds like a good idea to me." She turned and walked out toward her room. As much as her queenly attire was comfortable, a gown was not suitable for riding.

After changing into a shorter dress and ridding leggings, Elsa made her way down to the courtyard where her horse Brego was waiting. Surprisingly, Anna and Kristoff were also waiting; the ice harvester unhitching his reindeer Sven from his sled.

"Elsa!" Anna cried, running up to her sister. "Are you going out somewhere?"

She smiled. "I've decided to have a short ride before nightfall. I'm beginning to see letters in my sleep."

Anna laughed. "Elsa, with how much time you spend in your office, I'm surprised you still know what sleep is."

"If you're going out, be careful on the paths." Kristoff fished a carrot out of his pack. "That storm from two nights ago left a lot of branches and trees down." He fed half the carrot to an eager Sven before taking a bite out of the other half. No matter how many times she witnessed their bond of camaraderie, it still made Elsa's stomach turn.

"Oh, and make sure you're back by dinner time," Anna reminded her. "The cook said he finally perfected that chocolate truffle recipe."

"Oh don't worry, I won't miss that." Elsa replied, accepting the reins from the stableboy. She climbed up onto Brego and gently spurred him on; departing from her sister and Kristoff at a light canter. She guided her horse across the bridge and out into the city. The people around her were in the process of winding down the work day. Merchants began consolidating their wares to be stored for the night, fathers began the trudge home to their families, and the children seemed eager to play one last game of tag before the sun finally set. Many of them called out to her, bowing or curtsying to her as she rode past. After thirteen years of isolation, it warmed her heart see that her people were willing to give her a real chance.

Elsa and Brego rode out of the city and into the forest, following a well-worn road that led along the coastline. As the wind whipped through her hair, she remembered what it was like up on the North Mountain that night. Let it go. She didn't know where the song had come from, but it felt so good. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she could accomplish so much with her powers. The ice palace, her dress, Olaf; what had once been a curse had finally revealed itself to be a gift. A gift she had pledged to share with the rest of Arendelle.

And Anna.

Elsa pulled back on the reigns slightly, slowing Brego from a canter down closer to a walk. In one short month, Anna had tried her damndest to make up for the thirteen years they had been apart. Wake-up calls, lunches together, secret notes left in her paperwork piles; reminders that she wasn't alone anymore. Elsa had considered having the castle locksmith remove the lock from her door but decided, rather, to give Anna a key to her room. Anna had tried to convince her to share rooms again, but Elsa preferred sleeping alone.

It helped on those nights when she'd wake up in a cold sweat, her room covered in ice and snow. Her control over her powers had gone from nonexistent to near perfect, while she was awake. During the night, however, Elsa still suffered nightmares; flashbacks to that day on the fjord, her sister frozen and dead by her own hand, Hans standing over her with sword raised. She sometimes even woke screaming her sister's name. It was to her utter shame that she ordered the servants into silence about these episodes. Even after so much work, Elsa still kept some doors in her heart shut tight. This time it wasn't out of fear of hurting her sister, it was out of fear of disappointing her.

Elsa's eyes passed over the horizon. The sun was beginning to touch the sea as it ended its daily trip across the sky. Its dazzling reflection forced her gaze away from the sea and toward the long shadows of the forests to her left. The trees grew right up against the edge of the road with some of the larger branches overhanging it entirely. Due to its frequency by merchants and traders, the road was commonly used and must have been cleared quickly by the mountain men. However they apparently missed one.

Brego stopped in front of the massive tree trunk. It had to be easily three feet in diameter, completely obstructed the road. Elsa was sure that Anna would have tried to have her horse jump over the offending roadblock, but she wasn't as daring as her sister. She manipulated her horse's reins to try and turn him around, but as she faced the forest, something caught her eye. There was a subtle breeze blowing in off of the ocean; the trees in front of her gently swaying back and forth under its influence. It didn't explain why one small patch of bushes were so vigorously jumping from side to side. Her horse especially was taken by surprise as Brego began whinnying and fidgeting.

"Easy boy, easy." Elsa muttered to her steed. She tugged on the reins to calm her horse as the bushes began to jump around even more. A nimbus of ice crystals began forming around Elsa's hand while she steeled herself to face whatever was coming. However she wasn't prepared for the leather-clad young man who so gracelessly stumbled out of the woods.

Before she could react, the boy toppled forward onto the path; his forehead striking the paving stones. Elsa dismounted Brego and knelt at his side. "Oh god, are you alright?" She asked, turning him over. The skin of his brow had been cut open and blood was already beginning to pour from the wound; covering his face and hazelnut colored bangs.

"Asverga," he muttered. "Tooth, toothle – " the rest of his words were lost to a horrendous bout of coughing.

"Can you hear me?" Elsa asked again. She took a handkerchief out of her pocket and began to try and stem the flow of blood from his wound.

Panic began to set in as his eyes closed and his body went limp. Elsa pressed a hand to his throat, sighing in relief as she felt a pulse in his neck. Something wasn't right. While Elsa was no doctor, she had read enough books to know about the human body. While his quickly paling face could have been attributed to the blood loss, his clammy skin and previous coughing could not. He was in danger. His life was in danger.

With strength previously unknown, Elsa heaved the teenager up by his shoulders. She faltered for a moment before draping him over Brego like laundry over a clothesline. She then dug her foot into the saddle's stirrup and hoisted herself on as well. Elsa could hear the him begin to wheeze, so she flipped him over onto his back and pulled him into a sidesaddle seating posture. One arm wrapped around his torso, she took the reins in her other and urged Brego on as fast as she could handle. The youth in her arm groaned and muttered several words under his breath. Elsa chanced a look down at him, but his eyes were still shut tight. She said a silent prayer as the walls of Arendelle came into view: please don't let her be too late.

()()()

"How was he just passed out like that?" Anna asked for the umpteenth time.

"Didn't she say he didn't pass out until he hit his head?" Kristoff asked before taking a bite of his soup. Elsa breathed deeply; trying very hard not to freeze her bowl of soup by accident. By the time she rode into the castle courtyard, the mysterious teenage boy was still breathing. She quickly handed him off to the castle physician who took him straight into a spare room. Even after assurances from the staff that she brought him in just in time, Elsa still needed to be alone to compose herself. After the return trip, she found herself shaking uncontrollably as she coated her room in a thin layer of frost. Elsa was able to dispel the frost once she had stopped trembling, but it still unnerved her.

"Do you have any idea who he is Kristoff?" Elsa finally asked. It was the first thing she said since filling her sister in on the details of what happened. The blond ice harvester paused.

"No. I haven't seen him with any of the other harvesting gangs, and no one around here has posted any notices about missing children."

"How old do you think he is Elsa, fifteen, sixteen?" Anna asked.

"That's a weird question." Kristoff scoffed.

"Well, I mean, he looks a bit young to be running around the forests alone, doesn't he?"

"I guess you're right."

Dinner continued on; what little conversation there was had been focused on the strange teen. However the conversation quickly turned circular with Anna asking questions no one had answers to, which would lead to more questions and more not-answers. Elsa excused herself halfway through the main course.

"Elsa?" Anna quickly rose and made her way to her sister's side.

"I'm fine Anna. Just a little riled up after today. I believe I will turn in for the night."

"Oh, ok." She leaned in close to Elsa's ear. "Do you want me to save some of the truffles for you?" Elsa couldn't help but smile at her sister's insistence.

"If you have the chef put some in cold storage for me for tomorrow, that'd be perfect." Anna smiled before embracing her older sister.

"You did what you could Elsa, you don't need to worry." Elsa returned her sister's hug before stepping backward.

"I know." With that, she quietly departed the dining room.

The moon was beginning to rise over the eastern mountain range. How long had it been since she brought the lad back with her? Was he even still alive? Her conscience getting the better of her, Elsa turned down a hallway that led away from her bedroom. She soon came face-to-face with the physician who was looking after the teen.

"Your highness, I was just going to look for you."

"How is he doing?" The physician, who was old enough to have cared for both princesses in their infancy, rubbed his temples with one hand.

"Your highness, this is something I have never seen before.

The snow queen's heart began to race as he led her back into a room. The teen she found was tucked away in a bed in a corner of the room. His head had a line of neat stitches across which had closed up the gash nicely. Now that she looked at him, she could see two small clouds of freckles, one on each cheek. She couldn't help but think of Anna at the sight of the spots. However the freckles only served to contrast against his still pale skin.

"He has a severe fever, perhaps contracted from somewhere in the forest. I do not believe the blow to his head has done any lasting damage, but he lost a good bit of blood before we stitched it up."

"Did he have anything on his person?" Elsa asked. "Money, a letter, anything we can use to identify him." The man motioned to a chair, where a green shirt and a peculiar leather and fur vest lay draped.

"All he has is what he was wearing. Though that alone isn't what troubles me."

Elsa steeled herself. A feeling of immense dread came over her as the physician stood over the bed and pulled back the covers. Her jaw hung open in a most un-queenly manner.

"As I said, I have never seen anything like it."

The boy's left leg was gone. Or rather, most of the limb below the knee was gone. In its place was a crude facsimile fashioned of metal and wood, literally tied into place by a length of cord. Bile rose up in Elsa's throat as she thought of what could have been done to warrant such a limb. "It appears to be an old wound, likely several years old. But why such an elaborate contraption?"

The physician moved the bottom of the pseudo-foot up and down. A spring inside the artificial limb pushed back, giving off a slight squeaking noise as it moved. She didn't know why, but the sight made her sick to her stomach.

"Doctor please don't play with it." She snapped.

"It's fascinating really. Most boys his age wouldn't have survived such a wound. But from the looks of it, this occurred quite some time ago." He apparently didn't hear her and continued to fiddle with the device.

"Yes his metal leg is astounding; a true hallmark of science as a whole. Now please stop it." Elsa makes to swat the doctor's hand away, but he catches the hint. She shivers as the noise dies out. "Like nails across a chalkboard." She muttered.

"Regardless, I've dressed his wounds and given him some feaverwort to try and bring his temperature down. We'll see how he does tomorrow morning." The doctor covers the boy again with the blanket before withdrawing from the bed.

Elsa followed the doctor out, giving the teen one last glance. Only time would tell. Her heart still hung heavily for the lad's predicament, but her mind had already begun to look at tomorrow. Her financial advisor wished to speak with her, then the meeting with the house of lords, along with discussing plans for bridge repairs with a local stonemasons guild; she already had enough on her plate. Yet as long as he clung to life, the boy would be welcome in her castle.

If you came here because Frigid Flames looked interesting, then I hope I satisfied you. Feel free to review about what you thought.

For those who came here looking for EOA or IM...

I know its inexcusable. It's been almost year since I've updated EOA, and even longer for IM. A year ago I graduated college and was flung into the real world. I could share with you my sob story of not finding a job for three months, or the BS I've had to put up with for my coworkers, but I won't waste your time. There's enough sob stories on the internet.

However during the time between my last update of EOA and now, my computer decided to have a fit. During that time, I was unable to access ANY of my story documents. I didn't LOSE any of them, but they were locked away on my hardrive somewhere. Recently I've worked around this, but I don't feel right in releasing the next chapters for my stories just yet. I haven't written in over 10 months, and I didn't want to deliver a half-assed story. So consider Frigid Flames a way for me to get back into the swing of things.

I don't abandon my stories for no reason.