It was a dark night in a small town not too far from Arendelle.

Through this town walked a figure. The figure was wearing a plain dark cloak to hide their body and an equally plain and dark hood to hide their face. The person noticed a tavern not too far up the road and decided to ask there.

Walking in, the figure caught the attention of the barkeeper, as well as a few of the other folks in the tavern, but they were unimportant. The figure walked up to the bar and sat down at the counter.

"What can I get for you, stranger?" The man asked.

"Anything non-alcoholic." The figure responded in the toughest voice they could conjure up. The bartender couldn't believe it.

"If you don't drink, what are you doing here, sir?"

"Getting directions." The hooded being responded. At that moment, the door opened and a figure wearing a cloak and hood surprisingly similar to the person currently sitting in front of the bartender came through the door and began a slow walk towards the bar, the bartender, and the figure.

"Friend of yours?" The bartender asked.

"I've never seen that person before in my life." The first hooded figure answered.

"Alright, it was a fair question, now what was yours?" The man defended himself before remembering that this person before him wanted to know how to get somewhere.

"How far and in which direction is Arendelle?" The person asked.

The man responded with: "It's about a day's walk from here. Head toward the northwest."

"Thank you, now for that drink." It was at that moment that the other figure reached them. The person took a seat three stools down from the other.

"How about a hot cup of tea?" The bar man asked. When he got a nod from one hood, he turned to the other.

"And you, sir?"

"Your finest wine, please." The second person said. In a few minutes the barkeeper returned with a cup of tea as well as one of their oldest wine.

"Here you go are, my friend." The man said as he put the wine in front of the second stranger.

"And here you are, sir." He continued as he put down the tea just before the first figure.

He watched in awe as the first faceless stranger of the evening simply took the mug and downed the tea. The very hot tea. The other hooded man seemed to be shocked as well. He, as inconspicuously as he could, downed his wine to try and keep up with the hood next to him, but he couldn't down it quite as fast and the figure had walked out by the time he was done. The remaining hood slammed the glass down onto the table, slapped the amount he owned on the counter as well, and began to walk out. Then he turned back to barkeep and asked.

"What did the other hooded one ask you?"

"I was asked for directions on how to get to Arendelle from here." the bar tender replied.

"Damn." He slammed his hands onto the counter. "When the trail came this close I was worried, but..."

The hooded man mumbled to himself. "I'd hunt them through hell. Some of them I have, but follow them to Arendelle?" The figure thought about returning home as a failure, but then there was that word there, "Failure." 'No. If I let this one be, I'll get kicked out and completely humiliated.' If the figure wasn't wearing a hood, the barkeep would have seen a smile come to the person's face. 'Besides... it might be an entertaining little reunion.' The figure started walking toward the door, but the man working the bar stopped him.

"Sir, what is your name?" He asked.

"You didn't ask for her name. Why do you need mine?" The figure responded as he left the tavern.

-To be continued in "Isabella of the Southern Isles."