Six hours and 5,332 words later, here is chapter five, probably the most emotional climax-ish chapter I have written to date. There is major violence in this chapter, just a as a warning. I hope you all enjoy it! :)

Elsa awoke the next morning to a throbbing headache, an upset stomach, an extreme urge to stay in bed for the rest of the day, and her servant Kai rapping at her door like the world was ending.

"My lady! I beg you, you must get up!"

A groan was the Queen's only reply as she buried tighter into the warmth of the covers, trying to block out all light from seeping between the cracks. She felt like death – and it was the night after her wedding as well. She wanted to go cuddle with Hans some more before she got anything pertaining to her royal duties done, especially this early in the morning…

"My lady, it is nearly noon and you have a dispute to manage at the top of the hour!"

"Dis… dispute…?" Elsa mumbled, still in half-sleep. Her mind was as foggy as a cloudy day, her limbs felt like mush, and there was no way she was getting out of bed for something as silly as a—

"Dispute!" The queen suddenly snapped awake, flinging the covers off and shoving on her nightdress, which was crumpled and dirty from a night on the floor. Just because she had gotten married yesterday and fell into bed completely intoxicated didn't meant all her queenly duties stopped. What a way to begin her new unified reign. "I completely forgot! And it's almost noon?! What about everything else I had to get done? I have a trading law to pass, a midautumn ball to plan…"

She scrambled over to the closet, throwing her hair into a semblance of a braid while scanning her closet for a jade green dress – she thanked her lucky stars that all of her gowns had been moved into the master site overnight as Kai continued, his frantic voice muffled from behind the door.

"Don't you worry about that, my queen; His Majesty has already gotten all of your morning duties completed, despite how tired he was from the previous night… he was up bright and early at seven, saying he'd get whatever he needed to get done to let you catch up on rest—"

"Did he pass the law with the Western Kingdom? Please tell me he did." Elsa interrupted, nearly falling over as she shimmied into the slightly-too-small dress, her frenzied thoughts barely registering the absence of the king in her room. She'd have to remember to thank Hans later, but now was not the time for her to hear a gracious speech about her husband – she was late, and a queen was never supposed to be late. This hearing she had today was important; the farmer had been on the waiting list for months, and it would be extremely rude of her to keep him waiting even longer.

"Yes, the law was passed without issue."

Shoving her feet into her flat shoes, Elsa grabbed her crown from the nearby vanity without looking and half-sprinted, half-ran toward the door of the room, opening it in a flash, glancing at Kai's surprised, chubby face below her before shoving past him and marathoning down the hallway toward the throne room. The faster she went, the better. She and Hans were supposed to be working together now, as a unified monarchy, and the fact that Hans had gotten up without waking her and began their royal duties made her a little upset, even a little angry, even though she was sure than Hans was only thinking in her best interest. With an emotional groan, she pushed her feet farther, hiking up her dress so she could cover ground quicker. There was no need to think about it now – the morning was over. Might as well focus on the day to come.

"My lady!" Kai called after her, squeakily. "I have breakfast for—"

"Thank you Kai I'm sorry but I don't have time to eat please have something prepared for lunch thank you!"

With a slap of her crown on her head, and her body slowly fatiguing, Elsa thought, What a way to start the day.

"An' I told this young 'un here, 'Git off my land!' but he just kept right on cuttin' and choppin' down them pesty weeds, as if he didn't even hear me, like he can't respect his elders—"

"But it's not even his land anymore, Your Majesties. He sold it to me, but this old geezer has the memory of a fruit fly!"

"The memory of a-a-a—a wha'? You say tha' again, you say it one more time!"

Elsa inwardly groaned as she glared down at the two men from her wooden-and-velvet throne, old and young, bickering at each other like an old married couple, but she managed to put on a regal farce. The old man, who, she admitted, was smelly and needed a new pair of overalls, had gone through the same old story about three times now – he'd seen the young farmer cutting down weeds on his land over by the mountains, and that it was a crime of trespassing, but the young man repeatedly announced his claim that the land had been sold to him by the elder. They were going in circles, and getting nowhere, and Elsa was tired and hungry and she wanted out.

She looked over at Hans, sitting regally next to her, her father's crown on his head and his gaze intent at the troublemakers before them. He hadn't said a word when she entered the throne room late, the case at hand having just begun – he only gave her a small, yet mysterious smile as she apologized for her lateness and took her seat. He still had a trace of that smile now – that beautiful, radiant smile – as he held up a hand to stop the two from arguing.

The sudden silence snapped Elsa back from her reverie. Do not get distracted, Elsa. You are a queen, you have to be regal, poised, and always at attention… though that's relatively hard with Hans at my side… and what happened last night…

A blush, unbidden, rose onto her face as Hans spoke. "Gentlemen, please. Not so loud in front of your king… and queen."

"Yes, Your Majesty," came the younger man's voice with a bow, while the elder only managed a grunt.

As if it would make up for her unpunctuality, Elsa tried to mediate the situation without starting another argument. "You, young man… Jakob, is it?" Elsa said slowly, briefly checking the case's few papers at her side, catching the old man's name – Morten – as well.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do you have any proof that your elder Morten sold his land to you? Any documents, transactions, contracts…?"

"Um." Jakob wrung his hands together nervously, not looking Elsa in the eye. "N-No, ma'am. I don't. But he really did sell it to me!" He refuted quickly, an outcry from Morten following.

"He's a-lyin', Miss Elsa! He's—"

"I'm not speaking to you at the moment, Morten. Silence." Elsa cut him off, her motherly gaze landing on Jakob's terrified face. The boy was not much younger than her, no more than seventeen, and surely they could work out a compromise – call in some witnesses, maybe? "Now, Jakob, do you have any—"

"This case is settled. Jakob Olsen, you will pay one-thousand kroner to pay for the damages you have inflicted on Mister Morten Berg. And we will check if you have done so – you must send us the monetary statement within two weeks of payment. You both are dismissed."

The voice was Hans'. Elsa looked at him sharply, her brow furrowing. "I'm sorry, Hans," she whispered, "But I'm trying to –"

"Quiet, Elsa."

Wait, what?

As the old man ran whooping and hollering out of the room, with Jakob following solemnly behind him, Elsa stepped down from the throne in near unison with Hans, but she stalked out the room before him, her face an angry red blush. She couldn't believe he had just done that! He obviously could have seen that she was trying to work in Jakob's favor, as he was only a child, but Hans had stomped that all into the dust.

He's being a harder ruler than I expected. Maybe it's just the wine from last night wearing off… I'm sure of it. I needn't worry…

She stood in the hallway for a moment while she waited for Hans to come out of the throne room, her nerves agitated slightly. When he finally did exit, the door slamming behind him shaking the frame, she couldn't help but question his actions. She breathed out shakily to calm herself. Conceal. Don't feel.

"Hans, thank you for… for getting my duties done this morning. I appreciate it… but you really should have let me handle that case back there. I was doing fine by mys—"

"Oh, Elsa, Elsa, Elsa." Hans chuckled, shook his head, and leaned against the wall with a snarky smile that Elsa had never seen on her husband's face before. "Just who do you think you are, someone above me? I'm the king. I'm in control, not you."

The queen, stunned into silence for a moment, scoffed at this remark. "Hans, you're not the reigning king. You're king consort. That means –"

"I know what it means; it means that you, little miss, do all the work, while I sit back and charm everyone with my looks. Am I right?" He raised an eyebrow at her, expectant of her answer.

Elsa swallowed thickly, unsure where he was taking this conversation. "Well – well, somewhat, not really, I mean –"

"Somewhat? Hah. That's all going to change, love." His eyes alight with a hunger Elsa couldn't recognize, Hans took Elsa by the waist and held her tightly there, so tightly that Elsa winced with pain.

"Let go, Hans." She said flatly, biting her lip, but staring him strongly in the eyes.

"No. I'm not going to let you run away, little snow bird. You're going to stay right here and listen to every word I say – no interruptions, no suggestions, no struggling."

Elsa was silent, letting her gaze avert. He didn't have to be so… forceful to get her to listen, she could have stood right where she was and heard everything he had to say. But she let him talk anyway. She could feel the bruises rising on her lower back even as he spoke.

"From here on out, darling, I'm in charge. I make the laws, I rule the cases, I speak at ceremonies. And you won't say a word to object me. It'll be…" He looked up thoughtfully, with a sigh, "A little role switch. I'll be the reigning king, and you my obsequious consort." The smile returned, though more menacing than before. "It's that simple, Elsa. And then, I can have the life I've always wanted… that of a true ruler. And you can sit back and relax… watching your own country flourish under my reign and my reign alone."

A pause, and Elsa took this chance to place her hands on his quickly, giving him a touch of frostbite. He yelped and she jumped away from him, barely noticing that neither of them was wearing gloves. "I don't understand," she said, half lying. She did understand, but she couldn't understand why it was coming from him. "We're in this together, Hans. We said our vows, we exchanged rings. You can't just shut me up like some prisoner to your will!"

"Why can't I? I'm the king, the man in this relationship. I hold all the power, not you." He said this matter of factly, letting his fire wash away his frostbite wounds with a smirk. "No matter what the papers say, I'm always a step above you."

Beginning to grow angry, Elsa opened her mouth to talk but Hans continued monologuing. "Did you really think I married you because I loved you, Elsa?"

The wave of anger quickly fell into shock at the impact of Hans' words set it. He loves me. Doesn't he? "Don't… don't you love me…?"

He barked a laugh, brushing away his reddish bangs from his eyes with the back of his hand. "How childish you are, Elsa, how naïve! You look at me, with those trembling lips and widened eyes, and I look back at you, shaking my head. How could I ever love a woman as cowardly and broken as you?"

He smiled at her again, his perfect teeth gleaming, and Elsa almost – almost – believed he was joking with her. But his eyes, mad with power, didn't match the grin that she saw. She felt the tears run down her face, and her thoughts became a jumbled mess of emotions as the air turned freezing cold and sad snow fell from the ceiling.

Cowardly. Broken.

…the last five months…

Was it all just a lie?

"…You're kidding with me, Hans. Right?"

The queen stood immobile, silently crying, searching Hans' face through her teary vision for something, some sign, that this was a joke, that they were still a happy, joyous couple that would bring the greatest reign of all to Arendelle—

- but all she saw was the gaze of a man who cared for no-one but himself.

"I am the thirteenth of thirteen princes, the runt of the litter, the outcast with fire running in his veins. And the way things were going, there was no way I was ever going to get close to ruling a kingdom… unless I married into a royal line. And who better to cling to than the girl who loved me from her childhood Christmas party – Elsa of Arendelle."

The light flurry began to become a whirling blizzard as Elsa's emotions heightened. She couldn't believe that the prince from her youth that she had come to love and marry had grown up to become such a despicable, narcissistic, heartless man that was going to take everything away from her, twist it and turn it into a product of his own sick mind. The kingdom would 'flourish', he said, but at what cost? Her life? The lives of those who stood against him?

…I won't let him do this.

"…You lied to me. I thought we had something special – our powers that made us different. I thought that these differences made us… the perfect match… I thought you really cared for me!"

He gazed at her a moment through the mild storm, as if contemplating his answer. "Oh, Elsa, I do care for you. I'll keep you alive, if that's what you're asking. This kingdom just won't be 'yours' anymore. Actually, you should be thanking me… I just took a huge load off your shoulders, ruling a kingdom. You just have to play by my laws, don't breathe a word to anyone about this, and everything will be just fine…"

Elsa felt ready to scream, throw herself at him and say no, no, this wasn't going to happen, but he soon had his lips on hers and she surrendered; the storm fell away into piles of snow in the hallway and her anger subsided as she grabbed hold of him tightly, kissing back, breathing in the sweet smoky smell of his breath.

I love you. I love you I love you I love you I love you.

Her mind was still reeling, drunk on the wine of his lips, as he pulled away with a soft smile, and everything felt right in the world again, if only for a moment.

"…Do we have an understanding, Elsa?"

She almost breathed out a 'yes', ready to throw her arms back around him so they could kiss again, and she'd fall into the dream she dreamed when she was with him, and everything would be fine, perfectly fine, nothing would happen, everything would be alright.

She almost breathed out a 'yes'.

But the sudden pain in her lower back from his earlier tight grip snapped her back to reality.

"No. No, no, no, no!" She backed away from him, holding her hands defensively at her side, her temper flaring and the storm beginning to pick up again. "No. I will not let you make me into a docile, mindless child. I will not let you strip my kingdom away from me, I will not let you make every decision for my people, I will not –"

The next thing Elsa knew she was on the floor, her ribs hurting, her cheek feeling as if it was on fire.

…He slapped me.

His rough hand, hot and steamy from the use of his power, grabbed Elsa by the chin and wrenched her head around so that she was forced to look into his sickening green eyes, cringe at his cracked, dry lips.

"I said," he repeated in a deadly whisper, "Do we have an understanding, Elsa?"

In answer, she spat in his face. This proved to be fatal, as she felt his boot meet her stomach and her body slammed against the wall with a thump. She moaned in agony, gritting her teeth as he hands wrapped around her now sore stomach. She felt bile rise in the back of her throat and she saw her wedding dinner again, coughing and sputtering soon after, her sudden hatred for Hans growing as she lay on the floor, weak and defeated.

"Now, I'm going to ask one more time." Hans' voice came from above her now. "Do we have an understanding?"

She made a noise of assent, feebly. This must have been a decent answer for her husband, as he only said, "Glad to hear it," and walked away, leaving Elsa wan and sickened by the smell of her own vomit and the realization of Hans' betrayal.

I really thought he loved me… I guess I deserve this for being so naïve, cowardly… and broken…

The tears came. They flowed and flowed down her ruddy cheeks, for what seemed like hours, until finally a servant came down the hallway where she was drowning in her own misery and helped her back to her and Hans' room for a bath and some hot tea.

And when she was asked what happened, for the sake of Hans' words, she told a very convincing lie about some bad fish and a trip down the front staircase.

It wasn't long before Hans' plan was in full force. He would get up earlier than Elsa every day, without fail, to get to her documents, papers, and general morning duties before she did. The servants passed this off as a nice gesture on Hans' part; however, Elsa found most mornings that it wasn't that she didn't want to wake up, she simply couldn't – she would sleep until well past noon even though she would go to bed right after dinner.

She it only took a month of afternoon lethargy to get Elsa to realize Hans was drugging her., sneaking sleeping powders into her dinner without her notice. After that she took her meal much earlier, and alone, though she was so afraid of bumping into Hans in the mornings that she would sleep into the afternoon anyway.

It only got worse from there. Hans' more aggressive inclinations toward Elsa when they went to bed together prompted the queen to, one night when she was feeling particularly brave, go back to her old room and go to sleep alone. To her mild surprise, Hans didn't pursue her, drag her back to their room and make her sleep with him – that night, she heard him get up and go back to his old room as well. Elsa assumed this was probably for the sake of keeping the peace, because questions would be asked if he tried to break down Elsa's door to get after her. And for that, she was grateful. One less thing she had to worry about with Hans.

However, this new separation only let Hans take up more power. Servants no long had to address Elsa, if they wanted to, for any concerns they might have or any issues that might have come up. If they wanted to go to Hans, they could, without having to involve the queen in anything – and that was exactly what happened. Within six months of that first aggressive encounter with Hans did he have full control over the running of the castle – servants would pass right by Elsa's room, only stopping if she opened her door and asked them for something; balls would be held without Elsa's knowledge; she would hear rumours floating around the hallways of myriad new bills Hans had just passed.

Queen Elsa of Arendelle had faded into the background; King Hans had torn right through and did exactly what he said he would do – strip her kingdom from her.

And all because Elsa was too afraid to stand up for herself. The darkness that had consumed her for so many years, briefly lifted with Hans' return, crashed down on her again, leaving her in her room for hours on end, snow and frost blanketing every visible object, the room frigid with Elsa's grief over the loss of her love and the loss of her kingdom.

She figured, if she would just die right then, nobody would even notice.

One miserable night, Elsa jolted awake to screams not her own.

Months of isolation had made Elsa apathetic, so at first she, hearing the noise, buried tighter under the covers in her corner-placed bed. What could she, the lost queen of Arendelle, do to help any poor soul out there who needed help?

It was only when she recognized the scream did her heart rate pick up for the first time in half a year.

Anna.

She flung herself out of bed, messy braid and all, her nightdress a wrinkled mess, through the blizzard that was her room and out into the hallway, the night from the windows at her back, chasing her like an unholy specter. She followed the screams down into the far reaches of the hall, where Hans's room was located and the first thing she did was tug at the door handle, locked tightly as possible, as so to keep any intruders out. Anna's screams kept up in agonizing intensity though, and she could hear Hans' aggressive groans through the door, as if he were trying to hold her down, and that kept Elsa going, kept her feet kicking at the wood and her hands slamming at the frame.

"HANS!" She screamed, frost chilling the door with each pound. "Hans! My sister's in there, I can hear her, you let her go, you let her go right now!"

No answer from behind the barrier. Elsa exhaled viciously, turning to drastic measures to break down the door. Gathering all the ice she possibly could into her hands, with a violent scream, she flung the mass of her power at the door, blowing it down with a chill that exploded into the room. Her gaze immediately caught her sister's – her eyes were clouded with lack of oxygen, and her skin pale and bloodless, as Hans gripped tighter and tighter at her sister's neck, kneeing her in the stomach to the wall like she could break free at a moment's notice.

"Elsa…" Anna stuttered, her voice weak. "H-help me…"

A feeble cry for help from her sister, who hadn't said a word to her in a year, was all Elsa needed to throw herself at Hans will a rallying cry. He grunted as he released Anna, both he and Elsa falling backward with a cracking thunk on the splintered floor. She started hitting him, ice sprawling across his skin like a roaring river, her anger all concentrated on knocking him unconscious, making him bleed. Hans was roaring, trying to throw fire at Elsa to get her to stop, but the queen wasn't giving him any grief, any mercy – months of pent up anger made her attacks relentless.

"Elsa… Elsa, stop… please…" Came Anna's feeble voice from behind her. "Stop… Let him kill me…"

"No, Anna!" Elsa turned for a mere second, seeing Anna crumpled in the corner by the door, her eyes wide with fear – Elsa knew from what, but she couldn't think of that right now. "I won't let him treat you this way, after everything he did to me—"

"You want to die, wench?! You want me to kill you?! My pleasure!" Hans shrieked, using Elsa's brief distraction to shove the queen off of him. She sailed into the wall, crashing into the wardrobe, everything in her body hurting, but when she opened her eyes and saw that Hans was going after Anna, not her, her defense mechanism kicked in again as she flung herself between them, arms spread wide.

"STOP!"

And, shockingly, he stopped, the fire he had ready to throw at Anna stopping just short of Elsa's face. He lowered his hands, his face an angry, sweaty mess.

"Elsa. Move."

"I WILL NOT!" She shrieked, a storm picking up in the room due to her anger. No matter what Hans ever did to her, once he got to her sister, that was the final straw. "Anna hasn't done anything to you, not a single thing! Yes, she may not have fancied you like I did, but that doesn't give you ay excuse to try and –"

"Look at me, Elsa!"

Riled by anger, Elsa found herself very compliant; so she turned at Anna's voice, looking her shaking, standing, mussed-hair sister up and down. Finally her eyes caught it – the knife gripped in Anna's right hand.

She wouldn't. She wouldn't dare.

Try and kill Hans.

"No, Anna…" Elsa whispered in a moan. Her docile sister, accepting and sweet, trying to kill the man who had destroyed Elsa's life? It had never crossed Elsa's mind, but, in hindsight, she could see the signs. Anna wasn't at the wedding. She was quiet, reticent, always in her room. The way she had, very calmly and scarily, accepted she and Hans' union – all of that wasn't normal. And it had driven Anna too far.

"I lied that day," Anna admitted, bursting into tears. "I told myself was okay with you being with Hans, but I wasn't. Deep, deep down inside, I just wanted my sister back. I could feel myself, everyday, getting angrier and angrier, filled with hatred for Hans – and when I saw how sad and tired you were for the months after your marriage, that was the catalyst for me. I had to do something. To save you from the pain he had dealt you. So I planned… to kill…" Anna couldn't even finish her sentence before breaking down, crumpling into a little ball on the floor. Elsa moved to console her, but Hans' tired voice pierced her ears.

"Elsa, I can't believe you would actually take her side."

The snow queen tensed, her hands balling into fists. He's manipulating you, Elsa. Don't listen, don't listen…

"That you would take the side of a traitor. She tried to kill her own king! That's treason, Elsa. If you take her side I can have both you and her committed to life in the dungeons."

She could feel it; two warring sides of her heart clashing at his words. Her protection over her sister, her lingering love for Hans.

Who did she care for more?

"And you wouldn't take her side, would you, Elsa? Because queens condemn treason. Because she never liked me in the first place. And most importantly…"

Do. Not. Listen. To . Him.

"…it's because you still love me… right, Elsie?"

She snapped.

I love you I hate you I hate you I love you WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? CAN'T YOU SEE I CAN'T CHOOSE BETWEEN THE BOTH OF YOU CAN'T YOU SEE CAN'T YOU SEE?!

...Conceal it. Don't feel it. Don't let it show.

She heard her father's voice in her head, as clear as she had all those years ago, as the raging ice storm she created began to subside. Killing him would get her nowhere – only put her as low and despicable as Hans was. And her love for him – after all the tortures she had endured because of him, how could she still love him? How? When her sister, he own flesh and blood, was crying her heart out right in front of her? The sister she had shut out for so long?

Which person could she learn to love again?

A single tear, frozen as soon as it touched her cheek, trickled down her face.

She had snapped, in reality, long, long ago.

But she was beginning to heal.

Only now did she turn and look at him, see his expectant face and his open arms, and for a moment she saw the boy in the corner with the sad green eyes.

But only a moment.

Before the beast he had become broke through her illusion, and she found the courage to speak.

"No, Hans. I don't."

And very slowly, his expression grew dark, his mouth turned up into a snarl, and the room grew warm with the fire emanating from his hands.

"Well, Elsa. It looks like… now I'll have to kill you both."

Quick as a whip, Hans was throwing fireballs at Elsa, and Elsa went just as quickly defensive. She screamed for Anna to get up to hide behind her, and she was throwing up ice walls and sending out icy blasts to counteract the vicious monster that had revealed itself to them. But Hans, in his anger, had more fire power than she had expected, and it seemed with each blast, the less and less her ice was a match for his fire, and there came a point where she could not even get a single shard to touch him – he was so hot, the ice melted before impact.

"Elsa, Elsa, watch out!" She heard Anna screaming, as the scalding blasts grew bigger, and the fire got closer and closer to them and Elsa threw up one final ice wall as if that was the act that would save them from peril –

As the fire drew nearer, the ice melted with a watery crash—

And the flames struck Elsa right in her heart.

Barely even having a second to gasp, backwards she tumbled, taking Anna with her. As she lay there in her sister's arms, everything inside her was burning, so hot, so hot, so hot. She could still feel the ice in her veins, but only just; she felt as if she were melting from the center outward, the fire already starting to spread through her chest.

"Elsa… You're okay, Elsa, I got you…"

You're okay, Anna, I got you…

The memory came and went, of holding her baby sister Anna in her arms while the redhead lay limp, unmoving, and cold from her own ice. Elsa slowly opened the eyes she did not realize she had closed; not surprisingly, a streak of her ice-white hair had turned a chocolate brown in reaction to the fire Hans had attacked her with. The queen managed a feeble laugh that soon mixed with Hans' as he came closer, towering over the girls like a mountain.

"Oooh, did I get your heart?" He said in mock sympathy. "So sorry. I remember when I struck my brother Jorgen like I did you. He barely lasted the week." He laughed, a wicked sound that made Elsa's fire burn even hotter.

"Didn't last the week?! Hans, how could you?!" Anna shouted, as she soothingly rubbed her elder's sister's feverish forehead.

"I hated him. Just like I hate Elsa, for trying to defy me."

If Anna said anything in reply, Elsa didn't hear it. She was tired from exerting her powers, lack of sleep, and the fire spreading throughout her, hotter by the minute, and even if she thought she might have heard Anna warn her against it, she fell unconscious in her sister's arms.

Aaaaand cliffhanger. Sort of. :) I hope I didn't make anyone cry too hard...

Reviews are appreciated and Happy New Year to all my readers!

~Anais