Enjoy. Go ahead. Are you still reading this?


Trayton braced himself for the impact with the railing, but it never came. He heard it, though, and the Queen's pained cry told him it was her head that crashed through the ice instead of his. Almost instantly, the stinging snow stopped falling as her body went limp. The air cleared enough for Trayton to see the first level of the palace rushing up to meet them. He tightened his grip on the Queen's waist and twisted so they were falling feet first. As they passed the ice platform, he dug his sword into the column. His arm was almost wrenched out of its socket, but their speed was cut in half.

Trayton groaned as his arm strained under the pressure, threatening to lose its grip on the sword's hilt. The Queen was dead weight in his arms as they descended, still too fast for Trayton's liking. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to do anything more to save them.

Suddenly, Trayton's sword came to a complete stop, jarring him and throwing the Queen out of his grip. He instinctively snatched at her hand, barely catching her in time. His face contorting with effort, Trayton pulled the Queen up and draped her over his shoulder. He swung his now-free right hand onto the hilt, panting from the exertion. Once he'd gotten his breath back, he used his sword to do a pull up, then dropped himself. The sudden jerk freed his sword, which began slicing through the ice once more.

Trayton glanced at the ground, now only a few yards away. His hand was sliding off the sword hilt, but he was determined to make it all the way down.

The moment his feet touched solid ground, Trayton collapsed, not caring that the Queen's shoulder was digging into his neck. They laid there together for while, one unconscious and the other halfway there. Trayton would've stayed there forever if it wasn't for the shouting. He cracked his eyes open, then hurriedly untangled himself from the Queen as he saw Torek and his remaining four soldiers making their way down the columns.

"Your Majesty, you have to wake up!" Trayton said urgently as he rolled her over.

Her small mouth parted slightly as she groaned. "Trayton? W...what h-happened?" She said sluggishly.

Trayton's answer caught in his throat as she opened her eyes. He was close enough to see the unnaturally beautiful patterns hidden in their stormy blue depths, patterns he had only seen once before. "...Elaine?" He asked timidly.

The Queen was instantly alert as she focused on him. The fear on her face was enough to confirm his suspicion. "Trayton, I can explain..."

"That's why you wouldn't come with me," he whispered. He gently pulled her to her feet. "There's no time, you have to get away before-"

"Now you're both dead!" An angry voiced boomed. Trayton spun around, wishing he hadn't dropped his sword. Torek was advancing on them angrily, his huge sword abandoned in favor of the dreaded crossbow. "I'll have to tell Prince Hans the sad story of how the witch killed his brother in cold blood, and I how I avenged your heroic sacrifice. Now get out of the way; she dies first!"

Trayton pushed Elaine behind him but didn't get a chance to say anything. Torek backhanded him viciously across the face, sending him crashing into one of the pillars. He raised the bow at Elaine's head, grinning with sick pleasure as he pulled the trigger. Elaine crossed her arms in front of her as she ducked, palms facing out.

The arrow was frozen in a narrow pillar of ice, but not before it dug into the skin on the Queen's forehead as she turned her head, carving a shallow gash down to her temple. She pulled back and her hands began to glow blue. She threw a blast of magic at the ground, where a pile of ice immediately grew into a man. "Protect me, Jack!" She begged. The ice man knelt by her side before his gaze turned to rest angrily on Torek. Two of his men rushed in to take Jack down, but he grabbed them each by the scruff of the neck and slammed their heads together.

Torek dropped the crossbow and slowly drew his sword as Jack stalked toward him. One of Torek's last men ran his sword through the ice warrior's chest, but it had no effect. Jack quickly swung his fist, sending his unfortunate attacker flying through the air.

Trayton made sure Torek was busy before he staggered to his feet and limped to Elaine. She jumped when he touched her uninjured arm, but relaxed when she realized it was him. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him like her life depended on it. "I was so scared when I saw you with them," she cried. "I-I thought..." she didn't finish.

"I'm so sorry," Trayton said. He poured all his regret and guilt into that one sentence, begging her for forgiveness. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her scent. She smelled like peppermint.

A sharp pain in his abdomen made Trayton pull back slightly. He fingered his stomach and brought his hand up to his face. His fingertips were covered in blood, which confused him greatly. Elaine's mouth opened in shocked and her eyes focused onto something behind Trayton. He looked down to see what had cut him and almost collapsed when he saw the tip of a sword. It was protruding from Elaine's stomach. Trayton looked over her shoulder to see Murtagh grinning evilly as he slowly drew the sword out of her back.

Elaine whimpered as Trayton lowered her to the ground as gently as he could. Tears blurred his vision as he picked up a discarded sword and jumped at Murtagh, screaming insults at him. "Pig! You lowlife coward! She wasn't going to hurt anyone, and you skewered her!" He bellowed.

Murtagh shrugged. "It's the witch's fault for letting her guard down."

Trayton screamed as he brought his sword down as hard as he could. Murtagh deflected the blow, but Trayton wouldn't be denied. He swung again and again, refusing to let up.

Murtagh was a good swordsman, but he couldn't keep up with Trayton's raw fury. Soon his weapon was knocked out of his hands as he fell on his backside. Trayton breathed heavily, staring down the coward in front of him. "As Prince of the Southern Isles, I declare you guilty of treason and punishable by the laws of Arendelle," Trayton said calmly before he thrust his sword into his chest. Murtagh tried to speak, but only blood came out. He thrashed for a bit before slumping over. "Far too quick a death for a traitor such as you," Trayton muttered sourly. He left the sword where it was as he returned to the fallen queen. She was still breathing frantically, but her eyes were filled with pain. Trayton touched her face lightly in concern, bringing her attention back to him.

"ELSA!" Trayton turned to see the source of the anguished scream, Elai- Elsa's sister, Princess Anna. He was just in time to see Princess Rapunzel swing a frying pan at Torek's head, who was standing over the decapitated ice man. A satisfying crunch told him that Torek's nose was certainly broken.

Anna ran to her sister, sliding the last few feet on her knees. "Elsa..." she said tearfully, supporting her neck.

"Anna," Elsa smiled dreamily. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm g-great," she sniffed, trying not to cry. "But I leave you for a few months and you go and get stabbed? What kinda queen are you?"

Elsa laughed weakly, but it turned into painful coughing. Trayton took his coat off and ripped it into strips. "I'm sorry, m'lady, but I have to put pressure on the wound." She nodded. "It's going to hurt."

Trayton picked up the largest strip and balled it up, pressing it against the hole in Elsa's lower left stomach. She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing Anna's hand tightly. Anna couldn't stop the tears from flowing any longer. "Don't leave me alone, Elsa," she sobbed.

Elsa cracked her eyes open, chest heaving with the effort needed to breathe. "Anna..." she forced out. "Do you... wanna... build a snowman?"

Anna sucked in a breath, trying to calm herself. "I'd l-love to, Elsa. A tall one this time, with a scarf."

Elsa nodded but couldn't gather enough energy to respond. Rapunzel put her hand on Anna's shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Anna, what-" everyone stared as Kristoff and Flynn appeared out of nowhere, riding Sven. They crowded around, quickly seeing it wasn't a good time. "We followed you," Kristoff whispered.

Trayton used the rest of his coat to tie the first piece over Elsa's wound. "She needs help, now, but we can't risk taking her to Arendelle. There's a town just over these mountains, but it's a two day walk at best."

Kristoff motioned behind him. "Take Sven. We know which village you mean, and he might be able to make it there by sundown."

Trayton nodded. "Anna, I know it's hard, but it'll be faster if I go alone."

"I know... just promise me she'll be okay," she demanded.

Trayton nodded grimly and climbed onto Sven. Once he got settled, Flynn carefully lifted Elsa up to him. "Don't stop for anything," he said. "We'll take care of things here."

Trayton didn't waste time with goodbyes; he kicked his heels into Sven's sides and hunched over his neck as he jumped forward into a gallop. With Elsa groaning weakly in his arms, Trayton could only hope they made it in time.


I'd love some feedback *cough cough hint hint*...