Kai approached Rapunzel. "Madame, there is a small group of citizens clustered near the gates. They say they have urgent business."

Rapunzel looked away from the council minutes she had been reading and swallowed the dry bread in her throat. "This early in the morning?"

"They've been gathering throughout the night. Some of them are Arendelle's most prominent city leaders. Blacksmiths, innkeepers, priests, a few barons."

"They're not angry, are they?"

"Not at all. All they asked for was an audience with you. There's only a dozen or so."

"Okay, I'll see what they want."

Kai escorted Rapunzel to the boundary of the opened castle gates. A group of about ten or so men stood milling about. True to Kai's word, they were well-clothed and stood righteously.

One with white bushy hair and a lean figure stepped forward. "Princess Rapunzel?"

"Yes," she said, a little irritated. How could anyone mistake her at this point?

"My name is Pontus Dorathson, owner of the lumber mill. Sorry I haven't had a chance to make your acquaintance yet. I'm representing a much larger group of citizens. The lot of us have spent the last few days asking people to sign this petition." He held up a scroll.

"Petition for what?" Rapunzel asked.

"To make you our queen."

Rapunzel startled. "Princess Anna is your queen."

"She's not queen until a proper coronation. And as I understand it, you've been acting in her stead."

"She's in mourning for her sister."

Another barrel-bodied man, maybe a butcher, spoke up. "We've had a taste of her kind of rule and we don't like it. It's disorganized, indecisive, forgetful-"

"She makes decisions without thinking them through," another one piped up.

Rapunzel scowled. "You have no idea who Anna is. She's valiant, cheerful. She's bold and fearless."

"You say bold, I say stubborn," Pontus said. "Absolutely nothing was accomplished during her rule. In fact, Queen Elsa had to redo much of her work to avoid certain mistakes. But you? People are enthralled with you. They say you're kind and generous and efficient."

"Everyone loves you," the butcher piped up again.

"I've only been here a few days," Rapunzel said.

"And look at how much you've done in a few days. Look at how you've affected people around you. I've seen it myself. Even with this dreary weather they're more joyful than ever."

"I'm not as practiced as I look. I'm klutzy, naïve. I get distracted easily. I'm always daydreaming. Besides, it's Anna's right to rule. She's the princess of Arendelle and I have my own kingdom--Corona."

"Exactly. That's what the petition says." Pontus unfurled it. "We'd like Corona to annex Arendelle. We'd become part of your kingdom and you could be installed as ruler. The whole town's behind it. I couldn't find anyone who wouldn't sign."

Pontus stepped forward, forcing her to take the petition. It had a lot of signatures. Even on the back.

"That's over eight-five percent of Arendelle right there," Pontus said. "Citizen support is not going to be a problem, I guarantee that."

"We'll back you the whole way," said the barrel-bodied man.

Rapunzel scanned the petition. Pontus and his group didn't look like they were going to leave until they got a response.

"Can I have some time to think about it?" Rapunzel asked.

"Of course, it's very late," Pontus said. "Just ask any of us if you need some help. We're with you all the way."

The group of "concerned citizens" turned around and left, with some shifting of the guards to encourage them. Even without a "no", they still weren't willing to accept defeat. Rapunzel took a deep breath as they walked away.

She returned to the castle and found Anna's room. She was sound asleep, no longer sprawled out on the covers, but tucked in. Olaf lay next to her, slumped against the dresser and dozing. Rapunzel brushed a sprig of hair from Anna's eyes.

The proper queen looked at peace, while Rapunzel had a storm inside her. She'd have to know about this petition. But how could she ever tell Anna that her own people didn't want her? That her own cousin, who'd only arrived a few days ago, had swept the kingdom out from under her.

She didn't mean to do it. But denying an entire city's desire for change would result in some unhappy citizens. And they still didn't have a proper answer yet. How was she supposed to respond to such a proposal?

And the worst part about it? Rapunzel was afraid she might say yes.

----------------------------------------

Elsa shouted down into the galley. "Captain! Captain! We have a big problem." Her eyes never tore from the pirate ship.

Ariel took a different route. "We can help. Come on." She ran into their quarters.

"Ariel, wait!" Elsa ran after her.

Ariel reached for the canvas tarp next to her bed. Elsa grabbed her hands. "If you bring out your trident and start doing magic, it'll expose us."

Ariel stiffened. "If you would just explain-"

"They don't listen. They never listen. I gave them a fake name for a reason," Elsa said. "If they knew who I am, they'd become afraid of me."

"No, they wouldn't. You could help protect the ship."

"Don't you remember? The last ship I was on capsized because of my ice powers. Do you know what they call me in my kingdom? The snow queen."

"What's wrong with that? Sounds kinda nice," Ariel shrugged.

"It's not nice. It means they think I'm cold and emotionless. Well, I'm not. I'm deathly scared right now. It's taking all my concentration not to start growing icicles."

Gunhild emerged from the below deck and spotted the problem right away. "Pirates." The captain pounded one fist into the other. "Men!"

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Gunhild's men crowded out through the hatch. "Ridley Havenstock's ship, I think. Blast, I thought they'd left these waters."

"Maybe they're after you two?" Gunhild suggested.

"I don't see how. No one knows where we are. That's why we had to get back to Arendelle," Elsa said. "What do we do?"

"Prepare to be boarded. The wind speed is theirs. They're approaching at ten times the knots this ship can muster. If they don't know you're here, all they're after is wealth or supplies," Gunhild said.

"We need to hide. Do you have any secret compartments?" Ariel asked.

"The hold, captain," Cookie said.

"Right. They won't look there. Follow me." Gunhild walked across deck to a large square door. Cookie and Hagar untwisted a lock, revealing a ladder into a cavernous cargo hold. The pungence of salt and blood smacked their noses.

"Apologies for the smell," Gunhild said.

"At least no one will look for us here," Elsa said, wrinkling her nose. "No one would want to."

They descended fast, Ariel still holding her wrapped trident. It felt like a crypt--a mausoleum for dead fish.

"Tuck yourselves into the bow. Try to stay out of sight." Gunhild shut the door with little light except for what trickled in from the slats above.

Elsa paced back and forth, taking deep breaths. At times like this, she missed the constricting feel of her gloves. Her worst fear was that someone would look inside and see the hold coated in thick crusty frost like a freezer.

Ariel's eyes adjusted to the dim light, inviting a wealth of horror: a fish's gouged out eye, a disembodied lobster claw in the middle of the floor, glistening scales and shredded fins, the top half of a crab's carapace. Ariel's breath quickened.

"Elsa..." Ariel mouthed.

Three heavy foot stomps interrupted them. A warning. This was followed by snapping ropes and shouts.

Something metal banged against the side of the ship. A cannonball? No. Something had jammed itself into the railing. A wide shadow passed over them--the pirate's ship sail.

Elsa and Ariel backed further into the hold, to the cramped bow where the walls convexed around them. It was their best chance, to stay hidden in the dark.

"It's right next to us." Ariel and Elsa slid down to the floor, arms wrapped around each other.

Silhouettes suddenly appeared above them, swung over on ropes. The hold boomed as their heavy boots landed on deck.

"This," someone announced with a dramatic flair, "is what we call a raiding party. Everyone cooperates, no one gets hurt." His boots were thin and black with pronounced heels.

"This is a fishing boat. We've got nothing," Gunhild's voice said.

"We'll be the judge of that," the pirate captain said. "Every ship's got its secrets."

"We don't even have a catch yet. We've got less than nothing. Most expensive stuff is in our larders."

"Then that's what we'll be taking. It's good to pillage the small ships every once in a while. Keeps the big ships confused and guessing. Keeps the fear in you folk."

They heard people walking around on deck, opening doors, making threats. The pirates had started their search. Footsteps descended into the cabins.

Ariel started trembling. Elsa touched her cheek. Was her cold spreading? No, it was from fear.

"Shh, it's okay," Elsa whispered. She had to forget about controlling herself right now and help someone else.

"There's nothing here for you," Gunhild announced. "Just hurry up and search so you can go."

A pause. "That's the sort of thing someone hiding something would say," Ridley said. He began patrolling the deck, as if waiting for something to appear.

Ariel began to whimper. Tears formed in her eyes.

"Shh, stay quiet,." Elsa said.

"I can't," Ariel said. "There's so much death here."

"Just close your eyes."

"It doesn't work. I can still smell it. My hand." She jerked her hand from the floor. "It's like the floor's coated in blood. I can still feel it."

Elsa held her close. She hadn't held her sister this close when she was upset. But now she did to protect their lives. Ariel whimpered in sobs.

Ridley's boot steps stopped. Elsa's breath seized. He traipsed to the other side and halted. Something clicked. Nothing happened for a span that seemed to last forever.

The hatch opened. Elsa held Ariel back, trying to shrink further into the darkness.

A pirate lackey bent in, holding a lantern.

"S'two girls down here. Hiding."

"All ships have their secrets," Ridley said to Gunhild. To his lackey, "Bring them out, Charlie."

"Come on, you two," Charlie said.

Elsa and Ariel didn't move.

"Ladies, we already seen ye," he said in a voice raspy with years of shouting over sea water. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Elsa's first instinct was to remain still. Maybe pretending that nothing happened would confuse him. Then she became aware of her quick heartbeat, her trembling fingertips. Much more and she'd lose it. Maybe the seat below was already tinged with fractals of frost.

She sighed and stood, trying to act regal. Ariel followed her to the ladder.

"Well, look at these lovely two," the pirate captain said as they emerged into the sunlight. He wore a crimson coat with gold lining and black boots. One hand rested on the rapier in his belt.

"Quite a catch, eh?" Charlie said in a cockney accent. "Be a hell of a fish story, in'it?"

Daddy always said I'd wind up on some fish-eater's hook, Ariel thought. I don't think this is what he meant though.

"Entertainment for the crew?" Ridley asked Gunhild.

"Passengers," Gunhild replied.

Ridley laughed. "You take on passengers and the best you can give them is the hold? With the stink of fish guts?" Ridley threw back his head and laughed. His crew copied.

"They were staying in my quarters," Gunhild said, emphasizing each word.

Ridley pulled Elsa's right hand up. "Soft as silk. Nobility, me lads. Take off your caps." He took off his large tricorne hat and bowed his head. "If you'll accompany me onto my humble vessel, I can assure you much better accommodations. And if you didn't understand the implication, this is not an offer you can refuse."

"I'll not have it." Gunhild stepped closer to Ridley, who was taller and leaner. "Take whatever you want from the ship. Take me. But leave them alone."

"No." Elsa put a gentle hand on Gunhild's shoulder. To Ridley, "If you leave them alone, we'll come without a fight."

Ridley's eyes softened.

"Come on, captain, they got nothing for us," Charlie whispered.

Ridley raised his hand. "I know a sound deal when I see it. Don't need you to point it out." To Elsa, "Fine. Agreed. Grab your things and we'll be off."

Ariel hefted the wrapped trident, pretending it was luggage. Two men seized their arms, crooking them into their sweaty elbows. They crossed a plank between the two ships as the remaining crew swung back across. Once aboard, the pirates shoved them forward. They dropped to hands and knees on the scabby, waterlogged wood.

"Easy, easy, lads," Captain Ridley said. "No one pays for damaged merchandise."

The pirates detached their grappling hooks from Gunhild's vessel. Across the gap, Elsa nodded back to the captain, indicating not to worry. In few minutes time, the pirate ship was cruising toward open sea.

"You should know, it's bad luck to have a woman on board," Ariel said.

"I'll take my chances," Ridley said.

"It's true," Elsa said as she rose. "The last ship I was on capsized. That's why I was taking passage with them."

Ridley threw back his head and laughed, as did the crew. He pinched Elsa's chin, raising her eyes to his. "What's your name, lass?"

"Lady Idun."

"Of what house? We're looking for someone who'd pay a pretty ransom for you."

"House? I... I don't know. It's complicated."

"No heirs? No lands? Titles? Come on, don't take me for a fool."

"No one I know would pay for my return. And even if there was," Elsa gritted her teeth. "I wouldn't let them do business with the likes of you."

"You better think of something. Because if there's no one who'll pay for your safe return, you're just an extra mouth to feed. I'll maroon you on the first spit of rock I see. Let the gulls pick your bones."

"Then you wouldn't get your ransom, would you?"

"Hey, get a load of this," said a crewman with dark skin and tattoos. With one quick tug, he took Ariel's precious treasure out of her grasp. It began to unwrap.

Ridley's eyes lit up at the first glint of gold. "Ooh, what have we here?"

"Don't touch that, it's mine," Ariel said.

Ridley held the trident up, tested its heft. "This is quite a big fork for a little lady." The crew laughed. "Though something tells me you're no fisherwoman."

"That is a family heirloom. And it is not yours," Ariel said.

"Everything's mine," Ridley answered. "I just haven't picked up all of it yet."

"You look good with it, Cap'n," a crewman said.

"Don't I though? Like a right proper deity." Ridley paraded up and down the deck like a king having just conquered a nation. The crew bowed and chanted "your majesty" in jest.

Elsa leaned into Ariel. "He can't use the trident, can he?" she whispered.

"Um... no. Except... he can still shoot lightning."

"But he'd have to know how, right?" Elsa asked.

Ariel didn't respond with words, but pointed. "Elsa, look."

The sun had sunk halfway under the water. Elsa's heart raced so hard her chest was starting to hurt.

Ridley stood in front of the two of them, still holding the trident.

"Ladies, welcome aboard. If you can't already tell, whatever title you previously held is now defunct and gone. I am your sole judge, king, and emperor." He swept the trident at them. "Now answer the question or there'll be consequences. And need I remind you, one ransom's as good as two."

Elsa 's fingers trembled and her knees shook. Her throat tightened.

And nothing helped when she glimpsed a furrow of frost creeping out from her feet, heading toward Ridley.