I would like to thank roxygoth, BurningFox6, krystal lazuli, and LukeJames for beta reading and helping me improve!

Feedback is always appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. Frozen is owned by Disney. I only lay claim to Prince Edmund, Prince Lucas, Master Stephen, and anyone else you do not recognize from Frozen.

Chapter 26

Anna was in her bedroom, gazing out the window. She looked upon the wintry landscape before her with a smile.

The princess then heard a knock on her door. She answered it. It was her sister. "Hey, Elsa! What are you up to right now?"

"I was just walking around the hallways and waiting to show you something," Elsa replied.

"Oh! What is it?" Anna wondered.

"Follow me and I will show you," the Ice Queen replied as she started walking down the hall.

"Okay! I hope it doesn't have anything to do with showing me Christmas presents early," the princess responded, following her big sister.

"Don't worry. It has nothing to do with gifts," Elsa stated as the two sisters made their way down the hallway.

Anna was curious as to what her sister had to show her. A part of her was also beginning to feel a little suspicious as they made their way to the northwestern wing of the castle.

The princess continued to follow her sister up the stairs of the wing, passing by the doors of guestrooms as they walked. She was now becoming skeptical, as the princess remembered there were no guests staying in the northwestern wing of the castle for the ball.

"Elsa? Are you alright? Should you maybe show me whatever you would like me to see later?" Anna asked doubtfully.

"Nonsense, it is just inside here," Elsa replied as the sisters had reached the top of the stairs, where the finest suite in the wing was.

The princess was hesitant to follow her sister any further as she opened the door and entered the suite. Anna slowly and cautiously made her way into the suite as she then saw her sister at the window, her back turned towards her. She then wondered how Elsa could get over to the window so quickly when she was right behind her a moment ago.

"Elsa, what are you…." Anna started but did not get to finish as the door slammed shut behind her.

The princess gasped, and before she could turn around, a long, thick white cloth was placed around her mouth and fastened behind her head with a tight knot. Many men with black jackets and hoods suddenly appeared around her and before she could reach up and remove her gag, the men seized her and tied her up with rope.

Anna recognized the men that had attacked the castle before and struggled furiously. However, the men were too much for her, and soon she was securely bound at her arms, hands, legs, and ankles. Anna tried screaming more, but her screams came out muffled through the cloth.

The princess looked at her sister with a look of betrayal. Why would Elsa ever side with these evil men?

The Snow Queen still had her back turned towards Anna. "I suppose you are wondering why I would do this to you Anna."

Anna screamed through her gag, trying to break free from her bonds. It was futile, however, as the ropes were tied too tight for her to break loose.

Elsa turned around and walked up to the bound and gagged princess, an evil smirk on her face. "Well, I am not really your sister." "Elsa" then transformed into a very familiar figure that made Anna's eyes widen with fear.

It was the leader of the men! What made the hooded figure stand out from the twenty other men was their leader was the tallest of the men and although all their jackets and hoods were black, the leader of the men had a jacket and hood that was completely black all over. The other men seemed to have jackets and hoods that were slightly brighter than their leader's jacket.

The princess let out a sound through the cloth as the figure in front of her removed his hood to reveal a blonde-haired man with orange eyes. He looked down at the princess with an evil smile.

"Hello, princess. I take it you are wondering who I am. Am I right?" the blonde-haired man asked.

Anna couldn't help but nod, having not seen the man before.

"Well, prepare to be enlightened. My name is Richard. There was a time I was once best friends with Edmund. I assume he told you about me?" Richard huffed.

The princess shook her head. Edmund never told her about Richard and now she was wondering what happened between them that made the blonde-haired man turn evil.

"He hasn't?" Richard said with a raised eyebrow. His look then became one of pure hatred and rage. "Then I will tell you he betrayed me!"

Anna had a confused look on her face. How on Earth did Edmund betray Richard? The English prince was too nice of a guy to do something like that. Now the princess was beginning to think it was Richard's fault for what might have taken place between them.

"I was being dragged away by the guards and he refused to help me. That scoundrel abandoned me!" he shouted as he brought his face close to Anna's. This made the princess back away in fear, or at least attempt to. The men holding her hostage did not permit her to move backwards.

"After everything he and I had been through together, he deceived me. That left me with only one choice: to get my revenge on him in any way I could, starting with killing his precious fiancée," Richard said angrily.

The princess gasped in shock and disbelief. Why did Richard kill Edmund's fiancée? Was it an act of revenge? Now that she had been told of the despicable act, Anna was growing fearful the blonde-haired man would murder her next.

Anna began to yell through her gag, hoping someone would hear her.

Richard laughed sadistically at the princess. "Oh princess. No one is going to hear you." He then cupped her gagged face in his hands, which made her go silent with wide, fearful eyes. "Now that I have taken you captive, your sister is next. You just wait and see what I have planned for everyone, especially Edmund."

The princess did not like the sound of that. Richard was most likely planning on killing them all once he got his vengeance against Edmund.

"Hand her over," Richard ordered as his men pushed Anna towards their master. The blonde-haired man then scooped the bound and gagged princess into his arms and walked over to the middle of the suite. Setting her down, he brought his hands up and formed a black ladder with his dark magic. At the top of the ladder, a black cage appeared, seemingly hanging from the ceiling.

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Richard took a moment to grin devilishly at the princess, completely helpless and at his mercy. He then picked Anna up again as she began to fight once again against the ropes and scream through her gag. The blonde-haired man chuckled at her struggles as he walked up the ladder towards the cage.

Reaching the top of the ladder, Richard then threw Anna into the cage. The princess let out a muffled grunt as she landed inside the cage. Richard then closed the cage and went back down the ladder. With a wave of his hand, the ladder disappeared.

"I hope you are enjoying the view, princess. After all, I do enjoy having a captive audience," the blonde-haired man replied with a chuckle.

Anna glared down at him as she continued trying to wriggle free from her bonds. She let out muffled noises of anger through the cloth gagging her.

"Don't worry, princess. Soon your sister will be joining you up there. You two will then serve as bait to draw Edmund, Lucas, and Stephen right into my trap. After that, you will get to witness the demise of your three precious guests before I then kill you and your sister," Richard said with an evil laugh as he then transformed into Anna.

The princess let out a muffled noise of surprise through the cloth. She really hoped Elsa would not fall for the evil man's trick. Anna feared, however, that with how devious and cunning Richard was, he would succeed.

"Now if you will excuse me, I have a queen to capture," the disguised blonde-haired man said in Anna's voice before turning to his men, "Make sure the princess stays tied up in there."

"Yes, Boss," the men replied simultaneously as "Anna" left the suite.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Elsa was in her bedroom, reading a book. She had a smile on her face from the time she spent in the library with Edmund. The Snow Queen let out a content sigh, wondering how their relationship would go if they became an official couple. Elsa had no doubt, however, that she would be happy with either Edmund or Lucas. It was just a matter of choosing whom she thought was the better man for her.

The Ice Queen continued reading until she heard a knock on her door. Setting her book aside, she answered and saw it was Anna.

"Hey Elsa!" the princess greeted.

"Hi Anna," Elsa greeted back. "What brings you over here?"

"There is something I would like to show you," Anna said.

"Okay. Just as long as you do not reveal any Christmas gifts you got me early," Elsa replied.

The princess laughed. "Don't worry, Elsa. I would not ruin any surprises for my big sister."

The Snow Queen smiled. "I am glad to hear that."

Both sisters made their way to the northwestern wing of the castle. Elsa was curious to know what her little sister had to show her.

Once they reached the door to the finest suite in the wing, Anna gestured for Elsa to enter first. "After you, Elsa."

"Alright," the Ice Queen replied, though something inside of her was telling her something was feeling a bit unusual.

Elsa opened the door and gasped at what she saw before her. Hanging from the ceiling, in a black cage, was Anna. The princess was bound with rope and gagged with a thick white cloth.

Anna screamed through her gag, trying to warn Elsa about it being a trap. All that came out was muffled noise.

Before the Snow Queen could do anything else, she was grabbed from behind. "Anna" transformed into Richard as he then placed the magical chains on her, rendering her powers useless.

"Anna!" Elsa called before she was surrounded by Richard's men and shoved into the room. One of the men closed the door behind them, and another pulled a long, thick white cloth over her mouth. The cloth was tightly tied behind her head with a tight knot as several other men starting tying Elsa up with rope to further secure her.

Elsa was horrified by the turn of events. Was she led into a trap of some sort? Who was behind all this? The Snow Queen tried to call out, but it came out muffled through her gag. She then sighed, knowing she was completely helpless without her powers.

Richard then teleported in front of her as his men held Elsa captive. "Hello, Queen Elsa," he greeted with an evil grin. He removed his hood to reveal himself to the Ice Queen.

"I am Richard, Edmund's friend turned archenemy. Since your pathetic little sister here has not heard anything about me, I presume you have?" Richard asked.

Elsa tried speaking through her gag as if to say she had heard of him.

"You have? Did Edmund tell you?" the evil man inquired.

The Ice Queen shook her head. Fear flashed in her eyes as Richard moved closer to her, rage in his eyes.

"If he didn't tell you, then who did?" the evil man demanded.

The Snow Queen tried to say something through the cloth, without success.

Richard then snarled in annoyance. "I will take the gag off to let you tell me who told you about me. You make any attempt to scream, I will slice your head off. Am I understood?"

Elsa nodded.

"Good," Richard said as he reached over and pulled Elsa's gag down.

"Lucas told me about you. After he explained the time he and Edmund had at the festival for Edmund's father's birthday," Elsa explained once her mouth was free.

"You mean that scoundrel who replaced me as Edmund's best friend?" Richard said with frustration.

"What do you mean by that?" the Snow Queen wondered as she struggled against her bonds.

"Edmund betrayed me. He could have helped me when I was being dragged away by the guards, but he let me get dragged away instead," Richard stated bitterly. "The influence Lucas had on him made me seem inferior to Edmund."

"It was probably you that did something to get yourself arrested in the first place. You betrayed Edmund when you chose a life of crime. Lucas had nothing to do with your decision, Richard," Elsa said defiantly. She may not have known Edmund or Lucas for very long, but she knew full well the two princes would never betray anyone for any reason.

"Shut up! You know nothing about what happened!" Richard shouted and glared angrily at the Snow Queen.

Elsa, however, showed as much courage as possible despite the scary look on the blonde-haired man's face. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded.

"Simple. To get revenge on Edmund for what he did, which includes targeting those he cares about. I can tell he cares about you," Richard said with an evil smirk.

"Edmund and I barely know each other. We mmmpppphhh!" Elsa started before the evil man put her gag back on.

"You know, I liked you better that way," Richard said with an evil chuckle.

Elsa let out a groan of annoyance through the cloth.

"I was thinking I should offer you and your sister a front row seat to luring Edmund, Lucas, and Stephen right into my trap," the blonde-haired man said as he picked up the Snow Queen and carried her over to an area where he could form another cage to keep her in away from Anna.

Elsa screamed through her gag. She struggled furiously against her bonds, but the ropes were tied too tight for her. The magical chains rendered her unable to use her powers, and the white cloth was tied too tightly for her to get it off.

"You can try to wriggle free all you want, Queen Elsa. It will all be for naught," Richard said as he used his dark magic to form an identical black ladder and cage he used to hold Anna captive.

The Snow Queen was really hoping Edmund, Lucas, Stephen, and Kristoff would come find her and save her, along with her little sister. Elsa was worried something terrible was going to happen if she and Anna were not rescued quickly.

Richard reached the top of the ladder, throwing Elsa into the cage before he descended the ladder and made it disappear after closing the cage.

Elsa looked at her sister in the cage hanging from the ceiling some distance across the suite. Anna met her sister's eyes. Though both sisters were still gagged, the Snow Queen tried her best to give Anna a look telling her everything would be okay.

"Oh, and really quick, I would like to have some fun with you two pretty women while we wait for your guests to show up," Richard said with a devilish smile.

Elsa and Anna did not like the sound of that. Both sisters gasped through their gags as Richard started waving his hands at them, causing the bottom part of their cages to slowly disappear.

From how high up the two sisters were, they knew a fall from that height would certainly cause injury. The bound and gagged sisters did everything they could to ensure they did not fall through the slowly expanding holes on the bottom of their cages.

"You better hope those holes in your cages do not get too big for you two. I think you would break a bone or two if they did," Richard said tauntingly as he enjoyed seeing the fearful looks on Elsa and Anna's faces.

The Snow Queen berated herself. She had let herself get captured by this ruthless man who was once Edmund's friend. Elsa wished she had known better when the man disguised himself as Anna. The knock certainly did not sound like Anna. Elsa felt she would not be in this position if she took the hint.

The holes at the bottom of the cages were now almost too big for the sisters to sit on. Panic was evident on their faces as they began to shout pleas through their gags, anything to make Richard stop.

"I am going to enjoy this!" Richard exclaimed as the sisters were just about ready to fall out of their cages. Soon they did, screaming through their gags. Before they could hit the ground, however, Richard stopped them in midair. He then made them rise again and made the bottoms of their cages reappear once they were high enough into their cages once more.

Richard was now laughing evilly, along with his men.

Elsa glared at him, trying to shout at him, but the gag stopped her. Anna also tried to yell through her gag. It all came out muted, going into the cloth rather than ricocheting across the suite.

Richard looked up at the bound and gagged women before him. "Did you really think I was going to kill you two before you lured Edmund, Lucas, and Stephen into my trap? Well, if so, you were clearly mistaken."

He then waved his hands to make huge black spikes appear below Elsa and Anna. Both sisters gazed down with fear as they had become completely helpless and were now at Richard's mercy.

"Perhaps I was not mistaken, but I will have my fun with you two pretty ladies later. For now, you two will just wait here for your guests to arrive," Richard said with an evil chuckle as the two sisters were really hoping they would be saved before the blonde-haired man had a chance to dispose of them.