Elsa led the company of travelers out of the city, passing through the opening in the wall and turning east. They followed along the massive bluffs which loomed like guardians over Arendelle, then descended a tree-lined slope that fell away from the wall. The group traveled in silence as they entered a deep valley before beginning their ascent up a steep hill on the other side. The larger mountains were left behind as their journey bent north, following the curve of the fjord far below.

It really was a spectacular view, Elsa thought, as they crested the top of the rolling hills that folded themselves up against the enormous cliffs all around them. The fjord was as calm and smooth as she'd ever seen it, creating a glassy harbor which reflected the landscape around it. Steep hills ascended from its shores, leaning against the towering mountains around them.

She never tired of taking in the views around Arendelle, however, she rarely got a chance to do so as there were few reasons for her to travel. She wished she could enjoy them under better circumstances.

She caught her sister's eye and they traded smiles, then she watched the enormous snowman plodding along at the rear. Anna followed her gaze, and they spent a reflective moment together studying their giant companion.

"What are you going to call it?" Anna asked.

"What?"

"The new snowman, what are you going to call him?"

"Why do you think all the snowmen need to be named?"

Anna shrugged. "You started it."

"What are you talking about?"

Anna jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at Olaf who was watching the unnamed snowman lag further behind as the terrain got steeper.

"You named Olaf. It's only fair the other snowmen have names, too."

It made sense, Elsa supposed, but she hadn't given it much thought. She didn't choose the name for Marshmallow, Olaf came up with that himself. The name stuck and she couldn't imagine calling him anything else. Perhaps this one deserved the same consideration.

"I don't know what to call it. Do you have any suggestions?"

"How about Prince Killer?" John said, smiling.

Elsa didn't find it humorous.

Anna rubbed her chin, squinting her eyes in exaggerated deep thought.

"Ice Guy? No, wait, that sounds stupid. How about Snow Beast? Or Freezy? Or Frosty the Giant Snowman!"

Kristoff, who was sitting beside her driving the sled, rolled his eyes.

"Really?"

"What? You don't like those?"

"Let's just say, if we ever have kids I get to name them."

"Deal!" Anna said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

The giant snowman was having trouble with the loose rocks strewn across the surface of the steep incline. Although the animal's hooves fell between them with ease, they were like marbles beneath the gargantuan's feet. Olaf went to the back of the sled, making scooping motions with his arms.

"C'mon Pumpkin! You can do it!"

Anna sat up.

"Pumpkin! Olaf, that's it!"

Elsa turned to John, mouthing the new name with raised eyebrow. He shrugged in response. Anna joined Olaf in urging the giant snowman forward.

"Let's go Pumpkin! You can do this!"

The beast doubled its efforts and sprang up the rocky face until it was right behind the sled again.

"Good job, Pumpkin!" Anna said.

If only all their victories could be so easily won, Elsa thought, as the trail made a wide horseshoe turn, bringing Arendelle into view once again. It looked so safe and peaceful from this distance, as it lay nestled in the arms of the fjord far below.

And safe is what it should've been. The finger of the fjord extended deep into the mountains and her kingdom was perched nearly on its tip, with the waters expanding westward to the open sea. With no land to march on, a westward assault could be repelled, under normal circumstances. To the north, south, and east, the mountains were sheer rock cliffs that wrapped themselves around Arendelle, forming an impenetrable shield. On top of all this, the city and its castle were surrounded by a fortified wall as strong as the day it'd been built.

She found it ironic that Arendelle was so well protected. After all, none of these things safeguarded her people from the greatest peril that ever threatened their existence.

Her magic.

What would a loving ruler do when a threat jeopardized their kingdom? They'd remove it. She wanted to leave, go far away where her magic couldn't hurt her people anymore. Anna would make a wonderful queen, and with Kristoff by her side they could bring back the pride and prosperity Arendelle once enjoyed. Perhaps it would come to that, but for now Grand Pabbie and Anna had convinced her to stay, and there was still time to try to save Arendelle by another means. She needed to get control of her magic, that was the solution. She thought she knew how to do that. Anna had shown her love was the key to unlock all the fear bound up in her heart. It sounded simple enough now, but love had proved to be a difficult key to find. After all, she'd always struggled with the idea of love. She knew her sister and her parents cared for her, but how could anyone truly love (a monster) someone capable of such cruel acts of violence? So she locked herself away for most of her life to protect her loved ones from her magic.

There had always been so much fear, but there was shame, too. She was ashamed an ugly force capable of such atrocities lay inside her. She was ashamed she couldn't control it, couldn't hide it away so no one knew it was there. When she looked in her parent's eyes she saw concern there, but was something else lurking behind those carefully constructed expressions? Were they concealing their own fear, their own shame that they'd raised (a monster) a child who nearly killed her own sister? Truly, how could anyone ever love something so dangerous?

But Anna cut through all that, showed her how love could overcome her fear and shame, and this allowed her to get control of her powers. It seemed that lesson had been lost now, and she wondered how she could get it back.

She raised her eyes to see they'd arrived at the first pass, a narrow gap between the feet of the mountains, a gateway to a rocky wilderness. She'd been so deep in thought she almost forgot where she was and what she was doing. She noticed John was watching her, looking concerned.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, trying to dispel the cloud hanging over her head. "This journey just brings back many unpleasant memories."

John nodded.

"I got the feeling something happened up here before. Care to tell me about it?"

Elsa didn't respond right away, listening instead to the hypnotic clop, clop, clop of the animal's hooves upon rock. She didn't want to explore that fateful day, which remained sealed off in the unvisited portions of her memory, but she didn't feel right hiding it from him, either.

"I told you about my coronation day, when I unleashed my magic upon Arendelle."

John nodded.

"It was that day I fled my kingdom into these mountains, to the North Mountain."

"By yourself?"

"Yes."

"And that's where you think your guards are now?"

"Yes, I think that's where they went."

"Do you think they're still alive?"

She'd considered the possibility her guards were already dead, finding it to be the most reasonable conclusion, in fact. Despite that, there was still the faintest glimmer of hope she was wrong and would find them alive and well. She had the strange notion speaking her fears aloud would make them come true. A silly superstition, perhaps, but one that was hard to ignore.

"No. I believe whatever attacked Arendelle came from the North Mountain. I believe my guards followed the trail there and..."

She trailed off, not willing to complete the thought.

"Met their end?"

"Yes."

They rode in silence while John digested this information. The trail skirted the edge of the mountains as it took them higher and higher up its slopes. Trees clung to the steep face of the shallow soil, their roots protruding from the ground like the arched backs of subterranean serpents. Many of the trees had lost their hold on the unforgiving terrain and toppled over, their decaying branches reaching for the sky.

"What happened to you on the North Mountain? What brought you back?"

Elsa retraced the memory of that fateful day. She was stricken by the irony of the situation, that Hans' own brother was the one asking her to share things she'd never shared with anyone else.

"You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

"No, it's alright. Hans came after me with some guards and the duke's men. They attacked me and brought me back to Arendelle. As you may already know, your brother tried to kill me there." The emotion of that moment swelled as she recalled it, and she waited for it to subside before she continued. "Fortunately, Anna saved me and I learned how to control my powers."

John sat up, clutching the reins in both hands as the animals struggled up a steep portion of the mountain. The further they went, the more difficult it became to distinguish the faint path they were following. Soon they'd be left to make their own path, but she knew the way. It seemed like only yesterday when she'd last made this trip, though it was more than a year ago.

"So you didn't learn to control your powers until last year?"

"Well, I had some control when I was younger, when they weren't as strong. But as they grew they became harder to control. Then I struck Anna, when we were children, nearly killing her. My fear of hurting the ones I loved combined with the growing intensity of my magic made it difficult, to say the least. My father tried to help me, but he couldn't. No one could."

Her father had tried so hard to help her, teaching her to repress her magic and control and conceal her emotions, but he was subject to the same fears she was. As a father, he wanted to protect his children from anything that threatened them, but he also needed to preserve the royal line of Arendelle and prepare her for the day when she might be queen. That day came far sooner than she ever expected it would. She was just eighteen when a storm attacked her parents' boat, claiming their lives. They were on their way to a wedding but arrived at their own funeral, a funeral she couldn't even attend for fear of what might happen. Her father always stressed protecting the throne and the crown was more important than the life of any one man or woman. He explained that many hundreds of lives depended on Arendelle remaining a strong and vibrant kingdom. Had she attended their funeral there was no doubt in her mind she would've lost control of her powers. Life was a cruel and unpredictable master which had taken her parents, she wouldn't allow it to rob her of the kingdom too, and so she chose not to attend her parents' funeral. It was the only way to keep her powers hidden from the people of Arendelle.

How that devastated her! She avoided them in life and couldn't be there for them in death. Her entire world had been turned upside down and, once again, she was all alone. Anna was there, of course, but her fear of her own magic acted like a wedge, one that couldn't be overcome.

John seemed to detect Elsa's thoughts.

"It's been four years since your parents passed, hasn't it?"

Elsa nodded.

"Please accept my condolences."

"Thank you."

"Does it pain you to speak about them?"

She shook her head.

"The whole business was unfortunate. My family attended the same wedding to which your parents were headed. It was quite a shock when we learned what happened to them."

Elsa thought about John and his twelve brothers traveling with the King of the Southern Isles to attend official functions. How she longed to have lived a normal life, traveling with her father as he proudly introduced the Princess of Arendelle to fellow dignitaries. But instead she had to hide herself away, fearing her powers would be discovered.

"Not a day has passed that I haven't mourned my parents," she said.

"I have no doubt. You must've been very close to them."

"I loved them very much, if that's what you mean, but close was a luxury I couldn't afford with anyone."

"Because of your magic?"

"Yes, because of my magic."

John seemed to consider the implications of this statement, one Elsa was uncomfortable exploring in further detail, so she changed the subject.

"I know you recently lost your father, too."

"Yes. Last fall."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Were you close to your parents?"

John shrugged.

"My father was a busy man with little time for all his sons, and my mother died when I was just a child."

"I'm sorry to hear that, that must've been difficult."

"Well, I never knew her so I have no idea what I lost, but I understand she was a good woman. Lively, strong-willed, and beautiful is what they tell me."

"What kingdom was she from?"

"What do you mean?"

"She must've been a princess or a lady of some sort."

"Oh, no. My father despised royal women. He found them to be snooty, self-indulgent bores. Except for his first, every one of his wives was a commoner, a lady of the land."

"Every one of his wives? How many did he have?"

John laughed.

"Well, only one at a time, if that's what you mean. His first wife was the result of an arranged marriage, an attempt by my grandfather to form an alliance with another kingdom. She was a princess, yes, but a dreadful woman, from what I hear, and my father despised her. He never gave her children and after my grandfather died his first act as king was to dismiss the queen, sending her back to the house of her father. He nearly started a war with that action, but never regretted his decision. From that time on he swore he'd never marry another royal, and he didn't. He married three more times, always choosing a commoner to be his bride."

"He must've been a difficult man to please," Elsa said, so engrossed in the story she didn't think about how the statement might sound to John. "That's a lot of wives to dismiss."

"He never dismissed a single wife. After the first, that is. They all died on him."

"That's awful!" Elsa said, putting a hand over her mouth. "The poor man. What happened to them?"

"His second wife died of consumption, but not before giving him eight sons. As you already know, Hans' mother was killed in a shipwreck, and my mother drowned. She fell asleep while taking a bath."

"It sounds like your father had a hard life. I'm sure he was a wonderful man, but I hope you don't share his view about royal women."

Had she just said that? Out loud? Her head snapped back to the trail and she was unable to look at John.

"My father had many views which I do not share," he said with a smile.

They continued their journey without conversation, focusing on the narrowing path which meandered through the rocky terrain. As that path faded, they were forced to form a single line behind Elsa, who led them between trees and boulders and along narrow ridges which plummeted into ravines far below. Elsa heard John gasp behind her, and she turned to see him close his eyes and grab the saddle for support, though Anna's horse carried him with ease. She noticed he seemed to be quite tense while traversing these dangerous drop-offs, even though there was little to be worried about.

The sun rose high into the sky as they progressed, yet the air became crisp and cold. Kristoff buttoned his jacket and Anna pulled her hood up, rubbing her hands together to warm them up. Sven was struggling to pull the sled up the mountain slopes and Kristoff called out to Elsa, requesting a break. He motioned for Olaf to hand him the brown bag from the back of the sleigh and shoved a hand inside, fumbling around before emerging with a large carrot. He jumped down and went to Sven, stopping on bended knee.

"How ya doin' buddy?" he asked, offering the carrot. The reindeer snatched it up, hanging his head as he chewed the crunchy treat. Kristoff patted him between the antlers.

"I need to leave the sled here. It's too difficult for Sven to pull."

"Alright," Elsa said.

Anna hopped down and helped Olaf out of the back.

"I told you we shouldn't have brought it," she said.

"I don't just leave my sled behind," he said, slinging the bag over his shoulder. "You never know when you might need it."

"Better to leave it in Arendelle than on the side of a mountain," Anna said, as Kristoff disconnected Sven from the harness. He gave her a look, but didn't respond.

John swung himself down from Anna's horse.

"Here, take your horse," he said, holding out the reins.

"No, don't bother," Elsa said. "We'll all be walking soon enough. There's a narrow bridge ahead and we'll have to lead the horses across it."

She dismounted and led her horse forward, followed by John and the rest of the company. As they climbed over a high berm, the bridge Elsa described came into view. It was a narrow rope bridge made of thick twine and wooden planks, stretching across the mouth of a wide chasm whose sheer cliff walls descended into oblivion. John stepped back clutching his chest, his face changing color until it matched the white neck of Anna's horse.

"Are you alright?" Kristoff asked, stepping toward the mouth of the gorge. John continued to retreat, gripping the horses' bridle so tight veins protruded from the back of his hand.

"I've never been fond of heights."

Elsa peered over the edge, a stiff breeze ruffling her hair. The bare trees far below looked like toothpicks from this height. The drop was awe-inspiring, sure, but she didn't understand John's panic at seeing it. Perhaps it was the age of the bridge that frightened him. It did look weathered and worn, but she knew it was safe and of sturdy construction. Two heavy spikes, one on either side of the bridge, anchored thick ropes into the ground. These ropes slanted upward, supported by two sturdy posts, wrapping around their tops several times before extending out across the expanse. Two more ropes were tied to the bottom of these posts and ran parallel to the top ones, a perpendicular cord connecting the top and bottom ropes at even intervals. Strong, wooden planks were fastened between the bottom ropes creating a rigid path to the opposite ledge, each placed next to the other so there were no gaps.

"C'mon John," Kristoff said. "Haven't you seen a rope bridge before?"

Kristoff stepped out onto the bridge and made small jumping motions, sending waves cascading down the bridge, like ripples in a pond, which dissipated before reaching the other side. He gave John a confident smile.

"See? Nothing to worry about."

"What about the other side?"

"It's perfectly safe," Elsa said, "I've been this way before. But the snowman will have to stay."

"Me?" Olaf asked, looking up at her with sad eyes.

"No, not you Olaf, the big one."

"His name is Pumpkin," Anna said.

"Yes, Pumpkin. He can stay here and make sure we're not followed."

"Do you think we're being followed?" Kristoff asked, rejoining them on the path.

"No, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious."

John's breathing grew louder as he inhaled short breaths