Elsa mounted her horse, the last one to do so. She looked around at all the trolls assembled in the sunlit glen, then down at Grand Pabbie.

"Farewell, Queen Elsa," Grand Pabbie said, and every troll bowed.

Elsa smiled at him. "Thank you for your hospitality, and for your assistance. Until we meet again."

She turned her horse and set off. Anna and Kristoff waved to the trolls, who jumped up and down and waved back. Some of the smaller ones jumped onto their larger brethren to get a better look. Olaf rode on Sven and sat facing backwards, waving at the trolls until they were out of sight.

After traveling a few hundred meters, Anna saw that Kristoff was chatting with some of the couriers, so she took the opportunity to speak to Elsa without him hearing. After all, it was his family they were about to discuss.

"So, now that you've met them properly, what do you think?" Anna asked.

Elsa raised her eyebrows and made a slight Wow! face. "They are quite something! Very pleasant company and lovely beings. I wouldn't want to be with them every night, but I do like them a lot. I'm glad they live in our kingdom."

Elsa's heart raced as she suddenly saw her opening, and before she had a chance even to think about it properly, dove right in. "And if you and Kristoff get married, having them around the castle for a few days would be quite a treat!"

They rode for several seconds in silence, each staring straight ahead. There, Elsa thought. I've put it out there.

Anna finally gave a little embarrassed laugh. "Well, you know...Kristoff and I...we're just..."

Elsa reached out to take Anna's hand. "He's a good man," Elsa said. "I certainly don't want to meddle...I probably wouldn't be very good at it, anyway...but whatever you two decide, you will always have my support. I...I...I just don't want you to be afraid to ask for my blessing. I never want you to be afraid to ask for anything."

Anna smiled and squeezed Elsa's hand, her way of telling her that she understood what Elsa meant, and what she was trying to do.

Anna swallowed hard and tried to find the words. She finally said, "The first time I asked for your blessing in marriage, I was a fool and you were wise. So I'll make you a deal. I'll never be afraid to ask for anything, if you'll never be afraid to tell me what I need to hear."

Elsa smiled warmly. "Deal."

 

They climbed higher into the mountains. After about two hours they reached a village of perhaps a hundred people, with houses mostly made of stone and mortar.

The village was situated on a large shelf on the eastern face of a mountain. The shelf was perhaps ten acres in all, and it looked to be the only level ground for miles around. On one side of the village the cliff rose for several hundred meters. On the other side was a steep drop, and some of the smaller houses were built right up to the edge. The wind was a little brisk, but not too strong. The view to the east was spectacular.

A stream cut through the rock, forming a waterfall both above and below the village. This stream was obviously the main provider of life to the village, as there were several boardwalks, small fishing piers, fishing nets, and a mill. Several arching stone bridges crossed the stream.

The road to reach the village was tricky, but not too dangerous. The village had two elders, Rolf and Varg, who greeted the royal procession as it arrived.

"I must say, this is an unusual place for a village," Elsa said. "Why, exactly, are you here?"

Rolf explained. "In olden days, Arendelle didn't get along very well with our neighbors to the east, and your great-great-grandfather, King Soren, established an early-warning outpost here. It grew to become a village, and people have simply stayed here ever since."

Elsa nodded.

"Why do you have houses so close to the edge?" Anna asked, suppressing a shudder. "I couldn't imagine sleeping in a house so close to a drop like that!"

Varg chuckled. "The height doesn't bother us. We've lived with it all our lives! But those houses were built for defense. Our village overlooks the Prebensen Gap, which is one of the few land routes to the east, and the likeliest route our enemies would have taken to attack us. Our ancestors built houses right up against the edge so they could pour burning oil, and fire arrows directly down on them. In these days of peace, though, we just sleep in them." He grinned.

"Why do you have a mill?" Kristoff asked. "You can't possibly be growing grain up here."

"We trade with the valley folk to the east," Varg said. "We send them fish, they send us grain."

"The valley folk can fish, also," Kristoff said. "They have rivers. So why would they need to trade for yours?"

"Ah, but the high mountain fish is a delicacy, and much larger!" Rolf said. "They love it!"

"Why do you trade for raw grain rather than grist or flour?" Anna asked.

"Grist and flour are more valuable, because the valley folk have already done the work to create it," Rolf said. "So if we trade for raw grain, we get more of it, and we can make grist and flour ourselves."

"Makes sense," Anna said.

"Allow us to show you how wonderful mountain fish can be," Varg said. "Please stay for lunch!"

"We shall," Elsa said.

The villagers quickly whipped up a feast. When they thought they might not have enough fish, they simply walked to the stream and caught more.

"Wow!" Kristoff said. "Meals whenever you want!"

"All day and all night, the fish are there!" one of the cooks said with a grin.

They ate, and every member of the royal procession immediately understood why the valley folk traded for the mountain fish. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

"I think we've found a new delicacy for the royal kitchens!" Anna gushed.

"I think you're right!" Elsa said.

 

After the meal, the villagers all gathered to hear Elsa give a short speech. By now, the speech was old hat to her, and to the royal procession, who had heard many variations of it over the past five days. As always, Anna stood beside her queen, slightly behind her.

But this speech became very different when Elsa did a double-take and stopped talking.

A girl about seven years old was climbing the outside of the chimney of one of the houses to see Elsa over the crowd, and it was clear that she was having trouble holding on, especially in the brisk wind. This would have been alarming enough, but the house in question was one of those built just feet away from the edge of the shelf.

If the girl was blown off, there was nothing below her for hundreds of feet.

Even as Elsa watched, the girl's foot slipped a little. The child was either fearless or too young to realize her danger.

"Someone, please take care of her," Elsa said, a quaver in her voice, as everyone turned to look at what she was seeing.

A couple of people rushed forward, but before they were even half way there, the unthinkable happened. A gust of wind caught the girl just as she was trying to reach for another handhold. Her little body was ripped off the chimney and out over the edge.

Everyone gasped. A woman screamed.

A flash of blue energy.

The girl hit a large, soft pile of snow at the top of an ice slide which hadn't been there a moment before. She slowly slid down the slide, back to safe ground, into the waiting arms of her mother.

A stunned silence gripped the crowd for a moment.

Anna swallowed hard. Shaking, she turned to her sister. "Nice save."

"Thanks," Elsa whispered. In her left hand, she held the glove of her right hand, which was now bare.

"Is she all right?" Anna called out.

Several people nodded and smiled, as the girl's mother ushered her away from the edge.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa," Rolf said solemnly, as the people began chattering.

Elsa nodded, and motioned for the little girl to be brought to her. As she approached, Elsa dispersed the snow and the ice slide.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa!" the girl's mother said. "Thank you!"

"It was my pleasure," Elsa said, obviously still shaken. "She's a beautiful girl. What's her name?"

"My name's Eva," the girl piped up. She seemed so calm and happy, as if she had no idea what danger she had just been in.

"Hello, Eva," Elsa said, smiling. "It's so nice to meet you."

Elsa quickly wrapped up her speech, giving the villagers the abbreviated version of the rest of it. Only her years of practice at hiding her emotions enabled her to continue calmly. When she finished, the villagers applauded.

"Will you stay a while longer?" Varg asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot," Elsa said. "We're already behind schedule, and we need to be on our way. But I can tell you that you have found another customer for your fish!"

They all laughed.

 

It was mid-afternoon as they rode away.

"I want to reach the ice palace before sundown," Elsa said. "I think we can make it with about an hour to spare."

"Are you all right?" Anna asked.

"No."

Anna reached out and held her hand. "You were wonderful. You really were."

Elsa looked down, struggling with her words for a moment. "She wouldn't have been in danger if I hadn't been there in the first place."

"Oh," Anna said, a tiny bit exasperated. "Please don't be like that. You know life isn't that simple."

Elsa gave a weak smile. "No. You're right, I'm looking at the negative instead of looking at the positive."

Anna let go of her hand and they rode on in a comfortable silence.

"Anna, do you...do you believe in providence?" Elsa asked.

"You mean fate?"

Elsa thought about this for a moment. "I suppose. I mean...do you think things happen for a reason?"

Anna gave this some thought. "I don't know," she finally said. "I'm sort of torn about that. On the one hand, I'd like to believe it, and it kind of feels true, in my heart. On the other hand, there are so many things in life which are bad, tragic, or just chaotic, so a part of me has a hard time believing in that kind of thing. I mean, if anyone ever tried to tell me it was fate that our parents died, I don't think I could be held responsible for what I would do to that person."

"Your thinking mirrors my own," Elsa said. "Grand Pabbie believes I was given my power for a reason. He thinks maybe I'll use it some day for a greater good. I...I want to believe that. And after what just happened, I...I don't know."

"Maybe it doesn't matter," Anna said.

"How could it not matter?"

"Well, why should it? No matter what you do with your life, and no matter what decisions you make, you'll do the same thing whether it's fate or not."

Elsa thought about this. "True," she said eventually. "But if I knew my power was truly given to me to do some great good, that would lessen the agony of having large sections of my life ripped away. I could tolerate the pain more easily."

"I can see that," Anna said. "But if you ever use your power to do some great good, you'll feel that peace, anyway. The only difference is that if you believe it before it happens instead of waiting for proof, you'll experience peace for a longer stretch of your life. So maybe the secret is to be at peace starting right now, because, with your power, you can do wonderful things, fate be damned."

Elsa smiled. "You make sense, sometimes."

"Only on days ending in y. And by the way, even if you never do another act of good for the rest of your life, there's still a little girl named Eva somewhere in the world."

Elsa smiled at her, her eyes wet with tears. "Then perhaps my peace does start today."

"Maybe it does. But I don't think it's an event that just happens. I think it has to be a choice."

Elsa looked at Anna with respect and love, thinking about this, and nodded.