Chapter 10

(The Swift Stallion, several hours earlier)

They say that it’s always darkest before dawn. This particular day held true to that axiom and Kristoff and Sven used that darkness to finally enact their escape plan. The mercenaries had made two critical mistakes when dealing with the mountain man and his trusted steed: one, they checked in every hour or so on their captives rather than post a constant guard, and two, they didn’t separate the two of them.

Unlike what one might expect due to their size, reindeer mouths are surprisingly dexterous, able to feel out even the smallest traces of moss or grass under the snow, and Sven used that same dexterity to slowly, over the course of several hours, loosen the ropes that bound Kristoff’s hands behind his back. It was pitch black in the cargo hold, save for the times one of the mercenaries looked in on them, which had both pros and cons. It would be obvious whenever someone was watching them, but when left alone they had to do everything by touch and sound. They also had to be careful not to let their captors suspect anything so made sure to keep the ropes in place even after Kristoff was able to slip out of them. Once the mercenary on duty made his next pass Kristoff sprang into action, quickly shedding his bonds and working on untying Sven.

“You know,” Kristoff said quietly while he was untying Sven, “We could have avoided all this if you just caused a ruckus when they were bringing us aboard. You said the captain seemed ignorant of what was really happening, that our kidnappers said I was just drunk.”

“I’m sorry, but you were unconscious and they said they’d kill you if I tried anything. I couldn’t risk it.” Sven replied. Or at least that’s what Kristoff thought Sven had replied. It was rather difficult to know what his friend was thinking when he couldn’t actually see his facial expressions.

“Okay, okay. There, the ropes are off. You ready buddy?” Kristoff asked, patting Sven on the shoulder.

The reindeer stood and swayed for a moment, not used to standing on a swaying ship, but didn’t take long to adjust. “Ready,” he said, grunting.

They resumed their positions, now untied, and Kristoff shouted, “Hey, merc! Can we get some water in here? I’m thirsty!”

A few seconds later the door opened and the mercenary poked his head in, anger visible in his eyes. “Hey! We told you what would happen if you opened your mouth. I suggest you keep that trap of yours shut if you want to keep both your ears attached!”

“But I’m thirsty!” Kristoff whined.

“Like I give a fuck!” the man swore. “Now shut up before I make you shut up!”

“Oh, big man threatening someone who’s all tied up,” Kristoff said in a mocking tone.

The man fully entered the room and slammed the door behind him. He placed his lantern on the floor and pulled out a knife. “That’s it! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” He then quickly marched towards Kristoff, fully intending to slice off one of his ears.

As soon as the man was close enough, his captives sprang into action. Sven swung his head, using his antlers to hit the man’s knife hand. The knife flew into the shadows as the man clutched his hand in pain. “Why you-!” he began. Kristoff used the distraction to land a quick sucker punch to the man’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. The man doubled over in both surprise and pain, gasping for breath, then Sven stood and used his hind legs to kick the man square in the chest. He flew the dozen or so feet to the wall, striking it hard and falling to the ground unconscious.

Kristoff quickly used some of the rope to tie him up and used the man’s own bandana to gag him. He found the knife and tucked it into his own belt. “One down, three to go. Assuming none of the crew are in on this. Think anyone heard that?” he asked.

Sven shrugged his shoulders, which looked rather odd coming from a reindeer. Kristoff carefully opened the door and peered out. Down at the other end of the corridor he saw another of the mercenaries coming out of a side room and turning to head in his direction, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He quickly shut the door.

“Looks like we woke one from his beauty sleep. He’s heading this way. Ready for round two?” Kristoff asked.

Sven nodded and positioned himself against the wall behind the door. Kristoff turned the lantern as low as it could go then leaned against the opposite side of the door. They could hear the man approaching, muttering to himself.

“Where the hell is Ham? He better not be in there ruining our bounty. If he kills that guy the boss is gonna take the difference out of his hide.” He opened the door and poked his head in. He looked to where Kristoff and Sven had been tied up and it took a second for his sleep-addled mind to notice they weren’t actually there. “What the-” he began, but Kristoff reached out and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him inside.

Thrown off balance the man stumbled then, like with his companion before him, Sven delivered a quick but powerful kick to his chest, sending him sailing across the room. Unlike the previous mercenary, this one was not knocked out when he hit the wall. He was stunned and dazed though, and struggled to get back to his feet. Before he could, however, Kristoff was on top of him and had him in a choke hold. He tried to fight, his arms flailing around but unable to grab onto anything, and seconds later he passed out, his brain automatically going into sleep mode as blood circulation to that vital organ was temporarily cut off. Kristoff quickly tied up and gagged this man too, searching for any weapons and removing the knife and sword the man had on him.

“That’s two,” Kristoff declared, adding the blades to his own little arsenal.

This next part was going to be tricky. Sven was too large to fit through the door, the only way in or out for him was the cargo hatch in the ceiling above them, so if they couldn’t lure the remaining mercenaries here Kristoff would have to go after them by himself.

They gathered the excess rope and Kristoff draped it over one shoulder. He had the knives and sword and knew how to use them, though he was reluctant to take a life. Oh, he’d killed before, plenty of game and the occasional wolf, but never a fellow human and he really didn’t want to start. But if it came down to him or them, he’d do his best to make sure it was him who saw the next sunrise. He took a deep breath to steady himself then put his hand on the door handle.

“You be careful,” Sven told him.

“I will, buddy. You watch these two and stay on your guard. If I can catch one of the others by himself I’ll try and bring him back here.”

As quiet as he could, Kristoff slipped out of the cargo hold and into the corridor beyond. He crept along, carefully peeking into each room as he passed. The first couple held no people, just food stores and the galley, and the next was crew quarters with four men asleep in hammocks. The next room was what he was looking for. Inside were the guest quarters, a little more spacious than the crew quarters, but still not overly large. Sleeping in two of the hammocks were the remaining mercenaries. The apparent leader of the group was in the furthest hammock, snoring softly. In the hammock nearest the door was the other mercenary. On the floor next to him was a mostly empty bottle that, by the smell of things, contained some rather potent booze.

“Perfect,” Kristoff thought to himself. “If this guy is passed out I should be able to tie him up without him waking.”

As quietly as he could, Kristoff uncoiled several lengths of rope. He used a knife to cut them to suitable lengths, then fashioned four loops with slip knots that could easily tighten but not easily loosen. Ever so gently he wrapped each of the rope coils around the man, around his upper chest, stomach, thighs, and legs. With the hammock already mostly encasing the man like a cocoon, once the ropes were tightened, he’d be completely immobilised. Kristoff tightened each loop, being careful not to make it so tight that the man would wake, then gingerly pulled the man’s knife from his belt. Other than a few grunts and a particularly loud snore, the man didn’t react at all.

Satisfied with his work, Kristoff slipped over to the mercenary leader and prepared the remainder of the rope. “Careful, Kristoff,” he told himself, “this guy is likely the leader for a reason. Don’t do anything foolish.” A glance out of the single porthole in the room revealed the sun was brightening up the horizon. “Hmm, not long until dawn. I doubt I have much time left.”

In fact, he had less time than he thought. Kristoff had gotten only the rope around the man’s legs secured and was about to tighten the one around his chest when a bell rang and someone on deck shouted, “Land Ho!”

The noise caused the mercenary to jerk awake. Still somewhat groggy, he tried to sit up, but as soon as Kristoff noticed he was awake, he abandoned any attempts at stealth and pulled the rope as tight as he could. The man was confused for a second as to why he couldn’t move, then his eyes locked onto Kristoff. “Men! The package has escaped! The-!” His shouts were cut off when Kristoff shoved a sock into his mouth, then tied some rope around his head, securing the gag in place. The man then tried to wiggle himself free of his bonds but Kristoff was working fast and already had another rope around him, ensuring he wasn’t going anywhere.

The mercenary sleeping in the other hammock woke from the noise. “Hey, what’s all the racket?” he managed to say before he likewise was gagged. Now that the man was awake, Kristoff didn’t have to worry about waking him so pulled the ropes even tighter than they were. By the time he was done both mercenaries could barely wiggle from side to side.

“I would say sorry about all this but considering what you had planned for me, I’m honestly not,” Kristoff told them once he was sure they weren’t going anywhere. “Once we get to port I’ll be handing you over to the local authorities. I’m not sure what the penalty is for kidnapping and threats of torture and murder, but I’m sure it’s not pleasant.”

“Hey, what’s going on here?” came a voice from the doorway. Kristoff looked over and saw several faces peering in at him. Some of the crew had obviously come to investigate the noise and were peering in, clearly surprised and perhaps a little worried at seeing two men bound and gagged in their hammocks with a third standing over them.

Kristoff tensed up, wondering if these men were with the mercenaries or were simply ignorant of the situation. He decided to assume the latter until he saw evidence of the former. He raised his hand in a friendly gesture. “Gentlemen. I don’t know what you’ve been told, but these men had kidnapped me and my friend. I managed to get free and tied them up while they slept. Please don’t try to free them.”

The men looked back and forth at Kristoff and the men tied up in their hammocks. “Uh...” one of them said. “I’m gonna get the captain. Don’t move.”

“Fine by me,” Kristoff agreed.

A minute later the sailor returned followed closely by the captain. The man took a moment to assess the situation, then focused his attention on Kristoff. “So ... care to explain why several of my passengers are bound and gagged?”

Kristoff took a deep breath then began to explain. He started with the ambush in the forest and went right up to the present. The captain didn’t simply trust his word, of course, as he didn’t know Kristoff any better than the men who were tied up, and asked that the mercenary leader be ungagged so he could have his say.

As soon as the gag was removed the leader immediately accused Kristoff of lying, saying he paid them to guard him while they travelled to the Isles, and that he tied them up hoping to run away without paying them. Kristoff, naturally, accused the mercenary of lying in turn.

The captain held up a hand for silence. The other two men glared at each other, but did as ordered. “Look, obviously one of you is lying here, maybe both of you. Seeing as how I don’t know either of you and I don’t have any actual evidence one way or the other, this is what we’re going to do. For the remainder of your time on this ship, which admittedly is going to be very short, you will all be confined to quarters. Different quarters, obviously. I don’t want either of you near each other. You will hand over any and all weapons you might have and when we reach port I’ll hand the lot of you over to the authorities and you can sort out whatever this is there.”

“What!? No, you can’t do that!” the leader shouted.

“Can’t?” the captain replied, arching an eyebrow. “I’m the captain of this ship. As long as you are on this vessel, my word is law. Unless you want to remain tied up like that until we get to port, I suggest you comply.”

“Uh, Captain?” Kristoff spoke up. “These are very dangerous men. They threatened to kill me several times and I have no doubt that they’d kill every single one of us if it meant they could escape.”

“Hence why they, and you, will give over any weapons and be locked in your rooms,” the captain replied. He then gave a quick look at the empty hammocks. “Where are the other two?”

“I have them tied up in the cargo hold. Sven is watching them.”

Several minutes later all four mercenaries were untied but locked in their room, with two sailors standing guard outside. All of their weapons, including the ones Kristoff had confiscated, had been moved to a separate room. Due to his size, Sven had to remain in the cargo hold so Kristoff assumed that was where he would be kept as well, but before he could settle down and wait for them to get to port the captain put a hand on his shoulder.

“You’ve been trapped down here this whole trip, haven’t you?” the captain asked.

“Yes. How come you never came to check up on me?” Kristoff asked.

The captain wore a look of shame. “I’m sorry about that. Truly. I was under the impression that I was transporting a reindeer to be a pet for one of the princes and that you were its handler. The others convinced me you were simply drunk and suffering from a massive hangover, and didn’t want to be disturbed. The trip from Arendelle to the Southern Isles really isn’t that long, so I figured I’d let you rest.”

“By the sound of things, you don’t believe what they said about me, do you?”

The captain cracked a smile. “Not a word of it. I only said that I’d imprison both groups so they’d think that I was keeping you under lock and key as well. Besides, their story is different from what the man who hired my ship told me, so I know for a fact that they’re lying now. Why don’t you come up on deck and get some fresh air? I’ll even let you steer the ship for a bit if you’d like.”

(Back to the present)

“Kristoff!” Anna cried in relief. She ran towards her husband and threw herself into his arms, plastering his face with kisses. The guard who had his rifle pointed at Kristoff quickly lowered it once he realised this was the man they were trying to rescue.

“Anna?” Kristoff said, both amazed and confused at her presence. “What are you doing here? How did you get here? Who are these people?”

“We came to rescue you! Elsa flew us here with Gale’s help.”

“Wait, you flew? As in through the air? And Elsa’s here too?” He looked around and quickly spotted his sister-in-law walking towards them. He gave her a smile and nod in greeting then noticed her arm. “Elsa! You’re hurt!”

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Elsa said, glancing down at her arm. “I think.”

Kristoff let go of Anna and was about to give Elsa a hug as well but stopped himself, not wanting to hurt her any further. “What happened?”

“Hans happened. But I gave worse than I got.”

“Hans? Where is he?” he replied angrily. “That’s two I owe him. One for having me kidnapped and one for hurting you.”

“My brother is already in custody,” Lars said, approaching the group. “And believe me when I say he is not going to be seeing the light of day ever again.” He then bowed in greeting. “I am Prince Lars of the Southern Isles, and am greatly relieved to see you’re well, Your Majesty.”

Kristoff at first thought Lars was talking to Anna but then remembered that they boarded the boat together. “Wait, are you referring to me?” he asked.

“Well, you are married to the queen, are you not? Therefore you are the King Consort.”

“Ah, right. I don’t do any of that royalty stuff and just run my ice business, so I sometimes forget I actually have that title. You can just call me Kristoff.”

“Hold up!” shouted the captain from nearby, he still had his hands up as a nearby soldier had him under guard. “You’re Arendelle’s king?!”

Several hours later Elsa’s arm was properly bandaged and stitched, and Hans along with his mercenary goons were now securely locked away in the castle’s dungeon. The trio from Arendelle met with the king and gave a full account of what happened, each party sharing what they knew. The king was beside himself with anger at what his son had done and promised Anna that she would never even hear his name spoken again, let alone have to worry about something like this ever happening again.

For her part, Anna was in constant contact with her husband in one form or another. She never let him out of arm’s reach and was either holding hands with him or touching some part of him. Kristoff liked the attention but thought Anna might be going just a little overboard, especially when she insisted on following him to the bathroom, but he wasn’t about to tell her no. While his own experience was somewhat scary, he could only imagine the fear and worry she had felt during his kidnapping. Elsa likewise thought Anna was going a touch too far, but she loved seeing her sister being so affectionate.

General Mathias, aboard Arendelle’s fastest ship, arrived at port early that afternoon. Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Sven were all there at the docks to greet him and he was greatly relieved to see them all safe and sound, as he had no idea what he and his men were sailing into. He reverently returned Anna’s crown to her, which she dutifully donned, then asked what was going on.