Hello Again :-) Said I was working on something during the summer, didn't I? Well, school's about to start back but hey, I still have free time and have a good dent put into this story so far so, here's the first chapter! Hope you guys enjoy, let me know what you think in the reviews!
Chapter 1-
Summer had turned into a crisp autumn as Princess Anna strolled through the gardens. Olaf shuffled along beside her, picking flowers from each bush.
"He loves you."
"Oh Olaf, will you stop with that?" Anna giggled at the snowman. Olaf picked off a petal of one of the flowers.
"He loves you, he loves you, and he loves you!" he said cheerfully as he picked off each petal.
"Olaf, just because he said it on a whim in a song doesn't necessarily mean that he-"
"Oh come on, Anna! Hans might have been a mean old doozy, but you can take one look at Sven- ahem, Kristoff and know that he's absolutely head over heels for you!" Anna thought for a moment. A while back had been her birthday. Elsa had put together a huge surprise party, only to get sick with a cold and Kristoff, her dearest friend besides her sister, had blurted out his true feelings for her. Anna wasn't quite sure if it was a real heartfelt declaration since her last romance had been... well... entirely false. She had been engaged to a devious prince who had tried to kill her and her sister just so he could rule over their kingdom. Since then, Anna had been a little wary on possible suitors but she had a good feeling about Kristoff. Sure, he was a little... abrasive towards people sometimes, didn't smell very good, hung out with a reindeer all the time, had trolls for parents and was just as shy as Elsa, if not worse, but deep down, Anna knew he was a sweetheart.
She stopped at an opening in the gardens and looked out into her kingdom of Arendelle. Her eyes soon found Kristoff, who stood at his sled selling ice to a customer, his reindeer Sven standing next to him with a smile on his face. Since she'd met him, his people skills had improved, which did wonders for his ice business. He must have thanked her for the help half a million times. She raised the corner of her lips just slightly and sighed. Now that she looked at him, he was sort of dreamy...
Suddenly, the bells of the tower rang, snapping Anna from her daydream. Someone from the Southern Isles was coming to meet with them today to discuss the current state of things and Anna absolutely had to be there. She gasped and lifted the train of her gown as she ran back inside the castle, Olaf trailing behind her.
Elsa sat at her father's old desk in the office, anxiously waiting for Kai to escort in the messenger from the Southern Isles. She also anxiously awaited her sister, who was running late, as usual. Elsa jumped in her chair as she heard the door smash open as Anna barreled inside, hopping on one foot as she tried to fix her shoe.
"I'm here! I'm here! We didn't start yet, did we?"
Elsa chuckled a little and gave her sister a smile.
"No, they aren't even here yet, calm down." she assured her, pulling a chair out next to her. "Have a seat. And you might want to fix your hair."
Anna scampered over and sat down and picked at her hair, which had become a little mussed during her run up to Elsa's study. Elsa sighed and chuckled at her sister, who was only making her hair worse.
"Here, let me help you." she told her as she fixed up her sister's hair. Within a few seconds, she had Anna's hair looking better than ever.
"There. Much better." she said. Anna smiled.
"Thanks."
Suddenly, she heard Kai clear his throat and straightened up in her chair in synch with Elsa.
"Your majesty, Prince Henrik of the Southern Isles." Kai said, stepping aside to reveal a man who looked similar to Hans, only older in probably is late twenties to early thirties. He was slender like his brother, the same auburn hair though Henrik's might have been a little darker, accompanied by a mustache and a trimmed beard. He also had the same piercing green eyes as his brother and wore a nice suit, though not quite as form fitting as Hans' had been.
"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, it is an honor to finally meet you both face to face," Henrik said with a bow, "And might I just say, you two are even more beautiful in person."
Normally, Anna would've been lost in the beauty of the man's eyes and face, but his brother had just tried to kill her sister a few months back, so she kept her composure and gave a curt nod as Elsa spoke up.
"Thank you, Henrik. Please, have a seat." Elsa said, gesturing to a chair. Anna looked over at her sister and noticed something she hadn't noticed before... Elsa was looking at Henrik with awe. Anna almost let out a gasp, but instead swallowed hard and turned to face Henrik again.
"Everything all right, Princess Anna?" Henrik asked, raising an eyebrow. Anna nodded.
"Of course. What would be wrong? I'm totally fine." Anna told him.
"Well, I guess I assumed you might be a little uncomfortable. After all, my bad boy brother did cause you quite a bit of pain and I suppose that would give you a reason to be uncomfortable around anyone who has anything to do with him." Henrik replied.
"I'm fine." Anna said hotly, "Now can we just get to what you wanted to talk to us about?"
"Anna..." Elsa hissed over at her sister, giving her a small elbow to the arm, "Manners." she whispered again as she turned to Henrik. "So, Henrik, what would you like to say?"
Henrik cleared his throat. "I know my brother did wrong by the two of you and I understand how that could put a damper on things such as trade and loyalty." he said, "And I would just like to tell you two that the Southern Isles holds nothing against you or anyone in Arendelle. We just want things to go back to the way they were."
"I understand how that can be difficult, but I assure you, no one in the Southern Isles wants to hurt you in any way. You two ladies were simply defending yourselves and your kingdom. Any self-respecting rulers would've done the same thing without blinking an eye." he said.
"Well, I'm certainly glad that you feel that way," Elsa replied, "But what your brother did has cut deep between our ties and I believe it's going to be a while before things return to the way they were before all of this."
Henrik sighed and shifted in his chair. "I know... and for that I am deeply sorry. To express my apologies, I can help you sort out any trade problems over the next couple of days. That is, if that is all right."
Anna gasped in surprise. Him stay here? The brother of the man who had tried to kill them? No way. This would not work at all. Anna felt her heart skip a few beats as Elsa replied, "Yes, I think that would work out fine. It would give us more than enough time to figure out any trade matters as well as how we'll deal with it in the future."
Anna couldn't take it. Her palms had begun to sweat from nervousness as she eyes Henrik suspiciously.
"Elsa-" she began.
"Just a minute, Anna."
"No, Elsa. I need to-"
"Just a minute. So, Henrik, do we have a deal? You stay here and negotiate trade and peace for the next few days and nothing bad happens to Arendelle? No surprise attacks, no anything?"
Henrik nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I wouldn't dream of putting you girls through any more pain."
Elsa smiled and extended a hand to Henrik. "Then shake my hand and we have a deal."
Henrik smiled back and shook Elsa's hand. "Ooh.. your majesty. Your hand is... freezing." he said, sounding genuinely worried. Elsa gave a small laugh as Anna glared at the both of them.
"It's all right, Henrik. My hands are always cold. It's never bothered me though." she said.
"Well, thank goodness for that," Henrik replied as he gave her hand a small kiss, bringing more color to Elsa's face that Anna had seen in fifteen years. She immediately began to feel sick as Elsa smiled at Henrik. She tried not to grimace as Henrik turned to her and offered his hand.
"What do you say, Princess?" he asked, giving a charming smile. The last thing Anna wanted to do was take his hand. She didn't trust him one bit. But, she didn't want to make things rocky with Elsa, especially after the two of them had become close again. Anna extended her hand and shook Henrik's. He also gave her a small kiss to the hand, making Anna's stomach churn. She did her best to put on a smile as she got up.
"Excuse me. I-I'll leave you two to... do your thing." she said awkwardly as she gave a small, fake chuckle. "Um... bye." Quick as a wink, Anna disappeared down the hall. Elsa shook her head and smiled.
"Your sister seems nice." Henrik said, turning back to Elsa.
"She's my best friend." Elsa told him, "I don't know what I'd do without her honestly. She keeps me from worrying too much."
Henrik smirked. "See, that's the opposite with brothers." he said, "I'm one of the middle children so, naturally, I had to deal with everything. Being picked on as the youngest, being pushed around as the middle and being looked up to as the older brother."
"You were picked on?" Elsa asked him. Henrik nodded.
"Oh yeah, all the time. Even now I'm still the butt of some of their jokes." he admitted.
"I'm sorry." Elsa said. Henrik shook his head.
"Oh, don't be, really. It takes more than a little harmless teasing to get me down. And it's not like I haven't done it myself... I even pretended Hans was invisible for a while."
"Oh, what?" Elsa asked, letting a laugh escape. Henrik grinned.
"Oh yes, you should've seen his face. Little jerk had it coming." Henrik laughed, "He was always getting into trouble and blaming us and of course, our mother believed everything he said just because he was the baby."
"He was a little troublemaker, huh?"
"Eh. Every once in a while. Although, I will admit, we did push him a little far a few times." Henrik said, downcasting his eyes, "Maybe that's what made him go all psycho on you ladies. If it is, I apologize."
"It's quite all right... you don't have to apologize anymore." Elsa assured him, putting her icy hand atop his, "Now, what do you say we get to work?"
As the sun began to set, Kristoff packed up all of his supplies and headed back to the castle. It had been a pretty profitable day, all of his inventory was sold, leaving him with a sense of accomplishment as he and Sven made their way back through the castle gates.
After depositing his sled near the stables, Kristoff heard a low rumbling sound and raised his eyebrow, looking over at Sven, who looked down in surprise, then back at Kristoff and whined.
"Hungry, Sven?" Kristoff asked, smirking at the reindeer. Sven whined again as he nuzzled Kristoff, who chuckled at the reindeer.
"Yeah, I'm hungry too. Wanna go raid the kitchen?" he asked. Sven's pitiful look suddenly turned happy as he grunted excitedly and jumped around, kneeling down on the ground like a playful dog. Kristoff shook his head and smiled.
"Okay, come on buddy, let's go see what we can find." A few minutes later, Kristoff pushed open the doors to the kitchens. The staff was nowhere to be found, which was a good thing. Even though he kept Sven bathed more regularly now, along with himself since he had daily access to soap and warm water, the staff didn't think very highly of a reindeer in the kitchens. Kristoff had tried convincing the staff that Sven was the castle's noblest steed or... reindeer rather, but they still didn't really welcome him in the kitchens. Kristoff went over to the stash of carrots and held one out to Sven, who eagerly wolfed it down. Kristoff then took one for himself. Suddenly, Kristoff and Sven jumped as the doors busted open.
"KRISTOFF!" he heard a familiar voice call out. The sound of the doors had made Kristoff jump, putting his hands in the air with the carrot still in his fist as he screamed, "Whatever it is I didn't do it!". The door slammed and made him jump and choke on the carrot in his mouth and he began to cough, his hands still raised as a very irritated Anna stomped into the kitchens and slumped into a chair with her arms crossed.
"Hnnggg... er, Hi Anna." Kristoff said, finally choking down the carrot in his throat, his eyes watering from choking, "Um... bad day?"
"You can say that again." Anna pouted, "Hans' older brother's in town." Kristoff raised his eyebrows, as did Sven as he gave the reindeer a bite of carrot before taking one himself.
"That was today?" he asked, his mouth full of carrot. "I didn't have to be there, did I?"
Anna laughed a little, "No, silly. You aren't royal!"
"Yeah, you got that right." Kristoff said, taking another bite of carrot, "To tell you the truth, doesn't look like too much fun. Always looking nice, having to be on time, having to act all dignified all the time." he went on as Sven let out a loud belch next to him. Kristoff looked at him and raised an eyebrow as Sven gave him a sheepish smile.
"Oh come on now, that was weak, big guy. I'm disappointed. How's this for you?" he said before letting out a louder belch. He raised his hand to his mouth, surprised by how loud the belch was and blushed. Anna grimaced but giggled anyway, putting her hands to her mouth to hold in her laughter.
"You two are born royalty." she laughed as Kristoff looked back over at her.
"Oh yeah, of course. Did you just hear that? Been holding that in all day long." Kristoff joked. Anna giggled again.
"You guys always make me feel better! I can't even remember what I was mad about."
"Well you said that Hans' older brother was here and you kind of spat it out like it was cough syrup." Kristoff reminded her. Anna's face turned sour again.
"Oh yeah... you would've hated him. He's such a charming pretty boy. Just like his dumb little brother. I just wanted to... just... smash his perfect face in!" Anna griped. Kristoff raised his eyebrows.
"Yeesh, what he do that was so bad?" Kristoff asked. Anna scoffed and gestured to the upper floor.
"He was charming Elsa! He kept saying all these nice, charming things and he kissed her hand and then mine and just... blegh!"
"I thought you liked charming guys." Kristoff said, confused.
"Not when they're related to crazy psychos!" Anna said. Kristoff shrugged and ate another carrot.
"And to make matters worse, he's gonna stay here!" Anna cried. Kristoff almost choked on his carrot.
"Do... what?" he said between coughs, "He's what?"
"Staying here!"
"For how long?"
"Who cares?! Point is I don't want him here, gosh darn it!" Anna pouted again, stomping her feet and crossing her arms, "I don't trust him and I don't want him doing anything to hurt me or Elsa! Or you guys! Or Olaf! Or... anybody!"
Kristoff shrugged again. "Well, how do you know that he's a bad guy? He could just be really charming and not have any evil plans or anything."
"Oh yeah, what are the odds of that?" Anna asked.
"Well, if Sven behaved like Hans did, I would say he deserved what punishment he got."
"Yeah, but you're not a Westergaard." Anna countered. Kristoff shrugged again.
"Well, you're right about that." he replied, "Just swallow your pride and be nice until he leaves and if he does anything fishy... well... we can just kick him right out of here. Literally. I'll let you do it." Anna smiled a little.
"There's a smile." Kristoff said, pulling a chair up next to her and putting an arm around her. "Just don't let it get to you. It's actually not too hard to shut out people you don't like. I do it all the time."
"But you don't like anybody." Anna said.
"Hey now, I like some people." Kristoff replied, smirking. "I like Sven. And you and Elsa. I like my family, I like Kai and most of the staff around here. I even like Olaf."
"I guess you are right about that."
"But everybody else? Nah, they don't do much for me." Kristoff said, shaking his head.
"Oh come on! You can't just not like everyone!" Anna protested. Kristoff raised an eyebrow.
"You wanna bet?"
"Seriously? You haven't even taken the time to know them!" Anna said, nudging him.
"Says the girl who has an intense hatred for a man she just met today just because he just so happens to share the same blood as one bad person?" Kristoff told her.
"I... I mean... oh... you- you..." Anna sputtered as Kristoff gave her a condescending look, "Oh... shut up! Why do you always have to be right?" Anna complained. Kristoff shrugged again.
"Are you forgetting who I grew up with?" Kristoff asked, referencing the rock trolls, "Everyone's a fixer upper. Even perfect princes. Just give him a chance."
Anna stuck out her lower lip in a pout and huffed, "Oh... all right. But if he screws up once, out he goes!"
Kristoff nodded to her. "I couldn't agree more. Now, we'd better get Sven out of here before we get in trouble."
