Authors note: Hy...I want to welcome you all to The Asher story.
This one much like the story Raspberry bush was one which I made but did not post it or anything for some reason which I could not remember now.
Any way, the story is a Frozen au and very loosely of the original version of Cinderella.
Summary:
Tired of having to take care of so many children Hans parents decide to send him away to be raised by another family. Said family was a good one and their influence helps him become a good man with many admirable qualities. Meanwhile after thinking about it Iduna decides that shutting the world away from Elsa would do more harm to her than good so she and Agnarr never do that or separate Anna from her sister.
At first each one lives their own lives, never thinking that anything would happen, till one day Hans looses his parents and is forced to return to the Southern isle's where he later on faces a revolution which leads to the death of the entire family, but his father, two brothers and his niece. Forced to flee they go to Arendelle where their other home is and stay there thanks to Agnarr giving them asylum. Bad relations turn worse as Hans is forced to take the role of servant in the house while trying to protect his sickly niece from their abuse.
Meanwhile Elsa is not fairing any better as she is constantly pushed to marriage by her father who wants to marry her off to a prince or king, plus having to hide to meet her sister who ran away to be with the one she loved.
Two different lives suddenly meet one day most unexpected, yet Hans and Elsa soon learn that them meeting might have just been the work of magic.
Any way...hope you all like it and please review when done...be honest.
Somewhere in kingdom of Corona:
The night was long, lights were dimmed through the kingdom as it was very much time to go to bed. Most of the people living there were already in their homes and either sleeping on their beds, having a late dinner or just some quality family time while the ones who were still out were either the night watch guards, the lantern lighters or street cleaners.
Those doing either worked hard as the pay was good, the hours were not too long, plus they enjoyed the quietness the night brought as there was nobody in the streets to bother them...or so they though.
Soon the quietness was disturbed by the sounds of clip clops that came from a horse drawn carriage, said carriage was a modest one which was being pulled by 4 fjord horses, the horses itself were an unusual sight as they were not a breed found in those parts. As it made its way up the cobble stone streets of Corona the street cleaners and night watch guards stopped and stared at the unusual sight, even tried to get a closer look to see who was inside, but found they were unable to as the carriage curtains were thick and black.
Though they could not see who was traveling inside they could heard one of the passengers, which was obviously a baby as it was crying... very loudly.
Shrugging the guards and workers would go back to their duties as the carriage left the town and pay no mind to it as they figured it was not of importance. Sadly though they were mistaken as inside the carriage the passengers was of royal birth and high of rank.
The oldest passange is a weasel looking man dressed in fine dignitary uniform that consisting of a dark blue coat with gold lining, wavy patterns on the collar, a red shirt underneath, medals on the right side of his coat, a red sash hanging diagonally from his left shoulder, epaulets with tassels, red cuffs at the end of his coat's sleeves, white gloves, gray pants, and black boots.
Oh his arms he carried a bundle of green cloth which was not only moving but was also where the crying sound came from.
While one warm held the fidgeting bundle the other ran his hand through his strawberry blond hair which was thinning before rubbing his tired blue eyes and pushing his glasses closer before he groaned because of a migraine caused by the little bundle he had to deliver to the Count and Countess De mointeiun of kingdom of Corona.
"Please shut up" he groaned as he wondered why did he had to do the delivery. He was a Duke, Duke Weselton, he climbed up the ranks of royals in not only Weselton, but also in other kingdoms as he had gained many connections to those by doing favors or just being useful to the rulers, anybody else should be doing this job, not him.
"I should have kept my mouth shut, but noooo I had to open my big mouth to show off and get more favors from the rulers of the Southern Isle's" though the Duke bitterly.
Flashback:
A party, that was what the Duke was expecting when he first arrived at the palace at the palace of the Southern isle's, he heard rumors that the queen was pregnant with her 13th child so the Duke arrived earlier for he knew that when the child was born there would be a grand party afterwards to welcome to the child.
"Perfect opportunities to get more favors" though the Duke in his head.
Sadly it was not the case for as soon as the baby was born there was no party or celebration of any sort, just a meeting and nothing more.
The duke was curious as when he got to the meeting held in the study he noticed it was just him and the two rulers, nobody else.
"Strange" he though as he bow down to the king and queen, the king was sitting in chair in front of the desk, the queen was standing next to him, she looked quite tired as her eyes had dark rings around it.
There was no mention of words for a bit, the king just motioned for the Duke to take a seat in front of him, which he did, it was the most uncomfortable chair he had ever sat on.
Watching the rulers said nothing, but the Duke had to admire them as they made a splendid looking couple.
The King Stephen was what a king should be, proud, burly man, dressed in the finest cloths of gold, purple and reds, his hair was a dark and styled to show off his strong and sharp features, his eyes were calculating and cold, can make even the haughtiest of aristocrat's bend to his will with just one glance.
Consort Queen Valhalla was beautiful with nobody to compare, one of 5 sisters, she was the youngest and the prettiest with her long luxurious golden hair that was picked up in an elegant bun, her skin was perfect, not a single mark or flaw to be found, not even all the births she had given managed to ruin her perfect figure, she indeed was the most beautiful woman in the world.
The silence continued, soon it became too much before the Duke decided to speak...as politely and as inferior as possible...Stephen never liked people speaking before him so the Duke had to handle this carefully.
"Um, your highness, in how may I be of service?" asked the Duke, looking at him the king said in a bored tone "Oh, your here",
"Because its an honor for me to serve you, if your need or desire anything I will make it happen" said the Duke, Stephen seemed pleased with those words as his eyes shone for a moment before saying "Yes, we do need something".
Getting up Stephen walked over to a window, looked out and said "You are aware that we now have a child...the 13th one",
"Yes, it is wonderful how fertile and many boys your wife have produced, you are the envy among all rulers-",
"We don't want it" said Stephen interrupting the Dukes flattery,
"I beg your pardon?" asked the Duke wondering if he heard right,
"We do not want it, it is just a waste of space and time, we already have 12 perfect boys, all of them are on their way to greatness, some already achieved it by marrying high and bringing victory" said Stephen,
"And I am sure this baby will do the same" said the Duke, true he was a ladder climber, but he still had a consciousness when it came to children,
"Are you deaf or did we not make ourselves clear?" said Valhalla before saying slowly "We do not want this baby",
"I understand your majesty, but with all due respect...that baby is your son and its already here...you cannot just do away with him...its a sin" said the Duke hoping that playing the religion card would bring some sense into them.
"We know that, that is why we asked you to come" said Stephen as he turned, his eyes placed firmly on the Duke, for a moment he felt fear as the king walked over and said "We hope you have a solution to this little dilemma".
Looking the Duke began to sweat a bit at the situation as he though of a way to spare the baby and at the same time keep the rulers happy...his eyes lit up as he remembered something...yes...that would work in his favor quite nicely.
"As a matter of fact...yes...I have a solution to this little dilemma your majesties...if you want me to voice it" said Duke humbly after a while,
"Speak up then...we most certainly want to hear it" commanded Stephen,
"Well in some countries in Europe it is very popular to send...extra children...away to be raised by other nobles...I heard it works quite well as they are both safe and the parents can focus their time and energy on other things" said the duke humbly then added "If I am correct, doesn't your queen have a distant relative on the Kingdom of Corona?, who works and is a high ranking court member of the court of Corona?",
"Yes, I do" said Valhalla wondering where this was going,
"Why not give the baby to them? They can raise the child and maybe if the King and Queen of Corona have a daughter we can set up an arrange marriage and if not then the your son might get a high position which would help solidify our trades and alliances" said the Duke in a rather impressive tone in hopes of getting them to agree.
The king and queen stared before thinking, for a moment the Duke began to fear that maybe they might not like or agree to his idea.
"Let it be so, now we must look for a noble family who can take the baby" said Stephen, the Duke let go of a breath he had been holding in because of anticipation,
"It is perfect solution to our problem" said Valhalla not at all sad that she was in a sense giving away her baby "And I know my cousin will say yes".
"How can you be so certain? If you do not mind me asking" said Duke curious,
"The poor thing is barren, cannot have children, thats why I know she will agree, she will give and do anything just to be able to raise a child" said Valhalla,
"Then its settled, we write a letter to your relative and once we get a reply we can send the baby over there" said Stephen as he turned and walked back to his desk, opening the drawer he took out a pen, paper and began to write down a letter.
The Duke smiled as he was happy that he both found a good solution for the baby and that he was now even in better terms with the rulers till he realized something "Wait...Who will escort the baby over to the?",
"Why you of course, you will escort the baby over to the Count and Countess De mointeiun of Corona" said Stephen as he signed the letter, placed it into an envelope and sealed it with a wax seal of the Southern isle crest,
"Me!? But but" said the Buke but decided to get quiet when they looked at him as if daring to say otherwise.
"As you wish your majesties" he said reluctangly.
End of flashback:
Babies were stupid...or so the Duke had heard...but not this one for as soon as the baby was given to him it had not stopped crying, day in and day out, even at night it would not stop crying.
It drove everybody mad as they could not take much noise and they could not figure out why the baby prince was screaming his head off like a banshee.
"Please shut up...I cannot take it anymore" pleaded the Duke he held the fidgeting red face crying infant as the carrige made its way to a home which was on a hill close to the country side of the Kingdom of Corona.
The home was not at all modest as it was a grand chateau made out of stone, easily 5 stories high and had two elaborate towers, on the back of the house there was a small clearing field full of all manners of vegetables, flowers, fruits and trees along with a nice pond, forest and a stable for the animals.
The entrance of the home was lit up as two people, man and woman were waiting. The man, who was Count Alexander De Mointeiun, was a tall and study man, a man of hard work as he came from a very humble back ground and humble upbribgings. He was a very famed merchant and explorer that has brought many riches to the crown of Corona. Even if he could dress in the most expensive clothes and clothes he did not as he was dressed very simple with a white shirt tucked under a blue and a gray cravat, brown pants and boots, his long straight platnium blond hair was tied in an elegant pony tail.
His wife who was next to him is Countess Amelia De mointeiun, she is known as a very good and virtues woman, though considered a bit odd as she was a woman who always seemed to be way ahead of her time. Yet she had a heart of gold who has touched and changed many lives for the better. She wore a simple white dress with many pretty flower patterns on it, her curly ginger hair was done in a simple braid with flowers.
As the carrige pulled to a stop the Duke wondered if this was the right place. Sure the chateau was big and grand, but he was expecting a bit more from what he heard from the pair as they were so rich they could easily afford to live in a castle and dress like rulers.
"Never mind that...lets just drop the baby off and get it done with" decided the Duke as he wanted to get as far away from the screaming baby as possible.
"I am never having children" he promised himself as he got out of the carriage, careful with the infant and walked over to the pair,
"Are you the count and countess De Mointeiun?" the Duke asked,
"Yes, but please call us by our names" said the Count or Alexander as he was known, his wife Amelia clutched unto her Husbands arm in exitment. "Are you..ahem..Are you Duke Weaseltown who was sent to deliver the baby to us?",
"Its Weselton!...yes yes here...for I am running late" said the Duke rather irritated at how people would mispronounce the name of his home, but he decided not to show more angry as he was happy to hand the baby over to Amelia... who was more than happy to take the baby off of his hands.
Holding the screaming baby she began to coo at him while Alexander laughed and said "The boy has a good pair of lungs, that is very good",
"Yes he does..now off I go" said the Duke as he quickly turned around and made a mad dash to his to the carriage.
"Wait; What is the little princes name?" asked Alexander as he went after the Duke,
"I don't know" said the Duke as he got on the carriage and locked the door to make sure Alexander would not get in,
"What do you mean you do not know? And what about raising him? How does the king and queen want us to raise him?" Asked Alexander as he stopped next to the carriage,
"I don't know, he is your problem now" said the Duke as the carriage sped off leaving the Count and Countess alone with the crying baby.
Scratching the back of his head Alexander turned to look at Amelia who somehow managed to calm the baby down.
"There there...your okay" she cooed. He smiled as she seemed quite content with the child but he was worried about the lack of info of the royal child as he walked over and said "We have to write a letter to the King and Queen of the southern isle, let them know that the baby-",
"Lets name him Hans" said Amelia happily,
"Excuse me what?" asked Alexander confused,
"I always said that if I had a baby boy I would name him Hans...its a good name you know...means precious gift" said Amelia as she turned and walked back into the manor then cooed at the baby "What do you think little Hans? You like that name".
"Amelia be reasonable, we cannot name a child which is not ours" said Alexander as he walked behind his wife, hoping to get some sense into her,
"Sure we can, we will be the one who will raise him...oh oh..we should have a welcoming party for him...we can invite everybody" continued Amelia happy.
"Amelia" said Alexander exasperated but as he did he saw his parents walk down the grand staircase of their home, holding candelabras as they were wondering what the commotion was about.
"Oh great" winced Alexander, he knew his parents would be of no help in this situation,
"What's all the yelling at this hour?" asked his mother, she wore a long night dress and her light brown and white hair was tucked into a night cap,
"Are you two fighting? Come on now, you two are always happy; Why fight about small details?" Said Alexanders father as he yawned, he was once a strong man in his youth, he served in the military as Admiral for many years, even at this age you could see traces of the man who he was when he was young, he like his wife was wearing sleepwear which was a night shirt and a night cap, his blond and white hair could be seen peeking from it,
"We are not fighting mother and father, we are just-" began Alexander,
"A baby!" Cried his mom out in happiness interrupting him when she spotted the baby Amelia was carrying.
The two elderly parents ran over, in the process almost knocking Alexander to the side as they went to Amelia and began to coo over the baby.
"Oh look at him" cooed the mother,
"His name is Hans" said Amelia happily as she held the baby who looked at them with tired eyes,
"Its about time you two give us a grandchild; Now I have somebody to pass on my knowledge!" said the father boisterously,
"You? What about me!? Finally! I have a grandchild to spoil" said the mother happily,
"Just you wait, I will teach little Hans everything that I know" said the father as he took baby Hans and held him "He will be in the military like me and who knows he will wind up being a guard for the king..no no better! He will be the king own personal body guard!".
The mother looked before taking the baby and slapping the back of her husbands head before saying
"Military!? You must be joking, look at the baby, its very obvious he will grow up to be a vey handsome young man..oh I know! I will teach him court ettique, in time when he is older he will be able to join the corona court and who knows..he might wind up being married to a duchess...no no...better the a princess yess! A princess...just imagen crown prince Hans of corona".
"You lost your mind woman from reading all those romance books! You know marrying into royalty is almost impossible" said the father to his wife,
"It is not impossible" snapped the mother,
"Please Agatha, Thor, lets not fight about it, that is a long time from now, lets just focus on the now" said Amelia as she managed to stop the argument and took baby Hans back into her arms,
"Hummm your right...those are grown up things he should not need to bother with now" said Thor,
"I know, lets focus on now...like when is the welcoming party! I need the whole kingdom to know that we have the grandson" said Agatha and so the conversation continued.
Seeing that they had all gone baby crazy Alexander decided to let them be and write a letter to the king and queen himself.
He knew his whole family wanted and child..even he wanted a child..but that baby was not his, plus it was a royal baby which he needed to know how the parents wanted to take care of him.
"I need to do things properly...because it he is not raised how they want then heads will roll" though Alexander before leaving for his study leaving behind his wife and parents who were still busy with the baby whom they named Hans.
3 months later:
A carriage traveled through the lonely road pass the Chateau of the De mointeiun, watching from the window of his study Alexander was hopeful till it went pass his home without even stopping.
Sighting he closed the window and walked out of his study in defeat.
For weeks he had been trying to get in touch with the rulers of the Southern isle's...Hans parents...as the baby was now named Hans and would very much likely never respond to any other name.
"Why are they not answering my letters?" though Alexander as he walked down the hall and through the rooms to the kitchen where their cook was busy preparing lunch.
"Good day my lord" said the cook happily,
"Good day Muriel...Have you seen my wife and my mother?" asked Alexander as he discreetly tried to dip his finger into the icing bowl only for Muriel to gently slap it away,
"Sir, please...and where they are I know, they went to town to have tea with the ladies" said Muriel as she took the icing bowl away and added "They took master Hans with them",
"WHAT!?" yelled Alexander before he turned and ran to the stables where he got on a horse, not bothering to saddle it and galloped away to town.
He could not believe that his wife and mother just went out to parade Hans as if he was their child when he was not.
Light laugher could be heard coming from an inn which was known for tea and bunches. It was a simple building yet covered in many beautiful paintings, inside some woman of different ages were drinking some tea and speaking about every day things till the door slammed open.
"Alex?" asked Amelia worried as she got up, Alex, who was red in the face and even disheveled from his horse ride walked over breathing through his teeth,
"Calm down Alex, take a deep breath" said Amelia worried as she walked over, took him by the arm and dragged him to the table before sitting him down.
"Is that your son?" asked one of the elderly woman to Agatha,
"Yes, don't worry, he gets like that when he gets too serious about things" said Agatha not worried,
"Now honey, tell me whats wrong" said Amelia softly as she ran her hand gently through his own, after taking a couple of breaths Alexander finally said "The baby...where is he?",
"Oh the baby, he is such a cutie" said one of the friends,
"I know, you two are lucky parents" said another,
"He is not our baby! and that is why I have to be serious with this matter!" snapped Alexander,
"Take it easy, adopting makes you no less of a parents, quite frankly I'd say you got the pick of the litter" said another as the others nodded their heads in agreement,
"Mother, you will tell me where the baby is right now" said Alexander angrily, which he quickly regretted with the way his mother looked at him.
Rising up Agatha scolded "You do not take that tone of voice with me young man! I am your mother and as such I raised you to be respectful of me and your elders! Is that clear?".
Swallowing a bit in fear Alexander nodded quickly, even at that age his mother still terrified him, "Now, ask nicely and don't call the baby baby, he has a name you know and its Hans" said Agatha,
"...Mom...can you please tell me where Hans is?..." Alexander asked meekly,
"Better, now Hans is with your father, he wanted to take his grandson to meet his naval buddies at the port" said Agatha,
"Thank you mother dear" said Alexander before he got up and ran out of the establishment quickly,
"You raised such a good boy Agatha" complimented one of her friends,
"I know" said Agatha with a smile.
Corona port:
The port of Corona was right now during its most quietest times as the merchant boats had either not arrived from their voyages and those who did arrived were there to rest for a couple of weeks before taking off again.
So there was not much people there except the boat inspectors, sailors who were doing repairs and some guards which worked securing the area.
"By God Thor, you did not tell us you had a grandson" said one of the old guards, there was a group of them who despite their age and the fact that they were retired they still made rounds to make sure that the young ones were doing their job correctly.
"Yes, careful, he may be small, but he is quite strong" said Thorn with a smile, he wore his old uniform, which had been mended many times to fit him as he grew old, he held Hans who fidgeted a bit, in his perspective this was all rather scary as all day he had been surrounded by strangers who would either speak strangely or pinched his cheeks or were just too close, then he would be passed around to strangers which he did not like at all.
"Are you planning on having him join the naval military?" asked one of the guards as he took a drag of his pipe,
"Are you kidding? You are looking at an admiral in the making" said Thor boisterously,
"May the Lord hear you, now a days the new recruits are not what they used to be, I sware a horse can do a better job" said another, the rest nodded in agreement.
"Father!" they heard, looking they saw Alexander ridding his horse over, pulling he stopped the horse before getting off and walking over,
"Hello Alex, I was just going to-", Thor was not able to speak as Alexander quickly took Hans and left without saying a word,
"What's wrong with him?" asked one of the soldiers,
"Not sure, maybe first time father jitters?" said Thor as he though.
Back at the Chateau:
Slowing down his horse from running to walking Alexander guided the horse to the stables, Hans cooed at him, the baby surprisingly did not mind the horse ride, in fact he seemed to enjoy the horse ride.
Getting to the stables Alexander got off of the horse which he gave it to the stable hand and made his way into the home. Looking up at him Hans cooed,
"Look, I am sorry, I know I am acting weird" said Alexander as he went inside and walked up the stairs to his study, Hans cooed again,
"I know, its just hard, I am trying to do what is right, your not our kid, your the child of a king and queen, a prince, I cannot raise you or treat you like I would to my own son...if I had one.." said Alexander sighting as he entered his study and sat down on one of the couches, Hans in his lap, looking at him with green eyes which showed innocence.
"Why am I telling you this? You do not understand me or know what is going on" groaned Alexander as he placing his hand on his forehead then froze when Hans moved so he was resting his head on Alexanders head and wrapped his little hands around him as if on a hug.
Sighting Alexander placed his arm on the baby, holding him, he felt torn in two, one side reminded him that this child was not his and he had parents who expected him to be raised a certain way, but the other side told him that his parents had not replied any of the letters, which probably meant they do not really care for Han...they did not even name him...What kind of parents do that?
"Alex" he heard.
Looking Alexander saw his wife, his angel, standing in the doorway, her ginger hair had white baby breaths making her hair look shiny, her dress was white with a pattern of forget-me-nots on it. With a smile that could make any diamond look dull she walked over and took his hand.
"I know its not easy, but trust me when I say it...lets raise and love Hans like he was our own" she said "I know his family, if they did not answer your letter then it means they don't even want him, so lets toss caution into the wind and do things our way".
Alexander though about it for a bit, then smiled and said "Yes, we shall".
Laughing happy Amelia hugged and kissed her husband before kissing Hans little head, together both Amelia and Alexander made a silent promise, that they would be the very best parents to Hans so that he would grow up to be a good man in the future.
To be continued...
Authors note: Well the story is starting, the next few ones will be slow as you will see Hans growing, then with Elsa as she is not shut out from the world and Anna. :)
Hope you all liked it, please review and stay tuned for the next one.