I looked at her from a distance.
If only…
If only she gave me the chance.
If only I had the words to woo her with.
Then just maybe-just maybe I would have that chance…
Would it be wise for me to speak first or should it need to be her?
I met her younger sister earlier, so naïve. Sad to say that for a princess she lacked class.
But looking at Elsa, was the exact opposite of the other princess.
There was something about that look in her eye. It was the kind of look that made a man look deeper. She was shy but she was confident…how could that be?
"I declare thee, Queen Elsa!"
My body instantly went upright to cheer her on.
Queen Elsa.
The Ice Queen.
Music soared in the air.
I kept my eye out for her.
The queen was just standing up there alone.
Could this be my chance?
A flash of strawberry-blond hair took away from my view.
Dammit.
Anna.
"Prince Hans!" a strangers voice exclaimed.
My focus immediately came to halt.
"Oh my apologies your majesty! Did I scare you?"
I shrugged with a smile, "It's alright; I seemed to have been blanking out this entire day. How do you do?" I bowed to the stranger. He bowed back.
"She's quite beautiful isn't she?"
I felt the chagrin rush to my cheeks. I didn't think I'd get noticed. "Who? the princess or the queen?" There was no need to hide the fact that she was the one I was looking at, but I couldn't let my true intentions come out.
"Personally, they're both beautiful…hmm. That's actually a really hard one." He put a finger to his chin. "Damn, I'm not sure actually. It's weird for me to even say that Princess Anna is better. I mean the girl is only 16 and I'm you know, not a teenager so I'll go with Queen Elsa for today."
He grinned at me, "So what about you, prince?"
I smiled right back at him. "Well I'm not exactly sure, " I lied, "I guess I'll say princess Anna, I mean I'm not too old so I guess this is okay to say she's a rather cute girl."
The stranger nodded in approval and abruptly stopped, "My name's Flynn, sometimes I go by Eugene but that's only if you know me well enough." He added.
"A pleasure."
We shook hands.
"So where are you coming from Flynn?"
"Corona. You?"
"The Southern Isles."
"Ah, that's awesome. Wait that's the kingdom with like 10 heirs right?" He asked.
"No, 13 actually."
"Oh," he said.
I sighed, "I'm actually the 13th, not that you care or anything but it's just a useless fact I bring up for people to laugh at."
He only chuckled and gave a quick pat on the back, "Hey, it could be worse…err like being 14th in line!"
I shook my head and chuckled right with him. That's right. It could be worse.
A small girlish voice interrupted us, "Hey Eugene! There you are! I've been looking for you! I told you I wanted to dance already so come on!"
The shorthaired brunette realized she cut us off at the first glance of me, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…um hi there."
"Oh er, Prince Hans this is my wife, Princess Rapunzel."
She smiled at me and nodded, "Nice to meet you, Prince Hans. I didn't mean to interrupt so rudely back there, it's just that Eugene promised me a dance and he just went off and disappeared. It took me a while to find you guys, you're practically hidden in the corner of the room."
"No it's okay, I'll hurry on I was just about to leave."
"Oh okay, well hopefully we meet again sometime!"
I smiled while walking away. I guess it was time for me to go.
This stupid plan wouldn't have worked anyways.
I looked around.
From a distance I saw the younger princess dancing with an old man. It looked like she was definitely not enjoying this dance.
Wait. Did this mean the queen was alone now? My eyes darted back to where she was. She was still there, only playfully giggling at humiliation of her sister. Could this be my chance?
I cleared my throat. This would be my only opportunity.
She looked at me with a surprised look; she hadn't seen me walk up to her.
"Queen Elsa?"
"Hello there," her voice was lower than I expected.
"Hello, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. It's truly a pleasure to meet you in person, Queen Elsa." I bowed.
She only nodded, "Ah yes one of our favorite trading partners."
I smiled.
"So tell me, how are your brothers?"
A felt my cheeks begin to frown at the word brothers. "If you mean all of them, well then they're doing great actually. Except for Alexander, he's been having those women troubles with the wife and it's starting to rub off on the rest of us brothers. I've told him to leave the kingdom for a while and take a small break except he told me sod off since I'm the younger brother that knows nothing about women apparently. Oh I'm sorry I'm just rambling on now, I should stop."
She gave me the smallest smile that made my heart thump in my ears.
"A little more information than I needed but it's fine."
I laughed and apologized once again.
Quick. Come up with something to say. This could be my only chance to possibly sway her.
But I couldn't read her. She was so hard to read.
It didn't look like she even wanted to be here, let alone be talking to me, a stranger.
She looked confident, but only comfortable if alone.
I had to make her comfortable somehow.
"Queen Elsa, how does it feel now? To be queen I mean."
She looked at the ground then back at me. She let out a small chuckle, "To tell you the truth Prince Hans, it's wonderful so far, but I just keep thinking of my parents…uh I mean. I'm sorry that slipped out. Being queen is wonderful."
"I'm sure your parents would have been proud of you've become."
She let out a small scoff, "That's what I mean."
I cocked my head to the side, "What do you mean your majesty."
Elsa bit her lip and looked as if she was debating what to day next.
"You don't need to tell me if you don't feel like telling me, besides you just met me."
She smiled, "Well it's no secret really. So I might as well tell you." She smiled and held her hands together, "This should just be and 18th birthday party. Not my coronation party. My parents should have been presenting me today, not a priest."
I lost my words. What was I to say? She revealed so much more than I expected.
"Sorry, it seems that I rambled to much on also," she sighed.
I waved my hands, "No no no, please don't take my silence for discomfort. It's just that I'm trying to understand what it could possibly feel. It's hard to grasp."
"Huh, I can only imagine. I mean you still have all your 13 brothers and both your parents, so I can see how you can never be alone."
I looked back at ground and chuckled nervously, "Yeah, I'm never lonely. Ever."
We made eye contact. Her eyes were like ice cutting into me, cold.
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. This wasn't like me to be so stumped on what to say to anyone. This wasn't like me one bit.
"Elsa!"
We both turned our heads to the voice.
It was a disheveled Anna who looked as she was ready to throw up. "Well, hi there Hans."
I bowed to her, "Nice to see you again today Princess Anna. May I ask what happened to you?"
Anna turned red, probably due to embarrassment, "I er, had an accident. I fell actually, not that I'm clumsy or anything. It's just that, the duke stepped on my dress and ended up landing on a stranger who ended up kicking me after I fell… I just need to lay down."
Elsa giggled and called over a servant.
A disgruntled Anna sat in the corner with an ice pack covering her face.
"Well," said Elsa, "That's Anna for you. Not the most poised person in the room but that's her."
I laughed.
"So I take it that you don't dance Queen Elsa?"
"It's not really my thing actually, that whole fiasco with my sister and the duke was all because of me. I could send Anna off with you if you'd really like to."
I laughed again, "I'm okay. I don't want to be sending anyone to the infirmary because of me."
She smiled at me. Thump.
I cleared my throat, oh what else was there to talk about? Elsa was so composed I wasn't even sure what to say to her, one wrong move and she will know. I can lose her so easily. If I make her the slightest bit uncomfortable, then I lost my chance with her.
"Would you like a drink Prince Hans? It seems like we've been talking for quite some time and you haven't had a single thing to drink."
"Well, I er, sure why not?" I couldn't deny the drink from her. It's the first act of kindness she has offered for me. If I were to say no, she could take offense from it.
I liked to keep my mind completely alert, but maybe if I invited her to a drink also she wouldn't feel so closed.
She waived down one of her servers and they quickly came with two drinks in their hands.
"Here you are, your majesty."
She looked reluctant for a moment. Maybe she only wanted a drink for me, could it be that she saw my nervousness all along? Was this her way of helping me to relax?
That was a strong possibility.
She reached for both the drinks and handed one to me, "Well, cheers."
"To what would it be to? The toast, I mean."
I smiled, "How about to acquaintanceship?"
She smiled, "Yes, acquaintanceship."
Our glasses clinked at touch.
The first gulps did soothe my throat and I was feeling a bit warmer after a couple more gulps.
We continued talking for the night, I'm not really sure what but I just remember staring at her face and making her blush twice.
Any chance I had at swaying her diminished almost immediately whenever I seemed to have an opportunity with her. This woman was so locked up. But I wasn't close to giving up on her.
She was a queen. Not just any queen.
She was the Ice Queen.
She could be mine.
But I needed a chance to show her that I was worthy.
Our cups emptied fast and a server soon came to hand us brand new ones.
"So Prince Hans," she started.
"No need for formalities, just call me Hans."
"Hans," she corrected herself, "tell me, how come you came alone to Arendale, while the rest of your family is back home?"
I felt myself get a little hot. I could tell her the truth, but it would be to soon. Some girls would find the truth flattering, but with Elsa, I wasn't so sure.
"I'm here to start a life as a dignitary actually. Since I'll most likely never reach the throne I might as well reach a better position than a prince."
She nodded understandingly, "Is that why you've been so nervous this whole night Hans? Because this is the first day of your representation?"
"Yes, that's exactly why." I lied.
The dignitary story was true, but the nervous part was false… I wasn't nervous about today, it was actually all because of her.
I needed to be with her… she was to be mine, but only if she let me be hers.
I really wanted her to like me. That's what I needed.
She waved down a server for another drink.
We clinked our glasses once again.
She was slightly blushing again. She took another sip of her drink.
I held my breath and hoped for the best for what I was about to say.
"So Queen Elsa-"
"Hans-"
We both started laughing.
"You first Queen."
She giggled, "I was hoping that you would accompany me for a walk down the palace gardens."
My mouth gaped open. Was this my chance?
Was the ice queen finally letting me in?
The wine definitely did help crack her open though.
The music swayed in the air, Rapunzel and Flynn were in the crowd of dancers, while a still injured Anna was starting to fall asleep with a melting ice pack on her head.
My mouth finally managed to use its words, "Of course, your highness. It would be my honor."
She smiled, "Right this way."
She led me out the room and down the hallways.
This was me finally getting the chance.
I needed her.
I needed Queen Elsa.
It was just for me.
It had to be for me, otherwise, I was a dead man.
I was going to die without Elsa and I needed her love to keep me alive.
"C'mon Hans," she grabbed my arm.
Thump. My god, this woman would be my life.