Anna was playing quietly in her room as she had been told at least a hundred times since morning, and like she had been told every day that week. Why did everyone change all of a sudden? Once in a while she would slowly creak the door open and peek out, only to find servants talking in hushed tones and shooing her back into her room. She huffed her bangs out of her face and took her dolls with her to her window.
"How long do you think Elsa is going to stay away?" she asked them, but she was answered with silence. She sighed despondently, "I don't know either." Anna turned excitedly when she saw the royal guards bustling around the port. A new ship was docking! She hoped her papa would introduce them at dinner tonight. Anna peeked out of her room, and there were no servants to be seen. She took off her shoes and slid down the hall to Elsa's door. Tapped on the door, she called out to her sister hopefully.
"I'm not playing with you anymore, Anna," Elsa snapped without opening the door.
Anna tried not to tear up, and rubbed away the feeling in her eyes. Elsa would come out eventually. She just had to. Anna continued down the hall, looking for something to do, and came to the top of the staircase where she saw who the new ship had brought. Her papa was walking with three men. The tallest was talking with the king, while the other two walked silently a few paces behind, observing the palace. The one who looked like the youngest noticed her at the staircase. She squealed a little; he looked like he might want to play with her. The king noticed Anna and beckoned her down.
"This is my youngest, Princess Anna," he introduced to the men. She shyly waved and hoped they didn't notice her lack of shoes. Her governess was always cross about that. "Anna, This is Duke Anton of the Southern Iles. He is escorting the young princes Davin and Hans of the Southern Iles." the king introduced the men to Anna. Anna tried to copy what her governess had been teaching her recently. She attempted a curtsy in her play dress as best as she could and mumbled how lovely it was to meet them in an unconfident voice. They all bowed politely nonetheless and returned the greeting. "The princes were scheduled to come and learn about us as a trading partner as part of their schooling, so they'll be here all summer," he told Anna, "You shouldn't disturb them if they're with their tutors, understand?" Anna nodded quietly, because her governess always said it wasn't polite to ramble or squeal in front of her papa's guests. The two princes could play with her when they weren't studying! How hard could Arendelle be? She understood it perfectly fine.
Anna must have underestimated how hard a country could be. Over the course of the last two weeks, the only time the princes weren't with their tutors, the duke, or her papa studying was at mealtimes. However, Anna had discovered that, if she followed and asked Hans for long enough, he would often cave to her requests and play with her. Especially if he was studying with her papa, because she would give her best face that would melt her papa in a moment, and then Hans had to play with her. Sometimes, she would just ask to be included in the lesson, and scooch as close as she could to Hans on the bench, while she practiced her alphabet. In one of the lessons she sat in, the tutor gave them a small break between subjects.
"Did you know I'm five years old? I turn six in four and a half months. That seems really far away, huh? When's your birthday, Hans?" Anna turned to him.
Hans stayed focused on something in his book, but answered shortly, "Last month. I turned ten."
"Wow, that means its a whole eleven months until its your birthday again." Anna observed. Hans didn't respond, and continued to read. "We got a break to rest our brains, you know. That's what breaks are for. You don't have to keep studying." He just continued reading in his book, not paying her any attention. She huffed at this, and grabbed the little booklet the tutor had made for her, "I don't like this anymore. Tell Mr. Tutor I'm just going to practice more on my own."
Prince Davin finally looked up from his book once the little girl left the room. He smirked at his brother and said, "You really should pay more attention to her. It's probably the last time a noblewoman of any high status actually pursues you, number thirteen." Hans resented the fact that he came here with Davin. He was seventeen years old, and Hans felt upstaged by him every day because his brother just took to this trade stuff so much easier than he did. It didn't help that that annoying child kept interrupting his studies.
"I don't need a five year old to do better than you, Davin," Hans gritted his teeth and tried to study even more intensely than before.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Hans? She's six years old in four and a half months," Davin mocked him and the small girl.
Anna had gone straight to her father's study from the library. If she talked to her papa, then maybe Hans could study less and play with her more. She knocked quickly and announced her presence. Her father told her to come in. He had been reading at his desk, but he stood up to greet his daughter. He noticed her furrowed little brow immediately.
"What's wrong, Anna? Are your dolls alright?" he asked in concern. She just reached up for a hug, and her father picked her up and held her.
"No, they're fine, Papa. I just don't have anyone to play with. Elsa doesn't come out anymore, and Hans doesn't like me." Anna pouted.
"My darling Anna, I'm sure that's not it. Prince Hans would be lucky to spend time with you. I think he's just busy trying to study like his older brother." the king tried to assure her. Anna continued to pout, and a confused look in her eyes showed the king that she didn't understand entirely. "I have a deal for you," he proposed, "You go spend the rest of the day with your governess, and I bet by tomorrow, Prince Hans will be playing with you every day until the end of summer."
"Do you really think he will?" Anna asked, with her eyes brimming up with hope. He just chuckled a bit and set her down.
"Remember- you have to stay with the governess today," the king said, then he squatted down to look Anna in the eyes. She just looked so eager to have anyone pay her any attention. He pet her hair gently and teased, "You really like this Prince Hans, don't you?" She pushed the hand off of her hair.
"Papa, I don't like him. I never want to like boys like that, gross," Anna wrinkled her nose at the thought. With that, she scurried out of the room back to her governess, knowing Hans would play with her soon enough.
"Ms Krista! Guess what, guess what!" Anna burst into her playroom where her governess was sitting in a chair, darning some of Anna's stockings. Krista looked a little older than her mama, but had lovely blonde hair that she could do in beautiful and intricate braids. Ms Krista used to spend afternoons teaching the princesses to do their hair with beautiful braids like she did. Her skin looked a little worn by the sun, but Anna still thought her governess as very pretty. She looked up from her work, and frowned slightly.
"Princess Anna, if you insist on always taking off your shoes, then we might have to start gluing them to your feet," she sighed, "You create all of this extra work for me." She waved the stockings she was currently darning to make a point. "I can barely repair them as quickly as you tear them."
Anna cast her eyes down and apologized, "I'm very sorry, Ms Krista. I didn't know."
The governess's eyes softened, and she beckoned over the child over. She smoothed out the girl's hair, then her skirts, and inspected the little princess for any new stains or holes. She sighed in relief to find none.
"And you definitely know better than to burst into a room yelling like that," Krista chided gently.
Anna nodded silently. Krista released Anna from her inspection, and finally asked what was going on.
"Papa said that Prince Hans would start playing with me tomorrow!" Anna announced joyfully, "I don't think they're making him study anymore. He'll be so happy." Krista didn't burst Anna's little bubble of imagination. She could only imagine how thrilled the young prince would be to be forced to be Anna's new playmate. She was, however, honestly quite glad Anna would get another playmate to keep her out of trouble. They spent the rest of the afternoon practicing writing, and Anna could copy a paragraph from one of her primers without an error by the time dinner was announced.
On an average day, the royal family would take almost all of their meals privately, due to conflicting schedules. However, since there were visiting dignitaries, every meal was in the family's dining hall. It was about half the size of the banquet hall, and this table only sat eight people. On one wall hung Arendelle's flag. It was the largest commissioned to date and took up the entire wall. The wall across from that held the queen and king's family crests and two brightly polished suits of armor from a past war that Anna wasn't old enough to recall.
Anna was the last to come tonight, so she quietly took her seat. Everyone was already eating their food and making light conversation. Her parents sat at the heads of the table, the princesses sat to the king's right, and the princes and duke sat to his left. Meals were definitely Anna's favorite times of the day. She got to sit next to Elsa and see Hans.
"What did you do today, Elsa?" Anna asked.
Elsa gave her a quick side glance, and continued scooping up her vegetables.
"I was just reading, like always," she replied.
Undeterred, Anna continued, "What did you read today? Is it any good? Do you think I would like it?"
Elsa didn't make any eye contact, but replied sharply, "No Anna. You can't even read. How could you possibly like anything I read?"
When they were all assembled for meals, Hans would almost feel bad for Anna. Almost. At least Elsa still responded to her. When Hans left home, three of his brother were still pretending he didn't exist for the past year. He thought of how hard he worked for attention, and how Anna vied for anyone's attention. He was shaken from his thoughts by a nudged from his brother. The king was addressing Hans.
"Yes, Prince Hans," he began, "I think its admirable how you're taking such an interest in international affairs. Every good leader should. I think that the subject might be a bit too taxing for your age though."
Hans quickly interrupted the king, "Not at all, Your Majesty! I love learning, and I stay up very late so I can try to learn lessons ahead of time too. I'm really enjoying this opportunity."
Hans was so worried that the king wasn't pleased with him, and that he would send little Hans home before he even had a chance at all. His brother jabbed him again for interrupting the king, and Hans apologized.
"Don't worry about it, my boy. A fiery spirit is also important as a leader, but you are only the thirteenth son," the king reminded him.
Hans started boiling in anger. How could his lineage matter so far away in such a small country? "The duke and I have talked, and we decided that you should spend more time relaxing here. Anna could always use a playmate, and you can always return and learn when you're older. Like your brother, Davin." At this Davin let a smirk quickly play on his face before letting it fall, and Anna gasped happily.
"Oh, it'll be so great, Hans! I can show you all the great places in the castle and we can play all day. I can't wait," Anna assured him.
Hans couldn't believe it. Even away from eleven of his brothers, he managed to be snubbed by the king.
"Please, Your Majesty. This isn't necessary. I'm perfectly fine studying with my brother," Hans desperately tried to argue.
"Don't be foolish. I was 'perfectly fine' to study at your age too, but going out and enjoying yourself while you still can is infinitely better," the king countered. The king's word was final, and, much to Hans' dismay, the duke didn't appear to disagree with the idea. His brother nudged him a final time to tell Hans to do what Hans knew he should say.
He begrudgingly said, "Thank you for this new opportunity, Your Majesty."
Hans found Anna was patiently waiting at his door after breakfast when he opened the door the next morning. He was hoping she would leave him alone, but it seemed like she was going to take full advantage of this situation.
"I think we should go to the stables today! I love going there to brush all of the horses' manes and feeding them," Anna explained as she pulled the older boy along the hallway.
Hans was silently relieved with this knowledge. He always loved riding and horses. This could be tolerable. They stopped by the kitchen, where the staff obliged Anna with an empty bucket to go pick apples with.
"I like to pick the apples right before going. It makes them extra juicy," Anna told him.
He didn't argue with her logic, and he helped boost her up to pick some of the lower hanging apples. "Doesn't that apple look just perfect?" Anna gushed and pointed at an apple just out of their reach.
"I think we have enough for now, Anna," Hans warned.
It was too late to stop Anna though. She already started her climb up the limbs, and quickly picked her apple.
"Can you catch it if I throw it down?" Hans knew he could, it wasn't that far of a distance.
"Sure, you just make sure to climb down safely. I don't think you should be up there," he said nervously.
The little princess didn't seem aware that the branch she was sitting on was creaking and bowing. Luckily, she climbed her way down before an accident.
"You should be more cautious, Princess. You could've been hurt," Hans almost yelled at her.
"But I'm safe, and you were there for me. I trust you," she beamed up at him. He couldn't believe how delusional this kid was.
Anna and Hans had tended to almost half of the horses when they took a quick break to drink some water.
"I can't wait til I'm big enough to start riding," Anna sighed, "Papa said I might start for my next birthday."
"You've never rode?" Hans questioned.
"Nope," she answered, "But this one right here is mine to take care of. Her name is Skates."
She pet the horse they had just fed, and scratched right underneath the chin.
"Do you want to try sitting on her? I can help you. I've been riding since I was your age," Hans offered.
He was glad he shared something the princess; it would make it bearable to spend time with her. Anna squealed a yes, and with the stool they had been using earlier Hans helped her mount Skates in a ladylike, sidesaddle fashion.
"Oh this is wonderful!" Anna exclaimed, "I can't wait to start my lessons."
Hans helped her down after Anna had her fun, and then back to the ground. Anna enveloped him into the biggest hug she could muster.
"You're absolutely wonderful, Hans. I love playing with you," she sighed.
It struck Hans so oddly. While she hadn't said 'I love you,' it was the closest he had ever received from someone. He patted her back awkwardly, and thanked her. As long as they stayed in the stables, maybe he could tolerate her.
A/N: So here is the first chapter of my first full length Frozen story. I plan on posting once a week, probably on Sundays. I don't own anything. I'm just a weird, but totally functioning adult, that likes to think about relationships between animated characters. Constructive criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading
