He'd been in Arendelle almost a year now. Sitron had his own stable, and Hans knew most of the palace staff by name. Everyone always seemed pleased to see him (now that was a pleasant change) and Anna didn't suspect a thing. Hans had often worried that Elsa had somehow seen through his charade, what with her frosty reception and immediate dismissal of their engagement at the coronation ball, but he had since been put at ease. Living in the palace had showed him that the Queen was a very insular person, though fiercely protective of her younger sister despite the odd rift between them. He'd noticed her watching them closely whenever all three of them were present at supper, or if they ever happened to run into one another in the palace or grounds – though that happened very rarely – and Hans had made sure to put on a show for her, though not too much of one that it might be suspicious. She had not blessed their marriage quite yet, but Hans knew he had won her over already; about two months ago she had stopping watching him as closely as before, and – more notably – there were less guards patrolling Anna's wing of the palace than there had been when he'd first taken up residence. He sometimes wondered if this meant he had some sort of tacit approval to visit Anna in the night, something he often liked to indulge in now that it was easier to slip into her room unnoticed. He could feel that Elsa would give her blessing soon enough, and knew that the time to take action was fast approaching.
So when Hans was strolling through the palace one day, only to turn a corner to find Elsa alone and unguarded, he couldn't help but feel like life was giving him a little push in the right direction. Being the thirteenth son meant Hans had never really believed in luck, but it seemed as if today might just be his lucky day.
"Your majesty!" He called out, quickening his pace to catch up with her.
Elsa paused and turned around, a shadow briefly flitting over her face before she smiled at him. It wasn't what one would call warm, but it was a smile nonetheless – certainly an improvement from his first few months here.
"Such a pleasure to run into you today," He fell into step beside her, hands folded behind his back.
"And you," She inclined her head slightly, as aloof as always, though the crease that used to appear between her brows whenever she saw him had long since stopped appearing.
Elsa was never pleased to see him, but that honestly didn't matter much to Hans. She'd be gone soon enough, anyway; as long as she didn't actively disapprove of him anymore, that was enough to seal the deal.
"Forgive me for sounding repetitive… but have you thought any more on the matter of my engagement to Anna?"
He wasn't sure what he was expecting her to say, but it didn't hurt to try. Fortune favoured the bold, after all – though he wasn't quite prepared for Elsa's reply.
"Actually I have. I think you've proven that this isn't a fleeting interest you have in my sister, and I've seen you treat her with nothing but kindness and respect."
"So…you've reconsidered?" He could hardly believe his ears, and was glad that it was appropriate for him to appear elated at this news.
"Yes. I was just speaking with a few of my advisors, actually. I've decided that you can make it official the day after the anniversary of my coronation, considering it'll be a round year since you met."
Finally. After all this time he was one step closer to his goal, and damned if he didn't deserve it.
"That's wonderful!" He paused, considering her words. "So, the advisors already know?"
"Yes. I actually talked with them a bit about it, and they seemed to think it was a wise decision."
Hans had to hide a smirk at this. He also mentally filed away a note to not rely too heavily on the Arendelle advisors once he was king – it just didn't seem wise.
"I'm glad that they approve. And your Majesty too, of course…" It wasn't really a lie. In fact, he was probably getting a bigger buzz out of it than he should have.
"Yes, well, Anna needs someone, and she seems very fond of you."
"She does," He allowed himself a soft smile. "And for that I am grateful."
"I was sure she would have tired of you by now, she's usually so flighty."
Hans grit his teeth, willing himself to stay calm. She spoke of him as if he were a plaything – something to use, grow tired of and discard. But wasn't that always the way? He was Hans the pretty ornament, the spare, not really there for anything useful. Just something to be briefly admired and then forgotten. In fact, now that he thought of it, he was a little surprised himself that Anna hadn't moved on from him; pretty baubles only captured the attention for so long, after all.
"Well, one doesn't tire of spending time with their true love," He used Anna's words from the night of the coronation, hoping to shame the queen over her doubt. She was right, of course, but it was the principle of the thing.
"I suppose that's true," she laughed softly, daintily muffling the sound with her gloved hand.
For the second time that day, Hans wasn't sure if he had heard correctly. She hadn't disputed his words; did that mean she really thought that was what he and Anna had? Accepting their engagement was one thing, as it sounded more like he had passed some sort of test of loyalty than anything else, but true love? He'd expected her to fight him on this. Perhaps he was doing a better job than he'd thought.
But no time for that now; they had turned a corner onto the landing of one of the steeper staircases in the palace, one with so many steps that it was essentially an accident waiting to happen.
Hans forced himself to push any wayward thoughts to the back of his mind and focus on the situation at hand. Now was the opportune moment – he was alone with Elsa, with no guards or servants in sight. When would he next get a chance like this? He had seen the queen alone and unguarded perhaps one other time during his stay here. If he didn't act now, it may be another year before he had a chance again. Could he wait that long?
Perhaps it would be best to wait until after the wedding; he'd held on this long, after all. But did he even need to? She'd just told him that the advisors knew she was ready to bless the marriage, she wouldn't be any further use to him alive now.
Hans felt his heart quicken as they drew closer to the stairs. This was it. In a few moments the chance would be lost. He had to decide, and decide quickly.
He had to do it. He was so close he could almost taste it. He could already picture the coronation, see the cheering crowds, feel the reassuring weight of the crown as it was placed upon his brow, see the adoration shining in Anna's eyes as she gazed up at her new king. He could already feel the smug pride swelling in his chest at the thought of sending out coronation invitations to all twelve of his brothers. It didn't matter if they attended or not, just as long as they knew that Hans – the spare, the unlucky thirteenth – was going to be crownedking, which was more than could be said for most of them.
"Your majesty – "
He turned and caught her arm as they reached the top of the stairs, and was a little surprised at the ferocity with which she wrenched herself free from his grip. Surely she couldn't have guessed…?
"S-sorry," She apologised quickly, and for the first time in a year Hans saw Elsa's composure slip. "I don't really like to be touched."
"Right, yes, of course. My apologies for acting inappropriately." He was a little thrown by the queen's behaviour, but then his had harder been proper, either.
"Of course. Just… please bear this in mind in future." The measured smile was back, and the raw panic in her eyes had ebbed away.
"Certainly, your majesty."
He gave a shallow bow, assessing the stairs out of the corner of his eye. They certainlylooked steep enough to finish someone off. In fact, Hans often avoided using this particular staircase himself, and had planned for its removal to be one of the first things he would get down to, once he held any actual authority here.
He straightened up, meeting her eyes for the last time. "But before we continue I just wanted to ask you one more thing…"
She heard the scream first. It was quickly followed by a strange crashing noise, as if something very large had just shattered on the wooden floor, though Anna could honestly say that she'd never heard anything quite like it. Even without the scream the noise alone would have been ominous enough, a strange mixture of something familiar yet completely alien.
"Elsa," She murmured, heart stopping in her chest as the scream cut out, leaving behind a deathly silence in its wake.
Lumps of ice were skittering across the floor – no, not just ice. If Anna looked closely she could see a hand, or folds of clothing that had been carved out of the shimmering mass by what must have been no less than the most skilled of craftsman's hands. An ice sculpture for one of the galas must have fallen over. Though that would certainly explain the crash, it did not do the same for the scream…
"Elsa?" Anna called, picking her way across the floor, careful not to skid on any of the shards of ice that seemed to be everywhere. Perhaps she had just slipped, she told herself, eyes scanning for signs of her sister. She smiled as she noticed familiar features in the ice – what a grandiose party this was going to be! Well, assuming they replaced the ice sculpture in time, anyway.
"Elsa?" She tried again, turning a corner to see a hunched figure at the foot of the stairs, staring blankly at the mess all over the floor. Most of the glittering remains seemed to be collected around their feet, giving Anna pause to wonder how it had managed to travel so far. Kicking experimentally at a smaller piece of ice, Anna watched it skitter across the polished floor before rebounding off one of the walls. Ah. Mystery solved.
Satisfied with her solution, Anna drew closer to the stairs, finally taking note of the other's expression.
"What's happened?" She asked, increasingly concerned by the look on their face as they bent to pick up a shard of ice. "What's wrong?"
They looked up, eyes locking with hers. "Anna. Anna, I'm –" Their gaze returned to the ice in their hand, as if they couldn't quite believe what they were looking at.
"Nothing but ice," they shook their head, grimacing with either horror or confusion, Anna couldn't quite tell which. "Completely solid. All the way through…"
"Are you okay?" Anna looked to the top of the stairs – it was a pretty long way down. Maybe they'd tripped and hit their head on the way down, and that was why they were acting so weird. Should she run for the doctor? There didn't appear to be any blood…
"What happened?" She asked again, hoping for a more intelligible response this time around.
"I'm sorry, Anna," They whispered, regret etched into every line of their face. "I am so, so sorry…"
"For what?" Anna crouched in front of them, looking at the carving they held in their gloved hands. "This mess is nothing a mop and bucket can't fix, right? Right?"
"It was an accident…there was nothing I could do…"
"Exactly, an accident! No harm done." Anna knew her cheeriness was forced, but she couldn't help it; she had no idea what to do, she'd never seen them like this before…
"No, you don't understand," They swallowed thickly, handing Anna the piece of ice in their hands. "It's –" They broke off, raking a hand through their hair. "How do I even explain without sounding crazy…?"
Looking down at the ice, she could see that it was part of a face, the features almost as familiar to Anna as her own, though for some reason they were twisted in shock, the mouth gaping in a silent scream. Why would anyone sculpt someone with such a look on their face for a party, she wondered.
"It's just ice. There's plenty more in the mountains," She handed it back, rubbing her hands off on her skirt; her fingers were beginning to chill.
"No," they whispered, beginning to piece together the remains of the shattered face, the eyes staring up at Anna in such a way that made her stomach lurch.
"It isn't."