Arendelle was as lovely and picturesque as ever. The greens that surrounded the city and the crystalline, serene lakes brightly coloured the horizon, which was lined with tall, snowy mountains that seemed to touch the lively skies above. Darkness, however, loomed over the kingdom —a war threat of a king from a faraway yet powerful land. And the only way to stop it was defiantly gazing into Elsa's equally fierce eyes.
"I refuse to work with this exiled piece of filth," the platinum blonde twenty-two-year-old stated. Handing one last regally dismissing glance at Hans, she adjusted the gold crown that rested atop of her head and elegantly made her way out of the throne room.
Anna and Kristoff were left dumbfounded, each standing next to a chained up, fuming Hans.
"Perhaps we should've removed the chains around him and made him look nicer," Anna whispered, her wide, blue eyes grimacing at Hans's state. His auburn hair was falling onto his forehead in a disheveled manner. His eyebrows were furrowed together, adding anger to the blankly cold expression that had rested on his face ever since he'd been locked up. To top it all off, Kristoff thought it'd be funny to shave any sign of a beard and moustache other than Hans's signature sideburns, so it seemed as if someone had glued a patch of red sheep on the sides of his face.
Hans looked like anything but Arendelle's only chance at stopping a war.
"Oh, please, he'd look like a criminal even with a halo glowing around his head," Kristoff murmured his reply, handing the royal prisoner a disgusted side-glance.
"I can hear you, you know," Hans grumbled, trying to loosen the chains that tied his arms to his torso.
"You deserve worse than getting your heart broken after overhearing someone badmouthing you," Kristoff cooed, pulling at Hans's chains. "Let's get you back to your tower, Rapunzel. Your Prince in Shining Armour decided not to free you this time-"
"Wait, don't take him back! Not yet!" Anna pleaded, pulling Hans towards her. She unknowingly swung Hans around in a violent manner, forcing him to face Kristoff before pointing a desperate finger at the prisoned prince. "He's the only way we can avoid that war. Stay here and watch over him while I go talk to Elsa."
"Anna, your Queen said no," Kristoff reminded his fiancée in a soft yet warning tone.
"Well, she also said no when we asked to be married in two years and you still insisted until she approved," Anna pointed out, a triumphant smirk drawn on her pink lips.
"Oh, I see you don't learn from your mistakes... you're now marrying a stranger you picked up in the forest," Hans snickered, joining the conversation. "At least I was a royal guest."
"Please let me lock him up," Kristoff begged Anna, regaining his hold of the prisoner.
"As much as I wish I could, we need him," Anna admitted, her lips pressed together in a tight line as she glared at Hans, who only returned the gesture with a nonchalant, crooked smile. He is right, you're marrying a stranger you picked up in the forest, a voice in her mind told her. Who helped you save your sister! another countered. Trying to ignore the debate in her mind, Anna shook her head in a dismissive manner. "I'll just go and talk to Elsa."
As Anna made her way through the marble floors, the tall ceilings, the towering columns, and the impressive, giant paintings hanging from the tapered walls, she couldn't help but fuel her mental debate with thoughts about Hans. She was completely over him, but the fact that she'd allowed her kingdom to be threatened all because of her foolishness still weighed heavy on her shoulders. She knew Kristoff was a good person, but she could've also sworn that she knew Hans was a saint. Perhaps I should wait more than two years to get married... Anna wondered, slowing her pace once she reached Elsa's huge, gold-detailed double doors. What if Kristoff is also planning to steal our power away? The thought of being the king of a rich, peaceful kingdom may give him patience to wait for more-
"Just stop thinking that and knock this door, Anna. There are bigger problems at stake than your insecurities," Anna told herself, rolling her eyes at her own nature. She hesitated as soon as she picked her lean arm to knock. There was a time when she did so and nobody answered. "But those times are long gone," Anna gladly reminded herself, before letting her small fist knock the door. "Elsa?"
Without any delay, the doors were pulled open and a repentant-looking queen appeared in front of Anna. "I'm sorry for my behav-"
"Look," Anna cut in, inviting herself into Elsa's chilly room. She shivered and rubbed her upper arms, giving her older sister a weirded out look. "I know you're not bothered by the cold, I've heard you singing that too many times in the bath-"
"You've heard that?" Elsa blurted out, her light green eyes wide with shame and shock.
"-but don't you care for the fact that people like me can come in and freeze to death? I pity your maids," Anna continued, turning to face Elsa. "Anyways. I know it's hard to face Hans, but you need to give him a chance-"
Elsa sighed, abashedly tucking a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. "About that-"
"-this is Arendelle that we're talking about. If saving our home from war means having to work alongside a criminal who shattered my heart into pieces and regarded me as a fool, plus locked you up in the dungeons while trying to steal away our kingdom," Anna said, her face distorting with shame and anger as she said those words. Sighing, she managed to control her feelings and to finish her idea. "Then we need to put our personal feelings aside-"
"Anna, let me talk-"
"-and agree to work with him," Anna blabbered on, not even aware of the fact that Elsa was trying to tell her something. She grabbed Elsa's hands and grimaced. "Geez, your hands are really cold... but anyways... you need to forget about what Hans did to you... to us, to Arendelle just for now so we can save ourselves from war. Think of the people-"
"Anna, I know," Elsa quickly responded, trying to get herself heard.
"You do?" the nineteen-year-old wondered, blinking.
"I tried to tell you from the moment that you barged into my room-"
"Sorry about that," Anna quickly apologised, biting her lower lip and slightly bowing her head down.
"No worries," Elsa replied, letting out a barely audible chuckle at her sister's antics. She grabbed her royal blue cape from her hanger and clipped it around her neck, preparing herself to leave the room. "My actions in the throne room were quite impulsive and not something that should be coming from a queen. I have reflected and I admit that if Hans is the only way to maintain peace... then he's the only way."
"That's great!" Anna exclaimed, feeling her shoulders relax at those words. "I thought I'd have to convince you..."
"Of course, as the Queen of Arendelle, we'll work under my conditions," Elsa added, arching her eyebrows in an expectant manner.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Anna confessed, grinning at her sister.
Elsa smiled back. "Then there won't be any problem if I ask you to shave his sideburns, because I don't think I can focus on the problem with those brittle curls staring back at me."
A note from the author: So, hello reader. I'm here to thank you for giving this story a chance and to also leave here a small disclaimer: this is based on the Snow Queen story. I know Frozen is too, but this story will follow the events of the original fairytale a bit more closely.
Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that it was enough to make you want to read the next. Thank you!