The ship docked with a dull thud, and as the smells of the port began to permeate the air, he knew he was home. His legs were stiff from the confined space he'd been forced to ride in for weeks. The door opened and he managed a single breath of free air. "Hans, what have you done?" a platoon of guards was waiting to take him to the castle.

"Just take me to him," he had nothing to say of his actions. Hans knew what was in store for him. He would rather meet him sea stained and dirty, it was doubtful he would be anything else for the rest of his life. It was a slow, shameful ride up to the castle. When he had left, people had waved and shouted farewells to him. Those same people now stared in fright and confusion as their youngest prince was taken in chains to his home.

"Leave us," the words were nearly immediate, the guards retreated behind the great hall doors. "Please sit," there was a chair at the left of the head, overlooking a veritable feast after days at sea, "you must be hungry." He removed the now tan gloves; they had been white when he had departed. "How did you find Arendelle?"

"Klaus, please," it was not a plea, it was a demand. He would not sit at his brother's table and pretend nothing had happened.

"I have a letter here from Queen Elsa. She has quite a list of crimes which she claims you are responsible for, attempted murder is at the top of this list." The heavy silence pressed down upon them, "Hans, why?"

"There is no place for me in the Isles, we all know it. Arendelle needed a king."

"You were sent to strengthen our trade relations and to mingle with yet undiscovered partners!" Klaus almost never raised his voice with his youngest brother. Taking a breath, he continued, "We are a nation of islands, without trade our people cannot sustain themselves. Queen Elsa does not threaten to end trade with us, but she does not have to. Plenty of diplomats and royals were at Arendelle, they saw what you did themselves. You are a prince and you showed them a two penny thief!"

"I am what I am!" Hans shouted back, "I was not born into a throne like some. Those of us who are not born for it must find one where we can. If I have to cheat, lie, and steal to find one, I will do it!" Hans watched his brother sag, as if the crown had taken on the weight of all the world.

"If you had been remorseful, I could have helped. Prince Hans, I charge you –"

"No!"

"—for crimes committed against Arendelle and her ruler, and I sentence you to five years in the tower. I am sorry brother. Guards!"

The cell in the north tower was dusty from neglect. His father had brought each of the brothers here and told them that this was the royal prison. Hans had laughed when his father said that, "It's nothing more than a room with bars." The real dungeons had been much more frightening.

"Commoners who break the law must be shown the error of their ways, and encouraged not to repeat their offenses. Few men will repeat an act which they know could land them in a dank hole in the ground, chaffed by chains. But those who know better, they are kept here. To watch the world pass without them, to be constrained like an animal in a menagerie, that is their punishment. They were to be someone who people looked up to, to watch as an example. Here, it is the same, everyone looks up to them in pity, and watches them as a warning."

Hans had wanted to find a place…now he supposed he had one as a warning bell.