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Attempt number one: the saddle.
"Anna?" blurted Queen Elsa out when she saw her sister awake so early in the morning. "Good morning" said the queen surprised as her sister seated down.
"Gowh muarnung two wo too!" brought Anna out with her mouth full of bread. The princess swallowed her food away. "So, what are you going to do today?"
"Well, we're going to the orphanage first to bring them with with a couple of families. In that way, they have someone to protect them if things get ugly." said the queen as she ate with small bites. "After that, Admiral Westerguard -" Anna wanted to smack her sister in the face so she would look at her. Hello? sister? I'm here, stop looking with your go-go eyes to him?! "and I are going West, to meet with the troops."
"Oh... Well, I'm sure you'll be having a lot of fun today" Anna's eyes stared to Hans, who frowned at her strange behaviour.
"This isn't a trip just for fun, Princess" commented the prince. "This is a matter taken both by me and the queen seriously."
"Oh, I'm sure it is." bit Anna back.
Now the queen too frowned at her strange antics. "Anna, is something wrong? You are acting strange today. Are you feeling well?"
"What, no I'm fine! I'm more then fine even! finer, finest!" babbled the princess. A sudden thought came into mind, and she stood up. "I need to excuse myself" grinned Anna, nearly toppling her chair down. "Whoeps...I... uhm... bye!" After taking a piece of chocolate the princess dissappeared again, leaving everyone baffled.
"So..." coughed Hans. "I guess we should get going my queen. Its a long day ahead of us after all..."
"Yes off course." nodded Elsa as they both stood up. "Kristoff, can you keep an eye on Anna please? She doesn't seem quite herself." The young queen knew she hadn't spend much time with her sister lately, and it ate at her.
"I'll have two on her, your majesty" answered the bulky ice harvester. He too had noticed that the princess wasn't in her usual mood. Kristoff knew her long enough to know when she was up to something. And the fact that her ex-fiancé is her will probably be one of the causes of her mood. pondered the ice harvester as he looked for Anna. "Anna, are you here?" Nope. The ice harvester sighed as the first door was empty. Well, one down... 500 to go...
"There you go!" With one swoop, Hans helped the queen up her horse. After coming to Arendelle the prince had teached her how to ride a horse. Still, how to ride, was different from doing it and the queen was quite nervous. Hans noticed her discomfort. "Don't feel scared, otherwise your horse will be too" reminded the prince her as he mounted his own horse Sitron.
"yes, I know" answered the queen as she shifted in her saddle. "Its just... something doesn't feel right at my saddle."
Hans frowned and dismounted again to check on the straps. "Hm... no..." muttered the prince as he re-checked everything. "Everything is normal your majest-" The prince' breath stocked when he noticed how close he was to her exposed leg. The prince quickly coughed to regain his thoughts. "Like I said, everything is normal. You don't have anything to fear."
After mounting his horse, both the admiral and the queen rode out off the castle gates.
Anna, who had stayed in the shadows, also mounted her horse - she couldn't be too near, or too far from them and she believed now was a good distance to start. "Good work, Olaf" grinned Anna as Olaf appeared beside her. "Did you do as I asked?"
"Yep!" said the snowman as he held up the knife, causing Anna to back away when he swung it too close to her. "Oeps... sorry"
Anna quickly took the knife from Olaf before he could hurt her or himself for that matter. "You've done great Olaf..." The princess quickly added. "You did cut only a part of it right?"
The snowman nodded excitedly. "Yes!"
"And it was on the belly, not on the side?"
"Yes!" his grin went even wider.
"And it was the brownish one, not the black sadle?"
"YE-" Olaf' eyes widened when he realized he was wrong. "No." said the snowman scared.
"What? Olaf, I told you that the brown saddle was from Hans, not Elsa!"
"I'm sorry!" said the snowman guiltily. "I thought you said it the other way arround!"
Anna groaned in desperation. Her plan was for Hans' saddle to be cut, not Elsa's! "Olaf, get up!" yelled the princess as she took one of his twigs to haul him up her horse. Please, let me not be too late!
"You're alright?" commented Hans. He knew the queen always had to get used to the horse's movements, but she seemed more comfortable now.
"Yes, I am." smiled the queen as they rode side by side. The sun began to shine from the horizon now, bathing the whole sea in yellow. "Its beautiful..." But, Elsa knew she wasn't here for the pretty sight. And seeing the stance of the sun, she could calculate that they were behind schedule. "We need to hurry a bit if we want to be on time." said the queen.
"Indeed." said Hans as he too noticed the sun's stance on the horizon. "You're ready to go into gallop your majesty?"
His smile made her comfortable. "Yes. I was born ready" grinned Elsa as she gently nudged her horse in the belly. The horse commanded its mistress' commands, and it began to run at a faster pace.
Immediately after, she heard Sitron, Hans' horse come after her. Her's was a mare, and therefore the male horses always followed the lead of the female ones. With another click of his tongue, Hans let Sitron ride besides Elsa.
"You are doing great, your majesty!" complimented Hans as they rode on. He had seen her grow in confidence in these last few months - more daring to try new things, to get pushed beyond her limits. The prince grinned as an idea came into his mind. "Let's make it a race." offered the prince.
"Deal! Where to?" asked Elsa immediately.
His eyes searched a target for them to ride forward too. "See that bended tree over the cliff over there?!" yelled the prince to get above the sound of their galloping horses.
"Yes" nodded Elsa as they both guided their horses across the road. "3...2...1...GO!"
The two rode off at blinding speed, but the horses were quite equal in speed and strength. Yet, after a few seconds, Elsa began to surpass the admiral, as she was much more lighter in weight then him. The queen squealed in excitement and looked behind her -
TSJAK! Suddenly she didn't feel steady on her horse anymore and she shifted from side to side as she could barely hold on to the animal's reigns. The queen screamed in fear, causing frost all over the reigns, which distressed the animal even further.
"Elsa, put your feet out!"
"But you said -"
"That was what I said before, now do as I say now: take them out!" yelled Hans as he spurted Sitron on to get to her in time. Elsa's horse was too frightened now to be simply stopped - it would lash out, and with them riding along the cliff, the queen could fall dead on the stones beneath if her horse hurled her off! "Come on boy!"
Sitron's ears went up when he heard his master's urgent voice and he gallopped faster - finally catching up to the queen.
"Take my hand!"
Elsa attempted to take his hand, but with her horse so out of control, she missed him, nearly falling off in the process. The queen screamed as she felt her balance go away when -
"I got you!" Elsa winced from the harsh grip on her... but it was better then to be trampled on the ground. After holding on to Hans' shoulder, the queen managed to pull herself up into his lap with his help.
"Ho...boy... easy..." Hans pulled the reigns short when the queen was safe. Sitron obeyed immediately, going into a soft draf as the two humans were still searching their breath from the events before. "You're okay?" The prince gripped the queen tighter against him, as they both trembled from the shock and fear.
"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine..." shuddered the queen as she held on to him. She had thought she was safe on her horse... but now, her insecurity about horse riding came back, as the feeling of nearly being trampled still remained in her bones. Or worse... thought the queen as she noticed the large cliffs on her right side. She could have skidded of the cliff if it weren't for Hans...
He knew it was inappropiate to hold her like this in his arms... well, he had done that before when he brought her back to Arendelle, but then she had been unconcious. Hans willed his hammering heart down as Sitron stepped onwards at a steady pace. God, when he saw her fall... He felt his heart clench again when he remembered the scene.
"Thank you... for saving my life" muttered the queen. The fear and shock had made her exhausted and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment. She quickly re-opened them though, and what she saw astonished the queen. Worry and fear were itched on the prince's face. It made her feel warm somehow. and strange. Why would he worry about her anyway?
"You're welcome." As he read her face, it was difficult to make out what she thought. Surprise... joy... confusion...
For a moment all they could do was stare at each other, taking in what they saw, trying to see what they thought.
DONG!
Both startled out of their trance as the church' bells rang from afar: it was 8 o'clock in the morning.
DONG!
"We need to get going" said Elsa quietly. She felt Hans humm as an agreement to her statement. She felt him nudge against Sitron's belly, and she stiffened at the gesture of the horse. She relaxed again, when she realized he was just going into a soft draf once again. As they neared the town, they noticed Elsa's horse, who had calmed down already.
"Your majesty... if I may... I would like to dismount so you can-"
"No!" said Elsa quickly. It wasn't the horse fault... but she was still quite shocked from the experience, and like Hans had said, you pass your emotion's to your horse. To get on him right now, wouldn't be a good thing.
"Alright..." said Hans as he skillfully pulled his leg on the other side. The queen squealed when he simply landed on his two feet, with her still in his arms in bridal style. And he seemed to have no effort at all with carrying her... "I...uhm..." Hans helped her down her feet, and the queen wobbled a bit to regain her balance. After that, the prince went to Elsa's horse, and slowly, he managed to calm it down, and let it bind itself to Sitron. All that time, the queen watched, as the prince kept speaking softly to the animal while carressing its mane.
"You're quite good with horses" commented Elsa, causing Hans to startle for a moment.
"ah, well yes." smiled the prince as he stroked his hand on the mare's strong back. The mare seemed to like the gesture and whinnied in approval. "I always found that horses are great listeners."
Elsa's mouth curled up. He was just like Kristoff on that matter.
DONG! The queen turned arround to see the clock tick further on. Oh God! She had been too late for the orphanage! "Hans..." began the queen.
"I know" said Hans as he helped the queen up. After she was seated, he pulled himself up and the two rode on, to the orphanage...
Anna turned her horse arround the hill when - The princess' jaw dropped. Elsa was on Hans' lap?! what in chocolate's name... This is WAY worse then she imagined! Anna gritted her teeth. Damn, why didn't she do it herself?! Now they were even closer then before - literally and figurately. The princess spurted her horse on, and tried to think of a new plan. A new lightbulb went up into her head, and she grinned. Yes, that would work without any accidents...
So, that was quite action packed! And no, Anna isn't done yet as you can see...
To Frozen Fan: Oh, don't hate Anna please! She just does what she thinks is right - she wasn't aware of Hans' saving Elsa from falling to her death. She's worried for her sister's safety... yeah, quite ironic if you know what happens here XD
anyway, I love reviews! You can always give ideas about how Anna could boycot Elsa and Hans from being together :)
