"It's getting colder by the minute!" The Grand Duke of Weselton shirked to the other dignitaries in one of castle's extravagant dining halls. The candle light was fading fast, every wick in the city was burning out, casting the room slowly into darkness. The disappearing light of the setting sun caused for great alarm as the star took the last remaining heat away from the frozen kingdom. The cranky gentleman rubbed his matchstick thin arms in a pointless fashion to bring warmth into his old bones, as did the other men, and walked back and forth in endless circles trying to figure out what could be done. There were very few moments in his long life where throwing money at a bad situation didn't solve his problems, and this was one of them. And with no means of escape, the Duke of Weselton was starting to panic.
"If we don't figure something out soon, we'll all freeze to death!" They all knew this was true. The Arendelle council men didn't want to think about how many poor villagers must have frozen to death by now when they were caught off guard when the warm summer day suddenly buried the town in snow and the temperatures couldn't stop dropping even when it already was approaching zero.
The group of dignitaries muttered something to one another, but no ideas came to mind. What miracle would it take to bring back summer from the grips of the Ice Queen? The heavy wooden and embroider door burst open, and slammed itself into the wall. They all snapped their heads over to see a panting Hans with an unconscious Princess Anna in his arms.
"Prince Hans?" The Duke questioned when he saw through his frosted glasses just who was in his arms. All the men stood from their chairs and almost pushed over Hans when they were jolted into action when they saw their Princess.
"I need Arendelle's healers and mage clergy immediately. Take her." he passed Anna over to his own council men, the tall man in the green pressed dress jacket that traveled with him from The Southern Isles on their ship. "She needs warmth. She's passed out from the cold. I don't care what, a scolding bath if you have to, just get her awake and warm."
"Yes your highness." The council men with the slight French accent acknowledged, taking Anna in his arms and holding her and Han's jacket around her shoulders tightly. He ran down the hall, servants leading him to Anna's room in the upper section of the castle. Shouts and yells died down as orders were given, and Anna was carried away. Hans watched them go and turned back to the worried faces of the council.
"What happened!" The Duke prodded, landing a hand on Han's shoulder as he offered him a seat. The young Prince certainly did look tired and drained himself. How Hans was going to explain this little matter might have been tricky if they were facing any other circumstances, but as it were, the Duke and the others all saw the black magic Elsa could wield first hand at the coronation ball. It wasn't going to be hard to explain what he decided would be his next course of action.
"Queen Elsa…froze, Anna's heart." The men gasped, the Arendelle council men held the most hurt look. Perhaps he, like everyone, once thought that Elsa could never hurt Anna, and yet, it seemed that she was not only hurt, but almost dead. "I managed to save her however, just barely. I just pray she'll be alright." Hans shot a quick look up, it felt like he may have over acted his worry, but it seemed natural enough to those around him. They all nodded their concern for him, and he felt their empathy. Hans was worried, of course, but he was starting to worry more for the fact that he wasn't sure how to stop the winter. He already asked Elsa to stop it, as kindly as he could, and she just said she couldn't. He must have asked her too sweetly perhaps. Hans recalled that he should have been more forceful with Elsa in the dungeons, but he figured perhaps talking to the crazed witch calmly might have done the trick. Now it seemed he would have to take more severe action this time around. Much more severe.
"Her own sister." The Duke muttered, somehow unbelieving what he heard. Hans had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. He would have gladly killed some of his brothers out of boredom just a quickly had he been blessed with black magic. Strange, but Hans could only suppose sisters must have had a different way of thinking of each other…something Hans would have to ask Anna down the line. But for now, he had to focus on dealing with the other sister. Hans stood, chest puffed out and a cold look to his deceivingly kind face.
"With Anna and I still to be wed, and Anna currently unable to give out orders, I, Prince Hans and acting authority as stated by her highness herself, Princess Anna, I hereby give the order for Queen Elsa's execution under the royal crest of both Arendelle and the Southern Isles." Hans added, "She has committed treason, and almost murdered the Princess. With a heavy heart, this is my final decision."
The council all seemed to nod in agreement. Hans would pat himself on the back later for his sliver laced tongue. With his commanding voice and general look of royalty, it was easy to get people to do his bidding. Having grown up with 12 brothers, he had to fight tooth and nail to get things his way. It was almost silly how easy it was to trick these men into allowing him to order such a serious order, but when the element of magic is thrown into a dire situation, sometimes people throw logic out the window. Hans technically had no authority here in a country that wasn't his own, but with one royal heir almost murdered by the hand of the other one, who was also currently in chains, most people wouldn't know how to make heads or tails of it. It was once again all falling into place neatly for Hans. The Duke himself had absolutely no say here what-so-ever and yet he was nodding alongside the others as if he was giving his own consent to the execution.
What an old fool.
Hans marched with the guards down to the dungeons, noticing how much colder it became the closer they got to Elsa. One of the guards almost fell face first to the ground when he mis-stepped on the stones that were covered with a thick sheet of ice. They grabbed the heavy iron knobs of the cell door and when it wouldn't budge, it was clear that Elsa had frozen the door shut. Silly, Hans thought, she had nowhere else to go….unless. Hans ordered them to break down the door, and with all four guardsmen putting their backs into it, they started to break down the door. When it finally gave way, the splintering wood flying everywhere, Hans pushed his way through and suddenly became quit irked when the opposite wall of the cell had been broken through. The frozen harbor with the massive ships entombed in the ice lay out before them. Elsa nowhere to be seen among the chaos.
The young Prince glared out into the frozen ship yard and turned on his heel. He had no idea how strong Elsa's powers were, but he would face her down if he had to. She seemed to be almost Godlike with her curse. She had the power to create that snow monster, give it life even, the one Hans had to throw off the mountain cliff side. He even witnessed how with one hand she could control dangerously sharp icicles to stab a man in his eyes and throat, all while with the other hand push another man off a thousand foot drop buy simply moving a block of ice in his direction. Hans thought for a moment maybe he could somehow use her power to his advantage? It would indeed be a benefit to his power if he could control a raging snow queen. A secret weapon perhaps? Maybe he could even keep her locked up, think of something better than iron shackles that Elsa could not break out of so easily, and use her for war. If anyone dared rise up against him and his new found power, he could just unleash a frozen wasteland upon all enemy countries... Yes, that would be a sight wouldn't it?
How fantastic Hans would look in the history books. The 13th brother who captured the heart of a lovely princess, saved a country from a winter curse from a crazed ice which, raised up to be a powerful and respected King AND who controlled the power of the cursed Queen himself…well, it certainly did paint a pretty portrait, didn't it. But there was always that pesky little sister problem that could arise. Anna would somehow find out of course, not think it too kindly upon Hans using her sister like that and set her free. Setting Elsa free would threaten his position, as she would STILL be the rightful queen, king withstanding or not. Anna was kind, too kind for her own good. Hans could see his whole plan unraveling quickly if Anna would forgive Elsa for freezing her heart. Then Elsa would convince Anna to turn against him, and before he would know it, he would be dethroned and even beheaded himself. He wouldn't allow that to happen.
Hans dawned his winter rider coat again, strapped a heavy sword to his hip that was decorating a hallway, and walked out into the ocean itself to find Elsa. This madness would stop tonight. The second he stepped outside however, he regretted it. He was thankful the pitiful riding coat he had on, but he also knew what REAL winter cloths felt like that he owned, tucked away in chests back home. The huge fur coats that were lined with thick rabbit furs he had hunted for with some of his brothers in the real winter time. The massive parkas that nearly drowned you in warmth, the matching heavy boots and gloves, and even the fox skinned hats, all mocking him in his memory as he threw up his arm against the raging snow. It wasn't even snow at this point, but little knives swirling about him and cutting his cheeks and eyes.
Hans was blinded by the white fury, and he struggled against the winds as he pushed forward. Something tugged him right, and at first he thought it was 'fate' leading him to Elsa, but in reality it was the current of the wind that was pulling him. The harsh winds were going in a clock wise direction and he knew if he just kept following it, he would eventually hit the eye of the storm. He would walk right to Elsa. Low and behold, as he got closer to the frightened women, who also seemed to be fighting her own snow storm, the winds had not been as strong here and he could actually open his eyes all the way. Elsa, like a frightened deer, saw Han's figure approached her from the white out and turned sharply to keep running. Where she was running, Hans hadn't the slightest clue.
"Elsa!" He yelled over the howling winds. "You can't run from this!" He had enough of this. He was tired and cold and he was starting to become frozen again being so close to the ice queen while her power surged on. He was becoming angry that Elsa wasn't even trying to stop what she has started, but was just moping around like a little girl who was long overdue for a nap after playing around all day.
Sadly, she turned to him. She raised her arms, and for a moment Hans braced himself the best he could, waiting for the painful impact of a blast of ice power that she would aim at him.
"Just…just take of my sister." And then she turned again, walking aimlessly as the winds picked up again. It pushed Hans and yet she glided through it with ease. It was impossible to see an inch in front of him, but he pressed on.
"The one you nearly killed?" Hans shouted back. He had to get her attention one way or another. Elsa stopped, shoulders sagged and turned back to the prince, her mouth trying to form something, anything. "What?" She breathed out in a whisper. Hans heard her all too clearly.
"She came back from the mountain, nearly dead. She said you froze her heart!" Hans felt the wind lose some of its strength and Elsa heard his words, her large doe-like eyes wide with horror. Perfect, Hans had her full attention, and for what that was worth, that seemed to have calmed the ragging storm a bit. It was time to truly play at her heart strings and for Hans to see how poetic he could become on the spot.
"'Please stop my sister!'" Anna cried to me when she dragged her half frozen corpse from the mountain. All she wanted was for you to come home and forgive her for upsetting you, and look at what you did. If I hadn't had saved her, she would be as frozen as this ocean, lifeless in my arms."
Elsa's emotion ran freely over her face. She was so scared to be imprisoned that all she wanted to do was run and escape again into the wilderness. Now she was trying to understand that by her own hand, she almost snubbed out the only ray of light she's ever had in her life. A light that she always tried to avoid so that THIS wouldn't happen. Hans stepped closer and closer to her, one boot in front of the other, cautiously.
"She was hysterical. She said she had doomed the country to winter forever."
"No! No, it's not Anna! It's all my fau-"
"Yes," Hans cut her off harshly, "It IS your fault." Hans stopped shouting as the winds stopped completely as Elsa's mind raced, and he was finally right upon her. He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a good few shakes. "Look at what you're doing. Look! You have to stop this! If not for the people of Arendelle, then for Anna."
Elsa finally registered the feel of another person's hands on her and she looked up at the much taller Hans. Scanning his angry features, Elsa grew upset herself. She straightened herself to seem stronger in front of him, she was a queen after all.
"I want to see her. I want to see my sister." Hans closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Anna pleated with me to not to let you near her. Dying from a frozen heart the first time is terrifying enough, she's scared out of her mind you'll do it again." Elsa slumped his hands, wringing her own hands over and over. This was what she feared most, her sister becoming scared of her and her powers. She had every right to be now, didn't she? Elsa tried for 20 years to keep all of this under control, and the one night she thought she was free, she ended up making it worse. Cursing the city, and almost killing her own little sister.
"But-But I didn't mean t-"
Hans cut her off again. "Of course you didn't, and I believe you when you say you didn't want to cause THIS," he gestured to the collapsing ships around, their mighty masts falling off when the rotted wood couldn't support itself anymore. "either, but that just proves you can't control your power Elsa. Anna is terrified of you. Everyone is! How many children do you think you didn't mean to freeze to death in the midst of your tantrum!?"
Elsa looked like she had been struck in the gut and when Hans let go of her, she slumped to the ground. Her pale hand covered her mouth as a little sob came forth from her. Hans pushed on.
"Or the crops that were all destroyed in minutes. How many will starve now? If not tonight in the sub zero cold, but in the days to come? You can't feel it, can you? The cold? The cold you are so fond of? I was wrong Elsa, you're not turning into a monster. You always were a monster. And you finally allowed Anna, for everyone, to see the Hell spawn that you are!"
This was the moment, Hans knew, as Elsa sobbed at his feet and as her frozen tears hit the frozen ocean below them. He reached for his broadsword to his hip, and in one swing, it would be all over. The witch would be dead, and with no power source for the winter to feed off, the cold would stop and the summer would return. Hans looked down at her brittle, exposed, skinny neck. It would be over extremely quick. The blood wouldn't even have time to spread as it would freeze in the cold air before it had a chance. Elsa's cries grew louder, her thoughts on her sister, surely, and Hans unsheathed the sword easily. The young queen cried and cried and never looked up as Hans' deafly rose his arm high into the air, the dangerous blade in position to be swung down in one fluid motion. Hans let his arm drop, he gritted his teeth, ready to feel the hit of steel on flesh.
The hit never made contact with flesh, but with solid ice. Hans' whole frame shook painfully, his arm trembling and his hand letting the sword drop to the ground. Or rather what was left of his sword. Pieces of his steel flew past his face, almost flaying off his own flesh, as the blade shattered into big pieces upon making contact with something incredibly hard. He clenched and unclenched his fingers and then looked down at what came between him and Elsa. It was Elsa herself, frozen solid in that beautiful blue ice that Hans saw forming over Anna's own flesh. In the middle of Elsa's hysterics, in the deepest of her despair, the Queen had frozen her own heart it seemed. A beautiful statue of a women on her knees, head bowed in shame, arms holding herself tightly, and her long gown spilled out over her legs. A master sculpture couldn't have imaged such a beautiful sight himself.
Hans looked onward at Elsa. Then to his shattered sword. Then back at Elsa…or what used to be Elsa. Hans saw a puff of air rise out of the frozen face that he couldn't see, and all was still. The wind didn't stir as its mistress fell, the snow didn't drizzle uncontrollably and the swirling sleet settled quietly on the ground, unbothered. It was completely silent. Hans puffed out his own breathing, and stood, puzzled and lost at the situation. Is this what Anna would have looked like? A figure incased in a clean looking blue stone with snow flacks that looked hand painted on? Hans reached down to touch the figure on top of the frozen hair with his glove and snatched his hand back the second he did. It wasn't like touching Anna, it felt …almost like bad karma. Not for the karma of almost beheading the young girl, but more like touching a forbidden relic that was had been cursed for hundreds of years.
He swallowed thickly, brought his gloved hand up to his face and gave it a close look over. Well his hand didn't look cursed, it wasn't freezing over like Anna's was, and yet he shook it quickly. Confronted with his new problem now, Hans picked up his sword's handle. The gold was scratched and one of the larger jewels that was displayed on it, fell off. He scoffed at it. A sword that must have been passed down in the family for how many generations and it couldn't let a little ice hit it without shattering. What a worthless piece of decoration.
In the deathly quiet in the middle of the frozen sea, it was impossible not to hear the thundering hooves and snorts of a fully grown buck reindeer charging forward out of the clearing mist. The events of today just kept building on top of one another and were becoming stranger and stranger still, Hans thought to himself as he looked up to see a huge reindeer carrying a large rider with him.
Alone on the ice, Hans watched a huge blond man jump off the bare back of his beast as he tried to catch his breath. It seemed like he was running somewhere. The man briskly ran up to Hans, who gripped the sword's handle tightly again. It may not be a complete sword any longer, but that didn't mean with his keen swordsmanship, that Hans wouldn't do some serious damage to this gutter rat, if the crazed blond man did something hostel.
It was then they made eye contact, the blond man looked slightly angry at first and then slightly confused. He must have been some woodsmen, from his tattered sweaters and boots, his strong built and of course his reindeer, who was by no means a proper horse. He looked around, looked back behind him, looked at the reindeer, and back to Hans. He saw the figure at Hans' feet and recognized that same flowing dress and over the shoulder braid as the sister that he and Anna went to go see. The queen.
"Elsa?" The stranger asked nobody in particular. Hans lifted a finely groomed eyebrow. A woodsmen he may have been, but perhaps he lived in Arendelle's village. He must have known what his Queen looked like, especially after having her portrait hung around the town square from today's coronation. Hans soon heard many pairs of boots from behind him and peered over his shoulder. The guards were coming up quickly.
"And you are?" Hans asked as if he was board. The other man snapped back to the moment and looked Hans up and down. A slim, hansom, regal looking man who's clearly never worked a day in his life. …who's last name must have been Of The Southern Isles. Dreamy eye color…
"Prince Hans." The large blond man answered back. Hans clearly looked agitated a bit when the man gathered himself and tried again. He didn't seem to be the brightest in the bunch, now did he.
"Kristoff. Um, Your Highness. I …I, um…Oh. OH! Anna! Did Anna get to you ok? Is she ok? Is she alright?"
It was Hans' turn to look this Kristoff up and down.
"And how do you know of the Princess? Who are you?"
Kristoff scratched the back of his head like the idiot he looked to be, and looked around on more time. He seemed to be disappointed. His reindeer made a loud screeching sound behind him and it dug at the ice below his hoof. "I helped Anna-"
"The Princess." Hans corrected the woodsmen.
"…Uh, right. Princess." Kristoff spat back rather rudely. He didn't like talking to people in general, and he was learning that he wasn't too found of talking to higher authority royalty either. "I helped her get up the mountain. I guided her to find her sister. I, uh, then, I brought her back here actually." He pointed with his mitten to the castle.
"Her heart was freezing over, but…I didn't think it would effect Elsa, er, The Queen. Wait!" Kristoff looked down at the frozen statue again. "If she's like this, is Anna…"
Hans half smiled at the other man. A smile Kristoff didn't seem to care to see again. He also didn't seem to care much for Anna's "true love."
"Princess Anna is fine. I thank you for bringing her back to me." The guards finally came to stand by Hans' side and they eyed Kristoff and his reindeer cautiously.
"Good. That's…good. What about the Queen? What happened? Is she alright, too? " One more time Kristoff looked around, behind him, at Elsa and then finally back at Hans. The guards came around Elsa's figure and started talking among themselves. They addressed Hans, "My Lord.", and awaited their next order. Hans threw down his sword's hilt, it made a noisily clash on the iced over ground and turned back to Kristoff.
"Nothing for you to be concerned with. Royal matters and such. Well, safe travels to you and your…friend. I will relay to the Princess that you came to see if she was alright. She is in good hands. Goodbye." Hans waved him off, one guard lowered a sharp spear down to get the point across that Kritfoff's time here was over. Kristoff took one of reindeer's huge antlers and circled him around, back from where they came from. The great animal let out a whined sound again and Kristoff pulled him a little harder away. When he was out of Prince Hans' ear shot, he looked at Sven sadly, and patted the beast's soft nose.
"I know, I know, the guy gives me creeps too. But…but I thought I heard Anna's voice. I thought she would be here…Gods, I'm so stupid. Sorry buddy, didn't mean to push you so hard to run for no reason. Heh."
Sven snorted and pushed his muzzle into Kristoff's chest. "I don't know what happened with Elsa either…but you heard Prince Sideburns. Royal matters."
Sven screeched out one more time. "I guess that doesn't concern us any more, huh? Anna- The Princess- is back where she belongs. And we need to go back where we belong too. Come on." Kristoff steadied his hands on Sevn's mighty shoulders and pulled himself up. They both rode away, away from the castle, away from Prince Hans, and away from Princess Anna.
Hans watched the stranger ride off until he was no longer in sight. What a strange fellow. The guards walked around Elsa's frozen state and asked what they should do. Hans looked back down at the witch. What to do indeed. It would be best to break the figure, right here and now. Carry out his plan like he wanted to. They could build a great fire in the woods and simply throw her in. Would she feel it? Could she unfreeze herself at any moments notice? What of Anna? Hans pursed his lips together, his thoughts coming back to Anna. He imaged in a few days, when she was fully back to normal that she would ask for Elsa. She would ask where she was, and if she wasn't home yet, then surely Anna would set out AGAIN to try and get her back. It would never end. Anna clearly loved her sister too much to simply let her go. How annoying.
Hans would be fine with lying to her for the rest of their lives, telling Anna that Elsa ran away far, far away (when he would actually break her into a million pieces), or even tell her that Elsa tried to kill HIM so he fought back valiantly, and he put an end to her madness. But then he would have to deal with a very depressed Queen Anna. Anna would turn into Elsa, in a slow transformation. First it would be simple sad mood swings over the loss of her kin, then full depression when she would think about her dead family, (Hans also didn't want her to be depressed if she was to have his children soon. No, that wouldn't do either.) Then sooner or later she would shut him out completely. As much as Hans wanted to be King, he wanted to be King with the Anna he fell in love with only a night ago. A bundle of smiles and energy, a girl full of life and wonder, joy and love. Not some husk of a mopping hag who cried over her stupid sister and how she failed to save her. Hmmm…maybe this once again was all in favor of Hans' plan. If he was to simply place Elsa in the castle, say, a wing all to herself, one where Anna could pop her head in every once in a while, but where Hans could also keep his eye on her, that would work out well for everyone. It would be almost like nothing had changed in Anna's life. Elsa would still keep to herself, but this time around, Anna would be free to make the rules herself as the new Queen. Surely that would bring her some happiness. Hans would not only tell Anna that Elsa, in a fit of crazy emotional rage, froze herself, but she could show her. Anna would never leave the castle in the middle of the night to search for her, and perhaps, even with some luck (which Hans was having a LOT of recently) Elsa would unfreeze after Hans would have already established himself as a fine ruler. Elsa then could just hand him the kingdom, as if she would have a say in it after Anna would have been Queen for many years, and she could go run freely in the woods like she's always wanted tom like some deranged forest spirit. Like some…restless child, to her hearts content.
That seemed to be the best route. Hans would be clear of an foul play or any blood on his hands. Besides…if Anna ever got out of hand, Hans would just simple start breaking away pieces of Elsa until Anna would settle back down. A Queen doesn't need all ten fingers to live a happy life after all, now does she?
"Bring her back, I suppose. Place her in one of the upper guest rooms for now. I will deal with…this whole mess soon. I need to first check on Princess Anna. And do be careful while transporting her. We wouldn't want to loss any pieces."
Hans left the puzzled guards to their task and turned back. He could feel the weather was at least not becoming any colder than it was right now. It would surely take time for the harbor to melt; fires would have to be placed around the whole city in order to force a thawing out. It was just comforting to know that Elsa wasn't going to make things any worse than they already were.
Trembling finally himself from the cold that fully got underneath his skin, Hans hoped that Anna would still be in a hot bath when he returned.