"So other than that the other servants will teach you all the little things you need to know," Elsa plainly stated.
"Great. Thank you Your Majesty," Faltin said with a slight bow.
Faltin was the newest edition to the castle staff. Today was his first day and as he followed the Queen around the gardens, she told him what he should know before he started working for her. Faltin had told Elsa earlier that he considered it an honor to be deemed trustworthy enough to join the castle staff. Just don't blow it. Elsa thought, immediately feeling guilty. She knew she needed to give more credit to people, but it was just so hard to after being let down and isolated for years.
"You are dismissed. Go to the kitchen to receive your first assignment," Elsa ordered.
"Yes Your Majesty," Faltin then turned around and headed for the castle.
Elsa walked on a little farther and then stopped at a small stone bench in the castle gardens. She was supposed to meet Hans here in about ten minutes. Elsa had no idea what he was going to talk about and that made her a little nervous.
"My Queen."
Startled, Elsa turned around. "Prince Hans, don't scare me like that!" Elsa said, already angry even though they had been talking for a total of five seconds. Hans let out a low chuckle.
"Your Majesty, I will try my best to not "beat around the bush" as they say, but I will give you two quick backstories, and then tell you how they both relate to why I came today. First story; for many decades now, Arendelle has held both Weselton and the Southern Isles as high and valued trade partners. I am aware that just a couple years ago, trade between Arendelle and Weselton was ceased for good. Now, despite all that has happened, Arendelle and the Southern Isles are each other's number one trade partners. Now for the second story. As you may already know, I have twelve older brothers and no younger ones which makes me the youngest out of thirteen. These brothers made my childhood miserable. They teased me, ignored me, and I had to share my parents love with them. Now we're all grown up and most of us," Hans hesitated. "Somewhat mature. All of them are now married and it is now my turn to find a beautiful bride. Now to relate the stories; it is vital that this relationship between the two kingdoms is not only kept, but even farther strengthened."
"Strengthened?" Elsa choked out. She thought she knew where he was going with this but she hoped she was wrong.
"Yes," Hans continued. "And with all my brothers married and the princess already married… it's just you and me." He said, smirking.
Elsa's heart sank. Even though she already knew the answer to her question, she asked anyways, "What are you implying?"
"Queen Elsa of Arendelle, you must marry me."
"Must? No I don't!" Elsa almost yelled back, trying to hide the panic in her voice. Hans smirked that evil smirk of his. Obviously Elsa had not done a good job hiding her tone. But wait, he was looking down at the ground. Elsa followed his gaze to her feet. She hadn't even noticed the ice forming around them on the garden path.
Hans returned to the conversation. "But Your Majesty," Hans started, in a fake pleading tone, "I'm afraid if you don't, the Southern Isles will permanently stop trade with Arendelle.
"But-" Elsa stuttered trying to find the right words. "But the Southern Isles needs Arendelle as much as we need them! So you can't stop the trade!" She finished, triumphant that she may have just found the loophole.
"We have so many connections to other kingdoms, having twelve royals married to royals from other kingdoms and all, that we really don't need Arendelle. You need us." Hans replied. Elsa knew he was right too. Oh shit… she thought, and then was suddenly surprised that it was the first thing that came to her mind.
So many things were running through Elsa's mind. She knew she had to keep trade relations with the Southern Isles. Hans was dead right as much as she hated to admit it. I can't lose the Southern Isles as a trade partner, but I can't spend the rest of my life with him, with this man who tried to kill me! What would Anna think? But I can't let my kingdom suffer. It's not like he'd actually try to kill me this time, everyone would know it was him. He's too smart for that. All he wants is to be king, and if I marry him, he wouldn't even have to kill anyone. But I'll have to put up with him for the rest of my life! I would have to share my deepest secrets and my most intimate possessions with him! But I have to do what's best for the kingdom, I have to, they're depending on me. Elsa swallowed hard. I can't believe I'm about to do this…
"Well?" Hans prodded her, obviously tired of waiting.
Elsa tried to ignore the ice filling up the garden and the small tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. She quickly dried them; he couldn't see her so weak like this. Elsa hesitated. "Yes. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, I will marry you."
…
"Hey, Elsa!" Anna did a mix of a fast walk and a skip down the hall towards her older sister, resulting in her almost tripping… twice. "Do you know what time we have to- hey, what's wrong?"
If anyone could read Elsa's emotions, it was Anna. Oh great, now I'm going to have to tell her everything that just happened. I hope she won't hate me forever…
After Elsa agreed to the engagement, Hans left for the Sothern Isles to go make arrangements for which of his things to be brought to Arendelle. Permanently.
"Oh, um," Elsa started, not sure how to answer her sister's question. "I- I just…" Elsa couldn't take it anymore. "Hans and I are engaged," Elsa said so fast, she wasn't even sure if her sister understood. But, she did.
"Wait- what?" Anna looked up at Elsa with wide eyes. "You- but- Elsa! He tried to kill you, me, both of us! How could you marry him!"
"Anna it's complicated."
"I've got time."
Elsa sighed. There was no getting out of this. "Look, Hans threatened to cut off trade between Arendelle and the Southern Isles and I had to do what was best for the kingdom. Plus the people have been wanting a king ever since-" Elsa didn't finish, letting the look she gave Anna finish her sentence. "Anyways, it's not like I'm ever going to find true love anyways."
Anna didn't say anything. After a few moments of silence she came up to her sister and gave her a big, long hug.
"Mom and Dad would be proud of the sacrifices you're making for the kingdom," Anna whispered in her ear. After a few more moments of hugging, Anna let go, looked at Elsa, smiled sadly, and then walked away.
Elsa ran to her room and slammed the door behind her. She flopped on the bed, letting loose hairs from her braid fly everywhere and cried way past what she thought was the human capability to produce tears.
…
When Elsa woke up a few hours later, her entire room was frozen. There was either a thin layer of ice or a thick layer of frost covering everything. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Your Majesty?" It was Kai's head that popped into the room. "Your Majesty! Oh good, you're awake. I just came to inform you that lunch will be served in five minutes."
"I'm not hungry," Elsa replied.
"Okay well I'll let everyone know they may begin dinning without you. Let me know if you need anything else."
Just as Kai was closing the door again, Elsa quickly propped herself up and said, "Wait, Kai."
"Your Majesty?" Kai poked his head back through the doorway.
"Actually, could you get a few stable boys to saddle up my horse for me? I think I could really use a ride to get my mind off of things."
"Sure, Your Majesty. Would you like Aavet, correct?"
"Yes please," Elsa answered as she got up and walked over to her closet to pick out a suitable outfit for riding. "Thank you," Elsa added as a kind of "you're dismissed" gesture.
Kai nodded and walked away, closing the door behind him.
…
As Elsa was riding through the woods on Aavet, she couldn't help but notice how beautiful the season of summer really was. She knew it wasn't something she normally pondered on, but it distracted her from the real issue weighing on her heart at the moment, the royal engagement between her and Hans. He was going to be back in three weeks. That's when they "couple" would make the public announcement to the people of Arendelle of their engagement. Then a few days later would come the engagement party. For once in her life, Elsa wanted time to just stop. She wanted to go back to the way things were last night, when there was happiness and fellowship. When love was the main emotion of the night. Elsa sighed. She knew she could never go back. The past was in the past.
…
Author's note:
Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews! You guys have no idea how much those mean to me especially with this being my first fanfic ever. You guys are great!
