A huge thank you once again to Rei, for BETA and for all the grand additional help. Thank you also for those of you who reviewed this fanfiction, it means a lot.

Disclaimer: I am very much aware that wearing the wedding ring on the right index finger is only customary among the Slavic people, yet, I wanted to use it as one of a several clear cultural differences between the people of Arendelle and the rest of Amestris' population. Please, keep it in mind.

x

"Al? Al! Can you hear me? Al!"

The storm roaming outside made the phone lines disrupted, Ed knew that; however, he did manage to catch his brother on the phone and he even heard him when he spoke, at least at start… so why is it just now that the lines are cracking again?

"Brother, I'm at… tomorrow… I… he said…"

"Al!" holding the receiver tightly, he attaches his lips to the transmitter. There was no use doing so, if the line is broke, this is not going to be the one thing that will fix it, but Edward is desperate. "Al, I can't hear anything! Talk slowly, I hear your voice in truncated!"

"…going to the… row… noon, wi–"

Ed frowns. "…tomorrow's noon? Is this what you're trying to say? Answer me, Al!"

"…e… row…"

"With 'yes' and 'no' answers, Al!" Ed growls. Usually, he tries to stay calm when he talks to his younger sibling, but once again his bad temper defeats him. "Al!"

But there was no use; the line is dead completely and now the only thing Ed can hear is a long, breaking sound, which indicates on the end of the call; he growls again, violently shoves the receiver against the phone stand.

"Do not damage the military's property," the cold voice behind him is quiet. Ed growls, but he knows responding with a snippy retort won't bring any benefits.

"Let's go," he mutters, tucks his fists in his pockets.

x

Hans' office is smaller than Edward imagined. There is a large low desk that divides the chamber into two halves and from both sides there are comfortable armchairs onto which he sunk the moment he sat on. The flame, which flickers in the fireplace, shutters softly as it devours the wood, abates the roar of the storm outside and even the carpets which are painted in a deep hue of red seem to muffle the outer sounds. However… this chamber does not feel cosy; there is something in its atmosphere which Ed cannot quite determine. He feels odd… like the chillness of death is gnawing through his bones.

"Thank you, Sverre," Hans nods his head at a servant who pours warm coffee into delicate cups; the latter bows shortly and leaves the room. Hans moves his long finger over the handle of the cup before he thread it through the elegant curl it was making to pick it up and bring the cup closer to his lips; his eyebrows arch as he glances at Edward, keeping his eyes fixed on the younger man as he takes a small sip. "I assume, you came for Anna?"

Leaning against the backrest with his right arm thrown over it, tapping on the lip of the cup with his finger, the question catches Ed off guarded. "Huh?" he glances at the man sitting in front of him, looking at him with big, oblivious eyes. "Oh," he straightens, places his both hands on table. "Yeah," he confirms, and squints. "How did you know?"

"This is the only reason visitors from Amestris arrive," Hans explains simply. There is something odd about the way he talks about Amestrisans, something which has a deeper meaning than of an Ishbalan talking about the Amestrisans as the people of a land separated to their own; in this statement, there is a recognition of Arendelle as a bridge between cultures, an acceptance of rifts and distances out of no other choice… it's strange; Arendelle didn't show a slight resistance to the annexation with Amestris; the small kingdom embraced the Amestrisan alphabet and culture, gave up their long monarch tradition to accept the Amestrisan ruler… something about this attitude feels not quite right. Edward tsks. He doesn't like this man.

"Seems like you have many visitors who come here for Anna," he remarks, taking a small sip of the coffee which was served to him; almost instantly, he accidentally spills some of it as he is attacked by a wave of coughing; the coffee is bitter, way more bitter than the type he is used to drink, even more so than the type served in Briggs Fort.

Hans chuckles at Ed's reaction and gestures with his hand; immediately, the servant approaches and hands Ed a handkerchief which he grabs and rubs his face; putting it down, Ed notices a small embroidery of the letters "A&H".

"There aren't as many visitors as you might think," Hans' voice cuts through his trail of thoughts. "Sometimes the military comes here for refreshment after an exercise in the taiga, but that's about it. Amestris hasn't found out the wonders of the north just yet…" he adds with a chuckle.

"But there are people coming here asking you about Anna," Ed talks before the other man can say anything else that would divert them from the issue which brought him to this place all along.

"Naturally," Hans glares right into his eyes when he speaks; his expression is indifferent. But however, his eyes… they are glaring fiercely into his own, almost as if Ed has crossed an invisible line and intruded too much into his comfort zone. "You know, rumours spread faster than fire… when I came back to Arendelle from the prison where Anna was kept, the palace was already flooded by locals asking what happened. Then came people from Pefesy, Doverheim, Gronval…but the military quietened the rumours before they could reach Northern City. Obviously, I did have some curious visitors coming here for a while after that, eager to see the frozen princess…thankfully, such visits also stopped soon enough. We all thought it's better this way, losing her was hard enough…"

From the man's face, Ed moves his eyes to his hands; the thick gloves hide any trace of ornaments that can adorn the other man's fingers. "Show me your left hand," Ed mutters. Good thing that the Major General isn't present in the office, she would scold Ed for talking so rudely to a man older than him.

This very attitude confuses Hans, who arches his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Your left hand. Take the glove off and show it to me."

Hans keeps his eyebrow lifted as, in a slow and an elegant movement, he removes the glove from his hand and shows it; this is the hand of an aristocrat, no doubt; his fingers are long, his nails are chopped and clean, not many men had such a hand these days.

Ed frowns. "I thought you and Anna were married."

"We are."

"So where's your ring?"

Hans chuckles lowly, leniently; Ed deepens his frown, unhappy with the ridiculing tone in the other man's noise. "In the north, the wedding ring is worn on the right hand," he explains simply, removes the glove from his other hand; indeed, his finger is adorned with a thin, delicate golden ring.

He squints his eyes, tries to remember. He could swear he hasn't seen a ring on Anna's finger when he checked her body… maybe this man doesn't lie about his marriage to Anna, but why would he get a ring for himself, but not to her?

It seems like Hans could read what is going on in the younger man's mind, as he responds before the question is asked, "Anna and I took our vows shortly before she has gotten into this pitiful state," he sighs, slings his long fingers back into his gloves, "we didn't have time for an actual wedding… I didn't have time to give her a ring. I promised myself I will do it, once she's back to…" he pauses to take a deep breath. Looking at his face, Ed can notice the inner struggle the man is going through; how to define this girl's state? She isn't actually alive, yet, she isn't dead. "…her usual state," Hans clears his throat when he says that, entwines his fingers together over the large table. "It's been twenty years since I made that promise and I did not forget that. I did not lose my hope, either."

"Is this also why you kept these handkerchiefs?" Ed remarks as he nods at the handkerchief he was wiping his face with earlier.

"Yes," Hans sighs. "Even her wedding gown is preserved… as if those twenty years that passed since that, never happened."

The more Edward examines the other man's face, the more dumbfounded he is. He came to this meeting thinking of Hans as a potential suspect. The man had every reason to be suspicious: he arrived to Arendelle for the first time shortly before the queen disappeared, and he married the princess - the only remaining heiress - minutes before she turned into a statue of ice that positioned him as the only one in line for the kingship. It was too convenient to be just a coincidence… yet, the man who is sitting right before him appears innocent.

"…there is only one person who can be responsible to everything that had happened," Hans' face changes; a deep frown is taking over his past calm expression, his eyes become cold, merciless. "The monster-queen, Elsa."

Ed's expression remains indifferent as he looks deep into the other man's eyes; once again he leans over the backrest of his seat, placing his right hand on the table. "I went through the affidavit taken by Anna, several hours before she turned into a block of ice," he states simply, ignoring the face Hans is making when he hears that. "She claimed, repeatedly, that her sister was cursed."

"Her sister wasn't cursed by anyone," the other man mutters with a hiss. "Her sister was a monster… she was determined to destroy life as we know them in her sick strive for power. She was dealing with dark forces in the sole purpose of gaining control which, eventually, brought her to destroy anyone who could stop her."

"So why didn't she destroy you?" Ed squints. "You were standing in her way. You have got the power over Arendelle once Anna could no longer take this position. You became the only heir, the only one who could claim for power. Why didn't she stop you?"

"She tried," still frowning, Hans straightens his back, lowers his eyes to stare at Edward as from above; the younger man shifts uncomfortably in his seat. The man is mocking him… he growls though remains silent, allowing Hans to continue. "Shortly after she disappeared, I stood in the head of a delegation that went after her. We tried to capture her. The casualties amongst our men were unbearable… we had to retreat, I couldn't risk the life of any more men. And when I returned, I was told Anna was taken for an inquiry. The rest…" lets out of a deep sigh, "you already know."

For a long minute, Edward remains quiet. He made all the way from Briggs for answers, and he is going to return to Briggs with more questions and not a single trace. It angers him; he is thrown back to the starting point, he has nothing, only unanswered questions and a heavy feeling of uncertainty that sits in his stomach. "Thank you," he states simply and stands up. Hans is standing up as well, offers his hand which Ed shakes shortly. "I might be coming again with more questions…"

"The gates of Arendelle are always open."

Ed nods his head shortly and takes his coat which the servant holds for him; he puts it back on once he leaves Hans' office and marches down the corridor to the exit, follows by the servant who opens the door for him; the military vehicle is waiting for him outside, only a several metres away from the entrance; just as he crosses the threshold, he could swear he hears the servant talking to him.

"It's a fraud."