Skylynn's POV:
The rest of the night went on pretty well –well- actually the next hour went on well, because I left soon after that. Anna and Kristoff are adorable, Kristoff is adorable. He is really nice and you can see from the way he looks at Anna that he loves her very much. He's funny, charming in his own way, easy-going, we get along pretty well. And now it's official: I absolutely adore Anna. How can someone not like her? She's… a dork, but she's so sweet! She's funny, outgoing, friendly, smart, clumsy. She is just so fun to hang out with. As for Elsa…what to say about her?… It's impressive how fast our conversations can change from civil to cold war, to making fun of each other then back to cold war, then me challenging her, then cold war, then civil then cold war. Let's just say that she can be unpredictable sometimes, I don't know how things will turn out between us, we could be the best of friends or the biggest rivals the world has ever seen. Maybe I'm abusing of my hero/queen/ally status and the fact that Anna adores me, but I'm not going to lie: ticking off Elsa is kind of fun. She is a good sport, I give her that.
As I walked back into the castle, I made sure no one was around and headed towards the dungeons. I was going to see Hans, with or without Elsa's permission. I know I'm pushing it, but he's got to give me some answers. Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show. He taught me so and I saw why with my own eyes.
I walked through the castle corridors and made my way down the dungeon stairs. As I got to the door, I saw the guards guarding Hans' cell in a phenomenal deep slumber ruled by the sound of their snores. 'Fine warriors'? 'Fine warriors' my foot, Queen Elsa…
I walked to them and took my sword out only to tickle one of the guards' nose, right on his mustache with the tip of my blade. The guard stirred in his sleep but didn't wake up, I tickled him some more and he finally woke up.
"What?" then he noticed the sword pointed on his face "WHAT THE HELL?!" and he jumped up waking up the other guard. I immediately blocked the hit from both first and second guard disarming them both and pointed my sword at them.
"Dead" I said as they finally recognized me.
"Queen Skylynn!" they exclaimed "What's the meaning of this?!" Guard 1 said shocked.
"A test" I said innocently, putting my sword back in its sheath "A test you two failed" I added severely "You gentlemen have an attempted murderer who almost took over your country in there and you sleep on the job? Is that considered 'guarding'? Not in my world" I scolded, as they picked up their spears, then I went with the magic words "Queen Elsa and Princess Anna wouldn't be too pleased to hear about this now, would they?"
"No! - No! Please, your Majesty! – Don't tell them! We're so sorry!" they said panicked "Please! We have families to take care of! - We can't lose our job!" they pleaded
"Okay, fine... I won't tell them" I said they were about to thank me but I cut them off "IF you let me speak to the prisoner" I said.
"But, Queen Skylynn, Queen Elsa specifically told us not to let you-"
"-She also specifically told you to keep an eye on him by staying awake, didn't she?" I said glaring at them.
"Sorry, your Majesty, but we can't let you in" said Guard 2.
"Okay, fine" I said taking slow steps away from the cell "Good luck finding a new job" I added with a sweet smile.
"NO! Queen Skylynn wait!" they called. I stopped turning around slowly.
"Yes, sirs?"
"Fine, we'll let you in" they said with a resigned huff and opened the door for me. I smirked and walked back to the cell.
"Thank you, gentlemen" I said, took one of the lanterns hanging on the wall and got inside the cell closing the door behind me. As I got inside the room, I placed the lantern next to Hans's bunk. He was laying on his side with his eyes open, clearly not asleep.
"Sometimes I wish I never taught you not to give up" he said turning his head towards me.
"Most of the times, I'm thankful you did" I said crossing my arms.
"What is it now?" he said in an annoyed manner getting off the bunk and walking towards the window. As he did so, I noticed how he kept his back slightly bent forward and a faint pained expression on his face "If you're here because you think I didn't mean any of the things I said-"
"-yeah, yeah… you meant all of it" I said sarcastically "How long is this show going to last?"
"No show was ever done"
"Yeah, right… and I'm the Wicked Witch of the West" I answered. Hans softly chuckled but then coughed and cleared his throat "Are you okay?" I asked.
"I have probably caught a cold, not that I'm surprised after yours and the Snow Queen's last visit" he answered "What do you want?" he snapped again.
"An answer" I said "Why did you do this? What have Elsa and Anna ever done to you to deserve being almost killed?"
"They? Nothing. Anna was just my ticket to get into Arendelle's royal family and Elsa was in my way. As simple as that. Plus it would have been a benefit to everyone if she was dead, an ice witch less"
"Stop hiding. I've heard the story. I was in court. But I know you and you aren't capable of something like that, in fact, you failed. If you were capable of it, you would have succeeded" I paused "Hans, why won't you let me help you?"
"I don't want any help. There is nothing anyone can do to help! With what you did in court, you didn't help me you helped Elsa keep her authority and power" he coughed again and that pained look came back.
"One solution to two problems"
"Go away, Skylynn. I don't need you" he said coldly. Those words stung at first, but I knew he said that to make me go away and leave him. But why? This I don't understand! "I don't need your 'love' and I most certainly don't need you. You're just a waste of my time now. You want to know why I don't need you? Because my brothers are right: you are a disgrace to our family. You are worth nothing. Your fame is just thanks to Landon and Storm who always had your back and saved your ass in battle! Gordon, Herbert, Brad, August and the others treat you like trash because bastard children like you are trash. God, Skylynn! Landon understood this immediately, he is cleverer than you and he's dead!" he said with poison. The last one was a low blow and it hurt, but I let him insult me, I didn't care, I knew he didn't mean it, but there was anger in those words, in his voice. He said it with fury and real poison like if he wanted to hurt me. Hans coughed again and got back to talking. "All those beatings were well deserved. What kind of warrior would have you been if you couldn't even defend yourself from them? They were preparing us. We Westerguards are warriors, we're Admirals, we fight back. I trained you to train myself, not to waste my time with you! What kind of man would I be, if I couldn't even defend myself?"
"Oh, please! You talk like you actually care about what they…" I trailed off as realization hit me. I connected the dots. How could I have been so stupid?! Of course! That's why Hans tried to take over Arendelle! Hans noticed my expression. He knew I had figured it out "You did this because of them" I said as the bitter realization dawned on me.
"Leave" he said as his cold voice slightly trembled "Now" he added.
"Why didn't you tell me right away? I could have done something!" I said.
"Go away, Skylynn" he said. Before I could say something I noticed how paled he looked. Color had drained from his face, sweat starting to form on his forehead.
"Hans-"
"-Get out, Skylynn, or I'll make you"
"You'd never hurt me"
"After all I said?" he paused and gulped hard as he stared at me coldly in the eyes "Try me" I did as he asked. I took my sword out and threw it on the ground in front of him. He looked at me shocked.
"Do it" I said challenging him. Hans blinked once, and shook his head. Something was wrong. Then he knelt down, trying to keep his back in its slightly bent position, took the sword and got back up staring at me. He wasn't going to hurt me, he was just going to try and scare me. In fact, he raised the sword holding back a yelp of pain as he did so.
"You asked for it" he said holding the sword with his hands slightly trembling. Something was definitely wrong. He wouldn't let his hands tremble. Then he made a quick jump forward and swung the sword a few inches from my face to scare me. I wouldn't have budged, if it wasn't for the fact that he had stumbled forward losing his balance and almost hit me in the face for real.
"Hans, are you alright?" I asked concerned and took a step forward only to be stopped by my sword pointed at my throat.
"Don't!" he shouted "Stay away from me or I swear I'm going to impale you with your own sword!" he threatened, but coughed immediately after that.
"Hans, calm down. It's alright" I said trying to sooth him. He walked backwards towards the cell corner behind him, lowering the sword as he pinched the bridge of his nose, passing his thumb and index on his eyes and blinking a couple of times. While he was distracted, I took a couple of steps towards him. "Hans, lower the sword and calm down. It's okay. I'm right here" Wrong words. I'm an idiot.
"Exactly! Get out of here!" he yelled trying to point the sword at me, but pointed it at my left. Again, he slightly stumbled and did that pinching and blinking gesture again, as he lowered his head blinking again.
"Hans, put the sword down" I said tracing the sword's edge careful not to cut myself as I walked closer to him "Hans, it's okay. It's going to be fine, but you need to calm down" I had almost managed to touch the hand holding the sword, but when I touched him, Hans snapped. He snatched his hand away taking a step back and swung the sword on me, once, twice, three times. I managed to dodge the first two by moving back, but on the third I had to roll on the side. I knew he was doing this to scare me off but, in these conditions he could unintentionally kill me. Memo for me: never give Hans a sword when he's angry and sick. Now I'm in trouble. As I dodged the last one, he stumbled forward, but as he stroke again, I rolled forward to dodge, but this time, Hans didn't just stumble. The sword fell from his hand and he collapsed on the floor.
"Hans!" I called getting quickly to his side turning him around. His face was white, his forehead covered in sweat, his breathing hoarse. He needed help immediately. I got my sword and put it back in its sheath, I didn't need a third degree. "GUARDS!" I called getting back to my brother's side. The cell door immediately opened and the two big armed men came in.
"Your Majesty! Are you alright? Did he attack you?" Guard 1 asked concerned as he saw the scene in front of him.
"No, he is sick!" I said "You" I said pointing to Guard 1 "Go fetch the doctor and if you meet a servant on your way, tell him to go get Queen Elsa or do it yourself! GO! MOVE!" I ordered, the first guard immediately obliged and ran out of the cell. "You" I said pointing at Guard 2 "Help me put him on the bunk" I said. The man walked to me and as I got Hans' upper side, he got his legs and together we lifted him up and put him on the bunk.
"Help me take his shirt off. I need to check his wounds" I said. The guard seemed reluctant "Now!" I said sternly and he obeyed. As we took his shirt off I took a look at the bandages. They were old. No one had come to change them. I took out the dagger I wore on the left side of my belt and carefully cut open the bandages removing them. Then I turned him around with his back facing up. Most of the wounds were infected.
"Oh my…" the guard mumbled clearly not expecting such a sight: gruesome, that's the word. They were much worse than the last time.
"What's going on?" the doctor asked as soon as he got into the cell, then he saw me and gave me a quick bow. "Your Majesty! What happened?" he asked.
"We were talking, then he paled and collapsed" I explained cutting out the dangerous part. The doctor took a look at Hans.
"Did you remove the bandages?" he asked.
"Yes, there they are" I said pointing at the old dirty rags. The doctor looked at them "They haven't been changed, of course the wounds would get infected, they were already half way when I gave him his first medication" he said taking a cloth and a bottle with some transparent liquid in it. Then he poured some of the liquid on the cloth and carefully disinfected the wounds.
"Is there something I can do? I think he's sick" I said worriedly. He put a hand on Hans' forehead.
"Yes, he's got a high fever. This is not good. Not good at all" the doctor said "Judging from the bandages and the severity of the infection, I suppose the bandages haven't been changed since I gave him his first medication, which means his wounds weren't treated… which means he could die"
"Then why didn't you treat his wounds?!" I thundered.
"Because I didn't put him in charge of it" said another voice, I turned around and saw Elsa regally walking inside the cell, looking at me with a glare. The doctor gave her a bow of the head "What are you doing here? I believe I had made myself pretty clear when I told you not to"
"Well, it's a good thing I did. My brother is dying!" I said angrily.
"We're having a talk later" Elsa said and turned to the doctor "What happened?" she asked.
"The bandages haven't been changed since the last time I came here. No one has treated his wounds and now they are severely infected, as you can see, and he's got a high fever" the man put away the cloth as he finished cleaning all his wounds "Queen Elsa, he could die and considering his whole state, the chances are quiet high" Now, I was worried out of my mind. Elsa seemed to be quiet shocked at the news too. I was about to speak up when she raised a hand to silence me.
"Doctor, finish treating his wounds and change his bandages" she ordered. The doctor gave her a quick bow and went back to work on Hans' back. "You two" she said pointing to the guards "once the doctor is done, take the prisoner to his old guest room and guard it. No one can get in or out unless I allow it"
"Yes, your Majesty" they said.
"Queen Skylynn" she said turning to me "follow me" I nodded as she gave me a stern look. I took one last look at Hans and then followed the queen out of the cell and back upstairs in the castle hallways. There was silence as my mind was focused on my injured sick brother, also waiting for Elsa's rant which was not coming. Then I exploded.
"Look, Elsa if you are going to lecture me, you'll have wait for that since I've got my mind on my brother's health and I'm not really going to listen to you anyway. Plus, I already know the drill so don't bother" I told her.
"No, I will bother, I will lecture you and you are going to listen to me, Skylynn Westerguard" she said with a stern look.
"Actually it's Engel Westerguard" I corrected.
"Whatever. I don't care" she said "For two minutes, zip it" she said. I crossed my arms, waiting for the lecture. Is she really expecting me to listen? I have other stuff in my head right now, like how I'm going to skin my half-brothers one by one, or, more importantly, my brother's health.
"You came here willing to save Hans' life knowing what he tried to do and to me that's not a good start. Then you burst into a room humiliating a king and two princes right under my nose, then you keep asking me to visit Hans and even though my answer is 'no', you go there anyway, you have done nothing more than trying my patience. I thought I had made it pretty clear that you were supposed to be on your best behavior, but since I can't kick you out anymore, I should have you locked up in your quarters"
"I had to see him. It was urgent and it's a good thing I did! I needed answers and I got them before he collapsed"
"I don't care what kind of family business you had to talk to him about, but if I forbid you to see him, you don't go see him"
"Even when it's about the mess he did here in Arendelle?" I challenged.
"In that case, he has to answer to me, not you and it's not him we're talking about, we're talking about you" Elsa seriously replied "You are in my home, under my rules, I warned you once, but you keep doing whatever you want and that's not okay with me. You're already on my Black List and you seem to actually try to make it worse!" she paused taking a deep breath "But… if you hadn't disobeyed me, by the time I would have allowed you to see Hans, he would have probably been dead and a war with Drakora is the last thing I want for my kingdom. So…" she continued "I suppose I also owe you a thank you for letting me know"
"You're letting me off the hook? Just like that?" I asked surprised.
"I still don't know what kind of 'game' you're playing at now, but yes. I'm sort of letting you off the hook. But Skylynn, please let it be the last time I tell you: stop defying my orders" she said in an exasperated plead "I know you care about him, but you have to stop doing whatever floats in your boat, especially since everything that happens here is under my responsibility. If we were in Drakora and you'd be in my position, you'd ask me the same thing" I couldn't help contain a small side smile.
"You're right, I would" I said "I apologize, your Majesty. I'll try to be on my best behavior"
"Thank you" there was a small silence.
"Elsa" I spoke up "Who was supposed to treat Hans' wounds didn't do his job. Who is it?" I asked trying to contain the anger that was boiling up in me.
"I don't know, I'll have to ask Kai. But Skylynn, please, leave that to me" she said "And I'm sorry if your brother could be dying because of one of my servants" I gave her a nod of the head and walked past her, when she stopped me with a hand "For your next visit to him, wait for me" she said looking at me in the eyes. I took a deep breath, restraining myself from rolling my eyes.
"Of course" I said.
"And another thing. How did you get past my guards?" she asked slightly narrowing her eyes.
"I bribed them" I answered truthfully. Elsa's eyes went out of their sockets.
"You actually corrupted them?!" she said glaring.
"No, I suggested a fair trade. In exchange of letting me through, I wouldn't have told that you I caught them sleeping on the job. Oops!" I said dramatically covering my mouth with a hand.
"Oh…" she said, understanding I was telling the truth "Well, that means that you will be held in check and those two dullards will not only have their usual shifts, but will also have to muck out horse poop for a month… three months, in the Royal Stables" I couldn't help but let out a small side smile.
"Still thinking your guards are 'fine warriors'?" I challenged with a smirk. Elsa glared at me.
"Go to your quarters, Queen Skylynn" she said glaring at me.
"Of course, your Majesty" I said with an overdramatic bow and walked away. While I got back to my room, my mind was on Hans, hoping and praying he would make it through.
Elsa's POV:
The morning after, as I was done with breakfast, while Anna went to town with Olaf and Kristoff, I went looking for Kai. I had finally found him as he exit the royal kitchen.
"Kai" I called. He turned around and bowed.
"Queen Elsa" he greeted "What can I do for you?"
"Who did you put in charge of treating Hans' wounds?" I asked
"Four servants and three maids, so they could pick turns. Why? Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"They didn't do their job and now the prisoner could die" I said. Kai paled.
"Oh my goodness! Your Majesty- I had no idea! I don't-"
"Kai, it's okay. It's not you I'm mad at. Who are these people? I need to have a little chat with them" I asked.
"Follow me" he said showing me the way. We walked through the corridors in silence then, as we stopped by a door, Kai told me the names of the servants and maids he put in charge and opened a door to a room where most of the servants off duty were, some sewing, others resting, others chatting. As soon as they saw me everyone jumped to their feet, the men bowed and the women made a curtsy, acknowledging my presence.
"I need to ask the following people to follow me for a talk: Joseph, Carl, Gary, Ronald, Mary, Helen and Tina" I said examining each of their faces. The seven I called paled, but followed me out of the door giving each other nervous glances "Thank you, Kai. You can go back to your duties" I said he bowed and gave the seven an apologetic look, then he walked away. I turned back to them "Who gave you the authority to decide the prisoner's fate?" I said sternly "I had you to be ordered to treat his wounds, yet, his life is at stake now because you disobeyed me" I scolded. They all looked to the ground. "If I say 'treat his wounds', you treat his wounds, no questions asked. I don't care if he's a traitor and tried to commit regicide. He had his trial and he will face his punishment; you are in no position to decide his fate. I really hope the seven of you have a good explanation for defying my orders" I said sternly. Then one of the three girls spoke up.
"You're Majesty, we tried to treat his wounds but… he wouldn't cooperate" she said.
"Get into details" I said glaring at them.
"He wouldn't let us near him" said one of the boys. Then he rolled up one of his sleeves revealing healing bruises shaped as fingertips "I got this trying to get near him, but he grabbed my wrist, threatened me and pushed me away"
"I tried to treat him as well, but he just snapped and wouldn't let me near him. He charged on me, I was lucky to be fast enough to get out of the door" said another of the girls.
"Your Majesty" said another boy showing me his cheek "I got this bruise because I was stupid enough to grab his arm. He punched me square in the face and would have continued if I hadn't run out of the door"
"He kept saying he didn't need your help or your pity and that he would rather die" said another boy
"Your Majesty, honestly, I didn't even go in there because after seeing them coming back from the cell I was scared of him" said the third girl.
"Yeah, me too. That guy is a beast!" said the last servant. That got me to think. I was actually surprised to hear this. That didn't seem like the Hans I had met last month, this was someone else and it looks like he meant it when he asked me to kill him. He wants to die. But why? I thought- he seemed to be going to fight back, but now I realize, he really doesn't want to be saved and it made me realize something else too. He did care for Skylynn. If he didn't, he would have let them treat him and as soon as he had recovered, he would have tried something without caring about the consequences. If he didn't care about her he would have gotten both him and her killed without a second thought; this is the only way to leave his sister out of the mess he made… or maybe I'm just overthinking?
I turned back to the servants.
"Even if what you say it's true, you should have informed me, not taken on the liberty of keeping your mouths shut until the prisoner died" I scolded.
"We're sorry, your Majesty" said one of the boys "Please, forgive us"
"Why didn't you inform me?" I said
"I-.. we…" stuttered one. They all looked at each other nervously. One was chewing on his nails, another had his knees trembling, the one beside him seemed about to pass out and they all had a blank and scared look in their eyes. Then one of the girls timidly spoke up.
"Please forgive us, your Majesty. None of us wanted to disobey your orders, we thought the prisoner would eventually calm down and then we would have treated him, but as the days passed, he became even more aggressive, instead" she said
"Please forgive us, Queen Elsa. We're sorry, we made a mistake" a boy said as they all kept their head down.
"Alright, listen to me carefully. This is my decision" I said "From now on, remember that you will personally answer to whatever happens to the prisoner's health. Food, medications, hygiene, everything will be under your responsibility until he is recovered. Any kind of lack of attention on your behalf will be punished with a stay in the dungeons"
"Thank you, your Majesty. Thank you for your trust" they said bowing.
"Now, get back to work" they bowed and quickly walked away to their duties. As the servants walked away, I went back to my study to take care of my queenly duties.
It was boring, really. Singing all these papers, look at economy statistics… I hate numbers, it just gets confusing after a while, I'm much more of a literature person. As I read the statistics, I couldn't help but notice something. What was on the papers, sure didn't reflect much of what happened in town. This was the first time I had to check those kind documents, but in town it surely didn't look like our economy was slowly going down. I got up to one of the shelves and took out the old statistics and compared them. There was something fishy going on. I then went towards another of my shelves and took out one of the folders that had 'Politics and Government: King Adgar VI – Queen Idun II' written on. It had all the documents of my parent's reign in it. I didn't even check the papers regarding my mother's duties, since she took care of international politics such as trading and alliances, it was my father's politics I needed to give a look at. There I found the answer. I knew mom had always been a much more of a democratic ruler, in fact, she was the one who convinced dad to introduce a parliament. Unfortunately, that's the only thing dad allowed her to decide regarding internal politics. Parliament was there just to help out the monarch taking care of the law, economy and everything else, the only power above parliament is the ruler's. As I kept reading the documents, I got even more scandalized by the pay check these people got, where they had put taxes and how they decided to put them, for example: the same amount of taxes on the house for everyone. Now, I mean- for Christ's sake!- the people who have a job that doesn't pay much and a family to take care of, how are they supposed to pay that and the other taxes? As I kept reading I saw even more scandalous things regarding our parliamentarians, apart from the fact that there aren't ANY representatives of middle-class and the commoners, like the amount of privileges these people got. Privileges for what? As I finished reading all that, I finally got why the economy statistics of the past few years were getting worse. My father spent most of the State finances to pay his parliamentarians and putting taxes where there weren't supposed to and in the wrong distribution! Of course our economy is slowly going down! No wonder why some people were giving me the evil eye the other day. After putting away the old documents and putting in my drawer the useful ones, I got back to reading the new ones and one caught my eye. As I read it I felt truly astonished by the absurdity of the letter.
Who the heck did my ministers take me for?! Santa Clause? was my thought. I immediately folded it and put it in one of my drawers. Then there was a knock on my door.
"Come in" I said.
"Pardon me for disturbing you, your Majesty" a friendly male voice said.
"Oh, Kai don't worry about it. Actually, I was about to come look for you" I said smiling at the butler.
"I'm all ears, Queen Elsa" he said with a warm smile.
"I need you to go inform my ministers of an upcoming meeting Friday at 5p.m. sharp"
"Of course. What for, your Majesty?"
"Just tell them I have a few things to communicate them" I said holding back a smirk, and to be clear, the only reason why I was smirking was to prevent myself from crying.
"As you wish, I'll be right on it" Kai said with a bow of the head.
"Perfect. Now, what did you need me for?" I said smiling.
"General Ryder asked for your presence, but said that if you were busy he would meet whenever it pleased you" he said holding a smile. I couldn't help but hold back a sincere half smile "I suppose you agree with me when I say he's a perfect gentleman"
"He is" I said smiling at myself, thinking of how much of a gentleman he had been for the whole time yesterday.
"And a handsome fellow" Kai added with a smirk.
"I suppose he is…"
"And a charming young man"
"Kai, are you by any chance suggesting something?" I said raising an eyebrow.
"Just stating facts, your Majesty" he said with a fatherly smile "Plus… who knows?" I blushed there.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about" he smiled again.
"So what shall I tell him?" Kai asked
"Tell him I'll meet him this evening in the east wing living room before dinner" I said.
"As you wish, your Majesty" he said and left with a bow. As he got out of the door, I checked a few more documents, signed them and finally got out of the study. I walked through the castle hallways going directly to Hans' room. As I walked through the hallway before taking a turn towards the hallway where Hans' room was located, I saw Anna, wearing her favorite green dress with flats and her hair in her signature braids, leaning on the corner waiting. I walked towards her and when she saw me she came towards me.
"Elsa, what's going on? I passed by this hallway this morning and noticed two guards and Skylynn outside Hans's old guest room, and when I returned, like three hours later, Skylynn was still there. Did something happen?" Anna asked me worriedly.
"Skylynn went to see Hans without my permission yesterday" I said.
"And…?" she asked knowing there was more.
"It's a good thing she did, because Hans is sick and the doctor said he might not make it through. His wounds got badly infected"
"Oh… -Wait!-Didn't you have Kai put someone in charge of it?" Anna asked.
"Apparently, Hans has succeeded in scaring them off. It seems like he doesn't want help… like if he wants to die" Anna nodded understanding
"Skylynn is probably worried out of her mind. She is still out of the door, let her see him, let them talk" she said.
"I will, sooner or later"
"Elsa" Anna said soothingly "I understand that you don't trust her and I know it seems like I haven't learned anything from what happened a month ago, but believe me when I say that sometimes I wish I didn't trust her as much as I do, it's just that-"
"-When it comes to older siblings you feel like you two have a connection" I finished and took her hands in mine "I know…"
"Yeah… you know that if something happened to you I would want to be by your side, so why won't you let her? She may seem like she's made of steel, but she's human too. She's been fighting with claws and teeth to somehow save him, doesn't that make you think?"
"Yes, too much. I don't trust her, Anna, like… at all. She's smart, she's a warrior, she's a stranger, she's… she's dangerous, Anna. Hans is dangerous. I really hope you have realized by now, why I don't want them to communicate as much"
"I do and you're absolutely right. But have you also considered that maybe theirs are masks? Why don't you try to dig a little deeper before labeling her as 'enemy'? I'm trying to do that myself. I'm being cautious too" Anna said. I raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Because going all fan-girl mode and trying to persuade me in giving her more trust doesn't really go with the definition of 'cautious'" I said. Anna smiled got on her tiptoes, since I was wearing heels and she wasn't for once, and kissed my cheek taking a few steps away.
"Closing doors isn't always the answer" she said and walked away. I stood there for a moment thinking about it. Then I turned the corner and in fact, Skylynn was there sitting on one of the small couches in the corridor, waiting outside of Hans' door a few feet away from it, she had something that looked like a notebook in her hands, and she was writing something on it. I walked towards her but didn't say anything, she must have heard me though, because her head snapped towards me, her bright grey eyes meeting mine for a split of a second, then she gave me a nod and got back to writing.
"How long have you been here?" I asked standing next to her with my hands clasped in front of me.
"5 a.m." she answered in a low voice "I couldn't sleep" there was a moment of silence
"What are you doing?" I asked pointing at the notebook.
"Writing a letter to my sister-in-law" she said "Don't worry, I'm not asking her to send an army and declare war to Arendelle, I'm informing her of what's going on and that her regency could last longer than expected" she paused with a glare "Or do you want to play nosy and read it to make sure it's actually what I told you?" she said coldly.
"No, I believe you" I said calmly.
"That's a first" she said somehow satisfied with my answer "The doctor just got inside" she said not taking her eyes off the notebook.
"Did his actions have anything to do with your brothers?" I asked, maybe this wasn't the best moment, but we were supposed to talk about it sooner or later.
"Half-brothers" she corrected with a glare "And I thought you didn't care about our family business"
"You said it was about what happened here in Arendelle and that concerns me" I insisted.
"Well, to think about it, Arendelle doesn't really have anything to do with this, so… no, it doesn't concern you" she said not looking at me, but clearly irritated.
"Skylynn-"
"-Listen up, Snow Queen" I tried not to flinch at the epithet as she stood up staring down at me, her grey eyes cold. The guards at the door were already about to leave their position and come to me, but I raised a hand signing them to stay in position "This is none of your business and I'm not in the mood to argue, so if you don't want me to do anything stupid don't push it" Skylynn said menacingly.
"Is this a threat, Heroine of Drakora?" I said not backing down, although she was indeed intimidating.
"A war declaration if necessary" she said taking a step closer, as she stood at her full height. I swallowed the lump in my throat, but didn't avert my gaze.
"I suggest you to think before speaking to me like that. Don't make me remind you that I am the queen here and that I could freeze you in this very moment if I wanted to" I said. Skylynn took a deep breath and stepped back sitting back down.
"Let's make it clear: you can threaten me all you want but I'm not afraid you. I'm not in the mood to fight with you, right now" she said. As she said that, I admit that that answer caught me off guard. I knew Anna and Kristoff weren't afraid of me either, they didn't need to say it, but hearing Skylynn say it directly in my face, it felt… good. Even when Storm indirectly said so himself it was a nice feeling, but hearing a stranger saying it directly was better.
"I'll go hear what the doctor has to say and let you know" I said. She nodded and got back to the letter. I took a step forward a placed a hand on her shoulder "If he's awake, would you like me to tell him something?" I asked.
"I'm not going anywhere. Please tell Hans that" she said looking up at me. I nodded and walked towards the guards.
"Is everything okay, your Majesty?" one of them asked eyeing Skylynn.
"Everything is fine" I answered "Let me through, please" they nodded and stepped aside letting me inside the room. As Skylynn said, the doctor was inside checking on Hans. As I closed the door, he turned his head towards me and bowed. I nodded back.
"How is he?" I asked.
"Not good" the doctor answered "The infection is bad and probably deadly, the fever isn't helping either"
"Is there something you can do?" I asked
"I already changed the bandages and gave him some antibiotics, but there isn't much else I can do for him. We just have to wait and see"
"Thank you, doctor" I said. He bowed and left the room leaving me with a sleeping Hans. Even if he was asleep, he didn't look peaceful at all, he was in pain. I walked closer to him and put a hand on his forehead. He was burning up. What I did next came out natural, as I felt his burning forehead, I used my powers to try to cool him down, moving my hand from his forehead to his cheek. As I did, he started to steer in his sleep leaning into my touch. Surprised, I was about to pull my hand away, when he grabbed my wrist with his warm one, keeping it in place. My heart immediately started beating out from my chest. I couldn't let him touch my hand, not when it was so close to his face, especially since I saw frost immediately crawl over my fingers. Calm down, Elsa! Calm down! Don't freak out! Don't freeze him.
"Sky… stay…" he weakly muttered stirring, with his eyes barely opened. Now that caught me off guard.
"No, Hans. It's Queen Elsa" I said.
"I was… stupid… Sky" he muttered
"Hans, it's Elsa" I said gently "Skylynn is outside"
"Arendelle… I didn't… Elsa… Anna…" he muttered, that got my attention and I sat down on the edge of the bed, next to him, my concern for the unexpected contact with my hands gone. "My brothers… don't… it's my fault" he kept muttering. He was delirious, probably because of the high fever. "Gordon… August… Brad… William… Herbert… they…" he coughed "…I didn't… Elsa… she hates me..." he coughed again tightening his grip on my hand "they are right… I… thirteenth wheel… spare of spare… worthless…" his hoarse voice was rising and I immediately hushed him, running my cool hand through his hair, that seemed to calm him down a bit "They… preparing me… I failed… I'm… nothing…" those words didn't make sense but something in my mind clicked. What happened here in Arendelle had something to do with his brothers and Skylynn had figured it out. I kept thinking about all those words until a thought came into my mind. I think I figured it out… I had to talk to Skylynn about this.
"Shh… get some sleep, you need to rest" I said running my fingers through his auburn locks
"Sky… I didn't mean…" he continued weakly as his barely open eyes closed again and the grip on my hand loosen, but the moment I tried to pull my hand away, he clumsily caught it again in his.
"She knows… she's not going anywhere" I said, but he was already asleep. For a moment, I stood there thinking about what he had just said in his delirious state. I needed to talk to Skylynn, immediately. But before leaving, I pulled away my hand from his and using my magic I created a thin layer of snow on his forehead to cool him down a bit. Hans seemed to relax as he felt the cool frost. I stood there for a moment, noticing how he seemed to be less in pain… and didn't realize that the moment I was done with the frost, I had placed my hand on his cheek again and was rubbing it with my thumb. I gently pulled my hand away and stood up walking out of the room. To my surprise, Skylynn wasn't there, she must have gone to get herself something to eat or drink. I took a few steps away from the door, until I passed next to the window closest to Hans's room and saw something. This part of the castle faced the royal gardens, which were a quiet isolated place. There stood Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon speaking to each other. They were down there, and Skylynn wasn't here anymore…
"Oh no" I muttered and rushed away calling the guards, making my way towards the royal gardens hoping to catch up with the furious Queen of Drakora.
Oh-Oh... Sky figured out why Hans tried to take over Arendelle and she's NOT happy! What do you guys think it's going to happen next? Will Elsa catch up with her in time? What do you think of Anna's tecnique to get to know Skylynn? Any thoughts on Hans? Let me know what you think about this chapter with your awesome REVIEWS!
See you next chapter! ;-)
The Princess of Stars
P.S.
A/N: Since I realized the chapters are quite long, in case you forgot, Sky figures out Hans did the Arendelle thing because of his brothers, because he repeats the same stuff they tell him in the first chapter when they beat him up, meaning that they said to her as well, so she knows where those words actually come from.
Just in case.
