He was decked head to toe in ceremonial uniform. Purple dyed chainmail shirt and skirt drowned by a deep green tunic emblazoned with an embroidered crest of Arendelle. His pants were brown wool and matched the brown gloves on his hands. A sword rested in its decorated hilt on the side of his belt. A bright blue cloak with a hood was slung around his shoulders, a sign of modern Arendelle mixed in with the old. His hair was slicked back loosely, the only way he seemed to know how to style it. Elsa couldn't help but think he was beautiful, like one of the war kings of old.
Kristoff looked okay too. He was wearing mostly the same thing, just without the cloak and sword.
Elsa turned her attention back to her guard and noticed the three loops of gold wrapped around his belt to signify rank. His boots were jet black and freshly polished. The cloak was edged in white with an embroidered snowflake running down it here and there. She turned her attention to his face again and was greeted by a smirk and bright eyes.
"Good morning, Queen Elsa," he called. He gave a very traditional bow. Damn him.
"Good morning, Captain Eriksson. You look like a painting on the castle walls," she complimented.
"Oh my gosh, Hank, you are gorgeous!" Anna yelled from her place next to her sister. Elsa felt a blush creeping up. She was going to get to that if her sister had just given her some time.
"I'm here too," Kristoff grumbled. He threw a bag onto the back of the sleigh and mumbled something about swords and compensation.
"You look cute," Anna said as almost an aside. "Hank looks like a statue though!"
"Stop drooling, Anna," Elsa commanded rather angrily. "Yes, Henrik may clean up very, very, well,, but that is no reason to act debased."
"Speak for yourself! Do you want me to fan you down, your majesty?" Anna mocked.
She shot a gust of arctic wind at her sister's exposed legs, eliciting a shocked yelp. Satisfied, she turned back to her way-too-smiley friend and his disgruntled ice-harvesting partner.
"Thank you both for this, I can assure you the rewards will be bountiful for your service."
"Stop the bullshit," Hank insisted, "We're going to put some flags down and make another fake boundary. It's less work than I do at the castle."
"But you look so much better doing it," Elsa teased. She caught his cheeks tinting and smiled at the desired effect. She closed the distance between herself and him. "I'll see you soon." She wrapped him in a hug and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry about your father, I'll take great care of him."
"I know you will," Hank said returning the hug stronger than he did the evening before. He broke off and went to take his seat in the sleigh.
Anna gave Kristoff a rather grandiose kiss and let him get in the sleigh himself, taking the reins and urging Sven on towards the mountains. The sisters watched them leave together, neither peeling their eyes away until the sleigh was just a small dot on the horizon.
"Elsa?" Anna asked.
"Yes?" the Queen replied.
"Do you want to build a snowman?"
Elsa smiled warmly. "Absolutely, Anna."
Kristoff was nervous. Captain Eriksson had said absolutely nothing for the whole hour they had been travelling. They had another two or three hours to go until they reached the boundaries of Arendelle land and then days of surveying. He was scared they would be spent in silence.
The soldier was slouching in his seat and had his legs balanced against the front of the sleigh. Kristoff wanted to tell him to put his feet down but the man scared him a little and he was even more imposing in that uniform. He looked like something right out of a storybook.
"Something on your mind, Bjorman?"
"Thank God you talked," Kristoff blurted out. Hank gave him a funny look. "I mean- uhhh, sorry, I was just wondering if you were gonna keep quiet."
Hank nodded. Kristoff waited for a reply and decided the man must be fooling around with him when he got none. He decided to return the favour.
"So, you and the Queen are getting pretty close huh?"
The guard visibly stiffened. "We've always been close."
Kristoff grinned. Hanging around Anna gave him a few things, one of them being the annoying ability to pester. "I don't know, she was holding onto you pretty tight."
"Drop it, Bjorgman!" Hank snapped. The taller man shut up and turned his attention back to the snow ahead. Sven trudged on dutifully.
"I don't want to talk about it." Kristoff quickly snapped his head back around wondering if he was hearing things. He hedged his bets on sounding even more like an idiot.
"Why?"
"My Dad told me not to," Hank explained.
Kristoff looked at him in disbelief. "That's a pretty damn stupid reason."
Hank frowned and furrowed his brow but continued on. "He told me that nothing good could ever come of us being together. A marriage without political ties could lead to wars or issues with trade. He warned me that my own happiness isn't worth a kingdom of people. He's right."
"You talked to your dying father about this?" Kristoff wondered, hoping he wasn't pressing too far.
"He brought it up." Hank said. Kristoff trusted Sven with the steering and turned his full attention to his companion.
"What do you think?"
"I don't think about that."
The Harvester considered leaving it there but Anna would never forgive him. He took a cue out of his family's playbook and got wily. "Okay. I don't blame you really. It's probably more trouble than it's worth anyways. What are you really missing out on? Elsa definitely isn't the best looking Queen in Arendelle's history."
Hank looked offended. He straightened his posture and leaned forward aggressively. "Elsa is the most divine creature God ever blessed the world with creating."
Kristoff smirked and relaxed, the fear of being thrown off his sleigh overpowered by the satisfaction of getting what he wanted. Hank narrowed his eyes, realizing he had been played.
"A blind man would tell you she's beautiful, Bjorgman," Hank defended.
"Would he tell me that she is 'the most divine-"
"I can kill you out here and nobody would know," Hank threatened. "I could slit your throat and leave you as food for the reindeer and not one person would ever find out."
Kristoff gulped. Something about the tone made Kristoff believe him, even though he knew the man was too nice to actually kill him. Well, actually, he didn't know the man very well at all.
"Sorry," Kristoff apologized genuinely. "I didn't mean to pry into something that bothers you this much."
Hank swirled his jaw in contemplation. "Okay," was all he said.
The blonde gripped the reins once more and looked ahead at his reindeer buddy. They were still on the right course. He refused to look back at Captain Eriksson, afraid of the reaction he might get if he tried to talk to him again and instead chose to do something he always used to do before getting friends. He talked to Sven.
"Hey, Sven," he started, "Do you know what I love about Anna?"
"Hey, Elsa," she started, "Do you know what I love about Kristoff?"
The older sister rolled her eyes. The man had been gone for a day and Anna had already written a damn book about him. Elsa attempted to think up a witty answer but was coming up dry. She settled with, "I don't know, Anna. Tell me again."
"Weeeelllll, I love the way he talks! He is always so awkward with other people. Some of the townspeople still think he's mean."
Elsa yawned and inspected her nails, not even feigning interest. Anna hadn't left her alone, even insisting on sleeping in the same room last night. The younger sibling stayed up for hours listing off hundreds of things that would be at her wedding. At least that party sounded like it would be a good time, the plans for it were infinitely more entertaining than hearing about every little quirk Kristoff has. The only solitude she found was at Hank's house with his father. Anna refused to go visit. Maybe I'll sleep there tonight, Elsa thought, Hank wouldn't mind me using his bed.
"What are you thinking about, Elsa?"
"Hmm?" Elsa replied, her trance broken.
Anna grinned like a mountain lion on top of a wounded sheep. "I bet you were just imaging Hank in his uniform yesterday. Oh, Captain Eriksson, please take me away from all of this regality with your strong arms and sleek hair!" she teased in a terrible impression of her sister's richer tones.
"Anna! That is very inappropriate!" Elsa felt a blush creeping across her pale cheeks.
"Oh, Henrik!" Anna was jumping around and swooning like a trained actress. "Take off my clothes and do me on the floor!"
"ANNA!" Elsa screamed throwing her hand forward and covering the princess in snow. The younger girl popped her head out of the pile, her teeth were chattering and her nose was rosy and bright.
"I w-was just k-k-k-kidding, Elsa," Anna shivered. Elsa made no attempt at dissolving the snow.
"I never want you to make assumptions like that again," Elsa demanded.
"Ac-c-cording to Olaf, it isn't an as-s-s-sumption," Anna said, getting snippy about her predicament.
"Excuse me?"
"Get rid of the snow, f-first."
Elsa flicked her wrist and the snow dissolved into beautiful crystals. The crystals swirled around and resolved into a large, garish sweater covering Anna. It was surprisingly warm.
"Hmmm, not exactly in style," Anna complained.
"Olaf said what?" Elsa pressed.
"Sorry, I just remembered! Olaf said it was a secret and I'm not allowed to tell."
As soon as she stopped talking she felt the sweater on her body get colder and harder, clinging tighter to her chest. "OKAY!" Anna panicked. "He looked in the window of Hank's house and saw you two embracing."
"That's it?" Elsa said, relieved. "You saw us embracing yesterday; it's no big deal to hug your best friend."
"You had clothes on yesterday," Anna mumbled. She wished she was an artist because the look on Elsa's face was worth a kingdom and a half. A look that, preserved properly, would live on as art for hundreds of years and spur millions of conversations about exactly what emotion she was portraying in the painting.
"Is that guilt?" Anna asked.
"Olaf doesn't know what he saw," Elsa assured. "He's just an innocent little snowman."
"What did he see, your majesty?" Anna teased.
"Anna, leave," Elsa pleaded, clearly exhausted by the exchange. "I'm not going to sit here and argue about something someone refuses to change their opinion on. Goodbye."
"I want answers!" Anna yelled playfully before being carried out of the room by a gust of cold air and deposited roughly on her butt outside the door. The door closed and locked quickly.
Kristoff was bored. It was cold, barren, and dark. He had just spent hours watching Hank place flags in the ground every few groups of feet and decided that surveying was weird. He was pretty sure they were doing it wrong too. He wished he was back in the castle stables, eating carrots and listening to Anna sing.
"I miss Anna."
Hank nodded. "I would hope so, you're marrying her."
Kristoff didn't mean to say that out loud, but they had been silent for hours so he rolled with it. "I don't think I've gone longer than a day without seeing her since I met her. This is weird."
Hank held out his hand. Kristoff held out his hand. Sven took a flag in his teeth and handed it to the big blonde who handed it to the soldier. Hank stabbed it into the ground and straightened out the Arendelle crest on it. He started walking again.
"Before last week, I had never even thought about how much time I spend with Elsa. I have had groups of days now without seeing her. Days spent realizing how boring life could be. How did I even wake up in the mornings before I met her?"
Kristoff stayed completely quiet and put his hand over Sven's mouth to block any possible noise. He wasn't sure if Hank realized how he was talking right now. The sincere quality of his pitch intrigued Kristoff to no end, he had never heard the man open up.
"Before a few days ago I had never done any more than the occasional touch or held hand with Elsa. Now I have held her in my arms and felt her embrace. I don't know how I ever lived without it."
Kristoff followed as silently as possible, stepping only when the other man stepped and slowing his breathing.
"Do you know what I love about Elsa?" Hank said in what Kristoff felt was a mocking tone intended for him. The guard was on the cusp of yelling. "I love how we can sit for hours without speaking and say everything we need to. I love how my hands fit perfectly in the curves of her hips. I love how she's always worried about others; sometimes so much it brings intense pain to herself. I love how she doesn't try to say she understands me, she just accepts me for who I am. I love the way the frost clings to her hair and makes it shine at all times. I love the way she just wanders about town, as if she was just another person in the crowd. I love the way she says my name. I love the way she winks when she teases me. I love the way she doesn't care about how far beneath her I am and that she treats me like an equal. I love the way I can fluster her by dressing up or giving her a certain smile. I love the way she treats my Dad as if she's known him all of her life. I-"
"Captain Eriksson," Kristoff interrupted, placing his hand on the man's shoulder. "Calm down."
Hank stopped walking and ran a hand through his hair. He held out that hand and the flag ritual was repeated. He once again straightened the Arendelle crest. He pulled his blue cloak tighter around his body.
"I'm sorry, Kristoff."
"It's okay, Hank."
The guard nodded thoughtfully and continued walking.
"Can I tell you something before we get back?" Kristoff asked.
"Sure," Hank replied. He was lounging just as annoyingly in the sleigh as he did on the way out. Arendelle was seen down the mountain they were traversing. They added hundreds of acres of land to the kingdom but it certainly didn't look bigger.
"I, uh, well I did something stupid."
Hank raised an eyebrow, his interest level rising. Kristoff cleared his throat.
"Well, when Elsa told Anna she couldn't marry me she kind of went off the deep end. Anyways, we were in my cabin out in the mountains and Anna was acting weird and she started to-"
"I think I know where this is going," Hank said, "And I don't care."
"No, wait!" Kristoff urged. "I got to tell you while we're out here and not near anyone."
"I don't want to hear about the things you and Princess Anna do in your cabin in the woods."
"But, Anna is pregnant!" Kristoff blurted out. Hank almost fell off the sleigh.
"What?!" he screamed. Kristoff was pretty sure that was the loudest he had ever heard the man speak in private.
"Anna was in a bad place and wanted to do something to get back at Elsa!" Kristoff explained hurriedly, remembering that he was talking to an armed royal guard. "She said it would force Elsa to let us get married! I couldn't resist! I can't say no to her! I'm sorry!"
"First off," Hank lectured, "That would not force Elsa to make you two get married at all. She could have just married her off to a foreign prince or king easily and if you were lucky you would be allowed to be her concubine. More than likely, Anna's new husband would execute you when the baby has blonde hair." Kristoff paled when he heard this. "Secondly, you took a princess' maidenhood before marriage. That is like baking a potato then feeding it to the rats instead of your children."
"How are those two things even closely related?" Kristoff wondered. He was a little unsure if that was one of the biggest insults he had ever received.
"You screwed up!" Hank yelled. "That's how they're related. I have to tell Elsa."
"No! Please!" Kristoff begged.
"I'm sorry, Kristoff. You're my friend and I'm happy that you trusted me with this information but this is too important," Hank said. A condemning tone overtook his voice. It was ominous, like a raven. The Ice Harvester panicked.
"If you do that, I will tell Elsa that you love her!" Kristoff threatened.
Hank paused. "I never said that."
"I don't care, close enough. She'll believe me."
Hank frowned realizing that she definitely would. "If you aren't married to Anna by the month's end, I will tell Elsa," the soldier resolved.
Kristoff sighed in relief. "Fair enough."
The men shook hands and finished their journey back in complete silence, Kristoff out of fear, Hank in stoic contemplation.
"Guest" in the reviews, don't worry. Anna is childish and spoiled but she isn't evil. No secret twist here in this story, just interpersonal relationships between a variety of characters. Something to think about though, do you believe Anna deserves Kristoff and the kindness of Elsa and (to a lesser extent) Hank? Does she need to get knocked down a peg and grow up? Tell me in the reviews, I would love to hear your analysis.
