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The actual trip to the capital of the Southern Isles was uneventful. Elsa was able to cover all the necessary discussion topics relating to trade and international relations during the ride, thereby freeing the remainder of her stay for the real reason of her visit: her investigation of Hans. She knew that the royal family was uncomfortable about her questions, but they also seemed to understand the reasoning behind it (or so they thought). The events of her coronation were what she was investigating, but her motivation was the letter Anna had received and not concern about the rest of the Southern Isles kingdom. She believed that whatever his motives may have been, Hans had been acting alone, so she wasn't going to pass up the trade that every kingdom needed to maintain to survive.

It wasn't until her third day at the capital that Elsa met another of Hans' brothers, one who didn't seem uncomfortable about her questioning. Instead, he seemed pleased. Niels was the second youngest prince, blond like his mother, and slenderly built like Hans. His wife Joan was timid and quiet, and their three children were well-mannered, yet exuberant. She met them all at dinner that night as they had just arrived in the capital from their duchy to the east, so it wasn't until the next day that Elsa was able to actually meet with Niels to discuss his younger brother.

"Did you parents give you the duchy then?" she asked.

"No," said Niels, "There aren't any extra duchies or earldoms to bestow on the princes at the moment, that's why Edgar, Robert, Richard and Frederick don't have any real responsibilities. My wife Joan was the only child of the former duke." He smiled wistfully, "I actually was lucky. I met Joan at a formal ball and we fell in love. My parents had been planning to arrange for Edgar to marry her to give him something to do, but the marriage hadn't been formalized or announced, so they allowed me to marry her instead when I asked." Niels shook his head, "I'm not sure Edgar ever forgave me for that," he smiled scornfully, "Not that he was interested in the girl, just the duchy."

Elsa nodded in understanding, "I imagine it has been rather competitive between the younger princes who have no chance of inheritance of the crown."

Niels nodded empathically, "Incredibly so." He jumped to his feet and began pacing, accenting his words with his hands, "Our father solidified his power and the support of the minor nobles by not simply creating new duchies or taking them away from others for us, but it meant that the few that became available were hotly contested." He stopped abruptly and spun to face her, "My brother Malcolm married the eldest daughter of heirless earl, and then the earl's wife died, he remarried, and the new one gave him a son within a year! By then Malcolm had settled in with his wife, so he took it fairly well. At least compared to some of my other brothers," he conceded.

Elsa shook her head is dismay, "I'm not even sure how to respond to that," she said.

Niels waved it off, "Don't worry about it. The king and queen actually encouraged it. After all, we had to find our own places, so they let us fight with each other so we would be stronger in order to face and fight with the world." He gave her a knowing look, "Hans was part of a pact with some of our brothers that they would find our own kingdoms to rule and prove to our parents that the education they gave us wasn't wasted and that they were valuable as people."

He suddenly looked beyond her then lowered his eyes and sat down, but not before Elsa could catch the look of shame. Confused, she turned to see that Joan had entered the room and was giving Niels a reproachful look. She turned back to Niels and waited for his explanation.

His face was slightly flushed when he looked up to meet Elsa's gaze again, "Truthfully, I was part of the pact," he admitted, "When I first met Joan she wouldn't even tell me her name because she had heard of the pact and didn't want to become someone's prize. She didn't tell me who she was until after I had fallen for her and asked her to marry me." He stood and extended an arm to invite Joan to stand with him, his face filled with love and wonder, "I'm not sure why she ever agreed."

Joan tucked herself into Niels' arm and smiled softly up at him, "Because I saw you change. I watched you transform from a person desperate to prove himself to parents who didn't care into the compassionate and loving person that you were hiding. All because you loved me." She looked directly at Elsa and her smiled broadened slightly, "Who wouldn't marry such a man?" she asked.

Who indeed? Elsa thought. For the first time, she felt a pang that maybe she was missing something in her life. Anna loved her unconditionally, but somehow it wasn't quite the same thing. Is this really how Hans feels about Anna? she wondered.

Elsa shook herself and refocused, "So why aren't you uncomfortable about my questions?" she asked.

Niels looked away from Joan and laughed, "I imagine the rest are a pit prickly about Hans and our upbringing considering what he almost did to you." He smiled down at Joan again, "Thanks to my wonderful wife, I've been on both sides of the issue, so I have more understanding than most. Though," there was a flash of shame again as he looked back to Elsa, "Joan had to remind me of my imperfections before I would give Hans a chance."

"Then you know about the letter and believe it's true?" she asked.

"Know about it?" Niels laughed, "Who do you think convinced him to write it? And then managed to get it delivered to you?"

Elsa nodded slowly as she began to understand, "So no one else knows?" she asked.

"Well," Niels began, sitting down and pulling Joan down beside him, "They know how he feels, but they don't believe him. So no, they don't know about the letter. I'm probably the only person here who knows the full reason for your visit."

Elsa tilted her head in confusion, "Doesn't Hans?"

Niels shook his head, "He's locked in his room and under strict guard. He doesn't know you're here. I haven't even managed to get news to him that I was able to send his letter."

Elsa stood and walked purposefully towards the door, "Then I believe it's time that I insist on seeing the 'prisoner'," she said.