Would You Like to See Him Suffer?

(A/N: Be warned of very gruesome and disturbing happenings to come. In this chapter.)

"She can't stay here, father! Please. Don't keep her here," Aaron pled with his parent as the Duke lightly dabbed a damp cloth on the young teen's various cuts, whilst inwardly raging at Carr and making numerous vows as to what he'd like to do to the man but ultimately never would. Aaron had been negotiating for Elsa's release for the past two hours. He'd have thought his son was sick of trying by now, but to his own surprise he found himself seriously pondering his son's pleas. "She killed none of your men. She didn't kill me either. The princes were the ones who killed, you've said that's why you'll not ask for ransom or make a deal for their release, but Elsa didn't! She can't stay. You don't know what Carr will do to her!"

"To them," the Duke said. Carr was ordered to focus on the princes.

"How do you think he'll get to them the worst?!" Aaron demanded. "You left a loophole, dad, a large one, and he'll exploit it for everything it's worth!"

The Duke paused and sighed, drawing the cloth away from his son. He looked out the window quietly. "She can't be freed… She knows where we are. She will lead the enemy here, and we will all be in grave danger."

"So then send her back home," Aaron pled, voice breaking. "Back to Arendelle, where she can't do further damage. Even back to the Southern Isles themselves! The King won't let her leave again. I know she can't go back to the battlefield, but if we don't let her go and she does manage to escape, she will go to the princes on the battlefield and tell them of all that befell her at Carr's hands. Then we'll not only have her to contend with, but all their enraged allies! You've said anger, sorrow, vengeance, and protective instincts ae some of the most powerful things you could possibly contend with. The Sorcerer Prince will come down on us like a storm, and his brothers with him!"

"The what?" the Duke asked, looking quickly at his son.

Aaron tensed up. Oops... He looked down. "I've heard tale that the third born brother was cursed, long ago, with great power. Dark animal and creature based magic, as well as foresight. That won't matter, though, if we send her to the Isles or to Arendelle again. She'll have no way, there, of telling the enemy where we are. Well, she could, but not as efficiently, and not in a way that would even make much sense to them!" he said. He was suddenly aware of the way his father was looking at him. Mystified, almost; confused… Questioning… Like he was trying so hard to see something in his son and not understanding why he couldn't find it. "Dad?" Aaron asked.

The Duke was silent. Soon he rose and turned to leave. "I will do what I can for the queen," he replied as he exited the room and shut the door behind him. Aaron blinked blankly, then bowed his head sadly. What if that meant no…? He would have to try again if it did, he decided. And again and again. He wouldn't give up.

Frozen

The Duke entered the dungeons grimly. He could hear the screams of a tortured prince from here and paused, jaw twitching slightly. The older, he realized. He didn't care to think on what was befalling him. He looked into the cell in which Elsa lay unconscious. He watched her silently, leaning on the bars. He pondered on how to go about this. She would wake soon enough, he knew. If any plans to slip her away were going to work, she had to be unconscious. Nothing short of that would make her leave the princes behind. Perhaps, in this instance, the youngest would be of some great use. He pulled away from the bars of Elsa's cell to go to cell of the siblings.

He stopped outside of the bars and saw the youngest curled up against the wall, head buried in his knees. Now that they knew there was no point in hiding away the fact they cared about one another, he could see just how agonizing and breaking these passed months had been for them. As if sensing the Duke's presence, Hans numbly looked up at him. "Stop him, please," he pled in a whisper, though he knew it would do nothing.

"Your brother is getting what he deserves. Soon you will be too," the Duke replied.

Hans's jaw twitched, but he said nothing, bowing his head again and closing his eyes. "I spared your son's life… Now spare my brother his," he replied. Did he believe anything would come of it? No. It was worth trying, though. To his surprise, neither a denial nor confirmation was given. The man was just silent… Hans had heard such silence before… So had Iscawin, apparently. The day father had ordered the second youngest to kill the youngest. Their father, though, hadn't been effected by the mirror. Not as far as he knew anyway.

"If you do a second thing for my benefit, I'll grant you this," the Duke said.

Hans hopefully looked up. "Name it," he said instantly.

"I'm going to give you a type of herbal mixture, and you will find some way to apply it to the Queen of Arendelle. It will cause her to fall into a comatose state. Not for long, but for long enough," the Duke said.

"Long enough for what?" Hans suspiciously asked.

"Long enough for me to send her back to your kingdom or to hers," the Duke answered. "So in a sense it's a kindness to us both, and to her as well."

"What?" Hans replied, taken aback by this. Was the Duke… was he letting her go? "You're…"

"I'm setting her free. Yes," the Duke stated bluntly. "Don't ask me why. I have no answer to give you that would make any sort of sense. Here is the mixture, and now I go to rescue your brother." The Duke tossed the mixture in to the prince, who caught it in shock. He deduced immediately that it could be applied in two ways. Either orally in food or drink, or topically as an ointment. She was in danger, as long as she was here; and though she believed she could save them all, she couldn't. Not without a steep price being paid. He would not let that price be her life or Rhun's, and so she couldn't remain. For both their sakes she couldn't remain… She was the torturer's way to him, and he was the torturer's way to her. He would do this, no matter the risk.

Frozen

He looked up as he heard yelling coming from the torture room. Carr and the Duke, of course. "This torture session has ended, that is final! Focus, now, on the youngest son of the Southern Isles," the Duke sharply commanded. There was silence. Soon after, the doors to the torture chambers were opened and the unclothed Rhun was dragged out limply, bleeding horribly and face a mask of agony and exhaustion. It seemed he was, in fact, trying to hold back tears that he probably hadn't been holding back when Hans wasn't at a risk of seeing. Hans was pale. The cell door was opened and Rhun was shoved inside, falling to the ground.

Before the cell could even be slammed shut, Hans had leapt across the space between him and his brother. "Rudi!" he exclaimed, falling at his brother's side and protectively pulling him near. It was as if Rhun was barely conscious. "Rudi, Rudi, look at me!" Hans pled. Painfully Rhun opened his eyes, looking at his brother, then shut them again. "Oh god… Oh god, what did you do to him?!" he demanded of the torturer.

"He'll live, boy. As long as his injuries are kept clean," Carr said, obviously bitter about that fact.

"What did you do?!" Hans shouted.

Carr smirked wickedly. "The Judas Cradle. Otherwise known as Gilded Cradle," he purred as if it were casual as anything. "And next on the list for you, after some psychological torment with the queen, will be the Rack. We'll have a fun day together, little one."

"I'm going to kill you!" Hans veritably screamed, lunging at the bars and seizing them, shaking them violently. Carr actually stepped back, worried the surge of adrenaline would drive the prince to actually be able to break out, but before they could see if that was so…

"Your brother is moving," the Duke intervened. Hans snapped back to himself and turned quickly, seeing Rhun weakly crawling across the cell to his bench. Fear filled Hans's eyes and he swiftly went to his sibling, helping him onto it and covering the near-broken Rhun with something that would at least conceal him and spare him some modem of dignity.

"Now, boy, it's your turn," Carr purred to Hans. Hans remained kneeling by his brother's side, watching him.

"What are you waiting for, Carr? Go in and fetch him," the Duke said. Carr gave the Duke an icy look, catching the veiled challenge. The man was daring him to do it, to enter that cell with the injured prince and the very, very incensed brother. They both knew what would happen if Carr went in there to get Hans.

"I will. But first, leverage," Carr said. He turned to two guards, who looked visibly disturbed at the happenings going on here. "Bring the girl," he ordered. Hans sharply looked over, eyes narrowed dangerously. The soldiers shifted uneasily, but nonetheless went to fetch Elsa. Before passing out, the queen had conjured an ice gown up for herself again. Whether it would stay on her long when Carr got his hands on her was up to debate. The torturer preferred his victims feeling as vulnerable as possible, because then they were easier to break. Hans stayed quiet. Carr had leverage now, but he wouldn't soon enough… The man didn't know it, but he'd just given him an open opportunity to give Elsa the mixture. Maybe he should feel more ethically torn over drugging her than he was, but he wasn't certain. What he knew was that he'd rather deceive her and see her returned home alive, than have her tortured and humiliated to get to him; even if it was only for a brief time.

Frozen

It wasn't long before Elsa was brought before them. Gagged and kept a good distance from the princes, but there nonetheless. She still looked weak, but also steeled and determined and bold. Her eyes screamed for him not to be afraid of what would befall her, but he was. The cell door was opened. "Come out, Traitor Prince," the torturer said. Elsa moved as if trying to lunge at him for calling Hans by that title. Hans's jaw twitched slightly, but he didn't retaliate. After a moment he silently came out. He was brought to the torture chamber first. After a few minutes of waiting, Carr entered the room as well with Elsa and ungagged her.

Elsa's eyes widened on seeing the prince, but she knew immediately she wasn't to speak. They would never be allowed to, she realized. Which was probably better, given Hans's words to Carr when he'd slipped back on the mask of cold indifference and hatred. It was best to play the deceit game and make like they despised one another… The problem was she couldn't play that game like he could… Already, just seeing the position he was in, she wanted to end the charade. He was on his knees, wrists shackled behind him, chains attached to the wall. He was struggling against the bonds, but when he looked at her he stopped briefly, silently watching. Quickly, though, he began struggling again as if unfazed by her being here.

"You expect me to consider this torture after what you put my brother through?!" Hans sharply demanded of Carr.

"It's torture, alright. Of a different sort than I put on your brother. To be truthful, though, I'm still debating whether it'll be you I torture or her. Perhaps both. There are so many creative ways to do it," Carr said.

"I told you what she was to me," Hans bitterly replied. "Now get her out of my sight!"

"Not long ago you were saying you wouldn't be opposed to wounding the woman," Carr remarked. "What changed? Desperation to set her free of this room?"

"If you want her here, that's your business," Hans replied with a scoff. He almost added that if Carr wanted him to wound her he'd do so now, but then it was more likely than not that Carr—whose suspicions were already high—would call his bluff and tell him to do it. If that happened… If that happened he knew he wouldn't be able to go through with it… He could only stall for as much time as possible, because goodness knew the hours of fun Carr would have otherwise. Of course, odds were he'd probably have hours of fun anyway. He had to be very careful. Him because he wasn't sure she'd be able to… He hoped, but he didn't know. He wondered. If he attacked her emotionally, would he wear her down enough that she would fall into the part? If he could make her genuinely hate him again, or be disgusted at him… But then wouldn't that be torturing her in a way anyway? Dammit, things were so much easier when there'd been no doubts he'd despised her. It was easier to be the villain… Or perhaps it was easier for him because a villain was what he was…

He could wear the masks of hatred and conceit and indifference, but were they really the masks, or was what he was trying to be now the falsity? He shook his head, trying to be rid of those thoughts. They were the mirror's, not his... Weren't they...? He glared challengingly at Carr, who was shackling Elsa across the room. She was allowed to stand, but like him her wrists were behind her and chains held fast to the wall. "I wonder… How much will you be able to bear seeing her suffer? And vice versa," Carr mused.

"Oh, you'd be surprised what I can bear," Hans darkly answered in a tone that made a chill race up Elsa's spine and through her bones. She knew that tone… Oh how she knew it. It brought back nothing but bad memories, and subtly she shuddered to hear it again in his mouth. It had been so long… It was jarring to realize how completely and totally natural it sounded from his lips, and yet how foreign it sounded as well. The voice with which he had spoken in more and more often the closer they drew, the good one, also seemed natural, no foreignness in it… Until she compared it to how natural the cruel one sounded. Then she was left to question once more. She damned him a thousand times. Why did he have to be such a puzzle?

Carr eyed Hans warily. The tone had been cold enough to actually surprise the torturer, which was saying something. "What of you, girl? In how much agony must this boy be before you crack?" he asked the Queen. Elsa was silent.

I never want him to be in agony again…

"It's as much a mystery to me as to you," Elsa quietly replied. Carr blinked blankly. These were… unexpected answers. From both parties. Hmm… This could be challenging. And amusing. Or it would be hopelessly simple.

Frozen

Carr began to pace behind Elsa. To leave her dignity or to take it? If she felt in a position of dignity and power, while he made the boy less than nothing… Should she love him, she might not be able to bear it. But then she'd proven to be very durable. In mind and power, that was. Who was to say, though, that emotional durability could stand the test? Sometimes emotions were more powerful than mind and physical power. She may be able to endure, but if nothing else he would see hints of pain in her eyes. That would be amusing indeed. Stripping her had seemed to do little good earlier in the throne room. Not when it was the young prince's eyes that were on her. It was like they were totally comfortable in such a state with one another, despite never having been in any similar position before. She desired him. Perhaps loved. Surely she must. Despite the boy's claims and protests to the opposite, despite the girl's insistence he was only an intimate friend, he knew she would not have dared that army solo in the manner she had for some mere friend. Or would she? Whatever the matter, it certainly wasn't the older price she loved, and Rhun most definitely didn't feel anything for her either, so really Hans could deceive all he wanted. The evidence to the contrary was already on the table.

On the other hand, perhaps Hans did despise her and mistreat her, and she loved him regardless. No, that was foolish. She was a wiser woman than that. A blind man could see as much. Of course, she was a merciful queen it was said, who pitied her enemies. If she saw some good in the prince, she wouldn't want to watch that potential snuffed out. Hmm, he decided he was overthinking things. It was time to just do. No more analyzing, just act. He took her shoulders from behind, making her gasp. He leaned close to her ear. "Watch him suffer," he whispered to her. She stiffened under his grasp and he smirked. He'd struck the right chord. If he could break her, the road would be paved for him to break the prince.

He crossed swiftly to Hans. Elsa fought to remain composed, but fear reflected in her eyes, and unease. Hans scowled darkly at the man, bracing for anything. What happened next, though, he couldn't have hoped in a million years to prepare for. Carr fell next to him, seized his head shoving it roughly to the side, and sank his teeth into the prince's flesh between the neck and shoulder without even a thought! Hans screamed in agony and perhaps fear as he felt the teeth enter his skin, as he felt blood begin to pour out, as he felt flesh torn from his body. "Oh god!" he cried out in agony writhing frantically as Carr withdrew with the chunk between his teeth. "What the," insert string of explicit and extremely not princely curses here, "kind of psycho are you?!" Hans freaked, suddenly near panic. No, no, it was full blown panic now, as evidenced by his frantic fighting. Elsa was as white as a sheet, mortified at what she'd just seen. This had to be a dream. Nobody did this! This wasn't-this wasn't... Oh god it was real! Dammit. The man was a cannibal?! She tried to scream, but no sound came out. That was how deep her shock was. The horror written on Hans's face…

The man began to eat the flesh he had taken… The man was eating it as Hans continued crying out in pain from the injury. Elsa nearly fainted. Hans didn't look far off from that stage either. He in fact looked close to throwing up. The man finished and looked at Hans with a delighted and twisted smile. He licked his lips and moved to bite again. Hans screamed another very uncharacteristic curse word beginning with an F, and followed by many other frantic curses and or and pleas as the man tore out a chunk of flesh from his arm, eliciting another shriek of pain. He was being eaten alive! Not just 'eaten alive', but eaten alive by another human being! "Stop it!" Elsa found it in her to finally shriek. "Don't do this, please! No one deserves this! What are you doing? Stop! Hans!" she cried out, struggling against her bonds. Her powers were suddenly kicking to light again, and regenerating as they fed from emotional panic. The cuffs began to freeze.

Sensing the change, Carr rose and went to her, striking her across the face. Elsa gasped, snapping out of the emotional high, and looked at the man in disbelief. He smirked, wiping the blood from his mouth with a thumb, then turned back to the prince. "Stop? Very well. Then I'll taste you next." Elsa suddenly realized how badly she was shaking as her eyes widened in terror.

Hans crumbled like glass. He didn't give it a second thought, he didn't think, he didn't try to talk himself out of it to keep up with a persona. He lost it. "Leave her alone! Elsa!" he shouted, struggling frantically against his bonds. "Carr, if you do anything to her I'll murder you, do you hear me?! You'll pray for death, do you understand?! You'll pray for it and I'll laugh and drag it out all the longer! Elsa! Leave her alone!"

Carr smirked victoriously and turned to Hans. "So you care after all," he noted. Hans, heart thundering practically out of his chest, could only breathe. Rapidly. So rapidly there as no room for him to do anything else. He was on the verge of hyperventilating. He didn't even try to speak. Words weren't about to come to his mouth anytime soon. He needed to focus on calming down. Carr turned to Elsa and smirked. Darkly he chuckled. "I suppose, then, that I'll have to wait for your corpse rather than try you live. Then again, if the prince dies there's nothing stopping me." He turned to two terrified looking guards, cowering back from him in mortification. "Bring the Rack!" he shouted to them. Instantly they shot off as if afraid delaying would mean Carr murdered and ate them.

"No! No, don't!" Elsa cried out, fear filling her expression. "Carr, please, I'll do anything, just don't do this! No!"

"The more you squeal, the more he suffers," Carr threatened, and Elsa immediately fell silent. She noticed, suddenly, that she was weeping. When had she started to weep, she wondered? The Rack was brought into the room. Hans looked at it in disbelief, heart sinking. Oh god… He cringed and closed his eyes tightly, willing himself to be brave. It was better than that maniac sinking his teeth into him. He drew a deep and shaky breath, and slipped on a stony mask. He didn't move as they unbound him and transferred him to the rack. He gave no sign of fear. They lashed him there tightly. Immediately they began to stretch his limbs. He clenched his teeth, closing his eyes tightly. He gasped in pain as he felt the pressure. The blood from the chunks of flesh Carr had taken… It soaked his arm and his body… Carr pulled open the prince's shirt roughly. Hans opened his eyes. His grimace had become a sneer, and his eyes blazed murderously.

Carr examined Hans's chest then smirked. Ribs always tasted fine, he noted to himself. Hans felt his shoulders on the verge of dislocating as the crank was pulled again. It was then, though, that Carr waved his arm, signalling the men to stop. Teeth gritting, Hans watched as Carr returned to Elsa, who was observing in silence. Her expression was neutral, but the anguish in her eyes, and the tears slipping down her cheeks, gave away how she was truly feeling. Nonetheless she stood tall, holding onto her pride.

They're going to kill him… Right in front of you they'll execute him… But you can't show fear. You can't show how much this is hurting you.

Frozen

"Suddenly so cold, Snow Queen," Carr murmured. She said nothing. "Would you like to see him die?" She continued in silence. "Would you like to see him suffer?" Carr asked. Again no response. "Would you like to see me dine?" Carr questioned in a growling whisper. She let out a shaky breath, but kept quiet. "It pains you, doesn't it? To see him like this. Why?" Silence. "No answer? Oh, I think I'll get one soon enough," Carr said. He turned to Hans. "Crank it again." The soldiers did so, albeit reluctantly, and Hans cried out in pain as he felt his shoulders scream in protest. "Now give me a knife," Carr commanded. Quickly one scrambled to obey and was swift to get as far from the torturer as possible. Carr thumbed the blade. "Do you see this dagger, Queen Elsa?" he asked. She was quiet. He smirked. "It's the one you'll wish I'd used, before this is done," he said. He threw it to the side and drew out his own rusty and jagged blade, approaching the prince. "I've never carved up a corpse that still lives," he remarked. "I wonder how it bleeds. How long before it succumbs?"

Elsa savagely bit her tongue to keep from speaking. She tasted blood in her mouth and was instantly revolted as memory of that man biting into the prince's skin struck her full force. She spat the blood out quickly and turned sharply to Hans again. The prince looked at her calmly and nodded. "Close your eyes," he mouthed silently to her.

"Stop it," she heard herself say, voice breaking. Carr paused and looked back. "Just stop," she pled again.

Will you answer my questions?" Carr asked.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Good… Why does it so pain you to see him like this?" Carr asked.

"Because… Because I love him… Whether as a friend or a lover I don't know. I've never known. I don't even understand. I don't understand anything. Not when it began, not what love it is, nothing," she said softly. "He is my confidant, my friend, the reason I still hold my head high. He is so much to me… And I won't let you have him…"

Carr smirked. Amusing. So neither one believed they were in love with one another, and yet neither of them didn't believe either. Such an interesting concept. And one that would be fun to play with. Next time, then, he would play all the harder. He approached her, gazed down into her eyes, and then suddenly struck her so violently that she gave a strangled cry and collapsed to the ground unconscious. "Elsa!" Hans cried out.

"Have the boy bring her back to the cell," Carr ordered. "Then return him to his own." With that, he turned and left.

Frozen

Hans was unbound and dropped to the ground with a gasp of pain. He shook his head and looked quickly up at her. His eyes widened fearfully and he staggered up, racing to her side and gathering her into his arms, stunned. "Take her, boy," a soldier said. Hans was silent. After a moment, though, he picked her up bridal style and mechanically began to walk back to the cell in which she was kept.

Hans laid the queen down on the bench and looked at her silently. The soldiers made no move to get him to leave. He suddenly realized his thumb was tracing her lips. He suddenly realized how much he wanted to feel them again like he had the night before he and his brothers had left the suitor games to return home… He could kiss her, he knew, and no one—or very few—would condemn him for it… But he didn't… He didn't, because he cared for her more than that. Or he didn't care for her enough to take a risk that big. It was so confusing… He didn't know what he felt anymore, and it unsettled him. He always knew what he felt…

He shook his head and slipped the mixture the Duke had given him from a pocket of the clothes Aaron had brought them to wear. Dipping his fingers into it, he began to apply it to her neck and throat, under her chin… on her lips… He snapped out of it quickly. He hated that he wanted an excuse to touch her like that. He frustratedly shook his head and lifted her own up, pouring the rest of the mixture into her mouth. Topical application would theoretically work faster, but that was far too tempting, he decided. Oral application would do the job every bit as well. She was unconscious already anyway. He finished his work quickly. None of the soldiers questioned what he'd done. They'd rather not know. He rose and left her side, going quickly towards his own cell where his brother waited.