Joan stalked her prey with precision, with the benefit of years of experience. Christian had fewer years of experience in trailing behind her, but he wasn't giving their position away, at least.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Christian asked quietly anyway.
"Of course I am," Joan whispered back. "We gotta know this stuff for Aunt Elsa. It's official committee business."
"Then why didn't we ask the committee first?" Christian questioned.
"I'm the queen of the committee, I can make decisions on my own. Like Aunt Elsa. Makes sense, doesn't it?" Joan argued.
"Not really…." Christian nitpicked.
"Look, we'll know if it's a great idea or not after we do it. So let's do it. He's in position now," Joan signaled for focus.
Christian finally gave in and followed the committee queen's orders, waiting for the target and getting himself fully armed. He would be in attack position soon enough.
And there he was, heading towards the castle. But not for long.
Joan gathered her weapons from behind the fountain, aimed, waited for the target to get in the right spot – and fired.
The first snowball was a direct hit on Prince Sven's shoulder. The second one got him right below the chin as well.
"Fire!" Christian was heard by everyone. "Oops, sorry I'm late."
Although this gave the kids' position behind the courtyard fountain away to Prince Sven, it was too late for him.
Joan charged with two more snowballs in hand, firing and getting him in the stomach, then finally in the face. She then ran back to get more of her ammo, as Christian held the prince back with a few throws of his own.
"What's going on here?" Prince Sven asked while spitting out snow. He didn't know that he was undergoing a rather big test, at least in Joan's eyes.
Any husband of Aunt Elsa's had to be good in a snowball fight. He had to be willing to play, have talent of his own without just letting Elsa bail him out, and give back as good as he got. Soon enough, Joan and Christian would find out if he had any of these things, and had true stuff in common with their aunt.
However, Sven proved to have something else in common with Elsa – not one of her better traits, as it turned out.
"Stop it! You're making me late for work!" Sven insisted, yet Joan already launched a second snowball right into his face. When he wiped it clear, Joan and Christian could better see the frown on it.
"I have very important business to conduct with your aunt! She needs to see how we can work together in trade negotiations and public affairs! It may be what makes or breaks us as a couple!" Sven insisted. "The last thing I need is to be thrown off and delayed by snowballs! Do you understand?"
"But we didn't know you were doing that with Aunt Elsa," Christian said nervously. "Sounds like something we should have asked the committee about," he glared at Joan.
"Look, there's a time and a place for snowball fights, and this is not one of them," Sven told them, sounding like Aunt Elsa when she was in full on Queen mode – in full on not fun mode. "I won't tell your aunt or your parents you did this, but I'd like an apology first."
"We're sorry…." Joan made herself say.
"Good, thank you," Sven said, then just as quickly headed to the castle to make his appointment.
Joan stayed behind, next to her unused snowballs. Christian got ready to say something, yet Joan instantly jumped ahead with, "Not one word."
"I knew we should have asked. That's six words, not one," Christian got her there.
"He's no fun! Aunt Elsa can't have a husband who's no fun! How many words is that?" Joan asked sarcastically.
"I don't know, I lost count after six," Christian answered. "But he was gonna see Aunt Elsa! We would have made her mad if we made him late! That's gotta be six good words right there!"
"Aunt Elsa would have played with us a little! Even if she was busy! Six better words!" Joan shot back.
"She's gotta, she loves us! He doesn't love us yet! That's at least five, so there!" Christian retaliated.
"If he doesn't love us that much yet, he can't be good for Aunt Elsa!" Joan concluded.
"What does that have to do with being good for Aunt Elsa?" Christian asked innocently. The fact he didn't see how loaded that was – and Joan did – threw her off guard.
"Well, uh….we're a package deal! He's gotta love us and her!" Joan came back.
"He doesn't love us because he wouldn't do a snowball fight? Or be late for a meeting with Aunt Elsa?" Christian asked innocently again, honestly trying to understand and not trying to accuse Joan. However, it sure sounded like it to her.
But that might have had more to do with her own guilt than Christian. Plus she really didn't check with the committee or Elsa about his schedule – she just waited for the first moment he came outside and then prepared to attack. It was supposed to lead to fun, snowball wars and a better idea on whether Sven could be a fun uncle.
But fun uncles only got to be fun around fun, good nieces. And nephews, maybe.
Joan was still too prideful to admit she was wrong out loud – especially to her little brother. Nevertheless, her silence, pout and then guilty pout said enough.
Still, he was angrier than he should have been. They couldn't have made him late that much – and he was the one who wasted time yelling at them. Joan could cling to that and avoid too much guilt for a little while.
A little while lasted about an hour. Unfortunately, it was two more hours before Joan and Christian went back outside again. Between that and the usual boring afternoon lessons, they weren't in much of a playful mood right now.
As such, they just walked around in the back of the castle, or made half hazard snow angels. When they finished their deformed angels, they stood over them quietly – until Joan felt something strike the side of her neck.
Something wet and round. Before Christian knew it, the same thing hit his arm as well.
The children looked over and saw Sven, with another snowball each in each hand. "Those were just warning shots," he warned.
"Sven! Are you playing with us?" Christian asked excitedly.
"I've only got about two minutes to spare. Trade negotiations with your Aunt Elsa can be….very tiring. But fulfilling," Sven made sure to mention. "Before I rested my brain, I wanted to make sure we were good. It would make my brain rest better."
"But we're the ones who were sorry. I was sorry," Joan said sincerely. "Wait….did Aunt Elsa tell you to do this?" she got suspicious, in case she felt sorry for nothing.
"I told you I wouldn't tell her, and I didn't," Sven assured. "Just like I won't tell her about this!" he finished right before throwing his snowballs and getting two direct hits on the kids.
"Hey, that's not the same thing!" Joan protested, although she still laughed. Gathering up some ammo of her own, she got a few shots off before Christian was set too. Sven still got him before he took position behind Joan, and the two-kid team traded barbs with the one-man Prince for the next minute.
Nevertheless, Sven kept checking his watch every few seconds, then finally backed away after Joan and Christian got him right above the belt. "I'm sorry, children, but that's all the two minutes I have. We'll have to pick this up another time."
"Are you sure?" Christian complained.
"If he's sure, he's probably sure," Joan changed her tune. "Go on, the committee won't hold it against you."
"The committee is good and merciful," Sven praised – especially after those last shots landed above the belt. He then took his leave with more good humor than in his last leave.
"So he's fun in a snowball fight, but he didn't have much time to play," Christian recapped. "Does that make him good or bad?"
"I don't know," Joan admitted. She knew she should have said he was all good, after her little sneak attack gone wrong. Still, his impatience before, and the fact he technically didn't have a meeting to go to now – yet only played for two minutes anyway – made it a mixed bag. But he didn't have to play for any minutes.
One of these days, these guys would need to be either all good or all bad. It would make the committee's job a lot easier.
One week later
This time Joan had covered her bases.
Prince Aaron didn't have any meetings on the way, he already loved snow – at least Aunt Elsa's snow – and she actually got her mother to help lure him to the back of the castle. He might be mad that he wasn't there to see Aunt Elsa after all, but at least Christian and Mom would help contain the damage.
As such, Joan was ready behind the bushes, along with Christian. Anna had done her job to get him out in the open, and had reluctantly gone back inside instead of joining her children and giving their position away. All Aaron had to do was wander into the right position.
Within moments, he helpfully did just that.
"Fire!" Christian yelled too early this time. Luckily for him, Joan used her highly developed power to tune her brother out. As a result, she got Aaron on a direct hit.
"What the?" he sputtered, then got knocked on the chin by Joan's second shot. Christian then joined in by striking him in the stomach.
"Oh no, I'm under attack!" Aaron exclaimed, pretending to look distressed – all while gathering up a snowball of his own. He picked it up and threw it at the bush, which protected Joan and Christian – but they stirred enough to give themselves away and have to go out in the open.
"I should have known! Now you will pay for my ignorance!" Aaron voiced with comic menace. Liking the sound of that so far, Joan giggled and took Christian's hand, running away as Aaron chased them.
He stopped to make a quick snowball, then fired and nailed Joan on the back of the head before she got too far away. She stumbled and fell, causing Christian to declare, "Man down! Man down!" before trying to make snowballs of his own.
He only made two, and none of them stopped Aaron from coming towards them. "You've been breached! Surrender now and face a quick snowy death!"
"Took the words out of my mouth!" someone said other than Joan or Christian. Then someone other than them struck the back of Aaron's head with a snowball.
"Mom! The reinforcements are here!" Joan cheered as Anna was noticed by all.
"Good…..more people to rave about my hostage taking!" Aaron announced, before getting a hold of Christian.
"I wouldn't do that," Anna said, still with a playful tone to her warning.
"So I shouldn't do this then?" Aaron asked, before grabbing a fistful of snow, taking off Christian's hat and rubbing the snow into his hair.
"Hey, my hair!" Christian objected, instead of giggling and laughing.
"I'm the one that likes snow in my hair, not him. Your intel got messed up," Joan told Aaron, with a slightly playful tone to her warning.
"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry!" Aaron quickly apologized, letting Christian go. "Thanks for volunteering, though!" he recovered to put his wet hand onto Joan's hatless head.
Squealing with laughter, Joan was easily captured as Aaron held her close and kept putting snow in her hair. Yet when Anna made her next snowball, Aaron quickly bent down and ducked behind her, using Joan as a human shield.
"You can't get me without taking Joan out! As much as she might like to die, I assume!" Aaron warned.
"No she doesn't! She wants to live, right? Right?" Christian asked, not entirely convinced Aaron was kidding around. Joan sensed that and was tempted to break character to reassure him.
"It's okay, Joan. I can get him," Anna spoke first. "You don't get to know a snow queen sister again for 15 years without learning some….tricks."
"I'd like to see you try," Aaron challenged – missing the little winks Anna was giving Joan.
He felt confident when Anna chucked her snowball right at Joan. He was less so when Joan actually caught it – then turned around and rubbed it right into his face.
"Ha ha, mommy-daughter power!" Anna celebrated. Joan jumped around too – until Aaron wiped the snow off his face and put it on her face next.
"Prince power back at you!" Aaron yelled, seeing how Joan couldn't help but laugh. This inspired him to bring Joan down to the ground, hold her down and rub even more snow on her face. "Give up now?"
"Never! What else you got?" Joan dared.
"More of the same, but worse!" Aaron warned, then went right to gathering as much snow around him as he could, putting it on her face. Joan kept laughing and enjoying the sensation, as Anna and Christian even stayed quiet, regarding this as a possible bonding moment. One the committee might take very seriously as time went on.
"Still not surrendering!" Joan vowed. Aaron didn't stop either, all but burying her head and face in snow while keeping her trapped below him. Joan kept laughing – until some snow got in her open mouth.
"Okay, hold on," Joan said, getting her breath back.
"You've lied too many times, how can I believe you now?" Aaron still thought it was part of the game. As such, he kept smothering her face with snow to make her surrender, even as it got into her mouth and her eyes.
"Okay, I surrender!" Joan finally stopped playing.
"Still don't believe you!" Aaron didn't stop playing. If getting snow on her face meant bonding with her, and therefore bonding with Elsa, it was worth it to keep going. Nothing else got through to him.
Not even Anna's, "Okay, she's had enough, stop it! No more playing!" plea. Not even Joan trying to spit out the snow in her mouth. Not even Anna's "Get off of my daughter!" yell.
But the right hook Anna delivered to Aaron's jaw did the trick.
The fact Anna just punched a prince – one of Elsa's suitors, no less – then finally got through to her. Yet some good old motherly concern and the need to take care of Joan helped distract her a while longer.
She got to wipe Joan's face clean and make sure her eyes were okay, right before Aaron came to. "Please don't be mad, possible uncle! You played too hard, that's all!" Christian tried to keep the peace.
Instead of being mad at Anna, Aaron looked scared – which was both worrisome and empowering. "Oh God, I did….oh, I got too carried away by winter fun! Why does this keep happening?" he rambled. Turning to Anna and Joan, he cringed and begged, "I'm so sorry, princesses! I just loved playing too much!"
"Maybe I got carried away too. I can do that. Especially with my children," Anna went from sorry to defensive. "But no more playing means no more playing. You need to know that when playing with any young lady. Especially my daughter. And Queen Elsa's beloved niece," Anna took relish in reminding him.
"Please don't tell her! I'll be on my best behavior! Just two snowballs a day, I promise!" Aaron bargained. "Or I can leave Arendelle tonight, no problem! Just don't tell her I played too hard with her niece! I'd never move a muscle outside of a block of ice again!"
"You know that for a fact?" Anna asked curiously.
"Of course, we all do!" Aaron kept going. "We know she can't love us if she doesn't love us!" he exclaimed, pointing to Joan. "She worships that girl! That's why I really wanted to play with her! I wanted it too much, I know!"
"You just wanted to play with me to impress Aunt Elsa? Not just to play?" Joan asked suspiciously.
"Aren't these guys doing everything just to impress Aunt Elsa?" Christian pointed out.
"Oh, yeah…..he made it sound bad, though," Joan settled on.
"No, I didn't mean that either! You don't have to tell her I did! Please?" the prince pleaded on his knees to a little teenaged girl.
"Joan, you're the committee chairwoman. I know what I'd recommend," Anna said, cracking her knuckles again and wincing. "But it's your call."
Unfortunately, it was another thing that wasn't a no brainer.
"He's not bad….he was really fun. When he didn't get snow in my eyes," Joan said. "But he's too scared! He would have left Aunt Elsa instead of fighting for her! But that's not evil! I mean, Aunt Elsa did that stuff too! But, but….aw, why can't these guys just be all good or evil? Like all those stories?!"
Sighing, Joan kicked around some snow and decided, "Just go, Prince Aaron. We'll discuss this stuff in committee later."
"Yes, committee! Thank you, merciful fun Princess!" Aaron quit while he was barely ahead and left, stage right.
Then someone else came in from center stage. "Aunt Elsa?" Christian noticed first.
"What? What were you doing over there?" Anna asked. "How long were you over there?"
"Since about five seconds before your latest prince knockout," Elsa confessed. "I was gonna….knock him out myself, in my own way. You beat me to it. Joan did too, really. So for the sake of avoiding a big clean up, I chose to let you handle it and be proud of you."
"I should have sent him home, huh, Aunt Elsa?" Joan doubted herself. "I can get him back so you can put him in blocks! He'll listen to me!"
"He's certainly near the bottom of the list now," Elsa frowned. "But you kept him around because you knew he wasn't all bad. I know that kind of complexity can be frustrating."
"It sure is! Couldn't the bad ones just wear twirly mustaches and be done with it?" Joan sighed. "Then I'd know who's bad for you a lot better."
"Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that easy," Elsa stated. "If it did….I'd have been an out and out villain back then too. I probably should have been at first. But there was more in me than that….even if it took a while for some people to expose it," she took a glance at Anna. "But I know better now. It looks like I passed that knowledge to you too."
"Maybe…." Joan admitted. "You could have thrown in some ice breath, though."
"If I ever have an heir, you can take it up with him or her," Elsa compromised.
"I hope so," Joan got sad for other reasons now.
"And that's why I worship you. Christian too," Elsa brought him over. "And of course, your knockout of a mother."
"Yeah….your older knockout," Anna lamented as she rubbed her right knuckles. "These gals don't heal up like in the old Hans days anymore."
To help, Elsa used her powers to make a bunch of ice cubes appear in her cupped hands, then Joan helped Anna put her hand in them. She exhaled as her hand cooled down, "Ooh! I guess some things get more powerful with age."
Both Elsa and Joan felt inclined to agree, for many more reasons – and people - than that.