Chapter 1: Epilogue

It was a cloudy summer afternoon in London, the people of the city out on their Sunday strolls and casual window shopping. A man in his late thirties expertly weaves his way in and out of the crowd, smiling and tipping his hat at the beautiful women that pass him by. He stops suddenly at the local newsstand and picks up the latest issue of The Times, "Royal Wedding in the Frozen Kingdom…" He opens up the paper and skims over the article, The ice enchantress Queen Elsa of Arendelle is set to marry Prince Hans of the Southern Isles by the first week of June…Prince Hans was previously disowned from his royal family in the Southern Isles after his murderous deeds in Arendelle during the eternal winter…for unknown reasons he travelled back to the Southern Isles to reinstate his royal title and succeeded…no confirmed statement from Arendelle's royal family on why the sudden change of heart from the ice queen. The man gets the attention for the newsstand owner, "Pardon, how much for this?"

"Six pence, sir…" The owner accepts the money with a smile, "Thank you."

The man continues his brisk walk to the outskirts of London and into a nearby field, where a young chocolate brown thoroughbred grazes, "Hey Lancer, I hope you got enough rest because we've got to get back to the estate as quickly as possible." Lancer snorts and turns his back on the man, "Hey, I'll be having none of that…I've got to get this newspaper back to the doctor. This may be the sort of breakthrough we've been waiting for." He mounts the horse, "If you get me back before nightfall, I promise there will be apple treats for dinner." Lancer's ears perk up and he instantly took off at a speedy gallop down the dirt road. In less than an hour, they ride up to Franklin Estate, a large manor type-estate, surrounded by massive amounts of countryside. "You there, stable boy!" The man dismounts as a fifteen year old boy approaches, "Take good care of Lancer here, I've got important business to attend to."

"Yes, sir."

The man walks inside the large manor and heads into the parlor, where a butler is wiping down the bar, "Alfred, where is the good doctor?"

The butler doesn't even look up from his work, "He's underground, sir."

The man strides out of the room and down a narrow hallway that leads to a dead end. He lightly pushes on the upper right hand corner of the wall, causing a part of it to pop open, and revealing a hidden passageway. The man quickly descends the spiral stair case and steps forth into the large underground base, complete with dungeons, laboratories, and weapon facilities. He heads straight towards an office in the back corner of the base and knocks, "Doctor…are you available for conversation?"

"…Come in."

The man steps inside and closes the door behind him. The doctor is sitting alone in his ornate office with a half empty bottle of whisky on the desk, "What is it?"

The man reaches into his jacket and pulls out the newspaper, "I think I may have found the opportunity you've been waiting for…" He throws the paper down onto the desk with a smug smile.

The doctor slowly turns around in his seat and picks up the newspaper, "Royal Wedding in the Frozen Kingdom…this is old news, almost a month and a half late."

"It's only the nineteenth century, sir, it's a miracle that we got it as soon as we did."

Suddenly the door burst open, "Doctor!" A short, pudgy red head waddled inside the office, "Sir, I got the preliminary results from the first few tests…all of which were a success!"

The doctor scoffed, "Well, of course, Ernest…I designed the weapons myself." He opened up the paper and continued to read the article, his expression changing from aloofness to one of interest, "Gentlemen…I do believe our time has come." He looked at Ernest first, "I want you to personally oversee the rest of the tests and inform me when everything is done." Ernest nodded and left the room as the doctor faced the other man, "I think it's time we visit our operative in town and collect those favors he owes us, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir, I'll head out first thing tomorrow morning." The man walked out of the office and closed the door.

The doctor took another long drink from his glass as he reread the article, "Well, well, well…it would seem that Elsa and Anna like to give their enemies a second chance. It sure warms my heart to hear about how forgiving the royal family is. Unfortunately, some of us aren't looking for forgiveness…we're looking for revenge."

It was a beautiful July morning in Arendelle, the store owners were opening up their shops for the day and the children were happily running around with friends. A nice cool breeze came in from the fjords, rustling through the trees full of green. Summer in the Kingdom of Arendelle was definitely one of the most peaceful places to be, unless you lived in the castle, and especially on this specific morning.

"It's coming! It's coming! The baby's coming!" William ran to Elsa's bedroom, "Queen Elsa! Queen Elsa!"

Elsa threw open the door, dressed in her light blue silk robe, "I heard, let's go!" Elsa ran by a couple of servants, "Please wake up my sister and Rapunzel and tell them to meet us in Annaliese's room, right away."

Elsa and William ran into Annaliese's room, where Dr. Osmorg and Hans were already by her bedside. Hans tiredly smiled at his wife, "Good morning, Elsa."

Elsa smiled as she kissed the top of his head and looked at the doctor, "How long has she been in labor, doctor?"

"For a few hours now…breath, Annaliese, breath."

Anna and Rapunzel both ran into the room, Anna was donning her wild bed head, "The baby's coming?!"

Rapunzel's bright green eyes grew wide, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe that it's happening!"

Gerda hastily entered the room with several supplies in her arms, "Wow, this certainly turned into quite the party, huh?"

The doctor rolled up his sleeves, "She's dilating…Gerda, I need you over here now. Everyone else, clear out!"

Anna frowned, "But we just got here."

Elsa wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders, "Let's go Anna…"

As the group slowly shuffled out, Annaliese screamed, "NO! Hans, I need you…to stay…with me!"

Hans tentatively looked at his wife, "Elsa?"

Elsa gave him an encouraging smile, "It's alright, stay with her…I'll be just outside. Good luck, stay strong…to the both of you."

Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel, and William all stood outside in the hallway. Well, the girls were standing while William was pacing like a nervous wreck, "Everything's going to be fine…she'll be okay…she will be okay, right?"

Elsa smiled reassuringly, "Of course, William…Dr. Osmorg and Gerda helped our mother deliver both Anna and I. She's in good hands…"

They heard a scream from inside, which caused William to pale as Kristoff and Eugene came running down the hallway. Kristoff wildly looked around, "What's going on? What's with the screaming?"

Eugene gave his wife a distressed look, "I heard screaming and you weren't in bed so I thought-"

Rapunzel gave him an apologetic smile, "Annaliese went into labor earlier this morning and now the baby's coming…I can't believe you slept through all that."

Eugene smirked, "I'm a heavy sleeper, what can I say?" Rapunzel leaned back against the wall and slide down to the floor as Eugene sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist, "Good morning, by the way."

Rapunzel gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "Glad to see you becoming more of a morning person."

They heard another scream from inside, which caused all three men to tense up and the girls to quiet down. After what seemed like hours, a small cry could be heard on the other side of the door. Everyone in the hallway looked at each other with excitement and joy, and after a few more minutes, the doctor slowly opened the door with a smile on his face, "Okay, you may go in now, but please keep your voices down."

William rushed in first, followed by the rest of the group except Elsa who stayed behind with the doctor, "How did everything go? Any complications?"

The doctor tiredly shook his head, "None, Your Majesty…very standard procedure. The baby's healthy and Annaliese is doing well, but she should probably get some rest…please makes sure that everyone leaves after a few minutes."

"Yes, of course, doctor…thank you."

"My pleasure…I'll be back soon to check on her and the baby regularly throughout the day." And with that, he bowed his head and walked back to his office.

Elsa walked into the room to see Kristoff and Anna a few steps back from the left side of the bed and Eugene and Rapunzel were holding hands a few steps back from the right side of the bed. William had taken the seat beside Annaliese's bed and Annaliese was sitting up with her hair disheveled and bags under eyes but a huge grin on her face as she coddled her newborn.

"It's a boy…" Elsa turned around to Hans who was standing behind her, a large smile on his face, "A beautiful, healthy, baby boy."

Elsa looked back at Annaliese with a smile, "That's wonderful news…" She looked back at Hans, "How long have you been up? You look exhausted…"

Hans rubbed the back of his neck, "I, uh, never went to sleep…her water broke late last night and she went into labor early this morning. But we can talk about me later, this is Annaliese's big moment, so let's go join the rest of the group."

Elsa and Hans stood at the foot of the bed, as Rapunzel wrapped an arm around Eugene's waist, "What are you going to name him?"

Annaliese smiled down at her baby, "Hendrick or Henry, for short…it's a combination of Kendrick and Hans." Annaliese looked up at Hans for approval.

Hans gave her a warm smile, "I like it…"

Elsa looked at the clock, "We should let you get some rest…everyone out of the room, visiting hours are over for now."

Once everyone left the room, Annaliese gave Elsa a grateful smile, "Queen Elsa, thank you for letting me stay here until I'm able to get back on my feet."

"It is absolutely no problem at all…just take care of yourself, okay?"

Annaliese yawned, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Elsa and Hans silently made their way back down the hall, until Elsa cautiously looked up at him, "So how was it?"

Hans ran a tired hand through his hair, "Stressful, terrifying, deafening…after what I saw today, I have a newfound respect for women. I, mean, sure men are tough but that was…yikes."

Elsa smirked, "You should've seen William in the hallway, now that man was definitely struggling."

"I bet he would've done fine if he were in there instead of me…he's a strong man."

Elsa scoffed, "Since when did you two become best buddies?"

"Once he stopped flirting with you-"

"He never liked me in that way-"

"That's what he claims, but I assure you that at some point, he thought of you as more than just friends."

Elsa let out a curt laugh, "You are truly sleep deprived aren't you?"

"Yes…but I'll be okay once I eat some breakfast and get started on-"

Elsa stopped walking, "No, you're going straight to bed after you eat."

"But we have another ice trade meeting this morning-"

"I can handle a meeting by myself, I used to do that before I married you, remember? And besides, Kristoff has to be there too and he's business savvy."

Hans smiled as he pulled his wife into his arms and gave her a light kiss, "Boy or girl?"

Elsa pulled apart immediately, "What?!"

"Would you like a boy or a girl?"

Elsa became flustered, "I don't know…why are you even asking me this? Were not even sharing a room, yet-"

Hans chuckled, "Relax, Elsa, I'm not asking you to make a baby, I was just curious on which you'd prefer."

Elsa blushed, "Oh…sorry, but I couldn't say…I wouldn't want that kind of expectation on the gender because if I wanted a boy but the baby was a girl, there would be that sense of disappointment and I don't want that."

Hans nodded, "You make a valid point…"

Elsa smiled as she wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace, "What about you? You obviously had a gender in mind, since you brought up the question."

Hans hesitated, "…A girl. I would like a baby girl."

Elsa looked up at him in surprise, "Really?"

"I grew up in a family with all guys, and every single one of my brother's wives have had baby boys…I just don't want to continue that trend."

Elsa smirked, "Well, all the babies from my mother's side were girls so when the time comes, there will be an epic battle of genetics."

Hans laughed, "May the dominant gene win."

It's been four days since the baby was born and it's been four days since anybody in the East Wing of the castle slept. Annaliese was walking around her bedroom with Henry over her shoulder, trying to get him to go to sleep, "I'm so sorry, I don't understand what's wrong…he just won't stop crying. Poor William hasn't slept for days." While Hans and Elsa were busy with the ice trades, Elsa assigned William to personally attend to Annaliese while Rapunzel also stood close by because she insisted on helping out with the baby.

Rapunzel was standing in the doorway with a kind smile on her face, "May I try something?"

Annaliese nodded as Rapunzel walked towards her and handed her the baby, "Here…good luck."

Rapunzel sat down on the sofa and gently rocked the baby back and forth, "Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt. Change the fate's design. Save what has been loss. Bring back what once was mine…what once was mine." Slowly the baby drifted to sleep and by the end of the song, he was snoring peacefully.

Annaliese's eyes grew wide, "Wow that was amazing, Rapunzel…"

William came into the room, "Alright, I have some-wait, he stopped crying?" He looked at Annaliese with a hopeful expression.

Annaliese smiled at Corona's Princess, "Thank Rapunzel, it was all her doing."

William placed a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, "I'm so glad you decided to stay in Arendelle for a while, we could definitely use your help."

Rapunzel smiled at the sleeping baby in her arms, "It's no problem at all. I'm happy to help, I love babies…"

They heard someone clear their throat and they all looked towards the doorway where Eugene was leaning against the door, "Rapunzel, it's getting pretty late. Are you ready to come to bed?"

Rapunzel sighed as she placed Henry into his crib, "Yes, I suppose my job is done here. Goodnight Annaliese, goodnight William…"

Annaliese and William murmured their response as the couple left the room. Eugene looked down at his wife who was uncharacteristically silent, "You okay, Blondie?"

"I'm just thinking…" After a few more moments of silence, Rapunzel stopped walking and faced her husband, "Eugene, why can't we have a baby?"

"Oh, no, no, no…" He placed his hands on her shoulders, "We've already gone over this Rapunzel. It's too soon-"

"It's been six months-"

"And that's too soon." He slide his hands down her arms and held her hands with a concerned look in his eyes, "Until we get an answer from the doctor about what happened last time, I don't want to do anything that could possibly jeopardize your health."

"But Eugene-"

"End of conversation."

Rapunzel looked down and sniffled, "Okay…"

Eugene's heart ached for his wife, "Rapunzel…" He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, resting his chin on the top of her head, "When the time's right, you'll become a mother…it may be a few years or a few months but it's like what you told Anna, everything will happen at its own time and in the end, all the waiting will be worth it."

Rapunzel smiled up at him, "So you were paying attention to our conversation…"

"There they are! Stop them!"

Hans and Elsa ran into the library, shut the door, and quickly locked it. Elsa ran towards the fireplace and frantically began searching for some sort of hidden doorway, "I can't find it!"

Hans leaned against the door as the rebels began to bash the door down, "Well, I don't know how much longer this door can hold up."

Hans grabbed a few small bookcases and propped them up against the door, then he ran over to help Elsa, "Hans, are you ready to fight?"

Hans sighed, "I don't have a sword…and you took away my knife. I don't have any powers so, no, I'm not exactly prepared to fight."

Elsa slid out the knife from her sleeve, "Here…take this."

Hans gratefully took back his knife and slid it into his boot, "Thanks."

Elsa ran her hands along all the bricks around the fireplace, "We must be missing something…" She noticed that one of the fireplace tools seemed to be out of place, "Wait a second…" Elsa took the fire pick and found what looked like to be a keyhole. She inserted the pick and a small trap door opened up beside the fireplace, "Found it!"

In that moment the doors burst open and the violent group of rebels ran towards them. Hans sympathetically looked at Elsa, "I forgot to tell you the end of my dream…" Hans pushed Elsa through the door and cut the only rope that held the door open, "You make it out, but I don't."

The door slowly began to close as Hans turned around to face the approaching rebels. Elsa yelled out to him, "No! Hans! We can both make it out!"

Hans protectively stood in front of the door, "I need to lock it from the outside! We used to have these kinds of trap doors back in the Southern Isles castle, I should have known that Kendrick would install one here as well."

Elsa stood by the entrance, "Hans I can't leave you!"

Hans turned around, "Elsa, you told me, before we left Arendelle, that getting back home to Anna safely was your number one priority, and that's exactly what you need to do." He turn toward the group of rebels and pressed some sort of lever on the door, "Now run!"

Once the door closed, Elsa peeked through the keyhole and saw Hans fight off about five men until another group of five came in with crossbows. Elsa covered her mouth to hold back her screams as, one-by-one, the men shot their crossbows at Hans, piercing him in the leg, stomach, shoulder, and finally two in the chest. Hans's bloody body fell heavily against the glass window, which shattered on impact, causing Hans to fall into the waters below.

"Nooo!" Elsa sat up in her bed that was now covered in a thin layer of ice. She took several deep breaths in order to calm her racing heart, "He's okay…he's safe." She reached for a glass of water that was on her nightstand, catching a glimpse of her wedding ring which made her to smile. After a few gulps of water she lay back down and closed her eyes again.

Hans was sitting up in his bed reading one of his favorite novels, before he let out a short yawn. Realizing that it was probably getting late, he placed the book on his nightstand and blew out the candle. After a few minutes, he began to slowly drift to sleep as the wind began to howl outside his window and the distinct sound of thunder rumbled in the distance. In a matter of seconds, the sound of rain began to make its way towards the castle and soon a summer storm covered the Kingdom of Arendelle. The windows to Hans's room began to violently shake as a figure appeared right outside on the balcony. The figure used some sort of metal hook to unlatch the windows and crept inside of his room. He silently made his way to Hans's bedside and placed a hand over his mouth, causing Hans to wake up with a start.

"You think you can just get away with what you did? You think that everyone will just turn a blind eye to everything you've done?" Hans tried to squirm out of his grasp, but that only made the figure hold the hook up against his neck, "You're a murderer…" He began to slowly puncture Hans's skin with the hook, drawing a trickle of blood to run down his neck, "And you deserve to die as such."

"Hans!" Elsa didn't even stop to think, she just jumped out of bed and ran out of her room, down the hallway and burst into her husband's room, "Hans!"

Hans was sitting up in his bed reading a book, his face was a mixture of surprise and concern, "What is it, Elsa? What's wrong?"

Elsa glanced at the window that was still securely locked and looked back at her husband's concerned face, "I…you, were…I, mean…" She took deep breaths to slow down her racing heart as she also tried to hold back frightened tears that were beginning to sting her eyes, "It was just a dream…a horrible, frightening dream."

Hans got out of bed and walked over to her, wrapping his strong arms around her shaking body, "Was it about Anna, again?"

Elsa leaned into him and shook her head, "Ever since you came back from Sperca, I've been having nightmares about you dying…but since we got married the nightmares have gotten worse and more real and I'm beginning to think that there's something to them."

The wind outside started to pick up and they could hear it howling against the window. Hans could feel her legs shaking so he slowly led her to the bed, "Elsa, don't worry…everything's okay. I'm still here and I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

Elsa wiped the tears from her eyes, "I don't think anyone plans on dying, Hans. Tell me, how many people have you hurt?"

Hans almost fell off the bed, "Pardon?"

Elsa could tell that she definitely caught Hans off guard, "How many crimes have you committed prior to coming to Arendelle?"

"None…I was under house arrest for four years prior to coming to your coronation. What's this about, Elsa?"

Elsa brought her knees up to her chest and leaned back against the headboard, "A common theme in most of my dreams is someone coming back to kill you as an act of revenge. And I was beginning to wonder if Anna and I weren't your first victims."

Hans leaned back against the foot board with his legs stretched out, "The only other person I hurt was Kendrick many, many years ago and he's dead so I don't think I should be worried about him…" Hans teasingly smirked, "Unless you believe in ghosts."

Elsa rolled her eyes, "Make fun of me if you must, but I'm seriously concerned for you safety."

Hans crawled over to her and sat beside her with a sincere smile, "And I appreciate that, I really do. But when your worrying begins to affect your health then I've become a burden and I don't know what to say or do to make your nightmares go away."

Elsa placed her head on his bare chest and looked over at his nightstand, "What were you reading?"

Hans reached over and grabbed the book, "Le Rouge et le Noir."

Elsa furrowed her brow, "The Red and the Black?"

Hans looked down at her in surprise, "Very good, Elsa. I didn't know you spoke French…"

Elsa smirked, "There's a lot you still don't know about me…so what's it about?"

Hans opens the book and looks at the summary on the inside cover, "In two volumes, it follows the attempts of a provincial young man to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing through a combination of talent, hard work, deception, and hypocrisy, yet who ultimately allows his passions to betray him."

Elsa smiled, "Is it good?"

Hans chuckled, "I don't know, I barely started it…I can start from the beginning if you're interested."

Elsa snuggled closer to him, "Sure, that would be great. Thanks."

For the next hour, the couple continued to read together until Elsa slowly began to fall asleep. Hans caught her nodding off a few times, "Elsa?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you sure you're okay with this? Sleeping together?"

"Well, if you're not going to take your safety seriously then I guess I'll just have to keep a close eye on you." She sat up a bit and shot an icy blast at the lock on Hans's windows, firmly securing them shut. She lay her head back down on his chest and took in a deep breath, "Goodnight, Hans."

Hans smiled as he kissed the top of her head, "Goodnight, Elsa."

Elsa quickly drifted to sleep as she listened to Hans's steady heartbeat and for the remainder of the night she didn't have a single nightmare about him.