16
Time past slowly at first for Hans who spent about an hour just looking out his open window which let a nice breeze into his room. He really enjoyed the view and had forgotten just how beautiful Arendelle was and in his opinion, it had far nicer scenery than the Southern Isles did.
He could see the sea, the fjord, the cliffs and snow-capped mountains in the distance, just stunning and looking at it just gave him some peace. He kept reminding himself how grateful he was for them giving him a nice room instead of the expectant dungeon that he was sure he would be in. Yes, there was no way of escape from this room unless he wanted to risk a long drop to the ground where he would probably break his legs, but that was a small price to pay.
Actually, when he thought about it, it was what Anna was about, yes when he was last here, she was naïve and easy to manipulate at first, but she was also kind hearted and thoughtful. Looking out at the view in front of him made him a little annoyed at himself that he wasn't simply content with marrying her and that would have been revenge enough on his brothers showing he was capable of achieving something great. He knew if he had just done that, he would have ended up better off than most of his twelve older brothers.
He had noticed that there was a small collection of books in the room as well and after looking out the window he chose one, laid down on his bed and started perusing through it. Though after Olaf mentioned Ahtohallan, he was hoping there would be a book on some of Arendelle's folklore that might give him a clue what this place was as it was clear to him that it was important to the sisters. When he was brought forward to them in the afternoon, he would ask some questions about it if he got the chance to try and learn as much as he can about it. It may become important in his scheme that he hadn't thought up yet to get him to his goal, though he did have a little idea.
Around half past twelve there was a knock on his door and the voice from one of the servants "Prince Hans, your lunch sir."
He opened the door and smiled, sandwiches. "Thank you, they look good."
"Prince Hans, I am also to inform you that you will be required in the reception room at two o'clock, General Mattias will come to collect you."
"Very good, my good man and thank you for the sandwiches."
"You're welcome your grace," and with that the servant closed the door and locked it.
Hans put the tray on the table and again smiled to himself "sandwiches" and began to eat. They were good sandwiches.
Meanwhile, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and General Mattias were enjoying lunch in the dining room.
"Tell me General," started Anna, "what do you think of Prince Hans?"
"To be honest your Highness, I find him a bit pretentious, a little full of himself."
Anna giggled, "yes he is that, you're lucky you didn't meet him four years ago."
"I have to ask you," started Mattias, "how could you fall for him?"
Suddenly all eyes turned on Anna which made her feel a little embarrassed.
"Well, he was quite charming and handsome and he didn't have that beard back then. Plus, yes, I was pretty naïve then," she said looking at Kristoff who just smiled back.
"Yes, okay, very naïve, but, in my defence, Elsa and I had been separated for thirteen years and we had been couped up in this castle for most of those years. Plus, with the death of our parents three years before Elsa's coronation, I was very lonely, I missed my sister terribly."
Elsa, smiled but with a tinge of sadness, "I know Anna, it was very hard for you."
"It was hard for both of us Elsa," Anna replied, "but suddenly, there was this handsome young Prince showing affection towards me and he just did all the right things on that night and for me, being as lonely as I was, he just swept me off my feet in the space of a few hours. I should have known better, but I was so desperate for love back then and I feared being locked up again in the castle and I believed my Prince Charming had arrived.
As it turned out he was just selfish, manipulative and a jerk." Tears began to appear in Anna's eyes, "and I fell for it."
Kristoff leaned over and comforted her, "It's alright honey, all that's over now, he got what he deserved and you ended up being Queen, you won."
"I know, but it still hurts, but soon we'll find out, that's if he tells the truth this time, why he did what he did and that hopefully will bring some closure for all of us."
"I hope so Sis," started Elsa, "he did try to kill me to, plus, he originally had eyes on me."
"What truth are you looking for your Majesties?" asked the General.
"We told you about Ahtohallan General," said Elsa
"Yes, you did." He replied
"Well," continued Anna, "we discovered some disturbing things about Hans's past to do with his childhood and we just want to confirm them, Hans seems to have had a disturbed past and Grand Pabbie, from what he could see, thinks everything Hans did was about revenge on his brothers."
"Revenge, how is trying to kill you revenge on his brothers?"
"To show them he was better than they were, that he could become something other than the thirteenth child. Anyway, we will all learn more when we question him. Of course, we have to be careful he's not using this meeting as another opportunity to try and extract some of that revenge" answered Anna.
"Well, we're better prepared him this time Anna," said Elsa, "and I have my powers under control to make sure of it."
"You have me to back you up to Anna and Elsa," chipped in Kristoff.
"You also have the Arendellian guard," said Mattias, "if he tries anything, he'll find his accommodations here not so generous."
At two o'clock in the afternoon Anna sent General Mattias to collect Hans for the afternoons questioning. It would be in the same room as before but a chair was provided for Hans in front of where Anna, Elsa and Kristoff would sit.
Hans heard the knock at his door and the guard cry out, "Prince Hans, it's time."
He stood up, straightened his suit and faced the door, "Very good, please come in."
General Mattias entered the room flanked by two Arendellian Officers, "I'm here to escort you back to the main ballroom."
"Very well, please lead the way the General."
They made their way through the castle back to the room. Hans still wasn't sure why they had asked him to return but was curious about this Ahtohallan place that the little snowman had said. He was sort of hoping to bump into him again as they walked back towards the room as he absolutely fascinated him and was a reminder of how powerful Elsa's magic was. He realised that he really didn't want to upset her, he would play along, answer the questions they ask and see if there's an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
Finally, they came to the room and the General and two Officers escorted him inside and he immediately got a shock when he saw Elsa in her Fifth Spirit outfit. It actually took his breath away a bit, she was quite beautiful. He shook his head to regain control because he knew that wasn't an option here.
Again, he noticed the little what he thought was a lizard in her hands this time as she sat and wondered what the significance the creature was. He figured that it might have something to do with her magic and her transformation into whatever she was now.
"Please sit-down Prince Hans," spoke Anna with authority.
"Thank you, your Majesty," he responded, "if you don't mind me saying, but I do like your new look Queen Elsa."
This caught Elsa a bit off guard, but she responded with a simple and emotionless "oh, thank you."
"Queen Elsa," began Hans, "they tell me you went under some sort of metamorphous and have become more powerful than you were before."
Elsa, immediately realised that Hans was trying to charm her so decided to put an end to it.
"Yes, I did," she replied.
"How so," asked Hans, "have you become a little more powerful"
"You could say that," responded Elsa, "let's just say my powers encompass more than just snow and ice now."
Hans looked at her inquisitively trying to think what she meant.
"Yes, she is more powerful Hans," quipped Anna, "maybe we will explain that later, or demonstrate it if you try anything like you did last time."
"Believe me Queen Anna, I didn't come here to try and do anything, to be honest I was glad to get out of the Southern Isles, though I am curious as to why you asked me to come here?"
"We have some questions for you, but tell me, is one of the reasons you wanted to leave your home was the way your brothers treated you?"
"Wait what!" responded Hans.
"Yes," started Elsa, "you told Anna that three of your brothers pretended that you were invisible for three years, was that true?"
"What do you mean, is that true?"
"Exactly what I said, was it just three of your brothers or all of them?"
"Wait, wait," said Hans a little taken aback that they were suggesting this and how did they know, "okay, you're right it was all my brothers, but how do you know this?"
"Ahtohallan," said Anna.
"What is Ahtohallan?" asked Hans, whose interest was suddenly pricked with the mention of the place.
"It's a river of memory in the far north and Elsa being the Fifth Spirit can access those memories and for some reason it showed us yours."
"What!" exclaimed Hans, "how is that even possible?"
"Hans, you met Olaf, you've seen my powers, Ahtohallan is sort of my home now, and I took Anna there a couple of weeks ago and it played out your childhood and how your brothers treated you. We even know they blamed you for your mother's death. But what we really want to know is what motivated you to do what you did four years ago?"
"How is this possible!" screamed Hans angrily, upset that his past had been exposed "what right do you have to look at my memories?"
"Ahtohallan deemed it to be important for us to see them," started Elsa, "maybe if you told us the truth about your pass you may free yourself from this anger you hang onto, which from what we saw, you have every right to be angry, but you had no right to carry that anger out on us four years ago."
Hans looked angrily at Anna, Elsa and Kristoff and realised there was nothing he could do about his past being revealed but, it may also may help him achieve his goal of revenge, because a plan was formulating in his head that involved Elsa and what he saw her do four years ago. Not one that would harm her, but it would harm hers and Arendelle's reputation. A win, win situation for him he thought.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell the truth and yes, it is true, it wasn't just three brothers who pretended I was invisible for two years, it was all of them and it had to do with the death of my mother that they blamed on me, because she died of natural causes when I was almost a year old.
I told Anna it was just three brothers because I thought it would be just the right number to make her feel a little sympathy for me, but not make me look pathetic and it sort of worked didn't it Your Majesty?"
"Umm," started Anna a little startled at the reference," yes, I suppose it did, please continue Prince Hans."
"My brothers all looked down on me for as long as I can remember, making me feel useless, unloved, not wanted and my father didn't offer much comfort or support just, be a man, chin up, don't let them get the better of you he would say, like as if that would help."
Hans bent over in his chair, talking about this was harder than he thought and it brought up genuine emotion in him and anger which began to boil inside as he had never really talked to anyone about it
"I hated them for it!" he screamed, "hated them!"
Both Anna and Elsa plus Kristoff actually started having a little sympathy towards him. It was one thing to see it played out in Ahtohallan, but to hear it from Hans and hear the venom in his exclamation of his hate for his family also scared them and it was becoming clear how he became the monster he was.
"Are you okay Prince Hans?" asked Anna softly.
"Yes, Your Majesty, sorry, but I've wanted to say that for so long and I would like to take this moment to apologise for all the things I did that wronged you and Elsa four years ago, I mean that sincerely."
He knew that apologising wasn't enough and he realised that he actually meant it, but he also knew that he needed to regain control of his emotions, but his anger, started fitting into his scheme that taking shape in the back of his head.
"I'm okay to continue," he said.
"Very good then, please do," responded Anna.
"The only real friend I had in the kingdom was Fritz the head of our palace staff, he always looked out for me, in many ways, he was more of a father to me than my own father was. But I didn't see him that often because palace staff were not supposed to interact with the royal family."
Hans noticed that Anna, Elsa and Kristoff seemed to be showing a little sympathy so he decided to work on that as his plan began to take hold in his mind.
"Then came the time when my oldest brother Klaus, who as I am sure you know is now King, got engaged. All my brothers were really excited by it, I must admit I was too, but when I said I would get married they started making fun of me and of you Queen Anna and Queen Elsa."
"What," came the reply from both sisters.
"Yes, yes," continued Hans, "they said that the only Princess I may get to marry was one of the Arendelle sisters because word had reached the Southern Isles how the two of you were locked up and they assumed there was something very wrong with you Elsa."
Elsa's expression turned to annoyed, "they did, they thought I."
"It's okay Elsa," said a calming Anna, "we all know why Mother and Father kept us separated, there was nothing wrong with anyone."
"I know that to Your Majesty and Elsa, but that was the consensus with my brothers, their attitudes have of course changed since then, I can assure you of that," said Hans.
"I should certainly hope so." Said a still slightly annoyed Elsa.
Hans noticed Elsa's anger and recognised it from her Ice Castle four years ago where he stopped her doing harm to Wesselton's men and he saw an opportunity for his revenge in line with the idea that he was pondering, get Elsa mad enough to do something to his brothers.
"Yes, Elsa, besides, I know this resumption of trade with Arendelle is very important to my oldest brother, he wants to secure the agreement as soon as possible. Anyway, getting back to those days, I realised that in fact Elsa, you were my best ticket to marrying into the throne somewhere. I imagined from what I heard, despite it being wrong, that you would be desperate for a friend and someone you could confide in because like me, I imagined you were very lonely."
"You thought that I might be interested in you?" Elsa snapped back.
"Oh yes, remember, that was 15 years ago, we had never met and as I said, I thought you would have to be desperately lonely and to be honest, I didn't care if any of the innuendo my brothers were saying was true, I thought it would be fairly easy to befriend you, I actually wrote you several letters."
"You wrote me letters; I never received any letters."
"Elsa, you're getting upset," calmed Anna.
"Yes, I am, I never heard this before, what letters?"
Hans could see Elsa getting upset and he wanted to pursue this, but not too fast, he had to play it correctly, plus, he was curious to know why Elsa never replied to his letters.
"Elsa, it's okay," he continued, "you never responded to my letters and I left it at that."
Elsa took a few deep breaths to calm herself down then thought, "You know Hans, my parents probably didn't show me the letters you sent because they may have thought that having a friend might affect my abilities to suppress my powers back then. The emotion of having a friend may have had an effect on my feelings and therefore reveal my powers, or cause another accident like the one I had with Anna."
"Well, my intentions were honourable back then," continued Hans, "I thought if I could befriend you than all I would have to do is convince my father to bring me here so we could meet. However, when you didn't respond, well, I do admit I got a little angry as to why you didn't answer, so I started planning different scenarios of how I could get in contact with you."
"Wait, Hans," responded Anna, "did you ever think of contacting me?"
"Yes, the thought did cross my mind, but my main focus was on your sister because, as I said to you, she was next in line to the throne and that's what I wanted so I could show my brothers that I was something."
"So," responded Anna, "you didn't think about me until you got here for the Coronation?"
"You could say that." He answered.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Elsa.
"Well, after I convinced my father for me to attend the coronation as I knew that was my big chance and I was lucky because my oldest brother and father were supposed to come, but my father had to deal with an important last minute diplomatic problem and my brother's wife became ill, so I was the substitute."
"Wait, what!" exclaimed Anna, "you weren't coming originally?"
"Yes, that is correct," he replied, "this all happened about a week before the coronation so I got here the next day."
"So, you were here six days before my coronation?" asked Elsa in a slightly irritated voice.
"That's correct Elsa, I was scoping the place and seeing how available you were and became quite clear to me that it was virtually impossible to approach you, for reasons which became apparent on the night of your coronation, so I switched my attention to you Queen Anna."
Anna started to become annoyed. "So, you're telling us that I became the target of your plan after you gave up on Elsa?"
"I thought I made that quite clear, I'm sorry, it was how my mind was working back then, but like your sister Queen Anna, you were just as hard to approach with the castle gates closed, but I saw you come out of the gates when they opened them on Elsa's Coronation Day."
A stunned look came onto Anna's face, "you mean to tell me.." she started.
"Yes, Queen Anna I bumped into you with my horse deliberately, it wasn't an accident."