28

It took him and his four guards about fifteen minutes to walk to the railway construction site, the area was fenced off for safety as he watched the workers removing the rubble from where they blasted yesterday for the tunnel they were constructing. Hans had heard of the use of explosives in construction that was happening across the lands but had never actually witnessed it.

He saw the workers excavating the rubble from yesterday's explosion and turned to the Arendelle Guards that were guarding him.

"Hey guys," he started, "is it okay if I ask these guys a few questions?"

"If they'll talk to you Prince Hans," replied one of the guards, "it will be fine."

Hans smiled and tried to get the attention of the construction workers and caught the attention of one of the supervisors who acknowledged him and started to walk towards Hans. He was a stocky man, powerfully built with rough features.

"Prince Hans, isn't it?" he started, "Gunnar is mine."

"Nice to meet you," replied Hans who held out his hand in friendship.

"If you will excuse me your Grace," answered Gunnar not responding to Hans's gesture, "but I won't shake the hand of the man who tried usurp our throne and kill Queen Anna and Elsa."

Hans didn't flinch as he removed his hand, "I understand Gunnar, if I was in your position, I would probably feel the same way."

"That's good of you to understand your Grace," replied Gunnar, "now, how can I help you; Queen Anna has told us to be civil towards you."

"Well," began Hans trying to be casual, "I am curious about the tunnel your building, especially how you are using the explosives, I heard and felt the explosion yesterday."

"Well, your Grace, we are using black powder to help blast our way through the hard rock," he answered. "It is a very useful tool; it can remove as much rock in a second than we could physically dig out in a week. We use it when we come across hard rock and pack the powder into any crevices, we find plus we drill holes into the rock. The Bickford fuses make it much safer to use as it gives us time to get clear before the actual blast."

"How do you get it into the tunnel?" asked Hans.

"Very carefully," replied Gunnar with a wry smile, "it is stored in five-kilogram barrels so it's easy for us to lift and put it on the hand cart to transport it to where we want to use it."

"So, it can be unstable?" enquired Hans.

"Let's just say Prince Hans is that you do not want to give it a bumpy ride," he replied, "the ship that transported it to Arendelle had it very securely stowed so that even in the roughest weather it would not move around. If it did, well there was every chance the ship could explode."

"I see," responded Hans, "so it is quite volatile?"

"Only if you don't know what you are doing," answered Gunnar with that same wry smile, "now if you will excuse me your Grace, I need to get back to work."

"Thank you, Gunnar," spoke Hans cheerfully, "stay safe."

Gunnar just nodded his head and went back towards the tunnel while Hans turned to his guards.

"Gentlemen, that's enough for now, I'm ready to go back to the castle."

The five men then began to walk towards the castle with Hans seeming to be very happy with the information he got regarding the black powder. In his mind his plan B was coming together, but there was one major detail he hadn't worked out yet and he simply did not have an idea on how to overcome this obstacle. He knew there was an answer though, he just hadn't seen it yet.

Maybe when he gets back a nice cup of tea might help relax and clear his mind so he could figure it out. His morning conversation with Elsa didn't really achieve much, but surprisingly, he enjoyed her company. He found her fascinating, but that wouldn't sway him from doing what he believed he had to do. He found himself becoming more obsessed about getting back at his brothers, though he did wonder what this memory was that Elsa and Anna talked about.

His earliest memory was that of his brothers pretending that he was invisible and he knew he was around two and a half then because he remembered how much it hurt. He celebrated his third, fourth and fifth birthdays by himself. His father, by that time had enough of how his brothers were treating him and put an end to the invisibility. But they started tormenting him in other ways and his father did little to support or comfort him.

The group entered the castle and made their way to Hans's room where the guards took up their positions and Hans ordered his tea from the kitchen then sat down to relax and think of his revenge.

Elsa returned to the castle about three quarters of an hour before Hans did. She looked for her younger sister to in order to share with Anna her talk with Hans. Elsa found her talk both uncomfortable and emotionally draining as it did drag up memories of those terrible few days from four years ago.

Yes, Hans did appear to be genuinely sorry for his actions, but he was also trying to turn the charm on her, which may have worked on Anna back then, but made her even more suspicious and untrusting of him. In her mind, she was sure he was still scheming something for the future, something that could hurt her beloved Arendelle and her family. This is something she could not allow to happen, though Elsa knew that she wouldn't go as far as she did in her ice castle during those terrible days.

Finally, she found Anna in her bedroom getting ready for the new day.

"Oh, Elsa," said a happily surprised Anna, "how did your talk go?"

Elsa made a face which answered Anna's question.

"That good hey?" Anna responded.

"Yes," replied Elsa, "oh I suppose it wasn't a disaster, he went on about his brothers, his desire to go to Ahtohallan to find that memory, the Northuldra and how he liked the sea."

"Yeah, sounds like the conversation I had with him," answered Anna with a little bit of a frown, "Elsa, are you sure he can't go to Ahtohallan?"

"Yes," began Elsa seriously, "as far as I am concerned there has to be a connection to the Fifth Spirit to be able to go there. Unfortunately, mother had been separated from Spirits for too long when she attempted to get there. They no longer recognised her as the Fifth Spirit.

That's why I can bring you, because you're my sister, I could also probably bring Kristoff and Olaf now. But there's no family connection with Hans, and he wouldn't be allowed inside Ahtohallan like we were, or he might just not see anything when he was in there. To be honest, I am still trying to work out how everything works there. I may even be wrong about mother, but that is my current understanding."

"Maybe we need to go back there again Elsa and ask some more questions?" asked Anna.

"Yes, I think we do," replied Elsa, "Yelena to, I feel she still has more to tell us as well."

"I agree." Responded Anna.

"Anna," started Elsa, a little concerned, "are you sure we should keep Hans here? I feel the longer he is here the more chance he will try something else, that yes, may not be a threat to you and me physically, but could hurt the kingdom and the people for years to come."

Anna looked at her sister with an honest face, "Elsa, I would love to see the end of him to, but I can't risk him going somewhere else with no restrictions on his behaviour which allows him to do something to his brothers and their kingdom. We would definitely get some of the blame for not keeping him here where we can keep him from harming others and himself as well.

I'm sure if you were still Queen, you would have done the same thing."

Elsa looked at Anna and sort of smiled, "you're right Sis, I would," she gave a big sigh, "so now what?"

"Where did you walk to by the way Elsa?" asked Anna inquisitively.

"We ended up down at the harbour" she answered, "he does have a thing for the sea."

"Yes, that's where he went yesterday," replied Anna, "he was impressed the Queen Elsa apparently."

"We should find out what he did after he talked to me Anna?" said Elsa with some urgency.

"I will," said Anna, "maybe we can piece together what he's thinking about this time, though, whilst he is in his room, there is no way out for him."

"True," replied Elsa still a little concerned, "however, maybe we should double check with General Mattias."

Anna looked at Elsa with love and agreement, "Absolutely."

Just then came the familiar knock of Olaf on the door and he just entered like he always did assuming he was always welcome to.

"Morning Olaf," smiled both Anna and Elsa simultaneously.

"Morning Anna and Elsa, how are you this morning," he replied in his usual cheerful manner.

"We're good," started Anna, "I thought you were with Kristoff this morning?"

"I was," he answered, "but they went further than I wanted to go, so I came back home."

"Oh," replied Anna, "where did they want to go?"

"I think Kristoff said something about Oakens," replied Olaf, "he feels he has the best carrots for Sven."

Anna and Elsa enjoyed a little chuckle, "Yes, Sven loves his carrots," smirked Anna.

"So how did your talk with Hans go Elsa?" asked Olaf

Suddenly the jovial mood left Elsa, "how did you know about that Olaf?"

"Oh, Anna told me, "he replied, "I am proud of you, I imagine that must have been hard?"

"It wasn't the easiest of conversations," started Elsa, "I'm sure you understand that. We didn't really discuss anything new Olaf, however I did tell him if he found his memory and it changed him to the point where he gave up his pursuit of revenge that we won't forget what he did, but we might, and I mean might forgive him, well I might."

Anna looked at Elsa surprised, "you said that?"

"Yes, Anna," replied Elsa trying to empathetic to Anna, "I figured that it might encourage him to try and change."

"Anna," started Olaf in a comforting voice, "I know it would be terribly difficult for all of us to forgive Hans, especially you, but Elsa is right, we have to show him better because he has never seen better, only worse."

"Olaf," started a flat Anna, "it's not that easy for me, he broke my heart, left me for dead and tried to murder my sister. In fact, if it wasn't for you, Hans might be king right now and you wouldn't exist anymore because Elsa's magic would be gone."

Anna, stopped for a minute as she tried to keep emotions at bay, because this did fill her with emotions. Sadness, anger, to mention a couple. She took in a deep breath to regain control.

"You're right though Olaf, we do need to show him better," she said, "maybe if he's shown better, he might respond positively to it."

"That's good Anna and Elsa," started Olaf, "maybe we should invite him to dinner tonight."

"Wait what!" exclaimed Anna, "Olaf, you can't be serious?"

"Yes, I am," he answered with authority, "I know Hans is a bad person, well let me rephrase that, he was made into a bad person because he was treated so badly. Right now, he's up in his room all alone, stewing all those bad experiences over in his head.

Now, if you show him some kindness, reach out to him with something better than he has known, he might start transforming into a better person and that rage may just die down. I mean Elsa and Anna, you two should know all too well what it's like to be isolated and alone.

So, a chance to share a meal, make some small talk, take his mind off his brothers has to be the next right thing to do."

Anna and Elsa looked at each other and sighed together.

"Sometimes Olaf," started Elsa with affection, "I think I made you too smart."

Olaf just smiled at this.

"Yes, Olaf," began Anna with the same level of affection, "it would be the next right thing, though I don't think Kristoff will be too thrilled with the idea. We should also have General Mattias join us as well."

"Good idea Anna," chipped in Elsa, "plus have his guards nearby."

"Definitely," replied Anna, "Olaf, why don't you spend some time with him between now and dinner, plus you can let him know about the invitation, now I need to inform the kitchen, what would you recommend Elsa?"

"How about what you told me what you were having for your wedding ceremony. Soup, roast and ice cream," smiled Elsa cheekily.

"Actually, that sounds good," said Anna smiling, "Olaf, can you get one of the staff to come in here on your way up to Hans?"

"Will do, "answered a very enthusiastic Olaf.

"Now," started Anna biting her lip and looking at Elsa, "I just have to inform Kristoff."

Hans was enjoying his tea while he paced around his room and out onto the balcony. He again looked over the edge and it was still way too high for him to jump and he said top himself, looking at it over and over isn't going to change that fact. He had to figure out a way to get out of the room if his new plan was going to have any chance of being implemented, let alone succeeding.

There had to be a way he said to himself, but nothing was coming to mind. He went back into his room and sat back down and picked up the book Olaf had brought for him and started reading again. But he put it right back down again and realised he was bored, he didn't like being couped up in here, it was just a nicer version of the dungeon.

His initial plan had been found out, if it hadn't been and he was having some success with it, well he would feel a lot more enthusiastic about his stay, but now, stuck in here until they think, or knew that he had given up his quest for revenge, he had no idea of how long they were going to entrap him. Elsa and Anna kept telling him there was a memory that was hidden deep in Ahtohallan that they could not access, nor could he because according to Elsa, he couldn't go there, that somehow it was forbidden by the spirits.

How was he supposed to remember something he doesn't have the memory of? He questioned himself. He got up and swung his leg in anger.

"Damn it," he said under his breath, "I do not want to stay here."

But that voice in his head told him to sit down, be patient, be gracious, try and get a little bit more of their trust, don't lose it like last time. Then came the knock on his door and the sound of Olaf asking to come in.

"Come in little buddy," he responded in an up-tone manner.

"Hi Prince Hans," said a happy snowman, "I have some good news for you."

Hans's face lit up a bit, "you do? What news do you have Olaf?"

"Elsa and Anna have invited you to dinner."