Chapter Eight

"Release him at once. I will not see him be handled this way in my presence."

Zian's strict voice was flat; sharp and demanding. The guard was currently dragging Hans in by his shackled wrists. This meant Hans was being dragged backwards, his wrists showing off bright red marks from the tightness of the ropes. At Zian's command, the guard paused, and arched a brow at his liege.

"He is a prisoner. Your Majesty, I thought…"

"I do not keep you in my service to think. I keep you in my service so that I might keep my castle and my land protected from outside threats. Release Johannes. I will deal with him alone, and am not to be disturbed while we speak. Is that clear?" Zian's voice and face were as rigid as stone, and the guard stepped back, dragging his dagger through Hans' bonds. As the guard left, he shoved Hans' shoulder, forcing him onto his knees.

Once the guards had left and Zian was certain the palace was silent, his facade of sternness dropped and he smiled at his brother, approaching him. "Johannes. Stand, brother."

The red headed brother stood, eyeing his brother hesitantly. He had always known how to handle his father, but now faced with the brother he had been closest to now being his authority figure, Hans was at a loss. He hated the involuntary flinch and hiss that came when his brother clasped his left shoulder, and the hurt that shone in Zian's eyes. "You… my brand. Hurts sometimes."

Zian jerked his hand off of Hans as though he had been burned instead, and his eyes locked on the slight puckering of Hans' chest beneath his translucent shirt. Stepping away, his voice thickened and he glanced up at the royal portrait of their father and mother with their many children. His blue eyes were calculating and sharp, cutting to Hans shoulder as the shame colored his cheeks, and spoke quietly. "I should have-"

"No. You should not have done anything other than what Father instructed you to do. You were following his orders. If you had not branded me, he would have had another sibling do it, or perhaps himself and Maman. I do not blame you for it."

Zian glanced at Hans and slowly nodded at his rebuke, deep in thought. "You are right that I was under his control. But I'm not now… not anymore." Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to focus back on Hans, and he spoke again kinder this time. "I have officially sentenced you to be the keeper within the stables and to be my errand boy for all messages to the port and back to me. You will carry these messages between myself and the tradesmen of our country, and at times might even journey to one of the other islands to ensure things are being done the way our tradesmen state."

Hans nodded, grateful he wasn't going to be hung by his toes and whipped for desertion, and the young ex-prince couldn't help the slight smile that lit up his face. When Zian saw the smile, his face darkened a bit and he turned from his brother, hands wringing nervously behind his back. Glancing to Hans, he spoke again. "There are those within the council and within the land who do not approve of my relaxed judgement of you. You no doubt know by now, in the month since I have assumed the throne, I was tasked with questioning General Cadmael rather unpleasantly about his involvement in your… departure… from your forest work." Zian's nose wrinkled in distaste, and he continued, "He claims no knowledge, but those who worked amongst him gave rather varying accounts of the night you left, and I wish to know what truth to record, and what to tell those who disapprove of my decisions. What happened that night?"

"You realize, of course, that should this transpire, you will be branded a deserter and punished most severely? It will make the welts upon your back and the branding upon your chest seem like mere parlour tricks. I will have no choice but to punish you to the highest extent, including death. I, too, will be punished for failing in my duties to keep you within the borders of the East Isles… this conversation never happened."

Hans' eyes widened as he recalled the words from months past, and he glanced down to his hands and then back up to his brother, thinking through his words so that he would not lie. Drawing a deep breath, he went to his knees and took one of his brother's hands. "My Lord, my King, and my brother… I swear to you that on the night which I escaped, General Cadmael had neither knowledge of my whereabouts on the boat which I stowed away on, nor the time of which I departed. We did discuss my leaving for the North Isle, but he forbade it and I was dismissed."

Zian nodded curtly, and Hans stood, keeping his head slightly lowered. "Johannes, the country is at a loss of what to do about you, and about Arendelle. It has nearly been a full year since your crimes, and yet to all except those who know you best, it seems that you haven't reformed or learned a thing." Hans lifted a brow and as Zian continued, the youngest prince felt a smile stretch across his face. "To myself and Cadmael and Hania, however, it is as though we have our brother back. The honorable and caring brother we grew up around, and the brother we all felt we lost last year when Father received the letter from Arendelle. I am proud of who you have already become… and I cannot wait to see what the next six years hold for you."

Turning away, Zian headed to his throne, and once sat, motioned for Hans to follow. "Your duties begin now. We should be receiving several large shipments of goods in the coming days. Go into the back room and reorganize all of our dried goods and supplies to make room for the crates that will come in, and when the wares arrive you will be in charge of keeping an accurate count of everything, as well as dispersing them amongst the village. In between this, you will be assisting the farrier and horsemen in training and keeping the stalls clean and free of debris."

Hans nodded, bowing slightly. As he rose, Zian lifted his voice, calling the guards back in. "Take him to the minimum security cells. He is my steward and requires little attention from you and yours."

The next few months flew by as Hans settled into a routine between being steward and tending to the horses in the stables.

Although a guard was assigned to him at all times, he learned how to work around it and not let it bother him. From Zian, he was given task after task of varying degrees of difficulty, and he couldn't help but feel prideful as he rose to each challenge. Hans was determined to rebuild his reputation. He had been well-received by the country before the Arendelle Freeze even though his ideas and input towards running the kingdom had been largely ignored due to his rank among the royal family and his age. Hans noticed that the more activities he helped Zian with that served the people, the less frightened and flighty they were around him.

Every spare moment that Hans got, he spent with his mother. For the first few months, she had seemed incredibly lost and withdrawn. Hans knew that was par for the course, normal even; after all, she had been married for forty five years and had ruled just as long and then had lost husband and kingdom within the same month. It had taken Hans' youngest sister Eindride threatening to wed herself to a much older gentleman for Alvilda to come back to herself. The loud laughter that had spilled from the dowager when Eindride explained her fake engagement had merely been a plot to get her mother back to normal was a sound that Hans would not soon forget. Slowly, Alvilda integrated herself back into society, taking to walking out among the village pre-dawn and coming back to join Zian or Hans for breakfast if his schedule allowed.

Now a widow and left without duties to the crown, the Dowager Queen spent her mornings after her walk teaching the older grandchildren, and her afternoons and evenings in a small bakery. Hans had been surprised at first- after all, they'd had cooks for all his life, and he'd never seen her so much as glance at the kitchen. She had laughed and explained that she had been one of most renowned bakers in the Archipelago in her pre-marital life. Thrilled that she seemed to have a hobby already established, Hans began to take lessons from her when he could find the time. In what was otherwise quite a dreary and exhausting life, he found a unique joy in covering his uniform with an apron and kneading dough while seeing his once prim and proper mother covered in flour and batter.

Hans knew before he walked into the throne room that his condition would cause an uproar. He heard the book his mother was reading hit the floor, and Zian jolted from the throne, eyes widening as he looked at his brother. "What… what happened?" Zian's voice was hollowed in shock, and Hans forced himself to reign back the glare he felt on his face when his brother's shock melted to humor and the man began to laugh.

Hans swallowed his anger, glancing down at his muddied and ruined clothes. "I was mucking out the stalls when a giant snowball came out of nowhere and slammed into me, throwing me into the barrel of …" Hans cut off his bitter rant, hissing through his teeth. "I almost couldn't believe it."

Alvilda stared at him as though he had grown another head. "Johannes… it… it is the middle of June. A snowball?" She stood, a smirk on her face as she circled him and surveyed his disgusting clothes and hair, beginning to laugh herself. "Have you been sneaking into the distillery somehow?"

Hans shook his head, eyes almost ablaze as he looked to his king. "It came from the direction of Arendelle."

Zian jerked as though he'd been stabbed. "That could be an act of war! How dare they… Hans, were you hurt?! We could declare that to be an act of war towards the Isles, we…" he began to pace, muttering angrily under his breath. After a few moments, Hans reached forward and stopped his pacing, a frantic look on his face.

"No! You must never wage war with them, Brother. No matter how you feel or what they do."

Zian's eyes widened as his brother gave him an order. Realizing his mistake and his incredible lapse of etiquette and tact, Hans stepped back and knelt onto one knee, keeping his head bowed and eyes to the floor. "Zian… I don't know what happened to cause Queen Elsa to toss that snowball my way. What I do know is that Arendelle is where Anna lives. A war between us and them might hurt her or kill her, or endanger the sister she loves. I won't allow that to happen, Zian, I can't."

Zian raised Hans to his feet, his face reflecting the bewilderment he so clearly felt. "And why not?"

Hans averted his eyes, a blush rising to his cheeks. "I still love Anna. I've already lost her once due to… actions I could not control. I will not lose her again."

Alvilda sucked in a breath, her face paling as she took in her sons' words. "You love her? Johannes, you tried to KILL her!"

This again?! Hans swallowed his bitter reply, choosing to just shake his head instead. "I never stopped loving her. I don't know how else to explain to you what happened- telling the truth got me nowhere! No matter what I say, you never try to understand. But yes, Maman, I love her. I always have and always will. There is nothing I would like more than to be able to explain what happened, but if I can't even get you two to believe me, how could I ever expect her to?!" Hans' voice had risen as he spoke, and now he was shaking and his face was beet red. Turning from his shocked family, he clenched his fists and shook his head, walking towards the hallways and private rooms. "I am going to wash up, there are still tasks to be done today. Excuse me."

As he took his leave, Alvilda turned and stared at her older son, mouth agape in shock. "I don't know what to say… now just what do you make of that?"

Zian shook his head, eyes troubled as he stared after his brother, pity making his chest hurt. "I don't know Maman, I just don't know."

Arendelle, March of 1841

"You did WHAT?!" Anna shrieked, staring at the trolls in disbelief. She, Elsa, and Kristoff had gone to the trolls for one of their bi annual family visits, and one of the trolls had asked how the kingdom was faring. Another troll had snickered and asked Elsa if she had come across any problems with the Southern Isle, or if Hans had made himself a problem since they handled him the last time. Anna had raised a brow and asked what the troll had meant by 'handled', and the trolls had stuttered for a few minutes before one of them admitted that they had sent a spirit of old to infiltrate Hans' mind and corrupt him. Anna's mind had frozen at this news, refusing to accept it, and then she clenched her teeth, red-hot anger coursing through her veins.

"So, Kristoff and I are nothing but a lie? You almost killed me so Kristoff could find out he cared?!"

Grand Pabbie put his hands out, attempting to placate the princess. "Kristoff had the beginnings of love in his heart for you. We cannot create love. Even Trolls are not that powerful." He paused, seeming to try and calm her down. "We just… helped it along, you might say."

Anna crossed her arms, glowering at the entire lot of trolls. "Hans' betrayal in Elsa's ice palace… his entire spiel about there being nobody who loved me..." Anna's voice broke and a tear ran down her cheek. "How much of that was the spirit? How much of that was YOU?!"

She turned around, her anger growing stronger the more she thought about it. "And… and Elsa! He almost killed her! If I hadn't stepped in front of him and frozen, he would have! Or he'd have killed me! AND YOU WERE WILLING TO LET THAT HAPPEN?!"

The princess' voice had lowered to a demonic snarl by now, her eyes mere slits as her mind made sense of what had secretly bothered her for so long. "And for what? So that your Kristoff could fall for the only girl he's ever brought home? What a foolish, meddlesome, ridiculous thing to do!"

Kristoff touched her arm, shrinking back when he suddenly became the object of her rage. "And you! Were you in on this all along? You brought me to the 'love experts', were you hoping they would do this?! It's just sick! Sick manipulation! I won't have it!" She jerked her arm free, blue eyes blazing.

"Anna… I… I didn't know. I brought you to them so they could help with your hair when it turned white." Kristoff looked stricken, and the blond backed away from her when her glare intensified even more.

Through clenched teeth, she stiffened and spoke again. "For two years, he's been accused of things he did not intend to do. Do you know what we've done? We sent him back to be punished!" The princess trailed off suddenly, horror dawning in her eyes, and she twirled around, looking to her sister in despair. "Elsa! Oh, do you know what they did to him?"

Elsa set her jaw, looking down to the ground. While it infuriated her that they'd all been played the fool, she knew -or hoped- that it wasn't Kristoff's doing. Shaking her head, she thought of the prince who had apparently been just as played. "I… I don't think you want to know." Elsa lifted her head, tears glistening in her eyes. "When I sent the proclamation of wrongdoing to the Southern Isles, I worded it so that the king was in charge of his sentencing but that I expected a full report of what the king decided."

Elsa looked to her hands, trying to pause her fidgeting fingers. Although she no longer wore gloves, her hands tended to stay busy during times of stress and duress. "I was so angry at his actions that in my proclamation I warned that if Hans was not properly handled, I would reclaim him and his punishment would be death, and war waged upon the Southern Isles…"

Anna jolted at that, her face paling considerably. "But, Elsa! Between the size of our military and theirs, that would have been a death sentence for them!"

Elsa's eyes flashed as she remembered what Hans had done, and she nodded sharply. "I am fully aware. So was the king. I highly suspect that was why I…" Elsa turned her head and spoke again, her voice softening the longer she spoke. "I received a full report of what would be done, and it was… not pretty."

"Tell me?" The waver in Anna's voice gave Elsa pause, and she shook her head, hugging herself as an icy dread swept through her. Her younger sister's look of vulnerability dropped, and the redhead raised her chin sharply. Dark storm clouds seemed to brew within her blue eyes, and the princess spoke again. "I need to know. Tell me." Elsa shook her head again, and now Anna's entire body stiffened. She stepped forward, the ice in her eyes rivaling any that Elsa could have produced with her hands, beautifully blue yet hauntingly stern. "Tell me, Elsa."

So Elsa did.

The Southern Isles, April 1841

"Hans would you calm down please? My goodness, you haven't stopped moving today."

The king's words gave Hans pause, and the younger man winced and nodded, trying to stop his pacing but continuing to bounce on his feet and glance at the door every few moments, causing Zian to groan.

Hans sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Zian. It's just… in the course of one week…"

Zian softened a bit, nodding to his brother and standing to hug him. "I know, it's a lot. Between Hania's upcoming visit with little Anneliese and the Arendellian ambassador coming here, you must have a great deal on your mind. But try and remain calm. It will do nobody good if we are both scared out of our skin."

"You are right, my king and brother."

Zian nodded to Hans, giving him silent permission to leave, and as Hans walked through the halls, he reflected on the last twenty three months of his life. When he had returned from the Northern Isle, he had been immediately put to work as the king's assistant. His main responsibilities had been between the stable and handling all the shipments from the fjord. As he was given more time around the shipyard, he helped more and expanded his duties, managing to keep his new buff shape and to earn a bit of respect back from his people. About five months in, the farrier had suffered an unfortunate accident on the back of one of the horses, and Hans had stepped up and offered to take on those duties too. With all of his duties to the kingdom and his extra time spent with his mother, he stayed in a permanent state of exhaustion. However, he had come to enjoy the mind numbing tiredness, even becoming proud of the thick calluses on his hands.

Hans marveled that time could pass so quickly. He only had a month left of being his brother's errand boy, and then he was to be sent to the West Island.

While the North Island's manufacturing focus was livestock and the goods which that livestock produced, and the East Island centered on tree logging, the saw mills, and paper mills, the West Isle was known for its rich soil and was the island that produced more edible goods than any other country in the immediate vicinity. The farmers who worked the land had incredibly big families who all banded together to work their share, and as a reward for the generational hard work, the royalty of the Southern Isles bestowed a generous percent of the return of sales back to the families. This kept the farmers and their families living almost as lavishly as the Crown.

However, in the last few years the main dam and twin channels forged from the Skagerrak had begun to dry up and crack, and the crops had slowly begun to suffer. The farmers had done their best to patch up the man made waterways, but it had surpassed the point of repair and work had begun on a brand new dam and subsequent channels. Hans had been sentenced to five years of time working both beside the other workers, and had been given permission that he could input ideas towards the building looks and process. He had already met the head builder and architect on the project, and he was quite thrilled to work for the man and for the kingdom itself. It was long and hard work, and it involved a great deal of work by hands.

Still, I wish... Hans sighed, breaking off from his musing to face one of many paintings of his family in their younger years. He smiled and placed a hand on the ginormous portrait, sitting on the bench in front of it and looking up and doing a sibling count. There were nine children clustered around the king and queen, each of them placed carefully to hide the protruding belly of a queen expecting triplets. Jabari and Jabez were only two, and they both had their chubby hands full of their father's beard.

Chuckling as he imagined how hectic his parent's lives must truly have been, his thoughts drifted to Anna. While in the secondary Great Hall looking at the royal picture of Iduna and Agnaar, Hans had talked about his large family- she had completely been floored at how much family he had grown up with, and had hesitated to admit that while she wanted more than one child, she didn't think that she could begat that many children and keep herself sane. Hans had merely laughed and assured her that he only wanted a couple children himself. He had painted for her a picture of them, of what they could be.

"Think about it, Anna! A little redheaded boy and girl, a few years apart of course because… let's face it, if they're anything like you and I, we are going to have our hands full!" She had snorted at that, and he had moved a few strands of hair behind her ear, flicking her nose gently. "I don't need a big family, Anna. I just need you. And if you are all I ever have, then… I'm happy."

She had blushed long and deep over that comment, pausing to look up at one portrait pre-Anna, which held only Elsa and her deceased parents. "I would still like a couple children. Elsa is going to have the crown, I'll need something to keep me busy."

Hans had shook his head at that, and then had spoken of how he saw their life in later years. How she and he would sit for a portrait much like their parents before them had, he in his Isle Grey tailcoat suit and she…well, Anna had interjected, laughing hard as she threw up her hands in a ballooning motion, choking down her laugh as she described a gaudy orange dress with giant hips and shoulder pads. "Pardon my behind, Hans, I didn't mean to knock you down! I might not even fit in the portrait!" She kept snorting behind her hand, tears of mirth rolling down her face. Hans had been unsure why she found her comment so funny, but he had grinned a mile wide and imagined it, laughing hard and seeing the mental picture of she and he holding two children while trying to fit into the frame while the outrageous dress shoved them into awkward positions.

He had looked into her eyes for a very long moment after that, before he drew her to him and let her curl up beside him for a few moments. And as she enjoyed snuggling with him, his mind whirled at all he had seen in her eyes. He had seen family dinners, introductions to family, christmases and easters, carrying on and forging family traditions. Hans had marveled that in the minute he looked into those beautiful blue eyes he saw decades of memories burst into potential; children being born and little children growing into real people. He closed his eyes and enjoyed his future, letting his head hit against the wall and the images completely surrounding him.

Then, Anna had taken his hand and tugged him towards the hall, somehow shedding her shoes and spinning in her socks while giggling.

"Come on, Hans! You too!"

Hans opened his eyes, forcing himself to shove that memory out of his mind. It hurt to think of her, even after all this time. His eyes drifted again to the portrait, closing his eyes and allowing himself to doze off; thinking of a future that he could truly only dream of now.

A/N: I know this was kind of long but I truly hope you enjoy it! I have no clue when the next chapter is going to be up. Enjoy the thoughtful/sensitive Hans, and yet another backflash… And YES! You've all been asking for when the Arendellians would discover the secret… now we just have to wonder what that ambassador of theirs wants! Also, I hope you guys recognize the 'easter egg' that I put in during Hans and Anna's time... I giggled hard while writing it!