Ta-da! The next chapter is up within my 24 hour deadline as promised! Thanks for the support and reviews! Enjoy the next chapter and Happy Reading! :)
Chapter 4
A few days passed since the heartbreaking news and the overall atmosphere in the castle was still greatly filled with sorrow. Elsa had hardly ate, slept, or even left her room for the past few days. The few people who knew what had happened told everyone else that Elsa was just sick and Hans also cancelled his plans to take the fleet out. To add to the sorrowful mood, the rain had returned although it wasn't nearly as bad as the previous storm, just a light delicate rainfall.
Elsa sat at her usual spot by the window, watching the raindrops slide down the window and occasionally frowning at her reflection. You can't do anything right, can you? You can't give the kingdom you love an heir. You can't even give the man you love a child. There's always a catch with you, isn't there? Elsa froze the window with disgust and self-hatred. She stood up and started pacing the room, eventually catching a glance at her nightstand where the small old family portrait stood. "You!" She walked over to the portrait and picked it up, "That's what my dream meant! You knew! You took my baby away from me!" In her rage, she threw the portrait across the room, "You took away my Benjamin!"
"Elsa?" Anna knocked on the door while opening it, "What's going on?"
"They took away my baby and you let them!"
"What are you talking about?" Anna looked toward the door and nodded to Kristoff, who was standing in the hall, signaling him to go get Hans.
"My dream…" Elsa sunk to the floor, falling onto her knees, "It wasn't just a dream."
Anna sat down beside her and gently rubbed her back, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I…" Elsa could feel her heartrate increase and the room suddenly started to feel small and the air felt thick, "I can't breathe." She quickly got to her feet and headed for the door, "I need to get out of here." She desperately ran through the castle halls, completely unaware of the worried glances from her staff. Finally she burst through the doors that led to the garden and breathed a sigh of relief as the light rainfall washed over her frazzled nerves. Elsa tried to slow down her breathing as she glanced up and let the rain wash her face.
"Mama?"
Elsa looked down and saw a young boy with ice-blue eyes and dark red hair looking up at her, "Ben?"
"What are you doing, Mama?" The young boy began hopping up and down, "Come on!" He grabbed her hand and started to drag her up a narrow pathway.
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise!" The boy giggled, "Come on, Mama!"
"Hans! Hans!"
Hans, who was standing at the edge of the dock watching his crew run through their exercises out in the fjord, turned around, "Kristoff?" Seeing his panicked expression worried him, "What's wrong?"
"Elsa…" Kristoff tried to catch his breath, "She's kinda starting to lose control…she's yelling and throwing things."
"Oh-no." Hans started toward the castle, "Is Anna with her?"
"Yeah, she's trying to calm her down."
"Good. I knew this miscarriage was tearing Elsa apart but for the most part she's been pretty calm about this. It was only a matter of time before she couldn't conceal it anymore."
As they quickly took a less crowded route back to the castle, Kristoff anxiously cleared his throat, "So how are you doing with all of this? I know this can't be easy for you, yet you still insist on going on with your duties like nothing ever happened."
Hans quickly glanced over at Kristoff, "I know it may seem like I was unaffected, but trust me I was pretty shaken up when Doctor Omsorg told me the news. However, seeing Elsa go through the emotional wreckage has made me realize that I need to be her strength right now. As for attending to my duties, I am Elsa's King Consort which means that in the event that she cannot attend to her obligations, it is my responsibility to carry on in her absence." He let out a heavy sigh, "Despite my feelings."
Kristoff placed a firm hand on Hans' shoulder, "I truly am sorry about this, Hans. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."
Hans gave him a sad smile in return, "Thanks, Kristoff." As they hurried into the castle courtyard, they found Anna running toward them, "Anna, where's Elsa?!"
"I don't know…" Anna's eyes were wide with worry, "She was yelling something about someone named Benjamin and then she said someone took her baby and that I let them. Then she said something about her dream not being just a dream and then she ran out of the room saying that she couldn't breathe and she needed to get out of here." A shiver ran up her spine, "I've never seen her like this. This is worse than the night of her coronation."
Hans anxiously rubbed his face, "Well, she didn't go through town so she must have gone out somewhere through the gardens."
"I've already checked her favorite hiding spots within the castle grounds but I couldn't find her. Is there somewhere special that she could have gone? Somewhere that holds any kind of significance connected to the baby?"
Hans hurried into the castle, "There may be a spot." Leaving Anna and Kristoff behind, he ran through the castle, through the garden, past the small gate that led to the rolling hills of wild crocus flowers that stretched behind the castle, and finally reached the spot where Hans proposed to Elsa, the same spot where she told him she was pregnant. "Elsa?!" He shouted her name and looked around, but he couldn't find her anywhere. "I was sure this is where she would be." Letting out a tired breath, he jogged back to the castle.
"She said that someone took her baby?" Kristoff and Anna stood in Elsa's bedroom and examined the light coating of frost that covered the window.
"Yeah…" Anna sighed as she plopped onto the seat by the window, "And apparently I let them, which is ridiculous because I would never let that happen."
"But you also said that she mentioned it was a dream."
"Still, the fact that she dreamed something that horrible is kinda disturbing." Anna watched Kristoff wander around the room, "You know what would be really horrible though?"
"Hm?"
"If, um, I were pregnant."
Kristoff chuckled, "Yeah, that would be horrible timing-" He jerked his head around to look at her, "Anna, please don't tell me you're pregnant."
Anna nervously bit her fingernail, "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I've been a little late on my ladies things and I've been feeling gross in the morning-"
"Oh God…" Kristoff ran his hands over his face and shook his head, "How is this even possible? We've only been married for a month!"
"Please, it's been over a month-"
"A month and like ten days? Close enough."
Anna pouted, "You could be a little more supportive about this."
Kristoff crouched down in front of Anna's seat, "Anna, this is literally the worst time to get pregnant."
"Well, it's not my fault! It takes two to make a baby!" Anna closed her eyes and tilted her head back, "But I know what you mean, I'm really hoping this is a false alarm. I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow in hopes that he can clear things up." Anna opened her eyes and looked down at Kristoff, "But we're not going to tell anyone about this, right?"
"Well, I'm certainly not going to tell anyone."
"Me neither-"
"I couldn't find her-" Hans paused when he saw Kristoff crouched down in front of Anna, "Is everything okay?"
Kristoff stood up with a sigh, "Yeah, we were just trying to find any clues that could help us pinpoint Elsa's location."
"Did you find anything?" Hans hopefully raised his eyebrows.
"Yes!" Anna bolted out of the seat and headed toward a corner, "Look!" She picked up the old family portrait with a now broken frame, "Elsa usually keeps this on her nightstand and look at the frame." Anna glanced over at the nightstand which stood across the room from where she was standing, "I bet this is what Elsa threw before I came in."
"The question is, why?"
"That doesn't matter." Anna tightly grasped the portrait in her hands, "I think I know where Elsa is."
"So you are Benjamin, right? My Benjamin?" Elsa followed the little boy leading her up a narrow trail.
"Yeah! That's a funny thing to ask." To prove his point the boy let out a small giggle, "Are you okay, Mama?"
"I'm honestly not sure-" Elsa paused when they reached their destination, "Why did you take me here?"
The two stopped in front of the late King and Queen's memorial site that stood at the edge of a tall bluff overlooking the ocean. The little boy took Elsa's hand and led her closer to the two stones before having her sit down between them, "Are you mad at Grandpa and Grandma?"
"What? Of course not."
"Then why did you yell at them and throw their picture?" He climbed into her lap and looked up at her with sad eyes, "You seemed mad."
"I was more sad than angry."
"Why were you sad?"
Elsa looked down at the little boy sitting in her lap, "Because something, someone, very precious to me was taken away from me."
The boy looked over at the memorial and then back at Elsa, "They were sad about it too but it had to happen."
"Had to?"
"They said that something big is coming and now was not a good time to have a baby. You need to place all of your heart and energy into what's going to happen. There will be no room for any sort of distractions."
"What's coming? What's going to happen?"
"I don't know, they didn't tell me." The boy wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her a warm hug, "But they are taking really good care of me, Mama. And they love you and Auntie Anna a lot and they are always watching over you. As am I." The boy let go and stood up, "I love you, Mama. You would have been the best mommy ever."
He started walking towards the edge of the bluff, "Tell Papa that I love him too."
"Okay…" Tears stung Elsa's eyes as she watched him wave his little hand goodbye before disappearing into the fog that was rolling in, "Goodbye, Ben."
"Elsa!" Anna yelled as she scurried up the narrow path with Hans and Kristoff right behind her, "ELSA!" They reached the top but a thick fog had rolled in from the sea, making it hard to see their surroundings, "She's got to be here. I just know it."
"Well, we'd better be careful." Hans cautiously stepped forward, "With this fog, it would be very easy to accidentally step off the edge."
"We should hold on to each other, that way if one of us should accidentally step off then the other two can pull them back up." Anna grabbed Kristoff's hand, "I'll lead."
"No, no, no." Hans rushed to the other side of Anna and took her other hand, "I'll lead."
"Why should you lead? She's my sister."
"Well, she's my wife and this is about our baby."
Anna's face softened, "Fine. You lead."
Hans slowly ventured further into the fog trying to get a grasp on his surroundings, "Elsa?" He slightly quickened his pace as a dark object came into view, "Elsa…" He reached his hand out, only to find that the dark object was the late Queen's memorial stone, "Anna, I don't think she's here."
"Keep looking. We need to find her."
Hans squinted harder into the fog, "Wait a second…" He let go of Anna's hand as he quickly disappeared into the fog.
"What are you-Hans!" Anna yelled after him.
"Stay there!" Hans yelled back. He eventually slowed his steps as he approached another dark figure sitting on the ground, "Elsa?" A wave of relief washed over him as the figure turned around.
"Hans?" Elsa didn't move from her spot as she extended a hand, "Don't come any closer."
"Elsa, you don't need to be afraid." He took another step forward
"Seriously, Hans. Stop walking."
"I know you won't hurt me." He inched even closer to her.
"Stop!" Elsa shot an icy blast at his feet, causing him to freeze where he stood which turned out to be the edge of the bluff. Elsa let out a sigh of relief, "That was close." Slight frustration showed on her face, "Why didn't you listen to me?"
"To be honest I thought you were reverting back to the old Elsa. How was I supposed to know that you were sitting at the very edge of the bluff?" He looked down at his feet frozen to the ground, "Can you undo this, please? It's rather cold."
"Fine…" A small smile spread across her lips as she waved her hand and the ice magically disappeared, "But I'm not going to apologize for doing this."
"Wait a second…" Hans shook his feet out before crouching down beside her, "You're bantering and smiling? You must be feeling better. What happened?"
Elsa turned back to the water, "I received some more insight upon what's recently happened. And now I know the truth."
"The truth?" Hans nervously swallowed as he remembered Doctor Omsorg telling him that there was a small chance that Elsa could be infertile. He was worried that the doctor actually told her his theory.
"I-I mean-we can't afford to have a baby right now. There's something coming. Something big. And we need to be in top shape with no distractions."
"Hold on…what?" Hans shook his head, "Elsa, you're speaking in tongues."
"You don't need to understand, you just need to trust me."
"Elsa, what's going on?"
"Elsa!"
Elsa quickly got to her feet as Anna and Kristoff came into sight, "Anna? What are you guys doing here?"
"What do you think? We're looking for you!" Anna threw her arms around her sister, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"
"I'm sorry, I was having an anxiety attack and I needed to get away. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you again."
"It's okay, you won't hurt me."
"How do you know?"
"I just know these things." Anna pulled away from the hug to look at her sister, "So, how are we feeling?"
"Better."
"That's good! We should go eat some dinner first, then drink some chocolate espressos afterwards to help cheer you up. I smelled Gerda making some when I was searching for you in the kitchen."
Elsa smirked, "You were searching for me in the kitchen?"
"Hey, in my defense, you had hardly eaten in days and I thought that maybe you got hungry and decided to grab a snack in the kitchen."
"Well, you're right. I am starving. Let's go get something to eat." Elsa linked arms with Anna as they headed back towards the castle.
Once they disappeared into the fog, Kristoff slapped Hans on the back of the head, "Ow! What was that for?!"
"For running off into the fog after lecturing Anna and I about staying together. You scared us."
Hans smirked, "Us?"
"By 'us' I mean Anna, you should know that by now." Kristoff started back to the castle with Hans following behind him, "And why was it so important for you to lead if you were just going to run off like that?"
"You want the truth?"
"Enlighten me, please."
"I just didn't want to hold your hand." Hans chuckled as he walked past Kristoff.
"So all of sudden we hear someone knocking at the door and I'm freaking out because Kristoff told me that the cabin's location was a secret. Therefore whoever was at the door was surely an intruder or something."
"Wait, you thought an intruder would knock?" Hans laughed as he sat next to Elsa on the parlor sofa with his arm around her waist.
"I-well-now that I think about it, I guess they wouldn't knock. But I wasn't thinking clearly at the time."
"Here we go…" Gerda entered the parlor with a tray of chocolate espressos, "I even made some whipped cream and added chocolate slivers on top."
"Thank you, Gerda. You're the best." Anna licked her lips in excitement.
"My pleasure, Your Highness." She straightened herself up with a smile, "Let me know if you need anything else." With a quick bow she left the parlor.
"So where was I?"
"The world's most polite intruder knocking at your door?" Elsa smiled as she rested her head against Hans' chest.
"Yes! Thank you, although I could do without all the sarcasm."
As Anna brought the mug to her lips, Kristoff cleared his throat, "Anna, are you sure you should be drinking something with so much caffeine in it?"
"What? Why?"
He casually wrapped an arm around her waist, "Remember how you couldn't sleep last night? You were quite restless, if I recall." As he said that last part, he strummed his fingers against her stomach causing her to remember her unknown possible pregnancy.
"Oh yeah…" She put the mug back onto the tray, "Darn it. I was really looking forward to drinking this too."
"You've had trouble sleeping?" Elsa sat up with a concerned look on her face.
"Well, yeah, can you blame me? I've been so worried about you!" Anna giggled as she reached forward and squeezed Elsa's hand, "I'm happy that you're starting to bounce back. I mean, you should definitely take your time going through the grieving process but it's nice to see you eating again."
"I would be lying if I said that I was doing fine, but I am doing better and that feels good for the moment." Elsa gave her sister a tired smile as the clock struck eleven, "However it is getting late and I am in desperate need of a good night's sleep." She stood up and hugged Anna goodnight. She also said goodnight to Kristoff before grabbing her mug and leaving the parlor with Hans following close behind her. The couple silently walked side by side through the empty halls and they didn't mutter a word to each other until after they changed into their sleepwear.
Elsa climbed into bed as her husband was taking out his clothes for the next day, "Hans?"
"Yes?"
"Do you believe in ghosts?"
Hans stopped what he was doing and looked at her, "No. Why?"
"No reason." Elsa brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, "So you don't believe in any supernatural occurrences?"
"I didn't say that." He placed his boots beside his wardrobe and then climbed into bed beside Elsa, "I do believe in guardian angels."
"You do?"
"Of course." He shyly smiled as he blew out the candle and then faced his wife, "When I was little and shortly after I thought my mother had died, I experienced visions in my dreams about finding her and reuniting with her, but I always assumed that I would reunite with her once I died. Of course I was completely unaware that she was alive and that I would actually get the chance to be reunited with her in this lifetime."
Elsa matched his small smile, "I didn't know any of that. Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"We've never divulged into stuff like this before."
"Have you had any other vision-like dreams?"
"Yes, quite a few actually."
"Any about me?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes, I'm curious."
"Okay, well, there's one that really stands out to me. Remember when we travelled to Sperca?"
"How could I forget? That journey changed our lives."
"Well, after we met Eir and she kicked us out of her house because she sensed trouble we ran through the woods for several miles in the middle of the night. As you may recall, we eventually found a place to rest and you insisted that I sleep while you took the first watch."
"Yes, I remember being mad at you about what had just happened during my coronation and the events following it." Her face hardened slightly as she spoke about that majorly touchy sore spot in their past but her face softened when she gazed upon his pained expression, "But I also remember you waking up quite startled and alarmed." Then it clicked for her, "That was when you had your vision?"
"That dream I had prepared me for when we were confronted by Kendrick's guards. In my dream, that last guard hiding in the woods actually shot you with his crossbow and well…" He anxiously closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, "You died in my arms telling me to make sure I brought the antidote back to Kristoff, and to tell Anna that you were sorry you didn't make it back, and to tell Anna and Kristoff that you approved of their marriage." He shuddered as he opened his eyes again, "I can still see it as clear as I now see you."
"Oh Hans, that must have been terrible."
"It was, which surprised me as to how I could care so much for a woman I hardly knew at the time." Hans took her hand and let their fingers intertwine with one another, "But I am forever grateful for that nightmare because it provided me with the advantage of knowing what to expect and that's why-"
"You pushed me out of the way when the last guard fired his crossbow." She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, "This makes so much sense now." She looked up at him with wide eyes, "And you knew you were going to die during the attack on the palace?"
"In a way, yes. It wasn't as clear cut as the other vision but I could put the pieces together as the event was unfolding. But I didn't have any intuition about Annaliese reviving me. That was unexpected. Oh speaking of which…" He suddenly paused.
"What?"
"Never mind."
"No, you can't do that, you have to tell me now."
"It's probably for the best that I don't bring this up."
"What? Did you and her sleep together before you returned to Arendelle?"
"What?! No!" Hans couldn't help but chuckle, "This is something more recent."
"Does it have to do with Henry?"
Hans hesitated, "…yes. Annaliese wanted to thank you for your help watching Henry while she was sick."
A lump caught in Elsa's throat as she remembered the time she spent alone with Henry, back when she was still pregnant. Hans could clearly see that she was upset about the mention of his nephew, knowing that it triggered thoughts about the miscarriage, "See this is why I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to upset you."
"No, it's fine. I need to be able to talk about things like this without becoming an emotional wreck." She let out a long shallow breath followed by a sad smile, "See? I'm doing better already."
"Elsa…" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him while continuing to hold her hand, "You can cry if you want."
"I'm going to be fine. Really." She rested her head on his chest and although she didn't make a sound, Hans could still feel her tears through his shirt. He didn't move or say a word until he finally heard her breathing even out. Once he knew she was asleep he glanced down to take a look at her sleeping face. Seeing her tear stained cheeks made his heart ache. He wished there was something he could do to make all this pain go away. He hated feeling powerless, yet there was nothing he could do. So with a gentle kiss to the top of her head, he closed his eyes and tried to get a decent night's sleep.
KNOCK KNOCK…KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK…BANG BANG!
"What?!" Hans and Elsa startled awake.
Hans irritably rubbed his eyes, "Who's banging on our door at this ungodly hour?!"
"Your Majesties, there is an urgent matter that requires you attention!"
Hans and Elsa shared a worried glance before Hans jumped out of bed and ran to go open the door, "Kai? What's wrong?"
"My apologies for the disturbance, but we have a visitor from the Southern Isles."
Hans audibly groaned, "Tell my father that whatever it is, it can wait until morning-"
"It's not your father, Your Majesty, it's about your father."
We are starting to get into the thick of the story so stay tuned! Thanks for reading and please review, I really take your comments into consideration when approaching the next chapter. Take care and have a great weekend! :)
