Hi everyone! So...it's clear that not many of you were thrilled about my last update being solely made up of summaries, which I totally understand how annoying that would be if you were expecting a new chapter. However, in my defense, I did ask if it would be preferred to just outright update the next chapter or if summaries would be better and the majority voted for the summaries. But that's beside the point...so this chapter will contain very brief summaries of the last 6 chapters and a decent part of the next chapter. (Full disclosure: I have not yet finished the next chapter so I'm giving you everything I've got.) Please be considerate to the fact that I am trying to please both opinions of pro-summaries and anti-summaries. With that, I hope you guys enjoy the next small step into the remainder of Warm Hugs 3 and, above all else, Happy Reading! :)
Summaries:
CHAPTER 7
-Elsa gets James Jagger on board to help them develop newer weapons for Arendelle
-Hans and Annaliese begin their plan on extracting information from Klaus
-Anna grows suspicious of Elsa (Elsa has not told her yet about the new weapons idea)
-Elsa has a meeting with her council about the development of new weapons and they are surprisingly supportive of the idea
CHAPTER 8
-Elsa tells Anna and Kristoff about the development of new weapons and that James will be in charge
-Elsa also reveals to them that she is a self-taught swordsman and that they will learn how to fight with swords and eventually the guns, when they are ready
-Hans was caught off guard with Annaliese sneaking up on him and then he notices the bruise on her neck given to her by Klaus which infuriates him but he cannot do anything because he has to stay on everyone's good side
-Elsa and Captain Stephen begin teaching Anna and Kristoff how to sword fight
-Hans and Annaliese stay up all night going over the information that Annaliese gathered from Klaus
-Klaus suspects somethings going on between Hans and Annaliese but a couple of night crewmen defended the story that Hans told Klaus
-The trio finally arrived at the Southern Isles...they are greeted by Hans' third eldest brother, Simon, (who is very kind and friendly towards Hans) and Klaus bluntly tells him about Kendrick's death and Simon tells Annaliese that it will be her job to announce the news of Kendrick's death
CHAPTER 9
-Hans and Annaliese join the rest of the Southern Isles princes for breakfast which first started off with a somewhat pleasant conversation with his second eldest brother Viktor but thanks to some of the younger siblings (Jefferson and Charles) the breakfast leads to crude comments about Elsa and Hans' lack of children...this causes Hans to angrily storm out of the dining room followed by Annaliese when they brother's question her about Kendrick and their lack of children
-Elsa and Captain Stephen continue to intensely train Anna and Kristoff with sword fighting as the couple duel each other
-After Anna and Kristoff go to lunch, Captain Stephen insists that Elsa duel with him and after some persuasion, she agrees
-Hans takes Annaliese to his room to console her after her meltdown during breakfast...however he is concerned when she immediately snaps out of her meltdown and begins to probe him for information about why Hans was so angered by his brother's comments about his and Elsa's lack of children...he realizes that he never told her about Elsa's pregnancy nor miscarriage and he does not get the chance to do so because Klaus interrupts them...Annaliese sneaks out of Hans' room via the hidden exit (the fireplace)
-Klaus and Hans are on their way to meet with their father when Klaus points out that Annaliese had no reason to be so upset during breakfast and Hans struggles to find a reason as well since she had no idea about the miscarriage
CHAPTER 10
-Anna expresses to Kristoff how worried she is of Hans' safety and how scared she is about losing anyone as she now understands that Elsa is preparing them for battle
-As Klaus and Hans wait in the hall to meet with their father, Klaus and Hans share a brotherly chat that leads to Klaus realizing that Hans truly loves and cares for Elsa...before he gets the chance to blow Hans' cover, he suddenly collapses and remains unconscious as Hans gets dragged away to the prison as he is unjustly accused of injuring his brother
-Elsa and Captain Stephen engage in an epic duel leading to Elsa accidentally using her powers and throwing a solid jab at the Captain, nailing him in the jaw...Elsa immediately tries to tend to his injury which causes her to lose the duel...as she insists on tending to his injuries they are caught in an accidental intimate embrace by Anna who immediately assumes that something romantic is going on between them...Elsa quickly reassures her sister that nothing is going on between her and the Captain and that Elsa does not need to seek comfort in a man during this time of Hans' absence
-After Hans spent the day napping in his old prison cell, a young woman (also the head nurse) named Leila Nott proves Hans' innocent and Annaliese uses her authority as "Queen of Sperca" to convince the guards to release Hans...Hans is very grateful for the two ladies and properly introduces himself to Leila...he finds out that Klaus is okay and that he just collapsed from sleep deprivation and excessive amounts of stress...Hans also finds out that Leila actually lived in the Southern Isles when she was young and her and Annaliese her childhood friends before Leila moved away and Annaliese moved into the castle with her mother
-Anna expresses her concern to Kristoff about Elsa and Captain Stephen but Kristoff is not convinced and convinces Anna that her imagination is just going crazy and that Elsa is fiercely loyal to Hans...Anna realizes her mistake and this leads to a bunch of KristAnna fluff
-Anna is startled awake in the middle of night after having a vision-like nightmare about what's to come...she and Kristoff immediately go to Elsa's room and convince Elsa that Corona needs to be warned about what is happening since they would make an easy first target for Vortex
CHAPTER 11
-Rapunzel experiences a horrific nightmare about Thomas kidnapping her daughter, Evie, and then killing Rapunzel as revenge for when she saved Elsa back in London...Rapunzel tells Eugene and they decide that they need to send a letter of warning to Arendelle and also discuss what happened in London with Rapunzel's parents
-Elsa writes letters to her family in Corona about what has occurred in both Arendelle and the Southern Isles due to a recent nightmare Anna experienced...Also James' lab is completed and he is escorted to his new weapons lab for the first time...Elsa and Captain Stephen also share an awkward conversation about Anna accidentally catching them in an out-of-context embrace...they end up talking through the situation and depart on good and more familiar terms as Captain Stephen insists that Elsa calls him Edward and vice versa when in informal environments
-Hans has a good heart-to-heart talk with his second eldest brother, Viktor, while visiting Klaus in the infirmary...Viktor confesses he figured out that Hans was lying about his true feelings for Elsa...however, Viktor later reveals to Hans a similar story about when he deceived their father 14 years ago in order for him to marry his wife who was only a maid servant at an American embassy...feeling better about trusting Viktor, Hans confesses to him about Elsa's miscarriage and Viktor is able to comfort him by telling Hans about how he and his wife went through several miscarriages during the first few years of their marriage but now they have 3 healthy children...afterwards, Hans finally meets with his father to find out that his father wishes to put Hans in command of running the investigation in finding the assassin
-Thomas Sullivan is visited by his usual visitor, however, Thomas is not very happy to see them and angrily argues as to why he is still locked up...the visitor simply tells him that his lack of patience and his rage is the reason why he is still in prison...When Thomas begins to question their motives, the visitor reveals that they possess telekinetic powers as they throw Sullivan across his cell
CHAPTER 12
-Over a month has passed since Hans left Arendelle and begun leading the investigation in finding his father's attacker...the investigation is going nowhere and Simon expresses his irritation about the whole thing...Hans is about to go meet with his father when Annaliese reveals that she discovered chatter in town about how the Southern Isles mid-summer festival, Corona's Festival of Lights, and Arendelle's Great Thaw Celebration all fall on the same day and that there may some explosive elements...this alarms Hans and he hurries to his room to write Arendelle and Corona letters of warning
-Elsa is finishing up her nightly routine of walking around the castle grounds as a way to observe any suspicious activity when she stops off at James' lab to escort him back to his cell...upon her arrival he excitedly shows her his latest weapon design and plans on testing it tomorrow...as Elsa walks him back to his cell, she thanks him for what he is doing and he explains that he is grateful for the opportunity to help out the kingdom he loves...Elsa feels that James is genuine about his remorse about what he did to the royal family but she still has issues trusting people...this leads to thinking about Hans and Elsa reminisces on their last few moments together before his departure
-Hans arrives late to meet with his father and his father is not pleased until Hans explains that a huge development has occurred in the investigation...Hans also explains the possibility of a terrorist threat to the Southern Isles, Corona, and Arendelle but when Hans suggests that they send their allies letters of warning his father turns down the idea...Hans is bewildered and confused so his father explains that an attack on Arendelle will make the citizens distrust Elsa and Corona will act as collateral damage...Hans acts calm and understanding but once he returns to his room he is filled with rage and hatred towards his father
-Elsa and Captain Stephen (along with other royal guards) are present in the testing of James' new weapons...at first things go very well but the more James tests it, the more chaotic it gets until a stray bullet almost kills Elsa and Captain Stephen until Elsa intervenes and manages to hit the bullet with her powers, turning the bullet to ice and causing it to drop and shatter all over the floor...while everyone is impressed by Elsa's powers, James is horrified to have almost hurt Elsa for a second time but Elsa briefly consoles him and reminds him why she asked for his help in the first place
Chapter 13 SNEAK PEEK
The summer air was cool and crisp as the morning sun's rays stretched over the sleeping kingdom of the Southern Isles. It was still early in the morning as bits of sunlight streaked through the castle windows and rested upon Hans' sleeping face. He squinted at the light in his eyes which caused him to stir and glance over at his clock that read 5:32. He sat up with a tired groan and blearily rubbed his eyes, noticing that he had not changed clothes from last night. He decided that since it was still rather early and he was feeling gross from the day before, now would be a good time to wash up and take a quick bath. He started the bath before grabbing some fresh clothes from his wardrobe so that the water could warm up a bit. Once in the bathroom, he stole a quick glance in the mirror and grumbled at his exhausted appearance. He had never been hit by a train but he had been punched by Anna and he felt worse now than he did when she gave him that solid jab. He was not only physically worn but his mental and emotional health was also weak.
Once the water temperature was to his liking, he disrobed and slid into the warm refreshing water. He gave himself a good scrub before resting his head back against the edge of the tub and letting the relaxing aromas subdue his stress. With his eyes closed, he let mind start processing last night's meeting with his father. He knew that he had to send the letters he had written but there was absolutely no way he was going to have them delivered on time. He needed to find another way but he was stumped. There was literally nothing he could do.
His thoughts then shifted over to Annaliese and her progress in finding the conspirators. He figured that she had not found them or any more information on them yet or else she would have come straight to him. That is when he remembered that he was going to have a brief talk with her and her recently strange behavior. He noticed that the more time they spent in the Southern Isles, the more this new and emotionally stoic version of Annaliese had progressed. Hans worried that she was beginning to harden like he once did when he walked his dark and criminal path. In fact, their encounter last night was the first time since the arrival breakfast fiasco that she had acted like her usual animated self that he grew up knowing. He really needed to get himself and Annaliese back to Arendelle soon before they started to grow accustomed to his jaded family habits.
With his eyes still closed, he cleared his mind of all things Southern Isles and he let himself pretend that he was back in Arendelle. Back in his and Elsa's on suite bathroom, soaking in their tub. He imagined hearing Anna's laugh as she and Kristoff played with Sven and Olaf in the courtyard. He even imagined hearing Elsa's sweet voice in the bedroom, humming one of her many songs that she liked to sing when she was feeling relaxed and content. Feeling a wave of peace and joy wash over his tired soul, he even let himself hum along with Elsa's song. Letting his imagination fully takeover his senses, he heard a gentle knock on the bathroom followed by a delicate voice, "Hans? Are you in there?"
Hans smiled at the thought of seeing Elsa, "Yes, come in."
He heard the bathroom door open up and a couple of light footsteps walked onto the tile floor, "Prince Hans, I-whoa!"
Hans suddenly opened his eyes and realized that the young woman standing in the bathroom was not his wife, "Leila?! What are you doing in here?!" He abruptly splashed as he sat up in the tub, spilling water all over the floor.
Upon seeing Hans in the tub, Leila immediately diverted her eyes upward in order to give him privacy, "In, uh, my defense you told me to come in."
"I thought you were someone else." Hans instantly cringed at his response, "I mean, I thought you were Elsa." He noticed the amused look on Leila's face even though she was still silently staring at the ceiling, "I was letting myself believe that I was back in Arendelle and I guess I let my imagination run a little too wild. I imagined that Elsa was in the other room and so when you knocked I just assumed-"
"You don't have to explain, Your Highness, I get the idea." They awkwardly remained in their spots for a few seconds before Leila uncomfortably laughed, "Um, I had something to tell you, but first, do you need me to get you a towel?"
"I can get it myself if you would just turn around, please?" She happily obliged as he carefully climbed out of the slick tub and cautiously hurried over to the towel cabinet across the room, careful not to slip on all of the water splashed onto the floor. Once he reached the towels, he swiftly dried off and tightly wrapped the towel around his waist, "Alright, I'm a little more decent."
She turned around and gave him a quick up and down glance, taking in his athletically slim body with his broad shoulders and chiseled chest and abdomen, "Hmm. Elsa's a lucky woman." She teased with a playful wink. Hans rolled his eyes but she could see a little bit of pink stain his cheeks in embarrassment. Leila's teasing mood subsided when she noticed Hans' scars, "Where did you get those?"
"Oh these…" Hans mentally slapped himself for not covering up his wounds as he searched for a shirt or robe to put on. He could not find the clothes he grabbed from the wardrobe earlier and that's when he remembered that he forgot them on his bed. Then he realized that Leila was still standing by the door, staring at his scars in curiosity, "I got these from an expedition." He mindlessly responded as he glanced past her and spotted the clothes on his bed.
"Where did you go?" She curiously cocked her head.
"Um, I don't remember. It was a long time ago."
She crossed her arms in doubt, "Uh-huh."
"What?" Hans returned his focus on Leila and her skeptical expression.
Leila started to carefully walk towards him in order to get a better look without slipping on the slick floor, "By the looks of them, those scars resulted from some serious injuries and serious injuries do not tend to be easily forgotten."
"Like I said, it was a long time ago." Hans nonchalantly shrugged as he tried to leisurely walk past her.
"I don't think so…" She stopped directly in front of him, glancing up and down his abdomen, "Seems to me like they're still in the early stages of healing. I'd say maybe a year or two old, tops." She casted her eyes upward to meet his, a knowing look on her face.
Hans sighed as he reluctantly gave in. He knew that he could not fool her, she was the head nurse after all. "Okay, fine, you're right but I don't like to talk about it." He tried to walk around her but she was staying persistent.
"Let me see it. I might have some ointment that could help them heal up in no time."
"No thank-ahh!" Hans was not paying attention where he was stepping as he accidentally stepped back onto a very large and slick puddle that cause him to start falling backwards. Leila's eyes grew wide as she lunged for him and grabbed his wrists. Unfortunately, Hans' heavier weight and stronger momentum was too great for her to counterbalance, especially since she was unable to find her footing on the slippery ground. So as Hans fell to the floor, he accidentally dragged Leila with him and the two landed with a loud thud. However as Hans' body hit the floor, his head did not. Once on the floor, Hans blinked a couple times before realizing that Leila was on top of him with her hands interlocked with each other behind his head as they provided Hans with a makeshift pillow.
Leila looked down at him in alarm, "Prince Hans, are you alright?" She was completely unaware of how her entire body was resting on top of his or that their faces were only a breath away from each other.
"I'm okay." Hans breathed with an embarrassed smile, "But, uh, could you please get off of me?"
"Oh!" Leila gently released her hands as Hans' head was place on the floor. She swiftly rolled off of him and then helped him sit up, "I'm so sorry, I saw you slip and it was just a reflex reaction to intervene-"
"Don't apologize." Hans chuckled as they both stood up and recomposed themselves, "That was pretty impressive what you did with your hands." Hans walked into his bedroom and grabbed the clothes spread out on his bed before heading behind the changing screen.
"Thanks." She followed him back into his room and sat on the edge of his bed as he got dressed, "A fall like that could have done some damage to that noggin of yours."
"Well, then I guess I should be thanking you then." He stepped out from behind the changing screen, fully dressed with a charming smile on his face, "Thank you."
"Protecting the well-being of the royal family is my job." She let her eyes give his body the once-over, "But in all seriousness, you are okay right? Nothing hurts?"
"I'm fine. Really."
"If you're sure." She shrugged.
"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Hans sauntered towards his full length mirror in order to check his appearance.
"It's about Annaliese."
Hans used the mirror to look at her concerned face, "Is she alright?"
"I don't know. I was supposed to have breakfast with her this morning but she wasn't in her room so I thought that maybe she came by to talk to you." She glanced around his room, "Have you seen her?"
"The last time I saw her was last night. I'm sure she's fine. She must have been caught up in doing something for me and just forgot about breakfast."
"So you're not worried?" Leila inquisitively cocked her head at him, her blue eyes filled with curiosity.
"No." Hans finally turned away from the mirror in order to face Leila, "Are you?"
She timidly shrugged, "Well, if you're not then I won't be."
As she stood up and headed towards the door, Hans could not help but inquiringly watch her calm composure, "Well that was easy."
Her hand paused on the door handle, "What was?"
"Letting go of your worry, controlling your emotions."
She glanced over her shoulder to look towards him, "I work in the medical field and as the head nurse I find myself in a lot of stressful and emotional situations so I am quite used to quieting my emotions in order to think clearly and work efficiently." She turned back to the door but something was nagging her, "Can I ask you something?"
Hans propped his foot up on the chest at the foot of his bed as he slid his boots on. "I suppose." He nonchalantly shrugged.
"Annaliese told me about how your brothers used to abuse you while you were growing up here."
"Is that the question?" Hans quipped as he continued to keep his focus on his boots.
"No, it's just…" She turned away from the door to face him again, "I've been watching you for the past month and you do not act like a man who experienced an abusive childhood."
Hans let out a tired sigh, still keeping his eyes focused downward, "There is no easy way to answer that statement."
She thoughtfully furrowed her brows together as if trying to decipher his ambiguity, "Are you not afraid of your brothers anymore?"
"Not really." Hans humorlessly chucked with a half-smile, "They've already done their worst to me and I'm still here so I don't think there's anything they could do that would phase me now."
Leila leaned back against the door and curiously tilted her head, "Then what worries you?"
After a long pause, he finally lifted his head and meet her curious eyes, "The well-being of my family back in Arendelle…Annaliese included as well."
Leila lifted her brows in surprise with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "Hm." She seemed to hesitate as she tried to find the proper response to such an honest and heartfelt answer, "You know what? I'm glad that you ended up being the King Consort of Arendelle…you seem to really care about your people and that makes all the difference." She shyly dropped her eyes downward towards her feet as she timidly played with a loose strand of her hair. Her behavior reminded Hans of Anna which made him miss his Arendelle family even more. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Leila quietly speak up again, "So, um, if you see Annaliese before me, could you tell her that I was looking for her?"
"Absolutely." He nodded with a sincere smile.
"Thank you." She properly bowed, "Good day, Your Highness." After he bowed his head in return, she turned and left his room, making sure to close the door behind him. Hans stood there for a couple minutes as he let himself process what had just happened. The longer he thought about Leila and her Anna-like behavior, the bigger his nostalgic smile grew on his face. Even Leila accidentally falling on top of him in the bathroom reminded Hans about the first time he met Anna at the docks in Arendelle.
He certainly missed everyone back in Arendelle, even Kristoff, although he would never admit that to him. As much as he and Kristoff liked to banter, Hans always knew that Kristoff was loyal and trustworthy and he would do anything to protect those he loves.
The smile on Hans' face disappeared as he remembered the troubling news that he fell asleep thinking about last night. There were multiple possible terror attacks brewing in Corona, Arendelle, and the Southern Isles and he could not warn their allied kingdoms. Perhaps he could talk to Viktor about this and they could possibly find another, more trustworthy way of transporting the news. He was relieved that Viktor and he seemed to be getting along very well during the past month and that Hans could trust him with the on-going investigation. However, Hans had still withheld the information about Vortex and the run-in they experienced in London.
Feeling conflicted, Hans wandered toward his nightstand and opened up the top drawer that contained the two letters he wrote to Corona and Arendelle last night. As he reached down to pick them up, he heard a light tapping sound. Hearing this strange noise, Hans instantly froze where he stood with his hand lightly resting upon the letters. After a few seconds of silence, Hans continued what he was doing as he grabbed the letters and sat on the edge of his bed, closing his nightstand drawer with his free hand. Hans stared down at the letters as he tried to figure out how to he could send these in time and without getting on his father's bad side. As his mind continued reeling, his thoughts were interrupted by the same tapping sound, this time louder than before.
Hans' head snapped up and his eyes cautiously scanned his room in order to find out where that noise was coming from. Finally, he noticed a seagull happily perched upon his window sill. He did a double take when he noticed that the bird was intensely staring at him, followed by it leaning forward and gently tapping on the glass window, as if it were knocking. Hans was so stunned by the sight that he quickly rubbed his eyes to see if he was just imagining it. But once he removed his hands, the seagull was still there, this time it was curiously cocking its head side-to-side.
Feeling curious as to the bird's persistence, Hans slowly stood up and cautiously walked toward the window. He unlocked the latch and warily opened the window, noticing a small pendant hanging from the bird's neck. "What's this?" He carefully reached towards the bird in order to get a closer look at the pendant and to his surprise the seagull did not even flinch at his touch. Hans examined the pendant and noticed an intricate 'A' engraved on one side and a symbol of a trident engraved on the other side. "I've seen this symbol before…" Hans thought out loud, trying to remember where he saw these symbols. His eyes slowly grew wide as realization struck him, "This is the symbol to the mythical underwater city of Atlantica. I remember reading about this in one of my mythology books as a child." Then he remembered something that Anna had mentioned after coming back from visiting Rapunzel in Corona, "Oh and mermaids exist! Yeah apparently mermaids are real-"
He glanced down at the seagull and curiously raised his eyebrows at it, "Are you supposed to be a messenger from Atlantica?" The bird cheerfully squawked before stretching out its wings and giving them a quick flap as it leapt off its perch. Hans watched in fascination as the seagull flew into a nearby tree and in a matter of seconds, it returned with an envelope in its beak. Hans hesitantly reached for the envelope, still pretty freaked out by what was happening. The seagull seemed to sense his hesitation as it lowered its head and dropped the envelope onto the window sill. Hans smiled when he noticed the seal of Corona on the back of the envelope. He could not open it fast enough and his smile grew even wider when he noticed that the letter was addressed to him.
To Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, King Consort of Arendelle,
We sent you and Queen Elsa a letter about a month ago but we have not received any response. Therefore, we have surmised that either our letter was never received or your response was never delivered. This, of course, would mean that someone does not wish our kingdoms to correspond with one another via traditional means. As a result, we have decided to entrust any further communication into the hands of the underwater kingdom of Atlantica. Eugene has corresponded with a couple princesses from Atlantica and they have agreed, with their father King Triton's blessing, to help us with our endeavors.
It has come to our attention that there has been some suspicious activity occurring in the Southern Isles and thanks to the help of the Princesses of Atlantica we were able to find out about your impromptu trip back to your homeland. We hope your father is doing well as he is a respectable ruler and a fierce ally of Corona. Rapunzel recently came forward and explained to me about the trouble you and your family ran into while in London last fall with the terrorist organization Vortex. She has also feared that their leader, Thomas Sullivan, is planning to seek revenge on both our family and yours. In that respect, we hope that you stay alert to this possibility of an attack.
We hope to hear from you soon, as confirmation that you are safe and that you have received this letter. We have also sent a letter to Queen Elsa in hopes that she may confirm this as well. Rapunzel and Eugene send their regards and hope you are well.
Sincerely,
King Fredrick of Corona
Hans reread the letter over and over again, amazed and slightly stunned by what was transpiring. He slowly lowered the letter and rested his gaze onto the seagull staring attentively at him. "So um…" He could not help but feel silly talking to a bird, "Do I give you my reply?" The seagull seemed to understand him as it squawked and flapped its wings. "Alright…well…"
Hans strode over to where he left the letters on his bed and grabbed them, shaking his head in disbelief, "I can't believe I'm entrusting these important letters to a bird." As Hans walked back over to the seagull, who was still patiently waiting on the windowsill, he awkwardly asked, "Um, I actually have two letters that need to be sent. One to Corona and one to Arendelle. They're rather urgent so if there's any way these can be delivered before the week's end that would be great."
He chuckled at the bird's intense expression, as if it were actually understanding what he was saying. "Here you go, I guess…" He hesitantly outstretched his arm and offered the bird the letters. The seagull calm reached out and grabbed both letters in its beak before giving Hans a subtle head nod as it flapped its wings and took off towards the sea.
Hans rested his elbows on the window sill as he watched the bird fly away in intrigue. "I've officially lost my mind." He chuckled to himself, "I just placed the safety and future well-being of Arendelle and Corona in the beak of a bird."
