Chapter 6
A few days later, Queen Elsa waited in the great hall for the arrival of the three princes, which came to meet her. Elsa sat on her throne looking at the few present guests, which were curious to know about the new faces.
Elsa looked aside to see the servant Kai come along with another jar of water to replace it with the one, she had empty on the table beside her.
„You're still quite a bit anxious about the meeting, your majesty?" Questioned Kai making Elsa shrug her shoulders. „Is there anything else I could help you with?"
„I don't know it to be honest," Commented the silver-blonde woman. Elsa had an idea, then looked up at Kai. „Where's Gerda?" Questioned Queen Elsa, then Kai tried to remember, where he had seen the girl before.
„I think she went to get the book with the story of our reign," Spoke Kai making Elsa nod, afterward from the middle of the hall appeared a young lady in an aquamarine-blue woman west, which covered her shoulder only. Under her skin, she wore a white, long-sleeved blouse with small folds above her chest attached to the blouse's collar. On her hands she brought a book, making Elsa sigh in relief and Kai smiled amazed by seeing the girl in the dress.
„You look almost identical to Princess Anna," Commented Kai noticing the single braid over her left shoulder making Gerda grin a little embarrassed.
„Thanks, I guess," Responded Gerda making Elsa chuckle, then move her hand to call Gerda to get beside her.
„I'm really glad to have at least your present during this evening," Spoke Elsa making Gerda nod.
„You will do fine. Just follow your heart and instinct," Commented Gerda.
„The three princes will be here for more than a week or two. It gives you time to get to know each of them. Or at the least, the one you're interested in," Kai mentioned making and down the steps around the throne appeared one of Arendelle's guards bowing down to the Queen.
„Your majesty, the Princes have arrived," Warned the guard, then Elsa looked at Gerda, which nodded and Elsa returned her eyes at the guard.
„Let them in," Demanded Elsa watching the guard walk back and give another guard the sign to open up the door to reveal three different duos entering the hall. Each of the duos consisted of the young princes being accompanied by the king, which is their father as well.
Kai waited for the arrival of the duos, then looked down at the crowd, which admired the presence of the three different kingdoms and Kai went a step-down, so he could introduce the princes to the Arendellians.
„I present you King Felix's youngest son Hugo, the Prince of Geel," Kai introduced watching a yellow-dressed Prince with blue shapes along the sleeves step further and bow down to show his golden-blonde hair.
Gerda looked at Elsa, which kept a straight face at the show, then she moved her eyes further to the next princes, meeting the second one, which was a raven-haired Prince.
„Prince Rollan, only son of King Eduardo, the current ruler of Alicante!" Introduced Kai, then the raven-haired boy stepped farther as the first Prince did to bow down, making Elsa raise her eyebrow up a little surprised at the charming facial expression of the Spaniard. Gerda looked at Elsa lifting up her thumb and Elsa rolled her eyes to the front awaiting the last candidate, where Gerda paid attention as well. For a short moment, Gerda returned her eyes to the red-dressed prince, which adjusted his collar and placed his arms behind the back.
„Coming from Zurich, lead by King Frederick, Prince Ulrich, the second-oldest out of his four siblings," Said Kai watching a brunette prince in a light-gray suit step forwards to bow down at the queen.
„Your majesty, you are in the most fact one of the most beautiful women I have ever come along my way," Spoke Prince Ulrich coming a few steps closer to the queen, then got down one of his knees to grab the Queen's hand to give it a kiss making Elsa a little uncomfortable.
Gerda chuckled at that moment, then the Swiss prince stepped back and looked down at his father with a smirk, which gave the son a thumb up.
„Alright, gentlemen….I guess, it's time that we can get to know each other a little," Spoke Queen Elsa. „From now on, we have set up for you a buffet with a few specialties from our regions. I suggest you to take a break first and eat something," Offered the blonde watching the princes nod. „We will get the chance to have the first interaction afterward,"
„Of course, your majesty," Spoke the three princes, then the Belgian duo moved on towards the table followed by the Spanish King and the last three stood back around the throne seeing the queen get up, then before she went down, she watched Gerda move aside the queen to hold up the book at her.
„What about the book with the story of your parents?" Questioned Gerda making Elsa nod.
„Don't worry, there's time for that," Stated Elsa, then Gerda nodded and Elsa rolled her eyes at the buffet signaling Gerda to join. „Come on, you're free to join the others,"
„Thank you," Spoke Gerda moving the steps down, then tripped over a loosen wood board of the step and recuperated her equilibrium, by crossing her leg around herself stepping behind on the ground. Gerda puffed in relief, then saw she had dropped the book on the ground, which was near the feet of the Spanish prince. The Spaniard noticed the book, then took it up and noticed Gerda approach, then he smiled and held it towards her.
„Thank you," Commented Gerda, then watched prince Rollan move on and stood back watching several guests go to attend the buffet.
Hans and the dog Donny rode on the carriage of the farm along a path inside a forest, near the ocean, they were able to see from their location. Donny who had been lying and admiring the entire surrounding sat up on the bank and looked back at the load area, which was loaded with various boxes and bags. Donny shove his snout into a bag to take out an apple, placing it on the bank and held it with his paws, so he could chew it.
„I noticed now something about you, Donny," Spoke Hans. „Your weight seemed to have improved. I don't see your thorax as much as I saw before"
„You know I wasn't really allowed to eat a lot," Commented Donny. „Just a bit in the evening sometimes,"
„You should have at least one full bowl a day. You couldn't just be in this state working or worse. Your previous owner should be aware of that. You're a living being as well,"
„He was, but you know…..he had priorities set on other animals before mine,"
„Anyone else would be more caring towards you and make sure you eat enough or at least better to not end up in a weak state. Soon or later you could possibly have died from starvation,"
„But thanks to you, I've got a new life," Commented Donny looking up at the chest brown-haired man, which noticed Donny look at him with a glad facial expression.
„You're really a cool little guy, Donny," Commented Hans watching Donny wag his tail. „I will make sure, when we return we will find you a family, that is worth to be living with,"
„I would like it if I could stay with you if you ever had any time for me I mean,"
„Maybe if I wasn't so busy with the farm I could consider it, but it's not as easy as it sounds," Commented Hans, then spotted two paths and one led out at the forest, making Hans think about which way was right and moved out to see it led him to the outside, which a hill going down at a beach and far along it on the end of the area he was he encountered an island with a big castle made of ice and snow.
Hans got curious about seeing the building, then glimpsed down at Donny.
„Are you seeing the same thing as me? It's all made of ice," Commented Hans and Donny moved his head up to look at it.
„I don't know. It looks like a regular one from here to me," Commented Donny. „You know grey, black roofs, white windows…."
„Oh right dogs are colorblind. I'm sorry…..I'm just astonished. I never saw something like that before. Is that even the castle, we're looking for?" Questioned Hans.
„I don't know," Commented Donny and Hans opened the card again to analyze it.
„I must be that one. There aren't any more islands around it beside these small ones, but they're all empty," Commented Hans making Donny lick his nose.
„I think if we just follow the path there we will get to that castle," Commented Donny making Hans nod.
„Yeah, that's what I'm up to at the moment," Noticed the farmer.
About a quarter of hour later the duo arrived with the carriage at a large bridge, which lead to the island and the bridge had a large layer of ice over it leading to the entrance.
„Okay, looks like we're here," Commented Hans looking up at the large, two-leveled castle and felt Donny climb up on his lap to admire the building.
„It's not as big as it looked from far," Commented Donny making Hans nod.
„It has another architectural style," Acknowledged the brunette observing Donny look at the building. In the meanwhile, Hans got behind at the load area and took up a belt, followed by a sword and adjusted it on the belt, afterward jumped down on the ground.
„Where did you get that belt from?" Questioned Donny.
„Gustav, my adoptive father bought me it for my 17th birthday. He said I was a good fencer and with this, it would be better for me in further uses," Mentioned Hans making Donny drop his eyes a little sad.
„He sure would be proud to see you use it now," Commented Donny making Hans smile a little.
„You know at one point in my life I wanted to become a guard or a naval officer. I had been practicing and hoped to be able to attend the academy, but when I got older my parent's health began to change and they needed assistance at the farm so I dropped the idea and stood back with them. They didn't want me to do that, but you know, after everything they did for me, despite I'm not being their real son, I couldn't just leave them behind knowing how they were feeling. I owed them something,"
„Maybe you'll get that chance one day…..why not this time?" Questioned Donny making Hans shrug his shoulders.
„I'm already used to my life as a farmer. I…...At the moment I'm not really looking forward to that," Said Hans watching Donny move his head down sad. Hans adjusted his belt tightly around him, then looked up at the Husky and reached his arms up. „Do you need help to get down?" Questioned Hans, then Donny got up and tried to get balance to jump down and did it, landing on his butt and fall aside.
„Alright, next time it will work better," Stated Donny standing up making Hans chuckle, then he stepped carefully on the bridge and moved his other foot forward.
„You probably won't need to go slow. You've got claws," Commented Hans traverse the bridge carefully, then Donny got on top of the bridge beginning to cross it carefully, but at a higher pace than the human, afterward, he slipped as well landing on his belly.
„Guess I was wrong," Commented Hans with a snicker, soon he ended up slipping as well and landed on his back. „Crap!"
Donny got up, then moved again slowly and Hans slowly got up on his knees, observing Donny move on, Hans had a new idea and got down on his knees and with his hands, he shove himself to slide above the ice passing by the husky, which saw Hans head towards the entrance. Donny afterward began to run, but he stood on the same place moving his legs on the slippery surface confusing the canine.
„What's going on?" Questioned Donny, then ended up slipping down on his butt after he stopped moving. Donny saw Hans getting up on the end of the bridge and looked back to see, where Donny was. Donny had an idea, thereafter placed his front paws on the ground and used them to move further on the ice while sliding with his rear over the glacier making Hans drop his mouth in surprise, afterward Donny panted enjoying the cold ground and arrived at the end, then gave out a few loud barks.
„I did it!" Said the duo-colored dog making Hans smile.
„Not such a bad idea, Don," Commented Hans making the canine pant, then both walked into the castle, noticing, that the castle in fact was made of snow and ice as seen from the outside.
„I brought this coat, but it doesn't seem as cold as I expected," Pointed Hans out. „It's actually pleasant,"
„Yes," Agreed Donny putting his nose on the snow-covered ground to pick up scents. „You know now under us there is no ice, right?"
„I assumed it. It feels hard," Mentioned Hans then the duo encountered in the hall two large doors leading into different rooms, including a staircase leading to the second floor. „What do you think? Should we both go separated ways?"
„Didn't you say they were monsters somewhere?" Questioned Donny raising his ears up making Hans shrug his shoulders.
„It's theorized. No one has ever made it back," Commented Hans making the dog swallow hard. „You know what? We go together," Suggested Hans and walked to the left side, followed by Donny, which walked behind the human while keeping his tail between his hind legs.
Hans opened the door up slowly to look into the place to see a large, empty hall and around the ground, they spotted remains of armor, swords, and several scratches made on the walls, which resembled of something big.
„Well…..I think this is where the others lost their lives I believe," Commented Hans, then watched Donny pick up the scent from the room they were looking into. Donny got into the room, then sniffed on one thorax protection and shove his head into it. He moved his head up wielding it on his head, afterward, he shook himself to remove the piece off his head, shrieking Hans, which had been distracted by looking at the walls, which were covered with scratches as well.
„Donny!" Complained the Danish man watching the dog move the piece towards the human.
„This belonged to a human,"
„Do you think you can pick up the scent of the scratches there on the wall?" Questioned Hans seeing the dog made his way towards the wall.
„Are you hoping, that I can tell you, what it is?" Questioned Donny placing his paws on the wall to analyze them. „I don't think I can tell all the existing scents from the other,"
„But didn't you just say a few seconds ago the armor there belonged a human?" Questioned Hans.
„Yes. I saw many guards at the castle back at the village with them. I obviously knew it belonged to a human," Answered Donny making Hans sigh at the misunderstanding. Donny lifted his ear up, then looked at the entrance.
„I hear something," Warned Donny and Hans looked at the door hearing nothing at all, then returned his eyes at the animal, which walked towards the door and glimpsed back at Hans. „It's coming from out here,"
„Wait a moment," Ordered Hans getting to the other side of the door, then finally heard, what Donny admitted to be hearing. „It's a whistle. We're not the only ones here," Whispered Hans placing his hand on the sword and Donny moved his butt up and moved his front legs down at the ground to await along with the adult for the foreigner.
The two awaited for the mysterious person to appear, but both were caught off-guard as who came into the hall wasn't anything human at all. It was a snowman….a living snowman. The quite small creature got into the hall, then noticed around him Donny looking bewildered at him, while on the other side Hans held his sword back looking confused as well at the snowman,
„Hey everyone," Greeted Olaf, then Hans' sword fell off his hands making the snowman chuckle. „I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs," Spoke the snowman opening his branch-formed arms with a smile waiting for anyone to hug him.
„Uh?" Questioned Hans looking at Donny, which jumped against Olaf's hands to lick his face, making him laugh afterward he began to whine as he noticed his tongue got stuck on Olaf's face.
„Awkward" Mumbled Donny seeing his tongue stuck on the snowman.
„Okay, that's kind of weird," Commented Hans approaching the two. „Can I help?" Questioned Hans pushing the tongue away watching the dog retrieve it back and lick himself over his lips. „I'm a little confused…..I heard in this castle they are mysterious monsters and all I see here is a cute, little snowman like you," Mentioned Hans making Olaf giggle.
„Stop it, you're making me blush," Commented Olaf making Hans puff.
„Okay uh…..one question…..we're looking for a princess. We want to rescue her and bring her home. According to some legends….there are certain beasts, that have erased other people's lives according to citizens nearby. Do they still exist?" Questioned Hans making Olaf laugh.
„People think here live monsters?" Questioned Olaf. „That's the silliest thing I have ever heard,"
„Then what are those marks on the wall?" Questioned Hans pointing at them, then Olaf went to take a look at them.
„Oh Crash likes to scratch. You know it's been a long while here. We don't have any furniture he could use them," Explained Olaf making Hans nod, then from the outside came a loud growl making Hans gasp and Donny startled, running behind Olaf's back. „Oh talking about Crash, there he comes,"
„Who's Crash exactly?" Questioned Hans. „A dragon?"
„There are no dragons in Norway," Commented Olaf with a laughter making Hans angry. "You're funny"
„Then stop laughing and tell me what the heck that is," Commented Hans, then the door got smashed back and Donny flew away along with Olaf and Hans leaped away in panic as he saw the supposed beast from the legend wasn't a monster, it was a giant polar bear.
„A bear!" Shouted Donny, then Hans grabbed his sword and aimed it at the polar bear a little shakily from trying to hold up his tension. The bear growled and smacked Hans away against the wall.
„Ouch!" Cried Hans dropping the sword, then watched the bear walk towards him, thereafter he got up again picking his weapon again and raced towards the animal, which again used his paw to smash Hans away crashing against Olaf, who had after the hit lost his head and placed it back on his shoulders, but into the opposite direction.
„Oh oh," Commented Donny and watched the polar bear come into their direction and crouched down in fear watching the animal approach the farmer, which got up and held his hand in front of his belly while holding the sword. Donny barked loud at the ice bear, which snarled at the husky, that kept barking, afterward, the bear growled louder shrieking Donny, which got down on his four hiding his face from the polar bear. The ice bear pushed Hans against the wall, then pressed him against the wall staring at him angrily.
„D…..donny!" Mumbled Hans trying to force himself out of the paws of the polar bear, then Donny barked again loudly.
„We just wanted to get the princess!" Yelled Donny making the bear widen his eyes and drop the human on the ground, which gasped for air loud.
„I beg your pardon?" Questioned the bear with wide open eyes.
„Y..yes," Commented Donny approaching the bear slowly. „You know, there is this one Princess Anna here. We're here to bring her back h….home," Explained the husky, then the ice bear scratched his chin pondering about the comment and figured out what he meant.
„That girl on the second floor?" Questioned the bear making Donny nod. „Oh! Sure, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were here for her," Answered the polar bear, then looked at Hans who got up afterward the polar bear Crash sat down to look at Hans.
„You're alright?" Asked the polar bear, then Hans looked confused at the polar bear, which smiled a little at the man.
„You…..okay….I have no idea what's going on right now," Spoke Hans, then Crash looked at the entrance to see a younger bear cub show up and ran towards the polar bear, which embraced the youngling. „Oh….you're a father," Commented Hans watching the cub lick the father on the face.
„I assumed you two were here planning to do something to us, but as I see I turned out to be wrong," Commented Crash making Hans nod.
„I have seen the number of armors here from other humans. Most of them or…..all eventually came here to get the princess as well, but…...I think they have suffered a similar fate as I,"
„Well a long while ago one of the first humans that got here had murdered my mate and I couldn't let him come closer to my son so I defended us by taking that human's life. The next humans, that came with the time did the same, they aimed me or my son and I simply defended us from them. I didn't assume, the humans wanted to take the princess home as well. I thought…..for their terrible reasons they just wanted to hunt anyone of us,"
„Probably, if we knew we could all have communicated with each other it would have worked out for both sides unless someone was willing to kill in order to bring another price home," Mentioned Hans making the bear nod.
„I seem to believe, that's she's one of the main reasons many humans got in here like that, right? I don't think anyone else would straightly wander in here. Or not as many,"
„Perhaps. Listen Crash, Donny and I will go up to get the princess out of here and we will leave for good. I believe after all this, no one will ever come closer to you and your son," Promised Hans making the ice bear nod.
„Great, you'll find her in the north wing of the castle," Mentioned Crash making Hans smile and look at Donny, which approached the human a little tensely.
„I'm sorry I didn't help you out," Apologized Donny sinking his head down, then Hans smiled and patted the dog on the head.
„You did something way better. You made us all realize, that there was a better solution than the fight," Commented Hans making Donny wag his tail and look at Hans proudly.
A moment later snowman Olaf accompanied the two friends into the second floor, leading them along a hall decorated with several ice sculptures shaped after famous people from the past as engraved on the socket of it.
„One question," Spoke Hans. „Who made all these sculptures?" Questioned the brunette man while Olaf looked at them as well with a smile.
„I don't remember. They were already here before," Mentioned Olaf. „Perhaps it was the king that lived here before. There's a legend in one of the books here that's inspired by this place. Whoever lived here used to have magical powers and there was an issue, that hunted them out of here"
„For real?" Questioned Hans surprised. „Okay,"
„There's still magic around us in this world. It's just hidden by most of the people. Most of the magic other people had heard of came from people that used it for the bad. People feared, that this would have happened someday and higher rulers demanded execution of the ones, that were magicians long years ago,"
„But magic is still present in some places. At least in the villages around where I come from I heard about a few, that could do magic,"
„Maybe they're not as powerful as others used to be," Spoke Olaf. „Sometimes it depends in which year or season you were born in. Sometimes even both. This is something that happens in a family, where at least one of the parent is a magician. Elsa was born in the year of the horse and the element of her season was water. If she had magician parents she would have a chance of 25% to get any type of magic powers based on water. But this wasn't her case, hers was some sort of gift given by mother nature," Explained Olaf. „This is just a theory of hers. There was no explanation from anywhere to Elsa when this question came up,"
„Alright and she's the only one, who wields those powers?" Questioned the farmer making Olaf nod. „Okay,"
„We're almost there. It's that door over there," Spoke Olaf watching Hans stop in front of it along with Donny, then he looked down at the dog, which glimpsed up at the human. Olaf watched Hans hold his fist in front of the door, thinking about knocking on it, then heard Olaf speak and looked at him. „Come, knock…...Do you know how to knock?" Questioned Olaf making Hans nod, then watched Donny use his paw to scratch on it, afterward Hans knocked on the door gently and opened the door back slowly to glimpse into the bedroom to see inside the room an empty bed with a night table beside it with an open book.
„I don't see anyone in there," Commented Hans, then Olaf got into the room, followed by Hans and Donny to admire the empty room, then saw that she wasn't around.
„Are you sure this is the right room?" Asked Donny looking at the snowman walking towards a closed curtain, then got under it to look into it.
„She's not in the ladies' room," Commented Olaf, then Donny looked up at Hans.
„What's a ladies' room?" Questioned Donny making Hans shrug his shoulders.
„Perhaps he's meaning toilet," Commented Hans, then he approached a window to look out of it to see a village, that lied on another side of the country. „I guess, that must be the other village people assumed to hear the monsters from the legend,"
Donny looked at Hans glimpsing over the window, then he began to smell something and looked around to spot at the entrance a strawberry-blonde woman in a long, green dress covering her legs, carrying on her hands a plate with cheese-flavored cookies.
„Olaf, would you like some cookies," Spoke the woman, then encountered Olaf standing behind Hans and together both looked back to see the princess stand there surprised at the appearance of the man. Anna dropped the cookies in surprise, shrieking Donny, which barked at the plate, that had just gotten broken.
„That's enough Donny," Warned Hans watching Donny growl at the broken plate, then began to sniff around the cookies and picked one up to eat. „Hey, you can't just eat someone else's food after it landed on the ground!"
„I'm sorry, I didn't expect to have a visit right now," Mentioned the princess approaching the man with the farmer overall, then widened her eyes in surprise at seeing his face and giggled. „My, I have never seen such wonderful eyes in my entire life…...uh ever," Commented Anna, followed by a correction.
„You think so?" Asked Hans surprised making Anna nod.
„What am I the first one to ever tell you that?" Questioned Anna curious making Hans shake his head.
„Third or fourth person maybe. It's been a while though,"
„Darn, whoever didn't notice that must have been blind," Commented Anna making Hans smile a little, then Donny approached Hans and he got down at the dog, which moved his snout to Hans's fist, which he opened and Donny dropped a wet cookie on it.
„They're delicious," Commented Donny making Hans frown a little disgusted at the husky's offer.
„Uh thanks, but you can have it. I'm okay for now," Spoke Hans watching the dog devour it at once.
„What's the name of this little guy here?" Asked Anna placing her hand between the ears of the dog. „You must be a very young one, am I right?" Asked Anna patting the dog on the head, then shove her pinky finger into Donny's ear, making him groan and begin to thump with his left hind leg on the ground enjoying the love given by the princess.
„Wow, no one has ever made me feel like this," Commented Donny, then dropped down on the side showing his belly up, afterward Anna caressed him on the belly.
„What a good, little boy,"
„I guess Donny already likes you," Spoke Hans watching Anna nod, then Donny got up and got back to Hans.
„This is my best friend Hans. He gave me a new life and we're here together to bring back home Princess Anna," Stated Donny making Anna smile.
„Right, right about that….." Spoke Hans, then Anna took a look at Hans' clothing and pondered about it.
„You look under that coat like a farmer to me," Commented Anna. „Are you a European Prince or anywhere else?"
„Actually, I'm a real farmer," Confessed Hans. „I live on a farm near Falsterbo in Sweden,"
„Oh okay…."
„You probably were waiting for a prince to come and get you, right? I….well I have good news for you. Actually, I have been wondering if you would even leave this castle for it in the first place,"
„Uh I'm not coming along your words?"
„You know, there is this prince from my village named Oscar. He offered me his help to get back my farm, which I couldn't keep due to the missing testament of my parents. His offer was, that I could come here to get you out of here and bring you to him,"
„So he's the one, who was supposed to get here?" Questioned Anna making Hans nod.
„Yes, I don't know. I think he wants you to marry him or to bring you back to your native kingdom. I didn't really receive a decent answer, to be honest,"
„This now really sounds odd," Commented Donny making Hans look embarrassed at the canine.
„If something isn't right princess, just say it. You're not forced to go, just because I or anyone else said so," Mentioned Hans making Anna nod.
„Sure," Answered Anna. „But I assume I can ask for plenty of time to get to know him better? I got told by letters of my sister to do that. I was locked in here to be kept away from a certain bad guy, but now we're getting out of here and everything is going to be alright," Said Anna excited, then watched Donny scoot on the ground by using his front paws to go further and was observed by the snowman, which was fascinated by it, afterward he sat down on the floor and copied the dog's behavior, that made Hans roll his eyes aside finding the situation bizarre.
