Chapter 9

The three princes stood in the ball hall of the Arendellian castle awaiting queen Elsa while Kai was present during the time.

„Why didn't queen Elsa join us for lunch?" Questioned Prince Hugo followed by a nod of the Swiss prince.

„She was writing a letter to send it to her sister," Commented Kai. „She often does that to make sure, how she's doing,"

„She's got a sister?" Questioned Ulrich surprised.

„That was mentioned in the story, she had resumed along with Kai and the young lady," Mentioned Prince Rollan making Ulrich frown.

„Who asked you?" Questioned Prince Ulrich sternly, making Rollan frown at the comment.

„Gentlemen, I know this is a hard time in competing with each other to impress the queen, but hating each other because of it won't help any of you further," Mentioned Kai making Prince Ulrich sigh, while Rollan smirked at the defense.

„You really think, that good looks and an A+ ancestry automatically makes you her suitor right ahead?" Questioned Hugo making Ulrich cross his arms.

„At least I don't have a mop hairstyle," Commented the prince. „Some people may look at you and assume you're a woman dressed as a prince,"

„I have grown a lot of hair all over myself. This is part of my genetics," Commented Hugo crossing his arms, then Prince Rollan stood a few centimeters away from the princes to be near the servant and Elsa's friend, Gerda.

„This is very awkward," Commented Rollan watching the princes argue, then the doors slammed up shrieking all three young men who looked at the large door to see Queen Elsa get into the hall, then all immediately bowed down for the majesty.

„I'm just gone for a little while and there's already a new discussion?" Questioned Queen Elsa surprised, then the princes exchanged looks with each other and sank their heads down.

„Your majesty, this was just a little disagreement," Commented Prince Ulrich making Hugo nod.

„We're a little nervous," Added Prince Hugo, which looked at Rollan that was looking aside, then Hugo rolled his eyes from Rollan up at the queen awaiting a phrase from the Spaniard.

„My lady, we're not used to talking to someone in a higher position as you, my lady,"

„You already said that," Whispered Hugo making Rollan grin anxiously.

„I beg your forgiveness. I'm slightly feeling under pressure," Admitted the raven-haired prince making Elsa nod.

„So….you wouldn't mind it then if you would be the first candidate to spend the rest of the day with me?" Offered Elsa making Rollan get up abashedly.

„Me? Uh I don't think I'm…...it's kind of going too fast for me," Commented Rollan making Gerda cover her mouth to hide her chuckle.

„If you want, we can go tomorrow instead and I'll go out with Prince Ulrich or Hugo instead," Mentioned Queen Elsa looking at the other princes, then Rollan pondered about the offer.

„I will be going tomorrow if your agreement is official," Answered Prince Rollan making the silver-blonde nod.

„Alright and which of the two of you will offer himself on a walk around Arendelle?" Questioned the queen watching the two princes get up, both at the same time offering their hands. „Alright…..I uhm….pick Prince Hugo," Elsa commented making the Belgian smile and Elsa looked at Kai, which nodded and accompanied Elsa from her side, which walked along with prince Hugo towards the exit.

„About you two, Kai said I had to make you these two offers. The first one is I'll show you the inside of our castle and the outdoors of it or you stay with your dads, which are currently down in the village at Agnar's pub for the wealthies," Gerda mentioned making Prince Ulrich and Prince Rollan nod.

„I'm going to meet my father then," Commented Prince Ulrich turning his back against the girl heading to the exit, while the Spanish prince stood back watching him go. Rollan moved back at Gerda, which got curious to see the prince from Alicante had stood back and glimpsed at the door closing.

„Are you not going?" Questioned Gerda making Rollan shake his head.

„I'm not really into drinking alcohol and those sort of drinks," Commented Rollan.

„Really?" Asked Gerda surprised. „That's weird, almost every man here I know drinks alcohol,"

„But I'm an exception," Commented Rollan a little embarrassed. „I don't know why, but I can't stand the smell of it,"

„That's not bad, you don't have to do or like everything others do," Commented Gerda making Rollan smile a little.

„That's what my mama used to say," Commented Rollan making Gerda nod.

„See? Nothing is bad," Elaborated the blonde girl. „You're still interested in an guidance throughout the castle?" Offered Gerda watching Rollan look around the hall, then shrugged his shoulders.

„Wouldn't it be pointless for me to look around?" Questioned Rollan. „I'm not even sure if I'm going to get through this,"

„There's no need to think about that. Just walk with me and I'll tell you about everything here. Eventually, you may get some plus points by Elsa or she will be happy that at least someone here knows anything about the castle,"

„Are there any more stories related to Arendelle or were the ones you told us today the only ones?"

„There sure is one or two. Just follow me, soon or later we'll get to that part," Commented Gerda walking forward, then Prince Rollan got to follow the queen's friend to the door, so the two would leave the throne hall.


Hans along with Anna and Donny had made a stop to do a small break, standing with their carriage beside the road, and on top of the carriage sat Hans on his own writing on a sheet a letter.

Dear Oscar. I helped princess Anna out of the castle and I'm bringing her back to Falsterbo. Whether you, believe it or not, that so-called beast turned out to be a large polar bear, that had been protecting his son from humans, that invaded the castle for the same task as mine. I convinced the bear that I wasn't a harm to him, that I only came for the princess and I got through it without a problem. Skickerröd was the last location we passed since I wrote this letter and we're about 4 days away from you. Princess Anna is currently in good health and very talkative. She's curious to get to know you in person, soon as we arrive. Best greetings, Hans the farmer." Hans read the short text he wrote for the prince, then looked at the swift, that sat over a napkin eating seeds. „Well, the text is fine. It's just a piece of information about the route. His letter wasn't as professional as well," Hans spat out, then rolled together the sheet and tied it around the foot of the bird that had eaten all the seeds. „Alright, little guy. When you're ready, fly away," Spoke Hans watching the bird peak under his wing, then shake his head. Hans got out of the carriage to see the dog Donny return from the forest and glimpsed up at the brunette man.

„Are we going to move on afterward?" Asked Donny making Hans nod.

„That's the plan. Unless Princess Anna prefers to make a longer break or continue tomorrow,"

„Okay," Commented Donny, then watched the swift take off carrying the letter with him, causing him to bark.

„Let it go, Donny. He's just going to deliver a message to Oscar," Commented Hans looking at the fewer seeds, that remained on the napkin, then Hans took it away to shake it before putting it back in his pocket. Hans took out from the pocket the wanted poster he had from the last village they had visited, then looked at it a little disappointed from knowing its existence.

„Are you thinking about telling her that?" Questioned Donny watching Hans put the poster back.

„Not yet," Answered Hans. „I prefer to wait two days or three. Or eventually not tell at all,"

„What if because of you…...you know that poster, she or all of us get in trouble and she finds it out that way?" Questioned Donny, then Hans glared at the dog.

„Do you really have to make this sound bad? We'll be in this ride for five days anyway and we won't perhaps see each other again or at least for many times,"

„I'm just saying she needs to know that. Even if you're innocent, it's easier for both of you to understand the reason you didn't talk about,"

„Alright, just keep your mouth shut. If she has to know that, she'll know it from me," Warned Hans making Donny give out a bark. „But I'll do it tomorrow. I will look for the ideal moment, You will remain quiet about that, alright?"

„Alright," Answered Donny, then Hans heard a squeak of a female voice shrieking him, that jumped up at the carriage to take out his sword and looked at a tree to see Princess Anna get out while watching her dress get a part ripped out from under it revealing her flat shoes.

„Oh oh," Commented Anna, then looked at the carriage to see Hans hold his sword, then dropped it down after seeing she had just got stuck on a branch with the dress.

„Oh thank goodness, I thought something had happened," Mentioned Hans picking the sword up, then placed it back inside the carriage.

„I ripped off my dress…..wait, what?" Spoke Anna looking behind her, then Hans got confused and walked towards the princess to see where the dress had gotten stuck and a few miles behind her lied above the ground a small thread from her clothing, which had got stuck on a branch from another tree. „Oh look I also had a thread getting wrapped up on another branch before getting here," Pointed the princess out. „How awkward,"

„At least you still have the rest of your dress….you know….you're all covered," Explained Hans making Anna nod, then he removed the dress from the branch and broke the thread off the dress, then followed her back to the carriage.

„Are you thinking about continuing the ride or do you want to stay here?" Questioned Hans seeing Anna look above at the sky to see the sun had about an hour before setting down.

„We could go on for a few more hours without a problem," Answered the strawberry-blonde. „Are we still going through the forest?"

„According to the map, this is the easiest way back to Falsterbo. It's the same path, no reason to get lost so easily,"

„Well that's at least a great thing about our way," Commented Anna watching Donny make his way up on the ladder, then leaped at the bank landing with his hind legs beside it, trying to move his paws to get up, making Anna smile amused by the young dog's attempt and shove him up at the bench. Donny looked back to see Anna smile at him, afterward he wagged his tail and the princess approached with her face the dog, which gave the woman a few licks over her face making her giggle.

„Whoa, your tongue tickles," Commented Anna, then she got up on the carriage, followed by Hans and Donny was placed by the princess on her lap, then watched Hans use the leash to cause the horses to depart.


A while later, Donny had fallen asleep on Anna's lap, which looked at the number of trees they have passed by in the forest. Anna placed her hand over Donny's back to caress him. Anna moved her head up to look at Hans, which guided the cart focused.

„How old is Donny exactly?" Questioned the princess. „Just a few months?"

„I think about 5 or 6 months. He might know it better," Answered Hans. „I just know about his previous owner, that mistreated him,"

„Haven't you taken a bit of time to get to know him?" Questioned Anna.

„Not much. We just had random conversations and some small talks. One time or two about what we'll do after we're back in Falsterbo,"

„And what are you up to?" Questioned Anna, then Hans glimpsed down at the dog.

„Well I offered Donny to help him find another family, that can take care of him and I will keep on working on the farm after I get it back,"

„What happened to your farm, if I may ask?"

„My parents after they died never left anything back telling about me being their son, so legally I'm not considered as their farm's heir. Oscar, the prince that told me about your…..imprisonment offered me to buy the farm back in exchange for me to take his place on this trip,"

„Okay and why exactly didn't he come along or even go on his own at all?"

„I don't really know it, princess. I know he said, he didn't have any time or was busy. I accepted this offer, cause I didn't seem to have any other option at that moment,"

„The farm must mean a lot to you,"

„I believe so. I spent half of my life there. The only good part of my life I remember to have lived," Commented Hans making Anna smile a little. „From 14 and up my life had changed for the better. It wasn't what I knew from before, but I felt happier,"

„My happy days were from the time before I turned 14, well I already was. 15 could be the better number. My parents were still around, Elsa wasn't or didn't have the issues with her powers, and yeah. I had to be sent to this castle there,"

„What do you mean with the powers?"

„By powers…...oh uh I didn't talk about this topic yet, right,"

„Uh no or at least not in detail,"

„Okay I don't know the entire story as well, but Elsa was born with ice powers. She's able to use it to create ice and snow, basically things related to it. She had to hide her powers in order of my parents to avoid causing an accident with them, which unfortunately happened when we both were younger. The thing is I don't remember anything of that. I remember Elsa spoke about our parents encountering magic trolls, which healed me and as well made me forget about her magic and as we grew older I figured it out again, then…..there was this time Elsa got annoyed at me and accidentally shot an ice ray against me and hit me here," Commented Anna placing her hand in front of her chest making Hans nod.

„And you're…..infected?"

„In a way, I am," Answered the princess. „Almost everyone in the kingdom left to find the trolls, but they were nowhere to be found and instead we asked a foreigner magician to help us, but it turned out to be a trick and instead he turned my issue into a curse,"
„A curse?" Questioned Hans questioningly about the story making Anna nod.

„According to him, it's a curse. He hopes to gain the power of Arendelle, when my sister fears I won't make it through the curse," Commented Anna. „The good thing about it, thanks to you two I'm out of that place and can focus on getting rid of this curse. After all, I only have got…..uhm around 8 months before my 20th birthday. There's a good chance for me to break it,"

„And what exactly does break this course? Is it really so easy?"

„Well…...uhm….I think for 8 months it's possible," Commented Anna. „I and the special someone have to fall in love naturally. I have to love him and he has to love me back. Does this sound easy?"

„Hmm I'm not an expert in the topic of romance, maybe it just sounds harder than it looks or…..the other way around. But you're a quite talkative person and lovable as well. You may have it easier,"

„Thank you," Commented the blonde returning her eyes back at the road.

„If I may ask, what happens if you don't make it before your birthday? Do you….." Spoke Hans making Anna nod.

„Die…..actually I get frozen, which presumably leads there of course,"

„Well, that's hard to take it,"

„The curse is literally just Elsa's ice power inside of me, which is freezing very slowly my heart until the last day, the day of my birthday it will freeze completely,"

„That's really terrible. You're not afraid figuring out, that you might not be with the one, who's meant to be with you?" Questioned Hans making Anna ponder about his words getting a little worried. „I shouldn't have asked this, right?" Commented Hans noticing Anna's facial expression change, then she shook her head.

„It's alright, Hans. It's just...I've been so focused on waiting for the possible love interest to come along and now this question is something I have never thought about,"

„Was just a curiosity of me,"

„I hope I do make it through it. And if Oscar really isn't the one meant for me, I hope to figure it out early,"

„Just keep it up the way you going. It's going to work out in the end. I'm sure he's going to like you just like you are," Commented Hans making Anna smile, then continue caressing the dog afterward she moved his head closer to her breast to cuddle with him.

„You sure you don't want to keep him after we arrive?" Questioned Hans. „I think he would fit you in a way,"

„I'll have to see it later. I can't make any promises now," Answered Anna. „But if I can I would definitely not say no," Confessed Anna keeping the pup in her arms.