Chapter 11
Queen Elsa had gotten out of the castle after lunch with Prince Rollan, then both were standing together in the horse stable watching a man bringing hay for the available horses to eat.
„Yours and Hugo's horse are there. They get food and water daily," Commented Elsa making Rollan nod. „You don't need to worry, your horse is fine,"
„Have you got a horse as well?" Questioned Rollan making Elsa shake her head.
„To be exact, I'm not the horse's owner. I simply have one or two, which I can mount on for future purposes,"
„Alright…..I've got my own horse, you probably have seen him already," Commented Rollan making Elsa shake her head. „Oh uhm…..do you want to see him?"
„I could take a look at him," Answered the queen, then Rollan walked towards the boxes, where the horses were located and Rollan knocked on the door to watch his horse eating hay from the ground and lift his head up to see the two. Rollan reached out his hand to see the black horse approach him, then Rollan placed his hand on the forehead of the horse to pat it.
„Happy to see me?" Questioned Rollan hearing a small neigh from the horse. „See? You're receiving here just as enough food as back home, right big boy?"
Queen Elsa chuckled at Rollan's talk, then stood beside him to look at the horse.
„Does your stallion have a name?" Questioned Elsa making Rollan nod.
„Valiente," Answered Rollan tickling the horse under his chin. „It means brave in Spanish,"
„He's not quite aged, right?"
„He's two years old only," Commented Rollan. „I got him for my 16th birthday,"
„That's a great present, they have given you," Commented Elsa making Rollan nod.
„Shall we go on our walk?" Questioned Rollan. „Or will we go first somewhere else?"
„Of course. There on the right side is the exit of the barn," Mentioned Elsa, then watched the prince get away from the box and followed him to the exit, where both stood out on a path leading to the bridge at the castle entrance.
„You're from Alicante, right?" Questioned Elsa making the prince nod.
„Yes, I am," Answered the Spaniard.
„Can you tell me a little bit about it? I'm curious to know how it looks like,"
„How Alicante looks like?" Consulted the prince earning a nod from the queen. „We're located at the coast of Spain. Our castle is up on top of a hill. From the entrance into our castle, we have a great sight at the ocean and the houses of the villagers…..There's also the harbor at the coast and…...the port for the ships is really huge. Many ships from fishers are there. Ships from the armada have their spot there as well….It's a nice place, but it's nothing like Arendelle from the first time I got here,"
„The weather here and there must be as different as well too?"
„It's only cold in the winter season," Spoke Rollan. „Summer and Spring is most of the time hot,"
„Autumn here quickly changes its temperature quickly around the 10 or fewer grades. Summer is usually very pleasant. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right,"
„Our summer tends to be hotter. The winter…...is cold….or the same," Mentioned Rollan making Elsa smile a little amused at the prince.
„That wasn't so bad. You're less tensed than you were yesterday," Commented the queen making the young man smile.
„Thank you, your majesty….I'm quite surprised as well. I was just not so used to being in contact with a royal from a place I have never been. That the nervousity was consuming me a bit,"
„I know how you feel," Agreed Elsa, then stopped along with the prince at the end of the bridge to look at the available directions, then noticed a large ship and glimpsed at Rollan. „That must be the ship that took you here, right?" Questioned the queen making the man nod. „Shall we walk through the port or what about we walk throughout the village, so some of the villagers get to know you as well?"
„Perhaps we could go to the port. I think it could help my current feeling if you're good with it,"
„Sure," Responded Elsa then walked aside the path towards the port and Rollan looked at the castle to see its variety of flags hanging above the wall.
Hans, Anna, and Donny made a stop at a village to do a lunch break and were done with it. The princess had left to look for a possible store to exchange clothing, while Donny sat near the carriage watching the horses eat hay from a tank. Hans returned carrying inside a textile bag a large piece of bread, then placed it inside the carriage and noticed Donny still sitting in the same place.
„Is that food?" Questioned Donny making Hans nod, then opened the bag up he stored away, then took out a small bread bun and threw it at Donny, which caught it with his mouth.
„Here, this might fill you a bit more," Spoke Hans watching Donny place it on the ground, so he could take one bite after the other.
„About yesterday….I heard you speaking with the princess about the wanted poster and anything else," Mentioned the husky, then Hans leaned his back on the ladder of the carriage. „I didn't know you were mistreated too,"
„I was more mentally treated badly by my family, than physically. Both issues are just as bad as the other for me,"
„What is the difference there? Can you see there any?"
„Well the scars you've got from it, they're not seen anywhere on the body, they're inside us," Hans explained placing his hand in front of his heart. „Sometimes it's also here as well," Added Hans pointing at the side of his head. „I don't think many people have experienced such scenes when they were younger. Or even at all. Since I'm gone, I have been so much better, but there are one time or another one, where it still bothers you a little,"
„I always heard being the runt in any family was terrible. I don't remember exactly how I was when I was a cub. We were so busy playing or eating, we just never have done anything else besides that,"
„You sure had more siblings as well, am I right? You know dog litters tend to be large,"
„Maybe five. I don't remember to have ever count them,"
„That's alright," Commented Hans watching Donny have eaten half of his bun. „Do you enjoy the bun?"
„Yes," Mumbled Donny, afterward swallowed the bit he chewed, then looked up at the adult. „Hey I don't remember if I already told you this, but thank you for helping me out back there at the forest, when my previous owner had mistreated me,"
The danish-man smiled, then went down on his left knee and held out his hand to thank the dog, which instead jumped at Hans to lick him all over his face.
„Woah! Slow down, boy!" Commented Hans, then Donny stopped and stood on his paws, wagging his tail hastily, letting out barks. „Alright, I know you like me," Donny kept wagging his tail, then moved his head aside as he sensed a familiar presence approaching them and he walked to the road to recognize Anna in a black coat. Donny panted while waiting for Anna's return, then wagged his tail at her approach and sat in front of her waiting for her to give him attention.
„Aww did you miss me?" Asked Anna scruffing the dog under his neck, making him pant and begin to thump with his hind leg making Anna chuckle at his behavior. „You're such a good boy, yes you are!" Complimented the woman rubbing more on Donny's fur seeing him enjoying her touch.
Anna moved further to the carriage to see Hans look at her coming, then he widened her eyes to see her in the new coat.
„Is that what you just bought now?" Questioned the brunette making the woman nod.
„I wanted warmer colors, but the variations were short and I had to make sure to have matching clothes. I couldn't just wear under this coat rainbow-colored leggins, that would have looked weird," Commented Anna making Hans chuckle.
„I'm not quite an expert in fashion, but I can imagine your frustration if it was your only choice," Commented Hans making Anna smile, then move the skirt up of her coat to show her light brown pants.
„What do you think?"
„It looks very good on you," Complimented the farmer. „How much did you give out for it?"
„50 Thaler...Oh I had a discounter if I would accept this little mug here," Mentioned Anna showing him a light-green mug with the word Warrior Princess on it. „I don't know, this was the only mug I liked the quote of,"
„It's fine, you may like it at some point in the future," Commented Hans, then watched Donny get up on the ladder to reach the bank and was helped by Hans. „I used to dislike these overalls, but got to like them mainly for the use of the pockets,"
„How many days are there in front of us, until we reach home?" Asked Donny looking at the two humans.
„Two or three days. We can't just pull a one nighter or two, because of the horses," Mentioned Hans. „Are we going to depart or is anyone interested in looking for something here?"
„I'm fine, thank you," Responded Anna, then Hans lend out his hand for her to take it, but she lifted her hand up to reject his assistance and climbed up on the bank on her own, then slid to the side afterward watched Hans get up on the bank to sit beside her.
The young prince Oscar sat inside a bar along with a guard having a cup of beer together. Oscar held in his hand a letter he had received from Hans and was reading it. In the meanwhile, the guard had left on top of a plate small crumbs of a sandwich, so the bird could eat from it.
„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 throught 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,"
Oscar looked away at the guard, which glimpsed at his friend curious.
„That…..sounds good?"
„I'm curious about the high interest she has in me. I'm not thinking about this being bad, just I didn't expect her to be interested into someone just right now,"
„I assume you're the one, she's supposed to go out with or the only one at the moment, that can help her break the curse,"
„Right, right the curse…..did the magician say anything about how to do so?" Questioned Oscar making the guard shrug his shoulders. „You didn't pay attention to it?" Asked the prince making the guard shake his head. „
„I assumed you had gotten it saved by yourself,"
„Alright, it doesn't matter. Eventually, we can ask her about it. I'm there to help her, when she needs it, right?"
„Sure," Commented the guard, then Oscar looked back at the sheet to ponder, what he shall do next.
