Chapter 20

Princess Anna, Hans, and Donny walked next to a channel aside Ribersborg. Donny carried in his mouth a dew while walking between the two adults along the path.

„Where did Donny get that rope?" Questioned the princess.

„Near the snack bar, where you returned to go to the toilet Donny followed a scent to the blacksmith nearby and returned with that," Explained the farmer.

„The man working there gave me it," Mumbled the dog moving his head up to look at the strawberry-blonde woman.

„Cute, you're the only one returning with a souvenir," Commented Anna.

„I thought you had that mug from the clothing store," Mentioned Hans. „Oh never mind, we were assaulted,"

„I have the clothing here and the archery material up here. That's already something good," Mentioned Anna making Hans nod.

„I don't need at the moment anything to keep as a souvenir," Commented Hans. „I will have memories of this trip instead. They're just not all positive,"

„Ah yes. Memories are just as good as souvenirs. Actually even better,"

„Hehe, this is making me feel like I won't need to buy anything,"

„You still could, if you would find something,"

„It's fine, but for now on I'm okay," Spoke Hans. „I'll be wandering around Ribersborg to get to know the places. Perhaps if you're interested, we could at night eat a decent dinner all three together and tomorrow we board the next train to reach Falsterbo. It won't be far anymore, just two hours more or less and you will see the village and the kingdom the first time,"

„Exactly…..wow, I can't believe we're almost throughout the entire trip,"

„It was a crazy adventure," Commented Hans making Anna nod. „What still keeps me fascinating is how brave you were the night you took us out of the pirate ship. You're one of a kind sort of women, that keeps up with the danger just like that without worrying the possible consequences," Told Hans making Anna smile warmly.

„I'm glad to hear that," Confessed Anna. „I think I inherited this from my mother. I remember my father mentioning one moment, that she had stood up to save his life,"

„So you're more like your mother by looks or personality?" Questioned Hans watching Anna think for a little.

„Actually I'm quite a lot similar to my mother," Commented Anna. „The hair color is according to our servant Gerda the one from my grandfather,"

„What about your sister,"

„I think she's the same. Because of her ice powers, she's got platinum-blonde hair. She grew with that hair color as far as I can remember," Noted the Norwegian woman. „What about you? Who are you most close to?"

„I mainly resemble along with my brothers to my father. My mother and I are only alike by our heart. I was her favorite, because I wasn't like any other of my older brothers. I was well…..I was the way I felt was right and for both of us it was,"

„I'm not sure how life in a toxic atmosphere would end for you. Perhaps it would lead you into becoming like your older brothers or your father, or you would be somewhat devastated and issued,"

„I think so. It's a high possibility," Commented Hans. „My mother would be happy for me if she knew I didn't grow up to be like all my other brothers,"

„Your brothers…..they're all around the thirties now, right?" Questioned Anna making Hans nod.

„So far I know only Lars is under it. I'm not sure about Thorsen and Kasper. I think they're around 28 or 29 years old,"

„And do you believe they turned out to be like your father? Have you ever wondered if there was a change?" Questioned the princess making Hans shrug his shoulders.

„To be honest, I have no idea," Commented Hans. „Perhaps the one or the other has. Perhaps none of them have. This we could only know if we would be there to see it,"

„Okay," Commented Anna, then encountered across the street a man holding a board on his hand to show it to a couple around the forties hoping to obtain their interest into his advertisement.

„Ruff," Barked Donny at seeing the drawn meat on the board of the man, then looked up at the young adults, which had stopped to look at the two men on top of the sidewalk.

„It's an advertisement for a restaurant," Stated Anna, then saw the man turn it around at the older couple to show a fondue set with various sorts on each side.

„This weekend is fondue time," Announced the advertising man. „Tonight we have to offer chocolate-flavored fondue with the finest dark-chocolate. If you're more of a cheese-lover, I'd offer you to come on Sunday and try our new mix with the basic ingredients including our lovable Swedish cheese Herrgard. If you're into more classy variants, Saturday's night is reserved for a elegant fondue chinois," The man commented trying to pronounce the last meal in a French accent, making Hans cackle.

„This reminds me, back at the Southern Isles we had a cook, which came from the Agreste family from France," Commented Hans making Anna nod.
„I heard about that family. I heard about what happened to the queen," Spoke Anna making Hans nod.

„Strange how half of the world knows about it," Commented Hans making Anna shrug her shoulders, then the man with the advertisement jumped towards the two and leaned on Hans' shoulder.

„Hey, you two look like you could come over for a delicious cheese-fondue," Commented the man with a wink, making Anna giggle and Hans shake his head.

„We're kind of gone on that day," Commented Hans. „But the offer about the chocolate actually makes me curious. It's been a while since I had one,"
„Same for me," Commented Anna. „Are you thinking about getting there?"

„I've got the last 60 Thalers here with me. If we're lucky, we can dinner tonight,"

„Well if you two don't have planned to get anything else, each person pays 30 Thaler for the fondue. Cheese fondue costs 20, while chinois is 50 depending on the available meat," Explained the man. „The choice is up to you two. If you're wondering if the money is it worth to be spend I will just say to you, the atmosphere under the clear sky, the warm walk above the sand to our little swimming boards, the soft waves you feel while floating over the surface will for sure leave both of you amazed," Promised the man rotating the board around, then dropped the board on the ground and got on top of it. „Just imagine sitting there together in the middle, having a quiet and peaceful evening together, enjoying each other's company, having a delicious dinner. This is what makes our restaurant Unique, so….unique," Stated the man making Hans grin and look at Anna, which was entertained by the man's way of advertising.

„What do you think? Shall we go tonight there?" Questioned the farmer looking at the princess, which smiled at his offer.

„You're really okay with giving out the rest of your money for that?" Questioned the woman making Anna nod. „But what if we would need any money? I've had blown the remains on the bow and the arrows," Pointed Anna back with her thumb.

„It sure won't be a problem until we're back home. We're just a few hours away from home now. We can go together here to this restaurant, do a break from our trip and clear our minds,"

„Being down there at the beach really helps there. There I have no doubt," Spoke the man picking up his board.

„Well I would like to make a reservation then," Spoke Hans making the man nod. „Where exactly do I have to go?"

„Follow this path until the beach, then turn left and look for a blue bord with the word Unique on it. You'll find my boss Tom in there or my wife Marie. Both are responsible for the reservations," The man explained making Hans smile and look at Anna, which mirrored his facial expression.

„That'll do," Spoke Hans, then watched Donny between the two get up on his hind legs, dropping his toy and hang his paws down.

„What about me?" Questioned Donny making Anna giggle and place her hand on Donny's head.

„We make sure you'll get something else to eat. We won't let you out, I promise," Spoke Anna tipping on the dog's nose, causing him to lick it and got down.

„We actually don't serve dogs, but if we're lucky we manage to give him some of the rests, if you're okay with," Suggested the man making Anna nod, then picked up Donny's toy, making him drop his ears and yowl.

„What's going on?" Pouted Anna playfully, then watched Donny approach her trying to take the rope off her hands with his mouth and the princess held it up, followed by the dog jumping at her arms trying to reach at it. Hans grinned as he had an idea, then took it off Anna's hand surprising her to see Hans run across the road and show the toy to the husky. Donny whined at seeing the man had the toy now, then gave out a loud-pitched bark, making Hans chuckle noticing the dog wanted his toy back but didn't come afterward. Hans whistled wagging with the toy in the air, while Donny wailed instead making Anna laugh at the situation, and placed her hand behind Donny's back.

„Donny, come on. Go behind Hans and tell him it's his toy," Asked Anna watching Donny bark loud.

„That's mine!" Donny moved forward causing Hans to take a step forward to run off, but Donny remained back on his spot, while Anna snickered at the dog not leaving.

„Don, what about we go together and take back the toy?" Offered the princess, then the husky replied with a howl and Anna ran at Hans, which observed Donny get up to follow the woman. The Danish-man so departed as well seeing the woman approach him fast, then he tried to take distance from her while observing Donny get faster than the princess and jumped against Hans to grab him by that rope, then landed on his butt to try to pull it off Hans' hands while growling.

„Oh who of us is the stronger one?" Asked Hans in a playful manner watching Donny trying to push the rope off Hans, then Anna stopped behind Hans and tickled him under his arms, there after got confused as he didn't react.

„Oh I'm not ticklish there," Mentioned Hans looking back at Anna, which had another idea and moved her arms down to try on his sides, making him jerk down his arms as she figured out a ticklish place of the man. „Hey, that's not fair," Complained Hans falling down on his back, pushing Anna down on the ground, which laughed as well and saw Donny take the rope away from Hans, then lied down to chew on it. The young adults sat up to look at the dog, then looked at each other, afterward Anna swifted her head away blushing at the sight of the man and glimpsed back at the husky along with the man, then kept her eyes on the man again with an enchanted smile.


At the Southern Isles, on the inside of an arena meant for horse races half of the Westergaard clan had reunited together to see the annual horse racing competition. Two of the princes of the Westergaard family were enrolled to attend the race along with other villagers and outsiders for the big price at the end of their finish line. King Magnus stood along with the oldest son, which was the next king in line at the start line with the two men Kasper and Dustin Westergaard. The quartet were having a conversation, before the race would be announced to start. The rest of the competitors were warming up, while a few other ones were talking with other members of their relationship circle as long as the race wouldn't start.

At the seats on the arena, the Westergaard clan was located on the top to have a better view at the entire race. Along with the Danish family, a few women from the upper classes sat there as well. Most of the women were princesses, that had gotten married to the Westergaard princes, fewer of them had already had offspring, mainly to boys as well besides one of the women had a daughter as well. All fourteen were the grandchildren of Queen Dana and King Magnus, each of the son's had at least one child with the exception of Gunther, who had non-identical twins, the girl and a boy.

On the waiting for the race to start Queen Dana, which sat beside the stairs looking at three of his grandchildren ran stairs up, in a challenge to see, who of the boys was the fastest one. Besides the seats came out the snack vendor, which spotted the young boys playing, then smiled and made his way upstairs holding up a hot corn cub wrapped up in a towel announcing the snacks.

„Grilled sweet corn, fresh from the hot stone," Announced the vendor, then Prince Lars who sat in front of the queen raised up his hand.

„How many have you got?" Questioned Lars. „I'd like to have at least 40. For the entire Westergaard clan,"

„At the moment I have 16. Would you like to get the rest afterward or all at once?" Questioned the man. „I can come with the 40 as well, just a little later,"

„The latter option sounds good as well. Until there my father and brother will be back,"

„Sure, I'll be back later with more, my prince," Responded the man, then walked down to meet up with another vendor, that came from the opposite direction and spoke at him.

Queen Dana watched the young princes pass by her heading to the top of the arena, then she got up immediately to follow them and grabbed them all by their jackets to stop them from continue up to the wall, which blocked them from the ground far way down.

„Boys, be careful here or you may get hurt," Warned the queen making two boys nod and the third one snorted.

„Grandpa said we should never fear getting hurt," Pouted the boy making Dana nod.

„Yes, but he did also say you shouldn't get yourself hurt by accident or by playing wild?" Questioned the woman passing her hand over the boy's head watching him shrug.

„I don't know," Commented the boy making the queen chuckle.

„Alright, keep playing. When uncle Caleb and grandpa return we will all watch together the horse race and see if one of your father wins," Commented the woman, then the kids nodded and the first boy slapped the third on the back and ran off, making the second on chuckle as they returned to play tag again. Queen Dana looked above the wall at the ocean again, where the harbor was located on their island, then got sad as she remembered her youngest son Hans had last been seen on a carriage filled with manure in leave of their country. Dana sat down on the wall and sighed at the memory of having not heard anything more about the youngest son. The queen kept her head down, then rolled her eyes up as she heard a whistle of a bird and looked aside to see a black bird arrive landing on the wall in front of the woman. The bird peeped, then the queen noticed a sheet attached to the foot of the bird and removed it.

„Is that for me?" Asked Dana watching the bird wink, then tilt his head unsure about what she meant afterward Dana opened the letter, which was written in Danish calligraphy. It was most of the times decent the writing, with the exception of containing many fixes made by pencil due to a misspelling.

„Dear Dana or Mrs. Westergaard. I'm Princess Anna from Arendelle. I was locked inside a castle by an evil magician for about four years and I was helped out of there with help of your youngest son Hans. I'm not sure what you're thinking about right now, but he told a lot about his older brothers and father treating him poorly, sinking his motivation in life. The day he left the kingdom was an impulse he had after what happened to Prince Miika. He felt guilty about getting on top of the roof that night and when he saw your sad face on the moment you reached the room, he just reacted and jumped into the carriage to leave. The other day he was found by a few farmers and one of them took him into his house and along with his wife took care of Hans as if he was their own son... I grew up there, helped them at their farm with everything I could do until now. When they passed away I had my world again trembling and I didn't quite know who to talk about it. I had back in the Southern Isles really not gain any confidence in making any friends, here where I am I mainly had my adoptive parents there for me. Once in a while, I was out in the village, but I never had the capacity to make any friends. I felt like I was not confident enough to have a friendship with anyone, one that would be real. At this moment I'm traveling across Sweden to help a man from the same village as I, which offered me help in getting the farm back, which was taken away from me due to missing testament. Princess Anna who I have met during the trip has been a quite great person, and I think I can consider her as a good friend. Perhaps even one of my first friends, one who could see into me and understand what I passed. I wished I could have written you a letter sooner, but I never knew if it was a good idea or not, so I have always postponed it until Anna convinced me otherwise. I don't know what life has up for all of us. If there ever is a chance for us to see each other at least one time, I would give you the biggest hug and apologize for running away and never saying anything. This won't be my last letter for you, I'm seeing forward to send you more over the time. Lots of hugs from your youngest boy,"

Queen Dana smiled euphorically after reading the letter, then glimpsed back at the sheet to make sure, what she had just read was true and held it tightly on her chest.

„My son is alive," Extolled Dana, then looked at the bird using his beak to scratch his wing, then reached her hand down shrieking the bird, which took off and flew above the arena making Dana notice her husband walk up along with Caleb Westergaard, which looked aside at the number of guests wanting to attend the horse race. Dana looked at her dress to see if she could hide the letter anywhere, afterward she shove it into her boot and got up to return to her seat, moments later the two kings arrived to sit down next to the woman.

„It will be a tough race. Almost all of the horses here are well-trained," Pointed Caleb out, then looked at his mother, which was smiling happier than she was before making Caleb curious. „Mother? Do you look happier today or wasn't I paying attention?"

„Oh you know I had seen your boy play along with the others together and it just warms my heart to see their energy burst at such a young age," The woman invented making Caleb nod and Lars pointed down at the same corn vendor from before coming along with another man carrying grilled corn inside their box.

„That must be our order," Commented Lars, then Queen Dana got up and passed in front of her husband.

„I think we better go help them. The order is ours after all," Stated the queen, then Lars got up along with Viggo and Jürgen to follow the woman down. From the walk, the letter flew out of Dana's boot up down at the ground, then Caleb noticed the sheet on the ground and nudged his father.

„Father, there's a letter on the ground," Commented Caleb making Magnus shrug his shoulders. „It flew out of mother's shoe,"

„That letter flew out of her shoe?" Questioned Magnus bewildered at the son's comment.

„It wasn't there before, when we came up," Mentioned Caleb making his father nod.

„Yeah I noticed that," Admitted Magnus. „Do you think it's important?"

„I'm just curious why it was inside her boot. It could just be some important note from her diary or something,"

„We'll take it up and give it back to your mother," Commented Magnus picking it up, then sat down to notice the foreign calligraphy, afterward Caleb opened the letter more to take a better look at it and cringe at the amount of corrections the letter had.

„That person doesn't seem Danish in my eyes," Commented Caleb, then Magnus widened his eyes as he had glimpsed over the entire letter.

„Your brother Hans is alive," Stated the father surprised, then Caleb glimpsed at the letter to analyze it and got curious about the current surprise.

„Wow, this is the last thing I expected to hear….Well as it seems he was helped in surviving until now," Commented Caleb watching the father continue reading the letter, afterward he folded it back and put it inside his jacket. „What are you doing?"

„Do you remember who were the ones carrying the manure into the ship on the night he disappeared?" Questioned Magnus making Caleb nod

„Yes, but one of them has passed away and the other I think had stood back in Sweden. We just have the young ones from the other islands," Answered Caleb. „But I believe there's a high chance, that Hans stood in Sweden for the rest of his life. We just would need to know, where he is exactly,"

„Alright, after the race is over, inform Franz, Jürgen, Dustin, and Gunther to meet me at the stable. I want to talk with you all about it and go together to Sweden. You will stay in charge,"

„What are you going to do?"

„Take Hans back home," Answered Magnus making the brunette tilt his head surprised at his father's idea.

„And you think he wants to come?"

„He has to come. He hasn't been punished yet for his deed and you know how much this meant to Prince Miika's father. Now that he's here until next week it would be a good idea to get Hans back, so he would see his son's murderer for one last time before the judgement," Stated Magnus. „You may think this is now a long time ago, but their family hasn't forgotten it and you remember how many times they have threatened us for not making justice. Now that we have our chance here, we gotta act," Dictacted the father waving the letter in front of the oldest son. „Your brother committed a mistake and he has to face consequences now. We all have done our own mistakes and suffered consequences as well. We never ran away and you know running away is for the weak ones. And the Westergaards have no weaknesses!"

„I know, father," Answered Caleb neutral, then watched Lars carry along with Viggo a couple of corn cubs to give it to the women and the children, then Caleb looked up at his father, which looked at the distribution of the food.


Oscar along with Osmon and Garth was at the farm of Hans Westergaard seeing if the whole furniture was alright before they could leave it for the man. Oscar sat on the dinner table writing a letter to Queen Elsa and pondered about what had happened on the current day.

„This is really disastrous. This was all going well until this magician showed up, who had cursed the princess. Perhaps this wouldn't come this far if I had been the one going Hans' way instead of myself chicken out and send him. We would both have gone directly to Arendelle and have solved it all.," Commented Oscar, then Garth returned into the kitchen carrying a deceased plant inside a pot.

„You two could have gone together as well. Then you two would just have split up and go different way, but what if this magician would have come to you as well, when you were at queen Elsa's place?"

„I don't know, but I think you're right. He's after her because of the kingdom. Perhaps it wouldn't matter which way it would have gone," Commented Oscar making Garth shrug his shoulders, then Osmon appeared carrying a pair of pants and boots, then dropped them on the table in front of Oscar.

„Hey do you think Hans needs them?" Questioned Osmon making Garth curious and pick up one of the boots.

„Hey, that looks like one of the most expensive leather boots from the Grims," Commented Garth taking a look at it, then noticed under the boot the letter W on it. „Wonder, what W stands for?"

„I don't know," Responded Osmon. „Wizart? Windoh? I don't know a lot about expensive brands,"

„I don't know it either, but the symbol seems quite familiar to me," Commented Oscar, then he shove his hand into the pocket of his pants to get out a letter he had received before from Hans. „I didn't have the chance to read Hans' letter. Now about that, we have another issue about this magician stating to be waiting for the princess. We don't know exactly how long Hans and Anna will take until they're at our village. Worse, if the magician will be there at the moment they arrive. If we had the possibility to know their exact location we could meet up and warn them,"

„Maybe we will have the chance somehow," Spoke Osmon making Garth sink his head down unimpressed at the partner's opinion. „Well could be possible," Said the man making Oscar sight and open the full letter revealing the background of it showing a wanted poster with a familiar person on it making the two guards glimpse at each other.

„Is that a….doesn't the man look familiar to you?" Questioned Garth making Osmon nod, then Garth faked a cough to call Oscar's attention. „Oscar, have you seen the wanted poster the letter was written on?" Questioned the guard, making Oscar wide his eyes curious and turn the letter around to look at the wanted paper.

„Hans Westergaard?" Questioned Oscar curious. „Is that the same Hans as the one we know?" Questioned the prince watching the guards shrug their shoulders.

„The poster is written in Danish and I don't understand exactly for what reason he's wanted, besides it spells something with 14 and 20," Said Oscar, then Osmon took a look at it as well.

„Wasn't Hans adopted with 14?" Questioned Garth making Oscar nod. „Perhaps he had another life somewhere,"

„I don't know, but I think the word slot means castle or similar. Then it speaks here about finsken prinsen, a Finnish prince," Explained Osmon making Oscar nod.

„I don't know. But talking about Finnish princes, I heard an rumour about someone from a royal family in the Southern Isles having murdered a Finnish prince. Could this have something to do with this poster?" Questioned Oscar making the guards look at each other, then glimpse back at the man.

„Well we have that poster, we barely know anything about farmer Hans, the letter there spells Hans Westergaard and something about 14 years I presume…...And there are those boots here, which don't fit him, but eventually when he was younger it would have," Garth explained, then lifted up the boots, then Oscar moved the boot to take a better look at the symbol.

„Hey I believe the letter could also stand for Westergaard. The boots already are from a higher quality, kingdoms are all wealthy enough to buy a bunch of them. There's a high chance, that this person on the wanted poster and the farmer man are the same,"

„I believe you, but there is something, that doesn't make any sense…..Why does he send you the wanted paper?" Questioned the guard making the prince shrug his shoulders.

„I don't know," Responded Oscar. „Perhaps everything Hans was telling us was a lie or the princess is in danger and something is up,"

„Or he was out of paper and had used that one?" Commented Osmon as an option making Garth shrug his shoulders.

„I have no clue, to be honest,"

„What do you think? Should we arrest him upon his arrival?" Questioned Garth, watching Oscar look at the letter he was writing for Queen Elsa.

„For now on we will wait," Commented Oscar making the two guards nod and look at the clothing found around the farm.