Chapter 4
At the Festival
Making his way into the town square, Hans marveled at the sights and sounds before him. The Arendelle Winter Festival exactly how he had imagined it to be and more. The square was teeming with people, locals and visitors alike, jostling elbows as they walked past each other. Traveling performers captivatedtheir audience with all sorts of spectacular stunts; and there was a tremendous cacophony as the shopkeepers and peddlers hollered over each other as they hawked their wares.
Just then, he caught sight of a stall laden with snow globes and various assortments of knick-knacks. 'A snow globe would make for a good souvenir,' he thought to himself. If he bought one, he could joke to his grandmother about how he had won himself a kingdom.
However, it seemed that he was in for a long wait as there was averitable queue that had lined up at the stall. Judging by the number of customers, he was not the only one who desired to own a snow globe. But Hans was patient and he waited until it was finally his turn to make his purchase.
Praying that his Norwegian was at the very least intelligible, he stepped up to the counter and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Sir," he called, inadvertently startling the peddler, who had been quite immersed in counting his money to the point that he nearly fell out of his seat.
"Who's there?" the man asked as he righted himself.
"Down here," Hans replied, mildly annoyed that adults never bothered to look down whenever children spoke.
"Oh hello there!" greeted the peddler, finally catching sight of him. "How can I help you?"
"Yes. I was wondering about the snow globes, do you have any more?" Hans inquired, his Norwegian slow and stilted. While he had the privilege of studying foreign languages, practicing the dialogue was another story altogether, especially when there were barely any native Norwegian speakers in his hometown aside from his tutor.
"Sorry kid, I just sold the very last one," the peddler told him."But maybe you could check the other stalls. You'd best hurry, though, the demand for snow globes has been quite high as of late."
Thanking the man, Hans moved on to the next stall only to discover that the vendor there had also run out of stock. He visited another and yet another, but his search proved to be fruitless as each and every vendor gave him the same answer as the first one.
He sighed in dismay. A snow globe would have made for an excellent souvenir, but given his situation, he'd have to make do with something else. 'No use crying over spilled milk,' he said to himself. With that in mind, Hans decided to make his merry way and enjoy the rest of the festival.
As he meandered on, he encountered a raucous crowd gathered in a circle. Curious, he drew closer and as he did so, the lively melody of Arendellian folk music greeted his ears. He squeezed himself through to take a better look and there he saw several young couples dancing to the tune, much to the delight of the spectators around them. As he watched and listened on, Hans soon found himself entranced by the catchy beat as he cheeredand clapped alongside the crowd.
The warmth brought about by the revelry brought a wave of nostalgia. It seemed that Arendelle was not that different from Corona.
After watching a bit longer, he decided that it was time to head back to the Cygnus before his parents discovered his just as he was about to leave, he felt his breath leave his lungs as someone slammed into him, hurtling them both into the midst of the dance.
"I'm sorry!" squeaked the person – a little girl, judging by the pitch of her voice.
"It's quite alright," Hans assured as he helped her up. As he did so, it was at that pivotal moment that they made eye contact, andviridian met azure.
Staring up at the boy before her, Elsa found herself unable to tear her eyes away from his spring green gaze. It wasn't that she had never met a green-eyed person before as her Aunt Arianna had green eyes, but this was her first time to see it in a shade so brilliant and vivid.
'And so close…' she mused. Much too close, she soon realized as her breath began to accelerate. After avoiding physical contact for months, the closeness of his body to hers was practically overwhelming, and she could feel that familiar sense of dread well up from within.
"Umm… Are you alright?" the boy asked concernedly.
"Erm… Yes, I'm fine. I'm so sorry about that," Elsa apologized as she slowly backed away.
"It's fine," he told her, "Accidents–"
"I don't know if you didn't notice, but we're in the middle of a competition here," one of the male participants cut in. "So are you going talk or are you going to dance?" He smirked arrogantly. "Either way, you're going to lose."
"Sorry! I–"
But before Elsa could slip back into the crowd, she felt the boy close his hand over her wrist. "Is that so?" he challenged, sizing up his new rival. "Well, if it's a dance you want, then it's a dance you'll get."
"Hey!" Elsa cried as he pulled her into the throng of dancers, "I never agreed to this, and why would you pick me? You don't even know if I can dance."
"Just follow my lead," urged the boy, "I'll pull us through, but only if you trust me."
"Can I really?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "You don't know me, and I don't know you."
"Just think of me as a friend, it usually helps" he said. "So I askagain, Milady, shall we dance?"
"Very well," she relented, "But only because everyone is watching us." She reluctantly let him take charge and soon found herself stepping to the rhythmic beat of the dance much to the delight of the cheering spectators.
"You know, for someone so reserved, you're a pretty good dancer," he remarked with a light grin.
"You're not too shabby yourself," Elsa replied. "I take it you're not from here?"
"Yes, I'm from Corona. How did you know?"
"For one, the dance we're doing now is clearly of foreign origin," she replied, her skirt whirling as she spun. "And two, there's this accent when you speak that sounds a lot like–" She quickly cut herself short as soon as she realized that she was about to blow her cover. "–nothing I've ever heard here in Arendelle."
The boy whistled lowly. "Wow… Pretty, graceful, and sharp. I must be the luckiest boy in the world to have met such an amazing partner. By the way, I never did catch your name. I'm–"
"Could we forgo with the names?" Elsa cut in pleadingly. "I'd much rather remain anonymous." Her day had been proceeding rather smoothly so far. As a commoner, she discovered that she had more liberty to go around and do whatever she pleasedwithout drawing any attention to herself. Had she attended the festival as the Crown Princess, she would have been the center of public scrutiny, even more so should she accidentally reveal her powers.
"Now that just won't do," the boy protested, frowning in disappointment. "I can't simply go around calling you Girl; it's rude!"
"Well aren't you quite the gentleman?" Elsa did not normally go around teasing people, but there was something about the boy's chivalric nature that was oddly endearing.
"My Mama and Papa taught me to always be polite to everyone I meet," he replied, shrugging. "And since you can't tell me your name, I'll just make one up for you. I got it! How about Snehvid(1)?"
Elsa felt her insides freeze at his choice of name. "P-pardon?"
"Until you're ready to tell me your real name, I'll call you Snehvid," the boy explained. "It's Norwegian for 'Snow White', isn't it?"
"It is," Elsa replied, "But why in the world would you call me that?"
"Well-l, I think it suits you because you're pretty like clear ice and you have a certain purity that just reminds me of freshly fallen snow," said the boy, thoughtfully, earnestly. "If you don't like it, I can think of something else."
"You can call me Snehvid, then" she said, blushing lightly as the tension she felt melted away at his compliment. 'Of course he wouldn't know about your powers!' she chided herself, feeling rather silly for having herself worry over nothing. 'He never saw it, and you just met.' "But," she added, "Only on the condition that I can give you a name as well."
For what seemed like eternity, she studied his features as she tried to think of a proper name. Just then, her gaze fell upon his hair. Never before had she seen such a brilliant shade of auburn. In a way it reminded her of…
"Red roses..." she murmured dazedly, "Your hair reminds me of red roses. I think I'll call you Rosenrød (2), Ross for short, if that's alright with you."
"Fair enough," he said, nodding in assent. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Snehvid."
Elsa smiled as she finally allowed herself to relax and enjoy the dance with good company. "Likewise, Ross."
Meanwhile
After an hour of fruitless searching, the trio of Kristoff, Anna, and Sven were cold and footsore, so they decided to drop by at a nearby inn to rest and stave off the chill.
Kristoff took a tentative sip of his hot chocolate. As delicious as it was, he could not find it in him to accept the drink. However, Anna had insisted, saying that it was the least that she could do for having him help her search for her parents. She even had bought Sven a bucket of carrots.
"Thanks again for the company," Anna spoke up in between sips. "I really appreciate it."
"It's nothing really," said Kristoff as he absently traced the rim of his mug. "I should be the one thanking you for the chocolate."
Sven snorted irritably at this.
"And the carrots."
"You're both welcome." Anna took a sip of her drink, relishingin its sweetness. "So anyway, tell me, what is it like to be a commoner?"
The blond hummed in thought. "Well, we don't have much fancy things like clothes or jewelry, and we have to work hard everyday, but it's still a good life. I've got a loving parents, food on the table, and a warm, cozy cabin to live in, so it's not so bad."
Blue eyes glimmered excitedly. "You live in a cabin? I'vealways wanted to see a cabin."
"It's nothing special," he said, shrugging. "I'll bet living in the castle is more exciting what with its hidden rooms, secret passages, and towers from where you can see the whole kingdom."
"True…" Anna mused, "Well, maybe you can come visit me in the castle whenever you're in town. The gates may be closed, but when we find Mama and Papa, I'll ask them to write a letter so the guards can let you in."
Kristoff nearly fell out of seat in shock. "Really? You don't have to do that! And besides, don't you already have a playmate? Your sister, wasn't it?"
Anna's face fell. "Not really… I mean, Elsa and I used to be close, but a few months ago, she started locking herself in her room for some unknown reason. She only comes out to eat and she hasn't spoken to me much since then either." She sighed sadly. "It gets pretty lonely, you know."
Kristoff at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's fine. I kinda got used to it," Anna told him. She paused andtook another sip of her drink, but her movements were more listless this time around.
"Sven and I can be your friends," Kristoff offered. He called for a scrap of paper and scribbled an address on it. "Even if your parents won't allow me visit, we can still wrote to each other."
"Really?" she squeaked, her eyes shining with hope.
"Yes!" he nodded, and Sven even trotted over and gave the princess a friendly lick, as if to reinforce his friend's words.
But just then, there was a loud bang as a group of men, most of them wearing the forest green uniform and cylindrical hats of the Arendelle Royal Guard burst into the room. "There she is!" one shouted, and before Anna and her new friends could register what was happening, the men surrounded them and whisked her away from Kristoff, who paled as he saw his father approach him, his countenance thunderous.
"Kristoff," he began, his voice deceivingly calm, "Did I not tell you to stay near the cart?"
"Yes, but–!"
"No buts!" Magnus cut in, angrily pulling the boy up out of his seat. "You deliberately disobeyed my orders and for that I am sorely disappointed with you. We're going home!"
As he was being herded away, Kristoff turned to see Annawaving at him sadly. Despite his situation, he found himself putting on a brave face and gave her a encouraging grin and a thumbs up. Apparently, that did the trick of easing her worries as her expression considerably lightened up.
Beside him, Sven followed, bleating plaintively.
"It'll be okay, Sven," he whispered, gently stroking the calf. "We'll see her again someday." He had no idea were this conviction was coming from, but he had this inkling that he and Anna would cross paths again someday.
Back with Elsa and Hans
The dance competition had just ended and the applauding crowd had dispersed after the winners had been announced. Sadly, because of lack of experience Hans and his partner had not won, but on the bright side, neither did the boy who challenged him in the first place.
"That was fun!" Hans remarked as he and his new friend, a girl he had dubbed as Snehvid, sat by the plaza fountain.
"It was," she agreed, smiling up at him. "Thank you, by the way. I haven't had that much fun in a long time."
"Why not?"
She averted her gaze. "It's a long story…"
"I don't mind listening," he said. "Maybe talking about it could help,"
"Well, it doesn't!" she retorted so hotly that Hans actually flinched. "Sorry…" she said after seeing his wounded expression, "It's just something very personal. I really much rather not talk about it."
"I understand," he assured, smiling weakly. 'Way to go, Hans! You finally make a friend, and you offend her by being a nosy busybody!'
After that, an awkward silence settled over them. Shaken by the outburst, both Hans and Snehvid simply sat there, stealing fleeting glances at each other as they thought of ways to resume their conversation without accidentally offending the other enough, it was Snehvid who spoke first.
"So you mentioned earlier that you're from Corona," she said in an attempt to break the ice. "So how long will you be staying here?"
"A few days," Hans replied. "My parents and I are on a holiday."
"How lovely…" Snevhid said quite wistfully. "I wish I could go on one. But I don't think my Papa will like that idea very much."
"Well maybe you can show me around," Hans suggested, "It may not exactly be what you pictured, but at least it'll be an adventure. What do you say?"
"Why do you want to be around me so much?" asked the blond, confused. Aside from her sister, this boy was the first person to be so determined to keep her company.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "I just do. We don't always need reasons to make friends."
"But we don't even know each other," Snehvid pointed out.
"That can be easily remedied. Strangers are simply friends who have yet to meet," Hans replied. He tapped his chin contemplatively. "Now where should I begin? Hmm… My name is Ha– Rosenrod, but you can call me Ross. I'm ten, and I live in Corona with my parents and grandparents. I like sailing and horseback riding, and sandwiches are my favorite food. Oh, and I don't like spiders. Spiders are scary." He smirked. "Did I miss anything?"
Snehvid rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."
"Thanks!" he quipped, grinning. "I try."
She sighed in resignation. "Very well, follow me."
To be continued...
Cultural notes:
(1) Snehvide. Norwegian for "Snow White".
(2) Rosenrød. Norwegian for "Rose Red".
