Authors note: Thank you for all the reviews for they help me write and get the creative juices flowing, lol.

Any way, now things will get starting moving in this chapter as...small spoiler...Hans meets Anna..lol don't worry there will be no "love is an open door" song.

Anynway, hope you all enjoy it and please review when done. Oh also again pay close attention to the chapters as some of them will show little winks to the Hans Christian Anderson stories.


Askelur


Arendelle:

The sun slowly rose over the town of Arendelle, it was cold since fall had come and people were reluctant to leave their comfy beds and warm blankets to get ready for another long day of hard work.

Same could be said for a small manor between a cliff by the sea of Arendelle and a large vast forest, the manor itself was old fashion, rather gothic, made out of stone and wood with a large tower, stable, garden and fence of stone which surrounded the manor keeping prying eyes and intruders out. It was just how the inhabitants inside the manor wanted it.

Light snores came from the kitchen, a flower pot which had 3 bright pink tulips which never seemed to wilt, one head was gently bent down, weight down by a bit of morning dew before it tilted over spilling a large drop on the tulip bellow.

"Wha! COLD!" shrieked Thumbelina as she jumped out of the tulip where she had been sleeping in and landed, shivering from the cold drop before she shook trying to dry herself,

"Some way to wake up in the morning" though Thumbelina miserably as she jumped down from the pot and made her way across the table, grabbing a table cloth she lowered it before using it to climb down.

"Cold cold cold" said Thumbelina hopping as she ran across the floor to be closer to the fireplace, true the embers had long since died out, but it was still the warmest spot of the room.

"Ahhhh much better" said Thumbelina as she placed her feet on the warm ashes which were on the fireplace and stood there for a while then yelped when she felt a hand scoop her up.

"Relax its me" said Hans as he moved her so she was sitting on the palm of his hand,

"You scared me, I though it was that horrid woman or your brothers" said Thumbelina holding her hand to her chest trying to calm her racing heart,

"Don't worry, they are still asleep and probably will be till noon if lucky" said Hans as he stood up and placed her on the table, he needed her safe as he was going to start the fire.

"Lucky is the word, how can they be your family? That woman is worse than the old lady and your brothers are monsters" questioned Thumbelina,

"I would not doubt it, I am willing to bet that if I had been raised by them instead of my loving parents I would have ended up like a lying, manipulating, jerk and...I don't know...maybe killed a person or two to gain a throne or power" said Hans shuddering at the though as he swept and scooped up the ashes, throwing them away before placing firewood and starting a fire.

"Then thank fate that you were raised by Amelia and Alexander" said Thumbelina as she watched the fire start, filling the room with warmth, taking the poker Hans moved it letting the fire rise up before walking around the kitchen to start breakfast.

As he did Pascal, 5 snakes, 4 lizards and the mice slowly slithered/crawled out of the hidden holes which were scattered through the old manor, they made their way to the fireplace to get warm as they were quite sensitive to cold, while Skadi the owl and Lars the swallow slowly rose from their sleep, Skadi flapped and stretched from her perch in the fireplace mantel while Lars did the same, though not so enthusiastic as he was kept in a cage like any song bird would.

"Please move over a bit, I need space to work" said Hans as he tried not to step on any of them while he moved around the kitchen gathering ingredients to make rolls and hard boiled eggs.

Since their transformation the former human prince brothers and their wives now snakes/lizards/mice/bird learned to adapt, while Hans learned to tell who was who, the goldish red color snake was Richard, white with black was Erik, black and gold Henry, blue and green Louis, green and yellow Arron, the silver and gray lizard was Caleb, the purple and gold was Andrew, purple and blue was Francis and finally yellow and silver was Spencer, meanwhile the wives were all of different color.

Lars was easy as he was the only brother who was turned to a sparrow for one reason or another, Hans guess was probably because out of all the brothers he was the least bad.

In the end, regardless of what they were turned into, the end result was still the same, Hans sighted as he looked out towards the sea, his eyes clouding a bit as he remembered that day very well.


Flashback:

"Get in there!" yelled Valhalla as she, Rudi and Runo tossed Hans into the kitchen, falling over the table which was in the kitchen. Recovering Hans looked at the three not really knowing what to think. Since they arrived to Arendelle vacation house now turned permanent home Hans desperately tried to explain what had happened over and over, but they refused to believe or even listen to what he had to say.

"But its the truth! They were turned to lizards, snakes and a sparrow" said Hans as he opened the bag to show it to them, Valhalla shrieked while Rudi yelled "Your a liar!",

"Ya a liar!" added Runo as he took it a step further and knocked the bag off of Hans making their snake and lizard brothers and the mice wives fall, they quickly scattered away and all around, finding places to hide while there was no such luck for Hans as he was under Valhalla's, Runo's and Rudi's mercy.

Looking Hans was glad that they were okay, but now he was left alone to deal with the three, he looked and though, then said "Mother...why? Why don't you believe me?" he felt a bile gather on his mouth as he forced himself not to throw up when he called Valhalla mother, she was not his mother, she may have given birth to him, but that did not make her his mother, but he hopped that him calling her mom would get a more...positive reaction.

Upon hearing those words Valhalla's face turned to pure rage, it was at that moment Hans regretted it as Valhalla stomped over and slapped him as hard as she could before yelling "Do not call me mother boy! You are not my son! You are nothing more than the spawn of the devil! Ever since you were born! Ever since you killed your sister!"

"Sister?" Hans echoed as he held his stinging cheek, how could he have killed his sister? And he had one?

"Yes! She was supposed to live! Not you! You killed her and took my baby girl away from me and now you did the same with your brothers!" yelled Valhalla as she pointed her finger at him accusingly.

"No, I did not kill anybody!" complained Hans,

"Whatever comes out of your mouth is a lie! Your serve for no purpose, not even a manservant" growled Valhalla before glaring, an evil glint appeared in her eyes before she smiled and said "Maybe I should start treating you like one, it would be the appropriate punishment for you",

"But",

"No buts! From now on you will be our manservant, to make up for everything you put us through" growled Valhalla, Rudi and Runo looked quite pleased as Valhalla left, once she was gone Rudi began "Yes and you better work well or else",

"Katarina will pay the price for any disobedience" finished Runo evilly,

"Don't you dare place a hand on her" threatened Hans,

"Or else what?" said Rudi grinning evilly,

"Ya, we know how attached you are to her, you do anything to us and we will see to it she is punished severely for it and in her...delicate condition...one small cut can lead to her to bleed out; You don't want that to happen now do you?" said Runo , the two left but half way out the door Rudi said "Better start dinner for us servant" then they laughed evilly before leaving Hans both hurt and in fear as the reality of the situation set in.

He was trapped, he literally had no way out, he was far away from Corona, no money or means to get back home and even if he did he could not leave his niece Karen at the mercy of Valhalla, Rudi and Runo, who knew what they would do to her while he was away and he could not take her with him as she confessed her health condition to him, it was a blood disease which caused her horrible joint pain, any diseases to be deadly and like Runo said, if she were to be cut she would loose blood so quickly she would die in a matter or seconds, there was no way she would survive the trip to Corona.

"What will I do? What will become of me and Karen?" though Hans sadly, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, literally...

End of flashback:


Bells, pitchy and constant broke Hans train of though, looking he saw the bell system in the kitchen sounding, the ones that were Valhalla's, Rudi's and Runo's room were shaking and sounding while at the same time he heard Valhalla scream "BOY! WHERE IS MY BREAKFAST!?",

"I am coming!" yelled Hans as he cursed under his breath wishing he had not slept in as he was very much behind on making breakfast and on the list of chores which was "assigned" to him.

Moving quickly he boiled the eggs, did tea and since he had no time to make the rolls he took some bread, toasted it over the fire. The bells continued to ring,

"I am coming!" Hans yelled again as he rubbed his forehead before taking out a tray, placing the plates then food on it, after it he placed the tea pot and cups before carefully carrying it out the kitchen, pass the parlor and up the grand staircase to the bedrooms, the first door was green with a leaf on it, moving the tray Hans knocked on the door before opening the door and entering.

He learned the hard way what happened if he did not knock first before entering.

"Good morning Rudi" said Hans not looking at Rudi in hopes that he would be left alone,

"What took you so long? I have been waiting for breakfast for an hour!" complained Rudi as he was sitting on a chair next to a table, Rudi had not changed much, he was still the same build, ginger hair and blue eyes, the only thing that was different was that he grew a goatee to make himself look more "manly" though in Hans opinion only Eugene could pull off that look as Rudi looked quite hilarious with his ginger pointy goatee.

"I am sorry" said Hans simply before placing the plate and tea cup down before taking the tea pot and filling the cup with tea before leaving or trying to as Rudi called out "Remember to polish my collection of swords! I want to see my face on every blade when your done!",

"Yes Rudi" sighted Hans as he left then went to the next door which was red and had a shield on it, again he knocked on it before entering,

"Good morning Runo" said Hans as he entered the room,

"Its about time you showed up! What took you so long!?" demanded Runo as he was busy trying to put on a cravat, so far was failing.

Placing the tray down Hans walked over and helped him tie it, "There" said Hans, but instead of a thanks Runo said "Whatever, did you mended by coat?",

"Yes" said Hans as he placed the plate and cup down before filling said cup with tea before leaving for the next door, this one was purple.

Standing before it Hans hesitated in fear, this was Valhalla's room and quite frankly, she was worse than anything he had ever faced before. He had heard from his mother over and over about how everybody has good inside of them, but he could not help but question whether Valhalla was just a bitterly unhappy or if she truly did not have any good inside.

Taking a deep breath Hans knocked on the door and waited,

"Come in boy" he heard before he opened the door and walked into the deep dark room of purple and black, the curtains were closed so he could barely see anything as he walked to what he thinks was a table as he could see the shape and placed the last place and cup down, filling it with tea.

"Boy, do you know your duties today?" he heard Valhalla say from her bed,

"Yes" said Hans,

"Now remember wash and polish the floors, sweep the steps outside, rake all the leaves, water the garden, feed the animals, wash, dry, mend our clothes, prepare lunch and dinner, dust the carpets and draperies and don't forget to clean the fireplaces, their filthy" said Valhalla as she though, wondering whatever other chore she could give him.

"About food...we are running low on spices and other ingredients...if you want I can go and buy some" said Hans after a while, he hoped she agreed as it always brought the opportunity to have time away from the manor.

Valhalla though then said "Alright, but remember to clean up before you go, I will not have the neighbors or town people see you filthy",

"Yes" said Hans but though "I would be cleaner if you would let me wash more often in warm water", it was very true, he did try to have some kind of hygiene since he was forced to be a manservant, forced being the key word, but it was growing close to impossible as winter was approaching and the water was getting too cold to even touch without getting a cold burn, plus Rudi and Runo would always give him chores which consisted of getting dirty, like gardening with his bare hands or sweeping and cleaning the chimney, they even went to as far as gathering all the ashes before throwing it at him.

Leaving the room he stopped and knocked at the door next to Valhalla's room three times before leaving quietly back to the kitchen where taking the remainder of the boiled water, some oats and such he made a quick gruel before setting it on a bowl on top of the table followed by cheese and toast.

"Good morning uncle" he heard, looking he saw it was Karen coming into the kitchen, she looked quite better now than she did a couple of weeks ago as she sat down on the table and placed a napkin on her lap to protect her green satin dress,

"Good morning Karen, sleep well?" asked Hans as he poured more water filling the deep sink,

"Good" said Karen not giving a straight answer as she picked up a spoon and began to eat her gruel,

"Want to talk about it?" asked Hans,

"No" said Karen then asked changing the subject "Did you have breakfast?", Hans sighted and said "No, I have to run to town for food shopping",

"Its not fair, why do they treat you like this?" asked Karen feeling a bit angry at the way he was treated for no apparent reason,

"I can't say" said Hans honestly, he did not want Karen to know as he was afraid she would be hurt,

"Regardless of what it is it will never be a good enough reason" said Karen as she finished ate half of her gruel and offered the rest to Hans "Here have it",

"No Karen, you need it more than me" said Hans then winced when he heard his stomach rumble,

"Your stomach says different, please have some before you collapse or worse" said Karen before she began to pick the toast and cheese, pulling it to small pieces before throwing it on the ground where the snakes, lizards and Pascal to eat.

Sighting Hans gave in as Karen was a pretty headstrong girl when she decided on something and also he was sure that if he did not have something to eat he would collapse before he reached town.

Sitting down he ate a bit of the left over gruel slowly, savoring it,

"Uncle Hans, can you tell me more about Amelia and Alexander? Your parents?" asked Karen, true Hans had told her somethings about them, but she wanted to know more as she could not understand why Hans was so devoted to his stepparents, he never called or referred to them as stepparents, always he called them his loving parents or his mama and papa and whenever he did his eyes lit up in a way Karen had never seen before. But shouldn't stepparents be evil? That is at least what she had read about in fairy tales.

Hans swallowed and paused thinking before saying "My papa Alexander, he was and is the bravest, most honorable man I ever met, ever since I was young I always strives to be just like him, he worked as a merchant, he saw the entire world and experienced every culture",

"He sounds nice" said Karen,

"He was more than just nice" said Hans then sighted "He believed me in, always told me that I could achieve whatever I set my mind into, so much so he allowed me to chart and go on a merchant trip by myself once for my 14th birthday",

"He did?" said Karen amazed,

"Yes, it took me a whole 6 months before I had a plan set and the course charted, I went to all manner of places, Italy, India, Egypt, Spain, England, China, too many to count, by the end of the trip the ship was so full of cargo that it was a miracle we neither sank or got robbed by pirates" said Hans with a smile "He was proud of me",

"What about Amelia?" asked Karen,

"Amazing, beautiful, I can never come up with enough adjectives to describe her, I and everybody though of her as an angel who walked among people spreading joy, kindness and light wherever she went" said Hans before sighting sadly "She was my mom, I still remember her in her favorite common room, reading, sowing, she would play with me, cheer me up when I was down, tell me that things were going to be okay...she always told me that there was magic in kindness and love was the most powerful kind of magic" his voice trailed off as he tried not to cry.

Frowning Karen took her uncles hand in an effort to comfort, she should not ask, but either way she wanted to know "Are they the reason why you do not lie?".

Sighting Hans said "I made a promise to mama before her death, that I would stay the same way that she and papa raised me to be, but its only partially the reason...you see...when I was young, about 11 years old, I accidentally broke my papa's favorite grandfather clock, I was so afraid of punishment that I lied about not being the one who broke it, but my papa knew better and dragged the truth out of me, when I did he had this look on his face, it was as if I betrayed him in the worst way possible, so horrible I felt that I just decided not to lie anymore as I did no wanted him or anybody to look at me that way ever again , the truth is better than any lie, even if it will bring some kind of punishment with it",

"Uncle, you are lucky to have such parents, even if it was for a little while" said Karen sadly "I wish that I could have had a chance to meet them",

"I wish the same, for that way they would have still been alive now" said Hans before getting up with the empty bowl in hand and washing it on the sink, after putting the plate away to dry Hans cupped some water unto his hand before splashing it on his face and hair, washing away all the dirt and grime he could before rubbing his hands and arms till they were as clean as possible.

Taking a hand towel he dried himself as best as he could before grabbing a basket, "Karen while I am gone make sure neither one of my brothers...or Pascal...or Thumbelina...get into any kind of trouble" instructed Hans,

"Will try, especially since Ludwig is still recovering from his last date with a broom" said Karen giggling, by last date with a broom she meant that he got hit with a broom multiple times by Valhalla who found him one day sunning himself outside.

"Alright, I will be-",

"BOY! WAIT JUST A MOMENT!" they heard making them cringe, the snakes, lizards and Pascal disappeared under the sink, Thumbelina quickly hid on her tulip and Eira flew out the window.

Both froze as they turned and saw Valhalla walking over, she wore a gaudy dress of dark purple, black and silver, her hair was done up in a bun making her face seem sharper and her neck longer.

Her eyes narrowed and said "Katarina, I have told you once and twice and I will say it again, you are a princess, princesses do not mingle with their servants",

"But-" began Karen, but remained quiet when Hans looked at her silently asking to remain quiet, sighting Karen nodded before walking over to her grandmother,

"Good, now go and get ready, we will all be going to town today" said Valhalla making Karen cringe as she could easily guess what awaited her in town when her grandmother was involved.

Silently Karen left when she did Valhalla growled at Hans "What are you doing standing around? Go and bring about the carriage and get clean",

"Yes and I am clean" said Hans sighting even if he knew he was not fully clean as the water barely did the trick in getting the ash and dirt off of his arms, face and hair, then winced even more when Rudi walked in and said "Ewww you look like a street mutt",

"Worse, he looks like something the cat dragged in...and threw out again" added Runo who always followed close by, then his eyes began to shine with evil intent before saying "Mom, you know...you never got to choose his name, why don't we name him now?",

"Oh oh I got one, Dirty boy!" said Rudi before laughing "Because he is always dirty", Hans face grew red in shame as he looked down,

"No no, lets call him Cinder" said Runo,

"No, he is more ashy" said Rudi before saying "That's it! Askelur, that is the perfect name!",

"True that brother" said Rudi before the two began to laugh,

"Oh boys, you two always know what to say" said Valhalla with an indulgent smile before turning and glaring at Hans "What are you waiting for? GO and do what you were told boy...or should I say Askelur".

Hans mechanically felt his body turn and leave, his mind was numb as he though on what happened, they forced him from his home, took him away from his friends and family, took away his freedom, forced him into servitude and now they took his name.

The name...Asher...it speaks of what their turned him into, they turned him from a respectable, happy young man to a servant..no..not a servant..a slave to their demands and to toil in dirt and ash.

As he walk he nearly tripped over a bale of hay, he choked as he began to sob before anger set in, he had to get out, he could not handle it anymore!

Quickly running over to Sitron, who looked at his master quite confused, he opened the gate and mounted the horse, hands digging into Sitrons mane before they rode out.

Fast Sitron went, ridding pass the valley and into the forest, moving around the tree and pass lakes and babbling brooks Hans was blind to it all as he felt many emotions before pulling on Sitrons mane, forcing him to stop.

When stopped Hans jumped off and walked over to a tree where he lay against, breathing harshly as he tried to control his anger and grief. Why is this happening to him? What did he do so wrong that merit this kind of treatment? Was he cursed? Was this a punishment for his unborn sisters death even if he was innocent of it or was it truly his fault was happened to his sister? Was Valhalla right? Was he not meant to exist or be born and this was the universe revenge on him for disturbing the order of things?

The more he though the more he felt sick as any of those could be the reason for why his life had taken a turn for the worse despite him living honorably and with kindness.

"Mama, Papa, why are things the way they are? I am trying to keep my promise, but every day it gets harder and harder, I just want to go and never return" though Hans through his tears "I should just leave right now while I still have the chance".

"Hoot, hoot" he heard after a while, looking up he saw Skadi she was on a branch of a tree nearby, looking at him with her unusual blue eyes, it was almost as if she knew what he was thinking.

"Skadi, I can't go back, I just can't, I cannot take a second more" said Hans as he knew what she wanted, she hoot at him again, nudging her head as if saying "Yes you can, there are people who have been through worse than you have...besides...if you leave who will protect Karen? If you're not there to protect her then who will?".

Hans sighted, she was right, there are people who have been through worse situations and gotten out of it, also the biggest thing is Karen, he could not leave Karen while knowing she was in danger as long as she remained with Valhalla, Rudi and Runo and without him there; If he were to leave her alone with them who knew what would happen to her, so if he had to stay and endure their abuse to protect her, he would...at least till he found a way for them to escape together.

Nodding Hans got up and walked back to Sitron, patting the horse before mounting it and ridding back to the manor as quick as he could.

When Hans left Skadi took flight and landed o the ground, once she did a white light and feathers surrounded the owl before its form began to shift, change and form till it was that of a woman with blue eyes, brown hair that was picked up in a bun, a white and feather dress with a cape behind her mimicking wings.

Standing tall she smiled as she watched Hans leave, "I can see why my daughter never forgot about you" she though before turning back to an owl and flying off.


Arendelle town:

Patience, one of many things Anna learned when she started to work on the dress shop, people skills too as she learned how to deal with customers who were more on the mean side.

But like everything Anna took it with stride and eventually began to make a name for herself, sighting she looked out the window of the dress shop as today was a rather slow day as people were just going back and forth doing their usual things or buying food.

She sighted before freezing when she saw a group coming, the two men looked quite intimidating as they stood quite tall, the woman who accompanied them was quite intimidating and certainly not friendly or approachable, behind her she dragged a girl who looked quite sad despite her cheery green and yellow dress, behind them was another man, their servant if she was right, that one she felt pity as he was struggling to carry the many bags, food and items.

"Poor guy, their treating him like a pack mule" though Anna shaking her head as they entered the dress shop.

The woman pushed the girl in before looking around in disdain before turning her attention to Anna and asking "Are you the owner of the shop?",

"No, but I can help you if you'd like" said Anna,

"No no no, I want the owner of the shop, my granddaughter needs a new corset" said the woman, the girl looked positively miserable when she heard that and began to look at Anna as if begging her to get her out of that.

"Madam, are you sure its right for her?" asked Anna innocently as she noticed how tight laced the girl was and apparently it was not by her own choice,

"Nonsense! This is just the begining" said the woman "Now bring me the store owner", Anna looked at the girl apologetically before going towards the back where the got her boss.


"Ow ow" whined the girl whom Anna learned was named Karen as she was fitted into a corset, as the owner pulled the strings she winced as the woman named Valhalla continued to say "Its not tight enough",

"Madam if I put it any tighter the girl will faint" said the store owner worried for Karen's well being,

"Small price to pay for beauty" said Valhalla, finally not taking it anymore Anna turned and left to the front of the store fuming and making sure to make mental notes to Elsa about this.

Her anger clouded her as she walked, so much that she ended up bumping into their manservant making him drop all of the packages unto the ground by mistake,

"Sorry" they said at the same time as they both frantically began to pick up the parcels, bags and such almost head butting one another.

"Sorry sorry, I was not watching where I was going" said Anna quickly,

"Sorry too, was not paying attention" said the manservant gathering all the things.

"I can tell why, I mean, I bet your busy day dreaming about-" Anna stop mid way and stared, getting a good look at the manservant.

He was fairy tall, messy auburn hair which seemed more red than not, she could see light freckles over his nose and cheeks under the patches of what looked to be dirty or maybe dust or ashes, full bear, his green eyes were definitely what attracted her attention. Strangely when Anna looked at him she remembered Elsa's description of her mysterious Ross red, this guy fitted it to a t...if he looked like that when he was a kid.

"Miss?" asked the manservant getting uncomfortable with her starring,

"Oh, sorry sir.." said Anna as she remembered that she was starring before saying "My name is Anna, what is your name?",

"My name is...I mean...I am called the Askelur" said the guy sadly,

"Askelur?" asked Anna, something told her that it was not his real name at all,

"Yes, they think I am a fool covered in ashes" explained Askelut,

"I did not ask what you were called by them" said Anna firmly "I asked for your name",

"Why do you want to know it?" inquired Askelur,

"Because I am not calling you something that was given to you for the obvious reason of plain cruelty" said Anna, Asher hesitated as he bit his top lip before saying "My name is Ha-",

"ASKELUR!" they heard making them wince, Valhalla walked out with a pouting Karen, after paying they left.

Anna acted quickly, grabbing a paper she wrote something before slipping it into Askelur coat as he left with the group.

"Such an insufferable woman, hope she never sets foot into this place again" said Anna's boss, which was surprising as she was the most tolerant woman Anna ever met.

Anna just nodded, true she did not wanted Valhalla to return, but she hoped to see Asher whoever he was soon as she wondered if he was Ross red, whether he was she was unsure, but he certainly fitted the description.

Hopefully the next time they met she would be able to get more info before deciding if he was Ross red.

To be continued...