So.
I hope July is treating you well.
I have to say, the Helsa fandom kicks so much ass. Am I wrong? On Tumblr I see the best fanart, fanfiction, edits, playlists... What an amazingly imaginative group. I hope my contribution measures up to the immense talent I've been treated to out there on the interwebz.
I may have to put together a Helsa playlist, too. I can't let you guys have all the fun.
Thanks so much for reading, reviewing, favouriting, following, et cetera. Crossing my fingers for a (mostly) typo and grammar nightmare-free chapter!
Take good care!
ssg.x.
CHAPTER 14
DESCENT
Anna cinched the waist of her robe tighter around herself as she ran to the throne room. She was sure Elsa would have frowned on her leaving her bed chambers in the middle of the night half-dressed, but Anna was far too alarmed just then to worry about things like researching and adhering to middle-of-the-night dress protocol. Gerda had woken her up to tell her that a man from the Southern Isles desperately needed to speak to her. He had information about the queen and was refusing to elaborate to anyone but Princess Anna herself.
"I knew something would happen. I knew I shouldn't have let her go alone. If anything's happened to her…"
Anna was out of breath by the time she reached the throne room. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a charcoal frockcoat sporting a grey, German goatee, and spectacles, greeted Anna with a deep bow as she came to a wobbly stop, just mere steps short of bowling him over.
"Your Gra—"
"No time," Anna wheezed, waving away the formalities. "What news have you of my sister?"
The gentleman straightened. "Princess Anna, I have reason to believe your sister is in danger."
Anna's heart leapt to her throat. "What's happened to her?"
"I believe she's being held against her will somewhere in the Westergård's main residence in the capital."
"Against her will…?" Anna repeated weakly, beginning to feel as though she might vomit. "How do you know this?"
Looking ashamed, the man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Your Grace. I may have played a small part in setting the wheels in motion. You see, I am in the employ of King Enoch and Queen Alma. I have been tending to their youngest son –"
Anna clenched her fists. "Hans," she growled. "Of course he has something to do with this."
"He asked me to deliver a letter to Queen Elsa, and –"
That letter Elsa was obsessing over. That stupid letter.
I should have thrown it out when I had the chance.
"- he offered me payment to make sure it got to her without any interception."
"What does that mean? Why would he have to offer you payment if you're employed by the royal family?"
"While Hans serves out his sentence he is not to receive any of the privileges granted members of the royal family. I've tended to His Majesty for years now - since he was a boy - and I suppose my heart was weak with sentiment when he asked me for the favour. I couldn't say no. But I've heard rumblings that Queen Elsa hasn't been spotted on the palace grounds for two days now. It appears she may have vanished not long after a servant claimed to overhear her requesting a visit with Prince Hans."
What was Elsa thinking? Anna groaned inwardly. She's supposed to be the older, wiser one.
"Your Grace, I beg your forgiveness. I never would have agreed to deliver that letter had I known –"
Anna's gaze softened. "It isn't your fault. How could you have known this would happen? All you did was deliver a letter."
If Hans touches one hair on my sister's head, I'm going to flay him alive.
"Nonetheless, Your Grace…I want to give you these," he reached into the small leather messenger bag hanging at his side. "It makes me sick to look at them now."
With shaking hands he handed her a naval spyglass and a man's wedding band wrapped in a satin handkerchief. Puzzled, Anna took them from him.
"I…um…okay. Thanks, I think," she said, looking through the old spyglass. "What are these for exactly?"
"Forgive me, Your Grace. Prince Hans gave them to me as payment for delivering the letter."
"Sir, how may I address you?" Anna asked kindly.
"Emerens, Your Grace. Emerens Hadewych."
There's no way I'm going to remember that.
"Mr. Hadewych, I can't thank you enough for coming to me with this information. If there's anything I can do for you to express my gratitude, please don't hesitate to ask."
He bowed deeply. "There is one thing – I have a wife, two daughters and a son still living in the capital. I am not so sure they are safe there anymore. If we could seek asylum in Arendelle –"
Anna's eyes widened. "Oh! Of course! I'll have them sent for and escorted here at once. You are welcome to stay with your family in Arendelle as long as you wish. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must bid you goodnight, Mr. Sandwich."
"Hadewych, Your Grace."
"Oh…Right. I'm so sorry. Mr. Hadewych. Of course," she stammered, feeling like a complete idiot.
Anna left Mr. Hadewych in Kai's capable hands. The second she was out of their sight, she buried her face in her hands and slid against the wall to the floor, bringing her knees up to her chin.
"Elsa," she moaned. "If anything happens to you…"
oooOOOOooo
The light spray of freckles that peppered Hans' face extended over his shoulders and down his back, eventually fading into the pallor of his skin as Elsa walked her fingertips along his spine to the waist of his trousers, which were still slung around his hips, as he slept. She could kiss every one of those freckles, she thought sadly, but there wouldn't be any time. They had pushed their luck far enough – Elsa had to figure out a way out of that room now, and the odds that she and Hans would ever be able to lie together like this again had been stacked up against them since long before his lips first touched hers.
She had no intention of breaking her promise to Hans. She would escape with him in tow, ensure that his parents could never harm him again, and find a home for him – somewhere he could start over, maybe marry and raise a family of his own. He would never have to be alone. He could love someone now. She was sure of it.
She squeezed her eyes shut, head and heart throbbing uncomfortably. No, she thought. That won't do.
But Anna…
Anna would never forgive Elsa for bringing Hans back to Arendelle. Anna wouldn't understand, and how could Elsa expect her to when she herself didn't understand? Her sister was almost killed saving Elsa's life from Hans. Elsa almost lost her head, but her sister had lost her heart to him.
I may have, too.
She took a deep breath and gave her head a sobering shake before shimmying back into her drawers. She climbed off the bed and yanked her dress out from under a snowdrift, frowning as she noticed all the torn seams in the sleeves and bodice. She and Hans had really done a number on the dress when they tag-teamed it to get it off of her, which felt incredible in the moment but wasn't such a good idea in hindsight. She laid Hans' shirt, waistcoat and jacket out on the bed beside him, turning each item of clothing over, studying them from front to back, top to bottom.
"Okay," she whispered. "Here we go."
With renewed focus and determination, and no longer at odds with her powers, Elsa summoned the freeze. Fine electric blue threads wound themselves around her, over her corset, drawers and chemise, weaving together and settling against her skin. Trousers, a shirt, waistcoat and jacket, not dissimilar to those Hans had been wearing, in varying shades of pale blue and silver. The boots were a little tricky, but the freeze didn't let her down. She decided a dress and mules wouldn't be all that practical during an escape effort. She also relished the idea of wearing something she'd otherwise never be allowed to wear. She was doing all sorts of things she shouldn't have been doing, and despite the dire circumstances and the guilt she knew would come later, she loved the freedom, even if that freedom was limited to this one room.
She left her hair alone, continuing to let it hang like wisteria around her face and down her back. It made her feel powerful – like a woman in perfect harmony with her surroundings, with herself.
She walked towards the window, raising an arm to command a frigid gust of wind that effortlessly pushed several feet of snow off to one side. She retrieved Hans' collection of keepsakes from beneath the floorboards, quickly weaving herself a satchel to stash it in, and slinging it over her shoulder.
Elsa approached the bed slowly, smiling softly as she watched Hans sleeping. Beautiful, flawed, dangerous, and hers for as long as fate would allow it. A painful lump grew in her throat and she blinked tears from her eyes. She let out a shaky sigh and stroked his hair. She climbed up beside him and leaned over to kiss the nape of his neck.
"Hans," she whispered, nudging him a little. "Hans, it's time to go."
He moaned and stretched before finally rolling over and opening his eyes. The glow from the snowflake on his chest grew brighter as his green eyes focused on her blue ones.
"Hey," he croaked.
Elsa smiled. "Hey. Sleep well?"
Hans nodded, "And woke up well. You're still here."
"I told you I wouldn't leave you behind," she said, smiling warmly. "Still don't believe me?"
Hans chuckled, "Would you believe me if I said it?"
"No," Elsa answered honestly. "But then I don't have your track record for lying."
"I'm sure it'll take endless hours of convincing you, but you're a wise woman, Queen Elsa Riborg Voigt of Arendelle."
"I can't believe you remember all of that."
"It's your name. Of course I remember it."
"You must have read my letter a dozen times," she said, touched and a little awestruck.
"Maybe once or twice," he replied, looking somewhat embarrassed. "You put more of yourself in that letter than I'm sure you intended to. I'll deny it if anyone ever asks me, but your letter was…it was good company."
"I'll deny it if anyone ever asks me, but I felt the same way about your letter, Prince Hans Lind Westergård of the Southern Isles," she admitted shyly to both Hans and herself.
"I think it's just Hans now," he said wistfully.
"You'll never be 'just Hans'," Elsa answered gently.
Hans smiled, toying with a rope of her white hair. "No?"
"Not to me," she said softly. Thrown by her unexpected candidness, her eyes widened and a blush rose to her cheeks. "Um…I mean –"
"I know what you mean," Hans whispered back, pulling her down beside him and pressing his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and held him close for a moment that flew by far too quickly. She reluctantly pulled away from him, reaching across the bed for his clothes. She tossed them to him and swung her legs over the edge of the mattress.
"You should get dressed. I'm getting us out of here," she said over her shoulder. She tugged at the legs of her boots and smoothed out her jacket.
"We're getting out? How? God, how long have I been asleep?" He quickly buttoned up his shirt and pulled his braces over his shoulders. "And, speaking of getting dressed, what are you wearing?"
Oh, God…
"My dress is torn," she explained awkwardly, "and I thought I should maybe put on something a little easier to move in. So I made -"
"You made all that? Like, out of ice? How?"
"The same way I make everything," she said, pleased he seemed so enamoured by her skill. "I think it, and it just…I don't know. It just happens."
Hans finished dressing then approached Elsa for a closer look.
"You just think it?"
"Mm-hmm. I mean I can't make just anything. I have to understand the basics of it. I was able to build a palace because I live in one. I know what they look like. I know what keeps them from falling down. I can't say the same about chandeliers."
Hans let that go.
"So if I asked you to make an apple…?"
With a flick of her wrist, Elsa easily created an apple and stem from ice. She tossed it to Hans, who caught it with both his hands. He looked at it with wide-eyed wonder.
"Okay, show-off. What if I asked you to make a Jack Snipe?"
Elsa eyed him carefully, not entirely sure he hadn't just made that up. "Is that a drink?"
"It's a bird. A wader."
"I can make a seagull, or a swan or a duck. Maybe a goose. I don't know if I've ever seen a Jack Snipe. If you described it to me or showed me a sketch or a painting of one, I could probably do it."
Elsa noticed Hans staring at her and immediately felt self-conscious.
"Hans?"
"Hm?" He looked up at her as though he'd just come out of a trance.
"I know wearing men's clothing is probably a huge, royal fashion no-no, but – "
Hans shook his head. "I'm sorry. I was staring. It's just…you just look really –"
"Silly?" Elsa offered, frowning.
"I was going to say you look beautiful."
"Don't you mean 'handsome'?" she asked, thinking he might just be teasing her.
"No," he said seriously. "I mean beautiful. You look beautiful. I mean you are beautiful."
"Oh," Elsa gasped, her small mouth gaping open with surprise. "Thank you."
"If I may make a suggestion, though, as someone who's been wearing men's clothing just a little longer than Your Highness…" Hans slowly drew his tie from around his neck. He stepped up to Elsa, looping the silk piece of stiff, white fabric around her long, elegant throat. He carefully tied it and tucked the ends into the collar of her waistcoat. Elsa closed her eyes and parted her lips, almost able to taste his scent in every breath she took. The icy tip of his tongue lightly touched the shell of her ear as he whispered, "There", sending shivers down her spine.
"Perfect," he announced, standing back and admiring his addition to her ensemble. Elsa smiled, touching his gift to her daintily with cool fingertips. "Now we're ready to go."
Elsa explained her plan to Hans.
"The door and window are both out, obviously. Those are being protected. Nothing seems to stick to them for long. But look at the icicles on the ceiling."
Hans looked up. "So you think we can escape through the ceiling? I don't know where it goes, though. I have no idea what's above it. We could end up climbing through one prison cell right into another."
She wasn't sure Hans was going to like what she was going to say next.
"We wouldn't be climbing through the ceiling. I'd raise a staircase that would plow right through it. Right until we hit sky."
Hans looked positively bewildered. "Okay," he began carefully. "So you're saying…"
"If it works, it's going to do some major damage. Your family will be hard-pressed to explain away what happened. I don't think you'll ever be able to come back. And, as queen, I can't keep what your parents have done to me to myself. Your crimes in Arendelle will no doubt become public knowledge, as well as any other skeletons hiding in your family's closet. Hans…"
"Yes?" Hans asked, looking even paler than usual.
"Do you know who or what is behind the force keeping us in here? Could your parents have employed someone to perform some sort of magic or conjure up some sort of curse? Or could one of them be –" Elsa bit her lip and nervously started fretting with the handle of the satchel hanging at her side. "God, I just don't understand why your family would do this to you."
"I don't know how or why this is all happening. I know my family hates me. They always have. I couldn't tell you why." Hans said, his voice shaking a little. "Okay, that's not true. I know why." He ran an agitated hand through his red hair and cursed under his breath.
Annoyed, Elsa crossed her arms and sighed. "Listen, Hans – I usually enjoy our friendly banter over your being a deceitful creep, but this is serious. If you want to lie about your age, waistline or height, fine. But if one of your parents is a warlock, a sorceress, a unicorn, or a closeted troll, you need to tell me. I need to know what we're up against. We've wasted so much time. We honestly should have started trying to figure all this out hours ago."
Hans looked hurt. "You really think all we've been doing is wasting time?"
Elsa's countenance softened. "Of course I don't, Hans. Come on, now. You know what I me-" Elsa paused, eyeing Hans carefully. Under closer scrutiny, his eyes began to dart from side to side. She clenched her fists. "Hans, you're doing this on purpose. You're stalling."
Hans shrugged his shoulders, grinning sheepishly. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Listen, I can't explain the magic. We'll get that out of the way first."
"Fine," Elsa snapped. "And why does your family hate you?"
Hans squeezed his eyes shut, and his ears turned almost as red as his hair. A rush of words left his mouth, too fast for her to catch a single one of them. Elsa waved her hands in front of her, frantically signalling him to stop.
"Not so fast, Hans!" she shouted. Hans raised a suggestive eyebrow and smirked at her. Before he could open his mouth, Elsa held up her finger. "And don't try to distract me again by making a joke about the…you and I…on the bed stuff," she fumbled.
Out of stalling tactics, Hans started talking. His body language changed entirely. His eyes grew dark and his shoulders drooped.
"I blackmailed my parents into sending me to Arendelle for your coronation."
Elsa blinked. "I'm sorry - what?"
"My brothers Klaus and Franz were supposed to go. They're the oldest unmarried sons. I blackmailed my parents into letting me go alone in Klaus and Franz's place."
Elsa rolled her eyes. "You mean right now I could have been planning my wedding to Prince Klaus or Prince Franz of the Southern Isles?"
Hans scowled. Elsa's stomach did a joyous little flip. He was jealous.
"You wouldn't have liked either of them," he said rather glibly.
"I had dinner with them, remember? They're both very handsome. And charming," she said. "And we got through several courses without either one of them trying to kill me."
"Be that as it may," Hans began, trying not to look threatened by tossing his chin haughtily, "Klaus is a total mouth-breather. And I've seen Franz pick his nose and eat it."
Elsa shuddered. "Okay, enough about the Southern Isles' most eligible bachelors. Is the blackmail the reason your parents locked you up in here instead of having you arrested and tried?"
"They locked me in here because I still know what I know. If they had thrown me into a cell and then tried to drag me through a trial, I would have screamed it to the high heavens. It's easier for them to keep an eye on me in here."
"So I'm shut up in here with you because they're afraid you've told me what you know and they think that, like their conniving son, I'm going to try to blackmail them, too?"
"I had leverage before I went to Arendelle. I have none now. I know their dirty little secrets, and they know mine. But then you showed up and -"
Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. A muscle in her jaw started to tick. "Were your parents even planning on having you executed?" she demanded to know, her voice drawn and hoarse. "Or am I shut up in here with you, leaving my kingdom without a ruler, because you blackmailed your own parents, you despicable little worm?"
"This is no time for foreplay, Elsa." Hans replied sarcastically, his eyes narrowing dauntingly despite the casual tone in his voice.
Elsa was furious. "We're not talking about tennis right now, Hans! Do you understand what you've done? All this time I thought your parents had stashed you in here so they could cover up having you unjustly executed. I thought you were the victim in all of this! I was on your side, dammit!"
"That language is very unbecoming of a young queen," he replied, still trying to engage her in a game she was no longer in any mood to play.
"Oh, shut up!" she spat venomously. Hans winced like she'd slapped him. "Everything that's happened between us has been a lie! Everything!"
"Elsa –" Hans started hoarsely, reaching for her arm. She jerked away from him.
"How could I let you do this to us again? I must have been out of my mind! I let you inside me, you monster, inside my body, my heart. I stitched you into the very fabric of my soul!" When she finally looked at him again, blue eyes blazing, she no longer recognized him as the man she thought she had fallen in love with. She registered him only as the beast that had told her she had killed her sister that day out on the frozen fjord.
The man who had tried and failed to steal her crown from her.
"I hate you," she hissed.
Hans fell a number of footfalls back, looking shattered. But what do I know? she thought jadedly. She could no longer trust her eyes, her ears, her heart…
The man was a catalyst for perpetual misfortune. What kind of a person blackmails his own parents? No wonder they locked him up in here. They were probably trying to contain the emotional trauma he inflicted on everyone who came within a hundred feet of him.
Hans' features clouded over. The snowdrifts crackled and there was electricity hovering in the air around them that Elsa didn't recognize to be her own. She could see the mark on his chest glowing even through his waistcoat and jacket.
Imagine what kind destruction he could cause if he ever managed to tap into the power Elsa had inadvertently bestowed on him.
"My parents - and I use the term 'parents' in the loosest sense possible - have made my life a living nightmare," he snarled. "If they had it their way, I wouldn't have been born. You don't think I've had good reason to want to get as far away from them as possible, away from this whole damn place? Don't embarrass yourself any further by continuing to pontificate on things you know absolutely nothing about, Your Grace. You don't know those people, and you don't know me."
Elsa shook her head sadly. "No," she replied mournfully. "I guess I don't."
"You should go," Hans muttered bitterly. "Do what whatever you have to do to get out of here, even if it means tearing this place apart brick by brick. Just be careful not to tumble into the hell this palace was built on. Go and don't look back."
Elsa, tears in her eyes, realized that Hans was right. She needed to leave him here and never look back. He was perfidious and volatile, and she couldn't trust him. Her first instinct had been the correct one. The cold fist clutching her heart yanked the organ with little mercy.
I have to do this. I have to go. For Anna, for Arendelle, I have to leave all of this behind me.
"Here," Elsa murmured, removing the satchel containing the wooden box from over her shoulder and handing it to him. Hans looked like he was going to be sick, but he took the satchel from her, dropping it behind him on the bed. They avoided looking into each other's eyes, Hans staring upwards and Elsa gazing down at her boots.
"You should find somewhere safe to stand, at least. The ceiling will fall to pieces. Maybe you could –"
"I appreciate your concern, but you need not worry about me, Your Grace," he said stonily. He walked across the room to the bench by the window, turning his back to her.
He was done talking. He was done with her.
Elsa knew he wasn't going to protect himself from the destruction. He was going to sit by that window and wait for the ceiling to cave in on him. She did know him, despite letting him believe otherwise only moments ago. She did know him.
She took a deep, trembling breath then stomped her foot with all her might. Snow blew in all directions, and the six points of her snowflake reached quickly across the floor, lighting up every corner of the room. She looked over at Hans who was staring at the window, even though it was impossible to see out of it.
Hans…please…
Please… she silently begged him. Swallow your pride. Save yourself.
She stepped back and slowly raised her arms. A flurry of stars spun at the snowflake's centre. In an explosion of light, they began to fuse together, creating the base of the spiral staircase that would take her out of this place. Elsa hadn't climbed ten steps before the room began to shake violently, and she started to panic. The staircase spiraled higher and higher. It pushed against the rafters, cracking a few beams before Elsa cried out for it to stop.
She felt the floor bowing, heard the sound of floorboards snapping and the wood and plaster beneath them groaning loudly. She hadn't considered that the floor could collapse beneath the weight of the staircase. Building a staircase on a mountain, it turned out, was much different from building a staircase in a bedroom.
Oh, God…
I'm such an idiot. If the ceiling isn't being protected, the floor probably wouldn't be either.
The staircase dipped to one side as it began to sink through the canyon that was beginning to open up beneath it. Elsa gripped the railing with both hands as the structure slipped further through the floor, causing her to lose her footing. Not thinking logically – only that she didn't want to fall – she dashed up the stairs. One of the badly damaged beams above came loose, striking the stairs above her and taking out the railing she'd been desperately clinging to on its way to the ground.
"Elsa!" Hans cried out from somewhere below her. Her eyes finally locked with his. He was standing dangerously close to the pit that was swallowing up the staircase. "Christ, Elsa! Hang on!"
The room quaked again and Hans lost his balance. He started sliding along the splintered floor as it continued to slant and sag. A terrible wind kicked up and started hurling snow, ice and debris in every direction, causing her to lose track of him.
The staircase shifted once more and she was flung down several steps. She held onto what was left of the bit of railing still within her reach while the rest of her dangled over the side. Blinded by snow, dust and tears, she was no longer able to tell which way was up and which way was down.
"Elsa, don't you dare let go!" she heard Hans shout seconds before another falling beam clipped the back of her head.
All at once she was plunged into cool, blissful darkness.
