So between doing my endless assignments and basically dying over the final exams that's going to come next week, I managed to write this chapter on my phone in between rendering. If there were any mistakes or weird writings I blame my phone.

She feared it was going to be a long ride.

In the dark of the night when the town was sound asleep, she had descended the stairs of the inn for the very first time since she was brought there, finally able to set her eyes over the building's interior after days -perhaps even a week, of being confined inside her solidarity room, with a hand forever pressing against the wall to support herself as the other rested on the underside of her bump. The woman behind the desk had watched them made their way toward the door, smiling kindly as she bid them goodbye and safe travels.

Tall large shadows awaited by the carriage, watching with gleaming dark eyes as the Queen of Arendelle could do nothing but climb in, already feeling stuffy inside the closed-off carriage even before the Duchess and her daughter had joined her inside, driving her into sitting as far from them as possible -pressing herself to the corner and turning her head to look out of the small window into the darkness outside.

The road had been bumpy, uneven, and whoever had taken hold of the reins obviously rode with little to no regard in trying to give the passengers the most comfort by going smoothly. Atalie and Sofia, who sat side by side across from her, did not appear to have even the slightest expression of being bothered though, as their faces remained as stoic, and despite the fact that she had turned her head away from them she could feel their eyes on her, watching her.

Constant jolting did nothing to help with her current condition, as already her stomach started to churn, twisting painfully while all she could do was to shift in her seat to mask her discomfort, keeping her jaw set and back straight.

Looming trees were all she could see, as the path they had been following had cut through the forest, and it seemed that it would not end anytime soon.

Bile had started to rise from her stomach -driving her to slightly hunch forward as her brows knitted, slowly yet surely climbing up her throat, and she had pressed chilled fingers against her lips to suppress the urge to hurl it all out despite the temptation. She was a proper woman and not supposed to make such a mess all over the carriage's floor.

"I could never understand the appeal of having another child for you, Queen Elsa." Duchess Atalie commented, gray eyes narrowed as she watched the younger woman, yet had not move a muscle either. "You have a perfectly healthy son, no? Does he not have enough quality to become your sole heir?"

What was it with most royals and their obsession over seeing children as nothing but heirs? Her Council had pressured her to have a child back then, ever since she had been married, but that had not been the reason why she had Wilhelm. She had him because she wanted to have a family of her own, children to care and raise with the man that she loved more than anything.

"Didn't you know that civil wars started when children would not share?" the Duchess' head tilted to a side when her hand went to hold against her belly, still trying her best not to let nausea get to the best of her. "If only your kingdom has more colonies to spare. Alas, it is nothing but a small one."

"Arendelle is a peaceful kingdom," her words came through gritted teeth as she looked up at the older woman. Her people would not raise a weapon over others, she would prevent such need to avoid what had happened between Arendelle and Northuldra, no more fights and no more curses to spread among the land. "I do not believe that war is ever the answer."

"But it may be your only chance at survival."

She hated it. The thought, the possibility, of having war to be her one and only choice at life and death, to think of the many lives that would have to be lost because two sides could not meet with an agreement of peace as their growing ego took over them.

"What do you want?" she had questioned this before, yet unfortunately she had not yet received a proper answer, not that she doubted they would give her any so easily. "Where are you taking me?" Hølen was a small and quite remote town already, far from Arendelle's reach, she couldn't understand why the Duchess found it necessary to move her. Especially when Sofia had insisted, back at the inn, that they should not be pushing her in the weakened condition she was in -which she had to blame them for in the first place.

"Away."

"Where?"

Her persistent in pressing the subject, to milk an answer out of the two sitting across from her in this small carriage, had driven Atalie's eyes to narrow in annoyance. "Instead of minding where we are headed you should worry more over not throwing up all over our shoes." Her words had coincidentally ended just as another harsh jolt came from the reckless drive, and even Sofia's hand had flown to press against the side of the carriage, maintaining her balance, while Elsa's own hand went to hold against her belly once more, groaning quietly as another bout of nausea took over her.

"Mother, perhaps we should slow down—"

"We are already behind schedule, Sofia, you are well aware why." The Duchess' eyes leered at the platinum blonde haired Queen, and she could not help but glare back. How dare she, blaming her over the delay in her 'schedule', as if she had been the one who wanted to be held hostage. "An unexpected extra baggage will not slow us down even further."

The young girl's lips were pressed into a thin line then, as she nodded without a word, seemingly could do nothing against her Mother's words, though she could have sworn she had thrown the neighboring Queen a sympathetic look -if only for a split second, but she could not be sure and would not let herself so easily swoon over just by the girl's eyes.

She tried, she really did, to keep the small amount of dinner that she had managed to eat earlier down in her stomach, no matter how sour her mouth had started to taste, but she could only do so much after another half an hour of uneven road, and she could feel the cold sweat that now drenched her temples.

"She's not going to hold on any longer, Mother."

There was no telling for sure, in the dim light, of the expression that resided over the Duchess' face, yet she could just feel that her jaw would be tightened in irritation. Her hand was raised up over her head, almost in a motion of ready to strike, but instead she had curled it into a fist and knocked against the roof of the carriage instead, bringing it to a stop.

The door opened just soon after, pulled from the outside by one of the tall men that had rode their horses beside the carriage, the Duchess' guards perhaps -she almost scowled at the thought of how foolish she must have looked, to be so trusting and left without anyone else to back her up.

"Remember my word, Queen Elsa." Atalie called out just as she exited the carriage in rushed movement, hand clasped tightly over her mouth. "Try anything foolish and—" she didn't get a chance to hear the rest of the threat, as she hurled out her stomach's content as soon as she had found a tree to lean against, palm feeling the rough texture of the bark, nails digging onto the wood. Goodness, this is awful. She had hoped that this second pregnancy of hers would run smoothly, better than the first one with Wilhelm, but at this rate her morning sickness worsened instead. She just prayed to the Gods that it was morning sickness and nothing else. No, whatever it was that Atalie had put in her drink would have been out of her system by now, it had been more than a week!

"Please, please," her back was turned toward the small travelling party, both to save her dignity from them seeing her in her most unpleasant moment and so that she could, if only for a moment, let herself to look as vulnerable as she was feeling, just as desperate, as tears built up in her eyes. Her other hand went to hold her bump, thumb running over the curve that had make it's appearance. "Be strong, my darling, stay with Mama, please."

"Come, Queen Elsa," the Duchess had called, with that same sweet tone that had once made her believe that she was a good trustworthy woman, yet now it had only made her clenched her jaw as her fingers curled over the tree's bark, frost growing from underneath her touch as her emotion took hold, before her hand had left it to wipe against her face instead, dismissing of any trace of vulnerability that may only put her in greater state of weakness. "Surely there is nothing else your body can cough out by now."

Until she could figure out how to get herself and her child to safety, she would keep her chin up and her pride as Queen unwavering.

"Hans."

He was a fool, a complete fool, to be so easily tricked by his own wife into believing that she could handle things on her own, that she would not have risked her life and the life of their child by leaping into her own conclusions without even once trying to consult him about it. Or maybe she did, she had consulted him once, yet upon receiving his disagreement she had been a headstrong and proceeded on her own instead.

He should have insisted in keeping her here, in the castle, safe behind the sturdy tall walls, away from those who wished to harm her and take her away from him.

His fingers curled over the surface of the mahogany desk, glaring at the paperwork spread over it, abandoned ever since Elsa had left on her little journey that now had been proven to be nothing but a trick into getting her alone and vulnerable. By now the Council had been alerted of the kidnapping of the Queen by the wife of the Duke of Weselton, though they had made sure those in town was unaware of this, as it could only lead into more complicated matter if the people knew that their Queen's whereabouts was unknown to any.

"Hans." The voice behind him had now sounded more pressing, impatient, and even when his back was turned to her and the doorway as he faced the large window, he could just tell that her arms were now crossed over her chest.

"Please leave, Anna, I do not wish to be disturbed." He may have sounded rude, and under different circumstances he would have immediately apologized, but this matter had been straining the minds of the royal family.

"Someone is here to speak to you."

"I don't want—"

"It's your Mother."

There was an immediate reaction in his body, as his shoulders tensed up and his heart had suddenly beaten faster than it was just moments ago, a deep wound he had thought he had gotten rid off. "She's here?"

"She's waiting in the Throne Room."

Straightening up, he had swallowed the lump in his throat before he had finally turned to see the Princess lingering by the doorway. Elsa's disappearance had affected her just as much as it had affected him, as the responsibility of the reigning monarch had suddenly fell onto her shoulders as she was still the Queen's heir seeing that Wilhelm had not reach the proper age to rule. The bright glint usually resided in her eyes were now dull, as the corners of her lips pulled into nothing but a tight line. The high and joy of being engaged set aside as duty had come first.

Anna followed him, both walking silently through the halls. Neither wish to think of the worse, but it was difficult to avoid, especially since there was a settling gut feeling deep within them that told them this was only the beginning.

The sight that he was faced with the moment Kai had opened the door to the Throne Room made his stomach turned unwillingly. His Mother was indeed there, but it was not her presence that had made his shifted uncomfortably in his place. It was how she was standing -or rather how she was kneeling, with her back turned toward the two royals as she engaged in a light conversation with the young Prince.

"Wilhelm." His call for his son had made both the boy and the woman turned, with the latter rising back onto her feet while the boy had run back to his Father, hand clinging against the fabric of his pants.

"It's Grandmamma, Papa!" the boy had stated, rather obviously, as he continued to tug against his father's pants. "I thought Grandmamma and Grandpapa is not here anymore."

"From your Mother's side, yes." Queen Adela chuckled, and the way she had looked lighter -at ease, made him shiver. "But from your Father's side? We are alive and well, Wilhelm."

The auburn-haired boy was oblivious to his Father's discomfort, instead full of wonder about the discovery of his grandparents and how he had just interacted with one of them. Hans almost felt bad, almost, yet he had only patted his son's head gently. "Why don't you go and play with your nannies? Auntie Anna and I need to talk to Grandmamma."

Being dismissed made Wilhelm looked up, blinking at his father in confusion, but at Anna's own fingers ruffling his hair and her reassuring look, he had nodded and left, the sound of his running footsteps against the floor echoing through the halls.

"What were you thinking?" he questioned at the Queen of the Southern Isles, once he was assured that his son was out of earshot by the fading of the footsteps' sound. "You know how I feel about-"

"The boy came running himself, looking for you." Adela's eyes rolled, annoyed by her son's accusation. "Was I to ignore him? He was merely curious." As much as he didn't want to admit to his mother's words being true, he knew it was, he knew his son well enough to know that he would only express his curiosity. "Besides, he reminds me of you."

He had no desire to be reminded of his childhood, of his time in the kingdom that he was born and grew up in, no matter how it was once his 'home'. Because it wasn't, his home was here, in Arendelle, where his little family was, his home was in Elsa's heart.

"What do you want, Mother?"

With his question gone the easy and light expression his Mother so rarely had, replaced by her usual straight one as her eyes flickered toward Anna -who stood by his side, once before focusing back to him. "I am aware of the situation that you are facing at the moment, Hans." When his lips parted to question her further of what exactly that she knew, Queen Adela had only cut him off. "Your wife was taken by the Duchess of Weselton, yes?"

Anna's spine straightened beside him upon the mention of her sister, though she had said nothing it was clear to him that she was as confused as he was in learning that the news had leaked out of the castle's walls.

"How did you—?"

"I have my resources." Again, the Queen had cut off, a dismissing hand waved to gesture that it did not matter. "I have also received a letter, from the Duchess herself." That news had shocked both of them, for the Duchess had not bothered to send any to Arendelle itself. "She wishes for the Southern Isles to not take part in any of this."

"Wait, what?" whether it was conscious or not, Anna had taken a step forward upon learning such request. "And you agree?"

Adela's eyebrow rose, her lips pulled into a tight line, and even without her saying anything Hans knew what her answer would be. "Of course. I will not risk war to the Southern Isles. Besides, your sister had brought it upon herself. She did walk straight into enemy's trap, no?"

"She doesn't know!" Anna argued, "The Southern Isles is Arendelle's alliance, how could you turn your back in time of need?"

"She should know better." The auburn-haired woman said, body beginning to turn to make her way back toward the double doors leading out. She never planned on staying long. "I came here to deliver this news to see, for myself, how you would react. Clearly, you are no better than your older sister, Princess Anna, you are just as naïve, if not more."

Staying silent as Anna continued her argument with the leaving Queen, he never expected his family to care for these kinds of things anyway, he knew them. They formed alliances with other kingdoms, yes, through trades and marriages, but one kingdom's mess was not theirs to care for. As long as it did not benefit the Southern Isles, they would not make a move, especially if a direct letter was sent to the reigning monarch.

But this was Elsa, his wife, his life, and though he could live with the fact that his family and his kingdom had the barest minimum of their care toward him, the mere thirteenth Prince who was even less than a spare and more of a burden, he could not see himself staying quiet in knowing that they did not hesitate to treat Elsa just the same.

And though he had promised not to tell anyone about this, he knew that it was the only way. "She's pregnant." His voice was small, quiet, almost unheard of that he feared that he may have to repeat himself.

But Queen Adela stopped in her track almost immediately, freezing in place, back still turned toward them, though he could see the tensing of her shoulders. "Who is?"

"Elsa. She's pregnant." Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Anna's similar surprised expression, but he could deal with her later. "She's pregnant with our second child, your grandchild. You know, better than anyone, of how the Black Dahlia of Weselton is. Are you really going to trust the life of your future grandchild into her hands?"

Queen Adela stayed silent, but he was well aware that he had hit a nerve. If there was one thing that could make the Queen of the Southern Isles bend her own decision for, it was the thought of her grandchildren. She may have not been a good mother to her sons, but she always adored her grandchildren, and after seeing how she had acted with Wilhelm, he knew that she had grown fond of him already in the short amount of time she had met him. The possibility of losing Wilhelm's younger sibling would be hard for her to bear.

"Mother, please," he never used such tone with her, never being close to begging, and it had the exact effect that he wanted to out of her. Adela turned around, slowly, yet her feet were planted in place. "If not for me nor Elsa, then for our unborn child."

The Queen's jaw tightened, as piercing green eyes narrowed, observing him, studying him to tell whether he was lying or not. But there were no lies on him, only sincerity, only a man who wished nothing but the safety of his wife and child.

"She plays dangerous games, Hans." The auburn-haired Queen started, "I worry that whatever it was that she was planning on doing with your wife will not be the only plot she has up her sleeves."

"I will take whatever risk that may come if it means I can have Elsa back."

"Even when it means that I will ask for some of your brothers to sail here, to Arendelle?" the question made him shifted his footing uncomfortably, and he knew his Mother was well aware of his deep desire to never set foot there again. "Despite everything, you know you need their help."

His childhood crept up from the back of his mind, making it's existence known, but he had pushed it back again. "I know."

The Queen of the Southern Isles eyed her son, finding it interesting that he was willing to admit to the fact that he needed his brothers, before nodding. "Very well. I will send the words to them as well as inform my crew that I have a change of plans and will stay here longer."

"Of course, Mother."

He was not even the slightest surprised when Anna dragged him out of the Throne Room.

Though he must admit that for such a small framed young woman, his sister in-law perhaps had one of the strongest grip he had ever known as it matched with her own strength capable of dragging him across the long hallway without even the need to look back over her shoulders.

She had almost yanked him against the wall at one corner of the hall, deserted as not many servants walked through, assuring a privacy they needed to speak to one another.

"I cannot believe," she started, fuming anger near pouring in her voice as she glared up at him. "I cannot believe that you had kept a huge secret from me!" her fingers clenched into a fist before she had smacked him right across his chest, and even then he had expected it to happen. "How could you? How dare you! She's my sister!"

Pulling her fist back, she would have landed a second hit if it was not for his quick hand catching her wrist. Once is enough for him and he needed her to listen. "Elsa was going to tell, she really did, right after your engagement, but it didn't go well, remember?"

"But then she told you!" she no longer hit him, but had opted to poke sharply with her index finger instead. "Between that and her leaving she told you and still you let her go!"

"You know how stubborn Elsa is."

"And you can be even more stubborn! For God's Sake, Hans!" the Princess' hands were thrown up in the air to deliver her point as she glared at him. "Just like how we all had convinced her to come along when we first went up to the Enchanted Forest! Obviously you've forgotten why we all had gone so let me refresh your mind, we all went with her to keep her safe because we all know how reckless she could be when it comes to herself!"

There was no point in having Anna throwing all the bitter truth right at his face, to state the obvious of how much of a failure he had been as a husband by being so trusting over his wife. The strawberry blonde-haired Princess continued on her rambles, though it had gone to deaf ears as his own thoughts had clouded his mind. It was only when he noticed that she had stopped, or rather had not being able to continue on, that he realized she had slowly turned into a sobbing mess, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes to try and wipe away her tears.

"I can't," she choked on her own sob as she spoke. "I can't lose her, Hans…"

He realized that it may have been the way that he and his mother had described the Duchess, of how ruthless she must have sounded for the Princess, that had brought her into tears from the thought of losing her sister in her hands.

"Anna, hey, Anna," his hand moved to rest against her shoulder, before he had tugged her into his embrace, wrapping her tightly in his arms in the mean to comfort. He never had a sister before, never thought he would, but after years of being part of the Arendelle's royal family he now knew that a familial bond could be formed not only by blood. "We will find her, we will find Elsa, alright? And I'm sorry, for not telling you sooner, and for not fighting harder to keep her in Arendelle from the beginning."

There was a mumble coming from her, too muffled by his clothes to be understood, and he had asked her to repeat her words.

"When we find her," Anna began, "She will get an earful of scolding from me, I swear of it."