Hans awoke in a cage.
"NOOOOO!" He rammed himself upwards, "No! No! NO! NOOOOOO!"
It was fruitless. He was chained down; arms, legs, head, torso, all restricted. The bed he was chained to was bolted to the floor, and smelled of... dark things.
her head was severed, indications of extreme sexual violence.
The cage itself was locked, and hovering above the deck of the ship. Even if he did get out of the chains, and the cage, he would still have to leap a good ten meters to safety. He shuddered, remembering all the things Black Spot pirates did to their victims...
His mind was drenched in fear. And confusion.
"Christopher!"
His cage was lowered. At first he thought he would be impaled on the stakes below, but they had been moved to allow him passage into the lower parts of the ship.
"Why?!" He demanded. Sure, he hadn't exactly been his best friend, but they were allies. The Black Spot pirates were little more than savages. The blond stared out a port hole into the moonlight.
"Don't blame our brother too harshly, Hans-y."
Hans stared in disbelief as Baragor himself stepped forward.
"Oh."
"Yes."
Hans grit his teeth, "And Kris?"
"Getting his girlfriend back, worry not."
"So this is about me?"
"No... it's about me," His brother sat. This, too, was custom. You have an inherit duty, as a brilliant tactician, to show your opponent the foolishness of their actions, "As you know, our custom is to send our princes into foreign countries, infiltrate and..." He smiled.
"Obviously," Hans said, anger evident in his voice.
"But a generation ago, the biggest problem we had was the Black Spot Pirates. They had no real home, nor nation, to attack. So when I was kidnapped, our dear grand-daddy wrote me off. I endeavored to prove him wrong."
"You killed him."
"Yes," Said Baragor, somewhat surprised.
"Not that it matters, but go on."
"Anyways, so there I was, staring at myself, blood soaked into my clothing. The pirates were shocked at how brutally a prince could be. I earned their trust and was returned 'home' but I served the best interests of both sides; I encouraged the pirates to leave the Southern Isles alone, and in return ensured that the government would turn a blind eye to their proceedings."
Everything made sense now; his brother's charity, his return to Arrendelle, how the pirates knew when and where to hit, and how they got on the ship.
"The flag?"
"An accident. But you're skipping ahead, because one day- you came along!" Baragor pointed accusingly, "You refused to play by the rules. You increased the stakes of both sides, costing me great power in both our kingdom, and amongst the pirates. Fortunately, killing you will take care of both."
Hans sighed, "Good, so kill me."
"Noooo... not yet. I need one last favor?"
"Hm?"
"You're going to kill the queen."
"How?!"
"Specifically, when we reach Anna, we're going to negotiate her surrender. At that point, you're going to make a break for it, trying to free her and this will lead to your death as well as the queen's."
Hans rattled his own cage, "HOW?!"
"Don't you worry, little brother."
Baragor knocked on the deck to send Hans up. For the first time, Hans felt... calm. He was going to die. He could actually live with that as long as he was released. No more fighting, or war, or bloodshed. Just the calm embrace of death.
But what of Elsa?
Sure, he hated her, and, truth be told if she were pinned down to the decks by sword being slowly tortured to death, he would enjoy hearing her death-screams, but using him to kill her was... annoying him.
She had stood up for him, and to him. Not many had been able to manage that. And, if nothing else, was willing to show him pity.
Maybe he could fight. Not for his life, but for her. Once. Then if she died, he wouldn't care. Debt repaid. He started counting in order to pass the time.