Any number of books generated on the history of the Westerguard family may be consulted, and each seemed to have widely different interpretations of the family itself. Some saw them as a plague, breeding cockroaches that spread through countries like vermin. Others saw them as virtuous, family-oriented warriors, whose determination took them from being mere serfs to the highest courts in the world. These different opinions had to do with many factors, including whether or not the writer in question was about to be put to death by a member of the austere family.
There is one thing that all the authors, and their readers by extension, seem to agree on; Westerguards were interesting to watch, and hazardous to cross. Like poisonous snakes, they were wonderful to study, but no reasonable person wanted to find one in their room in the middle of the night.
Which is exactly what happened.
Baragor and Kristoff circled each other outside of Anna's room. Due to the extensive history of their family, one might assume... nothing. It would be difficult to tell whether the two were about to embrace one another, or about to kill the other. Perhaps they would have done both in different circumstances, but ended up doing neither.
There was a silent battle going on at that moment, one that had waged in every Westerguards' mind constantly from their infancy.
Why?
Of course, each member of this illustrious/duplicitous family was on the lookout for constant threats. If, for instance, Baragor was there to kill Anna, Kristoff would kill him. But if Baragor was there to make sure someone else wasn't killing Anna, but Kristoff thought he was, then Kristoff would kill him, and then perhaps Anna would die.
Unless of course the person sent to kill Anna was actually working for Baragor, and in trying to persuade his younger brother of his innocence, actually ended up killing Anna and Kristoffer both... unless the assassin hired actually worked for Kristoffer who hired the man to pretend to kill Anna, so Kristoffer could kill Baragor, for pretending to not kill Anna by hiring a man to distract Kristoffer from the fact that he was there to kill Anna.
...
Why?
Because that's how Westerguards think!
Therefore, not unreasonable to assume that the two brothers that were circling each other were considering whether to embrace the other, or kill him, or both.
Baragor 'knew' Hans was back. Of course, Anna had lied to him, but he didn't know that. To admit to Kristoffer/Kristoff, that Hans had survived would be a tactical mistake. Hans would only make the situation worse- for now, anyways.
Of course, Kristoff knew Anna was not coming out of her room, but had no idea why. Previously, Baragor had managed to drive her from the confines of her comfort, but was not doing so now. So, obviously, he had to know that Baragor was up to something. He also knew that Hans was on a ship with Elsa on its way to the Southern Isles.
"Kris," Said the elder man, "We have a problem."
"No kidding," Answered the blond. Baragor sighed.
"We need her out here," He commanded, pointing to the door. Kristoff sighed, again, thinking about it. Technically, he didn't care whether or not he got married right now. He just wanted Anna's love. Of course, she was secretly still angry at him, but he was unwilling or unable to see that.
"You need her out here. She'll love me whether I'm a prince or a pauper," The prince-turned-mountain-man-turned-prince grinned happily. He had no doubt in the love and fidelity of Anna. After all, who would ever guess she was trying to manipulate him?
"Are you sure?" Baragor let his question hang in the air. Of course, the two were at a terrible disadvantage. Yes, the elder had all the power politically, but Kristoff knew who the Black Spot himself was. The pair, therefore, were both nervously pacing around each other, trying to out-think, out-maneuver, and out-match his brother.
(There was an entire series on the Southern Isles called "Schemes and Counter Schemes: Behind the Emerald Eyes". The author, sadly, died in a tragic accident before finishing it.)
With an entire series written on the various plotting mechanisms of the Westerguard family, it was essentially public knowledge that the brothers were duplicitous snakes that were untrustworthy. And, of course, this was, more often than not, their downfall.
"I will have Anna, and no one will get in my way!" Vowed Kristoff.
"...not even family, eh?" The comment was pointed. They both knew that the family he was referring to was not necessarily Baragor, nor Hans, but Elsa. Kristoff grit his teeth. He hadn't wanted to kill his future sister-in-law, but he had no choice.
"She is my family," He growled back.
The two paced about for several more hours making threats sound like small talk, all the while ignorant of the fact that Anna was listening to both of them. Eventually, the night tapered out, and they retired to their beds.
The princess smirked. She'd finally caught on to this whole political power-struggle game. The trick was to use someone's weakness against them. The Westerguards, all experts agreed, with tricky, intelligent, deceptively lethal, and more than a match for any number of powerful people. But they had one huge, HUGE, HUGE flaw;
They were tricky, intelligent and deceptively lethal, more than a match for each other- and they knew it! Their weakness was that they knew how smart they were, how traitorous, and would, therefore destroy each other.
a.n. I'm pacing myself so that every 25 chapters, something big happens, every ten, we get a big development, and every five, we at least get something interesting! Stay tuned! I'm about ten chapters ahead of you!