Chapter 15: The Target

January 10, 1813

Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark

Anna slowly stepped out of the carriage assisted by a liveried servant. She thanked the man politely and stared at the second man who greeted her.

"Any messages?" she asked.

"None, Madame," replied the butler with a regal bow. "However, Princess Caroline would like you for you to join her at the tea room in half an hour."

"Of course, please tell her I will be glad to join her."

She proceeded to her assigned apartments and waved away the girl who offered to assist her in undressing. Once alone in her suite, she tugged off her bonnet, laid it aside, and sighed dejectedly as she sat on the elaborately cushioned ottoman.

It's been her third visit to the French regional war office since they reopened and there was still no news of Kristoff. She did, however, accounted for 68 Arendellian soldiers in the barracks and the local hospitals, all alive and waiting for the ports to reopen so they can come home. They were the men that Holford managed to evacuate from Warsaw. She spent the day just talking to the latest nine soldiers she met at the barracks. They told stories of narrowly escaping death and capture after months of marching on the retreat.

The news on everyone's lips today was that the Russians entered Warsaw just days ago and they were rumored to be moving even further westward. There was speculation that the Russians will be in Prussia in a month. The soldiers she spoke to even surmised that Emperor Bonaparte might be captured soon and the French empire was on its way towards total collapse. As Arendellians allied to the French that would mean they were also on the losing side of this war. However, Anna was rather surprised that none of the soldiers from her country seemed to think this was a bad thing. One soldier even put it bluntly:

"Serves him right for forcing Queen Elsa to send us against the Russians. They never meant us harm but we had to fight them. Let the Russians come and deal with the French and their arrogant Emperor. We just want to go home and move on in our lives."

The sentiment reminded her of Kristoff's last letter when he mentioned how the soldiers felt about this war. It seemed to be a common view among the Arendellians and it was what prompted a lot of them to desert the ranks during the many months in the campaign. The official tally for Arendellian deserters she got by the end of the day was over a hundred now and 84 were confirmed executed by their own commanding officers. Anna shuddered to imagine if Kristoff had also been forced to execute his own men and prayed he was never put in such a horrible situation.

Oh dear Lord, I hope you didn't put Kristoff through such an ordeal. Keep him safe and please send him home to me.

She got up and made to her dresser where her bible lay on her side table. She felt a need for some inspirational words to assuage her troubled mind. However, she paused when she noticed a piece of paper sat beside the holy book with her name written prominently in the front.

Hans!

She immediately recognized his neat script. She hadn't been seeing Hans much over the last several days and she hadn't had an opportunity to speak to him in private at length. Since the start of the new year, Hans had been in the war office for debriefing which took five days of him being confined to the barracks. When he finally came home to Amalienborg, Uncle Frederick took him hunting for another three days. She kept missing him whenever he was in Amalienborg or in the war office. He was always in a meeting with some foreign diplomat or in conversation with a high ranking French officer on the occasions they passed by each other. She had the oddest feeling he was avoiding her. Anna worried something in Holford's letter on New Year's Eve changed things between them but whatever it was, she could not imagine.

A more disturbing thought that had been bothering Anna was that Hans was again setting his sights into marrying into a throne. Her cousin Caroline was naive and vivacious as she had been when she was her age. Caroline was infatuated with Hans since the New Year eve's ball and often expressed a desire to spend more time with their mysterious Colonel guest. Hans wasn't particularly paying attention to Caroline. At least, it wasn't that much obvious from Anna's perspective. He was friendly with the girl but not overly familiar. However, it still nagged at Anna how he blended easily into the Danish-Norwegian court and was well-liked by the royal family in just mere days. She worried this was all a prelude to courting her unsuspecting cousin. Perhaps that was what Caleb was asking him. Hans was to marry into a throne for whatever political purpose it served Caleb. What better candidate for a royal bride than the oldest surviving daughter of the King of Denmark-Norway?

Anna took the letter and slowly opened it with high hopes her suspicions were unfounded. However, his short message told her little reassurance.

Dear Anna,

I heard from some sailors that the sea routes are clearing early. The ports will be opening soon. I've arranged for a ship for you and the Arendellians to depart on the 14th. Please make arrangements to get ready.

Hans

No explanations or even an indication he was going to meet me. Something is definitely up with Hans.

A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts. Anna opened it and a servant reminded her of Caroline's invitation for tea. Anna fixed her bonnet and straightened her dress then followed after the servant.

I'm going to send out guards and the maids and the stable boys to help me find him. He can't possibly move in and out of the palace without at least one of the servants noticing. I'm going to find out what he's up to even if I have to hunt him down and hold him up by the ear and force him to tell me. He owes me the truth...

Anna stopped her stream of thought as she entered the tea room. Hans was there seated in a comfortable couch having a good laugh with Caroline, her four-year-old sister Vilhelmine and their two ladies-in-waiting.

"Anna, I'm so glad you could join us," Caroline greeted enthusiastically as she stood to greet her. She leaned over as if to kiss Anna's cheek but whispered instead: "I finally got a moment with Colonel Jorgenbjorgen. Villy invited him to play with her so my ladies and I joined them. I asked him to dine with us tonight and he said yes. I suggested we can have dancing after dinner and the Colonel told me it was a privilege to have me as his first dance!"

"Oh... uhmmm... that's nice," Anna answered hesitantly. She eyed Hans but he seemed pre-occupied with pretending to drink tea using a tiny doll's china set while Vilhelmine clapped her little hands in appreciation.

"He's been so good to my little sister," Caroline gushed on. "I think he would make a great father someday."

"I don't know about that but he's seems good as an older brother," Anna replied begrudgingly. It was obvious Caroline was already imagining herself married to Hans and having his children and it didn't sit well with Anna.

Caroline however, didn't get the hint and merely giggled. "You're absolutely right. I think Villy would love him as an older brother."

Anna said nothing. She was fighting an internal battle not to roll her eyes.

Hans looked up just then and smiled at her before he turned to his smaller companion. "Can we invite Princess Anna to join for tea?" he asked.

The little princess pouted and shook her head at him. "We have too many princesses. We need a prince."

"But you've got me. I'm already a prince," Hans pleaded.

"We need one more," the little girl said matter-of-factly. "So you and he can swordfight while we princesses cheer."

Anna couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's enthusiasm. She turned to little Vilhelmine. "You don't have to be a prince to learn how to swordfight. A princess can fight too."

"She can?" the girl asked seriously.

"Of course she can," Hans assured her. He got up from his seat and retrieved two pokers from the fireplace. He handed one to Anna. "Come on, Anna. Let's show off your fencing skills. Let's see if you learned something."

Anna eagerly took up his challenge. They went to the center of the room and started play fighting. Anna fell into the role quite easily and it reminded her of the fun bonding times she and Hans had on the road. She put his lessons to full use as she lunged and parried against him.

"Is that the best you got, Prinzess?" said Hans in the familiar thick accent she immediately recognized as the one her own father used for Lord Maledorn.

"I haven't even started!" Anna gamely replied as she lunged dramatically once more.

They kept at it for a good ten minutes that Anna was soon huffing and puffing at the strenuous exercise. However, it got her blood pumping in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time. It was great fun and their audience seemed to be enjoying it just as they were. Caroline took on cheering for Hans while Vilhelmine became Anna's supporter.

"Touche!" Anna finally shouted as she lightly hit Hans on the chest. He made an overly dramatic expression of surprise before he proceeded to pretend to die. It earned him a lot of laughs from Vilhelmine and their ladies.

"Ahem! Pardon me your highnesses," an older voice cut through their laughter. They all turned to the door to see an elderly matron with a stern countenance about her that made both Anna and Hans stand at attention. Anna was reminded of her strict governess Frau Benedicta who used to make her behave with one sharp look when she was a child.

"King Frederick would like to see his daughters," announced the matron.

"Must we go now Leontina?" Caroline complained. "We were having so much fun."

"He bids you to come immediately," the woman insisted. Caroline made a sour face but followed the matron with her sister and their ladies. The stern Leontina glanced back at Hans and Anna noticed how the woman seemed to eye him with obvious displeasure before she swept away rather dramatically with her nose in the air.

"She's rather high and mighty," Hans joked once they were out of earshot but Anna decided not to comment back. Instead she turned to Hans.

"So?" she asked.

"So... what? he replied innocently as he dabbed his sweat stained face with a handkerchief.

"So what?" Anna arched her eyebrow and decided to go straight to the point. "You disappeared on me for days! What's going on?"

"I've been busy," he shrugged.

"Busy with what?" She crossed her arms across her chest.

He finger combed his hair with one move of his hand to get it back into place then proceeded to straighten out invisible wrinkles on his coat while he casually answered: "Debriefing, gathering news about the ports and arranging for transport for the Arendellians."

"Uh-huh," she said doubtfully. Okay so he was going to be evasive. I'm not going to let him. "Were you planning on talking to me or are you just going to meet on the boat on the way home?"

Hans didn't even look at her but continued to fuss with his coat. "Okay, I'm sorry if I haven't been around lately. Look, I got the transport prepared for you and all the Arendellians. If you want we can talk about the supplies for the journey—"

"Whoah! Whoah! Wait a second!" Anna interrupted. "What do you mean ME and the Arendellians? Don't you mean US?"

Hans said nothing and merely looked away.

"Hans, you are going home with me to Arendelle?"

"It's not my home," he said quietly.

"It doesn't have to be. Elsa invited you. She told me to let you escort me home. I thought we talked about this."

"I'm sure the other Arendellian officers are more than capable of escorting you."

"But I want you to escort me!" Anna exclaimed as she moved in front of him to force him to look at her. "Hans, tell me right now what's going on. You ignore me for days, now you're letting me go home without you?"

He bit his lip for a moment and refused to meet her gaze. "Look, my duty compels me to stay..."

"That's a lie!" she declared. "Or at least that's not the whole truth. It's Caleb, isn't it? Your brother is forcing you to stay here in exchange for your freedom. He gave you a pardon but he can take it away just as easily if you don't do his bidding. That's what Holford told you."

Panic formed into Hans' features. He rushed to the door, peered at the corridor before fully closing it. "Where did you hear that?" he whispered when he turned back to her.

"I overheard you and Holford talking at the hospital on the day he arrived."

"How much did you hear?" he asked fearfully.

"Enough to know Caleb is asking you to do something you don't want to do but you'll consider it if Holford erases a file for you. You received a letter from Holford during the ball. I figured he came through with the favor you asked him so now you're doing what Caleb wants. I'm not stupid Hans! I can put it all together even if I don't have all the details."

"Please keep your voice down," he said worriedly. "What have you put together?"

Anna realized it would be prudent to follow his advice. She may not like what he was doing but she wasn't going to get him in trouble with her uncle just yet. She whispered back: "You're trying to marry Caroline."

Hans silently stared at her for several seconds before he blinked with confusion. "What?" he mouthed.

"You heard me!" Anna cried indignantly before she remembered to lower her tones. "It's obvious why you want to stay here so you can court her, marry her then gain power when she becomes queen after her father. A move that sounds quite familiar, isn't it?" She paused as a sickening new thought entered her head. "Hans… just tell me honestly. Did Caleb ask you to kill Uncle Frederick so you can get to your goal faster?"

"What? NO!" he exclaimed so violently that he seemed to forget they were supposed to be whispering. He immediately recovered and lowered his voice when he spoke again: "Anna, he's a good man. I would never do that to him!"

"But did your brother order you to?"

He shook his head. "Caleb didn't ask to murder anyone. That's not his way."

Anna felt a little relieved with that but the prospect of her cousin being seduced for power still left her feeling ill. "So it's just a marriage then? Look Hans, I told you before you may think this is just a game, but people's feelings can get hurt. I'm not going to let you hurt Caroline like she's some target you need to hit."

"I wasn't going to," he said softly. He put a hand on his forehead and paced apprehensively. "What you must think of me?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Hans. Just please, whatever it is, tell me the truth."

"Okay," he said as he stopped pacing and he motioned for her to sit down. She followed him as she sensed this was something she needed to hear seated comfortably at least. He sat opposite her but remained within whispering distance.

"I'm not going to Arendelle with you," he admitted. "But I'm not doing that because Caleb ordered me to. I'm doing it because I'm defying him."

"Defying him? What do you mean?"

"Caleb did order me to seek a target, as you put it. But it isn't Caroline." He paused to stare at her intently and Anna could see the desperation in his eyes. "It's Elsa."

"Elsa?" Anna muttered as her stomach plummeted and her mouth suddenly felt dry. "What exactly does Caleb want you to do with my sister?"

He wrung his hands comfortably and she could tell this was something unpleasant for him. He spoke haltingly, like he was struggling. "Caleb wants me… to get close enough to be part of her court…"

"That's not so bad, is it? I mean you can be the Southern Isles ambassador to Arendelle…" She faltered as Hans shook her head.

"Caleb will probably set me up to be that ambassador for Arendelle, but he wants me to be more than that to her. He wants me to get closer to her… so I can influence her, be her confidant… and…" He paused and swallowed hard. "Get into her bed."

Anna felt sick at the blunt way he put it but she should have expected that. A marriage for power had always been in his plan. Why should it change now? But something here didn't make sense.

"How can you marry Elsa when she's already married?" She let out a gasp as a grim idea came to her. "You're not... planning an accident for Knudsvig, are you?"

He shook his head. "Killing Knudsvig is out of the question. He's supposed to be kept alive." He stopped again and gave a defeated huff. "And I never said anything about a marriage."

Author's Note: One of my guest reviewers mentioned how this feels similar to Catherine the Great of Russia and you are quite right, Elsa's predicament was inspired by Empress Catherine's real life situation. For those not familiar with the story of Catherine the Great, she was a German princess named Sofia who ended up becoming queen regent on her son's behalf while her incompetent husband, the heir to the Russian throne was pushed to the side. She effectively became ruler of all Russia. She also has a mention in this story which I will elaborate more on the next chapter. I think most of you can take a guess where Hans is going with this one and he is about to reveal to Anna the real extent of the Westergaard political tactics.