Chapter Ten: A Meeting Of The Minds
Authors Update: Welcome (belatedly) to 2015 and I might I add that I am incredibly sorry for the incredibly long wait as I ran into unexpected personal and technological troubles that kept me from writing on a regular schedule. Fortunately the technological troubles have been resolved with finality, but we all have personal troubles, right? Well in any case I am alive and this story has not been abandoned so don't any of you go anywhere anytime soon! One more thing, I went back and edited Chapter Nine and toned down some of the violence as I felt that most of it was unnecessary as well as went through and caught a majority of the grammatical errors I missed. Nevertheless, I shall continue to comb through it and edit even more should the need arise. Lastly, this chapter occurs roughly simultaneously to Chapter Nine.
When one happens to find a contingent of guardsmen stationed around a particular entryway, one logically assumes their purpose is to prevent any unauthorized entry and or exit from the particular chamber in question. However, this particular company of lightly armed combatants stood guard before Princess Anna's doorway more for the protection of those whose jobs required direct contact with the royal herself. Originally Prince Hans had fought his Uncle on this matter, citing the elaborate automated security measures as being more than adequate enough to protect the Princess from harms way in addition from blocking any attempt at escape. Unfortunately for a particular servant, the previous evening hadn't been kind to the captive redheads temperament and the unlucky soul charged with serving the princess her breakfast found himself laying in the medical wing with a mild concussion, several fractured ribs, and a broken foot. By the time Prince Hans learned of these events, the Duke's order to station several guards had been performed without delay.
"It's far too early in the morning to be dealing…" the usually kempt Prince mused internally as he'd been kept awake for the entire night largely due to distressing thoughts and conflicting emotions regarding his resident captive. Dressing appropriately the Prince opted to speak with the princess herself , though he sincerely doubted whether she'd give him the time of day to speak or simply attempt to disembowel him.
"Poor Mordecai suffered a number of serious wounds your Majesty, and the Princess refuses allow any of the guards or servants in to erm 'assist' with her eating habits." Hans raised an eyebrow at this last statement as he'd barely paid any attention to the fluster blabbering servant as they made their way about the winding hallways toward their final destination.
"Why did you grant her the power to control her environment?" Hans grumbled irritably as the duo approached the princess's chamber door. The servant merely floundered trying to comprehend the full breadth of his master's inquiry while simultaneously attempting to provide a suitable answer that would result in anything but a severe punishment. The auburn-haired prince merely waved off this apparently mindless buffoon with the flick of his wrist and with a short bow the little man scurried off to wherever he'd been needed next leaving Hans and the contingent of guards as the sole remaining occupants of the hallway.
"Step aside men, I wish to have a dialogue with our feisty Princess." Hans deadpanned with a boorish tone as the reality of how early in the morning sunk in deeper and deeper. The guards gave each other nervous stairs, sharing odd yet subtle hand and body motions indicating a nonverbal conversation occurring between these armed soldiers. Hans, never the one to settle for being left out of the loop especially while in charge, gruffly cleared his throat and cast an aggravated glare at the nearest guard within the reach of his arms. The guard shifted his weight and scanned the entire room in a blatant attempt to avoid fueling the Prince's ire any further to say the least about incurring his famed maniacal wrath.
"Y..Y..You're Majesty…t…The Duke has o..o..ordered us not to allow anybody in to s..ss…see Princess Anna unless they're previously approved servants t..t..tasked with…" The guard's words died a quick and painless death deep within the bowels of his throat as he'd finally matched eyes with the frustrated Prince who looked as if he were about to eviscerate every living thing within a five-kilometer radius of the complex. Taking note of raging storm barely contained within the eyes of his master, the guard promptly ceased all form of verbal communication and bowed before the enraged Prince.
"Am I not higher in status and authority than my uncle, The Duke?" The Guarded raised his head in response to Prince Hans' inquiry and verily nodded his head with exuberance. "Then wouldn't it make sense that, as the higher authority, my orders would superceed his?" The guard thought on this not-to-complex logical path and within moment's realization shone brightly through his eyes and the terrified man nodded once more in recognition. Hans smiled at this affirmation and motioned for the guard to rise and stand firm to which the guard wasted no time in standing with a perfect salute at the ready.
"Very good. Now when I say, 'Step aside men, I wish to have a dialogue with our feisty princess' you would answer?"
"Y..Y..Yes Lord Hans, by your command." The guard responded with slight hesitation at first, but carried on and finished with renewed strength at seeing the approving gaze granted by the prince. Hans simply nodded and made a slight waving motion with his hand to signal the retreat of the guards from the entryway and waited as they lined up along the wall on either side of the door itself, keeping a meters distance between themselves and the entrance. The riled prince stepped forward with elegance and grace as his foul mood had been slightly tempered by the guards willingness to carry out his command like the good drones he'd demanded them to be. Placing his hand out upon the security pad and opening his eyes wide, a blue scanner flashed about his brown orbs and a soft green scanning line bathed his hand in a soft glow and within seconds all returned to normal as a feminine artificial voice expounded, "Access Granted. Welcome Prince Hans, primary security systems disabled."
"Men, you are not to allow anyone else to enter or leave the room except myself. Do. . ?" The Prince declared with a challenging authoritative tone as he turned his head from the left wall to the right wall and waiting to garner the affirmative nods from every man before entering the room of one riled redhead. Just as he'd secured a firm grip on the door handle, an uneasy cough garnered the young prince's attention.
"Prince Hans *ahem* sir, what are we to do if the prisoner becomes...erm...uncontrollable?" The forward guard asked nervously, as the others stood content to watch as the situation unfolded, keen to hear their master's orders should such an event occur.
"If our guest becomes overzealous, I will be more than able to handle the situation." The Prince applied strict emphasis upon 'guest' in the hopes that these ignoramuses could understand the proper address by which they are to assign to the young Princess Anna. Taking a reassuring breath, the prince grasped the door handle with strength and fortitude and launched himself into what was sure to be one of the mythical circles of hell mentioned in the literatures of the old world.
Hans' ear twitched as he detected what sounded like an object flying through the air and narrowly managed to avoid a sizeable tea plate from colliding with his cranium and watched as it shattered into oblivion beyond any vague hope of repair. Turning his attention back to the room at large, the young prince's eyes quickly adjusted to the dim atmosphere and took internal note of the 'fortress' of sheets, pillows, and assorted furniture surrounding the massive bed. Curious as to how she'd managed such an odd yet skillful feat of creating a crude yet sturdy and efficient barricade, the Prince shook his head and remembered to focus on the task at hand as well as the currently pissed-off princess still occupying the room and the eye-opening fact that she was potentially armed with any number of makeshift weaponry.
"Well Your Highness, it would appear you've not suffered from any cases of boredom during your stay thus far." Hans offered a light ray of humor in the hopes the fiery redhead would understand the good nature of this meeting. Silence filled the room and before Hans could speak again another plate, smaller than before, sailed across the room and passed within an inch of the startled prince's ear.
"Would you stop throwing things at me and at least attempt to take part in civilized discussion?!" The Prince all but shouted at the makeshift fortress of fine linens and replicated antique furniture. Once more silence served as the only answer to his plea, that is until his ears detected a rustling sound emanating from within the boundaries of Anna's borders and as the young man took a tentative step forward a blur of motion passed through the peripherals of his eyes and upon turning his head to see what the commotion had been, Hans jumped with a start as the Princess stood armed with wooden chair leg two feet from where he stood.
"What notion do you have that would convince you to believe that I would be interested in anything you have to say, especially after last night!?" The princess growled as she entered an aggressively defensive position.
"How did you get out of that contraption without my seeing you?" Hans rebutted with complete befuddlement.
"I asked first!" Anna snarled as she took another step forward causing Hans to step back into a decidedly defensive posture. Gazing upon the agitated princess in the dim light, Hans noted the obvious tear marks staining her otherwise perfect freckled cheeks and the exhaustion lines surrounding her beautiful blue eyes. It was obvious to Hans that his resident captive had slept about as much if not less than he throughout the night and that would serve him either extremely well or extremely poor in terms of whether she'd understand the events unfolding and their justifications.
"Princess Anna, I understand that you're a tad upset and that's perfectly understandable…" the prince's placating words expired at the scornful glare cast his way and noticed the feisty princess tightening her grip upon the wooden chair leg and decided that he should probably not waste anymore time with pleasantries. "…You have my deepest and most sincerest apologies Anna, I hadn't meant for my Uncle's words to…"
"Is it true?" The ferocious princess abruptly inquired, breaking the prince's train of thought without so much as a single instance of hesitancy or warning.
"Excuse me?" Hans knew precisely what the princess was driving at though he had not the desire to make any important assumptions in regards to anything involving the princess, as it would cause more harm than good.
"Your heard the question, and I know that you comprehend. Now answer me or it's this leg up your…"
"Alright…alright..."The prince held his hands up defensively as Anna took another step forward with malicious intent radiating from her small yet powerful form. Giving a curt exhale from the nostrils signaling her impatience, the Prince dryly swallowed and gave a small clearing of his throat before he began again.
"Technically…yes, but…" The prince found himself rudely interrupted once more by having to avoid a chair leg to the temple calculatedly swung by an irate redhead. Standing defensively at the ready once more, Hans found the princess merely holding up her hand in a clear gesture for him to cease any and all forms of verbal communication to which the stunned auburn-haired prince relaxed his posture and motioned for the princess to carry on and speak her mind.
"Your apology serves as nothing more than wasted breath and I'll afford you the opportunity to leave under your own power, but be warned as this is a limited time offer." The Princess calmly directed this scathing declaration at the bewildered prince, watching studiously various expressions of confusion, anger, and sorrow occupied his somewhat charming face…somewhat charming.
"Your Majesty…Anna, you must understand that…" The prince grumbled yet again as the redheaded street judge put her hand out in ceasing gesture and began to speak once more.
"Understand? Understand! Understand WHAT!? That you both violently and forcibly abducted me, threatened me and my family, held me captive against my will and under constant fear for the safety of my life, and that all the while you've been planning to usurp the throne? AND! And that you somehow expect me to simply forget everything you've done to me with that admittedly handsome smile and debonair tone of voice?! Uh-uh! Not sorry! Don't think so! NOT HAPPENING!" The princess screamed her last words at the perplexed prince as he considered her response carefully, logging away the bits about his voice and smile, and attempted to formulate an adequate response to both quell the raging tempest within the violently aggravated princess and to convey the true meaning of all that has take place as of now amidst the pregnant pause that currently settled upon the room. Anna moved to leave the apparently speechless prince and return to her self-made inner sanctum when she felt a large and steady hand grasp her arm and spin her around.
"Anna! Please, you're missing the big picture!" Hans brought his left arm up to grasp the wooden char leg before it could collide with his forehead and gave a self-satisfied smirk in reaction to his ability to halt her assault. Deepening her frown, the young princess delivered a keen and powerful kick to Hans' right shin procuring a mighty gasp of shock and pain that the princess long desired to hear.
"Enlighten me!" came a throaty response as she turned her arm out and pulled away from his weakened grip, content to watch as he bent down and rub his aching shin. It wasn't long before he resumed an upright and steady stance. Breathing a sigh of relief that the princess hadn't continued her belligerent assault while he remained in a weakened state, Hans timidly cleared his throat as he mentally assembled the appropriate facts that he was certain would shed enough light on the matter and convince the princess to work in supporting his aims at achieving complete and total success.
"Your highness, roughly twenty years ago my families kingdom collapsed under the weight of immense bloodshed and chaos caused by a force of unspeakable evil. In the early stages of what we now recognizing as the beginning of the end, our kingdom and its territories faces immense socio-economic woes not too dissimilar to what MegaKingdom Arendelle currently find itself staring down at the moment." Anna motioned for the prince to continue, her hate filled gaze never once letting up. "Your mother's father, then King of Arendelle, met with my father in order to discuss terms by which our two kingdoms would benefit from mutual trade in exchange for his help in securing a stable future. However, the negotiations didn't go nearly as according to plan as my father would've hoped and it was, in no small part, due to your mothers refusal to marry a member of my family…one of my…well…needless to say, it doesn't matter anymore. Within a year following your grandfather's departure, the Independent Kingdoms of the Southern Isles fell to a storm of fear, death, and fire. The Duke and myself are the only two able-bodied heirs to the throne of a MegaKingdom in ruins still living, and I cannot bare to see another kingdom fall because of ignorance and blindness to the changes going on inside and outside her hallowed walls." Hans choked up angrily and Anna tilted her head in confusion, refusing to feel anything but intense disgust for the man who stood before her despite any tragedy that may have befallen him and how emotionally stirring such a tale could be, yet she felt that there was more to this than what he'd spoken and before she could ask he continued onward.
"At first, we planned to take the throne out of a desire to reclaim what should have been rightfully mine…but now, there's so much more at stake than my own desires. That's why I need you Anna! The citizens of Arendelle may grow unruly at having a highly favored monarchy fall and replaced by another. But if they were to see you and I, standing together as King and Queen, then I'm certain they'd offer overwhelming support and unbreakable allegiance to their new rulers! Given time, I'm certain that you'd come to feel a certain preference for my company and see that I'm completely justified in my actions now and the days to come and perhaps you'll forgive me out of…out of love, and know that I'm on the right side of history and the future. Together, we can start a new ruling family with strong and smart heirs to oversee the safety and security of Arendelle and then our children can build upon our work and rebuild my family's old kingdom and make it better and stronger than ever before and then perhaps every remaining piece of civilization! It's all ours! The world for us and our children and their children, Anna! Don't you see!? That's why I need you!" A sharp slap to his right cheek brought the grandiose prince back to the cold reality that he'd failed to placate a very irate princess.
"You're completely out of your mind if you expect me to go along with this absurdly insane plot of yours, willingly to say the least!" Anna rubbed her palm as the powerful blow she rendered had come with the cost of slight bruising upon her fair skin. Hans merely rubbed his reddening cheek with a soft chuckle, hinting at a deeper breadth of understanding and a withholding of key facts that Anna would deduce before she eventually broke out of her prison and returned back to the safety and comfort of her family so as to warn them and keep them safe from this handsome mad man.
"I will have…no…I must have my world order…it's the only way to sur…well…let's just say that the more you resist and struggle to accept, the harder it becomes to ensure the survival of your family during the transition of power." Hans declares with a detatched tone as he turned his back to the confused princess and reached for the door handle. Just as he turned the metallic lever the young prince turned halfway to meet the redheaded royal's gaze and gave a sickening smile.
"The sun will rise soon, I hear the view is absolutely stunning from the higher balcony at MegaPalace One. Forgive me your highness, I must take my leave."
Author's End Note: As of now, the spell check and grammar check is currently missing from the Doc Manager and therefor I may have missed one or two errors and so I hope you all forgive them as I do my best to try and make these chapters as perfect as possible. I hope that I've not lost too many of my followers and avid readers and that you all know that this story is NOT abandoned or on hiatus. My schedule has grown a bit busier since last I posted but I should hopefully have another chapter up sooner than last time. Until then, I hope you all have a great week ahead and that you'll continue to follow along.