Heins
Heins had been lying on his cot for the past four hours. After he had arrived at the camp on the shore of Lake Fyresvatn, Gunnar had taken the unconscious queen to a tent in the very middle of the camp and sent for the Dreamwalker, leaving Heins to find his own tent. Unfortunately, his tent was only one tent away from Elsa's. Soon after that, as hard as he tried to shut out the sound, Elsa's agonized screams split the night. The agony in her voice had swiftly driven Heins to tears.
Mercifully, the Dreamwalker didn't seem to stay very long, but Heins could hear Elsa sobbing for several hours afterwards. He knew all too well the sheer magnitude of pain, despair, and confusion the Dreamwalker could induce. Heins loved his brother Hans, and truly believed that underneath it all, he was a good person at heart, but that itself wouldn't have been enough for him to play this part in this cruel production.
He was taken from the Southern Isles along with Hans three weeks ago. The Dreamwalker invaded the minds of his personal guard and drove them insane. Heins watched the captain of his guard leap to his death from the battlements, blood streaming from his recently vacated eye sockets, laughing all the way down. Heins had been running down the hall to his quarters, desperate to get somewhere, anywhere safe, when the Dreamwalker stepped around the corner.
That was the last thing he remembered clearly until he woke up on the ship to Arendelle, Karl standing guard over him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get any more from the interim time other than flashes of pain and despair, more than he had ever felt before. Karl had coldly explained to Heins what he was to do and what would happen to Hans if he did not succeed. Although reluctant, Heins agreed. He had never met any of the royal family of Arendelle, and from what his brother Hans had said, the world would be better off without that wicked sorceress anyway. But then he had met her, and everything changed.
It was on the pier immediately after departure from his ship. Heins had been desperate to put some distance between himself and Karl, so he disembarked as soon as they were docked, leaving Karl onboard playing the part of the servant gathering his master's things. The Queen had come to greet Heins in person- without an entourage, no less- and had honored him by choosing to greet him first, rather than wait for him to speak. Heins was so taken aback by her beauty and her gesture that he nearly forgot to bow, and when he did, it was an awkward and jerky motion.
Straightening up with his face burning with embarrassment at his misconduct- really, he had been there two seconds and had already made a fool of himself- he straightened to see Elsa smiling widely, which only exacerbated his problem- she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. He stammered out an apology, but she just continued to smile and waved off his apology. "Welcome to Arendelle, Prince Heins. It is an honor to have you here."
"An- an honor?" Smooth. You're nailing this. Get it together! "Ahem… Apologies again, Your Majesty. It's just… well, I didn't expect this warm of a welcome. After what Hans did-" The Queen cut him off with a raised hand and a shake of her head, her face now stern.
"I have not forgotten what Hans did. Nor do I intend to let it go entirely during your visit. However, as you are ambassador, I would be remiss to treat you any differently as any other honored guest of my court." Heins bowed his head. Elsa stepped closer and lowered her voice. "I also know," she began, "that you are not your brother. I do not intend to treat you any differently because of what he did." Hardly able to believe what he was hearing, Heins looked up at the face of the Queen, and was struck by the kindness and understanding in her deep blue eyes. She was only inches away now, with such kindness and compassion on her face that Heins began to feel tears forming in his eyes. No! You are a Prince! Princes must do what must be done, no matter their personal feelings! "We all deserve the chance to be free of the past," she whispered. "I understand your fear and trepidation of how I would react, but I promise you- I will do my utmost to never treat you as anything other than yourself, with only your actions coloring my perception. Not Hans'."
Heins dropped his gaze to keep the tears from overflowing. "Your Majesty," he breathed. "Thank you." Elsa hesitated, then placed a bracing hand on his shoulder, and Heins' brain ground to a halt at the contact. Then the moment passed, and Elsa stepped back and said, "This is why I wanted to come down and greet you personally. I know that it cannot have been easy for you to make the trip here. I simply wanted to avoid causing a scene where one or both of us may do something… well, like this. I will leave you to go and collect yourself back onboard your ship. You may join me at the castle whenever you are ready. Officially, this visit never took place. Unofficially… it was nice to meet you, Prince Heins." With that, she turned and walked down the pier, her cloak waving in the breeze, leaving Heins stunned in her wake.
After the kindness she had just shown him, how was he supposed to do this to her? Well, maybe he wasn't as good as he always liked to think he was- after all, hadn't he played his part to near perfection? Yes, he had tried avoiding putting the accursed necklace on the Queen, but he hadn't done all he could have done. She didn't deserve this. She was so kind. She was so beautiful…
Heavy footfalls approached his tent, and Gunnar entered, the setting sun casting a foul silhouette over Heins, who sat up quickly, drawing his face into a neutral stare. There was a bundle under his arm.
"What is it?", he spat.
"Manners, Your Highness. Have you forgotten your courtesies?"
"I give no courtesy to the likes of you."
Gunnar laughed. "You're brave, boy. I'll give you that. Let's go. Time for some… instruction."
"What do you mean?"
"You're going to help me… instruct… our guest." He shifted his arm, and a leather strand fell loose from the bundle. A glass shard sparkled in the evening sun.