The guards positioned themselves protectively between the red-haired girl and James who was now standing; they were eyeing him dangerously. The air grew thick and hot, James struggled to conceal the fearsome heat inside of him but experience taught him it was only a matter of time. As he prepared to escape, he saw the girl push her way in front of the guards, her sweet, high-pitched voice breaking the hot tension.

"No no no, it's alright, he just sneezed and it startled me."

"Are you sure, princess?"

"Yes, I'm fine. You can go back to...whatever you were doing."

The guards slowly left, unsure whether they really should or not but, for every step they took away, James relaxed more and more allowing the temperature of the room to cool back to normal.

"I apologize, madam, for startling you, I should have let my presence be known a little less surprisingly."

"Oh don't worry about it, I was the one who interrupted your reading. Say, I've never really seen you around here before."

James cleared his throat nervously. "Yeah, I'm fairly new here, my name is James. The queen has allowed me to stay here as a guest. I was just reading to pass the time because her and I have some business to attend to this afternoon."

"Oh, so are you just here strictly on business or did you come for the winter festival as well?"

James noticed a glint of hope in the princesses eyes and began to wonder exactly what she wanted. He proceeded to answer her previous question.

"It depends on how long I will be here."

Her glint of hope turned to a look of curiosity and suspicion. "So," she said, "you told me your name but I still have no idea of who you are. Are you a dignitary, are yo-"

"I am a blacksmith by trade, a knight at heart, and a gentleman by act, if you must know."

James had used a scene in his favorite story as a deflection, hoping it would work, technically, he was not lying either.

Anna caught on and decided to play along. "Alright, Mr. Smith, I know your trade, your heart, and your act but what is your nature?"

James did not think out this part and immediately dreaded answering. He did not expect the princess to remember something from what was considered a child's fairytale. Breaking from the story and choosing his words carefully, he answered.

"My nature is quite scary, best left unknown."

Anna noticed his somber tone and backed off. She had been suspicious James could become another situation like what happened with Hans during Elsa's coronation. The gentleman she had been talking to, however, did not seem to want anything. All he had to hide was a few regrets in his past and...his hands.

Anna's curiosity got the better of her again; without any restraint she blurted the first question that came to mind.

"What's with the gloves?"

This was a lesser fear James had. He had rehearsed and answered this question dozens of times in order to conceal his fiery secret.

"As I said, I'm a blacksmith by trade so, as you can imagine, I burned my hands pretty badly once. The scars never fully healed so there is a special medicine inside these gloves to help with the pain."

"Oh, I just thought you had a very big thing about dirt considering that is some pretty heavy leather."

Anna wanted to learn more about James but she finally realized exactly how many questions she bombarded him with in the short time she had seen him.

"I hope you can forgive me for being nosy, I recently had a bad experience with someone I thought I knew but really didn't."

James shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I get this a lot. Do you mind if I ask a few questions of my own?"

Anna shook her head.

"Okay, what is your name?"

"Anna. Princess Anna but you can just call me Anna, I am not much into formalities."

"Oh, princess, so you are the queen's daughter?"

"What? No, she's my sister! What in the world made you think that?"

James put his hands up defensively. "Please forgive me, I assumed since she was the queen and you the princess...you know. And hoping I don't overstep, the queen does look a bit more...mature when she is wearing her attire for royal court."

Anna's face softened and a playful expression took over. "I am so telling Elsa what you said."

"No, please don't, I beg you. I'll do anything."

"Oh don't worry, I tease her like that all the time. But, that was the book I was looking for."

Anna pointed to the side table where James had set the book down.

"Take it, I've read it so many times I have it memorized."

"But what's the fun in that? I tell you what, I'll read it to all of us."

"All of us?"

"Yeah, you, me, and Olaf...once he finally gets here."

"Who's Olaf?"

"Oh, well he's kinda hard to explain. You'll see when he gets here."

As if on queue the library doors opened and a chipper voice called through.

"Hey Anna, did you find the book yet?"

At first glance James saw a small child dressed in a puffy white outfit but he blinked his eyes in disbelief as he saw a snowman very much alive and with a personal snow cloud.

"He's a snowman and he's...alive."

"Yup. Just don't ask me how Elsa did it, she doesn't even know."

"Elsa is quite powerful, maybe she really can help me." James said under his breath.

"Come on, are you going to listen to the story or what?"

Anna was sitting on the sofa with Olaf on one side. James looked at the clock and noticed it was barely ten. Still a while to go before afternoon would be a thought to anyone so he sat on Anna's other side making sure to keep his distance. Anna opened the book and began to read.

Author's Note: I am having trouble naming this chapter, any suggestions are appreciated! :)

Edit: I figured a name but I will change it if someone suggests one I like better.