Easter, 1917

The palace gardens were full of life after midnight had passed and Easter had come around. A long table was set in the middle, decorated with a green cloth dotted with pink spots, as as well as diamond bunny statues and hundreds of plates, filled with roast lamb, pancakes swimming in butter, and chocolate eggs. The trees around them grew beautiful cherry blossoms, their branches hanging colourful lanterns - red, green, blue, orange, even a few gold. The gazebo had also been adorned with glittering yellow lights for the occasion.

The Queen had invited every person she knew as guests at the Easter dinner party. There was her younger sister, the princesses' Aunt Idun. She and Elsa were a spitting image of each other, with her sapphire blue eyes and thick dark hair. Idun greeted her nieces with hugs and kisses, giving them each a small gift - they were miniature jewelled eggs, each containing a 'surprise' inside. Anna received a porcelain bunny that seemed to shine different colours when held under the light. Gerda found a ruby ring inside hers, and the older sisters bracelets stringed with pearls.

"Swap you for a bracelet?" Gerda asked Rapunzel, clutching her arm with begging eyes. Rapunzel told her that no, she may not, and that they had more than plenty of pearls back in the palace.

The other guests were not nearly as pleasant. Another guest that attended that night was the King's mother, the Duchess Ada. She hadn't seen the girls since the Queen was pregnant with her fourth and final child. So upon seeing Gerda, who like the other princesses wore a celadon dress sprinkled with glass butterflies, called her a 'skinny child,' with 'no sense of humour.'

"Did I offend her?" Gerda asked with a bemused expression. The girls were sitting on wooden swings away from the chatter and noise of the party guests lingering nearby.

"She's always been like that," Elsa replied, adjusting the white flowers in her braid. "That is, from the moment she became a grandmother."

"And it doesn't help either that Grandmamma is getting old," added Rapunzel, "so she'll only get cranky the more she ages."

The Queen announced soon after for everyone to pick partners for a dance around the gazebo. Rapunzel and Elsa were immediately chosen, while Kai, dressed in his only Sunday best, plucked up the courage to ask Gerda. Both were hopping around, red as the roses threading around the marble gazebo pillars.

Anna shrunk against a shady tree, watching the couples dance happily around a magical display. Of course no one wanted the clumsy, gangly teenager who was uncomfortably stuck between the stages of a child and an adult. If only Hans were here...

"Psst," a familiar voice hissed. Anna turned in surprise to find Hans sitting on a lone bench, performing small tricks with a plucked daisy. The black tuxedo he wore was simple, but it suited him.

"Hans! How did you-?"

"Snuck out," he answered with a devilish grin. "Thought I'd have one night of freedom out before going back to the hospital." Hans lifted himself up, wincing in pain as he struggled to move his broken leg.

"Hans," Anna told him firmly, "you need to go back. Now."

"Why? So I can spend another miserable night in the ward? You don't understand how unpleasant living in the hospital can be-"

"Yes, I do," Anna looked Hans in the eye carefully. "I've been there before."

"Visiting me every few weeks doesn't count."

"No, that's not what I mean. When I was five I was involved in a motor car accident with my grandmother Marie."

"Really?" Hans's forehead creased.

"My grandmother was killed from a case of head trauma, and I almost died too - I was in the hospital for three months." Anna had never told this story to anyone outside of their family. But since Hans was now a friend, Anna already felt he was trustworthy. She pointed to a faint streak beneath her hairline. "That was from hitting my head against the crushed metal. The accident is partially the reason why we don't use motors."

Hans nodded understandably. "So is that why you're concerned? About me, that is."

"I bet you've never been in a single car accident before. Maybe you're not as fragile as I thought." Her eyes fell from his head to his toes, and over again like a comb through hair. "Would you like a dance? I haven't got a partner yet. And where did you buy that tuxedo?"

"Never mind where I got it," Hans said quickly. Then without warning, he yanked Anna's hand, sending her into a daze. What started out as an awkward scramble to settle into their steps became a majestic process of waltzing moves. Anna felt light on her feet, as if they'd left the whole world beneath them ages away. For a young war-ridden soldier who lost all traces of memories made, Hans was quite the excellent dancer.

All too soon, the dance came to an end. Before going, Hans finished the sequence with a bow - to which his partner answered with a bob of the head and a curtsy - and kissed the back of her palm, which instantly turned a deep shade of pink.

Anna felt sorry - regretted, even - she had ever wanted Hans to return to the hospital, as the lad waved goodbye and disappeared into the distant clearing.

-o0o-

A hidden dark shape crept through the doorway, checking that no one was awake, and that his surroundings were clear. No sound disturbed the silence, except for a few ticking noises from inside the walls - the grandfather clock was just on the other side - and Rapunzel's slow, steady breathing from under the sheets. The shape continued forwards, beyond the doorway and across the room, reaching Rapunzel's bed within moments. A hand went to rummage inside his front pocket, until finally pulling out...

A long sharp dagger.

Elsa woke up gasping as she heard screams filling the corridor. At first she thought she was hearing things. But then it occurred to her that the screams sounded all too real.

In a matter of minutes Elsa had burst through the doorway, and upon seeing the figure looming over a frightened Rapunzel on the floor, she cried out and ran towards her sister's would-be assassin. Then without realising what she was doing, Elsa shoved the person into Rapunzel's dressing screen and plummeted her fist into his stomach.

Elsa heard the figure yell "Bitch!" before scrambling to his feet and disappearing through the window. Not bothering to stop and think, she whirled around to make sure that her sister was not injured.

Rapunzel was not hurt, but she was trembling from head to foot and her face was ghostly white. "He nearly got me," she whispered, her voice jolting. "I rolled off the bed to get away from him. I would be dead now if you hadn't arrived."

"Don't thank me," Elsa was nearly shaking herself. "It was instinct. Instinct to save you, my dear sister." The two embraced, crying into each other's shoulders.

"What's going on?" The Queen came rushing into the room, followed by Anna and Gerda. All looked anxious and shrieked upon seeing the smashed window and the two elder princesses' crinkled nightgowns and ruffled hair.

"A man" - Elsa took a deep breath - "broke into Rapunzel's room, and tried to kill her."

"Elsa saved me," Rapunzel added, but the Queen ignored her, already having been appalled at the prospect of someone trying to harm one of her daughters.

"My God, Rapunzel! Did he hurt you?"

"No," Rapunzel answered. Her entire body seemed to be unnaturally tense.

The Queen hugged her as tightly as her arms would let her. "I'm just glad you're alive and well."

Elsa, Anna, and Gerda all exchanged worried glances. The first break-in of the palace was the first, but certainly wouldn't be the last. It only served as proof that Arendelle wasn't as safe as it was before the Southern Isles had declared war.