Bounjour, mes copains. Oui, je suis en retard, mais...
Ah. Let me do this in English. Hi, guys. You probably hate me by now, and I'm really sorry. I just have issues. Lots of issues. Such as starting high school with really high-level classes that give me lots of stress and hyperventilation-inducing panic attacks. Oh, and there's the fact that I eat in the hallway at lunch because I have no friends, and I'm now the class weirdo, and...
Yeah. I just needed to sort things out. And I have, mostly. I've been a bit lazy, but I gave myself a stern talking-to and realized that I love writing. I enjoy doing this, it's just that... hmm. I'm kinda crazy. ADHD + Anxiety + Depression = HEAD EXPLOSION. So it's been a bit hard. I promise though, I'm going to do weekly chapters no matter what! I promise! But please, be patient with me. I'm a puny little freshman weakling that belongs in a mental hospital!
Well, enjoy! I have SOOOOO many ideas for this! EEEEEEE IZ MAKIN MEH SQUEAL!
Disclaimer: Sadly, Frozen isn't mine. It belongs to those big important people that wear suits. Maybe if I owned a suit, people would take me seriously...
"Prince Kristoff of where?"
"Slovenia." Kristoff repeated, pretending to be insulted. "Haven't you heard of it? It's somewhat far from here. East."
The butler gave a fake start of realization. "Ah, yes, I believe I remember now!"
No, you really don't, thought Kristoff with impatience. He just wanted to get this awkward phase of make-believe over with so he and Anna could be together. The sooner that happened, the better.
"Anyways," the butler continued, "My name is Kai. I'll go get Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, and you can just make yourself comfortable here in the drawing room." He promptly rushed out, leaving Kristoff to sit rather uncomfortably in an oak-wood dining chair and wait.
The drawing room was large and grandiose, with its velvet draperies decorating the walls and intricately carved moulding, its high-arching windows overlooking a topiary garden where Kristoff could just imagine spending lazy afternoons relaxing under the spreading branches of the willow tree, feeling the breeze rustling his hair slightly…
"I take it you're Prince Kristoff?" asked a crisp female voice.
Quickly Kristoff turned away from the window and nodded at Queen Elsa, who stood in the doorway, her face a deadpan look of indifference.
But where is Anna?
Almost like she read his mind, Queen Elsa said to him, Princess Anna will be down in a moment. She is just, ah… preparing."
What in the world could she be preparing for? She already knows I'm coming, Kristoff wondered, but he shook the thought away. It probably made sense, anyway, for her to at least act like she had no clue what was going on.
There was a long, very awkward silence while Queen Elsa took a few steps forward and closed the drawing room door. She cleared her throat and asked pointedly, "So, you are from… Slovenia, correct? I haven't really heard of it."
Suddenly, Kristoff's throat felt dry. He was choking up. "Um, it-it's small. V-very small. It's, uh… e-east of here." he stuttered. Then he cursed himself. Princes didn't trip and stumble over their words; quite opposingly, they were extremely articulate and proper. Not to mention, they knew everything about their countries and were more than happy to tell it to anyone that would listen. All Kristoff had to say about his fake nation was "small" and "east of here".
Queen Elsa smiled, feigning interest. "That must be why I haven't heard much of it," she said. "How intriguing." She paused, then continued. "Who are the King and Queen?"
Great. More questions I don't have the answers to, thought Kristoff nervously.
"It's, uh… Just my father. King Erik." he blurted. Erik was actually the name of a fellow ice harvester, but it just fell into his head when he needed it.
"Ah," nodded Queen Elsa. "Tell him to make the journey here sometime. Perhaps we could do business."
"No, he can't!" Kristoff exclaimed. "He, uh… has this problem. With his, uh, his legs. He can't move them. So he can't travel. And, um, no one else can make the journey for him, and I don't have any siblings, and, uh…"
Queen Elsa held up a hand. "That is unfortunate." she said softly. "Best wishes, then, to your country."
For a moment, Kristoff wondered why she didn't offer to travel to "Slovenia", but all other thoughts were chased from his mind as Anna came sprinting into the room, clutching her skirt folds to keep them away from her feet. She was obviously winded, and she leaned against the wall to catch her breath.
"So… sorry…" she panted. "Had to… hurry… ran… across… castle… really far…"
Queen Elsa gave her a stern glare, and shook her head in disapproval.
"Princess Anna." Kristoff struggled to keep his voice level. What he really wanted to do was sweep Anna up in his arms and spin her around. He didn't want to hide it any longer.
Soon, he told himself. Just a bit more acting.
Kristoff walked forward rather shakily and gently took Anna's small hand in his large, calloused one. Then he bowed his head and pressed his lips to her soft white skin, as he had learned that all the proper gentlemen do this when meeting a lady.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Anna beamed, looking ecstatic, but nervous as well. She must be having trouble just the same. They held each other's gaze for quite a while, words and emotion of unimaginable volume passing unspoken between the two.
"If you two are quite finished, you can go wherever you like." Queen Elsa said irritably. "But please leave my study. I have work to do." Anna and Kristoff jumped apart at her words, and fled the room as quickly as they could.
…
"Thank goodness we're out of there!" Anna sighed in relief as she led Kristoff down the castle hallways.
"Couldn't agree more," muttered Kristoff. "That four minutes was absolute torture."
"Was it really that bad, Prince Kristoff?" Anna laughed.
"Every second of it." Kristoff insisted. "I now have a father named King Erik who can't walk!"
Anna patted his shoulder. "Decent improvising, at least." They stopped in front of a large wooden door, which Kristoff recognized at the entrance, or in this case, probably the exit.
"Come on, let's go into town," Anna smiled. "I emptied my chocolate stash yesterday and you know I can't live without chocolate."
…
One box of truffles and six chocolate bars (to be stored secretly, according to Anna) later, the pair were sitting under the exact same willow tree Kristoff had spotted earlier, sharing their candy and enjoying the summer warmth.
"Ew, orange flavored!" Anna scrunched up her face in disgust and hurled the saliva-covered ball into the bushes. "It tastes like soap!"
"How do you know what soap tastes like?" Kristoff teased as he popped a milk chocolate truffle into his mouth.
"Some things you just know what they are, even though you've never experienced them." Anna shrugged. She was quiet for a moment. "This rule…" She lowered her voice as the gardener walked by with a peony plant in one hand and the trowel that most likely dug it up in the other. "This commoner rule is really just pointless. Do you think I should convince Elsa to get rid of it?"
"No, don't!" Kristoff said quickly. "You don't know if you can even do that. It'll just be more trouble. Plus, she's going to be suspicious of why you want it removed, and we'll be found out, and she'll punish you somehow, and…"
"Alright, I won't do it," Anna reassured him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It probably would go wrong some how."
"This all could go wrong. Right now, our plan could be crumbling apart and we might not even know about it." Kristoff muttered.
"Way to stay positive, Mr. Sunshine!" Anna said sarcastically. Then she nudged him with her elbow and smiled. "Seriously, though, stop worrying so much, you big baby. We'll be fine. Everything will go just like we planned. It's smooth sailing from here on out.
Kristoff still clung to his doubts, but he decided to forget them for the moment at least. "I'll show you who's being a baby!" he grinned, then reached out a hand.
"I'm not a-" Anna's sentence ended in a fit of laughter as Kristoff began to tickle her. Everywhere. Anna was definitely ticklish.
There was one lone person who was not enjoying the jokes. He stood in the shadow of a large oak, its reaching branches providing just enough shade to conceal his figure as he watched the happy couple relaxing on the grass. It drove him mad to see her like that, happy, laughing, and with someone else. She should have married him; he should have gotten the kingdom that he wanted. The kingdom that he deserved, with all of the suffering he went through over the years. He was tired of being the least favorite. He was finished with his pathetic life. He was going to be a king, no matter what.
Prince Hans silently snuck away from the scene, his mind brooding with dark ideas and his ambition focused on doing anything to get that crown.