Tundra
Chapter Three
By Ravner Dyr
The night was still and calm as twinkling stars dotted the infinite sable canvas. Not a cloud was in sight during this moonless hour of darkness, making the hulking forms of the large warships practically invisible aside from the glowing lanterns at their bows. The vessels approached silently, nothing but the hushed resonance of water lapping against wood warning of their approach. The small fleet of ships entered the fjord, encroaching on Arendelle.
Hans stood on deck aboard the largest vessel, looking over the pitch black landscape that was Arendelle. He knew it was late, the little people in their homes were ignorant of what was to come, to busy sleeping in their little beds to care. He leaned most of his weight on the balustrade, engrossed in the scenery that was so close to being his. Footsteps from behind notified him that he was no longer alone in his musings.
The Duke of Weselton joined him at the handrail, his small stature only allowing him to barely measure up to Hans' shoulder. As always, he was in a fully decorated military uniform, this time it was a pleasing navy blue. The duke beside him chuckled lightly before speaking, "Are you prepared, Prince Hans? This is quite an ambitious ploy for someone as young as yourself."
"I imagine that I am well prepared duke. Prince Lars besieged Egersund and defeated their king in a single day at the age of seventeen, did he not?" Hans smirked, although inwardly he simmered at the mere thought of someone questioning his capability.
"That may be so, prince. But the timeframe of his battle and eventual conquer of Egersund were greatly exaggerated through legend over the years. Besides, the king was not a monstrosity able to wield deadly magic with a flick of his wrist."
"You're right, but the essential lesson of the tale remains the same. Anything is possible with enough willpower. What's more to the point is that the queen won't have her power for long." Hans beamed; enjoying the surprised look that crossed the elder man's wrinkled face.
"You've found a solution?"
"Indeed I have. It did not take me long; while I was recruiting forces at disgusting brothels and taverns around Fredrikstad and Harstad, I heard tales of a strange man who was rumored to live in the woodlands on the outskirts of Flekkefjord. It was said that he held great power; initially, I was repulsed by the idea of laying my trust in the hands of someone who could do such things; but I was running out of time and options. I searched for him for days. When I found him, he was not at all what I had expected. He was a wretched thing. He told me his story of betrayal and isolation and his dreams of revenge. I informed him of my plan to usurp the throne from the Queen of Arendelle. He already knew of her and he agreed to help me. He knew of an ancient magic, powerful enough to do what I wanted; render Elsa powerless and weak."
"How do you know that you can trust him? He's a magic wielder too, how do you know that after he gains her power, that he won't be satisfied with the revenge he's already unleashed?" The duke questioned, not liking it one bit that another unnatural being had to be brought into the equation.
Hans suppressed the urge to grab his cutlass and press it against the old man's neck. Perhaps he had spent too much time around those rough handed pirates at the taverns, thinking of violence like this. "Because he gave me his word," Hans saw a smug protest begin to form on the duke's lips, so he quickly added, "And he performed a 'blood blond'."
"A 'blood bond'?"
"Yes, a strange piece of magic that was. He explained that should he ever go back on his word and attack me, all of his magic would leave him. He slashed his hand, I did the same, we joined hands and he said that it was complete."
The Duke of Weselton looked unconvinced and disgusted that the prince would comply with magic so easily and was about to say so when the captain of the Hevner greeted them.
"Your Highness, My Grace, we draw near. The Mjolnir has already anchored and the men await your command."
"Excellent. Signal all the other ships to extinguish their lanterns; we shall arrive under the cover of darkness. Tell the Mjolnir to continue waiting until we are ashore as well."
"Prince Hans, where would you like us to dock?" The captain asked.
"Perhaps by the far end of the marketplace, behind the stone houses; it will be less likely that we'll be seen there. I shall be in my quarters, preparing myself."
Hans turned and left, as did the captain. The Duke of Weselton stayed, however. This plan must succeed; he had more than just ships and men on the line in this deal. For Weselton to remain as wealthy as it was, it needed Arendelle's resources. This ploy would not fail no matter what. The old duke turned away from the picturesque view of Arendelle and retreated to his own personal quarters.
Minutes later, the Hevner was preparing to moor at Arendelle's large sea port in utter silence. Luckily, there seemed to be no guards at this midnight hour. Two other vessels were anchoring further along the wharf. Everything was coming along nicely. The men who had been on board the Mjolnir stood guard along the pier, watching for any witnesses.
Hans stood against the stone wall of the quay, waiting for more men to join him. Now there were a total of eight ships moored in Arendelle's port. The rest of the fleet waited out on the fjord's waters, should any of Arendelle's ships try and make a run for it.
All of the men had gathered around Hans - excluding the duke who opted to stay on board - waiting to hear the prince's plan of assault. "There is a servant's entrance at the west wing of the castle, if we enter this way, we will evade most of the guards. I want you to split into two groups; one will accompany me and find the queen and the second will try to locate the princess. Once you've done that task, we will close the main gates and convene in the throne room. Be as silent as possible and slay anyone who gets in the way, do not let anyone raise the alarm. Understood?" Hans looked into the eyes of each man assembled around him, all nodded in affirmation.
The troop of men made their way stealthily across the paved stone bridge that allowed entrance into Arendelle's castle. Luck seemed to be on their side tonight, or Arendelle was a very slack country, as no guards manned the posts outside the gate. This was far too easy, Hans thought. The large crowd of intruders had now breached the large central courtyard. The auburn haired prince cast a glimpse over to the two fountains at the north of the square, remembering the last time he had been here; the fountain on the left had been frozen solid into a menacing monument of sharpened ice.
Prince Hans halted, as did his cohort behind him. There, at the western entrance, stood two guards, although both seemed to be nearly asleep. He silently motioned for two men to approach them. And he watched as a pair of soldiers from Weselton crept behind the young guards; one, armed with a short thrusting dagger, slammed the short blade upward at a 45 degree angle into the base of the guard's skull. The guard struggled only slightly, not making a sound before he collapsed onto the ground. The second soldier chose a much cleaner option; he instead simply twisted his enemy's neck to the side. His kill was much louder, the guard gurgled and the cracking of his neck seemed to echo for a while in the empty courtyard.
The multitude of men continued to the servant's entrance, luckily encountering no more guards. They filed into the door, filling the darkened corridor with their bodies. This corridor was clearly for the use of the servants only. It was relatively plain and had no art or other decorative fixtures on the walls. Hans could barely contain his excitement, he was so close.
He turned to face the men gathered at his back. "You know the plan. Find the princess and convene in the throne room." The group divided in to two with one division heading the other way, while Hans and his men continued down the opposite corridor.
Earlier that day
It was an early morning in Arendelle, far too early for life to truly begin down in the village square. The sun was barely up and most of the street lanterns were still lit. The only citizens that seemed to be awake were the bakers, baking fresh bread, fishermen, readying their small boats hoping to catch a good haul for the day, and there were a few delivery boys also, preparing to run various errands all over the kingdom.
At the castle, the servants were rising to begin their daily chores and duties. Down at the stables, Kristoff stood conversing with Sven while he simultaneously packed his sled with essentials for his trip to the trolls with Anna and Olaf.
"Are you sure you're going to ask her today, Kristoff?" The burly mountain man asked himself, using a goofy voice to impersonate his reindeer.
"I think so buddy. I've been waiting for the right moment for a while now. And I know she's the one; no doubt about that! I mean I picked the perfect ring and everything but I haven't completely planned how I'm going to ask Anna yet."
"Ask me what?" Asked a voice from behind the pair, startling the both of them.
"Oh, um, I was going to ask you… whether you wanted to bring, um, chocolate or, uh, carrot cake…? Yep, that's what I was planning on asking you! Would you prefer chocolate or carrot cake?" Kristoff visibly relaxed now that he had found a suitable cover for his big mouth.
"Pssh, Kristoff, I thought you'd know me better by now. Chocolate, of course!" The young princess seemed to possess boundless energy despite the ungodly hour. She dashed over to the Official Ice Master and Deliverer and his reindeer, scratching the latter in between his antlers and producing a carrot from one of her cloak's pockets to which she offered the greedy animal. "I hope you had a good sleep Sven, because you'll be pulling us all the way to the Valley of the Living Rock, and we both know how heavy Kristoff is." The reindeer looked at Anna in a way that could only be described as a smile.
"Hey!" Kristoff interjected indignantly. "You're no light snowflake either. Speaking of snow, is Elsa coming with us?"
Anna sighed and a look of disappointment flashed in her large teal eyes. "No, I asked her again last night whether she was sure that she couldn't give up royal duties just for this trip. As you can guess, it was a no; she said, 'Anna, you know that kingdoms don't rule themselves'."
Kristoff stepped closer to the princess, gathered her in his arms and held her for a while; as if he was trying to hug the sadness out of the poor girl. "Hey, don't be upset. She can come with us next time. I doubt she'll be missing much anyway; just us relaxing and visiting my family." Kristoff hated to guiltily admit it –even to himself– but he was relieved that Elsa had chosen not to come. If she had, he most likely wouldn't have the courage to ask Anna that big important question that could change his life forever. It wasn't anything against Elsa; it was just that she made him feel slightly uncomfortable. She was not only the Queen, but also Anna's big sister.
"I guess, but I just thought that with how busy she's been recently, she might appreciate the break."
Kristoff again, as if he needed it, remembered why he loved the feisty ball of energy that was Anna so much. She was a pure ray of sunshine; ready to help, to care and be there for anyone, especially Elsa. He gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Hey, I'm sure Elsa appreciates it, probably more than you or I know. But I do know that Elsa wouldn't want you worrying so much about her that you forget to have fun too."
Anna smiled lightly and stood on her tiptoes to press a light kiss on Kristoff's slightly stubbled cheek. "I'm glad you're the voice of reason." She gently untangled herself from the mountain man's arms. "I'm just going to run inside and say a quick goodbye to Elsa." And just like that, she was gone.
Kristoff stared after her for a moment before the grunting of Sven brought him back to the present. "Boy, Sven, do I have it bad." He sighed, returning to the task of packing his sled.
Anna sprinted down the halls of the residential wing, passing many bewildered servants and maids en route to Elsa's bedroom. Upon reaching her sister's chambers, she took a moment to look at the door that had been the representation of her sister for thirteen years. She remembered times past when the simple structure caused a yearning ache to fill her heart. She shook herself from her reminiscent daze and entered without knocking. At first it had been difficult for her to accept that she no longer needed permission to enter, or fear the stinging pain of rejection when permission was denied.
She bounded in, not surprised to see her older sister already dressed and with an immaculate braid over her left shoulder, not a hair out of place. Glancing quickly around the room, she saw that – unlike her own – the space was neat, clean and uncluttered. There were no clothes littering the carpet, or an odd hairbrush or ribbon carelessly thrown over bits of furniture or even chocolate wrappers scrunched up on the dresser. It was absolutely spotless.
Elsa turned away from her window and faced the younger royal, not at all surprised that she came bursting into the room the way she did. "Good morning Anna." She greeted pleasantly, smiling softly.
"Morning, Elsa." Anna beamed, dashing over to her sister and enveloping her in a hug.
"So I'm guessing you and Kristoff are heading out now?" Elsa smiled, albeit sadly. She hated when they were separated. After all the time that they had spent apart as children, every instance of parting was a sad event.
"Yep, hopefully the journey should only be a day, and that's if Olaf doesn't stop every ten minutes because he saw a squirrel."
Elsa laughed gently, bringing her hand to her mouth in that adorably cute way that only she seemed capable of pulling off. "Well, I hope you four have a safe journey; and tell the trolls I said hello."
"Will do, Elsa! I hope you don't get driven insane by the silence of the castle caused by my absence." Anna replied in mock seriousness.
The two sisters embraced, both savoring the moment for it would be the last shared by the two for a while.
"I'll miss you." Whispered Anna, hugging Elsa even tighter.
"Me too. Now go on, before Kristoff starts to wonder what happened to you!"
Anna giggled before leaving Elsa to look after her sister with a small smile, pleased to finally have her little sister happy again.
I'm sorry that this chapter was so late! I wanted to make it longer now that bigger events are happening and I ran into some severe writer's block along the way. Again, sorry!
I've decided to start a mail bag, that way I can express my gratitude for your support in person (sort of), plus I know you guys like having your reviews responded to, at least I do. (I'll only be starting from chapter 2 by the way)
RealMe07 - Super excited about Hans and Elsa forced marriage...love those two (even if the "love" is forced and fake!). Adorable moment with our favorite sisters! :)
"Thank you so much for reading and I'm glad that you like my story!"
ajunebuga - like the guard tradition. Feel it will become important somehow?
Hans makes my skin crawl.
"Hans does have that effect on people, even though he's one of the best looking Disney princes, I think. The guard tradition may or may not be significant; right now I'm sifting through various scenarios and the guard idea is just in case my favorite doesn't fit properly."
Guest - Gah! I'm so excited to see how this plot turns out.
Trust me, so am I. Thank you for your encouraging review!"
rainstripe - I love this- do please continue!
"I'm working on it! But I will probably take a bit longer to post new chapters since I'm trying to make them more substantial with more important events going on. Thank you!"
Guest - This story has a lot of potential! I love the interactions between the sisters. So warm and touching. I'm very curious to know how exactly Hans plans to neutralize Elsa's magic. Please continue writing!
"Thank you, I'm glad that you like it! I haven't quite decided yet about how Hans is going to neutralize Elsa's power but the one that I'm working on now sets a much darker tone for this story."
TomRiddleCrazy - I'm anticipating your next chapter already! I absolutely love Hans in his true character, not fluffy and redeeming as people usually make him to be. And I know a good story when I see one, and this is most definitely one. Keep up the good work!
"Thank you! I never really did imagine Hans as redeemable or one who would learn from his mistakes, although, I do find his motives and reasoning behind wanting to usurp the throne quite interesting."
Guest - Please update! I love it!
"Thanks! Here is the update you asked for. Hope that this one is to your liking."
FrozenLily2 - Hey :) I really love your FF and I would like to read more :) I also like your writing style :) I can't wait to read the next chapter :D
"Thank you, that means a lot to me! I'm still experimenting with my writing style at the moment so it may change a little throughout the story."
charmiaj - How you wrote Hans is so evil. I hope Elsa will be able to foresee his plans. Question, will Elsa have a love interest in this story?
"At this point in time, there is no love interest for Elsa, but that might change later on. I was aiming for Hans to be evil and cunning, just like he was in the movie. Thank you for your review!"
XYZ - You must keep writing! This sounds like the beginnings of an amazing story. The fan fictions that touch on the politics of ruling a kingdom are always especially appealing, as they have an added depth of ideas & tend to be more interesting than the pure romance ones.
As an aside, I think that the sequel, if Disney does one, will be all about Hans' revenge or possibly redemption. Think about it. Frozen was one of the few Disney movies that did not culminate in the death of a single villain.
"Thank you for your encouraging words! Yes, this story does touch a little on politics, but since I don't know an awful lot about 19th century politics, or even politics in general, this story will be more about adventure and not a lot of romance either since this is more focused on Elsa and Hans taking control of Arendelle. I would watch a sequel about Hans; I would watch any Frozen sequel actually."
Guest - Absolutely wonderful. I really hope you're still updating, this is the best Frozen fic I've ever read.
"Thank you, I'm glad you think so! And yes, I'm still updating, just might take a little longer is all."
Thepenhand - I am loving your plot with Hans and I think the story is lovely, however Elsa and Anna seem a bit stiff. Try to add some of their sass and put some joy in there. ;)
"Thank you for your constructive criticism; I took what you said on board and tried to add a little more life, although it seems most of it went to Anna. I hope that my efforts did the characters justice in this chapter."
Thank you for reading and I hope you would kind enough to leave a much appreciated review! I'm working on the next chapter already, so hopefully the wait won't be as long as this one.
Sincerely,
Ravner Dyr
I own no trademarks or copyrights mentioned in this story. I write purely for fun and receive no financial benefit from it. Frozen is the property of Disney.