Hans stared at the hand clasping his. He had to keep reminding himself that this is what he wanted: a direct link to the throne of Arendelle. It was a bit difficult though knowing how crazy the girl was. He didn't really want Anna; she wasn't his type at all, but he had to keep in mind that royal couples rarely married for love, at least that was all he knew growing up. It made sense to him. Managing a kingdom was like owning a small business; everything was a business transaction and marriage was not an exception. You had to do what was the best for your kingdom, accumulating as much assets as you could manage. With his head cleared now, he put in an effort to reach the Queen. "Excuse me. Pardon."

"Sorry. Can we just get around you there? Thank you." Anna pulled him through, taking him directly in front of Queen Elsa.

He glanced at her, noticing the recognition in her eyes, and he was pleased to note that he didn't seem to hate him just yet unless of course, she was hiding her true emotions just like him. Anna let go of his hand, rushing to her sister. Hans, on the other hand, stayed behind, waiting for his cue. This was either going to be horrifying or incredibly interesting; he prayed for interesting.

"Oh, there she is. Elsa! I mean, Queen." She quickly curtseyed. "Me again. Um...may I present...," Anna looked around and grabbed his hand, positioning him next to her, "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

Hans had to smile; Anna seemed so awkward in front of her own sister. He, for the first time, actually felt bad for her. He knew what it was like to have an older sibling in a superior position, seemingly looking down on you. He bowed, hating all of royalty and their privileges. "Your Majesty." Her sister was probably wondering why Anna brought him to her now; he could only imagine the confusion in her mind. Anna looked at him and laughed, so he joined in as if he understood why they were laughing.

Anna continued, "We would like…"

"Your blessing…," he added, smiling at Anna. They laughed again before finishing together, "Of our marriage!" Hans looked at the Queen, her face filling with shock and confusion. Oh, this was going to be fun.

"Marriage?" asked Queen Elsa, obviously assuming she heard incorrectly.

Hans nudged Anna, encouraging her to answer. "Yes!" she responded excitedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused." Her tone was soft and polite, but most definitely unused.

"Well, we haven't worked out all the details ourselves. We'll need a few days to plan the ceremony. Of course, we'll have soup, roast, and ice cream. And then...," her voice drifted off. She turned to look at Hans, "Wait, will we live here?"

"Here?" repeated Queen Elsa, shocked.

If this blessing business did not work out, he at least had a really enjoyable show to remember. Faking his own excitement, he replied, "Absolutely!"

"Anna…," muttered her sister, reminding Hans of his oldest brother. She appeared to be tired, tired of this entire day and now her own sister was just making it worse. Hans wanted to pity her, to comfort her, but that was not possible. He had no right to, so he ignored all the warning signs and continued to stand by Anna.

"Oh, we can invite all twelve of your brothers to stay with us."

"What? No. No, no, no, no," said the Queen, echoing Hans' thoughts completely.

Anna rambled on, entirely unaware. "Of course we have the room. I don't know, some of them must..."

The Queen took a deep breath, and slowly said with a calm voice, "Just wait. Slow down. No one's brothers are staying here. No one is getting married.

"Wait, what?" To say Anna was confused is an understatement.

"May I talk to you, please? Alone."

Anna stammered angrily, "No. Whatever you have to say, you...you can say to both of us."

"Fine. You can't marry a man you just met," she replied easily, her tone rumbling with finality.

"You can if it's true love."

"Anna, what do you know about true love?"

"More than you. All you know is how to shut people out." Hans winced once Anna's words registered in his mind; that had to have hurt. And it did. He could see the pain on Queen Elsa's face; he could tell she wanted to say something, something important.

"You asked for my blessing, but my answer is no. Now...excuse me," she replied coldly, walking away.

Hans had to step in; it was the right thing to do. "Your Majesty, if I may ease your-."

She cut him off. "No, you may not. And I...I think you should go. The party is over." Walking past the guard, she said, "Close the gates."

The guard acted immediately and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"What?" Anna rushed after her sister. "Elsa, no. No, wait!" She grabbed her sister's hand, pulling off the glove.

She turned around and demanded, "Give me my glove." Hans noticed a flicker of fear in her eyes. The same fear from the coronation. Did it have to do with the glove?

"Elsa, please! Please! I can't live like this anymore." Anna pleaded, keeping the glove out of her sister's reach. The crowd now took notice of the conversation and began to watch, their interest peaking.

Her face filled with pain and unresolved issues, she answered firmly, "Then leave."

Anna looked as if she was on the edge of crying. "What did I ever do to you?" Her voice began to rise.

"Enough, Anna." There it was again, the tired tone, not a Queen, but a human.

"No! Why? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out? What are you so afraid of?!" She could not let it go. Hans thought he should go calm Anna down, but there probably was no use. This was going to become a full-blown argument if no one stopped them, causing a scandal.

"I said, enough!" The Queen turned around, ice suddenly shooting from her hands and landing on the floor in the form of spikes. The guests stepped back in fear and surprise.

Hans' eyes widened. This was unexpected. This was what she was hiding. He could have never guessed this. That's why she freaked out at the coronation when she had to take off her gloves and now when Anna took her glove. That's why she always wore gloves. And maybe that's why she was so afraid of getting close to other people. Because she had a secret. A curse, more of. Hans met her eyes and she looked worse off than before. Her secret was out and the explosion of fear in her eyes was evident.

"Sorcery. I knew there was something dubious going on here," the Duke spat aloud. Hans wanted to slug him so bad. Couldn't he see that she was afraid?

"Elsa?" Anna's voice was small. The crowd was cheering outside for their Queen, but there was only silence in the ballroom. Anna ran out after her sister, the Duke with his men way before her.

The official from before came to him. "What was that?"

For the first time in his life, Hans was speechless. "I don't know, sir."

The man nodded. They could hear the Duke shouting, claiming that the Queen is a monster. "Do you think she is..?" He inclined his head, not wanting to repeat the Duke's words obviously.

A witch? He could hear the unspoken words. Hans closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No, she's just afraid. She's as human as any of us."

The man was taken aback. "How can you be sure?"

"The thing is…I'm not sure. But we must not assume the worst." He opened his eyes, his resolve made. He had to go after Anna and see what was going on. He needed to know all the facts. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see Princess Anna." Hans marched off, seeing the back of Anna's dress in a hallway of the castle. He sped up, catching up to her.

The crowd outside looked astonished, so they knew about the powers their Queen had. His eyes took note of the frozen fountain. So that was how they knew. Anna began to run through the crowd, obviously having seen her sister escape. He followed, seeing that they were approaching the fjord; soon all their questions would be answered as there was no place for the Queen to go from there.

"Wait, please!" Anna called out desperately. The Queen just looked at her before continuing across the fjord, the water freezing as she ran. "Elsa, stop." Anna slipped, falling on the ice.

Hans put his hands on her shoulders. "Anna," he said quietly.

"No," she said, not believing her eyes.

They watched as Queen Elsa reached the forest, the ice spreading past her footsteps. It was freezing the entire fjord! "The fjord." He kept his hands on her shoulders as they looked at the now frozen fjord.

Returning back to the courtyard, Hans began to feel the coldness coming in. Snow began falling all around them. Was it possible that the Queen's powers put the kingdom through an eternal winter? He looked at Anna, who was obviously confused and upset. "Are you alright?"

"No."

"Did you know?" Hans asked, hoping she knew more than he did.

"No," she replied, glancing at him for a second.

The Duke in front of them was going mad. He bellowed, "Look! It's snowing! It's snowing! The Queen has cursed this land! She must be stopped!" He grabbed one of his guards. "You have to go after her."

"Wait, no," interjected Anna.

The Duke pushed his guards in front of him, protecting himself from Anna. "You! Is there sorcery in you, too? Are you a monster, too?"

Hans rolled his eyes as Anna replied, "No. No. I'm completely ordinary."

"That's right, she is." He put his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him, so he added, "In the best way."

"My-my sister's not a monster," objected Anna.

"She nearly killed me!"

"You slipped on ice." Hans tried to keep his tone polite, but the Duke was irking him so much.

"Her ice!" The Duke was outraged.

"It was an accident. She was scared. She didn't mean it. She didn't mean any of this. Tonight was my fault. I pushed her, so I'm the one that needs to go after her," said Anna.

"What?" He wasn't expecting her to go after her sister. So many things could go wrong. Anna could die, thus making him lose his chance to get the throne of Arendelle.

"Bring me my horse, please." She gestured to a guard waiting by.

Hans took her arm, stopping her. "Anna, no! It's too dangerous."

She had an amused expression on her face as if she knew better than him. "Elsa's not dangerous. I'll bring her back and I'll make this right."

The horse was brought to her. Hans quickly added, "I coming with you."

Anna held his hand tightly. "No. I need you here to take care of Arendelle."

"On my honor," he whispered.

She got on the horse and addressed the crowd. "I leave Prince Hans in charge."

"Are you sure you can trust her?" He kept his voice low, his face looking up to her. "I don't want you getting hurt." Actually, he did now. Since he was officially in charge, he didn't need her anymore. As for Queen Elsa, well, she wouldn't be Queen once he used his influence on certain people. And he would be King.

Anna replied, unaware as usual, "She's my sister, she would never hurt me." She rode off with Hans watching, his plan already in motion.