A. N. This chapter will be in the form of entries from the boyhood journals of Hans and his older brother Eric (which, I'm sure you remember, Anna starts reading aloud from in the previous chapter). Hans's entries will be presented in normal text, and Eric's in italics. . Hans's age is ten, Eric is eight years older. Enjoy!
July 17
Dear Journal, Today is my birthday. I thought it would be different from normal, but it wasn't. My brothers still teased me and pretended I was invisible. Someone broke Mama's vase, I think it was Tomas, but they all said it was my fault since I'm the thirteenth brother and thirteen is unlucky. Papa did give me this journal and said it could become my closest friend. And I found a wooden sword and shield on my bed. So today was good in some ways, I guess.
July 17
Okay, if I don't get this into words, I am going to explode. I gave Hans a birthday present. A little sword and shield designed for him, and I even carved his name on it. Lief reminded me that we aren't supposed to get close to Hans because of his powers, but I say the little guy could use some kindness. All anybody does is tease him and give him a hard time about his birth order. Not me, of course; I try to stay out of the teasing, but everyone else seems to love it. I even found a badly drawn picture of a black cat with a tag labeled Hans on it on the front page of the journal Father gave him, just like he gave everyone else. I tore it out. I believe Harold is the artist; I'll give him a hard time about it later.
August 26
Dear Journal, Today Peter started teasing me again. His new nickname for me is Black Cat since I'm "so unlucky". I tried to ignore him but he wouldn't stop and I just kept getting madder and madder and then I called him a fish-face and he was quiet. I was surprised. A lot.
August 26
I bumped into Peter just after lunch today. He'd been teasing Hans again, but before I could call him out for it, he said Hans had teased him back. Fish-face, I think he said, was the insult used. Now that's a surprise. Hans has never reacted like this to teasing. He's usually pretty quiet. Let's just hope it's a phase and he'll get over it soon.
August 27
Dear Journal, I thought about what happened yesterday with Peter. When I started teasing him, he stopped teasing me. I thought maybe if I tease enough, I can stop being teased at all. I tried it on Stefan by saying he was a dimwit, and I also called Ernest noodlebrain and I think it's gonna work.
August 27
Remember what I wrote yesterday about Hans's teasing thing being just a phase? It clearly isn't. He's still at it. Stefan was called a "dimwit" and Ernest was dubbed "noodlebrain". However, when Mother and Father are around, he's an angel. This is not going to end well, I can tell.
September 3
Dear Journal, I found Eric daydreaming out the window when we all were supposed to be working in our schoolbooks. He's always there, looking at the ocean. I told him he had to get back to the book then left. I feel good about getting Eric to behave.
September 3
Today I found myself staring out the window at the sea again. I can't help it. I've always been fascinated with the thought of what lies beyond the water - and under it. Local legend has it that there are people with fish tails instead of legs who live in an undersea kingdom. I wish I was one sometimes. So anyway, Hans walked by and said - I quote - "Stop daydreaming, lazy!". I couldn't believe it. He's never been this mean to me. Why is he doing this?
October 7
Dear Journal: I've been thinking. I know I'm never gonna be king of the Southern Isles, since I'm thirteenth in line right now. And my older brothers will probably get married and have kids and they'll be before me in line. But if I find someone I could get married to who's the heir to their throne, I could get in right away! I know I'm only ten, but it's just a thought.
October 14
In addition to his mean behavior towards us, Hans has also been reading up on other countries. He tells Mother and Father that it's so he can become a better diplomat when he gets older, but he won't tell his brothers (myself included) a thing about it. However, he left his journal wide open to an entry from last week that I couldn't help taking a peek at, and it turns out he's got more up his sleeve than I originally thought. He wants to be in charge somehow, so he intends to marry an heir to some foreign throne. I'm at a loss for words. Hans seems to have undergone a transformation from nice kid to schemer. Who knows what he'll do next?
Next chapter: The moment you've all been waiting for! Elsa and Hans duke it out in a power battle of climatic proportions!