"What? Like you'd rather sit at a stuffy table full of fancy food with people you're not sure how to talk to?"
All he'd asked for were carrots. But the kitchen staff stared at Kristoff like he had three heads. When he gave it a second thought, he realized that his outburst probably caught them more off guard than the request had. There was a magic word for situations like this, he was sure of it. The trolls had taught it once or twice. Obviously it hadn't really caught on.
He thought of Anna asking him to take her up the North Mountain. Then he remembered.
"Please?" he tried.
The head cook—Kristoff assumed it was the head cook because he was the largest and wore the biggest hat—handed him a few carrots. He gave Kristoff a stern stare when Kristoff didn't immediately leave.
"That's it?" Kristoff asked.
At that, the head cook threw an entire basket of carrots at him.
"Ow."
Kristoff left the kitchens, scowling. But he was content with the food bundle. After the carrots, he had convinced one of the better-natured cooks to give him bread and fruit. It was past noon and if there'd been lunch in the castle, he was sure he missed it. Not that he minded. His rant about not knowing what to talk about had been sincere.
He hadn't seen Anna since the night before. He'd sort of expected that she would visit him and Sven in the stables, but she never did come. Not that he could blame her. Their last conversation had been way too awkward. What would they have to talk about over lunch?
As he reached the stables, he wondered if the two sisters had made up yet. It was hardly any of his business, but he hoped so. He couldn't help noticing how cold a room could get when the queen was on edge.
Very soon, he wouldn't have to worry about any of it. He looked forward to getting back to work. He would seek Elsa out later to discuss in detail his new role as Arendelle's Ice Master and Deliverer.
He passed all the horse stalls and finally got to Sven, still thinking about his new responsibility in the kingdom. The title sounded so…important! Would he just have a monopoly over Arendelle's ice trade? Or would he be in charge of all the other ice harvesters? Whatever the case, he hoped it didn't mean he'd have to stop cutting ice. Ice was his life!
"Look what I've got for you, buddy!" Kristoff grinned. He held the basket of carrots up and chuckled when Sven fell into a fit of excited snorts. "Who says I don't look out for you?"
"Oh boy! You're the best!"
"I know." He let Sven bite and lift two carrots from the basket. Then he set it down in front of the stall where Sven couldn't eat the rest all at once. He took a moment to start on his own lunch. It was nice spending time with just Sven. When Kristoff spent time with people, they usually expected him to talk more. Sometimes silence was just nicer.
Sven stared at him with the two carrots hanging from his muzzle like bizarre vegetable fangs. Inch by inch, the reindeer chewed the carrots up until they were no longer in sight. Then he leaned forward, stuck his tongue out and gave Kristoff a huge lick on the face.
"You're welcome!" Kristoff said.
"Have you talked to the girl yet?" Kristoff asked in Sven's voice.
"What girl?"
"You know what girl," he Sven-talked back to himself. The reindeer frowned at him before swallowing the last mouthful of carrot.
Kristoff sighed. "Not since last night… things got a little weird at the dinner table. I tried to be supportive, but I think I just made things worse."
"Why don't you go talk to her?" he Sven-asked.
"I don't know if that will help."
Sven suddenly kicked the stall door, making Kristoff both jump and yelp.
Sven snorted. "Stop being lazy. You won't know until you try."
Kristoff held his hands up in surrender. When Sven was determined, there was no trifling with him.
"Okay, okay… I suppose I can go see if she wants to… go for a walk."
Sven snorted again.
"Of course I'll talk to her," Kristoff added. "I'll ask how she likes to spend summers in Arendelle."
Sven rolled his eyes. "Just go already!"
Kristoff handed the whole basket of carrots over after all. He mumbled about rationing as Sven used his antlers to hang the basket from a hook on the back wall. As Kristoff walked away, he wondered where all of his determination had gone. He recalled when he'd turned back for Anna after leaving her at the castle. This was before he'd even known of Hans's betrayal. What had he expected Anna would say when he told her how he felt about her?
She hadn't known him much longer than she'd known Hans, he just realized. It was crazy to think he was in love with her.
Kristoff felt in his bones that something was wrong when he returned to the castle. He wasn't sure how he knew until he skidded on an icy floor in the hallway. Suddenly he heard shouts coming from the Great Hall. When he recognized one of the voices as the queen, he made to dash. But he slipped, completely forgetting about the ice. He almost lost his balance, but he kicked one leg out behind the other to launch himself down the hall. Balancing as best as he could, he 'skated' to the Great Hall doors. He tried to slow to a graceful stop but ended up with his face flat against the doors. They immediately opened and he nearly fell forward, but a royal guard caught him.
The Great Hall was freezing cold.
"What's going on?" he asked. Without waiting for the guard's reply, Kristoff moved past him toward a small crowd near the throne. He recognized Kai and Gerda among the group of servants. There was a noble in the mix; it was a man Kristoff had never seen before—perhaps the queen's advisor.
"…search party immediately. You must try to stay calm," Kai said. The queen leaned against him, trembling.
"We'll probably find her in town." The unknown noble tried using an equally soft voice, but it just came out as condescending.
"What if it's him? What if he did something?!" Elsa asked. Even her voice trembled. She didn't have to say Hans's name for everyone to know who 'he' was.
"Your Majesty?" Kristoff called, still outside of the group.
"Kristoff!" Elsa forced her way around the noble and the servants to go to him. "It's Anna! No one's seen her all day. She's not in her room. Please…" she touched his arm, making that part of him go cold. Her breath shook. "Please tell me you've seen her." She grasped his arm when he did not answer immediately. "Please, tell me."
"I'm sorry…" he said with growing concern. "I haven't seen Anna since last night. Maybe she went into town?"
Elsa sobbed as she let go of him. "No! Don't you get it?! The things I said… she'll think she's to blame! Hans is out there somewhere and if… if he's harmed her, I can't even… I can't lose her!"
Kristoff could not take his eyes away from her, but he did see the others in the background back away as Elsa's distress flared. It looked like they expected her to explode at any moment.
"It's okay to be upset," he said. He knew it was probably against some unwritten law to point out that the queen was being emotional.
Elsa's head snapped up to him. For a second, Kristoff worried he had made her angry. But she only nodded.
"Thank you..." she murmured. She turned back to the servants, standing up a little straighter. "Kai, arrange for a search party. We'll keep looking in the castle. We need to know when and where everyone last saw my sister."
A giant as tall as the trees growled down at Anna. Its rage was so loud that the ground vibrated when it roared. It had a plump nose, a white beard and wispy white hair on its head. But it looked more plant and rock than human with its moss-covered arms and skin the color of stone. When it reached over its shoulder, Anna saw trees growing out of its back and shoulders. The giant grabbed for one of these trees and ripped it out from its shoulder with another roar.
With two hands, the giant drew the tree up over its head, ready to strike. Anna could not believe her eyes. She just stared, feeling even smaller than she had in front of Marshmallow.
"Move!" a man yelled. A gloved hand grasped hers. She looked up. Before Anna could even process it, Hans was pulling her toward the trees; she had to run to keep up.
Once her brain caught up to her eyesight, she came to a skidding halt in the snow and tugged her hand free. "Stop!" she hissed as he kept running. But the ground trembled with steady stomps. Anna didn't have to turn her head to know the giant was following.
"Stop later, run now!" Hans called out over his shoulder.
Anna sprinted to catch up to him though she didn't know if Hans was leading her somewhere or just trying to outrun their pursuer. Her heart raced faster with each stomp that shook the earth and trees behind her. She ran on, the cold starting to bite at her feet and shoulders. It was just her luck to have to venture through ice and snow in her green summer dress and dainty shoes. The question was, where was she? It couldn't be Arendelle, not with this accumulation of snow. Not unless another magical blizzard had hit the kingdom.
"And what the heck was that giant?" she thought out loud. "This was a bad idea." She saw Hans's standing figure up ahead. She slowed until she reached him.
"He won't follow this far," Hans said. Only then did Anna notice the forest-shaking footsteps had stopped.
She narrowed her eyes. "What, are you an expert on tree-wielding giants?"
"That was no giant."
"Well it looked gigantic to me! Now where are we and how did you escape?"
But Hans looked away from her. "We should get out of this forest before dark."
"Uh, hello? Wait!" He was already walking away. "Of course I'm grateful that you saved me back there. But that doesn't make us even! You left me for dead and tried to kill my sister!"
"Your sister was a danger to the kingdom," Hans replied without stopping. The space between the trees had grown thinner and Hans would push branches out of his way with no regard for Anna following him. She repeatedly stopped branches from thwacking her in the face as they swung back in place.
"She thawed the kingdom!" Anna shouted.
"Keep your voice down," Hans said, actually turning to lower his hand in a gesture of quiet. "You'll attract wolves." He smirked at her horrified expression. He started to move forward again but the next thing she said made him pause.
"What about me? Was breaking my heart part of the plan? You smiled just like that then. Did you realize?"
Without looking at her, he shrugged. "I don't know what to say, Anna. Why even talk about this? Didn't you find another suitor not five minutes after we parted?" He laughed. "A lot of those coronation guests must be confused though. Last they heard, you and I exchanged our wedding vows."
Anna ignored her fluttering stomach. It was safe to assume that her body just wanted to vomit.
"Stop changing the subject… plotting against the throne is a serious crime! Do you think your family will let you off easily? Do you think Elsa will?"
"None of that matters now," Hans muttered. Anna stopped in her tracks.
"What did you say?"
"I said—" Hans stopped when he felt his wrists forced together and something suddenly coil around them. He tugged his hands apart a second too late. Anna had bound them together with one very tight knot. "What's this?" Anna grabbed the long, loose end of the rope and backed away from him, giving a test pull.
She glared at him. "I'm taking you back to Arendelle."
"You're…?" Hans sputtered, then laughed. "You're not taking me anywhere." He jerked his bound wrists to one side of him, pulling Anna toward him as if to prove his point. Anna yelped but quickly restored her composure by taking the dagger out of her satchel.
"Don't mess with me."
Hans's smirk widened. "You can put the knife away. I'd much rather you cut me loose first. Oh, and you don't have to worry about me here."
Anna tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I have nothing to gain by hurting you," he said.
There was something he wasn't telling her. She put the dagger away without taking her eyes off of him.
"No, what do you mean 'here'?"
Hans rolled his eyes. "I can't tell you. I have to show you. Now let's go." He turned and started leading the way again in spite of the rope binding his wrists. Anna tugged on the rope to keep him from getting too far ahead. "Anna, seriously. We don't want to be here when it's dark."
"You're not telling me something," she said, giving a stronger tug to pull him back.
"I just told you I can't tell you. Follow me and you'll understand." He grabbed the rope and yanked. Hard. Anna fell forward, hauled by the rope. She tried to balance herself in front of him, but she ended up knocking him back. The two of them fell into the snow, Anna with one knee in Hans's gut.
"UGH!" Hans winced.
"I'm sorry! Ha. This is… no, I'm not sorry! This was your fault!" She moved her knee and started to stand. That's when she saw the red in the snow. "Oh my…! Your head!" She knelt beside him and felt through the snow. Sure enough, he had hit his head against a rock. "Sit up, sit up!"
Hans opened his eyes. "Let me go, Anna."
"Wh… at least let me find medical help for you! Your head is bleeding!"
"And whose fault is that?" he asked. Oddly, he didn't seem angry. That just scared Anna more.
"You're the one who ran away!" she shouted, startled when her eyes grew hot with tears.
Hans actually chuckled. "I didn't run. You pushed me into Odin's Fjord and I woke up here." He closed his eyes again, looking peaceful.
"Get up!" Anna grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him onto her so she could lift him with her as she stood. It wasn't easy. Hans moved with her, but his movement was as lazy as someone who was falling asleep. "Wake up, or I'll stab you!" She had hoped that would alarm him but he just squinted at her.
"Hey. Which way? You seemed to know… please. You can't die out here." She quickly added, "You need to answer for all that you've done!"
Hans pointed in a seemingly random direction before closing his eyes and leaning most of his weight on her again. Anna groaned and hoped, as she trudged toward where he'd pointed, that the direction would lead them to Arendelle. The sky was already dimming. Hans had said they should leave the forest before dark. She didn't want to find out why just yet.
Her shoulder burned and ached in no time, but Anna didn't have to walk long before a structure came into view through the trees. As they drew closer, Anna could see that it was a little cabin. Candlelight glowed in the windows. The sight gave Anna a little more strength. She tried nudging Hans. He grunted, but he wouldn't open his eyes. Frowning, Anna hurried toward the cabin. But she took great care with each step so that Hans wouldn't fall.
The cabin door opened and an old woman came out to meet them.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to everyone who was wondering when Hans would show up. Thanks for reading!
I just want to make this little disclaimer from the previous chapter: singing will not necessarily scare off wolves. But if you encounter one wolf, making yourself look bigger and making a lot of intimidating racket might scare it off. You know, according to the internet. Apparently the worst thing to do is to turn your back and run because it catalyzes the wolf's predator instincts. According to the internet!
I hope I never run into a wolf. LOL