Authors note: I want to thank you all for reviewing and reading the last chapter. Hearing your opinions means a lot and they also help if I need to edit or make something better.

Any way I hope you all enjoy this chapter where we will find out how Elsa may react and what she will do now that she has seen Hans human form. So please sit back, relax, enjoy a good read and please leave a review when done, opinions are most welcomed.

Soft clinks were heard as the guest ate their dinner, some soft whispers which Elsa was deaf to as she was still in shock of what had been revealed to her. Every now and then to the man who sat next to her as her supposed fiancé Firebird. He spoke to her uncle and aunt who were sitting close to him, what they were talking about she was not sure, but they seemed to be having a good time as they spoke.

This person, this Hans, was he really the Firebird? or was he somebody the Firebird hired to pose as him? And if this Hans was the Firebird...his human form...why did he hide it from her?

The very though about it made her feel dizzy, she placed the cup down as she decided not to drink any wine.

"Do you feel okay?" she heard, turning her blue eyes met his green ones, her hands grew tense when he placed a glove hand gently on her.

"Yes" whispered Elsa,

"Isn't that sweet?" cooed Arianna,

"Yes" said Victoria with a small smile then added "Your so lucky Queen Elsa", hearing that made Elsa blush a bit as she looked down trying not to show that she was blushing.

"No, its is me who is lucky, she is truly wonderful" said Hans as he turned and smiled at her making her heart race,

"What are you doing?! You don't even know who this person is! What if he some stranger?!" Elsa scolded herself "But what if he is not?" said another side of her "Look closely, he has a lot of mannerisms which the firebird has, its impossible to imitate" and looking she had to agree. She noticed how he would move the plate a bit as they waited for the next food course and his preference for wine, the Firebird hates merlot and she could tell this person hated it as well as she could notice how he barely winced as he took a sip from his cup.

After dessert Albert asked "Hans, remember the song you sang for me and my darlings wedding reception?",

"How can I forget? You two abandoned me with that crazy relative of yours" said Hans slightly irritated,

"How were we supposed to know she was hitting the wine very hard that night?" said Victoria innocently, Hans just gave her a look which suggested he did not believe her at all,

"Either way, we were thinking that maybe Queen Elsa would like to hear a song or two from you" said Albert changing the subject,

"I rather not" said Hans,

"Come on, just one song" said Anna joining in with a grin,

"No, no thank you" said Hans insisting,

"Actually I would like to hear" Elsa asked after a while as she turned and looked at Hans, he seemed to hesitate before nodding his head and saying "Alright my dear", getting up from his sitting position he walked over to the musicians which were standing nearby and whispered something to them. They nodded before they began to play some music which somewhat reminded Elsa of a lullaby.

Your eyes see but my shadow

My heart is overflowing

There's so much you could come to know

Your content not knowing

Tenderly

You could see my soul

Here in the dark

I only touch you in my dreams

But will you ever hear my heart?

The way it calls to you as if your name was branded on the very soul of me

It's calling like a child who's lost his way

"I'm here, please say you hear me calling"

Please say you see me

Please say you hear me

Please give my heart a home

Don't leave me here all alone.

Upon finishing there was silence, amazed was not even enough of a word to describe as both song and sound had a huge impact on the group as some held their loved ones hands tightly, others watery eyes as they were determined not to shed a tear.

Sadly it seems that the Duke was not moved as he looked like he wanted to explode in anger, he wanted to say something, but kept quiet in fear of retaliation.

With an elegant bow Hans went back to his seat, before he sat down he whispered to Elsa "I hope it pleased you", Elsa did not answer as she was too stunned to speak.

Soon the chattering and such resumed followed by a bit of dancing, though Elsa did not dance as she just stood by and watched, next to her Hans seemed content to do just stay besides her. There was no more words, this was fine as Elsa had many questions running through her head, even emotions which were conflicting and got even worse every time she looked at Hans the supposed Firebird.

The ball ended around 3 in the morning and Elsa was exhausted, her feet ached from all the standing she did. Escorting her was Hans as they made their way to her room, which was good as yes she was tired but she wanted answers.

Arriving he closed the door behind them while he did Elsa took off her shoes before facing him, there was nothing said as first as they just stared at one another, this of course was odd as before Elsa had to look down to speak to the Firebird, but now she had to look up as he was quite taller than she was, then there was also the question she had yet did not know how to say or even begin the conversation.

"Is something wrong my dear?" asked Hans, this gave her back the power to speak along with anger.

Crossing her arms she looked angry and demanded "Who are you?!",

"I already told you, I am-" began Hans,

"Don't lie to me! Did the Firebird ask you to pose for him or something?" demanded Elsa then her eyes flashed with worry before she gripped her hands and demanded "Did you do something to the Firebird?! Where is he?! What did you do to him?! If you hurt him in any way I will-",

"Elsa its me! I am the Firebird!" said Hans as he reached for her only to be slap him across the face, it hurt and burned as he could feel the cold from it, strange enough it reminded him of that time Anna punched him so he would hate to think how much more it would have hurt had Elsa punched him.

"Don't you dare touch me! You will tell me where the Firebird is right now!" demanded Elsa angrily,

"Its me!" said Hans as he reached , this time grabbing her hands, rough first but then gently "Its me, its me, its me" his tone got gentle as did his grip before he let go of her, once he did he reached into his coat. For a moment Elsa tensed as she though that he had a weapon on him or something, but found he did not as he pulled out a small..rag?..

Holding it Hans muttered something and the "rag" grew and shaped till it was a red cloak with gold flame motifs on it, putting it on he was immolated with flames, Elsa screamed and back away as she watched the flames consume his form, when they vanished Hans was gone, in his place was the Firebird.

Her eyes were opened wider than she though as the reality hit finally hit her, Hans and the Firebird were one and the same which meant...

"Firebird... Hans..." Elsa said as the shock wore off and was replaced by rage as she realized he had lied to her and had been lying to her since they met, made her think that he was a bird when he could clearly turn human.

"How long?" growled Elsa,

"Too long it seems" said Hans turning back to his human form then sighting he added "I am sorry",

"Why?!" growled Elsa,

"I..." he sighted and shook his head before saying "Tonight is not the night, your tired and need your rest" with that he turned to leave only to stop when Elsa shot ice at the door, blocking it and keeping Hans from leaving,

"No! I want answers now!" demanded Elsa as she marched up to him "You will tell me why you hid this from me and I will not let you leave till you answer my questions".

Sighting he rubbed the back of his neck and said "I did it for both selfish and unselfish reasons...", Elsa said nothing as she listened, depending on his answer she may forgive him for lying to her.

"The selfless reason was for your sister and Kristoff" said Hans "Had the council known the truth about my human form, who I am they would have used that as an excuse to marry off Anna to a prince just because your marrying one".

Elsa frowned as she though about it but knew it was very true that the council would have done that.

"My selfish reason...I guess you could call it my fear..." said Hans,

"So fear gave you the brilliant idea that hidding your true self from me" said Elsa crossing her arms angrily.

Hans paused a moment, lowering his head he said "Its a curse really...something all phoenix before me have",

"A curse?" asked Elsa for a moment feeling scared for him, true she was mad, but she would never wish him ill after he had helped her,

"Yes, you see when a couple is fated to be they get married, but sometimes its not always like that, sometimes one of the pairs either does not want to or wants to use the other for selfish reasons, pure sentiment and true love is essential for the bond, if there is non then eventually the bond gets corrupted eating away anything good till there is nothing left of the person" said Hans, for a moment he paused, it was clear that this was a subject he did not like to talk about but he continued either way "That's how all the other Firebirds/Phoenixes before me died...and following their death disasters happened",

"What kind of disasters?" asked Elsa almost afraid of asking,

"Too many bad, too many deaths...the fall of Egypt, the destruction of Pompeii, the Black plague, the great fire of London...those are some among too many" said Hans softly "Knowing this I though if I could get somebody to look pass my flaw of being a bird, then that person loved me for real and I would somehow break the curse, the cycle..." he then looked up at her and gave a small smile "In a sense its ironic, I got what I wanted when I was a naïve child, I got power and riches, but in the end I realized I did not wanted that, I just wanted to be loved and have somebody care for me... but I can't have it because having what I though I wanted before made it hard to tell apart who is genuine or not... they love me or care because of either of my power or beauty...can you relate?",

Upon hearing that whatever anger Elsa had left, being a young maiden queen she always had people who went after her for her throne or money or beauty or all three at the same time. So she could not fully blame him for it as she could relate very much. Then there was also the fact that within those reasons he was selfless for she was sure that anybody else would have just revealed the truth and not cared about how it would have affected her sister.

"I am sorry... this is a topic I really don't like to talk about... especially with how the last one ended up..." he shook his head "The fated spouse of the past Firebird used him to gain power... that one was the reason why the year without summer happened, it would have been worse had the firebird not been killed...it was tragedy really".

Tragety it was Elsa agreed, just knowing that Hans was stuck in such a cycle, she now fully understood why and she could not blame him for taking such actions.

"If you want me to leave then I shall, your not obligated to marry me if you do not want to" said Hans,

"Wait, but I promised... I though you" said Elsa confused,

"Yes, but I am sorry for I lied...I could not tell you that you were free not to marry me as I did not want the council to figure it out... but I will let you know now that I do not like to make anybody do anything against their will" said Hans "That's why I never set a date or anything for the wedding, if by the end of the trials I did not gain your love I would have broken the engagement, for if I did after the trials are passed you would be secure on your throne and be free to rule either as a maiden queen or not and Anna and Kristoff's engagement would be safe".

Looking down Elsa though then said "Thank you for protecting my sisters happiness",

"It was a privilege really, I admit that I am jealous of you for having such a loving sister" said Hans,

"Thank you" said Elsa, with a bow Hans turned and waved his hand, thawing the door before opening,

"Where are you going?" asked Elsa,

"To find a room, it is not proper for a man and woman to share a room before they are married" said Hans then added "I will see you tomorrow".

Elsa nodded as he left, once he did and the door was closed Elsa sat down, she had a lot to think about as she had to make a choice, did she wanted to continue the engagement or break it? It was clear he was giving her that choice, but it was hard, he had lied to her by withholding the truth about his human form, but with his reasons she could understand why...but then again what else did he lied about? Did he lie about anything else?

It was hard, but a choice had to be make and for the most of the night Elsa was awake thinking before coming to a decision.

Walking down the hall Hans turned back to his Firebird form, not feeling tired he made his way to one of the many living rooms of the palace. Finding the portrait room Firebird made his way inside. The room was beautiful but his mind was too preoccupied to admire it as he walked over to the fireplace and sat next to it.

Starring at flames usually helped him calm down and think, it was strange habit, but was effective. Rubbing his forehead he began to second guess himself, had he been too impulsive by showing the truth to the ball? Should he had shown her privately before the ball even started so she would not be too shocked?

"I guess its too late for that" though the Firebird as he was sure that he had lost whatever affection she had for him because of this... even if he had his reasons for not showing Elsa the truth sooner.

Moving so he was closer to the fire he relished the warmth when he heard somebody enter the room. Turning his head to see who it was that entered it took everything the Firebird had no to glare as the Duke walked inside.

"Having a good night milord" said the Duke in a tone which was more of a sneer than anything else,

"I was till you showed up" though Firebird but simply said "I am thank you" he could easily guess why the Duke was there and what he would say next,

"So...your still going to be married to Elsa" said The Duke, Firebird frown as it seems his guess was correct so far.

"It's queen Elsa to you and yes" said Firebird, the Duke smirked before laughing.

"What's so funny?" growled Firebird not finding anything funny,

"Sorry it's just that, I still cannot believe that you still believe that a wedding will happen between you and Elsa" said the Duke,

"And why should it not happen?" growled Firebird even if he knew better than to ask that,

"Why should it not? Your a bird, an animal, why would a Queen want to marry an animal?" said the Duke,

"Are you blind or did you just forget to polish your monocle? As you saw in the ball I am much more than a bird" said the Firebird as his anger was boiling, the Duke better not go where the Firebird thinks he is going with this conversation, for if he did... Heaven have mercy on him cause the Firebird will not show him any.

"Let me give you an advice...I suggest you leave back to whatever desert or place you came from and stop waisting Elsa's time...you and I both know that if it were not for the arrow challenge she would have never picked you to begin with and as for that little stunt you did at the ball" said the Duke with a cruel smile "It was very pathetic that you hired some poor sap to pose as you and sell that stupid story of being the 13th prince of the Southern isles",

"I am not leaving for you know nothing! And who says its a lie and that the person in the ball and I are not one and the same!" growled Firebird furious as the Duke was stepping into very dangerous territory,

"And who would believe that? Also while we are at it, how much did you bride the rulers so they could be on your side?" said the Duke then shrugged "No matter, if you do not leave and Queen Elsa does not dispose of you then I guess I will have to take care of you myself",

"Are you threatening me?" hissed Firebird his magic started to react as it made the area around him grow hot, the flames on the fireplace began to dance around ominously as if reacting to his anger and foul mood,

"Depends, why? Are you scared?" taunted the Duke,

"If I were you I would not go there, for it is you who must fear me" warned the Firebird "Seeing that I do not want to make trouble I will let you off with a warning...do not...I repeat DO NOT! Threaten me!, it never ended well for people who have"

"Is that your version of a threat?" Said the Duke faking his bravado when in reality his self preservation was warning him that he should stop while he could,

"No, it is not a threat...It is a promise" hissed the Firebird and with that he turned and left before pausing and said "I know what you did and I will see to it that your punished for it to the full extent and nothing will be able to save you from it" with that he left the room leaving the Duke alone.

After composing himself the Duke wanted to laugh, if the Firebird though that he had scared him off then the bird was out of his mind for there was no way that the Duke would leave Arendelle before he syphoned it dry of all its trade, secrets and riches. Soon he would be leaving the country dry, powerless and there Queen at their mercy and nothing, not even that stupid Firebird would stand in his way of achieving his master plan.

To be continued...

Authors note: Well... that could have gone a whole lot worse... but what will Elsa decide? What is the Duke and council planning? I would say but its a huge spoiler... Any way I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Well you will have to wait and see...so please leave a review to tell me what you think and stay tuned for the next one.