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.
Okay...moment of truth...what will Elsa decide? I would say but that would spoil this chapter...
Any way I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please leave a review when done, opinions are most welcomed.
The night had been a long one, too long for Elsa's taste as she lay in bed, her eyes closed in fatigue as she did not get much sleep, probably an hour or so of sleep at the most as she contemplated on what happened last night, the reveal and the decision she had to make.
As she slept she was unaware of the door of her bedroom as it slowly opened, soon a little Will o wisp made its way in, carrying a letter it flew over and landed on Elsas bed before walking up to deliver the letter to Elsa.
Upon seeing that Elsa was asleep it frowned before walking down to her stomach and began to jump on it in an attempt to rouse her from her sleep.
Not waking up Elsa simply turned so she was laying on her stomach as she slept, barely avoiding being crushed and a little annoyed the Will o wisp flew over to her face and pinched her cheek.
Waiking up startled Elsa looked around wildly before noticing the Will o wisp standing on the side of her bed.
Rubbing her eyes Elsa wondered if she was still dreaming as she had never seen such a thing as the blue light. As her mind processed what she saw she jumped back when she realized what it was.
The Will o wisp moved closer almost making her fall off of the bed as she remembered all the horror stories her parents used to say about how they would lead unsuspecting people to their graves. But soon she was confused as to why this Will o wisp was in her room as according to the stories they were found in forest with lakes or marshes.
"Wha...what do you want?" asked Elsa ready to bolt out of her room if necessary, the Will o wisp said nothing, just held up the letter it was carrying so she could see it, "For me?" asked Elsa a little bit hesitant.
It nodded, gently taking the letter Elsa said "Thank you", nodding the Will o wisp was going to leave but briefly stopped over the box of chocolates which Elsa had on top of the vanity. Seeing the chocolates it decided to help itself to some chocolate Elsa had to make up for all the trouble it went through to get her the letter.
Grabbing one it stuffed one chocolate into its mouth before grabbing more chocolates, stacking them one on top of the other before attempting to carry it out, but failing as it could not balance out the chocolates and ended up leaving with only two while the rest were left behind.
Elsa could not help giggled at that as it was a rather comical sight before looking at the letter, it was a plain white envelope addressed to her, on the back had a wax seal which was very familiar to her. "Firebird?" she though as she opened it, taking out the letter she read it.
"Dearest Elsa;
I asked the servants to have breakfast served in the dinning room as though you might not want to be disturb. Hopefully I will see you there.
Firebird"
On the bottom there was a smudge as if he had wanted to write something but just settled with leaving Firebird there alone.
"I guess now is as good as any" said Elsa as she folded the letter and placed it back on the envelope.
Nervous, it was very unusual for Firebird to feel that way as every since he had first been a Fateweaver he had always kept control or had some predictability of what will happen, but right now with how things were and how they could go right or wrong made him very nervous.
Sure he was hopeful that things would turn for the better, but not naïve enough to not be prepared for the worst outcome of the situation.
Moving the napkin a bit he sighted before looking at the grandfather clock which was in the room, half pass 9 am.
"Maybe she is not coming" though Firebird with a sad sight, but in truth he could not blame her for it, reaching for his plate he decided to eat before his food got any colder.
But just before he did he heard the creak of the door opening turning he almost sighted in relief when he saw Elsa walk over to him, she looked beautiful as she always did, but he could tell she had not slept at all.
Quickly getting off of his seat Firebird quickly changed to his human form, walked over and pulled the chair so Elsa would sit, quietly she sat down, not saying a single word.
"What a great start" he though to himself sarcastically as he took his own seat, quietly they ate their meal, not speaking a word till Elsa asked "What else?",
"Pardon?" asked Hans as he lowered the toast he was going to eat,
"What else did you hide from me?" asked Elsa as she took her butter knife and toast and added "I suggest you choose your words wisely, for depending on them I will decide what I am going to do" as she spread butter on her toast.
Hans sighted and said "Just my human form and me being a Fateweaver... the Fateweaver part is somewhat complicated",
"I got all day" said Elsa,
"Okay...I guess I should start with my home, as a Fateweaver I live in a hidden kingdom called the Underground with 12 other Fateweavers and the kingdom itself is populated by other people with magic and magical creatures" said Hans,
"Wait..there are others that have magic?" asked Elsa amazed as all this time she though she was the only one,
"Yes, anything and any one that has magic lives or can be found in the Underground Kingdom" said Hans,
"You mean... actual people that have actual magic?" asked Elsa,
"Yes" answered Hans,
"Unicorns?" asked Elsa,
"Yes" answered Hans,
"Huldra?" asked Elsa,
"Those too" said Hans,
"Nattmara?" asked Elsa,
"Sadly yes, they are known to trespass and cause trouble" said Hans,
"Mermaids?" Elsa pressed on,
"You know, hows about instead of asking me why I take you to the Underground someday so you can see for yourself" said Hans as apparently he had not made himself clear enough when he said all magical creatures.
Taken back by what he said Elsa looked unsure and asked "Really?",
"Of course, just pick the day and I will take you there" said Hans,
"Alright" said Elsa then asked "What do you do as a Fateweaver?",
"Different things, Fateweavers are there to ensure the balance of the world and that the destined ones achieve their destiny through the use of magic or advice" said Hans "Like for example if a person was destined to win a war he or she would be assigned a Fateweaver to guide and aid him or her to achieve the destiny",
"How do you know if a person is a destined one?" asked Elsa,
"We feel it, I compare it to having a compass inside of you that always points you in the right direction" Hans explained,
"Oh" said Elsa as she reached over for her teacup as she did Hans decided to test his luck and asked "SO...about the engagement", Elsa raised her cup and said "I though about it" then took a long sip,
"And?" asked Hans almost hesitating to know,
"I decided that I want the engagement broken once I get the letter of my aunt and uncles approval" said Elsa after lowering her cup, hearing that was disappointing to Hans, not that he blamed her for it, he had treated her badly at first even if he had a good reason and withheld information from her, no relationship would grow from that...
"Okay..." said Hans softly, trying very hard not to show his sadness about that as he did love her, but he could not and will not force her to stay with him if she did not want to.
"BUT!" said Elsa after a while making Hans jump a bit then added "I want us to start over again, you had your reasons, while I understand and can relate them no relationship can be built upon lies, secrets or half truths... if I give you a second chance and allow you to court me...then I expect you to be fully honest with me from now on, no matter what there will be no lies or secrets or half truths between us".
Elsa meant what she said, true he had helped and had shown he cared, but she could not forgive the fact that he withheld information from her which was the same as lying in her books and it made her wonder if he was being genuine about helping her, if he was in it for the perks or worse if he was helping her to gain her trust to use it to manipulate her. She just could not take chances, before she decides to marry him, if she decides to marry him, she has to be sure he was being honest and genuine.
"Alright, no more secrets, lies or half truths" said Hans relieved when she said that.
"No more secrets, lies or half truths" said Elsa nodding, Hans frowned when she did not smile back, it hurt but did expected it as he was willing to do anything to gain her trust fully, it would be a long run, but it would be more than worth it.
The sun was setting as right now everybody was having a good time in true Victorian fashion, the boys with the boys, the girls with the girls. In a room separate there was a light conversation and even a bit of fun.
"I will get you!" yelled Anna as she slammed a pillow against her cousin Rapunzels head, laughing Rapunzel chased Anna out of the room,
"Anna please manners!" hissed Elsa as for a moment she was rather embarrassed at her sisters behavior in front of Victoria, who as far as she knew was a no nonsense kind of queen, which brought the question as to how Hans and her became friends judging by her own experience with his...gadfly act...
"Your sister is very charming" said Victoria as she worked on a sampler,
"Thank you your majesty" said Elsa nodding,
"I had to admit, I was quiet surprised when Hans told me about you" said Victoria,
"I was too.. I mean he spoke about you and Albert, but I though he may had been exaggerating just a tiny bit" said Elsa carefully as she was afraid that Victoria might take it the wrong way as the last thing she wanted was to insult her,
"I do not blame you, that is the usual first impression he has" said Victoria as she reached for some scissors and cut the strand of her needle before moving on to practice some flower embroidery "So tell me a bit about yourself, no need to be shy, I do not bite",
"I don't know where to begin" said Elsa honestly,
"Foods?" asked Victoria,
"Pardon?" asked Elsa,
"Foods, whats your favorite food?" asked Victoria,
"Oh that, favorite food? I supposed if I had to pick one is chocolate" said Elsa,
"Can never go wrong with that" said Victoria then added with a light giggle "I love pastries and cakes, their my biggest weakness, I love them almost as much as I love my Albert",
"I do not blame you for their quite a delicious" said Elsa laughing along feeling a bit more relaxed,
"Yes" said Victoria then asked "So tell me what tricks he played on you?",
"Tricks?" asked Elsa,
"Hans, he can be quite mischievous and cheeky from time to time" said Victoria then laughed "I still remember that one time when I was 10 years old when he woke me up by filling my room with the loudest sounding songbirds you can imagine and when I demanded to know why, he joked "You told me to sing like a bird when you were practicing your harpsichord so I got you some birds", I was angry about it at the time, but looking back on it I found it funny and even endearing in some way especially when I got back at him by pouring honey into his liquid soap, he complained for weeks about having sticky feathers and honey bees chasing him",
"Really?" said Elsa with a light laugh, she was rather pleasantly surprised as Victoria always showed herself to be so firm and no nonsense,
"Yes, it was all in good fun" said Victoria with a smile.
There was a bit more silence as Elsa though, she still had many doubts and questions about Hans and his past, she needed to be sure that what he had told her about Victoria and Albert being his friends was true... then there was that other thing he told her... about him and Victoria being ex's... it was just so unbelievable... so not wanting to sound upfront she asked "So you, your husband and Hans are friends?",
"Yes, Hans is my friend, mine and Alberts only childhood friend" said Victoria then sighted "We have been together for many years, yes he would leave, but he would always come back..."
Pausing she reached for a cup of tea she had set aside and took a sip before continuing "Hans was my first kiss, my first love... I still love him, but not how I love my darling Albert, I love Hans as I would love a brother, both me and Albert do and never had we ever had anybody more fateful and devoted"
Elsa said nothing as she listened and watched, she was trying, trying very hard to find something, anything which showed that Victoria was faking or lying, but she seemed genuine even emotional as she seemed to be looking back, reflecting on many fond memories.
"I know this is going to sound odd but; What do you think of Hans? How is he as a person?" asked Elsa carefully as she did not want the question to come out the wrong way,
"Well he is certainly a bit of a character, he is devoted, loyal, considerate, kind, humble, can drive you up a wall at times, but he has no malice as everything he does is always for a good reason, but at the same time he has a hard time trusting others even if he does not show it...he has many layers to him, but my guess its to hide whatever hurt he went through when he was young as the one thing he never spoke about was his family, even to this day its a subject he tries to avoid at all cost" said Victoria as she found it to be an odd question so she added "But in the end it does not matter what I think of him, its what you think of him as I can tell you this but only you can decide what to think in the end of the day",
Then all of a sudden there was a crash interrupting Victoria and making Elsa wince as she wondered what was broken this time. Suddenly she saw a Will o wisp fly through the open door, holding a note.
Elsa grew tense when it landed on her lap, though Victoria did not seem fearful or phased at all about seeing the little blue light.
"Me?" asked Elsa after a while as the Will o wisp held up the note and waved it at her, its response to her question was to nod and pressed the note against her hand.
Taking it Elsa said hesitating "Thank you" with that the will o wisp disappeared. Holding the letter Elsa looked over it, it was folded into a perfect square with red string and the wax seal which was the one that Hans/Firebird used on his letters. After a moment Elsa undid the string and seal before opening the letter and reading it.
"Dearest Elsa;
Will you join me for a carriage ride around the country side of Arendelle?
Sincerely Hans"
When finished Elsa held it a bit before folding the note and placing it on the pocket of her skirts,
"What did it say?" asked Victoria curiously,
"Oh nothing special" said Elsa as she got up from her seat and ran her hand through her skirt to smooth it a bit,
"Ahh I see" said Victoria as she decided not to press on the matter as Elsa stood up and said "I apologize but I have some matters to attend to",
"Its alright, but I do hope we can chat a bit later on during the day or maybe tomorrow if able" said Victoria,
"Of course, thank you Queen Victoria" said Elsa,
"Please Elsa, I insist you call me Victoria" said Victoria with that Elsa left the room.
While Elsa walked out the door and down the hallway her mind was confused, it went back and forth between her own experience with Hans/Firebird and what Victoria said. Elsa was glad that Hans had been telling her the truth about his relationship with Victoria and Albert and she did see what Victoria was being genuine as she was not one to let just anybody close to her.
Then there was the matter of Hans family, what bothered her was that he claimed that he was the supposed to be dead 13th prince of the Southern isles, but if that was the case then it made sense why Victoria said that Hans never spoke of his family and the many layers he had, if his father was that cruel tyrant and people though he had killed Hans, it would not surprise her if his past with his family was anything but a bed of roses. But she hoped that in time she might be able to get him to open up about that someday.
For the moment she decided to be happy to know that what Hans said about Victoria and Albert was true as there was no way that Victoria could fake such emotions and that Hans has taken seriously her conditions about no more lies or half truths.
Outside near the stable Hans stood next to the open carriage which had been prepared, while the coachman sat on the carriage waiting for Queen Elsa to appear. Sure enough after about 10 minutes Elsa showed up, she wore a dress of dark blue and white, her hair was picked up in a bun even wore a hat.
"You look beautiful" said Hans as she walked over,
"You always say that" said Elsa,
"Because is true" said Hans,
"Are you trying to get on my good side?" asked Elsa,
"Probably, did it work?" said Hans cheekily,
"Don't push your luck" said Elsa,
"Awww why do you have to be so mean?" teased Hans as he helped her into the carriage before he got on the carriage himself, when they were inside the choachman snapped the reins and the carriage began to move. The carriage made its way out of the castle through the town and finally following a road through the most scenic roads of Arendelle.
Sitting on the back of a carriage Elsa looked around as they were driven through the first road which lead through a breath taking view of the fjord in Arendelle. After a while she turned to look at Hans briefly before she quickly turned her sight away when she saw he was starring at her.
Even if it was established that Hans and the Firebird was one and the same she was still baffled at how he looked like, she had wondered if he had a human form since she began to realize that he knew a little bit too much to be just a bird, but she never imagined how would he look like if he had a human form.
"You were starring, something wrong?" asked Hans,
"No no, I mean, its a beautiful scenery" said Elsa looking away and faking that she was looking and admiring the towns, fjord, fields, forest and such.
"It is" said Hans as he went back to looking at the scenery before him,
"So? Can you tell me more about the Underground Kingdom? When was such a place established?" asked Elsa hoping to learn more about where his home was, Hans nodded and said "It was many years ago, I think in the dark ages" he paused and shook his head "Those were terrible times, many people died during that time, many innocent, burned, staked, drowned..." his voice cracked as he looked away so Elsa would not see his eyes tearing.
"You talk as if you were there" said Elsa softly,
"At times it seems so" said Hans softly as he looked down at his glove covered hands.
Elsa was going to say something but then shrieked when blue lights appeared in the carriage.
"What did I tell you all about scaring guests?" Hans lightly scolded at the lights, they just giggled, rolling his eyes "I am sorry about that, their friendly" said Hans as one of the Will o wisps climbed up to Elsas lap and took a hold of her finger, playing with it.
"Their cute" said Elsa giggled feeling a bit more comfortable around them,
"They are and they know it" chuckled Hans "Be careful, their rather mischivious",
"Oh I am sure their okay" said Elsa before they vanished, going to who knows where.
There was quiet then Elsa asked "Is there more history about the Underground Kingdom?",
"Yes, like I said it was made during the dark ages, it started with a german queen, she had evil magic, sadly after her death at the hands of dwarfs people though all of the magical beings were the same... it started a magical genocide" said Hans then gestured "This realm was made by the fateweavers of that time, combining their magic they made this realm and transported any magical being left alive... their future and safety secured".
"Wow" said Elsa amazed,
"It is amazing, almost like a slice of heaven" said Hans,
"If it is, why would you leave the place? I mean, why leave such a place if its so perfect" asked Elsa,
"As nice as that place it, I prefer to be out here...besides it's what Fateweavers do, we need to be out here to do our job properly" said Hans as the carriage drove on, soon they drove pass a clearing with some wild flowers and beautiful trees, looking over it Hans gestured the coach to stop. Stopping the carriage Hans waited for it to stop before getting out of it and helping Elsa off of the carriage.
Walking her over to a nice spot in the field he waved his hand, magic worked as a blanket appeared before them before Hans reached into the pocket inside of his coat before pilling out surprisingly a picnic basket.
Gesturing Hans walked her over and sat her down. Sitting down next to her Hans set the basket down and opened it, reaching inside he grabbed and opened a bottle of sweet wine before taking two glasses and giving a glass to Elsa.
"Thank you" said Elsa softly as filled her glass before she took a sip then admired the food Hans was taking out from the basket and placed it down on the blanket. There was some food she recognized such as sandwiches, chocolate, boiled kartofler with butter and rice pudding, others she had never had tried such as pinapple and mango which were rare and not easy to be brought to Norway.
She ate some, but barely got to enjoy the sandwiches as Hans ate most of them, followed by the chocolate, sticky sweet rice pudding and the exotic fruits, Elsa found she really enjoyed the sweet mango.
With full stomachs they spend their time talking or even played a bit of hide and seek before just laying down on the ground and looking up at the clouds.
"That looks like a whale" said Elsa pointing at a particular cloud,
"It does look like a whale" said Hans then pointed at a different cloud "That one looks like a dog",
"Or a cat" said Elsa,
"That could be true" said Hans as he tilted his head a bit,
"So Hans... sorry its just I feel so strange calling you Hans after spending a year calling you Firebird..." said Elsa "So do you mind if I call you that from time from time?" There was no answer.
"Hans?" asked Elsa as she turned and looked only to find he was fast asleep, for a moment Elsa was irritated but then found herself smiling a bit before reaching and ran her hand through his hair out of curiosity, it was surprisingly softer than she had imagined. For a moment she tensed as he turned, but did not wake up from his sleep.
She smirked as she got an "evil" idea, getting up Elsa quietly went back to the carriage was and coachman was smoking a pipe as he waited, "Lets go" said Elsa getting on the carriage, the coachman looked confused but did what he was told.
About an hour or two later Hans woke up and found he was alone, he was confused as to where Elsa was. The rest of the day he searched through the area till heading back and finding the carriage missing it was then that he realized what happened...
Was he amused at her trick? No he was not...
Norway was well know paradise for merchants, with the lure of the promise of riches many merchants established homes there, sadly like any other place the competition ran high and only the lucky few made it rich. Those such as the family who lived in Oslo Norway.
This family besides being a merchant family it was one of the most influential in all of Norway, it even had connections to with family members who worked in high positions in the royal household.
These connections and riches were used to live a life of luxury and comfort which was unknown to most of the population.
One such luxury was a servant or like they call them in England Governor or tutor who was in charge of education of the children and book keeping.
Said tutor was placed in the designated drawing room where he held lessons to his pupil, at the moment he was grading reports, when done he smiled and walked over to his pupil, the youngest daughter of the merchant.
She was not a bad student, just a very naïve little girl who did not want to study and just preferred to play and "wait for her prince to come".
All of a sudden one day her attitude did a complete 180, how or what happened he did not know though he wondered if Queen Elsa had anything to do with it as she had become a role model for girls as of late to become more independent and to break out of the mold which was expected of woman at that time, but whether she was or was not he was glad to see his pupil applying herself in her studies.
"Good job" he said handing her her papers "Your father and older brother will be quite pleased".
"Thank you" she said with a smile then went back to her notebook which she had been drawing at the moment as she waited for her grades.
Curious as to what she was drawing her tutor moved to get a better look at the drawing before his eyes widen in shock.
"Who is that?" asked the man,
"Oh this is Queen Elsa, I saw her a couple of months ago ridding her horse with a weird bird" said the girl gesturing to the drawing, it was of Queen Elsa in all her splendor ridding a carriage, opposite of her was a strange bird of gold and red feathers "They say they are to be married, its weird but I guess if he is a good bird then its okay".
The man said nothing as he stared at the drawing. His eyes filling with tears as he remembered.
Drums sounded as Lars and his family were walked out of their prison cells.
People jeered and yelled, demanding their death as they were brought to a scaffold where they would be hanged.
Looking Lars closed his eyes accepts his fate, they had done so much wrong and now this was the price to pay.
One by one their father, mother and his brothers were hanged, with each one the crowd grew into a frenzy of cheers.
Finally it was Lars turn, why had he been the last he had no idea, but regardless it was his turn to meet his fate.
Walking up the scaffold he felt himself grow deaf as memories began to flash across his mind. All of the memories of his long lost brother.
He regretted it, he regretted his inactions towards Hans, he should have been there for him, he should have stopped the abuse...and now...he would not even have the chance to find him and apologize for his behavior.
"What a cowardly fool I am" though Lars as the rope was placed on his neck.
As the drums sounded Lars prayed, he prayed not for his own salvation as he knew that not even God would be able to forgive him, but for his brother, he prayed for his safety, his happiness and that somehow even though that it was not possible that he would know how sorry he was.
Then all of a sudden they was a cry, the place went silent as much to every bodies shock a bird of living flames flew down towards the platform and attacked the executioner. It clawed and pecked till the executioner back away from the lever which when pulled would have led to Lars being hanged.
The crowd whispered and pointed, their eyes not believing what they were seeing as the large bird with feathers of the color of flames turned and stood over the lever, glaring a warning to anybody who dared to try and get close.
To the people this was a huge shock as the bird looked like a legend which surrounded the Westergaard family, a legend which said that the Phoenix whom was the creature which adorned their crest protected the Westergaard family... but it was a hoax right? Just a rumor for who would want to protect such a horrible family?
"Bah! Go away you stupid bird!" yelled the Executioner after composing himself and tried to shoo it away, only for the bird to retaliate and scratch his arm leaving behind deep wounds which bled profusely.
"Why you little I will show you!" yelled the man unsheathing a sword ready to use it only for the metal to melt before it even made contact with the bird.
Horrified the man dropped the now useless handle, turn and ran away yelling while the guards back away in horror at what they saw. In their minds there was no creature on earth that could have melted the sword like that... non that they can think of other than...
When the executioner ran away the bird turned its sight to the guards glared at them as if saying "Don't you dare to take another step", deciding to not try the theory the guards wisely dropped their weapons, raised their arms in defeat and slowly back away from the bird in fear.
Lars said nothing in all truth he wanted to cry at the sight of his baby brother, though he doubted that he was a baby or even a child as the bird had grown since than the last time they met as it was now about the same size as an eagle.
Just to see him made him happy and if he were to die the next day he would do so happily knowing that he was alive and well.
Shocked at what they had witnessed the crowd pointed and spoke, there was no denying that the bird was truly the Phoenix, the melted sword was proof, which meant that the Phoenix was a sign from God that Lars should be spared from death which brought the question...
What to do with Lars as he had to be punished?
After much delivering, arguing and finally a vote Lars fate was decided. Lars was escorted to a massive ship where he spent about 2 days at sea, once far away from the Isles he was placed on a small row boat and set adrift, banished from the Southern isles, his fate just as unknown as his destination.
Sitting on the boat Lars sighted as there was nothing much he could do when all of a sudden he felt something drop on his head, it made a flopping sound before it landed on the boat...
A fish?
Looking up Lars saw nothing at first till he felt a bump in the boat when the Firebird/Phoenix landed right in front of him.
"Brother" said Lars as he got up to hug him only to stop when the bird glared at him as if saying
"Don't you dare touch me",
"Brother please...I am...I am sorry but you must believe me it was not my-",
"No" said the Firebird finally speaking making Lars look confused,
"I do not want to hear your excuses" said Firebird as he turned his back on Lars,
"But brother you save me, you must-",
"I saved you yes, but it was just to give you the courtesy which you never gave me, nothing more" said the Firebird "For all intents and purposes you and I, we are not brothers",
Lars looked, he felt his heart drop, he had though that him being saved was that he was forgiven...how wrong he was...but a the same time he could not blame him for it...he deserved it...and should just consider himself lucky that Hans was merciful of his fate.
"Hans",
"I do not want to hear it, continue to speak or try to touch me in any way and I will leave you to perish here at sea" warned the Firebird.
Lars said nothing as he bend his head, letting tears fall as past sins played in his mind. He wished he could go back, change what happened, maybe if he had been braver, out his foot down and defended his brother non of this would have happened.
Days passed in silence, Firebird would leave from time to time but he would always come back with food or water for Lars.
This, in all honesty was a fate worse than death and if Lars had known this was what had been reserved for him he would have preferred to have been hanged as it hurt so much to see his brother treat him as if he was a stranger or some scum of the earth he felt pity for.
It should not be this way, they were brothers.
"We are brothers" whispered Lars then looked up and said "Hans...", Firebird did not responded as he continued to ignore him but Lars was not giving up as he continued "I am sorry, you have to believe me, I...I beg of you, please forgive me and let me back into your life, things will be different, I promise...I will do anything for you, anything at all! I will be your servant while you be king, I will even be the shadows while you shine like the sun, just please do not abandon me".
Firebird sighted then shook his head and said "I am sorry, but it was you who abandoned me first", those words silence Lars for the rest of the day.
Days passed and the Firebird remained as silence as ever, even any attempt of trying to talk to him was met with silence, but at least he did not make true to his threat about leaving Lars to perish at sea.
Finally one morning Lars woke up to find his boat had arrived to land during the night. While at first Lars was happy this was short lived when he noticed Hans/Firebird was nowhere to be seen.
Panicked Lars got up and looked around calling out for him, but there was no answer...he was gone...
"Lars?" asked the girl, slowly Lars backed away before he turned around and ran out of the drawing room in a hurry.
"Lars!" called out the girl as she attempted to run after her tutor only to find that he was done, rubbing her eyes she was sure he saw his shadow down the hall but how could he move so fast.
While she was out in the hallway Lars reappeared in the room through a dark mist of shadows, walking over to the note book he tore out the drawing before stuffing it into his pocket, merging unto the shadow mist before disappearing all together leaving the girl to wonder what happened to her note book when she returned to her desk.
Authors note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, now for the response. Yes this was what I had planned for if Elsa had just allowed the marriage to continue or had been more in love she would not have been Elsa. So yes she still have some love for him, but her trust is shaken because of what happened and will not marry him or anything till she is sure she can fully trust him. Like they say relationships cannot be built upon lies or half truths...and quite frankly Hans was lucky as things could have ended a whole lot worse...
But hopefully he will be able to gain her trust again...but for now please leave a review to tell me what you think and stay tuned for the next chapter.
Fun fact: Hans Christian Anderson actually made a story about the will o wisp. So I just had to incorporate into the story... among other reasons... The will o wisp stories varies...A LOT! I mean they can be evil (Leading you to drown, fall to your death or just straight to hell) or tricksters or good (some stories say how they show good people (children most of the time) where buried treasure is) or souls who are looking to be baptized so they can ascend to heaven. Even the stories of what they are tend to vary a lot, their either souls, the soul of an single evil man doomed to wonder the earth with a lantern or some kind of fairies...