Royal Banquet

Dancing had begun. Many a young woman clambered for the attention of the thirteen princes, most of which were either still single or widowers by now. For what reason so many were single or not remarried already Anna couldn't fathom. She'd have thought every one of them would be off the market by now. Most seemed really nice, but then so had Hans at the time. Her grin fell to a more cautious look. She wasn't sure what to make of Hans's brothers. She didn't trust them fully, though part of her wanted to, but she felt a sort of darkness coming from them. It was apparent Elsa felt it too, because Elsa had been treading very carefully and suspiciously around them. The question was, was that darkness a threat to them, or was it more a threat to the princes themselves? Maybe it was both. They seemed unpredictable and gave off an ever changing vibe that didn't sit well with her. She wondered if that was the vibe that Elsa had gotten from Hans when she'd first seen him.

The princes spun around the dance floor, each one with a woman on the arm. They danced amazingly. Every bit as good as Hans. Anna ached to dance too, but Kristoff wasn't great at dancing and avoided it like the plague for fear of making a fool of himself. The most amazing thing was that it was the triplets providing the music and singing loudly, boldly, voices echoing and beautiful and strong and just… wow… They even played instruments, when there was no court lady to hold. There was laughing and mirth. Oh Anna wanted so badly to be out there.

Kristoff, watching her, realized how much she desired to join the dance. He cringed and bowed his head, falling back. He wished he could oblige her but he couldn't. He just… he wasn't exactly graceful. Nor would he ever be. "Princess Anna, dance with me!" Coth called out to her, spinning away from the woman dancing with him and offering his hand. Anna grinned widely. Kristoff clenched his fists and jaw jealously. Anna took his hand and squealed in delight as Coth pulled her onto the dance floor and rejoined his brothers in song. Anna beamed up at him.

Kristoff glanced away sadly. "If I could dance, I would be with her," he remarked to Elsa.

"Maybe they'll give lessons," Elsa offered, unsure what else to say to make him feel better.

"Yeah right," Kristoff said with a sigh. He hadn't exactly been doing a great job making friends with the Princes. Oh he'd be a horrible ruler. Here was hoping nothing happened to Elsa so Anna wouldn't have to ascend to the throne with him at her side. He'd end up destroying Arendelle forever.

"Hey, you've got to have more confidence in yourself," Elsa said, smiling sympathetically at him. He cringed and nodded. Oh how he knew it. He watched Anna whispering to Coth and pointing at him. Coth glanced over and smirked conspiratorially. Kristoff suddenly felt very self-conscious. Suddenly the triplets danced away from the women who were their partners and seized Kristoff, pulling him onto the dance floor with him protesting loudly. This was Anna's doing, he knew it was! Anna was laughing and clapping gleefully as the triplets surrounded Kristoff and her. Anna grinned up at her fiancé adoringly and took his hands.

"Just do what I do," she said with a giggle.

"Anna, I can't…" Kristoff began.

"Yes you can!" Anna said, making him dance however poorly. The triplets, surrounding them, called out tips and on occasion took over Kristoff's place with Anna, demonstrating some of the steps to him. Kristoff was by no means graceful, but at least he was kind of getting into something of a rhythm that made him step on Anna's feet less.

Elsa grinned widely, watching the scene in amusement. Part of her wanted to go out there too, but like Kristoff she had an aversion to dancing. Not because she was bad at it—papa had often danced with her in the ballroom when she was little and had taught her—but because it involved holding hands, and nothing frightened her more than the possibility one of her partners would end up frozen if she ever danced with any of them. Granted she knew, kind of, how to thaw them now, but still. Not exactly a great first impression on a man.

"Queen Elsa, if you would honor me with this dance," Iscawin said to her suddenly. She glanced over at him, surprised at his sudden appearance. He was smiling hopefully at her and blushing faintly.

"Oh, thank you, but I don't dance," she replied.

"Now is as good a time as any to try," Iscawin said with a casual wink, regaining a bit of confidence. He was as smooth as Hans had been, Elsa noted. Or could be. He lacked much of Hans's confidence, but he managed. She hesitated. Did she really want to risk it? No. She didn't. She was about to deny him when suddenly he took her hands with a laugh, pulling her out onto the floor.

"Iscawin, I can't!" she exclaimed in fear. She felt her powers coming to light, reacting to that fear and uncertainty.

"This is your banquet, Queen Elsa. Enjoy it!" Iscawin replied. "I saw you wanted to dance."

"No, you don't understand!" Elsa exclaimed frantically. Iscawin winked as the partners switched off. She found herself in Mael's hands now. "You have to let me go, I can't dance, I won't!" she insisted. "I…" she trailed off as she met his eyes, boring into hers coldly, dangerously. She felt a shiver of anticipation. Or of fear. Or of both. He was scanning her. Reading her. "I have to go," she hollowly said.

He looked down at her gloved hands casually, then back up at her. "Relax. Breathe," he said calmly to her in his deep and freakily soothing yet terrifying voice. "You're afraid. Don't be. If there is no fear, there is no danger."

She felt herself relaxing and tilted her head curiously, eyes narrowing suspiciously and quizzically at him. "What are you talking about?" she asked, suddenly feeling very uneasy.

"If there is no fear, there is no danger," he repeated again. "Let only joy and comfort come to you. No harm will come of that." He spun her around and let go. Suddenly she was back with Iscawin and blinking blankly. Whoa. What had just happened? Suddenly the feeling of her powers rising was gone.

"Are you alright, Queen Elsa?" Iscawin questioned. Elsa blinked a couple of times and looked up at him. Enjoy, don't fear. Enjoy. Enjoy. She could do this. Yeah. She smiled up at him, willing herself to relax.

"I'm fine," she answered. "This is actually kind of fun."

Iscawin grinned. "I had hoped you would begin to enjoy it!" he said. "I knew you wanted to dance."

"Yes. I did," she admitted as they moved around the room gracefully.

Frozen

Franz, laughing loudly and blatantly flirting with every woman lucky enough to find herself in his arms, switched partners when the time came. He spun and started, finding himself with Anna. He was pleasantly surprised. "Princess," he said. "Enjoying yourself?"

"More than you know!" Anna excitedly and breathlessly said. She laughed in glee as Franz grinned mischievously and spun her around even quicker. Soon she was screaming with laughter and excitement. "This is so amazing!" she exclaimed in delight, holding his shoulders as she willed away the dizziness from all the times he'd spun her around. His movements were as erratic as hers and she loved it! They moved in perfect harmony. Her smile fell. Like she'd thought she and Hans had… But in retrospect she realized, now, that he had struggled to keep up with some of her more unpredictable movements. That problem wasn't present with Franz Neb. In fact, she found herself having trouble keeping up to his motions at times. He had to be the best dancer of the bunch so far! The dance floor seemed to buzz by in a blur.

Franz laughed. "Glad to oblige you, my lady," he said. He spun her off, her giving a surprised squeal, to another partner. He took on another lady and began blatantly flirting with the new partner.

Anna blinked up and realized she was in Rhun's arms. She grinned. "Hey. Oh wow you're pretty," she said, still dizzy. She shook her head. "Wait, did I say that out loud? Uh, sorry! I-I just, you know, usually not a fan of glasses or facial hair separately let alone together, and you have both, and you really pull it off well and suddenly I'm not so against them and, uh, I'll shut up now."

Rhun looked amused. "Franz got to you," he deduced. "He has that flustering effect on women. Combination of his sweet talk and the spinning for some reason or another." Anna blushed slightly. Rhun chuckled. "I taught him everything he knows," he said with a wink. Anna gave a squeal as Rhun suddenly picked up the pace and moved around with her quickly. "The student surpassed the master, but I still have a few tricks," he laughed, seeing Anna's delight and excitement.

"Wow, you guys are nothing like Hans," Anna said.

Rhun's smirk fell briefly before reappearing again to a more rueful look. "Princess, I wish I could agree with you," he admitted. Anna tilted her head, frowning in confusion. "Blood is blood," Rhun cryptically explained, smirking at her. He picked her up, spinning her in the air. She squealed in delight, forgetting her qualms. Rhun handed her quickly off to Kristoff, who was appearing more and more agitated the more often he saw partners that shamed his ability dancing with Anna. Anna blinked up at Kristoff in surprise then grinned, suddenly stealing a kiss from him as they danced.

"This is the best banquet ever!" she exclaimed. "You know why?"

"Because the partners are really good?" Kristoff asked, confused.

"No, silly, because this time I get to dance with you," Anna replied, smiling up at him. Kristoff blushed brightly then began grinning like an idiot, dancing with Anna eagerly.

Frozen

Elsa, laughing with Iscawin, gave a gasp as she was spun to another partner. She felt her hands taken in a firm grasp and looked up. Duach. She grinned at him. He started, seemingly taken aback by her grin, and smirked slightly shyly. "I didn't peg you for a timid type," she said.

He blushed faintly, "I'm not," he muttered gruffly. "Just… Kind of don't have a lot of time for women so haven't really, well, spent much time with them. I mean I got married, but... I'm not with her as much as I'd like."

"Why?" she questioned.

"I'm a warrior, my queen," he ruefully said, smirking dryly. "In fact, I'm the General of the Southern Isles army. Moren appointed me to the position after an incident in which a village was nearly pillaged and burned to the ground under the order of the old General. Who had said to kill the men and boys and do what we wanted with the women and girls. At which point I… I killed him… Knew I'd be tried as a traitor and executed, but dammed if I had let that happen to those people. I ordered the army away from the place. They were beaten already. Our objective was complete, the attack put down. We didn't need to rape—um, forgive my language, my lady, again, kind of not used to these things—the village too. On our way back we were attacked and probably would have been slaughtered if I hadn't taken charge. The attack was soundly and thoroughly put down and we continued home."

"Were you tried?" Elsa questioned, now intrigued.

"Yes," Duach admitted.

"And?" she asked.

Duach was quiet. After a moment he sighed through the nose, bowing his head. "Sentence was death. Still is," he answered. She started, eyes widening. Duach smirked at her. "I was sentenced to die by the curse of time or sickness," he said, winking at her. "Moren's orders. I got a good bit of leniency because I spared the village and put down the attacking force that would have slaughtered our battalion. Moren couldn't acquit me, so he and Justic dug up a loophole. Still don't know what it was."

"Why couldn't he have done that for Hans?" Elsa questioned.

"Ask Justic," Duach answered, smirking and spinning her off to just that brother.

Elsa blinked up at Justic. Justic started then looked pleasantly surprised. "Well, I didn't expect to be honored by this," he said.

She grinned approvingly at him. "You're cute, I'll give you that," she said as he spun her around. Justic laughed. "Duach was saying something about being sentenced to die and a loophole," she remarked.

Justic cringed. "Aye," he admitted.

"What loophole saved him? Why wasn't it used for Hans?" she questioned.

"The loophole that saved Duach was a plea for forgiveness from the involved parties. The battalion owed their lives to him. They spoke in his defense. So did the village he spared. So did the relatives of the murdered General. The Council and Advisors were vehemently against that and pressed and pressed and pressed Moren to make him cave in and order the execution regardless. They said Duach needed to pay for murdering his commanding officer. Moren shouted at them that there was no commanding officer that would ever rank higher than a prince. He said that if they wished for Duach's death, so be it. He turned to Duach and told him that he sentenced him to die. Execution by time or disease," Justic said. He trailed off and smirked, chuckling. "Oh the Advisors and the Council raged so much. Duach virtually never gets sick, and when he does he more often than not fights it off on his own. They came to me, demanding I tell Moren such a thing was not possible by law. They came to me because I'm the most knowledgeable in laws of different lands and customs and whatnot. I told them I would have no part in their game and that whatever the king said went. They had no power over Moren's decisions and if they defied me, they would be the ones accused of treachery and coercion. The Prince superseded a General, plain as that. If Duach had decided to execute the man, it was within his rights to do it. I told them the only reason we had agreed to try and sentence him was to make them happy and because, well, Duac wanted us to. Otherwise we would have let him off without issue," Justic said.

"He wanted to be tried?" Elsa asked in surprise.

"Duach is a man of honor. A jerk, a creep, a bully, but a man of honor at the end of the day. It means everything to him. That he had killed his General tore him up on the inside and he felt that it was only fair he be tried and sentenced according to the laws of the land. We had tried to talk him out of it, but he was steadfast, so Moren allowed the trial to go on," Justic said. "Besides, we didn't exactly want the people to think favoritism was at play. Moren was—and still is—new to power and now the throne. Not that that helped much, given Duac's death sentence wasn't exactly ideal," Justic said. "The reason that loophole wouldn't work with Hans is because it was royalty that accused him and there was no one to speak in his defense. Those who had been betrayed by him—you and your sister—weren't likely to plead for his life, we knew that."

"We might have," Elsa defended.

"Would you have, my queen?" Justic asked. Elsa was silent. No. No, she wouldn't.

She bowed he head. "I'm sorry…" she murmured.

"No, it's alright… It was—and will be—a fair sentence…" Justic murmured, glancing towards where Hans was dancing with one of the court ladies and turning on the charm.

"But still…" Elsa began.

"Let's… not talk about it. Please," Justic said. "He would be dead now if you hadn't delayed the trial and had it moved here. That's all we need to know. Thank you for that mercy, even if it's only temporary."

"He…" she began to say. Justic spun her off quickly. She blinked, finding herself in the arms of another. She blinked. Kelin-Sel.

"He what?" Kelin-Sel questioned.

"Have you been listening in?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kelin-Sel smirked. "You intrigue me," he admitted. She blushed and smirked. "Please, my lady, I will continue where Justic left off. What was it you were about to ask?"

Elsa cringed. "He seems to believe you all hate him," she admitted.

Kelin-Sel's smirk fell to a more solemn look, and he gazed at the ground a moment. Recovering, he looked back up at her with a smile. "Grim talk, for a party," he said.

"Yes, but… I'm curious," she admitted.

A rueful look came to Kelin-Sel's eyes. "Believe me, I am too," he admitted. "We all are. Not only regarding Hans, but regarding each other. There's… a rift there, between us… There has been for a very, very, very long time. It may never be mended. Hans just… took it more to heart than most of us. I guess he believed he got it worst of all, being the youngest… And to be fair, we were cruel to him, my queen. Sometimes very, very, very cruel."

She looked sympathetic. "Enough to make him believe you hated him?" she asked.

"We did hate him," Kelin-Sel admitted. "We hated each other too. We all hated each other. Even to the point of torture and murder… Or maybe it wasn't so much we hated each other as it was we resented and didn't trust. We still don't…"

"You're brothers," Elsa said.

"Sometimes that isn't enough," Kelin-Sel said sadly. Elsa cringed. She wondered if Anna had ever felt hated by her? She hated, most of all, to think that some wounds between siblings couldn't be fixed. Not easily, if at all.

"Why?" she asked.

"It's… not talk for a banquet. Or for anyone's ears but our own," Kelin-Sel said. "Bad, bad things happened to us in the past, Queen Elsa. Very bad things… Most of us just gave up… And I try, I really do. I… I want us to be a family again… But it's hard to be the only one fighting a war. I feel as though I'm one against an endless number. Hans sees my attempts as false, the elder ones see them as naïve and annoying. I fight, they resist and crush… I don't think it will ever fully heal, your majesty… But I'm glad we all are still alive and can at least tolerate each other enough to live under the same roof. Albeit it's a massive roof in which we hardly run into each other. One roof, nonetheless."

"Why are you all still together?" she questioned. "If things are that bad?"

Kelin-Sel smirked dryly. "Because we need each other… We need each other to survive," he said. Her eyes widened in surprise. Before she could press, though, he had spun her off to yet another partner.

Frozen

Anna had spun from Kristoff and now was in another of the princes' arms. She blinked up at him and blushed deeply. One of the most gorgeous ones! Jürgen, she recalled his name being. He danced around with her, jumping along with the quick music and the singing of the triplets. He seemed lost in thought. "Hey, what's on your mind?" she wondered.

He blinked and looked down at her, noticing for the first time who was in his arms. He smirked wickedly at her. "The sea," he answered.

"You like the sea?" she questioned, eyes wide.

"You have no idea," he replied.

"Oh, nice. Uh, so, enjoying the party?" Anna asked.

Jürgen laughed. "Why so awkward, my princess? Have you heard horror stories?" he asked.

"Um, well, when I was dancing with Justic after Elsa did…" Anna began.

Jürgen scowled. So darkly, in fact, that Anna was taken aback. "Say no more," he bitterly said, glaring over at Justic.

"Ow! Easy on the grip," she said.

He snapped back to himself and loosened his hold. He sighed. "Forgive me, princess. My brother and I aren't… on the best of terms, putting it mildly," he said.

"Really? Why?" Anna questioned.

"Because he knows more than he should," Jürgen cryptically answered.

"Huh?" Anna questioned.

"Never mind, my lady. It's between us," Jürgen said.

"O-kay?" Anna said, raising an eyebrow curiously. She brightened up. "So, what do you think so far? That was kind of a genuine question."

Jürgen smirked. "So far I've had fun. A good deal of it."

"You don't seem too enthusiastic," she remarked.

"These sorts of parties aren't exactly my cup of tea," Jürgen said.

Anna smirked. "You sound like Kristoff," she remarked.

Jürgen chuckled. "Good man," he remarked.

"He is," Anna said, blushing brightly.

Jürgen smirked. "You're very happy with him," he noted.

"You bet I am!" Anna exclaimed, grinning widely. Her grin fell to a sadder look. "Just like I thought I was happy with Hans…"

Jürgen was quiet. After a moment he said, "Hans is a chameleon. You can't blame yourself for falling for his deceits… We're all chameleons in our own ways."

"Philosophical," Anna remarked.

"No, I'm not talking about people in general. I'm talking about us. The princes of the Southern Isles," he said. Anna's smile fell to a look of uncertainty and mistrust. He chuckled. "Don't fear, my lady. We have no plot against you."

"If you're a chameleon too, how do I know you're not lying?" Anna asked.

Jürgen grinned. "Hans's treachery was good for you. You've gotten smarter and more suspicious. Always remember that if something it too good to be true, it usually is. That's Hans's greatest weakness. The weakness of any borderline sociopath, actually," he said. At least, as far as he was concerned that's what Hans was, but he was probably being biased. "They make themselves too good to be true."

Anna cringed the smiled again, nodding. "Yeah. I learned my lesson," she said.

"More or less," Jürgen said. "Don't convince yourself of that, though. There's always another more dangerous threat lurking. One you may think you're prepared for but really aren't," Jürgen said.

"You sound like you've been in that situation," Anna remarked.

Jürgen was quiet, looking to the side. Finally he turned back. "More than I would care to admit," he answered. "You're never prepared for everything life throws at you. The best you can do is adapt… We've got that down well, all of us princes… Especially Hans… He kind of had to, to survive."

"So… he was right, then? Telling the truth? You…" Anna began.

"None of us are in line for a brother of the year award. Not even Hans, as much as he would like to think he was the victim in it all. Hah! As if in a family of thirteen brothers he'd be the only one treated like trash… Every son after Calcas was a mistake that was to be disposed of. At least in the eyes of our aunt, later step-mother. Mother tried not to show favoritism, but she did on occasion. Half the time she forgot any of us after Calcas existed. Until Hans. And then she focused all attention on him and it was like none of us existed. She always remembered eventually, though, and over compensated to try to make up for it. Not that she can be blamed. She was… She was getting very sick around that time… She could hardly remember our names by the time of Iscawin's birth. Any of us. We didn't know why. We still don't… She finally… Hans killed her…"

Anna paled. "What?" she breathed fearfully.

"Not… like that… It was…" Jurgen began. He trailed off and sighed. "Mother was the one person Hans didn't want dead in our family, and in his wildest dreams he couldn't have hoped to hurt her… But he killed our mother nonetheless, and he knows he did. He hated himself for it. We hated him for it… We hated him for a lot… Of course, we hated most of the younger ones…"

"Hate is a strong…" Anna began sympathetically.

"We hated each other. All of us. And that term isn't even strong enough to describe it," Jürgen firmly said. "If not for the fact we needed one another to stay alive near the end, I guarantee you about half of us wouldn't be here today. Definitely not Kelin-Sel, Iscawin, and Hans. Probably not Justic either, but… that's a personal issue between me and him."

"Do you still?" Anna uncertainly asked, not sure if she wanted an answer. Jürgen was quiet. "Um, Jürgen?" she asked.

Jürgen, after a moment, looked back at her. "There was a time, even until just recently, that I would have said yes… I don't know, anymore."

"Why not?" Anna asked.

"Because when I was given the opportunity to kill Hans, I couldn't do it," Jürgen answered. Anna's eyes widened. Jürgen quickly spun her away before she could pry deeper.

Frozen

Elsa found herself in Moren's arms soon enough. "You told me you didn't dance," he remarked to her, smiling cordially.

"I… kind of was convinced," she replied, sheepishly smiling at him. "Besides, it's proved most enlightening."

"Ah, they've been sharing dark talk with you," Moren ruefully said.

"Well, not so much sharing as I pried. A little," Elsa admitted, blushing.

"I'm sorry if such subjects have made the banquet a little less than fun," Moren said. "My brothers do not know when to hold their tongues."

"It seems you hold yours too much," Elsa teased, smirking. Moren looked divided as to whether to feel ashamed or amused. "Sorry, if that was out of line."

"It's fine," Moren answered. "You're right. It seems I hold my tongue whenever I shouldn't."

"What can you share, your majesty?" Elsa questioned.

"It depends on what you want the topic to be," Moren answered.

"Your home life," she answered.

"That's… a topic best left not delved into," Moren answered.

"You and your brothers…" she began.

"They are not my brothers… They shared the womb of my mother. Our relationship doesn't go much farther than that," Moren said.

"But…" she pressed.

He smiled ruefully. "But I want them to be. We have… been working at it. Of course every time we have in the past it has always failed."

"But you keep trying," Elsa pointed out.

Moren smirked. "Yes. I suppose that accounts for something," he said. His smile fell. "Unfortunately, not all of us are willing to keep trying… Many have given up or have stopped caring. Perhaps many of us never did care."

"Do they know you want to fix it as badly as they once did?" Elsa questioned. Moren raised an eyebrow. He… actually hadn't looked at it that way before. Elsa smiled, spinning. "The letter you wrote in Hans's behalf. It was very touching," she remarked.

"Yes," Moren vaguely replied.

"Maybe if you had shown it to him…" she began.

"Do not concern yourself over it, my lady," Moren said.

"I'm a little puzzled at something, though," she said.

"And that is…?" Moren fished.

"In the first letter, where you pled for his life, there were a good number of pretty cruel remarks tossed in about him. In the second one you sent, the thank you, it was crueller to yourself than to him," Elsa remarked.

Moren was quiet. She looked curiously at him, tilting her head. Finally Moren sighed. "That's because Hans's idea of my view on him in comparison to my own is off," he answered.

"Hans's?" she questioned.

Moren chuckled, smirking. "It was Hans that wrote the first letter," he said, winking. She started, blanching. "Not to say I wouldn't have, but he beat me to it. My baby brother is good at copying writing styles, for the most part, but characterizing those who write the letters isn't easy for him when those people he is copying are his brothers. His views are a little off."

"Wait, you…" Elsa began. Moren laughed good-naturedly and spun her away to another partner. When the next caught her, though, and she turned to face him, her expression turned to one of shock, then horror and appal. Hans!

Frozen

Hans blinked a few times, just as shocked as Elsa was. He resisted the urge to jerk away from her defiantly. "You wrote that first letter?" she said to him.

"I had to save my brother," Hans answered, shrugging. "Been accused of being the cause of more than enough family members' deaths as it is." Namely his mother… And certain others… "More importantly, I had to save myself. It wasn't as if I could rely on them to do it." He smirked casually at her. "Queen Elsa, you dance beautifully," he remarked, forcing on his cordial mask. The one he'd worn for Anna.

"Thanks," she cautiously and suspiciously replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "What's with the nice guy act?"

Hans grimaced. "Moren ordered best behavior," he answered, shrugging.

"Well drop the mask, Prince Hans. I know what you are," Elsa coldly said.

"Oh do you now?" Hans questioned. "Please inform me, because I don't even know anymore."

"You are a lying, deceiving…" she began.

"Same thing, your majesty," he said, smirking cockily.

"Snake!" she finished, eyes flashing dangerously. "You are a traitor and a murderer."

"I don't recall killing anyone," he innocently said.

He was playing a game with her, she realized. She almost hated herself for participating. "You would have!" she snapped.

"At that point you were willing to welcome it," he bit. "It would have been a mercy."

"I thought my sister was dead! And you… you killed her. I know that now. You killed her," Elsa dangerously said.

"It must be her ghost I see dancing there, then," Hans said, tossing his head in Anna's direction.

"You know what I mean," she coldly said, not turning from his gaze.

"Look, your majesty, I'm no happier about my being here than you are," he bit, glaring equally icily at her, eyes dangerously smouldering.

"Oh you are a piece of work," she said as he spun her around.

"Guilty as charged," Hans sang out.

"Clichéd much?" she asked.

"Oh I'm just getting warmed up," Hans replied, picking her up and spinning her around before setting her down again. "Besides, given how into the cliché thing your sister was when it came to romance, I figured you might have something of that in you."

"Well you're wrong," Elsa answered.

"That's refreshing," Hans said, rolling his eyes.

"You don't believe me," she said with a cold and disdainful smirk as she was turned to face him again.

He met her smirk with an equally cold and condescending one. "What's your back story, my queen? Powers out of thin air when neither of your parents had them? Fearful of the monster you believed you were?" he asked.

"For your information my aunt had these powers!" Elsa shot sharply. "And as to my fear, that isn't any of your business. Now behave, Prince Hans, or big brother will get angry."

"Bite me," Hans shot. "Moren can rage all he wants to. I don't have to take this lip from you!"

"And you expect me to?" she hummed.

Hans scowled before forcing himself to put on the cordial mask again. He closed his eyes, willing back his annoyance, then smirked impersonally at her. "All right, let's start over."

"Fine," Elsa said.

"Fine," Hans repeated.

"Fine!" Elsa shot, eyes narrowing.

"Fi… You know what, ugh!" Hans said. "Okay, starting over. You dance beautifully, my queen."

"Thank you, Admiral Westergaard," Elsa replied, bowing her head courteously. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Thank you. I learned from…" Hans began. He trailed off. Elsa raised an eyebrow. Hans bitterly chuckled. Not at her, but at himself and what he had been about to say. "I learned from my brother, Franz," he dryly said. "One of the few decent things I learned from him."

"You know what, I don't think your brothers deserve your hate. They seem perfectly nice," Elsa said.

"You know what, I don't think you should talk about things you don't know anything about," Hans retorted.

"About things I don't know about? With all due 'respect', Prince Hans, from what I've seen, you're the one who doesn't know your own family," Elsa said

"Like any of us know each other," Hans replied as they walked forward together in time with the music. "But I will promise you I know them better than you ever could hope to! Frankly, they're as much chameleons as I am if not more."

"What are you saying?" Elsa questioned.

"Be careful about the political deal you make with Moren, my 'queen'. It might end up being the last mistake you ever make," Hans bit.

"You admit to being a chameleon as well, so how do I know you're even speaking truth?" she bantered back, smirking triumphantly.

"A good point," Hans said. "But how do you know they're not the ones playing you this time?"

"I just won't trust any of you, then," she retorted as he dipped her.

"Welcome to my life. You been here long?" Hans questioned, smirking victoriously at her. She started, blinking. Had he just won? With a cliché? Oh she didn't think so!

Frozen

The song ended and Elsa pulled away from him. "Thank you for the dance, Prince Hans," she said impersonally, folding her hands down in front of her and nodding. "Of course, for you does the dance ever end?"

Hans laughed coldly. "Oh you're good, you're very good," he said, waggling his finger. They were unaware of it, but eyes were starting to turn curiously and guardedly. She turned up her nose and turned her back on him, starting off. This was over. She didn't want to be near him anymore. "You know, you have a lot in common with my older brothers!" Hans called after her. She froze, eyes flashing, and turned dangerously.

"What are you getting at?" she questioned, voice as chilly as a blizzard.

"Nothing, just an observation," Hans replied.

"Pray tell you share it with me," she said, returning to him.

"We're done here," he said, turning away from her.

"That's an order, Prince Hans," she dangerously said.

Hans paused, eyes blazing suddenly and brightly. He scowled darkly and turned back. She met his gaze with equal intensity. "I don't think you want to know," he answered.

"I gave you an order," she said.

"An order? You think you can give me orders?" he asked.

"You are on my land," she said.

Hans was silent. Finally he coldly smirked. "Fine. If you really want to know. You're like them in that every time your baby sister wanted you, you walked away. Every time she needed you, you were never there. Every time she begged you through tears, you turned your back or scoffed and left," he said.

Elsa was scowling now. "I did it to protect her," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"She never wanted a protector, Elsa! She wanted a brother, sister!" he corrected quickly.

"How dare you play at trying to defend my sister after everything you did to hurt her?! I want you to leave," she said. And hopefully she wouldn't see him again until he was tried in her court.

"Oh I'm sure she heard that many, many, many times. I certainly did, so this is nothing new. Good day, ice maiden," Hans said.

Oh she wanted to rip his eyes out. "I did it to protect my sister! Maybe they did it because they couldn't stand you!" she shot.

"Old news to me, Elsa," he called back, waving his hand dismissively. "It was a thirteen way street."

"All you have ever done is hurt people!" Elsa shouted after him.

"And your track record is so much better," Hans replied, spinning on her again. By now all eyes were on them.

"Get out!" she screamed, pointing at the door.

"You killed your sister!" Hans shouted, pointing at Anna. "That much at least was never a lie! You killed her, not me! You, Elsa, you! Maybe if you'd been a sister rather than a protector, you might have actually done something right."

Elsa was livid, shaking in rage. Hans scoffed and turned to walk away again. "I know why your mother died," she suddenly hissed.

Hans froze, stiffening. After a moment he turned murderously. "Now would be a good time to hold your tongue," Hans growled threateningly.

"I know why she died," Elsa sneered. "She dreamt of the future, and she saw what her youngest child would become. She saw, and she died because she couldn't bear the shame of bringing a monster like you into this world!"

Hans gaped in shock, starting back as pain flashed briefly to his eyes. Unbridled. Raw. Open. He couldn't remember the last time he had heard words that cutting. Not even from Jürgen at his worst. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. He got the feeling he had heard it before, but he couldn't remember. Maybe he had blanked it out because the one who had said it had been one he had trusted and perhaps even loved, and to hear it from their mouth was too traumatic to handle. Pain, however, quickly became rage. Unconcealed and open and murderous rage.

"Y-You…" he began, sputtering, unable to find words. "You whore!" he freaked, suddenly lunging. She gasped as he seized her around the throat. Tackled, more like it, because he had sent them both crashing to the ground, his hands wrapped so tightly around her neck that she was strangling in less than a second and feeling her voice box being crushed.

Frozen

"Hans!" Franz cried out in horror from somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Elsa, no!" Anna's shriek rang out. Elsa was hardly aware of it. "Stop it, stop it!"

Both of them were vaguely aware of hands trying to pry Hans off of her. She almost hoped they would fail so with her last breath she could impale him with an ice spike and take him with her. She was suddenly aware of Hans's hands being pried off of her. He was dragged forcefully back and Elsa, coughing horribly, felt herself being lifted up to her feet.

"Arrest him!" a guard was screaming at the others as Hans continued trying to break free of what Elsa saw were literally all of his siblings. And they were all having a hard time holding him too.

"Silence!" Elsa suddenly screamed, ice flying out from all around her. Everyone leapt back and cried out in fear as snow began savagely ripping through the ballroom. "You pathetic, wretched…" she began, furiously jerking free of those holding her and storming towards him.

"Elsa, stop! You'll be the end of Arendelle!" Hans shouted at her, genuine fear in his voice. She froze, suddenly realizing what was happening around her. The whole place was being frozen and a blizzard tore through the room, ripping at everything and anything! She gasped, immediately calling back the snow and looking suddenly terrified.

"I-I…" she began.

"E-Elsa…?" Anna asked, voice breaking as tears burned her eyes. She was so worried for her sister. She reached out. Elsa gasped, pulling away, and looked at her hands. She looked back at the princes of the Southern Isles.

Elsa, heart pounding, took a breath and stood up straight. "The dancing is over. Escort Prince Hans back to his room. I will see no one today," she declared, regaining her grace. Elsa marched away alone.

"Queen Elsa, please…" Moren began.

"I said take him!" she shouted, turning and waving her hand. History repeated itself. From the moment she'd acted she knew it would, and regretted. From her fingertips shot, to her utter horror, a wall of deadly ice spikes bee lining for the thirteen Princes! She paled. No. Not again! Not again! The guests screamed in fear. The thirteen men were going to die!