Chapter Nine: Rescue or Capture
"Fire away!"
Elsa was horrified to hear those words and the deafening shot that followed it. However, as her gaze turned towards the hapless French ship, she realized only one shot was fired and it hit exactly one point: the main mast of the French warship. It immediately collapsed with a deafening roar.
"Bring us about!" the pirate captain ordered his men before turning to her. "That would cripple them a few days, perhaps even a week."
Elsa turned angrily at him. "You condemned them to die! You know they won't survive at sea without a mast. Even if they get it repaired on time, it will take them longer to get to the closest shore. They'll starve before that!"
"No they won't," argued the pirate. "Another ship will be coming by soon enough when they are missed but it will buy us time to getaway. You see your majesty, I'm not the monster you think I am."
Elsa gasped as she realized the identity of the pirate captain before her. The smell, the feel of him, it suddenly all made sense. He had carried her once out of her ice palace, half-conscious and injured. She had spent hours in his arms, inhaling his scent as he galloped with her on Sitron. He had carried her to the castle where he laid her on the cold stone floor of her dungeon.
"Before you say another word, I think it would be best if we speak in private. My office would be ideal."
He pointed behind her and she saw a second ship next to the French sloop they were standing. The larger vessel was hidden from view by the fake smoke. This one was a frigate, built for speed and armed with enough guns that can easily take out Captain Foix-Lescun's warship. She had seen enough designs of ships to know this was of Swedish origin. Whatever little doubt she had about who this man was, it was now completely erased. She met Otto's eyes and he nodded to say he understood. They all transferred to the Swedish ship.
Once there, Elsa followed the pirate captain one deck below. He led her to a neat little office dominated by a large desk. A globe rested on one side of the table littered with several pieces of paper. There were books on the shelves. She caught a glimpse of titles in the spine. Familiar classics like the Thomas More's Utopia, Plato's Republic, and Aristotle's Rhetoric were interspersed with more contemporary works like the Wealth of Nations by Smith, Common Sense by Paine, and even that book Elsa had ordered before but had not yet arrived, The Vindication on the Rights of Women. He even had poetry by Goethe and Milton. Her hands itched to reach out and touch the books but she forced herself instead to face this man.
"General Jorgenbjorgen, I presume?" she began.
"I suppose the disguise is rather useless by now."
He took off the glasses, scarf cap and the fake dark hair underneath it to reveal his familiar head of flaming red. He had grown a bit of a beard that extended down his chin and met with his sideburns. He also had a distinct new horizontal scar on his right cheek just below his eye. Elsa couldn't help but notice that it gave him a more mature look since the last time they met. However, his eyes remained the same vivid green. She shuddered at the memory of those eyes.
"Before you do anything, I would like to make something clear..."
"You let Kristoff go," Elsa interrupted him.
His mouth dropped open in astonishment before his face lit up that even Elsa was startled. "He... he... survived?"
Elsa wasn't sure she could trust him just yet on the fact of Kristoff's continued existence. So she settled for: "I read your letter to Anna."
His face flushed even brighter. "She read it? Anna read it?"
"One of the soldiers who came home with her saved the letter and gave it to me. I gave it to her," Elsa replied without a hint of emotion.
The effect of those words though seemed to affect him immediately. "She doesn't believe me," he said dejectedly. "Queen Elsa, I didn't lie to her. I let her husband go and the Arendellians with him."
Elsa wanted to confirm that but she realized she mustn't. She didn't yet know what his intentions were to her and her kingdom.
"So you say. I suppose time enough will tell if you did. For now, let's discuss the matter at hand. I have surrendered peacefully as you've requested. May I know your plan to return me to Arendelle?"
Hans took in a business-like air. "Well for starters, I can't just return you there. I first need to take Arendelle back from the French."
"Take it back from the French and hand it back to me," Elsa pointed out.
He didn't answer immediately and Elsa glared at him. "General, your brother promised me support."
"And you will have it… eventually."
"Eventually?" Elsa rounded angrily as she deliberately allowed little flecks of snow to rain in his cabin. "General, let's stop playing games. I know what this is. You and your brothers have been toying with me for these last few weeks and I'm done tiptoeing. You want me to switch sides to the Sixth Coalition? Fine! I will after you secure for me my 18 Arendellian soldiers, liberate my country from French soldiers occupying it and hand it back to me."
"You can't protect Arendelle even if I hand it back to you."
So there it was, the real reason he was here. This wasn't a rescue. She was a captive. She evaded the French only to fall into Sweden's clutches and Hans' by extension. No! I've had enough. I am not going to let him! It ends here!
Without warning, she blasted him back with ice that he was pinned to his desk. Ice spikes suddenly appeared around him, trapping him against it.
"I can and I will," she said to him menacingly. "You will return my people and my country if you want me to let you go."
He seemed startled for a moment but he easily recovered and eyed her steadily. His voice was almost taunting when he replied: "You don't have what it takes to kill me."
"I didn't say anything about killing you. I'm not a monster. But I'm not above keeping you my captive unless you do what I say."
A tiny hint of a smile formed on his lips and she felt herself shiver uncomfortably as an unfamiliar tingle shot down her spine. She shook her head to clear it and caught him doing the same gesture before he turned serious again.
"I'm sorry if that came out as a threat. That wasn't what I meant," he said contritely that Elsa could almost believe him. However, she knew he could play a part well and was not inclined to let him go just yet.
"And what exactly do you mean?" she almost growled.
He sighed heavily. "Look, let's just calm down. We can talk about this without threatening each other. So if you'll just let me go…"
She glared at him and allowed a few snowflakes to rain on his head for good measure.
"Okay," he backed off. "If it makes you feel a bit safer when I'm encased in ice for the moment, this can work for me too."
She stood back with her arms crossed over her chest. "Talk then," she said curtly.
"All I'm saying is that Arendelle is in a dire situation right now. It's not enough that I just liberate you from the French, which I will. I know you have your powers, but you can't exactly encase your entire kingdom in ice to keep away every single nation that wants to threaten you. You need an alliance just as strong, or stronger than the one you used to have with Northern Isles."
"And you're offering Sweden when your army occupies Arendelle, is that it?"
"I'm offering military aid to protect you. Yes, we will be stationed in Arendelle but you will still be Queen and rule independently as part of the Coalition."
"The Coalition that will call forth my citizens to fight in another war with the threat of the Swedish army in our backyard. How is this any different from French occupation?"
"I admit it's not that different, but at least the Coalition is not asking you to be a weapon while you're a captive to a madman."
"So I'm not going to be your captive?" she asked haughtily.
He hid a snort of laughter at her cheek. "I walked into that one," he admitted. "But seriously, no. The Coalition wants you to stay out of the war. As long as you do not use your powers and keep to Arendelle, they would be happy with that arrangement."
For now, Elsa thought. I don't exactly have too many choices at the moment. But I'm just buying time and if I can use him to free Arendelle from the French, I suppose I have to take it.
She slowly allowed her ice spikes to recede and her snowflakes to stop falling.
"Thank you," he said as dusted off snow from his head and shoulders. "Queen Elsa, I want you to know I will do everything in my power to keep Arendelle free and independent. I don't know if you will believe me, but I do care for Anna. These last few months we became friends and that changed me. I want to keep her safe and protected and if that means defending her kingdom then that's what I'll do."
The mention of her sister struck a nerve at Elsa again and she realized there was more to his offer that he was letting on. "Do you expect me to believe you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart? No, you want something General. You can stop beating around the bush. What else do you want?"
"Look, Queen Elsa, I mean this with the best of intentions…"
Elsa was tired of this farce. "Just give it to me straight, General. What do you really want?"
"I want to protect Anna," he replied desperately. "I need to keep her safe."
"Stop using my sister as an excuse. Your honeyed words may have worked with her, but they don't work with me. Tell me what do you expect to get out of this?"
He heaved a sigh and gravely stared back at her. "I want Anna's hand in marriage to me."
A/N: I'm leaving you with a short chapter for now as I had to get the interaction between Hans and Elsa underway. I still have several gaps I need to fill this story so my apologies if I'm churning this out at a really slow pace. Hopefully, I can get more time to write due to quarantine. Stay safe everyone.