Chapter Twenty Nine
The Trial
ANNA
Her day had started off not entirely unremarkable. Breakfast with Hans, but at least this time Maui had accompanied her. As much as she had not been looking forward to dining with her enemy again, she had relished the look on his face when she told him she would be bringing her guard to breakfast. Anna had given the excuse that it was only proper that the queen of a foreign kingdom had her safety ensured and that she felt comfortable with her "Arendellian guard" following her around.
The villainous Consul had no cause to argue with that. It was standard diplomatic procedure between representatives of different kingdoms after all. Unlike dinner the night before, he seemed a fresh and new man, wearing a new dark blue suit with a white shirt, his auburn-coloured hair coiffed neatly. No one who have imagined that a gentleman like him was really a cunning snake with frightening intelligence.
"Please, have a seat, Your Majesty." Hans said politely as he guided her into the dining hall and to the seat she had taken the previous night.
"If you don't mind, my royal guard would like to have a seat at the table." Anna said, glancing at an Exonian servant nearby.
Hans stole a glance at Maui, who towered over him and was dressed in the Arendellian green uniform of the Queen's Guard. With his cleanly shaved cut, he really was the splitting image of the perfect soldier with the most menacing frame. He rattled off something in Exonian, which only the natives could understand.
Anna was a little annoyed that Hans was deliberately trying to keep her from knowing what he had said. He knew that it provoked her, and gave her an impish smirk that was there, and then gone in a flash.
"So," he said in a loud voice as he sat down at the opposite end of the table, steepling his fingers on the table in front of him. "How was your rest, Anna?"
"It's 'Your Majesty'," Maui said in a warning tone as he sat down at the table beside Anna. "Show some respect."
"I could say the same about you, soldier." Hans pointed a fork casually at the demigod. "With a title like Consul General, I would think I deserve a salutation of 'Sir', at least."
"Well then, Sir," Maui said sarcastically. "Please show the Queen of Arendelle some respect."
"The queen and I go way back." Hans smiled at Anna. "Don't we, Your Majesty?"
Anna narrowed her eyes. "Of course we do."
"So again I ask," Hans repeated. "How was your rest?"
The man was relentless. "What's that to you?" Anna said coolly. She was determined not to let him get the upper hand of the conversation again as he had done yesterday.
Hans held up his hands with an air of mock defensiveness. "Just showing some concern. After all, it wouldn't be too hospitable of the Empire if its foreign guest were not in a comfortable frame of mind to carry on with our negotiations, now would it?"
"My rest was fine." Anna said nonchalantly. "Good, in fact."
"Then I assume you're ready to continue the negotiations with Empress Eleanor." Hans sat back, the pleasant grin still on his face. "Or would you like to call in sick, again?"
"Sounds to me like you're questioning the queen's integrity." Maui stood up, walking towards Hans at the other end of the table.
For a split second Anna thought of calling out to stop him, but seeing the roles reversed on Hans was amusing to her at least. Just as long as Maui didn't beat him to a bloody pulp. She closed her mouth and sat back, hands on her lap.
"Of course not, Corporal, isn't it?" Hans eyed the stitched pips on the broad shoulders of Maui's uniform as he approached him menacingly. "I was simply being cordial with an old friend. Maybe you're being a little too uptight about this whole thing."
"As long as you are in the presence of the queen," Maui grabbed him by the collar and pulled him forward slightly before whispering. "I suggest you know your role, and shut your mouth." He gave Hans a gentle push - at least, it was gentle by his standards - and Hans' chair scraped against the tiled floor as it was grated backwards.
Hans straightened out his collar as he looked up at Maui. "You do know that putting your hands on a diplomat of a foreign country is a punishable crime, right? It could potentially upset the established relationship between our two kingdoms." Then he gave a calm and controlled laugh. "But no. In the spirit of graciousness, I'll turn a blind eye to that little insult."
"Corporal," Anna called out to Maui. "It's okay. Stand down."
Reluctantly, Maui looked intimidatingly at Hans one final time before walking back to sit beside Anna.
"I must admit, Anna." Hans said. "I admire your calibre of soldiers. Are all of yours like him? If they are, the Empire's going to have a harder time taking Arendelle. Unless of course, you've considered the offer last night and have made a decision."
Ever the slippery snake. "Well, I'm still thinking it through carefully and weighing my options." Anna said. "What's wrong? You seem like you're just desperate to know my decision."
"Can't say I'm not. All in the interests of the Empire, of course." Hans smirked.
Just then, the door of the dining hall swung open and Eleanor walked into the large room, adorned in a striking red dress that matched her fiery red hair which cascaded down her shoulders.
"Ah," Eleanor said when she saw Anna, Hans and Maui seated at the table. "Good morning. I see the table is already occupied."
"Your Imperial Majesty." Hans got off his seat in a hurry and sketched a deep bow.
Anna had to stifle her snort of laughter at seeing the cunning enemy almost prostrate himself.
"Just kidding, I'm not here to interrupt your breakfast." Eleanor waved Hans back to his seat and turned to Anna. "I just came to apologize for not being able to dine with you yesterday."
"Oh, it's no big deal." Anna smiled fakely.
"I hope you had the time to bond with the Consul General. After all, if you do take me up on the offer, he'll be your future husband."
"Oh, we did." Anna glanced at Hans and then back at the Empress. "We had a good time." The moment she said that, she wished she could take it back. It had sounded different and way less suggestive in her head.
"Anyway," Eleanor continued. "I came to personally invite you to an event that's happening at the Maine Club in the middle of town this afternoon. I thought it would be a good way for us to bond and foster inter-kingdom ties."
"An event?"
"The negotiations can come afterward. Let's enjoy today first, shall we?"
Anna stole a glance at Maui who looked equally caught off guard before smiling at Eleanor. "Of course. May I ask, what's this event you're taking me to see? An Exonian dance performance of some sort?"
"Oh nothing so boring." Eleanor sounded slightly aghast. "It's something a little more…intense."
"Like?" She did not have a good feeling about this.
"A court hearing." Eleanor said mildly. "It'll be a good opportunity to introduce you to General Kane afterward, and you can see how our fair Exonian justice system is being put to work in this fair kingdom that we're now proud to call part of our colony."
"A court hearing?" Anna echoed, befuddled.
"Yes, well, I'm a little embarrassed by this." Eleanor wrung her hands. "There was an altercation in town this morning. An attack on one of the Empire's banks. The perpetrators were caught by the First Imperial Guard, and are going to stand trial this afternoon for their crimes."
"Ummn, sure. Why not?" Anna was puzzled by the bizarre sounding invitation. Why did she need to see a bunch of criminals getting tried? "I'll be happy to go with you."
"Great!" Eleanor sounded eager. "Hans, you'll be coming along too, won't you?"
"Of course, Your Imperial Majesty." Hans said, and smirked at Anna. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
You wouldn't miss a chance to torment me is more like it, Anna wanted to say, but she had enough good sense to hold it back in the presence of the Empress.
"I'll see you two out front at say, half past eleven?" Eleanor suggested. "The royal carriage will take us to the heart of town just in time to catch the show."
"Sure." Anna tried not to sound stiff or too suspicious. Why was this happening? As soon as the Empress had left the room, she whirled round to stare at Hans, who looked poised, cunning and mysterious all at the same time.
"What was that about?" she demanded.
"Oh you'll see." Hans chuckled dubiously but conservatively, as if he was holding back an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "You'll see."
###
The moment Maui and Anna stepped out of the dining hall and parting ways with the villainous Consul General, Maui turned to Anna. "What was that all about?"
"Huh?" Anna looked at him.
"The invitation."
"Oh." She herself had spent the rest of breakfast trying to figure out why Eleanor had suddenly invited her to a court hearing in the heart of the town. "No idea."
"That Hans guy is a real snake." Maui growled lowly. "I can see why you hate him so much."
"He tried to kill my sister and leave me to freeze to death so that he could usurp the throne." Anna said dryly.
"I think he knows more about this little outing than he's letting on." Maui said. "So here's what I'm thinking. I say we ambush him, beat him up and force him to tell us what's going on with the Empress and her little plan."
"What?" Anna sounded mortified. "No! That's a horrible idea."
Maui raised his hands in defeat, and Anna swore she heard the light ripping of fabric. "You got a better one?"
"No, but tackling Hans head on isn't a good plan at all. In fact, it's a surefire way to get ourselves caught and tossed into a dungeon somewhere." Anna frowned. "No. I think we have no choice but to keep up the facade and play Eleanor's game. At least until we know what she's doing."
The demigod frowned. "Hang on, I just had a pretty horrible thought."
"Not here." Anna hissed, pulling him behind a wall just as two soldiers dressed in the Exonian muddy red uniforms strode past near where they were standing. "You wanna blow our cover before we even really get started?"
"Sorry." Maui whispered. "It's just that…I thought of something."
"What?"
"Never mind." Maui shook his head. "It's stupid."
Anna put her hands on her hips. "Okay now you have to tell me."
"No, no, it's just that Tracy said that she would check in with us as soon as she regrouped with the rest and knows something about their next step. That was last night before she left with Will."
"And you think that something's wrong?"
Maui shrugged his shoulders. "From what the Empress said, it sounded like a rebel attack. But it's just a wild hunch."
Anna thought for a second, her mind racing to connect the dots. "You might be on to something there."
"It's not completely impossible. What if…the team got captured?"
Anna shook her head and sighed. "It's not like we can just waltz up to the Empress and say 'hey Eleanor, do you know if my friends got nabbed by your soldiers?'"
"Then I guess we only have one option."
"To go to this Maine club with our hosts and see for ourselves." said Anna with a little more confidence than she had actually been inspired with. In fact, instead of confidence, a sense of dread was beginning to creep into her being, spreading through her like a virus and eating up all the hope that was remaining in her.
###
By the time Anna and Maui had gone to meet Eleanor and Hans at the entrance of the castle, Anna was sure that there was something horribly wrong. Either that, or her mind was really playing tricks on her. At this point, she really couldn't tell anymore.
Dressed in her black and gold travel dress with a magenta overcoat, Anna stepped out into the road where Eleanor and Hans were waiting by a fancy looking carriage. They too were dressed rather formally, in the traditional Exonian colours. Eleanor wore a crimson dress with white heels, whereas Hans was decked out in a maroon shirt and a black suit jacket, with black trousers and shoes to match.
"So glad you could join us." Eleanor smiled.
"Fortunately," Hans added, glancing condescendingly at Maui. "We have just enough space in the carriage for your guard."
Eleanor cocked her head slightly. "Weren't there more of your entourage?"
"Ah." Anna was glad she had prepared a cover story for them. She knew it would come in useful at some point. "My assistant, Tracy, you know the one with the glasses, she wanted to go explore the city for herself so I gave her the day off." Anna chuckled humourously. "She's a wanderer, she is, bound to get herself into trouble. So I sent my other guard with her to make sure she gets back safely."
"What a pity." Eleanor pouted slightly. "I was hoping your entire entourage would be able to join us. Doesn't look too good on me hospitality wise."
"Don't worry about it." Anna waved away her concern. She was fairly sure that it was fake. "I'm sure we'll manage by ourselves."
"Of course." Hans said smoothly, opening the door of the carriage for his Empress and guests to enter.
Ever the gentleman, Anna mused to herself as she climbed into the carriage, sitting opposite Eleanor by the window. Maui clambered into the carriage too, and Anna immediately felt the carriage sink a little under his weight. She winced, thinking that if the carriage broke, it would certainly not bode well for their cover…or their respectability for that matter.
"So, Eleanor." Anna said cheerily as the carriage set off. "What exactly are you trying to show me by bringing us to a court hearing? Just to show us how effective the Exonian justice system is, or are you trying to tell us something else?"
"Nothing subtle or underhanded, if that's what you're referring to." Eleanor looked slightly hurt. "No ill intentions, Anna, I assure you. Cross my heart."
"Okay, okay." Anna forced a laugh. "So it's really just a casual trip for us to bond, huh?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty." Hans piped up politely. "You won't get bored on this outing."
That's what I'm afraid of. Anna gave the Consul General a sweet, fake smile in front of Eleanor. If the Empress weren't here, she would have already slugged him one.
Arriving outside the back of the Maine club in the centre of town, they disembarked from the carriage gingerly - not so much in Maui's case though. Eleanor and Hans led their two guests to a door which was being guarded by two soldiers in full battle armour and armed with polished smoothbore muskets.
They straightened up the moment they saw the distinguished visitors and bowed stiffly in unison.
"Take us up to the third floor, please." Hans said.
"Yes Sir." One of the soldiers turned stiffly on his heels. "Follow me please."
The soldier led them into the building's back entrance which was rather empty and had a dim, red hue illuminating the place. Anna could hear a rowdy commotion coming from further within the building, most likely where the common people were gathered to witness the court hearing.
"Looks like your soldiers are ready for a war of some sort." Anna turned to Eleanor. "What's the occasion?"
Eleanor shrugged. "Word is, the prisoners being tried today are more dangerous than our average traitors or criminals. General Kane asked for permission to ramp up security for our sakes."
"How kind." Anna mumbled.
"Anyway, you don't have to worry about getting sullied by the common folk." Hans added from behind them as he followed them up the stairs to the third level. "The third level has been reserved for us, and there's a glass panel separating us from the rest of the peasants down there."
How convenient too, Anna wanted to say. She stole a glance at Maui by her side, who raised a trademark eyebrow. Something was seriously fishy here.
Nevertheless, they followed the soldier all the way up to the third level, which was a vacant, empty balcony of sorts that was filled with expensive, upholstered seats spaced out comfortably for the patrons to enjoy the "show" going on below.
Anna looked down over the balcony through the glass panel. She could still audibly hear what was going on downstairs, even from where she was. The sound somehow managed to travel all the way up. Down below, the citizens of Denmark were flocked around the entire first floor, surrounding a platform with ropes tied around four posts at the four corners.
"Is that…supposed to be a ring?" she said aloud.
"Yes. After the trials, General Kane accepts open challenges from the criminals who want a chance to earn their freedom." Eleanor said mildly as she sat down at the front row. "If they can beat him in a fight, they go free."
"And has anyone ever beaten him?"
Eleanor smiled and shook her head.
Anna frowned and sat down, with Maui taking a seat beside her as well. She glanced at him, and he offered back a blank expression. Without a word, she turned back to the scene before her. So this was a court hearing and sparring session rolled into one. Fantastic.
From the peripheral of her eye, she saw two familiar looking figures coming in through the side door, squeezing through the sea of people to get a good view of the action. Anna turned discreetly so she could confirm what she saw. And no doubt, she was right. It was Melody and Deirdre.
So they are safe, Anna breathed a tiny sigh of relief, hoping that Hans and Eleanor hadn't heard her. If Elsa and the rest are still in hiding somewhere, then that's one less thing to worry about. But what are Melody and Deirdre doing here? Scouting out the premises?
Her eyebrows still knitted together, she turned back to the ring to see a man taking his seat at a desk. He was most likely an Exonian official who was going to preside over the hearing. Beside him sat a tall, burly man dressed in the Exonian military uniform. Anna could see four stars sewed onto each of his shoulders, denoting his rank.
She guessed that the man was General Kane, the Warrior's first enemy who had mysteriously come back from the dead. He looked rather sprightly for a man who was supposed to be six feet underground.
"Bring out the defendants." The judge called out in a loud voice from behind the safety of his desk. "Be careful with them. These are no ordinary criminals or traitors. They're a threat to everyone in this room." The crowd's shouts and chatter died down to a hush as only the sounds of chains rattling and boots approaching remained.
Anna peered out and squinted for a better view. No, Anna blinked and did a double take. Her heart sank. No, no, no, no.
Author's Commentary:
For those of you who caught that little reference, kudos to you. I see you're a man (or woman) of culture as well. For those of you who didn't catch it, the line from Maui where he says "know your role and shut your mouth" is a popular and fan favourite quote of The Rock during his stint in the WWE.
And who voiced Maui in the 2016 movie "Moana"? It was none other than Dwayne Johnson, The Rock.
Just a tiny little fun bit that I came up with on the go as I was writing. It wasn't pre-meditated or anything.