They were going to have a spring wedding and so cherry blossom and white lilac from the nearby forest was to decorate the chapel. It was a bit too soon to pick it though, so it was simply something they all had to imagine there when it came to the rehearsal.
Since it was a royal wedding, this had to be done days in advance, by the time guests start arriving, Anna and Kristoff will be much more busy actually greeting them.
They wore casual clothes to the rehearsal: Of course, Kristoff could not see her in her dress before the wedding and they also didn't want the clothing to be damaged or stained in any way. Elsa could not come to but Anna supposed she probably had more expertise with these sorts of ceremonies so she would be fine anyway. The chaplain guided them through their individual roles at the wedding, struggling with a particular snowman whose attention never lingered.
They did a trial of how the vows would go, her new ladies in waiting stood at the altar, Anna next to them. She couldn't help feeling a startling gap where her sister should've been, but she was busy in Northuldra she supposed. Besides, she was coming to the actual wedding, so what was the big deal?
"And now I say 'Anna, will you take Kristoff to be your husband?'" explained the chaplain, Anna already knew that, obviously. As a kid she'd always thought about her wedding ceremony might go, after all, back then finding a romantic partner seemed like the only way she was going to escape the isolation that lorded over her life.
"I do!" said Anna quickly, to which Olaf burst into tears and rambled on about how 'they grow up so fast'. Hege quietly reassured him this wasn't the real ceremony and Kristoff grinned at Anna's enthusiasm.
Then, the chaplain continued the whole speech until the end. "…if anyone has any objections to this couple's union, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Of course, the chapel fell into silence after those words, Kristoff and Anna shared a small smile in the meantime. There were some minor problems in the past, but they'd all be resolved at the real ceremony. This wasn't the real wedding but even if it was, nobody objected to Anna and Kristoff being togeth—
Just then there was a racket outside the chapel, the sound of someone arriving on burst through the doors, one arm raised for dramatic affect. "I object!"
The small audience turned their heads towards the source of the objection. Nobody had expected it to be Hans of the Southern Isles, dressed in some not so princely clothes. Anna could feel her cheeks going red in anger as she realised the identity of the perpetrator, next to her Kristoff was clenching his fists and staring him down.
Out of all the things she'd imagined could go wrong at the wedding ceremony (this was a rehearsal, but that's not the point) she could never have thought of this; having her ex-fiancé who she hadn't seen in ages and who they'd already expelled from the country barging in on a white horse.
Kristoff slowly walking towards the other man, shoulders up to increase his size (he didn't really need to do that because even slouched he'd be taller than him).
Hans unfazed, leapt off of the horse, not Sitron she noticed… wait was that her horse?! The audacity! Why had her horse not kicked him anyway, the traitor! "Ha! I've always wanted to do that!" grinned the disgraced prince.
She could not believe this piece of… mudcake, this is the first time they've seen him since he literally tried to kill her and her sister years ago and that's the first thing he can come up with! Kristoff rolled up his sleeves, ready to give him his second punch in Arendelle. This time, Anna was less inclined to prevent him from doing so.
Just a few seconds later, guards ran into the chapel, panting heavily. "Your majesty we tried to stop him!"
Anna sighed and went to hold back her fiancé from getting any closer to that wretched man and approached him herself, eyes narrowed. "Hans."
"Southern Isles prince," she seemed to catch one of her ladies whispering to the other and the other seem to say something about his pants, she ignored them.
He looked a bit different now, his hair for one, he no longer has those sideburns, he was also a bit leaner and more untidy looking(?) "What are you doing here in Arendelle?"
He looks at Anna, this time his expression more serious, although Anna has to doubt whether any facial expression he makes is genuine or simply to manipulate the situation to his own advantage. "I seek audience with the queen, it's quite important." The guards, clutching their swords surround him by a mere click of the fingers from Anna.
She got closer to Hans, but not too close of course. For a moment she caught a glimpse of fear in his eyes. "That would be me."
"I know." She could barely restrain herself from attacking him.
If it had just been the murder attempts that still would've been quite horrible, but he'd done things afterwards too. A few years ago he tried to spread some false story about trolls bewitching him into doing all those things in Arendelle and it was temporarily believed by a lot of people.
Of course, Elsa pushed back on those horrible rumours and with Anna's permission made Hans' crimes more widely known across the kingdoms. So, in the end he'd actually made the situation worse for himself than if he'd stayed quiet. Last Anna heard he was still doing community service at one of the Southern's isles biggest dairy farms: that was three years ago.
"Well I know you know! *(she didn't)* And I don't have time for another one of your tricks, guards!" The guards happily grabbed him by both arms, he struggled against them but could not escape, he fell to his knees.
She looked down at his struggling form, suppressing feeling bad for such a dung bag. "You know what to do."
The onlookers in the chapel gasped and Olaf whispered something to Sven which she couldn't hear.
"Erm, sorry, your majesty,"one of them spoke up, scratching the back of their helmet. "What exactly do we do?"
Anna sighed and pinched at her forehead before answering, she was trying to sound all commanding and menacing, but alas, she was not 'Elsa the elegant' she was 'Anna the clumsy', yep, that's probably what they called her behind her back. She supposed she'd deal with it like they had last time. "Restrain him and take him to the next ship heading for the Southern Isles, make sure he does not escape it."
"As you command your majesty," they bowed and took their leave, dragging him away. Good, she didn't need another source of stress before the big day.
"Wait! Anna! Please!" the prince pleaded.
This guy.
"It's Queen Anna to you!" she corrected, signing for her guards to turn him back to her.
"It's something really important! It's about Arendelle!"
She felt the utmost disgust as she had to behold him, but she supposed she'd entertain his nonsense, even for only a few minutes. Of course he knew exactly what excuse to use to get her attention, she would do anything for her people, but this time she was going to be more cautious with what he told her.
"Alright then," she crossed her arms. Mattias, her trusty military advisor walked in, Anna exhaled a sigh of relief as she spotted him.
"Your majesty, I see you've already become acquainted with the… situation," he gives Hans the same hateful look Anna did. Hans didn't even know this guy, why was he angry at him!
"I'm so sorry everyone," she informed the others in the chapel (Sven, Kristoff, Olaf, the chaplain and the bridesmaids) "We'll get back to this in no time. I just have to sort Hans out first." Why one of her lady's maids suppressed a giggle at the phrasing she didn't know.
As Mattias and Anna walked back to the palace, guards dragging a miserable looking Hans, they had a lot to talk about.
"I don't get it, how did he get in?"
"Supposedly stowed on a ship, do you think this is some sort of plot concocted by the Southern Isles?"
"They don't trade with us much, except for agriculture and we've never had conflict, Arendelle is a peaceful country after all," thought Anna out loud. It's not like the king seemed to care about Hans' reputation when they first sent him back, he was perfectly happy punishing him.
There was a brief discussion of any possible recent news in the Southern Isles that might explain his arrival, the queen consort died a few months ago, for example, but they had sent a dignitary over for that, a letter of consolation with him.
Nothing seemed sufficient. Perhaps this was a one man thing. Anna felt that maybe he had arrived because he'd heard it was her big day and just wanted to ruin it, she felt anxious in his presence but stopped herself from looking back at him. Was it obvious? Did people know she was scared?
She was queen, she shouldn't let personal matters like that affect her judgement.
Mattias did look back at where the prince was, making sure they were a suitable distance away from him, before approaching his queen with a sensitive question. "What about you personally Queen Anna?"
She broke his gaze. "What do you mean?"
"I don't want to be presumptuous your majesty, but this-criminal, what he did to you-"
She shook her head. "I'm fine, and the sooner we get him out of my country the better I will feel. Then me and Kristoff can continue with our wedding."
They got to the castle again, Queen Anna usually always used the Great Hall to greet any of her people who had concerns, but today she felt compelled to the throne room. She supposed the hall would be the setting for her wedding reception anyway, she didn't want reminders of him when that time came.
The guards threw Hans down on the wooden floor in front of her, she sat on the throne and crossed her legs.
Of course, she knew she was being dramatic, but she was seriously annoyed about her wedding rehearsal being interrupted. Plus, having to be reminded of this man who she'd practically forgotten, a man who had given her so much pain in the few days he'd last been in Arendelle. She had to somehow annoy him back, and this was perfect.
"So… what is it Hans? If you've come here to apologise I already know you have no remorse." That rumour he spread about the trolls enchanting him to do bad things, that hurt Arendelle's tourism for almost a year! Did he want his reputation back or something? She couldn't quite discern his intentions.
He stayed in silence for a little before one of the guards goaded him with his weapon. "I'm not here to apologise, for anything."
She huffed, typical. "Then what are you doing here? How did you even get past all the guards!"
"Your security here is terrible," he turned to her guards. "No offence."
"You… you…" She pointed at him speechlessly, she stopped herself from saying any bad words: he was not worth it. "You haven't changed at all have you!"
He gave her his most charming smile and brushed back his auburn red hair. "Nope."
"You still didn't answer either of my questions properly." She tapped her nails on the throne, which irritated him to no end, but he didn't show it. A few years ago, that very seat was almost his...
He was poked again by one of the guards and supressed the urge to grab the end of his weopon and attack him. "Not everyone here recognises me, and the people who could didn't spot me in this amazing disguise," he pointed to where his sideburns should have been, and then down to his attire, leather attire. It was similar to something Kristoff would wear actually. How dare he!
"As for why I'm here, I've come to make a deal. I've got some information you'll find very useful." He spoke casually, as if he was not the one currently surrounded by guards in a country he was previously expelled and barred from ever setting foot in again.
"Deal? With you? You must be crazy."
"I thought you loved crazy," he replied with an evil grin, she could feel her heart beating faster at the reminder of the last time they saw eachother, the betrayal, nearly freezing to death in this very castle.
Thankfully, just then Kristoff joined them, he must've grown tired waiting at the chapel. He looked a bit flushed since he'd search for them throughout all the rooms of the castle. "Anna!" he exclaimed when he saw her, he pulled her into an embrace before turning his head to glare at Hans. She was warm once again, that reminder of the coldness she once felt swiftly forgotten. "Is he bothering you?" he asked, looking concerned. Anna did not miss Hans rolling his eyes at her fiancé's arrival. Obviously he was a snob who probably didn't care for anyone who couldn't provide him with money or power and Kristoff did not descend from any sort of royalty.
"Yes, obviously, he's Hans," she kissed him on the cheek, before turning back to the unspeakably horrible man. "You said this is about Arendelle?" she questioned, redirecting her focus back to the prince.
"My father had me in quarantine inside the castle so I wasn't not able to leave at all for the last two years because he doesn't trust me. I was walking through the castle one day and-"
"Get to the point…" ordered Anna.
He sneered at her before continuing. "-And I happened to hear a conversation between my father and my brother concerning your kingdom."
"Alright…"
"Well, it turns out, at my father's old age he's decided he wants to invade Arendelle." Invade Arendelle? Anna scanned Hans' face for any sign of a lie. Of course, he was a good liar so maybe it was pointless to do so but Anna could not sense it if he was.
"Invade Arendelle?" exclaimed Mattias, forehead creased, turning in concern to his queen.
Anna and Kristoff looked towards each other in confusion, Kristoff gave her a small reassuring squeeze at her waist. "What! You can't be serious… why?"
"I'm not exactly sure… he is getting quite old." Anna banged her fist against the wall absently, if he was going to be annoying couldn't he at least be more useful?
She considered it a bit more. He's lied twice before, why not a third time? A disgraced prince had nothing to lose. "And why are you telling us this?"
"Yeah, why?" echoed Kristoff, his arm around Anna's shoulder protectively. She couldn't wait to marry him, she just had to get this nonsense out of the way.
"Well… I don't want to be used as a pawn by my father. I suspect there would not be much reward for helping him," he gets up from the ground and the guards raise their weapons, he puts his gloved hands up to indicate he's unarmed. "But helping you... I'm sure you could make things work."
Anna scoffed. "Of course, a reward, that's all you'd think about…" How did he even get out of his father's castle without being spotted? It was all looking a bit fishy…
Hans brushed off her comment, also brushing off his coat of floor dust. "So… I decided why not help you instead."
A traitor to his own nation? Not too unbelievable since it was him, but she still had her doubts.
"Hans, I'm not the same naive girl I was back when you first met me. Even if this invasion thing turns out to be true, why would I want help from you specifically?" she looks him straight in the eyes. "Again, you overestimate your use to me."
Anna hears a small cheer and a hoot in celebration of her stab at her ex-fiancé and realises Olaf has joined them in the throne room.
Hans scoffs at her insult, which by the way was a big fat lie, obviously she had been head over heels for him last time, grabbing for any piece of his attention.
He speaks up again. "Your military is simply no match for ours, even with your sister and her ice powers you stand no chance." She would ask Mattias to fact-check that later. Ridiculous, coming here to insult her and her military right after asking to make a deal, which he hadn't even outlined the details of. He was seriously wasting everybody's time.
"Though," he looks around theatrically. "She's not even here now, missing your wedding rehearsal? That's tough." Everyone gives him hostile looks, how dare he say that? And how did he know about the wedding rehearsal anyway!
"My sister will be here in a few days! And you should thank the spirits she isn't present today or you would already be be an ice statue to decorate the Arendelle gardens!"
Hans chuckles mirthlessly. "Shame, I would've made an excellent statue." He winked at Anna, who wanted to wretch.
"Right, so… he wants to invade, and you're here to tell us we're a hundred percent going to lose, what's the point of that? Surely you're better listening to your dad and telling him everything you know about us," said Kristoff, which surprised Anna a little. She was impressed.
Though, now that she thought about it, Hans was probably more useful to them than he was to his father since he'd only been in Arendelle for a few days, and he was simply there as a party guest. It was also a while ago, and Arendelle had changed since then anyway. Meanwhile, he could probably tell them a lot more about the Southern Isles and his father's character, even whilst only being the thirteenth son.
Plus, helping them would clear his name and maybe redeem him in the eyes of the international community.
Hans shakes his head, another smug smile appears on his face, he starts to pace around which puts the guards a little bit more on edge. "It was a high risk-high reward decision," he looked towards Anna. "At least I hope it'll be high reward."
What reward? Couldn't he get to the point? His negotiation skills were rusty, not that Anna was like a master at that or anything. She couldn't help the feeling that Elsa would be handling this so much better.
"Does anyone know you've come here?"
"My brother Lars, he helped me escape the castle on the promise that I'd board a ship to Arendelle. He says father invading you would be really inconvenient. He'd probably change the name of this country which means all the maps would have to be changed all around the world."
That was the most ridiculous thing Anna had ever heard, maps? Really. Someone plans to invade a nation and your main concern is maps? She'd have to ask one of her advisor if there really was a Lars Westergaard.
"I'm glad you and your supposed brother—"
"He's real!" he retorted; Anna was glad to have ruffled his feathers a little.
"-have great priorities," she finished, he did not look impressed. "Now, could you please explain your proposal to me, properly."
"The king of the Southern Isles plans to invade Arendelle by sea, I've no idea what the reason is but imagine it's either for some sort of resource or a trading port. In the southern isles my life is miserable and nobody respects me-"
"Wonder why—" she muttered, he stopped and glared at her. "Ahem. Carry on."
"I tell you all you need to know about the southern isles, I'll help you make some kind of plan to convince him not to invade or think up some other solution. In the end, all I want is my name cleared and my reputation back."
"You still admit it is for selfish purposes?
"You need this as well. If my father decides to go through with the invasion then say goodbye to Arendelle. He'll give it a new name, something real creative like, the Eastern Isles."
This was a lot of new information... Anna needed some time to think...
/