Chapter twelve: The truth
"There was never any witch...the princess was a witch all along!"
"Yeah!" Another man yelled. "And maybe she killed the king!"
Elsa started to shake a little. She felt like her whole world just collapsed.
The people she was supposed to lead were all against her. And even though Jack was holding her, there was no one who could stand up for her. Her parents were both dead and her sister hated her...
She had to do it herself.
Elsa gently pushed Jack away. She bit her lip and turned to the crowd. Her hands were still shaking, but she knew that she had to do it.
"I...I know that you all are shocked. But I swear, I did never killed my father nor is there any reason that I ever would. We had a...healthy relationship and there was never any bad blood between us."
Hans chuckled a little when a man in the crowd yelled; "Liar! How do we know that you're not lying?!"
"I..."
"She is not lying!"
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Hannah. The young woman made direct eye-contact with princess Elsa. She didn't look afraid at all.
"Hannah..." Jack whispered softly.
"Anna..." Elsa whispered silently.
Hannah swallowed nervously, but decided to speak up despite the fact that all eyes were on her.
"Princess Elsa would never lie! I am as shocked as everyone else here, but she is certainly not a liar...she just showed us her powers, which are really cool, I'm jealous I must admit..."
Elsa stared at Hannah in awe. Did she just say that she was jealous of her powers?
"But she didn't kill her father! It was probably someone from another country or a spy...but not her. Why would she kill her own father if she had such a 'good' relationship with him? It doesn't add up..." Hannah took a deep breath and spoke further. "And about the powers...she was probably afraid that we would find out about it...look, we are all shocked, but I don't think the princess would hurt anyone on purpose with her powers. It looks like she has them under control."
"Hannah is right!" Gerda yelled.
A few others in the crowd nodded. "Yeah...she is right...the princess in no danger to us..."
Elsa stared at Hannah and mouthed a 'thank you' to her. Hannah broke her eye contact with her. She instead looked at Hans and frowned. The prince didn't noticed her staring. Instead he walked to Elsa and put his hand on her waist and pulled her closer.
"Finally, now all secrets are out...and it all went good...now, we need to plan a funeral."
Elsa's her shoulders went a little up as she felt pressured by her husband. She glanced at Jack who was frowning at Hans. She saw him and Hannah glaring at him as if he was their worst enemy...what were they thinking?
"Elsa." Hans looked down at her with a smile. "You were telling them about the funeral...what were we exactly planning?"
"Oh...right!" Elsa pushed Hans away and looked at the crowd again. "For the funeral we shall do everything exactly the same as the last time...when queen Idun died...and...and after that we will grief...and after that..." Elsa sighed and then forced a smile. "We will prepare for the coronation. Are there any questions?"
All of a sudden Hannah put her hand up.
Elsa raised her eyebrows at her. "Yes?"
"Since when did you have your powers?" Hannah lowered her hand. "I mean, I'm just curious."
"Since birth. And I know...that I should have never...I...Excuse me."
Elsa turned around and ran off the stage. Jack quickly turned around and followed after her.
Prince Hans turned to the whispering crowd and said: "Please pardon my wife, she is still traumatized from her father's death. For now we shall take care of the funeral. Everyone can come, it will be held in 2 hours. Thank you for your attention."
"Princess Elsa!"
Jack ran after Elsa who was running into the garden. He yelled her name time after the time, but the princess didn't seem to hear him. She just ran into the garden and suddenly stopped.
"Princess..." Jack finally caught up and let out a sigh. "...Elsa...are you alright?"
"I...I should never have been born."
"Huh? Princess, what are you-"
Elsa suddenly and abruptly turned around. She had tears in her eyes and her body was shaking.
"J-Jack...I shouldn't have been born..." Elsa started to cry. "If I wasn't then Hannah could have been queen...and she could have a better life...and then...everyone would be happy..."
Jack shook his head as he walked forward. "Princess...no...without you, life wouldn't be the same."
Elsa looked away from him. "You...are...only...pitying me, aren't you?"
"No. I say this because I care about you, Elsa..."
"Stop it." Elsa took a step back. "Please...stop...I'm not worth caring about..."
Jack stopped in front of her. "Elsa...you are. And what prince Hans did was out of line. I know that you wanted people to know about your powers at a certain point, but for him to force you..."
"They would have found out eventually, Jack..." Elsa turned her back to him.
"Princess Elsa?"
"Jack..." Her shoulders started to shake. "...I don't know...what to do anymore..."
"Princess..."
"My parents are both dead...people...they...might...see me as a monster...I..." She clenched her fist and yelled; "I don't know if I can do this! I can't-"
Jack interrupted her by stepping forward and pulling her into a hug from behind. Elsa gasped at his touch. Jack pulled her tight against his upper body and said to her: "Elsa...you are not alone. I'm always at your side. So, please do not think that you are alone and therefore are not able to rule this kingdom. And I see a powerful future queen in my eyes...I know it's hard to be strong nowadays, but you don't need to be afraid to be alone. I will always be on your side."
"Jack..." Elsa smiled a little and put her hand on his arm. "Thank you."
"No problem."
They didn't notice Thiana looking at them. The sorceress was peaking at them from an open door and smiling a little to herself. But she stopped smiling when she heard Kai's voice.
"Thiana." The man appeared behind her. He looked at the princess and the servant in the garden. "The rumors must be true...does he really love her?"
Thiana looked at Kai. "That doesn't matter. It's not allowed. Anyhow, why are you here?"
"Well...someone asked for you."
"Someone asked for me?" Thiana smiled a little. "That's new...who is asking for me? It can't be the prince...at least I hope not."
"No. It's a man by the name of Aster..."
"Aster?! What in heaven's name..." Thiana turned around and ran off. Kai shrugged his shoulders and kept looking at the couple in the garden. He wondered if Hans was really a good choice for the princess...
Thiana ran to the big hallway of the castle. There she saw a man with a hood on and two of the guards beside him.
"Aster..." Thiana stopped in front of the man. She nodded to the guards. "Don't worry, he is a friend of mine. A little bit strange, but a good man."
"If you say so..." The guards both left and Thiana was now alone with the man. She folded her arms and frowned.
"Damn you. Why are you showing up now?" Thiana whispered.
The man took his hood off. He had green eyes and dark hair and his name was Aster. He was an old friend of both Jack and Thiana. But not only that, he was also an assassin for hire.
"Ya didn't have to be so rude, lad..." Aster grinned at her. "I did miss you, you know."
"So? Why are you here now? On an another job?"
"Yes, you got it."
Thiana eyed him suspiciously. "Don't tell me that you plan to hurt princess Elsa..."
"What? Nah, I'm just here to view everything and report back."
"Hm...to who?"
"That's a secret. But ya might meet the guy sooner than you know."
"Wait...guy?" Thiana took a step closer. Her lips turned into a smirk. "No way...you're here spying on us for another king?!"
Aster became and covered her mouth. "Oi, ssssshhhh! Don't let the whole kingdom hear ya!"
Thiana managed to pry his hands away and continued, saying; "Let me think...is your contractor...the king of Berk?"
Aster looked away with a blush. Thiana immediately knew that she was right and clapped excitedly in her hands.
"So I was right! You are working for those brutes!"
"Oi, the king is not a brute...I mean, he can be very nice if he wants to..."
Thiana giggled and leaned closer. "If he wants to? Don't joke around, Aster, that man is very brutal. Did you know he once banned all witches from his kingdom? I mean, yes, he later allowed them back, but still...I don't trust him."
"You never trust anyone."
"I know...but still...you should not be working for him...And you should not give them information. Not in this time."
"Why not?" Aster grinned back at her. "I heard that the princess has special powers...and the town wasn't even informed? Isn't it bad too keep secrets?"
"Says you."
Aster chuckled. "Sorry...but, I just wanted to see you while I was here anyway."
"Yeah..." Thiana sighed. "I guess that I missed you too..."
"I knew it. But still...ya should show a bit more emotion sometimes."
"I don't have time for emotions. Now, how long are you going to stay here?"
"I'm leaving tomorrow!"
"What?!" Thiana gave him a slap against his chest. "You are leaving tomorrow?!"
"Yes. I need to report back to the king. And it's a two day journey. There is an upside to it though; I might ride on a dragon!"
"Ride on a dragon? What in heavens name are you talking about?"
"The king of Berk has dragons and I could use one for my journey..."
"Great." Thiana turned her back on him and walked off while saying; "I hope you have a great journey back. I'm going back to my potions. Bye."
"Thiana!" Aster followed her quickly. He walked beside her with a smile and tried to make eye contact with her. "Come on, Thiana, you know that I didn't plan on leaving so quickly! And I did miss you!"
"Yeah, yes..." Thiana kept walking with Aster next to her. She knew that he missed her, but it still bothered her that the guy she liked and knew since she was little would only visit her on his last day in town...
Some guys were such a bother...
A few hours later the funeral started.
Everyone was wearing black. Elsa was wearing a black dress, a black veil with her hair up and a dark rose in her hair. She looked at the open casket which was laying in the middle. Next to her was Hans, Thiana and Kai. Jack was standing behind her.
The pastor spoke up and did what he did at every funeral. Elsa didn't hear his words. She just stared at the body.
The body looks so clean...Elsa thought. And the casket is so white...I wonder if he wanted it this way...but I never knew much about what he thought. And he would never tell me...
"Elsa?" Hans asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Are you alright?"
Elsa nodded and whispered; "Yes...just a bit tired. Don't worry. I'm fine."
"Okay..."
Elsa looked at the crowd. She saw Hans's family, a few queens and kings, Gerda...
Her eyes went wide when she saw her sister on the other side.
Anna...
Elsa wanted to wave at her, but stopped and put her hand against her chest. She locked eyes with Hannah who looked back at her. Hannah took a step back and made a small nod towards her.
"Your sister is here." Kai whispered to Elsa.
"I know. Just let her be..." Elsa smiled a little at Hannah who seemed surprised when she smiled at her. "...she won't make a ruckus..."
"Princess Elsa!"
The pastor yelled her name out loud. Elsa and the others all looked at him with surprise. The pastor smiled at her and said; "Princess, shouldn't you say any parting words? I know that you didn't say anything at queen Idun's funeral, but maybe you want to say something now?"
Elsa felt nervous. She could hear everyone whispering about her. She swallowed and clenched her fists. She had to be strong...
"I..." Elsa sighed. "My father was a strong king. He never backed down or let someone hurt our kingdom...he was a good man. I will not let his legacy go to waste. As your future-queen I shall make sure that Arendelle will stay strong as a kingdom."
Hannah furrowed her eyebrows. She somehow got a bad feeling from all of this...
"But for now we should pay respect for the dead and hold a few days of grief to get through this. During these days I will also not be able to answer any of your questions since I will be grieving just like the good citizens of Arendelle...so...I will miss my father...thank you for listening."
Elsa nodded and took a step back. She actually wanted to bow, but remembered at the last second that would only show her people weakness...and they might be able to exploit that.
Hans grabbed her hand and whispered; "Good job, honey."
"Thanks..." Elsa looked back at the casket, which was slowly being lowered by a few church member while the pastor continued his speech. She felt very strange. Everything that happened was very strange. A few years ago her parents were still alive and now she was the only one left to lead a kingdom. She felt like everything in her whole world was breaking apart...
The next day Hannah woke up in her bed.
She sat up and yawned loudly. Outside the birds were chirping and the sun was shining through her window. Hannah sat up. She was silent. Behind her door she could hear Gerda call some girls and hear footstep.
Hannah sighed and pushed her hand through her hair.
She wished that it was all a dream...everything...how did she even go from her normal life to a life where she had a sister with magical powers...geez...
"Hannah! Get up! There is cleaning to do!" Gerda yelled from behind the door.
Hannah groaned and jumped out of her bed.
Time for work...
Meanwhile Jack was in the castle. He was standing in the hallway and knocked on the door of Elsa's bedroom.
"Princess Elsa..." He sighed. "You've missed breakfast...are you alright?"
He heard footsteps behind the door and the door slowly creaked open. Elsa appeared in the doorway. He noticed that she hadn't dressed herself yet and that she had been crying a little.
Jack frowned. "Princess Elsa..."
Elsa suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room while shutting the door behind her.
She released him and Jack stumbled into the room. He almost fell over his own feet, but managed to keep standing and quickly turned around to face the princess with a confused look on his face.
"Jack...I'm sorry that I worried you...but I'm scared..." Elsa wrapped her arms around herself. "What if I turn out like my father? I..."
"Don't worry about that, princess..." Jack moved forward. He took her hand and planted a kiss on her hand. "I will make sure that you will keep your humanity. And I promised to stay at your side, remember?"
"Yes..." Elsa blushed and smiled at him. "You did..."
Jack released her hand and straightened his back again. "Now, you should get dressed and go down. The maids made you some waffles. And it be a waste if I ate them all by myself."
"Are you asking me to eat waffles with you? You know that it's not a servant's job to ask his master out for breakfast."
Jack chuckled. "I know...just wanted to cheer you up."
"Thanks..." Elsa nodded towards him. "Really...thank you..."
Jack saw how she smiled, but tears started to fall from her eyes. He stepped forward and put his hand against her cheek. "Princess Elsa, please, stop crying."
"I'm sorry, I'm sad about my father...because we could never had a normal father-daughter relationship. And he passed away when we were finally getting to that."
"Yes, it's sad what happened. But I think that in his last days..."
"He cared about me. I understand that. But still...I wish everything wasn't such a mess."
"Me too. But I know that you will do good. You are a strong woman...and you should believe more in yourself."
Elsa put her hand against his hand. "Thank you...Jack, I..."
Suddenly they heard a knock on the door. Jack quickly took a few steps back and Elsa straightened her back and wiped her tears away. Kai barged into the room with a nervous smile.
"Princess, Elsa, are you alright?!"
"Yes, why?"
"Because I thought that I heard someone scream..."
Elsa raised her eyebrows. "A scream? I wasn't screaming..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
They heard a loud scream coming from downstairs. Elsa, Kai and Jack immediately rushed out of the room and down the stairs. They heard another scream, this time coming from the stables.
Elsa immediately ran to the stables, leaving Jack and Kai behind. She thought that someone might try to steal her horse. Or do something worse...
She barged into the stables. She heard some ruckus behind the stable door from her horse. But luckily it was still standing there.
"Who is there?!" Elsa yelled. She could hear someone move behind the stall door. Josephine, her horse, was looking down at something, raising her suspicion. She carefully moved closer to the stall. If only she had a sword with her right now...
"Who..." Elsa prepared herself to use her ice powers. She nervous opened the stall door and...
"Stupid horse!"
Hannah was on the ground. She had hay in her hair, her dress was disheveled and a grimace was plastered on her face. She looked up when she saw Elsa and her expression changed.
"El...princess! I was not here...I mean, I am here, but you did not see me..."
Elsa put her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a laugh. Hannah stopped talking and raised her eyebrows when she saw her sister try to hide her laugh. It had been a long time since she saw her laugh. It made her a little bit happy...
"I look stupid right now...don't I?" Hannah stood up and stepped out of the stall before Josephine could bite her. She stopped in front of Elsa with a frown. "Princess Elsa...I want to talk with you."
"About what? Because you already have enough answers..."
"I don't. Why do you have ice powers? Are you a witch?"
"I'm not a witch...I...don't even know why I have these powers..." Elsa sighed. "All I know is that I was born with them and that they are my burden to carry..."
"Are they really a burden?" Hannah asked. "Because I would be pretty happy with powers like those."
"You don't understand." Elsa put her hands against her chest. "Certain people will hate me and see me as a threat. Just like my father did for all those years..."
"Why..." Hannah swallowed nervously. "...why aren't you dressed yet?"
Elsa blinked a few times. She wasn't expecting her to ask that. She immediately looked down. She saw that she was still wearing her night gown and noticed that her hair was hanging loosely over her shoulder.
"Oh...I'm sorry..." Elsa blushed a little and pulled at her gown. "I shouldn't look like this in front of a civilian..."
Hannah giggled. "Don't worry about it. I always look like that after a client; disheveled and like I just ran a marathon."
"Oh..." Elsa remember Hannah's work. She wanted to say something about it, but maybe she shouldn't.
"Say..." Hannah scraped her throat. "Are you looking forward to the coronation? And do you miss father?"
Elsa frowned. "I don't know. I miss my father. But..."
"But?" Hannah was intrigued again. Even though she got angry with her sister, she couldn't deny that her sister had an interesting life.
"Princess Elsa!"
Jack and Kai both barged into the room. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Elsa and Hannah.
"Hannah!" Jack yelled in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"
Hannah scratched her head. "Having a conversation with my sister? I just wanted to ask her a few things, that's all."
"Of course." Kai frowned and looked at Elsa. "Princess, you did not tell her anything she mustn't know, right?"
Elsa turned to Kai. "What are you talking about? I just told her a bit about my powers and told her that I missed my father..."
"Good."
Hannah put her hands on her hips and took a step forward. "Hey! I'm her family too, there would be no problem if she were to tell me anything confidential!"
"Would there? You might be her sister, but you are also a civilian. You even told the king yourself that you didn't want anything to do with the family and you called princess Elsa a monster. Now, why would we ever trust someone like you? You could use any information you heard. You might even be a spy."
Hannah gasped as Kai threw accusations her way. Alright, she might have called her sister a 'monster', but to think that she was a spy...
"I'm not..."
"Princess Elsa." Kai now turned to Elsa and paid Hannah no mind. "You should get dressed. This is not a manner in which a royal should present itself."
"Oh..." Elsa looked at the others. "I..I..."
Jack smiled reassuring at her. "Go and get dressed, princess Elsa. I will talk with Hannah and Kai. Just focus on yourself for now. I'll return shortly to eat those delicious waffles with you."
Elsa nodded. "Alright...goodbye for now." She made a small curtesy and then left the stables. Jack and Kai turned their attention back towards Hannah.
"Why would you think that I'm a spy?!" Hannah said, clearly irritated. "I would never hurt Elsa!"
Jack put his hands up to calm her down. "We know, we know...just...we can't take any risks. Not when the princess is going to be a queen soon."
"Then do you trust the new king?!"
Kai and Jack both exchanged a quick glance.
"Well..." Kai sighed. "I put my faith more in the princess. But prince Hans might change once he becomes king."
"Right." Hannah snorted. "And Kai, why would you even think of me as an spy?"
"I'm sorry. I was just blurting things out." Kai said shortly. "But...even though you don't want to be a part of princess Elsa's life, I don't think that will be an easy option. The princess will always be interested in you. And-"
"Who said that I didn't want to part of my sister's life?"
Kai and Jack both looked confused at Hannah and said; "What?!"
"I might have said that to my father and called Elsa a 'monster'...look, I just don't want to be a princess. And I can't be the 'Anna' she knew...but I don't want...I don't want to never see her again. And I might never understand or feel like I truly love her...but something in me...something doesn't want to lose her."
"Hannah..." Jack whispered.
Hannah felt the tears that started to come from her eyes and she sniffed. "L-look, I...I know that I messed everything up. Kristoff is gone and I ruined our friendship. But when I saw Elsa using her powers...she seemed so scared, but also very brave. I couldn't help but feel a little bit proud of her...so, to be blunt; I don't want to be a royal. I just want to speak with her from time to time. And I want to have a good friendship with you, Jack. It might take a little while for me to get over you, but...when I'm strong enough then maybe Elsa, Gerda, you and I can get ice cream or something."
Jack chuckled a little. "Of course." He stepped forward and put his hand on her head. "If you stop your crying for once."
"Deal..." Hannah wiped her tears away with a grin. "T-then, I better get going or Gerda will find out that I'm not doing groceries like she asked."
She turned around and walked off. Jack scratched his head and grinned awkwardly. Kai looked at him and sighed.
"Jack, you know that princess Elsa and Anna will never have a normal relationship, don't you?"
"Yes...I know. But we can try, right?"
Kai just shook his head and sighed.
After breakfast Elsa had a busy schedule ahead of her.
First she had to answer to everyone's questions.
She sat down on a chair in the ballroom while a queue of people was waiting. Elsa rubbed her temples while two people were complaining to her about something. Jack was leaning against a wall and observing it from afar.
"So, let me get this straight..." Elsa sighed. "You think that your ice cream shop will now get in danger because of my powers?"
The man in front of her nodded. "Yes, your majesty."
"First of all; I'm still a princess. Secondly; I do not make ice cream fly out of my hands. It is ice. Ice! Your ice cream shop is in no danger!"
The man gave the other man a slap on his back. "I was right! She makes ice, not ice cream!"
The men walked away. Elsa rolled with her eyes while Jack, from a distant, laughed a little. The next pair were two woman. They first silently looked at Elsa who was staring right back at them.
One of the woman finally spoke up after an awkward silence and asked; "Princess Elsa, I heard that the king from Berk might come here...is that true?"
Elsa narrowed her eyes, but smiled a little. "It doesn't matter what you have heard. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Perhaps they are rumors. But no matter if you heard it or not, it does not matter. For now we should grief, understood?"
The two woman nodded. "Yes."
"Good."
The woman awkwardly walked away again and the next pair of guests walked up to her. Jack stared at Elsa. She seemed tired, but it was understandable. Her father had just died and the coronation was soon.
"Hey-a Jack!"
Jack turned around to see Thiana walking up to him.
"Thiana!" Jack took a step back. "Why are you here?!"
"I live here, stupid." Thiana grabbed him by his collar. "Anyway, come with me. I have to tell you something important."
"Can it wait? I can't just leave princess Elsa here all by herself."
"No, it can't. Plus, the princess will be busy here for a while. And a guard is by her side, so nothing will go wrong. Now, come along with me!"
Thiana didn't wait for him to file another complaint and grabbed his arm and dragged him along with her.
Thiana pulled him into her work liar. There she grabbed a book and opened it. She laid it in front of him on a table.
"Uhm..." Jack looked up at her. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Thiana sat leaned against the table across from him and folded her arms. "Jack, since princess Elsa will be the queen, I've done some digging about her past."
Jack shrugged. "So? You and I already know what we need to know."
"Yes, yet...I discovered that Elsa's powers were running in the family."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "What? Then...did her grandmother have them or something? I always thought that it was just some curse or..."
"Not exactly...actually, everyone of them have ice powers. At least from the late queen's side."
"Wait? Queen Idun had powers? Hannah too?"
Thiana nodded. "Yes, but..." She clapped in her hands. "Princess Elsa is the only one whose powers has fully developed. Her sister might have them, but to a small amount. Which means that her powers won't come out. She might just endure the cold weather better than most of the humans."
"But...did king Agdar knew about this?"
"No. No one does. I just discovered this."
"Should we tell them?"
Thiana shook her head. "No, that's a bad idea. We don't want the civilians to hunt down the family. For now we should let everyone, including the royals, think that the princess is the only one with powers."
"But then I need to keep information from the princess...I can't do that!"
"Yes, you can...do it for princess Elsa and your friends..."
"But-"
"Jack." Thiana put her hand on his shoulder. "Soon the king of Berk will come here. The princess has enough problems as it is."
He sighed. "Okay...I'll keep it a secret. For now."
"Perfect!" Thiana clapped in her hands again with a bright smile on her lips. "Then, let's eat together! You didn't have lunch yet, right?"
"No, not yet...but I just had breakfast a little while ago. If I eat now, then it will be brunch rather than..."
"Argh, just come with me!" Thiana grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him along with her, not noticing the princess who shot them a quick look before turning her attention back to the citizens.
Later that night Elsa was in the office. The whole day she had been talking to the citizens and listening to their complaints...
And now she was writing letters for her coronation ball. Since her father's funeral she was going to be queen. And this time it was not a drill.
She had to invite kingdoms they knew and who they did business with. Except for the king of Berk. He was coming over in four days. She was a bit nervous, but decided to face him head on. They needed some new armor for the knights. But of course the king might only trade with them if they gave them something in return...
Elsa sighed and lay her head onto the table.
What was she even going to give him in exchange? Bread?
She pulled her head up and grabbed a map. She pointed onto the map to the kingdom of Berk. It was on a big island which was close to the main land behind the mountains. She only heard stories about people who went there and knew that the people who lived there were descendants from the old vikings. She also heard that they had dragons!
"Maybe I should give them food for their dragons..." Elsa muttered to herself.
She shook her head and giggled a little.
"No way! I don't even know what dragons eat!"
She sighed and ticked with her finger on the desk. With a frown she stared at the map.
What could she give them? Maybe she should just discuss it with them when they got here. But what if the king was so ruthless that he would hurt her?
A knock on the door caught her out of her thoughts.
Elsa looked up from the map and yelled; "Come in!"
Hans walked into the room. He smiled at her as he closed the door behind her and walked up to the desk. Elsa quickly stood up.
"Hans!" She said. "What's the matter?"
"Not much..." He walked up to her and gave her a small kiss on her lips. He parted away and shot a quick glance at the map. "Ah, studying the map?"
"Yes. I'm just thinking hard about what we should give the king of Berk in return for armor."
"Hmmm...that's a difficult one. Maybe you should give him a kiss?"
"Oh ha-ha." Elsa smiled a little and shook her head. "Very humorous..."
Hans chuckled. "I'm sorry...anyhow, I just want you to know that if you want to take a rest from certain tasks, then I'll be glad to take them off your shoulders."
"No, I'm doing alright."
"Oh..."
Silence filled the room. Their smiles faded and they both nervously looked away from each other.
Elsa looked back at Hans. She didn't feel her heart skip when she looked at him. It was weird to say the least.
"Hm?" Hans turned his head back towards her. "Do you have a question, Elsa?"
Elsa raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, I do. Why did you tell everyone about my powers?"
Hans didn't answer. Elsa took a step forward and stared directly at him with a hard gaze.
"Did you want to them to turn against me?! Why would you do such a thing?!"
"I never would want them against you."
"What?!" Elsa said.
Hans smirked a little bit at her. "I was getting tired of your secrets. Now no one has to be suspicious that their future-queen is lying."
"But now they might be afraid."
"Might be." Hans took a step closer and Elsa took a step back. "Thanks to your precious little sister they won't have to."
"But what if..."
Elsa stopped talking when Hans moved closer to her. She moved back, but tripped over her own feet onto the ground. She fell on her back, but didn't hit her head. She slowly pushed herself up with her elbows and noticed that Hans kneeled down and looked down at her. His eyes had a dark look in them.
"Those citizens don't even know your darkest secret." Hans said. "But I do!"
"Hans..."
"You slept with Jack!"
Elsa went quiet and her eyes widened. Hans his hands moved down to her neck. She stayed frozen as he put them around her neck.
"You whore...why would you even think of such a thing?!"
Elsa regained focus and she quickly tried to speak up.
But Hans his fingers suddenly clenched around her neck and Elsa gasped.
"You are better off gone..." Hans pressed even harder.
Elsa couldn't breathe. She put her hands against wrist, trying to get him to stop, but he was too strong. Her vision was getting blurry so she quickly gathered her strength and managed to squeeze out a few words.
"Hans...I...sorry..."
"Like that matters."
"You...I...ove...you..."
Hans his eyes widened a little. His fingers didn't release her neck, but he loosened them a little.
"You what?!"
Elsa took in a little bit of breath and she was able to form a small sentence.
"I love you..."
"You..." Hans started to suddenly tear up. He fully released his grip and pulled his hands back.
Elsa took a deep breath and started to cough loudly. Hans dried his eyes off and put his hand against his mouth when he saw Elsa cough.
There were a few bruises on her neck. Her chest was going up and down as she caught her breath again and pulled some fresh air into her lungs.
"What did I do..." Hans mumbled. "Elsa...my lord...I'm so sorry..."
Elsa caught her breath. She slowly sat up on her knees and rubbed her neck. She turned her head up at Hans. He was trembling and almost crying. It was a completely different picture than the husband she knew.
"That hurts..." Elsa whispered. "Why...why did you do that?"
"I..." Hans wiped his tears away. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I got angry when I found out about your rendezvous with Jack...I wanted you to feel the pain I felt."
"You almost killed me..."
"I know...and I'm sorry...Elsa, I didn't mean to harm you."
Elsa frowned. She stood up and dusted her dress off. Her throat was still hurting, but she tried not to focus on it. She looked at Hans. He seemed regretful, but somehow...she just didn't believe his apologies.
Hans looked up at Elsa. He saw the distrust in her eyes and his tears disappeared. He stood up as well.
"Hans..." Elsa rubbed her neck. "Do you even love me?"
"Of course!" Hans moved forward and put his hands on her shoulders. Elsa jumped a little at his touch and an ice spike shot out of the ground near them.
Hans looked at the ice spike for a second.
Elsa realized that her powers just came out because of fear. She quickly shook Hans his hands off her shoulders and stepped back. This time she didn't fall, but hit a wall behind her with her back.
She held her hands close to her chest and forced a smile. "I-I'm sorry, I j-just got s-s-s-startled a bit...I just..."
Elsa closed her mouth. She didn't know what to say and cursed herself for her hesitation and stuttering.
"Oh, Elsa..." Hans moved closer to her. He gently wiped a stray of hair away from her forehead. "I love you. And I don't want any other man to have you. But...I will allow Jack to be your servant. We could use him one day. And he is good at his job. Plus, you need a friend during these hard times, right?"
"Yes."
"Good." Hans took a step back with a smirk. "I'm going to ask Kai how the preparations for the coronation are going."
He turned around and left the room.
When he was gone Elsa slid down to the floor. She buried her head between her arms and started to sob quietly.
She had never felt so scared and alone in her life.
Elsa had found her strength again and went to the infirmary. There was no nurse so she had the room all to herself.
She grabbed a few medical supplies and walked to the mirror.
Elsa put a bit on her bruise. It didn't cover it up, she would use her make up for that later, but it did heal it a bit faster.
When she was done she gently touched her neck. She still couldn't believe that he tried to kill her and that he called her a whore...
She looked at her reflection in the mirror.
A woman with worried blue eyes stared back. Her hair was a bit disheveled and bruises were on her neck.
"Who am I kidding?" Elsa whispered to herself. "I can't do this...I'm not as strong as my parents were..."
She pushed with her hand through her hair and tried to smile. But her smile was sad and not as beautiful she was used to. She sighed and put her hand against the mirror. A little bit of ice from her hand came onto the mirror. Little snowflakes covered the cold surface.
"Princess Elsa?"
She turned around to see Jack staring at her. He had a worrying look on his face as he walked into the room.
"It's getting late. Why are you...wait...are those bruises?" He asked.
Elsa quickly tried to think of an excuse. "Uhm...well...not really...it uh...uh..."
"Don't try to lie." Jack walked up to her and looked at her bruises. "Who did this?"
Elsa looked away from him. Jack sighed.
"Princess..."
"Jack...I want to tell you, but if I do...then you mustn't tell anyone else!"
"Alright...just tell me who did this to you."
Elsa swallowed nervously. "Well...Hans did."
Jack gasped. "Wait, Hans?!"
Elsa nodded.
"Why would he...hurt you..." Jack frowned. "Why did he..."
"Because he know that we slept together."
Jack went silent. Elsa walked to one of the beds in the infirmary and sat down. She sighed.
"He told me that he would allow you to be my servant because you were good at your job. And that...you would of good use..."
She clenched her fists and let out another heavy sigh.
"But even though I know that I will become a queen that will lead without fear, I cannot use someone I care so deeply for."
"Elsa..." Jack walked up to her and sat down on the bed next to her. He grabbed her hand and planted a small kiss on her fingertips with a smile.
Elsa turned her head towards him with a confused face. Jack released her hand and could only chuckle at her expression.
"Princess Elsa...I care about you too. But I'm still your servant. And that means that you are allowed to use my services for anything you desire."
"But..."
"And I will always protect you. So, the next time when Hans threatens you, then don't be afraid to call for help."
"Of course..." Elsa pulled her hand back. She leaned with her head against his shoulder and sighed.
Jack looked away with a blush. His heart was thumping loudly. He could smell her scent and her hair tickled his neck.
"Then...please continue to work for me..." Elsa whispered. "And don't ever leave my side. Otherwise I'm sending you back to working at the stalls."
Jack chuckled. He put his hand on Elsa's head and petted her.
"Yes, princess Elsa."
TO BE CONTINUED