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"I worry about the Princess," Hans admitted, as they finished their meals. He had done a pretty decent job spicing the fish (perhaps a bit salty), and paired it with some (slightly overcooked) vegetables (which needed more salt) and a bit of bread baked from some dough that had been packed. It was wise to pack it as dough, so it could be cooked as needed and not go hard over the week. With a bit of butter it was probably the most correctly-made part of the meal.

"I think the Duke might not take this loss lying down. The old get more ornery, I've found, and he is a prideful man."

"I worry for her too." Elsa always had, deep down within her heart, she had always worried for the wellbeing of her younger sister. Anna was her responsibility to care for, after all. Lowering her silverware, she let out a small sigh, shoulders slightly dropping as her queenly demeanor seemed to slowly slip away.

With the Duke's plan having failed almost before it began, none would doubt that he would take it poorly. She didn't even need to meet him personally to know that he was not the kind of man to accept his defeat, especially for a plan that he seemed to be confident in. Looking up at the man across the ice table, she searched for the green of his eyes. "What do you suppose we shall do?"

Hans had reclaimed the coat he dropped when Kristoff left, after they left the 'kitchen'. She may have been comfortable in the cold, but he most certainly was not. Still, he was reluctant to leave, in spite of the difficulty.

"Is there a way to get down to the castle quickly? We could check on her. And if there's trouble, we shall deal with it. Or I shall. If nothing else, it will reassure everyone that you're no cold-hearted killer. No matter how much you pretend you can be." He smiled a little over his food.

He hadn't expressed as much before, but he realized very quickly that she had no interest in slaying the men after her. Had she been a truly violent queen, there would not have been a chance to rescue those men. Hans had bargained for their lives to be on the safe side, but he had seen enough of her now, to know that she was too kind to kill without a lot of pressure. More than he had seen, certainly, and six armed men was a not-insignificant amount of pressure to put on a person.

.

He had seen a glimpse of her behind her mask then, though he was not to blame for it, as it was she who had let her guard down. She had been too tired to keep up with everything for so long. She only gave him a small, tight smile.

"There is a way." One that she used during the rare times where she travelled down to Arendelle, for even she was not a fan of trekking down on foot. "But, I may need to fetch you more warm coats."

Elsa stood from her seat, gathering her plate to bring it to the makeshift sink. She cleaned it quickly, then made her way back to the stairs without a word nor explanation for Hans. He would see what she meant soon enough, as she came back down with another folded-over fur coat for him to take. "Come outside with me, we shall waste no time."

She had done this before, a few times, perfecting her control over her magic -and to see just how far she was able to create. Still, it was something that she had to take pride in, for being one of her best creations.

Hans watched with fascination, and followed as dutifully as any servant.

Wringing her hands, Elsa took a deep breath before she concentrated her magic. She let the snowflakes swirl at her fingertips, then waved them forward. With a brush of her hand and a blast of cold air and snow, two icy stallions took shape outside of her palace. Their pale snow hides sparkled, and their manes and tails moved in slow shifting chunks of clear ice. Their breath threw up not steam, but flurries, and their eyes were empty, but not lifeless.

"They're beautiful." Hans remarked, with some awe and softness. He very much liked horses. Of course he preferred his own, but he liked them regardless. He moved to pet one, just to marvel at it. "I can see what you meant about needing the extra coats, though." He laughed a little. Not so much for his shoulders, but to sit on. He was still a man, after all. Sitting on an ice horse? Not a pleasant thought.

"If we're to go down to the castle and project your strength, I have a proposition." He suggested, hoping she would take some interest. "A bit of a modification to some Isles traditions, but it would convey what it needs to."

.

One horse snorted at Elsa as it nudged it's nose against her palm, pleased at the compliment it had received from Hans, and with the fact it had been summoned back to life with a friend. The stallions' eyes were hollow divots, but their emptiness was not in any way haunting, at least not to Elsa. It seemed that Hans didn't mind it, either.

"And what is this proposition that you're offering?" She wondered if the brief time they had together could truly change the relationship between her and this man so easily. Somehow now, she felt as if he was almost her personal advisor, someone to help her in making decisions she might not be able or willing to make for herself.

Hans unbuckled the sword from his belt again, and offered it directly to her, this time.

"There are typically two occasions in which a man might offer his sword to another, in the Isles. This is neither, but If you take mine, you show the world that my actions are yours to determine. If you make an ice sword for me, I become your right hand, acting out your will. For what other reason would a mortal man take up a weapon of your realm?" Such fancy terms. Perhaps he didn't fully realize that she too was mortal, just a mortal with ice magic. Or maybe he didn't care, and just liked using poetic words for her. He seemed to like poetry and wordplay.

He never bothered to explain what the two occasions were.

.

She never bothered to ask what the two occasions were.

Accepting his sword, a layer of ice had simply wrapped itself around her waist, mimicking the belt that he wore himself. She secured his sword against her hip, feeling the additional weight that came from such a weapon. She kept her neutral mask, as if it were ordinary. An ice sword then formed out of thin air in her other hand, delicate magic swirling and growing into a blade worthy to be wielded only by those she truly put her trust in. With a regal air, she offered it for him to take.

It was an exchange that she never thought would happen, could never imagine taking place, but she did not question it much as she mounted her horse with little to no difficulty. She took the reins as she looked at him. "Then we shall ride together, bearing each other's weapon."

.

Some part of Hans wondered if they had just gotten married by some culture's laws, but he brushed that thought away and buckled her sword to his hip. He tossed a coat up onto his ice horse's back (for his own sake), and hopped up as well, to ride.

"After you, your Majesty, unless you should want me to herald your coming." He suggested with a slight tone of amusement. Ordinarily the Queen would go before- but if they were to ride into battle, he would leave that decision up to her.

Besides, he didn't know the mountain very well, he was a navy man. Mountains were not his forte.

"I shall lead, you have never descended this mountain before." Elsa was not particularly into having her company lead them into going in circles, it would be a waste of time and with the dark slowly descending on them, it was far better if they were to go as efficiently as they could. She didn't fear the animals that lurked in the woods, nor did her horses, but she didn't want to come knocking at Arendelle's door at 3 in the morning.

Urging her horse forward, she started their journey down to the kingdom, noting that Hans followed close behind. These horses moved faster than any normal horse as their hooves skimmed over the snowy ground as if it were ordinary grass and earth, instead of sinking with every step they took.

.

Hans couldn't help but marvel at their horses on the ride, at least initially. He followed Elsa at a reasonable distance, and once the initial amazement wore off, he focused on the task at hand. They were potentially going into a hostile situation. He needed his wits about himself, or as many wits as he could collect from out of the chill in his brain.

Their horses moved at easily twice the pace of a determined army- and perhaps thrice that of the dejected group of stragglers they had sent down before them, but they still arrived significantly second to the Duke's men, considering their dinner. Still, Hans felt they may have arrived in good time. It would be foolish to leap directly into one's 'back-up treason', surely.

"Shall we enter quietly, your Majesty? I should like to find out what's being said of us. I'm sure it's something dreadful." Hans couldn't help but smile a bit. "Perhaps a few iterations down the line they'll say you turned me into a snowman." In spite of his breeding, training, and the seriousness of the situation, he still had a sense of humor. Everyone had their flaws.

A small laugh escaped Elsa's lips before she could even help herself. She genuinely found how people thought of her to be such an amusing thought. Their ignorance over the truth was due to their minds being clouded with their fear of the unknown, of the fear for something that they had never seen before. After taking a brief moment to compose herself, she nodded. "Yes, we shall." She too would have liked to hear how they were going to describe their encounter with her, without any sweetened or terrified placations thrown in.

They unmounted, and with a mere flick of her wrist, the two horses had dissipated into thin air. Elsa led them both toward the small back door of the castle, one out of sight from most people. She would have taken the main entrance if she was to be dramatic, but yes, entering quietly was far more preferable this time.

The halls were mostly empty as the night blanketed the kingdom, the fire of the many candles set their shadows dancing over the walls. There were muffled noises from down the hall though, and she could only guess it was where her sister was.

.

Hans proved one of his other strange talents that day- walking silently. It was hard to notice at their castle, he spent so much of his time talking and joking, but now in the silence, it was easy to forget he was there at all. He walked with grace and calm, and made not a sound as he did. If not for his solidity, one might think he was a ghost who had been living in the castle for centuries. (Which, funny enough, would have been much older than the castle then).

He stayed behind the Queen out of obligation, but there was little doubt he wanted to move ahead to scout and observe, to find out for himself what they were saying.

.

If it had not been for his warmth, in contrast to her eternal chill, then Elsa may not have noticed his presence behind her. The castle was warm, yes, but Hans had given a different sort of heat that she could not ignore. As she neared the Council Chamber where they held meetings and discussions with their trade partners, she began to make out the discussions held behind closed doors.

"-my sister is a good person, she would never do such a thing!" Anna's tone was firm, determined as she argued with whoever it was with her inside. "Your men must have made a mistake! I don't understand why you would even send your men up to her in the first place!"

Hans leaned against the wall to listen, quite curious about the whole thing, like a true gossip.

"...We tried to talk things down, but in the end, the Admiral surrendered, he didn't return with us. We fear the Queen may have misunderstood our intentions. Perhaps she took it out on him already. A man can't survive in the cold forever." The Captain pointed out, by way of explanation.

"One should consult with both regents in a co-kingdom, and I am much too old to be making such a journey, so I had to send my proxies." The Duke pointed out, but even from the other side of a door it sounded like a weak lie to Hans. Then again, he read people all the time.

"Sent us up to die, more like! Who brings an admiral to a mountain?" One of Hans' men grunted. These were old sea salts, the sorts of men who didn't care about another kingdom's rules and regulations. Hell, based on how they dressed, Hans hardly cared if they kept up to the Navy dress code. "He sacrificed for you bastards -pardon, Y'highness- and you've got the guff to say he surrendered!"

Hans made a little gesture of silent approval from behind the door.

"Who asked you to be here? This is Weselton business, shouldn't you be rigging a mast somewhere?"

"I can think of a few-!" Someone managed to quietly convince the old salt to not finish that sentence in front of a lady.

The Princess was silent, if only for a brief moment, as her mind flitted back to the image of the handsome Prince that had come with the Duke, one whose company she quite fancied after he managed to make her blush. Granted, as her sister reminded her, she blushed easily. Still... "My sister wouldn't let him die, I'm sure of it." But her tone was weak, as if even she did not fully trust her own words. "And they should be here, they're Hans' men, and they were there too! I would like to hear the story from all sides."

Elsa, like Hans, made a small gesture of approval as well. Her sister had grown better than she anticipated, her decision making getting better. She was nowhere near as impulsive as she used to be.

Elsa had heard enough. She pressed her palms against the double-doors, pushing them open to reveal herself, prompting every head to turn her way.

"Elsa!"

Her blue eyes glanced over to Anna at the call, noting the surprised yet glad tone in it. Elsa couldn't give an answer at the moment, however. She had to put on the Snow Queen mask at the moment, and that meant no smiling.

She turned her attention toward the Duke, who stumbled backward at the sudden appearance of the Queen. She had narrowed her eyes in his direction

"I hear you are speaking of me?"

Hans smiled a bit and stepped out behind the Queen, amusement written all over his face.

"Apparently I'm dead now. Awfully spritely for that, I daresay." He hummed. his dry sense of humor showing up en force. He didn't bother to abandon the coat this time. His rules for when he did and didn't opt for the coat seemed erratic at best.

Hans allowed himself the one line to admit he was alive, but he was still there at the Queen's behest. He would do as she asked, and be a good right hand for her. He had to maintain his silence to let her control the room.

"But you did surrender." The Captain pointed out, looking at the sword hanging at Elsa's waist. One of the two times, apparently, that swords were given.

"Guards!" The Duke was quick to cower, when faced with his fears directly.

The Captain may have had loyalties and opinions, but even he seemed slow to repeat the events from the castle. Hans' threats were still firm in his mind. The Isles would take care of the Duke if the Queen didn't.

"We should probably go home." He suggested quietly to the two crews, choosing not to move yet.

"Aye. You probably should." Hans' second agreed. Neither acknowledged the Duke.

.

Anna's turquoise eyes caught the sight of the sword hanging against her sister's hip -she had never wielded a sword before, as she obviously preferred her magic. Then she saw the ice sword on Hans' hip, her eyes narrowing. They had spent a day up in the mountains, but it seemed that many things had happened in that time. Some that, perhaps, she didn't even wish to know.

"He offered his life in exchange of yours, I believe." Elsa corrected the Captain, her eyes narrowing at the Captain. Had he chosen to ignore what had transpired up in her Ice Castle to guard his own pride, then? "And I accepted his offer. He is acting as my advisor, now."

Being ignored, and yet far too cowardly to take a stand against the Queen directly, the Duke's jaw tightened. "Weselton will never forget about this!" His attempt of threat was weak, as he stood behind the Captain, half of his body shielded away.

"Neither will Arendelle." It was Anna who spoke, even before her older sister could. She held her chin high as she mirrored her sister's strong and regal stance. "You have proven yourself to go against the Queen and that will result in nothing but consequences."

Elsa raised her hand, a motion for her sister to stop, before she turned to the Duke. "Leave this kingdom and never return. Arendelle will not accept any trade from Weselton from now on."

"I would suggest," Hans offered sweetly, "Perhaps leaving the duchy to any heirs, too. If you throw yourself at the mercy of the Southern Isles court, perhaps they'll conveniently forget the price one pays for treason under our crown. But at least you can tell them you didn't get me killed, so that's a very good point in your favor." It was weird to Hans that he was playing the nice one, offering ways to help, but he was okay with this development. "Isn't running a small state a bit too much work in your current age, anyway? Leave the history books now, and no-one need know about this embarrassing little venture."

The Duke was paling, he knew full well be couldn't fight any battles here. He had only made things miserable for himself.

"A coward in the Navy, I see." He grunted toward Hans. His only weapons of worth now were words.

Hans just laughed at him, which produced the opposite effect of what the Duke wanted. Hans' laugh was cold and unbothered. Someone who knew better. He saw no need to comment on that.

"You should leave." Hans suggested sweetly.

"We'll be going." The Duke was quick to get up. Even the Captain was a bit slow to follow, however.

"Not too late to re-think your local leadership." Hans suggested quietly to the Captain.

The Captain only stood, bowed politely to the ladies, and turned to leave with his men.

Hans' men stayed, for the moment, looking uncertain.

The Duke and the Captain left, sounds fading outside the halls as the made their way further from the Council Chamber.

The moment there was silence, Elsa turned her attention toward Hans' men, recognizing them and acknowledging that they had taken no part in her assassination attempt. She nodded to show them her understanding.

Anna, on the other hand, launched herself toward her older sister, arms coming to wrap around her. It was rare for them to see each other, and the Princess would waste no time in showing her excitement over seeing Elsa, not even when they were surrounded by others, still. "I knew you would never do such horrible things like the Captain claimed!"

Elsa could not help the softening in her eyes, even slightly, as she gently pried herself from her sister's arms so she could properly look at her. "Of course not, Prince Hans has been nothing but helpful."

"Yeah, well, about that." Anna took a step backward, which was odd considering that she had latched herself against the Queen just moments before. Had it been something that she said?

"You're not married to him, are you?"

The question made her choke, though she quickly composed herself. "No, obviously not! Why would you even think that way?"

Anna gestured at the sword hanging from her waist, causing Elsa's brows to knit as she looked at the Prince suspiciously.

"This better not be the Southern Isles' custom of marriage."

Hans cleared his throat as well.

"No?"

It came out as much more of a question than he intended it to, and he quickly raised his hands to stop her reacting negatively.

"Two occasions a man might give up his sword, one is getting engaged, the other is surrender. so, the Captain's assessment was closer. Neither option would have me wearing a sword in the end, so it's clearly a third case." He pointed out, gesturing to the icy sword Elsa had provided him.

"You're thinking of the vikings." One of the younger ones from Hans' crew piped up. "The vikings traded swords in marriage."

Hans looked up at the ceiling. "I knew after I suggested it that it might not quite sound like what I meant." He sighed. "Oh well, 'scared the hell out of the Duke and that's what we wanted. Thank you Fletcher, you are alarmingly knowledgeable for your station as always." Hans checked his sword belt as if to adjust something. In truth, it was an excuse to not seem attentive for a moment.

.

'The Vikings traded swords in marriage.'

Elsa's nose scrunched at the thought of herself marrying someone she had known for less than a day, even if she had found Hans' company to be different than most. His presence around her at the Ice Castle was a refreshing and also useful thing, but she was not one to foolishly accept one's marriage proposal so early without a thought. No, they were not Vikings, so obviously they were not getting married.

Hans' second in command chuckled at the whole thing.

"So, my question, if I may be so bold as to address Her Majesties'," He gestured to the two ladies. "Do we stay at dock and wait for the Admiral's return, or do we leave to go back to the Isles? We're not on any particular schedule, unless we're to follow the Duke's men and herd them to the Isles."

"Your Majesties, this would be my second-in-command, Captain Jesse Janssen, a salt so old that he was old when he was plucking me off of homemade rafts in my youth." Hans introduced with a tone of near-familial affection.

.

Elsa was thankful for Captain Janssen's comment. When the old man spoke up, he changed the subject to save them all from thinking about it.

"Escort them to the Southern Isles, we shall see what the King thinks of this behavior under his deal with Weselton." If she was to come as witness later on then she would travel then, no matter how discomforting the thought was.

"Not too familiar with the family, ey?" Jesse suggested with a little awkward shift.

"We don't spread word of illness out of the Isles, it's still my father's crown, even if Gerard must take its duties now and then." Hans shrugged a little, adjusting his gloves as something to fidget with.

"And the Admiral is fine with staying?"

"Right as rain, gentlemen. Her Majesty is fine company, but visit often. I would hate to be without my crew, should I need to leave again. Give His Highness my room, and my affection." Hans said it all quite casually, then realized how that sounded, paused, and turned to the ladies. "We jokingly call the ship's cat 'his highness' because he's red, and it means that I don't have to answer to it." He admitted with a little smile. Hans had a childish side he didn't let out often around relative strangers, but it explained his odd sendoff.

"Aye, and he'll miss you, Admiral. We'll tell the Isles you're presently busy, and have a fill-in in your place. S'long as it's not 'Admiral' De Graaf again, ey?" Jesse laughed, and Hans smiled a bit. There was clearly a fair bit of history to this crew, and not enough time to explain it all.

"Oh! And the Admiral's horse? It's in the royal stables now, should the Lemon stay there?"

Hans looked to Elsa for that one. He sincerely loved his horse and wanted to visit it, but he wouldn't have much use for it on the mountain.

.

Elsa could only watch as the conversation unfolded before her, pleased to see that Hans and his crew seemed to share a close bond. The sendoff that they exchanged had made her shift on her feet, as truly, it was her fault he had to leave them. She was starting to reconsider if she truly needed him there, or was she just being selfish in keeping him.

She offered a small smile at the mention of the ship's cat, for she thought it was rare for people of the Navy to have pets -aside from parrots, but she believed that was more of a pirate thing.

The idea of Hans cuddling a feline was adorable, to say the least.

There was something in Hans' eyes when he looked over at her, after the mention of his horse. Watching him interact with her ice stallion earlier had told her of his particular love for horses, and it seemed like the new horse in the stable was precious to him. "It could stay here in Arendelle if you wish," the stable boy would take good care of it, like any other horses that the royal family owned. "But I don't recommend bringing it up to the mountain, it would be too cold there."

Speaking of, a thought crossed her mind as she glanced at her sister.

She turned back to Hans. "Or," she found a certain difficulty in saying the rest. "You could stay here too, if you wish. You don't need to follow me back to the Ice Castle."

.

Hans brightened a bit, and nodded. "Here, sounds like a fine choice for my horse." He assured.

However, he faltered a little on mention of staying at the castle.

"Oh, we can discuss that later. While we're here seems like a good time for you two ladies to catch up and trade notes. These gents can head out toward home and we can discuss what to do about things, hm?" He suggested sweetly. He wanted to gauge the relationships between the sisters, and he still needed to figure himself out, on the way.

He might freeze up in the ice castle, and he wasn't sure what good he did there- but he wanted to stay.

Why? To what end?

Deep down, he knew why. She was beautiful, enrapturing even. He wanted to follow her orders and be whatever she needed him to be. Was that pathetic? Weak? Maybe. He wasn't sure if he cared, this time.

.

The fact that Hans had not leapt at the chance of living in the much warmer Arendelle castle instead of the stifling cold North Mountain when offered it should not have made Elsa feel so glad.

Why would she be glad that someone might have preferred to live with her, isolated from the world, instead of living in the luxury of the kingdom's castle? Had she not been living in the Ice Castle because she wanted to be alone?

"V-very well."

The slight shake in the older sister's voice had prompted the Princess to take her hand, squeezing gently. "Hans is right, there are many things we have to discuss."

"He may as well stay to listen then." Why she had decided that, she couldn't tell. Anna seemed uncertain, but she nodded as well.

"Your men may leave now." Elsa assured, gesturing to Anna so they might both sit as the men left.

Hans gave his men handshakes and pats on the back as they filtered out, with laughter and well-wishes.

When they had gone, he settled a bit. He felt a little bit like he was in trouble, now, and he wasn't quite certain why. A part of him wished he had gone with his men, but only that small part of him that yearned for the sea and the camaraderie. He felt there were bigger things for him in Arendelle.

"Shall I fetch you ladies some coffee, tea, brandy?" He suggested sweetly, as if he were part of the serving staff. He was just being a gentleman, he told himself, but there was a part of him that just wanted to make himself useful (and not feel the need to say anything for a minute).

A useless gesture, really, he didn't even know where the kitchen was. He had not thought that far through.

Elsa's eyes narrowed at Hans' offer, his act of serving as if he was below their rank was almost suspicious. "There's no need, Hans, you are no slave of mine." If she was to enslave the neighboring kingdom's Prince, then she might as well raise her sword and barge through another kingdom's door in the Duke of Weselton's fashion. It would have been a grave insult for her to treat another royal in such a way. "At ease, Admiral."

"Ah yes, speaking of," Anna seemed to have remembered something, as her hand left her sister's on her way toward the long table, leaning back against it as she shed her serious façade as well. "I am honestly glad that you two aren't having any sort of relationship at all. I mean, that would have been awkward, wouldn't it?"

"Why so?" Besides the fact that yes, she had only just met the man, Elsa could not find a reason why it would have been awkward, per se.

But the Princess only shrugged, a playful smile on her lips as she looked at Hans with a little too much longing in those turquoise eyes than Elsa would have liked. "Nothing."

.

Hans seemed almost amused at the suggestion that he was 'no slave', but the amusement he found in that, he kept to himself. He purposefully kept quiet while the ladies were talking however.

"The sword exchange was about sending a political message. One that I believe the Isles will read fairly cleanly, and the Duke's men seemed to understand well enough for the purpose. Though I'm very glad I didn't have to attempt to use a sword of ice." He offered a cursory laugh, but it felt performative. Truthfully, it was. He had to shift his persona when dealing with both the Queen and her sister, to something a bit more neutral. As cute as Anna was, he didn't want to flirt with her now. No, things had changed. God, had they changed.

Elsa may not have wanted a relationship with a man she just met, but Hans felt something stronger, and unfamiliar. He wasn't sure what it was, but if it was romantic, he didn't want to chance it.

He wandered off a bit to look out the windows, still standing tall and acting casual. Elsa may have said 'at ease', but that was not something Hans truly felt he could do on land. Ease only came on the water (or perhaps, in a brothel).

.

There was something different in Hans, the way he acted and spoke, there was something that held him back, made him more controlled than he had let himself be when they were alone. Elsa could not put her finger on what it was, exactly, and she didn't wish to ask and make him uncomfortable. A part of her wondered if it had been something about Anna's presence there.

The two sisters caught up the best they could with the small amount of time that they had, Anna insisted that they should stay, considering how late it was that even the Snow Queen herself should not trek up the mountains, and Elsa reluctantly agreed, placing Hans in one of the guest chambers while she took her own that was always kept at the ready, should she come to visit. In the morning, they made their way back up into the mountain.