Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "Go" I said holding back a smile. Anna started jumping up and down holding back a squeal.

  "Thankyouthatyouthankyou! Thank you!" she said excitedly, kissed my cheek a couple of times and ran out of the study faster than a cheetah. As Anna left, I went to my room (luckily meeting Kai on the way, so I asked him to make sure the alliance with Drakora was made public) and as I got there, I laid on my bed staring at the ceiling. I needed some time to think about the conversation I just had with Queen Skylynn. She sure did resemble Hans in some features, they couldn't have not been somehow related. But it was kind of a lot to take in and I still had some unanswered questions. It's not like I didn't let Queen Skylynn visit Hans because I don't trust her, her past actions have proven her already… what I saw in her eyes was the thing that worried me. It was the look Anna had when she found me in my ice palace, when she was trying to convince me to come back and reassure me. It was the look of a person who believed in someone else. Anna was willing to give her life for me, and something told me that Queen Skylynn would have done the same for that man. She had some kind of hope in him and for some reason, she felt responsible for his crime, she wasn't lying. But why? What did she mean when she said she turned her back on him? I don't understand! She wants to defend him during trial, but she also wants him to be punished… it doesn't make any sense!... Okay, truth is I don't trust her, at all. But there were other things that made me think. Hans surely didn't seem to have changed, but his appearance, the way he was treated, especially from his own brothers, made me feel kind of… sorry for him. There was clearly something wrong going on. There was fury and anger in his eyes when he said those things earlier, but when he first came in, there was something else, not to mention the surprised look when I defended him and Anna supported me.

  I didn't need a trial to decide what I was not going to do: Hans deserved to be punished but I was not going to exile him and not in those conditions. What did his brothers do to him, anyway? He was trying to stand tall and straight, but it looked like it pained him, that limp in his leg, the bruises, the bandaged hand, his shabby look… something was wrong, and Prince Gordon surely was creepy, I had to keep my eye on him.

  Thinking about Hans, something came to me… I was in debt with him, he had saved my life twice and that meant I had to talk to him, but not today. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

  "Come in, Anna" I said and the door opened only to reveal a blonde headed man.

  "No, it's Kristoff" he said smiling "But you can pretend I'm Anna, if you prefer" he said trying to imitate Anna's voice and exaggerating her hand gestures. I laughed as he got inside the room.

  "I'm wondering, are your comic exploits thought in your sleep?"

  "Nope, they're as good as natural" we both laughed.

  "What is it?" I asked sitting up. He came to me and immediately changed face as he started fidgeting with his fingers.

  "I think I know how to ask her" he said. That got my attention.

  "Take a seat and shoot" he raised an eyebrow

  "You're using slang terms? Now I'm really getting worried" said with a smirk.

  "Kristoff…" I said eyeing him

  "Okay! Okay!" he exclaimed and sat on the bed next to me "So, here's the deal. The Autumn Festival starts next Saturday, right?"

  "Right" I said.

  "And you're going to the festival on the first day… right?"

  "Yes…?"

  "Okay, I want to ask her during the Traditional Dances" he blurted. I smiled.

  "In the middle of the square. In front of the whole kingdom"

  "Yeah, why? Is it bad?"

  "No, not at all. I think it actually shows confidence, especially since you're not royalty"

  "Problem is… I don't know when" I smiled and patted his shoulder.

  "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get a moment at the dances"

  "Really? How?"

  "You think about proposing and I'll take care of letting you" He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

  "Thanks, Elsa"

  "No, problem" he kept his hand on my shoulder and looked at the ground like if he was thinking about something, then his head snapped back up .

  "Will you still make things hard for me?" I smirked.

  "Kristoff... I'm Anna's older sister… I'm never EVER going to make things easy for you, my dear soon-to-be-brother-in-law" I said standing up and bending down to look at him in the eyes "EVER" I said walking towards my desk. I could sense Kristoff smirking behind me as I heard him stand up following me.

  "Sooo… there's no chance that we could have a hug?" he asked. I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned around glaring at him as I saw him holding back a smile with his arms open. Then the door opened revealing Anna.

  Anna's POV:

  I had just finished talking to Queen Skylynn. She's actually a pretty cool girl once you talk to her. She may have been kind of harsh earlier, even cocky at some point, but she is actually very nice. Anyway, after we talked, I thought about what she told me and went to see Elsa as an idea popped in my head. Did I say that we moved in together the other day? We share the room again! Anyway, as I got to the door I opened it entering the room.

  "Hey, Elsa! I…uhm…" I saw Kristoff was here with his arms open and Elsa glaring at him "What's going on, now?" I asked walking closer to them

  "Hi, Anna" Kristoff said smiling at me.

  "Anna" Elsa said "You're status is about to go back to single" she said and marched towards Kristoff. He chuckled and ran out of the room with Elsa on his tail, ready to use her powers.

  "Please, don't freeze him too much!" I shouted, then I heard a blast.

  "OOOWW!"

  "GO HUG SVEN!" I heard Elsa shout. I laughed shaking my head and Elsa came back into the room straightening her dress, with a satisfied look.

  "Is he still in one piece?" I asked laughing.

  "Unfortunately" she answered with a smile "So, how was your talk with Miss Heroine?" she asked coming towards me.

  "I don't know if you'll believe me, but she was actually really nice" I said "And don't worry, I managed to restrain myself from talking non-stop" Elsa laughed slightly "But I actually wanted to talk to you about my chat with her"

  "And I wonder why?" she said taking off her shoes and sitting on her bed, I followed suit and sat in front of her with my back facing the headboard.

  "No, really. I'm serious, actually" I said. Elsa looked at me ready to listen "So, I talked to Queen Skylynn and I- I kind of asked her, why she wants to defend Hans even if she knows what he did to us. She answered that I should understand why better than anyone" Elsa bit her lip like she does when she's thinking.

  "She's right"

  "That got me to think and I made up a theory… why won't you let her see Hans?" I asked. Elsa took a moment to think and then answered.

  "It's not like I don't trust her…" I gave her a look "Okay, I don't trust her at all and…" she paused "And that's it… it's better off like this"

  "Elsa, don't lie to me. First, because I don't like it, second, you're like an open book to me. Plus, we both know that if she wanted to break him out of jail she would have done it already" I said

  "Alright, fine. I didn't let her because… because she really does care for him and I bet she'd do anything in her power to help him get off the hook" she answered.

  "So I was right" I said, mostly to myself though. Elsa nodded.

  "I can't not let her speak during the trial, we'll have to be careful with her"

  "She doesn't have bad intentions, of that I'm sure"

  "Like you were sure of… never mind" Elsa trailed off realizing the jab she about to give me "Sorry" she apologized.

  "It's okay. You're right, but still… I think we can trust her even if she's his sister"

  "Half-sister"

  "Minor detail, they're related" I said "But I was thinking that maybe you should let her see him. Let them talk, she thinks it's her fault if he tried to take over our kingdom. If I did something like what h
e did, wouldn't you want to see me and talk to me?" Elsa sighed.

  "Anna-"

  "-Would you?"

  "Of course I would"

  "Then why not let her?" I insisted. Elsa seemed to think for a moment.

  "I need to think about it" With that we didn't go back on the topic.

  "Soo…" I began "Before he made you want to freeze him, what were you and Kristoff talking about?" without a warning, at the speed of light, Elsa pounced on me making me fall on the bed. Then she grabbed a pillow and started playfully hitting me with it, as I laughed trying to defend myself.

  "MIND *hit* YOUR OWN *double hit* BUSINESS!"

  Skylynn's POV:

  It's Monday. SInce I got to Arendelle I spent all my time in the library and I still haven't found anything in the Arendellian laws that could help Hans! I had to do something. I owe it to him, I owed… everything to him. He's my brother and I don't care for what he did, I know him and he's not the man who tried to kill Queen Elsa and her little sister. I haven't seen any of my other so-called 'half-siblings', and I most certainly haven't seen Hans, thanks to Queen Elsa's not so positive answer to my request. Right now, I was still at the library, looking through book number I-Lost-Count-Of, when I heard footsteps coming closer.

  "So, you came" said a familiar voice. I didn't bother to look up, I knew that voice too well.

  "Yes, I did. Thank you for telling me, by the way" I said looking back up.

  "It was the least I could do after…-"

  "After you deserted the Drakorian Army and sided with the Southern Isles? Yes, that was just the least" I replied coldly.

  "You're not still mad about that?" I looked at him, meeting his blue eyes with my grey ones, glaring intensely.

  "Yes. But it's not for leaving the army, that is your business. What makes me furious is that you, a Drakorian, when things got bad for us, you decided to side, of all kingdoms, with the Southern Isles by being Theodore's lackey. I had to personally step in to not make Landon banish you as a traitor. You don't turn your back on your own people when they need you"

  "So, as long as you turn your back to the Isles it's cool, but if I do to Drakora it's not?" he said irritated.

  "Don't turn this on me, Storm. You know very well why I left that place and becoming queen wasn't in my plans"

  "Then why did you? Because of Landon?" Storm challenged.

  "Leave him out of this" I said coldly "But let me remind you that you left the night before the battle, without saying anything and leaving me alone. We promised would have each other's back till the end and you left me alone. Landon didn't even get the time to find someone else as qualified as you"

  "Skylynn-"

  "- No, 'Skylynn' my foot, Storm!" I cut him off angrily "You left him to force me to choose between leading the naval army and the land army. Do you have any idea how many lives depended on me in that battle?! You knew very well how important that naval fight was, much more than the terrestrial one. You had my hands tied, Storm! If I hadn't taken your place in that sea battle we wouldn't have won and Drakora would still be under Hugh's tyrannical government if not still in a revolutionary war. Do you know how many men I disappointed? All the soldiers who were supposed to fight with me, all of them! I don't know why, but they wanted me to guide them and I let them down, because of you!"

  "I'm sorry-"

  "Saying 'sorry' won't make up for it. My position was already questioned due to my origins and being a bastard, you just made things worse for me. I was lucky enough to win that battle" that got him to shut up. I looked down to my book, taking a deep breath to cool off a moment "Anyway, what do you want?" I then said lifting my head up, directing my gaze towards the raven haired, blue eyed general.

  "Ask you why you are here. My letter was just to inform you, since Hans is your brother" he said meeting my gaze.

  "None of your business" I snapped going back to the book

  "It kind of is since, well… tomorrow is Hans' trial"

  "If you're worried, which you're not, I'm not going to kill any of my half-brothers" I said going back to the book.

  "You're right, I'm not worried"

  "Good"

  "Theodore is" That got my attention. I lifted my head back up to see Storm lean on the table.

  "Oh?"

  "And so are Herbert and Gordon" he continued

  "Even better" I said. Storm remained silent for a moment.

  "How so? You know Herbert and Gordon"

  "Yeah, much better than they know me"

  "And that doesn't… alarm you?"

  "No" I said nonchalantly. Storm looked puzzled.

  "Why?"

  "Because they're afraid of me" I paused looking back at him "Ironic, right? The two princes scared by their little half-sister, the bastard sibling they have and despise"

  "Yeah, the little half-sister who at fifteen went to a one-year-long rebellion war and married a king at sixteen. They don't just despise you, they envy you to death because you made a difference and they didn't, and stop referring to yourself as the 'bastard sibling' of theirs"

  "But I am. I was indeed born out of wed-lock. The King cheated on his wife and had me, and you know what it is of those like me"

  "It shouldn't be like this" he said "You are much more of a royal than they will ever be"

  "Flattery won't take you anywhere"

  "I was being serious, Sky"

  "It's Skylynn to you" I snapped, but that only got Storm to smirk.

  "You never hide behind your title, I like that about you"

  "Stop with the flattery" he raised his hands in surrender.

  "Just being honest. If you're worried about the crush I had on you a few years back, don't worry. I'm over it"

  "You better" I said looking at him straight in the eyes.

  "Anyway, so you actually came because…?"

  "Why do you think I'm here? I've been in this freaking library for days, and I haven't even-"

  "-found something to let Hans off the hook?" he finished.

  "Not exactly" I answered, then something caught my eye. One of the Arendellian laws, it wasn't really what I was hoping for, but if that meant doing something for Hans, then it was my only chance. This law was common also to the Southern Isles, I remember that. This was my only chance to save him. I closed the book, made a pile with the others and put them back in place.

  "You found something" Storm stated.

  "Yes"

  "What? Maybe I can help you"

  "I'm not telling you" I snapped as I put back the last book.

  "What? Why? Skylynn, you can trust-"

  "-No, I can't"

  "But I sent you that letter to tell you about Hans! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

  "I'm thankful for that, but I can't trust you. Not anymore" hurt flashed through Storm's eyes. What? He asked for it! "And for the record, who's side are you on? You deserted the Drakorian Army only to join the Southern Isles'; you work for Theodore, but as soon as he's not looking, you run to me offering your help. Remember the Army Rule n°2? 'Never trust a man whose position is unclear, never take his help, as it could be the death of you', make up your mind, Storm. You can't keep your foot in both camps" With that I got out of the library leaving him.

  I walked through the halls as a plan formed into my mind. It was risky, but it was the only way, but to do that I needed to gain Queen Elsa's and Princess Anna's trust. Now that I think of it, I actually really need just Queen Elsa's, since Princess Anna seems to trust me already. That little redhead is really something. She can go from a hyper, chatty kid to a mature business woman with such a naturalness that was almost creepy, but she was like that. She has her moments. Anna is still immature, but she will eventually grow up. She's still naïve, though, even after what Hans did. She should be more cautious like her sister. She immediately gave me her trust and that was not good for her. Elsa knows that too. I can see it in her eyes, but I think she's letting her take her own time to grow up, but she knows that Anna's immed
iate trust towards me it's like she hasn't learnt anything from Hans. Just because I'm a woman like her, doesn't mean I can't trick my own way to snatch Elsa's throne by using her.

  Elsa is a great ruler, though. It doesn't take a genius to see that after a few seconds of talking to her and watching her people. She's very cautious, reflective, she cares for her kingdom and won't let her guard down easily and her ice powers are a bonus. Her flaw? She thinks she can do the impossible: control her emotions. She can hide them, but she can't control them… no one can.

  "Queen Skylynn" I heard Queen Elsa call me. Speak of the devil… I turned around and saw the blue eyed queen in her beautiful blue ice dress glory. Her hair in her usual braid and her eyes studying me.

  "Queen Elsa" I greeted with a nod of the head "How are you today, your Majesty?" I asked as she walked towards me until she was in front of me.

  "I'm fine, thank you. Have you made yourself comfortable for your stay?" I shrugged with a small smile. "My sister told me you two talked the other day" Of course… memo for me: if we become friends, never tell Anna a secret. "I'm about to go see Hans" she said "Would you accompany me?" I couldn't help not to contain my smile.

  "I'd be glad" I answered and walked towards her, she smiled back at me and walked to my side as she showed me the way to the dungeons.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Elsa and I walked side by side as we made our way to the dungeons to see Hans. We remained in silence for most of the way, but although it wasn't an awkward one, there was a thick tension in the air. It was the sort of tension that you get addicted to after spying missions and infiltrations, surrounded by your enemies ready to kill you the moment you make one small mistake. The adrenaline, your heart beating hard against your ribcage though you're not doing anything to cause that fast beating. The adrenaline is always there, now the fast heartbeat is gone, it always is after the first missions, but the thrill is always there. Elsa glanced at me once in a while, like if she was checking what I was doing and she was wise in doing so. It was just us here and the one thing she knew about me was that I was Hans's half-sister and was here to help him. I could tell Elsa was not used to this. I didn't need to hear it to know that in that moment her heart was pounding due to this tension she too was feeling. I almost let a satisfied smirk graze my lips, knowing that part of the Snow Queen was intimidated by me: an ordinary woman who would have never been her equal… yes… the small satisfactions of life.