Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "They put you to work in the mines, didn't they?" I said trying to contain my anger.

  "Yeah"

  "Where did you get all these injuries from?"

  "The hand and the limp while at work"

  "The others?" I said as hatred made my blood boil.

  "Who do you think?"

  "Does Theodore know?"

  "He knows I got my injuries working… let's just say that these were enough" THAT'S IT!

  "Okay… THIS IS INSANE!" I yelled and marched angrily towards the door

  "Skylynn! Wait!" he called but I didn't listen. I stormed out of the room meeting Queen Elsa outside. Her tranquil expression morphed into worry when she saw my face.

  "What happened?" she asked.

  "He needs a doctor, now" I said trying to contain my anger and hate.

  "I saw he was injured but it seemed like his wounds were treated, is he sick?" she asked confused

  "Call a doctor and go take a look yourself. I have business to attend to" I said stormed off leaving Queen Elsa behind me. I am going to KILL Herbert and Gordon!

  Elsa's POV:

  Queen Skylynn was beyond furious, that much I could see and that got me worried sick. I saw that look again. The look Hans had when he almost killed me, that anger and fury and hatred. I saw them all in those stormy grey eyes. Another thing I was sure of was that she was not angry at Hans. I had just enough time to have a small chat with him. I got inside the cell door and found him putting his jacket back on.

  "Are you picking turns to see me?" he said smugly "First my little sister and now you. Is Princess Anna next?"

  "Why does it look like Queen Skylynn is about to murder someone?" I asked directly.

  "Oh, I don't know… maybe being murderers runs in the family" he smirked "I'm actually surprised you don't think I did something to her"

  "As much as she enjoys little mind games and is an admirable actress, such as yourself… no one can conceal strong emotions like the anger and hatred I saw in her eyes" He snorted raising an eyebrow.

  "Oh, that's rich! Heard by the one who still believes she can do that"

  "What do you mean?" I said narrowing my eyes at him.

  "Says the queen who froze over her kingdom because she was scared!" he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  "Whatever. I'm not here to talk about my powers" I cut short.

  "If you want me to apologize. Forget it. I'm not sorry and I don't regret anything" he said glaring daggers at me "Actually the only thing I regret is not killing both you and your sister when I had the chance"

  "I heard that already and I suggest you watch your tongue, Hans. Your trial is tomorrow"

  "What's the point? You have already made up your mind, I'm sure of it! This is just for formalities. Just execute me and make it quick. You know what? Freeze me already while you're at it" he said. Those words got me by surprise.

  "What?"

  "You heard me" he said and walked closer to me using his hands to lower the loose neck of his shirt to reveal his chest "Hit me. Freeze my heart like you froze Anna's. You did it once. It shouldn't be too hard to do it again" he said with poison dripping from his voice.

  "That was an accident! And NO! I'm not freezing your heart" I replied.

  "Why? It would make things so much easier and quicker!" I narrowed my eyes at him and stepped closer looking at him in the eyes.

  "For one thing, I'm no killer and second, Queen Skylynn wouldn't approve"

  "I don't give a freaking DAMN about Skylynn!" he said angrily.

  "But Skylynn gives a 'freaking damn' about you!" I countered. That got him to silence "Whether I like it or not, she's here to help you. She cares about you. She's here for you"

  "Then she's just a deluded little girl if she thinks I have ever actually cared about her" he said poisonously.

  "She told me a bit about your past together. You stood by her side when nobody wanted her, you have been there for her. This actually makes me think that maybe, just maybe, there is an extremely small part of humanity in you, very, very deep down. And not just that, also a couple of other things"

  "Enlighten me" he said arrogantly crossing his arms.

  "Why did you save my life?" I asked.

  "I didn't"

  "Yes, you did. I was about to kill two men in my palace. If it weren't for you, I would have become a murderer… the monster they feared I was. It would have made things easier for you by letting me become that monster. It would have given you the perfect reason to have me killed. Yet, you stopped me. Why?"

  "I had a part to play and keep up with. You should know that better than anyone. It's all part of the game we both know the rules to. It's a game of chess, masks and actors; the more accurate is the strategy, the more complex is the mask, the better the actor"

  "You had your turn, played your part and that got you out of the play, but yet you still wear a mask" I replied

  "No, once you're out of the game, you take off the mask" he countered.

  "Your sister would differ"

  "How would you know what my sister thinks?" he snapped, his green eyes glaring into mine. But I didn't back down. I was not going to back down. Not from Skylynn and most certainly not from him.

  "She said you keep a mask on, although I agree with you. Once you're out you, you take the mask off" he looked at me intensely. Examining me, studying my moves.

  "What other things make you think I'm not completely a… monster?"

  "Why did you try to save me when that man had his crossbow pointed at me?" I asked again.

  "I didn't try to save you. If anything I was trying to kill you and get away with it" that revelation was light a lighting out of the blue.

  "What?! But you moved the crossbow!"

  "I saw the chandelier" he said arrogantly "My intentions were far from good. We're back into the mask game. I had to play a part. What kind of hero would I have been if I let that man kill you just like that? What would I have said to Anna?"

  "So you had just improvised an accident" I stated.

  "Yup. Too bad you were fast enough to get out of the way" I tried not to let his words get to me.

  "And what about Queen Skylynn? She cares about you. She feels responsible for what you did. She said you stood by her, she said that you stayed with her even when your brothers found out about it and it took a turn to the worst for you"

  "As I said earlier, she's just a deluded little girl if she thinks I have ever actually cared about her" I stood there shocked.

  "You can't be serious…" was all I could mutter.

  "Oh, but I am" he continued with a smug look "I was the thirteenth son. None of my brothers ever liked me, actually they hate me to guts. My parents never really cared so… if I wanted to prove myself worthy of something I needed someone to practice with and who else was better practice than my half-sister?" he chuckled "Well, now you can see how good I got at manipulating people"

  "How could you do that to her? How could you make her believe you actually loved her, when you knew very well her situation as an illegitimate child? I talked to Queen Skylynn and the way she talked about you made me think that maybe I was wrong about you. You know, I was willing to hear your side of the story, but you just confirmed my first thoughts about you. Do you have any idea of the pain you are going to put your sister through when after the trial I'm going to judge you?"

  "And why should I care? Plus, Skylynn has Landon. She'll get through it in no time"

  "King Landon is dead, Hans. Your sister is a widow" his face changed from cynicism to surprise.

  "Oh…" as soon as surprise came on his face it immediately got back to the monster that was in front of me "Then I suppose it will take her a little bit longer to get over it" I shook my head in disbelief. How could someone as smart and brave like Queen Skylynn fight for a lost cause like him?

  "I'll send a doctor to check on you and a couple of servants to make you look presentable for the trial" I said.

  "Oh, yo
ur Majesty! So many people caring about me, I'm touched!" he said sarcastically.

  "I'm not the one sending you a doctor. Your sister is" I said coldly. I could feel the frost forming on my fingertips and the cloud of hot air that formed when I talked to him made me realize the temperature had dropped. I thought about Anna and my people and repressed the anger I was feeling towards this man, bringing the cell's temperature back to normal. He remained silent and walked back to the window looking outside. I turned around and walked towards the door and stopped as soon as I reached the doorknob.

  "I shouldn't have let Queen Skylynn's words get me to doubt my thoughts about you. I should have known you'd never be anything… but a beast" with that I opened the door and walked away leaving him alone. As I got out of the dungeons, I looked for Kai and gave my orders, he bowed and obliged walking away. As I walked towards my study with my mind wrapped up in thought, I heard someone calling me. I turned around and saw it was General Ryder.

  "Queen Elsa! Thank goodness I found you" he said running towards me. His bright blue eyes showed worry, a lot of worry.

  "General Ryder, is something wrong?" I asked. He nodded.

  "I was in one of the living rooms with King Theodore and the Princes. We were talking with Princess Anna about the trial tomorrow and Queen Skylynn has just barged into the room"

  "What happened? I allowed her to talk to the prisoner and she came out furious" I said cutting short, already following him.

  "Furious? I believe she has already written '101 Ways to Massacre King Theodore and his Brothers' on the way to the room. If you don't stop them, it won't end well" He didn't need to add another word as we were already racing to the room as fast as we could.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I had paced through this entire palace like a fury with steam coming out of my ears as I went searching for Theodore and the other two buttholes. I looked everywhere but they were nowhere to be seen. I was furious beyond human possibilities. How dare they do something like that to my brother?! -Their brother!?- The Southern Isles may be too old fashioned, but torture was not inacceptable even there! The first thoughts in my mind were: kill Herbert and Gordon, kill Herbert and Gordon, kill Herbert and Gordon. Stalking thought the castle, with the sensation of leaving a trail of fire behind me as I walked, though gave me some time to clear my head a little and think. Murdering them was not going to take me anywhere. It would have given me great pleasure, but it would have made things worse. When I finally found them, it was late enough to restrain myself from committing fratricide, if you can even call it that considering my lacking of feeling connected to them, but too soon to hold back my instincts. They were in one of the living rooms speaking with Anna. Storm was there as well and was the first to notice me as I busted into the room.

  "Queen Skylynn! Is there something wrong?" Princess Anna asked as soon as she saw me. I went straight past her and towards Herbert and Gordon.

  "You had no right to do those things to him!" I said angrily.

  "As a matter of fact we did, Heroine" Gordon said with a smug look, marking the 'heroine' with disdain "Theodore ordered us to punish him temporally while he couldn't so-"

  "-No, not putting him to work into the mines, you idiot. What you did to him!"

  "Queen Skylynn, please don't make a scene in front of the Princess" Theodore said looking worried.

  "Actually we could" continued Herbert pacing back next to Theodore and Gordon, completely ignoring his older brother "Law says that if the prisoner doesn't do his job properly, it is our right to punish him"

  "Oh, please! You just find every possible excuse to beat him up because you're just heartless, sadist assholes!" I shouted. I heard Anna gasp in astonishment behind me.

  "What did you dare call us?" Gordon said looking at me with hatred.

  "Miserable… self-centered… heartless… sadist… ASSHOLES!" I repeated with poison dripping onto every word "Who have spent every waking minute of their whole existence making both mine and Hans's life a living hell! I'M OFFICIALLY OVER IT!"

  "Queen Skylynn, please, calm down" Anna worriedly said.

  "I'm sorry, Princess Anna, but I'm not going to just stand here and do nothing knowing in what condition they put my brother in" I replied, trying hard not to snap at her. After all, she had nothing to do with this.

  "We put him in the condition a scumbag like him should be" Gordon replied.

  "You put him in a condition not even an animal should be in!" I snapped back "You cowards! Hiding behind your number like a pack of hyenas only to strike when one is at his weakest!"

  "You better watch your mouth, brat! Do not challenge us, Skylynn!" Herbert replied.

  "Enough, all three of you!" Theodore thundered

  "Theodore's right!" Herbert added "You girl, better apologize to us right now before you dishonor the Westerguards in front of the Princess of Arendelle, then we'll speak like civilized people" he commanded. I looked at them in disbelief, though, why? I was supposed to expect it.

  "You've got to be kidding me! You broke your own kingdom's law, beaten up your brother like an animal and all you care about is your damn honor?! You're the ones who shamed themselves just now!" I snapped.

  "Shame?!" Gordon said with a scoff.

  "The only thing we're to be ashamed of is Hans trying to commit regicide along with your existence and childish behavior, you arrogant brat!" Herbert replied.

  "You two are so damn lucky Princess Anna is here right now, because you have no idea how much pleasure it would give me to skewer you on my sword like fish right now!" Okay, I should have kept that to myself...

  "Queen Skylynn-" Anna's worried and gentle voice called, only to be immediately cut off by her sister's.

  "What is going on here?!" Queen Elsa demanded in an authoritative manner as she entered the room accompanied by Storm. I hadn't even noticed he had left the room because of how angry I was. She immediately walked towards her sister in a protective way, never leaving her regal composure.

  "What's going on?!" I repeated sardonically "It goes on that I go to the dungeons, notice that Hans is even more injured than he seems, force him to show me his back and realize that these two assh-" Herbert cut me off

  "SKYLYNN, I FORBID YOU TO TELL QUEEN ELSA AND PRINCESS ANNA-"

  "-BECAUSE YOU'RE AFRAID OF THEM, ARE YOU? You're afraid of showing yourself for who you really are!"

  "Skylynn you're taking this too far!" Theodore boomed "I don't care about your attitude-"

  "Well I don't give a hot wet monkey's ass what you care for!" I snapped furiously "You're not my king" I said pointing my hand at him "You see I'm a queen myself now, Theodore, we're equals! And that means I can finally tell you exactly what I think of you! All of you" I said marching towards them "I have hated you! Ever since the day I met you. You are horrible people, who never once showed any sort of kindness to Hans of the Southern Isles so don't you dare think for a second that he doesn't hate you too! I despise you, but you know what? After all you put me through I also want to thank you, because you've made me so much stronger. If it wasn't for all of your torture I wouldn't have learned how to be this way and to never back down. So thank you, Gordon and Herbert. Thank you and the others for helping me become a fighter. But keep this in mind: when the day comes and you will pay for all that you did to us, don't start playing victim and blame Hans and I because you, boys, dug your own grave! And for the record, I'm glad I'm Albert's illegitimate child, because, frankly, I'm the one who is ashamed of sharing half of my blood with you and I consider myself lucky for that and I'm actually sorry for Hans for being your full-blooded brother! If you were only half the princes Hans is-"

  "QUEEN SKYLYNN!" Queen Elsa boomed.

  "Excuse me! I'm not done!" I said and turned back to them "You Herbert and Gordon along with the others are not one little bit worth of being called 'brothers'. What kind of brothers beat up their younger sibling the way you did to Hans for all those years? And for what? Because you're envious monsters who have seen
what he is capable of and were jealous of him! You disgust me!"

  "If I were you I would choose my next words very carefully" Gordon said with hatred burning in his eyes.

  "Or WHAT?! You know you can't do anything to me and not just because I can take you! So what more will you do to him? You already put him through hell" I paused and took a step closer menacingly "This humiliation in front of the Queen and the Princess is nothing compared to what you deserve"

  "Get the hell out of here, Skylynn!" Herbert said getting to my face.

  "Make me get the hell out of here!"

  "ENOUGH!" Elsa thundered as ice blasted from her hands covering the furniture with ice, making us all jump. Anna yelped, startled by her sister's outburst gripping on her arm. Elsa turned for a second towards Anna "Sorry" she apologized to her, thawing the furniture. Anna waved her hand in an 'it's fine' manner, but never let go of her arm.

  "I have heard enough" Elsa said sternly "Queen Skylynn if what you say it's true, you have every right to be angry but it doesn't give you the right to barge into the room like a Fury and assault King Theodore and the Princes like that" she said, then she turned to Theodore and the princes "And you… I honestly have nothing and don't know what to say…" but it wasn't a positive comment it had disdain in it and I was satisfied about it. I had humiliated them and they deserved it "King Theodore" Elsa said "With all due respect, if what Queen Skylynn says is true, I suggest you tell your brothers to revise their punishing methods"

  "Of course it's not true!" King Theodore said "Physical torture is forbidden in the Isles! I expressed myself very clearly to my brothers. I told them to punish Hans the way they see fit, but none of our laws allows physical torture to be inflicted on the criminal"

  "Oh, that's rich!" I snapped

  "Queen Skylynn" Queen Elsa severely warned but I didn't listen. Her voice seemed like a distant sound unable to reach me because of how angry I was.

  "You know, I'm actually very disappointed of you, Theodore" I said "Hans has the evidence of what they did on his body, yet you believe these two of your ape brothers" I continued "You know, I've just been clear about what I think of them and not you…" I paused looking at the huge man in front of me "You are a coward, Theodore, and I've had enough. Hans had to put up with them for years and put all his hopes in you and honestly I did too, but you let us down. Not once you tried to stop them from making our lives miserable. You never believed the times Hans and I told you the cause of those bruises. You're just as cruel as they are and I can't even understand how I could have seen some good in you. I thought you were different from them, that I knew you, but I guess I was very wrong, you're just as much of a bluff as they are"