Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "I'm not like that, Skylynn" he turned to his siblings "And you two better know that we're having a talk afterwards" Herbert and Gordon glared at both me and Theodore who turned back to me "I never wanted you and Hans to face all that and you know it"

  "Do I?!" I snapped "What proof do I have, when all you did was standing on the sidelines and do nothing?"

  "I did once tell them that neither Father and I would tolerate such a thing!"

  "That didn't do much of a difference since they beat us up when you weren't around, did it? Just admit that you couldn't care less about - not me- about Hans! I wouldn't care less if you cared about me, I lived my whole life without you and I can keep doing that" I paused and looked at him in the eyes, trying to contain the anger I had left "You have a younger brother, who sincerely believes that you hate him too. You were the only person he put his hopes in when he was despised by his other siblings and ignored by his parents. I mean- he speaks, for years he has tried to communicate, but why don't you… listen? Why are you so dense?" my voice was gradually raising again "Why do keep putting his hopes up and then shatter them? Wh-whenever you feel like- whenever there's something else to do!? Why don't you show him that you actually care a bit about him?! JUST FOR ONCE!"

  "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?! I do care about him! I am the King of the Southern Isles I could have simply gone past our laws and execute him right away but I didn't! I followed the rules and brought him here, and you'd better watch your tongue because I'm not allowing some girl who's 20 years younger than me to scold me and tell me what to do. If you were just a tiny bit more mature you would have not acted like this, you're the Queen of Drakora, for Christ's sake! You have a kingdom to run and you act like an impulsive child! You may have been through a war but you're just a kid! You're a queen! Act like it! Don't you think that all that he's done here and concerns you, doesn't also concern me?" I chuckled with no humor, shaking my head.

  "You know so well how in the wrong you are that you're hiding behind our age gap… and I'm the immature one?" I looked back at him in the eyes "You know, you and Hans share the same parents and live under the same roof but you have never been a brother to him… I have been a sister and we only have the same father and lived separated" I lowered my head and gaze "And you are just… so tragically blind that…" I snapped my head back up "The rest of your brothers are going to turn into manipulative, power hungry, sociopaths under your watch" That did it.

  "You little piece of-!" he said angrily as he marched towards me.

  "Whoa! Theo! Hold it!- Your Majesty! Don't!" Herbert and Storm shouted holding him back with Gordon's help.

  "COME ON! YOU WANNA BEAT ME UP?!" I provoked marching towards him myself.

  "Queen Skylynn, STOP! – DON'T!" Elsa and Anna shouted holding me back. Then Queen Elsa let go of me and stood between me and Theodore as Anna held me.

  "ENOUGH!" Elsa thundered with authority. Theodore and I both stopped struggling. "That is enough! I am the Queen of Arendelle and such inappropriate behavior for two monarchs is unacceptable, especially in front of my sister and I. Guards!" she called and a few armed men came inside the room "Please escort King Theodore and the Princes to their quarters and Queen Skylynn to my study and make sure they stay in there until my arrival. A few minutes to clear their heads will make them think over their behavior" She ordered keeping her regal composure. Anna let go of my arms as I gave Elsa a look. She looked at me in such an authoritative manner that would have killed any sort of complaining, which I had no intention of making, same thing went for Theodore and the two apes. I obliged and let the guards escort me to Elsa's study preparing myself for later. Elsa was going to lecture me sooner or later. In fact, not too long after I got into the study, she came into the room with Anna trailing behind her.

  Theodore's POV:

  "YOU BEAT HIM UP?! TORTURED HIM?!" I thundered as soon as Queen Elsa left us alone and I ordered General Ryder to leave his guarding post at my door.

  "Really?! You believe that little brat?" Herbert said offended.

  "Yes, Herbert. I do, because Skylynn may be impulsive, but she's not stupid! Making all this fuss for a lie? I'm not buying it this time" I said angrily.

  "She humiliated us in front of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna and you're willing to defend her?!" Gordon said angrily as well.

  "I'm not defending her! This is about your behavior! I put you in charge of Hans' temporary punishment and hard work in the mines was fine, but this? You've taken it too far! This is not how a prince behaves! And what makes it worse is that I was so caught up with my king duties that I never noticed what you were doing right under my nose. I've never felt more stupid in my life?!"

  "Why do you care?!" Herbert said "He's just a criminal! He tried to kill the queen and the princess of this kingdom, he doesn't deserve any mercy"

  "You've never given him- them- any mercy from the day they were born! And what for?! What have Hans and Skylynn ever done to you?"

  "They were born!" Gordon said "He with his smarts and she… she's a bastard! And don't act like you don't know of what Father did before lending you that crown" I remained silent for a moment and then I spoke up.

  "You know, Skylynn is right. Hans was more of a prince than you will ever be, if he became what he is now it's just because of you and all you put him through. Using Skylynn's words, you turned him into a lying, manipulative, power hungry, sociopath and if Queen Elsa decides to apply the execution in exceptione and Hans dies, consider that our brother's death will be on you" I said and walked to the door.

  "You see why Skylynn doesn't deserve any mercy? You are not and will never be a true king, you were a softy and you shall always remain a softy" Herbert said.

  "Better being a king with a soft heart, that a prince without one" I countered and got out of the room, not waiting for their response.

  Elsa's POV:

  "I'm having enough of you, Queen Skylynn!" I said trying to contain my irritation as I entered the study. Anna followed behind.

  "Hey, they deserved it!" she countered putting up her cocky attitude.

  "You are crossing the line! You are in our home and you can't just barge in like that and assault my guests under my watch! You can't do whatever you want and humiliate a king and two princes like that! Do you have any idea in what sort of situation you put me in?!"

  "If I made a fuss it was for a reason! I wanted to humiliate them in front of you. I wanted you to see their real face and if that meant making a scene, then I'm glad I did!"

  "You weren't just mad because of a few wounds-"

  "-A few wounds?!" she said with her grey eyes widened "Go to the dungeons! Go take a look at his back!"

  "You were out of your mind!" Anna cut in "You really still have all my admiration for your actions during the war but frankly, for the whole time I was actually scared of you" That seemed to get her to shut up.

  "Look" I said calmly "I understand being angry for what they did to both you and him, but you can't make a scene like that especially when whatever happens here is under my responsibility"

  "I had every right to have that outburst! What they did to him was insane! They know they can't do anything to me anymore, so they take it out on him. Do you know in how many they usually beat him up?" she asked "From 3 to 6 and you still think I should have just stayed there and be silent about it? Maybe I was wrong, maybe you aren't naïve and gullible, maybe you are just like them" Ok, that is it.

  "You know what, Skylynn? The only reason why I haven't personally kicked you out of here is because of that alliance, but ever since you came here you've been up my butt and I'm sick of it!" I said slightly raising my voice, not really caring for my expression either "I may be the Snow Queen, but I'm not a cold hearted monster". The only reason why nothing was frosting was because Anna was next to me holding my arm and making comfortable circles with her thumb.

  "Neither is Hans. He may have done a huge mistake but he's nothing close to that" she countered. I actuall
y felt sorry for her. After that talk I had with Hans… she had so much faith in him and he didn't care for her at all… and he said it pretty clearly. He wanted me to freeze his heart, but what's the point in freezing something that is already frozen?

  "We're not talking about Hans right now, we're talking about the way you behaved earlier. Since you came here you seemed to be doing nothing but testing my patience and now this? I'm starting to think that I somehow got on your Black List. Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't ask you to leave in this instant" Queen Skylynn closed her eyes and took a deep breath running a hand through her auburn bangs, softly gripping to them, revealing the scar on her eyebrow by doing so. It was bigger than I thought. It wasn't just a small thin cut on the corner of her brow, it cut there and stretched to her temple. Then she let her bangs fall back in place again and spoke up.

  "I don't have any" she paused and took another deep breath "You're right I should have discussed this matter in a more civilized way and not let anger get the best of me… although you have no idea what we've been through… of one thing Theodore was right: I'm a queen, I have to act like it… the way I acted earlier wasn't even close" she paused "I sincerely apologize, but if you want to send me away, please allow me to stay until after the trial and, just to make things clear, you're not on my Black List it's… it's just my way of studying people" I looked at Anna, her eyes were clearly saying 'give her a chance'. I gave her a small smile and turned back to the young queen in front of me.

  "Look, Queen Skylynn. I'm willing to give you another chance. You're allowed to stay her for as long as you wish, but if something like that happens again, I'm going to have to ask you to pack your belongings and go back to your country" I said. The grey eyed queen gave us a smile and bowed her head.

  "Thank you, Queen Elsa" she said "And I'm sorry for scaring you, Princess Anna"

  "It's fine. I bet King Theodore, Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon were even more scared" Anna said with a bright smile. That got us both to smile along.

  "I tend to have that effect on people when I'm angry" she answered. Then she seemed to recall something and turned back to me. "You called me 'Skylynn' earlier"

  "Oh! I'm sorry… it must have slipped" I said feeling slightly embarrassed for the fact that I forgot her title when I addressed her. She was still a queen after all.

  "No, it's fine. I actually wanted to ask both you and your sister a favor" Anna and I shared a look and turned back to her as she smiled "Call me Skylynn or Sky if you prefer" Anna seemed to be shocked with enthusiasm when she said those words.

  "Alright, Skylynn" I said

  "Of course, Sky!" Anna said excitedly "You can just call me Anna if you want to" she said.

  "Or course, Anna" she said holding back a laugh at my sister enthusiasm "Well, then… I guess I'll go. I'll see you around, Anna" she said and turned to me nodding her head "Queen Elsa"

  "Please, just Elsa" I said

  "Then I'll see you around, Elsa" she said and walked away. As soon as she was out, Anna squealed in excitement clutching to my arm jumping up and down and then threw her arms around my neck for the excitement.

  "She let us call her by her nickname! Her nickname, Elsa!" she said happily "My idol actually told me I could call her with her nickname! Oh, my goodness! I have to tell Kristoff!" she kissed my cheek said a frantic 'bye-bye' and ran out of the room almost tripping on the door. I shook my head. This Skylynn was… still a mystery. I couldn't quite decipher yet. She was on Hans's side, but was it a good side or a bad one? I still had to figure it out. Then it hit me… Kristoff! He needed my help to wrap the ring box decently!

  "Anna! Wait up! Come back here for a moment!" I shouted and ran out of the room frantically searching for my sister and making up an excuse to postpone her search for Kristoff… and almost tripping on the door on the way, but luckily I succeed in my mission. After that little fuss, I headed back to the dungeons. The doctor must have probably arrived and checked on Hans. As I got to the cell, I asked the guards if the doctor was there, they nodded and opened the cell door for me. As I got inside I saw the physician checking on an unconscious Hans placing his stethoscope on his bare chest.

  "Doctor" I called. The man turned to me and bowed.

  "Your Majesty" he greeted.

  "How is he?" I asked motioning to Hans.

  "Not good" the doctor said "And not a good patient either. I needed the guards to help me put him to sleep. He doesn't want anyone to even touch him" I took a look at Hans, now that he was shirtless, you could see he wasn't fine at all. He was underweight, I mean, his abs were there, but his ribs weren't supposed to be that visible. There was an old scar on his chest and another one on his side. Then I saw something that I hadn't noticed before, he was wearing a small golden necklace with drop-like pendant with a silver spot on the large end: Ying and Yung. It was the only valuable object he had and it represented the part of the symbol that meant 'You can be evil, but not completely'. I stopped observing when the doctor turned back to me. "Would her Majesty want to know what's wrong with him?"

  "Yes, please" I said

  "As you can clearly see, he's being underfed, your Majesty, he needs to eat more and healthier" he began "You can also clearly see that bruise on his face, there are other two here and here, but they're older than the first one" he said pointing the two dark spots on his abdomen "His hand had a deep cut but I already disinfected it and changed the bandages. His foot will be fine though. It's just a bit swollen but he'll be okay, he probably fell somewhere"

  "Can you tell where do all these injuries come from?" I asked.

  "Beating, with no doubt, and those scars" he said pointing the one on his chest and on his side "surely come from a sword. They're old, of course, but this young man has been assaulted more than once, probably by more than one person"

  "How can you be so sure?" I asked, hoping that the bad feeling I was having to disappear.

  "Your Majesty, look at him. He's 6'1" tall, a prince, well trained in the military arts, I believe he is more than capable of defending himself in a fair fight" Then, Skylynn's words echoed in my head 'Go to the dungeons! Go take a look at his back!'

  "Have you checked his back?" I asked.

  "No, I was about to" the doctor said and rolled him over to reveal his back "Dear Lord…" the doctor commented as he saw his back. I was shocked too with the amount of wounds on his back. Some were still open, others were infected, his skin was red and angry around the gashes. "These need to be disinfected and bandaged, now" the doctor said getting some bandages and other medical stuff.

  "How can I help?" I said on instinct.

  "Your Majesty, I don't think that-"

  "Just because I'm queen it doesn't mean that I can't help aiding someone in need" I said.

  "Very well" he said. He immediately went to clean up the wounds when he stopped "Your Majesty, I need to ask you to use your powers"

  "What? My- my powers?" I said taken aback.

  "I didn't exactly give him a strong sleeping injection… he can feel pain if it is too much. If you used your powers on his wounds once I clean them it would easier the pain and he shouldn't wake up"

  "Alright" I said. The doctor then cleaned the first wound and as soon as he moved his hand I instantly passed a soft snow frost, careful not to lose control and hurt him. The doctor and I kept up with this until he also finished the disinfecting.

  "Help me pull him up" he said and first we turned Hans around careful not to touch his wounds, then we sat him up "Okay, I'll you hold him up while her Majesty puts the bandages" I nodded and did as the doctor said. I still couldn't believe that the man that once tried to kill Anna and I and steal our kingdom, was now in these condition. What was even more disturbing was that his own brothers did that to him. A very small part of me was starting to regret scolding Skylynn, because if someone did that to Anna I probably would have done the same. I actually sympathized with her.

  Once I was done, we settled Hans down and I covered him w
ith a blanket, then the doctor and I got out of the cell door and as we walked out of the dungeons, the man explained what had to be done.

  "I don't know what you'll decide tomorrow during his trial, your Majesty, but if you let him live, he'll need to rest until his wounds are better, the bandages need to be changed every night and every morning and this ointment" he said taking out a small container from his bag "needs to be put on his wounds every time the bandage is changed. He also needs to eat more and healthier and once his back is healed enough, he'll be good to go and obey whichever punishment you decide tomorrow"

  "I'll tell Kai to put someone in charge of his medication. Thank you for your assistance"

  "Duty, your Majesty" he said, bowed and went his own way. Of one thing I was certain though: Hans might have been a frozen hearted beast, but his brothers are heartless monsters… Skylynn was telling the truth all along, no wonder why she looked like she was about to murder those three when she got out of that cell.

  I was worried about what was going to happen tomorrow. I never held a trial before and the idea of having a man's life in my hands, even if that man was Hans, it scared me. According to the law, now that I had revoked death penalty, he was supposed to be either shipped back to the Southern Isles and let his brothers deal with him, which after what I saw was like condemning him to death, or exile him, which would have ended up the same way, if not he would have been an attempted regicide on the lose who might give it another shot in another kingdom or come back for revenge. A chill ran down my spine when I realized there wasn't a law I had yet revoked as it was an old Arendellian law which my ministers seemed to still be very attached to and was supposed to be used in extreme situations: the execution in exceptione, meaning the 'exception' execution. In an easier language, the law said: if the monarch revokes death penalty, in cases of serious and extreme need, the ruler is allowed to sentence the prisoner to death. The law was then followed by the series of situation in which that law was applicable and attempted regicide, or indeed regicide, along with high treason was among them, as the prisoner could be a threat to the other kingdoms as well.