Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "Your Majesty! We were so worried about you!" said Kai.

  "When you sister came back and you weren't with her we thought you were- oh, I don't even want to think about it!" Gerda said with watery eyes.

  "I'm fine. It's over. The traitors have been stopped" I said

  "We saw a storm over the hippodrome, what happened?" asked Kai.

  "Let's just say that it got chilly" I said.

  "Elsa!" I heard someone call, I looked over Gerda's shoulder, and saw Kristoff running towards me. "Thank goodness, you're okay!" he said and for once I put aside my 'Untouchable-Older-Fiancée's- Sister' demeanor and let Kristoff hug me tightly, not caring if the servants were watching us. "Gosh, you got us worried sick!" he said planting a kiss on my cheek as he pulled away.

  "I'm fine" I answered "Where's Anna? And what happened to your cheekbone?" I asked noticing the small bruise on his face.

  "She's freaking out in your room" he said "I had to lock her in to make sure she wouldn't get back into the square, and I earned an elbow in the face carrying her there because of how much she was struggling"

  "Then I better go to her before she decides to climb out of the window" I said, then I noticed Kai had a clean tissue sticking out of his jacket pocket, I took it, created some ice to put in, closed it and gave it to Kristoff so he could put it on his cheek, before rushing to the room accompanied by Kristoff. As I got there, holding the ice pack in a hand and taking out the key in another, Kristoff unlocked the door for me and I opened the door. As I got in, I saw Anna stopping her pacing and snapping her head towards me. Her eyes gleaming in relief as she saw me.

  "Elsa! You're okay!" she said running towards me and throwing her arms around my neck, burring her face in it "I was so worried! And then I heard the servants yell about a snowstorm outside- Gosh! Don't ever do that again!" Anna said as I heard her voice tremble as she hugged me as tight as she could "Why didn't you let me stay there with you?! You said we would face everything together now!"

  "Anna I had two very good reasons for it" I said stroking her back as she hugged me even tighter "First: I am replaceable and you're not" Anna jumped away holding me at arm's length.

  "Don't you dare say that! You are not replaceable! Not to me nor to Arendelle and you know it. I-"

  "-And the second reason" I said cutting her off "You are my little sister and that means you need to stay safe"

  "I'm clumsy and awkward… sometimes, but can take care of myself!" Anna complained.

  "I know you can. But you too need to stick this into your head: I'll always try to protect you, because no matter what, I'm protective of you. I'll always be. It's in my elder sister nature and there's nothing I can do about it!" I said trying to lighten up the mood.

  "Don't I know it?" said Kristoff holding the ice pack on his face, behind us. Anna loosened her grip on my shoulders, glancing at him as I turned around to look at him raising an eyebrow.

  "Like you're one to talk!" Anna said, voicing my thoughts "You're the one who didn't even give me the time to react that I was already swept off my feet and dragged away, not to mention that you're also the one wanted to beat up Hans after Elsa thawed everything"

  "Speaking of Hans" I said remembering, pulling out of Anna's embrace "We need to speak with him"

  " 'We' as in the two of us or is it a royal we?" Anna said teasingly. I just gave her a look. Of course, I meant the both of us. Anna laughed at my expression, then looked at the smiling Kristoff in front of us, who was holding that ice pack on his face.

  "I did that, didn't I?" she said blushing a bit in embarrassment. Kristoff and I just nodded at her. Anna looked back at Kristoff and walked to him. "Sorry" she said getting to her tippy-toes and planting a kiss on his cheek "I'll make it up to you, I promise" she said.

  "Just don't hit me in the face again" he said with a smile. Anna smiled back and turned back to me, telling me to go with her eyes. Together, the three of us walked to the throne room. As expected, Hans was there, kneeled down and handcuffed. As I walked in front of him with Anna standing beside me, arms crossed glaring at him. Kristoff stood beside my sister with an impassive look.

  "Guards" I said attracting the attention of the two men standing at Hans's sides "We need to speak to the former prince, privately. Don't let anyone in except for General Ryder and Queen Skylynn if they are to be back shortly"

  "Yes, your Majesty" said the guards. Anna looked at me weirdly, but let the subject drop, again. I knew she would have asked a thousand questions later, but if this conversation went as planned, then she'd get all the answers she wanted. Once the guards were out I spoke up.

  "I'm not a person of many words, so I'll cut straight to the point: you are one undecided man" I started sternly "You are giving me- us- mixed signals" I said pointing to Anna and myself "So, start by giving us an explanation. How did you know who was behind the coup and how did you know my glass was poisoned?" Hans remained quiet, with his head down.

  "Answer her!" Anna said sternly.

  "You are alive and Arendelle is safe. It doesn't matter how I knew" he answered. Anna was about to snap something back, but I motioned her to let me do the talking.

  "Yes, it is, and if you don't answer me, maybe the other traitors will" I snapped back "So let me rephrase that: how did you know about the coup?"

  "I knew because I was supposed to be the one to kill you" he answered "They wanted me to 'finish the job' and in exchange for my help they would have set me free after taking Arendelle under their control. But-"

  "You are despicable!" Anna said "I saved your life, she has mercy of you, we save you and your sorry a-"

  "Anna, that's enough!" I interrupted

  "No, Elsa! He-"

  "Anna! This is how the thing works: first you actually let him speak and then you get to insult him if you don't like what he says" Anna huffed but remained silent, waiting for him to speak "Continue" I said turning back to Hans.

  "They wanted me to 'finish the job' but… I was outsmarted. I pretended to agree to it to figure out what they had in mind and reveal them" he glanced up at us and read our minds "Yes, I know it sounds like a load of crap, but it's true! I'm not an idiot! I know that whatever I do know will make my sister pay for it. I may be a depraved man but I'd never send an innocent to die in my place, especially if that person is my sister" he said with a hint of indignation "Anyway, they had told me that I was supposed to give you the goblet and while the final riders got ready I had to climb up the stables' roof where a crossbow was supposed to wait for me. As for how I knew that your glass was poisoned, I didn't. I figured it out. It was all by chance, actually… While I wasn't looking, the Marquise must have put the poison. He was the one who handed me the tray with your goblet and after I gave it to you, I noticed a thin layer of some dust at the base of the glass. I just put two and two together. They were trying to kill you and frame me all along" he said.

  "And you decided to save me" I stated. Silence. "Putting it this way, you are aware of what this sounds like, right?"

  "… yeah" was his quiet reply.

  "You didn't save her for the sake of saving her, you did it to save your own butt!" Anna interjected, angrily. That was exactly what I was referring to, but something told me he wasn't completely lying.

  "I think he's telling the truth" I told her. Anna looked at me with her eyes wide.

  "What?! Are you serious?! Elsa, you heard what he said! He agreed to the scheme and when he realized that they were going to give him all the blame he backed out!"

  "I did it to save you both!" Hans said.

  "No, you did it to try to kill us again and when you realized it was going to backfire, you decided to play hero!" Anna accused.

  "Not this time. And even if I did, I had nothing to win out of this" Hans answered.

  "Then why didn't you say anything about your plan to Skylynn?" Anna said, glaring at him. Hans was about to say something, but restrained himself.

  "I tried to blend in to find out their plan, but they k
ept me in the dark until today. I didn't tell her because I didn't want her and Storm to expose themselves even more. When the ex-ministers told me, they made sure I could not reach Sky or Storm" he answered instead, not looking at us "It was Count Landvick to suggest having them race, wasn't he? He was in charge of organizing the event this year" I was indeed. He did it so that Hans couldn't speak with Sky and Storm, by inviting them in something they couldn't back out from. I glanced at Kristoff. He looked thoughtful. Then I glanced at Anna, who instead narrowed her eyes at him.

  "I do not believe you" Anna said.

  "This doesn't change the fact that if it weren't for him, I'd probably be dead and maybe you could be too" I interjected before she could say anything else and turned back to Hans"So, I am going to formally thank you for saving my life and for the service you did Arendelle" I said "However…" I continued. He looked up at me and our eyes met, emerald green against icy blue "Saving my life just this once, even if twice in a day, doesn't mean that you have gained our trust and forgiveness"

  "Would three times change something?" Skylynn said entering the room with a smirk. Hans flashed a look with wide eyes at her.

  "Sky? Back so early? Shouldn't you be with Storm right now, taking care of the prisoners and you know, checking on my wounded soldiers?" I said.

  "I did and rushed here as soon as I could. Storm is taking care of the last things" she said "Anyway, maybe one saving wouldn't do much, but do three count?"

  "Sky, he saved me from the poisoning and being shot" I said.

  "Sky don't" Hans pleaded looking to the ground.

  "Sorry, but I don't like taking credit for something I didn't do, plus it would have come out one way or another" she said "Elsa, I wasn't the one who saved you from those hitmen in the forest, it was him"

  "Wait- what?!" Anna said taking the words out of my mouth.

  "I wouldn't have been able to save you because I had two of them on me, Hans threw himself between you and that sword, tackling the thug to the ground. That guy died because he hit his head on a rock in the fall. Even if lightly, my brother was wounded to save you" she said looking at me straight in the eyes.

  "And I wasn't the one who found the lead to the hit-men. It was him" Kristoff suddenly spoke up.

  "Kristoff, what are you talking about?!" Anna said. I looked at him in the eyes. His brown eyes sincere as always.

  "After today and what I saw I can't keep quiet" Kristoff continued "I did overhear the conversation between the two assassins, but not because I was searching a lead. Hans was. When I saw him sneaking away, I thought he was trying to escape, but he was actually following the thug to find out his plan and who was behind the regicide attempt. I followed him and he made me notice what he was actually doing" Kristoff paused "He's been on our side all along. For once, he was doing what was right" he finished as his gaze met Anna's and when she didn't reply, it was clear she knew he was telling the truth.

  "Hans, is that true?" I asked him anyway. Hans looked at me, then at Skylynn, then at Kristoff, but when he looked down and didn't answer, that was reply enough "But why did you give Skylynn and Kristoff credit for it?" I asked not understanding his decision.

  "I… I didn't want you to feel like you owe me something" he answered "And I still don't want you too. For once I acted for what I know to be right, not convenient" he answered.

  "Well… now a 'thank you' doesn't do it" Anna muttered.

  "I say that he has slept in the dungeons and wore those shackles long enough. Wouldn't you agree, your Majesty?" Skylynn said. I glared at her and so did Anna this once.

  "I say that she is the queen and she gets to decide" Anna said "But letting him out of the dungeons or take the shackles off? No way" Anna said. I took a moment to think about it. I looked at Hans, then back to Skylynn. She had full trust of him… maybe I can have some too, this once.

  "As I said earlier" I started "You don't have our forgiveness and we don't owe you anything… however" I continued "As a sign of gratitude, from now on, you'll be working in here in the palace as a servant, but you'll be under someone's watch 24/7 weather it is the guards or the other servants, or myself… and you won't be sleeping in the dungeons anymore, but you'll have a room in the servants' quarters which will be guarded" I added. Anna looked at me like if I were crazy… and maybe I was.

  "Guards!" I called. And the two men who had accompanied him, immediately came back.

  "Yes, your Majesty?" they said coming in and I told them their new orders regarding Hans "…And take the shackles off of him" I added. This time, Anna had her eyes out of her sockets. She grabbed my arm and took a few steps back so that we could speak for a moment in private, while the guards helped Hans up and unshackled him under Sky's satisfied watch.

  "Elsa, are you crazy? He might have saved you just to gain our trust and have another go to the throne! You can't trust him!" Anna said.

  "You're right. I can't trust him and I don't. But this is the least I can do after he saved my life three times" I said "After he saved me from getting poisoned, he didn't need to come back and almost take an arrow for me. He had the opportunity to have me killed today and get away with it, but he didn't"

  "Look, Skylynn is a hero and everything, but she's cunning and persuasive too. I can trust her, but you can't. She's Hans's sister and whether we like it or not, people do crazy things for their loved ones. You and I are an example"

  "Anna, look, you know I always listen to your advice. Your opinion is important to me, but when it comes to Hans… it's Sky the one I have to listen to" I answered as gently as possible. Anna looked at me unsure, then towards the two Westerguards, then back to me.

  "Do you trust Skylynn?" she asked. It took me a second to think it well over.

  "I do" I answered finally "She's my friend" Anna nodded slowly.

  "Then, I believe you did the right thing" she said with a small hint of sadness. I caressed her cheek with my hand and told her to go and that I'd see her again later. She nodded and glanced back at me once, then towards Hans and Sky and then linking her arm with Kristoff's, they walked away as I turned back around to face Hans who was now free from the shackles.

  "Thank you, Queen Elsa" Hans said bowing, placing a hand on his heart "I swear on my life that you won't regret it"

  "I better not" I said looking at him straight in the eyes. He bowed again and walked out of the throne room followed by the guards. I had done it: I had just given him a chance to prove himself. Skylynn met my gaze and smirked walking towards me.

  "See? He's not all that bad" she said with that side smile that annoyingly was just like Hans's.

  "I hate it when you are right" I grumbled.

  "When it comes to my brother I always am"

  "We'll see about that" I countered. She just smirked, her gray eyes gleaming playfully, as she walked past me, but I stopped her with my hand "Not so fast" I said.

  "Whatever it is you think I did, I didn't do it this time" she said.

  "No, you did something" I said.

  "Oh, yeah? Enlighten me"

  "You knew about the coup, didn't you? Both you and Storm did" I said.

  "I had absolutely no idea" she answered. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she held my gaze.

  "Oh, really? So you mean to tell me that in this last period you and Storm have just been attached to Anna and I like leeches just because you enjoyed our company?" I said sarcastically

  "Yes" she replied, totally poker faced.

  "You really are Hans's younger sister" I said shaking my head

  "What made you finally come to that conclusion?" she asked playfully.

  "You being such an irritating good liar, that's what" I added.

  "Oh, I would never!" she said giving me a light pat on my arm. I playfully glared at her as she smiled, holding herself back from laughing in my face.

  "Oh, and by the way, I'm prickly?" I said, not forgetting her comment during the attack.

  "It's the sad truth, gotta live with it" she replied no
nchalantly. I stared at her for a moment.

  "That's the exit, Sky" I said and she burst out laughing "Get. Out." I added pushing her away, laughing.

  "Of course, your Majesty" she said with a deep teasing bow and walked away as I shook my head… part of me hoping that Anna was right and that by trusting Skylynn I had done the right thing.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  We were in the middle of November by now and Hans has been behaving himself pretty well. I have to give him that. The shocker was when Kai informed me that sometimes Hans was asked to go run some errands in town (always with guards escorting him, of course). You can imagine my disbelief when he told me that the guards told him that he had behaved well, never tried to run, did his errand and headed back to the castle. Not to mention that ever since he publicly saved their queen twice in a day the people of Arendelle had started opening up to him a little, meaning that they weren't looking at him like an awful criminal anymore, sure he still had to work to gain the people's trust, but he wasn't looked at with as much disdain. Some people had begun to see him as someone trying to make up for his deeds and most of them realized that it was better not to add more weight to his punishment, through ridicule or criticism. They let him be. Unfortunately, I was sure that not everyone was treating him in such way, some still treated him like the worst of criminals. By the way he looked sometimes, I just knew that something was bothering him. Hans was also looking much better since he came here. He had finally gained more weight and his wounds were healed, he was in full health, looking just as handsome as he was when he came here to my coronation. Other than that, Hans and I have been spending some time together too, it wasn't anything special, just him doing his chores and me ordering around, or me reading in the library as he worked.