Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "Your Majesty, I wasn't expecting to see you here! I'm on stable boy-duty, I swear!" he immediately said raising his hands in surrender.

  "Hans, it's fine. My question here is actually, why are you alone? Shouldn't Steward be with you?" I asked, not seeing the stable boy anywhere near him.

  "Steward went to get some hay for the horses, he'll be back in a little and told me to brush them in the meantime" he explained.

  "I can see you caught up with Sitron" I said pointing at his horse.

  "Thank you for taking care of him while I was back in the Isles" he said with a grateful look. I gave him a small smile and nodded, walking next to him and petting Sitron on his neck "You seem to be pretty at ease around him" he said looking at me curiously while he continued brushing him.

  "It might be because he liked me immediately, unlike your sister" I answered

  "Oh, Sky told you. Did she also tell you that this big guy almost bit her once?" he said with a slight smile.

  "No, I miss that one" I answered with a slight chuckle. Then there was a moment of silence. As I petted Sitron's main, I watched as Hans finished brushing him, then I took a look at Sitron, then back at Hans… and a crazy idea popped in my mind.

  "Would you like to ride him?" I asked Hans, who almost had the brush fall out of his hands for the surprise, forcing me to hold back a giggle at his sudden goofiness.

  "Pardon me, your Majesty?" he asked not sure if he had heard correctly.

  "I said: would you like to go for a ride on your horse? How long has it been since you last rode him?" I repeated.

  "Since I left for the Isles, but, are you serious?" he said and looked around unbelievingly "With no guards? Alone?"

  "I said you're going to be guarded 24/7, so if there are no guards…" I left the sentence hanging giving him a look he understood "Go prepare Sitron and Sapphire, we're heading out for a ride" I ordered.

  "We? As in… 'you and I'?... That's it?" he said incredulously "No guards staring at me? No servants giving me warning looks? No Kristoff cracking his knuckles every time I glance at him? No Princess Anna threatening to punch me in the face again?"

  "Hans, are you doubting my ability to take care of myself?" I said with a challenging look as I made my hand glow in a soft ice blue light with soft snow swirling around it.

  "After an eternal winter, a giant ice monster and that showdown at the hippodrome? Absolutely not" he said raising his hands in surrender. He immediately went to a box where there was a beautiful mare as white as snow. That was Sapphire, she was 4 years-old now; she was just a colt when Mama was gifted with her. My mother never got the chance to ride her. Sapphire was too young, and by the time she could have ridden her, my parents died. I rode Sapphire, instead, but she has never really been my horse. Maybe because I just rode her a couple of times or maybe because, to me that was my mother's horse. Anyway, as soon as he was done preparing Sapphire, he got all the riding equipment for Sitron and got him ready. As soon as he was done, he took the horses out of the stables as I followed. Then he swung the reins over Sapphire's head and waited for me. I walked to him until I stood in front of him. It was then that I got run over a wave of awkwardness as I realized, he had to help me up on the saddle. He too felt the awkwardness and slightly cleared his throat looking at the ground as I hesitantly put my hands on his shoulders as he put his on my waist to lift me up and place me on the side saddle. As soon as I was up, swinging my legs on the holders, I took hold of the reins and not too long after he was on his horse.

  As soon as we were ready, we started our walk in silence. Sometimes I would steal a glance at him and not only to keep an eye out. Hans was quietly riding beside me. Sometimes I would notice him glancing back at me, but avert his gaze as soon as I looked at him.

  "Is the weather always this nice in autumn?" Hans suddenly asked, breaking the ice and awkwardness.

  "Not always, heavy pours announce storm season" I answered.

  "Then we're lucky today is sunny" he said.

  "Autumn is usually the season with the worst weather in Arendelle, one moment it's sunny and the next it's raining. Spring and summer are beautiful. Winter has its days" I told him.

  "Is winter here all-natural or does it get a little help?" he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

  "Excuse me, it was one time" I said with smirk "You freeze a kingdom eternally once, it sticks with you" I added earning a small laugh from him. This conversation couldn't have gotten more surreal. A queen riding and chatting about the weather with her attempted murderer… it sounds like the start of a bad joke! Even though, I have to say, as the small talk went on, the awkwardness of the situation slowly vanished. I asked Hans how he was holding up with the servant duties he had to attend and he assured me that everything was fine, that of course, at first it wasn't as good, since he never did any of that stuff before. He had seen the maids and the servants do it back at the castle in the Southern Isles, but he said it looked much easier than it actually was. He admitted that he never thought that washing floors, scrubbing dishes, polishing mirrors and shoveling horse poop was that tiring, but he wasn't complaining, he knew he deserved it. After a while, we decided to have a little race to the lake, let the horses drink, have another small walk and then head back to the stables. As we cantered to the lake, you could say that it turned out to be a tie, none of us was actually racing. Maybe it was because I didn't want to turn my back on him, or maybe because he didn't want me to think he was going slow on purpose so that he could stay behind, either way, we started the race side by side and we finished it side by side.

  "You're a very good rider, your Majesty" Hans complimented as we let our horses near the lake to drink.

  "Thank you, Hans" I said "You're a very good rider yourself" He just gave me a small smile and mimicked me as I patted my horse's neck.

  "When did you learn how to ride? I thought you never went out of your room" he said, curiously.

  "When my parents would go to town for events and took Anna in my place as representative" I answered honestly "I would wear the gloves, sneak out of my room and go to the stables on my own, have my personal riding teacher prepare the horse and he would teach me, while my parents were out. Of course, they knew about it, but it was the only way so that I wouldn't accidentally run into Anna and risk hurting her… again" He nodded in understanding. Then we started to walk again.

  "I couldn't help but notice you spend a lot of time in the library" he said.

  "So do you" I answered.

  "It's nice and quiet and not that hard to clean… and I sort of like reading a few lines of some books I find" he admitted shyly.

  "So, instead of working you read" I stated, hiding a smile

  "5 minute breaks" he answered "And then I get back to my duties. What can I say? I like reading!"

  "Which is your favorite genre?" I asked him. It was then that we started a long real conversation about our tastes in books. Hans had a very refined taste in literature. We both liked to read the most different book genres. Hans was a little more into philosophy, while I was more into theatrical genres, though he admitted in having a guilty pleasure in Shakespeare and I had a guilty pleasure in geometry. He found it weird, he couldn't understand how someone could wake up in the morning and decide to read a book about solid or plane figures, angles and numbers and Thales theorems. As an answer to that, I didn't know, I just liked it. As for me, I was surprised when he admitted he liked Romeo and Juliet and like me, he disliked Romeo, as he was a love-struck puppy for the whole tragedy.

  "I know it's meant to be a tragedy, but if you look at it in a more logical way, there was a way out" Hans criticized "Romeo wanted to live his 'happily ever after' with Juliet. He was to be banished. The moment he goes see Juliet, instead of saying goodbye he could have asked her to come with him and run away together! I would have done if I were him" he said with a smile.

  "My thoughts exactly! If I were Juliet, I'd have probably said 'yes'!" I added "Or rather, if he didn't suggested it,
I would have told him to take me with him. But apart from that the language Shakespeare uses is amazing. It's elegant, it's powerful, it's clear and it hits you"

  "It is" Hans agreed "Isn't it fascinating, though, how Shakespeare got most of the themes and twists from the Est Ancient culture?" he asked "And the message is not just eternal it's also –well-… hard to swallow. Hate only creates more hate and violence doesn't take you anywhere, it only creates more violence" Hans said.

  "You will never realize your mistake until you lose something important" I added. It was only then that I realized how our relaxed tone has died down as we said those words. In a way they sounded dangerously too familiar. Hans and I shared a look, but this time neither of us wanted to dwell on what happened. For once, we just wanted to enjoy a walk.

  "Well, that's what makes Shakespeare a genius" I replied lighting up the mood. We both smiled to one another, then I looked around and my smile vanished once again. "Uhm… Hans?" I said stopping Sapphire

  "Yes, my Queen?" he said stopping Sitron as well.

  "Where are we?" I asked him, not recognizing the place.

  "Uhm… Actually… I was following you, Milady" he replied.

  "What?!" I exclaimed, shocked "Well, do you know which direction we came from?" Hans scratched the back of his neck.

  "I may have also been a little more interested in what you were saying, than to paying attention to the road" he answered, looking to the ground. He didn't know, and I didn't know…We had been so lost in our chat that we weren't even looking where we were going.

  "Wonderful…we're lost…" I grumbled. If Hans and I were the start of a bad joke, this was the punch line. I started thinking over my geography lessons and tried to think which direction were the stables, but the moment I looked down, my shadow was gone. I looked up and saw that in that moment, the weather was becoming cloudy, in fact a big cloud had just covered the sun.

  "Really?" I heard Hans mumble in complaint.

  "Ohhh! Great!" I complained sarcastically

  "Your Majesty, don't worry. We'll find the way back before sunset" Hans reassured

  "How? We're lost, Anna is probably already worried, my soldiers will start looking for you, and to top it all, we can't even orientate ourselves using our shadows because it just got cloudy!" I complained.

  "But look on the bright side, Milady, it can't get any-" a thunder with lightning cut him off as heavy rain started pouring down, startling our horses. Luckily none of us fell. Hans looked down in embarrassment as water poured down on him.

  "Were… were you about to say 'worse'?" I said trying to contain my irritation.

  "No" he answered not daring to look at me.

  "You sure?"

  "Positive"

  "You better. Now let's find shelter before we catch pneumonia!" I said as rain soaked us.

  "I couldn't agree more!" he said and kicking our horses we galloped trying to find shelter. As we galloped, the rain got the two of us both soaking wet, and the lightning and thunders weren't really that inviting. Then, miraculously, as we ran for shelter, we both saw the Old Mill, an ancient Arendellian watchtower ruin that looked like a mill. Finally we both knew how to find our way back. We galloped as fast as we could, with the horses getting more and more restless. Then finally we saw the stables and raced there until we were finally inside. As we stopped our horses, we looked at one another once again, panting, trying to catch our breath.

  "Well…" Hans said passing a hand through his wet hair as I wrung out my soaked braid "That was refreshing!" he said. Silence. We looked at one another… and erupted in a small laughter.

  "Come on" I said shaking my head as he got down his horse and lead him to the box "Help me down and take the saddles and bridles off of the horses" I commanded, even though I knew he was just about to do that.

  "You really enjoy telling me what to do, don't you?" he said walking to me.

  "Only because you're so good at following orders" I replied with a smirk as he slid his hands on my waist.

  "And you at being queen" he said as I slid my hands on his shoulders as he helped me down. That last comment surprised me, but I didn't say anything also for another reason. The moment I was in front of him and close to him, as he helped me off Sapphire, I realized that the rain had soaked his shirt so much that it clung to his body and became see-through, giving a nice hint of his cut, lean physique. It was just a moment, but fortunately, before I could embarrass myself, Hans let go of me and took Sapphire by the reins, leading her to her box and took off her bridles and saddle, before doing the same with Sitron. As he was done, he sat back down on a chair, while I was about to leave.

  "You're not coming?" I said.

  "I'm not done with my shift" he answered.

  "Soaking wet?" I said "Are you kidding me? Go back to your quarters, I'll have someone bring you some dry clothes and then you can come back to finish your shift" I said. He smiled and followed me. We walked in a comfortable silence, with him walking beside me. As we walked, we met Steward, the head stable boy, Kai, Anna and a few guards with them. As they saw me, Anna swung her arms around me telling me how worried sick she was. The guards were ready to arrest Hans but I stopped them, telling them that he had accompanied me for a ride and we got caught in the rain, leaving out the getting lost part.

  "Why did you take him to accompany you?!" Anna said like I had just said some blasphemy.

  "I did it for the horse, Sitron was suffering without his owner" I said. Hans and I shared a small look of complicity. Then I asked Kai to bring Hans dry clothes to his quartes, so that he could finish his shift without getting sick. Of course, after that, after changing into dry clothes, I had to bare Anna's rant on how worried she was when no one found me and Hans had vanished, and how she doesn't trust him alone with me even though she knows I can impale him with an ice spike with a snap of my fingers… but to be honest. That afternoon had been worth Anna's rant.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Dear Elsa,

  first of all let me just say that you are a genius. A snow-made peregrine falcon as a messenger so I can update you with the Storm situation? It's brilliant! Considering you said you wrote your letter yesterday, I suppose it's your magic that makes it go extra-fast, but still- it's awesome. To answer your previous question, yes, we are finally home.

  I confess that this was the first time I left Drakora for so long. Looking at my kingdom from afar, for the first time I felt something new… the feeling of returning home. I know it may sound stupid, but it's something I never felt before, not even when I returned to the Southern Isles to convince my mom to move to Drakora… other than showing her I was alive and fine and telling her I was getting married- but that's another story. Thing is, returning felt sweet and welcome, and… home.

  As soon as you can, I want you, Anna and Kristoff to come visit one day. I know that many of the things I said might not have made it sound like Paradise, but never judge a book by its cover. The shining sun and the cool sea breeze that caress your face on deck are an open armed welcoming, that's all I'm going to say.

  Now, I'll have to go on with the least pleasant news: Storm's trial. I promised I was going to bring him back to you, and I will, but you are not a child to whom you have to hide the truth to, so I'll be honest and tell you how things really are.

  I'll start off by saying that before we could dock, the former king Albert Westerguard was here already. Storm told me that he brought some letters that testify their association. I haven't read the letters, but I suppose it should prove that the only reason why Storm left was to protect a fellow comrade who coincidently is also a Westerguard, hence saving the hope of a possible alliance between the kingdoms. I don't need to get into details. Thing is, it might not be enough because of the consequence of his sudden 'desertion' and the act itself. Treason is not something Drakora forgives nor forgets. Being able to reintegrate him in our community is going to be hard, mostly because according to our law, unlike you with Hans, I am not the one who holds
his fate in her hands.

  The trial shall take place tomorrow at the Palace of Justice. It shall be public and it'll be held by the Supreme Council due to the involvement of the Royal Family.

  I spoke with Princess Angel and her Prince Consort, Argos, about the trial. Argos fought with us during the rebellion as for Angel, she is not just my sister-in-law, she's a dear friend and Royal Advisor to the Crown, and they are both still confused over his actions, as before his disappearance, Storm had shown nothing but loyalty and devotion to House Panagos. Good news is that they are willing to give him a chance to explain himself and listen to him. If Angel sees that Storm is innocent, that he acted once again out of loyalty to me, she and her husband, along with Prince Albert of the Southern Isles and myself, are going to speak in Storm's favor, but what the other key members of the army will have to say is unknown to me.

  There is also another serious matter I need to speak to you about and it concerns the first reason to why I had to return home: Weselton.

  When Angel first handed me the envelope, my first thought was: 'another trading agreement'. Unfortunately, Angel knows that when such agreements from said dukedom come and I'm not there, she is free to send a refusal. This is different. The letter doesn't exactly say what they want, but it says something about a final proposal with 'an offer we can't refuse'. If there is a reign Drakora can defeat without any help it is indeed Weselton, but Angel and I are afraid that if the Duke is being so bold it's because he's got something up his sleeve. The Wessel ambassador will arrive tomorrow and I'll see him after Storm's trial. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day, but whatever happens I won't give up.