❖ The man before her had been sent away with friends of the kingdom. Men that were part of neighboring kingdoms, and those whom Arendelle had been responsible for. The unseasonable cold had resulted in an unpleasant stay, and now those men were tossed to the waves. Could it have been a storm? The very thought made her eyes shut tightly, hands still clenched at the bars. She loosened her grip now, as he turned his attention to her.
An apology was heard, but unacknowledged. She merely dropped her attention, a respectful bow of her head. The man was a cruel thing, devoid of all the qualities she’d once thought he embodied. A foolish thought, clearly. But his question took her by surprise.
“I have questions, yes, but only because no one will tell me anything of it.” The truth of the matter was, Anna had eavesdropped (accidentally!) on a maid who’d burst into Elsa’s den. She played with a bookend and stared all about, but the name was unmistakable. The man they’d sent to being trialed by his own kingdom was back, in the dungeon.
And so the princess rushed down to the dungeons, and now she had more energy than productive thoughts. Her hand rested by her chest then at her shoulder, to protect herself from the chill in the air. Faint blue edges played at her ruddier spots, her knuckles, her nose.
”Do you know what happened?” There were many on the ship who’d braved the unexpected winter, so many that deserved a happier life than being lost at sea. It was all Anna could do not to cry, thinking of her parents, of all those who’d never see their homes or families again. But she kept that aside, for now, as some may have survived. They had to.
❂ For no one to have told her anything, it was to be expected. For Elsa to even know what had happened would be near impossible as that knowledge belonged to Hans and Hans alone. The crew would have only seen a fire suddenly blazing about the deck before they had to abandon ship. Only Hans knew that he had started the fire, and anything that happened afterwards as all because of him. The guards let him out so they could keep him imprisoned, but once the bars were open, the fire jumped before him and walled him from the men.
He deserved to be there.
As much as he deserved to be consumed by the fire.
His gaze dropped when she asked what had happened, knowing that he had set himself up to spill it all forth. But even thought he felt as if he had been ready to do just that, his nerves were getting the better of him. Anna would despise him even more than she already had, if that was even possible.
However, at that point, what she felt towards him should have been the last thing on his mind.
Clearing his throat slightly and looking back up to the princess, the former prince squared his shoulders and took in another deep breath before he spoke.
“It was a fire that had started on deck that caused the ship to go down. It spread quickly and I–” he paused for a moment, swallowing the jump that had worked it’s way into his throat purely from guilt.
“I started the fire. As a distraction to try and escape. Going back to face my brother’s and the punishment along with it frightened me to all ends. I thought that I could get away somehow if I could just get out of that cell.
All I did was cause more destruction.” His voice was softer with the last comment, hands gripping into fists and nails digging into the palm of his hand. He should have just stayed where he was. He shouldn’t have tried anything and just gone back to his brothers. Banishment wouldn’t have been too bad, right?