I don't know what to think. I shakily dropped the pompously worded letter onto the bed and dragged my fingers through my hair for the fourth time.

"Ricky... They want us to...?" I uttered hoping desperately that the other prince could perhaps make this whole situation just go away, but I knew it was inevitable.

"Mother doesn't trust you, and our brothers haven't got time to dawdle around their schedules just for you. It has been the same since before you were born and it is not going to change. You are coming back home for the marriage, no exceptions." He stated, firmly and with all the cheeriness and perk of a funeral bell.

I suspected those particular bells might replace the wedding ones that had been clouding my brain over the past few months and causing me to imagine things in place of the harsh reality that is my family.

I looked up at Fredrick, with those eyes...the eyes that I use when I've been pretended I'm invisible for two years straight and suddenly they've decided to finally pay me some attention but only because a personal servant is more appealing to them than an invisible brother... Yeah..

He knows these eyes, and this forming scowl, and the dark although invisible shadows that shroud my face and features while I wait for something more satisfactory to come forth. I don't tend to shoot the messenger, but when the message is delivered in such a way, I can't help but resent them.

He sighed and straightened up, probably realising how profoundly rude he was being in regard to my situation.

"Look... Hans..." He said my name with caution and I have to appreciate his efforts. His exposure to Anna and Elsa and their growing relationship had opened his eyes to the possibilities between the two of us and he was slowly making progress with it.

"I can't say I understand how you feel, but I do understand that you've been subject to this kind of treatment and cheating for you whole life but...until we can get you some over night miracle to come on down from the heavens, we will have to just humour them."

He placed his hands gently around my shoulders and forced a smile, as he'd been doing lately, and added, "Who knows? Maybe this could be good for you... And... " he tapped my nose, and said

"Stop using those eyes on me. You know I... Love ... You..." He uttered out, like he forgot his lines in a script.

I sighed, resigning, and forced him into a bear-hug, snickering at his muffled grunts and whines of protest.

I finally let him go and smiled sadly, "I guess I better start packing." I said.

Anna would probably take the news far better than me, and I can't blame her. It isn't like she'd been many places in her life of virtual imprisonment in her own home, and it would be good for her to travel places and see the world outside of the kingdom. I suppose if I'm not doing this to please my family, then I'm doing it for Anna.

I made my way down the spiralling stair case which felt as though it stretched for miles and miles, and each step I took sent my stomach into a sick and twisted fit. I had to stop at one point and rest my head in my arms on the banister. The indigestion threatening me from every corner of my guts wasn't helping the forming headache that I felt coming on.

I winced and gazed out a defiantly bright window, refusing to let me rest and glaring straight into my eyes as if mocking me. Mocking me, with its beauty and its warmth and its brightness...making me cold, and resentful.

Anna would be in the gardens as she always was, probably talking to a goose or something adorable like that. She was definitely more than I bargained for, and I suppose I should have considered this when asking her to marry me again.

Don't get me wrong, I really DO love crazy, and in the privacy of these steep painted walls, and shining floors, and surrounded by smiling subjects who adore me unconditionally, as well as her it truly is a marvellous experience.

But this was Arendelle, not The Southern Isles, where each of its eight condescending land formations, and it's bleak and narrow minded government and its cynical, superstitious peasants are all out to make you know your place and disregard your rights as a human being.

"Pardon me, your majesty, would you like some assistance?" A concerned voice broke through my thoughts.

Blinking in the light I slowly turned to face their major-domo, Kai, who was at attention, a hand outstretched and a book under his arm.

I smiled politely and dismissed him, "No, no thank you, I'll be just fine. But if you could just fetch Princess Anna for me, I'll be in my room." I requested.

He smiled reassuringly and bowed, "Of course your majesty."

I trekked a few steps back up and threw myself into my room. It was technically a temporary arrangement but after I had begun work on switching my citizenship it was planned to permanently become my own room. I flopped down on the bed and curled up, nearly ready to cry. This was going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done.

The judgement... The snide remarks and the funny looks, and the rumours that are bound to fly about. Their cold eyes regarding me like a caged animal, forced to do their bidding and tormented for fun.

They just couldn't stand the thought of me finally being free from their control. They don't want me to be free. Not until the fourth prince of The Southern Isles was lying dead and shrivelled at the bottom of the ocean I'd dreamed of sinking him in on occasions during my youth.

"Don't trust me...I'll give them a darn good reason not to trust me." I uttered the hollow threat.

I rolled over and stared at the olive green canopy and traced its delicate patterns with my eyes. Maybe I was just making this all up in my head. What if this ended up being good? They'd definitely have to face the facts, and realise that I was actually getting somewhere in life. Maybe they would see how much this kingdom loves me, and understand me better, even if from another party's perspective.

I thought of Fredrick, and Elsa and Anna... Love is supposed to be an open door, and so far I've seen it with my own eyes, so maybe this could work.

Groaning, I rubbed my eyes and freed my mind of such fanciful thinking. Then, she finally arrived.

"Anna! Thank goodness, you're here." I sat up straight and took in the sight of her, letting her presence rejuvenate my entire soul.

The pink in her cheeks and the clear blue ocean like quality of her eyes washed over me like a seaside sunset during the sweetest of summer evenings, such as the ones we had spent thus far in the last year or so since my return.

"Sorry, I was actually in the kitchen! I decided to help the gardeners today, with the carrots, and then Sven showed up and somehow followed us in, and I was helping the cooks and maids clean up after him when he went and ate all the food..." She reeled off in one breath.

Grinning, she shrugged and laced her fingers together behind her, and then she closed the door.

"You wanted to see me, Hans?" She whispered.

"Yes, actually. I...I have some, news for you." I bit back the urge to add 'unfortunate news' to that statement.

However, judging by her facial cues, she could hear the melancholy in my voice.

"Is everything okay..?" She shuffled over and flopped down gracelessly on top of me, wrapping her arms around my chest and nuzzling into my neck, "it isn't bad news, is it?" She added.

I stroked her back and took a deep breath, stilling my restless heart beneath her and I replied, "No actually, it's not really good or bad." She sat up to listen to me and I had to falter a little, as she straddled my waist, oblivious to the controversial position, but I ignored it for the moment and continued,

"Anna...Fredrick, my brother, has announced to me that our wedding plans have changed." I explained.

Her brows furrowed and she pursed her lips, "wait, what kind of 'changed'?" She asked.

"Well, changed as in, we're going to have to hold the ceremony...back in the Southern Isles... instead of Arendelle. The higher ups won't allow the marriage unless we comply with their wishes, and your sister has already consented to the conditions..." I told her.

However despite all my dread and inner turmoil, Anna acted exactly the way I had expected her to.

She completely flipped out. She leapt off the bed and started dancing on the spot, and screamed for probably two minutes straight, before resorting to chanting about her excitement under her breath, and then flopping back down onto the bed where she straddled me again.

"Oh! And I'll be able to meet you brothers? How many of them will be there? Do they still treat you like a baby, and pretend your invisible, because IF THEY DO..." She grabbed me and shook me by my collar and I released an exasperated chuckle.

"Anna, calm down sweetheart, all we need to worry about is being on our best behaviour, and getting through this whole thing as quickly as possible." I reminded her.

The heat was on as I tediously helped her pack and prepare for the journey. It was one thing, here in Arendelle, where everyone knew the princess was not a beast to be tamed, or some perfect, porcelain trophy to be viewed like a muted, graceful painting. She was feisty, and obnoxious and loud, and just crazy, and everyone loved her for it.

But the sickly, unforgiving tentacles of doubt and dread, coiled thickly around my insides as I let myself succumb to the fear.

What if they didn't like her because of it? What if they refused to let us marry...or if she accidentally insulted one of the higher ups and they threw a legal fit over it? I'd seen it done! It's not wise to rule out the possibility!

My mother already hates her, and Elsa for that matter, and then there's my own bad reputation. What if I made Anna look bad, more than she would make me?

But no matter what, and although I wish I could try to refuse, I would have to suck it up and just hope for the best.

"Just remember Anna, when we leave Arendelle, you're a princess and you are representing your entire kingdom as well as your own sister." I stressed to her.

"You need to act accordingly, and don't assume that someone will simply just 'warm up to you'. My family is old fashioned, and a lot of them are being dragged out of their schedules for this wedding, so we've already got off to a bad start."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, turning to me and smashing our faces together before I could patronise her any longer.

"I get it, Hansel. I need to act all fancy and stuck up for a few days. I've got the act down, and I can get Elsa to help me out with that. I've got a month to practice my curtesy and brush up on my table manners, and small talk, and all that depressing stuff..." She assured me.

Her fingers traced my collar bone and she kissed it gently, "But you have to understand, Hans, this is all still so new to me, and I don't want you making too many expectations. You were warned about what you were in for when we started this. I can't make too many promises."

I embraced her and sighed into her hair, "Yes, Anna, I know. I know."