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Hans had never seen fiercer anger than the queen's at that moment. The moment he and the guards reached the top of the ice staircase and found her, poised menacingly, holding two men inches from death. The gentleness and regal formality he'd seen at the coronation were completely gone. Hate and fear replaced them.

"Queen Elsa! Don't be the monster they fear you are!"

She was breathing heavily, and he watched as recognition crossed her face; then, the malice was gone and she was terrified. At herself, at the men around her, at the whole situation – he didn't know the specifics.

Then the man raised his crossbow. Hans only had a second to sprint across the room and push his arm upward, before all hell broke loose.

The chandelier fell fast. The queen gasped and ran like hell, desperate to escape. She slipped and her body slammed against the cold floor. Everyone froze as the deafening crash reverberated and the snowflake patterns cracked into millions of sharp, tiny pieces.

Silence.

And then a barely audible moan.

Hans hurried over to the shimmering figure on the floor; she was sprawled on her side, her hair splayed out behind her head. A few strands stuck to her cheek. Don't brush them off, idiot. The train of her dress tangled around her. A pained frown etched onto her face almost made him grimace.

But I don't really care, because I'm going to kill her eventually. He wondered why he felt the need to reassure himself of this fact. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"We, uh… we will… return Her Majesty to the castle."

No one moved.

Hans sighed. Dammit, it's all me.

He stooped down and gingerly gathered the queen's body into his arms. Don't think about the dress, don't think about the dress, god, just look at how fitted—

He motioned with his head, and a guard helped him haphazardly wrap the silken train up also, making it possible for him to walk. They slowly and carefully made their way down the narrow staircase, don't drop her, don't drop her, then out to the waiting horses.

While not the first time he'd ridden with a second person, it was definitely the first time Hans had carried along an unconscious passenger. He shifted himself so that Elsa's body rested heavily against his chest, both of her legs draped to his right. He wrapped his arms around her waist, leaving one to rest across her back while the other hand took the reins. Had she been conscious, Hans felt certain she would've slapped him in the face for the closeness.

Try as he did to focus on his plans, he found himself tracing circles in the icy fabric on her back, and good god, that slit goes all the way up to her pale perfect knee and I have to, have to, have to stop looking at it. He cleared his throat, which caused the queen to shift against him. Anna. Anna's the one I'm marrying. Think of Anna's knees, I bet they are just as—

The group made their way back down the mountain. When they arrived at the castle, they hastily dismounted and Hans quickly sought out the first Arendellian he could find, the redheaded advisor named Kai.

"Queen Elsa!" the man looked very worried, and Hans thought I bet he's known her since she was born, and he reached out to feel her forehead. Hans shifted her weight, pulling her a little closer to him, and waited for Kai to withdraw his hand before speaking.

"She's been unconscious for hours—where should I put her?"

Kai looked like he was trying to solve a difficult puzzle.

"I… I, ehm, I'm not sure. I think… I believe there are those who would wish to place her… in the dungeons," he said quietly, as if he were conflicted himself.

Hans chewed his lip.

"Perhaps that is what we should do… until we know more."

And Kai, although he looked stricken, nodded in agreement. He led the prince down the hallway, around a few corners, and together they descended the steps into the stone dungeons.

Evidently Arendelle keeps no prisoners, Hans thought as they passed empty cell after empty cell. He halfheartedly wondered why Kai was leading him so deep within, but one glance down at the queen and one thought about the current condition of her kingdom answered that thought before he could ask.

Stop looking down at her, Hans.

They reached the very last cell, which Kai unlocked. Hans carried the sleeping woman to the wooden cot against the wall and carefully laid her out. She thrashed slightly and made a scratchy moan in protest, and please, Elsa, you've got to stop making noises like that. He backed away and glanced around the room before finding a rough blanket folded by the door. Hans spread it over her, relaxing visibly when the dress, and more specifically the slit up her godforsaken leg, were out of sight.

The two men stood there, watching the sleeping queen.

"I, uh, Prince Hans, I… I think we should use those," Kai said quietly and pointed to the two shackles attached to the wall. They had gone unnoticed until that moment.

"As you wish."

And Hans swallowed the lump in his throat before attaching the cold metal locks to her pale, delicate, beautiful hands.