Chapter 1: An utterly strange proposal

It had been five months since the incident. Five months since Arendelle had seen its coldest hour and five months since Elsa had revealed her powers and the reason why the king and queen had closed the gates. Although the city still felt a tiny bit of fear towards Elsa's icy powers, they had begun to get used to the queen making ice tracks and snow in the middle of summer and she slowly won the trust and love of the townspeople again. But just when things were finally running smooth for Elsa and the kingdom, an unexpected turn of events came to call.

The day had risen with clear normality. Elsa was sleeping on her bed, dreams of snowflakes and ice castles going on in her head when a knock on her door woke her with a start.

Knock, knock!

"Huh! Uh-ungh…mmm…" she moaned, sitting up on the bed, her hair all ruffled and out of place.

"Your highness, are you still asleep?"

"Nah! Nah, I woke up hours ago…" Elsa yawned, rubbing her eye, but not opening them yet.

"Oh, okay. I come to tell you, you have a guest waiting for you in the hall. Shall I tell him to wait some more?"

"Uh-huh! Yeah, tell 'im! I'll be right…there…" she moaned, falling asleep over her knee. She jolted awake again, yelping,

"Who is it?"

"It's the king of the Southern Isles…Hans' elder brother."

"The king of what now?!"

Now Elsa was totally awake. She jumped out of the bed and began getting ready, brushing her hair with one hand as she made her iconic ice dress with her other hand. The servant hesitated in front of the door, listening to the queen do and undo in her room.

"Uh-uuh, I-I'll tell the king to wait some more."

Slam!

"No."

Elsa slammed the doors open, all dressed and with her hair tidy. Even her face looked perfect. She gave the servant a look that could've frozen him right there, and stared.

"Announce me to the king when I enter the room." She ordered, voice calm yet firm. You could see in her eyes she wasn't pleased with the sudden early-morning visit. The servant nodded effusively, heaven knows if by fear or by acceptance, and raced down the hall, followed closely by the queen.

Meanwhile, in the waiting hall, an older man with a small tight crown and very formally dressed paced from here to there. You could see under his feet the trail he was leaving from the waiting he'd done. He tapped his front teeth and muttered things to himself: he was nervous. The petition he had to propose to the queen of Arendelle wasn't one that would be easily accepted, and he feared very much for that….

"A-hem!" a small, gruff voice cleared its throat behind the king.

His Highness turned around and looked up at Elsa, who was as beautiful as she was untamed in front of him.

"Announcing her royal Highness, Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" the little servant said, bowing as Elsa walked past him and towards the king. He walked over to Elsa and gave a small, almost impolite bow before sputtering,

"Queen Elsa, I must speak with you urgently."

"Good morning to you too, your majesty." She replied, nodding her head in salutation. The king stuttered at the answer, and nervously added,

"Y-yes, good morning. A-as I was, saying, it is of great urgency that I…"

"Why don't we continue this talk in a more private location, hm?" she suggested, throwing a look at the still bowing servant behind them. The King opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. That made Elsa chuckle a little: the man wasn't even what her father's age was and he was already so uptight…

"Um, yes. Yes, of course. We'll…walk around, then?" he asked. She nodded and guided the king out to the palace grounds.

"Tell me, your majesty, what is of so much urgency? You arrived very early here in Arendelle." She said, noticing from the king's eyes he hadn't slept much.

"I haven't slept a wink, but I couldn't leave the matter for any later. You remember my brother Hans, right?" he asked, looking more afraid than before.

"Yes, I remember him." Elsa replied sternly, "What about him?"

"Well, I…my brothers…they tried to place a proper punishment for what he did to you…which is unforgivable! But he's my brother and I…"

"You don't want him to be too harmed?" she suggested. The king sighed heavily and whispered,

"Yes."

"I agree with you in that. And what does finding a punishment for Hans have to do with your visit here?"

"Oh! Um, it's just that…I was hoping you would…" he stopped, seeming as if he couldn't find the right words for what he had to say. Elsa stopped strolling as he looked for the words, suspicion slowly crawling up her features. What was it that was so difficult to say?

"…you would accept having my brother here as a servant?" he finished slowly.

Elsa gave a small, startled gasp and stared at the nervous king in front of her. He was asking for the one person responsible for almost killing her and her sister to stay in the castle?!

"What are you…?"

"Please! I beg of you! It would be like some sort of redemption for his actions…"

"N-no…"

"Please! He said he was profoundly sorry of what he did…"

"He also said he was profoundly in love with my sister!"

"And if he's ever a bother for you, you could easily send him back!"

"No! I won't do it!" she declared firmly, beginning to walk away from him.

"No, wait, Elsa!" the king exclaimed, following behind her as she walked back inside the castle. Elsa was outraged. It wasn't like her to treat guests like she did the king, but how dare he propose something like that? After what that idiot did to them! To Arendelle!

"I'm very sorry, your Highness, but I cannot have that no good, miserable, liar and…!"

"Wait a second." The king took Elsa's wrist gently and pulled her back so she faced him. When he did that, she gave another startled gasp, but this one sounded more outraged that frightened. Her features softened though, as she saw the desperation and the hurt in the king's eyes. They must've looked like her own eyes did when Anna asked her to melt away the winter back during the incident. The king pressed his lips and lowered his head with a heavy sigh. He stared back into Elsa's own blue eyes, and whispered,

"Please, Elsa…my brothers wanted to kill him."

"But..."

"This is my only option to keep him alive and avoid my other sibling's revenge over him. I beg of you, Queen Elsa…please help me." He pleaded, his voice full of hurt and anxiety.

Elsa sighed and yanked her arm away from the king but she didn't run away. She didn't call the guards. She didn't even say no again. It couldn't be said that she didn't understand the king; she would also do anything to keep her sister Anna away from harm, including what the king was doing now. But to have that criminal back in her lands again…and see his face once more…it wasn't an easy thing to give in to.

"I…I can't…"

"Hans is already in the vessel, waiting for your decision. If you like, I can stay in Arendelle until you make a decision, or…"

"Alright."

"…what?"

"I said, alright. I'll take Hans as a servant, but for only one month! If by then he doesn't demonstrate the regretful behavior you say, you take him back to your country and see what you can do with your other broth…ah!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The King was so happy with her accepting his proposal he grabbed her by the waist rather awkwardly and spun her around like she wasn't the Queen or anything royal in particular. He even had the gall to kiss her on the cheek!

"Thank you! I…oh." When he realized all that he had done, he let her down and cleared his throat.

"I-um…I'm sorry...a-and grateful! Truly grateful, thank you, Elsa…"

"It's alright." She chuckled, amused at how ecstatic he had been.

"I'll tell the guards to take Hans to you so you can speak and I'll come back in a month. Right?"

"That is the deal…"

"Thank you so much, Elsa. I'll be forever in debt with you for saving my brother's life." He said, shaking her hand. She nodded and smiled as much as she could, even though she was writhing with pure, unaltered and deep regret. What kind of foolishness had she committed just about now…?

The king jogged his way out of the castle and towards the pier while Elsa rubbed his eyes with both exhaustion and remorse. Another of the servants walking around saw her and gently touched her shoulder,

"Your majesty, is everything alright?"

"No, Genevieve, nothing is alright now. If you'll excuse me, I'll be in the kitchen, probably drinking my father's wine…" Elsa groaned, walking slowly towards the kitchens.

How was she going to tell Anna…?

A/N: My first Frozen story. I'm so excited! Hello and welcome to another of my stories. I know its not the best introduction and probably not the best title either, but it'll get good, you'll see! I'm going to see how people react to this and then upload the next chapter. I didn't know some of the names in English (I saw the movie in Spanish so I might get some things wrong) so if you guys see any mistakes or OOC'ness, then please, do tell. Other than that, I hope you've enjoyed it and don't be afraid to leave a review!