I'm Afraid of What I'm Risking if I Follow You

Part 6

Elsa considered telling her for a moment, but this was something she should probably keep silent. Only Yelena could know, so that if this ended up being more serious, it'd be contained, at least. So she shook her head instead. "What do you think about Hans?"

The question legitimately shocked Honeymaren; it was the first time Elsa had actually asked anyone what they thought of him without her constantly reminding them what had happened in Arendelle. "I... try to be cautious about him, from what you've told me," she said slowly. "He's smart. Almost too smart for anyone's good, like he's trying to dance around all his thoughts, and really thinks about what he's going to say or do."

"Do you trust him?"

"About as far as I can throw him." Honeymaren crossed her arms. "Sure, he's charming, but can only get you so far. I have no idea what the spirits want from him, to answer your real question."

Elsa sighed. "Nothing gets past you, does it?"

"Nope." Ryder signaled from his hut, beckoning his sister over. She nodded in acknowledgement. "But I don't think he's dangerous—at least, not anymore. If he was, he would have tried something a long time ago."

"And you would have killed him."

"Damn right." With that, Honeymaren left to help Ryder, no doubt with wrangling in the rest of the reindeer for the evening. All right, so that didn't help much, especially with Hans helping the village elders get their portions of stew before he even considered taking a bite himself. The saint act seemed so disingenuous, and yet... Elsa knew it wasn't. She'd seen it. And even now, she could see the warmth in his eyes, the authentic smile he wore, glad to do what he could around the village. Sighing, she leaned against the post of her hut, arms crossed tight over her chest. Hans knew about secrets of Arendelle's past, and yet... he had no idea about her powers, or that the spirits even existed.

"You've been spending an awful lot of time staring." Elsa jumped at the sound of Yelena's voice. She always seemed to come out of nowhere.

Instead of answering her quip, Elsa changed the subject. "Hans knew about the dam," she said. "There are no history books on Arendelle that have ever mentioned it."

"Impossible." Yelena's eyes slit. "He didn't know about the elemental symbols, when I first showed them to him. And yet, he knows this integral part of our history." She placed a hand on Elsa's arm. "You need to take him to Ahtohallan soon—I noticed you've never even mentioned it around him."

Elsa shook her head. "I'll get around to it," she answered stubbornly.

"It's not your sole place. Your powers originated there, yes, but it was not only meant for you."

The harsh truth stung. Elsa swallowed thickly, crossing her arms tighter. "He can't go now. He's not ready—he's not healed completely."

"You're not ready," Yelena clarified. "You can hide behind his injury all you want, but if you don't let him know where the voice calls him, I just might."

It just wasn't fair. Elsa could feel the tears prick her eyes, but she held them back. She'd take Anna or Kristoff, or hell, even Olaf or Honeymaren to Ahtohallan in a heartbeat... but Hans? She still couldn't fathom it—it brought this sinking, awful feeling to her stomach. And now she had to?

As they settled in her hut for the evening, Elsa tried to keep her breaths deep, her emotions calm. She could feel her powers just wanting to lash out for all this pressure: from Yelena on her, from Hans, from herself. She pushed the lantern kept neatly in their space closer to him.