His name means God Is Gracious.
Hans knew who he was, or sometimes that’s how he thinks... and he was far from gracious.
A liar, a betrayer, a manipulative type. That’s what his position is right now... Though even with Arendelle at last in his hands once more, he couldn’t help but feel something was missing...
He supposed that’s how it always was for him.
He wasn’t always like that though. He was devising his own plan, his life simply had a different one and then things just got stranger.
He was born into the family of king George Westergard of the Southern Isles, as a 13th child in line for the throne.
So from the start he wasn’t gonna get the top spot anytime soon if ever. Not that it was all that mattered, he still believed he could be of use to his parents and country if he only could pinpoint in what departments.
And that’s what he was doing, searching, studying, looking... As he grew up, he considered marrying into another royal family but that wasn’t exactly his first option, at the time it felt like cheating...
Not that he was the only one cheating... His 12 brothers : Some like Jurgen married into other royalty, some like Franz deepened alliances with neighbouring nation and try forming new ones, some resorted to criminal methods... some didn’t want to be a part of it at all.
Eric for example, wanted nothing to do with their father who himself had little to no expectations for Eric. They only meet when discussing common security measures in line with events worldwide... and sometimes if only mother asks for a visit.
Hans and Eric have healthy relations luckily but don’t always see eye to eye. Eric was a dreamer, Hans was a realist. Before meeting Elsa, he didn’t exactly believe in fairy tales like history of SEA BEAST or story about witch Maleficent unlike Eric and even their father whose distrust of magic goes back to times of legends of their ancestors Phillip and Aurora.
Aside from Eric, there were others.... Sideburns and Patchy Stabbingtons, who along with Caleb usually humiliated him. Either at home, at work, or amid political meetings. And his father let it happen, why? King George hated weakness, and that’s what he saw in Hans... nothing but a weak man who doesn’t fight back. No better than a disabled poor migrant unfit of royal status.
It was his mother, Queen Selina that spared him and tells them to back off. And while he very glad that she cared for him.... it only made them see Hans as mommy’s boy, he fell even lower in father’s eyes...
All the more pleasant it was when years later, Stabbingtons robbed Coronian family. They took the crown of lost princess for ransom or some other schemes. Yet they got caught and thrown into jail in the end, too bad for them. He was puzzled when not long after that, even their father’s favourite child Caleb was also punished by their father for some reason... he wondered if Caleb and the king had something to do with that looting attempt.
He soon found out the answer.
One day Lars, another relative who aside from Eric who treated Hans as brother should. He convinced Hans to set sail for Arendelle in his place, to use this and show his worth by finding common language with the House of Oldenburg-Bergen... Hans agreed.
Of course their father had a talk with him in private before he was on his way, and ordered him to do something... quite drastic if opportunity arrives.
When arriving to Arendelle, he looked around the place while riding his trusted stallion Sitron.
He then went for the castle where everyone’s gathering including the once lost princess now queen of Corona...
That was until he ran into her, his first Arendellian acquaintance turned bitter rival, Anna Oldenburg.
She was quite a welcoming spirit, she had mostly better life than he did probably... It was easy enough to befriend her even if he had to get wet in the process, maybe his father’s option won’t even be necessary?
Anna herself even agreed to marriage, all the better for him... of course it didn’t go as planned oh no.
When the news came to Queen Elsa’s attention, she said no... this complicated matters.
Their heated argument in middle of ballroom complicated even more, especially drawing attention from some suspicious faces like Duke Ragnar of Weselton and what a surprise his guards, Hans’ brothers Rudi and Runo who monitored the situation.
The emerging waves of ice coming out of Elsa’s hands wasn’t something anyone expected but definitely remembered.
Elsa was on the run and with Anna on her way to find her, it left Hans to guard the nation. That’s what he did, he gave citizens coating from snow, gave them food...
Part of him wished if only his parents could see him now...
Later with persuasion from advisor Kai, Hans decided to go on a trip to find the sisters since Elsa wasn’t coming back herself and Anna maybe in danger if not dead somewhere due to wolves...
Duke Ragnar’s offer was hanging in his mind however, reminding of his father’s orders...
He was hesitant still... Can he even do it?
While contemplating that, they made their way to the newly made castle in the mountains... Elsa definitely should be there...
With some opposition to guard her of course, a giant snow monster with growing spikes all over it...
And while Hans and officers distracted it, his brother made it inside. Seized the moment to try assassinate Elsa...
They failed again and were lucky he talked her down or else their heads would be filled with holes.
He made a promise to Elsa that he’ll help her and Anna when they talked in the sea stone chained dungeon, strangely it specifically was made for just this occasion. Whether their parents knew about this was beyond his knowledge...
But that all didn’t matter, why?
Well while he was looking around the castle, he came upon an interesting mirror... it reminded him of one he saw in a book somewhere. But when he looked at his reflection, he stared thinking how far he came, what will he do now, and where is his life headed to?
And suddenly he realised what kind of dilemma he put himself into.
If he helped them now, when the current situation favoured his father’s interests... all distrust is on princesses, all suspicion on magical queen, a person different from rest...
His father will never forgive this, he’ll take his wrath on Hans...
And when he thinks about it, if he’ll let Elsa go everyone abroad will think he’s siding with dangerous anomaly. Arendellians may understand, maybe some of them... but not everyone.
And if he won’t let her out, they’ll see him as coup plotter...
A worst case scenario in both is civil war...
And in that moment looking at his reflection, all in his mind had shifted.
He had little time and unfortunately his childhood trauma and fear of his father got the best of him there...
The way he sees it, Anna like Eric was a dreamer who needed to see reality as it was not as they’d like it to be...
And that’s what he did. He had to betray them all, betray Anna, Elsa, Arendelle... yet he couldn’t get it right.
Treason is what he was remembered for years since then.
Pity... pitiful...pathetic...
That’s what his father saw him as and surely gave him punishment. For two years he was a stableboy, cleaning up tard and poop of the horses... his brothers came and bullied him from time to time. His mother this time found it hard to he him... perhaps she was distraught by him trying to kill her friend Iduna’s daughters. Maybe her faith in him was shaken...
It was sickening really...
But among all of that, there was this rage that helped him endure... believing the day would come when he would once again make his move.
And eventually he did. For next 20 years, he study Arendelle... became obsessed in a way... learned a little bit about it.
Geography; Arendelle was a Kingdom encompassing a good part of western Scandinavia, bordering only Norway, with the North and Norwegian seas on its western flank. Arendelle was about 50,000 square kilometres in size.
Government; Ruled by a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, known as the House of Oldenburg-Bergen, Arendelle enjoyed nominal independence from Norway, but politically remained almost completely under the latter’s control, and in turn, under that of the Danish crown. Arendelle was an absolute monarchy until the close of the Napoleonic wars, when a constitution was adopted limiting the powers of the throne’s incumbent. In 1902, Arendelle was annexed completely by Norway.
Religion; Lutheranism, with some of the native Saami people retaining traditional shamanistic beliefs.
Political Allegiance; Closely allied with Norway, Denmark, the Southern Isles, and a traditional enemy of Sweden and the British. An ally of the French during Napoleon’s reign. Relations with the Germanic states, particularly Corona, were on and off, short skirmishes often being followed by friendly cooperation.
Economy; Mainly agriculture based, with fishing and hunting also being substantial sources of food and other consumables. Reindeer hunting was very popular in the northern reaches of the kingdom, was was reindeer herding, especially among the native Saami. The official currency was the Krone.
Military; Arendelle maintained a small standing army of about 10,000 men. The official military uniform was a drab gray, and in most other respects similar to the rest of European armies, soldiers wearing a tall Shako and wielding muskets, carbines, and sabres. Arendelle relied almost entirely on Norwegian and Danish forces for protection. Despite the rather unimpressive numerical strength of their troops, Arendellan soldiers were renowned for their skill at fighting in the snow.
Language; Norwegian, though there were small, yet noticeable differences in the dialect to that spoken in Norway.
Capital; Bergen, since 1724. However, the Royal family often resided in a small town situated on a Fjord in northern Arendelle, called Arendal (The root word is the same as the Kingdom, but it is often spelled differently to avoid confusion). The Princes and Princesses of the line were traditionally raised here.
Ethnic Makeup; Vast majority Caucasian, but Arendelle retained a proportionately far larger population of Saami than Norway or Sweden.
And as the years passed, he learned to take into account the new developments occurring in both southern Isles and throughout Europe...
In southern Isles, a new discovery was made by his brother... a whole new world under seas, filled with menfolk armies, potentially capable of waging war on the surface. At least that’s how his father thinks, his mother on this issue agreed with him. Eric of course made it clear they are his responsibility not theirs, and relations were even more strained than before...
Especially during this time, when every European nation knew a big war was coming...
France wants to return Alsace-Lorraine Wine that Germany has taken from it.
Meanwhile Wilhelmine Germany wanted to take more of everyone’s territory to fulfil dreams of Mitteleuropa empire so since last year 1890, they start building a big strong navy which was unnerving to the Great Britain.
Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire try to maintain status quo but unfortunately that’s easier said than done.
Ottoman Empire had poor leadership and having to compete with trade from the Americas and India. Not to mention deadly infighting between between brothers and sisters which didn’t help the matters, not to mention European non-muslims living in not only Ottoman Empire but all the way to Austria-Hungary who hated living under the Cetral powers... those like Serbians, Slovaks, Croats, Greek, Bulgarians, Bosnians and many other ethnic civilizations who already show their motives for independence in near future, suspiciously with some help from Russian Empire.
In other words, there is an unease that the concert of Europe maybe coming to an end. Everybody was talking about each other behind each others backs, eager to take each other on considering the military technology came along way since Napoleonic wars.
However he was certain that that time for war isn’t here yet as the countries eyeing war aren’t yet fully prepared to intervene anywhere at fear of being bested earlier than planned.
However if they manage to take Arendelle quick enough without anyone finding out in time, it’ll be easier... whats point saving those who you think are done for?
Arendelle for few years is no longer holding the military might they gained after initial years under Anna’s rule. Whether she grew arrogant who believes herself untouchable or became more of a pacifist who values peace over war, Arendelle currently is no fit for a war.
His father king George thought as much so... he gave him another ‘chance’...
For starters however, we needed a reason to go in... and I found it, I sent one of my men to one of Anna’s relatives, Ichabod family... they agreed to side with me to portray the queen as a sellout and danger waiting to go out there.
It took some more time which was frustrating yet necessary but he did it
In the end, he went in... Quickly yet decisively... caught the nation by surprise... drove the leadership to flee...
Strange even though he finally corrected his mistake... he still feels something is missing.
Eh... whatever, maybe he'll find out later... someday or maybe not, there a some secrets people may never find out about their whole lives, sometimes he supposes one has to let it go. They say can't remember, well maybe it wasn't all that important to begin with...
The castle was now his, though he now has to make sure rest of Norway and/or Swedish authorities stay in their place and not do anything regrettable. And he was sure that Eric and Lars would make their opinions known to him in the next weeks.
He also had to bring those two cutthroat Stabbingtons for some policing and other things he has in mind for later...
But fate conspired for him to be opposed again apparently as few days later he was confronted again by a familiar yet simultaneously unknown person...
It was Elsa... but she was different... When he was exposed and jailed for treason back then, she spared him because he spared her... an eye for an eye favour...
This time it felt unnatural, and he could feel her gaze from afar....
She had that cold look in her eyes when she was leading an entire army of snow beasts marching towards his newly acquired kingdom. She smiled as if realising Hans seen her...
“Don’t worry Westergard my old love... we’ll discuss everything once I’ll get you”
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1. You know I think Hans anger is towards his father, not Anna. It’s just his mind compromised that he can’t take revenge on his dad but he can throw it at Anna. That’s how anger gets misdirected at times...
2. You know I like to imagine Anna going from battle loving commander to peace leaning leader rather slowly over the years... After seeing bloodshed with her own eyes, like one story here shows, I suggest read it it’s quite good : https://bigfrozenfan-fanfics.tumblr.com/post/654979226461700096/this-is-a-list-of-all-published-chapters-of-the
3. That Elsa at the end is an interesting addition I made during writing this fic, I made it more interesting.
4. Also that mirror that’s being mentioned may also get it’s own role in this.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE!