Frozen: Sacrifice and Forgiveness

The Confrontation

The color of the sunlight indicated dusk was near. He rubbed his eyes and looked to the side.

"Hi!" Leone greeted. "How do you feel?"

Hans grunted as he propped up his torso with his elbows. "Stiff."

"Need a hand?" Leone offered.

"I can manage," Hans declined, maneuvering to the edge of the mattress. He attempted to slide out of the lower bunk, only to be snared by the sheet and fall face-first on the floor.

"Lars!" Leone dropped to his friend's side. "Are you alright?"

Hans groaned and rubbed his nose (which was likely the same shade as his hair at the moment). "I'll survive."

"Good," Leone stated, untangling Hans' legs, "because we can't have you dying from this, of all things."

Hans allowed the man to help him to his feet. "If smacking my head on the floor takes me out of this world, I didn't deserve to be in it."

Leone grimaced. "That's depressing." He opened the chest at the foot of the bed. "Seriously, we were afraid we'd lose you."

Hans rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the partially-covered window. Even when he was royalty, no one would have cared if he died. He was, after all, worth less than nothing, being a thirteenth prince who'd inadvertently caused his own mother's death. But now...

"Here." Leone held out a stack of folded garments.

Hans looked down and realized he was in a nightgown. The implication hit him like a brick. "You changed my clothes."

"Of course we did. You were soaking wet."

Hans cocked his head. "I was?"

"Remember those guys that attacked you the night we met? Natalia caught them trying to dump you in the harbor. Well, I guess 'trying' isn't the right word, since they did, but that was probably because Natalia screamed. Pappa and I were almost home, so we came running, captured one of the men — that's how I knew it was the same gang — and saved you."

"... Oh." He only recalled being chased. The rest was news to him. The thugs must have decided it was faster to dispose of me in the bay than drag me back into the Hole. He'd have to be more cautious in the future if Derrick had truly stooped to paying lowlifes to assault him.

"That was the day before yesterday. You've been asleep until now."

The ex-prince groaned inwardly. Maybe luck will be on my side and no one noticed my absence. I could return to my cell and work tomorrow as though nothing happened.

"Are you upset?"

Hans blinked in confusion. "Why would I be upset?"

"Invasion of privacy."

Hans reflexively touched his chest. "I'm fine." He took the pile from Leone, setting it on the upper bunk. "It was unavoidable."

Leone closed the trunk, then sat upon the lid, facing the door. Hans pulled the gown over his head.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Leone prefaced, "but Natalia guessed your brothers were responsible."

"Well, not all of them," Hans murmured, rubbing the scarred skin. "Just the twins."

"So you've got twins in your family too," Leone commented.

"Yeah," Hans muttered.

Leone picked up on his friend's discomfort. "Mamma has two sets of twin siblings that are older than her. Well, all her siblings are older than her. She's the youngest of thirteen — seven boys, six girls."