Dark Paths (Helsa)

Four

Once it reached eight thirty Elsa got her suitcase ready near the front door and said goodbye to Anna and Kristoff. Anna said she loved Snowflake's Place, that Elsa will have to go eat there when she comes back, Elsa grinned and teased about the irony in it.

"Alright," Elsa said, buttoning up her coat and grabbed her suitcase and saw Nicholas coming over to her with his own suitcase in hand. "We'll be going now. Hopefully I'll see you in a week." Elsa said and gave Anna another hug. "Kristoff, you take care of my sister." She smiled over to Kristoff.

"You know I will." Kristoff smiled and they both stood together watching Elsa and Nicholas leave the castle, going down to the docks to be picked up.

"Nicholas?" Elsa asked, he came up next to her and grabbed her suitcase, holding it for her. "Did King Arden happen to tell you who the captain was that's taking us?"

"No, Your Majesty. I never thought to ask, my apologies. Perhaps the captain will see us and let us know?" He said and looked out over the docks. Since it was darker now a lot of boats were docked but from what Nicholas could see there were a few boats with lights still lit on them. "I'll go ask the captains if they're taking us. You can stay at one of the benches, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Nicholas." She smiled and watched as he set their luggage down on the ground next to a bench and went over to one of the boats, announcing he was onboard.

"Elsa?" An all too familiar voice asked in the dark. She turned to see Hans standing in an admiral's uniform: a navy blue jacket with gold accents and gold buttons with a white undershirt and navy blue pants, with black boots that went just under his knee. "I'm taking you to the Southern Isles. My brother, the king, sent me to get you."

"Your Majesty!" Nicholas called out and practically jogged his way over to them. Elsa stood up, staring over at Hans. The moment she was so afraid of wasn't that scary. She was nervous, as expected, but more of a butterfly in her tummy.

"Why are you taking us?" Elsa asked, looking Hans over. He looked the same overall, ruffled auburn hair, the greenest eyes, and still very handsome, almost intoxicatingly handsome.

"My brother asked me to be the one to bring you." Hans said.

"May I go on the ship to inspect for assassins?" Nicholas asked, taking his suitcase in hand.

"If it makes you feel better but I know there aren't any assassins on my ship. We're going to be the only ones besides my captain, Captain James Northman." He said, leaning down to take Elsa and Nicholas's suitcases, but Nicholas was reluctant.

"I can carry my own suitcase." Nicholas snapped.

"Hans, this is my most loyal and trustworthy guard, Nicholas Graham." She said. "He'll be accompanying me on this trip."

"I see." Hans nodded, adjusting Elsa's suitcase in his hand and gestured towards a large two decker boat. "Shall we get going?" He asked, walking towards the boat with Elsa and Nicholas following. "There are bedrooms on the bottom portion of the boat, the control center is above. Please, no one go in there, as I could get in trouble with the Navy if I let you in there." He rambled and let Nicholas go first, watching and making sure Elsa got up on the ship safely. "I'll go tell my captain that we're okay to leave the dock and go straight for the Southern Isles. Then I can show you to your bedrooms."

~~~~~~

"This is your bedroom, Elsa." Hans said and pushed open a dark oak wooden door, revealing a small bedroom that had a queen size bed and a dresser with a mirror. "It's not much, but-"

"It's fine, Hans, really." She smiled and walked into the bedroom, turning to look at him. He pulled her suitcase into bedroom, sitting down on the bed and patted beside him. She smiled a little and sat beside him, twiddling with her wedding ring but tried hiding it from Hans. She was so nervous around him no matter what was going on.

"You're married?" Hans asked, taking her left hand, seeing the massive diamond on her finger.

"Yes, for two years... Two unhappy, loveless years." Elsa said, looking down at the ring. It meant nothing to her really, it was a large diamond rock surrounded by a silver band. She wasn't happy with Arden, they lived separately and Arden moved on with Victoria emotionally. Only Elsa wasn't able to move on emotionally with anyone, there was this small pang of regret when she thought about pushing Hans away years ago. She always did regret it when she pushed him away, leaving him without the answer of what he did wrong.

"I..." He started, like he was going to talk about what happened but decided against it. "I should go see how the Captain is doing but we'll be there before you know it." Hans muttered and stood from the bed, turning back to look at Elsa. He even picked up on her nervousness and Hans was even nervous, but not nearly as much as he wanted to hold her or kiss her.