Part One - Prequel

I.

It was time. After so many years, it was finally time. There was no way I'd be in line for the throne in my own kingdom, my brother would make sure of that. Not that I minded. I mean, he'd been training with father since before I was even born; he knew a lot more about leading than I did, and it was probably best for the kingdom. I couldn't doubt for a second that Joakim would be as kind and understanding a king as he was a brother, and he's older anyways, so he could handle all of that responsibility. He always had to be responsible, and smart, and wise.

But that day wasn't about him. That day was about me. I had finally come of age, and that day I could finally have an important event of my own. That day, I would have the marriage my brother had almost six years prior. No, that day had nothing to do with my brother. I was getting married!

I woke up from my contemplation to find myself in the men's dressing room, in full royal regalia, and with servants combing my hair and polishing my shoes. I waited as patiently as I can, which wasn't too well, I'll admit; the longer I waited, the more anxious I got, both in the anxiety of fear and that of excitement and anticipation, which both began swirling around inside me.

Then a thought crashed on me: what if marriage isn't what I expected it to be? What if, after creating a fantastic vision of grandeur commensurate to my brother's actual marriage, I found that I wasn't cut out for it – whatever it may be? What if Joakim knew something that I didn't, and in my ignorance I didn't realize that my father made the wrong choice? The fear inside me began burning, and I felt my face heat up.

Then again, what did I have to show for these fears? Nothing – I was basing them off of nothing – they were obviously unsubstantial. I could have a perfectly happy marriage, just like my brother. No, mine would be even better than his, if only because it was my turn to experience what to him was probably stale after six years.

"Erik?" my father interrupted the pyroclastic flow of my thoughts, and thankfully prevented it from rolling over my composure. "It's time, your bride will see you now."

I pulled myself together and walked half-ecstatically and half-cautiously to the door of the dressing room. I followed my father into the grand hall, which was filled to the brim with the random assortment of nobles and royals that I was accustomed to associating with Joakim. Some were fat, some were thin, some were bald, and one had more hair in a beard than the rest did on their heads. In the front were two great golden chairs, each with a streak of rubies running along the side of it. I saw my father nod me onwards, so, as gracefully as I could, I walked over to the closer of the two chairs and took a seat, and began to scan the audience for faces.

Immediately, I saw my brother's face prominently in the front row, with a spot for father on one side and his wife on the other. She wasn't an extremely beautiful woman, nor was she a particularly ugly one. All of her features, and most of her traits were like that: average, and unremarkable. Not with blonde hair, but not very dark hair either; not a crooked nose, but not a very straight one either; not shy, but not very loud either. One could only have explained her connection with Joakim after knowing her caring. If all but one thing about this woman was plain, it was her ability to care. She cared about her husband, his duties, his father, and his brother. She saw me looking at her and smiled at me understandingly, silently saying that it was okay to be nervous. The butterflies in my stomach started warming up again, so I looked the other way.

Past the seat reserved for dad, which he now occupied, was the empty seat always reserved for mom. I don't exactly know what happened, as I was just barely born when she vanished, but Joakim and father always got too upset by the thought of that tragic time, so I never asked. All I remember of her was a warm smile and a warmer embrace.

On the other side of the priest who would marry me sat the other family, from Arendelle. I saw a mother and a sister, and an empty chair next to that, which I had to assume was for the father, the King of Arendelle. Suddenly, I heard a voice to the right and flicked my attention to it.

"But I don't want to! You can't- you can't do this, what if I hurt someone?"

"Calm yourself, Elsa. Panicking won't solve anything. Just keep calm. Besides, you haven't even met him yet, what if you like him and he likes you back?"

"Exactly! What if! I can't marry a guy I haven't even met! What if he hates me or controls me after he finds out! What if he makes me do horrible things to you! To you or mom or Anna!" The room got noticeably chillier, but I was glad that I wasn't the only one who felt noticeably more awkward.

"Elsa, that's enough! You don't think your mother and I just drew a name out of a hat, do you? We looked for someone you would like, and would like you back, regardless of what he knows about you. Do you not trust us?"

A heavy, depressed sigh followed. "Okay."

Then the girl walked out, in a formal teal dress, with her blonde hair tied up neatly on her head. She walked regally to the chair beside me, and sat down, folding her gloved hands across her lap. I wanted to get a glance at her face, or at least talk to her, but the priest jumped up so hurriedly when Elsa sat down that any initial amount that I moved or talked would have looked awkward.

But I didn't care. She turned to look at me, at the same time that I turned to her anyways, and we stared at each other. I didn't know what I was doing, whether I was scanning her for flaws or deciding if this counted as love or just awe, and I got the feeling that she was the same way. We didn't pay much attention to what the priest was saying; I just kept staring into her crystalline blue eyes, and her into my swirling brown ones. I felt my core heating up, and felt an energy in her, as if in response. We mindlessly allowed the priest to marry us, and were deaf to the half-hearted hoorays of the audience, who I am sure had no idea whether we were love-struck or immensely confused. To be honest, neither did we.

My brother's hand finally broke the trance. "You doing okay there, Erik? Here let me help you up – and of course you too, Princess Elsa."

"I need to be alone." She spoke quietly but resolutely, something that I had not yet gained the composure to do. I simply sat in my chair, bewildered at what just happened, feeling my face get hot, as Elsa walked away and Joakim got me out of my chair. He could tell there was no way that I could anything for the rest of the night, so he walked me to my room. I plopped onto my bed without coaxing, and quickly fell asleep, my emotions blazing inside me with both the warmth of a campfire and the sting of boiling oil.

***Author's Note***

I wrote this fanfic in a ridiculous frenzy of words in February and March of 2014, and I decided that a year publishing, it was about time I ended this story. I went back and fixed a chapter (God knows I needed to) and cut out the junk at the end that I wrote for no reason, and I'm calling it quits there. I really just want to label this story as complete so I can focus on my other two stories – not Frozen stories, but please check them out if you're interested :)

I also put a little bonus bit at the end that I wrote but never really went anywhere. It applies somewhere, probably, but I have no idea where.

Anyways, keep reading if you liked the first chapter, but just know that this story was a burst of words. I planned nothing. My other two stories, The Incident and Princess Tournament: Fight to the Death have a lot more thought behind them. Tell me what you think by reviewing; I want to know!