Elsa felt like hurling up everything she had just swallowed down for dinner. Sitting across from her was Marie, and though she had no problem whatsoever with Marie – in fact, she rather enjoyed her presence; it was the person sitting next to her that made her sick.

Oliver coughed into his hand, clearing his throat. "So Elsa…" He started, taking a sip from his glass of wine. "Have I mentioned how beautiful your eyes are? So blue."

"My sister has the same eyes." Elsa deadpanned, eating a spoonful of her soup. She didn't mean to be rude but she couldn't find it in herself to look up at his face.

She heard Marie cough loudly and glanced up to see the young princess coughing into a piece of napkin with her cheeks tinted red and the corner of her lips curving upwards.

Elsa fought the urge to smile at the princess, knowing she had been covering up an obvious laugh.

"I see." Oliver muttered, his eyebrows lifting up. He quickly smiled again. "Did your Royal Court have any issues concerning your dress?"

"Oliver, I don't think that's proper dinner conversation…" Marie's eyes had bugged out of her head, facing her brother. "Talk about something else besides her clothing."

Elsa could hear it. It was distinct; a hostile tone in Marie's voice caught her attention. She knew the subject of her wardrobe was impolite but she did not expect Marie to become so hostile towards her brother over it.

"I'm supposed to be getting to know her." Oliver defended himself, not even bothering to turn towards his younger sister.

Marie scoffed, seeming to forget who she was sitting across from. "From what is underneath her clothing?" Elsa's cheeks were heating up. "I'm not even a suitor, yet I know more about her than you do already."

"Then you marry her." Oliver seethed, finally turning to his sister with a sneer.

Elsa didn't realize it before, but the two siblings seemed so hostile towards each other. Were they always like this? The two continued on and on in what seemed like a never ending argument.

"Ahem." The two turned their heads back to Elsa. "Oliver, your sister tells me that you're quite the gifted person. You had lessons?"

Marie blushed brightly, looking down to her food and away from her brother who stared at her with a look that only Elsa could explain as shock.

Oliver was shocked that his younger sister complimented him.

"Ah, yes, your majesty. We both had lessons growing up. I only seemed gifted because I listened." Oliver took a side glance at Marie, a small smirk gracing his face. "Marie would have been just as gifted if she wasn't so busy driving the castle maids crazy."

Marie coughed into her napkin again.

X

"Your brother and you seem very hostile towards each other." Elsa commented, walking along side with Marie in the gardens. The stars and full moon were the only source of light.

Marie shrugged her shoulders. "Oliver and I were never close. It was hard in a Kingdom were the other children said inappropriate things about our family's history of inbreeding."

Elsa winced, only imaging what comments Oliver and Marie got whenever they were seen together. Children could be so cruel.

"It had gotten to the point where Oliver never wanted to be seen with me, and as he grew older, I think he tried to make the point that he didn't need to have sex with his sister – that any woman would do."

Elsa bit on her lip, nervous to speak. "I had heard rumors that he's called the promiscuous prince."

Marie sighed. "They're not rumors."

"I'm sorry for bringing that up." Elsa apologized, stopping in her tracks and placing a hand on Marie's shoulder.

Marie smiled softly. "It's nothing, Elsa. Besides, it's too late for my brother and me to patch things up. We've been separate for too long."

Elsa shook her head, guiding the young princess to a bench. "That's not true, Marie. When I had no control over my powers, my sister and I never talked. It wasn't until a year ago, we finally spoke again." She smiled softly, picturing Anna's sweet smile. "Now, we're closer than ever."

Marie seemed deep in thought after Elsa told her that, and the two sat in comfortable silence under the stars and moon.

There was something about Marie that Elsa couldn't quite place her finger on. Her presence felt overbearingly sweet yet Elsa did not mind it at all, in fact – whenever the two were separate, she craved it.

Elsa didn't know how to explain her friendship to Marie, just that it was a sweet one.

"Maybe you're right, Elsa." Marie suddenly spoke up. "However, I did find myself incredibly uncomfortable with my brother tonight; watching him hit on you in such a blunt manner upset me."

Elsa rolled her eyes playfully and shrugged. "I've gotten used to it the past few days. I never knew I was such an eye-catcher." She joked, lightly elbowing Marie's arm.

Marie's cheeks tinted a light pink. "Your majesty, even I have to admit – you're quite beautiful. As odd as it might sound, I'll definitely be jealous of the suitor who eventually wins your heart."

Elsa felt her face heat up and she almost felt like she had an Anna moment where she would have giggled and played with her hair nervously.

Being called beautiful by all the suitors, she merely rolled her eyes and ignored them but coming from Marie gave her butterflies deep down in her stomach.

"Thank you, Marie."

Annnnd, MY APOLOGIES FOR BEING LATE.

I promise I'm not losing track. I already know what to write for the next chapter and every chapter after that – however, I recently got a new job and…a lot has gone down lately so the most used excuse in the world – "Life has caught up with me."

But besides that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, I know it's annoying to hear this, leave a review. Reviews give me the confidence boost to keep writing. I think they're always confidence boosters for writers.

They encourage us to keep going.