I decided to do something nice and post another chapter. I wanted to get more BlomstxJoseff bonding time and also some Kristanna babies time. Also, you'll probably realize that I love kissing. Reading kissing scenes, watching them, and yes, writing them. Kissing is quite magical, don't you think? I think so. Enjoy!


Chapter Nine

Blomst had kissed boys before. Back home in Hiasa, she had been found kissing boys behind a tree, rock, or wall on numerous occasions. But those had been chaste kisses, made innocent by her youth. The kiss she shared with Joseff was anything but that. The moment their lips met, he brought his large hands up to frame her face as if he were begging her not to pull away. His kiss was so different than the ones she had received before that she began to doubt that those even counted. Joseff was so evidently not a boy, and at nineteen years old, he had certainly had some kissing experience. The thought made her a bit jealous, but she pushed it away, enjoying the moment she shared with him. He began to move as though to kiss her neck and she immediately drew back, the seriousness of their situation dawning on her. His eyes went wide as he looked at her, surprise evident on his face.

"Blomst, I-" he began, searching her face for clues.

"No," she whispered, looking into his eyes, making her point clear, "Please. Please don't apologize. Don't...don't make this a mistake."

"Okay then," he said, leaning down to rest his forehead on hers, "What was it?" he asked, teasing her with the promise of another kiss.

"It was," she paused, turning to stare at the wall, "It was passionate." She sighed dreamily, looking down at her hands. "But it was also reckless." She said, much too quickly to convince even herself.

"Was it?" he asked, throwing a cocky grin her way.

"It was." She said, attempting to be firm. "I know what princes do, you know. They marry princesses...noblewomen. I know that. I also know that I'm neither of those."

"Blomst, stop. That's not important. Not right now. And if I have it my way, not ever."

"I just don't want to get hurt in the end." She said quietly.

"And I promise you won't." he grabbed her hands, prompting her to look at him, "If it's all I can do, I will make sure you don't get hurt. Especially not by me."

Blomst wasn't sure what to say. She was sure other women would have professed their undying love. Other women might have promised to follow him to the ends of earth. But she had already established that she wasn't other women. So in the end, all she said was, "Okay." Her response sent Joseff into an immediate bout of laughter.

"What time is it?" he asked, his laughter finally subsiding.

"About noon, I think." She replied, confused by the sudden change of subject.

"Shit," he muttered, rising from the bed, "I have this stupid meeting with some council people. Meet me in two hours." He was almost out the door when he turned to say, "In the library." And with an extravagant bow, he left. Blomst immediately released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Her fingers flew to her lips in an attempt to memorize the feel of his lips. Her own lips formed a large grin and she fell on the bed in a fit of gleeful laughter.


Joseff checked the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. 1:42. He was so close. The meeting had been completely pointless. The whole thing had been on the subject of his pseudo-coronation. Which wouldn't be for two years. The subject had then changed to his actual coronation which wouldn't be for years later. And that was if and only if something happened to the current monarchs or they decided to abdicate the throne, something he couldn't see happening anytime soon. He was barely listening anymore and he had resorted to tapping his finger on the edge of the table to pass the time.

"I think it's time we discuss the matter or your royal marriage, Your Higness." said an elderly council member whose name he couldn't remember. His comment set Joseff immediately on edge; royal marriage was the last thing on his mind. Coming in first place was Blomst. Blomst and her soft lips and whispers and green eyes. But coming in close second was remembering the council member's name so that he could address him.

"Sir," he said slowly, "I don't think my marriage is of much importance, is it?" he gave a smile, but he was sure the man heard the irritation in his tone.

"On the contrary, Your Highness. Kings and their daughters have already begun to show interest. A royal marriage with certain kingdoms could bring about alliances, which could aid us in the future."

"Acting as a diplomat and forming an alliance via marriage so soon is only important should I become king soon, correct? This can only happen once my aunt and uncle hand me the throne or I receive it otherwise. You don't wish ill against our king and queen, do you?" he asked this with a slight smirk and raised eyebrow, knowing he had trapped the old man. Should he say no, the point of Joseff's swift marriage would become trivial and to say yes would simply be an idiotic move.

"No, no, Your Highness! I suppose you are right – a royal marriage is not at the top of our list of priorities at this moment. But it shall prioritize itself one of these days." The man shot a pointed look at him, as though he were angry at Joseff for making him look foolish. In return, Joseff offered an angelic smile, enjoying the man's discomfort. The rest of the council members looked around nervously, uneasy about the tension in the room.

"I believe this session to be over." He said, effectively ending the tension and the meeting. He looked at the clock one last time before leaving the room. He had five minutes to find Blomst.

The sound of Heidi's laughter caused Joseff to stop and listen. He stood by the library door in an attempt to hear her conversation. He figured that eavesdropping was not a favorable quality among princes, but he reminded himself that he didn't care.

"In your nightgown?" Heidi laughed as if that was the most hilarious thing she had heard all day. "And then what happened?" There was a stretch of silence before the answer came.

"I kissed him." Blomst's voice was quiet, but he heard it clear as day. The sound the phrase coming out of her mouth caused his heart to beat hard and fast in his chest.

"You kissed him or he kissed you? Because I remember what happened the last time he kissed you." Leave it to Heidi to bring up a moment that hadn't exactly been his best.

"No, I kissed him." Was all Blomst said. He could imagine her looking down at her hands or somewhere else except at his sister.

"And then what?" came Heidi's impatient reply.

"He apologized." He winced. Of course she would mention that.

"Apologized? Joseff can be super bone-headed when he puts his mind to it. Well I hope this wasn't your first kiss. Because that would be so disappointing, don't you think?"

"No," Blomst chuckled, "I've kissed boys before. Although I can admit that kissing a prince is a first." Joseff listened more intently at this, knowing that Heidi would want to know about her first kiss. He did too, he admitted to himself.

"So how was your actual first kiss? Did he apologize? What was his name? Was he handsome? Was it-" Heidi suddenly stopped talking. He figured Blomst had stopped her in some way so that she could answer Heidi's questions while they remained in a reasonable amount.

"His name was Matteo and no, he didn't apologize. It was maybe five years ago; we were both only thirteen. He was handsome, I suppose, in a gangly kind of way. He was more cute that handsome, really. I remember I had been helping my cousin Elias pick oranges in the grove near our house. I was probably flirting with Matteo the whole time, because Elias eventually got annoyed and left." She laughed at this. "That's when he kissed me. I mean, not right then. I went to go say something to him – probably something I thought sounded mature and sexy – and then he kissed me. But he pushed me against an orange tree, so it was really uncomfortable." Joseff took this time to enter the library, standing behind the two girls.

"I always did hate oranges," he said, causing the girls to snap their heads toward him, "Now I have a reason why." He cast Blomst a lopsided grin and watched her blush.

"Joseff," Heidi greeted, "Blomst was just telling me about how terrible your kiss was." She returned his grin with a smirk of her own.

"I did not say that." Blomst said. "Joseff, I didn't say that." Joseff ignored her comment and instead turned to his sister to accept her challenge.

"Really? Because I seem to remember her saying that it was quite-"

"Joseff!" Blomst cried indignantly.

"Passionate." He said the word slowly, letting each syllable hang in the air looking first at Blomst and then raising a victorious eyebrow at his sister.

"Of course," she said, turning to face away from him, "She wouldn't want to hurt your male pride." Blomst gave an annoyed sigh and headed toward one of the bookshelves, deciding to let the scenario play itself out.

"Oh, my male pride was anything but hurt, I assure you. But I don't think this is a conversation I should be having with my sister." He gave her a pointed look, signaling that she should leave. Heidi, never one to miss a silent signal, rolled her eyes and stood to walk out the door, throwing a smirk at him over her shoulder. Once the door clicked shut, he sought out Blomst.

Blomst had been hiding in a corner of the library, trying to save herself from embarrassment. They must have finished quickly because she heard the door click shut after only a few minutes. She attempted to busy herself by picking a random book off the shelf and reading it, but none of the words were registering in her mind. She had read the same sentence at least five times when she heard Joseff's footsteps close by. She looked up casually and saw him standing at the other end of the row of books. As soon as their eyes met he strode toward her purposefully, his eyes a deep blue with intent. When he reached her, his hands flew up without hesitation and he was kissing her. The book she had been trying to read landed somewhere among her feet but she couldn't bring herself to worry about it. She brought her hands up to rest on his broad shoulders, hanging on for dear life.

"Your meeting?" she asked, breathless.

"Stupid." he breathed between kisses, and like that, the matter was over with. She quickly decided that she loved kissing him. He seemed to know exactly what she wanted. What she needed. Her previous worries about his princedom flew out the window and her only concern became his mouth. His mouth on her mouth. His mouth on her chin. On her neck. Her shoulder. Her shoulder. The purple dress she wore had been pushed down, revealing the expanse of her shoulder and half of her upper arm. In the middle of the royal library, where anyone could walk in at any moment.

"Joseff, stop." She said, pushing him away lightly, not truly wanting the moment to end. He looked down at her, his eyes dark with passion and hips lips red from kissing. She assumed she looked the same, but she didn't ask. "Let's sit down." She offered. Joseff agreed with a grunt and followed her to a pair of chairs near the door.

"I want to get to know you. And I mean I want to know who you are. I know some things, but not everything. And I want you to know me." She said decisively. Joseff noted that her lilting Hiasan accent was stronger than it usually was, a probable side effect of the kissing.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, at a loss.

"Well, you've never told me how you felt about becoming the crown prince." She offered. He stiffened at the words, but decided to answer anyway.

"Honestly? I hate it. There's so much more that I can't do now than when I was just Princess Anna's son. I can't do that, I can't wear this, say that, whatever. I can't even leave the castle without having a guard follow me now. The only say I had in that was that they have to dress in civilian clothing and keep behind me. There's so much expected of me and I'm honestly not sure I can handle it. What am I supposed to do if I can't do it?" His eyes were wide with an emotion Blomst couldn't quite place.

"I think you would make a great king." She said quietly. "You're kind and charming and clever and smart. I know you'd make the people of Arendelle very happy." She reached over and weaved her fingers through his. He gave a grateful smile and opened his mouth to say something only to immediately close it. Instead, he looked down at their entwined hands and rubbed circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

"There's something you're not telling me." She said. Her tone was neutral but Joseff could see the blossoming hurt in her eyes. Joseff sighed, hating that look. Knowing that he caused it. But he knew he couldn't tell her about his proposed royal marriage. Not yet.

"No." he lied, "The whole thing is just weighing on me is all." He wasn't entirely convinced himself, but he decided to stick with it. Blomst didn't look convinced either, but she accepted the answer nonetheless.

"Okay." She said, nodding slowly.

"So," he drawled, his charm returning to him, "Matteo, huh?" Blomst laughed, covering her face with her hand.

"Yes. Matteo. He was a friend from school. All I knew about him was that his dad was super rich. And his kisses were sub-par."

"Sub-par?"

"Well, sub-par by a thirteen-year-olds standards. Severely lacking by my current standards." She winked at him, something he had never seen her do before. He decided that she looked quite stunning when she winked. She looked stunning when she did anything, he thought.

"Well I'm glad that my competition is 'severely lacking'."

"Severely lacking." She confirmed.

They talked like that for hours, opening themselves to each other. Blomst told him about Christmases past that she had spent in Hiasa with her family and he told her about young Prince Joseff and all the places he'd seen. She was fascinated by his stories of faraway lands, having only traveled as far as Arendelle. She told him why she opened the flower shop. It had been her mother's dream to own one once they reached Arendelle, having been fascinated with the blooms ever since her husband bought her a regal bouquet for their anniversary, even naming her daughter after them. They talked about their futures and what they planned to do with the rest of their lives. Blomst wanted to teach at a school eventually and Joseff said that were he not in line to be king, he would have liked to have been an ice harvester like his father.

The royal marriage was never mentioned.


Who can see this marriage thing becoming a problem? (I can) I figured it's about time these two get to the kissing stuff, but I also wanted them to have to talking time. Right now everything is all hunky-dory but not everything is simple when it comes to these royal people.

~Courteney