Chp 9

Back story time:

"God… Why is my head so heavy?" Zoran thought as he opened his eyes. His memory was blurred. He remembered seeing his mother. He remembered cold hands on his back. He didn't remember a weight on his knees. Zoran struggled to sit up.

His head felt a hundred times heavier. When he finally did manage to sit up he was shocked to see Elsa, asleep with her head on his knees. "I knew it. I'm dead." Zoran muttered. The sound of his mother laughing caused him to turn.

"No son, but they seem to have given it there best shot." Zoran shook his head. "I wish I was dead." His mother gasped. "Why?"

"So I could talk to you for real. So I could tell you how much I love you and how sorry I am." His mother smiled gently.

"Zoran, my time has passed. Yours has not. You must stop blaming yourself for what happened." Zoran looked at her. His red eyes were shining with self-loathing. "It was my fault. You did nothing wrong. It was my stupid mistake that killed you."

His mother opened her mouth but was silenced when Zoran said. "You are not real. You are an illusion; I don't care what you have to say because I know that whatever you say comes from in here." He said gesturing his head. "And nothing you will ever say or do will fill up the empty space in here." Zoran continued, putting a hand over his heart.

His mom sighed. "Maybe you should stop trying to refill it with me and try to refill it with her." She whispered. Then she disappeared. Zoran's gaze returned to Elsa. Her hair was messed and was hanging in loose strands around her face.

Zoran smiled as he brushed the strands back so he could see her face. She had a small cute smile on her face. He spent a few seconds just staring at her admiring her beauty before his old restless self took over. He could never sit still for more than five minutes so, being very careful to not wake Elsa he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

He then promptly fell back, but he quickly leaned on the bed to stabilise himself. His head still felt very heavy and he found himself hardly able to hold it up. He shook his head trying to shake off the heaviness. Elsa by this time had finally woken up and was slowly rubbing her eyes and yawning.

Zoran was still leaning on the bed but did notice that she was awake. He turned slightly so he could look at her. She just stared at him. Zoran shifted awkwardly under her gaze and hoping to remove the awkwardness he spoke.

"Hi, Elsa." There was a pause then she leapt to her feet, ran around the bed and before Zoran could react properly she had engulfed him in a hug.

"Don't ever do that again, you had us all so worried." Elsa whispered. Zoran tensed up as she hugged him. His thoughts turned to the last time he had been hugged. "Zoran are you alright?" Elsa asked worried. She took a step back but kept her hands on his shoulders.

"I was just thinking about the last time I was hugged ten years ago." Elsa was unsure of how to respond but she didn't have to because he continued. "You have shared your story with me but I have not shared mine with you and it makes me feel dishonest. So Elsa you may ask me anything about my past."

Elsa spoke in a whispered. "When you were poisoned you started to have spasms. During your spasms you would keep calling for your mother and saying that you were sorry for something." Zoran sighed and begun his story.

"I grew up on a small farm. My father was a soldier and my mother was an alchemist. I had a sister as well who was two years younger than me. When I was five my father died." Elsa gasped at Zoran's bluntness. Zoran however shrugged.

"I never knew him well enough to care. He supported the family but he was never home. I can only remember seeing him once in my entire life. My sister probably never met him at all. Anyway most people in the town I lived didn't know about my powers. My mother was very careful to hide my secret and trained me to let it out constantly so I had full control of it. She always told me that one day when I was old enough people would know about my powers and accept me regardless of them. She never viewed my powers as being a curse. She always told me that they were a part of me that helped make me unique."

Elsa smiled at Zoran's story. Even without seeing most of his face she could tell that he had a great love and admiration towards his mother. "My sister was the only other person who knew about my powers. She was so mischievous, but she also had firery spirit. She was determined and when she needed to be very kind and loving just like mom. I loved them both so much." Elsa got a sense of foreboding.

"Until he came." Zoran's eyes flared through the shadow of his hood. All the love was gone there was only deep hatred. "My mother was a beautiful woman and she was still only in her early thirties when I was twelve. There was a man, an Earl of something, I don't remember. He came to try and marry my mother. At first the offer seemed too good to be true. He was willing to take her away from a peasant's life and make her happy… but he didn't want me or my sister."

Elsa was shocked. "How could he ask a mother to leave her children?"

Zoran shook his head. "He didn't ask. He demanded. When my mother argued he slapped her." Elsa's hands went to her mouth as she gasped. "Then I blasted him through a door with my powers. He ran off in terror and we thought that was the end of it." Zoran shook his head.

"We were wrong. He returned a week later but this time he had the entire village on his side. He had told them about my powers and claimed that both my mother and sister were witches and I was a demon." Elsa eyes were filled with anger. Anger at the Earl for doing to Zoran what the Duke of Weselton had done to her. Made everyone think they were monsters. Tears were beginning to leak from Zoran's eyes. "Mom… told me to take my sister and run. I… did as I was told but I left my sister in a forest not too far away from our home and told her to stay there and hide while I helped mom. She hugged me and said she would wait for me. That was the last time I saw her."

Tears were beginning to fall from Elsa's eyes. "When I returned I found m…mom… they…" Zoran was trying his best to speak through his sobs. He took several deep breaths before continuing. When he spoke next his voice was only a whisper.

"Do you know what a crooked wheel is?" He asked. Elsa ran forward to hug him as tears poured from her eyes. "Yes." She whispered.

She felt his own tears as they fell down his face and onto her. Elsa had read what a crooked wheel was in a book. It was a form of execution where the victim's hands, feet and neck are tied trough a wheel to a plank behind the wheel. Then the wheel was turned. The victim's body would slowly bend and misshape as the wheel turned. Death would be slow, brutal and painful. The two stayed together as Elsa asked.

"What happened afterwards?" Zoran's grip on her tightened. "For the first time in my life my powers took complete control. I lashed out at the crowd… I destroyed… the entire v… village all those people… dead… because I lashed out at some Earl." Elsa didn't respond. Words had failed her. "I wear this hood because before that night I had normal green eyes but after they turned red. It was like I was being cursed with that memory every time I looked in a mirror. After that, I forgot about my sister and ran. I didn't realise I had forgot her until the next day, but when I went to where I left her I couldn't find her." Zoran finished.

Neither of them knew how long they were holding each other but Elsa eventually spoke. "Zoran what happened wasn't your fault." Zoran shook his head. "If I hadn't used my powers on the Earl none of this would have happened."

Elsa looked up at him. "You did what anyone would have done in that situation. You couldn't have known what would happen." Zoran turned away from her. She called after him. "Zoran, look at me." She walked in front of him, gently placed her hands on the side of his face and turned him so he had to look at her. She could see the self-loathing in his eyes; it was the same look that she wore when Anna had been frozen.

"You're not a bad person." Elsa said smiling. "You have done so much for me in such a short length of time. The past is in the past you can't change it now, the only thing you can do…" She raised her hands to Zoran's hood. His hands shot up and grasped hers. There was a brief moment when they both just stared at each other. Then Zoran's grip loosened and he allowed her to continue.

"…Is strive for a better future." Elsa finished as she slowly lowered Zoran's hood. His skin was almost as pale as hers. His hair wasn't very long and was jet black. His face was well defined and he was fairly handsome. However his face also showed a tired man who had been through too much in his life. He hand several small scars across his face. Elsa smiled. He wasn't a handsome prince like she had dreamed he was, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Anna was much happier with a mountain man so maybe Elsa would be happier with a rouge.

Zoran was breathing fast. This was the first time someone had seen his face in ten years. He wanted so badly to throw his hood back on and run, but he also felt like a great weight had been lifted off him. He didn't know why but somehow Elsa was taking his grief and anger and making it disappear.

He was finally letting go of his guilt and grief. In a sudden rush of emotion Zoran hugged Elsa who returned it immediately. Zoran spotted his mother in the corner of the room smiling at him. "Thank you, Elsa." He whispered.

Elsa smiled. "You're welcome."

The door suddenly flew open and Tom walked in. "Get into bed now. You took a lethal batch of poison five days ago. You shouldn't be out of bed for another week."

Zoran separated from Elsa slowly and lay down on his bed. Tom walked over to him and began checking his heart rate and temperature as well as giving him an anti-venom serum. "You're majesty." Elsa turned to face the servant who had just entered. "Yes?"

"King Ornstein has requested your presence in the throne room." Elsa scowled. The king of the southern isles had been acting as if he was king for the past few days often disregarding Anna's orders despite Anna being the acting ruler and he being a guest.

Elsa had ignored it at first as she was too busy watching over Zoran to dedicate any real time to her royal duties. That however was about to change. "Zoran I'll be back as soon as I can." She said. "Goodbye Elsa." She heard faintly behind her. She gently closed the door behind her and followed the servant to the throne room.

Author's notes:

Ta-da. That is Zoran's backstory. Tell me what you guys think. Was it too dark, not dark enough, unintresting ect. Also I can't believe I got this chapter out as quickly as I did. I guess I was just excited about telling you guys Zoran's story. Anyway I had allot of fun writing this chapter and I hope you guys have just as much fun reading it.

Until next time.

Ninja-Cat Sif.