Elsa sat in her study, silently staring at the page in her hand. For a good five minutes, she tried to process the words that were written but she soon realised that her thoughts were filled with Alder.

And that kiss...

Her body was numb and still seemed to be reeling from the sensory overload the kiss had brought on. Frustration won out in the end and she gave up, opting instead to search the castle for Anna. She was the only person Elsa knew that she could converse with over what just occurred. She found her sister in her room, scoffing chocolates with one hand and a book held in the other. Noticing her sister, she greeted her with a smile, her expression instantly changing when she noticed her sister's flushed, red face.

"Elsa? What's wrong?" she asked tentatively.

Elsa meandered over to her sister's bed, sitting down slowly. Anna hastily made her way to her older sibling's side, placing a comforting hand on hers.

"Is it Alder? What happened? Did he upset you again? Because if he did I swear..." Anna trailed off.

She liked Alder and he had become a treasured friend to her but if he continued to be the cause of Elsa's sullen mood...

There might just have to be an accident with the bow the next time we train...

Finally interacting with her sister, she shook her head.

"No Anna... nothing... nothing is wrong... q-quite the opposite in fact," she managed to mumble.

Anna looked at her quizzically for a moment then it seemed to click.

"Oooh! He asked you to the ball didn't he!" she squealed exicitedly.

"A-amongst other things," Elsa responded her face turning a deeper shade of red.

"Oh! Oh! Tell me! Tell me everything!" Anna cried, bouncing up and down on the bed as she spoke.

"N-no Anna... I don't think it would be proper..." her voice trailed off as the memory of the kiss fluttered through her head, sending a small shiver down her spine.

Anna frowned.

"Come on Elsa! You wouldn't have come to me if you didn't want to talk about it. Remember you said no more closed doors and no more secrets! Besides if you can't tell me who can you tell?" she asked, affectionately nudging her sister.

"It's not... It's not that I don't want to talk about it... I-I don't think I can..." Elsa managed.

Her thoughts hazy, her brain groggy, she made no effort to hide the fact that she was having trouble speaking.

"It's alright. Just take your time," Anna said comfortingly.

Elsa sat quiet for a moment, trying to calm herself. She couldn't understand how something as simple as a kiss had her so unsettled.

"Alder... he... he kissed me..." she said blushing, her face turning a shade of red, the likes of which Anna had never seen before.

Anna's jaw dropped and she was momentarily paralysed as she processed her sister's confession. Emitting a high-pitch shriek, that would have put a banshee to shame, she lunged forward and embraced her sister. Knocked out of her daze by both her sister's scream and by her actions that followed, Elsa tried to wrest herself free.

"Anna! Stop!" she laughed. "It's not that big a thing!"

Anna stopped dead, staring at her sister with a bemused look.

"For you, this is huge! I just want you to be happy Elsa and if you think Alder is that person then go for it! You are strong, independent and a magnificent leader. You don't need someone who want to run your kingdom or your life for you, you need someone who wants to be with you."

Anna's words had a profound impact on Elsa and she found herself beginning to make sense of her feelings. Alder didn't seem to care that she was queen. His comforting gestures, his attempts at making her laugh and the almost casual nature with which they interacted gave her a much needed reprieve from the rigid and sometimes stuffy nature of being royalty. The fact that he had powers like her own and his uncanny ability to make her feel at ease, only seemed to add to the long list of things that made her feel comfortable around him.

She looked up at Anna, dragging herself out of her own thoughts.

"Thank you," she said, affectionately stroking her sister's face. "You always seem to know exactly the right thing to say."

Anna met her hand, taking it in her own and smiled.

"I know you're the big sister and that you're supposed to be the one giving all the worldly advice but I do have a bit more experience in this than you."

Elsa let out a small laugh and stood up.

"Sometimes you're too cheeky for your own good. Thanks for the talk."

Anna stood up to give her sister a small hug before flopping back on to the bed, resuming reading and scoffing the remaining chocolates.

The foreign dignitaries and members of royalty began arriving early on the day of the ball. Alder made himself scarce preferring to hide away in a secluded part of the garden than face the onslaught of guests arriving at the castle. The past few days had been like something out of a fairy tale for him. His time spent with Elsa had been amazing and the two had shared many more kisses like their first and what little time he had with her (when she wasn't tirelessly preparing for the ball) he treasured. They had a picnic in the garden, fell asleep whilst reading in the library and Elsa had insisted that she continue to teach him how to skate.

The amount of time they had spent together had been noticed by many around the castle and Alder had not failed to notice the smiles or small nudges the staff gave each other when he and Elsa walked by. Kristoff and Anna, however, were slightly less subtle about their approval of the progression of the relationship between Elsa and Alder. Anna had at first tackled Alder to the ground when she saw him after her and Elsa's conversation and it was only when Kristoff pried her off him that he was able to stand. Kristoff, on the other hand, would send him sly winks and make faces at him when Elsa wasn't looking and on more than one occasion this earned him a heavy punch to the arm the next time he and Alder were alone.

Alder found himself beginning to panic as the ball grew closer. He was worried that his new found relationship with Elsa would be the subject of talk and hearsay if it were released publicly. Finding himself think of every worst case scenario possible, his mind wandered as he thought of how people would react if it was ever discovered that the Queen was allowing a commoner to court her. In an attempt to distract himself, he began to make shapes with flames that he summoned into the palms of his hands.

He didn't hear Kristoff enter the small clearing and jumped out of his seat when he spoke.

"Alder? What are you doing out her? Elsa sent me to make sure you were ready... We've only got a couple of hours until the ball."

Alder turned to meet his friend and as he did so he found himself having to stifle a small laugh when he saw what the mountain man was wearing. Dressed in full formal attire, Kristoff could not have looked more out of place.

"Well don't you clean up nice?" Alder said with a smirk, still genuinely surprised by his friends transformation.

"Hey don't laugh too hard. You have to wear this too," Kristoff replied indignantly.

A wave of unease rolled over Alder as his thoughts drifted. Seeing the obvious discomfort he was in, Kristoff sat down next to him.

"What's up? I have hardly seen you all day. Something bothering you?" he asked quietly.

Alder was about to assure him that nothing was wrong, but thought better of it. Who was more qualified to help out of his current state of mind than Kristoff? He was as much a commoner as Kristoff was and here he was about to marry a princess.

"I'm a little worried Kristoff... worried that I'm not good enough for Elsa. There are kings and princes inside that would give away half their kingdoms to be where I am and I know that I couldn't compete with that even if I wanted to..."

Kristoff let out a small chuckle and Alder wasn't sure what he had said that was even remotely funny.

"The thing is Alder, a great majority of the kings and princes inside have offered half their kingdoms to get the chance that you have but Elsa has turned them all down. Anna told me that her reason was that she would never put politics before her happiness or the people of Arendelle. Most circumstances though, the people were never really affected so it cam down to her desire to find the right person."

Alder nodded slowly and allowed Kristoff's words to bring about a welcome feeling of relief.

"I can't seem to believe that any of this is actually real," Alder said finally.

"I can assure you my friend it is. Now stop worrying! I doubt that you'll top my first royal ball antics so stop fretting," Kristoff boomed.

"Oh? What happened?" Alder laughed, eyeing his friend.

"Well I thought the wash bowls were a very watery soup and then I managed to trip over in the middle of a dance and bowl four very important dignitaries over. Not a great first impression," Kristoff replied.

They both began to howl with laughter and Alder got up and the pair began to walk inside.

"Besides," Kristoff continued, "I haven't even gotten the chance to make fun of your outfit yet, so you can't chicken out on me now."

His worries aside, Alder followed his friend back inside, mentally preparing for the jibes that were come.

A/N: OK OK OK OK... I am hella sorry that this took so long to update. Life has been exceptionally crazy at the moment... Between work and booking my trip to Europe I haven't even had time to sit down and think! I also apologise for the shortness of this chapter however I felt it was a necessary step and that we needed a little bit of a filler to confront both Elsa and Alder's reactions to one and other. The next chapter I hope to have up by maybe Wednesday/Thursday (Absence of writer's block permitting) and then we will begin our descent into the darker part of the story/beginning of the main conflict. Oh don't I have some treats in store for you all! For now enjoy and thanks once again to all the reviewers, followers and favourites. You guys seriously motivate me to get this stuff pumped out so good on you all you magnificent people.

P.S. To answer your riddle "The Riddler" I think the answer is "A secret". =D

Until the next update!