Chapter 21:

The Aftermath

The story is nearing the end, but not just yet. There's still more to come. In addition, I'm also considering writing a sequel. There's a poll on my profile page. You can vote on whether or not I should write a sequel. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

When Paul opened his eyes, he saw that he was in the Urvea hospital wing. It took him a little while to figure out why he was here, but when he did, he instantly jumped out of bed. A sharp pain shot through his chest, causing him to stumble over. Paul looked down at his chest and saw a large bandage wrapped around him. "Am I alive?" he asked. He stood up and sat back on the bed. A door suddenly opened and Paul saw Anna, Kristoff, and what looked like the doctor come in. "He's awake!" Anna cried. She ran over to his bed side, and wrapped her arms around him. Paul returned the hug, still not entirely sure what was happening. "Why…why am I here?" he asked.

Anna pulled back, and frowned. "You were shot. By the time we found you, you had already lost a lot of blood. We honestly didn't think you were going to make it. The doctor said you needed a blood transfusion as soon as possible or you would die. Kristoff volunteered to donate his blood."

The mountain man rolled up his sleeve to show where blood had been drawn. "They took about four ounces," he said. "Fortunately, it was enough to keep you alive."

Paul looked down at his stomach, now remembering what had happened. "Aaron…I killed my brother," he whispered.

Anna and Kristoff nodded. "Yes. Aaron is dead," Kristoff said. Once the battle outside had ended, the army found their way inside, and rescued us down in the dungeons. We looked everywhere for you, and eventually found you and Elsa in the ballroom.

"Elsa!" Paul cried, remembering the Snow Queen being critically injured in the battle with Aaron.

"How is she? Where is she? Take me to her?"

The doctor stepped in, and placed a hand on Paul's shoulder. "Relax, Your Highness, she is just resting. Elsa had quite the ordeal as well. She received several large third-degree burns to her chest and arm. The injuries were extensive, and the damage was very bad, but we managed to do all that we to help the wounds heal. Her skin will grow back, but it will take some time. It will also more than likely leave many scars."

Paul was relieved that Elsa was alright, but that still didn't stop him from worrying about her.

"Take me to her," he ordered.

"I'm afraid we can't do that right now," the doctor said. "She's resting, and you should do the same."

Paul wanted to argue, but he knew that the doctor was right. He would find out more in a while, but right now, he needed to rest.

A few days later, when Paul was strong enough to get out of bed, he managed to convince the doctor to let him see Elsa. When he entered the Snow Queen's room, he saw her lying in the bed, head propped up against the bedpost, and her body covered in many bandages. From the looks of it, she appeared to be sleeping. He crept closer to her, trying not to wake her. He didn't need to speak to her right this moment, he just wanted to see her. When he got to her bedside, he saw close up how badly her body was burned. Though the bandages concealed a lot, he could still see traces of burned flesh through them. I'm so sorry this happened to you he thought.

The Snow Queen suddenly opened her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was soft and very tired.

"Hi Paul," she whispered.

"Elsa! You're awake! Oh I'm so sorry, Elsa! I didn't mean for this to happen-

"It's Ok," she said cutting him off. "You couldn't help it."

She straightend her back against the bedpost, and met Paul face to face. "How's your stomach?" she said, gesturing to his chest.

"I've been better, but it's not too bad," he admitted.

"That's good. As for me, at least when the bandages finally come off I can hide my ugly scars underneath my clothes. That way people will still think I'm beautiful, even if I'm really not."

"Elsa, don't talk like that," Paul said. "You are beautiful inside and out. The scars don't take any of that away. Your beauty will always remain."

Elsa smiled, an icy tear fell from her eye. "Thank you, Paul. Well, I know we just started talking, but I'd really like to get some rest if you don't mind."

"Not at all. You go right on head," Paul said, getting off her bed.

He gave Elsa a soft kiss on the lips before turning to leave. As he shut the door, he watched as Elsa closed her eyes, and snuggled under the covers. "Thank you, God," he whispered before closing the door behind him.

Not long after he was well enough to move about, Paul learned that with Aaron's death, he was now the King of Urvea. It was a mixed blessing. Paul was glad that Aaron's reign of tyranny was over, but he was still consumed by the guilt of killing him. "I murdered my own brother," he thought. "I'm a monster."

Though many people tried to tell him otherwise, Paul wouldn't listen. Nothing they said could change the fact that he murdered his own flesh and blood.

Despite many people protesting against it, Paul insisted that the kingdom hold a funeral for Aaron. Not surprisingly, very few attended. Elsa stood by Paul's side as the grave diggers finished burying Aaron next to their parents. When they left, Paul placed a red rose on Aaron's grave, and said a prayer.

"Even after all that he did, you still care about him?" Elsa asked.

"He's my brother," Paul replied. "And nothing will ever change that."

For the next few days, Paul and Elsa rarely saw one another. Elsa spent most of her free time recuperating, still needing to recover from her injuries. Meanwhile, Paul attended to his kingly duties.

Many buildings were destroyed in the battle, along with lots of plants and livestock. All around villagers were starving in the streets, begging for food. Paul told several guards to give out as much food as possible. There was no way he was going to let his people starve. He also began the reconstruction process, hoping to rebuild as many homes as possible. It was tiring work, but Paul insisted on doing it. He was going to prove to his people that unlike his brother, he truly cared about them.

One afternoon, after he had attended a meeting regarding the rebuilding of the village orphanage, Paul received word that Elsa was leaving for Arendelle tomorrow. He decided to take the rest of the day off, and spend it with her. The two walked through the village together, talking about the reconstruction, and the many plans that Paul had for Urvea. Elsa was impressed with Paul's leadership. The man knew what he was doing, and knew exactly how to get what he wanted. And his selflessness was admirable. Urvea was in good hands.

"You're going to be a great king," Elsa said.

"Well, I won't be king for much longer. I'm only staying in power until the reconstruction process is finished, and then I'm moving to Arendelle to live with you.

Elsa was stunned. She stopped walking and looked at Paul, she did not seem pleased.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"We're going to get married, and reign together just like we planned. I know you're still recovering from the traumatic events that have taken place, but that's alright. I'm here for you, and we'll get through this together."

Elsa sighed, unsure of how to respond. "Paul, after all that's happened, I don't think we can be together."

"What…What do you mean?" Paul asked, confused.

"Because of my interest in you, so many terrible things happened. Your parents were murdered, Anna's life was endangered, and the whole kingdom of Urvea was destroyed. I can't live with you, after I've caused you so much pain."

"Elsa, you didn't do anything wrong, it was all Aaron's doing. Yes, it's very unfortunate that all of these things happened, but that's all behind us now. We're here, alive and well, and everything is going to be alright."

Elsa started to cry, this hurt her more than he could ever imagine.

"Paul, don't make this harder than it has to be," she sniffled. "I still care about you, but I can't be with you anymore. Not after all that's happened. Please try to understand, I'm only doing this for your own good. I want you to be happy, and not be reminded of the person that caused you so much pain."

"Elsa, you make me happy. Everything about you brings more joy to my life than anything else on this earth. I want to be with you! I want to spend the rest of my life with you, have kids, and rule by your side. Elsa, you are the ultimate treasure in my life. I would literally die without you. I love you so much it hurts, and I know you love me too!

"Don't let the past affect your future. Take one step at a time, and do your very best in everything that you do. You've got more will power than anyone I know.

You and I are meant to be together, Elsa. Stop shutting out the truth, and accept it for once! You know it's the right thing to do! Please, Elsa! Please don't do this!"

"I'm sorry, Paul," Elsa whispered, tears pouring down her cheeks. "But it has to be this way."

She turned around and started to walk back to the palace. Paul ran after her, and grabbed her hand.

"Please Elsa, don't do this!" he pleaded, his eyes now filled with tears.

"Let go of me, Paul!" she cried, yanking her hand out from his. "Just leave me alone."

She started to run back the palace, not turning around once to look back at Paul. The new king of Urvea screamed for Elsa to come back, to reconsider what she was doing, but it was all to no avail. The Snow Queen kept running, getting farther and farther from him.

Paul collapsed to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes. There was way no way this was happening, he refused to accept it. And yet,deep down he knew it was all too true.

The next day, Paul didn't go to see Elsa off. He instructed the guards to help her, Anna and Kristoff with whatever they needed, while he remained in his room watching them leave from the window. As the ship left the harbor, and disappeared behind the large rock, Paul felt the world crash down upon him. Life had no meaning anymore.

Oh, now that's a nasty cliffhanger! What will happen next you're wondering? Well, the story isn't over yet, that's all I can say.

PS: The first blood transfusion was done in 1818 in case you didn't know. I realize that they haven't discovered the different blood types yet, so there is no way of knowing if Kristoff's blood is the right type, but for the sake of this story, I had Kristoff's blood be the same type as Paul's, and therefore the transfusion was successful.

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