Chapter Twenty: The Rings

It was the middle of february and already the royal family started to get their wedding preparations under way before spring. Meanwhile Kristoff asked Mathias to be his best man at the wedding after countless times he talked to him for a period of time which annoyed Mathias to no end.

"So let me get this straight. You want me of all people to stand next to you at the altar in front of people i don't even know." Mathias said in an irritated tone as he glared at Kristoff.

"Yes, thats what the best man does during weddings." Kristoff nervously replied but his surprise the taller man just sighed.

"Alright fine, now where are these rings you mentioned about yesterday?" Mathias asked and Kristoff gave a smirk and waved him to follow making Mathias grunt as he followed behind him.

"They should be done today so we're going to pick them up." Kristoff explained and the taller man nodded in understanding. Mathias pondered on his next question to ask him in hopes to get a better understanding of his situation.

"Does Anna know about the rings?" He asked him and Kristoff froze in place confirming his suspicions. He gave a low chuckle before patting the man on the back making Kristoff stagger a bit as he looked up at him confused.

"You finally decided to make your own plans without your woman's consent, good man, now lets hurry and get those damn thing before the women get suspicious." He said ushering Kristoff forward out of the castle gates. the duo walked down the street of the town in silence enjoying the afternoon as the trudged to their destination.

"Hey Mathias!" Someone shouted causing both men to freeze with Kristoff thinking it's Anna and Mathias thinking it was Elsa. Mathias turned around and saw Abigail walking up to them. Mathias sighed in relief before smiling at the approaching young women.

"You know her?" Kristoff asked curiously and Mathias nodded as he faced the women again.

"Ah, Abigail, nice to see you again." He said to her as she finally stopped in front of them. She looked behind Mathias and noticed another guy with him.

"Who's your friend?" She asked pointing at kristoff. Mathias chuckled to himself before he spoke.

"Abigail this is Kristoff, he's a...friend of mine." He said introducing her to the mountain man. Kristoff sheepishly waved at her and Mathias inwardly groaned at his actions.

"So what are you two up too?" She asked them suspiciously and both men staggered on their words till Mathias quickly recovered from his nervousness.

"Running errands at the moment." He told her though it wasn't a complete lie it done the trick as she nodded in understanding.

"Cool, can i join you if it's not too much trouble?" She asked and this left Mathias with no words to reply back.

"Ah, Dammit what am i gonna do now?" He asked himself but Kristoff finally stepped in saving Mathias on time.

"Of course you can, you not bothering us." He said with a genuine smile as he gestured her to follow them. Mathias strolled next to Kristoff with a relieved expression and the smaller man nodded in understanding as they continued onward to their destination. Kristoff listened to the conversation between Abigail and Mathias till they stopped in front of a tall building filled with nothing but jewlery and this confused Abigail.

"Running errands huh." She said as she put her hands on her hips narrowing her eyes at the two men in front of her. Mathias knew it was a matter of time till she got weary of them and gave her a nervous smile as Kristoff walked in to get the rings.

"What? I didn't exactly lie, we did need to get something." Mathias said as the young woman continued to glare at him. Kristoff came back out with two small black boxes in his hands with a victorious smirk.

"Hey, i got the rings so we don't have to worry about these later." He said but stopped in his tracks as he finally noticed Abigail's expression. Mathias glared at Kristoff after he spoke and turned to him fully.

"Way to go you dumb ass, you just blurted out our reason of being here." Mathias grumbled with a huff as he walked away from Kristoff leaving him with Abigail who started to glare at him with her chocolate brown eyes. He backed up a little when she took a step closer to him and was surprised her frown turned into a smirk.

"I'm going to take a wild guess saying those are for the wedding coming up." She said earning a look of disbelief from Kristoff and she let out a low chuckle.

"Does the princess know about this?" She asked and Kristoff immediately hushed her and gestured her to follow him in the direction Mathias went. They walked in silence till Kristoff finally spoke.

"No she doesn't, not yet at least." He finally answered her as the approached the docks. Kristoff pulled out one the two small boxes and took out the ring inside and admired the design as Abigail watched him closely as he brought it closer to his face. He didn't notice a man in a hood walk up to him and swept his hand knocking the ring out of his hand causing it to fall off the dock and into the water.

"Hey!" He shouted angrily but was surprised he was gone as quick as he came. Abigail look around trying to find the man but found nothing.

"Who the hell are you yelling at?" A voice called out as they turned around to see Mathias walk up to him. His eyes narrowed as he saw one of the black boxes open.

"What happened?" He asked as he finally stopped in front of him. Kristoff looked furious as he looked back down the alleyway of which he came.

"Someone wearing a hood knocked the ring out of my hand." He sneered angerly as he looked back at the taller man.

"So where's the ring?" Mathias asked and Kristoff slowly pointed to the water where Mathias assumed the ring fell into. He snapped his head toward the mountain man and glared at him.

"You just had to take out the ring didn't you?" He said in a sarcastic tone as he gestured toward the water. Kristoff was a little taken back and before he could retort Abigail stepped in between them before a argument started.

"Look arguing won't get the ring back!" She yelled catching the two men off guard and catching a few other people's attention as they stopped and watched the trio for a bit. Mathias felt eyes on him and saw some people watching them with amusement. A growl emanated deep in his throat before he roared out in fury causing them to leave the area. Mathias looked down with a smirk and saw Abigail slightly glaring at him before she smirked at him.

"Do you have to scare the people like that?" She asked him and his smirk turned into a full grin.

"Hey it works." He replied back as he walked to the edge of the dock confusing both Kristoff and Abigail.

"W-What are you doing?" She asked but quickly regretted it as Mathias took off his shirt revealing his many scars on his back. He tossed his shirt aside and took off his shoes and socks and looked at them with a wicked grin.

"Getting the ring." He said before he dived into a water with a splash. Abigail stood there bewildered and looked at Kristoff as if to confirm the taller man's actions. They waited for what seemed like hours and Mathias didn't come back up for air. They saw something dark moving up to the surface and Kristoff quickly grabbed it and was surprised it was Mathias's pants.

"W-Why did you take these off?" He asked no one in particular. Abigail slowly approached and saw the pants.

"Why the hell did he do that?" She said as she quickly looked away as some images appeared in her head clearly embarrassed. A loud rumble boomed from the water seconds before a loud splash, scarring the duo as the water settled to reveal Mathias in the water holding the ring with a triumphant smirk.

"You owe me big time." He said as Kristoff took the ring from him and examined it. Mathias slowly got out of the water and noticed Abigail's face turn red before she turned away which confused him. He looked down and noticed his pants laying there and he quickly put the pieces together as he quickly grabbed the wet garment and put it back on before anyone noticed.

"They're back on." He said and she slowly turned around to see Mathias wearing his wet pants but was still shirtless to which she didn't mind. She looked at every scar on his body that she could see at the moment and wondered how he got them. To her he was a mystery that didn't like to reveal it's secrets so easily to anyone. Everything froze when she looked into his eyes, they weren't dull like the first time they met. She could see the fire roaring to life in his eyes and she began wondered what happened in the water. Her moment was short lived when Mathias grabbed his shirt and bid her farewell and she sadly watched as the most mysterious man who stole her heart walk away.