By the time Elsa had finished her paperwork and listened to Abram ramble on about the importance of proper quill management, it was already well into the afternoon. At four o'clock, she finally escaped her study and walked as quickly as she could to the residential wing in search of the twins.
She rounded a corner rather quickly and slammed into someone, her head colliding with his chest. She stumbled back and looked up to see Aaron smiling sheepishly down at her.
"My apologies, Elsa. I was just on my way to ask Gerda if you were finally available," he said.
"No, no, that was my fault…I really should look where I'm going," she found her composure and rubbed her arm. "I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you or Sophie all day. Getting prepared for my coronation has made my schedule rather busy…"
"Say no more. I know what it's like. Anyway, I've been enjoying myself in your library. It is quite impressive, I must say. And Sophie has… well, I'm not actually sure where she's been. Staying out of trouble, I hope…" Aaron rubbed the back of his neck and looked off down the hallway, hoping she would suddenly appear there.
"Well, I did tell her to make herself at home," Elsa shrugged and gave the man a small smile. "I would like to invite the two of you to join me for dinner, if you would like. I'll have the chefs prepare us something special."
"It would be my pleasure. I'll find my sister and pass the word along."
"Okay then. Kai should come find you in a few hours when dinner is almost ready. See you then," she finished and turned to inform the chefs.
Aaron waited a moment to make sure Elsa was out of sight and then broke into a jog in the opposite direction, hoping to find Sophie before she inevitably did something inappropriate.
"Sophie… Where are you…?" Aaron muttered under his breath as he scoured the west wing, starting from her guest room and fanning out from there. When he couldn't find her anywhere in the residential section of the castle, he branched out to the front courtyard and eventually found himself on the north side where the guard barracks extended from the castle. He searched for over an hour before finally finding Sophie in the guard armory, inspecting the racks of weapons and armor with a look of pure disgust.
She didn't even look up when she noticed her brother coming. "Look at the quality of this steel… it looks like the smiths here in Arendelle were trained by Trolls or something."
Aaron ignored her. "Have you been just wandering around the castle all day critiquing whatever you find?" he asked.
"I have nothing else to do. I don't have a prince to impress, remember?"
"Point taken. Just, please, at least pretend to be a normal princess for once. Elsa has invited us for dinner in a couple hours, she wants me to tell you."
Sophie laughed, finally making eye contact. "Is that what this is all about? Pretending to be normal for a few days? We can't get too comfortable, Aaron. No matter how much you try, we will never be normal. We will have to go home soon and face reality. And in reality, you're nothing but a Panther and I'm nothing but a Swan."
Aaron didn't know how to respond. He clenched his jaw. Despite her harshness, Sophie placed a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder as she strolled past, surely off to explore some other far and probably forbidden corner of the castle.
Aaron was pleased if not a bit surprised to see that Sophie had listened to his request and showed up to the extravagantly designed, almost gaudy dining hall precisely on time. Elsa had met them there and the three young royals gathered around the massive table. Elsa took her place at the head and the twins sat on either side of her, facing each other.
Just as the servants began to bring out the first course of the meal, Elsa spotted a redheaded figure appear in the doorway.
"Anna? What are you doing out of bed?"
Anna stepped into the dining room shyly and put her hand up in a small wave. "Hi everyone! I'm actually feeling much better and I thought I'd join you, i-if that's alright…" she said. The younger princess was looking far healthier than she had last night and Elsa was quite impressed with her speedy recovery.
Aaron stood at the presence of the princess and faced Anna, bowing. "I see that the icebloom worked, then. I'm glad. I'm Prince Aaron Sinclair of Astor, your highness. And this is my sister, Princess Sophie Sinclair," he gestured to the woman across the table who stood and nodded a greeting, looking utterly unamused.
"You sure you're feeling better already?" Elsa asked as Anna approached the table and took her place next to Aaron.
"Yeah, I actually feel great!" she said, sounding astounded herself. "It's nice to meet you Aaron. A-and thank you so much for that tea, it was… wow. I've never felt so refreshed in my entire life, it was like magic!"
"The secret is right outside in your gardens, actually. Icebloom is quite a marvelous little plant."
"You gave her icebloom tea?" Sophie asked, giving Aaron an indiscernible look. "I'm surprised even the royalty of the icebloom's native kingdom doesn't know about its healing powers."
"Yes, well, it's only fitting that they know, isn't it?" Aaron said, shooting Sophie a look.
"I've certainly never heard of it before but if it can make Anna go from how she was last night to this, it must be quite a useful secret to know," Elsa interjected, sensing something happening between the twins that she couldn't understand.
The servants brought out the main course as they spoke, an artfully prepared fish that Elsa didn't recognize with garlic potatoes and asparagus on the side. It smelled wonderful and both pairs of royal siblings were practically drooling in anticipation as the food was placed in front of them.
Anna was the first to dig in, devouring potatoes like it was her last meal on earth, clearly making a recovery from her lack of appetite while she was sick. Aaron politely cut into his fish and brought the fork to his mouth, but before he could take a bite he was interrupted by Sophie standing and shouting so loudly that the entire table rattled.
"WAIT!"
Elsa, Aaron, and Anna all froze and stared at the princess' outburst, mouths agape and speechless. A glob of potatoes fell from Anna's fork to her plate with a plop.
Sophie walked around the table and hovered over her confused brother's shoulder. She leaned close to his plate and inspected the fish, then pushed her glasses towards her face.
"I had a feeling. Paprika. You need to be more careful Aaron, if I hadn't noticed you would be halfway to the infirmary by now," she finally said.
Aaron lowered his fork and his expression changed from a look of confusion to embarrassment as he understood what had just happened. "T-thanks, Fi. That was…close."
When he noticed that Anna and Elsa were staring at the siblings in confusion, he explained, "I have a rather severe allergy to paprika. If I had eaten this, I'm afraid that would have put a rather abrupt end to the evening."
"The last time he accidentally ate paprika he nearly suffocated," Sophie said, her voice humorless.
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!" Elsa apologized and called Kai back to take the food away and prepare something else for their guest.
"It's quite alright, you didn't know. I'm just glad Fi was looking out for me," Aaron said looking genuinely grateful. Sophie smiled ever so slightly and patted Aaron on the back before circling around the table to take her seat once more.
Elsa took notice of the small gesture; somewhere beneath Sophie's rather abrasive and blasé exterior, she truly did care about her twin brother, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Elsa got the sense that the two of them had a bond that could only come from experiencing a lifetime of hardship together. She would expect that from a pair of twins, especially two royal children, but there was something more to it. The two relied on each other heavily.
She looked at Anna who had awkwardly started to eat again, hardly concealing her ravenous appetite. A pang of sadness washed over Elsa as she realized that she would never have that close of a relationship with her own sister; that was something that she had given up long ago. Her thoughts went to her nineteenth birthday, the night on the rooftop that she remembered so well, and she smiled fondly at the memory.
As the four began to eat and a new, paprika-free entrée was brought out for Aaron, an awkward silence fell over the table. Anna and Sophie were still in the dark about the exact nature of the twin's stay in the castle and neither of them exactly knew what to say to the other. Anna had practically no experience with royals around her own age and Sophie wasn't exactly the most sociable person to begin with. It all added up to a peculiar dinner situation and none of them felt entirely at ease.
In fact, Anna was not even used to having dinner with her own sister, let alone these two strangers. While she welcomed some fresh new faces around, she couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable with the sudden change.
Elsa was the one to break the silence. "So, Aaron, Sophie, tell us about your kingdom. What is Astor like? Obviously neither Anna or myself have ever had the pleasure of visiting it."
Sophie and Aaron exchanged glances and hesitated for just a small moment. "Well -" Aaron began, but his sister cut him off.
"It's quite boring, really. The weather is hot and dry, no snow, very few flowers, definitely no royal banquets… Our father is a fairly private man and prefers a… quieter lifestyle," she explained.
Aaron seemed to have nothing to add, and Elsa conceded, figuring that her conversation with Captain Holdt had been spot-on about the royal family enjoying their privacy.
Still, something feels off…
The two quickly changed the subject and the conversation shifted towards more mundane things, leaving Elsa feeling even more curious. She couldn't think of a way to bring it back up without seeming like she was prying.
"So what kind of things do you do for fun in Astor?" Anna asked.
"Sophie and I are actually both quite adequate... fencers," Aaron replied, causing Sophie to scoff. Elsa noticed that he had hesitated a bit until he landed on the word 'fencers.'
"Adequate? You and I can beat every single one of the knights in the capitol," she proclaimed without a hint of modesty. Aaron shrugged, but Anna looked impressed already.
"Ohhh, fencing! That's so cool! I'd love to see you in action! Wasn't Abram a fencer, Elsa?" she asked.
"Yes, I believe so, but he's much too old for it now. If you mention it he might just talk your ear off about it. But Desmond, our captain of the guard, is apparently quite the accomplished swordsman. Perhaps tomorrow you could set up a bout," Elsa suggested.
Sophie had a wicked grin on her face and Aaron gave her another look. He simply said, "We'll see."
The rest of dinner went by at a comfortable pace. By the time the food was all gone, the four royals were so full that the walk back to their rooms suddenly felt like it would be a massive chore. Anna, in particular, looked like she had gained about ten pounds just from the meal, sitting back in her chair and smiling contentedly, a spot of mashed potatoes resting on the front of her blouse.
"Anna, I know that you are feeling better, but I still think you need rest. Perhaps we should all retire for the evening, yes?" Elsa suggested, feeling eager to get some sleep herself.
Aaron and Sophie thanked Elsa and the servants for the meal and the four of them dispersed. It was past dark by now and the front hall was lit only by the bright light from the moon as it cascaded through the massive windows that lined the purple hallways. Elsa stopped Aaron before heading up the stairs to the residential wing and asked to speak with him privately. Anna noticed her comment as she climbed the stairs herself and shot Elsa a playful smile as she reached the top step, stifling a giggle. Elsa ignored her.
"Listen, Aaron. I'm sorry, for all of this…" she told him, her gaze falling to the floor.
Aaron brought a hand up to stop her. "Don't apologize. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense and I don't blame you for not trusting me just yet."
"The thing is, I think you're a good person. I want to trust you, truly." She paused. "You and your sister… you seem very close, yes?"
"Ah, I see. You're worried that I won't keep your secret from her. You are quite the observant one, aren't you?" he said and Elsa nodded.
"Yes, Fi and I are indeed quite close, but please don't worry. You'll have to trust me when I say that it is better for everyone if she doesn't know, and even I don't want her to find out. I've said it before and I'll say it again: your secret is safe with me."
Elsa visibly relaxed a little, sensing truth in the man's words and there was a comfortable silence for a moment.
"Icebloom, huh? And fencing, of all things. You really are full of surprises."
Aaron let out a modest chuckle. "Don't forget I can be killed by a relatively common spice, too. I suppose everyone has their achilles' heel."
"Indeed. Yours is a spice and mine is a magical curse. Nobody's perfect, right?"
"I don't think you're cursed Elsa. I think you just have a touch of magic in you. That's something you should be proud of. You're going to make a fantastic, beautiful queen."
He inwardly winced for including the word 'beautiful' in that sentence, but she didn't seem to mind. She didn't say anything at all, merely giving the man a shy smile full of genuine gratitude. For a moment, she studied Aaron's green eyes and sharp features, and not for the first time, noticing how handsome he was in the dim light of the moon.
Catching herself staring, she broke eye contact and fiddled with her gloves. "Well… I suppose I'm off to bed then…"
"Yes, me too. I will…see you tomorrow then?" Aaron asked and cleared his throat nervously.
"Of course."
The two climbed the stairs together and when they reached the point where they had to part ways, Aaron kissed the back of Elsa's hand and the two whispered "goodnights" to each other. Both had to stop themselves from looking back as they went off to their rooms where they would stay up all night thinking of infinite "what-ifs."
Aaron sighed as he entered his guest room and began to undress, pulling off his vest. He walked over to the dresser and stared at himself in the mirror before unlatching the leather apparatus strapped to his body underneath his undershirt and pulling out the dagger concealed in the holster hidden beneath his clothes. He held the blade up and studied the beautiful design, the black handle of the weapon encrusted with a large red ruby right at the center. The blade itself was engraved with a small flame design just above the hilt; the crest of the Kingdom of Astor.
He placed the dagger on top of the dresser and spun it skillfully in place. It whirled around several times on top of the wooden surface before slowing to a stop, the sharp end of the blade pointed directly towards Aaron's heart.