Another night approached its darkest hour as Princess Sophie lay sleepless yet again in the elegant yet somehow uninviting bed of her chambers, haunted by an endless stream of unpleasant thoughts.
At this very moment there were new ships being built in the harbor of Calidae, new armor and weapons being forged for the burgeoning army of Astor, and tomorrow Sophie knew there would be even more recruits to train with all of the incentive to join the military. At this point, the people of Astor knew that it was either fight or slowly starve to death, and anything was better than waiting for the Disease to take hold of you and everyone you love.
The worst part, Sophie thought, was that all of the funding for the Astor army was coming from the oblivious people of the Southern Isles. She had to hand it to her uncle – his alliance with Hans and the way he had been pushing his military forward in the last few months was nothing short of impressive. If only he'd use such business savvy on keeping his people alive and healthy.
The princess rolled to her side and grunted, shifting her thoughts to another troubling avenue: her brother. She knew by now he was with the ice queen; at least that was what she could only assume given the strange visions she'd been having at increasing frequencies ever since she last saw him. Flashes of the castle of Arendelle and cold chills would sometimes wake her in the dead of night if she were ever so lucky as to fall asleep. He was alive, and that was the one thing that gave her any relief in the torrent of bad news that was her life lately.
She began to wonder what Elsa was doing, and what Aaron was doing with her. The poor queen; Sophie almost pitied her. She imagined the pale blonde girl in front of Alexander in the midst of combat, frail and petite, an insect at the mouth of a boar, ready to be devoured. When Elsa fell, Arendelle would be doomed, and Sophie would be the one responsible.
It was never something she asked for, to be the one to help topple a Kingdom. It brought her no joy to think of all the death that lay on the path set out before her. But nevertheless, she had a mission, and that mission would lead her to Arendelle with an army at her back.
A sudden thump made Sophie alert and she instinctively reached for the knife under her bed. There was someone lurking in the hallway, and whoever it was, they didn't seem to be making any effort to keep their presence unknown. She followed the noise of footsteps passing by her door as they continued down the hall, clunky and haphazard as if a drunkard had stumbled into the castle. She grabbed her glasses from the nightstand, carefully clutched her knife in hand, and crept over to open the door with only the moonlight from the window to guide her.
As she peered around the corner she could make out the back of a hulking figure shuffling away from her. It wasn't until she noticed the red silk pyjamas that she realized who it was and lowered her guard.
"Father?" Sophie whispered, but the man didn't respond, apparently sleepwalking, and Sophie took a moment to place the knife back under the bed before coming back out to help him. "Father, what are you doing out of bed?" she asked, stabilizing the pale man. He was mumbling now, barely audible, and his head swung about his neck lazily.
"I… Where are you…" he muttered.
Sophie guided the man to her room with his arm around her shoulder, his size and drowsy demeanor making it a bit difficult for her. She finally managed to sit him down on her bed and she heard him say, "Aaron… where… are you, Aaron…"
Sophie's heart broke. The circumstances of Aaron's departure form Astor didn't leave him much time to explain things to their father or say goodbye, and the poor man had gotten sick the morning after. Apparently the fact that he was gone hadn't quite sunk in for Harold. "Dad… Aaron's not here. He's… very far away, understand?"
"No… He's my son… Aaron's my son…" the faux king managed to say as he sunk down into the bed.
"I know, dad, I know. Here, get some sleep. You shouldn't wander around in the middle of the night. Aaron is gone, okay? You can't see him right now."
Harold was beginning to fade off to sleep now, but he managed to fight unconsciousness long enough to squeeze his daughters hand and whisper, "He's not gone. Not gone…"
Then he was finally passed out, snoring even before Sophie could even ask what he meant.
Before she could ponder for more than a second, another vision assaulted her. Sophie had to squeeze her eyes shut to endure the sharp pain that rushed through her skull as images faded in and out of her mind like photographs.
A dark ceiling… a portrait of someone she didn't recognize… a window... and finally a mirror, reflecting back at her… the eyes were hers, but the body belonged to someone else…
Aaron shot upright in his bed, the back of his eyes pulsing and sweat dampening the blankets around him.
Any other time he would assume that had been a simple dream, but he was able now to differentiate between a dream and a vision brought on by magic. The priests of Astor had always told him he had Highborn blood running through him and magic would surely affect him in some way in his life whether he knew it or not. This connection with his twin had never been what he was expecting, but it was hardly surprising. He supposed it was better than casting flames from his fingertips.
It took Aaron a moment to comprehend what he had seen, but as the vision rushed back to him, he only wished he could forget it. It was his father, beard down to his chest and eyes wrinkled, greying in more ways than one. The Disease had gotten to him.
Aaron threw himself from the bed and angrily stomped to the mirror where he stared at himself in his usual manner whenever he needed to think. His father was sick and he wasn't there to take care of him. Aaron slammed a hand down on the desk, rattling the mirror. Why now? As if there wasn't enough he felt bad about, enough guilt weighing on his shoulders. Now he was a traitorous prince, a rotten twin brother, and to top it off, a disgraceful son who abandoned his father when he needed him the most. Aaron felt nothing but shame as he gazed into the mirror now, and he couldn't see anything but Sophie staring back at him with a look of scorn that he knew all too well, judging him to his core.
The former prince slipped out of his room quietly, condemning sleep and no longer able to remain locked in the guest room with nothing but horrible thoughts to keep him company. He wandered the castle, as he often did, as the night turned to early morning, and once again he found himself in the library, his legs taking him there through no thought of his own. The high ceiling and beautiful paintings entranced him as he weaved in and out of the oak bookshelves in hopes of finding some new unexplored path that he had somehow never come across before. To his disappointment, he always found an end to each one.
Finally a noise interrupted his mindless roving and he froze. He poked his head around a corner to see a yawning Olaf curled up on the ground, snoozing away next to a familiar red-headed girl who looked about ready to nod off herself over an enormous open book in her lap.
Anna hadn't noticed him, so Aaron took a moment to compose himself and veil the demons that were keeping him awake. He didn't want Anna to see him in such a bad mood, figuring the girl needed no more people to worry about, and knowing that there were things she simply could not help, try as she might.
"Couldn't sleep either?" he eventually asked, causing Anna to literally jump up, snapping the book shut and holding it up like a makeshift weapon.
"WHO'S THE- Oh, Aaron, it's just you. GOSH, don't scare me like that. I was about ready to clobber you," the princess said, sinking down to sit again with her back against the bookshelf. Aaron sat across from her, noting that Olaf hadn't stirred at all, the little snowman's personal flurry wafting around to the rhythm of his snores.
"Sorry," Aaron said. "Guess I'm not the only one with a lot on my mind."
"Yeah, well… I just needed to do something, you know? I've been researching the history of Arendelle and the castle, hoping to find some kind of information that could help Elsa. So far I've found nothing but boring stories about priests and nobles and something called the Great Corn Famine," said Anna, tossing the book aside and grabbing another.
"Sounds fascinating…" Aaron drawled.
Anna scoffed and jerked her thumb to her right. "Olaf was supposed to help, but I guess even snowmen made of magic need to sleep. Terrible design on Elsa's part, if you ask me."
Aaron snickered, feeling a bit better. Only a few seconds with Anna was enough to boost his mood, apparently. "I'm sure Olaf 2.0 will be more efficient. You really want to help Elsa, huh?"
"Well, yeah," Anna stated. "She is my sister. I mean, I just feel so useless in all of this. I don't have any powers, or military experience, or fighting ability, or… anything! What's an adorable twenty-year-old girl like me supposed to do against an army?"
"If it makes you feel better, you're probably the last person I'd want to pick a fight with," Aaron said, attempting a compliment, but she didn't take the bait, simply giving him a cynical glare. "Okay, I get it. I think the best thing you can do right now is just be there for Elsa. She needs you now more than ever. You're her sister. You're all she's got. Without you, I doubt she would even have the will to fight like she does. In a way, you're the most important person in Arendelle right now."
Anna looked down and played with her hands, a touch of red appearing on her cheeks. "I… maybe. I guess you're right. Speaking of sisters, how are things… I mean, how do you feel? You know, about Sophie? Are you… really giving up on her?"
Anna didn't quite know how to bring it up and Aaron could tell she wanted to talk about it more than he did. He put his head back and drew in a deep breath. "I don't know if giving up is the right way to put it. She's chosen a path and nobody can sway her from it, even me. It's funny. I'm almost used to it. Fate has never been kind to either of us. To be honest… I'm just trying not to think about it."
Anna scowled, clearly unsatisfied with his answer. "Well, I'm not giving up on her," she said and then pulled another book from the shelf above her and began flipping through its pages, huffing.
Aaron wanted to say more, but stopped himself. The less he discussed Sophie, he thought, the better.
"There's been something I've been meaning to ask you," Anna said, breaking the awkward silence, much to Aaron's relief. "You said something during the trial about your uncle taking the power of another Highborn. Does that mean… you knew someone else like Elsa?"
Aaron stared at a spot just above the princess's head for a moment, gathering thoughts he had no interest in gathering. Anna realized she had conjured something unpleasant, but she waited for a response anyway.
"Yes, it was… there was a man named Percius. A king from a place in the Southern Kingdoms called Pierren. He was a highborn with the gift of life. An amazing power. He was able to touch a wilted flower and it would bloom back to life in a second. I saw it with my own eyes, more than once." He sighed and continued, "I wish his story was… I wish it was a happy one. He was captured by Alexander at sea on a voyage home… I was still just a young teenager at the time, too young to be involved in politics, and I never knew how exactly my uncle found out about him, but… you can imagine what happened to him once he was imprisoned in Astor."
Anna frowned and didn't pry for details. Aaron continued, "To this day, the people of Pierren still believe their king was lost at sea in an accident. I don't think they'll ever know the truth."
"I can't imagine they would want to know," said Anna. "Dying at sea is better than dying to a monster…"
Aaron shook his head. "You want to know something?" the prince asked. "Alexander wasn't always a monster. In fact, it wasn't until he gained Percius' power that he started slipping into madness. I still remember what he was like before. Quiet, nervous, even polite. He didn't have full control of his powers, he was frightened of them. Kinda like…"
"Elsa…" Anna finished.
"Ironic, isn't it? I almost hate to make the comparison, but it's true. I still remember the day he stole Percius' power. Everything changed. He created Efreet, he took control of the castle, he transformed into what he is today, no trace of humanity left. It was like the magic burned away his emotions and penetrated his heart. I can only imagine what will happen if he gets to Elsa too…"
"That won't happen," Anna stated, as sure as anything she'd ever said, and Aaron could do nothing but nod in agreement.
There was a lull as the two of them thought to themselves. Aaron hadn't discussed these things with anyone but his sister in longer than he could remember and it felt nice to say it all out loud to someone who didn't already know every detail of his life. "It wasn't until after our mother died that Fi and I learned all about the Highborn, you know. She left a book behind, the one that I've given to Elsa to read. Alexander was convinced that there was another Highborn somewhere out there, he just knew it somehow, and Fi and I believed him.
"So, many years ago, we made a pact. If either of us ever encountered another Highborn, we would kill them on the spot before Alexander even had a chance to find out about them. We were convinced that was the best solution, we were so sure of ourselves. Thinking back, we were so naïve it's almost painful. We thought we were being smart, doing anything Alexander said but secretly undermining him, hoping to take away his chance of gaining more power. We thought he'd eventually turn his attention back to the people of Astor. Hah! What idiots we both were.
"And then, it finally happened. I found myself in a room alone with Elsa, her Highborn status revealed to me in plain sight. I could've killed her right there, ended this all before it began. But things didn't go the way I'd always imagined. And Fi proved to be more dedicated to the pact than I was."
Anna, who had been listening intently, finally chimed in with a realization. "So that's why she tried to kill Elsa that night. There's one mystery solved…"
Aaron nodded. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about doing it myself. But I wanted to give Elsa a chance. I wanted her to live because she deserves it. And she would have been fine if her powers had remained a secret. When it comes down to it, everything would be simpler if Elsa were anybody but… well, Elsa."
Aaron took a deep breath. Revealing all of that was like taking a breath of air after being held under water by force. Anna drank all of his words in, coming to a conclusion herself. "You really care about Elsa, don't you?" she asked, and Aaron was a bit taken aback that that was all the princess could think about after everything he'd just told her.
"Yes," he breathed, admitting it not only to Anna but to himself. "I really do."
Anna let out a soft, high pitched squealing noise in her chest and pulled her knees up to her chin. "I knew it!"
Aaron raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?" he asked disparagingly. "I don't think 'who likes who' is the most important issue at hand here. This isn't grade school…"
"Oh shut up. I know you want to talk about it. And yes, I think she likes you too, since I know you're dying to ask. But keep in mind, Elsa has only ever been on one date when she was a teenager – Kai set it up, she didn't even make it through dinner before having to go to the bathroom to throw up."
Aaron couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Even so," he said, "love is probably the last thing on her mind at the moment. And mine too."
Anna rolled her eyes. "You blockhead. Love isn't something you can just choose to ignore. It's the thing that gets us through the hard times, like now. I would know. I am a self-proclaimed love expert, you know. So keep that in mind, Mister Panther. We're going to make it through this."
Aaron didn't know what to say. He was glad that he had been woken tonight, and super grateful that he had Anna to speak to. Being away from his sister was difficult, but at least Anna was there to soften the blow. He noticed a sort of similarity between the two – it wasn't obvious at first, as Sophie and Anna had almost opposite personalities, but there was something under the surface that they had in common, almost like an essence that made them each who they are. Neither of them would ever stray from that essence, and that, Aaron decided, was why he respected them both so much.
Tomorrow, Aaron was to begin training with Elsa. He was nervous, for both himself and for the queen. He just hoped he was a good enough teacher to prepare her in what little time they had left. Yet for some reason, as the sun began to rise and the library began to fill with the light of day, Aaron felt like he was ready.
"Thanks, Anna," was all he could manage, and the redhead smiled as she took back to reading, a comfortable silence nestling between them. After a moment, Olaf popped his eyes open and sprang awake, yelling "FOOD FIGHT" at the top of his lungs before looking around confused and disoriented while Aaron and Anna stared.
"I think it's about time we all got some sleep."