Chapter 23

"I really hate that man," Aaron grumbled as he stared out the window into the night.

Behind him he could hear Kristoff moving about but didn't look back until he heard the wine being poured into the twin glasses before glancing over his shoulder in time for Kristoff to ask, "Didn't I overhear you telling Anna that you kind of admired him?" Having filled both glasses with the burgundy liquid he set the bottle aside before shooting Aaron a quizzical look.

Instead of answering right away Aaron waited until he handed him one of the glasses before responding with a simple, "You did."

"Well?"

"Simple. I lied." With that he took a short draft of wine, his mouth set in a frown.

In another life he might have liked Cyrus, or at the very least respected him. After all, the man was sharp, amiable and could be gracious when he wanted to be. Someone who could come across as delightful when it suited him… but every time Aaron saw him with Elsa it only served to stoke the malcontent in his heart. The last thing he wanted to be was possessive of her only he couldn't help himself when he saw the two of them together. And with every lascivious look Cyrus gave her and every sly word that slipped from him he could feel his frustration mounting. Hence why he was here.

It had been a long first day of the festival, with all sorts of revelry taking over the city. In fact, despite the fact that the sun had set several hours ago he could still see several partiers in the streets when he looked through the window. Except Aaron hadn't been able to enjoy any of it. Whenever he started to enjoy himself, just when he was getting into the spirit of things, something would come along that would remind him of Elsa and how he wished he could be spending the day which only irked him further. As much as he would love to spend every minute of the festival with her, or at least part of it, it seemed like every time he saw her she was attended by either Cyrus or that other runt, Zach, meaning he could do nothing but glower.

Having Kresta with him certainly helped as she seemed content to spend most of the day with him and she somehow had a knack for making him laugh or at the very least distracting him with her amusing sense of humor and engaging way of talking. In fact several times over the course of the day he found himself forgetting about his doleful situation, instead just focusing on her. Why she was content to spend so much time with him he couldn't even begin to fathom but it didn't mean he wasn't grateful for the company. Eventually, though, Kresta had to leave for some reason or another so he'd gone in search of Kristoff. Who better to talk to when he was feeling low than his best friend?

After a while Aaron managed to find him in his chambers, though they had to be quiet as Anna had already turned in for the evening. Fortunately they had a small antichamber where he and Kristoff could talk while she slept in the bedroom and before long the wine came out when Aaron realized what he needed was a drink. They'd already gone through a bottle and a half, not that it helped much as he sat there, his eyes set on the floor.

After a moment or two of quiet contemplation Kristoff spoke up again, saying, "Any particular reason you hate him? Besides the obvious, I mean."

"'Besides the obvious'?" Aaron echoed, shooting him a harsh look. "Do you have any idea how... painful it is to watch another man try to court the woman you love? What it's like to love someone and yet be powerless to hold onto them?"

Instantly he regretted his words as Kristoff's eyes grew heavy and it became his turn to stare at the floor. "As a matter of fact, yes," he replied slowly, his grip tightening on his glass. "You forget that when I first met Anna she was engaged to another man. Here was this… amazing woman, a person who was so much more than anything I could have ever hoped for in life… and she was already betrothed to someone else." Glancing back at Aaron, he gave a sad smile. "So yeah, I do kind of know where you're coming from."

Retreating, Aaron offered an apologetic frown. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you've never had to deal with anything like this. It's just that-"

"Forget about it," Kristoff interjected, cutting him off with what was now a friendly smile. "You're just upset and I should have worded my question differently. What I meant was, is it the things he says that makes you hate him, or…?"

Returning his focus to the matter at hand, he shook his head as he stared thoughtfully into space. "It isn't so much what he says, though that doesn't help. It's the fact that I can't do anything about it. All I can do is sit there and look on as he tries to seduce Elsa. It wouldn't be so bad if there was just something I could do about it."

"Well, there is one thing you could do."

Perplexed by the response, he glanced at Kristoff to see that he was giving Aaron a knowing smirk. "Which is?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Kristoff's smirk only grew as he answered with a single word. "Propose."

While it was clearly meant to be helpful Kristoff's suggestion only caused Aaron to sigh dejectedly and shake his head again. "You know I can't do that."

"Why? Because you're too afraid to be king?"

"That's exactly why."

Aaron would be lying if he said he'd never thought about what it would be like to marry Elsa. How amazing it would be bound to her, making him hers and hers alone, and to spend his days with her until his last. How incredible it would be to wake up every morning and find her sleeping there beside him. That was all he needed to live a happy life… but that holy matrimony came with the risk of a hefty price in the form of a golden crown and all the obligations that were tied to it.

Heaving another sigh, Aaron set his glass aside so he could rub his eyes with palms of his hands, grumbling quietly to himself. "If only Elsa was a baker's daughter or something. Anything but the queen. Things would be so much simpler."

"But she's not, is she?"

That solicited a smirk as he peaked from behind his hands to give Kristoff a look. "How did optimistic Anna ever marry such a downer?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to stay realistic," he replied with a shrug. "We can't all be dreamers like you two."

"Yeah, right. Me, a dream. Sure." Letting his hands drop, Aaron slowly shook his head as he looked back out the window at the city. "The whole situation is just… disheartening." For a while neither of them spoke as he watched the lit streets and the distant figures that were still meandering through them. How easy it must be to be one of them. To not have to deal with all this intrigue and political garbage, he thought glumly. But if he was one of them then he never would have met Elsa and he would never be where he was now. Which meant he also wouldn't be in this situation.

Growing agitated at the circles his mind was steadily carving he pushed the thoughts aside and returned his attention to Kristoff, asking, "While we're on the subject I don't suppose you have any insight to offer."

"On?"

"Me and Elsa."

"Ah." Falling silent again, Kristoff gave the night a long, thoughtful look while nursing the last of his drink before setting the now empty glass aside. Only then did he give Aaron a frank look and reply, "This may not be that helpful and I'm sure it's already occurred to you several times over but it's pretty clear you have a decision to make. For what it's worth to me it's an obvious choice."

"And your choice would be…?"

"Why, to marry Elsa of course." The answer seemed so obvious to Kristoff he didn't even hesitate to respond. "So what if you have to wear a crown and sit on a fancy throne as a result? You still get to spend the rest of your life with the woman you love." Pausing, he gave Aaron a shrew look. "Besides, weren't you the one who once told me that marrying Anna would make it all worth it?"

Unable to refute, Aaron gave a shrug. There was no denying his own words. "I did... but when I think about wearing that crown… about having thousands of people depending on me and where a single decision could cost countless lives… it just makes me feel sick to my stomach."

It had been so easy to brush Kristoff's fears aside because they seemed so irrational, to give him the words he needed to hear because Aaron wasn't the one who was afraid. Only now it was his own fears that were plaguing his mind and made it so hard to see ahead. Every time he asked himself whether or not marrying Elsa was worth becoming king his initial response was yes without hesitation. After all, what could life possibly have to offer that was better than getting to spend every day of it with her?

But then Aaron would think more on it. On the adversities and challenges he would have to face and guide his people through, including the likes of famine or plague to name a few. How Elsa managed it all he would never know. And heaven forbid if a war broke out. To send thousands of good men to fight in the name of the kingdom, knowing full well that many of them would never return home. Fathers, husbands, sons who would never see their families again… he wasn't entirely convinced that he would be able to look himself in the mirror if he ever had to make such a call, much less to answer to those families.

As he did so often Kristoff seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, setting a consoling hand on his shoulder. "You know you won't be alone in making those decisions, right? You'd always have Elsa right there beside you."

"Doesn't make it any more palatable."

"Yeah, but…"

The uncertain pause caused Aaron to look up and feel a sense of dread when he saw the frown now set on Kristoff's face. "But what?"

It took some time but eventually Kristoff replied, still giving him a sad look as he quietly asked, "But if you don't marry Elsa… what's the alternative?"

Silence settled in as they exchanged a long, long look as they both knew Aaron had the answer to that question. For he knew there was only one alternative. Whether it was to Aaron or not one day Elsa would be married. For now everyone seemed content to simply let her live her life and even though suitors were sniffing around there was no pressure for her to tie the knot just yet. But that would never last. Eventually people would start to grow impatient and then there would be demands for her to be wed. After all, many seemed to think that as queen she had a duty to… what was the tasteful way Stein once put it? Oh yes, to 'produce heirs'. To which, of course, if Elsa was married to another man then she and Aaron would have to… if he found the thought of being king distasteful then the thought of leaving Elsa felt like someone was threatening to rend him in two. And yet still he hesitated, teetering on the brink.

At first he tried to form some sort of answer to Kristoff's question, to find a way to brush it off as though it were nothing. However, the longer he thought about it the farther down it dragged him to the point that he could no longer bear contemplating it. Clearing his throat, he looked away so that Kristoff wouldn't see the sorrowful look in his eye, muttering, "If it's all the same to you I'd rather not think about that right now."

"And I can appreciate that. I really can. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't want to think about it either." Then he hesitated, though Aaron knew exactly what was coming next. "But you and I both know you won't have the luxury of ignoring this forever."

Still refusing to acknowledge Kristoff, he only replied with a word. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that you can continue to sweep it under the rug and pretend like it's not there but sooner or later life's going to make the choice for you. And you may not like the result."

With that Kristoff fell silent, letting his words sink in for a while. He was right in that Aaron already knew all this but that didn't make it any easier to face when it was all laid out in front of him. Not that that changed the fact that sooner or later a choice would have to be made. Not unless he wanted the world to choose for him. And he was nearly ready to answer if it weren't for that one nagging question.

Did his love for Elsa outweigh his fear of the crown?

Eventually he realized Kristoff was waiting for him to say something and was about to speak up only he was cut off when a woman's voice asked, "Aaron? You're still here?"

Looking up, they both turned to see Anna standing in the doorway to the bedroom, wearing her nightgown and rubbing sleep from her eye. Once again he made to speak and again someone else beat him to it with Kristoff taking a step towards her, an apologetic look on his face. "We were just talking about stuff. We didn't wake you, did we?"

"No, not having you sleeping beside me is what woke me," Anna replied with a shake of her head before stifling a yawn and nodding at a clock along the far wall. "You two do realize it's past midnight, right?"

Glancing at the clock, Aaron saw that sure enough it was steadily working its way around towards one in morning. Now he was the apologetic one when he looked back at Anna. "Is it? Sorry, I didn't notice what time it was."

Again she waved them off, now smiling slightly. "That's alright. I'm glad you two can still find time to talk about whatever it is you boys talk about. That said, we've got a long week ahead of us so we should probably get what sleep we can." Pausing, she gave Aaron a look. "All of us."

Smirking, he nodded and said, "Yes ma'am," before turning back to Kristoff. "I guess we'll talk more later, then."

"Hey, whenever you need me I'm there for you," the blond replied and gave him a confident smile. "Just say the word."

"Thanks." With that he turned and started making his way towards the door, pausing to give Anna another apologetic look. "Goodnight, Anna. Again, sorry for keeping you up."

"Goodnight, Aaron," she said as watched him go, folding her arms around herself. "And remember I'm always there for you too if you need me."

Smiling at the gesture, he opened the door to the hall before hesitating and glancing back at them. Kristoff was now standing behind Anna, his hands now resting on her shoulders and her reaching up to place her hand on his as they both gave him warm smiles. It was in moments like that that Aaron remembered that it wasn't only Elsa that made him grateful for the life he had. After all, had he been born as just another citizen in the capital then he never would have had two caring friends like them.

However, neither of them saw the saw the frown that crossed his face as he shut the door and let the darkness of the hallway swallow him. While he knew that Kristoff was right and that he meant well with what he said it didn't make the path before Aaron any easier. Pretending like it wasn't a big deal did nothing to remove that daunting mountain resting before him, though it did help to highlight the prize awaiting him if he could muster the courage to climb it. If he could just overcome the crown then a lifetime of happiness with Elsa would be his. If he could overcome it.

Still, it wasn't like these questions had to be answered right away. He still had time, even if it wasn't much. For now all he had to do was survive until the end of the week and then the likes of Cyrus and Zach would return home. Then he and Elsa could sit down and talk this all out to find what they both wanted. Besides, he thought as he started making his way down the hall towards his quarters. If we can make it through this week then we can make it through anything.