CHAPTER 12

Anna made her way towards the castle gardens, leaving the noise of the ball behind. She hated to leave Elsa behind like that, but she had to get away. Under normal circumstances, she would have stayed and helped to celebrate the visit of her old friends, but the betrothal ruined that desire. She saw no reason to celebrate anything.

Anna's mind raced as she walked. A thousand things were fluttering through her head and she was trying her hardest to keep the negative thoughts from rising to the surface. The Princess was a smart woman, despite her normally aloof nature. She could recognize that there were some benefits of marrying the Prince.

First of all, marrying a friend was much better than being promised to a random prince or duke or nobleman. At least she knew that she got along with Mattias.

Secondly, Mattias wouldn't necessarily have to return to Ørnhavn. It was safe to say that King Aleksander would eventually take a wife, and that woman would produce an heir for him. It was possible that they could stay in Arendelle.

Thirdly, it would alleviate the burden of producing an heir from Elsa. Even though she didn't want to have a child with Mattias, she theoretically could. That way, Elsa wouldn't need to marry in order to have an heir. The Queen was still anxious in social settings, and Anna couldn't imagine what it would be like if she needed to find a suitor.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the marriage would help further conceal her forbidden relationship with Elsa. The sisters knew that if they were ever caught, they would be forced out of Arendelle, or possibly even executed. What they were doing was a sin; no one would approve of it.

Anna was suddenly aware that she was cold. Her eyes focused on her surroundings, and she found herself to be outside. 'Huh. Guess I was more distracted then I realized.' she thought.

The Princess continued her walk, heading towards the gates. 'Maybe a walk around the city will help clear my head' she thought. Anna loved wandering the streets. She was always fascinated by all the sights and sounds of the bustling town. 'Even if it doesn't help, I'm sure it'll distract me enough to make me feel better.'

Anna began to cross the bridge into the city, but stopped when she felt something hit her. She looked around, trying to find whatever it was that struck her. Unable to find the offending object, she shrugged and turned to continue.

She didn't take two steps before something else bounced off her shoulder. She quickly spun around to catch the perpetrator, but saw no one.

"Maybe I'm going crazy..." she thought out loud. It was then she noticed a sound coming from somewhere. It sounded like... muffled laughing? Her head spun, looking for the source. The noise grew louder, and she was able to determine that it was coming from above her.

The Princess looked up at the guard tower above the gates. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Prince Mattias, of all people, sitting on the roof. He smiled widely at the woman.

"Hey, you finally found me!" he said through now-unrestrained laughter. "I knew you were resourceful!" Anna crossed her arms and frowned in anger.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." she said sarcastically. The Prince continued to laugh. "So what are you doing up there, funny man?" she asked.

"Well, I was getting pretty tired of the party, so I came up here!" he said, as if a prince being on the roof of the guard house was a normal occurrence.

"Why up there?" Anna asked. "There are dozens of places on the ground that you could have disappeared to."

"Yeah, but none with this view!" Mattias replied. "The city looks incredible from up here!"

"Ugh." Anna grunted, arms still folded across her chest. "We are in a castle! There are towers you can go up to that look over the city, and they actually have stairs!"

"You are indeed correct." the Prince admitted. "But people could find me on those towers."

"I found you here, Mattias." Anna replied. The man smiled again.

"Ah, you did, but would you have found me if I hadn't hit you with those pebbles?" he asked.

Anna's brow relaxed and her arms fell to her sides. The Prince was right. She would have never seen him up there, even walking back.

"I suppose not." she relented. "How did you get up there anyway?" The Prince's smile grew even wider.

"I climbed, of course!" Mattias exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He then patted the space next to where he was sitting. "Why don't you join me? Like I said, the view is magnificent."

"Princesses don't climb buildings." Anna huffed in response, crossing her arms again. "It's not proper."

"This coming from the same Princess that punched a foreign dignitary so hard he fell into the fjord? Preposterous." the Prince said, goading her. He crossed his arms as well and raised his brow tauntingly. "I bet you're afraid, just like when we used to climb trees when we were little."

"I am not afraid, Prince Mattias." she yelled, emphasizing his title and pointing a finger up at him. "And if I recall correctly, it was you who was afraid of climbing the trees."

"Maybe. Maybe not." the Prince said with a shrug of dismissal. "What matters is what's happening right now though, and right now, you're still down there."

"Fine." Anna said, walking back towards the gate, hands balled up into fists at her sides. She hated that his teasing had worked, but she couldn't let him think she was afraid. Competition was an important part of their friendship since they were little. Whether it was snowball fights, chess, reading, or even eating; if the Prince and Princess were involved, there was going to be a winner and a loser.

She steeled herself at the base of the wall and began to climb.

About ten minutes later, Anna finally crested the edge of the roof. She threw her hand onto the roof, latching on with all her might. When she swung her other arm over the edge, it was caught in a gentle grip by a rough and calloused hand. She looked up as Prince Mattias helped pull her onto the tower.

"Not bad." He said, taking in the sight of the Princess. Her dress was a wrinkled mess, one of her shoes was missing a heel, and her hair was plastered to her forehead by sweat. Mattias chuckled. "We'll have to work on your speed-" he was cut off by the sound of Anna furiously blowing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "-and your style, apparently."

The Princess reached down and took off her now-ruined shoes with a look of pure annoyance on her face. She threw each one at the Prince's chest before smoothing her dress and walking past him and sitting down angrily. Mattias, still laughing, moved to sit next to her. He sat down and rested his arms on his knees.

Anna turned towards him, brow still creased with anger.

"You owe me new shoes." she said flatly. Mattias bowed his head in apology.

"Forgive me, Your Highness. I will make sure that you are properly outfitted for climbing next time." he exclaimed in a mocking tone. He turned back towards the city, once again taking in the view.

"See? Worth it, right?" he asked the Princess.

Anna looked out over Arendelle. Of course she had seen the city from above, while in the towers, or up on the North Mountain. She had never seen it from this level, however, and something about it made her feel closer to her people, as if she were seeing it from their perspective, like she was seeing it for real. She couldn't explain it, but it just felt better than the other views.

"Yeah, I suppose you were right." she admitted.

The two sat in silence for a few more moments before Mattias cleared his throat to speak. Anna turned her head to face him, but his own head remained looking straight ahead.

"Anna," he began. "I know this situation is uncomfortable and strange. If it's even half as strange for you as it is for me, then I'm sorry."

Anna frowned. She wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation now, but she let him speak.

"I mean, we're friends, and we've known each other for as long as I can remember, and that helps a little, I suppose. But I still think this is bizarre. Unfortunately, you and I both know that we're stuck with this." Anna turned her head back forward and nodded sullenly in agreement.

"And even though we're friends, I feel like I barely know you. I mean, we haven't seen each other in fourteen years. That's a really long time. And don't take any offense to this, but I'm in no rush to marry someone I barely know."

Anna perked up slightly at that statement. The Prince sounded unsure. Maybe stopping the marriage would be less difficult then she imagined. She turned back to face him with a new seed of hope planted in her mind.

"I suggested to my brother and Elsa that the wedding take place here, in Arendelle, on the vernal equinox. That way, we have a few months to get to know each other. I'll stay here during that time, of course. I'm not going to force you from your home or from your sister."

"I couldn't ask you to stay away from your home either, Mattias." Anna replied. "That's not fair of me to do."

"It's fine, really." the Prince assured her. "My brother can run the country without me. Besides, I was starting to grow tired of Ørnhavn. I've already done everything there is to do there. I'm ready for another adventure. Perhaps I can find one here in Arendelle."

Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. Leaving her sister and her Kingdom behind was one of her biggest fears. Anna smiled weakly and patted the man's shoulder.

"Thank you, Mattias. You have no idea how much that means to me." she said, looking back of the city and gesturing outwards. "I wouldn't be able to leave here. I just love it too much."

"I understand." he said. "I know how much Arendelle means to you. I also know how much your sister means to you, and how much you mean to her."

Anna's eyes widened in panic. 'Uh oh.' she thought. 'How could he figure it out? He's only been here one day!'

"Wha- what do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"She told me and Aleks about how you help her train with her powers, and how she still wouldn't be able to control them if it weren't for you."

Anna released a breath. 'By the Gods, Elsa! Thanks for forgetting to tell me that!'

"So if I took you back to Ørnhavn, I would be making two people that I care about unhappy, and that's just unacceptable." Mattias explained. Anna smiled.

"That's very noble of you, Mattias." she said.

"So, what do you think?" he asked. "Does that sound like a good plan to you?"

"Yes, I think it does." Anna replied. The Prince smiled at her warmly.

"And who knows," he said. "maybe we can even learn to love each other."

Anna winced at the statement. She loved Elsa, and no one else. She could learn to love Mattias as a friend, but never anything more than that.

"Maybe." she lied. She justified the deception by convincing herself that love between friends was what he was talking about. The Prince smiled at her, and she did her best to return it. They both turned back to the city, taking in the view. After another small silence, Mattias spoke again.

"So, an ice giant?" he asked, and Anna burst out laughing.

The Prince and Princess shared stories on the roof of the guard house until the early hours of the morning.

Queen Elsa sighed. The Princess was handling the situation much better than she ever thought possible, but she was still worried about the younger woman. When Anna asked to be excused from the ball, it did nothing to assuage her nerves.

Elsa turned back to the gathering after seeing her younger sister off. As much as she would have liked to join Anna, she had to stay. She was the host of the evening, after all, and it would be ill-mannered of her to leave early. So, true to her word, the Queen entertained her guests, who all seemed to be seeking an audience with her for one reason or another. 'No one here seems to ever be able to just enjoy themselves.' she thought.

After an hour or so of speaking with the various noblemen and woman, Elsa was finally able to take her leave. She considered going to look for Anna as she left the ballroom, but decided against it; the Princess probably wanted to be alone with her thoughts. If Anna wanted to see her, then she would seek her out.

Elsa began to make her way to her study, reasoning that she may as well get ahead on her work while she waited for Anna to find her. She made her way through the hallways at a relaxed pace, casually greeting the many guests and servants milling about. She was stopped by a familiar voice as she passed the doorway one of the castle's various sitting rooms.

"Elsa! In here!"

Elsa looked inside the room to see a red-faced King Aleksander sitting by the fireplace. He smiled and raised a hand to beckon her inside. She noticed the glass that he held contained a dark amber liquid.

"Come, sit!" Aleksander said. "Join me for a drink!"

Elsa smiled and moved into the room. The King stood to welcome her, taking his seat again only after Elsa had found her own. He picked up a dark green bottle and popped the cork out with his teeth. He poured the liquid into another glass and offered it to the Queen.

"The finest scotch-whiskey in all the Council nations." he said as Elsa took the glass. "I had it imported from DunBroch after my last visit. It's from King Fergus' private stock."

The Queen eyed the glass tentatively. The dark liquid refracted the light of the fire in such a way as to look almost menacing; the strong aroma billowing from the glass only added to her unease. The King noticed her hesitance.

"Go on then, have a taste!" he insisted. Elsa raised the glass to her lips and took in a small amount of the fluid. The burning sensation that the potent brew left in her throat caused her to cough. The King bellowed a hearty laugh at the action.

"It's an acquired taste, I know." he said through his laughter. The two monarchs exchanged a smile.

"I can see that." Elsa said. "Though I'm not sure how one goes about acquiring such a taste." Aleksander laughed again.

"A fair observation, Elsa. I'm not sure myself." he responded. The two friends fell into silence, and the King took another sip from his glass. Elsa mimicked the action with her own. This time, when the liquid met her lips, she found it more palatable, and the warmth that it sparked in her stomach relaxed her slightly.

"There, you're getting the hang of it." Aleksander said. Elsa nodded in return. The King turned his gaze to the fire while his hand swirled the scotch around in his glass. After a moment, he spoke.

"I can't imagine what it must be like for our siblings; to have your spouse selected for you like that."

Elsa frowned, though it was good to know that Aleksander shared her concerns.

"I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky." the man continued. "We get to choose our own suitors if we ever feel the need to. I suppose I should be doing that soon. I am going to need an heir, after all."

Elsa's brow quirked in slight confusion. "Isn't Mattias the heir to the throne?" she asked.

"Yes, he is." Aleksander replied. "But he doesn't want to be. Although he'll never admit it, he has no interest in ever being king." He took another sip of scotch. "And that's fine with me. Military life suits him. If he'd rather do that then rule, so be it. So long as my brother is happy, I am happy."

Elsa smiled at the sentiment. "That's very kind of you to say." she replied. "Most monarchs wouldn't be so understanding."

"Mhmm." Aleksander replied. "You are correct. But he is family, and family is most important. You and I both know that."

Elsa nodded her understanding. Mattias was the only family that the King had, just as Anna was her only family. Their mother had died giving birth to Mattias, and their father succumbed to illness so suddenly. She frowned as she thought of the tragedies that had befallen both of their families. Aleksander saw her expression, and raised his glass.

"To our parents." he said. Elsa raised her own glass to his.

"To our parents." she repeated. They both moved to drink from their glasses.

"May they rest in peace." the King added before taking a long swig from the chalice. Elsa did the same, and the burning drink helped her ignore the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Aleksander once again filled their glasses, and the sovereigns fell into another silence. After several minutes, the King's voice rang out again.

"I'm afraid I'll be returning home tomorrow." he said. "I'm sure you have much more important things to do than entertain the likes of me. Unfortunately for you though, I'll be leaving my brother here." he said teasingly. Elsa giggled at the King's mock apology.

"Besides, one of us needs to be back in Ørnhavn to keep the people in line." he added, a serious look overtaking his face. "Don't want anyone getting any ideas."

Elsa cocked a brow at the man. 'What on odd thing to say...' she thought. Aleksander held his expression for another second before bursting out in laughter. Elsa quickly realized he was speaking in jest, and her own laughter joined his.

The two rulers smiled at each other, reveling in the jovial mood of the room. Elsa took another drink and sighed.

"This is nice, Aleksander." she said. "I forgot how wonderful it was to have friends."

"Indeed." the King replied. The crackling of the fire was all that could be heard for several seconds afterwords.

"I propose another toast." the King said, raising his glass a second time. "To old friends."

Elsa's glass met his with a light clink.

"To old friends."

A/N

Hiya everybody. Here's a chapter for you. I hope you like it.

I'm gonna be moving to a new update schedule. Starting next week, I'm gonna try to do monday wednesday and friday. The chapters are getting longer, and as a result are taking longer to write, and I've almost exhausted my buffer. I need to catch up! As for the rest of this week, updates are going to be sporadic at best, and I apologize.

Bear with me, folks, fun stuff is coming!

-Cosmic