Hey readers! This next chapters a short one, but it's setting up a pretty epic one for next time! If you enjoyed, follows are much appreciated. If you have any suggestions to the characters/plot, I'm open to them in the reviews. Thanks a lot!

I was whisked away by a servant that Anna had assigned to take me to my room. When I had gotten there, the servant, a woman, probably about forty, presented me with what I was expected to wear. I laughed out loud when I saw it.

It wasn't like it was bad looking or anything, but the idea of me wearing it was completely preposterous. It was a black suit with reddish-maroon trim, much like everything else that I wear. When I thought about it, this was actually a really nice garment. But it wasn't me. I was a raw, uncivilized animal that got hunted across nations. Not a sophisticated gentleman that wore suits and fraternized with the higher class. I looked at the servant, unamused. "I am not wearing this." I told her.

"Queen Elsa's order, sir." she said, handing them to me. "She says if you do not wear them, then you must not want to attend." She came closer to my ear. "And with a girl like that one, son, I'd put on the suit."

This frustrated me. Why did everyone assume that Elsa and I were an item? I met her literally a few weeks ago, and I'm only here to keep this place safe from my stupid brother. I cast away feelings a long time ago, at least that's what I lead everyone to believe. And I wasn't about to end that charade now.

But still, I looked at the suit. I thought of how much planning must have been put in by the girls. For some reason, I went into my bathroom and quickly bathed, shaved, and changed. I had disobeyed my instincts, thinking that it couldn't hurt just this once. I looked at myself in the mirror. I had combed my shaggy black hair back to make me look suitable. The suit fit perfectly. I would have tested it to see if it was fireproof, but decided against it as to not ruin the outfit before the party. I sighed. I didn't want to go out there tonight. I had planned on sitting by the fire, relaxing, but instead I have to pretend that I'm a normal man, from a normal kingdom. Before I headed out, I put my shortsword on my decorative belt.

The woman who had brought me here had returned as soon as I had exited my room. "Dear, you look quite dashing." She said, her wrinkles more apparent when she smiled. I decided that I liked this staff member. She reminded me of my mother. And not the crazy version that had tried to kill me a few days earlier in the cave.

I followed her to the door of the ballroom, behind it the sounds of music and laughter beckoned. My stomach churned at the thought of interaction. I clenched my fists, trying to get a handle on things. The servant saw that I was stressed, and she put her hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "It'll be fine, son. Just relax and have fun. This is a party after all." I exhaled.

"Thank you." I said, but she was already gone, whispering something to a man with a trumpet that was inside of the dancing hall.

He blew his trumpet and cried, "Intro-ducing Sir Jeram of Restauga!"

The music had stopped. I figured that that was my cue to enter. I popped my knuckles and pushed the door aside. When I saw the party, it was extravagant. There were giant cakes, servants going around with silver platters, offering food to the guests. I saw men and women, children and teenagers, of all ages, skin colors, and sizes. But the most disturbing fact about them was that they were all staring at me. Hushed whispers were spoken amongst the mass of people. I froze, not knowing what to do. I was about to have stood there long enough to make it seem awkward, but then I heard the delicate clomping of small dancing shoes on the waxed stone floor.

I turned and saw Elsa walking over in ball gown that was shimmering white and light blue, not unlike a lot of dresses that she'd worn, but this one was different. It called attention to her, not in a bad way, like saying: Hey I'm the Queen. Once she got over to me, she smiled and hooked her arm in mine, then started walking formally to some of the people to the side of the room who weren't dancing. People's attention had mostly shifted elsewhere.

"What are we doing, Elsa?" I said through my teeth, not wanting people to know what I was saying.

"Just meeting some people," she whispered back. "When I told these people about you, they were dying to meet you."

"What all do they know?"

"Not much," she answered. "Nothing about your powers, you can tell them that if you want. But I did say you were from Restauga."

"Okay, that's alright. I can work with that." I looked around as we were walking. "This is a great party." I squeezed her a little closer to me while I thanked her. I was offered a drink by a servant, but I declined it. I wasn't much of a drinker.

"Do you like it? I wasn't sure if it was too much, but we couldn't just bring you in without a welcome party-" She started going on and on like she always did with this kind of stuff, but I liked it, it was kind of cute to see her flustered.

Her rambling ceased once we had reached the people that we were moving towards. It was a good-looking couple, about our age I'd say. The man was tall and lean, with floppy brown hair and a goofy smile. He had a pendant around his neck of a sun. The woman was a tiny thing in a pink dress, with green eyes and short, brown hair. She wore a wedding ring on her left hand. Her eyes lit up when she saw us approaching. To my surprise, she rushed up and hugged Elsa.

"Good to see you cousin! How's life here in Arendelle?" she asked.

"Oh it's fine, just, you know, picking up the pieces." Elsa replied with a sigh. She looked over to me. "Rapunzel, this is Jeram. Jeram, this is Rapunzel and her husband Eugene." I took the girl's hand and politely kissed it, and exchanged a sincere handshake with Eugene.

Eugene paced around me, looking me up and down. "So, Jeram, what kind of work are you in? They said you're from Restauga. You harvest sand or something? I've heard there's some serious scorpions in those deserts. Their eyes are pretty valuable from what I've heard. What I wouldn't give to-" he started talking in a hushed tone.

"Forgive him, he's still trying to relive his days of a thief." his wife said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "But what do you do Jeram?"

I was at a loss for words. I wasn't sure if I should just come clean, or make up some crazy lie to protect my secret. "I was a military wizard in training." I fibbed. "When I came here I was separated from my master. I'm still trying to find him."

"Magic? That's great! Just like us Elsa!" she blurted out. I wondered what kind of magic this woman practiced. There wasn't anything really that I could tell from her appearance, then again I just lied about me being a mage, and that hasn't set her off at all. I looked at Elsa, and she raised her eyebrows at the white lie I just told.

"What kind of magic do you use?" asked Flynn.

I looked around, not wanting to startle any of the other guests with my powers. I held out my palm, rolling up my sleeve to not catch it aflame. My tattoos showed a little bit once I pulled it up. Suddenly, sparks flew out of my hand, instantly producing a tongue of fire. I could see their eyes light up as soon as it was summoned.

"Wow!" Rapunzel said. "And that doesn't hurt you at all?"

I closed my hand into a fist, extinguishing the flames. "Nope." As we continued to talk for a few minutes, I looked to my side and saw that Elsa wasn't there. She was talking to the conductor of the musicians that were playing. Once she had said what she needed to, she walked back over to me.

"Well Mr. Igneal, would you care for a dance?" she asked with joking formality.

I returned the wit. "Why yes, madam Queen, it would be my pleasure." I grabbed her by the waist as the next song started. I could see Rapunzel whisper something to Eugene as we left, but couldn't make out what it was.

At first, the dance was up-tempo, and we were care free, just two friends joking around on a dance floor. But then, the beat slowed down, as did our pace. I caught myself pulling her closer. I looked down at her, her eyes coming up to about to my mouth. I think she could sense me looking at her, because as soon as I was studying her face, she looked up at me. I could see those big, blue eyes. I wanted to turn away, pretend that I wasn't looking at her, but I couldn't. We stared at each other for a few more moments. Her mouth curved into a smile. "What?" she asked with a kind of giggle.

I returned the smile. "Nothing," I said. I could see her close her eyes, and start leaning towards me. I tore myself away, getting out of the moment. It was a good thing I did, too, because as soon as I looked up towards the window, I saw a giant shadow, coming from the skies. This was bad. I looked down at Elsa, still leaning in towards me. I released my grip on her, and she opened her eyes. I could see tears welling up in them, but I couldn't worry about that now.

"What's wrong?" she asked shakily. I didn't look at her, I was still staring intently at the shadow coming from something that I wished I had never had to encounter again.

"Stay here Elsa." I said calmly, rushing off to my room. She followed me out of the dance hall. She grabbed my arm.

"Jeram, what's wrong?" I could see and hear that she was close to weeping.

"Elsa I said stay here! Do not go outside. Promise me!" "I-I promise." She replied, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'll go back to the party."

"Thanks. You won't even know I was gone." And with that, I ran down the hall to get my staff and my combat clothes. I could hear the sniffling noises of Elsa grow fainter and fainter as I ran. I cursed under my breath. It was terribly rude for someone to show up to a party uninvited. Even ruder was to show up riding a dragon.