Chess Piece

Such an Unlikely Pair That We Are

"Have I perhaps exhausted you, Hans?"

As much as his curiosity could at times get onto her nerves, as it could come dangerously close to her secret, she had to admit that she much preferred that rather than the silence that had occurred ever since they had left for their little journey through the woods. It had brought her to wonder if he truly had been tired in pursuing her, that now she had disinterested him; that he began to doubt their marriage.

But was that what she had originally wished?

For their marriage to become nothing but a mask, a play that they were both involved in that required them to deliver their parts in the face of the public, to unite their kingdoms and nothing else; those were what she had in mind for so long and yet when it had the chance of truly happening, why would she even felt the strange hurt that she was feeling?

His head perked up then, looking up at her who was well above him since she had been sitting on the saddle all by herself while he had opted to walk and lead Sitron by the rein, and his eyebrow had rose at her sudden question. "What makes you think of that?"

"We are going in a circle," he must have noticed it as much as she; for every attempt of romance by him had been brushed off by her, that every time she had realized that they were going closer she had pushed him back away, that it seemed that the both of them would always wound up at the start, over and over again. "I'm not letting us to move forward."

Hans had only turned his attention back onto the road ahead, a pathway made of dirt that they had decided to follow as to avoid getting lost, and his shoulders had lifted up in a shrug. "I would rather not push you into doing something you wouldn't do." His tone was calm, collected, a contrast of what she was feeling within her, and unlike him; she could not read his eyes as well as he did hers. "You have to put up with the arrangement made by our fathers, I think you deserve to decide for yourself on what you wish to do with this marriage."

The way he had spoken brought a slight frown onto her face, a wonder that she had not even considered before, as she had been assuming that they were in a much similar situation. "And you're not? Have you been the one who decided yourself that you would marry me?"

"Yes."

"Why?" She could not imagine herself to willingly offer herself into an arranged marriage, to see and decide that she would marry someone that she barely even has the knowledge of. Mother had always told her and Anna of bedtime stories regarding true loves, and although she was not as romantic of a person as the younger had been, she still somewhat believed in the prospect of marriage out of love, although 'true love' still did not sit right in her mind.

He was silent again, if only for a moment, his gloved hand tightening around the leather rein in his grasp, before he had taken a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak. "I've told you before that my childhood had not been the easiest either." She remembered his brief explanation of his brothers, though he had been holding himself back then. "Marrying you would have meant that I have the chance to leave, and honestly an arranged marriage did nothing to scare me, not after what I've gone through."

What had he gone through, though? What had happened to him that was so terrible that willingly giving away his freedom to choose his own bride was so tempting for him?

"That, and also the fact that I am the only bachelor left in my family, the only son that was unwedded." There was a chuckle that came from him, though she could not understand what had amused him, not when what he had explained to her had left her feeling as if she had been nothing but a tool for him to escape. "Despite all that though," her lips had been pressed shut once again when he had spoken back, stopping her from voicing her opinion and irritation. "I did not expect myself to actually be so grateful that I have you as my wife."

This had successfully sent her mind into a blank, unable to think clearly of the respond that she should muster to him after his indirect declaration to her, the admission that he genuinely cared for her rather than just playing well with his part, that perhaps he truly... loves her.

"You don't have to see this as some kind of a pressure from me," he looked up to her then, perhaps seeing how flushed she was as he gave her a reassuring smile. "As I don't want for you to lie to yourself, I would rather wait and have your silence until your words matched your feelings."

--

When she looked at him she realized that he was no longer a stranger.

He was not a man that had come into her life and taken the status as her husband merely for the purpose of uniting their two kingdoms, an outsider that was not born and raised in Arendelle like she and her sister had been, someone that had only come to fulfill a destiny that they did not even write by themselves.

She had tried to imagine a life without him, to see the void that would be there at the other side of the bed should he did not come and slip the golden band hidden within her glove around her finger, and she had to close her eyes to hold back the shudder from shaking her form as the sudden emptiness filled her with unbearable feeling.

How could she possibly have pretended, for the many months of their marriage, that she did not feeling anything at all for him?

"Am I such a terrible liar to fool no one but myself?" For she did not believe that she would have admit to this should he did not speak of his own feeling toward her. Though she did not receive any sort of answer, as he remained soundly asleep, not that she think he would have heard anyway for she had murmured it so quietly even in the darkened room where they both laid in bed, her hand had once again rested against his jaw as she watched the peace on his face, thumb running over the bone of his cheek in the gentlest manner.

She wondered what he would say about her powers, should somehow he was made aware of it. Would he be as fascinated as Anna had, back when they were young? Or would he be as fearful as her father had been, enough to lock her away from everyone once again so that there was no chance of her ever hurting people she cared for?

The thoughts of her powers would usually make her flinch and draw her hand back and away from him, to turn her whole body away from him as she shut her eyes and to will herself to be taken into the land of dreams already, and yet this time it didn't.

This time, she allowed herself to dream that he would stay by her side, always.