Second Best

Chapter Ten

Well hell, you lot! Here it is! Nuff said, I think. Enjoy :)

Elsa entered the throne room with confident steps, hoping that the few people milling about inside would be fooled. She was just faking it till she made it, as her guts were churning and her mind was wheeling. She needed to see Eric. He could calm her down when no one else could, especially since Anna was away with Kristoff.

She walked straight toward him, no deviations, though there were plenty of her dutiful citizens that she would have loved to stop and have a chat with in any other circumstance.

Finally she reached the throne, where Eric sat like he had been born to sit in that very place. For a moment Elsa's eyes saw her father sitting there instead and she felt tears prick at her eyes, then she blinked and the moment was gone.

"Elsa. What are you doing out of bed?" Eric asked her, still seated entirely too comfortably for Elsa's liking upon the throne.

"Coming to see you, what else?" she replied cheekily. "I thought you'd be happy to see your fiancé?" she said as she sashayed toward him, delicately sitting beside him on what she'd come to think of as her own throne. She took his hand in her own, finding it cold and clammy.

"Are you ill?" she asked quietly, shocked.

"No, no. I'm fine, just a bit cold in here, you know?" he pulled his hand away from her and refused to look her in the eyes.

She frowned. What had she done wrong?

"Have I done something wrong?" she asked him softly, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.

"No," but he was still facing away from her, so she could tell instantly that he was lying to her.

"You know lying is unattractive," she told him, picking out her fingernails nonchalantly, the way she had on the first day they'd met.

"I'm not lying," Eric protested.

"Yes, you are," she refused to look at him, refused to let him know that despite the little game she was playing with him, he was really the one that had the power.

"Why would you think that?" He continued, seemingly unaware of her discomfort.

"You're..." how was she to end that sentence? She didn't know, so she let it trail off.

"I'm what?" Eric asked, like a dog gnawing at a bone. Why couldn't he just take her silent cues and know when to stop?

"Nothing," she hedged, fidgeting on her throne, feeling overly warm, which was not normal for her.

"No, I want to know!" he continued to insist.

She sighed. What was she supposed to say? Someone who was good with this sort of thing ought to help her! She was no good with people, especially not men she was interested in! She'd never thought there'd be any need, but obviously she was wrong.

Tentatively, she looked up from beneath hooded eyelids, only to find him looking at her intently. He looked slightly constipated, like he was trying to figure her out, but had nothing to compare her to, no concept of normal. She sighed again, this time in relief. Perhaps she wasn't really all that strange after all.

"You-" she faltered yet again. The words were failing her yet again. "You, you don't seem to want me," she whispered so quietly she doubted he could even hear her at all. But since she had dropped her eyes as soon as she realised he was looking, and he was being completely silent, she had no way of truly knowing what his reaction was.

"Of course I do!" He exclaimed, reaching out to gently lift her chin so she was looking him in the eye, all with the strength of just one forefinger.

When her eyes were firmly locked on his, he still didn't let go. He stared into her eyes for what felt like a million years, and if a million years had really passed in those moments, Elsa felt that she would not have minded in the slightest.

"What gave you that idea?" He asked softly, cocking his head slightly to the side.

"You.. seemed distracted when I walked in," she told him softly, still faintly embarrassed, but no longer fidgeting like a small child that needs to visit the lavatory.

"Well running a kingdom is a very draining thing, surely you of all people know this?" He asked rhetorically. She nodded, deliberately not looking at him. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the ceiling, and she wondered idly why she'd never spent much time doing so before now, as it was really quite fascinating.

"Elsa, will you look at me?" Eric sounded frustrated now. How amusing. "You're acting like a child!"

Elsa lowered her eyes from the fascinating ceiling, fixed her serious gaze on him. He flinched from her like she'd reached out and slapped him hard across the face.

"I'm only acting like a child because you're treating me like one!" She told him calmly. Maybe that wasn't strictly true, but how was she expected to mature without proper guidance?

"I'm not, honest," Eric sighed as ran a tanned hand through his slightly ruffled hair. Elsa tried not to stare, knowing it would be unseemly, but he was just so damn attractive with that just-rolled-out-of-bed look to his hair.

"Pfft!" Elsa turned her head away from him, tilting her nose up as she did so. She was good at ignoring people, after all, she'd had plenty of practice, what with ignoring Anna for most of their childhood.

They sat in silence for the next few hours, both attending to the citizens that came in with their problems for them to attend to. Each tried to ignore the other without making it obvious what was happening to everyone else in the throne room, but Elsa knew that they were failing miserably. Surely everyone knew what was going on here? Heck, they probably knew better than both she and Eric did.

Eventually the sun was beginning to set and she stood up from her throne, trying to ignore the lingering pain that ached all over her body from when she'd been sick recently. She clutched an arm over her stomach and walked confidently from the room, uncaring of whether anyone followed her or not. She was sleeping in her own room tonight, or be damned. That fool was not going to take advantage of her good heart any longer!

"Elsa! Wait! Where are you going?" Eric yelled from someplace behind her. She didn't turn back, just kept right on going. Her heels clacked against the tiled floor in a satisfying way as she pictured Eric's face that she was stomping on so violently.

She heard his footsteps as he chased after her and despite herself she felt her heart race. There was something about being chased that really brought out the adrenaline in her, and the worst thing about it was that she liked it.

Walking faster yet again, without running of course, she tried not to panic. She wasn't sure what he wanted of her, and so she wasn't going to let him take advantage of her any longer! It was time to take a stand against men who thought women were weak, and needed protection! She was the Queen, and she was an ice mage, the most powerful one the kingdom had ever seen for quite some time! ... Except that for now her powers were gone, so no matter how much she was really, really tempted to smite him, she couldn't lift a finger against him. Oh how she wished Anna was back from her travels. She could smack him in the nose without blinking an eye, which was exactly what Elsa was tempted to do right now, but she was scared. Scared of the consequences, even slightly scared of Eric himself.

"Elsa, please wait! I'm sorry!" She almost paused then. But it was too late. She was hurt, and now she needed time alone. Why did no one ever understand that?

She heard his running footsteps increase in speed once again, but was too exhausted to try and get away. She clutched her stomach even more tightly than she had been previously as a wave of pain rushed through her body. She swayed, reaching out to catch her balance on the nearby wall, then once she had she simply pushed herself off and continued walking, or stumbling really, down the hall that would eventually lead to her chambers.

Some peace and quiet at last...