Breaking the Ice

Chapter 7: Someone in the way.

Elias found Mare wandering around the garden, secretly annoyed that she was in him and Renee's spot. Mare turned and looked at him, messing with a flower that she held in her hand.

Mare was pulling petals of a rose she held, not caring that she was ruining it. She smiled at him, Elias looking down at her questioning if she was up to something.

"I want to talk about our wedding." She finally spoke, Elias scoffing. "I don't want to marry you." Mare rolled her eyes. In her own little fantasy world, to her Elias was just being stubborn.

"You just need to spend more time together with me! Then you'll realize you love me." She spoke with confidence, continuing to push him on this.

"In 2 weeks a ball will be hosted here in celebration of our soon to be marriage. Everything needs to be perfect." Elias shook his head, needing to find a way out of this.

"What's the point? I'm refusing to marry you." He was getting agitated, annoyed that she called him out for this when he could be with Renee.

"If you have such a problem then you can talk to yours and my father. But this is happening and you cannot stop it." She stomped her foot in place, annoyed with the way he was acting towards her.

His brows furrowed. He needed to end this. "This isn't over." He spoke before he stormed out of the garden, going inside for search of his father.

"Father!" His voice boomed down the hallways, servants and even some guards flinching. He searched for a few minutes, before finding his father in the library alone with a book in his hand.

King William looked up at his son once he came in, closing the book and putting it down. "What's the meaning of all this yelling?" He questioned, Elias standing a few feet in front of him.

"I refuse to marry Mare, I refuse to have a ball for it as well. I don't want this marriage! I should be able to make my own decision about this!" He yelled angrily, anger on his face.

The anger rubbed off of Elias and onto his father, not happy about the way he was being spoken to. "I never gave you a choice on this for a reason. You will go to that ball, dance with her, and marry Mare in the following weeks!"

"That's not fair!" Elias said. "I never said it was." William spoke, anger in his tone. "I don't understand why you are so angry. I had an arranged marriage with your mother and things turned out great."

"Not every relationship turns out all puppies and kittens!" Elias was on edge, he didn't understand why he had to marry some brat of a princess.

"Someone is in the way of this, isn't it?" William spoke after a few seconds, staring right into his sons eyes. He hit his soft spot. He knew that right away when Elias' angry expression softened, his father reminding him of the love of his life.

William took a few steps toward him, even more pissed at his new found information. "Tell me who she is. I'm not asking."

"You dare put your hands on her I swear to god!" Elias was now fuming, knowing his father was giving him a silent threat.

"She needs to be taken out of this situation immediately! Get your head out of the dirt and realize that you're not marrying some peasant I suppose you have feelings for!" William was tense, Elias balling his fists together.

"This is what we have been planning for years, and I will not let it be ruined by dirt."

"No, this is what you have been planning for years! She is far from dirt, and I refuse to get rid of her! This isn't happening, this isn't happening at fucking all!" He screamed, his father taken aback from his swearing. He opened his mouth to speak, before Queen Melissa opened the doors and walked in.

"What is going on in here!? I can hear you both from down the hall!" She said out of annoyance, looking at them both. Williams face softened when Melissa came in, much like how his sons did.

"Nothing mother, I'm sorry we disturbed you." Elias tried to calm down a little, not wanting to get mad at his mother. He walked over, leaning down slightly and giving her a quick kiss on the head. "I'll see you at dinner." He would say, before walking past her and leaving.

He walked away from the library where tension was still in there, standing in an empty hallway. He punched the wall, anger still fueling him. He was breathing heavily, trying to calm down but failing when he punched the wall again, leaving a dent.

He then heard yelling from the one he was trying to get rid of, not thinking much of it until he heard another voice. He walked down the hall, turning the corner to see what was happening.

"You idiot peasant!" Mare yelled, her dress partly covered in spilled tea. Renee was in front of her, a empty golden tray in her hand with shattered tea cups and tea on the ground in front of them. She was shaking slightly, anxiety rising in her.

"I-I'm so sorry, your highness. It was an accident, I swear.." Renee tried defending herself, her small statue tense.

"You're all the same disgusting peasants with no respect!" Elias was about to step in, when something caught his eye. The gold tray Renee was holding slowly began freezing, and you could see the panic rise in her. She put it behind her back as Mare kept ranting and yelling, her hand suddenly raising.

Elias quickly stepped in, grabbing her wrist right before a slap could be put down on Renee's face. Mare glared up at him, Renee flinching by what was going on.

"Don't you DARE lay your hands on her like that, she said it was an accident and you do this?!" He yelled, Mare now angry. "She bumped into me and ruined my dress Elias! That dirty whore ruined it!"

"You have plenty more dresses, and how dare you call her that." He let go of her wrist, his chest heaving up and down in anger. "You better have a change in attitude, I'm not liking it." Mare said before she stormed off, Elias still angry.

"U-Uhm..your highness..?" Renee spoke soft and nervously, a bit scared of his anger. Elias calmed down when he remembered she was still there, turning around and looking down at her.

He gently took her hand, his other hand touching her cheek to make sure she wasn't hurt. "She didn't hurt you, or did she?" He walked worryingly, her shaking her head.

"Good, I swear if she touched you-" "Don't say something like that, I'm fine." Renee cut him off, not wanting him to continue. "You should try and make due with her and get along, especially for the ball-" This Time Elias cut her off.

"I don't want to go to the ball with her! I want to go with-" And then, it hit him. "I want to go with you.." He said slowly, mostly to himself. His eyes lit up at an idea, a smile now on his face.

Within seconds, he was pulling Renee down the hall.

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