Akana sipped his tea peacefully in the armchair in front of the fireplace. He was far more interested in the blue flame than the Frostking staring at him from the other side of the table. Although the fire obviously gave rise to heat, the ice, which the room was made of, did not melt.

Fascinating. Akana began to make up theories on how this was possible when the king interrupted his thoughts.

"I beg your pardon for my little demonstration in the throne room. It was not my intention to cause you dismay. Regardless of my reputation, I can be relatively civilized when I feel like it," the king said and Akana frowned skeptically.

Relatively civilized when he feels like it. Akana got the feeling that it did not occur often.

He put the teacup on the table and then turned towards the king.

"No harm was done. It was a breathtaking display. I've never seen magic at a close range before," Akana replied, hoping he sounded polite.

He has no experience with Nordic etiquette and hoped it was at least a sensible pronunciation in Relevian. Although he found it unusual that a country in the north had a king speaking Relevian when Moranian should be more sensible as it is the official language in the Northen countries, but Virtus Scolaris is at the edge of Relevium so it may not be too surprising that the king has knowledge of the Relevian language.

Akana raised his eyebrows when he noticed that the king had leaned towards him and grabbed his chin. He mumbled a few words and Akana scrutinized the king with a baffled expression.

What is he doing? The king himself seemed both satisfied and shocked by something and he began to caress Akana's cheek with his forefinger.

"Your Highness?"

The king leaned back and seemed to have decided to be content. He examined the fireplace with a faint smile on his lips. Akana could only wonder what the incomprehensible king was pondering about. He decided to be more daring in his statement.

"What’s your intentions towards me?" he briskly asked.

The obvious answer was that Akana would become his ward but he had shown no special talent on the ball, and something in the king's conduct during the dance suggested that he was not interested in a ward whatsoever.

The king turned his eyes on Akana and seemed to consider his answer before he tilted his head and said with a smile which would have suited a demon.

"I'm going to marry you."

*****

"No," the boy's reply almost caused Sidastir to fall out of the armchair.

"No. What does he mean?"

“I have no interest in joining with you in marriage."

Sidastir glared at the boy who had not shown any particular emotion on his face but had just said the words as if he was discussing the weather.

"No interest ... When did I give the impression that he had a choice? Did I ask a question?"

Sidastir decided that it was better to try to argue. After all, he did not want to start his marriage by chaining his future husband to the bed.

"Why are you not interested?" he asked with as much mildness in his tone that he muster, even though he was still shocked that the boy had denied him without a second's thought.

"A marriage does not benefit me and to be honest, not you either." the boy declared and nodded with his arms crossing his chest as if he were agreeing with his statement.

Sidastir could only stare. He could not determine whether the boy was adorable or foolish.

"Do not benefit you? You would be a consort to a king. How can you not see the benefits of that?" Sidastir said with a voice that proclaimed the boy to be a fool and the boy answered with a glare which marveled at Sidastir’s own foolishness.

"How could I possibly be useful as a royal consort? I have no political background. I do not belong to the families of the merchant princes, so I can not give you wealth. I can not even give you an heir. I have no talents that could possibly give me some usability as a royal consort," the boy explained slowly as if he was talking to a child.

Sidastir held back a comment on that the boy's task was more geared towards the bedchamber than the political field. It was obvious that the boy wanted to be productive.

"You can get an education at Virtus Scolaris. Which I will sponsor if you want, but I do not want you because you are qualified to become a royal consort. I want you because you're qualified to be my spouse," Sidastir casually said.

"How can I possibly qualify for that?" said the boy and frowned inappreciatively. Sidastir could not help to tease the overly serious boy.

He leaned forward and grabbed the boy's cheek. Sidastir pressed his lips against his and could not help but to enjoy the heat that radiated from them.

The boy did not move and did not even react. Sidastir thought that the boy’s reaction was dull and wondered if he was as well. He interrupted the kiss and leaned back but the boy only frowned at Sidastir.

"What would that prove?" he asked bitterly and glared at Sidastir.

"Can I detect certain anger behind the emotionless mask?" Sidastir thought with a smile before replying.

"Everything. If you had been someone else, you would have frozen now. I was eleven years old the first time I kissed someone and she ended up in a coma. You are qualified because you are the only person I've met during my lifetime who has been able to touch me without freezing ice."

"What an honor," mumbled the boy with clear irony in his voice.

"Whatever your reason, I'm not qualified because I cannot give birth to children. You are the last of your lineage and the last with the blood of the ice elves in your veins. You need children. Children I cannot provide," said the boy slowly.

"That’s no obstacle. There is magic to help us with that,” said Sidastir, and could not help laughing at the boy's shocking mine.

He obviously wanted to ask how such magic would work but Sidastir decided that this would take too long.

"There is no reason to refuse any longer, is it?" he said but the boy shook his head.

"You've given me your benefits to marriage but I have very few of them," said the boy. "What should I do as your consort? Rule by your side? How?"

Sidastir scratched his cheek. He did not really care about the answers to these questions but decided to answer them if only because it seemed vital for the boy.

"You will be educated, given a home and you can help me rebuild my country again. As my spouse, you will also share my longevity and will be able to accumulate knowledge over hundreds of years. How to rule by my side is up to you. Your future will be secured. Do you have a better alternative in your homeland?" He asked, and the boy seemed to yield.

"I have to contact my family to get their opinion about the contract,” the boy finally said and Sidastir was pleased even though he frowned at the boy's term of marriage as if it was a contract. Sidastir rose from his seat to end the conversation.

"I'll send a courier to your family immediately. A servant can show the way to your bedchamber when you feel like it," he said, noticing that the boy was examining him.

"What?"

"Do you even know my name?" asked the boy and Sidastir started to sweat. He did not have a clue. The name was never something that stuck. Why bother to memorize their names when they would die within the next few years. The attitude is the result of being an elf who usually lives a thousand years while other races only live a hundred.

"My sweetheart?"

the boy sighed and stood up. "My name is Akana, you nitwit.”

*****

Nine days passed before the reply came from his home. Akana did not need to read the letter to know their answer. They had sent with the letter all his possessions and a few things that he assumed was gifts. He sighed and opened the letter that had come with all items.

My Son

We are happy for you and congratulate you for a well-designed contract. Marriage is a clear advantage over the original agreement and your absence will give your siblings more space on the Watakau. Thank your spouse for the gifts he sent and remember to be of use for your spouse. Being ineffective will reflect negatively on you, us and your people. Live well.

Your mother Na'ira

Akana noticed that Sidastir frowned after reading the letter.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Sidastir merely shrugged. "The letter just sounds... Impersonal. It may as well be the last letter she writes to you so why write so short and callous."

Akana shook his head. "It's effective and she will not write to me again unless I get in touch. There is no need to keep in touch. With this marriage, I break all ties with my family to create a new one. It's not logical to hold on to a family on the other side of the world that does not give me an advantage in any way”, he said, folding the letter and throwing it in the fire. Sidastir seemed to examine him. Perhaps he could not understand the thinking of the Auons. It was not uncommon for outsiders to be puzzled by their culture.

"Not because it matters. I have enrolled us into Virtus Scolaris and we will start within three weeks. I would like us to marry before then. You may decide on a day,” Sidastir casually said and looked almost pleased with himself.

Akana felt perplexed even though he did not utter anything. Sidastir seems to think he was generous when he let Akana decide which day to marry.

"Should we not wait so we can have an official ceremony?" he pondered.

"For whom? We are a small country without allies. Only once who are important are those who live in Eitir and everyone is within walking distance from us,” said Sidastir, who descended upon an armchair and leaned back with eyes closed.

Akana did not care if it was a big ceremony or private one as long as the oath was sworn but he assumed that a king must have a public ceremony.

Sidastir seemed to have read his mind as he immediately replied.

"We’ll send royal announcements to the ceremony that will announce you as royal consort before the other countries."

"I suppose that will do,” Akana said after pondering upon the matter. He found that it was difficult to make a decision on the matter as he obviously had no kind of knowledge on the subject.

"How soon can we have a ceremony?" Akana finally asked as he had no idea how long it takes to plan a wedding.

"It depends on how grand you want it to be, but if we plan it simply, we should be able to prepare the festivities within a week," Sidastir said relatively uninterested.

Akana could not understand his willingness to marry when he seemed to have few interests over the whole affair.

"Let's have the wedding in two weeks, then we have a week to prepare for departure to Virtus Scolaris," Akana finally said, leaving the room to tell the servants about his decision.