A boat. It had to be on a boat.
Ever since her parent's death at sea, Princess Anna had had a slight fear of sailing vessels and an even greater fear of the open ocean. She now found herself facing both of those fears head on. She had been able to keep herself distracted for the first few hours of the trip by keeping an eye on the mountains of Arendelle as they slowly receded over the horizon. For the past hour, however, the only thing see could see in all directions was water.
Way too much water.
To keep her mind distracted from the world around her, Anna had spent most of the trip tucked away in the captain's cabin at the stern of the ship. It had been specially converted for her use on this trip while the captain roomed with the first mate further forward. She looked over the itinerary for this excursion to the Northern Isles. While on the trip was officially diplomatic, Anna knew it was little more than a publicity stunt. Nothing more than showing critics of Queen Elsa's war that Arendelle did care about its ally to the west.
The war against the Southern Isles had started after Elsa learned of Prince Hans' punishment for his actions against Arendelle. One week in prison. Both Elsa and Anna firmly believed that Hans deserved far worse and Elsa ordered a trade embargo against the Southern Isles in protest against his reduced sentence. As the rumor went, the King of the Southern Isles declared war against Arendelle within an hour after receiving the notice of the embargo. The Northern Isles quickly rose to Arendelle's aid and offered its warships and armies to Elsa's service. The King of the Northern Isles had long sought to annex the Southern Isles into his kingdom and saw this war as the perfect opportunity. That was just over one year ago.
In the months that followed, however, it soon became evident that Arendelle would do whatever it took to stay out of the fight. Arendelle's forces had only met the enemy once in battle, and it was a minor battle at that. Most of the fighting took place in the waters between the Northern and Southern Isles. Several coastal cities from both nations had already be shelled to oblivion by opposing ships. Citizens of the Northern Isles began to accuse the young Queen of Arendelle of neglecting their alliance and abandoning them, despite the fact that Arendelle offered aid in terms financial and military supplies. Elsa's "gifts" were the only thing that kept the Northern Isles afloat during the war. None of that mattered as the voices of the masses grew louder.
Anna's job on this trip was to appease some of the dissenting voices. Elsa would have been the diplomat on this voyage, but the pressure of running a country at war meant she could afford to leave Arendelle at this time. Plus, both agreed that Anna was better with people and therefore would most likely be more successful in bring people to their side.
Anna's trip would include a tour of several forts and the capital city, shaking hands and kissing babies. The conclusion of the trip would be a letter from Elsa, read aloud by Anna in the main square, reaffirming Arendelle's support and undying alliance with the Northern Isles.
I just have to get there first.
Anna didn't like boats, but sailing on an armed vessel did little to calm her nerves. Since it was a time of war, diplomats traveled on armed ships for self-defense purposes. The ship Anna currently travelled on was one of Arendelle's few remaining warships, the Victory. It had seen some warfare, but its use had been reduced to nothing more than a scout ship until the need for an armed diplomatic ship arose.
Anna finished reading Elsa's letter for the fifth time. She glance up and out the large windows that looked out the stern of the ship from the captain's cabin. The vast expanse of water still made her stomach tie up in knots every time she saw it. She glanced back down at the letter to avoid looking at the water for much longer. The letter filled Anna with pride for her older sister. The wording was so royal, so regal. Elsa had certainly come a long way in the year and a half since the Great Freeze, when Elsa's control of ice and snow plunged Arendelle into eternal winter after her coronation as queen. Elsa fled but Anna brought her back and saved Elsa from Prince Hans, ironically causing Arendelle more trouble in the future. Elsa, however, did not adjust to her new life easily. Thirteen years of isolation is not reversed overnight. Elsa was just now starting to open up to people other than Anna and her fiancé, Kristoff. The letter on the table in front of Anna was Elsa's first real attempt to reach out beyond Arendelle. Elsa was learning to be human again, and the thought of that made Anna smile.
After sitting at the table in her cabin for nearly three hours straight, Anna's restless legs got the better of her and she stood up to go to the main deck. She was greeted almost immediately by the captain and his first mate. Captain Augustin was in his mid-fifties and had been in command of sea-faring vessels since his early twenties. He stood a full head above Anna and his trimmed white beard hid a face that was almost constantly smiling. First Mate Olsen was in his early thirties and had served under Augustin for the past six years. He was clean-shaven with thick black hair. Standing around Anna's height, Olsen looked unassuming, but both the captain and he were well respected by the crew of the Victory. The duo made for one of the best ship commands in these waters. That was the main reason Elsa personally appointed the two to command the royal vessel.
"Good morning, your Majesty," Augustin welcomed Anna in his deep, jovial voice and a smile. Anna thought both he and First Mate Olsen looked quite impressive in their traditional dark-blue officer's uniforms.
"Please, just call me Anna." As she glanced around the deck, she realized how much she stood out compared to all the sailors. Despite its small size, the Victory had a crew of over 150 sailors, all of them wore either white or blue depending on rank. Anna's green and black dress and strawberry-blonde hair did not fit into the current scenario at all.
Stepping out of the cramped cabin felt great for a while. The fresh breeze off the water felt amazing after being inside for hours, but as soon as she looked out over the water she felt a bit of nausea take over.
I will never get used to this.
"Getting a little seasick, are we, your Majesty?" The captain obviously saw Anna turn green and grab the railing for support. She was about to correct him for calling her your Majesty again, but was interrupted by a shout from the watch perched atop the mainmast.
"Sail, ho!"