1. The Royal Congress

If one wanted to travel all the way along the stretch of the Old World, from the shores of the Welcoming Sea in the east to the border of Lumineux in the west, there would be no better route than the River Verdant, even if it meant sailing upstream.

The lands it flowed through, by and large, were untouched preserves of nature, with a few cities wedged in between. At that time, the Industrial Revolution had already raised its head, smoking its coal-stuffed pipe, but railroads and locomotives, the inferior substitute for magic carriages, were still few and far between, mostly relegated to just a few routes between the old capitals of the West.

The Verdant didn't freeze even in winter, never ceasing the slow, smooth turn of its waters so characteristic of plain rivers. In summer, like now, the views from the river would bless a traveler's eyes with sunlit meadows, their green grass interspersed with yellow caps of dandelions, and lush broadleaf forests that stretched on and on with nary a hill in sight, still retaining some of their enchanted charm from the older times when magic was as common as dirt.

It was, in short, nothing like snowy mountains of Arendelle.

It was not to last, and even the workers who were, right now, installing the support beams of a new railroad bridge across the Verdant, and the woodcutters clearing the way for the future road itself from the bank onwards, could feel a hint of sadness for the nature that yielded to their axes and hammers.

The foreman – a round, burly man in a yellow cap, about fifty or so – leaned on an iron support beam, just freshly dug into and fixed in the ground, and looked downriver, trying to follow an indistinct white spot in the distance among the thick overgrowth at the banks.

"So you're stayin' here, kid?" he asked, finally turning his head to the left.

The "kid" the foreman was referring to was not clearly not one of the workers. He was a young man, roughly in his mid-twenties, about a head taller than the foreman, even in his stance of slightly leaning ahead – though that could have been caused by his abnormally large backpack almost bursting at the seams, with a spyglass and a roll of dense paper peeking out of it. He wore a vest of thick rugged leather, with oiled knee-high boots, and had an old flintlock pistol and a pair of elbow-long gloves hanging from his hip. His face was halfway obscured by a broad-brimmed hat, but even then, the smooth, delicate features of his cheeks and chin suggested a city-dweller who did not spend much time in the wild, contrary to what the rest of his appearance would suggest.

"I think so, yes," said the stranger with a distinct Northern accent. "My field tests will require a day or two, especially when having to operate the equipment in such an unsanitary environment."

He put his backpack on the ground and took out a large wooden box with a short metal tube poking out of one end, its end covered with a piece of cloth. It looked quite comical, all things considered. "This bridge and the whole track are some of the most important engineering projects of the decade. But when they're complete, nobody will remember what it looked like under construction, or the brave men who accomplished this daunting task." He smiled. "Someone needs to preserve the moment. For history."

The foreman chuckled without turning his eyes away from the river. "You some kinda artist, then?"

"I'm afraid it's not my forte, as much as I'd like it to be. But if my experiment works, artists will be obsolete."

The stranger traced the foreman's line of sight. "What caught your attention, anyway?"

"Some kinda ship down there, comin' our way. Maybe your keen young eyes see more?"

The young man drew his spyglass out of his backpack and pointed it at the white spot on the river. "A ship indeed. White sails... and the hull is almost white, too. No cannons, probably not a warship. Two... yes, two masts. A brig? Or a brigantine, perhaps? Forgot the difference... Was it the shape of the forecastle? Or the sails?.."

"What, do I look like a sailor to you?" said the foreman. "You better look at the flag."

"Can't make it out from here – Wait. White and gold. That much I can make out. Must be Notoeros, then."

"The southerners, huh? And white hull? Must be their royal yacht." The foreman snorted. "Bet it's going to Immereach, too. All the bigwigs are goin' there lately. Doesn't concern us, though."

"Wait, what?" asked the stranger. "What's going on in Immereach?"

"What rock have you slept under? The Congress, of course."

"The Royal Congress? Now?" The young man straightened blinked. "The last one was only two years ago! Why'd this one be so out of schedule?"

The foreman finally drew his eyes away from the approaching ship and turned to face the stranger, trying not to step in the loose dirt or bump into the nearby pile of wooden ties. "The Snow Queen, I'd wager. Why else? Hear they're inviting her too. City folks are goin' crazy over that, of course."

"The Snow Queen? She really exists, then?" The stranger scratched behind his ear. "I thought Hans just made that up to cover his disgrace. Half of Havfrue thought that, really – you should have seen his face when they dragged him through the city!"

"Hans?" asked the foreman.

"Our prince. Well, one of. Not important. You know, I wish I was in the city now. Would have loved to see the Snow Queen, if she exists. Talk to her, even better, but I doubt she'd mingle with commoners."

"Talk? You daft?" The foreman raised his voice a little, involuntarily spitting. "Why'd they even invite her here, I have no clue. Want her to freeze us too?"

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing she can't fix," smiled the stranger, taking off his hat. Under it, he had short black hair, seemingly well-trimmed, though somewhat messed up by the hat. "Don't fear her, instead think of the possibilities. Frost magic, real, honest magic in our world! I bet the professors don't have a theory for that, do they? And the potential, everything she could do with it, with the right nudge. I hope to meet her one day – she sounds utterly fascinating!"

The foreman gave a suspicious aside glare at his companion and moved a few steps away from him. "You're an odd fella, you know that?"

"Yes!" The stranger raised a finger enthusiastically into the air. "And proud of it!"


Immereach, the capital of the Eastereach Empire, greeted the two royal sisters with a refreshing morning breeze of the waning summer, ruffling the leaves of the long row of trimmed pines that led to the courtyard of the Summer Palace.

Anna dropped the pace of her steps as she entered the courtyard, and the hedge of evenly spaced pine trees gave way for a flat square of fresh green grass, filled with pleasantly smelling red and white flowerbeds glistening with dew under the summer sun. She actually wanted to walk faster; she couldn't wait to see the palace from the inside and meet all those other rulers whom she had only heard of so far. But Elsa was walking calmly beside her, and Anna reluctantly did her best not to outrun her.

"Shouldn't we hurry, sis?" she asked, pointing at the large clock on the palace's roof. "Look, it's almost twelve!"

"Emphasis on almost, dear." Elsa smiled, taking her sister's hand gently. "Don't worry. We're not late just yet."

Anna didn't really know how Elsa did that. Then again, there were many things that seemed to just come naturally to her, yet left Anna completely clueless and awestruck. Her winter magic, for instance. The reason they were here. The reason any of this happened at all. The reason both of their lives so far had been so... different. Still, at least it ended well for both of them, all things considered. Or did it?

Still, throughout the whole journey from Arendelle across half the continent, Elsa had been driven forward by a single goal: getting here, to the Congress. At every station, she needed just a brief glance at a map to decide where to go next – often leading to Anna having to run after her after taking some time to see the sights. She was never late, and inconveniences on the road like bad food, creaky beds or dirty floors never seemed to so much as mildly annoy her – or at least, if it did, she didn't show it. Elsa stayed cheerful all the way through, not quite how Anna remembered her in the preceding years.

And here they were. After a cold rainy night in Dijkstad, after the long carriage rides through muddy country roads around Drossel and Bierfest – all because Elsa didn't want to gather a crowd wanting to look at the infamous Snow Queen – they were finally here.

This "Royal Congress" business was beyond Anna's understanding, and it escaped her why it was important for them to even be here. It looked very important to Elsa, and that was all that mattered to Anna. All she knew – from the rare times when she hadn't slept through her history lessons – was that it was where the four Great Powers gathered once a decade or so to... talk politics, or something, ever since the first Congress ended the war with Lumineux three decades ago. It all seemed so distant from the concerns of Arendelle and its people. It was something large-scale between the rich and powerful countries – something that, by all rights, shouldn't even have concerned their cozy little kingdom way in the North. So why were they even here? Why were they invited? Why now, all of a sudden?

Because of Elsa, of course. Even as the sisters were finally together after years of isolation, it seemed the rest of the world wasn't going to give the two of them peace just yet.

They passed through the crowd gathered in the courtyard, which split in two and kept to the sides to leave the central alley clear for them. With a slight wave of her hand, Elsa coated the road with ice all the way long and kept going over it effortlessly.

"Showoff!" said Anna, grinning as she struggled to walk upright over the ice in fancy shoes.

She took a quick glance over the people they passed by on the way. The space was tight, and much to their displeasure, richly-dressed nobles had to stand almost shoulder to shoulder with muscular workers smelling of coal and oil, crooked old ladies who kept whispering to each other while pointing their shaking fingers at Elsa, and all kinds of other folks from all over the city, from the slums to the cream-of-the-crop districts. A few kids in brown rags, upon seeing the young queen, ran to her excitedly, jumping at her sides as she continued to walk.

"It's the Snow Queen!" they shouted. "Hey, Queen Elsa! Make it snow! Make it snow!"

Elsa raised her hand into the air, and a small cloud formed over the frozen path behind her, pouring down snowflakes. The kids cheered, running under the cloud and collecting them in their hands to make snowballs.

"Nothing's wrong with a little show, Anna," Elsa smiled again. "After all that happened, can you blame me for enjoying this?"

The palace itself rose ahead, and Anna could finally see it clearly, not obscured by people or the overgrowth in the courtyard. She practically devoured the scenery with her eyes; it was so rich and vibrant, so unlike the drab colors of the North!

It was a majestic four-story building of yellow and orange, with red hipped roofs peppered with tiny spires, and a long row of columns and arched windows above the portico, rested on statues from classical mythology. Just a slight – read, blatantly obvious – hint at the architecture of ancient Notoeros. Anna never got why they did these homages – didn't they have their own traditions to draw from? Still it looked very proper, strict, and fitting a country whose rulers could afford having this kind of residence.

Elsa could have designed better, of course. Anna was sure. She saw it. Not that an ice palace would have endured long in this climate.

The clock at the palace roof started ringing, making the colorful crowd in the courtyard suddenly froze in silence. Oddly, the five sets of double doors that served as the entrance to the palace proper remained closed, and the guards at their sides motionless.

"You should probably knock," smiled Elsa, nudging Anna with her elbow. "You're better at knocking than I am."

As the clock finished their twelfth strike, the formerly silent tall man on the balcony above the portico, in a bright red frock coat over a gold-encrusted shirt – the master of ceremonies, from the look of it – loudly announced: "Her Majesty Queen Elsa of Arendelle!"

The guards at the middle set of doors turned, in perfect synchrony, and opened it with a loud slam. Out came a plump lady in a wide bluish-grey dress, with round cheeks and greying hair, standing with her hands joined together in front of her chest in a proper, formal posture. A red mantle with golden trimming dragged behind her, looking even longer than Elsa's was at her coronation.

"Her Majesty Empress Sophia Christina Augusta Wilhelmina –"

Get on with it, Anna didn't shout. Noticing that Elsa curtseyed, she did the same, clumsily. Her thoughts constantly wandered aside, and over a couple seconds, she managed to wonder what would happen if the Empress tripped over her mantle. And, really, she looked quite a bit less flattering than on portraits. More wrinkles and a disappointing lack of cupids floating around.

" – of Eastereach."

"Queen Elsa," Sophia said matter-of-factly, offering a polite nod. "Good to see you exactly on time. I would hate to see my guests waiting."

"It is an honor, Empress," said Elsa calmly.

Anna frowned slightly; for a moment, she almost saw her sister back in Arendelle's ballroom, wearing her coronation dress and gloves. Why was she holding back now?

She could guess why, though. This was not Arendelle, but a foreign land. Hushed whispers were heard behind their backs, and not all of them good, from the sound of it. Elsa was trying to hide it, but Anna could see the tension in her shaking eyebrows and the quickening of her breath. If her sister lost control here – no, she didn't even want to think of it.

"And this must be the princess said to be courting a commoner," said Sophia more coldly, turning to the younger sister.

"Courting? I just kissed him once–" started Anna, but immediately shut up, feeling a sharp icicle poking her back.

"I admit, this is hardly relevant to the Congress and its stated purpose," said Sophia. "Arendelle is a sovereign nation, and its domestic politics and court affairs are of no concern to me or any others present here. Neither is its reigning monarch's choice of attire, or lack thereof."

Sophia looked skeptically over Elsa's shoulders, half-exposed by her ice dress. "Royal tradition is passé these days, I know; blue is the new green, and snowflakes are the new crocus flowers. Thankfully, at least one of you remembers the proper heraldry of your homeland," Sophia cast a quick glance of Anna's dress of dark green, the same one she had worn on Elsa's coronation, "but I strongly encourage you, Princess Anna, to pay thought to the expectations placed on you with your high title, and the impression you cast on others – including potential suitors."

"S-suitors?" Anna blinked and recoiled slightly. "I don't need– er– I've had bad luck with suitors. Plus I'm already in love!"

"Indeed? With whom?"

Anna joined her hands and shyly straightened them down. "With love."

The Empress raised a single eyebrow, the corners of her lips involuntarily curving up despite her efforts to maintain an impartial expression. She turned back to Elsa.

"Is this your entire escort?"

"As you can see." Elsa smiled faintly.

"Quite an unorthodox decision for a monarch," said Sophia. "Should you require extra entourage or protection, as the host of the Congress I can make some arrangements –"

"No need, Your Majesty," Elsa said hastily. "Anna is a good friend, and all the company I need."

"Don't you at least need bodyguards?" asked Sophia.

"No."

The Empress looked with amusement into these clear blue eyes. The Queen of Arendelle looked back into hers. Finally, after a few moments of silence, Sophia was the first to avert her eyes.

"This is not precisely what I was expecting," she said quietly. "I'm not sure if this is good or bad. Regardless!" she raised her head to look at the master of ceremonies. "It is time."

"Most esteemed guests!" the master said loudly. "Today, Her Majesty the Empress welcomes our partners in trade and diplomacy, who have arrived from all corners of the Old World to grace us with their presence and decide the shared fates of our lands for years to come. The Fifth Royal Congress of Immereach is hereby in session!"

Sophia turned around, taking care not to step on her own mantle, and walked gallantly into the opened middle door. Elsa went next, holding her hands together in a clearly put-on gracious pose, and Anna took it as a sign to hurry in as well.