Chapter 1: The Beginning
It was early when the young queen woke up- only 4 O'clock in the morning. "Uh, I want to go back to sleep," she heard her younger sister, Princess Anna of Arendelle, whisper to her boyfriend, a mountain man named Kristoff. "I know me too, Anna but this is important. The Kingdom of Lakish is very important to this kingdom. We have been on good terms for decades. Mama and Papa were great friends with their royal family," Elsa explained. "Then why do we need to meet secretly," Kristoff asked as he crawled out of the castle's secret entry that led to the garden.
Elsa stopped for a second and turned back to show Kristoff a worried face. "Lakish is not so sure they wish to continue their alliance with Arendelle after the eternal winter. I have to convince their diplomat- Gregory of Lakish- that I can be trusted. Until then Lakish does not want the Southern Isles, their lead trade partners, to know they are investigating Arendelle. Hans made things hard for both us and them," Elsa said slowly.
The incident of the eternal winter was still fresh in everyone's mind, but epically the queen's. She knew she caused so much pain and did not want to do that ever again. Since then, the people of Arendelle have embraced her powers but there were still skeptics, none worse than the famed duke of weselton. He was spreading rumors that Elsa has an army of sorcerers and was planning world domination. This is what Laskish was so worried about.
Anna was the first to climb out of the tube under the castle into the garden. Elsa followed her and then Kristoff came out.
"Ah, Queen Elsa, we have been expecting you," Gregory of Lakish said. "I am greatly sorry to keep you waiting," Elsa responded trying to sound like she was calm and not nervous. However, her hand told a different story. Anna noticed the ice forming around her sister's hand and handed Elsa the gloves she wore in stressful situations with other kingdoms. Then Kristoff intervened in this situation.
"Hi, I am Kristoff, head ice master and deliver," he said trying to buy time for Elsa. "Very nice to meet you," Gregory said sounding annoyed.
"Kristoff has been living in the castle since the incident," Anna added, "And he has been very helpful in past negations." Anna knew that wasn't quite true but she wanted to make it sound like Kristoff was there for more than morale support to her and her sister.
"Now, Let's get to business, Queen Elsa. The king of Lakish reminds you of his love for your kingdom and its people but both Weselton and the Sothern isles claim you are threating our legacy of peace and unity with Arendelle," Gregory said.
"I understand how they spread likely stories but I assure you and your people they are all lies," Elsa said trying to sound queenly like her mother always did, "I have no army of ice people and have no other knowledge of anyone else with the power I have been cursed by."
"That is interesting because while on my journey here I met a very interesting snowman who told me all about the way you wield your magic. He told me it is based on emotions. Something the queen of a powerful nation like this must be running high on right now," Gregory stated with a slight grin on his face.
"Snowman you say…" Elsa started.
"Are you accusing the great Queen Elsa of lying? How dare you!" Anna shouted. "Anna!" Kristoff said motioning to the far end of the garden where they went to talk. Anna and Krsitoff left to talk about the severity of this situation!
"He is calling Elsa a liar. You hear it too, didn't you?" Anna said softly but still fired up about the nerve to talk about her sister. "Anna, I know that representative Gregory may sound like he has an accusing tone but I think there is something else at play. Maybe he is just trying to gauge if we are going to a help or not. Anna, do you feel like that would help Elsa to go off at a potential friend?" Krisoff asked softly. "No, it will not," Anna said.
The couple walked back to Elsa and the representative. They were now looking at a map of the surrounding kingdoms. Kristoff found this to be strange and had to ask. "What is going on now," He asked. "We are discussing the representative's housing. King Paul of Laksih requested he stay close to Arendelle but not in it," Elsa said. "The Southern Isles and Weselton are clearly no-nos. That only leaves Sewden to the East of here," Gregory said, "I will leave in three days."
Next Time: We will go deeper into Gregory's investigation and the relationship that Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff share. Plus, a special visit from a surprise snowman!