Frozen: A Tale of Two Seasons
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, Frozen or Tangled
The summer light shined through the stained glass windows of the royal cathedral, luminescent rays of spring-greens and arctic-blues being cast down on the lords and ladies in the pews. Voices blended together from the chancel above the altar; a choir consisting of twelve individuals garbed in cardinal red set the ambiance for the guests in the chapel. Three stood before the altar: Elsa the Crown Princess stood poise and stunning to all who witness - her teal dress with sweetheart bodice, black long-sleeved turtleneck blouse and long flowing magenta cape giving her the appearance of a princess come of age.
To her right stood her sister and second Princess of Arendelle: Princess Anna. Her olive green dress and dark green sweetheart bodice - although not as regal as her sister princess - was as beautiful and elegant, the very essence of summer used to craft the fabric it was made of. Her strawberry-blonde hair made into a bun held up by a green barrette and a braid at the front used as a headband for the princess. Even in the presence of her sister, the princess's splendor was not outshined.
At the sign of movement from her right, Elsa glanced at her sister to see the younger woman turn slightly to the crowd and hide a wave. Her curiosity for who Anna was gesturing to was drowned by the feeling of uneasiness. It was apparent to the young woman that there were more people than she has ever been in the presence of seated directly behind her. Have she been facing them the entire time she would inevitably start shaking under their gazes. Frost inevitably would have been crawling out from her fingertips if it weren't for her gloves.
Elsa returned her focus back to the bishop before her. Bishop Edwin was a slender man with thick greying hair, long nose, and crows feet around narrow eyes. He was dawning the traditional red robes of the clergy, accompanied by a similar red mitre. The man was with his back to her, leaning over the altar as he prepared everything for her coronation.
It had dawned on her that morning - exactly twenty-one years since her birth - that by nightfall, what had once been her father's kingdom would now be hers. She would be the Queen of Arendelle, the sovereign expected to open up the kingdom's gates to all foreign nations outside their borders. The one to shape Arendelle into the prosperous nation it was meant to be, and lead it into a new era. All this responsibility was a large load to carry, and with her already carrying her curse it would be almost too much of a burden to bear. Elsa knew that a monarch wasn't allowed to have this kind of doubt within themselves, after all, she did spend every second of her short life preparing for these responsibilities, and she was ready to take on the weight of these burdens.
Bishop Edwin turned to Elsa, a polished golden tiara held out in old wrinkly hands. It was time, and Elsa closed her eyes in acceptance. She tilted her head down and waited for the Bishop to place the tiara upon her crown. The Bishop placed the tiara on the Princess's platinum-blonde hair before removing his hands and allowing her to stand.
Elsa opened her eyes and saw the Bishop holding a teal ceremonial pillow before her; the same ice-sapphire encrusted golden scepter and crocus-bearing orb that her father had held during his coronation were laid on the pillow. She reached for them slowly but flinched at the whisper of the Bishop, "Your Majesty, the gloves."
Elsa's heart skipped a beat as she looked down at her gloves, the only physical solution to keeping the ice at bay. With her hands shaking in hesitation and worry, Elsa began to remove her teal gloves; a finger at a time. She took them in one hand and trepidatiously set them down on the pillow. With a deep breath, she repeated her father's mantra, Conceal it, don't feel it. Trembling hands reached out for the two treasures and took them from the pillows. Scepter in her right hand and orb in her left, Elsa turned to the pews and refrained from making eye contact with the crowd - they stood from the pews in respect to the Crown Princess.
"As she holds the holy properties, and is crowned in this holy place, I present to you…" Elsa remained stiff, stubbornly staring straight ahead to keep her composure. It was more apparent to her now more than ever before that the people in attendance were looking directly at her, their eyes burning holes through her. She looked down at the holy properties and spied ice crawling up their sides. Elsa sucked in a deeper breath and focused her eyes forward, no longer trying to control her shaking hands. Without waiting for the Bishop to finish, she turned and quickly placed the scepter and orb back on the pillow; taking her gloves and sliding them on. "Queen Elsa of Arendelle."
"Queen Elsa of Arendelle." The crowd repeated and broke out into applause.
The Queen smiled in relief as she looked over the sea of foreign dignitaries. The secret of her curse had come close to being revealed and after all her father and mother had done to keep it hidden from everyone. There were only ever two possibilities Elsa had considered possible that would have it revealed: either she would accidentally lose any semblance of control she believed she had, or a certain servant would openly tell someone about it. Elsa really had no way to prepare for the case of the latter, she just had to pray that Luffy would respect her wish to keep it hidden; and so far he has.
It was only a matter of time though, secrets could never be kept hidden for so long. In a chance to delay the inevitable Agnarr had Elsa locked in her room and closed the castle gates for years. Elsa didn't want her father's efforts to be in vain, so for as long as she can, she'll conceal her curse from all eyes and refrain from noticing it's influence on her for as long as she can.
~.:.*.:.~.:.*.:.~.:.*.:.~
"Let us go over the procedures for tonight once more, shall we?" Kai had the Great Hall prepared the first thing in the morning for the celebration of Arendelle's new queen. Now he had gathered the servants that would be involved in tonight's affair: Benjam - the castle's Head Chef - along with the rest of the kitchen personnel had prepared a myriad of Northern cuisine for the party guests. The chefs accounted for a third of the castle's workforce and had the least to show for the pre-celebration meeting with only Benjam and a Sous Chef having shown up.
The remaining personnel in the Great Hall were servants who would be attending to the party guests, and a group of guards all hand-picked by the Captain of the Guard. Lastly, the castle's Jack of Trade was present, and to the Head Servant's dismay, he had a finger knuckle deep up his nose. "Why do we need to go over it again? It's a party, all that's needed is music and food."
"Luffy...remove that finger from your nose, you're nineteen for goodness sake!" The straw-hatted servant did as he was told and pulled his finger out of his nose. The servants and kitchen personnel looked at the young man in disgust as he flicked a clump of the dried nasal mucus across the hall.
"Kai, I will not allow the Straw-Brat to handle any food that comes from my kitchen," Benjam stated. There were none who had more ill feelings for the Jack of Trade than the castle's Head Chef. "If you even want the guests to enjoy their time tonight then they have to enjoy their food. Having that thief blow snot into every main course prepared - if he hadn't already eaten it that is - would ruin the mood and the party. Tonight is for Her Majesty, and I refuse to let anything go wrong."
"I'd only blow boogers on your food, stupid tub of lard," Luffy grumbled with crossed arms. The cook never liked him and the reason for his anger was extremely unjustified. Benjam's dislike for Luffy even went as far as banning him from the kitchen entirely.
"I completely agree with you, Benjam. I've learned from past mistakes to never let Luffy handle any food again, without the supervision of course." Kai paled at the terrible memory of ten years ago. He rid the memory from his mind as soon as it had surfaced. "It is important that the castle staff makes a good impression on the guests; for the impression we make will be reflected upon Arendelle and Her Majesty. So I'm sorry, Luffy, but I'm going to have you work in the stables tonight. I've already informed Henry."
"What?!" Luffy yelled as he turned to look at Kai who had begun to address the guards.
"You men have your orders, correct?" Kai asked the men who all nodded in confirmation. "Care to run through it with me then? I'd like to know what the uncompromisable Captain Richardt has come up with."
"Wait! Kai, what do you mean I'm working in the stables tonight? The party and the food are going to be here, not at the stables." He complained, wildly gesturing to the Great Hall. "Come on, there has to be something else I could do; maybe I could help announce, or I could test the guest's food for poison, or…"
"Why would the food be poisoned?"
"Or I could just attend the party...and you know...eat the food." Kai listened as the boy trailed off. He felt slightly bad for having to ruin the boy's fun but it was important that the Kingdom make a good impression on the representatives. Though maybe…
"Kai, I think it is fair to at least let Luffy prove himself fit to work for the party." The Head Handmaiden, Gerda, defended. She believed that if given the chance, Luffy might be able to prove Kai wrong and be allowed to stay during the party. Gerda, alongside Kai, knew of the relationship between the servant boy and now Queen of Arendelle. Luffy might be thinking of attending the party for the selfish reason of filling his belly, but she knew how badly he wanted to see Elsa.
Kai thought over the proposition for a moment - letting Luffy prove that he could act professionally during the party would be the only case in which he would change his mind. With a bit more thought on the matter, Kai was willing to let the boy at least try. "Are you willing to try and prove that you can be on your best behavior tonight, Luffy?"
"You bet I am!" Came the feverish response.
"Okay," The Head Servant took the time to think of a trial for the straw-hatted boy - it came to him that Luffy mentioned that he could try announcing guests. He'd need help in knowing who he'd be announcing but it was all in the presentation. "Luffy, I need you to pretend that you're presenting Chef Benjam to Queen Elsa."
"Okay!" Luffy was pumped for the chance to prove himself. If there was anything that he prided himself on it would be his ability to boisterously announce anything that came to mind. "Elsa, this is Sir Chef Benjam."
"G-Good. I'll need you to try again, but this time remember that you are addressing the Queen of Arendelle and not a friend." Kai instructed the young man who nodded in understanding.
"Now hold on, Kai," Benjam spoke up as he pointed an accusatory finger at Luffy. "Straw-Brat, did you just introduce me as Sir Chef Benjam? Do you think my first name is Chef?"
"It's not?" Luffy looked at the chef.
"No! My name is Benjam! Head Chef is the title that was granted to me by the great kitchen hierarchy. This time get it right!" Benjam yelled, his voice carried by the towering walls of the Great Hall.
"My Queen, Sir Head Chef."
"You forgot to say my name entirely!"
"Louder, Luffy. Music will be playing and we don't want to strain the Queen's ears." Kai said.
"MY QUEEN, SIR CHEF OF THE KITCHEN!" Luffy yelled, forcing the handmaidens to cover their ears and the remaining servants to flinch under the intensity of his voice.
"Not so loud!" The Head Servant could still hear the ringing in his ears. They'd be lucky if nobody outside the Great Hall heard that. "We're not trying to damage the ears of those in the hall."
"I'll just head back to the kitchen, make sure the final preparations are complete." Benjam left the Great Hall with the Sous Chef, the two returning to the castle's kitchen. Luffy stood and stared at Kai, sweat forming on his brow as he grew nervous. Kai waited momentarily for Luffy to try again, and as he waited Luffy became more and more nervous. When it was apparent that he wouldn't say anything, Kai broke the silence.
"Are you going to give it another go?" He asked in wonderment.
"How can I introduce someone to Elsa if they're not here?" Kai felt a headache coming to him. Luffy was a lost cause; he hadn't felt this much stress since he first began to teach Luffy how to be a gentleman. He neither failed nor succeed in his teachings, but rather came to an understanding that Luffy's brashness was just in his nature. "So can I stay?"
"Report to Henry. You'll be working in the stables tonight."
~.:.*.:.~.:.*.:.~.:.*.:.~
Luffy had arrived at the castle stables out in the side of the courtyard. There weren't many guests remaining out in the bailey, most of them have moved into the castle for the celebration. The stable's appearance on the outside was beyond what you would see in villages - being a castle stable it would be expected - but the interior was everything but hygienic. The hard stone floor was layered with a mixture of dirt and shit.
The smell of wet animal hair and dung was lingering in the air but Luffy didn't care. He worked in the stables for most of his time in the castle, the one job that didn't require him any skill or thought. Changing the water for the horses, feeding them, and occasionally cleaning their stalls were all tasks that came with working in the stables; menial tasks that the Stable Master Henry had no problem performing.
"Hey, Henry! I'm here!" Luffy called out as he stepped into the foul-smelling stables. A thud came from within one of the horse stalls, and a man in his thirties appeared from within. Henry wasn't someone who cared for physical possessions or cleanliness; his clothes and skin covered in dirt and shined with sweat.
"Hei, Luffy! Was wondering when you'd show up." Henry spoke with a thick northern accent. He climbed over the stall door and over to Luffy. It became apparent to Luffy that the man reeked just as, if not, worse than the horses he cared for. Truly the Stable Master was in his element. "How was the ceremony? Was it as grand as the guests made it out to be?"
"Wouldn't know, I was in the castle talking with Kai." Luffy moved over towards the stalls and inspected the horses in their care. The stalls were filled with both castle mounts and foreign; not many of the guests had brought their own mount to the coronation. "It's unfair, ya know. I've never been to a party like this. Never got to try all these fancy northern cuisines Chef spoke about. How can Kai have me work in the stables, away from all that food?!"
"Is it the food you want?" Henry asked, watching the straw-hatted servant boy pace down the stable. Luffy's head shot back to look at Henry in confusion.
"Of course! Why else would I be there?" His main motivator had always been to fill his stomach.
"Why, to see the Princess of course. Except I guess that would be Queen now." The Stable Master corrected himself. Again Luffy looked at the man in confusion with no idea as to what he was saying. "How many years has it been since you've last seen, or even spoke to her?"
"Three years." Luffy replied evenly, turning back away from Henry and went to work. Henry took the hint and refrained from continuing on the topic; he never knew why the boy was so cold when the eldest princess was brought up.
"Well, it doesn't matter now. Have a long night 'head of us, best make sure we're not wasting any time."
Short chapter but sets things up.