Princess Anna of Arendelle woke up from her slumber to the soft whispers of something scraping against wood. Skritch. Skritch. Skritch. Groggy and still straddling the fine line between dreamtime and wakedness, Anna tried to make sense of the noise without moving a muscle. They weren't the familiar sounds of castle rats skittering around on her bedroom floor, picking at the crumbs of bread and other bits of food that she and Kristoff would shove under the bed much to Gerda's dismay. The sounds were heavier, and yet softer, like a wet bag of wheat being dragged around. There was a controlled, careful rhythm to them, as if someone was purposely trying not to make any noise. It slowly dawned on the princess. There was someone else in the room.
Anna's heart suddenly came to life as she fought every urge to sit up and confront the intruder. It didn't smell like Kristoff and didn't have the faint, chill aura that her sister always seemed to have around her. Somebody else. Surprise was on her side, she realized as she tried to recall kaptein Jorgen's lessons the past few months. The last year had been a rather stressful time for the emerald knights of the Arendellian royal guard, with a growing air of civil unrest in the surrounding nations that formed the loose set of former Norge provinces that Arendelle was part of. Nothing substantial had reached the borders of their tiny country yet, but there were news of attempted assassinations on the aristocracy of the other nations. Taking no chances, the kaptein had taught the members of the royal family a few basic precautions in case of similar, untoward circumstances.
Without opening her eyes, the princess carefully reached under her pillows for the knife she kept tucked in between the mattress and the headboard. All those scoldings from Gerda for misplacing the palace silverware were now starting to feel a little bit worth the trouble. Anna held her breath and waited until the scratching sounds had reached the side of her bed, almost within arm's reach. And then, like a coiled spring, she struck.
With a flash of silver, the princess felt Gerda's missing steak knife #34 find its mark and bury itself into soft...ice. Cold ice? Anna opened her eyes in confusion. It was then that she heard something that sounded like a mix between laughing and giggling.
"Oh look, I've been stabbed. Again."
"Oh my god, Olaf. I'm so sorry!" The steak knife made a clattering sound as the surprised princess pulled it out and hurled it off to the side. In front of her, wooden arms outstretched and with a big, single-toothed smile at her, was the sentient snowman that her sister had accidentally created four years ago.
Olaf rubbed some snow into the small crack in his mid-abdominal ball that the steak knife had left. "Hey Anna," he began. "Kristoff told me not to wake you, but I wanted to check on you so I decided to just stand outside your door until you were awake." He capped off his 'wound' with a round, black button and tapped his belly with a wooden arm. "There, nice and smooth. I think I'm losing weight. Anna, do I look like I'm losing weight?"
Anna stared at the diminutive snowman and tried to make sense of his words. Kristoff was losing weight? No wait. Before that. Kristoff had told him not to wake her up? That puzzled the princess. Normally when someone was sent to wake her up, it was because she was about to miss breakfast, or some important meeting or something. She could understand the breakfast thing, but an important meeting? Who holds official functions at – her gaze wandered to the wooden Swiss clock on the small table on the other side of the bed – eight in the morning? Anna brought her hands to her face and rubbed her eyes. With a forceful yawn, she arched her back and stretched her half-responsive arms above her head. "Where is Kristoff anyway?"
"He was headed out the castle with Elsa and a bunch of important-looking people. Something about the docks?" Olaf was plodding around the room with the curiosity of a little boy. He stopped to look at himself in the mirror at her dresser, where there was the set of formal clothing she had left last night while waiting for Kristoff. It was Sunday night, their special night, and yet he had begged off saying he had to rest for some big diplomatic meeting the next morning. He was quite mum about details and asking her sister didn't get her any answers either. Anna thought it odd that Kai would schedule two diplomatic meetings for her sister in the same day, before noontime no less. She stared at the black corset that lay on top of one of her olive green dresses on the dresser that Olaf stood in front of. Two meetings. The meeting. The meeting.
With wide eyes, the princess leapt out of bed and shoved the snowman posing in front of the mirror out of the way as she grabbed for her formalwear. Suddenly it all made sense. Today was the day of arrival of the new Papal States' envoy, the one the influential Mediterranean nation was sending thanks to her botched handling of the last diplomatic mission a little over a month ago. Anna had planned on tagging along and redeeming herself in her sister's eyes, which was why she had prepared her formalwear herself last night. The fact that Elsa and Kristoff still seemed to think of her as a liability, enough to leave her out of this affair irked her a little.
The princess quickly slipped out of her nightgown and into the green dress she had prepared. She briefly considered letting the snowman help her lace up her corset but a look at his twiggy hands banished that notion from her head. She decided to go without and threw on whatever was within reach to cover her exposed cleavage, which in this case was a flaxen sweater vest draped over the chair that Olaf was now sitting on. With no time to braid her hair, Anna grabbed one of the red ribbons hanging from her dresser and tied her lush, strawberry hair up into a high ponytail as she rushed out the room. "Sorry Olaf, gotta go!" She shouted over her shoulder as she rushed towards the stairway leading down and out of the castle.
Back in the Anna's quarters, Olaf the snowman just sat on the floor wide-eyed, mouth agape, staring at the dresser where his childhood friend had gone completely naked in-between dresses a few scant minutes ago. "So those are the apples that Kristoff keeps talking to Sven about." The princess didn't hear his laugh echo throughout the empty hallway.
The run through town was a rather quick blur for the princess, and that included the rush back into the castle when she realized she was still wearing casual sandals. Anna sped through the stone bridge that linked Castle Arendelle to the small town that bore the same name and headed straight to the docks near the town-end of the bridge. To her dismay, there were only a few small watercraft unloading a few loads of textiles onto a smaller barge parked closer to the stone dock. There was no sign of her sister, her lover or any other royal official at all. The far docks, she realized. Anna held the front of her long dress and proceeded to head East towards the far docks.
Along the way, various citizens recognized the royal princess and greeted her with smiles and waves, a stark contrast to how the solemn and restrained way they usually conducted themselves on those rare occasions when Elsa came out of the castle into the town proper. Even in a hurry, Anna found time to slow down and wave back, smile and greet the townspeople back, most of the time by name. Just another something that she realized that separated her from her sister. The queen could have used a more personal touch with the citizens, Anna thought as she waved to Elin Corvi, the teenage daughter of an immigrant Sicilian cobbler. Most of the citizens were up and about, going around their daily business. The princess breezed through the town in record time and was elated to see her sister and consort standing at the upper street-level platform of the Eastern docks. Just in time, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Gasping for breath, Anna reached the small group and immediately wrapped her arms around Kristoff's manly torso and buried her face in his starched formal jacket. "You guys can't get rid of me that easily!" She shot her sister a playful glance accompanied by her outstretched tongue. He looked back at her with a tinge of guilt on his face as he shot the queen a quick glance.
"Oh, Anna. You woke up after all." The queen shook her head at Anna. "Just in time too," she nodded towards the fjord, where a sailing vessel was nearing the harbor from the fjord. Atop the ship's single mast, Anna could make out a small half-and-half, yellow and white flag. Just in time.
She took a step away from the ice master as he smiled at her and nodded. They had talked about her managing her public stature a few weeks ago, a few nights after the last time her sister had accidentally iced her. She was aware how un-princesslike her typical daily conduct was and had agreed to take steps to tone herself down whenever at official functions, especially if Elsa was there with her. Anna took a deep breath and took another step away from Kristoff, held her hands together in front of her and faced the water. She had to be of her best conduct today, if she were to impress her sister with her professionalism.
It seemed to take forever for the ship to get to the dock. Around the princess, the other members of the receiving delegation stood in place. There was the archbishop of Arendelle, an old man around her sister's height, with short graying hair and dressed in the reddish-magenta robes of the Church of Norge. The expression on his face gave Anna the impression of impatient annoyance. Behind them were kaptein Jorgen and two other members of the royal guard, dressed in their ceremonial green livery and armor.
The princess allowed herself to be distracted by the morning sun shining on the metallic-green breastplates of the two younger guardians, elaborately decorated with the crocus pattern of Arendelle. She attempted to recall the names of these particular guards, whom she occasionally bumped into around the castle grounds. The younger of the two was a black-haired man not that much older than Kristoff. Anna recalled seeing him around the castle, always with his helmet visor down around his face. Kai Ragnarr, she remembered learning his name from when she bumped into him at an eatery in town, where he was drawing on a sketchpad he had with him. The other guardsman was an older, tanned man who wore his dark hair close-cropped and well-kept. Anna often saw him around the main castle gates and patrolling the outer walls, sometimes tapping on loose bricks and pointing out spots that needed reinforcement by a mason. Anna had perfected hiding from his late-night sweeps whenever she fooled around with Kristoff. She tried to remember the guardsman's name. Jorn Strommen, she recalled meeting him and his Turkish wife a few times around town.
Aside from the four, there was just Kristoff and Elsa, and of course herself. Kristoff was dressed in his full official regalia as the royal ice master and deliverer of Arendelle. He was clad in an all black formal coat and trousers with a red and gold sash across his right shoulder that ran to his left hip. From his neck hung a round, silver medal bearing the impression of Elsa's iconic snowflake pattern – the official insignia of the Royal Ice Master and Deliverer of Arendelle. Seeing the love of her life like this filled Anna's heart with so much pride. He had come so far, from that gruff and lonely ice harvester all those years ago.
They had all come so far. She looked at her sister, standing straight and tall with all the stature of a queen. The queen was in her most formal attire usually reserved for official state functions and meeting important foreign diplomats. It was the dark teal, floor-length dress with the tight black undershirt that covered her sister's upper body beneath the gown, all the way to her neck and to the backs of her hands. Her platinum blonde hair was done up in that impossibly complex braid that looped around the top of her forehead, short blond bangs peeking from under the mass, almost tickling her long, dark lashes. Instead of the long, trailing cape that normally accompanied this particular outfit, Elsa had one of her formal jacket-vests over, purple like her cape. As usual, Anna noted that her sister had her gloves on. Better safe than sorry, she thought as she turned her attention to the Papal States ship that was already at the dock.
Anna had never seen this kind of vessel before. It was a small, single-masted vessel much smaller than the buis and fluyts she was used to seeing in these waters. It was closer in size to the Nordlandsbåt boats that local fishermen used to haul in their catches of cod and herring. It had two large, triangular sails, both attached to the mast. A smaller triangular sail sat atop the ship's stern, while an equally-small trapezoidal sail was on top of the mast, right below the flag flying the Papal State's colors. The princess noticed Kristoff trying hard to contain his excitement as his vision made love to the wooden craft. "It's a tartane," he tapped her shoulder. He had that same expression he always had whenever they would pass by the sleighcrafter's shop just outside town. "Oh man, we never get Mediterranean stuff up here," he exclaimed. Typical Kristoff, fawning over sleds and boats. Anna shook her head and directed her attention to the party that Kai, who was apparently waiting on the lower docks, was helping ashore.
Most of the ship's crew were tan, darker-skinned than the typical Scandinavian. Less than a dozen men were pulling on ropes and lowering sails under the command of who she assumed was the captain – a flamboyantly-dressed, rather handsome man in his early thirties. The captain turned and followed the rest of the small entourage onto the stone dock, leaving the crew behind. The group seemed rather strange to Anna, who was used to dealing more with Northern European diplomats from Corona and France. The hulking bodyguard type figure was the first to catch her eye. He stood at least a head above the rest, definitely taller than Kristoff. Dressed in outlandishly flamboyant blue-and-yellow striped garb, the rather aged man reminded her of Wandering Oaken, the owner and proprietor of Arendelle's most famous trading post. He was carrying a long polearm, which looked like a cross between an axe and a spear, on the tip of a long, wooden pole. It towered above the bodyguard. On the other side of the group was a young man, although she was being generous with the term. He looked to be a gaunt boy in his late teens, dressed in a dirty white, robelike habit that religious monks usually wore. He was carrying, or rather dragging a large wooden chest in his arms. Between the two was someone Anna assumed to be the actual diplomatic representative. Unlike the extravagantly-dressed bishop she had met a few weeks before, this man was dressed in an extremely nondescript and humble manner. He had on a similar white habit, similar to the one worn by the younger one beside him. On top of it was a thick, black outer robe that draped around the old man's shoulders down to his flanks. On top of that, he wore a necklace with a rather prominent wooden crucifix around his neck.
The quartet stopped in front of the royal family and removed their hats and lowered their hoods. "Her majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle," Kai announced in his 'official business' tone. Anna steeled herself for the next part, as much as she hated anything formal that came with being a part of the royal family. She prepared the bestest, widest, ear-to-ear smile she could muster as she mentally rehearsed her official princess face. "Princess Anna of Arendelle," she heard him say. She dipped and smiled at the entourage, who then bowed back in unison. That wasn't so bad.
Kai then proceeded, reading from an official-looking parchment that bore the seal of Arendelle and another one that she assumed was the Papal States' insignia. "May I present the official diplomatic envoy of the Status Pontificus, Bishop Demetrio Scordato of the Ordo Praedicatorum." More greetings were exchanged, and Anna noted that even the archbishop of Arendelle seemed genuine with his salutations.
"My apologies, your majesty but in the haste to update the official missive between our nations, there has been a mistake," the elder man spoke in a deep, powerful-yet-soothing voice. He was a middle-aged man appearing to be in his fifties, with slicked back, shoulder-length, silverish-grey hair without a strand out of place. Just behind his prominent, sharp nose were narrow, piercing eyes that sent a shiver down Anna's spine. The bishop looked like a person whose very presence could command the air in a room. "I am not a bishop, but a simple friar of my order." The authoritative voice didn't hurt his air of charisma either, Anna subconsciously decided.
"Apologies, your eminence." Elsa said, an uncomfortable hint of submissiveness in her tone, Anna noted. She had never head her sister this way before, not even when they were children. Elsa normally took to addressing others behind her royal veil of seriousness and authority. Even when meeting with other heads of state, such as those from the surrounding Norge kingdoms, Elsa had maintained her air of authority. Her tone this morning was different. To Anna, it sounded like Elsa was talking to a superior. Considering the aura she was feeling from the friar, Anna couldn't blame her sister.
"The royal family welcomes you to our tiny kingdom of Arendelle," her sister swept her right arm towards the town, bowing with a little flourish. The two groups coalesced and mingled for a few minutes, before Kai motioned for the group to head towards the castle on foot. The princess joined the procession between Kristoff and the queen, with the Papal States delegation on the other side. Kai and the young monk, who turned out to be a novice of the same order as the friar, were discussing formalities and scheduling, as far as Anna could make out. They had shifted to an Italian dialect, as the novice seemed to be more comfortable in his native tongue. At least that's what she think he told Kai. Either that, or he was selling his two front teeth. Anna shrugged. Her mother tried to teach the sisters Italian but it never caught on with Anna, as much as it did with her sister. And even then, the dialect her mother had spoken sounded just a little bit different, perhaps from a different region from these people.
Behind and flanking the group were the three royal guardsmen, who seemed at ease and were just enjoying the morning walk. Except for Jorn, who had the same, serious look on his face he always had. The friar's tall bodyguard walked beside the holy man, a similar stern demeanor about the towering individual. The princess noticed his eyes scanning the buildings as they passed by, eyeing the townspeople who stopped to bow and greet the queen. He was holding his weapon perfectly vertical, almost marching in step with his master. He reminded Anna of the occasional military drill held in the castle courtyard by the royal guard.
"Queen Elsa, I must admit that this is highly unorthodox and a rather humbling surprise," the friar addressed her sister. "I had not expected to be met by the sovereign of Arendelle. Even before I had stepped off the ship."
Elsa let out a small laugh. "Your eminence," she addressed the priest, "as you may already know, we are a rather unconventional country. And it is the least we can do concerning the…results…of the last Vatican diplomatic mission to Arendelle. It's surprising how fast his holiness sent a second delegation. Once again, my personal apologies to the bishop and the pope." Anna noticed her sister talking just a little bit faster than usual.
"Ah, second delegation. Yes, of course." The friar replied in near-perfect Norsk. The princess was glad they were speaking in a language she could at least eavesdrop in. Most diplomatic meetings she had been present at were conducted either in their native Norsk or the more official Dansk-Norsk, another artifact of the formerly-close ties between her nation and the Southern Isles'. Although lately, the surrounding kingdoms had been adopting Svenska as an official language, a fact that she knew worried her sister greatly. Sverige influence was growing all around them, and they needed all the allies they could gain. Trying to be inconspicuous, She leaned in a little closer to the friar and the queen's conversation.
"And please, your majesty. I am a simple friar of my order. Please, no undeserved honorifics. Just refer to me as brother Demetrio, or simply Demetrio."
"Friar Demetrio," Elsa responded. "I hope it is not too much out of protocol for you, but we invited our Catholics to witness your arrival," she gestured towards the gathered crowds along the main street that they were walking along. They were bowing to the queen but Anna noticed they were also genuflecting towards the Vatican diplomat. "You are the first representative we've had from the Vatican in decades. Perhaps since before the time of my father."
She was right, as far as Anna could remember. The people of Arendelle were not a heavily religious type. From what she could remember of her history, the few parishes they had were still from when they were part of greater Norge a little over half a century before. After the Sverige takeover and the birth of the Northern splinter kingdoms, the Church of Norge remained the unofficial religion of the citizens, although her grandfather had established the Church of Arendelle as somewhat of an analogue, with much less influence and power. Thanks to his rule, and that of the Arendelle council, the country was much less strict and became somewhat of a safe harbor in the North for people of different beliefs. At least that's what Anna remembered. She did know quite a few Catholics in town, and she remembered shopping around in the Jewish ghetto in Sogndal. She even recalled seeing a few Turkish sailors on the docks in Leirvik. They all seemed reasonably happy.
"Ah, I must apologize, Queen Elsa but we are not the first mission to Arendelle from the Vatican, or even my order," the elder man said with a wily smile while waving to the people who were kneeling at him. More and more of them were lining the streets, with looks of reverence on their faces, from young children to the elderly. Anna was amazed. They never looked at her like that. Hell, they didn't look at Elsa like that. She silently wondered about the power the church had. Behind them, the archbishop of Arendelle followed, casually conversing with Kristoff. Something about funds for roof repair. The princess sighed.
"The last time I was here, I do not remember it being so cold." The friar commented, eliciting a surprised look from the royal sisters. "Your majesty, forgive me for not mentioning it sooner but I as you know, your mother is…was Catholic, God rest her soul." His mention of the deceased former queen brought Anna closer to the two, almost walking in between the queen and the diplomat. "I was her personal counsel for a few years, before either of you were born."
Elsa looked at him with astonishment. "What? But there are no records of any diplomatic mission from the Vatican or any of the religious orders from 1814 onwards," her voice trailed off as she turned to Kai with one raised eyebrow. The portly servant was still talking with the novitiate, apparently something about horses and charcoal, at least if Anna's understanding of their Italian was accurate.
"Your father, the king had his reasons for keeping it unofficial," the friar replied. "It was a time when your kingdom's relations with both Norway and Sweden were in question. Even a mere rumor of non-Scandinavian influence, especially from the Vatican, would have caused some controversy to say the least." He explained.
The princess couldn't help herself and shoved herself between the two. "You knew mom? I mean, your holiness…eminent…fatherness…friar-ty…" she realized she had spoken too soon and had broken protocol. Whoops.
The queen's surprised glare was interrupted by the friar's fatherly tone. "Ah, princess Anna," he gave her a warm, relaxed smile, much different from the formal expression he had while talking to her sister. "Yes, I knew your mother. In fact, your heartiness and candidness reminds me of her." His face expertly shifted to a more serious but just-as-warm smile as he turned towards Elsa. "However, it is you, your majesty, that is the spitting image of your mother." Anna noticed a slight blush behind Elsa's cheeks, and a hint of sadness in her eyes. She knew how much she hated being reminded of the fact that Elsa was indeed, very similar in appearance to their deceased mother.
The friar's disposition towards her surprised the princess. The other Vatican diplomat had insisted on a load of formalities and protocols that frankly overwhelmed her which resulted in the rather, unfortunate situation that unfolded on the docks a month ago. Still, the princess had moved a little farther backwards as they reached the bridge that spanned the distance between Arendelle town and the little island upon which Castle Arendelle was built on. At the castle's inner gates, the two groups separated for a while in order to let the Papal States delegation prepare for the formal meeting in the afternoon. Elsa, the Archbishop, Kai and Friar Demetrio went straight to the reception room on the ground level. The three royal guards accompanied the friar's bodyguard, following behind the diplomatic party.
The princess pulled Kristoff away from the group before the queen could notice or mount an objection and they snuck off to the pantry to raid Gerda's diminishing bread stores. The stern woman simply shook her head as she handed roll after roll to the starving pair, punctuated by bouts of slapping the ice master's hand away from the huge jar of pickled herring he had dragged from one of the cabinets. "Young man, use a utensil or you will end up spoiling the rest!" She scolded him.
"Aw come on, Gerda. You don't complain as much when Anna does it." He pleaded, poking ineffectually at a slab of fish with a wooden skewer. It kept sliding down the stick as he raised the chunk above the level of the oil in the jar.
Anna stuck her tongue out at him, only to have Kristoff poke her in the mouth with a half-eaten stick of bread no bigger than her finger. She glared at him, then started chewing on the soft pastry, before gulping it down with a satisfied grin.
"I'll have you know master Bjorgman, the princess has received her share of scoldings for shoving her hands in places they're not supposed to be in," the old maid capped the jar tightly, giving the ice master another glare that seemed to imply something else. He grinned back at her sheepishly. So did Anna.
"Oh you two, I'm joking." The old woman ruffled Kristoff's hair with one hand while patting Anna's head with the other. She laughed a hearty laugh as she handed the ice master an expertly-made roll with a slice of pickled herring in the middle. Anna had no idea how Gerda did it, she wasn't even holding a knife. "I was young once, you know-"
"Could've fooled me," Kristoff muttered under his breath, only to receive a smack on the nose with another stick of bread. A mock-hurt look crossed his eyes, before he took the stick and started nibbling on it, his other hand still holding a half-eaten herring roll.
"Just don't be too obvious in front of your sister. We all know how…strict she is. Especially about touching," Gerda reminded the couple. "I can only imagine how the poor girl feels. You're the first and only person she has ever been able to touch in years," she faced the princess with a sudden, serious tone in her voice. "It must be torture for her to see you and Master Bjorgman so close, knowing she may never know that feeling herself." Gerda's tone went comfortably motherly when she spoke of the young queen, more so than even when the maid spoke to the princess, Anna realized. Ever since they were young, it was Gerda who was like a second mother to them, even after the incident. And then after their parents died, she was the closest to a mother the two girls had known.
After a few moments of silence, the elder woman piped up. "Well, that's no way to start the day! Chop! Chop!" She clapped her hands together in such a way as to put smiles back on the young couple's faces. Gerda then gave the princess a knowing look. "Anna, dear. Don't forget what I taught you, ok?"
Anna felt a certain warmth rush to her cheeks and she looked down with a guilty grin. "Yes ma'am. Seven days before, and then another seven days after." She stole a guilty look towards Kristoff, who just looked generally puzzled and confused.
Gerda gave him the same knowing look from before, shaking her head at the princess half-scoldingly. "You haven't told him?"
"N-no..." Anna stammered, shaking her head so wild that her ponytail whipped back and forth against her rosy cheeks.
"Then how?" Gerda looked at Kristoff with a befuddled look on her face. The tall man just stared back at her with an equally confused expression. The princess sighed as she felt a confession surfacing. In the four years since she and Kristoff had been together as a couple, this was one of those aspects she wasn't exactly sure how to feel about.
The princess covered her face with her hands, unable to contain her embarrassment. Anna could feel the blood rush to her head, making the room seem both smaller and larger at the same time. "I-I'm usually the one who starts..." she squeaked out as she peeked with one eye from behind a curtain of fingers.
The ice master stood dumbfounded, eyes open wide and mouth agape, a half-eaten fillet of herring hanging from his teeth. "Oh," he said meekly as what the two women were talking about finally dawned on him. With a cough, he quickly looked down at his feet, awkwardly scratching his head.
Gerda stepped behind his massive frame and slapped his muscular behind with a loud cackle. "Oh, he reminds me of Kai even more now!" She sent Anna a playful grin. "Princess, I can't believe after all these years, I'm teaching you the exact opposite of what I taught your mother when your parents were trying to have your sister." The maid shook her head with a laugh. "Ah, those were...interesting times," she gazed up as if picturing a scene from a time long past. "In any case, princess, you know. Keep to it. Heaven knows how your sister might take any unforeseen...complications, much less the rest of the kingdom."
She threw the ice master a sideways glance. "Especially before the wedding."
The mountain man choked and coughed in response to the old maid. Anna tried to stifle a giggle as her beloved's face turned beet red in record time. She watched him force the last of his herring roll down with a gulp and finish a cup of water, coughing in between sips. "I uh, need to head to uh, the meeting. Merchant stuff. Serious business." she watched him quickly disappear in a flash of black cotton and blonde hair.
Anna and Gerda exchanged glances for a minute while the princess finished what was left of the roll she was nibbling on. Silently, she picked a small cup of water from the table and took a few sips. Afterwards, the princess politely excused herself and ran out the door after the ice master.
"Well, I tried." Gerda threw her arms in the air in surrender.
Anna caught up with Kristoff as reached the tall, purple and teal doors that led to the castle's official receiving room. The couple stood in front of the door for a few, uncomfortably silent moments while the sound of muffled conversation bled under the door, filtered by the rug that was wedged halfway between the door and the wooden floor.
After a minute of awkward silence, the princess stopped fiddling with her thumbs. "Hey."
She felt the ice master's gentle touch on the small of her back, a slight, affectionate stroke with the tips of his fingers that traced her spine upwards through the furrow behind her shoulder blades and ending with the warmth of his palm on the back of her neck. "Hey yourself." He smiled at her.
She grinned back, relieved that he didn't seem to be taking Gerda's teasing hard. It was just teasing, right? Anna couldn't remember if she had ever mentioned her growing impatience with Kristoff and the direction their relationship was going. Perhaps she had inadvertently blurted it out on one of those rare nights when the sisters and the ice master bonded over a bottle of imported wine? Rare indeed, Anna sighed. She missed the image of Olaf walking around, serving the trio with a bottle of liquor that he had stuck in his belly. Sometimes, Sven would even be there, eating carrots that Kristoff had soaked in some spirits instead. How time flies, the princess thought as she pushed the door open and stepped inside.
It was a moderately-sized room, the size of her sleeping quarters and then some. The walls were decorated in the official Arendelle livery, a mix of six-sided abstract patterns and the iconic Arendellian crocus. Beside the door, just inside the room, stood kaptein Jorgen and the friar's bodyguard on opposite sides of the entryway. They stood at attention, flanking any would-be entrants to the room. Anna felt the bodyguard's eyes scanning her and Kristoff intently, even without looking at the imposing man. The kaptein on the other hand was a welcome face, and he respectfully nodded towards the two in silent acknowledgement. At the far end of the room, the thick purple drapes adorning the ceiling-high windows were drawn, allowing the noontime sun to illuminate the room with bright sunlight. The receiving room was exquisitely decorated, compared to the otherwise Spartan condition of the other rooms in the castle. Various gifts and baubles from other countries adorned the various shelves around the room. In the center of the room was a large, round, wooden table around which the Arendelle and Papal States delegation members sat.
There was friar Demetrio, looking rather imposing in his black habit, his elbows on the table holding both hands in front of his face, fingers interlocked. The elder man appeared to be deep in thought. Beside him, scribbling on what looked to Anna like a small book, was the younger novitiate. Apparently, he was also the friar's scribe of some sort. The Archbishop of Arendelle sat across the two Italians on the other side of the table with a stack of flat, white paper in his hands that he was casually looking over. Sitting beside him was the ever-loyal Kai, who like the friar's assistant, was also scribbling down notes in his case on a thick stack of parchment. The queen sat beside him, proper and poised as the princess had gotten used to seeing her sister conduct herself during official functions. She turned her head towards the door and quickly winked at the sight of her two closest confidantes.
"Ah, princess Anna. How nice of you to finally grace us wit your presence," Elsa stood and greeted the pair. As the rest of the delegates stood to face the door, Elsa winked again at her sister and gestured to the left corner of her mouth, first with her eyes and a tilt of her head, then with her hand.
"Oh," Anna quickly wiped the piece of fish that was stuck to her lower lip, shot her sister a quick and silent 'thanks' and bowed to the others. She chastised herself internally for missing that little chunk, when she had been licking savory, hickory-tasting oil around her lips for the few minutes it had taken to get to the receiving room from the pantry.
"Princess," the friar bowed back, then walked towards her companion. "And you must be the esteemed 'ice master' that your queen has been talking about." The friar rubbed his hands and eyed Kristoff with curious interest.
The normally-rugged mountain man managed a polite, formal bow towards the holy man. "Sh-she has?" He stammered, stealing a quick glance at the queen. Anna noticed that her sister was looking at him like a proud mother introducing her favorite son.
"Yes, yes. Master Bjorgman. I have been hearing of you from my Venetian acquaintances as well." The friar kept rubbing his hands, sweeping his gaze across the ice master from head to toe. "They say you drive a rather hard bargain for the goods of your fine nation." He teased.
"Just looking out for the interests of Arendelle, sir." The man Anna was used to rapidly disappeared as Kristoff took on a more commanding stance, legs apart and arms behind his back with a look on his eyes that meant business. Ah, merchant-Kristoff, a side of her beloved that she rarely saw outside of these official meetings. There was a slight hint of cockiness in his voice that Anna best remembered from the time they first met, when he confronted Wandering Oaken about the price of a pickaxe and some carrots four years ago during the Great Freeze. The results of that exchange weren't as favorable for the ice harvester back then as they eventually got over the past few years of him overseeing Arendelle's commerce.
The friar seemed to acknowledge the ice master's change of demeanor as well. "Ah, yes of course. It will be interesting to finally do official business with your kingdom." With a flourish, the friar returned to the table as Anna and Kristoff made their way to the Arendellian side of the room.
"Where were we?" Elsa asked Kai as she placed her hand on her sister's lap and gave Anna's thigh a playful squeeze under the table. The princess was surprised at this gesture, and quite relieved to know her sister was finally loosening up. Ever since the past few weeks, Elsa had been a little more open and less-reserved. This was a surprise though, her sister being rather un-Elsa-like in a middle of an important meeting no less, even in secret. Anna took her sister's gloved hand and squeezed back, out of sight of the others at the table save Kristoff who settled into his seat beside her. Kai had moved his stack of papers on the table in front of the seat on the ice master's other side, opposite the princess.
"I believe the current topic of discussion was the establishment of an official Catholic church," both Kai and the novice chimed in unison, both individuals reading from their notes. They glanced at each other, then returned to their note-taking.
"Yes, yes. Of course. Friar, I hope you understand Arendelle's current stance on the matter," Elsa said. Anna had sat in at official meetings before and had gotten used to her sister's authoritative voice while in them. She hoped this one wouldn't end with Kristoff poking her awake over and over to prevent her snoring from disturbing the meetings.
"Of course, your majesty. My order is prepared to cover all costs of construction and maintenance, and the Vatican shall shoulder the rest including payment for lease of the land." The friar continued. Anna felt a certain sense of relief that she had arrived when she had, otherwise her cheek would have a rendezvous with the wood of the table. Even now, less than a few minutes into the discussion, the dark, varnished wood was starting to beckon towards the princess.
Elsa turned to face Kristoff. "Master Bjorgman, input? Any thoughts on the location?" Anna unconsciously started twiddling her thumbs underneath the table as her sister nodded towards the ice master.
"Well," he started. "Despite being the capital, Arendelle is a small town so it wouldn't make much sense to have the church here. The next logical choice would be Sogndal, but as we've discussed before, it's dangerously close to the Eastern border."
Hmph. They've discussed this before? When? The princess wondered if her sister had been stealing her boyfriend the past few weeks to discuss church locations of all the boring things to talk about.
"Yes, I have been aware of the growing Swedish influence in your cluster of the world." The friar's voice took on a somewhat serious tone. "The Tzar's influence over the Grand Duchy of Finland is causing your neighbors to look to your border instead, no?" He asked, rhetorically. "Somewhere West then?"
"Weaseltown." Kristoff shook his head. "We haven't been on good terms with them, and consequently the British Empire the past few years." Anna tried to recall the last time they were far West. It was a picnic on the shore, some mil Southwest of the tiny hamlet of Selvik. No Wesels as far as she could remember, but then that was years ago. She had heard of accounts from fishermen on the docks of being harassed by Weseltonians in the North Sea but nothing seriously substantial.
"Not to mention the Church of England," the Archbishop chimed in from Elsa's other side. Anna had almost forgotten that the Arendellian religious leader was among them. He seemed rather uneasy at the presence of the friar. From what Anna could recall, there was some animosity between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches of Europe, of which the Church of Norge belonged. As for the splinter Church of Arendelle, she couldn't exactly remember anything significant to the discussion at hand. She still wasn't sorry she hadn't paid attention to the religious studies tutor during those rare times when her parents had one visit the castle for her education. She found the topic fairly boring.
Still, the topic of Weselton did refresh a few memories in Anna's mind. Mostly memories from Elsa's coronation ball, when her sister had volunteered her to dance with the Duke of Weselton. The princess giggling at her vivid memories of the duke jumping around holding his hand atop what turned out to be a rather haphazardly-attached toupee. He had said it was dancing, at the time. Like a monkey with the face of a chicken indeed. Or was it the other way around? She giggled louder, then felt her left palm being squeezed by a soft, gloved hand.
"Princess Anna, any input?" With a lopsided smile, her sister shot her a sideways glance. Anna glared at the queen and squeezed hard, enough to see the daintier woman wince. Her sister seemed to have this knack for finding the exact moment to put the princess on the spot, so to speak. It was the Weselton dance all over again. What was she doing? Anna wondered. This was supposed to be too important a meeting that they had almost left her out of it this morning.
The princess bolted up in her seat, her eyes darting around the room. She tried to think of a relevant answer, or at least something to say that wouldn't embarrass her sister. Western Arendelle. Most of the country past Sande was either farms or fjords. Anna tried to think of anywhere in the area she had been to. "Uh, Hyllestad? Wait. That's too um...not-populatey? Hmm. How about Førde?" That was the second name to pop up in her head. It was the biggest town in the West she could think of, on Arendelle's Northern border. She hoped it would suffice.
"Anna..." Elsa's brow notched a little bit, a hint of frustration in her voice.
Kristoff held his hand up in response. "No wait, Anna's got a point. It's well-populated, still within a few day's reach of most of Arendelle, and it's on a neutral border so we might get people from some of the Northern kingdoms to come over." He had definitely gone into full merchant-mode, Anna could tell by the enthusiastic way he was expounding on her suggestion. He certainly knew his management-y stuff, she thought. "So, with an increased guard presence but with more relaxed borders, we could maybe attract other, non-local nordmenn, and maybe help our commerce out a little?"
Anna felt genuinely surprised at her lover's reception to what she initially thought was just another one of her half-baked suggestions. The others in the room seemed to agree, even Elsa who was nodding her head as Kristoff described the town of Førde to the Italians. The actual demographics flew over Anna's head. She didn't really care much for numbers, prestegjeld population levels and all that stuffy stuff that Kristoff and Elsa fawned over whenever the three of them were together discussing semi-official kingdom stuff. It was the people that interested the princess, like that time at the Førde docks when Dag, a local fisherman that she had talked to the day before hauled in a large shark from the Jølstra river. It was more than twice the length of two Kristoffs, or three Elsas, she reminisced as she pictured the two of them helping pull the enormous sea monster's carcass off the boat and onto the rocky shore. She also remembered her sister's face as she was splattered with the shark's oily innards when Anna pulled out an intestine with a little too much overexcitement. Elsa had to change into her ice dress on the spot, surprising most of the gathered townspeople who hadn't seen their ice queen's powers in person before. Most of them took it rather well. Most of them.
Anna abruptly pulled herself out of her impromptu trip down memory lane to look at the members of the Papal States delegation, still intently listening to the ice master as he enumerated some of Arendelle's tradable export goods. A thought crossed her mind. Did they know about her sister's gift? So far, the surrounding countries of Scandinavia and Northern Europe were at least aware of Arendelle's unique monarch, no thanks to their cousin Rapunzel's big mouth. It seemed like every country whose high-ranking officials made a trip to Corona immediately sent unsolicited greetings and gifts to Arendelle right after. Anna sighed as she pictured cousin Punzy excitedly throwing her hands around imitating her sister's snowflakes while the dashing Prince Eugene stood in the background, leaning against a wall. Memories.
Her sister's commanding voice knocked her out of her half-daydreaming. "Well, that's that. Kai, please prepare the relevant documents for signing later?"
"Of course, your majesty," Kai responded, his hands already reaching towards one of the inkwells on the table near him. Anna noticed that Kristoff wasn't using a plume and ink, like Kai and the scribe were. In his hand, he held what appeared to be a short wooden stick with the words 'Keswick' printed on it. Cute. Another one of his toys, the princess assumed.
"On to matters of trade, I believe you should take the lead again, Master Bjorgman?" Elsa's eyes lit up as she focused the table's attention on Kristoff. The queen sat back, almost beaming as Kristoff started discussing trade matters. The friar appeared to take a back seat to the discussions, allowing his apprentice to answer the ice master's questions. The princess sat up straight and moved her hands underneath the table. One hand grasped her sister's while the other one she placed on the ice master's thigh. Anna squeezed. Kristoff almost yelped while trying to convince the friar of the superiority of Arendellian ice from that harvested from the Alps. The princess bit her cheek and looked at the large, standing clock that was against the wall beside the friar's bodyguard. 10:13. This was going to be a long meeting. She might as well have some fun. She squeezed again.
The meeting had gone on for another two hours before Gerda and a few other maids ushered the delegates to the formal dining hall where the smell of freshly-roasted salmon made Anna's stomach grumble. Formal meals were always Kristoff's weak point, and the princess made sure to sit beside the ice master so she could whisper cues and guide him as to which utensil to use when, and to kick him underneath the table whenever he was doing something against protocol.
Thankfully, the former mountain man had been relatively well-behaved during the entire meal, only talking with a mouthful of salmon less than half-a-dozen times. The friar and his apprentice didn't seem to notice, neither did the archbishop, who had excused himself after the meal to return to the town cathedral. To the princess, he seemed to be in a hurry to leave. That polite-yet-heated discussion the two religious leaders had over the differences between the Protestant Churches of Europe and the Catholic Church probably had something to do with it. Anna and Kristoff kept their heads down for the entire exchange, playfully kicking each other under the table while the queen tried her best to mediate between the two parties. Amusingly, the friar's apprentice was scribbling throughout the entire discourse, most probably on one of his little paper-bound-booklets on his lap.
Anna was quite relieved when Gerda and the others came in to clear the plates and dishes from the table. As Elsa and Kristoff stood to leave, Anna saw the friar's bodyguard standing by the door opposite kaptein Hjal as usual. "What about your guard guy?" She blurted out at the friar, before she realized the unofficial candidness of her question. They never really talked about the non-diplomatic members of delegations they met, but the towering hulk of a man with the poleaxe just piqued Anna's curiosity more than any other diplomat she had met in the past year.
The friar looked at the princess, with what seemed like a genuinely puzzled expression. "Hmm? Oh, Rainier. Yes. Don't worry about him, your highness. He knows his way around diplomatic protocol, as he has been my personal Swiss Guard for years now." The old man nodded towards his tall guardian and Anna looked at him clearly for the first time since the day started.
The guardsman stood at attention, his weapon as straight as his military-perfect form, held with his left hand at a slight angle no more than a few inches away from his body. He was dressed in something that seemed more like a parade dress, with thick, yellow-and-blue stripes running the entire length of his billowing sleeves. His leggings bore the same boisterous pattern, ending in a pair of exquisitely-shined black leather shoes. Atop his head was something that looked like one of those French berets, that Anna had brought back from Calais. His wardrobe seemed like a bad marriage of French and Spanish fashion, on a Swiss no less. Cute, she thought to herself.
"So he's Swiss?" She asked the friar innocently.
"Yes, and no." The old man gestured to the guardsman. "The Pontifical Swiss Guard have been the official royal guard of Vatican City for almost two hundred years now. They aren't usually seen outside of the Papal grounds outside of extraordinary circumstances." The friar walked over to his bodyguard and placed his hand on the taller man's left forearm. "Rainier here has accompanied me on many a diplomatic mission, and there have been instances where I would not be standing here before you right now if not for his god-given gifts." As if on cue, the guardsman took off his hat and bowed towards the Arendellians. Standing side-by-side, the Swiss towered over the Italian, whose head barely reached up to the guard's shoulder. Yep, taller than Kristoff, Anna decided.
Anna noticed Kristoff whispering into Elsa's ear, and her sister nodding in response. She tried hard to listen in on the conversation, but it was already a difficult task to stand prim and proper when she wanted to run out the castle grounds and bask in the after-lunch, noontime sun. "Your eminence, if I may." Elsa stepped towards the friar.
"If it isn't too intrusive, I would like to volunteer a retinue of royal guardsmen to accompany you in your travels around the kingdom. Both as an issue of security and perhaps to aid you as local guides, for all it's worth." Her sister suggested, gesturing towards kaptein Jorgen.
The friar paused for a while, then nodded. "Yes, I suppose additional security would be welcome.
The Papal States would not take too kindly to any untoward incidents facing an official diplomatic delegation." He mused out loud, perhaps a little bit too loudly, the princess thought. "Perhaps just one guardsman, so as not to be too intrusive to the local flock?" He smiled.
Elsa turned her head towards the green-armored kaptein of the Arendelle royal guard. "Kaptein? Any suggestions?" Anna grinned internally. She knew that look on her sister's face. She had no idea who to suggest. She probably didn't even remember any of the guardsmen's names except for Hjal, and even then just. People and Elsa just didn't mix, Anna thought.
The armor-clad soldier looked deep in thought, then looked up as he spoke. "I was thinking either Løytnant Ragnarr or Løytnant Strommen. Perhaps the latter?" He referred to the dark-skinned member of the royal guard which accompanied them on the docks early that day. Anna thought about it a little. Jorn Strommen was a by-the-book, strict and stuffy guardsman. She smiled. Yeah, he would fit well with the equally stuffy Italians.
The look on her sister's face was blank. She so did not recognize the two names even though she was trusting them with her life just few hours ago. Anna shifted her eyes a little to the side to meet Kristoff's stolen glance. The couple shrugged at each other in unison, something they've had years of practice to perfect.
"Your eminence?" She asked the friar.
He looked at the queen, then at kaptein Jorgen and then at the Swiss guardsman. "Hmm, yes. That will be most generous of you, your majesty." He bowed, then turned to Hjal. "Captain, is it? Well then, I would like to meet with your man."
As soon as the rest of the Vatican delegation was outside the dining hall doors, Anna ran to Kristoff and threw her arms around the bulky mountain man. Then with one outstretched arm, she hooked in the queen's elbow and pulled her into the hug. "I hate you guys. I really hate you guys," she said as she buried her face between her lover's hard stomach and her sister's much softer chest.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful as Kai led the Vatican delegation around the other buildings within castle grounds, meeting with Elsa's advisors and other council members that had travelled to the capital to meet with the friar. The princess didn't realize how important this Papal States deal was, which made her regret botching that first meeting even more.
It was late at night when Princess Anna heard loud voices coming from the staircase. The sounds were the voices of two people arguing. Or at least, an older male berating a much younger one. Groggy and thirsty, she made her way past the dimly-lit corridor outside her quarters barefoot. Gerda had forgotten to refill the pitcher of water in her room and a slight breeze had roused her from her deep and restful slumber.
In her nightgown, the princess snuck downstairs only to bump into the Papal States' novitiate carrying the dark, wooden chest he was lugging from the boat earlier in the day. With a loud crash, the two fell on the ground in a shower of parchment and paper. "Whoops, sorry!" The princess apologized, picking up a wooden crucifix and a heavy tome bound in leather and metal. At first she thought it was an oversized bible, but as she looked at the open book, the language was unfamiliar to her. The page the tome was accidentally opened to featured a finely-detailed drawing of a figure holding his arms up towards the sky. Above him, or her she couldn't tell, a giant pattern hung above the figure. It was an enormous snowflake. Hmm. She stared hard at the illustration before handing the book over to the novice, who quickly shut the book and latched it back in place with two leather straps that hung from the tome's binding. From around the corner, another figure emerged from the shadows.
It was Friar Demetrio, who appeared quite surprised to see the princess. "Princess Anna." He held out a gnarled yet substantial hand towards her. "I see you've also inherited your mother's penchant for roaming the castle in the wee hours of the morning." He pulled her up steadily. Anna tried to contain her surprise, as she expected much less force than that which he hoisted her waifish frame up with.
"I ah, was going to get a snack when I heard voices down here." She pulled down the lower edge of her nightgown in an attempt to hide her bare feet, then realized she was stretching her neckline down and exposing her ample cleavage. Whoops. She let go of her dress and hoped the two Italians hadn't noticed.
Thankfully, the old friar was either too nice or polite to notice. "Voices, you say? Please be careful then." He took an ornate pocketwatch he had in one of the folds of his black habit, opened it and showed it to the slightly-embarrassed princess. It was at least two hours past midnight. "Oh young Anna, do you know that three o'clock is the witching hour? It is when they say the devil is at his strongest and evil spirits roam free." His voice had taken a somewhat ominous tone, the same as when Gerda told her and her sister scary stories at night when they were young.
"Spirits?" She glanced around. The hallway they were in was one of the intersections that led to the different wings of the castle. To save on oil, there were only a few candles spaced-out every few meters, in small sconces on the walls. What little light illuminated the corridors wasn't helped much by the white of the moon reflected on the wall on the far end. The friar himself was carrying a small lantern, ornately decorated from what the princess could see. It had various shades and mirrors that focused light in just one direction. Definitely not one of theirs.
"Old folk tales, my child. Nothing but old folk tales. But the devil himself is real, and not to be underestimated." She felt him place his fingers on her arm. Maybe it was just the chill, March air but they were cold, much colder than Elsa's. "Ah well, as I often told your mother all those years before, have a good night's sleep your majesty. May God watch over you as you sleep." The old man bowed and waited for the princess to head back upstairs before turning to his ward.
Anna returned to her quarters to find them slightly colder than before. One look at the shadows dancing on the wall was all she needed to close the curtains and scramble under the covers. She had no urge to blow out the tiny lamp Kai had left burning on the dresser on the other side of her bed.
She hugged herself with both arms, wishing she were in Kristoff's warm embrace. They had both agreed that tonight was too great a risk to fool around. With guests at the castle, extremely conservative ones no less, seeing the princess gallivanting around with a man she wasn't married to was just not something Arendelle was prepared to deal with, Gerda had warned the two. Besides, it had been a rather exhausting day for everybody involved. Even Elsa, who had normally been staying up late in her study for the past few weeks had crashed face-down on her bed in exhaustion. Kristoff had patiently waited outside while the princess undressed her barely-conscious sister and tried to slip on one of her blue, cotton nightgowns. In the end, she had to call the ice master in who tried not to look at the naked, prone body on the bed as they buried the snoring queen under three thick quilts the princess had dug out from one of the closets.
This wasn't the first time they had to deal with her sister's unconscious, nude form before but Anna noticed a slight difference in the way her lover snuck glances at her sister's form when he thought she wasn't looking. Anna smirked. Elsa would kill her if she found out. She felt a twinge of jealousy at the way his eyes shone as he looked at her sister. He hadn't looked at her naked body like that in a while. Oh well. Her urges would have to wait the next night when the Papal States delegation left for the other parts of Arendelle. One night might have seemed forever to the lonely princess, but tonight was not a want of lust or even love.
Anna tried to ward off thoughts of witches and devils, evil spirits roaming the night as the clock beside her bed ticked inevitably towards the so-called witching hour the friar had mentioned. Instead, she tried to distract herself to sleep by recalling the cover of the ornate book she had handed to the friar's novice. The one with the drawing of a person and a snowflake that eerily reminded her of her sister Elsa.
It was written in a weird language, not unlike Italian but somehow not. Latin, most probably. She should ask her sister in the morning. If anyone in Arendelle knew Latin it would be her, although Anna doubted it. She remembered a tutor referring to it as a dead language. Oh well. She definitely didn't recognize the words scrawled across its wood and leather cover. What were they? The words finally came to the princess a few, scant moments before she drifted into sleep. Malleus Maleficarum.