Growing Together Chapter 9

When a messenger from Bergen reached the palace of Arendelle, informing Princess Anna that her sister and brother-in-law had been involved in a shipwreck and were missing at sea, an actual earthquake would have paled in significance to the shock waves he set off.

Anna's first reaction was to go nearly catatonic. "No," she kept whispering. "No. No." Kristoff had no idea what to do or say, so he just wrapped her up in his arms and held her. That was probably the best thing he could have done anyway. She finally broke down and cried on his shoulder for a few minutes before she pulled herself together.

"What are we going to do?" she asked hoarsely.

"You're the acting ruler until Elsa turns up," her husband replied hesitantly, being very careful not to say the wrong thing. "We aren't facing any crises in the kingdom, so –"

"My sister is lost at sea, and you don't think that's a crisis?" she demanded.

"She's not lost," Kristoff corrected her. "She's missing. That means nobody knows where she is; it doesn't mean anything bad has happened to her. We'll find her. In the meantime, you need to notify the nobles that you're in charge for the time being, and we need to send messengers to Stavanger and Bergen, asking for help searching for her."

Anna took a deep breath. "You're right. Thank you for being strong for me."

"That's why you married me, right?" he smiled. She got up on tiptoes so she could hug his neck, then found Kai and asked him to round up some servants who could serve as messengers. Nine of them were quickly sent out on horseback – one to each of Arendelle's six nobles, one to Glauerhafen, who needed to know that the peace conference would be delayed, one to Bergen, asking for help in looking for the missing royals, and one to Stavanger, who got the same messages as both Glauerhafen and Bergen.

The nobles were all available for an emergency meeting of the Council; their carriages and coaches began arriving within the hour. The meeting began with no one sitting in the Queen's seat. Anna took the first seat on the right, where Anders would usually sit, with Kristoff right next to her. He attended Council meetings even more rarely than she did, but he knew she wanted him nearby for moral support.

"All we know so far," she told them, "is that five lifeboats from my sister's ship washed up on the Bergen coast. The captain said Elsa and Anders drifted away in an ice-boat that she made, and they haven't been seen since then. There were no losses, except for the ship itself."

Count Nelsen was the first to reply. "May we offer you our sincere condolences on your own loss? We realize that you –"

"We haven't lost anybody!" Anna burst out angrily. "Don't put my sister in her grave yet!"

"Your Highness, we need to be realistic," Count Duku cut in. "The messenger from Bergen said there was a strong storm in that area, and the chances of –"

Anna was about to explode; Kristoff spoke before she could let it go. "Count, like I told Anna before, 'missing' doesn't mean the same as 'gone.' Queen Elsa has all her powers at her command, Prince Anders is a fast thinker who will do anything to protect her, and the two of them together can solve just about any problem. They're still alive, they're out there somewhere, and it's just a question of finding them. We are not scheduling any royal funerals!" He held Anna's hand under the table; she gave him a grateful squeeze.

"All right," the Duchess of Potet nodded. "We'll agree, for the moment, that the Queen is coming back. The question facing us is, what do we do now? Since the Council has more experience in ruling Arendelle than you do, Princess Anna, I would like to suggest that we –"

"Forget it!" This time, Anna did explode. "Have you forgotten the law? The nobles can rule Arendelle only if there is no member of the royal family who can reign, and here I am."

"You are very inexperienced, Your Excellency," Count Nelsen observed.

"So was Elsa on her coronation day," Anna shot back.

"Perhaps we should put it to a vote of the Council," the Baron of Northeast said quickly, before anyone could interrupt him. He didn't care for being the lowest-ranking noble in the Council, or the way the others ignored him whenever they could.

"That sounds reasonable," Potet nodded.

"That sounds illegal," Kristoff said firmly. "Anna is next in line for the throne, so she's our ruler until Elsa returns. I'm pretty sure that's the law."

"Look, this infighting is a waste of time," Count Basi exclaimed. "Our most pressing issue is to find the queen, not go to war over who will make the decisions in her absence."

"But we need to settle, once and for all, who's in charge," the Duchess retorted.

"Fine," Anna snapped. She got up and sat down in the queen's seat at the head of the table. "It's settled. Any questions?" Some of the nobles looked like they were considering a challenge to her authority, but then Kristoff stood up, stretched to his full height, and cracked his knuckles. All dissent ended. He made his gesture look less threatening by stepping over to the seat Anna had just vacated and sitting down there, as though he'd meant to do it all along. He was no diplomat; he was here to support his wife, and that was exactly what he was going to do, even if he had to resort to brute-force intimidation to do it.

"Now, then," Anna continued. "I've sent messengers to Bergen and Stavanger, asking their help in the search. The messenger to Stavanger is also going to tell them that the peace conference is on hold, seeing how the moderator is… out of sight for the time being. I sent a messenger to Glauerhafen to tell them the same thing. Can anyone think of anything else we can do?"

"If you haven't sent out the Coast Guard already, then you probably should," Count Duku thought out loud. "They can search our own waters, just in case the queen's lifeboat was carried south." Basi and the new Duke of Erl nodded; they knew how much Duku loved his yachts, so it was natural that he'd think in terms of ships.

"Kai?" Anna asked.

"One of our three cutters is already at sea, searching for smugglers," Kai said after consulting his notes. "The second is laid up for repairs, but we could send out the third one as soon as we call up the crew. That could be done before the end of the day today."

"See that it's done," Anna said crisply. "And make sure they catch up with the first one and tell them that finding the queen is more important than catching smugglers." Kai nodded and made a note. "Is there anything else we can do?"

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. A disheveled man wearing a dirty Palace Guard uniform burst in, puffing for breath. "Your Highness, Your Excellencies, I'm sorry to intrude, but the Captain of the Guard told me to report to you at once. I was sent to bring messages to the Kingdom of Stavanger, regarding the current crisis. I was turned back at the crossing point. Stavanger has closed its borders to us."

They all stared at each other for a few moments. Kristoff broke the silence. "That doesn't sound good."

"Why would they do that?" Count Duku wondered.

"The border guards said they're on the lookout for a pair of escaped criminals," the messenger said.

"I guess that makes sense," Duku commented.

"No, it doesn't," Basi contradicted him. "It would explain why nobody is allowed out of Stavanger, but it doesn't explain why an envoy from a nearby kingdom isn't allowed in."

"Closing the border is usually a prelude to war, or some other kind of hostilities," the Duchess said. "At the least, they're rattling their sabers at us, very loudly."

"Why would they want war with us?" the Duke of Erl wondered. "They asked us to arrange peace for them!"

"Something is wrong here, that's for sure," Count Nelsen commented. "Could they be taking advantage of the fact that our queen is missing to make some trouble for us?"

"How would they know our queen is missing?" Kristoff asked. No one answered.

"It's possible," Anna nodded. "I don't like trouble. Trouble is bad."

"That also means we can't count on Stavanger to help look for Elsa and Anders," Kristoff said quietly.

"I don't like that, either," his wife quavered.

"Nevertheless, Your Highness," the Duchess said with a slightly sarcastic tone, "you have put yourself in charge, so you have to find a way to deal with this."

"She did not put herself in charge!" Kristoff nearly shouted. "What's wrong with you people? Don't you know anything about the law? She's been forced into this situation – it's her duty! You don't seriously think she wants to be in this situation, do you?"

They were distracted by a whine and two yaps from under the table. Anna loved animals, but she was in no mood for this. Not now, not here. "Baron, tell that dog to be quiet!"

The Baron turned an interesting shade of red. "Foo Foo, no! Hush!"

"Foo Foo?" Kristoff almost laughed in spite of himself. "The dog's name is Foo Foo?"

"My wife named him," the Baron said lamely, turning even redder. "It was not my idea! If you don't like dogs in Council meetings, Your Excellency, then blame your sister – it was her idea to humiliate me this way."

"As the acting queen, I could alter your punishment," Anna said thoughtfully. "Of course, my idea of a fair punishment would involve rocks, a hammer, and a ball and chain, but at least there wouldn't be any lap dogs. Are you interested? No? Then keep Foo Foo quiet!" She gazed around the table, daring anyone else to speak up against her.

When no one spoke, she took a deep breath and went on. "I've seen what my sister goes through; I like being a princess, and I'm glad I'm not the queen. But, as Prince Kristoff has reminded us, I have a duty to Arendelle that I can't walk away from, and I can't let anyone take it from me. We are going to get through this crisis, we are going to find my sister and her husband, and I am going to get out of this chair as soon as she's here to take it back. In the meantime, whether anyone likes it or not, I have to be in charge." She stopped to take a breath. "I think this meeting is done. Thank you for your time. Return to your lands, and be ready to defend them in case Stavanger turns hostile. If I need any more good advice, I'll contact you." The nobles nodded and filed out the door.

She reached over and took her husband's hand. "Thank you," she said softly.

"This international stuff isn't my cup of tea," he replied, "but you know I'll do anything for you."

"Is there anything else we can do?" she wondered.

"As a kingdom, I don't know," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But as individuals… well, there's more than one way into Stavanger from here, and, speaking as a former mountain man, I just might know a few of those ways."

"I'm sure you do," she answered, "but that sounds risky if they're planning for war. They'd love to take one of our princes hostage. What could you accomplish if you did get into Stavanger?"

"I could ask around, and see if anyone has seen a pair of…" He paused. "Could Elsa and Anders be that pair of escaped criminals they're looking for? That would explain how they know our queen is missing."

"If they are, that means they were captured, they escaped, and now they're on the run," Anna thought out loud.

"It also means that Stavanger doesn't know where they are, so they're safe, for the moment," Kristoff nodded. "But they may need help getting back into Arendelle."

"You don't think my sister can handle a few border guards?" Anna almost laughed.

"If Stavanger is preparing for war, there will be more than just a few guards," Kristoff said. "Besides, Elsa doesn't like hurting people unless they push her over the edge. Anna, you're the temporary queen, and I'll obey your orders, but please – let me go up to Farbar Pass and keep an eye on the border crossing. If the two of them show up, they might need an assist, and if they don't show up, I'll stay out of sight. I've spent most of my life in the mountains; those guards will never know I'm there."

"Kristoff, you were never the heroic type!" Anna marveled. "Are you trying to win a medal or something?"

"No, I just feel like I should be doing something," he said embarrassedly. "I mean, my wife's sister is missing, and I like Anders, and they might be in trouble, and… I want to do something."

Anna thought about that for a few seconds. "Very well, you have my royal permission to go."

He kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you, Anna! I'll be careful, I promise."

"On one condition!" she added firmly.

He braced himself. "What condition is that?"

"I go with you."

He rested his hands on her shoulders. "Your Highness, there are two big problems with that. One, you're not outdoors-trained. You can't sneak around in the snow and take advantage of cover like I can. Two, if you go with me, that leaves Arendelle without a temporary queen, right when the kingdom might need you the most. I'm sorry, Anna, but it's a bad idea."

"Those are two good reasons," she nodded, "but I've got two better ones. One, that's my sister out there, and two, I'm sitting in her seat, so I make the decisions. Either you go with me, or you don't go." She folded her arms and gave him the look that said, "The Queen of Stubbornness has spoken." He knew that look. He desperately wanted to talk her out of it, but she had a long history of not being talked out of things once she'd made up her mind, as he knew quite well. He sighed.

"Will you at least wear your white fur coat, so you aren't so easy to see in the snow?"

o

A/N
Thank you to Ptahaegyptus2 for suggesting that I include the new Baron's dog in this scene. It was definitely a good idea.