A/N: This chapter is really short, but the next one will make up for it.:)
Chapter 9-Day Seven, Part 1
Elsa awoke early the next morning. Why is there snow all over my bed and half the floor? She sat up and shook the snow out of her hair. Oh, I remember now… Not seeing Anna anywhere, she figured Anna had gone to her own room the night before. Anna probably didn't want to sleep in a snowy room…oops. Elsa dissolved all the snow and hopped out of bed. "Ow!" she said aloud as she landed on her ankle. "I shouldn't have done that!" Elsa's ankle felt a lot better now, but it still hurt when she used it too much. She wanted to write up some notes for ideas for the Annual Crocus Festival, which was coming up in two weeks, before she went downstairs for breakfast. Hmm…we can have purple and yellow banners for decorations. And maybe we can go ice skating in the courtyard again. For food and drinks…barbeque chicken…ice cream…milk…grape juice…definitely NOT wine. Elsa had decided that she would not serve wine at the festival; it looked like a "refined" beverage at events, but it made everyone act loopy when they had too much and she personally found the taste of it disgusting. She was mulling over whether she could safely make an ice-ride for all the children to go on when there was a knock on her door. "Come in."
"Your majesty, there's two letters here I thought you needed to see immediately. One is from the king of the Southern Isles, and the other is from the Duke of Weaseltown-oops, Weselton," Kai said. "Sorry if I woke you."
"You didn't; I'm working on some plans for the Annual Crocus Festival," Elsa replied. "Wait…tell me you didn't say the Southern Isles and Weselton…" Those places could only be bringing bad news. She took the two letters from Kai and quickly read through them. "The king of the Southern Isles is declaring war on Arendelle because I sent Hans and his brothers to the United States for their trial?! This says "you should have sent my sons back to me for any sort of punishment they may have allegedly deserved". And it says the Southern Isles' navy will be here five days from now! And that I said I planned to increase Arendelle's borders by force-I never, ever said that! Arendelle doesn't even have a large army or navy. The one from Weselton says the Duke has allied with the Southern Isles…" The duke probably started rumors about me, Elsa thought bitterly, recalling the names he'd called her at the coronation. "Wait, I'll bet that the Duke of Weselton said that I was going to use my powers to do that. That's what was meant 'by force', not an army or navy…"
"I know what those letters say," Kai said quietly. "That's why I brought them to you right away."
"Thank you, Kai. I need to think on the best course of action to take."
Kai left Elsa in her room, engrossed in her thoughts.
Setting aside her festival plans, she reread the two letters carefully. Perhaps there was a caveat she'd missed. Maybe Arendelle could avoid war by paying their enemies off. Elsa knew her kingdom had a rich, flourishing economy, but that could be ruined very quickly if war broke out or if too much money and/or valuables were used to pay off their enemies. No, paying off the Southern Isles and Weselton would not work; Arendelle could easily be taken advantage of then, and it also would not guarantee a victory either; it would just postpone the inevitable. Elsa knew that Arendelle's small army and navy definitely would not hold off the Southern Isles and Weselton, and she had no desire to engage her kingdom in war in the first place. Who knew how many people would be killed? Wait, if they think I'm this tyrannical ruler trying to take over the world by force with ice and snow, maybe I can use that to my advantage! she thought. If the king of the Southern Isles bothered to say that in his letter, then that means he's scared of me. A simple, albeit risky, plan entered her mind. She could outwit them at their own game! If she played her cards right, Arendelle wouldn't have to go to war at all. She quickly scrawled a map of the streets in Arendelle, marking places where she assumed the enemy armies would gather. The enemy navies obviously had to enter the fjord; there was no other water gateway to Arendelle. Arendelle's castle was like a fortress jutting out into the fjord; easy to defend because any lookouts could see in all directions. Elsa smiled, pleased with her plan. Now she just needed to make a public announcement to her people so no one would think she was going all out of control again when she put up their defenses.