Koenigsberg, island of Zisch
King Friedrich the Second of the Southern Isles sighed inwardly when his little brother was led into the room. Hans apparently insisted - as usual - in dressing up as if the occasion was at least a coronation, which was potentially suicidal even in well-winded audience hall of Schloss Schwalbe. That forced Friedrich into putting on similar apparel, which made him overheated and wishing - hard - that audience would end quickly. Sadly, it didn't seem so. The fact that Hans' hands were tied behind his back was telling, but upon slightly closer inspection Friedrich noticed that his brother's clothes seemed used and dirtied. So did the prince himself, for that matter. Oh, please, please, no, thought Friedrich. I hope he didn't do… something. After his experiences with rest of von Schwalbes, list of possible "somethings" was rather long.
Hans and three guards who led him in stopped five meters from the throne, as the rules required. Their leader stepped to the front, holding something in his hand. He bowed a bit before the king - the Isles were never big on ceremony - before speaking:
"Your Majesty… We have brought your brother, Prince Hans, home."
Friedrich took control of his mouth before it could state, "I'm not blind". Instead, he answered:
"Indeed. However… why does he appear to be imprisoned?"
Captain took a deep breath, then extended his hand. The thing in it turned out to be a letter, marked with a seal showing the crowned reindeer in front of a snowflake. So the new queen of Arendelle had already established her emblem.
"It was a direct… uhm, wish… of queen Elsa of Arendelle.", the guard managed to utter.
"I see.", said the king, feeling sudden rush of very, very fatalist mood. "Let me see it, then, and leave me alone with my brother."
Guards seemed more than happy to comply.
Upon being left alone, Friedrich glared at Hans, who was looking as innocently as only a member of von Schwalbe family could - that is, quite convincingly. As a member of this family himself, Friedrich was not fooled.
"So", he said, "what did you do?"
Hans' look darted to the sides before he stated in frantic, theatrical whisper:
"Their queen… is… a witch!"
Friedrich's glare was obviously not strong enough to end Hans' theatrics.
"I expected better from you", he said dryly.
"Believe me, Brother, I am not lying.", Hans replied. "You can ask whoever you wish to about that! The new queen of Arendelle is a witch!"
As if I were to ask people about such freakin' magic, thought Friedrich, breaking the seal of the letter in his hands. Witchcraft was a superstition of mainlanders and timid plebeian women, not kings of the realm…
He started reading. As he did, his expression slowly turned from interest to worry, to bewilderment, to unadulterated horror. Slowly, he raised his eyes and looked at Hans, who still kept up his pretenses of innocence.
"You did…" the king said slowly, "what?!"
Arendelle
"Well, Princey should be coming home about now, eh?"
Kai Madsen, heir to the West Keep Island and major of Arendelle's rather unimposing - at least until recently - army turned around to see his immediate superior grinning like a madman. General Bjorn Berg was a man as huge as his name and surname suggested, hinting at his mountaineer ancestry. He stuck above the ballroom's crowd like a scarecrow in the field, and had personality to match.
"Yes, I guess so", Kai answered politely. "It's… questionable, though, whether we should tell the Queen about this."
I think she has already heard him, he thought, noticing Her Majesty in the corner of his eye, looking in their direction. As usual, Queen Elsa was dressed in long, translucent blue gown, scandalously revealing for Arendelle standards, but definitely highlighting Her Majesty's natural beauty. And less than a week ago Kai's sister told him that ladies started ordering similar gowns to wear themselves, to despair of their mothers and chargin of their fathers.
Well, we live in changing times, I guess, the major thought, taking a cookie off the passing tray.
"Oh, she already knows for sure!", said general with a grin. "That's our Queen Elsa, after all!"
She must hear us, Kai decided, noticing faint smile on Queen's face. Queen's sister definitely did - princess Anna had exploded in a fit of laughter the moment the general had finished his statement. Major felt himself reddening before realizing that it was most likely just Berg who was the focus of noble- and merchantmen's attention.
"Well, sir, as far as I know, Her Majesty possesses only ice powers, not clairvoyance. She might not be able to see so far."
He noticed that he started to speak more quietly. That was usual when people started talking about the Queen's… abilities, as if she indeed possessed clairvoyance. It was only two months after the Great Freeze, after all. Nobody was really sure.
"Perhaps, perhaps!", general agreed and Kai almost spitted his cookie out when he received a powerful pat on the back. "Anyway, Kai boy, I've got to talk to Her Majesty! Come with me, would you?!"
Well, that was an order. Kai obeyed and followed. Despite ballroom being rather crowded, his path in the wake of general's passing was rather clear.
Party was thrown in honor of the Kingdom of Corona, or, specifically, its heir apparent, princess Rapuznel. Princess - cousin few times removed of Arendelle ruling family - has just signed a trade treaty that would enable Arendelle to dig itself out of economical hole it was thrown into by the Great Freeze. Throughout the two months for which she had been staying in the castle, she had proven to be as lively a person as princess Anna, and as kind-hearted.
Unsurprisingly, she was there when Kai and general Berg approached the Queen. She was chatting excitedly with princess Anna, with Queen mostly nodding sagely, something that Kai recognized from relationship with his own siblings. Upon noticing the general, Her Majesty spoke in the brake princess Rapunzel made to take breath.
"If you'll excuse me for a moment, Anna, Rapunzel."
"Of course, don't worry!", her sister said cheerfully.
"State can't wait!", added Rapunzel and the two returned to their conversation. In the corner of the ballroom, Kai noticed prince consort Eugene and Anna's how-would-you-call-it mountaineer Kristoff talking between themselves about Almighty-knows-what. Maybe about their disdain for nobility or possession of surprisingly intelligent steeds. Who knows what commoners-until-recently talk about on the balls.
Kai's attention snapped back to the general, who at this point had already exchanged greetings with the Queen. Major felt himself reddening again.
"Your Majesty", he murmured, bowing slightly.
"Major", she answered in tone that signalized that he hadn't broken any protocol. Inside, he sighed with relief. "General, I've heard there is some case you'd like to discuss with me?"
"There is, Your Majesty.", he agreed. "As a matter of fact…"
He lowered the tone of his voice a bit.
"Majority of Arendelle's army feels… unsure as to their place in the current strategy of our Kingdom."
Ah. So that was what Berg wanted to talk about. Well, 'unsure as to their place' was… rather mildly put, compared with rumors that were running wild all around the Royal Army.
"Indeed?", was the Queens only answer, albeit in polite tone.
"Well, Your Majesty, it is indisputable that your newly revealed abilities are… tremendous barrier for anybody who'd like to attack us. Shortly put, any attack on Arendelle is virtually impossible as long as you live…"
And everybody knows that magical beings live longer that ordinary mortals, finished Kai in his mind. Queen must've thought the same, for her eyes narrowed as she nodded, ordering the general to speak on.
"… and thus there are voices that state that Army became somewhat obsolete because of protection you can provide, Your Majesty. There are also those who state that, with our borders secure, we should become more… ah, active in international politics."
Oh? Kai never actually expected Berg to belong to the activist faction in the Army, even though that appeared to be obvious. Her Majesty, on the other hand, seemed to have heard that already. Her face took on the polite, emotionless expression and Kai new what the answer would be.
"General, I'm afraid you are somewhat mistaken in your assumption that with me on the throne, our kingdom is unconquerable. May I remind you that during the Great Freeze I was hardly able to protect myself, much less anyone else?" She waved her hand dismissively. "Sure, right now my control is much greater, but rest assured that I still depend on the Royal Army to protect Arendelle."
She paused for a moment, as if estimating Berg's reaction to her words. Then she continued.
"As for international politics, Arendelle has always been trade power. That was the policy my father supported and that is a policy I shall be supporting as well. I would much prefer to use my power over ice to thaw the ice on the shipping routes during winter than to aid us in any sort of, ah, aggressive politics."
Well, here goes activists' dream of magical support in their imagined war of conquest, Kai thought with relief. He was a soldier, sure - but he was also a baron-to-be, and West Keep was rich mostly because of the trade that passed by it. This declaration - doubtlessly heard by nobility and merchantmen who constituted the majority of the company present - meant that trade routes would be open all year round, which nearly doubled expected annual income. For them, that was good.
Not so much for Berg, though. Even though he tried to hide it, Kai could see his disappointment as clear as if it was written on general's forehead. Nevertheless, the huge mountaineer bowed deeply.
"Of course, Your Majesty."
It wasn't until they exited the castle grounds that the general exploded.
"Unbelievable!", he bellowed in frustration, then spiced it with words more fit to a sergeant, and bellowed again:
"Un-be-lie-va-ble! Unbefrakkinlivable!"
He then added some curses that Kai didn't know, but which seemed to be in mountaineer. Major, hiding in the shadows under the houses, glanced at the windows around him. Some children were undoubtedly learning something this night.
"Such a great opportunity!", the general exclaimed, looking at the major. "Imagine, Kai, just imagine! We could become a power, real power, like Confederates or Tampere! As she says she'd rather support trade. Trade!"
Kai had learned some time ago that it's better to stay silent when Berg is in sour mood. And so he did, listening to the general with worsening humour.
"For ages we've been country of freakin' shopkeepers and tax collectors! Now there's opportunity to change that… and she'll support trade."
He spoke a word as if it was something sour. He fell silent then and looked at Kai, obviously expecting an answer.
Major felt uncomfortable with it. On one hand, he was fairly confident that Arendelle nobility, as small as it was, would speak in one voice if the choice was between conquering the lands for non-existent peers of the Realm, or extending the trading season, bringing more coin into the purses of definitely-existing ones. Sure, they liked to send their children into the army, mostly so that those children could learn what commoners really think of them - but then it was a tradition, not some sort of display of support for imagined conquers.
On the other hand, Kai didn't feel particularly inclined to tell Berg about it. One'd think that nobleman's life in the Army would be easy, but everybody looked at the bluebloods full of doubt, and every promotion they got - if they ever climbed over the rank of the lieutenant - was immediately suspected to be result of their connections rather than talent. As a protégé of Berg - commoner-born, skilled and no-nonsense as the general was - Kai could advance in ranks at normal speed and without slightest suspicions, because Berg was blind to blood. Everybody knew that… and major would rather not lose that by misspoken word.
Instead of speaking his mind clearly, then, he said:
"Sir, remember, please, that the Queen has only recently learned to fully command her powers. She might not be sure if she'd be able to support a marching army without hurting us in the process. On the other hand, if she works on the sea, the worst that could happen is that the fishermen will catch fish already frozen for the next few weeks. Perhaps we should give Her Majesty more time."
Berg looked at him, considering, and Kai hoped that his reasoning made sense. It apparently did, because another powerful pat landed on his back and Berg said cheerfully:
"Good think I kept you, boy, you've gotta head! Sure, we'll wait…"
He leaned to his ear and whispered cheerfully:
"…but Her Majesty haven't forbidden us to prepare, now has she?"