NA: Hi everybody.
Lauren, one of the followers of this story, has kindly offered herself as beta reader. She will check the English of all the chapters already published (Since I'm not a native English speaker this will improve a lot the chapters) and also make her own suggestions for the text. I have just started to upload Lauren's revisions and I'm sure that you will enjoy her great job.
Anna was on her way to the library. She had just gotten back from a visit to a neighboring kingdom and, after twenty days traveling, was eager to see Elsa.
Three years without an active diplomacy after the death of their parents had left Arendelle a little bit isolated, but Anna, with Kristoff always at her side, was working hard to change it. Their last visit had evolved from a formal courtesy in order to reinforce the bonds between both kingdoms into an attempt to involve Arendelle in a dispute with a third country. Anna had changed the situation, offering Arendelle's intermediation and proposing a conference to be held in Arendelle. If they found out a solution the reputation of Arendelle would be reinforced.
She reached the library and knocked softly. After a while Elsa's voice sounded from behind the door giving permission to enter. Elsa was sitting at her desk reading a letter. The worktable was full of papers. The kingdom had a lot of pending issues and Elsa's attention seemed to always be necessary.
She stood up beaming and went towards her sister.
"How did they treated my right hand woman?" She said spreading her arms wide. Both sisters held each other in a warm and long embrace.
"Well, they have their own ideas about the meaning of a courtesy visit. In fact, they tried to entangle us in a dispute with another kingdom. But, at the end, I have arranged a conference to be held in Arendelle. Do you like the idea?" Anna's eyes sparkled with the idea of a celebration. Elsa couldn't help smiling, but she shook her head.
"Oh Elsa, I know you don't feel comfortable in those social affairs, but the sooner you get used to them the better. You can't be all the time alone in the library."
Elsa scowled. "I'm not always in the library, and lately I've been around a lot of people."
"Really?" Anna replied. "Could you tell me with whom and when?"
"Well..." Elsa hesitated for a second. "Five days ago, I played a chess match with Corrado"
Anna chuckled. "He is fifty-four years old! Is he the only person you can remember being with lately? Maybe you have to broaden your horizons." Anna asked the last phrase with mock solicitude.
"Enough Anna! I don't dislike the meeting you have planned. Actually, I think it is a good idea, but I have news that makes it impossible."
"What kind of news are you talking about?" Anna said looking at Elsa with suspicion. She feared an attempt to avoid the topic.
Elsa breathed deeply "About my weeding."
Anna gasped "I didn't know you were about to marry!" Anna looked at her sister in surprise and delight.
"Neither did I," Elsa replied with a bit of irony in her voice.
She took the letter that she had been reading when Anna entered in the library and give it to her sister. Anna had a quick look at the letter; it came from the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
"Elsa, you told me that you were discussing an issue with them, but I thought you had sent a letter to put an end to it," Anna asked confused.
"I believed that the first letter was an error, but this is his response."
"And?" Anna raised her eyebrows.
"They say that Arendelle needs a ruler"
"What does that mean? You're the Queen. You rule us"
"Both of us rule the country, but they believe that it is not enough. They fear that in the future, if I marry an enemy of England, the external relations of Arendelle would change according to my husband's inclinations. So they want to settle the issue now in a satisfactory way, at least for them." Elsa's tone was cold and detached, as if she was talking about an administrative affair.
"Elsa, this must be a joke. I can't believe it"
"If this is a joke, the British Secretary of State and the French ambassador in London are just too happy to play their parts, they both signed the petition."
"The French are also involved? Why? They never took any interest in us."
"I don't know why. We are blind. Since the death of our parents, the diplomacy of Arendelle had been neglected until we began to mend our diplomatic ties almost a year ago. "
"I'm sorry. I convinced you to center our efforts in the neighboring kingdoms in order to learn by experience before starting our contact with the great powers. "
"Don't blame yourself! It was a good idea the great powers had been ignoring us for years. Who could guess that they would make such a movement?" Elsa put a hand over Anna's shoulder. "Anyway, they are very interested now. I don't know why, but they should have a reason. Nobody bothers so much without a good reason. We have to discover why they are so worried about Arendelle and try to make an arrangement in the conference. But we don't have enough time."
"Conference! What conference?"
"Sorry Anna. I haven't told you yet. They have offered to hold a conference in Arendelle next summer to solve the issue. They say that suitors from all over Europe will flock to Arendelle with the good weather as news reach the other courts. So they, England and France, will come to an agreement acceptable for everybody. I'm not sure that this includes us."
"Are you going to accept that nonsense?"
"If we don't accept, they will hold the conference on their own in London or Paris and I suppose they will be kind enough to inform us in advance about who my husband will be before he arrives for the wedding." Elsa managed a brittle smile but her voice remained calm.
"Then ignore them. They can't force you to marry!" Anna replied fiercely.
"That's the point. They say that if Arendelle isn't guided by a trusted ruler; which, by the way neither you nor I are included in their definition of trusted rulers, they will assume that we are a menace to the balance of power in Europe."
"What are they talking about? They should be cra..." Anna interrupted.
"Let me finish. We would be a menace to the balance of powers in Europe, and then England and France will be forced to implement a commercial blockade. For starters" Elsa finished.
Both sisters look to each other for a moment. Anna took a chair and sat down. She was tired after the travel and this was too much for her. Elsa sat on the desk and continued. "You know what a blockade will mean to us. We can't produce enough food for our population. We sell wood and furs to buy food and other commodities that we need. A blockade will bring much suffering to our people."
"They won't dare" Anna's voice was seething with anger.
"The English attacked Copenhagen years ago. They felt it was a menace and they destroyed its fleet and nearly burned the city to the ground. You have to take account of the fact that the city of Copenhagen was far greater than Arendelle. So, raising a blockade if they feel the need? Surely that won't be a problem for them. They will forbid our ships to enter their harbors and the harbors of their allies, and they will also intercept any ship heading towards or coming from Arendelle. A thing like this will ruin our commerce and deplete our food stocks for the next winter."
Anna was beginning to feel dizzy. She tried to pull herself together. "But in your coronation nobody talked about the European Balance of Power. What has changed during this year? Why have they changed their minds so much?" Her voice shook, but she managed to stay calm.
"I don't know. We should find it out quickly. Meanwhile we must accept the conference and bide our time to make an agreement"
"This is humiliating"
"I agree, but we don't have any other options. If we can't trade we will lack food and other commodities. This winter children may suffer or die."
"Oh, Elsa this is terrible. I'm so sorry for you"
Elsa seemed uncomfortable. "There is one other thing."
"What thing? What more could they possibly want?" Anna looked up, her eyes flaming with anger.
"They..." Elsa stopped.
"They...what?" Suddenly, Anna started to get nervous.
Elsa leaned in and took Anna's hands. "They talk of two weddings to be decided. I told them in my letter that you were already engaged. But, they think yours is an engagement that can be changed for the good of the country. I'm... I'm sorry Anna, I tried to exclude you from this, but I couldn't..." Elsa's voice lowered while talking until it became difficult to hear the last phrase.
Anna remained still and silent for a long while.
"Anna?" Elsa asked eventually.
At that moment somebody knocked.
"Hello, are you in there?" The voice of Kristoff was unconcerned. To both sisters it seemed to come from another world.
Anna sprang to her feet. "Don't tell him anything." Anna whispered in Elsa's ear. "I will tell him later, \but I don't know how, yet."
"I was thinking the same about you this last week since I received the letter." Her sister replied.
"Come in Kristoff." Elsa said aloud.
"Hey girls." Kristoff said entering into the room. "Do you want dinner?"
"Of course. But first give me a kiss Kristoff. I've missed you so much!" Elsa beamed, leaving aside her worries, at her sister's enthusiasm at seeing her boyfriend.