Chapter 3: A Royal Invite
Elsa had already spent over an hour searching through the library of her father's old study for something that might lead her to the origins of this new enemy. Her father had shown her much of the collection in the past before he died, but in those days it had been vast and ever expanding and none of the books so far yielded the answers she searched for. She focused her efforts on books that contained folk lore, ancient fairy tales and bedtime stories of her childhood, but thus far there was nothing on 'snake men in blood red armor'. If the circumstances were any different, she'd feel pretty silly.
She sighed, rubbing her temples as she sat in her chair, leaning back and drumming her fingers against the desk with the other hand. She opened the drawer below and pulled out her notebook, which she kept her various personal notes and flipped to a blank page. Dipping a quill in ink she wrote at the top the name of this race of beings: Naga.
Below she followed up with a list of physical characteristics she had observed: Pale skin, fang like teeth and reptilian eyes. She sketched out the faces of the two warriors she had interrogated and what traits set them apart from one another: yellow versus blue eyes and pointed, elf like ears in contrast to rounded ears. She included the barred, sharp teeth of Dane for added emphasis of his aggressive nature and a more reserved, fearful expression for Meren.
There was knock on the door in a particular beat that could only be one person. Elsa smiled and set her quill aside. "Yes Anna, come in."
The door opened and Anna walked in, smiling as she sat down on the edge of her sister's desk. "What are you up to, here all by yourself?"
Elsa sighed. "I was searching for any clues in our library about our guests in the dungeon, though I have had no real progress on that front. I've put that aside for now and decided I should take a written account of everything I learned from them so far." she said pushing the notebook towards Anna.
Anna raised an eyebrow as she took the book in her hand. "You...interrogated them?" she said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Yes, I can be very persuasive...when I need to be." she said with a grin.
Anna smirked as she flipped through the pages. "I guess it's easy with ice powers...Don't you think your exaggerating a little Elsa?" She said, looking on the drawings and laughing slightly.
Elsa shook her head. "I wish I was, that is what they look like...that is what they call themselves...Naga."
Anna frowned as she handed the book back to Elsa who put it back in its drawer. The princess looked down, folding her arms and furrowing her brow, then looking back up with thoughtful eyes. "You don't think that he would've..."
Elsa put a hand on her sister's arm. "I've considered that his involvement... may be a possibility. But an unlikely one considering what we've learned. I doubt Hans would align himself with...snake men, or they with him."
Anna's frown faded into a slight smile as her elder sister continued. "All the same, I've already issued a letter to King Reidrich Westergaard of the Southern Isles about this-excluding the details about 'snake men' of course. The city guard patrols have been informed to keep an eye out for any other signs of these naga and to report anything back to us discreetly, I don't wish to cause a panic but I want to keep the people safe. You should let Kristoff know of our predicament when you have the chance...from here on out, we all need to be on guard."
Anna nodded positively, Elsa then smiled, putting her hands together. "On a more positive note: I plan to have our newest resident, 'Aldren', brought to the palace so that I may discuss any possible connections he may have with these naga." She said this rather proud and confidently.
Anna put her hand on her hip and scoffed "Brought?"
Elsa gave her a genuinely confused look "Yes...is there something wrong with that?"
The princess shook her head, laughing and standing up. "You may have figured out love helps control your power Elsa... but you still have a lot to learn in the way of 'people skills'. You might be queen but I doubt that he's going to appreciate being 'brought' to the palace."
Elsa stood, walking around to her sister and put her hands on her hips speaking with slight haughtiness "Well I am the queen and it is within my power and my right to bring people before me if I deem it necessary for the preservation of the realm."
Anna smiled and grasped her sister's hand gently "Oh Elsa, maybe you should think about asking in a more personal way. A way that would be more polite and... welcoming."
Elsa folded her arms, rolling her eyes "And what would you suggest...'oh wise one.'"
Anna shrugged "I dunno...invite him to dinner."
Elsa's face dropped into a look of shock as her cheeks began to turn red "T-to dinner But- Isn't that what someone does...when they're...?"
Anna shot her sister a smug grin and nudged her playfully "Hey, all for the 'preservation of the realm' right?"
Elsa narrowed her eyes at her with a flustered expression as the blush in her face increased slightly, Anna winked at her before giggling and leaving the office "Bye Elsa." She waved sassily.
The queen exhaled heavily rubbed the back of her neck, once she regained her composure she returned to her seat and pulled out a piece of parchment. Dipping her quill once again to write an 'invite'...to dinner...with her. She put her quill to the paper and found after several minutes a large black blotch had grown across the paper from the tip of her quill. The words weren't coming to mind as easily as she would've liked, sighing in annoyance she discarded the parchment for a new one. Putting her quill to the ink once more and another black spot began to grow...this would take some time.
OoO
Anna exited the palace and walked happily through the streets of the city she once scarcely saw most of her life as she searched for Kristoff. She greeted people, the young and the old as she skipped merrily along enjoying the warm autumn day. Despite the current danger she refused to let it dampen her spirit, it was in her nature to see the lighter side of most situations. She grew a little concerned when there was no sign of her man, he was generally easy to place apart from the crowd. Since he was the only person in Arendelle that had a reindeer for a best friend...and there was the whole 'courting the princess' part.
While searching the south side of the city she eventually spotted Sven pacing worriedly in front of the closed door of a rundown house. She quickly ran over to see what was causing his distress...she really, really hoped Kristoff hadn't gotten himself in trouble on today of all days...yeah, he was definitely in trouble.
OoO
The terror paralyzed Kristoff's his mind, he was caught such shock that his tongue was unable to form words even though he really needed it to right now. The pressure on his chest increased as the foot pressed down harder and the sword tip crept closer to his throat. "Last chance." the stranger warned.
Kristoff waved his hands frantically. "Waitwaitwait! My name is Kristoff Bjorgman, I'm The Royal Ice Master and Deliverer!"
The sword moved away from his throat, the stranger cocked his head to the side. "The what?"
He chuckled nervously and began talking very quickly and probably talked more than he should have at that moment. "I-I know it sounds different but queen Elsa gave me the title herself-it's not the most glamorous position ever-but I like it I really do-did I mention that queen Elsa gave it to me- you can ask-"
The stranger put a hand on his face and groaned as Kristoff rambled on, he waved a hand in annoyance. "Alright, Alright! Shut up!" grimacing he returned the sword tip to the ice harvester's throat. "Why did you follow me?"
Kristoff swallowed, wincing at the closeness of the deadly blade. "I-I saw you leaving the palace and you seemed...suspicious-and dangerous, I wanted to see if you were going to cause any trouble...or if you were going to hurt anyone like the queen or princess...or me, which I really hope is not the case right now..."
The stranger narrowed his eyes. "And why pray tell, does a 'Ice Master' concern himself with the safety of the kingdoms monarchs?"
"Well...that's...complicated."
The strange sheathed the sword on his back, growled and grabbed Kristoff by his collar, lifting him up and shoving him towards the door, pointing a finger at him as he walked towards him. "Well since your such 'good friends' with the queen, you can tell her grace that I wish to be LEFT-ALONE!"
The stranger slammed the door shut as soon as he was out of the doorway. Kristoff sighed in relief as Sven nudged him and gave him a questioning look, Kristoff patted his head and gestured for him to follow. "C'mon bud, let's find Anna, I'll tell you about it later." Looking back one more time at the stranger's apartment before they turned away from the house towards the palace. "Sheesh..."
OoO
Anna could see Kristoff and Sven headed her direction, she smiled and rushed to greet them. She embraced him and gave him a squeeze but noticed he looked more than a little shaken. "Kristoff what's wrong?"
Kristoff sighed and began speaking quickly. "OK, I know you're gonna think I'm an idiot for doing this but I saw this hooded guy leaving the palace. And he looked kind of dangerous so I decide to follow Him-Heaven knows why I thought that was a good idea! And I got there and the door was open so I decide to go inside and again I don't know why I did-but I did-And I-"
He was silenced when Anna put a finger to his lips. "Actually Kristoff...I think I might actually know who you're talking about?"
Kristoff looked back and forth in surprise and confusion. "Y-you do?"
She nodded, smiling. "Let's go find somewhere else to talk and I'll explain more." Her face became grimmer. "Besides... there's something...more important we need to talk about."
She intertwined her fingers with his and he hesitantly followed along with Sven trailing behind. "Important? Like what kind of important? Like 'you and Olaf got caught stealing desserts from the kitchens again' important...or 'you want to talk to me about something...concerning our future' important."
Her eyes widened for a moment but then she shook her head and laughed. leaning against him and petting Sven as they walked. "Kristoff...have I mentioned that I love you?"
He chuckled. "Hmm...actually I'm not sure."
She punched him playfully and they both laughed. On their way to the palace Anna noticed a guard that walked past carrying a letter with in his hands that bore the royal seal on its surface. She smiled knowingly and took comfort in this thought...though she hoped that Elsa had taken her time so her invitation didn't sound too...queenly...She sighed at this thought, muttering under her breath. "Oh boy..."
OoO
Aldren slammed the door shut, walking back to his desk and sat down. Rubbing his head, he groaned as his headache increased, he leaned back in the chair and sighed. Scolding himself for allowing someone to just walk in like that, spending so much time on his own was causing him to lose some of his poise. And he also knew that his hostility towards the 'ice master' may have negative repercussion in the future, especially if the man did know the queen.
He tried to distract himself, pulling a small leather sack from his side. Emptying its contents, he counted his meager purse of pennies, he barely had enough for a snack, let alone a meal. He considered hunting for his own food but he was already worn out and exhausted from today. He leaned against the desk and sighed, his stomach growled on cue as a cruel reminder of his hunger. He had no way of paying for travel or food and he didn't believe this city had much need of his skills, Arendelle was not known for a high crime rate or likely in need of a bounty hunter or monster slayer. He hated to admit it but it seemed like fate was determined to keep him here, the last place he ever thought he would return to...the last place he wanted to be...
He was startled by a knock at the door. "Now what?" he growled.
He got up and opened the door slightly to see who it was, one of the palace guards greeted him and held out a letter, "What's this?" he said taking it from him.
"It is from her majesty Queen Elsa; she did not disclose the contents to me."
Aldren nodded as he looked over the paper "Uh huh."
Then the guard spoke again. "And thank you...for earlier today, I was in the throne room when those assassins attacked...I doubt we'd still be here if it weren't for you, Sir."
Aldren looked up at him, recognizing him as the one he'd pushed out of the way of the first assassin. "No... you wouldn't." he said curtly, shutting the door in the guard's face. Once more he sat at the desk, he opened the seal and unfolded the envelope. It read as such:
Dear Aldren
Firstly, I wish to thank you once more for saving my life earlier today and I wish to express my gratitude to you. If you would allow me I would like to invite you to dine with me this evening. I understand that this may be outside your realm of comfort and that you prefer to remain inconspicuous but it would be of great pleasure to me if you would attend.
Sincerely, Elsa of house Floran, Queen of Arendelle
Aldren was surprised to say the least, perhaps he had saved her life... but even so, in his experience it seemed out of character for royalty to invite someone like him to dinner of all things. He could not help but be grateful for the invitation, still...something seemed off. But the word dinner made his stomach growl angrily at him and he needed to eat. He lightly punched his own stomach and whispered begrudgingly to it. "Damn you."
He was also reminded by the letter of a greater concern: the assassins. The thought hadn't occurred to him that even though the queen appeared to be there target, they tried to kill him too. If they were after him as well it would almost certainly cause problems for him in the future. He decided that he would go but with caution, the queen was studying him and honestly he couldn't blame her, someone had tried to kill her after all. He would be studying her as well-behaviorally that is, for the current affair only... he did have to admit she was rather attractive...for a queen.
He then remembered that he didn't have any proper clothes to attend a dinner with a queen...then again he also really didn't care nor could he afford to buy any. He would go as he was and if she had any issue with him she could complain all she wanted...yet he had a feeling that she wouldn't mind. Perhaps he was being more callous than necessary, for this one evening he would try and temper his edge. Besides, maybe he'd learn more about her and what they share in common...more than she knew he suspected...
