A/N: As always I do not own Frozen or Tangled and their characters, they belong to Disney.
Chapter 5
"Your Majesty looks exquisite tonight." Prince Garreth of Finland said as he took his seat next to Elsa at the evening dinner. It had been a week since the suitors arrived and this was the third event. Anna and the etiquette advisor had taken the first week easy on Elsa, getting her used to the idea of all these men being in and around Arendelle, now the frequency of engagements would increase to four to five a week. Elsa was already wary of it. How in the world was anyone supposed to find a spouse like this.
"Thank you, your Highness. I hope you've had a pleasant stay thus far."
He received the tongs for the plate of salmon the footman was presenting him and began to take a generous portion. "Absolutely delightful. Arendelle is quite beautiful and the people so quaint. I can't imagine Helsinki quite so agrarian." Elsa tried not to take that comment as an offense; she was well aware that as capitals come, Arendelle city was more town than city. Much of Arendellian resources and trade goods came from the land rather than manufacturing, so the land was peppered with villages of various sizes near the resources the people used or worked. There was really no need for Arendelle city to be a sprawling metropolis like London, Paris, Oslo, or Helsinki.
Instead of saying all of this Elsa simply commented; "With the mountains and cliffs so close on one side and the fjord on the other there isn't much room for expansion."
"True and it does give Arendelle an enviable defensive position." Elsa turned her eyes to him, shocked by such a comment but the Prince didn't seem to notice his words made any impact on her, it seemed like to him they were discussing nothing more significant than the weather.
"It has its advantages. We are very proud of our navy, in fact we just commissioned an ironclad steamship. Our merchant fleet includes two steam ships as well. Our army is well versed in our natural terrain and every soldier knows how to use it to their advantage." Elsa stated in an offhanded way, but she was well aware of how close the Princes of Finland and Sweden were and she was sure Prince Oskar would hear of their military aptitude. Good she thought to herself, let them stew over that information before thinking we will be easy targets.
"That is impressive, we were under the impression that during your kingdoms isolation period such departments were left unattended."
"A gross oversight by many countries, despite being isolated, my father and the council maintained our military readiness, though we've always been a peaceful nation, preferring negotiations and talks over military action, we are not naive enough to believe that we shouldn't maintain a strong standing military. All Arendellian men are required by law at age 18 to enlist in our reserve forces for a minimum of 3 years. This allows them to maintain their jobs and careers, but also provides us with a reserve force ready for battle if ever needed." It had actually been Elsa's idea to introduce conscription; when she had found out after her parents death that the Arendellian military, though had not been neglected during isolation, was indeed rather small. Since the law was enacted they now had a small standing army and navy of approximately 1000 men but a trained reserve force of approximately 10,000.
The prince seemed at a loss as to what to say to that information. He was surely thinking of how that could impact whatever Sweden, likely with Finland's support were planning.
"I hear you are an avid equestrian." Elsa stated to return the conversation to neutral ground.
"Ahh yes, I have been riding since I was just three." he started and maintained his tale of equestrian prowess for the remainder of the dinner.
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Elsa had just finished her dance with a dignitary from Zaria when she heard a newly familiar accent. "May I have this dance?" Prince Pieter stood before her, bowing his hand out in offering. Elsa smiled politely to the dignitary and thanked him for the dance before taking the Prince's hand. Even with her heels on, he still towered above her, she guessed she'd been off a few inches when she'd been sitting and this man was closer to an impressive 6 feet 6 inches, nearly a foot taller than Elsa herself. Unlike the other princes he did not wear a military uniform, rather he wore a deep blue tailcoat with a matching waistcoat and a sharp white shirt. He wore light grey trousers and to complete the ensemble his silk tie was decorated with a silver wispy pattern. Elsa placed her hand in his and he pulled her close, whisking her away into the next dance played by the string quartet in the corner. They were silent for a moment before the prince began to speak. "Olaf is a delight, he seems to know everyone in town." Elsa held in the snort that threatened to be released. "He is somewhat of the unofficial mayor of the city."
"Did you create him consciously?" Elsa shook her head as they twirled into the next steps of the dance. "No, I hadn't realized I had created him at all until he showed up at my ice palace with my sister. "
"Ice palace?" He quirked an eyebrow at her.
"A story for another time." she countered. "Olaf tells me that you have two older sisters."
He nodded, "Yes. My eldest sister is Sofie and Mary is the middle child between us."
"Are you close?" Elsa was a bit surprised by her personal question, but it had uncharacteristically come out of her mouth before she could stop it.
He smiled and Elsa saw that it was genuine as it reached his eyes, "Very. My poor mother, there are just three years separating myself from Sophie. It provided for a fun childhood though, all of us being so close in age."
"That is incredible, there are three years between Anna and I and I can't imagine there being another between us."
He chuckled lightly, "As I said our poor mother, and nannies, we gave them all such a tough time."
The music had come to an end and Elsa could feel her next dance partner come to her elbow. It was a duke from Cathos. He bowed to Elsa asking for the next dance, Elsa smiled and accepted before turning back to Pieter. "Thank you for the lovely dance."
"The pleasure was all mine, your Majesty, and before I find myself remise, I would like to tell you how lovely you look tonight." He bowed and left. Elsa glanced down at her gown. It was a light green with yellow and orange rosemaling on the hem. It was a more traditional style dress then she usually wore. Many suitors had called her beautiful, radiant, and a number of other over the top adjectives that left lovely wanting, yet Elsa found it to be the best compliment she had received all day.
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As with the previous party, Elsa found herself ending the evening with Karoline and her husband, Jakob. They were a nice pair that complemented each other perfectly, where Karoline was outgoing and opinionated, Jakob was more reserved and open-minded.
"Has your majesty enjoyed the evening?" He asked as the two joined Karoline. Elsa moved towards the doors with them.
"Yes, I believe that I did." Elsa said honestly, her mind going to her nice conversation and dance with Pieter.
"Will we be hosting this many suitors for long?" Karoline edged a bit.
Elsa stared at her and the woman's cheeks went red. "I believe so. I am surprised though that they are not all as intolerable as I had thought."
Karoline's lips formed a small smile, "oh really, so who is tolerable?"
Elsa shook her head and gestured them towards the doors, "You're as bad as her Highness, Minister Karldotter, but to answer your question, no one in particular. Thank you again for staying so late for me, I do appreciate it"
They both bowed, "It is our pleasure, your Majesty," Jakob replied and then they were gone.
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It was Wednesday and Elsa was relaxing in the library with Anna for there weekly sister time. Elsa had demanded that built into her weekly schedule there be two hours mid week that she had time to spend with Anna alone. The council had rebuked at the idea at first, but eventually Elsa was able to convey the importance of the time, after all if the saying was happy wife, happy life, then it was definitely true that happy Queen, happy kingdom (or at least council). Elsa sat on an elongated sofa, Anna lay back with her head in Elsa's back. She was gently threading her fingers through Anna's hair as she read a story out loud. Anna had always loved being read to as a little girl and it appeared that had not changed over the years. This month they'd chosen Oliver Twist by the British author Charles Dickens. Anna loved the story, Elsa found it a nice story but probably wouldn't have continued reading it if it weren't for Anna. Elsa had finished the chapter when Anna reached her hand up and pulled the book down.
Elsa looked at her questioningly. "Are we ever going to talk about the suitors?" Anna finally inquired. Elsa set the book down. "What is there to say?"
Anna rolled her eyes and then very laboriously rolled up into a sitting position, Elsa helping with a final push of on her shoulder. "Well is there anyone you like or at least caught your attention?"
Elsa leaned back thinking, "Prince Pieter is nice," she finally admitted after a moment. Anna perked up, "So you like him?"
"No Anna, I said he was nice. He seems different from the other suitors. It's refreshing." Elsa certainly did not like Prince Pieter, but there was something about him that intrigued her.
"Do you want me to have Kristoff and Eugene take him on a hunt, see what they think or can find out." Anna had that excited, I have an awesome plan twinkling in her eyes.
"Can I even do that?" Getting more information about Prince Pieter maybe a good idea. She trusted Kristoff and Eugene to let her know if he wasn't as he appeared to be around her.
"Of course you can, your the Queen." Anna said in an exaggerated manner like she was telling two year old something that was obvious.
Elsa figured it couldn't hurt. "Alright, have them do it, but have them invite Prince Oskar and the Viscount of Bath, William. It won't look as obvious that Pieter has, as you would say, caught my attention. I don't want to make waves and rumors about my decision so early in this process."
Anna clapped her hands excitedly, "Done."
Elsa pulled Anna into a hug before letting go and then pushing her in the shoulder gently, "I'm so glad one of us is enjoying this circus."
A/N: Reviews are always welcome!
