1908,
The Garden of Linnea Castle,
Arendelle
"Wait... Christian Johannes? Wasn't he King of Arendelle before you, Mama?" Iduna asked, glancing at her mother and then turning back to Grandpapa. He nodded, confirming her question.
"He was. King Christian I."
"How long did he rule?"
"Was he a good king?"
"Did he rule after the great queen, Grandpapa?" Lisi asked excitedly, her question drowning out her siblings' questions, and they rolled their eyes, even as the adults chuckled.
"Yes, snowflake, he did, but he did not rule for long. Christian I passed away at the age of thirty-eight."
"From what? It couldn't have been old age, thirty-eight isn't that old." Sofia spoke up. "It was common for people to die young, but..."
"They say Christian died of a broken heart. You see, he had married Princess Helena of Sweden at the tender age of twenty-one; she was a year younger than him. It may have been arranged, but it grew to be a love match, like that of his parents' marriage. But Helena did not live long to sit upon the throne at his side. Six months after their wedding, she was killed in a riding accident. Her horse spooked and threw her; it fell and crushed her, she died not long after."
He swallowed thickly. Helena's death had been eerily similar to a death that had taken place seven years before; he had always assumed it was the combination of his wife's death, coupled with the similarity to his sister's that had brought about the young king's sudden demise, for though he'd never remarried, Helena's death had affected him greatly, and he'd never been the same.
"That's horrible." The adults shared looks at Ludi's soft declaration, and after a moment, the girl spoke up again. "But... but he remarried, didn't he?" Her eyes widened as Grandpapa shook his head. "Why not?"
"He loved her." Magda spoke up, and was rewarded with a soft nod.
"Sometimes, the love you possess for your mate is so strong, you cannot imagine another in their place. Think Victoria of Britain and Prince Albert. Sometimes, a love is so great that to even... consider taking another is... sacrilege. Christian I was like Victoria, he could not even consider taking another as his bride, for he had loved Princess Helena so."
"Were they like the great queen and her king, Grandpapa?" Lisi asked softly.
"In a way, snowflake. But they did not have the same amount of time together that the king and queen did."
"I'm confused." Everyone turned to young Grand Duke Alexander, Thyra's second oldest son. "I thought the king and queen had a daughter before a son. Camilla, right? If she was the oldest, wouldn't she be queen after Iduna Elisabeth?"
"No, the throne goes to the sons." Twenty-four-year-old Amalie, Sofia's oldest, replied with a shake of her head.
"Maybe in Denmark and Russia, but not in Arendelle!" Iduna replied, interjecting into the argument. "I'm the Crown Princess of Arendelle, therefore, when Mama and Papa step down, the throne goes to me."
"Arendellian law states that the oldest child of the ruling monarch, regardless of sex, will, upon either the death or abdication of the current monarch, take up the crown of Arendelle and sit upon her throne." Magda recited quietly, for she herself had taken the throne upon the death of the previous monarch. And while she had not been the tender age of eighteen like this fabled queen had, she knew the fear, for she had felt it, even at twenty-four, when the heavy Royal Crown of Arendelle had been placed upon her head. "It's been that way for years."
"Centuries, since the founding of Arendelle." Grandpapa replied. "It was how Iduna Elisabeth found herself upon the throne after her parents' deaths. She may have started out as young and unsure, but she quickly gained confidence the longer she sat upon the throne. By the time her daughter was born, she'd forged strong alliances with both Denmark and Norway, and by the unexpected birth of her second child, she had brought the telegraph to Arendelle, and was building plans to bring railways to her country, so they would not have to just rely on ships or horse and carriage. By her twenty-fifth birthday, the queen was ordering the creation of colleges, and had signed laws regarding expanding education for women- not just for midwifery or nursing, but in business. Women were allowed to work in business if they wished, could continue their education if so desired, and did not simply have to rely on their husbands for income"
"She brought about the industrial age." Magda whispered, awestruck.
"She did. She was unlike any queen- any monarch- Arendelle had seen before or since. Not even her parents, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna could have imagined what their country would have been like seven years into their own reign, let alone done what their daughter did. Agnarr and Iduna had stopped Norway from invading their lands, with the Scandinavia Treaty of eighteen-twenty-three, and Iduna Elisabeth held the Norwegians to it. She stopped Denmark from coming in from across the seas and wiping out the Northuldra, stating that the tribes' lands were within Arendelle's borders, and therefore, the tribes' were Arendellian- if Denmark attacked the Northuldra, then it was an automatic attack on Arendelle, and Arendelle would look at it as a declaration of war."
"They didn't go to war, did they, Grandpapa?" Agnarr asked; though he had hoped to hear stories of great battles, the last thing he wanted was to hear that the great queen who had done so much good for Arendelle had fought in war. Such a thing would be unfair. Sadness sparked in his grandfather's gaze as green eyes lit on his grandson.
"Unfortunately, Arendelle did go to war, Agnarr. But it wasn't with the Danes."
"Who was it with, Grandpapa?" Lisi asked softly. He sighed, gaze going to the shawl and its still-bright colors.
"A very, very small duchy to the north of Arendelle; they had wanted- and been trying- to invade Arendelle for centuries, to lay claim to it, but had always failed. Seven years into the queen's reign, they tried again, figuring that she was young and inexperienced and would bend easily to the will of men with much more experience than her. They did not realize the young queen had powers over ice and snow, nor did they realize the ally she had to the south-"
"The Isles, because she was married secretly to the king." Pia spoke up.
"Exactly."
"What was the duchy, Grandpapa?"
He sighed. "It was called Weselton, and it was ruled by a very," He stopped, thinking of the best way to describe the man. "a very... pompous, arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic, ruthless, paranoid, short, greedy Duke, by the name of Francis."
"When did the war happen, Grandpapa?" He met Alexander's gaze, considering the question before,
"Weselton invaded the tribes' lands in late February of eighteen-forty-eight, effectively declaring war upon Arendelle. The queen wasted no time in acting upon Weselton's declaration; she rushed to meet them to stop them from invading further and eradicating the tribes- against her husband's wishes."
"I don't understand, why against his wishes? The king had no say in this fight." Magda replied, and her husband took her hand.
"She's his wife, Maga," Nikolai whispered softly. "he had a reason to be worried."
"But she didn't go to war, she sent her men in-" She stopped at the ringing silence, turning back. "She didn't! She went to battle herself?"
"You must understand, Iduna Elisabeth may have been of the fairer sex, but she was no ordinary woman; she was brilliant, and not afraid of confrontation if needed. She was not afraid to step upon the battlefield, if need be. She had great power within control, and that made her both feared and respected. She did not need a man to protect her; she went into battle with her men because she chose to, not because she had to. She refused to sit within Linnea while her men fought for her, and instead, they would fight with her. To protect Arendelle, and her people- all her people. The king did not want her going into battle because she was a woman- he knew she could hold her own in a fight, especially with her powers. He did not want her going into battle because she carried a secret, and if General Matthias learned of it, he would return her to Linnea Castle, and, in the queen's eyes, brand her as a helpless, weak ruler who needed protecting, and Iduna Elisabeth... she would not allow that to happen, no matter the cost."
