11. What Price Chocolate
Ambassador Jamang, the other Daloans, Minister Rogalund, Kai, and the castle guards all looked at the Queen in surprise.
"Are the traders from Weselton, Your Excellency?" Elsa asked, staring into his eyes with an intensity that made him flinch. The cool breeze returned, stronger than before, ominously fluttering the Snow Queen's cape. The ambassador's entourage stiffened in apprehension.
"Yes, Great Queen," he said, taken aback. "But we usually don't use that name..."
"Do you call them 'Weasel Town'?" Elsa asked bluntly.
"Y-y-yes, Great Queen," stammered Jamang.
"So do we."
The other Arendellians present couldn't hold back brief snorts of laughter, protocol be hanged. For the first time during the meeting, the Daloans all truly smiled and loosened up. The ice was broken; they were clearly among friends.
"Then the Great Queen will help us?" Jamang dared to venture.
"Yes, but not by making snowmen to work for you," Elsa said. "It would be best if we continued this conversation in my study, where we can all sit comfortably and don't need to talk like a bad imitation of William Shakespeare. Kai, please put the elimination of the use of pluralis maiestatis when speaking from the throne on my list of things to do. There is being courteous and honoring tradition, and then there is being pretentious."
"Yes, Your Majesty," said Kai, as Elsa headed for the doors with everyone else in tow.
Not long after, Elsa sat behind her desk across from Ambassador Jamang and his chief aide Nakuta, with Minister Rogalund at the edge of the desk to her right. A Daloan and an Arendelle castle guard flanked the study's door. Kai had taken the rest of the Daloan delegation to the large dining room for breakfast, and would return to the study with a morning repast for the ambassador and his helpers.
"Tell us more, Your Excellency," Elsa prompted as they waited for the food to be brought.
"Gladly, Your Majesty. We are mostly small family farmsteads, and at first this new crop, cocoa, was a great boon because it was something we could sell abroad. We were grateful to Weselton for introducing it to us. But then about four years ago, they began to pay us less and less for it. They said they themselves needed to sell it below a certain price or no one would buy it. Last year was the worst, Your Majesty. They offered us such a low price that we made no profit, plus we had a bumper crop, and the traders would not buy it all."
"Are your farmers contractually obligated to sell to Weasel Town - I'm sorry, Weselton?" Elsa asked.
"No, Your Majesty," said the ambassador. "But they have been the only merchants who will come so far inland."
"And you can't bring it to the coast yourselves?"
Jamang's posture tensed. "Please understand, Your Majesty, that we do not have good relations with our neighbors. They were willing accomplices in the slave trade. We often needed to defend ourselves against their raids. Even after you northerners have now forbidden it here amongst yourselves, they still seek to take captives from the inland kingdoms and small tribes for their own use or for sale in Asia or on our own continent. King Adjoua is sorely troubled that some of our own people have resorted to the very measures that we have for so long needed to protect ourselves against."
Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose. Such complications were disheartening, and it was grating that the current ugly situation wouldn't exist if Weselton would just pay a price that allowed the Daloan farmers to make a fair profit - but she knew very well how Weselton operated under its present Duke. Elsa's analytical mind strongly suspected that the toupéed schemer tightened the screws on the Daloans last year in an effort to make up for lost revenue when Arendelle and Corona and other countries cut off or limited trade with his country.
The Queen's train of thought was interrupted when Kai and four maids arrived with breakfast for her guests. Kai set up folding trays, and three of the maids placed covered dishes on them and removed the lids. The kitchen staff had decided to give them buckwheat crêpes stuffed with smoked salmon and sautéed leeks, with a small dollop of dill sauce on the side. The fourth maid served the Daloans, Rogalund, and the castle guard coffee and left a plate of blueberry pastries.
Serious business was adjourned while the visitors ate.
"The Minister was telling us about your Harvest Festival," Jamang began as he finished his crêpe and contemplated a pastry.
"You are more than welcome to stay for it, Your Excellency," Elsa told him.
"We shall. We have heard about your magic show and are curious about your agriculture and finished goods," the ambassador said with a smile as he helped himself to the sweet treat.
"Our agriculture isn't that exciting, and to be truthful, there won't be that much of our harvest on display," Elsa explained. "Most of it will go straight to our granaries and into preservation techniques. While the yields of some of our crops are sufficient to meet the need of our national population, it is not what could be called an overabundance. We have a short growing season."
"The Snow Queen does not use her magic to ward off winter?" asked Nakuta.
"I can't do anything about how little sunlight we get in the winter, and without enough of that, the plants won't thrive. Plus, the Snow Queen tries her best not to meddle with nature too much. If a whole winter's worth of snow in July is wrong, then so is a whole winter as warm as July. There would be too many consequences. Besides, I am the Snow Queen; my magic is intrinsically geared toward making snow, ice, and cold temperatures somehow. While I can stall or reroute or disperse a natural winter storm or lift a natural cold snap, it's much harder for me to do than it is with my own magically created weather."
"Such a concept is a marvel. I cannot wait for your magic show, Your Majesty," said Nakuta.
"As you wish," said Elsa with a wink. She knew full well what he meant, but always loved that particular conversational opening.
And an ice sculpture, big enough to require both hands to hold it, of an elephant and two palm trees appeared on her desk. Even though Rogalund had seen the Queen do things like that any number of times, to him there was still an air of the miraculous about it. The Daloans were clearly in awe. They repeatedly looked from the sculpture to Elsa.
"This is amazing!" said the Daloan guard.
"It is your to keep, if you wish. I will make more for your entire diplomatic mission and however many you would like for your people back home," Elsa said affably.
"It will not melt?" asked the ambassador.
"No. You can toss it in the fire if you'd like to test it. I made it so that it will not melt or break or cause discomfort when held."
The Daloans again repeatedly looked from the sculpture to Elsa. "It takes some getting used to," Rogalund empathized.
