16. A Meeting of the Minds
"Is there not enough money in the budget for another bookcase, Professor? Every time I come in here, you have acquired more books and journals, and yet you have nowhere to put them except on the floor," Elsa quipped.
"A thousand apologies for the mess, Your Majesty," Professor Holmboe said as he motioned her to a chair whose flattened seat cushion suggested it had been cleared of a heavy load only recently. "I have been meaning to procure another bookcase and to have some of these journals added to the library, but it has been very easy to get wrapped up in the latest developments these days."
"I will have something delivered to you by the end of the week. Unless you don't mind one made from ice."
The Professor paused to consider. He had no doubt the Snow Queen could make an entire wall's worth of shelving perfectly tailored to his current needs in less than an instant, as well as be able to modify it later with a literal snap of her fingers should his collection change dramatically.
"I'll take one made of ice, Your Majesty. From here to here, and this high," he said, indicating where and what size he wanted. "Six shelves, if you please."
And it was done in less than an instant. It was an exact stylistic match of the two wooden ones already overflowing with notebooks and printed material. He bowed deeply to the Queen.
Bernhard Holmboe had been her final mathematics tutor. As a child, her aptitude for math had a tendency to quickly surpass the upper bound of what her educators felt competent to teach. After the third one had to be retired within a span of five years, King Agnarr decided to seek out the most advanced instructor who could be lured to mysterious and secluded Arendelle by the promises of a handsome salary, a bright and well-behaved student, and time enough for his own research.
Holmboe had been initially a little dismissive of his pupil and much more interested in the freedom to pursue his own mathematical investigations, but he quickly came to be amazed by the girl's mind. Of all the tutors, he was also the least fazed by the King's seemingly odd dictums concerning his daughters and by Crown Princess Elsa's withdrawn albeit polite manner. Holmboe thought it was quite a shame that Elsa's destiny was to govern since her potential in math, science, and engineering was so obvious.
Then, when her parents were lost at sea, Elsa's destiny became reality much sooner than anyone had planned on. Although still too young by Arendelle's criteria to be officially crowned queen, it now fell to her to put all her education to use and run the country. And so, her lessons ceased. The tutors who were suitable for Princess Anna were kept on, if they so wished; all others were given generous severance pay and letters of recommendation. Holmboe was the most saddened and disappointed of the lot, since he and Elsa were beginning to explore the revolutionary geometry of Lobachevsky and Bolyai; the instructor was absolutely sure that Elsa would have made some great contributions to the new field if she hadn't been burdened with executive duties so early in life.
Of course, at the time, he didn't know about her other burden. So Holmboe was just as surprised as the next person when news of Arendelle's Eternal Winter and its instigator reached Christiania; he was even more surprised when he was officially offered a position at the new university that Queen Elsa was building. Once he convinced his wife that the benefits far outweighed the risks, they returned to the port town. The general atmosphere did wonders for their intellectual and physical constitutions.
One of the most invigorating things about Arendelle was the constant influx of visitors who came to study the Snow Queen's powers. Holmboe often found himself to be something of a moderator when she met with them. Many times he had trouble falling asleep due to the displays of magic he had seen that day. This was indeed an exciting time to be alive.
"Are you ready to meet everybody, Your Majesty?" asked Holmboe. "This has been one of the most impatient groups yet, especially the historian. I think you will yet again fulfill someone's life-long dream today, so don't be too surprised if she faints."
"I'm given to understand there will be a doctor in the room, so she should be in capable hands if she does," Elsa said glibly. "Are they assembled?"
"Certainly by now, Your Majesty," Holmboe said. "If you would follow me, please."
They left the office and walked down the hall to another door. Elsa ran her hand over her hair, and summoned a strong burst of cold wind to remove the chalk dust that her ice-dress had picked up from the mathematician's office. She gestured to Holmboe and gave his suit a similar treatment.
"As I've said many times, Your Majesty, you are without doubt the most useful crowned head in the world."
"It's nice to know I have a future as a laundress if being a queen doesn't work out for me."
Holmboe smiled and straightened his cravat. He made no attempt at his hair, understanding a lost cause when he saw one. Elsa nodded to him to signal her readiness. He opened the door and announced in the Disnee language, "My lady and gentlemen, I present to you Queen Elsa of Arendelle."
Elsa waited a moment before entering, and Holmboe shut the door behind them. There were two Arendelle guards flanking the door. This was Holmboe's usual classroom, and it was simply furnished with an oblong table and chairs, a clock, and a chalkboard on the wall opposite the door. Once again, Elsa did not look at the people standing at attention as she walked to the head of the table, just in front of the chalkboard. Holmboe noticed the Queen briefly examine the chalkboard before turning to face the group.
There was no chair at that end of the table, but that was by design. With a lazy wave of her hand, a throne made of ice with cushions of snow, much more ornate and comfortable than the wooden official one, materialized out of nothingness. Her audience gasped. She swept her ice cape over her left arm with an elegant motion and sat down. This routine had its origins as a way to forestall both the inevitable clamoring for her to "do the magic" and the occasional accusation of being a fraud.
"Good morning, learned sirs and madam. Please be seated," Elsa bade them, and they did so with varying degrees of gracefulness. As was usual, they were either staring at her in awe or curiosity, or doing a bad job of trying not to stare at her in awe or curiosity.
"Queen Elsa will now entertain your questions and requests, but please remember that she reserves the right to refuse them without explanation," Holmboe said stiffly. He was seated at the far end of the table. "Please introduce yourselves as you ask, and keep it orderly. There will be a larger magic laboratory for you later this week, and if time permits later today, there will be an opportunity for you to observe Her Majesty working with her magic by the harbor."
"Your Majesty, I am Carol Duffin from the Kingdom of Lothian in the Western Isles, author of 'A World History of Real Magic.' May I touch one of your ice creations?" This was the historian, a woman in her late thirties and on the pretty side of average. She was as impatient as Holmboe predicted. Her ardor was entirely evident in her eyes; this was surely something she had been waiting her whole life for. Elsa was scheduled for a long meeting with her tomorrow morning.
With a barely perceptible tilt of her head, Elsa conjured eight different hand-sized snowflake ice sculptures, one for each of the guests, and levitated them to their recipients. Some of the group remained stoic; others tried to but failed; some of them were openly astounded. Duffin was the first to take hold of one. "Real magic," she whispered as she stroked it with an almost religious reverence.
"Please consider them keepsakes or a sample for experimentation, if you wish," Elsa said graciously.
"It's not cold!" Duffin realized.
"I usually make them that way out of courtesy, madam," Elsa explained nonchalantly. "The cold doesn't bother me, but most people don't like to touch real ice for very long. However, if one that is freezing suits your needs better, I will oblige you."
The researchers all flinched as the sculptures became icy cold in their hands. "How did you do that?" exclaimed a man in his mid-thirties, with a neatly trimmed beard and hair as well-combed as Holmboe's was wild.
"Well, sir, the concise answer is that I thought it and willed it to be so. But exactly how and why my will, my thoughts, and my emotions physically manifest themselves is still a mystery," Elsa said with a touch of amusement. "Joule, Clapeyron, von Meyer, Ørsted, and von Helmholtz were here earlier this year; they all left weeping." It was all she could do to keep from giggling.
"Has anyone taken your temperature while you are using your magic?" asked the bearded man.
"Sir, the university's library asks those who come to study the Queen's magic to submit a copy of every paper they publish on the subject," Holmboe said. "Which is not to say that everyone has written up their experiments, findings, and theories, but I suggest checking there first. And would you please introduce yourself?"
"Many apologies, everyone. I am Dr. John Scurr from the Kingdom of Anglia in the Western Isles," he said, and nodded to Duffin. They had met on the voyage to Arendelle.
"Welcome to Arendelle, Dr. Scurr," Elsa greeted him. "I believe you are one of our new physicians and educators."
"I am, Your Majesty," he confirmed. "I look forward to treating the sick and injured and training others how to do so as well."
"Your surgical and diagnostic skills are highly praised, and we are fortunate to have you," Elsa said cordially. "As to my temperature, the measurements fluctuate greatly, even if I'm not actively using my magic. But then again, when I'm not actively using my magic, I am usually restraining it somewhat. So the theory is that I am always interacting with it."
"Are you restraining it now, Your Majesty?" asked a man about the same age and build as Rogalund. "Oh, and I am Professor Giorgio Sinibaldo from the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia."
"I am, Professor Sinibaldo," admitted Elsa. "I am sure you can understand that there is some level of tension when talking with strangers, no matter how often one does it. That tension in turn spurs my magic. I then prevent my magic from externalizing itself."
The visitors exchanged glances. "And how does Your Majesty do that?" asked Scurr.
"The concise answer is self-discipline," Elsa replied. "I try to ignore or suppress the tension in much the same way as some of you are probably doing, and keep my thoughts focused on the other tasks at hand. When the emotion is stronger, there is also something difficult to put into words. If you can imagine trying to physically hold back an emotion or a blizzard, you might understand." She was definitely not going to tell them about Grand Pabbie's command that she needed to learn how to keep control without suppressing her emotions.
"Your Majesty, I am Professor Eliasz Mandelbaum, from the Congress of Poland, and this is my assistant Waclaw Kowalczyk," said a stout, clean-shaven man with grey hair sitting next to a young man who looked to be Elsa's age. "What would your magic be doing right now if you weren't restraining it?"
"Welcome to Arendelle, Professor Mandelbaum and Mr. Kowalczyk. We are glad to have you on our university's faculty," Elsa said genially. "Right now, my magic would make my surroundings cold, probably out to a distance of only nine or ten meters, since I'm not very tense. Neither do I think the feeling is strong enough to directly make frost or snow flurries, but they might happen as a natural consequence."
More glances were exchanged. "Your Majesty, could you allow us to experience this cold?" asked Duffin.
"Are you all willing? If anyone is uncertain about this, he may leave the room, and we will send for him when the demonstration is over," Elsa offered. They all signaled that they were staying put. "All right. If anyone changes his or her mind or becomes physically uncomfortable, please say so."
And then Elsa let her magic go. The drop in the temperature was almost instantaneous, and sent shivers through everyone in the room save the Snow Queen. The visitors' eyes went wide.
"Oh my," whispered Prof. Sinibaldo. "This is just 'tense'?"
"Yes, Professor, this is what my magic reflexively does when I feel tense," Elsa said.
"Your Majesty, perhaps if the others need more data, you can continue this for them during the magic laboratory, but I have had enough," Holmboe said through chattering teeth.
"As you wish," Elsa said, and just as quickly the room's temperature returned to what it had been. Professor Mandelbaum scribbled something down in a notebook.
"Did you feel-" began a balding man.
"You've been holding that-" a middle-aged man with a moustache and dark, keen eyes spoke at the same time. They stopped and looked at each other. The man with the moustache beckoned for the balding man to go first.
"Apologies. Your Majesty, I am Friedrich Homberg from the Kingdom of Prussia; I am something of a naturalist. Do you perceive temperature at all?"
"I can tell 'hotter' from 'colder,' relative to each other," Elsa said. "But neither extreme bothers me. In fact, if you attend this Saturday's magic show, you will see a new segment that I have been recently inspired to add." The sojourn in the volcano had given her a fresh idea for the spectators.
"Your Majesty, I am Professor Nicholas Newark from the Kingdom of Myrcia in the Western Isles," the man with the moustache said. Elsa maintained a polite countenance, but Myrcia was only slightly better than Weselton in her estimation, merely because they hadn't attempted to assassinate her during the debacle after coronation - but she was sure that was merely because they hadn't bothered to send representatives in the first place. "Have you been holding back that cold the since this meeting began?"
Elsa smiled patiently. "Professor Newark, not only since this meeting began, and not only since this day began, but for almost my whole life. Or at least trying to."
"Your whole life?" Newark asked weakly. He seemed sincere.
"Preventing my powers from automatically doing something 'inappropriate' has become almost second nature for me," Elsa said calmly, and hoped that no one would get too fixated on the "almost" part. "I confess that attaining this level of control was not easy. What set off the Eternal Winter was panicking and losing control after I revealed my powers in public ... and then thinking that I had fled a safe enough distance away to not need to worry about hurting anyone anymore."
"Your Majesty, forgive me, but speaking of the topic of your whole life, while the broad arc of your background is well-attested by now, the details seem to be mostly conflicting rumors," said Duffin. "Now, I know that the gates of Arendelle's castle were shut when you were eight years old, and it's safe to assume that was when your powers first manifested-"
"No, madam, my powers first manifested at birth. Or even before, depending on how one interprets certain reports," Elsa corrected.
"Then why did-"
"That was when we first learned just how dangerous my powers can be," Elsa said gravely. "With the information we had at the time, isolation was the only way we knew to keep everyone, including me, safe."
The group mulled the Queen's words over in uneasy silence. A shocked look crept over Duffin's face. "They locked you in your room..." she said hoarsely.
"No, madam," Elsa corrected again. "I locked myself in my room. There's a big difference."
Looks were exchanged once more, and the disquieting quiet of the room and the Queen's placid expression made Holmboe shudder even more than the preceding cold snap did.
"But Your Majesty clearly has excellent control now," Newark prompted, breaking the spell.
"Yes, sir. My powers are much easier to control when I feel positive about them and use them regularly," Elsa affirmed.
"Your Majesty, I am Father Konstantinos Papadopoulos from the Kingdom of Greece. Are you sure that you were born with your powers?" said an elderly man wearing a black cassock and skufia.
"Father, the most logical evaluation of the facts says that I was," Elsa stated. "The people present at my birth reported that I was extremely cold to the touch, and created a fine powder of snow and frosted over my bassinet all within my first few hours. The port town was also covered in ice crystals while my mother was in labor."
"Do you have any theories why you were born with magical powers, Your Majesty?" Papadopoulos asked.
"Not really, Father. Our bishop will be happy to share his thoughts about it with you - as will many other Arendellians if given half a chance and half a pint," Elsa said wryly.
"Can I meet Olaf, Your Majesty?" Papadopoulos asked.
"He will be at the magic lab, Father, but I'm sure you will encounter him in town if you linger in a well-trafficked spot long enough," Elsa suggested. "But everyone should please remember that any mistreatment or misappropriation of Olaf, whether or not he 'agrees' to it, violates the terms of your stay and is not advisable for a number of reasons." They all nodded.
"Your Majesty, may we have a sample of ice that doesn't feel cold to go along with the one that does?" asked Kowalczyk very timidly.
"Certainly, Mr. Kowalczyk," Elsa answered, nailing the pronunciation perfectly. With the blink of her eye, everyone had a second ice sculpture.
"Your Majesty, why haven't you taken-" Homberg started to say.
"-over the world yet?" Elsa finished. Homberg nodded. "I would gain nothing desirable by it, Mr. Homberg. Or at least nothing desirable that isn't easier to obtain and retain peacefully and fairly."
"Our philosopher-queen," Holmboe said with a smile. "My lady and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that this room needs to be cleared for an upcoming class. Her Majesty will return to the castle for the next item on her agenda. I would like to remind you that if the day goes according to plan, there will be a practical application of Her Majesty's magic later on. I also recommend a comprehensive perusal of the papers in our library concerning the Queen's magic."
"Thank you, Professor Holmboe," said Elsa. "If you need anything clarified before the magic lab, I will try to provide you with an answer. And I hope to see you all at tonight's dinner at the castle."
The Queen stood, and everyone else rose as well. With a minimal shrug of her shoulders, the ice throne vanished. But instead of walking to the door, she turned to face the chalkboard. For the first time, the guests paid notice to what was written on it. It was a conjecture that Holmboe's previous class had been discussing: "Is there a function that is everywhere continuous but nowhere differentiable?" Of the visitors, only Mandelbaum and Sinibaldo had even the slightest understanding of the concepts.
Elsa took a piece of chalk in hand and wrote the sum from zero to infinity of [1/(2^n)]{cos[(13^n)pi*x]}. She turned back toward the table and nodded graciously to everyone before gliding to the door. One of the guards opened it for her, and they both fell in step behind her as she exited the room.
Author's Notes - *Trying not to give too much away, but while there will be an insane fire entity (I mean, you can't do a story like this and not have one), it won't be Anna and the biggest danger to Elsa won't be the straightforward "fire vs. ice" confrontation. She is simply that ridiculously powerful, going by what we see in the movie and what science shows us. I will go into more detail in upcoming chapters. I'm trying to do something that you haven't seen/read umpteen times before.
And while multiple people, including Anna, will have multiple "plans" for Elsa, Anna will always mean well, from a certain point of view. Of course, there are chapters titled "Your Kingdom Will Splinter" and "The Sunflower Versus The Snowflake," so the certain point of view might not necessarily be light and fluffy - or black and white.
One of the things I like about the original movie is how the members of the Arendelle royal family are simultaneously in the right and in the wrong, depending on point of view and how deeply you want to think about it. It was once explained to me that the ancient Greeks' concept of drama was not "right vs. wrong" but rather "right vs. right," albeit usually with one of the "rights" more right from their particular point of view than the other. For about 83% of the original movie, there is no villain - excepting the Weselton troupe, who have minimal screentime. That concept of a conflict without a clear villain is what made the movie surprisingly satisfying, and is surprisingly hard to pull off.
* Elsa finds the Weierstrass pathological function (but without the ugly, ugly proof) before Weierstrass. It was one of the first fractals, except nobody knew what fractals were or even what the graph of the function looked like until far into the future. It somewhat inspired the Koch snowflake, and is really hard to format in fanfiction.
Holmboe is a tribute to the tutor of Abel, who was a very gifted Norwegian mathematician who helped make it fashionable to die from tuberculosis at a young age. Mandelbaum is a tribute to Mandelbrot.
* Based on the idea that the Southern Isles kinda are Denmark without the Jutland Peninsula, the Western Isles are the British Isles with the big change that the isle of Britain is not in one piece but is many smaller islands relatively close together. Ireland is still Ireland. More explanations in due time.
