20. Signs and Wonders

"That h-h-horse t-t-talked," Homberg stammered.

"That's a snow-horse," Duffin said, reduced to pointing out the obvious.

"That's Sleipnir," said Anna, recovering her poise. It would never do to let the guests remain gibbering idiots in front of a creature that already considered them to be gibbering idiots. "He's kind of a show-off."

"Just being what I am, Princess," Sleipnir whispered, making sure the sibilance in "princess" had a slightly menacing tone. He was in a playful mood; the ride back from the trolls' valley had been stimulating.

"Fair enough," Anna conceded, not wanting to make waves right now. "And moving back to the ice sc-"

"There was no mention of a snow-horse in any of the-" Homberg broke in.

"He's a relatively recent addition," Anna interrupted right back. "And moving back to the ice sculp-"

"The Queen can create life so easily?" Homberg interjected.

"You should ask her about that. She makes it look effortless, although I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes," Anna deflected. "But believe me, she doesn't take that part of her powers lightly. And moving back to the ice sculptures-"

"It is said that during the Great Thaw the flowers sprang back to life; and the trees that had lost their leaves immediately put forth new foliage; and the grass was still as green as before the snow covered it," Papadopoulos said with hushed awe.

Anna sighed and gave in. "It's true. Our grain and vegetable crops were as unaffected as the grass and flowers. And the fruit trees blossomed again right away, and the fruit grew so quickly that everything turned out fine by harvest time."

"But she is the Snow Queen and not the, uh, Vegetation Queen, correct?" Papadopoulos dared to ask.

"I think she can only undo the effects of her magic, and under normal conditions can't make plants more vigorous than usual, if that's what you're getting at," Kristoff chipped in.

"Has she ... tried?" Papadopoulos queried a bit sheepishly.

"You would have to ask her or look at the write-ups in the library," Kristoff replied. "I supply natural ice if the researchers request it, but otherwise I don't get too involved with the experimental stuff."

"It's just that I personally would not associate having control over the cold with the ability to create living beings, even if they are made from snow, and yet she obviously can do that," the priest expounded. "So some of my colleagues back home and I wonder if she could have other powers waiting to be discovered. I hope to have a nice chat tonight with Arendelle's bishop."

"So you aren't going to accuse her of being a witch or a demon or at least a pagan?" Anna asked, trying to take his measure. More than one theologian had first arrived in town ready to pounce.

"Gracious, no, Your Highness. The Bible, and indeed all of the sacred texts of other religions that I am aware of, are filled with extremely holy people performing miracles, so 'magic' is not exclusively from the realm of evil. 'And the LORD said unto Moses, See I have made thee a god to Pharaoh...' " Papadopoulos quoted.

" '...And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt,' " continued Debora quietly. " 'But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay My hand upon Egypt, and bring forth Mine armies, and My people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.' "

"And obviously not all of the miracles performed by the extremely holy people were pleasant," Homberg pronounced somberly.

"My sister did not set off a plague! The Eternal Winter was an accident, and once she figured out how to undo it, she undid it right away! And she has never claimed to be a prophet or have any kind of divine power!" Anna said vehemently.

"We are not suggesting otherwise, Your Highness," the priest said gently. "Merely that 'magic' or 'miracles' -whatever one wishes to call the phenomena- cannot be lumped into a single category. Therefore I am not so quick to judge and begin the name-calling.

"I also fail to see the wisdom of antagonizing someone who could pelt me with an infinite supply of snowballs; even the most good-natured person can only take so much provocation," Papadopoulos added with a smile.

"Another human who understands his place in the natural order," Sleipnir said in his thin undertone, and again everyone jumped except Sven and Olaf. "This is a rare day."

"Why couldn't she have made you with a voice that at least matches your body?" Anna was compelled to complain.

"I would have no other voice, even if Elsa offered to change it," susurrated Sleipnir proudly. "I'm not just saying that to annoy you."

"Uh, Sleipnir, sir," Papadopoulos began, uncertain how to address the snow-horse, "have you ever wanted Queen Elsa to change anything about you?"

"No, I am happy being perfect," Sleipnir admitted.

"Of course," Papadopoulos concurred. "What about you, Olaf?"

"Sometimes I want to have more color," Olaf said. "Elsa turned me green one time and purple another time, but we all agreed that it looked wrong. After that, she gave me some scarves and a few hats so I can put color on when I want to - and she gave me these funky-looking rocks so I can switch out my coal buttons."

For the first time, Homberg properly took note of the rocks from the volcano that ran down Olaf's body segments. "May I have a closer look at one of those, Olaf?" the naturalist asked.

"Sure thing," said Olaf as he plucked one off and handed it over. He reached into Sven's stall where he had stored the bag with his regular buttons and the obsidian, and began to put his coal back on. Homberg painstakingly scrutinized the rock from the volcano's inner wall.

"You say Queen Elsa gave you this?" the Prussian asked, his curiosity piqued.

Anna and Kristoff looked at each other, sensing that the conversation was heading in the wrong direction. Fortunately, Anna was positioned behind Homberg, and began subtly but urgently shaking her head at Olaf and making similar gestures with her hands. Unfortunately, her actions were plainly visible to Dr. Scurr, Duffin, and the Mandelbaums.

"Yeah. Nice, isn't it? Sparkly, colorful crystals," Olaf said, still quite thrilled with the present.

"Do you know where she got it from?" Homberg asked, by now deeply intrigued by the rock.

"Y-" Olaf broke off, finally noticing Anna's motions. "Um, no, I don't, now that I think about it."

"Hmm. Something to ask Her Majesty about later, then," Homberg said distractedly. "May I see the others, Olaf?"

"Here you go," said Olaf as he handed over the bag.

"Is this the same fabric as Queen Elsa's dress?" Homberg asked as he ran his fingers over the material.

"Yes," Anna cut in, hoping to guide the questions away from the rocks and their place of origin. "It might be a little heavier and coarser, but it's ice-fabric."

"Amazing. It's like silk," Homberg said appreciatively. He fished into the bag, and pulled out one of the obsidian pieces. He whistled. "Did the Queen give you this one, too?"

"Yup," said Olaf, quite pleased about the attention his rocks were getting.

Homberg put the obsidian back in and removed another one from the volcano wall. "I wish I had my magnifying glass handy."

"Wait a minute," Olaf told him and went back into Sven's stall, reemerging with a magnifier that was clearly made by the Snow Queen. "Try this one."

Upon testing it, Homberg momentarily lost interest in the rocks and found himself newly fixated on the ice-lens. "How-" he started.

"Magic," Kristoff answered patiently.

"The Queen makes things like this, too," Irene said as she handed Homberg her monocular.

"The dial by the eye end changes the focus," Beatrice added.

Homberg selected several targets, laughing with astonishment. "Where-"

"The Royal Gift Shop," Anna answered patiently. "We also have binoculars and small telescopes. Although I'm sure the Queen will give you some for free. She made a few microscopes for some scientists earlier this year, too."

"Your Highness, I would gladly pay a small fortune for field glasses of this quality, with this adjustable focus, as would every other person who delights in observing the natural world. This changes everything!" Homberg broke into a clumsy jig. Olaf joined in, understanding pure joy when he saw it.

"Mama, we can give Mr. Homberg ours if he wants it," Adam suggested.

"No, no, no! I'll not hear of it, dear boy," Homberg said resolutely. "All I want is to find this Royal Gift Shop. They can take my money!"

"Come on," said Olaf eagerly. "I'll show you!" He waddled back toward the gates, with Sven, Homberg, and Papadopoulos in tow. Duffin and Scurr fell in step behind them.

Anna and Kristoff shared another quick glance, silently determining that Olaf's conversations with these people probably needed to be monitored until they could explain the need to keep any information that might lead to the discovery of the trolls a secret, and joined the parade. The rest of the Scurr family and the Mandelbaums tagged along because the chance to interact with so many of Arendelle's celebrities was too good to pass up.

Up in the castle, Elsa smiled as she watched the group's antics from a window until they filed out through the gates. She couldn't understand everything that she had seen, but judging from Homberg's reaction to the monocular, she had an inkling they were going off to get one for him.

She continued her way from the family dining room to her study, not entirely looking forward to the pile of documents awaiting her there. She would have preferred to get started sifting through them at lunch, but she knew how much the castle staff disapproved of it when she worked during meals. Quite frankly, it baffled her; when she ate alone, she didn't see any difference between doing it in the dining room or her study. But since Gerda and Kai and so many of the other employees had a strong opinion on the matter, she was willing to indulge them.

Elsa settled in her chair and grabbed the topmost papers: the latest projections for Arendelle's harvest yields, the latest projections for visitors to Arendelle in the upcoming winter and early spring seasons, the latest prices and surplus reports on several food commodities from nearby trade partners, and the balance of Arendelle's food purchases from earlier in the year. The Queen commenced with the serious analysis of one of the most pressing problems created by the boom in tourism and diplomatic missions in Arendelle. Since the country's agricultural output in some staples was just barely above self-sufficient for the citizens, feeding all the guests was something of a logistical headache, especially with winter and early spring storms making sea travel risky. And the case of a crop like wheat, which Arendelle could not grow enough of to meet even the natives' needs, was much more troublesome.

She estimated the probabilities of the various projections being correct, and then did some calculations. Then she did another set of calculations, assuming a worst case scenario for all the variables. Finally, she hacked out a third set, assuming everything went for the best. Elsa wrote down the numbers in a table format, and a few notes along side them, and sat back to think about the options and consequences.

After careful consideration, she came to a conclusion and rang the bell to summon Kai. A few moments later, the major domo knocked and entered at Elsa's bidding. "You rang, Your Majesty?" he politely enquired.

"Inform the purchasing agents that we could use one thousand bushels of wheat; right now, Anglia, France, and Corona have reasonable prices and the surpluses to fill the order," Elsa said. "Also, we need five hundred bushels each of barley and oats; Lothian and Anglia have the surplus. And ask them to acquire however many casks of butter, bushels of root vegetables, and wheels of cheese they have room for on the ships. This is probably our last window of decent weather to get the ships out and back before the storms roll in."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Kai said.

"Just like doing the household shopping for the week," Elsa said dryly. "Only a lot more so. Arendelle will never be forced to subsist on surströmming during the winter as long as I'm the Queen." The mere thought of that putrid fish was almost enough to bring Elsa's lunch back up.

"The country thanks you for that, ma'am," Kai said, shuddering at the mention of the fermented horror whose importation was banned by a royal decree. "I assume you foresee a busy winter."

"Actually, I foresee being price-gouged at trade negotiations next spring, now that everybody knows we have extra mouths to feed. I'd rather buy a surplus now at a price that isn't too appalling than need to scramble next year when the first crowds arrive. Besides, it's not like it's going to spoil," Elsa added with a smirk. Olaf's carrot nose and stick arms weren't the only things she could preserve indefinitely.

"Very good, Your Majesty," the overseer said deferentially. "I don't know how the other countries cope without monarchs as useful and thoughtful as you."

"From what I hear from the various delegations that pass through here, many of them don't cope," Elsa said solemnly. "Their rulers either can't understand the problems or can't find solutions to the problems. I often wonder why they weren't prepared better to govern."

"Your Majesty, if it isn't being too bold to say so, you did have the luxury of the kind of education and intellectual encouragement that is available to few others, no matter how rich and powerful the family," Kai pointed out.

"I suppose you're right. Father had high standards and didn't stint in that regard," Elsa said pensively.

"It was the only way he had to dote on you, my Queen," Kai replied softly.

"Now that is being too bold," Elsa said sternly.

"I apologize, Your Majesty," Kai said, bowing. "Was there anything else?"

"How are the final preparations for the Harvest Festival going?" Elsa asked.

"Smoothly, it seems, Your Majesty," Kai told her. "At some point on Thursday, the foundry workers will want to go over the specifics for the new part of your magic show that your memorandum asked me to tell them about. And the choir master will probably want your presence at the final rehearsal early on Saturday morning."

"How is Princess Anna coming with the ball-" Elsa was interrupted by the chime that announced the arrival of an expected visitor to the castle. "Speaking of the foundry..."

"Most likely it is, Your Majesty. Please remember that they have worked very hard to make the things you are going to break," Kai mock scolded.

"It's in the name of science. And I promise to make it look like I'm trying really hard when I snap their steel like a twig," Elsa quipped. "Hopefully these samples will have the properties we need. I realize this is still a trial-and-error process, but all of these 'back to the drawing board' failures have put us behind schedule on the harbor renovation."

"But we are learning a lot in the meantime, Your Majesty," Kai proposed as he held the study's door open for the Queen.

"Certainly. I expect most of the formulations that haven't passed the tests to find an application elsewhere," Elsa allowed as she and the handler exited the room and made their way down to the front parlor where a messenger from the foundry was indeed waiting for them.

He was young, probably a new apprentice and quite possibly from an ice-harvesting family - and completely taken aback by the presence of the Queen. "Your Majesty," he said quickly, bowing awkwardly but earnestly.

"Good day, sir," Elsa acknowledged graciously. The youth stood silently for a few moments, having temporarily forgotten his purpose.

"Was there something you wanted to tell Her Majesty?" Kai prompted gently.

"Oh, yes, sir," the young man said, snapping out of his reverie. "Master Torvik from the foundry is ready for you at the waterfront, Your Majesty."

"Thank you for informing us," Kai said. "Please tell Master Torvik that Her Majesty will arrive shortly."

"I shall, sir," the messenger said. He bowed awkwardly again to the Queen and nearly hit the door frame on his way out.

"I guess I really should let you take care of all the front parlor meetings by yourself," Elsa said with a sigh.

"It is part of my job, Your Majesty," Kai said with a reassuring smile. "And I am happy to do it." Kai definitely did not miss the days of sporadic by-invitation-only visitors to the castle.

Two guards deployed themselves as the Queen's escorts as she and Kai passed through the gates. It was more for show than protection or crowd control, since Elsa was more than capable of handling threats and general unruliness by herself. When they neared the end of the causeway, Kai bowed to his monarch as he went in the direction of the warehouses and purchasing agents to deliver the Queen's orders.

Elsa continued down to the waterfront proper. The men from the foundry were standing by some long metal rods, a pile of chain, and what looked like a large, squat box and two cylinders made from ice resting on the ground. A crowd was beginning to gather around them. A free small-scale magic show was still a free magic show.

The craftsmen bowed to the Queen as she approached. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," she said to them. "Did you send a runner to the university to let the researchers know you are ready to begin?" They were a taciturn lot, which didn't bother Elsa in the slightest, and Master Torvik merely nodded to her. "Could you send another messenger to the Royal Gift Shop? I suspect the other half of our special guests are still there." Again, Torvik merely nodded. He looked at the young man who had come to the castle and gave a slight toss of his head in the Gift Shop's direction. The youth sped off as though he were delivering news of an impending invasion.

It wasn't too much longer before Mandelbaum, Kowalczyk, Newark, and Sinibaldo made their appearance, accompanied by just about everybody from the new part of town who could find an excuse to come along once they heard the Queen was going to use her magic: Minister Rogalund; the Daloans; the Khentiians; most of the ambassadors to Arendelle and some of their personnel; most of the university faculty, with Professor Holmboe in the lead; many students, with Åsa among them; and Einar firmly gripping Dag by the arm.

Torvik mumbled something under his breath.

A few more moments passed, and Anna, Kristoff, and the rest of their party showed up - followed by almost every merchant who could step away from his or her store, all the shoppers, several tour groups, and the Minister of Tourism himself, Frode Haugen, who rarely missed any public display of magic.

"Why don't we just send out an engraved invitation to everyone in the entire kingdom next time?" Torvik grumbled. It was bad enough when the Snow Queen destroyed weeks' worth of brain-storming, trouble-shooting, and physical labor with no one else looking on. All these people just increased the frustration.

As if on cue, most of the town's children came running out of the side streets. A quick glance toward the castle revealed much of the staff and many of the guards lining the balconies, with monoculars at the ready. Torvik buried his face in his hands.

Anna pushed through the growing multitude, leading her flock forward. Einar glimpsed the top of Kristoff's head and, since he never was the most reserved person, dragged Åsa and Dag along as well. They all finally broke through to the front row, and Irene and Debora and their children laid their eyes on the Queen of Arendelle for the first time.

Author's notes - Surströmming is a fermented fish product that is apparently infamously vile. There's a Youtube video titled "Dog Tries Surströmming Swedish Fermented Herring *Warning*" (no bad language, but graphic vomitting) uploaded by trummismalin that gives a pretty good indication of what it smells like - and dogs don't exaggerate. There are other videos like "Americans Try Surströmming (The Smelliest Food In The Word)" by BuzzFeed that go into more detail, with quite a bit of bad language, which is probably justified, and wretching. I could totally see Elsa banning it as a biological weapon.

I base the characters' discussion of the Great Thaw on what was clearly shown in the movie. The crocuses definitely bounced right back. The grass showed no sign of frostbite or any other damage either during the Great Thaw proper or in the aftermath when the foreign dignitaries were sailing out. And around about 1:19:51 in the movie there's a few seconds where a deciduous tree can be seen with bright green leaves (in the upper left hand corner of the screen) as the snow is lifting off the rooftops, despite all of the broadleaf trees being shown with bare branches during the Eternal Winter; while this is possibly an animation error, certainly by the time the dignitaries are leaving and Anna is giving Kristoff the new sled, all the trees in town had leaves again. So it makes sense to infer -especially with this being a Disney movie and all- that there was No Endor Holocaust from the Eternal Winter. Also, I don't think the citizens would have been so happy at the Skate Party Ending if Elsa had just wiped out all the crops and they were going to have to eat surströmming or go broke importing food in order to survive the natural winter. Like I said, Elsa is ridiculously powerful; at her level in the movie, she's like at least five out of six Infinity Gems strong - and her power will only grow. But we're going to roll with it.