27. Fumbled Reception
"Good evening, Ice Master Bjorgman and Admiral Sverdrup. Hello there, Agnete, it's such a shame that Lennart keeps dragging you to these dull events," Nilsson hailed the trio.
"Someone needs to be here to cart him home in case he starts singing sea shanties and spouting nonsense about kraken sightings and maritime skirmishes that never happened," the Admiral's wife said with a smile.
"I know, but Her Majesty could at least set up some nine-pin lanes in one corner of the ball room to relieve the monotony," Nilsson said. "I've asked her many times, but she's such a stickler for protocol. Every now and then, I regret my promotion to the council."
"You know you'd be sitting at home crocheting if you weren't here," Agnete told Nilsson. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, Ragnhild."
"All right, so none of us are really that exciting," Nilsson allowed. "Except Princess Anna. One never knows what Her Highness will be up to next. I like that girl's pluck." Kristoff blinked.
"The Ice Master is standing right here," the Admiral said softly.
"I know that! I may be past my prime, but I'm not blind or daft yet," Nilsson chided. "I already said 'good evening' to him. Anyway, that gentleman there wanted to know if Queen Elsa could whip you at warfare of the conventional kind."
"Er, that's not the way I phrased it or even what I meant, sir," Newark clarified, and the Admiral gave him an understanding smile. "I just wondered if Her Majesty was taught modern tactics and strategy. It would be part of a crown prince's education."
"She did indeed, sir. All of the recent conflicts in the main part of Europe and the revolts in the New World were thoroughly analyzed," the Admiral acknowledged. "And she's versed in older military styles and techniques. Of course, the main concentration was on the protection of Arendelle, which, thanks be to God, is a defender's dream even with normal weapons."
"Any drills, perchance, using Her Majesty's powers in conjunction with normal weapons, sir?" Newark trawled.
The Admiral gave him a sly smile. "I am not at liberty to say, sir. But it's obvious to anyone with a modicum of martial sense that the Snow Queen is not an opponent to take lightly."
"Yes, much of what she did at today's little materials test would tend to be very useful against a belligerent force," Newark noted dryly.
"We all hope and firmly believe that there will never be any need, sir," the Admiral said sincerely as one of the waiters passed by with a tray of champagne flutes. Nilsson gingerly harvested one. "I am surprised you didn't finish off the Queen's wine after she left the room."
"Oh, I did try to once, but it's just colored water, not wine," Nilsson revealed. Everyone in the group stared at her. "Oops. I'm not sure if I am at liberty to say that."
"I doubt you are at liberty to even know that, Minister Nilsson," Admiral Sverdrup rebuked.
"How was I supposed to know it was just to keep up appearances? Besides, it's not as if anybody could think that she was close to tipsy when she left the table," Nilsson said defensively and took a long sip of the champagne.
"Please let that drink be your last one of the reception, Ragnhild," the Admiral said in a more gentle tone. Everyone in the group stared at him.
"A sensible suggestion, Lennart," Nilsson granted.
"Please don't mind us. We're old friends," Agnete said to the researchers and Kristoff. "The Ice Master was telling us that Miss Duffin has traveled extensively around the world."
"Yes, I've been to every continent except Antarctica multiple times," Duffin said, cooperating with the change of subject. "I was most recently in the territory in the New World that declared its independence from Spain."
"Sounds exciting," the Admiral said, intrigued.
"Oh, it was ... especially since parts of the region are having a bit of a civil war," Duffin said casually. "The things one learns only after one arrives at one's destination."
"How horrible!" Agnete uttered.
"Fortunately, it was intermittent, mostly small in scale, and centered around certain towns and plantations," Duffin said indifferently. "But it did make finding guides and porters more difficult."
"Did you discover anything of interest?" Nilsson asked, and took a smaller sip of her champagne.
"I came across nothing that couldn't be explained by regular extraordinary human endeavor or natural phenomena, but plenty from traditional historical, archaeological, and anthropological standpoints. Even though the ruins were covered by jungle, they were remarkable. And when I could get the natives to talk about their folklore and old beliefs, it was fascinating, especially to compare tales about the Mayan culture's Hero Twins with European and Indian stories about Divine Twins. At least I'll get a good travelogue out of it," Duffin said with a smile.
"My word, I guess I went into the wrong line of work," the Admiral said in astonishment. "I was told that following the sea was for adventure-seekers, but it turns out I should have written non-fiction."
"I hate to break this to you, dear, but you're really not an adventure-seeker, and you don't have a way with words," Agnete teased her husband. He had to chuckle.
"Were you ever scared?" Zlata meekly asked Duffin.
"Not on this particular trip," Duffin replied. "But I have had moments when I've wondered if I would ever see Lothian again. Forces of nature have been the main culprits, but often aided and abetted by human cowardice and incompetence. I've had a few guides abandon me out of fear or get us lost. And it happens at the worst possible junctures."
"Tell me about it," Homberg commiserated. "I spent weeks looking for an extremely rare species in the wrong valley because the guide turned left five kilometers too soon. Of course, I've found some extremely rare species that way, too."
"No such luck for me, at least magic-wise," Duffin sighed. "When I was a child, I always used to dream about finding something amazing in some remote area after a long, hard quest, after needing to do something special to unlock the magic. But after years of chasing the dream, I am actually fine with Queen Elsa openly existing in a commonplace, stable country with reliable transportation and inns and banks and chocolate cake and flush toilets."
"Funny how youthful desires can change or handle compromises," Nilsson mused.
"I still would like to be the first person to discover something magical, or at least the first modern person to rediscover something that was long lost or long relegated to legend," Duffin admitted. "Although Queen Elsa is going to be a tough act to follow."
"Speaking of which, Her Majesty is heading this way," alerted the Admiral as he stood up straight and brushed off his coat.
Debora and Eliasz gave Zlata heartening smiles. Everyone, even Minister Nilsson, stiffened slightly and smoothed his or her clothes.
"Good evening, Admiral Sverdrup and Mrs. Sverdrup," Elsa said pleasantly and made eye contact with each one of them as she spoke their names. "Fancy meeting you here, Minister Nilsson and Ice Master Bjorgman. Hello again, Dr. Scurr, Professor Mandelbaum, Professor Newark, Professor Sinibaldo, Father Papadopoulos, Miss Duffin, Mr. Homberg, and Mr. Kowalczyk. Welcome to Arendelle, Mrs. Scurr, Mrs. Mandelbaum, and Miss Mandelbaum." They all bowed or curtsied in turn. "I hope you all enjoyed dinner and find the company tolerable."
"The dinner was delicious, Your Majesty, not to rub it in. Maybe someone can slip you some cookies under your door tonight, like old times, to make up for it," Nilsson said. Kristoff, the Admiral, and Agnete flinched.
"I am well fed for the day, Minister Nilsson," Elsa said dryly. "I made sure to eat more for lunch than I normally do."
"You knew she was going to steal your dessert?" John couldn't help interjecting.
"Oh, no, Dr. Scurr. I knew we were having roast beef, which is not one of my favorites," Elsa disclosed. "So I counterbalanced for it at lunch."
"That's our Queen, always anticipating problems, always thinking ahead," the Admiral said with light-hearted pride to the foreigners.
"Good! But you can't let something like this happen again. You need to think ahead, to anticipate your needs, just like I'm teaching you how to anticipate Arendelle's needs. You need to eat something before you get too hungry," Agnarr lectured gently but urgently.
"See the problem and solve it before it even happens..." Elsa reflected.
Elsa briefly closed her eyes as the Admiral's statement summoned an old memory which she quickly pushed out of her consciousness.
Papadopoulos' puzzled countenance pulled her back to the present conversation. "Wait. If you don't like roast beef, Your Majesty, why was it served?" questioned the priest.
"Because for all her advanced lessons, she failed Beginner's Queening," quipped Nilsson. The Admiral pursed his lips to fight back a laugh.
"Because, Father, I know most of the attendees like it, particularly Her Highness, and it's a very convenient thing for our kitchen to make for a large group," Elsa explained.
"That's considerate of you, Your Majesty," commended Papadopoulos.
"For the record, the soup, salad, and dessert were to my taste. Three out of four isn't that bad as far as compromises go," Elsa said.
"So Your Majesty can count," Newark said drolly, but his expression became more serious as he examined the snowflake pattern on Elsa's dress up close for the first time.
"When I apply myself, Professor Newark," Elsa said affably, but her expression became more serious as she noticed Newark staring at her upper torso. Newark reddened with embarrassment and lowered his eyes as he realized what part of the Queen's anatomy he had been gawking at. "Did I spill some soup on myself? I thought I checked well enough."
"Deepest apologies, Your Majesty, for staring," Newark said nervously. "The design on your dress caught my attention. There seems to be some very fine detail to it."
"Oh," Elsa said simply, entirely unoffended. She moved her fingers as though playing a harp, and a one meter by one meter square of the ice-fabric that her dinner dress was made from appeared, stretched taut and floating in the air like a banner. It immediately drew the interest of all of the guests. "Yes, there is some very fine detail to it. I'm afraid that counting the number of snowflakes in it would take quite a long time."
The conversational cluster moved in closer to inspect the sample. A large version of Elsa's signature snowflake was centered on the cloth, and at the tip of each blade, another smaller snowflake sprouted. On each of the smaller snowflakes, smaller yet snowflakes grew on the five points that weren't attached to the parent snowflake. The formula was repeated on the smaller yet snowflakes, and the process continued as far as the naked eye could perceive. They all gasped in wonder.
"Does that really go on forever?" Papadopoulos asked, straining his eyes at the decreasing glittering branches of snowflakes.
"As far as I can tell," Elsa said with a touch of amusement. This had the potential to distract the guests, even the haughty ones, from Anna's little caper with dessert. "Hold out your hand, Father, if you please."
The priest did so without hesitation, and everyone marveled as a relatively flat pouch of ice-fabric materialized in his palm. Papadopoulos opened it to expose a set of three magnifying glasses like the one Olaf had loaned Homberg earlier in the day.
"Your Majesty, if you wouldn't mind..." Homberg requested, holding out his hand. All the others in research group did the same, along with Irene, Debora, and Zlata. Professor Fauth, Mrs. Westcott, Mr. Eyde, the Khentiians, and the Daloans had made their way over to the hanging fabric, and signaled their desire for a set as well.
Elsa flicked her wrist, and similar pouches shimmered into existence, hovering in the air in front of the intended beneficiaries. "The largest lens is the most powerful of the triad," Elsa told them. Eliasz, Newark, Sinibaldo, and Papadopoulos were already using the gifts to scrutinize the fabric. The others were waiting patiently for their turns, but Elsa created more squares of patterned cloth for them to look at.
"Many thanks, Your Majesty," Homberg said, bowing. Elsa nodded graciously in response and began to move on to the next guests, but Homberg had a sudden thought as he took the magnifying glasses out of the pouch. "But this reminds me, Your Majesty! Olaf was wearing some very decorative rocks for buttons this afternoon, and said that you had given them to him, but he didn't know where you had gotten them from."
"They were a present from an acquaintance from Iceland, along with the obsidian, if Olaf showed you those pieces, too," Elsa answered without stopping to think for even a second. Kristoff wasn't sure if she had thought up the false story in advance, or was just extemporizing.
"So they are volcanic in origin?" Homberg ascertained.
"To the best of my knowledge, yes, Mr. Homberg," Elsa confirmed.
"I thought so. But I must admit I was hoping the source was somewhere near here," Homberg said with a trace of disappointment.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Homberg, Iceland isn't an easy day trip, but I understand it's an enchanting place to visit if you delight in geology," Elsa said. Kristoff rolled his eyes at Elsa's inner eight-year-old's private joke.
"I plan to go there one day, Your Majesty. Perhaps I can send Olaf a few more stylish rocks," Homberg put forward.
"He would love that, Mr. Homberg. But please don't feel that you need to take risks to get one for him," Elsa appealed.
"I promise I won't do anything more imprudent than I usually do, Your Majesty," Homberg said, and they both smiled as Elsa resumed making her rounds.
Happily for the Queen, most of the guests this evening were frequently invited to the castle's formal dinners, and so she didn't need to protract her individual greetings with them. She saw a small herd containing university faculty sipping on champagne or brandy and stepped over to meet them.
"Good evening, Monsieur de Gercy, Dean Solheim, Professor Nyberg, Professor Holmboe and Mrs. Holmboe, Mrs. and Mr. Aune, Professor Brinell and Mrs. Brinell," Elsa said warmly. They all bowed or curtsied in return.
"That was a wonderful joke, Your Majesty," Prof. Holmboe complimented.
"I'm glad you and the crickets liked it, Professor Holmboe," Elsa said self-deprecatingly.
"Oh, it was a good one, as far as math jokes go, Your Majesty," Dean Solheim assured her, "but it wasn't the 'laugh out loud' sort of funny math joke."
"Are there any?" Nyberg needled.
"Did you hear about the consti-?" Prof. Holmboe began.
"Stop right there, Bernhard Holmboe!" Mrs. Holmboe interrupted. "That one is totally inappropriate! The Queen is present!"
"The Queen already knows this one!" Prof. Holmboe protested.
"Be that as it may, it's not polite to tell that one in public," Mrs. Holmboe said firmly. "And it is not 'laugh out loud' funny."
"I rest my case," Nyberg said smugly.
"Oh, like there are any 'laugh out loud' funny engineering jokes," Prof. Holmboe charged.
"A uniform beam walks into a tavern-" Nyberg started.
"Gentlemen, please stop," Solheim admonished. "We have already had enough scenes this- Sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't mean to insinuate-"
"It's quite all right, Dean Solheim," Elsa said evenly. "I'm the one who should apologize to you for the commotion tonight. If I had known Princess Anna had put the staff up to that little bit of mischief, I would have eaten quietly and spoken privately with her and her accomplices later."
"The Princess is just young and spirited," said Monsieur de Gercy, the older of the two men accompanying the French ambassador. "At the right times and places, such qualities are nice, and help old men like me remember the bloom of our own youth. Her Highness merely needs some guidance, maybe a little bit of tutoring. Arendelle has adjusted very well to hosting an international crowd, but perhaps we forget that it has been only a little over a year since the castle's gates have reopened after being shut for thirteen years, and it is not fair to expect everyone and everything to be perfectly polished."
Elsa had a strong suspicion that the French ambassador's chief of staff already had a certain someone in mind to "tutor" her sister. Anna was still considered a highly desirable prize, despite it being well-known that the Crown Princess and the Ice Master were courting, and every so often, men would come to Arendelle to try to woo her away from Kristoff. Although Elsa grasped that it riled Kristoff, and probably caused his self-doubt to flare up, and distressed or angered Anna, there wasn't much she could do to put a stop to it, especially the more subtle attempts; such things would continue at least until there was an official engagement, or, given the stakes involved and the power of human determination, possibly even up to the wedding day.
"Very true, Monsieur," Elsa said thoughtfully. "I will take time to give Princess Anna a refresher in our code of conduct. She genuinely has a good heart, and cares deeply about others."
"Ah, but Your Majesty is already very busy. I know how hard you work, and furthermore, I appreciate how hard you work. You are making not just your own country, but also many others better places. It would be a shame to pile one more thing on you, especially since Princess Anna's faults are so few and minor in nature, and could be remedied by someone with less vital things to do," de Gercy cajoled. "We have a young man who recently joined our mission, the second son of the Marquis d'Ambly, seeking to make his way in the foreign service. As things stand, he will inherit no title, but the family is influential and wealthy, and he is very well-bred, in terms of both manners and pedigree, and well-educated. We were just discussing if it would be possible for him to informally attend some courses at your university in his free time."
Elsa suppressed a giggle. This was not one of the more subtle attempts, although the real plan probably was to find out what classes Anna frequented and have d'Ambly fils shadow her and eventually introduce himself, but tonight's episode gave them this prospect. She wasn't sure if the young man was pursuing Anna of his own accord, or if he was being coerced into it by his family or his country.
"That is such a kind offer, Monsieur de Gercy, but trying to teach my sister certain things can be on the challenging side, and I cannot inflict such a trial on someone else," Elsa deflected.
"Well, if you should ever find your schedule overbooked, Your Majesty, please do not hesitate to knock on our door," de Gercy said, not at all surprised or affronted.
"I will keep that in mind, Monsieur," Elsa said cordially. "When I'm at my wits' end, I'll stop in for something restorative."
"Ah, but you have very fine stuff right here at the castle, Your Majesty," de Gercy said approvingly, and swirled the brandy in his snifter before taking a sip.
"Thank you, Monsieur, but I meant tea," Elsa gently deadpanned, They bowed and curtsied again, and the Queen nodded and moved off to the last two groups.
Anna, meanwhile, was also almost done with greeting everyone. She had saved Kristoff, the Admiral and his wife, Nilsson, and her new foreign friends for last, with the intention of staying with them for the rest of the reception. They were still bunched around the floating ice-fabric, and didn't see her approach.
"Um, hi, everyone," Anna said mutedly, so as to not startle them. They all turned to face her.
"Good evening, Princess Anna," said the Admiral.
"Glad to see you, Admiral and Mrs. Sverdrup," Anna began her recitation. "Glad you could make it, Minister Nilsson and Ice Master. Happy to have you here, Dr. and Mrs. Scurr, Professor, Mrs., and Miss Mandelbaum, Father Papadopoulos, Miss Duffin, Professor Newark, Professor Sinibaldo, Mr. Homberg, and Mr. Kowak... Kowaz... Kowal... Kowalczyk!" She ended somewhat chagrined about her bobble at the end but still triumphant and relieved. "I just wanted to say that I think we came in second in the snowball fight."
"To a group of people who had never seen snow before," Nilsson jabbed good-naturedly.
"Hey, the Khentiians probably have! Elsa said their country has mountains," Anna reasoned.
"But do they have precipitation, Your Highness?" Nilsson countered.
"Uh, I wasn't expecting a quiz," Anna said defensively. "And they just got here two days ago."
"Fair enough, ma'am," Nilsson relented.
"Anyway, maybe we can team up again on Saturday," Anna suggested, actually sounding shy for once.
"That's if you're allowed to go to the Harvest Festival, Princess. Your big sister might have something to say about that after your little deed tonight," Nilsson took another swipe.
"Ragnhild!" Agnete scolded.
"OK, so I don't have the best judgment about when to tweak Elsa for not eating enough, but somebody has to do it. She'd work straight through the day if we let her, and she's such a picky eater, anyway," Anna tried to convince the others that her measures were somewhat warranted. "She's not the type to stay mad about something that didn't hurt anyone or damage anything, and in case you didn't notice, there wasn't any ice or snow or wind or drop in the temperature, so it'll be fine. Besides, I have to go for at least a little bit of the festival because I have official duties. You don't expect the Queen to participate in the first folk dance, do you?"
"Ugh, please don't remind me!" Kristoff groaned.
"Kristoff, it's a group folk dance! It's for fun! It's not like your form has to be perfect," Anna said.
"Is it safe to say that the Ice Master does not like to dance?" Debora asked with a smile.
"It's complicated," Kristoff replied. "I do kind of like it, just not with everybody watching. We're not an ordinary couple, you know. And I'm not that good, and I don't know that many dances, folk or formal."
"He's way better than he thinks he is, especially if he's not feeling self-conscious," Anna amended. "And at least he'll try, unlike you-know-who."
"I'm afraid I don't know any of your local folk dances, otherwise I'd offer to help you practice, Ice Master. I'm very interested to see what your dances look like, though, and hear your music," Debora said excitedly.
"Oooh, that's right! You teach dancing! Mrs. Mandelbaum could teach us something special for the ball, Kristoff!" Anna gushed.
Kristoff looked at the others helplessly. The Admiral placed his hand over his heart in condolence; Agnete gave him a light smack on the arm. "Poor fellow," John said playfully, earning him a similar treatment from Irene.
"I don't think that there is enough time before Saturday, Your Highness," Debora cautioned, much to Kristoff's obvious relief.
"Well, there will be more balls, so we can start working on it," Anna reckoned. Kristoff's spirits sank again. "And I still want music lessons, too, Mrs. Mandelbaum. One of our pianos is over here." Anna led the group over to the side of the ball room, to a spacious alcove where a band could play and be out of the way of the dancers. Debora's eyes shone when she saw the semi-concert grand piano.
"Between the gallery and this, I don't know how we're going to get her back to the house," Eliasz said only half-jokingly to Zlata and Waclaw.
"Agnete has vast experience hauling the Admiral home," Nilsson volunteered.
"Hornung..." Debora read the piano maker's name as she lifted cover off the keys. "May I?"
"Why not?" Anna encouraged.
"Debora, maybe you should ask the Queen first," Eliasz advised with some trepidation.
"Oh, don't be so uptight," Anna laughed. "Here, I'll play one of our folk dance tunes. Well, it will only give you the gist of it because our folk music is usually played on a hardingfele -a Hardanger fiddle- which has eight strings and a different tuning, and it always sounds a little dissonant."
Anna pulled the bench out, sat down, and did a very competent job of playing the tune. The other guests ceased chatting and were all ears, many drawing closer to watch. Elsa also paused, smiling fondly. A few of the Arendellians present, including Nilsson, started to tap their feet on the wooden floor to provide a rhythmic accompaniment for the piano, while the Admiral and Agnete twitched their legs as they stifled their itch to dance. When Anna reached the end, everyone clapped.
"You already play quite well, Your Highness," Debora appraised, duly impressed.
"My mother and father and some music teachers used to work with me on singing, piano, and a little bit of violin, and I really enjoyed it. A lot of times, my parents and I would make music together in the evenings. After they ... were lost ... I just didn't feel like playing or learning anymore, so I stopped. But Elsa told me that I could start up with lessons again whenever I wanted to," Anna explained softly. "I'd love to be able to sit down and play something through at first sight, or be able to play by ear. I'm good, but I'm not that good. Not like-" Old memories and an impromptu idea grabbed her, and she rose from the bench and looked around the ball room for her sister. "Elsa!" she called out, waving and walking over to the Queen, who was standing by Haugen, the Bishop, another small group from the university, and Monsieur d'Ambly. "I mean, Queen!"
Nilsson, the Admiral and his wife, and the researchers and their families felt obligated to follow her. Kristoff slowly trailed behind them, unsure about what was going to happen and what to do about it. He did not want to make a disturbance in an attempt to prevent a disturbance, if there was, in fact, even going to be a disturbance. The guests seemed to be expecting one, as they all focused on the royal sisters, and many of them congregated closer to the Queen and Princess; this was not going to be a confidential conversation even if Anna kept her volume down. Kristoff found himself blocked behind the French, Spanish, and Hannoverian ambassadors.
"Here we go again with the 'wild child' routine," Ambassador de Flahaut de La Billarderie whispered to his fellow diplomats.
"Yes, she certainly is wild," the Spaniard murmured. "The wildest Princess I've ever heard of."
"Maybe more than just the scent of the wild man that she courts has rubbed off on her," derided the Hannoverian ambassador. Kristoff felt his ire rise.
"No, my friend. I think in this case like was attracted to like," the Spaniard wisecracked. Kristoff clenched his fists and jaw.
"Yes, Crown Princess Anna?" Elsa said primly, hoping the use of the signal word in her title would prompt Anna to remember her manners.
"Your Majesty, could you play something for Mrs. Mandelbaum? So that I can show her how I want to be able to play?" Anna entreated.
"Your Highness, I haven't touched a piano in many, many years. You don't want to play dreadfully," Elsa rebuffed patiently.
"You are the kind of good that someone doesn't just lose because of lack of practice. You could loosen up with a couple of scales, run through a few easy works, and then jump right to the masterpieces," Anna persisted.
"No, I couldn't, Princess. I would need months of training before I could tackle anything of moderate difficulty," Elsa said with less patience.
"Then you can take lessons with me," Anna coaxed, pouncing on the opening. "Mrs. Mandelbaum teaches music, art, and dancing."
"That's great, and I'm glad you want to take up piano again, but I have neither the time nor the inclination, Your Highness," Elsa stated firmly, keeping a steady grip on her emotions and thoughts.
"How could you not want to?" Anna pressed. "You are sooo good."
Kristoff knew he should do something to get his girlfriend to break off, but was at a loss for words, and there were too many people between him and Anna for him to quietly step in and lead her away. So far, he was zero-out-of-two on stopping Anna from pushing Elsa. This did not bode well.
"Your Highness, I have other interests and obligations now. And I played well enough for a young child, but that does not necessarily mean I would be anything special as an adult," Elsa disputed.
"Oh, I remember you playing more than just 'well enough,' Your Majesty," Anna heatedly claimed.
"You would think that Princess Anna was the one that they kept locked up in a room for thirteen years," the Hannoverian muttered scornfully to his colleagues. Kristoff smothered a growl.
"Princess Anna, you were five years old the last time you heard me play. Memories from early childhood are often untrustworthy and idealized," Elsa hinted, giving Anna an intense stare, hoping her sister would understand the subtext and drop the issue.
Anna opened her mouth to make a rebuttal, but abruptly realized what Elsa was implying: That her memories of her sister playing the piano were among the ones altered by Grand Pabbie because they contained Elsa's magic.
"Right," Anna said, backing off from that line of attack but continuing on another front. "But you are such a phenomenal singer and you came up with the number for the magic show, so you really do have musical talent. Don't you want to find out how well you can still play the piano?"
"No, Princess. I just said I have neither the time nor the inclination," Elsa repeated adamantly.
"I swear, Elsa, you won't let yourself have any fun!" Anna accused.
"Maybe they were really trying to protect Queen Elsa from her sister, and not the other way around," the Frenchman jibed under his breath.
Kristoff felt his blood reach its boiling point. He wanted to tap the prigs on their shoulders and then pound them into the ground like tent pegs, but that would definitely create more problems than it solved, at least in the long run. He remembered Elsa's advice to stay clear of these numbskulls in the first place, and so he retreated. He needed to handle this the way Elsa would, not how Anna would. Whenever the Snow Queen was nearing the limits of her emotional endurance, she always chose to withdraw if she had an option, so he knew Elsa would comprehend why he left the room to settle down. Nobody noticed him depart, since all eyes were still on the royal siblings.
"That's enough, Princess Anna," Elsa commanded, a frosty edge to her voice. But her magic stayed contained, although it was agitated and straining for release, and she fought the restless compulsion to pace in sympathy with it. The Queen visually sought out the Arendellian official closest to her sister. The Admiral had the honor, and she met his eyes, and then targeted her gaze at Anna and then at the recess that held the piano, throwing in a minimal toss of her head in that direction to get her silent order across.
"Princess, please listen to the Queen," Admiral Sverdrup said softly as he tried to usher Anna away. "This is something best discussed away from the public. You're making everyone very uncomfortable."
Anna looked around, and saw that she was the center of attention, and that the guests were very much taken aback or regarding her critically. Again, this had not gone the way she had imagined. She had assumed her memories of Elsa hearing something once and playing it back flawlessly, or performing demanding compositions with virtuoso skill and delicate sentiment were bona fide and not more of Grand Pabbie's modifications. And since Elsa loved showing off -although not in an arrogant or intimidating manner- Anna thought asking Elsa to play something would be a brilliant way to boost the Queen's dazzling reputation even more; or better yet, if her sister claimed to be rusty, it would be a good opportunity to persuade Elsa to join in Mrs. Mandelbaum's music lessons, with a chance of luring her to try out dancing. But her edited memories and Elsa's confounding resistance wrecked that plan, and she once more looked foolish and out of control.
Part of her wanted to run from the ball room, but that would only aggravate the state of affairs. Another part of her wanted to explain to everyone why her early memories were a muddle of reality and magical revisions, but that would expose the existence of the trolls and the true cause for shutting the castle's gates. The only way to salvage the situation was to act like a princess. "I'm very sorry about this misunderstanding," Anna said with as much poise as she could muster, but her eyes were downcast, and she allowed the Admiral to lead her back to the band's nook.
Elsa searched the room for Kristoff, but he was not to be seen, which was strange, but sometimes the lavatory break occurred too soon after dinner. "Bishop Strand, Minister Haugen, would you both please be so kind as to help calm Princess Anna down?" Elsa asked as she watched Anna's crestfallen demeanor with concern. She yearned to give her sister a hug and have a heart-to-heart talk with her, but that would need to wait until the reception was over.
"Of course, Your Majesty," the Bishop assented, and hurried over.
"Certainly, Your Majesty," Haugen answered, baffled by what had just transpired.
"Please excuse me," Elsa said to the other people in the last group, and nodded graciously to them. "I, too, am very sorry for this misunderstanding," Elsa said to the guests. There was a respectful hum of response from the crowd. The Queen cast another glance around the room in hopes that Kristoff had returned, but there was still no sign of him. She did, however, locate Kai and, with a tilt of her head, wordlessly instructed him also to go over to Anna, before turning her gaze back to the main doors to wait for Kristoff.
"Looking for someone, Your Majesty?" Nilsson gambled to ask.
"Ice Master Bjorgman," Elsa answered tersely. She so badly wanted to pace, and stopped herself just in time from wringing her hands, turning the motion into a knuckle rub instead.
"Hmm, he was just with us when Her Highness was playing the piano," Nilsson noted, stumped by the ice harvester's sudden vanishing act. "Perhaps nature called."
In an otherwise unoccupied salon down the hall from the ball room, nature was calling Ice Master Bjorgman, but not as a euphemism for a bodily function. Right now, he longed for the mountains, forests, and ice-covered lakes, with just Sven for companionship. Well, if he was to be totally honest, he also longed to both tell Anna off for being so impulsive and console her, which did not aid his effort to curb his anger. He strongly felt that he should be in the ball room trying to help Elsa smooth over Anna's defiance of Grand Pabbie's pronouncement, especially since he was the only other person who knew the whole story (or at least most of it) but he also still strongly felt like punching those ambassadors in their rude mouths.
Kristoff knew he shouldn't let their comments or attitudes bother him, but there was a lot of mountain-folk fierce pride yet in him ... as well as a lot of mountain-folk and orphan-raised-by-trolls and Sami insecurity. If he was to continue being totally honest, their comments and attitudes wouldn't bother him to the point of wanting to resort to violence if he didn't feel they were somehow superior to him and that there was some truth to what they said about him and Anna being wild. And he had the cheek to tell Sáppá/Sander that the young apprentice was being a little too sensitive!
He knew that he was being silly. That the opinions of a few foreign stuffed shirts had no significance in Arendelle. That he should be used to being an outsider. That he should be used to pretending to be happy at civic and castle events. That he could have just moved far enough off to the side when he saw who he was stuck behind. That he could have just cleared his throat after the French ambassador made his "wild child" statement and let them know he standing to their rear.
Kristoff sighed. Maybe he just couldn't cope with the responsibilities that came with courting a princess like Anna. Put him up against a rampant pack of Elsa's Snowgies, and he could save the day, but somehow one small, vivacious, and spontaneous young woman was a number too high for him. Of course, the Snowgies were simply going after an ice cream cake. He sighed again, and sang to himself:
In a room full of smiles
I'm the only frown.
These clothes don't fit right.
I feel like a clown.
I know seven knots but
Can't do my own tie.
I wash every day but
Still smell like a sty.
Not sure how to act
Around the privileged few.
They tell me to fake it,
But I just can't take it.
'Cause I'm the king
Of the reindeer.
And when they give me that look
I want to disappear.
I never had much.
A stray taken in by trolls.
Never had formal schooling,
Never had lofty goals.
I'm much more at home
In a tumbledown stable.
So why am I invited
To dine at royalty's table?
I bet they don't notice
That I left the room.
They're all just so phony
With their smirking acrimony.
'Cause I'm the king
Of the reindeer.
And when they give me that look
I want to disappear.
Why, why can't I fit in?
Why, why, why, why, why?
Why-y-y?
Even my family thinks
I'm a fixer-upper,
Not the kind of guy
You'd ask to a fancy supper.
No one cares if I'm happy.
No one cares what I want.
They tell me to fake it,
But I just can't take it.
'Cause I'm the king
Of the reindeer.
And when they give me that look
I want to disappear.
Author's Notes - I thought Kristoff/Jonathan Groff got shortchanged song-wise in the movie, so he gets the first solo here. It's in the style of "Creep" by Radiohead and/or "The Air That I Breathe" by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood. There's a violin and piano cover version on Youtube that's probably a good approximation of what they would do to it for a Disney animated musical fairy tale, if you can imagine it in a key suitable for Kristoff/Groff. Or you could go with the buzzsaw electric guitars, because I originally did intend for there to be f-bombs in this one (e.g., remove the "just" from "But I just can't take it" and insert one before "take" - it sounds sooo much better to Gen X ears), but I want to keep this rated T.
From time to time, Elsa is going to have flashbacks triggered by certain phrases or events. Some she will be able to push out of her mind, but a few will just stop her cold. Heh heh. One of my upcoming "set pieces" features Elsa needing to stay awake for an extended period of time, so you will get to see Elsa all jacked up on caffeine and sugar. Once this story is completed, I do have ideas for a kind of "Domestic Assassin" AU meets "Taken" story (my version of Elsa wouldn't need a firearm but does have a coffee dependency and love for critters).
While some royal families of the era had the resources to employ a court (chamber) orchestra, I really don't think Arendelle would have been able to pull that off, even before the gates closed. So they mainly played for their own entertainment, with maybe a few travelling performers putting on a concert once in a while.
