A/N: Let's keep the fun and tense moments for a while ;)
"Wow, Anna! Take it slow! What is it?" Elsa said between giggles with an eyebrow shot up. They have managed to go at the same pace that Anna did, so now they were running through the corridors of the castle as they did when they were younger.
"No time to take it slow! Come on! Let's not waist time!" Anna said looking back over her shoulder. She was taking them to the main stairs of the palace and through the doors to the front courtyard. When they arrived at the middle Anna stop suddenly, released their hands and stared at Elsa with her arms crossed over her chest.
"What?" Elsa said confused. Kira looked between Anna and Elsa not knowing what Anna's intentions were. Anna patted the stone floor with her foot, look at the floor and then back again to Elsa. Elsa stared and then rolled her eyes and smiled back at her sister knowingly. She stomped the floor and ice start to spread widely all over the courtyard and with a little twirls and twist of her hands that glowed with her magic, she was able to turn their front courtyard into an ice skating field. Elsa ended with a twirl of her one, gliding across the ice with easiness and grace, a warm smile plastered in her face.
"What are you doing? Wow!" They heard an unmistakable joyful bubbly voice calling behind them. They turn to see Olaf, Elsa's snowman, that was not much taller than 4'5" ft, branches working as his arms and hands and a carrot for a nose, black eyes as the color of the three stones that looked like buttons and three thin branches as hair in his unproportioned head. He was trying to regain his stance at the sudden shift of floor while giving an innocent and happy two-toothed smile.
"Hey Olaf! Where is Kristoff?" Anna asked
"He's sharing a carrot with Sven" Olaf said bluntly
"He is what?" Kira asked not wanting to let her imagination flow.
"He's sharing a carrot with Sven" Olaf repeated whilst he got closer to Elsa
"Is a habit of his… He got it for growing with a reindeer as a friend and troll as family… I forgot you haven't met him yet!" Anna said cheerfully.
"No… I haven't had the pleasure…" Kira said while giving Elsa a disturbed look. Elsa giggled. "I have been on missions or diplomatic meetings outside every time he was here…" Kira trailed off at hearing unknown footsteps. She quickly turned to see a mountain of a man, around 6'ft tall, blonde haired but not platinum as Elsa's, wearing ice harvester clothing and was been accompanied by a reindeer that gave the impression that was almost acting like a domesticated dog.
"Hey guys! What are you up to?" The blonde tall men waved his hand high and have a shy smile on his face. Kira relaxed when she saw Anna attempting to run to meet him in the icy field. With a twist of her wrist, Elsa crafted ice skates for everyone, (except for her and Olaf for obvious reasons) that allowed them to move easily through the ice.
"Kristoff!" Anna called him joyfully. "We were just talking about you! I've to introduce you to a great friend of ours" She said while grabbing to his arm to avoid falling, hugged him and started skating back with him. "Here. Kristoff, this is Kira Nightingale, she is has being our friend for the last ten years and Grand Marshal and Lady Protector for the last four… Kira, this is Kristoff, my boyfriend, he is the Master Ice Collector and Deliveryman of Arendelle." Anna let go Kristoff's hand to allowed them to say hello while she went to greet Sven.
"Nice to finally meet you, Kristoff, Anna has told me a lot about you." Kira said while shaking hands with Kristoff and giving him a warm smile. Has Anna had said, Kristoff was a little shy around the royals, so he had to be encouraged.
"Really? What kind of things?" Kristoff asked in panic
"Only good things, don't worry" Kira answered, but to herself she was saying "Part of them".
"Oh, good! She had told me a lot of good things of you too. I'm glad I could put a face to the name" Kristoff said while letting her hand go and scratching the back of his neck nervously.
"Ah! This is my friend and loyal partner, Sven! Come to say hi!" Kristoff presented Sven to Kira and signaled Sven to come closer. Sven started to come closer but all of the sudden tried to stop while whining in fear only to end up in the floor. Astonishment went through Kristoff and Anna's faces, while Elsa stared with a confused expression. Fear started creeping through Kira's back and swallow a lump that had formed in her throat. That's why she never got close to animals. Not because she didn't like them but because they could sense and smell her darkest secret. She had to do something, or things would start to go down a painful road for her.
"Sven? What is it pal? What's gone into you?" Kristoff said sliding closer to him and looked back to Kira "I'm sorry, I don't know why he is acting like this". He saw that Kira had gone pale, even for her toasted skin color.
"Hey Sven… She is a friend of ours… there's nothing to be afraid of" Anna said while caressing the back of Sven's neck to calm the reindeer down and keep him in a spot. While in the floor Sven's scared eyes met silver ones. Kira had kneeled to his actual level and was staring at him intently and in her eyes, you could see purple starting to spread and cover silver if you were looking at her in that moment, which no one was as they were looking a clumsy and fearful Sven that all the sudden started calming down.
"It's alright Sven… I'm not going to harm you… I'm a friend" Kira said, her smooth voice sounding deeper and softer but much intense and a smile crossing her lips. She stood up when she saw Sven had settle down and glided towards him. "I suppose I can cause quite an impression…" She said with a light chuckle while looking warmly to Kristoff and Anna, her eyes back to her usual silver. "Humm… Kristoff… you're forgetting someone" Kira said while tilting her head to Elsa's direction.
"Oh! Shoot! Hi, Els… I mean… Your Majesty… I mean…" Kristoff trailed off uncomfortable. Elsa just giggled behind her hand.
"It's Ok, Kristoff. Just Elsa, you're as family to me, you can treat me casually when we are not on a meeting or something diplomatic." Elsa gave him a kind smile and look to Kira with a raised eyebrow and a sly smile "You haven't been the only one I had to remember that…". Kira just shrugged with a sheepish smile.
"So, Sven just got a little nervous, isn't it right Sven?" Olaf said cheerfully to Sven, who grimaced, if that was possible for a reindeer, and snorted.
"Hey, that's not polite" Olaf said to Sven and then "whispered" to Kristoff while covering his mouth by the side with his hand. "I think somebody had a C.R.U.S.H" spelling the last word. Sven was able to hear him a gave an astonish look to Olaf. They suddenly heard a warm lovely laughter that, for their surprise, was from Kira. Anna and Elsa were agape as they have never heard Kira laugh that way, and Kristoff, Sven and Olaf were watching in owe as if they have never heard someone laugh before. Not much seconds later, all the group was laughing as Kira's laugh was more contagious that they had realized and hearing all the different laughs was more contagious jet.
"Ok…Ok…" Kira said between intakes of breath. "Anna… you took Elsa and me out of the office to the courtyard and asked, sort of demanded, Elsa to freeze the courtyard… now you have an ice field… what are you up to?" Everyone looked to Anna, waiting for her answer.
"Well… isn't it obvious? Let's ice skate!" Anna said blissfully while taking Kristoff and started gliding away with a smirk on her face. Elsa and Kira shrugged and started skating their ways almost dancing in the ice field. For Anna and Kristoff was a little hard still to ice skate, they managed not to fall and to glide from one side to other, but they couldn't twist and twirl, jump and slide has gracefully as Kira did, and less as perfect as Elsa did. So, their competitive side surfaced, and they started to try twirls and jumps, almost always ending clumsily on the ice floor while Olaf was trying to teach Sven to ice skate, which was a really hard task considering he was a reindeer, but that didn't stop Olaf.
After a while of ice skating, the sun had moved towards fjords and the birds where singing louder. It was around five in the afternoon and Elsa and Kira halted, wide-eyed and stared each other frightful.
"Oh, no…!"
"Did we…?"
"Your Majesty, Lady NightingaAAAHH!" Everyone stopped skating after the screams and the thuds that followed them to see Kai accompanied by a silver-haired old woman that wore the same servant uniform that Kai, scattered on the floor. They started trying to get up but miserably failed their attempts, falling to the ice field again. Elsa and Kira stiffened and hold their laughter but ended up giggle just as the rest, while Olaf got closer.
"Kai, Gerda, it's glide and pivot, glide and pivot. Not scream and fall" Olaf said innocently with the purest intention to help them. The rest started bending in laughter while Elsa got close and remove the ice floor of that area with a concern but amused look on her face, being closely followed by Kira.
"Your Majesty! That was not funny nor appropriate for a person of your stature!" Gerda said stern and accusingly. "And, Lady Nightingale, you should have remained aware of the hour! It is your job to protect her Majesty and her interest, and that includes arriving to the next meeting on time and prepared!" She now was nagging at Kira, poking her in her medaled chest. Kira gave her and Kai a warm smile and looked intently at them, purple starting to flow in silver, and put a gloved hand in one of their shoulders, gripping slightly at them.
"Everything is alright. We are on time. The work is prepared, and the councilmen can wait the Queen of Arendelle, not backwards. And Kai, you said yourself that the Queen needed a break for her daily duties, and so her sister provided it and now we are ready to continue our work." Kira said, the same deep soft but intense voice that she used before with Sven. This time, as Elsa was closer, she couldn't avoid feeling relaxed and enchanted at Kira's voice, she could hear it rumbling in her head, almost like her voice came from two similar but different persons, she couldn't quite explain it, as it wasn't an overwhelming feeling and stopped in the moment she got silence. Kira put her arms down and smile warmly again, she then turned to bow at Anna and the rest of Elsa's friends and walk by a calmed and little astonished Kai and Gerda and signaled Elsa to pass through the doors and guide the way to the next meeting. Elsa smiled sadly at her sister and her friends and started walking toward the doors but didn't undo the icy floor, letting it like that for them to keep having fun, but didn't missed the expressions of befuddled and confusion in her servants faces as if they didn't remember why they were upset.
While walking across corridors to the next meeting, Elsa stopped Kira, knowing that the hallway was empty and so did the rooms and the corridors that connected with the one they were standing.
"What did you do?" Elsa asked in a whisper, seriousness in her face.
"What are you talking about?" Kira asked with confusion
"Don't play ignorant with me. You know what I mean. First Sven has a panic when he got close to you and calmed down when you talked to him, and then an angry Gerda and Kai burst through the doors and started nagging at us, and yet again, you were able to calm them by talking to them." Elsa said between clenched teeth, the temperature of the hallway decreased several degrees.
"Elsa, I just…" Kira started, but was silence by a raised hand
"More than that, I felt something when I heard you speaking with the servants. Your voice was changed, it rumbled in my head, it still is, and it felt different. I couldn't get it out… it was almost like…" Elsa trailed off, confused, frustrated and annoyed at her friend. It felt like she got powers, but she was her friend, she would have told her so, more if she knew about her own powers even before her sister could remember. It couldn't be, she couldn't have…
"It's almost like I had powers over the mind?" Kira said, now she was looking straight to Elsa, her silver eyes were starting to get overflown by purple, a sad look in them. "I'm sorry Els, I do… I lied about the prophecy, I did know what it meant, it talks about me, I'm the warrior that was written about in stone and I didn't tell you about my powers because it'd meant to explain a lot of things I don't want to…" Kira's voice started to sound deeper and intense again. Now Elsa could really feel what she felt before, her voice rumbling in her head, ringing in her ears and she relaxed, just staring at Kira whose eyes were colder now. "So, Elsa, I just was able to calm down Sven, Gerda and Kai by talking to them, they looked to me and saw that a was telling the truth, nothing more. You will forget about the sensations you had earlier and now, and you won't remember this talking at all." Kira ended talking and Elsa started blinking confused and focused again in Kira, that was holding her by the shoulders with a concern look in silver eyes.
"What happened?" Elsa asked still confused and with a little headache
"Nothing serious… You just got a little dizzy, that is all, maybe you are really overworking yourself, Your Majesty. Why don't you let me handle this meeting and go get some rest?" Kira said sadness and guilt in her eyes, but Elsa didn't know why… she dismissed it as a friend being worried.
"No, I am fine, it is alright. Let us go together to the meeting, if I feel ill again I will ask you to escort me out to my chambers." Elsa said while regaining her queenly composure and both started walking toward the meeting room just two corridors ahead.
"Wait…Before we enter…" Kira trailed off
"Yes?" Elsa looked to Kira with serenity
"I have a suggestion, your Majesty, if it is not too bold…" Kira looked to Elsa waiting for her to let her continue with her idea, which Elsa complied with a nod. "We do not want the meeting to extent like the last one and less stand by insinuations, so, my suggestion would be for you to use your powers and chill a little the room." At that point, Elsa was looking with frown in her forehead. "Just to lower some degrees in the temperature, something unnoticed but at the same time, uncomfortable for the rest. They would want to end the meeting as soon as possible and will agree faster to your proposals." Kira looked with determination to Elsa, to prove that she wasn't playing around or trying to amuse herself in the meeting.
"You are telling me to cheat in the meeting, Lady Nightingale?" Elsa said with an eyebrow raised.
"No, only to strategize. It is like taking a warm bath, if it is warm, you will stay longer and use more time, but if the water gets colder, you would remain less time on the bath. Well… most of us will do that." Kira ended with a sly grin.
"Interesting idea… but what about you? You would get cold too." Elsa said with a worried look
"Do not worry about me, I am used to the shifting temperatures and I am used to your powers. Beside you and I know that we do not want to extend our time in that room." Kira said with a playful smile
"You are right, I do not want to repeat the last meeting." Elsa said, and with that she raised her hands and started sending a chilling soft breeze through the gaps of the wooden doors they have in front of them. After a few seconds of sending the cold breeze she stopped, took a deep breath and look toward her protector, who nodded and went to open the doors.
"Good Afternoon, Gentlemen" Elsa said while she queenly wiggled towards her seat in the headboard of the table.
"Your Majesty" They all stand while bowing the Queen and then sat after her. This time Elsa signaled to Kira to seat at her right. Kira nodded and took her place in the table. Some of the presents looked at this with amusement and other with annoyance, after all, the Lady Protector was that, at this calmed time, and was an outsider not born or raised in the kingdom to have such a seat. She should be standing as the last meeting, but they wouldn't contradict the Queen of Arendelle.
"Let us start with the trading scrolls you have in front of you. Each of the scrolls have details of the products, incoming and exchange for your respective kingdoms and the taxes for them." Elsa knew that the trading proposal that she had planned was a little bold, it secure not only the arrival of constant raw material that Arendelle didn't produce or couldn't procure in certain seasons, but also less cost, more profit and the alliance of the neighbor kingdoms, because is something happened to her Kingdom would mean a great lost for the other Kingdoms, as Arendelle was one of the few Kingdoms that traded ice constantly for the warmer Kingdoms and also rare plants and fruits that only sustain in cold, and were highly valuable for the nobility. "It is everything in order with our agreements?" Elsa said while giving a glimpse to Kira that was looking calmly to the noblemen around them, probably searching for more strange behaviors.
"Y…Ye…Yes…, Y…Your Majesty…" One of the noblemen said while slightly shivering. "May I as… ask? Are you not cold?" Elsa smiled to herself, Kira's idea was working.
"The cold never bother me" Elsa said to the nobleman with a small smile, then looked to Kira, whose face was slightly pale. "Lady Nightingale, are you cold? You are closer to me than the rest of the presents, you should be colder…" Elsa trailed off, a little worried that she had gone too far with her powers.
"Not at all, your Majesty, it is quite warm outside, and we have the sun almost straight at us, so no, I am not cold. Thank for your concern." Kira said with a gentle nod
"Is any of you cold? Should I ask for the fireplace to be lighten?" Elsa said with a preoccupated voice to the rest of the noblemen. That was getting out of the plan, but she needed to act concerned or they'd notice it.
"No, Your Majesty, it is fine. Let us move on with the following scrolls". Lord Bachelsen said in a forced smooth tone and shivering slightly. He was a tall and voluminous man with dark brown hair and little green eyes. Elsa glimpse again to Kira to see a soft smile in her lips. Her strategy had work.
The trading negotiations followed smoothly for a while until two of the noblemen started discussing angrily, cold forgotten.
"Gentlemen, Gentlemen! please, remain calmed. There is no need for yelling to each other, that is why we are here." Lord Bachelsen said to the two fighting noblemen in is deep voice
"You do not have the right to speak! You just want to leek the heels of her Majesty to gain a spot in the royal council!" One of the angry noblemen said.
"Enough! I would not tolerate insults towards any member of this table." Elsa said in a commanding voice.
"Your Majesty, if I may?" Kira asked. Elsa nodded and wave her to continue. Kira stood up and spoke with a strong voice. "Gentlemen, I agree with her Majesty and for keeping things calmly in between ourselves and our kingdoms I propose you to help us in planning the next Summer Festival in Arendelle and will allow you to come with your best products and merchandises. That way you would gain profits, know of our incoming products and have a good time, if Your Majesty allows this idea?" Kira ended looking to Elsa expectant.
Elsa weighed the idea. It would give them a chance to loosen up a little the actual tensions and to clear any doubts that they had earlier.
"I will allow it" Elsa said. The noblemen nodded in agreement, several of them expectant of this Summer Festival, others just with resignation. "Those it gave any problems for you and your men, Sir Figenborg? To take care and protect our citizens and visitors from any events, I mean." Elsa looked towards the Captain of the city guard that was lost in thought with a strange smile on his face. "Captain?" Elsa called again.
"Oh! I am sorry, Your Majesty. Of course, there is no problem." Sir Figenborg said with his smooth baritone voice after regaining is serious composure. Suddenly, Kira spoke with an angry tone and an intense glare toward Lord Huntington.
"Would you be so kind to repeat yourself, Lord Huntington?" Kira said with a look that seems to penetrate through the core of the soul and make swallow and shrink several of the noblemen near.
"I was saying that it would be really unfortunate if something so festive was interrupted by foul people." Lord Huntington said in his tenor voice while adding softly under his breath "Bastard Arkarian bitch" without anyone to hear him, or so he thought as Elsa could see Kira getting angrier, her teeth clenched, her hands in fists, a low growl coming from her throat that only she could hear and a strange warm emanating from her. Lord Bachelsen got extremely uncomfortable under her gaze, so he cleared his throat and spoke. "Well, the Summer Festival sounds amusing. Shall we start planning it?" He said with a nervous chuckle. The rest of the members nodded in agreement, also nervous at the tense atmosphere that had settle.
Elsa looked at Kira, she was still with the same intense look but the growling and the strange warm had gone. Elsa looked back to the members and nodded in agreement, and the planification for the festival started. Kira remained silent for the rest of the meeting looking to the members and writing notes in a scroll for the ideas agreed for the festival. The meeting ended up earlier that Elsa had thought, as planned by Kira, but didn't end up calmly as wished.
"Well, Your Majesty, this all was quite interesting, but I still have to digress about your situation. You are an only monarch ruler, I would strongly recommend your Majesty to find a man that could fulfil the role of King as it would look as a strong and reinforced government…" Lord Huntington was speaking when he was cut by two slams in the big wooden table.
"How dare you speak so freely of what I am capable of!" Elsa shouted angrily while at the same time Kira shouted.
"Who do you think you are talking to, Lord Surrogate." Kira shouted through clenched teeth, the low growl back and her gaze more intense than ever. "I specially warned you not to speak to her Majesty like that again! And Her Majesty herself made it clear as ice and was being cool." Kira added smirking.
"Was that sarcasm and a pun?" Elsa whispered to Kira trying to keep her angry composure.
"Couldn't avoid it" Kira whispered back easily keeping her composure unchanged. Elsa cleared her throat.
"This meeting ends now!" Elsa said commandingly. She turned her gaze to Lord Huntington and said to him. "From now on, you are not welcome anymore in this kingdom. You have disrespect me enough times and I have been more than patient with you, but that it is. You will embark your ship and return to Incoria, and I will send a letter to your King giving him a possibility of continuing the negotiations if he sends someone more suitable for this kind of work." Elsa said while wiggling stormed out of the room, followed by Kira and an unsettle Sir Figenborg.
"Y…Your Majesty.?" Sir Figenborg said
"Yes?" Elsa said stopping to a halt and turning to see the nervous Captain
"If I may ask, why did my men change from the schedule I gave them?" The Captain asked
"Because I order it to." Elsa said bluntly. "They have to learn different positions in their line of work. We do not know when we can be attack and if they do not get used to different scenarios and places they could easily fall in enemy's hands." Elsa said to a now astonish Captain.
"Are…Are we expecting…an attack, Your Majesty?" The Captain said more nervous than before.
"Not for now, Captain. You can dismiss" Elsa said sharply.