Elsa
Elsa had sent off Anna to the orphanage to cheer her up, but as she was changing for court she honestly felt that she was in need for some cheering up herself. Today's negotiations could possibly be very long lasting, and she had already offered their visitors stay in the castle, and the entire western part of the main building as well as the dining hall and room of court had been prepared to host their guests and their every need. She had met the king and queen of Damaria as a little girl, but she hardly remembered any of it. This was a very serious occasion, and Elsa had still to get fully accustomed to the queenly role. There were so many things she had yet to learn, and she obviously had no hope of her mother guiding her and teaching her the ways of a queen worthy of Arendelle's throne.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Not bad – she had picked out a new dress in a deep, light blue color, with elegant embroidery of frost flakes in silver thread. It had been a gift from the wealthiest merchant in Arendelle – a fat, happy man with a sense of humor, a late wife and fifteen children to care for, yet he still somehow managed to maintain his business and attend to every single festivity held in the royal castle. She smiled at her reflection and gave her hair one last critical glace. She still liked to keep her hair in a thick braid and her bangs let loose in all their glory, the maids had always had to struggle to pin the long parts down neatly. She felt much more confident with her hair when she just let it go, so that's what she did today. She needed all the courage she could get.
"This shall have to do." She said and slipped into a pair of decorated heels before leaving the room to go make her way to the harbor and welcome their guests.
The royal carriage and the two white horses pulling it carried her down the road safely, while she made sure to wave and smile at all of her people looking on the way there. She arrived just in time, the great royal cruise ship of Damaria was just coming into port when the carriage stopped by the docks. Elsa took a deep breath and exited the carriage.
A lot of civilians had come to watch the ship make port, it was not every day that they got to see royal foreigners. They cheered when they saw their queen step out of her carriage and she smiled brightly at them in return, waving and laughing. Finally the crew of the great ship finished attaching to the dock and lowered the bridge to allow their most valuable cargo to gracefully walk off the ship. Elsa waited for them to approach her. But wait… Where are the rest of the family?
"Welcome to Arendelle, Your Grace." Elsa greeted the newcomer, surprisingly enough there was only one person getting off the ship – a slim and tanned young woman with black hair and brown eyes in a bright orange and yellow dress. Elsa felt something stir inside her, the crown princess of Damaria certainly wasn't unpleasant to look at.
"Thank you, Queen Elsa. I hope we did not keep you waiting for us?" The young woman said with a warm voice and took Elsa's hand. The touch was very warm, like the princess had a high fever, and it made whatever stirred inside her grow more intense.
"Not at all, I just arrived here myself. Forgive me, we have not met before, I take it you must be the crown princess?" Elsa said, mostly to confirm it to herself.
"Yes, but please feel free to simply calling me Ester." Ester said with a smile so bright and warm Elsa thought she might actually catch on fire, an impression only reinforced by the bright flame-color of the princess' dress.
The two royal ladies took the carriage up to the castle and let the crew of the ship handle the luggage.
"You must be tired after your journey, if you would like to rest we have prepared quarters for you and your servants." Elsa offered upon their arrival. Ester looked up at the castle.
"Thank you but no, I would actually like to get right down to negotiations if you don't mind." She replied simply. Elsa was a bit surprised, but couldn't say she minded either. Ester turned to her with a doubtlessly saddened look on her face.
"Our business is more urgent than we had hoped."
Elsa escorted her into the counsil chamber and ordered a serving maid to summon the counsil right away... And to bring them some tea and sweets. The food was quicker to arrive than the counsilors.
"Ooooh chocolate cakes!" Ester sighed and grabbed one off the large silver plate of sweets and baked goods stacked on top of it. "I love chocolate so much it could be considered sinful." She giggled and took a big bite.
"I'm not one to blame you, me and my sister have always been crazy for chocolate ourselves." Elsa snickered and dug in on the brown pieces of heaven.
"I have to say you're a lot different from what I have heard." Ester said, sipping her tea.
"Oh? Different how?" Elsa asked curiously.
"Well you're the queen of ice aren't you?"
Elsa nearly choked on her own spit. What?! How does she know?
"Oh… Uhm…"
"When you hear news like how you froze over your entire country and more…"
"Wait, more…?" Elsa couldn't believe this. A whole year had passed and she only hears of this now? She is the queen for heaven's sake! How on earth could she always be so uninformed when it came to things that concerned her on such a personal level?
"Why yes, the ice even reached the outskirts of our capitol Harburg, not to mention the western coast of Svea which was entirely frozen shut. The news spread like wildfire." Ester's look was as surprised as Elsa felt. Was Elsa really the only person uninformed of this? Did Anna know? Ester shifted in her seat.
"Well, when you hear of someone who has frozen the land you kind of expect her to be a villain, you know?" Ester continued, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. Elsa felt her heart drop in her chest. "Thing is you're quite the contrary of what I expected. You've been very pleasant, polite and graceful and beau- beautiful." Ester finished, cleared her throat and continued.
"There is actually something I need to tell you, about the magic. I need to tell you in private and this is as good a time as any."
Elsa's eyes met Ester's and for a moment the room was completely silent.
"You're… You're not alone."
What.
"I have powers too. A… storm inside me."
What?
"It's not a winter storm like yours… It's kind of… Worse."
Wait, wait, wait… What?
"I… I burn stuff."
"What." Elsa finally managed to get her voice to function again, but all she could do with it was trying to express her utter confusion and surprise.
"I'm serious, I have a firestorm inside of me, just like you have your ice and snow – I have fire and lava. My hair is proof of it too, my entire family is blonde or red haired and still I was born with hair as black as coal." Ester glanced at one of the big candles placed about the room. She lifted her hand, made a small motion with her finger and a beam of light shot from it, igniting the wick.
"Wow." Elsa tried to shake off the surprise and regain her grace and dignity, which was rather futile since she in her attempt literally shook her head intensively. Then she felt relief. She had wondered if there was anyone else like her, someone with the same problems as she, and now she finally got to meet someone she could relate to.
"I can't believe it, you have it too?" Elsa finally gasped. Ester giggled.
"Yep. That's one of two reasons why I needed to come see you."
"What's the other reason?" Elsa asked, just as the door opened and three of her four counsilors entered the room. They all greeted them and introduced themselves to Ester politely and sat down on Elsa's side of the table. Ester had that sad look on her again, and Elsa found herself fighting the sudden urge to touch her and try to comfort the princess. Ester finally straightened herself and faced Elsa and the three counsilors by her side. Her brown eyes stared right into Elsa's and for a second she thought she might drown in those deep, big chocolate-colored pools of her face. Ester inhaled deeply.
"We need your help. As you know, we are at a full-scaled war with Svea, and the situation is utterly against our favor. They have kidnapped the entire royal family, me being the only exception. As the crown princess, I am begging you on the behalf of the entire nation of Damaria to join your ranks to our cause… And as a woman, I am begging you to help me save my family from certain death."