Growing Together Chapter 4

The next day was a busy one. In the morning, the kingdom turned out for Prince Anders' coronation ceremony, followed by a formal luncheon; in the afternoon, Kai had scheduled the monthly meeting of the Nobles' Council; and in the evening, they held a royal ball to officially welcome the royal couple home from their honeymoon.

The coronation, like most such ceremonies, was long, tedious, and full of traditions that nobody understood anymore. Anders knelt before the bishop and answered "I will" to a series of vows and charges that were quite similar to the vows that Elsa had had to make when she accepted the throne of Arendelle. The main differences were that he received a lot less authority than she did, and his crown was a lot bigger and heavier than hers. She stood beside him, trying to look solemn when she was bursting with joy and pride inside. It still made her a little nervous when the bishop got to the "extending the royal line" part of the vows. The last time I heard those words, I wondered what kind of man would ever want to marry me. Now I know. My big worry is whether my cold powers will mess up the extending-the-line part. Time will tell, I guess.

Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff stood off to the side, looking serious, as the occasion demanded. Anders has put me in a strange position, Anna thought. I'm still number two in line for the throne, but now that he's the Prince-Consort, that makes me number three in terms of royal honors and position. It's a good thing I don't care about that stuff. Even if I did, who would I complain to? I'm the one who brought those two together in the first place.

Kristoff was also thoughtful. I'm actually glad there's a prince who outranks me now. I'm still uncomfortable wearing this fancy suit, and being waited on by servants, and being called 'Your Excellency.' I'm not that excellent, really! They can dress me up and teach me manners, but I'm still plain ol' Kristoff on the inside. If it wasn't for this gorgeous lady who's holding my arm, I'd rather be selling ice and schlepping around the countryside with Sven. Anders can have the honors and the fanfares. He seems to handle them better than me anyway.

Anders' thoughts were probably the most unsettled. How did this happen to me? It seems like, two days ago, I was happily buying and selling wool with the other merchants; yesterday, I was pretending to be a baron in a Nobles' Council that wished I would go away; and today, I'm wearing this heavy crown, promising to take good care of the whole kingdom, and the most beautiful lady in the world is standing next to me with my ring on her finger. I'm not complaining, mind you, and I'd never go back to my wool, but... wow! What happened to me?

When the ceremony was finished and he was formally introduced with all his new titles, he stood and offered his arm to the Queen, who took it gracefully. All the guests rose and politely applauded. He was officially a Prince, with titles and honors and a boat-load of ceremonial responsibilities, but only one job of any real significance: help the Queen. There's nothing I'd rather do, and the kingdom will pay me to do it! he thought. Nice work if you can get it.

The luncheon was attended by everyone of any importance in the kingdom, and a few nobles from other kingdoms who happened to be in Arendelle that day. It was a fairly quiet and subdued affair. The purpose was to give the nobles and the important common folk a chance to meet the new Prince, but Arendelle's nobles already knew him (and secretly resented his sudden rise to a position above them), and many of the senior merchants already knew him from his wool-trading days. There was a small amount of quiet gossip about the fact that his hair had turned white during his honeymoon; a few of the men exchanged private jokes about how the Queen had worn him out. The women mostly noticed how inseparable the two of them were.

Then came the meeting of the Council. It made sense to hold this meeting today, because all the nobles had to be in town for the coronation anyway, but it made for a long, tiring day for the people who had to attend all the social functions. Elsa took her place at the head of the table, with Prince Anders on her right, and Anna and Kristoff next to him. On her left sat the Duchess of Potet, smug and satisfied because she'd finally achieved her life's ambition – to sit in the place of honor next to the Queen. Next in order of rank was the new Duke of Erl, a considerably younger man than his brother, the prior Duke. He had been confirmed in his new office just two months ago, which made him the most junior nobleman in the room, but the importance of his dukedom entitled him to the number-two seat. Then came the three counts – money-loving Duku, Nelsen the master of discord, and fair-minded Basi, followed by the Baron of Northeast, formerly known as the Duke of Erl until he'd disgraced himself (which was the public term they used for trying and failing to murder Prince Anders twice). He was required by royal command to keep a small white poodle with him whenever he was in public view; it sat obediently at his feet. His wife was quite taken with the creature, and had gotten in the habit of tying colorful bows around its neck. Today's bow was pink. Kai was at the foot of the table, taking notes. They all stood when the Queen entered, and waited until she sat before they took their seats again.

"Welcome back, Your Highness," Potet began. "We trust that you are well-rested and ready to resume your royal duties?"

"You need never fear about me and my duty, Duchess," Elsa said patiently, then shot a sly glance at Anders. "In fact, I've found that doing my duty sometimes leads me into the most delightful situations imaginable." The duchess had no idea what she was referring to, so she just nodded.

"I've been informed that there are some interesting developments among our neighboring nations," Elsa went on, "but it would please me to hear from each of you about the state of your respective realms first. After all, the kingdom is my first responsibility. Duchess?"

"Potet is doing quite well in all respects, Your Highness," the Duchess replied crisply. "One surprising development is our jewelry trade. When it became known that one of my jewelers was responsible for your unique engagement ring, demand for my people's jewelry work increased by over twenty percent. I've been able to import skilled jewelers from other lands to meet the demand, and the additional revenue has been good for the entire duchy. I have to thank you for that."

You have to thank Anders for that, Elsa thought, but you'll never admit it. She contented herself with saying, "I am pleased that things are going well," and glanced at the new Duke. He offered a similar report, as did the three counts. The new Baron of Northeast had to admit that while no one was starving, things weren't going as smoothly as he might have liked.

"There is someone nearby with practical experience in running Northeast and making it prosper," the queen said smugly. "I'm sure he would gladly share his experience with you, if you were to ask him." Which you probably won't do until the Underworld freezes over, but that's your loss, she thought. "Now, will one of you please give me some details on what's happening with our almost-friendly neighbors?"

"If I may, Your Highness?" Count Duku began. "About three weeks ago, I was approached in private by an agent from the King of Stavanger. He said his sovereign wanted to end the war with Glauerhafen, but didn't want to simply stop fighting, or it would make him look weak and could cause domestic unrest in his kingdom. He asked if we might be willing to serve as go-betweens. I indicated that you would probably agree in principle, but I could not speak for you, and, as everyone knew, you were not serving in your official capacity at that time."

"A few days after that," Basi added, "I was contacted, also in secret, by an influential friend in Glauerhafen. He had a similar message. We compared notes when we held an informal Council meeting two weeks ago, and realized that we were in an ideal position, not only to end their useless war, but to arrange the terms so that we might benefit in some way. Obviously, the final decision is yours, but all six of us agree that this is an opportunity not to be missed."

"Indeed." Elsa nodded. "Ending the war would definitely be a feather in Arendelle's cap; it would give our own agents a great deal more leverage when they deal with the nations around us. I assume that the peace conference would take place here, in the castle?"

"No, Your Highness," Potet replied. "Both parties want the negotiations to occur somewhere more distant from each other. Bergen has offered to host the talks."

"Bergen?!" Elsa looked alarmed. "But that means I'd have to travel by ship to get there!"

"It's just a four-day journey at most, Your Highness," Nelsen said, trying to sound encouraging. "You won't be away from Arendelle for very long."

That wasn't the point. A part of Elsa had never fully recovered from the shock of losing her parents in a shipwreck. From that day to the present, she had refused to travel by ship, fearful that she might die in a similar accident. This had sometimes posed problems to Kai when he had to arrange other modes of transport for his sovereign, and it nearly caused an incident when she thought she'd lost her sister at sea last year, but so far, everyone around her had been able to make adjustments and work around her fear. This time, it would be different; this time, there was no way around a sea journey, and she knew it. Her sudden nervousness was obvious to those who knew her well. She saw Anna tense up, and she half-expected her sister to jump out of her chair to comfort her, which would have been embarrassing in the middle of a Council meeting.

Instead, she felt a sudden light pressure on the top of her foot. She glanced at Anders, startled; he just smiled back at her. He was playing footsie with her under the table! His improvised distraction worked. Her nervousness faded away; there was no risk of a snowstorm in the Council chamber. She'd still have to deal with her fear of sea travel, but she didn't have to do it here or now. She agreed to the suggested terms; the next day, she would send royal messengers to Glauerhafen, Stavanger, and Bergen. Then she asked for recommendations on how to handle the role of peacemaker.

"You'll have to fix it so each side gets something," the new Duke of Erl suggested. "They've fought each other to a draw, but they've probably been telling their people that the war was going well. They need some kind of prize to show their people that the war wasn't just a waste of time, wealth, and blood."

"But if they both get something, that means they'll both have to give up something, too," Anna objected. "How will that make anything better?"

Potet knew the answer to that one. "If they each have something to brag about, they just won't tell their people what they're giving up in return. It's a classic rulership technique. The hard part is balancing the two sides so each leader thinks he's getting more than the other one."

"Yes," the Baron agreed, "and the way to do that is –"

Nelsen talked right over him. "The way to do that is to know the two rulers, and appeal to each one's personal sense of greed. For instance, we know that the King of Stavanger loves gold more than anything else, so his share of the peace treaty will probably involve an indemnity payment in gold coins."

"Glauerhafen will probably agree to that in principle – they're a wealthy duchy," Elsa nodded. "It will depend on the amount. What should I offer them in return?"

"Glauerhafen makes almost all their money from trade," Basi thought out loud. "We've already opened Stavanger's markets for trade, a little bit. If Glauerhafen could gain access to Stavanger's markets, they could regain their indemnity within a few years, and eventually come out ahead on the deal."

"But Stavanger will figure that out, won't they?" Kristoff asked. "They'll say a deal like that isn't fair."

"Then grease the skids a little, Your Highness," Nelsen replied. "Glauerhafen will have to include some extra gold that doesn't go to the Kingdom of Stavanger, but straight into the King's private treasury, so he'll agree to the rest of the terms."

"That's called a bribe," Elsa objected.

"That's called negotiating, Your Highness," Potet answered. "We aren't bribing anyone. If Glauerhafen isn't willing to slip a few coins to the King of Stavanger, then they'll have to add a lot of coins to the overall deal before Stavanger will accept it. Let it be their decision. Either way, you'll have the pleasure of seeing the war ended, our enemies pacified, and our own prestige elevated."

"Can anyone think of an alternate way to handle this, in case Plan A doesn't work out for some reason?" the Queen asked. No one had any other ideas. The decision was made; Queen Elsa would bring peace to her two quarreling neighbors. Kai was left with the unpleasant task of arranging a sea voyage for a sovereign who was mortally afraid of traveling by sea.

The royal ball was almost an afterthought. Elsa and Anders went through the motions and did everything that was expected of them, but their minds were elsewhere. He had to remind her to throw a little snow from her fingertips when they danced together. As soon as the party wound down, the Queen and Prince excused themselves, retired to their royal suite, and were soon fast asleep in each other's arms, which was what they'd wanted all along.