Growing Together Chapter 5
It was going to be a four-day journey by ship from Arendelle to Bergen. The captain and crew were kept busy tacking back and forth into the prevailing wind so they could get where they were going. They didn't pay a lot of attention to their two distinguished passengers. That suited the passengers just fine, because they didn't want their subjects to see how abjectly miserable they were.
Every moment of the journey, Elsa struggled with her lifelong fear of being shipwrecked. That fear had kept her on land all her life, but now, the demands of state forced her to face that fear. It wasn't going well. She spent most of her waking hours on the lee side of the ship so she didn't have to see the worst of the waves, clutching the rail tightly with both hands, speaking only when spoken to. No one spoke to her except her husband, and he didn't have much to say because he was fighting his own affliction: seasickness. As with his last sea journey, he'd had to bend over the rail only once, but he was constantly on the edge of another bout. They stood side by side at the rail, both desperately unhappy, quietly trying to comfort each other. They couldn't do much for each other, but each of them found a small amount of comfort from their own miseries in their attempts to help the other one.
"If you grip that rail any tighter, you're going to embed your fingers in it," Anders said to her on the second morning out. "The captain will be able to sell tickets to see the Queen's own permanent fingerprints on his ship."
"I keep asking myself if this was the last thing my mother and father ever saw," Elsa replied in a very quiet voice, staring out at the waves.
"You really need a distraction," her husband observed.
"Playing footsie isn't going to work this time," she answered. At least she glanced at him and half-smiled, which was a positive sign.
"There's something I'd like you to do for me," he decided. "You see those lifeboats on the deck in front of us? I'd like you to make one just like those, out of ice. Turn it loose on the water and see how it floats. Watch how the wind affects it; watch how the waves affect it. Then I'd like you to make another one with some improvements, and see how that one floats. Keep improving on it until you can make the perfect lifeboat."
"What, exactly, is this supposed to accomplish?" she wondered.
"Two things," he said. "One: it will give you something to think about, aside from what you're afraid of. Two: if, God forbid, we actually have to use a lifeboat, I'll have a lot more confidence in something you made than in those wooden boats."
"Anders, I know you aren't feeling well, but I think it's affecting your mind," she retorted. "Those boats were made by professional boat-makers, to be used by professional sailors! Why would you trust my work more than that?"
"Those boats were made for shuttling people and small cargoes around in harbors, and for short trips from ship to ship," Anders answered. "They weren't made for staying out on the open sea; they get used as lifeboats because they're the only boats on board. I'm convinced that you can do a better job. Come on – let's see what you've got!"
She shrugged, forced herself to let go of the rail, and walked around the ship's boats, which were stacked upside-down on the deck like nesting dolls. Once she'd given them a thorough visual inspection, she gestured out to sea. Snowflakes rose from the spray and foam of the waves, spiraled inward, and formed themselves into an icy replica of the largest boat in mid-air. As soon as it was finished, she withdrew her hand, and the boat splashed into the sea. The wind and waves soon turned it sideways, where it took on water with each wave until it was full. She gestured again, and it melted away almost instantly.
"The sides are low, and that's good for rowing," she decided, "but it's bad for fighting waves." She made another boat with higher sides. This one resisted the waves better, but the wind caught those high sides and pushed it over to an alarming degree. "Maybe it needs more weight in the bottom, to keep it upright." She made another one. Anders smiled, in spite of his discomfort. Usually, when he tried to distract her, it was to keep her power from leaking out under stress. Today, her power was the distraction, but it served the desired purpose – now his wife wasn't so miserable. If she was content, then he was content, even though his digestive system didn't feel so contented.
After a few hours of experimenting, Elsa was happy with her work. She'd created an icy lifeboat with high, rounded sides and a roof, with small holes on top so the occupants could breathe. It couldn't sink, it couldn't take on water, it couldn't capsize, and it would remain intact as long as someone with ice powers was riding inside it. The sailors had watched her at work now and then, but paid her no mind; they assumed she was trying to amuse the Prince-Consort in some way.
The cook was firing up the galley for lunch when the ship shuddered to a stop with a rending crash. Almost everyone on deck was thrown flat; one sailor in the rigging fell into the sea and had to swim back to the ship. The only exception was Elsa, who had resumed her death-grip on the ship's rail. Anders rushed to her side as soon as he could get up off the deck.
"No," she whimpered. "This can't be happening."
"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.
"This can't be happening," she repeated in a tiny voice. The cold wind began to rise, with hints of snowflakes in the air.
"I have to find out what's going on," he decided. He tried to locate the captain, and found him surrounded by officers and men who needed orders.
A sailor climbed up from belowdecks, his clothing soaking wet, and reported to the captain. "We hit a submerged rock, sir! Water is coming in fast! The pumps can't handle it."
"Will the rock keep the ship from sinking?" the first mate asked him.
"That won't matter in a few minutes," the captain decided. He saw smoke billowing out of the galley and realized that the wood-fired stove had been knocked over. With fire in the bow and water coming in below, he didn't have many options. He snapped out orders to his crew. "Bosun, launch the boats. Number One, see to the safety of the crew; I have to look after our special passengers. Ensign, open the ship's safe; you're responsible for its contents. Midshipman, fetch the ship's papers and the navigation instruments." He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted to the men in the rigging, "Take in all sail! Prepare to abandon ship!"
He turned to Prince Anders. "Your Highness, I'm sorry. This isn't how the voyage was supposed to end. We've struck an uncharted rock, and we have to abandon ship. I'm placing you and the Queen in the first boat."
"Thank you, captain," Anders replied, "but the Queen has been experimenting with lifeboats, and we'll be using one of her boats. We'll be perfectly safe."
"I'm afraid I can't accept that, Your Highness," the captain answered. "I'm under oath to protect you and the Queen, from the moment you stepped onto my ship until the moment you step off. I'm sure the Queen means well, but the wind is rising, the nearest land is miles away, and I can't let you go floating off on your own. Please grab whatever belongings you can't live without, and step into that large boat that's waiting for you. I insist."
Elsa stepped up beside Anders and linked her arm in his. "Thank you for your concern, captain," she said, transforming herself from a frightened passenger into a stately queen so quickly that Anders was startled. "We release you from your oath, and we are giving you a royal command: see to the safety of your crew. The Prince-Consort and I will be fine. We'll meet you on shore."
"This is very much against my better judgment, Your Highness," the captain said.
"Thank you, captain," she replied. "We appreciate your concern. Please see to your duties; your crew needs you. The Prince and I are quite capable of handling any emergency, and we prefer to control our own destinies." Before he could argue any more, she turned away, leading Anders toward their cabin in the stern of the ship.
They had traveled light; they'd planned to buy clothing in Bergen for the peace conference, and had packed only such things as Bergen could not supply, like her jewelry and his sashes and medals. All their vital belongings fit in two small suitcases which Anders could carry easily. He picked them up, then set them down and caught Elsa by the shoulder. "I honestly expected you to fall apart when you realized we were really having a shipwreck," he said.
"I'm slowly learning the art of rising to the occasion and doing what I have to do," she answered with a quavering voice. "I didn't want the sailors to see their sovereign falling apart. I'll probably do that once we're safely inside the lifeboat. Let's go, while I still have some inner strength left." He nodded, picked up their suitcases, and led her to the lee rail of the ship. The deck was closer to the waves than it had been a few minutes ago. Flames were beginning to lick around the galley door. The crew were almost all into the boats; only the captain remained on board, watching to make sure his sovereign got away safely.
She waved her hand and formed the lower half of her lifeboat. Anders climbed in, she handed him the suitcases, and he helped her step off the ship and into her boat. She called, "Thank you for everything, captain!" then gestured again, and the roof formed over their heads. They could see and hear nothing now. The wind and waves would certainly cast them up on the coast of Norway; it was just a matter of time. One day? Two days? They had no way of knowing.
They lay down on the floor of the boat and wrapped their arms around each other, not for warmth (neither of them was bothered by the cold), but because they were going into shock at the realization of what had just happened to them. She began to cry and couldn't stop. He just held her, feeling the rocking of the boat, hoping his stomach would behave, and wondering what unforeseeable adventures waited for them when they reached the shore. He hoped for none. He'd had enough adventures for one lifetime already.