start chap 10
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The waiting room behind the Great Hall, a few minutes later.
"Elsa!" Anna cries out as she sweeps open the door, dragging Kristoff with her into the room.
Elsa and Gerda, sitting at the table concentrating on paperwork, look up.
"Anna?" Elsa asks.
"Kristoff, here, has something he needs to tell you." Anna says as she pushes him in front of her.
Kristoff stumbles against the table.
The paperwork that Gerda was showing Elsa begins to slip and slide off the table.
Kristoff, Anna, Gerda and Elsa all quickly start to try to catch the paperwork.
Kristoff's head bounces off Elsa's, crushing her Tiara.
Gerda, trying to get between Kristoff and Elsa, bounces her head off Kristoff's.
Anna diving in, somehow bounces her head against all three of the others.
"OW!" They all say, as they tumble to the floor, paperwork going everywhere.
Maids open up the door, rush in and help everyone up.
"I'm sorry." Kristoff squeals. "Your Majesty."
Elsa, patting her head, says, "That's fine, Mr Bjorgman. You were trying to help."
"You know that you've got a hard head, don't you, Kristoff." Anna complains, jokingly.
Gerda rubbing her head thinks, 'No. You do, Anna.'
A couple of minutes later, after gathering up the paperwork.
Elsa, Anna and Gerda are sitting around the table.
Kristoff is standing, looking at Elsa, his cap in his hands, twisting it.
"You broke your Tiara." Gerda states to Elsa.
Elsa pats her head. "I can make another." An Ice Tiara forms on the table.
Kristoff smiles. "Pretty." He whispers. His hands stop twisting his cap.
"Yes." Elsa says as she picks up the Tiara. "It is."
She places it on her head, then asks Kristoff, "What is the problem, sir?"
Sir...
Throws him for a second.
Kristoff stares at the Ice Tiara as he states, quickly and easily, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Friends, well, friendly competitors of mine believe that your powers will cause them to lose their businesses. Last night...there was some... some weird talk."
He pauses.
"I understand." Queen Elsa says, "These are friends and you do not want to get them in trouble."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You don't have to call her that, Kristoff. Just call her Elsa, like I do." Anna interrupts.
Elsa and Gerda sigh.
Kristoff gulps, "AH..."
"In private, Mr Bjorgman, I will accept that."
Anna frowns, "How come you're not calling him Kristoff, Elsa?"
Elsa sighs. A look at Gerda, who shrugs.
"Anna, royal protocols? How am I supposed to talk to citizens?"
Anna frowns. "Sure. I remember. It just doesn't apply to Kristoff." She states with finality.
Elsa looks at Kristoff, who shrugs.
She thinks, 'This is not an argument that I'm going to win. Surrender gracefully.'
"Very well. Kristoff, in private, I will speak to you informally. In public, we will, of course, speak in a formal manner. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Yo.. Yes, Elsa." He gulps after that statement.
"Now. Let's see if I understand. Your friends, other ice harvesters, are afraid that my powers will destroy their business."
He nods.
"And they have begun to talk and spread various rumors, some of which you feel would be offensive to me."
He nods.
"And you rushed here to tell me, so I could do something about it."
He nods.
"Is there anything else that I am missing?"
"No." A pause. "No. Elsa. That is everything."
"What are you going to do Elsa?" Anna asks.
Elsa taps her chin, thinking, "The problem about my powers..." A sly grin appears and vanishes. "I need to explain it to them." She looks at Kristoff, "If you could help, Mr... Kristoff. I'll need some names and places where my servants can find them. I will summon them here and explain things."
He grimaces, "Ah... Elsa. Ma'am, that's not a good idea."
Queen Elsa raises an eyebrow, "Why, if I may ask?"
He sighs, "Well... Most of them, you know, really don't like coming to the Castle, or City Hall for that matter."
"Why?" Elsa frowns in confusion.
Kristoff looks around, licks his lips, obviously reluctant to speak.
"Kristoff?" Anna asks, "What's the problem?"
"Herlofson." He spits out. "You know the council member in charge of the docks."
Elsa frown changes into anger. "Him." She hisses.
Anna looks at Kristoff, he has an angry expression of his face like Elsa's.
She looks at Gerda, who also has an angry expression on her face.
"All right. I am missing something. Would one of you care to explain?"
The other three look at each other...
Then start to speak at the same time, speaking over each other.
Anna hears something like, "HeheIhasiswillaanhavecrookbadtroublereputationwithhim."
"One at a time, please."
Elsa begins to speak, Gerda and Kristoff stay silent, this time. "Anna, he is the council member I will have the most trouble with." She sighs. "While Arndelle's Bishop."
"You mean Jens." Anna interrupts. "He is our friend, you don't have to use his title, Elsa."
Elsa sighs, and continues, "Jens, then, was my regent after Father died, he was in charge of the city council."
"I know that."
Elsa stops another sigh, "He is very busy with his normal duties as Bishop of Arendelle." Anna nods. "So, he never could spend a lot of time running Arendelle, and, he knew that I was going to rule in a couple of years. So, he never really took control of the council."
A deep sigh from Queen Elsa, "That is a common problem with the rule of regent. They normally are weak rulers, which allows...problems to develop and grow. Axel Nicolai Herlofson is, now, my problem."
An interested look appears in Anna's eyes.
Gerda nods.
Kristoff tries to become invisible. This is way over his pay grade and he knows it.
"Before last week, I tried to communicate with the Council, but with father's orders in control, all I could do is write them letters. Which, as Jens told me, received at best, a mixed reaction." She looks at the mess of paperwork on the table. "Gerda, do you think you could find that account sheet, that we were looking at?"
Gerda nods and begins to shift through the mess on the table.
"Anyway, Anna, Council member Herlofson is using his position to steal money."
Kristoff coughs.
"A comment?" Elsa asks.
"He's doing a lot more than stealing money, Your... Elsa." He states. "He is pissing a lot." He covers his mouth in horror at his language. "Sorry about than, ladies." He blushes.
Anna frowns, "You did not have a problem with language yesterday, Kristoff. Hell, I had to wipe off your spit. What's the problem? I mean, you've acting really weird."
Kristoff blushes.
"Spit?!" Elsa growls. Anna had not told her about that!
"We were traveling, fast, on my sled, and an accident happened." He spits out, quickly.
"Yeah. It was an accident, don't worry about it, Elsa." Anna says, as she defends her boyfriend.
The angry expression on Elsa's face fades, but...
"Your problem?" Anna reminds Kristoff.
He turns a deeper red. "I've never been in the Castle before, Anna." He waves around. "I'm afraid I'll mess something up." A pause. "And the couple of times I've had to go to City Hall, I've used one of the side doors that lead directly to the clerks. It's pretty messy, not like the front entrance. Or... Here." He points to the door to the Great Room.
He barks a small laugh, "I keep expecting to see one of the maids following me, wiping the floor to clean up the mess my shoes are making on the clean floors here."
All three women bend over and look at his shoes. They are well made, sturdy reindeer leather shoes of the Saami people. There are spots of mud on them. He begins to brush them against each other trying to hide them. Which, of course, knocks the mud off, dirtying up the clean floor.
Gerda laughs, "Do not worry, Mr Bjorgman. Their job is to clean up messes." She says as she looks at Anna.
Anna blushes.
"I am sorry, Anna. I'm just not used to this." Kristoff begs. "Is that all right?"
"Yes." "Of course." "We'll live." The three women say.
"So...that's why you've been all..." Anna pauses, trying to find the right word. "Different today."
He nods.
Elsa clears her throat. "You were saying about Mr Herlofson?"
"Ah... yeah. He is...His men, you know, have been collecting a lot of special fees lately. And that is...causing problems. Asger, one of the men last night, was complaining about him. He went to Herlofson to complain and was thrown into prison for a week a few months ago."
Elsa frown grows as she hears this. Her eyes narrow. Ice forms on her chair and spreads along the floor. 'A council member does NOT have that authority! Why am I only, now, hearing about this!' A flick of her eyes to Gerda, who blushes seeing that gaze.
"Elsa?" Anna says as she notices the colder temperature in the room.
"Sorry." Elsa dismisses the ice and cold.
"I knew... that he was causing problems. His official accounts do not add up. I knew he was stealing from the Crown. But...this." She looks at Gerda.
"Once I finished going over the castle accounts, Your Majesty, I was going to mention him. That is why I brought his accounts." She slides a paper in front of Elsa. "Here is the paperwork, we were looking at."
Elsa glances down, yes, it matches her memory.
She looks at Kristoff and asks, "So, you do not think that your friends, this Asger, would come to the Castle?"
He replies, "Not, willingly. And if you forced them..."
"They are not going to listen to anything I say."
He nods, gloomily.
Elsa looks at Gerda. Gerda, grimaces, but nods in agreement to Kristoff.
She looks at Anna. Who is still looking at Kristoff shoes and clothes, and glancing at her clothes. There are dirty splotches where she has hugged, grabbed and touched him. She never noticed that...
"Suggestions, then?"
Kristoff shakes his head. He has no idea.
Gerda tries to find a solution that does not include the ice harvesters coming to Elsa. She can not. Her suggestion is, "Ask Kai?"
"Anna?" Elsa asks.
"Huh?" Anna looks at Elsa. "What, Elsa?"
"I can not summon Kristoff friends to the Castle, but I need to explain things to them." She explains, "Where can I meet with them?"
"Wherever Kristoff meets them, of course." Anna replies quickly, distracted by her thoughts.
"You Majesty," Gerda begins, "It is not proper. People come to you. You do not go to them."
Elsa frowns. 'Gerda is correct. But... I must meet them. How can I go to them, but still keep my dignity as a Queen?' She asks herself.
Her eyes brighten, an idea has occurred.
"Gerda, I have lived in the Castle for years, but I have not visited the city in many years." Gerda nods, wondering why Queen Elsa is stating the obvious. "I do not, therefore, have first hand knowledge of the city, that I now rule. A tour of the city is necessary. It will, also, be necessary for me to interact with the citizens of Arendelle while I travel through the city."
"I see." Kristoff says, "You meet them during that tour. They can ask you about your powers and our jobs."
"And you can answer them!" Anna finishes Kristoff's sentence, crying out in excitement.
Gerda slowly nods her head. 'That can work,' she thinks.
Elsa smiles.
A solution has been found.
End chap 10
thank you for reading
jeff