chapter 15

authors note: the government of Arendelle that I my describing/using is something I developed, not an actual small city/country. I did this to simplify things on my side.

Reviews are welcome.

I fully appreciate the reviews by Loridhhp, but I would like to read from additional people. Thank you for the additional reviews.

Anna shivers at that tone. It was so like when Elsa said, 'Enough, Anna.' during the coronation ball.

"Now, you've got me wondering." Anna whispers.

"Wondering about what?" Elsa says as she looks at Anna's reflection in the mirror.

"Wondering how I will mess up during the meeting. That..."

Elsa spins around and grabs Anna's hands, which are trembling. "Do not worry, Anna. Just be yourself and everything will be fine."

"Even if I mess something up?" She asks in a wondering tone.

"Even then." Elsa smiles, radiating confidence. "Still," Elsa says in a calm tone, "let's calm you down." She smiles, "And this might calm me, down as well."

"What?"

"Let's review how much you remember from your lessons."

"Elsa! I know how the Council works!"

Elsa cocks her head, "Really, Anna? I have read notes from you tutors, you know."

"Those... Those stuck up, ancient tutors, whose only response to a question is the whack you on the hand? If you question anything that they say, they believe that you are an idiot, not that they can not explain something!" Anna cries as she wrenches her hands from Elsa's, so she can use her arms and hands as she waves them in the air, as she walks around the room continuing the complain about her teachers.

Elsa suppresses a smile. 'She's not worried about the meeting anymore.'

Anna spins around, facing Elsa, "Fine. Grandfather's constitution gives all the tax-paying adult male residents of the city of Arendelle the right to vote for Councilors. There are ten councilors. They're supposed to run the city on a daily basis, so the King, ah," A glance at Elsa, who shrugs, mistakes like that will happen, getting upset about them, will not help. "Queen does not have to. Their power outside the city is pretty limited."

"Sadly, things have not gone the way Grandfather wished it would have." Elsa interrupts, "The council seats, instead of being a way for new people and new ideas to become known and grow, have become the seats of an oligarchy. The ten seats are held by 15 to 20 families, which trade seats during elections."

Anna opens her mouth, then closes it, says, "Fine, Elsa. Five are supposed to represent the families and homes of the residents."

"Backbenchers that rarely say anything according to the official minutes." Elsa adds.

A fishy look at Elsa, who keeps interrupting, "I thought I was the person that interrupted everyone!" Anna says in exasperation.

Elsa grins, like the cat the stole the canary, "Can not I have fun?"

'Especially on a day like today?' She thinks.

The two sisters giggle at each other.

Then Anna says, "Three represent various businesses in the city. The Fishing Guild is the oldest business. Arendelle began as a fishing village. Lennart Michael is the current Councilor."

Elsa nods.

Anna pauses, playing with her hair. "Traditionally...the Councilor of fishing guild is...the person that runs the city in case the King or Queen is out of the city?" She looks at Elsa. "I should have appointed him, instead of Hans?'

Elsa grimaces, but nods. "Well, there are other problems, but... Yes, Anna. Although, given his age and health, that is a point that could be debated."

"Oh... I."

Elsa raises her hand, "Do not worry about it, Anna. From everything I know, Hans did an excellent job running the city. His only mistakes was with us."

"Oh." A deep breath. "I screwed up, though, Elsa. What are you going to do about that?"

Elsa grabs Anna's hands. "I am planning on fixing it, Anna."

Anna's eye narrow as she thinks things through, "Soo...What you said during Court with Marcus? About Hans having legal authority?"

"He did not have any, Anna." Elsa replies, a stern tone and look in her eyes. "Neither you or Captain Marcus could to give Hans that. I said it that way since it sounded good and helped you and him." She sighs, "It was the first time on throne and thinking about it, now, I should have said it differently. I will have to have a private talk with Captain Marcus about his actions last week, he did not act in the way I would have wished, but he did help me immensely with that show trail, so that can wait. The Council, though. Did have that power." Her eyes slide to the stack of envelopes on the table. "But, they did nothing. That is where the problem is."

Anna shivers at Elsa's tone...

"Then why did you seem to say that I did?" Anna asks.

"Because I want you to have more power."

"But, I don't want more power!" Anna cries.

Elsa smiles, "You do not have to use it, Anna. I just want it available, just in case. Your actions last week. Anna...You did more than anyone to fix things, but you had no legal authority to do so. I want you to have that, in case of another emergency."

Anna frowns, "No legal authority?"

Elsa shrugs, raising her hands shoulder high. "Legally? I was out of city, I had not abdicated, I was still Queen, but I did not appoint someone to substitute for me while I was gone. So. Lennart, as the oldest Councilor and the head of the Fishing Guild, given the problems with my blizzard, should have taken charge. But, he told me after the coronation, that he was feeling poorly and went home before the ball. One of the other Councilors, and most were at the coronation ball, should have taken charge." She pauses as she thinks, "Given what is happening today, I am surprised that Herlofson did not try to take over. You and Hans acted faster, that's all that comes to mind."

'I want to say that I saw him run away when I lost control of my powers, but. I was not concentrating on him or any of the other people at the far side on the ballroom at the time.' She thinks.

She pauses, then asks, "Continue with the Council, please, Anna. You are doing fine."

"The next two councilors. One controls the Iron Works, Naes Jernverk. Jacob All is the Councilor. The Grimstad shipyard is next. Henrik Ibsen is the Councilor." Anna licks her lips, "Jens, following your advice, has been funneling a lot of money to them." She shrugs, "They have new partnerships with Crown? I never understood that stuff."

Elsa smiles, "Do not worry about that, Anna. It would take far to long to explain. I am proud of the results, though. Nes Jernverk is almost as big as the iron works in Oslo and is much more modern. The Grimstad Shipyard is also more modern than anything outside of London. They are building our first ocean-going steamship, now, made with our wood and iron. Everything is ready for Arendelle to grow."

'My plan for making Arendelle a modern city was working until last week.' She thinks, 'Even if I had to work through Jens. Unlike Papa who needed Herlofson's money to balance the books, with the extra money that the new and improved iron works and shipyard will generate, I can refuse that shady money.'

Her mouth twitches, "Arendelle, simply due to the hills and mountains around us, is never going challenge London with our iron works and shipyard. But, Oslo and Stockholm?" She smiles. "We can give them a challenge and beat them, with a little luck."

Anna smiles, "So, they should be on our side, right?"

Elsa smiles back, "Yes. I expect their firm support."

"Because Herlofson is the third councilor. He controls the docks and the area around them."

Elsa grimaces, "Yes. There are so many small business and so many ships that he can slip in bribes and mysterious extra fees without that much comment. He will have his tentacles in with the backbenchers, also, that is obvious from the minutes of previous meetings. He will control most of the Council." She sighs, "And that seat has been in his family for the last three generations. Which gives him plenty of tradition on his side as well."

"Why? If he is a crook and you know it, surely, Papa knew it?"

Elsa shrugs, "Papa probably did, Anna. But Arendelle needed extra money to recover after the Napoleonic wars and Herlofson's father provided that money. And later, Herlofson increased the crown's coffers as well. Father and Jens accepted that money without asking questions."

"Grandfather?"

"Herlofson's Grandfather help him during the wars. He was the financier that helped Arendelle build a small but modern navy." She grimaces, "Which we lost against Admiral Nelson, like everyone else did."

"And that is the last council seat. The Navy. Commodore Axel Mowat. He'll help you."

Elsa shrugs, "He should. Like Captain Marcus and all the Councilors he swore an oath of allegiance to me last week on coronation day. Since he is a military man, I assume he will honor that oath more than the rest of the Council will." Anna nods as she remembers that boring ceremony after Elsa's crowning but before the ball. Elsa sighs, "But, the money for the iron works and shipyard had to come from somewhere, Anna. Jens and I took it from Captain Marcus and Commodore Mowat." She finishes with a gloomy look on her face.

"How bad is that?"

"Right now, Arendelle's navy is three ships, two of which need major maintenance and crews."

Anna frowns, "I thought we had more. I know I saw two or three yesterday as they helped guide the ships as they were leaving?"

"Harbor patrol ships, Anna. Good enough for trips up and down the coast, but you would not want to cross the sea in them. Also they only have a couple small cannons. The three, I mentioned, are the only true ocean-going ships, with larger cannons."

'Oh. That is what Hans was saying, when we started talking outside the Castle.' Anna thinks. 'He was happy about it, though. Why?' Anna nods, understanding the difference.

Elsa continues, "It will take weeks for them to get seaworthy. The other ship, the Sarpen, was built in 1791 and needs maintenance." She snorts, "We had to buy it and the others back from the British after Copenhagen and sign a humiliating peace treaty with them." A pause, "The crew...I am not sure of. But, all the Sarpen does is just patrolling the harbor and the sea just outside the city."

"The Guard?"

"Arendelle's Guard... On paper it is a battalion of men in and around the Castle and City of Arendelle. Another mans the forts in the passes as it patrols the hills and mountains. But, since a lot of their budget was going elsewhere, they are way below strength. The city has a part-time militia that on paper is the third battalion, but the Councilor in charge of it is?"

"Herlofson."

"Yes." Elsa's mouth twitches, "Which could be a good thing, actually, Anna."

"Really?"

"He is a corrupt man. From my reading of history, the military, when someone who corrupt is in charge is not a good one." She plays with her hair, as she adds, "I do not understood why that is. The men writing those books assumed that the person reading had military experience and just did not explain things well."

"oh." Anna "How are you going to control the Council, then?''

"I was hoping that Herlofson was, at least, going to take time before he did anything." She slumps, "Since he is late, though, he has chosen to push it today. The surprise of my magic probably made him do nothing last week. Now, he is over that surprise."

"And" Anna asks after a pause.

"Now...we will see if the rest of the Councilors will restrain him. If he takes control of the meeting..." Her eyes return to the stack of envelopes on the table. "Then, Anna, you will open and read the letter in that envelope."

Anna shivers as the temperature on the room drops.

'In that case... my plan of ...' Elsa's thinking is interrupted by a knock on the door.

Authors note: Detail: Elsa's Grandfather's reign: 1786-1815 Father's reign 1815-1834

author's note: when researching this: Naes Jernverk (page on wiki under that name, if interested) is the name of a major iron works near Arendal, Norway, about 12-15 miles north of the city. I am modifying some physical details in the change from Arendal to Arendelle. Naes Jernverk is closer to Arendelle than in real life. Grimstad (wiki page as well. but. Google Grimstad Maritime Museum for better sources. The lonely planet Norway book is best.) is south of Arendal about 10 miles. In its heyday there were 40 different shipyards with up to 90 ships under construction at a time. That was from 1865-1885. grin.

thank you for reading

jeff