Chapter 17

note: I am not familiar enough with normal Lutherian practices, so I will avoid some details. It's a coward's way out of a problem. Sigh.

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

The first thing that Queen Elsa notices as she enters the room is the smoke from the pipes and cigars. She and Anna both raise their hands to cover their mouths as they cough.

Several of the men in the room grin around their cigars and pipes. They all watch her carefully as she and Anna cross the room. Elsa frowns at the smell of hard liquor on many of the men's breath, especially on the breath of Commodore Mowat. 'I had hoped that the stories of his drunkenness was wrong.' She thinks.

Kai orders, "Open the windows!" A couple of male servants, that were standing against the wall, begin to open the windows. Many where only partly open or closed.

'They closed the windows on purpose.' Kai thinks, 'They want to see Queen Elsa's reaction. Smoking is not my habit, nor is it Captain Marcus's, so many of the men under us do not smoke. She has not been exposed to this much smoke.'

Anna breaks down as she coughs and waves her hands in front of her face, trying to dispel the smoke. Queen Elsa flicks her hand and a couple of white fans, ice of course, appears. She hands one to Anna and uses the other on herself.

"Make a note, Kai. Make sure you open the windows at least a half hour before any Council Meeting."

' Elsa thinks.

"Yes. Your Majesty."

"Gentlemen." Queen Elsa states as she stands in front of her small throne. She can see the doorway from the throne. She blinks away the tears and scans the room, the smoke has faded enough for that.

Standing behind her is Kai to her right, Anna is to her left. Behind them lining the wall is half-a-dozen Guardsmen. Captain Marcus is standing to her right, placed so he can see Elsa's face and the rest of the room. Lining the walls of the rooms is a mix of Castle servants and aides to the various Councilors.

There is a long rectangular table and chair in the room. Five chairs on each side of the table, the throne on one end and an empty chair on the other. The chair closest to her on her left-hand side is, also, empty. The Councilors are standing in front of their chairs.

"Pastor Gunnerus," She nods to the Priest standing to her left, similar to how Captain Marcus placed himself. "A prayer to start this meeting of the Council of Arendelle. When finished, please seat yourself in the far chair."

That causes a small stir in the room. Under the Bishop of Arendelle, Herlofson sat there and Gunnerus sat at the left-hand of the Bishop. Lennart, the head of the Fishing Guild, sits at the right-hand on the Monarch.

Another larger stir happens when Emanuel Ludvig, the Coucilor who represents the people living on the Northern part of the City, coughs. "We should wait until everyone is here." He says as he looks at Queen Elsa.

After a clench of her teeth, Queen Elsa states, "Gentlemen, I am a punctual person. I will expect that the people who I am working with to, also, be punctual. Today, I will accept Herlofson's lateness. Problems do happen. However, I will lead these Meetings differently than how the Bishop of Arendelle and My Father led them."

A murmur sweeps the room. "And the Bishop?" Lennart asks.

Elsa looks at him, "I have received a note from the Bishop. There is a pastoral matter that is occupying his total attention at this time. The short note did not go into details. He is not attending this Meeting." A pause, "He will, of course, attend future meetings."

More whispers occur.

Gunnerus, after a cough into his hand, gives a short prayer, only hoping for a prosperous new reign.

Everyone in the room looks at him, suspiciously. Most of the men are offended, so they think something like, 'Nothing about the blizzard, or magic? Nothing else?'

Elsa, also offended, thinks, 'Only a prosperous new reign? Nothing else? Should I be happy that he did not denounce me as a witch?'

Anna thinks, 'What a nice man. He did not want to offend anyone.'

After everyone seats themselves, Elsa remains standing. "Councilors, today begins a new reign." She begins to speak, "There will be adjustments by everyone. Sadly, there will be more than there should be. I known that I am more inexperienced than anyone of you, and your experience would be a help, as I learn to rule Arendelle."

The men in the room, nod to that statement.

"But, I do have a vision for Arendelle." She smiles, and tries a joke, "And not a snowy one."

Anna grins and tries a laugh, but...no one else in the room is following along.

"Hrump. Are you sure that...that blizzard will not happen again?" Halyard Per, another Councilor, asks.

"Yes, Sir Per, I have control over my natural power." Queen Elsa states.

"Natural?" Several people in the room ask at the same time. "Not demonic?" is heard from someone.

She looks around the room. "Yes. Natural. My father, when asked, told me that I had my powers since birth. It was, of course, the reason for his orders to close the doors of the Castle and his withdrawal from the City."

Anna states, "My sister is telling the truth."

The men whisper between them.

Queen Elsa thinks, 'I had hoped that my supporters would speak up. But they are not.' She glares at them.

Kai, who positioned himself to look through a window, clears his throat. As Elsa glances at him, he nods.

'Ah! That is his signal. Herlofson is on approaching the Castle. I must ask Kai how he knows, later.' Elsa thinks.

Emanuel Ludvig shakes his head, "Your Majesty, we should wait until everyone is here, before we move on." He glances around the room. "You rushed yesterday when you allowed the Foreign Envoys to leave without consulting us."

"Especially, since you wrote note to the Duke of Weaselton and Prince Hans's father, without our advice." Councilor Per interrupts him with.

Elsa raises an eyebrow, as she clenches her icy fist behind her, controlling her temper.

"You rushed, again, when you held court, today, without our presence and then, ordering this Council Meeting." He shakes his head again. "You need to slow down."

Anna frowns, "You weren't at the Castle yesterday. She sent messengers to you all. I remember that. But," She looks around, "Most of you did not respond or said that you were busy with personal matters and did not come to the Castle." She looks at her sister. "Elsa did consult with those Foreign Envoys." She grins, "The Spanish Envoy was especially gracious toward me."

Elsa grinds her teeth at that statement. 'Still nothing from them. Jacob, you and Henrik, had better have a good reason for saying nothing.'

'Why is Elsa angry at the Envoys? They were here, and they did advise her, where none of the Councilors were? So why is she angry at the Envoys? Kristoff got a little angry when the Spanish Envoy kissed my hand and praised me for saving Arendelle and everyone in it.' Anna remembers. 'Something like that?'

"Princess Anna, we are the Councilors of Arendelle. We must be consulted on important matters." Emanuel says, "Those notes are going to cause a war."

"War!" Anna exclaims. "How? All they said was Prince Hans tried to kill me and my sister and he needs to be punished. Elsa didn't punish him."

"And for trying to usurp my position. Kill me, the Queen of Arendelle." Elsa interrupts, "and my sister, the Princess of Arendelle, I could have had him beheaded. I bent over backward, trying not to start a war."

Anna nods vigorously, agreeing with her sister. "And the note to the Duke was a simple, you're not welcome here. I mean, he tried to overthrow my sister, that's getting off easy. I'd have punished him more."

"I planned a similar note to the Duke of Weaselton months ago." Queen Elsa says. "As part of my vision for Arendelle, we must turn to London and points South, not to Northern Germany."

"WE, the Council of Arendelle, must be consulted on matters like that!" Axel Nicolai Herlofson states in a loud voice as he enters the room.

Note: Real Life is disrupting my schedule and will for the next several weeks. I should be able to continue Elsa: The Early Days, but like today, timing might vary. As far as Elsa of Antarctica goes, I've got enough written that I should be able to get past this trouble spot. Sigh.

thank you for reading

jeff