Well, here's chapter one (I know; I'm Captain Obvious.) This chapter has plenty of detail, but also a lot of humor. I hope you all enjoy. By the way, the chapters are going to be from different viewpoints, so at the beginning of each one I'll include the name of the character whose viewpoint is currently being used in parentheses.
Thanks for reading and please do review.
CHAPTER 1: OF SLAMMED DOORS AND NOSE SMEARS (Elsa)
Elsa was bored.
Hours of staring at never-ending royal documents, filled with paragraph after paragraph of varying requests, would do that to a person. Even a queen. Especially a queen. Because queens were always poring over documents, whether or not they only needed her signature to declare her approval.
The document that Elsa was currently reviewing was a trade proposal from a kingdom adjacent to Arandelle, Fyintr. Fyintr was located to the north of Arandelle, and experienced what seemed to be a year-round winter (Elsa briefly wondered if this was why the kingdom's name rhymed with winter). It was surrounded by jagged, wintery mountains, and the terrain was limited to tundra and icy wasteland - in fact, being so close to Arendelle, it was a wonder that Arendelle experienced heat at all. Even in Fyintr's summer, the temperature rarely exceeded thirty degrees Fahrenheit. And in winter, its inhabitants would consider themselves blessed to experience temperatures of above minus five degrees.
However, this meant that the animals of Fyintr had learned to adapt to their unforgiving environment. The kingdom's Tykk-Ull sheep, literally meaning "thick-wool sheep", were of high demand in Arendelle for their thick, curly wool, which was especially suitable for good-quality carpets and sweaters. In fact, these particular sheep were the subject of the document that Elsa was currently reading. King Asfen of Fyintr had sent an envoy to Arendelle bearing a carefully worded manuscript that proposed trade between Arendelle and Fyintr. A shipload of the kingdom's finest Tykk-Ull sheep would be transported to Arendelle, in return for something Fyintr needed dearly: a shipment of grain.
The only problem was that Queen Elsa was fully aware that it was a terrible trade. She would be giving away an entire boatful of grain in return for nothing more than fifty or so loud, smelly sheep, whose only usefulness came from their fleeces - and the rugs and sweaters that could be woven from their wool weren't even necessities. It was almost as though King Asfen was taking advantage of Elsa's extremely recent ascension to the throne, knowing she would be reluctant to decline trade with a neighboring kingdom. Doing so could cause all sorts of problems for a newly crowned queen - the least of which was war ( in Arendelle's early history, several battles had been fought simply because its ruler refused to trade with another kingdom).
However, despite all of Elsa's misgivings, it seemed as though her only option was to agree to the trade. After all, it wasn't as though Arendelle had a limited grain supply - in fact, quite the opposite. It couldn't hurt to be generous. And wintertime in Arendelle was a frigid affair. Extra sweaters would surely be appreciated. Besides, she figured, it was better to lose some easily replaceable grain then to lose an army, fighting an unnecessary battle with Fyintr all because of her refusal to trade. Surely enough grain had been stocked in Arendelle's storehouses to last the kingdom for the entire winter. Elsa's Minister of Agriculture, Phylmon, had assured her that this summer had been the best season for grain in a whole century.
Elsa hastily rifled through to the final sheet of paper, which bore a line for her signature. Her graceful eyebrows drew together in an irritated frown. Really, she thought to herself, is all of this paper even necessary? All of this could have been clearly stated in three pages, but twenty pages? That's pushing it. She had already read seventeen of the pages, and didn't even bother to read the last three. One glance had told her that they were simply meant to review everything that had already been said. And she couldn't afford to waste time reading unnecessary repetitions - she had things much more pressing to be contemplating, like the premium chocolate shipment from Switzerland that was due to arrive by the end of the week.
Blinking tiredly, Elsa dipped her quill pen in the inkwell at the edge of her desk and signed her name with a flourish in graceful, flowing cursive. Today she would have to send a courier to Fyintr with these papers, to inform King Asfen of her agreement. And at the Council Meeting that was scheduled to begin three hours from now, she would request that a boatload of grain be gathered from the storehouses and shipped immediately to Fyintr. This was the kind of busy schedule that would make Anna fall asleep just looking at it.
Behind Elsa, the door burst open and crashed against the wall. With an extremely undignified squeak of shock, Elsa pushed herself out of her chair, sending it toppling onto the carpet, and whirled around. A jagged icicle solidified in her right hand... and melted into a puddle on the floor as Elsa recognized the intruder.
"Anna!" she scolded, her heart fluttering from shock. I should have seen that coming, she chided herself ruefully. No matter how many times Anna had sneaked up on Elsa or leaped out at her from behind a door or a suit of armor, she could never predict what surprises her sister had planned for her next.
"Hi!" Anna bounced into the room, grinning hugely as always, and slammed the door behind her, prompting a wince from Elsa. Suddenly she caught sight of her sister's face. "Elsa... you look frightful! How late did you work last night?"
It was undeniably true. Elsa's dazzling sapphire eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and she looked ready to pass out from exhaustion. "Um... not too late..."
"Elsa," Anna repeated sternly."The truth. Now."
"Well, maybe midnight..." Quailing under Anna's ferocious glare, Elsa decided that it would be wise to divulge the truth. "Okay, two-thirty. But really, I'm not that tired. You don't have to worry."
"I don't have to worry?" her sister demanded shrilly. "I don't have to worry? You look like a raccoon with those bags under your eyes! You look like you're going to faint!"
"Anna! I don't - I mean, I - you -" Elsa stuttered, irritated at not forming a coherent sentence but even more irritated that there was nothing she could do about it.
"Tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth?" Anna giggled before Elsa could get in another word, seemingly deciding that she'd badgered her sister enough about staying up too late. "Wow. That hasn't happened before. Usually I'm the incomprehensible one. Oh, and by the way... have you been taking lessons from me, or what? 'Cause when you knocked your chair over, that's totally the kind of thing I would do. I mean, it was so... unqueenly." She rattled all of this off in one breath so that Elsa could barely make out what she'd said, but she did catch the part about being incomprehensible and unqueenly (if unqueenly was even a word).
"Anna, I didn't... what are you - look what you made me do!" Elsa snapped suddenly, having finally composed herself only to be horrified again. Glancing over at her papers, she had noticed a massive, rapidly spreading ink blot that had already engulfed two of the pages of King Asfen's royal document, and was quickly streaming across the final page that bore her signature. Her inkwell had tipped over, and its final drops of ink were slowly but surely plopping onto the carpet, spreading an inky black stain.
"Oh. Sorry." Anna sounded extremely unapologetic.
Elsa muttered incomprehensibly as she strode over to her desk and righted the inkwell. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to read these pages?"
"No, not real-"
"Do you have any idea how important this document was?"
"Well, no, but -"
"I'll have to take this to my scribes so they can recreate these pages. And they won't be happy - most of the words can't even be read now." Elsa glared frigidly at Anna, but she was secretly suppressing a grin. It hadn't really been Anna's fault, and now that the deed had been done, the humor of the situation had suddenly been revealed.
Obviously Anna had reached the same conclusion. "Hang on - it wasn't really my fault; I mean -"
Elsa arched an eyebrow in mock disbelief. "Really. It wasn't your fault."
Anna attempted to raise an eyebrow in return, and ended up cross-eyed, trying to see her own eyebrows.
This was too much, and Elsa finally gave a soft chuckle. "Anna, when you try to raise an eyebrow, you're actually supposed to... er, raise one eyebrow," she concluded lamely. "Right now both of your eyebrows are practically disappearing into your hair."
"Well." Anna crossed her arms and pouted. "Not everyone can arch their eyebrows as gracefully as you can, you know."
"Mmmm," Elsa grunted, in the process of gathering the pages that weren't splotched with ink. She collated them and placed them in a neat pile, before using a tissue to soak up the ink that had pooled on the desk.
"Anyway," Anna continued brightly, "I came in here to tell you something."
"Funnily enough, I guessed that," Elsa replied sarcastically. "What were you going to tell me?"
"It's my birthday tomorrow!" the redhead exclaimed with glee, her sparkling turquoise eyes widening expansively. "I didn't tell you earlier because... well, I kinda haven't really seen you over the past few weeks; you've been so busy. Anyway, I was wondering -"
"Wait. Slow down." Elsa absent-mindedly brushed a few strands of platinum blonde hair out of her icy blue eyes. "Your birthday?" She instantly felt terribly guilty. She'd forgotten that it was Anna's birthday tomorrow. Perhaps she had been extremely preoccupied over the past few days, but that wasn't a valid excuse for forgetting your own sister's birthday.
"Elsa..." Anna directed a soft but slightly bitter smile at her sister. "You forgot it was my birthday, didn't you? No, no, it's okay," she pressed on before Elsa could say anything. "I know you've been really busy lately, and besides, we haven't celebrated my birthday together in... what, thirteen years?"
Elsa felt even more ashamed. Anna has predicted that her birthday would be forgotten. "Yes, but forgetting your birthday is... is... inexcusable. Being busy isn't an excuse for me being stupid and ignorant."
"Elsa! Don't you dare say that!" Anna shot her sister a fierce glare that would have made the most fearless of cave bears wither. "I know if I was in your position, I wouldn't have remembered either. And my birthday is trivial compared to the things you have to do right now. It's no big deal."
"But it is." Tears were brimming in Elsa's eyes. "I - for thirteen years, I shut you out. I ignored your birthdays. I ignored you. The least I can do now is remember your birthday. And I couldn't even do that."
"Elsa, look at me." Anna stepped forward until her clear azure eyes were five inches away from Elsa's cerulean ones. "We're sisters, and we always will be. And I'll always be there for you. Nothing can ever change that. Just remember that, okay? One small mistake isn't going to change anything." She pulled her sister into a tight embrace and rested her head on Elsa's shoulder. They stayed locked together for several minutes, reveling in each other's company.
Finally Elsa pulled away from the contact and locked eyes with her sister. "I know you'll always be there for me."
Anna smiled, a little tearfully, it seemed, but managed to lighten the mood nonetheless. "And don't you ever forget it," she teased, winking playfully.
"And I'm lucky to have you for my sister. I love you, Anna. I don't say that often enough. I love you."
Anna smiled a bittersweet smile, filled with memories of days gone by and dreams of those yet to come. "Me too," she agreed.
"You love yourself, too?" Elsa frowned, but a sly smile was tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Huh?" The perplexed look on Anna's face faded as it dawned on her that her sister was pulling her leg. "Oh, ha-ha. You have a real sense of humour, Elsa."
"I know," the blonde replied wryly. "Now, what were you going to say?"
"Oh, right. Well, I was wondering if maybe you could... I want you to - oh, that's too rude - okay: Iwouldreallyloveitifyouwouldspendthewholedaywithmetomorrowcauseitsmybirthday?"
"Huh?"
"Did I do it again? Sorry. Really gotta work on that. What I meant was, I would really love it if you would spend the whole day with me tomorrow, since it's my birthday," Anna repeated slowly, clearly trying to properly enunciate her words and only partially succeeding.
Silence hung in the air like fog in the early morning as Elsa sucked in her breath, considering how best to respond to her sister's request. "Anna, believe me... there's nothing I would like better. But I'm sorry, there's just too much to do."
Anna's cheerful grin faded as her face crumpled. "Oh, come on, Elsa! Please? It's been six months since your coronation, and you haven't done anything special with me. Not even once."
Six months. Six months since the events of that fateful coronation day; six months since the Great Thaw, spoken of as the Great Freeze by those who opposed Elsa's rise to the throne, had taken place. Had Elsa really neglected to spend time with her sister since then? "Anna," she continued gently,"I really am sorry, but -"
"Pleeeeeeease?" Anna's eyes widened and her face took on an imploring, puppy-dog expression. "Not even for me?"
One day, Elsa vowed grimly, I will seriously forbid Anna from looking cute inside the walls of this castle - I can't say no when she gives me that face. She groaned, annoyed with herself for succumbing to her sister's request. "Fine. I'll spend the-"
The rest of her words were drowned out with an ecstatic shriek from Anna. "YEEESSSSSSS! YESYESYESYESYES!" She danced around the room, squealing excitedly.
"Anna -" Elsa cleared her throat and tried once more. "Anna!"
"Yeah, I'm listening..."
"If you want me to spend the day with you tomorrow, you have to leave now so I can finish my work, okay?"
"Okay!" Anna chirped, a grin spreading across her freckled face. "Thanks, Els!" The use of Elsa's childhood nickname served to lighten the atmosphere even more. She enfolded her sister in yet another crushing bear hug before throwing open the door and hurtling down the hallway, skidding a little on the pristine carpet.
Elsa waited with bated breath. Sure enough, five seconds later, a crash of magnificent proportions echoed through the hall. The sound of Anna apologizing profusely to some terrified servant ("Oh my gosh, are you okay? I'm so sorry! I really should learn to not run in the hallways.") made its way to Elsa's listening ears.
Chuckling quietly, Elsa softly shut her door and crossed the room to her desk. Her sister's crazy antics would never cease to brighten her day.
...
Elsa was bored. Again.
This time, however, she was in a much worse situation: she was surrounded by people. Even worse than that, she was preceding over a Council Meeting that had just barely commenced. Nearly everyone around her had extensive experience in the art of concealing boredom. At least in the privacy of her room, Elsa was entirely free to display her lack of interest in her work without receiving disgusted glares from everyone in the near vicinity.
Elsa suddenly jolted out of her trancelike, boredom-induced stupor with the realization that someone was talking to her. "Your... your Majesty?" Admiral Fjerstand, Elsa's Naval Commander, peered at her with concern, his bushy eyebrows knitted. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Admiral!" Elsa snapped, more ferociously than she had intended, because he had interrupted her daydream about the chocolate cake that was currently coming into being in the kitchens. Softening, she added,"I'm fine. Carry on, thank you."
He inclined his head deferentially, thick black hair falling across his brow as he did so. "As you wish, my Queen." Turning once more to address the rest of the council members, the heavyset Naval Commander continued, "Now. Work on the new warship has commenced, and it is scheduled to be completed by the summer solstice. Once finished, I intend to find a crew as soon as possible, and my men and I will instruct them in the art of naval battle. And a name has been chosen for the ship, as I mentioned a few minutes ago. Does this name suit you, your Majesty?"
"Huh? Oh - er - the name sounds..." Elsa frantically racked her brain for a word that wouldn't reveal her total inattentiveness to the man's proud speech about his ship . "Fabulous! Yes, the name sounds fabulous." And so does the cake you keep not letting me think about, she added nastily in her mind.
Admiral Fjerstand looked pleased. "Yes, I thought I did a rather fine job coming up with that name, even if I do say so myself. Which I do." He chuckled deeply from underneath his rough beard, which looked to be self-cut, his hazel eyes twinkling with mischief."Anyway. I've talked for long enough. Your Majesty..." His voice trailed off as he bowed and took his seat, waiting expectantly for her to call upon the next person to stand.
The next person... Elsa blinked, suddenly becoming aware of everyone's questioning eyes focused on her. "My apologies, everyone - I was just feeling a little dizzy," she lied smoothly, holding up a hand to stay any attempts to fetch a glass of water for her. "Thank you, Admiral Fjerstand, your presentation was... er, most interesting. Now... Captain Yoric, if you don't mind, I'd like to hear from you next."
A hulking, barrel-chested man sporting an impressive salt-and-pepper mustache but no beard rose from his chair halfway down the table and touched his forehead with two fingers in an informal salute. "Thankfully, there isn't much to report, my Queen. Two of my new recruits were injured while sparring two days ago. One has a severe concussion, the other escaped with nothing but a few minor bruises. The concussed one should be fully recovered by the end of the month, we hope."
"Were they hurt while practicing with the brass swords that are usually distributed to soldiers-in-training?"
"Ja - indeed they were. The sword penetrated right through the man's helmet."
Elsa digested that information before responding slowly. "Perhaps we should take the brass swords out of commission and replace them with wooden ones...?"
"In theory, it's a good idea," Yoric admitted, "but the weight of a wooden sword is nothing like the weight of a real sword. The men would be unprepared to use a proper sword if they practiced with wooden swords only."
Elsa's eyebrows drew together as she pondered the issue. "I'll have to think on it, Captain," she finally decided. "If you can provide a better solution, please don't hesitate to inform me. Meanwhile, is there anything else to report?"
"I promoted Korporal Braan to the rank of Sersjant. I know I'm meant to consult with you first, but... he was entirely deserving of the privilege, and I felt sure you would feel similarly. Shall I present an account of his actions?"
"That's quite alright, thank you. Give him my congratulations. Is that all?"
"I believe so."
Queen Elsa sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Take your seat, Captain, thank you. Minister Phylmon, I think we'll progress to you next."
A clean-shaven, decidedly shifty looking man with liquid brown eyes got to his feet. "As you wish, my Queen." His voice, layered with insolence, commanded the attention of the room, yet it was soft and honeyed. "Fortunately, there is nothing of consequence to report."
"Absolutely nothing?" Elsa inquired, pleased that she would possibly have fewer problems to deal with, but hardly daring to believe that she could be so fortunate.
"Absolutely nothing. I was, however, wondering if you received the trade document from Fyintr. I was told only that you might require my assistance to review the document, therefore I requested it to be sent to you immediately so that we might have it sent back to Fyintr by today."
"Thank you, Minister, I received the document earlier this morning. It requested that we ship a boatload of our finest grain to Fyintr in return for several of the kingdom's prize Tykk-Ull sheep."
"And I presume that you didn't accept, Your Majesty..."
"I did."
"Hva?" Phylmon blanched with shock as his voice escalated to a high-pitched squeal, totally unbecoming of one with his stature. In his astonishment, it completely escaped him to speak English. "Deres Majestet, jeg er helt forbløffet Hva - hva i all verden - jeg - jeg rett og slett ikke kan tro -"
"Enough!" Phylmon was instantly silenced, as was the entirety of the room, as a wall of icicles ran its frozen fingers down the table, instantly coating the table in a sheet of jagged ice. A thin column of ice that closely resembled a spear point nearly jabbed Phylmon's nose as Elsa stood, breathing heavily in an effort to control her raging temper. Taking pity on those of her council members who chose not to speak Norwegian, she snapped in English,"Minister Phylmon, you are completely out of line. I will do what I see fit, when I see fit. Surely a shipload of grain is a small price to pay for the warmth of my subjects - mine, may I remind you, not yours - during this harsh winter. You yourself made it clear to me that we had plenty of grain in the storehouses."
"Ja, but I didn't know you would -" Phylmon whimpered in terror as he noticed tendrils of ice creeping up the walls like ivy.
"Phylmon," Elsa hissed through tightly clenched teeth, deliberately ignoring his title of 'Minister',"I wish to hear no more from you on this matter. Take your seat. Now."
Quivering with fear, the man slumped into his rough-hewn chair, as did Elsa at the head of the table. "If this breach of etiquette happens again, Phylmon, I - I'll-" Finding herself unable to procure a suitable threat, Elsa glanced over at her Prime Minister, Demytri Halsfyaerd, for a solution. However, the moment she did so, one presented itself to her automatically. "Do I have the authority to demote people?" she demanded, still fixing Phylmon with the look of a ravenous predator about to pounce.
"Certainly," Demytri assured her. He had assisted Elsa's father in all of his decisions for the entirety of his rule, and Elsa, understanding his importance, had not dismissed Demytri as the Prime Minister. A man of middling height, with pale blue eyes, his speech tended to be carefully worded and clearly audible - it was clear that he had been bred for the position he currently occupied. "But surely you have been informed of this before?"
"Yes, but I felt that it was necessary to check with you." Elsa idly straightened her crown, which was lying askew on her brow, before returning to the problem at hand. "I'll demote you, Phylmon. If you dare to question me in this despicable manner again, I'll demote you. Understood?"
Phylmon, quaking frightfully in his oversized chair, stuttered something that could have been a "yes".
"Good." Relieved that the matter had been resolved, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm herself. Chocolate cake, she reminded herself. Chocolate cake. As she finally achieved a measure of tranquility, the ice rapidly began to recede from the walls and melt from the table. Noting the terrified glances from every corner of the room, Elsa smiled shakily in an effort to lighten the atmosphere, suddenly realizing that she had behaved like a pampered brat."I, er, seem to have gotten a little carried away," she announced, a tremor still lurking in her voice. "It was wrong of me, and I apologize most sincerely."
Murmured sympathies were muttered by several council members, clearly meant to convey their understanding, but they barely reassured Elsa. Conceal... don't feel, she mentally reminded herself, putting as much passion and conviction as she could muster behind the words. If I can force my anger back, the ice will melt. Even as she thought the words, the final remnants of her ice dissipated - not just unfreezing the walls and the table, but also the barely hidden fear of Elsa's council members that was residing in the room.
As several audible sighs of relief were released, Elsa rapped her knuckle three times on the polished table surface to gain everyone's attention. A hush fell over the room instantly as everyone turned to face her. "If I may... time is ticking, and I'm sure none of us wish to remain here until the moon rises. Is everyone ready to continue the Meeting, hopefully, ah - without the ice this time?"
Everyone but Phylmon, who was still sulking moodily, nodded in eagerness. "Very well," Elsa continued, stifling a grin at her council members' reactions. They clearly shared her dislike for having such meetings on days when there were better things to be done - or on any day, really. "And before I forget... Minister Immaticus, I have a request for you."
Near the end of the table, a gangly, stick-thin man bowed his head submissively. Thick glasses that magnified his eyes until he resembled some sort of large insect were perched on his crooked nose, and his shoulders were hunched underneath his robes. Based on his looks, Immaticus was thought by many to be a clumsy and foolish youth, but his outward appearance gave no hint of his real personality - he was, in truth, a scholarly man of few words, and had a dry sense of humor that much resembled Elsa's. She had hired him five months ago to be an assistant to the previous Minister of Trade. However, he had been so pleased with his new assistant that he had actually retired, leaving Immaticus to shoulder his position. Since then, Immaticus had accepted his responsibilities as Arendelle's new Minister of Trade and had made Elsa more than pleased at the sense of duty that he felt to the kingdom to do his job well.
"Immaticus - er, Minister - as you well know, I've accepted an agreement with Fyintr which requires that we send a shipload of our finest grain. There was no date mentioned by which the grain must be sent, but I'd like to take care of it as soon as possible. I'm putting you in charge of having the grain sent in time to arrive in Fyintr by the end of the month. If you need help selecting the grain, you can collaborate with Phylmon."
"But -" Phylmon began to protest, before recognizing his mistake and falling silent, praying that the Queen hadn't heard.
Unfortunately for him, she had - and his insubordination this time was the last straw. Elsa felt her ire rising as she struggled to force herself to deal with the situation diplomatically.
Anger won over diplomacy. "Phylmon, are you deaf, or stupid, or both?" Elsa demanded, having lost any notions she'd had of calming down. "I clearly told you not to question me once more, didn't I? No, don't answer that - I don't want to hear from you again today. Get out."
"Your - your Majesty -"
"OUT!" As Phylmon stumbled to his feet, Elsa summoned a frigid blast of wind that shoved the unfortunate man, whining the entire time, out of the room and blew the solid oak door shut with a dull clunk.
As the echoes of the door closing faded, several people nodded approvingly at Queen Elsa. Phylmon's complaining nature had not endeared himself to the council, and everyone was pleased at his absence.
"Demytri," Elsa breathed, still staring hard at the seat that Phylmon had occupied a few seconds ago,"When you find time... would you mind making a visit to Phylmon and informing him that he is no longer the Minister of Agriculture, but the Minister of Agriculture's assistant? And his current helper - Ingold, I believe - tell him that he's being promoted."
Wide smiles broke out on the faces of of the council members, and a round of applause rippled around the table at Elsa's newest decision. Finally Phylmon was getting what he had deserved ever since taking on a position in Elsa's court.
"A wise decision, Your Majesty," Demytri complimented her, his face split with a grin larger than the Cheshire Cat's. "I'll tell him as soon as possible."
"Thank you. And Minister Immaticus, have you understood your task?"
"Indeed I have. I'll make it my first priority."
"Very good." Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose to keep awake, wondering if she would be able to squeeze in a nap between the meeting and dinner. Taking into consideration the facts that the meeting had dragged on for half an hour already and hardly anything of importance had been discussed, probably not. "Now... Minister Ethlbert, have you anything to share?" Even as Elsa reluctantly uttered the words, she bit back a scream, already dreading the next half an hour. Minister Ethlbert was known for his ability to never run out of topics to discuss - and his inclination to use long words that nobody but him knew the meaning of.
Ethlbert, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, jumped to his feet and clumsily clicked his heels together. He was a portly, pompous man with tufts of wispy white hair, an impressive waxed mustache that jutted straight out from his face and curled at the ends, and a completely unnecessary monocle that he carried merely for show. "At your service, milady," he squeaked in a humorously high-pitched voice, his chest puffed out in self-importance like a peacock's. "Yes, indeed I do. There are several documents in my possession which are dedicated to our alliances with certain other kingdoms. I would be most pleased if you would commit yourself to reviewing them and expressing your approval... or disapproval." His tone clearly implied that for Elsa to disapprove would be unwise. "I shall have them delivered to you by noon. But enough idle chitchat. There are several items of noteworthy importance that I wish to bring to your attention. Firstly, after excogitating for countless days, I have, being an honorificabilitudinitatibus -"
Elsa had been drifting in and out of attention for the past few seconds of his speech, but at the use of two impossibly long words in the same sentence, her mind finally left the council meeting far behind and wandered elsewhere. She wondered idly how Anna was currently occupying herself. Wherever she was, it was certainly better than here - Elsa gasped sharply in shock. A freckled face with azure eyes, wearing an impish smile, had suddenly appeared from the top of the nearest window.
Anna. It had to be. This was confirmed when a burly man wearily trudged up to the window, followed by an overly enthusiastic snowman and a shaggy reindeer, and shrugged resignedly at Elsa. He mouthed something that she decided to interpret as,"Sorry. I tried to stop her."
Even as she watched, wondering how on earth her sister had managed to ascend so high, Anna performed some kind of acrobatic backflip like a monkey off of the roof that started out gracefully but backfired when she stumbled upon landing and collapsed face-first in a snowdrift.
The burly man, Kristoff, hastily stepped up to Anna and dragged her out of the pile of snow. Kristoff was Anna's boyfriend. And he was the perfect boyfriend for her - he was just as clumsy as she was, which was evident as he himself tripped and fell at Anna's feet.
Elsa snorted with laughter; then stifled it against the sleeve of her dress. Grinning mischievously, she flicked her fingers in Anna's direction. A large mound of snow instantly struck Anna's head, knocking her over once more. This time her entire upper body was encased in a snowdrift, leaving her legs flailing helplessly outside.
Suddenly Elsa found herself petrified with horror. She hadn't meant to send Anna flying, only to startle her - what if the tumble had injured her? As her sister's legs stopped windmilling, Elsa watched on, wide-eyed, vowing to never forgive herself if she had hurt Anna with her powers.
After several seconds of breathless panic, a hand shot up from the heap of snow. Elsa sighed shakily in relief as Anna began to claw her way out of the snow, looking much like an colorful rabbit that had grown too large to enter its burrow.
I'm being too overprotective, she chided herself. Overjoyed that her sister was unharmed and unable to suppress her mirth any longer, Elsa finally indulged in an extreme giggling fit, doubling over with laughter. Outside, Anna yanked her head out of the snowdrift, brushed off her fiery red braids before Kristoff could offer his assistance, and gave her sister the most intense Evil Eye that she'd given anyone in a while.
All of a sudden Elsa stopped laughing. She had just become aware that no one else the room had made a sound for the past few minutes, and she looked up to see everyone's mystified stares boring into her. Her pale cheeks flamed with embarrassment as she assessed the situation. Their bewilderment was understandable - no sound carried through the thick windows of the Meeting Room, and everyone would been focused enough on Minister Ethlbert's speech to ignore any other disturbances.
Minister Ethlbert's speech! Elsa cursed inwardly at her folly as she returned her attention to the Minister. He was standing by his chair, mouth flapping up and down like a fish's in astonishment, paused in mid-speech. Elsa would normally have been rolling on the floor with laughter at his stupefied expression, but she had already paid dearly for her moment of fun.
"My Queen?" Ethlbert inquired, licking his lips nervously. "You look rather flushed. I wonder if perhaps I shall began my speech anew to ensure that you have - ah, absorbed everything?"
"No, no," Elsa cut in hastily,"That won't be necessary." She cast a longing glance out of the window at her sister, who had smushed her face against the glass and seemed to be silently begging for her to come and enjoy the day. Kristoff's reindeer, Sven, in a clumsy attempt to imitate her, butted the glass with his nose, leaving a long smear of drool against the window. With delight, Anna jumped back and pointed the window out to Kristoff, who rolled his eyes disgustedly. It was clear what she was directing his gaze to. Matching nose smears! Olaf, the chubby snowman, waddled up to the window and attempted to make a smudge of his own. His nose being a carrot, however, he was unable to, and after watching him repeatedly slide his face along the window in desperation, Elsa could take it no longer. She frosted over the window and then melted the frost, at the same time vanishing the nose smears. Then she narrowed her eyes at her sister. I'm in a meeting, she attempted to communicate with her eyes.
Thankfully, Anna understood - at least, she pretended to understand. She nodded reluctantly, then winked breezily at her sister, before gripping Kristoff's arm and yanking him away. Olaf smiled toothily at Elsa before plodding off, his twiggy arm resting on Sven's tufty fur.
After they were out of sight, Elsa allowed her gaze to return to Minister Ethlbert. "Carry on," she sighed, resigning herself to an afternoon of boredom.
For those of you too lazy to look it up on Google Translate, that bit in Norwegian means something like "Your Majesty, I am absolutely astounded - what on Earth - I - I don't know what possessed you to -"
So yeah. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing, and see you next time!