Preview of Chapter 26 at the end
PRE-WEDDING JITTERS
The scout had just come back and relayed the information from the border about movement from the troops across it.
"They're just waiting there and doing nothing?" The General of the Fourth Corps asked the soldier.
"Yes sir! The Colonel believes there is at least two or more brigades worth of men now along our eastern border. Possibly even a division, but there may be more beyond the hills towards Wesleton. At least a quarter of the troops are Mounted Calvary, the rest are armed infantry with rifles." the non-com responded.
Over ten thousand men on this front alone, and yesterday's news that a fleet of at least twenty capital ships were approaching from both directions, east and west, suggested that Weselton was not alone in this confrontation.
"Very well, take this message directly to the Castle, and take these two with you for escort. The King must get this information in case you fall for whatever reason." Gulping, the runner leaves with two men in tow.
Scratching his head, the General of Corona's Fourth Corp ponders at the enemies actions. Technically, they weren't the enemy since Wesleton hasn't declared war, nor have their troops crossed the border.
Still, one doesn't take over ten thousand soldiers within the borders of a neighbour nor blockade their coast with a fleet of warships unless they meant to invade?
"But they haven't! Was this merely for show? To intimidate? To deceive? Or to delay...?" his thoughts caused him nothing but endless conjecture.
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Isolde sat in front her vanity table and looked at herself in the mirror. Her bright yellow hair bordering on platinum resembled the Queens own. And like the queen, her appearance was more mature and developed than her charge. She rests her hands on the table and feels the workmanship used to create it. The fine oak table seemed out of place in a servants quarters, but her mistress Princess Anna, insisted she have it for her sixteenth birthday.
Unabashedly, she removes her white shrift and stares at her bosom. Standing up and turning sideways she regards her profile to the left, and then to the right. With both hands, she cups her breasts from below and raises them higher as if in offering.
Smiling now, and with a sultry voice, "These are for you, my good sir! Take them now Krist...!" just as Sigrid walks into the room they share.
"Such a fine offering poppet, but unlike Princess Anna, my desires lie with the male form. Not that your teats wouldn't make any man's mouth water at such an offering!" Sigrid winks at her best friend.
Releasing her ample breasts, Isolde grins back, "Many a time have I witnessed my mistress staring at my bosom, though out of envy not desire. Still, she has a few years to catch up."
"Yes, but I fear that her time will be hard pressed, as well as our Majesty too." Walking towards her half naked best friend, Sigrid embraces her as the two handmaidens worry about their future as well.
"The Queen has informed me that both of us will accompany her and Princess Anna to America! We must prepare their belongings for the trip. We will be gone many weeks Isolde so we need to bring our things too!"
Pulling back from Sigrid, Isolde had a huge grin on her face! Almost screaming, she cried "AMERICA?! By all the gods! America! I've never been any farther than beyond the gates of Arendelle! And now we are going to the New World, Sigrid?" Happily she was jumping around, her bare breasts bobbing up and down in her excitement.
"Yes Poppet, but put on some clothes before you knock yourself out with those massive milk factories of yours, bouncing up and down as you are." she said playfully.
Sticking out her tongue, Isolde blows her best friend a raspberry kiss. "If only Kristoff would notice me or my teats?" she said deflatingly, again cupping her breasts and looking at Sigrid.
"Well, you may get your chance sweetheart! Kristoff will be coming too. Queen Elsa wants him to protect Anna and herself. I believe she will disclose her relationship with Anna to the Ice Master shortly after the wedding?"
"So I may get my chance after all?"
Sigrid nods in agreement.
"And am I mistaken, or has that handsome sailor, or should I say 'King' has caught your eye?" Isolde asks seriously.
Sigrid freezes momentarily but then captures her friends eyes. Now that they were all going to set sail to America, Queen Elsa briefly spent some time with her most trusted handmaiden and explained why John Samuels would not return with them.
"He will be gone once we reach the shores of the United States. Him, his crew and that awful Captain will be sailing to the Pacific. Their destiny lies on the far side of the world! I will never see him again! Oh Isolde! Why is the world so cruel. To reveal such a noble soul amidst a sea of villainy, only to take him away! Curse the fates that brought him here!"
This time it was Isolde who does the consoling.
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"I assure you Viktor, it will work! It's just a matter of chemistry! Something you know little about."
"It better work! I don't fancy facing that monster in combat if it fails! She needs to be taken out of the equation at all costs!" Viktor was agitated more than usual. "In less than forty-eight hours we make for home. Or at least that's what Queen Elsa thinks!"
His on-board physician looks up at him and regards his Captain, "I'm a ship's doctor, not an engineer, dammit! But I can guarantee that it will remain safe for at least that amount of time. Mercury is a very volatile element, but I know enough about chemistry that it will do what you want."
"It had better, the Devil take our souls if it doesn't!"
Having returned from the castle after delivering his letters, Viktor takes a peek through the starboard port hole and regards the massive warship tethered to the pier. He moves across the doctor's office to the other side and watches a cutter heading towards another large warship anchored in the proctected harbour. He was certain the other message he wrote was safely onboard the cutter, waiting to be delivered to its intended Captain. If everthing went as planned, he would be this much closer to fulfilling his Grand Plan.
He takes another quick peek at the vessel anchored in the centre of the harbour. Satisfied that everything is in place, he grunts and turns as the cutter finally makes contact with the warship RDN Sejeren of the Royal Danish Navy.
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"Silence! ... Enough!
Everything else is meaningless until we know he has succeeded. And we won't know until we see our allies vessel clear of Arendelle's territory. Only then will we be able to go forward with the rest of the plan." Pacing furiously, Crown Prince Josef adresses all twelve of his brothers in the castle's war room. A few of his ministers were also seated amongst his brethren.
"As I've said before, capturing Queen Elsa is NOT enough. She would rather die than surrender herself to me... to us! The key to holding her and controlling her power remains with the one person Elsa would die for above all else: her sister!"
Some shuffling amongst his men and muffled conversation causes him to look up. "What? Did you not think that unless we held Princess Anna hostage would Elsa comply and surrender her Kingdom? We must not only keep her hostage under pain of death, but we must also hide her far away from here lest the Snow Queen lay waste our land looking for the princess."
"What makes you think Queen Elsa will believe you actually have her sister? Surely she will ask for some proof before she bows down to us?" his Minister of War asks. "And what manner of prison will hold this necromancer? Your brother has already witnessed her ability to escape from her cell in her own castle."
Smiling, he turns to his War Minister, "We won't need a cell, or anything at all to restrain her. Her love for Anna and futile belief that she will remain unharmed are all that we need. Make no mistake! Princess Anna must remain alive and relatively untouched. That is the only reason Queen Elsa will obey. If ever the princess is killed, for whatever reason, Queen Elsa's rage will be unmatched, and utter destruction will befall us! Even all our armies and weapons may not be enough to slay her if she goes into a rage knowing her sister is dead."
Hans stands up at the table, "Brother, you still haven't told us what proof you will provide to Elsa that her sister really is a hostage?"
Reaching below the table, Prince Josef produces an ordinary box. Undistinguished, it is neither large or small, nor remarkable in any way. "Some say that Queen Elsa is unusually attached to her sister. More so than sibling love. Regardless about the rumours and innuendoes, Elsa would surely recognize something that is personal and only attributed to her sister? Something that no-one else in the world would be able to reproduce with forgery or trickery?"
Hans nods his head in agreement, shortly mimicked by many of the other men at the table.
With the flair of a magician, Josef lifts off the cover of the box and pulls out an object loosely wrapped in red velvet. Placing it on the table he unwraps the item and stands back as shouts and gasps are heard from around him. The noise of chairs moving and falling and men yelling quickly follow.
All eyes are fixed on the object exposed in the centre of the velvet cloth. Slim delicate fingers slightly curved. Long manicured nails tapering at the tips still visible. A delicate wrist ending in a bloody stump. And sparkling on the fourth digit, a golden band with the Signet of the Royal House of Arendelle.
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To make Elsa's wedding as smooth as possible, Rapunzel took it upon herself to take charge of the wedding and all the details involved. It was a huge job, and Elsa expressed her gratitude so profusely that the normally unshakeable Coronian Princess was actually blushing afterwards. The red glow contrasted drastically with her now golden blonde hair. She looked so much like her Arendellian cousins that many of the guests thought she was Elsa and Anna's sister.
"I know you have your hands full, but Anna must also be going through some heavy emotional upheavals so I'm not going to ask her to help." Rapunzel said a matter-of-factly.
Elsa held onto both hands of her cousin and smiled forlornly, "You're so wonderful, Punzel. I don't know what we would do without you? But isn't it going to be such a burden by yourself, even with our servants help?"
"You don't think I'm doing this by myself, do you?!" she laughed. "Eugene and Kristoff better not be at their favourite pub when I find them!"
Leaning forward, Elsa kissed her full on the lips in gratitude. The tender act caught Rapunzel by surprise but she returned the gesture. A little longer than she was used to for her taste, but she figured this was how Elsa and Anna naturally acted towards their loved ones.
"What the heck? When in Rome...!" she thought as she broke the kiss. Smiling as she pulled back, she felt herself glowing, and Elsa looked so lovely.
"Whoa, I better not let Eugene see this, I feel faint! Just what kind of power does Elsa possess? Cause it's sure more than just over ice and snow?", Elsa gripped harder on her hands as she felt herself staggering backwards.
Elsa didn't appear to notice anything unusual, so she was glad she didn't make a scene.
"Okay Elsa, I'll go find my husband and his buddy now!"
"Take care and thank you again, cousin." Elsa said, as Rapunzel turned to go.
Waving and turning, Rapunzel took two steps before losing her balance and falling down the spiral staircase behind her.
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Viktor's men knew what needed to be done and the orders they were given as well as the sealed letter they swore to deliver at all costs or-else were the firm motivators in their endeavours.
Right now they were being provisioned with enough supplies to undertake a voyage to America by the fastest route possible. However the amount of supplies being loaded were for at least a partial crew of fifty men. And HMAS Norwegian Wood was designed to easily carry double that compliment.
The quartermaster scratched his head, "Are you saying that this is the lot of you? And you're crossing the Atlantic?"
"This is all the men we can spare from our crew." the American responds.
Maybe he didn't hear it right, or maybe these 'colonials' did things differently? But he shrugs and let's them cast off after the provisioning was done.
He takes a last look at the frigate as it sails away. He figures he will never see her again since those men bore the formal documents stamped by the Queen that proved they had righteous possession of the Norwegian Wood. God only knew what they would rename her?
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Holding the formal document, Nathaniel Tallmadge was not exactly sure where he was headed. But he was certain that he overheard some of the Castle staff mention that the Queen was going to America for her honeymoon. He didn't know exactly how she planned to get there, but he was going to insure that she remained safe and was willing to offer her the services of his ship, Constitution, if she needed it. Well aware that her own fleet of ships were more than adequate, he felt a personal gratitude he owed her. Not able to place a reason for it, he rationalized the fact that she would be the closest thing he would ever have to seeing his own dead daughter grow up and get married. So this was in a way, a 'second chance' he was given by the Divine Lord.
But what should he say? "Excuse me Queen Elsa, I'm practically a stranger to you, but you look exactly like my 'Molly', so if you would be kind enough to let me pretend that you are her for a short time? Also, I would greatly appreciate if you would let me 'give you away' at your wedding thus fulfilling an old man's wish that you were my daughter on her wedding day but is now with our Lord?"
She would think him mad! And probably ban him from the wedding ceremony!
No, he would just ask her if she would accept his offer as a form of wedding present. The fact that he was given an invitation at all to attend the ceremony warmed his heart! After all the young men the Queen must have attended to in the last few days; to remember an old man such as himself seemed against all odds.
As he climbed the spiral staircase, he noticed a young woman with longer than average blonde hair stumble at the top.
"Oh My Lord!" he exclaimed. Charging with uncharacteristic speed, he was able to come up behind the young lass and stopped her from an unfortunate spill.
Arms flailing, Rapunzel fell right into his outstretched arms. It was good fortune that she weighed almost next to nothing. At most, her perfect hour-glass figure barely topped one-hundred pounds, even with all her long hair.
"Princess Rapunzel, do not fret! I have you!" he cried out.
Regaining her composure, Rapunzel smiled up at her saviour. Elsa was right there as he helped the princess stand on her own two feet.
"That would have been a dreadful fall cousin! Thank you Senator Tallmadge for saving her!" Elsa exclaimed.
Looking up at her, his vision substituted her frozen, gliterring dress with something more familiar. A simple cotton gown with a full apron common to New England.
Molly.
But no, his senses returned as did reality.
Guiding Rapunzel to the landing at the top of the stairs, he bows slightly, "Your Graces. I was looking for Your Majesty to thank her for her gracious invitation."
Elsa smiled at his response, "I would hope you would be able to attend Senator? I feel that we may have not had as much time to share in the recent past, so I hope you can join us?"
"Of course Queen Elsa! Nothing would please me more! And if you have but a few minutes to spare, I would like to discuss something with you regarding the events after your wedding?"
Bidding her cousin goodbye, Elsa takes the Senator's arm and leads him to her study.
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"That ring is NOT from the Royal House of Arendelle!" Prince Hans yells from across the table to his eldest brother. Touching the dead appendage, he looks more closely at the hand wearing the ring. "Nor is this the hand of Princess Anna!"
"Of course not you fool! Our spies have informed us the wedding will not take take place for at least another day or two. But our key players are in position as we speak, in case there is any unexpected deviation from our plans."
"Then whose hand is this? Merely a prop for your flair of drama?" Hans rubukes.
Prince Josef shrugs, "Some harlot found in the dungeon. A common thief. Her hand was forfeited as punsihment for her crimes. It matters not, but it did get your attention."
Shaking his head, Hans as well as some of his elder brothers, reflects on the casual but ruthless demeanour of the future King of the Southern Isles.
"Cast off your cloak of naiveté. In a few days, we will be entertaining the most powerful force mankind has ever witnessed since our Lord walked the Earth. Make no mistake by the pleasing form she wears or the melodious sound of her voice! Within that fragile flesh of young womanhood, resides the power to level mountains, freeze the world and bring low mighty empires!" Josef thunders.
Heady with his lust for power, he turns and leaves the room as the future of Arendelle is sealed by his proclamation.
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She woke up from her nap when she heard a light tapping on her door.
"Elsa? Is that you?... Elsa?". No response
A small envelope appeared from under the doorway. Getting up, she walks towards her bedroom door and pauses. Placing her ear to the door, she strains to hear, but there is not a sound. Opening the door, she finds no-one. Nor is there anyone down this stretch of hallway.
The small envelope is addressed to her: HRH Princess Anna.
Picking it up, she closes the door and walks back to her bed. The letter is brief. The cursive writing is neat and easy to read, though she did have to focus due to her novice skill in the written form of the English language.
Scanning down the letter, her eyebrows knot at the information she is reading. She starts again at the top taking time to make sure she understands. She reads it a third time, hoping it would make more sense. Finally she puts it down and looks straight ahead, wondering what she should do.
"This must be a mistake? Or maybe ..." she reflects. Putting the letter back in the envelope, she goes to her vanity table and places it in one of the drawers.
Changing into something more aprropiate, she washes her face and proceeds to find Kristoff.
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AUTHORS NOTES:
1) HMAS Norwegian Wood was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Arendellian Navy. Originally christened HMAS Baldur's Gate *, she along with her sister-ship HMAS Elsanna, was renamed by Queen Elsa after she began her relationship with her sister, Princess Anna. Both frigates are almost three times more powerful than the American ship USS Eagle.
*Baldur's Gate is a fantasy role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment.
Norwegian Wood is also a song: "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" is a song by the English rockband the Beatles. It was written by the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and was first released on the album Rubber Soul on 3 December 1965.
2) A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps.
3) The vital statistics of what was once considered to be the perfect figure of 36/24/36 measured in inches are what the hour-glass ladies are about. The credentials can be larger or smaller, but by comparison the waist will always be around 9″ smaller than the bust giving that very curvaceous figure.
4) New England is an area which comprises six states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
5) Teats: From Old French tete ("teat"), (compare French tette), from Frankish *titta. It replaced Old English titt, which survives as English tit. Confer Dutch tiet and German Zitze ("teat"). Synonyms: breasts, boobs, tits
6) Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and blasting caps. Mercury(II) cyanate, though its empirical formula is identical, has a different atomic arrangement; the cyanate and fulminateanions are isomers.
First used as a priming composition in small copper caps after the 1830s, mercury fulminate quickly replaced flints as a means to ignite black powdercharges.
7) Special thanks go to Baku Babe. HRM stands for His/Her Royal Majesty. There can be only one PAIR of Majesties in a royal family.
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Preview of Chapter 26
DO YOU ELSA, TAKE THIS MAN TO BE YOUR LAWFULLY WEDDED HUSBAND?
Today was the day! Her dress was a soft purple. Sleek and light, it went down to her ankles. Only the padded and layered shoulders that gave the bridesmaid dress added bulk detracted from the smoothness of the dress. Her figure was clearly visible, unfettered by bows, ribbons or any accessory that would distract from its simplicity. Her youthful curves were naturally accented with the exception of her bosom. Aware that she was still behind her sister in that regard, Anna decided to wear a shelf bra to accent her breasts. And truly did it help as she was now spilling out at the top.
Knock, knock, knock... "Pssst... Elsa, let me in! I know I'm not supposed to see the bride before the wedding but... Wait, what? I'm not the groom!?. Silly me, I'm not getting married today!", a cloud of disappointment flashed across her face but vanished quickly.
More quietly she continued, " I really, really really wish that would be me waiting for you at the altar, but that will never happen... will it?", her voice started to crack. Just then the door quickly opened half-way and a white gloved hand grabbed her by the front of her dress and abruptly pulled her inside.
"Whaaaaa, WAIT!" Anna squealed as one of her exposed nipples from her enhanced cleavage almost popped out from the top of her dress.
She soon found her lips smothered as a soft tongue probed open her mouth. Closing her eyes, Anna accepted the kiss and gave Elsa entrance as she wrapped her arms around her sister's neck.
Throughout the extended kiss, Anna assumed it was her sister who pulled her through the door. Finally, when she had to breath, she blinks open her eyes to see who had so arduously kissed her with so much affection.
She was rewarded by a vision of Royal perfection.
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"Do you realize how complex this is and how difficult it would be to undertake?" the Minister of War asked his liege.
Replying with contempt, Prince Josef answers back. "Am I the only one who has thought this through? Surely as War Minister, didn't you and the rest of the Generals and Admirals of my fathers military forces see the conclusions in all those minor conquests you undertook against those savages in Africa and the Middle-East?"
Reeling back as if slapped, his War Minister glares at the Prince before responding with his anger in check. "Those campaigns cost us thousands of men and matériel! And those savages you claim they were, fought us tooth and nail with modern weapons and were well organized. They might not have been equal to our forces but we bled red in those victories!"
Unimpressed, Josef stares him down."Yes, well where do we stand now after you have rested on your laurels, My Lord Duke? I plan to take us where we have never been before. I will carve us out an empire the world has never seen. Greater than the Greeks! Greater than the Romans, or the Mongols, the Spanish, the French or the British Empire! I will stop these Americans in their tracks, before they can build upon that vast continent they call North America! There will be no future American Empire!"