Note:
I'm sorry that my updates are becoming even less frequent. I am in the process of moving and also am trying to make sure that this story has a proper ending. As some of you may notice, it says 30 chapters, but it may be a little longer. We'll see and I'll let my characters and plot speak for themselves at this point. I promise that this work is not going to be forgotten – This work is as important to me as "That Can Be Arranged" and "How To Get A Girlfriend". I intend for this work to be finished well before Halloween, but we will see what happens. Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer:
I do not own anything that Disney owns – this is my fanfic for fanfiction purposes.
Happy Reading!
-JQ
Chapter Twenty-Six: Insider Knowledge
[Vennesvurg, Sweden]
Ryder wasn't an idiot. Well, not a complete one anyway. He simply preferred...the simple things in life. He loves nature, particularly animals. He loved hearing stories from other people's adventures and he most certainly loved his family and friends. While he liked a certain number of things, he liked to believe that he was very open-minded and didn't mind exploring new things. However, he can confidently say that after being a government official for less than two days, he absolutely hates it.
Ryder had been following the Vennesvurg Royal Advisor, Malkvist, for a second day now and he was nearly infuriated by how mundane everything was. All he had done, so far, was be introduced to the council, sit through meetings with King Karl, and talk to the townspeople about farming. Well, the farming part was cool. He just felt a little guilty that he wasn't actually agricultural representative. But he made sure to take detailed notes anyway for when Karl eventually found someone to fill that position.
Right now, Ryder was sitting in a meeting room with about three other councilmen. He was reading through some documents, wishing that there would be some kind of break in his mission, when there was a knock on the door.
One of the councilmen stood up and answered it. "Yes?" he asked.
"Malkvist is waiting." was all that the man, on the other side of the door said, before he left. The councilman who got up to answer it turned back to face everyone else in the room.
"You heard him lads," he said, let's move. Ryder watched as the other two councilmen gathered their things and began to exit the room.
"Are you going to be in attendance with us, Vaussen?" asked another member of council.
Ryder nodded and started to collect his papers. "Yes! Right behind you!" he hoped that his enthusiasm wasn't a dead giveaway to his true intentions, but he was excited. He really hoped that he would have something to tell Lindahl today.
The reindeer herder followed the other council members to the library. Once there, they walked casually into the official meeting room. He looked around at the faces of the councilmen and his eyes fell on Malkvist. The old advisor was sitting at the head of the table, a place that was usually reserved for the king. Ryder decided to make a note of that and plopped down at a random seat, near the end of the table, where he could see everyone.
"Today marks our seventeenth meeting, post-Oswald's rule." Malkvist said, as he got out of his chair to pace the room, "As the former king's advisor, and the current king's advisor, I hold myself to the utmost standard when it comes to the betterment of Vennesvurg and its' interests." Ryder watched as multiple councilmen nodded as Malkvist spoke, as if they agreed with him. "And as such," Malkvist continued, "it is my duty to ensure that the kingdom remains in line with a plan of consistency. Consistency in economic growth, consistency in our lines of defence, and – most importantly – consistency in our laws and traditions."
The entire room's eyes followed the advisor as he walked around the large table, eyeing all of them from behind. Ryder had the odd feeling of being stalked for prey, like a reindeer who knows that there's a wolf nearby. As such, his ears perked up to listen to everything this weirdo had to say, as if it was life or death. The advisor let out an elongated sigh before continuing his speech, that no one really asked for. "When King Oswald and his first son, Prince Tobias, fell to their demise, I took charge to ensure that King Karl follows these consistencies." the old man stopped behind someone directly across from Ryder and the reindeer herder watched as the man's face fell a little as Malkvist placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "Unfortunately, because of his...ideas and relative inexperience, he has not been the easiest to persuade when it came to our plans on expanding international relations." Malkvist then retracted his hand and made his way back to the head of the table where he sat down. Once it appeared that he was comfortably seated, he looked up at the councilmen and asked: "What is the status with our correspondence to Botarskal?"
The man sitting across from Ryder stood and began to read through some papers. "They are still being relatively cooperative, in terms of our agreements that rest on the union of Princess Her...Hraft...Rafttee –!"
Malkvist cut him off, knowing that everyone had difficulty with Tina's real name. "We get it, please continue, Tomlinson."
"Yes – very good, Malkvist." Tomlinson said, before continuing, "Botarskal's ministers are being compliant and are still ensuring that they will agree to the terms of the agreement once the Princess marries Karl."
Malkvist smiled looking pleased with that update. "Excellent."
However, Tomlinson continued to speak. "But, I do take issue with one thing. What are we to do with the inquiries?"
Malkvist's eyes narrowed at the councilman's question. "What inquiries, Mr. Tomlinson?"
Tomlinson appeared to swallow nervously before answering, as if he was afraid to bring this information to the advisor's attention. "The – uh – inquiries that Botarskal's Crown Princess keeps sending our way?"
Malkvist groaned, obviously annoyed at what was just shared. "We simply say that we are in the process of locating the governing document for the treaty between us and Botarskal."
"Is there such a document?" Tomlinson asked thoughtfully. At his question, other councilmen began to murmur among themselves.
"There...was." Answered Malkvist, "It was within the first drafts of a treaty that we voted to pass initially, where Oswald and Hallgrimur promised their first children to one another." he then turned to another member of council – an older man that looked as if he could be gone at any moment. "Nilsen – pass Tomlinson the summary of the document in question, please."
Ryder watched as the old man fished something out of his stack of papers and walked over to Tomlinson. He took a few moments to go over the summary and eyed it suspiciously the entire time. "But...this document states that the initial draft was overwritten, as when Prince Tobias came of age, Princess Arnkatla had already married. It nullified the agreement."
"Yes," Nilsen supplied, "but the nullity was never sent to Botarskal, so they have no idea that the treaty was nullified."
Malkvist then began to elaborate on Nilsen's explanation. "That way, we can still keep Botarskal in our sights and twist Hallgrimur's arm to concede with our demands, if he backs out." he chuckled evilly (or at least, it was 'evilly' in Ryder's opinion). "Once the Princess becomes our Queen, we will hold her life at ransom, for the loyalty of Hallgrimur's court." at this tidbit of information, Ryder had to stop himself from audibly gasping. Instead, he wrote it down in his notes with a hefty amount of underlining.
Tomlinson just sat there, looking between the senior members of council with a curious expression. "Isn't that...wouldn't that be considered a declaration of war?"
"It would be, yes," Malkvist admitted, "But not if we do it this way. Once she marries our King, it will seem as if it is her wish to the outside eye. No one will know we are threatening anything, aside from Hallgrimur."
At this, another councilman asked, "Is there a document that we can pass over to them, to satisfy their inquiry?"
"No. The nullity is the only thing that we have." Malkvist stated with a stern look. "Are there any other pressing issues?"
"What are we to do about King Oswald's will?" Nilsen inquired.
"I've kept it alongside the nullified agreement – I assure you, the senior members of our council are safe from removal as long as the king does not locate his father's will." Malkvist said happily. "Now...are there any more terms to solidify, with Botarskal, regarding the merging of our naval fleets?"
Ryder tried his best to remember all of this information. He had no idea what most of this meant, but he hoped that Lindahl and Arnold would be able to use this information to help free Tina and Karl.
...
While Ryder was sitting in on his mission with the council, Ingrid, Gunn-Britt and Honeymaren were in Tina's guest room, helping her pick out some outfits for the week. Princess Tina was trying her best to follow along with their conversations – as they were talking about clothes that she would be wearing – but her mind had drifted elsewhere.
She couldn't help the feeling, deep in her gut, that she had been a little too harsh on a certain ice wielder a few days ago. While she knew that she was pretty justified in her reaction, she wondered if giving the blonde the 'silent treatment' was a bit too dramatic. After all, Elsa's only explanation was that she wanted to see her. Should Tina be angry at that? That was what she wanted, after all this time. She groaned into her hands, feeling as if she had crossed the line somewhere but not knowing exactly what to do about it.
"Ou, what if she – like – wears this to the wedding planner dinner," Ingrid said holding up a very nice dark blue dress for the other women to see, "and this one," yet another dress, except this one was lavender, "to the brunch with Karl and his Naval General?"
"Oh, yeah," Honeymaren said, "I see the vision. I really do see the vision."
"What do you think, Gunnie?" Ingrid asked.
"Both are fancy dresses." Gunn-Britt deadpanned, "I think I'd like it if she could wear something with fur."
Honeymaren just laughed while Ingrid moved on to ask the princess. "Tee? What about you?"
"Huh?" Tina said, shocked to be taken out of her own head.
"Do you agree with these dresses," Honeymaren clarified, pointing to Ingrid, "Blue for dinner, and lavender for brunch?"
"Yeah." Tina sighed, "Yeah, those should be fine. Thanks."
"Okay..." Ingrid frowned and put the dresses back in the trunk, "What's up? You seem...distracted."
Tina shrugged, knowing that if she lied, every woman in this room would call her out on her bullshit. "A...A little bit."
"Is it because of a certain someone?" Honeymaren said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at the princess.
"Yeah." Tina said with exasperation lacing her tone, "This one blonde idiot who decided to crash our mission just because she 'wanted to see me'. UGH!" Tina then chucked the pillow she was holding across the room. "I'm pissed at the trouble she's potentially causing. But..."
"But..?" Ingrid pried.
Tina looked up at the handmaiden with a pout. "...she wanted to see me."
"Duh." Ingrid said, crossing her arms over her chest, "Don't you guys like...like each other or something?" she sounded annoyed with Tina's predicament, "I thought that was like, a significant plot point in your most recent life."
"Yes..." Tina said, rolling her eyes, "We like one another. Obviously we can't...do anything about it, but yes. I think it's safe to say we like each other." Tina sighed, placing her face in her hands again, "I can't help but feel that I overdid my reaction."
"No," Honeymaren said to the princess, "I think it made sense. You told her you needed space and you told her why you were upset. While I will say you have a flair for the dramatic," she said with a small chuckle, "you were well within your power to be cross with her."
"So, I guess you're done 'stewing'?" Ingrid questioned, already knowing the answer.
"I think." Tina admitted, "If this all goes to shit, then I guess I should spend as much time with her as possible."
"Oh?" Ingrid said as she flashed a rather suggestive look, "Like...how do you think you and Queen of Ice can...spend time with one another then?"
"Oh, I mean..." Tina said, sitting up straight and trying to think of ways that she and Elsa could hang out, "She likes to discuss books. Oh, and we like to go for walks and maybe I can show her the old mill that Karl showed me –!"
"God," Ingrid groaned in annoyance, "How are you the same rebel from back home? You're so boring out here."
"What do you mean, Ingrid?" Tina asked, genuinely confused at what her friend meant.
"I mean," Ingrid said, with a myriad of hand gestures, "If I were in danger of like, losing my freedom," she talked slow, so as to try and make sure her friend knew what she was hinting at, "and a hot lady with ice powers 'wants to see me', I'd beg her to shag me up."
Tina gasped loudly, "Ingrid!" in response, she tossed another pillow. This time, it hit Ingrid square in the face.
"Tee," Ingrid said, tired with her friend's games, "You used to 'rough it up' with the girls back home. Why not give it a go over here?"
"I don't – she – Elsa's different, okay?" Tina huffed.
"Oh, Ingrid." Honeymaren said, wiping a tear from her eye. She didn't know that she could laugh that loudly. "I don't think Elsa's that kind of person, but I agree. Tina, you should try to get some fun in, just in case this all falls flat, like you seem to think."
Tina groaned and folded her arms over her chest. "You're both terrible."
"I'm not hearing a 'no'!" Ingrid singsonged at her, feigning innocence.
"Spicy." Gunn-Britt added.
"Guys," Honeymaren said, taking pity on Tina, who was now the same colour as a ripened tomato. "Whatever Tina and Elsa are comfortable with, they will do. Now, let's get back to planning the dresses out for this week."
...
While the girls fussed over Tina's upcoming outfit choices, Arnold, Karl, and Anton were in the king's game room, watching Elsa beat them at all chess. As it turns out, the ice wielder was the best chest player any of them had any scene. After just a few games, their tournament turned into 'everyone versus Elsa'.
"Check." Elsa said, grinning and leaning back in her seat.
Arnold began to examine the game board, as if it was a mystical artifact. He didn't even think the move she just did was allowed. After analyzing it, he was baffled to see that it was. "How the fu..?"
"Wow," Karl said amazed, nudging him in his side, "That check was in even less moves than yours, Anton."
The butler sighed and looked down at the king, "Don't patronize me, Sire."
"Sorry, boys," Elsa said with a smugness in her tone, "I was quite the chess player when I was queen."
Before Arnold could demand another rematch, Lindahl burst through the room with Ryder in tow. Their looks were grave and they were panting – probably from running up various flights of stairs.
"What is it?" Karl asked, his expression turned serious.
"Meeting," Lindahl told him, "get the girls in here. Now."
His tone was always serious, but Lindahl was rarely ever in a panic. Seeing this in him made everyone, especially Anton and Karl, a little bit uneasy. Elsa and Arnold just looked at one another, very concerned for their mission and what it could mean for Tina and Karl.
"Anton," Karl said, "find the others and tell them to meet us in my study. Tell them it's urgent."
The butler bowed, "Yes, Your Majesty."
...
"...and that's all I got." Ryder said, finishing his tale about what he found during the council's secret meeting, earlier that day. He hoped that what he gathered was helpful and significant as he really had no idea what any of what he re-shared was about. All he wanted to do was help and make sure that it could give the others ideas on how to save Tina and Karl from their marriage.
"That's..." Lindahl couldn't even begin to accurately describe what he was feeling about all of this.
"This is so much worse that anything we could have thought, before." Arnold said, "Malkvist essentially wants Botarskal and Vennesvurg to become one super kingdom, under Vennesvurg's rule."
Tina slammed her fist down on the table in front of her. "This is beyond fucked up. How could anyone – how could they even –!" she tried her best to formulate words but she was just so frustrated with everything that was happening. Elsa wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be fine, but she still felt like Tina may not be ready for that yet.
"I had no idea that's what they're doing." Karl said, slowly becoming angrier, "They're wilfully committing treason. And I haven't even been a king for more than a bloody year!" in his rage, he knocked over a lamp that was sitting on his desk. While everyone else stood in shock at this show of aggression from a relatively docile young man, Anton skilfully walked over to clean up the mess. After his anger subsided, Karl looked to Lindahl, "What are we going to do?"
Lindahl was still too shocked to formulate a real plan. All he could do was shrug and run his hands through his hair in frustration. Luckily for them, they had a former queen on their side. The ice wielder stood from where she was sitting and walked over to Karl. Just as he had comforted her, a few days ago, she wanted to extend the same courtesy towards him. She reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Well, first things first," Elsa said with determination in her tone, "we need to get our hands on the original documents they listed: the King's will and the paper that nullifies the draft treaty." she then turned to Ryder. "Did Malkvist say where he kept any of the documents?"
The reindeer herder just shook his head. "No, but he did say that he keeps the king's original will with the original document for the treaty." The ice wielder nodded, processing the information.
"Okay...that's good enough for now." Elsa then walked over to Ryder and placed a hand on him, making sure that he was paying attention to what she was going to say next. "I need you to befriend whoever you need to, in order to get a location on those documents. Once you do, you are to tell no one but Karl, as he can access anything he wishes. Do you understand?"
Ryder stared at her and nodded. "Yes – I-I think so. From what I saw, during the meeting, I think that Councilman Nilsen probably knows where things might be. I guess I'll have to figure out what old men like to talk about." Anton laughed lightly at the young reindeer herder's predicament.
Elsa patted him on the shoulder, "I'm sure you'll think of something. Keep up the good work."
Lindahl finally regained his composure and also patted the reindeer herder on his back. "She's right. You did good so far. Keep it up and keep it on the low." the king's assistant then turned toward everyone else in the room. "But let's not leave it all to him. We will continue to work in shifts, through the archives. If you find anything relating to Oswald's will, or anything relating to treaty drafts, take it and give it to myself or Arnold. Now that we know what we are looking for, it should be better to tie things together."
"Right," Elsa nodded, "we may not find the original documents, but other things could link us to notes or other drafts."
"Alright everyone," Karl said, wrapping up the meeting, "I think we should break for tonight and skip our search for the evening. I think we all deserve some downtime to process this news and regroup in the morning." almost everyone in the room began to agree and nod along.
Tina, on the other hand, was fighting to keep her tears at bay. She balled her fists and squeezed her eyes shut, but her body began to shake in time with her whimpers. She was trying her best, but she obviously couldn't. Honeymaren was the first to notice her demeanor and attempted to comfort her.
"Tina..." she said, reaching for the princess' hand, "I know this is hard –!"
"NO YOU DON'T!" Tina cried out, moving Honeymaren's hand away from her. "None of you can possibly understand what this feels like!" the brunette cried out, using her forearm to wipe at her tears, "I did this all to protect my sister's freedom. And now, I find out that they're just using me and Karl to eradicate my kingdom's international autonomy?!" Tina shook her head, absolutely livid, "None of you can know just how fucking hard this is! NONE OF YOU!" She then started to sob as she ran out of the study. Lindahl moved to stop her but Elsa was the one to stop him from advancing any further. He looked at her, confused, but she just shook her head.
"Let me handle this." the former queen said. The assistant just nodded and took a step back. Before she exited the room to follow Tina, she turned around to see Ingrid and Honeymaren nodding at her, as if this was a good decision. She then looked to Karl, who was giving her two thumbs up. She smiled at her new friends and then went to find Tina. Hopefully this could get them both talking to one another again. But overall, Elsa really just wanted to make sure that the brunette was okay.