Chapter Nine

Desert's Shores

ANNA

"Land ho!"

Finally, the words she'd been waiting three months to hear. They echoed across the deck and spread like wildfire all the way down to the lowest levels of the ship. The excitement and relief in the air was contagious.

With Hayley's help, Anna got out of her seat with much difficulty, grimacing with the effort. She was getting heavier. Lumbering up the stairs and flanked by her Queen's Guard and Hayley, she waddled over to where Vice Admiral Zayan and Field Marshal Frederick were speaking to a couple of sailors.

Frederick, as usual, was the first to notice her presence.

"Your Majesty." He saluted crisply. A moment later, the Agrabanian naval officer and the sailors turned and saluted in sync with a fist to their left shoulders.

"At ease." Anna waved away their salutes. "Did someone say the coveted words?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Vice Admiral Zayan said gladly. "My sailors have spotted the eastern coast."

"That's a relief," Kristoff said as he came up behind Anna, with August and Horatio by his side. He glanced at Frederick. "Everything in order?"

"Yes, sir," Frederick answered with his usual measured calm. "The Coalition is briefed and ready to disembark in respective battalion order."

How Frederick and Kristoff had managed to convey their instructions to the other ships, Anna had no idea. It just reminded her of how efficient and resourceful her husband and the field marshal really were especially when they worked together.

"Good," Horatio peered out at the horizon with his own spyglass. "Always wondered how Agrabah looked like."

The marquess' imagination was put to rest when the ships finally arrived at the desert shores of Agrabah, which was a huge port built at the edge of a massive beach. The beach itself stretched far and wide, but it certainly wasn't empty. Tens of thousands of Agrabanian Highlander soldiers met them in full force, standing in perfect columns denoting each battalion. Battalion standards were raised at even intervals, billowing in what little wind existed on this side of the world.

"Holy…" Anna stared at the spectacle, unaware that her jaw was hanging slightly open. She'd never seen anything quite like it before. Not even after she'd commanded the Coalition which numbered to more than a hundred thousand strong.

"This is unreal," Kristoff whispered beside her as they slowed at the coastline along with the other ships.

"It is, isn't it?" Elsa intoned. Anna had dragged her up to the deck to join her, and had made arrangements with the ambassador to include her sister in their first audience with King Aladdin. Elsa knew Aladdin thanks to the Warriors' first adventure years ago, so it would certainly help to have her there with Kristoff and herself during the private negotiations with the Agrabanian king. However, if he was anything like Elsa had described, their audience with him would go smoothly.

"Are we absolutely certain they're not going to fire on us?" Kristoff asked.

"You know what Hassan said. It's just their tradition. A precautionary measure," she said, her eyes still transfixed on the never-ending columns spread out across the beach.

The soldiers wore colours that blended in remarkably well with the sand. Desaturated brown with rough textures really sold the image of desert warriors. Agrabah was rumoured to be the most efficient military might in the world when it came to desert warfare, and she could see why.

As far as her eye could see, the entire landscape was covered in sand. The eastern part of the city itself looked like it'd been built upon ground that had once been a desert. Vast empty lands of sand extended far beyond the east, to presumably more of Agrabah's enormous territory. Dunes peppered the plains, with not a single tree in sight unlike the city itself. It was safe to assume that if one got stuck out in the desert, said individual likely wouldn't find a way to the other side for a very long time.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses," Ambassador Hassan gestured to the platform that the sailors had already set up for disembarking. "Please follow me."

Anna glanced over her shoulder at Hayley who fiddled with her spectacles nervously, looking absolutely stupefied by the jaw-dropping sight of so many soldiers having come out to meet the Coalition. The secretary had seen a lot ever since she'd become Anna's personal assistant, and it was just as well that due to safety reasons, she wasn't allowed to enter into an audience with the King of Agrabah until the king could ascertain whether the Coalition was a threat. Besides, Anna was sure she could handle this one herself.

Her gaze went to the two remaining Confederation members. They nodded in varying degrees of support, both looking similarly awed by the desert kingdom and as uncertain of how the negotiations were going to pan out. But Anna herself didn't have much doubt in the outcome. Not when they'd already come so far.

With Ambassador Hassan leading the way down the platform to the beach, Vice Admiral Zayan and Field Marshal Frederick followed closely, while Anna, Kristoff and Elsa descended with them. Behind them, the Queen's Guard flanked them closely, muskets clutched close with bayonets attached. As Anna and the entourage drew closer to the front ranks of the Agrabanian Highlanders, she saw a middle-aged man in white robes and a military officer adorned with numerous medals on his uniform coming out to intercept them with their own dispatch of soldiers, these ones wielding spears.

Vice Admiral Zayan drew to a halt, stomping a boot into the sand and bringing up a small cloud of dirt from the sandy beach. "Your Grace. General Bakshan." He saluted with one fist to his left shoulder and the general returned the gesture. "The Coalition's leaders have arrived."

Field Marshal Frederick exchanged a salute with the Agrabanian general and honoured the noble in white in the same way.

The Agrabanian noble looked to be seasoned in bilateral relations, if his age and calm was any indication. His eyes were small, accustomed to the dusty winds and sand storms that likely plagued the desert kingdom. He had thick eyebrows and a grey beard that shielded his face from the winds, with a matching white turban tied around his head. He nodded away the salutes and bowed to the royal trio.

"Welcome to Agrabah, Your Majesty. Your Royal Highnesses. My name is Omar, Duke of Al-Mosut, at your service."

"I am Queen Anna of Arendelle, representing the Confederation of the North," Anna said politely, gesturing to Kristoff and Elsa. "This is my husband, Prince Kristoff, Commander-in-Chief of the Coalition of the North. And this is my sister, Princess Elsa, head of the League of Sorcerers."

"I am honoured to be in your presence." The duke bowed low again, seasoned enough to mind his own business and refrain from asking about the bulge in Anna's stomach. "The exploits of your Coalition have not gone unheard of." He turned to regard Elsa in particular. "And many here have heard the tales of the Snow Queen and the League of Sorcerers. Is it true that Your Highness was here in Agrabah two years ago?"

"Yes I was," Elsa said with practiced calm even though she was already sweating profusely from the heat. "It is an honour to be back here again."

Duke Omar dipped his head. "Thank you for the kind words."

Anna smiled, indicating Frederick who stood before them at attention. "And this is Frederick Valquerson, field marshal of the Coalition of the North."

Duke Omar acknowledged Frederick with a nod. "Your reputation precedes you, field marshal. We have heard of your accomplishments across the sea."

"Thank you, Your Grace." Frederick answered stolidly.

The duke motioned at his own officer with the many medals whose uniform looked as decorated as Frederick's dress uniform. "This is General Bakshan, High Commander of the Agrabanian Highlanders."

Anna nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you for coming out to receive us, Your Grace." She turned to Bakshan. "And you must thank your men, general, for standing in this parade to greet us."

"It is part of our nation's tradition, Ma'am," Omar explained with a warm smile. "I can assure you, we mean you no hostility with this display."

"I know," she returned the smile. "Ambassador Hassan briefed us prior to our arrival. He was a wonderful envoy."

"I am glad to hear that," Duke Omar nodded again and gestured further inland. "Please, follow me. I have a carriage waiting to take you to the king who awaits your arrival in the palace."

"Of course," Anna said, and waved a hand back at the ships. "If we may, we would like to have the rest of the Coalition disembark."

"Yes, of course." The duke turned to Bakshan and Zayan. "See to it that the Coalition makes it ashore safely to await further directions after the king's audience with his royal guests."

"Your Grace," Bakshan and Zayan both saluted in unison, then did the same for the royal trio before moving off to carry out the duke's orders.

"Go with them and coordinate the disembarkment," Kristoff told Frederick.

"Sir," he saluted Kristoff then turned to Anna and Elsa. "Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness." He turned and briskly headed back to the coastline.

"If you're ready," Duke Omar said politely. "Please follow me."

Anna, Kristoff and Elsa followed Duke Omar and his retinue, Ambassador Hassan quietly in tow, while they themselves were flanked by the Queen's Guard. They passed between a wide divide in the battalion columns which had been vacated for this very purpose. The Agrabanian Highlanders stood at stiff attention, gazing ahead professionally like career soldiers, their display a parade ground standard.

A wide carriage awaited them near the end of a long walk to the back of the battalion columns, which rested behind two dark brown horses waiting with a rider in traditional Agrabanian garb. Upon seeing them from afar, the rider began preparations for their arrival and had the steps ready for them by the time they reached the carriage.

Piling into the spacious carriage with help, Anna sat down, quietly glad to be off her feet again. The walk to the end of the beach had been a tiring one - more tiring than she cared to admit - and it was evident that Duke Omar was taking great pains to make the journey an easier one upon noticing that she was pregnant.

While the duke's retinue got into a different carriage, Omar joined the royal trio, sitting beside Elsa while Anna and Kristoff sat opposite them. The carriage set off at a steady pace, not too quickly for Anna's sake, yet not too slowly that they would've been better off walking.

As they moved away from the coast and into the kingdom proper, Anna glanced out of the window discretely while Duke Omar began to share more about whatever they were passing by. The city was beautiful, in a very different fashion to the one Anna was used to.

She'd always assumed that the southern part of the world was one where huts were built out of straw and weak materials, with poor trade and bad irrigation systems. It was only now in hindsight that she realised that her impression of other faraway kingdoms was a rather narrow-minded one, one that she was more than glad to rid herself of.

Instead of the usual concrete and brick houses that lined the streets, buildings were made out of stone and other minerals which looked like they gave the establishments more sturdiness and protection from becoming collateral damage in urban warfare. Perhaps a history of conflict had taught them to do so. Whatever the reason was, it was a different sort of city, but no less than an architectural masterpiece.

The people in the streets were dressed colourfully in various garbs, mostly wearing light colours as opposed to dark ones. Many were adorned in sleeveless linen robes to provide relief from the sweltering heat that this part of the world was unfortunate to bear the brunt of for most of the year. Their various headdress - turbans and extensions of their robes - looked to be similarly made of linen or cotton to keep their heads cool while sheltering them from the hot sun.

The rooftops of most houses were used as a second floor, with stairway openings that led up to them and bridges connecting the buildings to form something like an elevated street. It was a remarkably efficient use of space, given the innumerable houses that were packed together from street to street. Whichever architect had come up with this design was a genius.

Homemakers lined their laundry on their rooftops to keep them out of the dust and to let the sun dry their clothes quickly. Children played on the rooftops too, under the watchful eye of their guardians. Many of them carried baskets under one arm, poles of fruits or even wares, moving up and down either sides of the road. The people parted to make way as the carriages cruised through their midst, standing and staring in curiosity.

The horses and carriage wheels kicked up a fair amount of dust and sand as they rolled through the city towards the palace where the Agrabanian king awaited them. It was a very different atmosphere from what Anna was expecting, but a welcome one.

After traversing freezing white plains and enduring endless snow during the long winter campaign, then seeing nothing but water for another three months, she was so glad to experience life again in a warm climate. She'd always been more of a summer person, enjoying the warmth, the blue skies, sunshine, birds and the smell of fresh flowers.

Her sister, on the other hand, absolutely detested summer. It wasn't explicitly apparent just by looking at Elsa, but Anna knew she was uncomfortably warm in her formal white dress, despite it being sleeveless, knee-length and technically made out of ice. Poor Elsa was sweating profusely, with great beads of sweat dripping down her brow and staining her makeup. If the duke had noticed, he hadn't said anything.

Thankfully. Elsa had more or less been at home with the cold during the winter campaign, while Anna had been the one suffering from the chills along with whatever symptoms early pregnancy had brought her. But now, the roles had been reversed. She could do nothing but feel immense pity for her sister who was hurting emotionally, and now had to weather the sweltering heat as well.

But Elsa wasn't exactly alone. Kristoff had grown up in the mountains and had made his living as an ice harvester before he'd come to Arendelle. Having thrived in the cold for most of his life, the warm climate certainly wasn't agreeing with him. If his constant tugging at the collar of his suit was any indication, he was in torment just as much as Elsa was. This one the duke obviously noticed, but was respectful enough not to raise any comment.

After crossing the desert plains - which seemed to take hours - they finally rolled past the palace gates, which were guarded by tall, burly men with spears that were nearly as tall as the gates themselves. The palace itself was another sight to behold. Grand golden domes marked and separated the palace from all the other buildings Anna had seen thus far. Palm trees were planted neatly along the road leading up to the entrance, and tall, thick pillars had been erected at regular intervals. A large Agrabanian flag bearing the kingdom colours of gold and black flew high and proud atop the centre dome, flapping gently whenever the warm winds graced the skies.

"Your Majesty." A servant extended a hand to Anna.

She hadn't even realised the carriage had stopped. Putting on a smile, she accepted a servant's proferred hand and stepped down as daintily as she could given her extra weight. The ground was sandy, as was the rest of the kingdom, a far cry from the dull grey concrete roads that Arendelle and the rest of the Confederate Kingdoms possessed.

Elsa was the next to exit the carriage, followed by Kristoff with Duke Omar bringing up the rear. They were promptly joined by the Queen's Guard, surrounding the royal family in disciplined formation. Similarly, the duke's retinue and Ambassador Hassan formed up behind him as he politely motioned to the entrance where more Agrabanian guards stood.

"Please follow me." Omar led the way, gesturing one-handed to the Agrabanian guards who saluted and opened the doors to the palace.

Once inside, Anna's head was on a swivel, very nearly discarding all the lessons on royal etiquette that'd been drilled into her from childhood. The palace was beyond beautiful, with golden archways, long halls filled with glass displays and chandeliers made of foreign jewels Anna didn't recognise. The stairs were curved in architectural perfection, each step the perfect height for guests wearing high heels, yet not so shallow that one would trip and fall - which was rather convenient for Anna, who had always been the clumsiest among her family and friends.

The duke showed them to a pair of swinging doors on the second floor of the palace after a short walk down a thick-carpeted corridor. "This is the king's audience chamber. He will be delighted to know you have arrived. However, our entourages will have to remain outside." He hesitated for a moment to give the trio a moment to tidy themselves before giving the palace servants a signal, after which they pushed open both doors to reveal a brightly-lit room that was as wide as it was long.

"The royal representatives of the Confederation of the North," A loud voice heralded their arrival as the trio entered the room.

"Here goes nothing," Anna muttered under her breath as she took in her surroundings.

The place was breathtakingly beautiful. With a high ceiling shaped like a dome, great pillars shooting up from the ground at wide intervals and wide windows that overlooked the coast where the Coalition was still disembarking, the king's residence was the sort of place that people always imagined when one mentioned "palace".

The servants looked rather different from their counterparts in the northern continent where Anna and the Confederation were from. The women were dressed in simple linen robes while the men simply wore linen shorts, all of them having darker skin tone like Duke Omar, Ambassador Hassan and the rest of the Agrabanians Anna had met thus far.

She grimaced. How could I have ever thought Talya was an Agrabanian envoy?

In the centre of the brightly-lit audience chambers was a grand, spacious throne - the type Anna had always read about in novels as a bored child. She never thought something like that was real, yet it stood before her now, elevated by a rise of a short flight of steps carpeted down the middle with beautiful inscriptions in a language she didn't understand.

However, what really fascinated her most was the man on the throne as she laid eyes on the king for the first time. He looked to be in his sixth decade, evident by the tight lines around his face and the crows' feet at the sides of his eyes, not to mention his thick hair fading to white. The thick grey beard that hung from his chin gave him an air of wisdom and maturity, though his kindly eyes spoke of a youth not forgotten.

And though he was long past his prime, his body seemed to have not caught on. The king was broad-shouldered and chiselled, wearing sleeveless robes that accentuated his sculpted arms and chest. If Anna were to draw a comparison, he looked like one of those famous people the ancient Ibersians created statues of.

"Sultan." Duke Omar swept a deep bow to his king. "The guests, as requested."

Nodding gratitude at the duke, the King dismissed him and rose to his feet. "Honoured guests, welcome to Agrabah." He dipped his head reverently. "I am King Aladdin, sultan and sovereign ruler of the Agrabanians."