Castle Matters

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Elsa paced her throne room nervously, her transparent cape trailing along behind her. She was both nervous and anxious; a meeting between the kingdoms was in a few hours, and she was very unprepared. It would be her first since she had taken over as queen, adding on the fact that everyone knew of her powers now. Even though they had accepted her for who she was, Elsa was still very uncomfortable with all of it.

It had been a few months since Elsa's coronation as queen. So much had happened during those few days after she struck out that Elsa's mind was foggy with memories. Lashing out at Anna during the dance, running off into the woods and accidentally setting off an eternal winter, building her ice castle (which she still visited frequently; it calmed her), freezing Anna's heart, watching her sister die then return....

It was all happening so fast, too fast for Elsa's liking.

She continued pacing her throne room until a knock came on the door. Elsa stopped pacing and turned to see Anna's head poke through the crack between the double doors, her two orange braids dangling from either side of her head. Elsa smiled to herself when she didn't see the white stripe on Anna's right braid. It helped alleviate the memory of what the elder girl had done to her little sister all those years ago, and what she had done to Arendelle only recently.

"The representatives are here," Anna announced. "Everyone's waiting for you"

Elsa nodded. "Good. Then let's get this over with." She walked down the steps to her sister. The two girls looped arms and walked together down the hall towards the meeting room.

"Are you alright?" Anna asked, looking at her elder sister. "You seem really tense."

Elsa made eye contact with Anna, just so the princess wouldn't suspect anything. "I'm fine, Anna." She gave a slight smile, and that was all the reassurance Anna needed.

As the two girls walked, Elsa couldn't help but look down at her left arm, which was draped across her body so her hand could rest on Anna's. Through the slightly transparent sleeves, Elsa could see the thin white scars on her forearm, nearly invisible unless you knew what you were looking for. Elsa had consistently self-harmed in the months following their parents' deaths, and was forced to stop when her ladiesmaids began to take notice of the bloodstains on the insides of her sleeves. The memories haunted Elsa to this very day, but she told no one, not even Anna, about her on and off depression and even suicidal thoughts.

When the girls reached the meeting room, Anna opened the door for Elsa, who walked in nervously. Anna closed the door behind her sister, leaving the meeting in peace. The representatives were sitting around the rectangular table, all eyes on Elsa. One face made the young queen smile: Queen Rapunzel, the cousin of Elsa and Anna. She was there to represent her kingdom, Corona. She stood up, as did the rest of the assembly, as Elsa passed to sit at the head of the table. "Please be seated," Elsa said calmly as she sat down. The others followed her lead.

Elsa's eyes passed over each representative in turn. First her cousin, seated next to her on her right. Then Hans's eldest brother from the Southern Isles. Three Spaniards from the three Spanish colonies to the west. Four European representatives from the four European countries Arendelle made trade with. A stately woman from France, whose English was hard to understand. One representative each from Clans Dunbroch, Dingwall, Macintosh, and McGuffen. Only two representatives were missing: the Duke of Weasletown (which was understandable since Elsa had cancelled all trade with Weasletown) and the Viking representative from Berk. Elsa raised an eyebrow at this; even though they were Vikings who spoke either heavily accented English or Norse, they were usually very punctual when it came to trade meetings.

"Has anyone had any word on the Berkian representative?" Elsa asked her party. The assembly muttered amongst themselves, asking each other the very same question. Then the French woman spoke up.

"Vee 'aven't seen ze representative since vee 'ave been here, Your Majesty," she said.

"I heard they were having some trouble with invaders," Rapunzel said, her ever-present chameleon on her shoulder.

"Invaders?" Elsa asked curiously.

One of the Spaniards spoke up: "I heard rumors from Trader Johann that some loco amputee dragon master was behind it. We just laughed, it was muy gracioso for a tall tale."

The assembly seemed to find it funny too, for they all laughed until Elsa pointed a finger at the ceiling and shot ice at the chandelier. Everyone immediately went quiet.

"Enough," Elsa said calmly, no anger in her voice whatsoever. "We have business to discuss."

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