The Queen's Admiral

Chapter 27: Frigid

"Admiral, a word please."

Aunt Elsa’s tone was so detached, controlled and formal. But I knew that was just a front.

Over the course of many meetings, I’ve learned to read a thing or two about the Queen’s moods and her manner of speech.  Those four little words, in particular was an unspoken rule all of her councilmembers understood by now:

It was the cue to leave Admiral Westergard a warm cloak and get out.

Finance Minister Lord Berg tossed the head of the Arendelle navy his own thick coat while the rest of us shuffled out the door. 

"I'll have a pot of coffee waiting outside," Kai whispered to my commanding officer as I felt the temperature drop.

"Thank you Kai, though I think this situation calls for brandy," he whispered back.

Kai gave him a look of pity before he shut door.  We all stared at it for a long moment and my companions shook their heads.

"Do you think he'll survive this time?" Lord Hensen asked almost jokingly.

"Brave man has lived through worst.  He'll live through this.  But I think I'll send for a couple of warm blankets and a tub of hot water along with that brandy, just in case." Kai said with a poker-faced expression as he went down the hall to instruct the servants.

The sight of creeping frost underneath the council chamber door made us all wince.  The argument within seemed to be reaching new levels of intensity.   

"Better start a fire in the drawing room too Kai," the internal affairs officer Lord Amber called out after the steward.  "We may need to thaw him out after this."

The rest of the councilors snickered at the comment.  I tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t.  I suppressed my laugh with a cough.

Admiral Westergard was probably the only person aside from my mother that can stand up to Queen Elsa when he was determined to put forward his own ideas on state affairs.  He was straightforwardly vocal about uneasy decisions and never ran out of suggestions.  Over the course of three months, they’ve had some fierce arguments at the regular council meetings.  Not that they ever argued in public or even in front of her council.  My aunt always excused all of us and spoke to him in private.

Of course everyone knew that whatever happened behind closed doors reached levels of conflict that were so intense based on the amount of frost that remained on the furniture and the state of Admiral Westergard's body temperature after each private interview.  My aunt had good control over her powers but in cases of extreme anger and stress, her powers often let out.  No one had the ability to wound her up as badly as he did.

The first few times it happened we all huddled in the hallway, afraid that the Queen might murder him in her rage.  But as it happened more often and the Admiral always survived, the council members adopted a more lighthearted attitude towards their fights.

Knowing that the argument would probably take a while, the council members all dispersed to find other things to occupy their time.  I decided to take the opportunity for a bit of fresh air and a visit to the village. 

I took my favorite route through the kitchens to grab a piece of chocolate for snacks later.  I proceeded through servants’ back entrance which was a shortcut towards the main gate.  As I passed by the laundry areas I overheard several maids talking while they gathered the freshly washed linens from the clotheslines.

"Kai just requested for hot water.  They’re at it again,” said one girl. 

“He should just kiss her and be done with it," remarked another girl. I knew at once they were talking about Aunt Elsa and Admiral Westergard.