The Storm

Poetheather

So, yeah… these characters are so totally not mine. Disney owns them, lock, stock and barrel. I am merely playing in their snowbank.

The Storm

1

The knock at the door was loud and frantic, waking both Elsa and Anna from their sound sleep. Elsa slid out of bed while Anna grumbled tiredly, nuzzling back into the warmth of the covers and pulling Elsa's pillow to her. Throwing on a robe, the Queen headed over to the door and opened it a crack, looking out nervously. Anna and she had been struggling to keep things between them discrete and it had been a struggle. Between Anna's exuberant nature and the attentiveness of the servants, their illicit relationship was barely hidden as is. She did not need anything else to add to the mess their love for each other caused. The last thing she wanted after the summer's madness was a scandal of this nature. "Yes, what is it?"

Her Chancellor was outside her door and he looked a touch frantic. "Your Majesty, I apologize for waking you. Last night's storm was worse than expected and has caused a number of unexpected issues. We had nigh unto two feet of snow and the fjord is freezing. If you could follow me?"

Grumbling in annoyance, Elsa left her room and closed the door behind her. Tightening the belt of her robe she tried to figure out what could be going on. She followed the Chancellor to her office and took her seat, noting that a few others were present. There was a mug of hot chocolate waiting for her there and after she took a sip she asked, "What do we know?"

The Mayor of the town, a man who clearly enjoyed that perks of his office and the soft life it brought, said, "The snow is still coming down at the same rate as earlier. There is ice on the streets that is proving difficult to chip up, making moving about the town difficult. There have already been several people injured from slipping and falling. Some of the poorer sections of town have been having greater difficulties with things as their houses are not as strong as others according to the watch. We have already heard the wood groaning in a few places."

Elsa turned to face the harbor master, a rather sea worn individual, grizzled with white hair and a short beard. He did not look happy about matters either. "The Harbor is starting to freeze since it is protected from the waves more as the cold from this front is rather intense. This could be problematic for our boats but it could also make it difficult for supplies to come in."

Hearing this she turned to her Chancellor and looked at him in question. He answered her unspoken question. "While the country does stockpile items that we cannot locally produce over the winter months we still supplement them via trade with other nations. We receive a ship or two every week that is carrying various trade goods and food stuffs. Without that trade our food stores would be reduced to what is available simply through hunting and foraging and in this weather that would be problematic."

The Captain of the Watch took this moment to step in. "Begging your Majesty's pardon but there is another issue that you need to be aware of. Because of this freeze it may restrict the hunting of the local wolf packs. Your sister reported having to deal with a pack with Kristoff when they were trying to reach you. That is not normal behavior for wolves which makes me think that at least that pack may be going hungry. If that was occurring during the summer months when the hunting is good then we may have hungry wolves prowling our streets, looking for someone to take down."

Elsa sat back in her chair, thinking about all this. Leaving Anna's warm embrace to be faced with this calamity was daunting and certainly a terrible switch. However she was sure she could do something to help her people. After all she had frozen the fjord herself and unfrozen it. The question was could she do it while nature was fighting against her? That would be a real challenge. "Gentlemen thank you for bringing this to my attention. This is indeed a dire situation. Captain, do you suppose a wall around the town will serve to block out the wolves?"

The Captain looked rather surprised at that and stated, "Certainly, but those take time to build and in this snow and cold it wouldn't set correctly so I don't see how it would be practical."

Elsa just gave him a look which made the man color slightly as he realized what she meant. "Ah… uhm… yes, your majesty that would be most helpful."

"I will see what I can do to help with these other issues but I cannot guarantee anything. We are talking about Mother Nature freezing things versus me trying to thaw them. She has a distinct advantage here." Elsa smiled wryly. She had a fairly good understanding of her powers, knowing her control of snow and ice was magnified in winter, since the atmosphere supported what she was doing. But trying to thaw things… she would be directly opposed by nature and that would be a challenge. The looks on the men's faces indicated that they understood what she was saying which took some of that burden off her. "Let me get dressed and we can get started. We should meet in town to better coordinate actions from there. Chancellor, see to it I have breakfast prepared. I will return to you all anon."

They all bowed as she left and she acknowledged it with an incline of her head. What a day. She was so not looking forward to this. She had been so happy and content lying in bed with Anna. Her sister was such a heater and enjoyed cuddling. Elsa could hardly get enough of it. Falling asleep in Anna's arms was the perfect end to every day, even if they didn't make love. But now there was this issue dragging her off. Nothing she had faced as Queen to date had been this difficult. She would need to juggle several things at once to ensure her people were taken care of and worrying about Anna was sadly not one of them.

Amazingly Anna was awake when she reached the room. Elsa smiled softly and said, "Morning sleepy head."

Anna nodded, her untamed mass of hair moving along with her head. It was only through familiarity with the sight that Elsa was able to refrain from giggling.

"I'm afraid I have a really busy day today Anna and I probably won't see you until tonight." Elsa informed her. The unhappiness was clear in her voice.

Anna moved hair from her face and looked questioningly at Elsa. "Why not?"

"The storm we had last night was very bad and it is still going. The fjord is starting to freeze over, there are hungry wolves prowling about, people may be freezing in their own homes and the like. I have to go help," explained Elsa, summing everything up. "It's my job."

Anna's eyes went wide. This was far more than she had expected. Was it really that bad? If so then Elsa would not be able to handle this whole thing on her own, despite the fact that she would certainly try. "I'll help! Let me get dressed and I'll do some of the things so you won't have to. We can share the load."

Feeling her heart warm, Elsa walked over and kissed Anna lightly on the lips. "Thank you my precious Snowflake. I don't know what I would do without you."

Anna blushed and looked down at the covers. Elsa laughed and started to get dressed. Anna watched as her sister removed her dressing gown and night clothes, her eyes taking in the sight of her body. Elsa looked over her shoulder when she heard the sigh and saw Anna watching her, desire plain on her sister's face. Shaking her head, Elsa said, "Later love. Now is not the time for such distractions, no matter how pleasant. We have breakfast to eat and a kingdom to save. Priorities."