Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

In the Light of Day: A Frozen Epic	By : GeorgeGlass Category: +1 through F > Frozen Views: 21531 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Frozen or its characters. I made no money from writing this story. I am completely divided about whether Elsa or Anna is hotter.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Chapter 2: The Matchmaker
The next morning, Elsa was deep in conversation with the Minister of the Interior and the lords of two of Arendelle's northern provinces about striking a balance between harvesting trees for lumber and ensuring that there would be enough forest left for deer and other animals that people hunted for food. Then there came a knock on the door of the meeting chamber, and Gerda, a longstanding servant of Elsa’s family, stuck her head in.
"Your Highness?" Gerda said. "The matchmaker is here."
"And here we go," Elsa sighed. Standing up, she looked at the three men with whom she had been meeting, all of whom got up when their Queen did. "Gentlemen, would you give us a few minutes?"
"Of course, your Majesty," they all said, and filed out.
Elsa turned back to Gerda. "Send her in, please."
"Yes, Majesty."
Gerda stepped out the door and returned a moment later, accompanied by a painfully thin, middle-aged man with a nose that reminded Elsa of a mosquito's proboscis. He wore a jacket of red velvet, the cut of which had been out of fashion for at least a decade.
"You are the matchmaker?" Elsa said.
The man sniffed. "We're not all elderly peasant women, you know. I am Baron Herringholtz, matchmaker to the royal families. I apologize for being unable to arrive further in advance of this event, but I have been travelling far and wide, extending invitations to many eligible princes from fine families."
“I see,” said Elsa.
Herringholtz went on, "Through correspondence with your schedule-keeper and your castle's social-planning staff, I have managed to arrange a five-day series of events that will enable you to get to know each of the candidates so that you can make the best possible choice."
"Five days," Elsa said, trying not to sigh. "That's quite a commitment."
"Highness," Herringholtz said nasally, "I hope you would agree that selecting the father of your future offspring is a task worthy of a certain investment of time."
"Of course," said Elsa. "But understand that I make no promise to pick any of them."
"That is your prerogative, your Majesty. Now, the last of the invited princes are arriving this morning. From three to four this afternoon, we shall have Grand Introductions in the throne room, for which I have asked the Princess to join us. Then, at seven, dinner with the princes and their attendants in the second-floor dining room."
Elsa tried not to wince. This was going to be as big a time-sink as she had feared.
“Tomorrow,” Herringholtz continued, “you will begin having private interviews with the princes. Three are scheduled for each day, to give you time in between for your other royal duties. Then, tomorrow evening, there will be an intimate ball—just the princes, their attendants, and a few hundred nobles and other prominent citizens. Activities for the remainder of the event are still being planned. Do you have any questions about this process?”
“No,” Elsa replied, “but I’d like to note that calling it a ‘process’ pretty much sucks any pretense of romance right out of it.”
“Such are the realities of royalty, your Highness.”
***
Anna appeared at the Treasury at nine o'clock sharp. The two guards posted at the door saw her approach.
"Ah, Princess," one of them said as the other opened the door. "The Minister is expecting you."
"Thank you," Anna said, and went inside.
Anna had only ever seen the Minister of the Treasury a couple of times, so she only dimly recalled what the woman looked like. And she had never been inside the Treasury building before. She had half expected something like what she'd seen in picture-books as a child: a room ankle-deep in gold coins, with chests here and there overflowing with jewels, strings of pearls, and gem-encrusted goblets and tiaras. She was a bit disappointed to find only a perfectly ordinary office furnished with a partners' desk at which a pair of accountants sat, alternately writing in a large ledger and arguing with each other over figures.
A door behind them opened, and the Minister entered. She was perhaps in her late fifties, short and a bit plump. She wore her gray hair up in a bun, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses hung from her neck on a chain, making her appearance somewhat reminiscent of both a librarian and Mrs. Claus.
"Good morning, Princess," she said in a friendly tone. "Welcome to the Treasury. I understand you'll be studying some of our trade records."
"That's the plan," Anna said, trying to sound positive.
"Then follow me, please."
The Minister led Anna through a door with a sign above it that read "Records Room." The chamber beyond did not appear to be frequently used, judging from the layer of dust that seemed to coat everything except for the stack of five thick books that sat on the room's single desk.
"I've retrieved the logs I was told you would need," the Minister said.
"Wow," Anna said, looking at the thick tomes. "Three years' worth of trade records takes up a lot of pages."
"Ohhh," the Minister said, "you wanted records for three years. Just a moment, dear."
Anna watched with something like horror as the Minister pulled ten more thick books off the shelves and placed them on the desk.
"There you are, Princess," she said. "I hope you'll find these informative."
"Oh, my," Anna said. "I guess it's a good thing I packed a lunch." She held up a bag that held a roast elk sandwich and an apple.
"There's no eating in the Records Room, dear," the Minister said. "Happy reading!" Then the older woman departed, shutting the door behind her.
Anna sat down at the little desk, found the book with the oldest date on it, and turned to the first page, coughing as the motion of opening the book sent a small plume of dust from the surface of the desk into the air. Then she looked at the rows and rows of tiny numbers on the page and sighed.
"Oh, Anna," she said to herself as she began to read, "was cutting ribbons really so bad?"
***
Hours later, Anna felt relieved to be sitting at her sister’s side in the throne room. Baron Herringholtz was on Elsa’s other side, ready to provide her with details about each prince who would be introducing himself to her.
"Now," said Herringholtz, "this first prince is a fine candidate. He is the third son of the Queen of Mianyoka and the nephew of the Grand Duke of the Savannah, and he comes from a long line of courageous warriors."
The doors opened, and in walked a dark-skinned black man who appeared to be about Elsa's age. His shaved head and simple gold earring served to draw attention to the regal handsomeness of his face. He wore a toga-like garment with an eye-catching red-and-white print, but Elsa's gaze was more drawn to the exposed half of his muscular chest. He carried a spear of elegantly carved mahogany, with a head of gleaming steel.
Behind him, an older man—presumably an attendant—entered, bowed silently in Elsa's direction, then moved off to the side and stood quietly, watching the prince as the younger man walked onto the long, blue carpet in front of the pedestal on which Elsa's throne sat, flanked by two side chairs that were currently occupied by Anna and Baron Herringholtz.
If all of these princes are going to be this handsome, Elsa thought, this might not be so bad.
"Greetings, your Majesty!" the younger man said in a masculine baritone. "I am Prince Sefu of Mianyoka, and I have come to seek your hand as prince-consort."
"Welcome, Prince Sefu," Elsa replied. "I hope your journey was comfortable, although I imagine that it was long."
"To see this great kingdom was well worth the trip, your Highness. Arendelle's reputation for beauty and majesty is well deserved." From the way he looked at her, Elsa could tell that he was referring to more than just her kingdom.
"And on a personal note," the prince continued, "it is a great pleasure to be in a land that has no snakes whatsoever."
Elsa saw the prince's attendant wince.
"Um," said Elsa, "I believe you are thinking of Ireland. We do have snakes in Arendelle."
The prince's eyes widened in horror.
"What? Where?" he cried, eyes frantically searching the floor. Then he looked at his attendant. "Mofa! We must set sail for Ireland immediately!"
Before anyone else could speak, Prince Sefu turned and bolted out of the throne room and straight out the castle gates, hightailing it for the docks.
Mofa turned to Elsa.
"Please excuse the Prince, your Majesty," he said. "This is merely a, ah, misunderstanding." The man bowed and exited the throne room as quickly as courtesy would allow.
***
The next several candidates did not flee the throne room, but all had other notable drawbacks. The hulking, blonde Prince Hjalmar of Nordland, a neighboring kingdom, kept wiping his nose on his sleeve and seemed unwilling to remove his helmet. Prince Gormal from the Isle of Lainn was heralded by a pair of bagpipers who played at ear-splitting pitch and volume; the prince himself spoke of nothing but his prowess as a hunter and his mastery of the art of taxidermy. Prince Varek of the eastern kingdom of Rekja did not speak a word of Arendellan, and his attendant proved a poor translator (assuming that Varek did not actually intend to say, “I joyful in nation of chilly virgin”). Prince Javier of Hermosa seemed handsome and intelligent, but after he sneezed partway through his introduction, he immediately began shouting for Dr. Montalvo—his attendant and, apparently, personal physician—to cure him of what the prince declared to be a life-threatening case of avian flu.
Baron Herringholtz seemed noticeably embarrassed by the showing, but he also appeared determined to press on.
“This next fellow,” the matchmaker said after the Hermosan prince was escorted away for treatment, “has an excellent pedigree—his lineage traces back to the first king of his homeland. But,” Herringholtz added, “in the interest of transparency, I should inform you that he was not actually invited to this event.”
“What do you mean?” said Elsa.
“Well, he is most certainly a good candidate, but I had been under the impression that his father, the King of Sundara, had arranged for him to be married to a princess from a neighboring kingdom. Perhaps I was misinformed. In any case-”
The doors opened, and a man strode in. He was tall and a bit portly, brown-skinned, with a full beard and a maroon turban. A large sword hung at his side.
"Oh, no," Elsa muttered. "He's more than twice my age!"
"Your Majesty, Queen Elsa!" the man boomed, "whose power and beauty mirror those of this magnificent land!"
Oh, great, another flatterer, Elsa thought. She half expected the man to turn and run like Prince Sefu.
The man continued, "May I introduce His Royal Highness, Prince Rajiv, of the great kingdom of Sundara!"
In walked a second man, shorter and younger than the first, but with a bearing that seemed at once understated and regal.
"Well," Anna said out of the corner of her mouth, "he's easy on the eyes."
Elsa had to agree. The prince, who appeared to be about twenty, was clad in a linen-white dress uniform that was trimmed in maroon and that clearly but tastefully framed his trim, well-toned body. His lustrous, neatly cut brown hair had just a hint of wave. His face was youthful, but there was something about his deep brown eyes that suggested wisdom and patience beyond his years.
Oh, dear, Elsa thought. There must be something really wrong with this one.
"Your Majesty," the younger man said with a bow. "I come, not only to seek your hand, but to thank you for your assistance when my ship was foundering last night."
Elsa didn't know why, but something in the prince's tone irritated her. Or maybe it was the way he bowed, which seemed overdone, as though he were subtly mocking her. And 'assistance' seemed an awfully weak choice of words; this prince and his ship's crew would be at the bottom of the sea if it hadn't been for her.
She tried to push these thoughts aside as she replied, "You are welcome, Prince. I am sorry about the loss of your ship."
To her right, she saw Anna eye her with puzzlement. Perhaps Elsa's tone had been a bit icier than she had intended.
"Yes, well," the Prince replied with a slight glower, "that was...unfortunate."
The larger man cut in. "The ship was already lost, your Majesty. You saved our lives, and for that, we shall be forever grateful."
"Thank you, um..." Elsa began.
"Captain Ajay Anand, of the Sundaran Royal Navy, your Highness," the man said, bowing deeply.
"You are welcome, Captain Anand," Elsa said, managing to restore the graciousness to her voice.
“And if I may be so bold, your Majesty,” the captain continued, “the Prince has brought you a gift from Sundara, which I believe you will find most useful.”
Two Sundaran seamen entered the throne room, pushing a chest on casters. They stopped in the middle of the room, just in front of the prince and the captain. The captain opened the lid.
“Twenty bars of Sundaran steel, your Highness,” the captain said. “The finest steel in all the world.”
Elsa nodded. “You are very generous. Thank you.” But it took an effort to retain her cordial tone as she turned back to the prince and forced out the words, "I look forward to speaking with you at dinner this evening."
"Yes, your Majesty," the younger man replied.
Prince Rajiv and Captain Anand bowed and excused themselves, their men following after them with the chest. Two of the castle servants helped them take the chest out to the courtyard, no doubt for transport to the Royal Armory.
"Now,” said Baron Herringholtz, “I have saved the best candidate for last. He is the only son of King Aegeus, so he's quite a catch. You are fortunate to have first crack at him."
A man entered the throne room. He appeared to be about thirty, with olive skin and long, shiny black hair that was tied in a neat ponytail. His face was pleasant, and his robes were a cheerful red and blue.
“Any chance this is the prince?” Elsa whispered to Herringholtz.
“No, your Highness,” the baron replied.
"Your Majesty," the man said with a measured bow, "I am Lord Otos, chief aide to King Aegeus of the Archipelago of Dianisia. Please allow me to introduce his Highness, Prince Hypatios."
Through the doors ambled a boy of seven or eight, looking quite overdressed in his ribboned red-and-blue uniform.
"Greetings, Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" the boy shouted, his words obviously rehearsed. "I am deeply honored to have been invited to come to your glorious kingdom to vie for your hand in mat-...matri-...I wanna marry you," he concluded swiftly.
Elsa had never facepalmed herself in the throne room before. But there was a first time for everything.
END CHAPTER 2
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

In the Light of Day: A Frozen Epic