Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

In the Light of Day: A Frozen Epic	By : GeorgeGlass Category: +1 through F > Frozen Views: 21529 -:- 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
In the Light of Day: A Frozen Epic

by George Glass
Summary: Seven princes come to the kingdom to seek Elsa’s hand as Prince-Consort. But not all in attendance are what they seem, and behind the ball gowns and canapés lurks a plot that could destroy Arendelle—and its Queen.

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.

Note: This story is set in a fantasy world and is not intended to depict realistically any place, culture, or time period.
Note 2: If you are kind enough to leave a review, I will respond to it here: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/59083-review-responses-for-in-the-light-of-day-a-frozen-epic/

- - -

Chapter 1: The Captain

“This is really nice,” said Anna before taking a sip of her hot cider. She and Elsa were in the sitting room of the castle’s royal quarters. Rain was falling heavily outside, and occasional flashes of lightning momentarily illuminated the room, which otherwise was lit only by the fire that was burning down to embers in the stone hearth.

“I’m sorry I had to cancel our dinner plans,” Elsa said. “There were some urgent matters that I needed to discuss with the Foreign Minister, and that was the only time slot I had.”

“This is better, anyway,” Anna said, pushing her stockinged feet a little closer to the warmth of the fire. “But it’s amazing—you’ve only been queen for nine months, and you sound like you’ve been doing it your whole life.”

“It doesn’t feel that way, though,” said Elsa. “I still have a lot to learn. But I keep having to learn by doing, what with the troubles we’ve had from all the rain this season, and the trade conference coming up, and dealing with the aftermath of the war with Weselton…”

“It was hardly a war. Their troops landed, you froze them up to their knees in ice, and they chipped themselves out and went home. Served them right, invading us for cutting off trade with them. I can’t believe they wanted to go to war over fabric.”

“I think it was more about spite than anything,” Elsa replied. “At least the Southern Isles had an appropriate response to the Prince Hans situation. I wonder how he’s liking his job as chief mucker of their royal stables?”

“Ugh, can we please not talk about that dorkwad? How about we talk about the princes you’re going to be meeting?”

“Oh, yes, and then there’s that. I can scarcely believe that I let my ministers talk me into this…this…I don’t even know what to call it, inviting royal families to send their sons to be considered to become my Prince-Consort. I’m only twenty-one; I’ll have plenty of time to worry about ‘producing an heir,’ as the ministers so delicately put it. And you didn’t even try to talk them out of it.”

“Elsa, you deserve to have someone special in your life.”

“’Someone special’? They’re a bunch of complete strangers from foreign lands. What am I even supposed to say to them? And the amount of my schedule that I had to clear for this is just absurd. I have genuinely important business to take care of, and-”

“Actually,” Anna interrupted, “maybe I can help with that. Because I’ve been thinking that I’d like to have a little more responsibility.”

“You have plenty of responsibilities.”

“Is that what you call them? All I get are the fluff jobs you don’t have time for: statue dedications, ship christenings, marketplace openings…I’ve cut more ribbons and smashed more bottles than Helga the dressmaker!”

“She’s a mean drunk, that Helga,” Elsa said. “But I see your point. All right, then; you can represent Arendelle at the trade conference next week.”

Anna blinked in surprise. “You- You mean it?”

“Of course. It’s a fairly small conference—just six local kingdoms. But before then, you’ll have to get up to speed on our trade relationships with those countries. Talk to the Minister of the Treasury; she can get you all the information you’ll need.”

“Wow. I won’t let you down, I promise!”

“I know you won’t,” Elsa said, smiling. “Now, shall we put another log on this fire and talk about less weighty matters? Because I’ve heard that you and Kristoff-“

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a young page practically flew into the room.

“Majesty!” the page cried. “There’s a ship in distress at the mouth of the harbor. It may be sinking!”

Elsa shot to her feet. “Fetch a spyglass,” she commanded the page, “and bring it to the top of the southeast tower.”

“At once, Highness!” the page replied, and fled out the door again.

***

Captain Ajay Anand was not a man prone to panic, but this situation was severely testing his capacity for calm. The high waves were tossing his small ship around like an empty coconut husk, and now, just as they had reached the mouth of the port of Arendelle and attempted to sail through it to safety, a huge wave had carried the ship sideways and slammed the hull against the point of one of the rocky jetties that shielded the harbor from the sea.

Moments after the ship scraped free of the rocks, the first mate ran up from below decks. The captain could hardly see him in the rain and darkness.

“Sir!” the mate shouted over the howling wind and pouring rain. “We are taking on water through the port-side cargo hold!”

“Get the bilge pumps working!” the captain replied. A big man with big lungs, he could be clearly heard even over the raging storm.

“We have, sir,” the mate replied, “but the water is coming in too fast. We are only delaying our sinking!”

“Then work as fast as you can. Go now.”

The first mate ran back down into the hold, and the captain went astern to open a door beneath the aft deck.

“Highness!” he shouted over the gale, “the ship is sinking! We must get you to safety.”

The voice that replied was that of a man half Captain Anand’s age, and it was infused with an incongruous degree of calm.

“We must get us all to safety. I will go below and have any men not working the bilge pumps bring up the empty water barrels from the hold.”

“Remaining afloat is not enough, your Highness,” the man replied. “This water is as cold as ice. Any man who goes into it will not live long enough to be rescued.”

“Then we shall lash the barrels together to form a raft,” the placid voice replied.

“I hope there is time!” the captain replied, then went about his work.

***

When the page reached the top of the south tower, Elsa and Anna were already there, wrapped in cloaks and crouching against the wind. The tower was roofed, but the wind was so high that it was essentially raining sideways.

“The spyglass, your Majesty,” the young man said, holding the item out to the Queen.

“Thank you!” the monarch shouted over the wind as she accepted the spyglass and put it up to her eye.

Through the rain, she could just make it out—a small sailing ship at the entrance to the harbor, being thrown about by the waves.

Elsa considered the options. She could freeze the seawater around the ship, but there would be a danger of damaging the vessel. Or she could surround the ship with rafts of ice to which the sailors could evacuate, but there was no guarantee that all of them would make it before the ship sank.

No, the best thing would be to coat the ship's hull in ice. That would seal any breaches, and the weight of the ice would stabilize the ship long enough for the crew to sail it safely into the harbor. But at this distance, accomplishing such a feat would require great precision. Elsa could easily form ice in the shapes it was naturally inclined to take—hexagons, fractal patterns—but making it conform to the round undersurface of a ship was a far more complex task, especially at long range.

Still looking through the spyglass, Elsa reached her free hand out toward the wave-tossed ship. Just as she released a stream of ice-magic from her outstretched fingers, the lightning flashed, revealing a few sailors on the deck, struggling against the storm as they tried to save their vessel.

A thought came to her unbidden: Was this what it was like for her parents in their final moments? Did Mother and Father spend their last seconds fighting to survive against a force more powerful than any king or queen? Or did they accept their fate, even as the raging waters claimed them? And did they think of her, and Anna, at the end?

Elsa tried to drive the intruding thoughts out and focus on the task at hand, but it was too late. Her magic struck its target, and the sea froze solid for almost a hundred feet around the ship. Elsa grimaced as she saw that she had used too much of her power. Now, she could only hope that what she had done would save the innocent lives aboard.

Elsa turned and saw that the page who had brought the spyglass was still standing there in the driving rain, awaiting her orders or dismissal.

"Tell the Harbor Patrol to launch their longboats and rescue those sailors!" she shouted. Ironically, the small longboats would be able to navigate the huge waves far more safely than a full-size ship could.

"Yes, your Highness!" the young man cried, and he was off like a shot.

***

"My Prince!" Captain Anand shouted. "I cannot explain it, but the sea around the ship has frozen!"

"It is Arendelle's queen," the prince replied calmly from somewhere beneath the deck. "It appears that the rumors of her magical powers are true."

"Highness, we should still abandon ship," the captain said. "I have sailed in icy waters before. Sea ice can be dangerously unpredictable."

As if on cue, a wooden groaning sound arose from below the deck.

"Then we should evacuate the crew onto the ice," the prince replied. "It should keep us afloat and out of the water long enough for help to arrive. Order the men to abandon ship at once."

The captain's already grim face darkened further. "Highness, it is my duty to remind you of the King's orders. Our gift for Queen Elsa must be saved. We cannot afford for it to end up at the bottom of the sea."

"I will see to it myself," the prince replied. "I will need five men to assist me."

The captain's eyes widened slightly, but he did not question the prince's wishes.

"If you insist, your Highness. Take the men manning the bilge pumps; they can do little good where they are. But please, be careful."

"I shall. Get the other men out; we will join you shortly."

***

"What's happening out there?" Anna asked. Elsa was still squinting through the spyglass.

"I screwed up," Elsa said, handing the spyglass to her sister. Anna peered through it.

"It doesn't look that way to me," the princess said. "They've thrown rope ladders over the side, and they're all getting off the ship and onto the ice safely. They've even managed to save some of their stuff—including a big honking chest. I'd say everything is going-"

Suddenly, the three men remaining on deck, who had been awaiting their turns at the rope ladders, threw caution to the wind and leaped over the side onto the ice, each of them landing painfully somewhere near their fellow sailors.

Then, with a series of loud cracks that could be heard all the way to the tower, the ship seemed to implode. The men on the ice dove for cover as pieces of splintered wood flew out from the ship in every direction. The ice had crushed the vessel like a nutshell in a vise.

"Oh," Anna said. "That's how you screwed up."

END CHAPTER 1
- 1
- 2
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

In the Light of Day: A Frozen Epic