A QUEEN REBORN: Anna resumes leadership of Arendelle

By Draco, Royal Correspondent for The Arendelle Guardian

Wasting no time upon her return to Arendelle, Anna has quickly resumed executive power over the kingdom, with her regent Viola Mundilfari returning to her usual post of prime minister while the queen moves to deal with a series of foreign policy challenges.

Anna held court for the first time in months in her throne room yesterday, sitting back on the austere and tall wooden chair that has remained the seat of Arendelle’s queens and kings since the days when Arendelle was but a small hamlet struggling to keep its people warm in the bitter cold. In quick succession, she laid out a bold agenda that matched her growing global clout:

1. A robust anti-opium smuggling campaign, aligning her views and Arendellian business with a growing number of European and American missionaries campaigning against the widespread trade of the drug that has devastated lives in China and across the world,
2. Draft treaties with Chatho, Vesterland, the Southern Isles, and Weselton – all former members of the now-defunct Entente of Small Kingdoms – for the establishment of Arendellian embassies in each respective country,
3. A new task force focused on the economy and the newest industries to propel Arendelle to greater prosperity and leadership in global trade,
4. An accelerated integration of Arendelle and Northuldra, making good on her promise early on during her reign to achieve the union of “the two lands as one” as part of her legacy as queen, and finally:
5. An outreach program focused on culture, politics, and business to yet more lands that are unknown to the average Arendellian citizen, including the reclusive Shogunate of Japan.

This is a staggering, epic agenda that would otherwise be impossible for a small kingdom to achieve, were it not for the uniquely concentrated power held by our queen, even with her constitutional authority diluted by the presence of the prime minister in Countess Vi. The monarchy of Arendelle is unique in its despotic theory of governance, despite the benign reigns of Anna, Elsa, Agnarr, and even Runeard. Even the Great Assembly, whose ministers and jarls all serve unique roles, they ultimately follow the monarch’s lead as long as votes are respected and clashes mediated.

“I’m here in two roles, as queen of Arendelle and as leader of the Exalted. The first binds me to ensuring the safety and prosperity of everyone who’s made a home here. The second requires me to see things from a bigger perspective… to see Arendelle as a player on the world stage. It’s a role that I wish to be productive and beneficial for all the world’s peoples,” she told the press.

Due to centuries of peace and skillful diplomacy, Arendelle has effectively never been at war – until earlier this year, when Katina Romanov invaded Scandinavia and almost dealt a fatal blow to Arenfjord, Northuldra, and even Arendelle’s heartland. Although Russia’s attack was ultimately defeated, the Russo-Arendellian War remains the single event that keeps Her Majesty, her general Mattias, and the inner court up at night, and Arendellian statecraft has matured around the notion of preventing any possible future encroachment by any foreign power. This has forced Anna and her inner court into shaping bold and innovative ideas that have been bounced around with Elsa, Snow Queen and Queen Emerita of the land. Elsa’s quiet and diplomatic influence is evident in the campaign to establish Arendellian embassies around the world, whilst the idea of a trade commission to identify the most lucrative industries Arendelle can focus its entrepreneurial energy and subsidies on probably came from Kristoff.

As if there weren’t enough dramatic moves for reporters to unpack and analyze, the queen announced that a mysterious young woman named Selene Severin would spearhead an expanded department of espionage and intelligence. Little is known about Selene except that she was the royal librarian and apparently a blood relative of a senior officer who is now deceased. The queen and her prime minister have kept details brief and few, citing sensitive and classified information. What is certain is that Anna’s open wish to expand her intelligence unit, the Ravens, have not been without controversy given the potentially radical concentration of information at the queen’s hands. There’s no doubt that this is only her first step in laying the groundwork for her work with the Exalted, which she has told subjects is a global organization with a grand mission.

We can only look at the deeds and results of Her Majesty, and if they are good and true, trust that whatever else she has planned will also be good and true.