The Lost Princess

Chapter 7

I was locked out of the castle.  Great, this was just spectacular.  Now Anna and Elsa were going to wake up and realize that I wasn’t there.  Then they would stop treating me nicely as a prisoner, and treat me as a normal prisoner.

“I need to get into the castle,” I desperately told Kristoff.

“The gates are locked, you are out of luck”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“No.”

He just stood there, leaning on his reindeer.  He didn’t care if I got into the castle or not.  I was out of ideas too.  How would I get back in?  I sighed, and sat down defeated.  I was stuck out here and couldn’t do anything about it. 

“Get up,” Kristoff sighed.  “Let’s scout around the castle.”

I quickly did as I was told.  If he was going to help me, I fully intended to listen. 

We walked around to one side of the castle.  I kept my eyes peeled, looking for any sign of a secret entrance.  Kristoff suddenly stopped.  Not seeing any reason to stop, I kept walking, and consequently, bumped into him. 

“There,” he said.

“There?” I repeated, I did not see anything out of the ordinary.

“The balcony,” he answered, “that’s your way into the castle.”

I looked towards the castle, there was a balcony, but it had to be at least on the second or third story.  How was I supposed to get up there?

Kristoff reached into his pack and drew out a long rope with something tied on the end.  He threw it up and it hooked onto the balcony.  He pulled on it, creating tension, making sure it would stay. 

“Go ahead,” he said, “climb.”

“I don’t know how,” I said.  I was getting desperate, I didn’t want to climb up that high.  “Maybe we can look around the castle for something different?”

“No,” he said, “this is your only chance, either climb it or don’t, it doesn’t make a difference to me.”

I really wasn’t liking this at all, but realizing this was my only way into the castle, I agreed, under one condition.  “Will you catch me if I fall?”

“Fine, just climb.”

When I was a little girl, I used to try and climb a climbing wall, I used the same skills here and hung onto the rope.

I reached as high as I could and gripped the rope tightly.  Then I lifted a foot from the ground, followed by the other.  I was hanging from the rope now, my feet were no longer on the ground.

“Good, now lift one arm and grab on higher.”

“I can’t!” I said.  I was frozen in fear.  I never enjoyed heights, and was deathly afraid of falling. 

“Just do it slowly.”

I shakily lifted one arm.  It was scary, I felt like I was going to fall.  Quickly, I put it back onto the rope, slightly higher than before.

“Good,” Kristoff coaxed, “now bring the other arm up to where that arm is.”

I shakily lifted my arm and brought it to join the other.

“Now slide your legs up.”

I brought my legs up, so I wasn’t completely stretched out.  This was the easiest step of all. 

I suddenly felt the rope wiggle.  I screamed.

“Chill out,” Kristoff warned, “I’m just helping you.”

The wiggle I felt was actually Kristoff hopping onto the rope behind me.

“Okay,” I said, “but no peeking in my skirt.”

“I won’t,” he agreed, “now repeat the steps.”

I continued climbing the rope until I reached the balcony.  It did get easier, but it was never less scary. 

“Okay,” Kristoff started, “now grab onto the balcony.”

I did as I was told and gripped the railing.

“Good, now grab with the other hand.”

I shakily reached and secured both hands onto the railing of the balcony.

“Put one of your feet onto the balcony between the railings,” Kristoff ordered.

I wedged my foot inside, followed by the other one.  Now I was on the balcony, just facing the wrong way. 

“What do I do next?” I called down.

“This is the hard part,” Kristoff answered.  “You have to swing your leg over the railing.”

“How do I do that?”

This seemed impossible.  The railing was at least three feet high, and I was the opposite of flexible. 

“It’s not that hard,” Kristoff coaxed.  “Just lift your leg up and over.”

I slowly lifted my leg up and out from the balcony.  I lifted it up, then stopped.

“I can’t do this!” I cried.
“Yes you can!” Kristoff retorted.

“No!” I screamed, my leg still in the air.

“Just lift it a little higher.”

I tried against all of my fears to lift my leg.  It went up a little higher.  Suddenly, I felt a push.  The next thing I knew I was flying above the railing.  I landed on the cold stone of the balcony.  I was inside.  I don’t know how I did it. 

“See, you can do it,” Kristoff said, “all you needed was a little push.”

It was all starting to click together.  “You!” I shouted.  “You pushed me!  You could have killed me.”

“But it worked.”

“If I wasn’t scared for my life and completely overtired, I would kill you!”

“But it worked.”

“Fine,” I sighed.  I managed to squeeze out a thank you before walking through the door, that was thankfully unlocked.  I guess burglars don’t normally come through balconies.  I don’t blame them.  I don’t want to go through a balcony either, but here I am.

I took a step into the room and shut the door behind me.  I looked ahead, determined to find the door.  That’s when I saw her.  Elsa.  She was asleep in a huge bed inside the room.  No wonder this room had a balcony, it was the royal suite, Elsa’s bedroom. 

I ran out the doors to tell Kristoff, but when I looked down to the ground, he was gone.  I don’t know how he had climbed down so fast.  He must have a lot of experience.

I turned back around, looks like I was stuck in this.  I closed the door and took a deep breath.  I tip-toed across the room, barely breathing.  I was so close to the door, when the floor let out a huge creak.  I stopped breathing.  Elsa turned over in her bed.  I stayed silent against the wall.  She let out a sigh and became motionless once more.  It wasn’t long before her breathing regulated and I heard the sound of soft snores.

I let out a sigh of relief and continued to the door.  Quietly, I opened it, being sure not to let it creak.  I squeezed out and closed it behind me.  I was out.  I looked down the hall and saw the door with the “Anna” sign.  I was down the same hallway as my bedroom. 
I crept down the hallway and silently opened my door.  My bed was set up just how I left it.  I crawled into it and pulled up the blankets.  I was thankful to be back.  Maybe I hadn’t come to Arendelle by choice, but it was much better in here than outside.  I was actually starting to feel safe.  I closed my eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.