Chapter One
Anna drifted slowly through the halls. As she passed Elsa's door, she stopped. She raised her hand to knock but thought better of it. Instead, she pressed her ear against the door and strained to hear any noise from inside. All was silent in her older sister's bedroom.
Anna turned away, heavyhearted. She and Elsa used to be very close. One day Elsa shut herself in her room without a word. It made Anna wonder sometimes if she'd done anything to upset Elsa, but she couldn't recall anything of that sort. Other times she would blame it on the death of their parents—then she would tell herself that if it were true, Elsa would not have locked herself in her room.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she turned away. Nobody had been there to comfort Anna when her parents had been lost at sea. She'd pounded at her sister's door, but all she'd gotten in response was a weak "go away". Now Anna roamed the same halls she had back then, feeling lost and forlorn. She was thirteen now—she should have collected her emotions by now, and she knew that. But all she could think of was hearing her sister quietly sob in her room and being able to do nothing about it.
As she passed by a painting, she stopped and studied it. The painting was one of her favourites. "Just a little while longer, Joan," she whispered to the female knight on the majestic white horse. It had been somewhat of a habit since the gates had closed. She had gone so long without talking to anybody that she had begun talking to the paintings. For others it might have been a sign of insanity: for Anna, it was a sign of normalcy.
She reached for a chocolate. The servants left them for her, knowing her obsession with them. The taste exploded in her mouth, a combination of orange cream and milk chocolate. Before she could fully comprehend her actions, she was shovelling chocolate in her mouth by the handful. She was filled with delight until she remembered Elsa's passion for chocolate too. Suddenly feeling sad, she looked back to Joan.
"It's going to be different today," she told the knight. "I just know it."
An idea came to her then, one that made her grin in spite of her mood. She rushed to her room and threw open the doors, taking in the mess covering her floors. Surely something in here could do her well. She grabbed a green dress. It was perfect for her task—thin material for the summer and it did not look too expensive, more like a well-paid peasant dress. Perfect, she thought. Shrugging it on, she raced out of her room and down the stairs until she reached the first floor.
Anna glanced around. There was no way to get out the main door; she'd tried countless times to unlock it, but she had never figured it out. Besides, the front door would be too conspicuous. She sprinted to the kitchen and tried the window there. To her relief, it was unlocked and she managed to open it with ease. She slipped out without looking back.
The feel of freedom hit Anna so strongly she had to grip the windowsill for support. Finally she was free—perhaps not permanently, but free nonetheless. For the first time since her parents had died, she had no stone walls to contain her. Filled with elation, she skipped towards the village.