Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
– George Bernard Shaw
Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.
– Sun Tzu
The Weselton Commander had a throbbing headache this morning; he was hung over. Thank Loki that they were leaving tomorrow; the temptation of free, excellent, unlimited liquor was obviously not something he could resist. He sat heavily in his chair and mumbled, "Coffee," at the footman serving them this morning.
His second in command looked at him with a raised eyebrow while sipping his own coffee. "I told you that you were overindulging in that crap."
"Shut up. Just shut up."
Nothing more was said until breakfast was almost over. "Where's our fluffy little Princess this morning?" the Commander inquired.
"She likes to sleep late. Stays up until practically dawn in the damn library, then stumbles to her room and sleeps like the dead until mid-morning or noon. The servants say she usually misses breakfast." He looked at his boss speculatively. "Good thing, or you'd probably kill her just to shut her up, with that headache."
"Time to take her to her sister," growled the Commander. "Don't want that bitch getting twitchy just 'cause the Princess oversleeps."
"Not a problem. The sister knows about it, according to that maidservant, uh, Gerda, I think? It's been like this her whole life, apparently. The witch would probably freak out if the pretty Princess showed up early, she'd think we were torturing her or something."
He looked over at his boss and continued, "Speaking of twitchy, I think the witch is nuts, completely c-a-r-a-z-y!" as he made a circular motion with his forefinger twirling next to his temple.
The Commander looked up from his eggs and bacon and asked, "What do you mean?"
"She wakes up screaming every time she falls asleep. The guards are spooked. Say it's like a banshee haunting the place," he explained.
"Huh. Wonder what that's all about. The little weasel didn't mention that as a problem."
"Probably 'cause he's never seen her sleep? Or wake up? In any case, maybe we shouldn't be greedy. Maybe we should slit her throat and sneak out of here on tonight's tide. Before she goes all ice-crazy on us."
The Commander wished his head would stop pounding. Even the coffee wasn't helping. He thought hard about the suggestion, considering whether it was worth the risk. Finally, he shook his head and said, "No, the little weasel would be pissed if we didn't bring her back. He's REALLY looking forward to watching her die. It's not the money. Okay, not just the money. He wants to HURT her."
He held out his cup for a footman to pour him more coffee and drank it all in one long swallow. "Besides, if she's as nuts as you say, she's probably not as big a threat as we thought. Delusions of grandeur and all that. No, we'll be out of here tomorrow on the noon tide, ships stuffed with loot and two very valuable hostages in chains. With the biggest payday either one of us has ever seen waiting for us. We can finally retire."
On that happy note, the two of them left the dining room to check on the progress of the loading of the tribute.
=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=
"Today's the day." Anna thought to herself.
She had spent the last two nights planning her escape with Gerda. Establishing a routine of sorts, falling asleep in the library and staying there until the predawn hours. Tonight, she would use that routine to lull them into a false sense of security and sneak out of the castle.
Gerda had been hiding sturdy, dark clothing for her in the cabinets of the library. She would change, put her own clothing on some pillows, make it look like she was sleeping on the couch under a blanket, then leave through the doorway hidden behind one of the library bookcases.
It was hard to maintain her chatty persona today; harder to eat without the food sitting like tasteless lumps in her stomach. Her life, ELSA's life, depended on her getting this right. "Okay, Feisty Pants, you can do this! You're ready, you were born ready! Kristoff's out there waiting for you, a few more hours and these Weasels will wish they'd never ever heard of the Snow Queen of Arendelle and her fierce sister!" She tried to pump up her own morale. She worried that Elsa had no one to pump up her morale.
She was out in the stable talking to Sven when the Weselton Commander came and found her. "Hey, Princess. Come on, one last visit with your sister. Tomorrow we sail, and the two of you will be our guests for a lovely voyage to Weselton."
There was no change in the routine when they took her down to the dungeon. Elsa's appearance had deteriorated over the last several days; she had developed prominent dark circles under her eyes and she looked … groggy. Anna knew she wasn't sleeping well. She had overheard the guards gossiping about the screaming and she could imagine what nightmares were causing that.
It was the hardest thing Anna had ever done to keep from trying to give Elsa some sign that she only had to worry for a few more hours. She couldn't take the risk of raising any suspicions, not now, not at the very end of the plan. She could look concerned and mumble, "Are you okay?" through the gag, but that was all. Nothing to encourage Elsa, nothing different than she had done the last two nights.
When they took her back to her room, she tore off the gag and paced, running over in her mind what she had to do one last time. She finally left her room and went to the library, ready to put the whole plan into motion. By morning, she and Elsa would either be free or dead.
=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=
It was the hour of the wolf in Arendelle, the time just before dawn, a time when people believed demons had heightened power and most nightmares came. The castle was silent, sleeping, only the flickering of the Northern Lights through the windows breaking the gloom, casting ever-changing shadows onto the floors of the deserted hallways. The Weselton thug standing guard outside the library caught himself dozing for the third time and decided the Princess could just go back to her own damn bed and let him hand her off to another guard.
He pushed open the door and stomped over to the couch. The fire had burned down to dim, flickering orange embers and the only light in the room came from the Aurora shining through the windows. The Princess was a huddled lump under her blankets, sound asleep again. He reached down to shake her awake, "Hey, wakey wakey, bitch. Time to go to your room. We got a big day tomor ..."
She didn't wake up. She wasn't even a she. He felt something soft and yielding instead of her boney shoulder. Pulling the blanket off, he was stunned to realize there was nothing under it but some pillows wrapped in her clothes and arranged to look like someone asleep. She was gone! Where in the hell could she have gone? There wasn't any other way to get out of this room! He looked around wildly, ran to the window to check if that was a way out. It was still locked from the inside, and he had looked through it yesterday; it was a thirty foot drop to the ground from here.
"Oh crap oh crap oh crap..." his mind gibbered as he realized what his boss would do to him when he found out he'd let the Princess escape. He tried to bring his panic under control, tried to figure out what he should do next. He suddenly had what seemed like a brilliant idea to his thuggish brain. Stuffing Anna's clothes under the cushions of the couch, he quickly folded the blanket and arranged the pillows properly on the couch and left the library. Then he ran down the hall to stand guard over Anna's bedroom. An empty bedroom, but no one knew that except him.
When his relief came to Anna's room fifteen minutes later, he was leaning against the door yawning and grumbled at the man, "What took you, Ivan? You're late."
"Sorry, sorry. Card game. I was winning and wanted one last pot. Here, take this for an apology," and he handed over a jug that gurgled suggestively. "Some of that akvavit the stable guys have been sharing."
Putting on a mollified air, he accepted the jug and took a swig. He wiped his mouth and told Ivan, "Our pretty princess is sound asleep. Try not to wake her with your snoring, you pig!" and he swaggered away.
Once around the corner from Anna's room, he broke into a run; he had a buddy working the main gate tonight. He'd sneak out, get back to the ships and bury himself so deep they'd never find him before all hell broke loose. He never had any use for Ivan anyway, so handing him the dirty end of the stick didn't bother him. He wondered how late they'd let the princess sleep come daylight. Late, he hoped. The later, the better.
=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=
Anna bit her lip as she stifled another sneeze. No one had dusted these passages for years. She tried not to think of the spiders and other crawlies she was probably squishing as she brushed the walls. The passageway was as dark as a cave; there were no windows, nothing that would provide even the dimmest light. Anna didn't dare light a torch or even a candle. She was navigating by touch alone.
She was dressed all in black: low cut black boots, black woolen pants and tunic, a knit cap that covered her hair. She had pinned her braids up so they were covered by the cap.
Unfortunately, she had no sense of time. Her heart was pounding so hard it could have been ten minutes or ten hours since she had slid through the opening behind the library bookcase and started her journey. She had only walked the entire way out through the curtain wall once before, when she was memorizing the passages. It had taken her about two hours. She allowed herself three hours this time, just to be safe. She had began her escape around midnight, planning to find herself in the forest around three in the morning, or a couple of hours before dawn.
Three in the morning was about the time they usually decided it was time for her to move from the library to her room, so with any luck she would be meeting up with Kristoff and the Marines about the time they realized she was missing and they would be scurrying through the castle desperately searching for her. Anna prayed that when they discovered that she was gone, Elsa would hear them panicking before they came to kill her. If Elsa realized that Anna was safe, she could use her magic to defend herself and get out, too.
Anna bumped her head on something. It was the gate to the forest at the end of the curtain wall. "I made it!" she exulted. "Now to find the Marines!"
She opened the gate as quietly as she could, then listened for any noises outside. Hearing none, she silently slipped out and closed it behind her. The exit was hidden behind some tall, thick bushes. She looked around to orient herself, then dropped to a crouch and began to move toward the clearing where she and Kristoff had picnicked and where she assumed they would be waiting for her.
Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind and clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. She began to struggle before she heard a whisper in her ear, "It's Kristoff, Feisty pants. Don't scream. You're safe." He waited for her to nod, then let her go.
Kristoff found himself with an armful of freckled redhead kissing him passionately and hugging him so hard he fell backwards onto his rump. "Kristoff! Am I glad to see you! I mean, if I could see you, which I can't because it's so dark out, but you know what I mean!"
Anna had the presence of mind to shout this in a whisper.
"Whoa, I'm pretty glad to see you, too. Are you okay, you hurt, anything wrong?"
"No, I'm great. But we need to get back there and rescue Elsa! They'll kill her the second they realize I'm gone. What time is it? I snuck out at midnight, they would take me back to my room around three, how late is it?"
Kristoff looked up at the stars. He could just make out a few of the more prominent ones through the treetops. "Hmm, not quite three yet. Couple hours til dawn. Looks like you made good time. Come on, let's get back to the Marines."
He stood up and helped her to her feet. They moved as silently as they could toward the meeting point where a troop of Marines and Captain Gunnarsson and his squad of Queen's Own were waiting tensely for Kristoff to return. It took them a few minutes in the dark gloom of the forest. Kristoff didn't risk making a light.
A few yards from the edge of the clearing, Kristoff tugged on Anna's arm to get her to stop, then motioned that she should crouch down. He made a birdcall like a seagull. There was an answering birdcall, and Kristoff stood up pulled Anna along. They stepped into the clearing and Kristoff said softly, "It's us, Kristoff and the Princess Anna. We're okay and haven't seen anyone else."
The Marines and Guardsmen came out from behind trees and bushes where they had concealed themselves. Eric and a Marine Major ran up to Anna and Kristoff. "Your Highness! Are you well?"
"Yes, Captain, I'm fine. No problems at all. But we need to get back to the castle and rescue Elsa before they kill her!" Anna insisted.
Eric shook his head, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. Our orders are to protect you at all costs. Queen Elsa assumed that when they discovered you were gone, she would hear them and be able to protect herself and break out of the dungeon. We're too far from the castle in any case; it is at least a four hour hike back to town from here. We didn't bring horses and there's no direct path."
Anna exploded, "We are not going to sit around in the woods while my sister is in danger!"
The Major interjected, "Your Highness, Admiral Naismith has two regiments of the Marines hidden close to the docks and the castle, ready to attack. As soon as they see the signal from the Queen, they will fall on those pigs and come to her aid."
"But even with that many troops, it will take time for them to break into the castle! Even a small group of Weasel soldiers can hold the main gate for hours; the causeway is the only way in without swimming the fjord!" Anna had learned about sieges when reading about St. Joan's campaigns. "Elsa could be killed while he's trying to storm the gates!"
Gunnarsson , "I understand your concern, Your Highness. But the Admiral's orders were clear; we are to begin moving back toward Arendelle with you, and remain at the Marine Barracks until the entire situation is … resolved. One way or another," he had to finish his explanation honestly, as reluctant as he was to admit there was even the smallest possibility that Elsa wouldn't survive.
Anna turned away, not wanting him to see her tears. Kristoff followed her and tried to reassure her, "Anna, she'll be okay. She can handle those goons, once she knows you're out of their hands and safe."
Looking up at him, Anna pouted, "But what if she doesn't know? What if they're smart enough to just open the cell door and shoot her before she realizes? Kristoff, I can't lose her! Not again!"
Her cry of anguish almost broke Kristoff's heart. He reached out, and she leaned into his arms, burying her tear-stained face into his chest. He patted her back gently and said, "Anna, she's thinking of you every minute. She told me to tell you she loves you with all her heart and that no sacrifice was too much for her if it meant you were safe."
Anna pulled back, wiped her face and looked up at him, "Kristoff! She wouldn't have told you that unless she was afraid she wouldn't … wouldn't make it! We have to do something!"
"You heard what the Captain said, Admiral Naismith ordered them to ..." Kristoff broke off at the sudden change of expression on Anna's face. "What are you thinking?"
Without replying, Anna stalked over to where Eric and the Marine Major were organizing their troops for the march back to Arendelle. She stopped next to them and demanded, "Captain, Major, who exactly gave you those orders?"
They looked at her in puzzlement and Eric replied, "Admiral Naismith, Your Highness." He didn't understand why Anna smiled at this.
"Then I am countermanding those orders. WE are going back into the castle and rescuing my sister!" Anna proclaimed, folding her arms and glaring at the two men.
"Your Highness, you can't..." protested the Major. Anna cut him off.
"I am CROWN Princess Anna of Arendelle, Heir Presumptive and second in command to my sister, Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Therefore, unless you received your orders directly from Her, you will obey me!" Anna had drawn herself up to her full height and stood with her best impression of regal grace as she commanded the two men.
The Major and Eric looked at each other in consternation. Anna was legally correct in all particulars. She had paid close attention to Elsa's tutoring. Kristoff grinned at the tableau; he agreed with Anna and would go along with whatever she wanted to do for Elsa.
Eric played his last card. "We can't get there in time!"
Anna trumped it. "We can if we go back the way I came. It took me only two and a half hours, and I was going slowly and carefully because I didn't want to get lost and had to move by touch. Going back it will take far less time and we will be inside the castle with fifty well armed men from a completely unexpected direction."
"Your Highness, the Major and his men are not cleared for this information. The Queen swore me, the Admiral, and Colonel Nordholm to secrecy before she would tell us." Gunnarsson tried one last desperate play.
"Then I shall simply swear the Major and all his men to the same oath of secrecy!" declared Anna triumphantly. "Give it up, Captain. I'm going to go rescue my sister. With only Kristoff to help me, if I have to. Now, what will it be? Are you coming along or not?"
Less than fifteen minutes later, the entire troop of Marines had sworn their oath to the Princess, she had led them to the hidden entrance, and they were on their way to rescue Queen Elsa.
=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=
Captain Gunnarsson and the Major both had pocket chronometers since precise timing was critical when coordinating troop movements and maneuvers. By Eric's timepiece, it was just after dawn, and Anna told him they were almost to the hidden door through the castle wall.
"Now, we have to be really, really quiet until we can get everyone positioned," Anna was whispering to Eric. "I think we need to have one of your men slip into the library, then sneak out and reconnoiter the situation, see if they have started breaking camp or have noticed I'm gone yet."
Kristoff whispered, "Wouldn't they have noticed by now?"
Anna shrugged. "Maybe not. They left me alone in the library yesterday until dawn. If today is the day they're leaving, I don't know what they'll do."
Eric had a grim thought. "Your Highness, I hesitate to suggest this, but … perhaps they decided to … eliminate the Queen as she slept and was at her most vulnerable. Then they would leave you alone as long as possible to keep you from realizing it."
There was a long moment of silence. Anna finally said, "But you said that Elsa had left Olaf with the Admiral. If they killed her, the Admiral would attack immediately, wouldn't he?"
Gunnarsson nodded.
"Well, I still think you should send one of the Guardsmen in to check out the ..." Anna continued. She stopped as Eric gestured at her with a hushing motion and a finger to his lips. She stopped talking and listened.
There was a faint sound of gunfire and a few screams.
"It appears the attack has begun," Eric said. "Let's go. Speed is more important than stealth now. For Queen Elsa and Arendelle, men!"
He grabbed Anna as she started through the door. "No, Your Highness. The Marines go first, and we protect you! Until we're sure that your sister is safe, you are the only person left in the succession, and we must protect you as we would the Queen herself!"
Anna gulped and nodded. Kristoff took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. They pressed back against the wall to allow the Marines to hurry past them into the castle.
Anna was worried; had the attack begun because Elsa had signaled the Admiral, or because Olaf had melted?
"Please be okay, Elsa. We're coming for you, sis!" Anna prayed.
=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=
Ivan was still guarding the door to Anna's bedroom when two more guards showed up with Gerda, another maidservant, and two footmen. It was just dawn.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Time for the Princess to wake up. These here," and his relief guard pointed a thumb at Gerda and the other servants, "are along to pack up her stuff for the trip to Weselton."
Ivan shrugged and knocked loudly on the door. "Wake up Your Royal Highness! Time to pack for your trip!"
After a few seconds passed with no response, he opened the door to shout again, then stopped dead when he saw that the bed was empty. "Hey! She's not here!"
Gerda suppressed a smile. She had been worried that the plan hadn't worked, that Anna had been brought back to her room before being able to slip out through the hidden passage. Somehow, this guard had been deceived into thinking she was in her room when she really wasn't. "Good girl, Anna. Now to make sure the Queen stays safe." Gerda nodded her head at the two 'footmen', both disguised Queen's Own. They nodded back.
The three Weselton guards ran into Anna's room for a frantic search. The 'footmen' turned and ran down the hall as soon as they were alone, heading for the dungeons and Queen Elsa. Gerda and the maidservant remained behind.
"Where is she?" Ivan ran out and asked Gerda, the other two right behind him.
"How would I know? I saw her last night when I brought her tea in the library. She was there when I left. Your guard was with her. I went to bed as usual and when I woke up before dawn, you people dragged me here to tend to her before you take her off to Weaseltown!" Gerda looked down her nose at the flustered guard. The three goons were so addled they didn't even notice the 'footmen' were gone.
"What are we going to do, Ivan?" whined one of the two relief guards.
"How in Loki's brass balls should I know? I ain't no officer!" Ivan sputtered. He looked around wildly. "We got to find the boss and tell him. Come on!" and the three ran down the hall leaving Gerda and the maidservant gawking after them in disbelief.
"We need to alert everyone else that Princess Anna is gone and Queen Elsa is in danger!" Gerda said. "You go down to where the rest of the Queen's Own are hiding, tell them to arm themselves and get down to the dungeon. I'll go find Kai and tell everyone else!"
"Yes, Mum." The two women hurried off to warn the rest of the servants that a battle was about to begin.