A Snow Queen's Tale- a Frozen Fanfiction

Chapter 79: Ghosts

🌨Elsa's Pov🌨
      It was going to be a long afternoon before the banquet finally happened, I thought as I hurried back into the castle, rereading the note that had been delivered by the court page.
      I had known I wasn't paying enough attention to the planning of this event. But Anna had been so eager to spend time with me, and we had been having so much fun, and it was keeping my sister occupied while the event arrangements were all finalized.
      Unfortunately, in my absence it seemed that everything that could go wrong had gone wrong.
      The bakers had run out of ingredients while taking care of some other high-priority special order, the custom streamers I had ordered had somehow been mistakenly sold for some other event, and the musicians I had booked were no longer available.
      I was the queen! What other event could possibly be happening that could get in the way of a surprise dinner for my sister? Not that it mattered right then. What was most important was that I attended to these issues while finding a way to keep my sister occupied. Which would be difficult, as Anna was following me closely every step of the way.
      "Anna..." I began gently, taking a hasty route down a side hallway into a more remote wing of the castle to avoid the great hall and anyone involved in preparing for the banquet. "Maybe...maybe you should get something rest. You know, you've been running all over and I know you've not been getting a lot of sleep."
      Anna waved away the comment. "Pssh. I'm fine!  I get plenty of—wait. Why do you think I need sleep? Do I look tired?"
      Anna turned and looked in a mirror hanging on the wall. "Seriously?" she continued. "I mean...a nap would be great and all, but I don't think I— Hey! Look!"
     Anna gently pushed on the mirror. It was...open?" "It's a secret passage! Inside the castle! Did you know this was here?"
      I stepped closer,  examining the mirror. It was brilliantly built. Once it closed, you would never knew it could open. But who had opened it?
      "I heard rumors..." I admitted. "Back when we were really little kids, Gerda used to tell stories, remember? She said the castle was full of twisty hallways and secret rooms all inside the walls. I never believed her, though."
      Anna pushed the door open wider. Inside, it was dark—though not perfectly dark. Just dark enough to be kind of creepy.
"Why didn't you believe her?" Anna asked, exploring the gloomy passageway with her eyes. The space inside the wall was narrow and cramped but very tall, and it had slim openings way up high that led to the outside world. From these, small amounts of sunlight and air filtered in. Instead of making the passage less creepy, the dim light just highlighted how cramped and uncomfortable-looking it really was.
I shrugged. "Because she also said the hidden parts of the castle were haunted by spooky ghosts. So I figured the whole thing was just a story to..."
I trailed off as I heard a noise from farther up the hallway. Rounding a corner, struggling with an impossibly large cake, were twelve very strong men. The cake... The bakers must have been mistaken. But if Anna saw it now, the surprise of the great banquet would be ruined.
Without thinking, I shoved Anna inside the dusty passage and pulled the mirror almost completely closed behind me.
"What?" Anna yelped, startled.
I tried to cover. "Oh! Sorry! I um... I tripped. Over...something...in front of my feet. It...You know how it goes."
In the dimness, Anna eyed me as she moved to the hidden door. "Ohhhh-kay. We'll both pretend you're not being really weird for you."
Just then, there was a loud thump, and the door shut all the way. We shared a look of alarm at the sound of a heavy latch clicking into place.
"What happened?" Anna shouted as she pressed against the spot in the stone wall where the door had been. "No one is ever in those hallways! Who could have closed it?"
The door wasn't opening. That much was clear. But my sister needed an answer, and I couldn't tell her it was the cake-casrrying men who had bumped into the door, pressing it closed.
I had an idea. I knew Anna wouldn't take it seriously, but it was a fun enough idea that it would distract Anna from asking any more questions about what was happening in the hallway.
So with all the seriousness I could muster, I turned to my little sister and whispered one word.
"Ghosts."