"Frozen" by Jessica J Zimdars

With a movement that was as graceful as that of a flake of snow as it drifts to the ground, she rises from her throne and walks to the window. She looks down upon a land frozen and lifeless, this was her doing as well. Another tear slips from her eyes and again freezes. This was her doing, she had done it to save her people. The danger was passed now, but the spell would not release its icy grip until she died.

"Not much longer now. How will I be remembered?" She stares out over the frozen land and grips the soft fur of her cape.

She turns and walks slowly through the frozen halls of her palace. Her steps echoing through the halls emptily; each echo reminding her of the many days that she has spent alone.

It will soon be over she starts climbing the steps to the tall tower. It will all be over, and my people will be able to go on with their lives. All will be well.

At the top of the steps she pushes a door open and walks into the room. All that is in this room is a bed, and a bedside table with a lamp on it. She lies down on the bed and breathes her last.

The village around the palace slowly wakes as the sun rises. The snow and ice melt slowly, but instead of the mud that normally follows winter before the growth of spring, there is already the green of spring.

A young man in the garb of a stable hand comes down from the stale loft then slowly walks out of the stable. Horses call after him, demanding their breakfast, but for now he ignores them. There is something unnatural about this morning; a feeling of a spell being lifted hang heavily in the air. A glance around him tells him that he is not the only one who feels it.

His attention is drawn to the palace in the center of the city and he starts for it. At first he just walks, then he is running. Others join him but few can match his pace.

The palace gates stand open and the guards are only just starting to wake. Even the ones who are suppose to be on duty are groggily pushing themselves up and looking around in confusion. The stable boy ignores them and hurries onward. He doesn’t understand why, but he feels that he must find the princess.

"Boy! What is your business here?" A sleepy looking guard says, blocking the boy’s way.

"There is something wrong, can you not feel it? Look around you, Captain, can you not see it? I must know that the princess is well."

The captain frowns but after only a slight hesitation steps aside, "I will rally the entire garrison to search as well. Shout if you find her."

The young man nods and races into the palace.

"Let the guards search down here." He says to himself and starts to race up the many stairs.

In all the stories that he has ever heard princesses are always found in the highest tower. That is where he has decided to start his search. As he nears the top of the spiraling stairs he can hear many other people hurrying through the palace, and some also starting up the very same staircase that he now climbs.

He stops in the open doorway at the top. Very slowly he walks over to the bed and kneels next to it. There the princess lies, the icy blue satin of her dress drapes over the side of the bed and onto the flood like water spilling from the bed. Her dark red hair lies in gleaming curls on the pillow around her head, looking as if it too were made of silk.

"Oh, my princess! What has happened?" he whispers, setting a hand over her icy hands.

"It is clear what has happened." The captain’s voice comes from the doorway. "An evil sorcerer put us all to sleep then came and took her life."

"If that is so then where is he? How was the spell that made us sleep lifted?" another man asks, coming to stand behind the stable boy.

"He must have been killed… somehow." The captain sighs. "You should return to where you belong, lad."

The stable boy slowly rises. He takes one last look at the princess’s face. He can not help but think that the captain must be wrong. The princess’s face is frozen in an expression of peace. Just before he turns he sees a small book on the bedside stand. Careful that he is not seen he picks it up and slips it into his pocked then leaves.

Back at the stable he climbs to his loft room and sits. He pulls the book out and opens it to the last page that was written on and reads the true story of what has happened as it had been recorded by the princess herself.