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Avalor was freezing. Since the magic snowstorm two years ago the weather changed dramatically, and this year it was full-on winter. Since the beginning of December, the city was plagued with terrible cold and snow. Luckily, queen Elena quickly took matters into her own hands, and now the situation was more or less under control and Avalor's citizens didn't have to worry about the cold. Well, all except for the royal family.
Isa was sitting in the living room, back to back with her sister, covered by one big blanket. She was half listening to Elena and Esteban's bickering, but her mind was working on a serious problem she had for a while. It was only three days until Navidad, and she still didn't have any gift for Elena.
For the hundredth time, Isa looked at the list she'd made in her notebook.
- New belt (the one Elena liked in Emporium)
- New saddle for Canela
Isa quickly crossed these two items out. There's no point in BUYING the queen anything.
Next on the list was "upgrade the desk in Elena's study". On a short reflection, she crossed this one too - she doesn't have enough time for this now.
Finally, there were notes with question marks she still wasn't sure about, like "elegant scabbard for the scepter?" or "could I forge a new diadem???".
Isa sighed with frustration and hid her head in her hands. Why can't she think of anything useful when it's needed the most?!
Through her despair, she caught a scrap of her siblings' conversation.
"Well, from now on this blanket is my new royal attire," Elena stated keeping the most seriousness in her voice she could.
Esteban snorted "I can't wait to see this collection in the Emporium."
Something about these sentences made a spark in Isa's brain. Blanket… New attire… Suddenly it hit her. She started sketching rapidly the project of a new invention. Yes! That was it!
Isa jumped quickly off the couch, almost strangling Elena with the blanket and giving Esteban a little heart attack. Before they could even notice what was going on she was already in her room. She locked the door and shivered from cold, suddenly remembering why she was sitting in the living room in the first place. But she didn't have time to complain, she had a device to make!
She quickly gathered what parts she had in her room and started making the base. The most important part were the knitting needles. She attached them to some cogwheels and then some more levers and after no more than half an hour she had a fully functional knitting machine. For the last touch, she attached two pedals to get the whole thing into motion. Crossing her fingers she sat down and slowly started to mogę them. The cogwheels started to spin slowly, the levers moved, and finally, the needles crossed with a familiar clank.
Isa gave a quiet "whoop!" for herself and did a little victory dance. Now the only thing left was making the actual jumper. And that might be… harder.
Isa grabbed her notebook to draw design but her imagination failed her once again. Resigned she decided to calculate how much yarn she's going to need instead. But that also was a problem since she didn't know how big she has to make the jumper. For that, she would have to know Elena's measurements… Isa pondered on that for a while. That's something she might actually get quite easily, all she has to do is get one of Elena's clothes. Well, she has to get the clothes and don't look suspicious.
Isa shrugged and peeked through the door into the corridor. She might as well do it now.
The corridor was empty. Only a few rooms had fireplaces in them and no one wanted to wander through cold halls. Isa slipped through the door and tiptoed across the corridor to her sister's room. Isa stopped on the other side of the door, closing them as quietly as she could, and examined the room. She decided that there's no point in checking the bed (now covered in at least three different blankets) and went straight to the wardrobe. She reached for the handle, but before she even touched it the door through which she'd just came in swung open, pushed by a shapeless, fuzzy being.
Isa yelled.
The being yelled louder.
"Wait- Elena?" Isa asked. Now that she's taken a closer look she was sure it was Elena. Although she was hidden under a huge blanket she's put over herself.
"Where did you disappear so suddenly?"
"I uhh… I wanted to get more blankets." Isa quickly grabbed a blanket from her sister's bed and put it over herself in a similar manner. That was a terrible, hastily invented lie, but Elena seemed to believe her.
"Well you could've got one of yours, you know," Elena said going out on the corridor. Isa shot one more hesitant look towards the wardrobe but followed her.
"Yours was closer"
Elena stopped suddenly and shot Isa a glare.
"It's literally not"
This night Isa got to bed earlier. Or so everyone thought. The young princess was actually wide awake and waiting for everyone else to fall asleep. Camping near her door she once again wondered if it's definitely a good idea. After everything Elena has been through, breaking into her room at night might not end well… but on the other hand, she's doing it for her. And if she's not going to be noticed, there couldn't possibly be anything to go wrong.
Isa took a deep breath and sneaked into the corridor. Empty. That's a good beginning. A few quick steps and she was standing by the other door. She gently pushed the handle. It was open. Isa gave a silent sigh of relief and slipped in.
The room was dark and quiet. On her left, Elena was sleeping under a big pile of blankets. Isa went to the right. The wardrobe luckily also wasn't closed. She opened the door slowly not wanting them to creak. Now only to find something small enough that she could carry it back with her. Isa squinted her eyes and started to regret that she hadn't brought any light with her.
Suddenly as if she'd conjured it a bright blue light shone behind her. This was not good.
"Freeze" ordered Elena, apparently woke up by some kind of extra sense, because Isa was sure she hadn't made a sound.
On the first reflex, she wanted to listen but suddenly she got a wild idea. She could just snatch the first thing and run.
And that's what she did.
Isa grabbed the first white thing she hoped was a shirt and dashed out of the room. Luckily Elena wasn't expecting the "burglar" to run away so she didn't blast her. But unfortunately, they made enough noise for the rest of the family to wake up.
Isa stood in the middle of the corridor and frantically tried to come up with a plan. She probably had less than a minute until Esteban or her abuelos come to see what's going on, not even mentioning Elena with her scepter. If she tries to run to her room, she's definitely going to get caught. So she's going to risk even more.
Isa sprinted in the opposite direction from her room at the same moment Elena run out of her room. Isa got to the stairs. She slid down the handrail almost falling. She quickly steadied her steps and run on. She slowed a little when she got to the main vestibule. What now?
She couldn't just run ahead, that's a terrible strategy, no she had to outsmart them. Isa giggled a little. She's really thinking like a true burglar now. Suddenly she heard quick steps on the stairs.
Making use of the little light that got through the windows she noticed a little door under the stairs. A closet. Isa quickly jumped to it, closing the door at the same time as Elena finished the stairs. She hold her breath.
On the other side of the thin door, a heated discussion was going on. Isa could understand only a few words, as everyone was talking at the same time. But suddenly there was silence.
"Where is Isa?" asked Elena, her voice worried and serious.
For the first time this night, Isa seriously thought that it was all a terrible idea. She didn't want anyone to worry. It was just supposed to be a quick… well it was supposed to be a robbery all along. Isa scolded herself. How could she not see that before? She has to go and confess what she did. She put her hand on the handle, but suddenly-
"I have to go check on her."
"Let's all go."
It was bad. It was very, very bad. Isa stepped back, wishing she could just go through the wall and get back to her room. If they see that it's empty, they're going to freak out. And all of that for a stupid shirt?! She barely kept herself from throwing it away. Instead, she leaned on the wall, having no idea what to do.
But something about this wall was weird. Isa straightened herself. She touched the wall again. It was not cold. She moved her hands on the wall trying to feel if it was the case for the whole closet or… Yes! At one point the warmer part (probably wooden) was replaced again by the cold stone. She might be luckier than she thought. Now she only had to find one last thing.
She moved her hands on the wooden wall again. When she was younger, Elena had shown her a few hidden passages all through the castle. They had marked the "useful" ones by their special symbol. If she remembers correctly, the usefulness was decided by where the passages went and especially, if they could get to them quickly.
Finally, she found one. An "E" and "I" scraped out of the wood. It marked a baseboard serving as a lever to open the passage. Isa pulled it and crawled in.
It was small, dark, and musty. For the first few minutes Isa had to crawl on her knees and forearms, but it didn't matter. She had to get to her room before Elena.
Finally, she found herself before the door closing off the tunnel. She pushed on them and fell into the hall. She jumped back to her feet and sprinted to her room. She got in - trying not to slam the door. Jumped into her bed. She ruffled her hair and kicked the quilt a little. She was still panting so she took a few deep breaths.
Exactly at that moment, Elena entered the room.
"Isa, are you asleep?" she whispered.
Isa almost answered her, but luckily managed to still breathe slowly.
The next morning was full of worried conversations and theories about the "burglar" from the last night. For Isa, it was also morning full of jokes about how she slept through the whole thing. She barely kept herself from talking back.
But she came up with a better plan.
By the next morning, everyone had almost forgotten about the whole thing. They were too busy getting ready and finally celebrating Navidad! And this year Isa couldn't wait to open the gifts.
Finally, the time has come. Everyone gathered around the tree and opened their presents.
Elena has started from a soft package in bright blue paper. She tore it and took out… a bright red jumper with a big caption on the front - "I GOT ROBBED BY MY OWN SISTER".