A Snow Queen's Tale- a Frozen Fanfiction

Chapter 46: A Castle for a King

🌻Anna's Pov🌻
Not that long ago, I had loved to build things with Elsa, and I had a feeling that Astrid would be a good builder, too. Building was sort of make believe, after all, and I knew that Astrid loved to pretend. That was one reason we were friends!
"Dear Astrid, I wrote the following day. "Soren came to visit me last night, and I discovered something we did not know before. Soren is the king of all squirrels! He lives under the hedge right now, but I think he really wants to live in a castle. Would you like to help me make a castle for the king?"
      Astrid's next letter exclaimed "YES!" in capital letters. "How do we get started?"
      I had already thought about this. I would start building, then draw pictures to show Astrid my work. Then Astrid could make suggestions after looking at the pictures. That way, both of our ideas would be included.
      "It is a little tricky because we are not together," I wrote. "But I think that we can do it."
      That afternoon, I went to the gardens to gather sticks and leaves for building. When Soren spotted me, he twitched his nose and rolled in a patch of moss. I thought maybe he was grateful I had rescued him, and I wanted to play. But I had too many things to do!
      First I had to find the perfect place for the castle. Soren loved the garden, but he also liked the privacy of the hedge. I walked around the garden several times until I found a shady spot under the willow tree. It was protected by the willow branches, but it was close to everything else Soren loved—even his acorns.
I started building the castle by placing a line of sticks on the ground. Then, very carefully, I stacked the sticks into four walls, filling in the gaps with leaves and berries. I thought the berries were a- colorful touch until King Soren darted toward the walls of his castle and ate them!
Maybe there was a reason that people did not make castles out of food they liked to eat, Ithought. Imagine if my castle were made of chocolate! I removed the remaining berries from the wall and left them in a pile for the squirrel. Then I substituted pine needles for the berries, pressing them between the sticks until all the walls were the same shape and size.
After the first day of building, I went to the portrait room to draw pictures for Astrid. "Castles can take years to build," I wrote beside my sketches. "But I think we have made a good start."
Before I left the portrait room, I apologized to my friends in the paintings. "I'm sorry I haven't visited in a while," I said. I hoped they would understand why I was playing with my new friend . They had one another for company, after all. But I would come back to visit them often, since I knew how it felt to be left behind.
      Astrid's next letter was packed with great ideas for the castle. "What if we make separate rooms inside?" she wrote. "I think Soren needs a playroom, don't you?"
      I could not believe I had not thought of that myself! As soon as I put down Astrid's letter, I ran outside to build some pebble walls inside of castle, dividing Soren's bedroom from his playroom. I filled the playroom with pine cones for toys. Even kings needed to play, I decided.
Soren might not need a kitchen, but I I blocked off a corner of the house for storage. Maybe he did not want to bury all his acorns.
"It is perfect!" Astrid wrote back. "Do you think we should build him a bed?"
I found a piece of moss for Soren to rest on, and some leaves for his blankets. What if he grew thirsty in the night? I wondered. That afternoon, Miss Larsen helped me make a bowl out of clay. I filled it with water and left it by Soren's nest.
After many letters, Astrid wrote, "I can't think of anything else to add," and I knew it was time to build the castle's roof.
      I collected twigs and crisscrossed them on top of the castle. Then I tied them to the sides of the house with stalks and stems, and weighed them down with rocks. To make sure the castle could withstand storms, I shook it gently. But the castle remained strong. The castle was fit for a king.
     I couldn't wait to show my parents what me and Astrid had built. They would be back in only a few days, and even though I now had Astrid and Soren to keep me company, I would be happy to see them.
      Later that morning, I wrote another letter in the library, then sat in the chair by the fireplace. I didn't mean to stay for long, but building a castle was hard work. Now we just needed Soren to move in, I thought as I had drifted off to sleep. Me and Astrid had been a good team. I loved feeling like part of a team again.
      By the time my nap was over, I had missed Nikko and his deliveries, but Olina had left an envelope for me on a small table at the bottom of the stairs. Usually I tore the letters open so fast that I didn't even notice the envelopes, but this time something caught my eye. There was something strange on this envelope. Had it been on the others, all along?
      It was the royal seal.