A Snow Queen's Tale- a Frozen Fanfiction

Chapter 22: Building the Fort

🌨Elsa's Po🌨
      That night, me and Anna pushed our beds next to each other and curled up together under one big blanket. I loved the cozy feeling of sleeping next to my sister. The only tricky part was the morning. At the castle, Anna could sleep all day if our parents let her. But at the Sommerhus, no matter how late she went to bed, Anna always woke up early. She was too excited to stay asleep!
So it was no surprise when Anna started tugging my arm at the faintest sign of dawn the next day.
"Elsa!" she whispered. "Time to get up!"
I pulled a pillow over my eyes and shrank beneath the blanket. Then I felt a gust of cold air as Anna peeled the blanket off my legs.
"Want to play?" Anna asked. "I have a great idea!"
I sat up and hit my head on the low ceiling. "It's too early!" I said, rubbing my head.
"But we have to make a fort!" Anna explained. "I have it all figured out. I just need you to help me set it up."
"What do we need a fort for?" I asked, yawning.
"It's for Hildy and Hanna!" Anna said. "They need a Sommerhus of their own."
I fell back on the bed. It was impossible to say no to Anna, because she would continue to ask and ask until she got what she wanted. The first ray of sunshine pierced the room as I sat up again, blinking. "Where do you think we should put it?""
Anna grinned and replied, "Right here." She patted the bed and gestured to a large blanket she had found that we could use for the fort's roof.
I dragged some chairs over and placed them on either side of the two twin beds. Anna draped the blanket on top of them, and for a minute it was perfect— until the blanket began to sag. "I think we need to tie the blanket to the chairs," I said. "That way it will stay put."
We knotted the blanket to the chairs with hair ribbons and pulled it tight, but the knots had a way of loosening after a few minutes. Could I use my magic to fix this problem? After a few moments of intense concentration, I conjured up some bits of ice and froze the blanket to the chairs. Problem solved— at least until the ice melted.
"Watch out," Anna cautioned as she carried a pile of pillows across the room. From inside the fort, I watched Anna stagger toward me, pillows teetering in her hands. They fell just as she reached the fort. I crawled out, giggling, and took the pillows into the fort one by one.
"Hanna and Hildy are going to love it in here!" I told my sister. But the fort wasn't only for the dolls, I knew. Me and Anna were going to love it in there, too. And the best part was that we had all day to play.
The only thing that could drag us out of the fort was the sound of our father's voice downstairs. "Time for breakfast!" he called.
By the time I had gotten to my feet, Anna was already halfway down the stairs. Back home in Arendelle, Papa never made breakfast. On our summer trip, though, he made pancakes every morning, and he had promised our favorite: pancakes with chocolate.
The long table was set with a purple tablecloth and a vase of wildflowers from our walk the day before. There was a pitcher of cold milk and a bottle of syrup that glowed like gold. Best of all, I thought, one of mother's special plates sat at each place.
Usually the plates were kept on the shelf, but they came out for important occasions, like our first breakfast together at the Sommerhus. Each plate was a memento from our parents' travels around the kingdom.
I sat at the table. I picked up one of my favorite plates—painted with a crocus—and flopped a pancake on top.
No one could see the design on Anna's plate because pancakes covered every inch. They were piled high and overflowing off the edge, and Anna splashed syrup over them with such force that drops flew across the table. When she poured her milk, some of it missed the glass and ended up on the floor.
"Elsa," mother cautioned. Startled, I looked up. Had my mother mixed up Anna and I? Sometimes she did that, calling one by the other's name. In spite of Anna's mess, though, my mother was looking at me.
"Remember,where to leave your knife after you cut your pancakes," mother said. "It should rest on the side of your plate, not on the table."
I looked at Anna who was picking up a pancake with her fingers. Did mother even notice?
"A future queen must watch her manners," mother said. "That will be our project for today.
"We already have a project for today," Anna announced. "Wait until you see our fort."
Mother shook her head. "I'm afraid things will be a little different this year," she said. "Now that Elsa is getting older, we are going to keep up her lessons while we're here."
I swallowed my last bite, though the pancake didn't taste quite as sweet anymore. This isn't fair! I thought. Our summer trip was the only time I didn't have to think about becoming queen.
What was the point of a trip with my family, I wondered, if I would have to sit through all the same lessons I had at home? I wouldn't get to spend the morning playing with Anna after all. And not even my magic could change that.