Dear Snow Queen, Rozie wrote, Thank you for the tiara, the wand, the books, the clothes, and everything. Thank you for saving my sister. I need her. Yeva said that you seemed lonely, but you're a queen, so you should have whatever you want. If you need someone in your court, I can join. I get good grades, and sometimes I help Yeva clean the house and sell furniture. I also learned how to make toast and everyone says I'm really talkative.
Thank you for your consideration,
—Rozie
Yeva proofread the letter before sealing it, placing it with her own upon the chair she had constructed.
It cost a week. Sketching them in pencil first, she had carved foliage and vines into its arms and legs, whose pattern made them like a flowering titan, sealed in an even layer of lacquer and ready to serve.
Yeva placed the throne in the cart. It descended with a crash, causing Ivan to shake his head and sputter. After stroking his mane, Yeva went to tell Rozie she would only be gone for an hour or two.
"But Yeva," Rozie said, topped in her tiara, wand at hand. "Aren't we going to sell furniture today?"
"I only have one piece and it's not for sale." Yeva looked at Rozie's bed, where Dr. Spots sat with an open book on his lap. He appeared serious in his wire glasses. "When I come back, why don't I read you a story?"
"Okay!" Rozie glittered up the air. "You better be careful though. You better not die like last time."
"I didn't die last time, Rozie."
"Yeah, well. Don't die this time."
"You don't die either."
"I won't!" Rozie squeezed her sister's legs, who picked her up and kissed her.
Yeva followed the same path to the Snow Queen's palace she had going away from it. Walking along the straight line from her home, she passed through the city, and into layers of untouched mountain snow.
Yeva's new coat, trousers, and cap again drew rumors. People whispered as she made her way to the Snow Queen, accusing her of becoming a mysterious prince, on his way to steal a woman's heart.
"Oh, what sharp cheekbones he has—what a lovely face, and what beautiful clothes!"
"I think I even witnessed some of his golden blond hair peeking out beneath his cap—and what a noble steed he has!"
None noticed the old cart fastened to the steed, who they had seen before, nor that the chair the prince transported indicated Yeva's handiwork.
The rumors shapeshifted at the end of the village, where the citizens wondered more pointedly where Yeva was going. At a certain point, however, they grew smaller as if stunted by the snow, until disappearing beneath it in silence.
Yeva reached the summit of the mountain, having been the only one to mark the ground with her horse's hooves and her cart's wheels. But where the solitude ended and long pillars of ice should have begun, there were no pillars; there was no palace. The rolling halls evident only last week transitioned to rolling hills of virginal snow, and Yeva looked around, in search of another summit, but she stood atop the only one.
"Snow Queen?" she asked aloud as a cold breeze rustled the fur of her coat. "I've come back for you."
This declaration received no answer, but Yeva still unpacked her chair and set it stoutly onto the mountain top, thank-you notes on its seat. The throne would sit until its rightful owner claimed it, too large for a normal man to carry and too tall for a regular home.
Yeva took Ivan down the mountain and into the city, where she found the Snow Queen's statue intact. She regarded it through the bakery window as she bought Rozie a chocolate birthday cake, paying with a brand-new note.