Eternal Wynter

Eternal Wynter Chapter 1

Wynter stood on the balcony of her room and breathed in the cool, frigid air. The crystal necklace still hung around her neck after all these years, like a constant reminder of an appointment with the hangman's noose. Below her, people scurried around like mice trying to escape a cats' claws. A few houses littered the courtyard and some children played by the Eternal Fountain. Seeing children always seemed to put Wynter in a bad mood. She liked them, but for some reason they reminded her of her past life.

To her, the past was better left in the past.

To her left a forest of breathtaking ice trees glittered in the low morning light. She often went to those woods, a place she had crafted with her own two hands, to get away when she felt at her weakest. Somewhere in the Winter Woods a wolf howled and Wynter smiled. Only a few minutes later, a pack of pure white wolves rushed out of the forest. The people of the village the wolves passed took no notice of them, but they did take notice of the group of tired-looking, skinny people. Wynter's mood suddenly shifted. She immediately spotted two men, bulkier than the rest, that stood out from the small crowd.

Other than their size, there was nothing visibly different about these men. Only Wynter sensed that they were more than they seemed, more dangerous and sinister. She turned toward the staircase that spiralled several stories down and began her descent. Her heels made soft clicking noises against the clear ice steps. She took no notice of the beauty around her, only the darkness that she sensed from the men. She had built a peaceful haven for the Outcasts and men like them were not welcomed.

When she finally reached the bottom of the staircase, Asha, the alpha of the wolf pack, was already waiting. She bent down and stroked his fur. Her icy fingers combed through the pure white coat and he growled. He let her have her way most of the time, stroking his fur until she felt content, but there were more serious matters to be attended to. She slipped the collar-like device off him and he shook out his fur.

She did not like having to put it on him, but it was the only way to communicate with the Kingdoms around her own. She shattered the ice around the thin scroll with her bare hands and opened it.

Fregistorian Convicts

Marcus Bane

Silas Bane

Phoebe McGill

Adam Gilbert

Derek Haze

Scott Abrahams

Hester Calico

Mason Lockwood

Wynter's eyes darted over the names and she rolled up the scroll again. The villagers had helped the group into the court, setting them down by the Eternal Fountain. When she realised that there was someone missing from the group, she almost hoped that the scroll would not catch fire when she threw it into the fountain.

Unfortunately she was never wrong and the scroll burst into flames as soon as it touched the water. The convicts were startled by the sudden burst of warmth and looked at the source. Their first impression of the Queen, was that she was a delusion of their tired minds. That was always how they saw her, a dream too good to be true. The stories they heard as children about the Crystal Court had been filled with different horrors. The Ice Queen was legendary for her hatred for anyone but herself, her cold heart and judgement. Wynter looked anything but what their expectation had been.

Her hair fell in soft curls around her face and spilled like waterfalls down her back. A simple crown adorned her head with ice crystals, shaped to perfection. When they moved their gaze to her eyes, most would gasp. Her eyelashes were softly powdered with frost, lining her eyes in white. Her eyes shone deep blue, a stark contrast to her pale skin. Her lips were a pale blue white, frost spreading in delicate swirls across them. She wore a simple winter blue gown that flowed down her body like a river. The gown added to the illusion of dementia, creating a beautiful image of a snow goddess.