The Winter King

By Jay Mendell

Jack Frost is used to causing problems, but he isn't used to dealing with consequences. When he accidentally destroys the Winter Crest, his one responsibility and the artifact that helps keep the balance of the seasons in the Fae Realm, he needs to find some way to solve this issue before anyone else can find out.

Morozko, A.K.A. Old Man Winter, is a former candidate for the position Jack now holds. He would know how to assist Jack with the Crest, but there's just one problem: Morozko has left the Fae Realm long ago, and is notorious for despising the politics involved. Will Morozko be willing to put aside his enmity to help out a stranger, or will Jack have to attempt some more ... persuasive methods?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Nov 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685503291

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The Winter King

By Jay Mendell

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2022 Jay Mendell

ISBN 9781685503291

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review. This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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The Winter King

By Jay Mendell

Winter was a beautiful realm. Inhabitants of the other Seasons might disagree, but Jack would happily show them the proof—high, snow-capped mountains, green forests as far as the eye could see; lakes that stretched for miles, perfectly clear and preserved, so one could stand in the center of it and look down through the ice, right to the bottom. Just because Winter didn’t have an abundance of flowers or spots of color everywhere didn’t mean it was without worth. Just watching the way sunsets filled the mountainous horizons, reflecting off the water to form dizzying arrays of light and shadow, was enough to prove that.

Jack had visited the other Seasons before, and he would be lying if he said that they weren’t spectacular all on their own. But there was something about Winter that was impossible to describe, and he was confident it wasn’t merely his own bias. Sure, he was the current Frost—ruler and protector of the Winter Realm, but he honestly thought that should be more than enough to prove his point. Who would know better the appeal of Winter than the man who had become Winter itself?

Though, to be fair, that was a rather recent adjustment.

It had taken a good three-hundred years—old Lady Beira had become rather stubborn about the whole thing, even though she had been the one to bring up retirement in the first place, and the trials required for choosing a new Frost were long, difficult, and as drawn-out as possible, much like Winter itself. But Jack had passed the trials; he’d proved that he was the strongest faerie in all of Winter, proven that he was both capable of protecting the realm and eager to do it. Even Beira had been satisfied with his performance, and she’d only held onto her Council position for so long because she’d been absolutely convinced no one would be able to match her skills. In her defense, Jack doubted anyone could—he wasn’t nearly arrogant enough to assume he was up to par with the Winter Queen, but he was definitely the only one who came close.

Once it had become clear that Jack would emerge the victor, there had been some other…complications. Jack had a bit of a reputation around the realm, for one, and it hadn’t worked in his favor. Add that to his status as a pixie—rather low on the scale of faerie hierarchy—and suddenly a lot of powerful Winter faeries were suddenly scrambling for ways to prolong the assessment, claiming they couldn’t possibly go any further without making sure Jack was doing his due diligence.

Beira had been the Frost of Winter for so long, they claimed! How could they think of replacing her so easily?

Beira herself had been the one to put a stop to it, in the end.

I’ve done enough, she’d said. After that other bastard ran off, I’ve never found another even half as good. I’m not willing to risk this one escaping, too.

She had then dumped the problem in Jack’s lap with a look of grim satisfaction, and promptly disappeared into the mountains, warning those assembled that no one had better try and contact her for at least another millennium, or there would be dire consequences.

An ominous statement, to be sure, but Jack had taken it in stride. Lady Beira herself had approved. Jack Frost’s legitimacy was all but guaranteed, and the other faeries of Winter could do nothing but grumble and accept it—which, ultimately, was the only result Jack cared about, so he didn’t dwell too deeply on the rest.

All of that had led him to where he was now; standing before the other protectors, tucked away in the only true neutral space of the entire Fae Realm, where all Seasons could come together to meet in peace.

I’m here to accept my place on the Council, he said, sounding rather more confident than he was feeling.

Jack hadn’t thought they would be this intimidating up close, but the other Seasonal masters were heavy and foreboding in their power, just like old Lady Beira had been. They weren’t nearly as old as her, being from almost five generations later, but Winter was slow to adapt where other Seasons adjusted, and several rounds of the Council had already gone through