Epilogue: The News

Article from Jade Mountain Weekly:

A CHANGE OF SEASONS FOR THE ICE KINGDOM?

By Fatespeaker (your favorite reporter!)

Troubling news from the Ice Kingdom has revealed that this notoriously cold and secretive tribe is going through great change. Here's the scoop on Queen Snowfall's latest decree, which baffled all of Pyrrhia and sent the IceWings into an uproar.

Investigation continues into the cause of the infamous rebellion that recently sacked the IceWing palace. Last month, this supposedly impenetrable stronghold was thrown into chaos by IceWing rebels! Queen Snowfall insists that this revolt was the work of a dangerous conspiracy and has vowed to bring the claws of justice down on its instigators.

Sources from the Ice Kingdom have confirmed that while only 4 guards died, many more were injured. The number of rebel casualties is believed to be much higher. While the rebels claim that at least 50 of their group were killed, Queen Snowfall denies this and wants to erase all rebel accounts of the revolt from her kingdom.

A rebel IceWing group calling themselves the "Winter Rose" has fled to the neutral territory of Sanctuary, where they have been organizing a resistance and communicating with the IceWing government through allies in the Sand Kingdom. Many suspect these rebels to be at least partly responsible for the attack in the palace. They are currently demanding several radical reforms to the kingdom, including a fairer reorganization of the Circles and more checks on the queen's absolute power.

Former Prince (and former Jade Mountain Academy student) Winter and his brother Prince Hailstorm have both claimed asylum in Sanctuary as well. They are currently living in an undisclosed location that is protected by both the Talons of Peace and the Winter Rose Rebels.

It is unclear what their role was in the recent rebellion, but Queen Snowfall has threatened both with capture and execution if they ever return to the Ice Kingdom. Fortunately for the brothers, many other tribes seem sympathetic to their cause. Queen Thorn has offered her protection to Winter and Hailstorm, and Queen Ruby (purportedly under pressure from her own council) has threatened to send in soldiers if IceWings from either side violate the peace in Sanctuary.

The princes' sister, former princess and escaped prisoner Icicle, remains missing. Icicle is still wanted in the Mud and Ice Kingdoms. She has not been seen since her shocking escape from the once-impenetrable IceWing dungeons. It is still unknown how she escaped.

Meanwhile, the entire Ice Kingdom has been shaken by rebellions across its circles. According to some reports, several noble IceWings have been injured and even killed by angry peasants in the provinces. Several villages have threatened to attack the royal palace itself if Queen Snowfall does not address the demands of the "Winter Rose". In response to this, the IceWing palace has both tightened security and promised that "a great change will happen" by next year's winter solstice.

Queen Snowfall and the IceWing Council have conceded to calling a "Conference of the Circles" which will supposedly allow dragons from every circle to propose their ideas to the queen. It is unclear at the moment whether this event, like its historical precedent from the time of Queen Frostbite, will allow IceWings to actually vote on new laws, or if Queen Snowfall will insist on her rights as sole ruler of the tribe and limit them to mere suggestions. Royalist nobles and outlaw rebels alike have both threatened violence if the Conference is not carried out the way they wish.

All across Pyrrhia, queens and commoners alike wait with bated breath to see if the Ice Kingdom, known as one of the strictest tribes of all, will now allow its subjects a say in their government. Both the Rainforest Kingdom and Sand Kingdom have proposed sending ambassadors into the Ice Kingdom with advice, but so far Queen Snowfall has rejected all of these offers. All dragons who are not IceWings are still barred from the Ice Kingdom by the enchanted Great Ice Wall.

The IceWing rebels now residing in Sanctuary have already met with several advisors from other kingdoms. It is still unknown whether they plan to return to Ice Kingdom for the upcoming event. Though Queen Snowfall has declared all dragons associated with the "Winter Rose" to be outlaws, outraged IceWings from all levels of the Ice Kingdom, including many high-ranked nobles, have called for them to be pardoned and allowed to participate in the Conference of the Circles. Queen Snowfall has yet to respond to these demands.

Only time will tell if this is the beginning of a new age for the IceWings, as many both hope and fear...

Author's Note

Hey guys! Fatespeaker here. The author, not the dragon... unless you chose to believe ;D. Thank you so much for all the support and patience (so much patience!) while I FINALLY finished this sequel. Sorry again about all the hiatuses. I'm so happy that I could finally continue Winter's story in my own way.

Believe it or not, I actually have a pretty big excuse for that huge hiatus. I was writing my first real, original novel! I don't know if I'll really publish it, but the manuscript is done and I'm working on editing. I also just started college, so my real life is kinda crazy now.

My output here is probably going to stay super sporadic, especially since I plan on moving to another country to study abroad next year (that was supposed to happen this year, but then the pandemic stuff happened and turned the world upside down). Anyway, I still intend to keep writing WoF fanfics, my update schedules are just gonna be even slower. Sorry about that! D:

Okay, full disclosure here: I actually haven't read any of the third arc yet. I know, I know, how dare I call myself a fan! I really just haven't had the time, and I was kinda mad when I found out the first three books didn't have Fatespeaker in them.

Since Book 14 is going to be about Snowfall and the Ice Kingdom, I'm pretty sure canon is about to burn all of my Winter fanfics to a crisp. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see what really happens to my boy Winter in the canon series, it's just a little nerve-wracking knowing I have now gone into the mysterious land of AU. I think this story, and Winter Returning, will definitely become AU when book 14 comes out. So I've decided to call this my "Revolution AU", which is a pretty big hint about what's going to happen next.

I already have the last big fanfic in this series planned out. That's right, it's a trilogy! Obviously my writing is so slow that I probably won't finish it until after book 14 comes out, but I'm going to try and refrain from reading it/looking up spoilers so that my own AU can be as original as possible. (At least as "original" as a fanfic can be lol)

I'm also going to publish a short story (a sort of extra epilogue) about Winter, Hailstorm, and Icicle really soon. It's called Sanctuary, and it'll wrap up some loose ends while setting the stage for the my next long fic. It'll also finally share Icicle and Hailstorm's POVs. It's almost done, I swear it won't take a year this time! :P

As everyone already figured out, my version of the Ice Kingdom is headed toward a big Revolution, something I've been wanting to write about forever. You see, back when I was writing Winter Returning, I based my version of the Ice Kingdom on 18th-century France, which just seemed like the most "IceWing" era I could think of. Then, when I started planning this sequel, I realized that if I was going to write about an IceWing version of France, it would only make sense for them to end up with an IceWing version of the French Revolution.

Obviously this isn't going to go down exactly like human history, because that would just be really long and depressing. Instead, I'll try to write a cool (get it?) and uniquely IceWing revolution. Hearts will be broken! Morals will be grayed! Subzero will get a cameo!

I can't promise any guillotines, but I am going to take my Revolution AU in a darker direction than I think the canon series will go. Let's just say I've never been a fan of absolute monarchies, and Winter is about to watch some wild (and bloody) history go down.

Thanks again, and Vive les IceWings!