Mean Seasons 59 Resurface 7
Jamie had been Jack's prince for four days. He loved it intensely.
First, he had been taught the rules of Winter. How in order for a city or town to be spared a harsh season (unless Mother deems otherwise) they must respect Winter. If they loath it, then dark and cold times will be in store for the rest of the winter months. Disrespect threw the King into rages that often resulted in heavy, deadly blizzards that lasted for weeks.
He had then been taught how to command Jack's familiars; ice wolves, snow owls, and the three remaining Winter Fey (the last three, since there was a population decrease thanks to Jack having a nasty habit of freezing them and eating their wings off, resulting in genocide on a massive scale) Jamie's favorite, surprisingly, were the owls. The snowy fowl were Jack's spies and saw everything that went on at any time, anywhere, just with a simple command. They were also hunters, and Jamie spent many hours while Jack attended to winter duties hunting with them in the forest of the Palace.
His favorite part though, was getting to ride Wind alongside Jack. It seemed that the King was more like the lighthearted Guardian of Fun when he was flying, though his eyes never changed, staying cold and distant, and a bit cruel. While they flew on their nightly patrols though...it was almost like nothing had changed. His laugh even had less chill to it, and sounded more lighthearted and less foreboding and manic.
Of course there were tasks that Jamie didn't like as well.
One of them was sitting in his own little throne while Jack passed judgement onto his subjects. For the Winter King did actually have subjects. Snow flurries and even Southern Yetis, and a few winter elves were under his rule. A few creatures, like Frozen Wraiths, freaked out the prince. But the reason that Jamie didn't like sitting through the rulings was not only was it boring...But Jack was incredibly callous and harsh with some of the judgements. The boy wasn't sure if he would ever get the image of a yeti being frozen from the inside out, out of his mind.
Another activity that the boy shuddered at was checking the dungeon. There was rarely anything in the suprizingly bright ice prison, but the too-light place creeped him out. The ice chains dangling from the ceiling swayed eerily in Wind's breeze, giving the white room life and being foreboding at the same time. There was a single cell in there that was directly in the sun, and the boy shuddered as he remembered the explanation Jack had hissed when he had asked about it.
"That is a special cell, to hold Winter Sprites. It melts them slowly. It's quite a painful thing to endure actually, but amusing to watch."
Overall though, the boy was very happy. He stayed close, because the King would fret if he couldn't see his Prince. No one wanted him to fret, because the weather would worsen as would his mood and temper. Thus Jamie stayed in his line of sight, and if he went exploring, he took an owl with him so Jack could keep an eye on him. Jamie was content, and would remain so, until something happened that would warrant a response from him.
A dangerous response.