Snow blinked and tried to keep tears out of her clear, pale blue eyes. She watched as Summer, and her daughter Sunlight, walked across the ground in the courtyard. Everyone beamed at them, and hurried up to talk to them. And really, thought Snow, why wouldn't everyone love them? They're beautiful and wonderful, and everyone, even the mortals love them. Summer and Sunlight were both utterly gorgeous. Their hair was gold, a pure gold, that always glowed, no matter what. Summer had eyes that were a vibrant emerald green. And Sunlight's eyes were gold, a beautiful gold, comforting and reassuring.They had perfect skin, and lips, perfect everything.
They swept past Snow, and continued walking along the path. Snow sighed and wished that she had any father other than the one she had. She wished that Summer was her mother. But no. Her father was Winter. He was so hard to figure out. Sometimes he could be kind, and then at other times, so cruel. Snow, Ice, and Sleet could never figure out their father. He was tall and forbidding. His hair was a gloomy iron gray. His eyes a murky brown, and he always seemed to be frowning. There was a rare occasion when he was kind... but those times were so few and far between that Snow sometimes couldn't even remember them.
Well, at least she had Ice. That is, when he was in a good mood. When Ice was in a good mood his silver eyes would light up and his light blue hair would sparkle. But when he was mad, he never had time for his little sister Snow. He would ignore her and brush her off like he had more important things to do. She looked at him wistfully from across the courtyard. He was straddling the low stone wall that surrounded the courtyard and talking to Hail and Fog, his two best friends. They were her cousins, like almost everyone in the court. Snow sometimes wished that she didn't have so many cousins... She had so many it was hard to keep track of them sometimes. She had three aunts and they had many children. Her aunts were, Summer, Spring and Fall. They were all beautiful, and in Snow's eyes, they always had someone love and admire them. Summer was flawless and beloved. Spring had light green hair, and purple eyes, the color of violets. She was the most graceful of all of the aunts, she didn't walk, she danced everywhere she went. Fall had hair that was gold, red, and maghogeny. Her eyes were a warm chocolate brown, with green streaks through them. Fall was always kind, and when she spoke her voice was soft and rustled gently, like leaves on a tree. Yes, she had beautiful aunts, and most of them had many children. Summer had Sunlight, then the twins, Thunder and Lightning, and her oldest boy, Hail. Spring had Rain, and Breeze. Fall had Fog, Mist, and Frost. Snow's own father had several children. Ice, then herself, Snow. Last was Snow's youngest brother Sleet.
Of everyone in the court Wind was the only one who had no parents. Wind was always around no matter what the season, she was very rarely ever in the courts, but when she was in the court Snow watched her with more envy than she did of any of the others. Wind never had to listen to her father. Wind came and went when she pleased. Snow sighed again, there was no point in wishing for things she couldn't have. She would never be Wind, or any of her other cousins. Snow she would always be, and there was no changing that.
Snow heard her name called by Sleet so she got up and walked across the courtyard. Sleet looked up when she walked over. He gave her a deep scowl then said "Father wants you." He looked down at the paper he was reading, completely ignoring Snow again. Snow shook her head, her little brother was always like this. Moody, and always scowling. The only time he was happy was when he went out among the mortals. He got this chance so rarely that he was usually in a bad mood. Snow walked away and wished she didn't have to go to her father; she almost always hated seeing her father, he usually was obnoxious and rude to her. I hope he's not in one of his moods, thought Snow, walking quickly across the courtyard and entering their house. She walked into her father's study and stood there waiting. He didn't look up for several minutes, Oh no, thought Snow, her father not talking to her for a while was a bad sign. He finally looked up and said, "Snow. You need to go down to the mortals for a while. I as Winter gave them a year off last year, and they seem to expect it again this year. That is not happening." His expression was cruel and calculating. "You need to go down among them for a while. Make sure they remember me and my family. Make sure they remember Winter! I've already sent Ice down, and now it's your turn. Go now." He turned his head from her, ignoring her completely, making it appear that he didn't even know that she was in the room. Snow turned and walked slowly down the hall. She hated when her father did this. Whenever the mortals got comfortable he sent her down to make sure that they had plenty of her; usually more than she, or they, ever wanted. She liked when she went down among the mortals, but she usually only wanted to be there for a little bit, she didn't like being down there for the many days her father expected.
Once Snow was ready for her trip to the mortals she walked out of her house and over to Ice who was now sitting alone on the wall. She looked at him and said "Ice? I just wanted to tell you that I'm going down among the mortals for a while... Father wants them to remember him."
Ice scowled and said "Was father bad today? He sent me down for a while earlier and he was in a terrible mood. He barely even looked at me when he sent me down."
"Yes, he's still in the same mood. He's mad because he said that the mortals are forgetting him. So he's sending me down to make sure that they never forget Winter." said Snow. She blinked, trying to wink away the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. Ice put his hand on her shoulder, but didn't say anything. Snow smiled slightly and walked out of the courtyard. She went down past the gates and slowly walked down into the mortals. She walked slowly and softly around them. She did her best to come quietly and not disturb them to much. But they still would look at her with dislike and shake their heads when they saw her coming. She kept on moving though, following her father's instructions... moving and moving... watching the mortals who never liked her, and never would.