Ever After High--Epic Winter--The Junior Novel Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Chapter 1: Summer’s Almost Over

  Chapter 2: A Blast of Cold Air

  Chapter 3: Bad Weather

  Chapter 4: Below Freezing

  Chapter 5: First Frost

  Chapter 6: Snow Day

  Chapter 7: Wicked Cool News

  Chapter 8: Curses and Cocoa

  Chapter 9: Storm Clouds

  Chapter 10: Breaking the Ice

  Chapter 11: Chilled to the Bone

  Chapter 12: Whiteout

  Chapter 13: Unbearably Selfish

  Chapter 14: A Speck of Evil

  Chapter 15: Arctic Blast

  Chapter 16: The Ice Beast

  Chapter 17: Left Out in the Cold

  Chapter 18: Library Illusion

  Chapter 19: Curse Curing

  Chapter 20: Dashing Through the Snow

  Chapter 21: Spring into Spring

  Chapter 22: Winter Break

  Chapter 23: Polar Paths

  Chapter 24: Into Thin Air

  Chapter 25: A Hint of Summer

  Chapter 26: Hibernating!

  Chapter 27: Sweet Dreams

  Chapter 28: Twister!

  Chapter 29: Back to the Winter Palace

  Chapter 30: The Blizzard of the Century

  Chapter 31: Snowball Fight

  Chapter 32: Battle on Ice

  Chapter 33: The Big Chill

  Chapter 34: The Greatest Magic of All

  Chapter 35: A Change in the Weather

  Photos

  Copyright

  CHAPTER 1

  Summer’s Almost Over

  Once upon a time in the land of fairytales,” began Brooke Page’s mother.

  Brooke peered over her mother’s shoulder at the vivid picture of the Ever After High castle. This was the boarding school where the children of princesses and evil witches and fairytale characters of all kinds went to find their destinies—or, if possible, to change them. The sun was shining on the gleaming turrets. Students were hurrying to class with their friends. They wore flowy dresses and shorts. They were sipping lemonade. Beads of sweat dotted their foreheads. They were hot; it was summer.

  But the picture didn’t match the story.

  “Brrr,” Brooke’s father read. “An icy, freezing adventure was about to begin.”

  Brooke’s mother continued. “A chilling quest in which our heroes must face the cold of an unrelenting winter…”

  “Brave the icy blasts of treacherous snowstorms…”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” interrupted Brooke. “Mom. Dad. I think you are confused.” She brushed a strand of long dark hair out of her eyes as she studied the picture in the fairytale book. “Here at Ever After High, it’s summer. Look!”

  Brooke’s father nodded. “That’s right, Brooke. Down there.” Then he pointed to a faraway spot in the picture. “But up here at the top of the world, it’s always winter.”

  Brooke peered at the blur of white nestled in the corner of the image. She could make out clouds and the barest outline of an ice castle, covered in snow.

  “Behold the Ice Castle of the Royal Winter Family,” announced Brooke’s mom. “Who control and protect all things frosty!”

  “I think you’d better back up a few pages,” decided Brooke. “This I gotta see.”

  Brooke’s mother flipped backward in the book to a picture of a large, snow-covered gate. It was time for Brooke to meet the Snow Queen and the Snow King at last!

  CHAPTER 2

  A Blast of Cold Air

  The Snow King and the Snow Queen looked out from the castle balcony at their sparkling white kingdom. Icicles hung from the railing. The air was frosty and clear. The Snow Queen leaned against her husband. He wrapped an arm around her. They smiled at each other. The Snow King rubbed his nose affectionately against the Snow Queen’s.

  “Ew!” exclaimed Crystal Winter, their daughter. She’d come out to join them. “Save the snuggling for the fireside.”

  Her parents turned to gaze happily at their daughter. She was holding a pair of skates in her hand.

  “Let’s play some indoor ice hockey,” Crystal suggested.

  “I’m up for that!” The Snow King grinned. He held up his royal scepter—and it turned into a hockey stick made out of ice. “My queen? Will you referee?”

  The queen nodded. She blew on a whistle she wore around her neck.

  The king walked into the throne room and tapped the marble floor with his hockey stick. Instantly, the floor turned to ice. He banged on it again, and a perfectly formed rink rose up around it. They were ready to play.

  As soon as Crystal got her skates laced, that was. The palace pixies were giving her a hand.

  Her mother shook her head. “If you’re going to rule one day, it’s high time you lace your own skates.”

  “But we have pixies for that,” protested Crystal. She stood up. “C’mon, Mom, it’s game time.”

  The Snow King and Crystal skated to the center of the rink. They faced each other, their hockey sticks poised and ready. The Snow Queen blew into her hand and formed a solid-ice hockey puck. She dropped it between the two players and whistled again. Let the game begin!

  Both Crystal and her dad were expert skaters—gliding, turning, swooping in with their sticks to catch the puck. The Snow King scooped the puck forward and sped after it toward the goal. Crystal raced after him.

  From the sidelines, frost elves, the loyal subjects of the king and queen, cheered with delight. The palace pixies giggled and clapped. But no one noticed as two snowy owls glided into the room, one of them holding a small envelope in his beak. No one noticed as they landed silently in the back row and folded their wings. And no one noticed as they magically transformed into frost elves. Jackie Frost, a royal teen rebel, scowled at the good-natured antics of the royal family on ice. Her sibling sidekick, Northwind, was still holding the envelope in his mouth.

  “Look at those overgrown royal penguins,” sneered Jackie. “Northwind, hand me our secret weapon.”

  Northwind opened his mouth, and the envelope fluttered into Jackie’s hands. “What’s the next move?” Northwind asked.

  Jackie was scowling. “All that power and what do they do with it? Have fun? Bleh. They deserve to have it stolen.”

  She opened the envelope, and whatever was inside it glowed a deep and devious purple.

  “Careful, Jackie! That’s pure evil,” Northwind warned.

  “No duh! How else are we supposed to take over? By asking nicely? Sheesh. How many times do I have to explain the plan to you?”

  Northwind blinked. “One more?”

  “We turn the sweet Snow King sour,” she said with a sigh. “Then he’ll start the most wicked winter ever after. Crystal isn’t ready to rule—she won’t be able to take the heat. So once she’s out of the picture, we save the day from the crazy king, and before you know it, rule of the season will belong to me!” She cleared her throat as she noticed the confused expression on Northwind’s face. “Us. Whatever,” she corrected.

  With a whirl of ice dust, Crystal and the Snow King whizzed past Northwind and Jackie Frost. They were laughing as they stole the puck back and forth from each other. The Snow King was about to score, but at the last possible moment, Crystal spun around and used her magical hockey stick to create an ice arch over her father’s head—leading to the opposite goal. She glided down it on her skates and shot the puck toward the net.

  Score! The crowd cheered and the Snow King congratulated his daughter. “Well played, kiddo!” She was the best—and he had taught her.

  The Snow Queen frowned. “She
can’t just magic her way out of everything, dear.”

  “Why not?” The Snow King laughed. “Works for me!” He blew his wife a kiss, and it froze into the shape of a heart in midair before landing on her cheek. The Snow Queen blushed.

  “Mom! Dad! Cut out the slushy stuff!” Crystal scolded her parents.

  CHAPTER 3

  Bad Weather

  They were a happy family. Together, they gazed out at their frosty kingdom from the balcony of the castle. The Snow King waved his scepter, and a light snow began to fall gently.

  The Snow King wrapped an arm around his daughter. “Your mother’s right,” he said gently. “Life can’t be all fun and games. One day, you’ll rule winter.”

  “But I am ready to rule,” Crystal protested. “I’ve read every magical meteorological manifesto and studied every fableous fairytale ever after.”

  “There’s a difference between understanding and doing,” reminded her mother. The Snow Queen nodded to her husband. Clearly, they had discussed all of this. There were things Crystal needed to know. It was time.

  The king looked back toward the throne room and waved his scepter over the ice. From the shiny surface bloomed a beautiful crystal rose. The queen gestured with her hand, and a breeze lifted the sparkling blossom into the air.

  “Soon, my dear,” began the queen, “you will blossom like this enchanted Winter Rose.”

  “And become the next Snow Queen,” added her father.

  The air was crisp and cold, but Crystal felt warm inside. Her parents loved her, they believed in her, and they were preparing her for her place in the world. All was right in their fairytale kingdom. How could they know that Jackie Frost and Northwind were right above, looking down on them, waiting to create a happily-never-after ending to their tale?

  Jackie held the envelope. With her other hand, she pulled a long, thin straw out of her pocket. A pixie, seeing them, became alarmed. Who were these frost elves? What were they up to?

  Jackie dipped the straw into the envelope of perilous purple powder. Northwind protected his face with his scarf. With a tap of her finger, Jackie scattered the devilish dust over the royal family. Glints of purple mingled with the snowflakes. Evil was in the air!

  But just as the cold cloud descended, Crystal stepped backward into the throne room, escaping the dust entirely. Her parents rubbed their eyes. What was that? They blinked. They stiffened. They shook themselves. They peered out at their kingdom, but now it looked very different to them—very different indeed.

  Jackie Frost quietly clapped her hands. Her plan was working!

  Brooke was confused. What was this dust? Where had it come from?

  Brooke stopped her parents in midstory and flipped backward in her fairytale book. In the last chapter, Ever After High had faced its greatest villain ever—the Evil Queen from Snow White’s tale. Brooke looked at the picture of Snow White’s daughter, Apple, gazing at the Evil Queen through the magic mirror.

  Apple White was angry at the Evil Queen. She had an apple in her hand, and she hurled it at the mirror! The mirror shattered into a million pieces, each one of them as tiny as a mote of dust, each one of them magically unlucky.

  “Oh,” Brooke murmured. “The Snow King’s shape-shifting servants Jackie Frost and Northwind stole that potent source of evil. And that cannot be good.”

  From far, far away, the Evil Queen laughed.

  CHAPTER 4

  Below Freezing

  The palace pixies were tugging at Crystal’s dress, trying to get her attention. They were chattering and tittering about, well, something, but they were too frightened to make any sense. The Snow King and Snow Queen sneezed at the exact same moment—and the shrieking pixies skittered away, alarmed.

  Crystal hadn’t noticed anything. She was admiring her beautiful ice rose. “Thank you for this promise rose, Mom and Dad,” she said, smiling. “I won’t let you down.”

  The Snow Queen frowned. She snatched the rose out of the air angrily. “You’ve already let me down with this ingratitude.”

  “You’re acting like a spoiled brat,” complained the Snow King, scowling.

  “What are you saying?” Crystal was baffled. She had just told them how grateful she was. It was as if they hadn’t heard what she said.

  They hadn’t. They saw everything through a haze of evil magic-mirror dust. Even now they thought she was thumbing her nose at them. They heard her say, “You are old and frostbitten. I could rule winter better with my eyes closed.”

  The king and queen stormed past their daughter. Snow whirled around them. They were furious!

  “She gets this lack of respect from you! She acts too silly to rule!” raged the Snow Queen.

  Crystal had never heard her parents argue before. Why were they being so mean to each other? Why were they so angry at her? She raced after them to find out.

  The pixies were wringing their hands. They didn’t know what to do. A blizzard was blowing up between the king and queen.

  “Silly, huh?” the king fumed. “You must think I’m nothing but a snow goose. I should freeze-tag you right now so you cool down!”

  “Oh, I’d like to see you try, snowman!” yelled the queen. She shook the rose in his face.

  The king froze her. Solid. He had turned his wife into an ice sculpture.

  The courtiers gasped. Crystal was beyond words. What was happening?

  The king turned on them with a menacing look. “Who else wants to play freeze tag?”

  In the background, Jackie and Northwind cackled with glee.

  “Your Highness…” one of the braver elves began politely.

  But the king experienced a very different reality. What he heard was one of his subjects mocking him, saying “Look at me! I’m the Snow King. This is what I sound like!” The king thought the elf was making insulting raspberry noises.

  But he wasn’t.

  The Snow King’s eyes narrowed as he studied the elf. “You should learn to be more sheepish,” he said. He waved his scepter, and a blast of magic hit the elf, turning him into a snow sheep!

  “Baa!” bleated what was once an elf.

  Crystal turned her hockey stick back into a wand as fast as she could. She held it up in front of her defensively. “Dad,” she ordered, “unfreeze Mom right now.”

  “I would, but she’s giving me the cold shoulder.” He cackled devilishly.

  Crystal stomped her foot. “If this is a game, it’s not funny anymore. What has gotten into you?”

  “Playtime is over, Princess,” announced the king. A glint of purple sparkled in his eyes. “Your mother was right about one thing—you are too childish to rule!”

  Crystal didn’t know what to do, but she knew she had to get away. She skated out of the throne room as fast as she could. The pixies hurried after her.

  In her own room, she burst into tears. Her parents had never been so mean to her. The pixies patted her shoulder and made little noises of concern.

  “What’s wrong with wanting to have some fun?” asked Crystal. “I don’t belong here anymore.”

  Through her tears, Crystal noticed a photo of herself and her Ever After High friends Ashlynn Ella and Briar Beauty. She missed them. A lot. Maybe it was time to pay them a visit and return to school.

  “I know where they’ll be warm to me,” she told the pixies. “In a land not-so far, far away.”

  From the tippy-top of a turret, Jackie Frost and Northwind watched as Crystal slipped out of the castle by herself. They saw her trudging through the snow, headed away from the top of the world. Northwind clapped his hands with delight. Jackie grinned. Her plan was working even better than she’d imagined!

  CHAPTER 5

  First Frost

  Ever After High’s castle still had not recovered from the Evil Queen’s brief takeover. The stones were dirty and the windows were grimy. It just didn’t gleam the way a fairytale castle should. This was most upsetting to Headmaster Grimm.

  When the class bell rang, he called
Faybelle Thorn into his office. Faybelle was destined to be the next Dark Fairy in the tale of Sleeping Beauty; she was perfectly happy with her fate and never missed a chance to get involved with trouble. She could barely contain her boredom while the headmaster scolded her about helping out the Evil Queen.

  “I am fairy, fairy disappointed in you,” said Headmaster Grimm. “Your involvement with the Evil Queen has left this school a vile mess.”

  Faybelle tossed her lush platinum mane. “Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.”

  A crumbling ceiling tile clunked onto the headmaster’s desk. Faybelle pursed her lips, trying to hide her amusement. She loved disarray and destruction. She lived for it, really.

  The headmaster sighed. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m delighted you are following your evil destiny. But you must be punished, so I’m charging you with cleaning duties until our school is restored to its former pristine glory.”

  Faybelle’s face fell. “Clean up the whole school by myself? That’ll take forever after!”

  “Then I suggest you get started,” answered the headmaster.

  Grumbling, Faybelle left his office with a bucket and a mop. She fluttered her tiny iridescent wings—and nearly flew right into Daring Charming and Apple White. That was the last thing she needed! She avoided looking at the goody-goody couple as she passed.

  But Daring and Apple were almost as unhappy as Faybelle. Something was the matter—and Blondie Lockes, Ever After High’s hotshot reporter, had spotted the scoop. Such as it was. If only there were more interesting news to report!

  She popped up between them, her microphone held out. “Blondie Lockes here, with another relationship rumor-cast. The whole school knows that Daring Charming’s kiss was a total fairy-fail when he couldn’t wake Apple White from her enchanted sleep—aka he’s not her destined prince! Awkward. Is this power couple about to power off?” She stuck her microphone in their faces. “Daring? Apple? Care to comment?”

  Daring’s handsome face reddened. “Not really.”