“Snowman first, it is!” AJ smiled. “The first thing to making a good snowman is using the right kind of snow.”

As he spoke he lead the way to an area with untouched snow. “Sometimes snow is super light and fluffy. That kind of snow is no good; it doesn’t hold any form…”

He squatted down and began piling snow up into a pile, “This snow however, is perfect. It’s a little wet so it sticks together really well. But you don’t have to pack it particularly hard to get it to hold shape. If it’s too wet, it’s really easy to pack it into an iceball. Great for distance throwing, not so much for getting hit with…”

He prattled on about snow as he happily guided Cel in building a snowman. In short order they had a small man of snow.

“Ordinarily, I’d say to use sticks for arms and rocks or lumps of coal to make the eyes and mouth, but I don’t think breaking off branches in the garden would be appreciated.”

He looked around and noted that guardsmen were working their way through the garden. “Perhaps we should go inside. There might be a little more information now about what’s going on. I think my mother would prefer it if I were closer anyway.”

He dusted a stray bit of snow from his knees and straightened up properly. He politely offered his arm and led the way back inside the manor.

AJ and Celandine move to the Ballroom