The realm of Mab, the Winter Queen, is harsh and unforgiving to humans, with subzero temperatures, blizzards and miles of ice and snow. The fey who live here are cold and cruel, and even more deadly to humans than their Summer counterparts. While Summer fey might keep a human as a pet and play with them mercilessly, Winter are more likely to tear out the human’s heart and freeze it for fun. And then eat the rest of the body. If a human is lucky enough to find favor with Mab, she may freeze them alive for eternity and keep them in her sculpture garden, forever gasping for a breath that cannot come.

When Puck brings Meghan to Winter for the first time in The Iron King, he introduces the land quite succinctly:

Puck stepped forward. “Ladies and felines,” he stated grandly, grasping the doorknob, “welcome to Tir Na Nog. Land of endless winter and shitloads of snow.”

Here is what Meghan sees as she first steps into Winter:

A billow of freezing powder caressed my face as he pulled the door open. Blinking away ice crystals, I stepped forward.

I stood in a frozen garden, the thorn bushes on the fence coated with ice, a cherub fountain in the center of the yard spouting frozen water. In the distance, beyond the barren trees and thorny scrub, I saw the pointed roof of a huge Victorian estate. I glanced back for Grim and Puck and saw them standing under a trellis hung with purple vines and crystal blue flowers.

In Winter’s Passage, Meghan journeys to Tir Na Nog with Ash as his willing prisoner, thanks to the deal they made in The Iron King. This is how they enter Winter on horseback, after being picked up by knights of Winter, and Meghan’s first sight of the Winter Realm:

The mist cleared away for just a moment, and I saw the edge of the dock, dropping away into dark, murky lake water. The horses broke into a trot, then a full gallop, snorting eagerly, as the end of the dock rushed at us with terrifying speed.

I closed my eyes and the horses leaped.

We hit the water with a loud splash and sank quickly into the icy depths. The horse didn’t even try to resurface, and the knight’s grip was firm, so I couldn’t kick away. I held my breath and fought down panic as we dropped deeper and deeper into the frigid waters.

Then, suddenly, we resurfaced, bursting out with the same noisy splash, sending water flying. Gasping, I rubbed my eyes and looked around, confused and disoriented. I didn’t recall the horse swimming back up. Where were we, anyway?

My gaze focused, my breath caught, and I forgot about everything else.