More leaves joined the dance of fate. A lone maple swirled around the garden in all of its golden glory, only to pause to catch its breath on the window sill, when, with a sudden rush of adrenaline, the wind picked up its new dance partner and a new dance began; more leaves unclasped themselves from their trees to join the dance.
Little did they know that once they were to leave, they were on their own, they couldn't go back to their tree and the tree would keep producing leaves without them. It made little difference to the tree whether they were there or no - no, stop. This imagination of yours will get you nowhere in this cruel, cruel world, so stop now before you regret it and get back to your work like a good little girl.
The amber eyes adsorbed page after page, volume after volume of encrypted code. This was her life, what she had been brought up to do and what she would continue to do, and, somehow she was content with that, not happy, never happy, but content.
"Quite the diligent servant," she mused quietly.
"Slave," she corrected herself, "servants get paid."
"Yes, quite the diligent slave," a voice purred in agreement, rolling out the 'l' sound, as if to rub in the fact that she depended on them, far more than she should do.
She turned her head, finger curling round a string of loose, golden hair. The small mouth kept neutral, her face completely blank save for those amber fires, leaping with amusement at the sight of an all too familiar cascade of ruby-coloured hair.
"Well, if it isn't my favourite customer. You came here yesterday, didn't you?" she said, ignoring his previous statement.
"Ah, you remembered! So hopefully you would have done what I requested of you yesterday." he grinned, his tawny eyes glinting dangerously.
"How could I not? If His Greatness requests something how could I not provide for him? What kind of servant would I be?" Her eyes drooped and became more and more lidded as each word slid out of her mouth, a serpent replaced the words curling around her lips.
"It is so good too see you realise the hierarchy in this court, though maybe I am expecting too much of one so small, we all live in hope don't we?" he purred, a smirk sliding across his face.
She ignored all of his condescending comments, a sly smirk slowly spread across her face with each syllable she stated, hushed, "The more you struggle the tighter it gets, until it slowly suffocates you, stifling isn't it? With no air to breathe, no way to make a noise, it's quite painful, is it not?" She was now full-on grinning, "That brings back memories, doesn't it?"
The smirk faded as his eyes widened for a fraction, before he blinked, his face neutral. He said nothing.
She drawled on, "There are two types of people in this world:those who kill or are killed, who fight or take flight, and in this brutal court what option do we have, but to fight? You know just what I'm talking about, but I'm sure your little companion over there would be just as confused as I am to why you are here." As she tilted her head as he snarled,
"You skank! You have no idea what the hell you are talking about, do you? For all you know-"
"-for all I care, which I don't" she corrected.
The growl turned into a smirk at her bored face, "-I see, any gratitude went out the window, just like your job in the palace if you continue in this manner. Anyway, about my comings here, I don't have all day-"
She sighed in recognition at the mop of russet hair hiding behind the bookshelf and decided to end the poor child's mortification of being unearthed from a nook in the alcove.
"-Amis, I'm sure you have a talent in something probably unnecessary, but keeping hidden and being quiet is not it, so please, stop now and spare yourself the pain for when you get found out by someone of importance and leave us to it"
The boy nodded and scuttled out of the library as the auburn-haired high fae glared. Spies were common in the Court, someone probably bullied Amis into eavesdropping and then reporting to them later about the encounter with the High Lord's son and the Autumn Court's mystery fae.
The silent footsteps of two fae could be heard across one of the many neglected libraries in the Autumn Court. The court was an ancient one, the personal residence of the High Lord had been passed down from generation to generation and was split up, with a grand entrance of two spiral staircases leading up to a pillared structure that stood in front of the main luscious courtyard. The Autumn Court was built on columns; tall, mighty, ivory columns, which stood proud at the main entrance, with many beautiful courtyards surrounded by rooms were matters of court's law would be confronted. Though most significant matters went straight to the High Lord, whereas the small affairs of state always went to nobles the High Lord hand-picked, the nobles all brutal and cruel enough to survive more than a day in the Autumn Court. The second floor of the court was given to any fae brave enough to go a night in the entourage.
"Ah, little brother, fancy seeing you here," The taller high fae mocked,"the High Lord requests your presence, it appears someone was a little naughty last night." The stockier fae remained emotionless.
He growled. "You have no business in my affairs, Ixion." He kept the sentence short and brief, the less evidence of the meeting, the better. - Just because they had caught one spy didn't mean that there weren't anymore.
Now was her time to pounce,she had grown bored of their little drama ordeal, "As heart-warming as this little family reunion is, if you have something to say, say it or get out," she drawled, reclining against the window seat.
The redheaded high fae spun round to face the golden-haired she-fae and humphed at the lack of respect,"I'm sure my brothers and I are all wondering if you have any insight on the pattern of 'accidents' occurring around the palace through the past year."
The brown-haired high fae continued,"The 'accidents' are becoming more and more frequent, not to mention gruesome and upsetting for some of the courtiers."
'Well then, your place? Walls have ears, but I'm sure Ixion knows from first-hand experience.' She winked at him playfully.
The hazel-eyed fae pointedly ignored the blond-haired fae as he lead the way out of the oldest library with the two other fae in tow. They passed an endless amount of rooms as well as an equally endless amount of courtyards filled with captivating fountains and statues. A light dusting of the autumnal colours tinted the leaves as they lethargically drifted across the fountain's water.
It was almost too easy to get lost in the eternal corridors of the Autumn Court. As if the architect was half-crazy or wanted to laugh at future courtiers straying from the well-known corridors and poking their nose into the shady areas of the court only to find the exact replica of their suite. The square-grid reference heavily impacted the infrastructure of the court, a garden or courtroom per square, the Autumn Court was a masterpiece in itself, consuming much of the High Lord's hunting grounds. All halls were lined with rich, colourful tapestries telling the elaborate and bloodthirsty history of the court.
Each son had a section of the court with was solely theirs, usually at opposite ends of the court, for work purposes and to keep them from each other's throats. Coming to Ixion's quarters, she realised in all the 400 years she had been in the Autumn Court, not once had she gone to the living sectors, or the dining room, or pretty much anywhere, bar, the many libraries, which she successfully memorised the route to.
The stairs leading up to the drawing room - she presumed it was the drawing room - were completely bare, save for the occasional niche, where, delicate candelabras perched.
Not waiting for the approval of the brother, she sprawled herself across the nearest armchair, not waiting for the sons of the High Lord as she drawled, "Let us begin."
Hi there! Thank you very much for reading my first fanfic (not too much hate please!) and I hope you enjoyed it :)