Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the dialogue - they belong to the wonderful Julie Kagawa. I'm just playing with them a little bit ;)
Winter Has Come
I stay in the shadows during the exchange. Close enough to keep an eye on Meghan and for Mab to see me but far enough away that I'm unlikely to be bothered by anyone. I keep my eyes trained on Meghan throughout the exchange of the scepter, my heart lodged in my throat. Looking at her now, dressed in black and staring at Rowan with dark, expressionless eyes; it's hard to believe that I'm looking at the same girl who looked at me so tenderly and cried when she thought I was dead, when most fey would have just shrugged and moved on. That Meghan is definitely not the same girl I'm watching now. This Meghan, the one that has lived through phase one of Rowan's games, and lived under Mab's thumb knowing full well she could be killed or tortured at any time if Mab gets sick of her...this Meghan is harder than the one that I knew before. And the thing that kills me the most? Is that I'm the one who instigated the change. She didn't understand - I knew she didn't understand when I tried to warn her about how I would have to act here - but I ignored my own feelings, pushing them down, forcing them away in the hopes that if I could pretend that they didn't exist then they would disappear. All I've succeeded in doing is making both Meghan and myself thoroughly miserable. I watch Meghan's reaction to the entire spectacle, taking a sick thrill when she winces at the death of the young summer fey. I think that's the first real emotion she's shown this entire evening, which is terrifying. The girl who wears her heart on her sleeve, who always lets me know exactly how she's feeling - is blocking me and everyone out. I've gotten what I wanted. She's now protected, at least in part, against the Unseelie. As Oberon climbs back into his carriage and pulls away, my plan to stay hidden in the shadows and watch Meghan is interrupted.
"Enjoying the party little brother?" Rowan drawls, as he leans up against the wall beside me.
"I was," I mutter. Rowan chuckles darkly.
"Our little sleeping beauty seems to have a thing for Princes of Winter wouldn't you agree?" He nods to where Meghan is now talking to Sage. I raise an eyebrow at the sight. I can understand why Rowan went to harass Meghan but Sage? What could he possibly want with Meghan? Whatever he's saying to her, she doesn't look convinced and I thank whoever may be watching over her for that small mercy. Sage is probably the nicest out of the three of us but not even he can be trusted in this place. My joy is short lived as Meghan gestures with her hand before taking Sage's arm and walking away, his wolf trailing beside them.
"Well, I wonder what our big brother wants with the half-breed," Rowan says, grabbing a champagne flute made entirely of ice from a passing tray and taking a sip.
"I don't know Rowan, nor do I care," I say, forcing myself to focus on keeping my voice calm, and emotionless, despite my mind reeling after Meghan and Sage.
"Of course not little brother, I wasn't suggesting that at all," he says with a smirk.
"What do you want Rowan?"
"Am I not allowed to check on my little brother's well being anymore?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Since when have you ever gone to the trouble of 'checking my well being' before? Ever?"
"I'm turning over a new leaf." I scoff, ignoring the glare he sends my way.
"This is the first time I've seen you leave your room since the half-breed had her unfortunate...accident." Accident. Yeah, right.
"Just because you haven't seen me, doesn't mean I haven't left my room. It's not my problem that you are spectacularly unobservant when your attentions are elsewhere."
"That's a pretty little speech brother, but you see, I know that it's not entirely true. You have left your room, yes, but you don't go past the library and you haven't even thought about heading back out into the Wyldwood. You've been here what, three weeks? Four? That's a long time for you to stay cooped up here Ash."
"Have you considered the idea that maybe I'm relishing sleeping in a bed rather than on the floor?" I ask calmly, despite my heart rate picking up slightly. I hadn't given much thought to my behaviour over the last few weeks while Meghan has been unconscious; I've been too worried about her. Of course Rowan would notice I kept to myself even more than usual. He's almost as bad as Mab with his spies. They're everywhere and I should have known he'd have someone watching me. I'm just lucky I seem to have gotten away with sneaking into Meghan's room those few times I just couldn't stay away any longer.
"It's never seemed to bother you before," Rowan says, tipping the rest of the alcohol back in one go.
"No, I've just never mentioned it to you. It might surprise you to know Rowan that every couple of centuries, I do begin to crave sleeping in a bed, rather than on the floor of a cave. There, does that please you?" He laughs darkly.
"No need to be so testy little brother, I was just asking." I push away from the wall, my nerves on edge.
"Yes, well, in future Rowan, don't." I walk away from my brother before he has chance to reply. I head around the edge of the castle, keeping an eye out for Meghan and Sage. Sage's presence has unsettled me. He normally doesn't get too involved in the feuds between Rowan and I, after so long with both of us, he's found it easier to just stay out of the way until everything blows over and we've gone back to silently glaring at each other. For him to actively seek Meghan out - the person who has caused yet another...disagreement, between me and Rowan is unlike him. And it worries me. I don't have to walk for long before I get a lead. A shriek comes from within the palace, followed by someone (Tiaothin?) screaming,
"He's dead! He's dead! Prince Sage has been killed!" I freeze in place for a moment. Sage, dead? He can't be. I've never been disillusioned - I know my oldest brother isn't invincible, but he puts up a good front. For someone to get through the guards AND his wolf and then him? They would have to be an incredible marksman. It doesn't take a second more for my brain to wander to the one person I've actually been searching for all this time and for my heart to miss a beat. Meghan was with Sage. If Sage is dead then...is Meghan dead too? That thought propels me forward, back the way I've come towards the entrance where a steady stream of fey are pushing their way through the doors, all thoughts of celebrating the changing of the seasons pushed aside for a moment. I push my way through the doors and follow the crowds to the throne room, hoping to catch Meghan before Mab and Rowan arrives. Elbowing my way into the room though, I realise I'm too late - Rowan has already arrived and his guards are pinning Meghan between them. She's shouting something at my brother but he doesn't pay attention to her. Instead he stands over our oldest brother, no emotion on his face. He could be looking at anyone and for one second, I let the anger I didn't know I carried until I met Meghan consume me. I might not like most of the Seelie fey, but they at least would show some sort of remorse or emotion at the death of one of their royalty. We don't. Unseelie shout and yell but not because Sage is dead – because he died in the castle. Right under their nose. For one second, I hope for the impossible. For Mab to come in and show some sort of emotion for her lost son because, while Sage and I were never close, he helped me out more than I will ever care to admit, especially when I was younger. I will never be able to repay him. Almost as if my thoughts has conjured her, Mab steps through the door, killing the shouts of the fey around me. I press closer to the wall so that she doesn't spot me. I know that she won't cry or mourn her son, not really, but she will be mad. And when my mother is mad, it's best for everyone to stay out of her way. New icicles start forming from the ceiling as she walks through the room, parting the crowd effortlessly. She bends over her dead son, her face as expressionless as her now oldest son. From my vantage point, I see her mouth something, but I'm too far away to see what. I don't have to wonder for long though.
She screams, shattering the ice that has spread across the room, making everyone in the crowd, including me, duck from the flying shards. Beside me, the floor cracks, a hole opening up, dropping several unfortunate fey into the darkness. They might be the lucky ones.
"Oberon!" She screams and even from here I can see the crazy gleam in her eyes. "He did this! This is his revenge! Oh, Summer will pay! They will pay until they are screaming for mercy, but they will find no pity among the Winter Court! We will repay this heinous act in kind, my subjects! Prepare for war!" My stomach drops. I don't know who killed Sage, but I'm pretty sure Oberon wasn't behind it – he has nothing to gain from Sage's death. Oberon may be a lot of things, but he isn't stupid enough to start a war with Winter over this.
"No!" Meghan says, her voice almost lost in the yells. But I hear her. And my stomach drops in fear when she fights her way out of the guards grip and stumbles forward.
"Don't do it Meghan," I mutter to myself. "Mab is not in the mood to be dealing with you right now. You're going to end up getting yourself killed and I won't be able to stop it."
But, of course, my stubborn, naïve Meghan doesn't stop to think about the logic of what she's about to do. She just does it. Not for the first time, I curse the effect Goodfellow has probably had on Meghan's personality.
"Queen Mab," I gasps, and I curse as she flinches back when Mab turns to face her. "Please, listen to me! Oberon didn't do this! The Summer Court didn't kill Sage, it was the Iron King. The Iron fey did this!" The logic falls into place in my mind. Oberon has no need for the sceptre – the changing of the seasons happens twice a year after all and six months in the grand scheme of things is not long at all to wait. But the Iron King – or whoever is running the Iron fey now – would love to get their hands on that power. By taking the sceptre from us, whoever has it will cause chaos, both here and in the human world. It's a sure fire way of getting the two courts to fight against each other. Everyone knows it doesn't take much to set the courts against each other. Of course, Mab doesn't know this.
"Be silent!" She hisses at Meghan, making me wince. "I will not listen to your pathetic attempts to protect your wretched family, not when the Summer King threatened me in my own court. Your sire has murdered my son, and you will be silent, or I will forget myself and give him an eye for an eye!" I beg Meghan to take note of the dismissal that is clear to everyone else in the room. Everyone that is, except Meghan.
"But, it's true!" She continues, glancing around the room. I know she's looking for me, but I can't help her now. Not without revealing how much she means to me. Instead I shrink back into the shadows although my heart aches to do it. I'm not expecting her to turn to Rowan though – desperate times and all that. "Rowan, please. Help me out. I'm not lying, you know I'm not." I bite back a groan because she's just given the perfect opening. Indeed, Rowan curls his mouth into his trade mark smirk and says,
"It isn't nice to deceive the queen, Princess," he said, looking grim apart from the sneer in his eyes. "If these Iron fey were a threat, we would have seen them by now, don't you think?"
"But they do exist!" She says, panic consuming her voice now. "I've seen them, and they are a threat!" I turned back to Mab. "What about the huge, fire-breathing iron horse that almost killed your son? You don't think that's a threat? Call Ash, he was there when we fought Ironhorse and Machina. He'll back me up." This time I can't quite conceal the groan. Why? Why did she have to bring me up? Mab is already questioning my sanity after that tedious journey across the Nevernever on the search for the Iron Kingdom, she doesn't need reminding of that now.
"Enough!" Mab screeches, whirling to face Meghan and I know in my heart what is about to happen now. "Half-breed, you go too far! Your line has already robbed me of a son, and you will not touch another! I know you seek to turn my youngest against me with your blasphemous claims of love, and I will not have it!" She pointed a manicured nail at me, and a flare of blue-white shot between us as I stumbled back. You will be silent, once and for all!" I don't want to watch but I can't look away as the ice grips Meghan's feet and quickly climbs her legs. My heart breaks when I see understanding shoot across her face as she realises what is happening. A fate that I wouldn't wish on Robin Goodfellow – which is saying something. Mab turns away once Meghan is completely encased, to face the crowds.
"Make ready my subjects! The war with Summer starts now!" The crowd cheers, Meghan completely forgotten, as they sweep me back out of the door, leaving her behind. She's just another statue in the throne room now. I let them take me, blending with the crowd until I can duck down a corridor. I watch the fey stream past in the cover of darkness, my mind reeling. It's no longer safe for Meghan – not that it was particularly safe for her in the first place – but now she's made a real enemy of Mab and with Winter declaring war on Summer, she's the first one to be killed if she doesn't leave. Even if she wasn't now on every Unseelie fey's hit list, I'm not going to just leave her in that prison. Once the crowds have disappeared, I duck back down the corridor to the throne room. I stand in the doorway for a second, looking at the ice encasing the girl I've fallen for and I murmur an apology for everything that has happened to her, and everything I'm going to have to do after this. I take a breath and hurry across the floor, resting a hand against the ice.
"Meghan, it's me." I'm not entirely sure why I've just stated the obvious to her, even in this state she'll be able to tell who it is. I see a flicker of hope dance in her eyes as she looks back at me. "Hang on," I say, pressing my forehead against the glass. It seems strange to expose my emotions like this but for her…well, she deserves this much. "I'm getting you out of there," I pull back and rest both hands against the ice, closing my eyes as I pull on the glamour, forcing it into the ice until it breaks like glass shattering. Meghan falls onto her knees, coughing up water and gasping heavily. I kneel beside her, pulling her to my chest tightly. Once she's got her breath back a little, I reluctantly pull away, tugging off my coat and dropping it onto her shoulders, my heart warming slightly when she pulls it closer. At least I can do something to help her. "Can you walk?" I ask her, my voice betraying urgency rather than love and gentleness, emotions she probably needs more of right now. Oh well. "We have to get out of here, now."
I'm so sorry about the delay. I've only just got Word on my new laptop so I've been writing this directly on FanFiction and every time I finished it and went to save it, my internet went and I lost most of it! I'm not too happy with the ending of this and there will definitely be a Part 2 - this is a really long chapter! What I think I'm going to do is write a few chapters and then upload them in bulk so it might take me longer to update, but when I do you can binge read chapters - who doesn't love a good binge read? Please tell me what you think guys and, fingers crossed I'll have another update soon! xxx
