Title: Of Courts and Consequences (1/?)
Author: Ravynsword
Date: March 19, 2004
Rating: PG for some implied violence.
Disclaimer: Usual stuff. Don't own, never will. No harm intended, nothing to get if you do sue me but an obnoxious cat and energetic yellow lab.
Note: Even on the Hellmouth, there are a few surprises left.
*****
Chapter One
"Do you purposely do stuff to get yourself tossed out of court?" laughed the petite silver-haired girl to the woman walking beside her down the pathway of a formal garden. The two were a study in contrasts. One was slight of stature with short silvery white-blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and dressed in a light pearl colored gown. The other was much taller and had raven-black hair past her waist, silver grey eyes, and tended to dress in darker shades, such as the crimson gown she wore. Up ahead, the two could see a sandy-haired man who looked about their age waiting for them by the exit from the garden.
"I don't know, Ashe, sometimes I think I do and sometimes it just happens," answered the dark-haired woman as she swept her hair out of her face in the light breeze that played through the bushes around them. The two friends wound their way through the garden maze behind the crystalline palace of the Seelie Court of Faerie.
Queen Titania had the maze built to mimic one she had once seen at a mortal court. The outer edges of the maze were a riot of colors from the various flowers planted there, but the center was a large hedge-maze where many of the Fae came to rendezvous with their lovers. The friends used it as a way to keep from being tracked by the queen's guards. They considered it too much of a hassle to try to keep up with them.
Rhiannon, the darker haired of the two had, once again, gotten herself told to find anywhere else to be but at court. Apparently, the noble who had found all of her green gowns turned into moss was quite upset at what the girls considered an innocent prank. No sense of humor, they thought.
As a result, Titania, Queen of the Seelie Court of Faerie had suggested, firmly, that her granddaughter should find something else to occupy her time at court. Something, that is, that would keep her out of sight and, hopefully, out of mind of the various nobles her second oldest grandchild had upset over the years.
Nearing the entrance to the maze, the two women met up with the third member of their rambunctious trio. Seamus was somewhere between the two women in height and had long, pale brown hair the color of a fawn. With his tan skin and the deep green clothing he preferred, he looked like a creature from the forests. He stood as Ashe and Rhiannon joined him, wondering what all the ruckus he had heard from the garden had been. Of course, it was probably some prank designed by Rhi. The formality of court, any court, bored her silly, so she acted up to relieve the boredom…and he and Ashe went right along with her.
"So, what was it this time? No one turned sourpuss's wine into ink again, did they?" he asked with a grin as they drew even with him.
"No," answered Ashe, "Miss Creative here turned her court gown into moss, complete with water and a beetle or two." The three of them laughed. "Now, we're to find some sort of endeavor to keep ourselves occupied until everything has cooled off."
"With the water, she shouldn't be that warm to begin with," retorted Rhiannon. Stopping in the path, her eyes widened and then narrowed. Ashe and Seamus had seen this before. Trouble was on the way! The only time they saw that face was when Rhi had thought up some scheme. They only hoped it was far away from the court. For all their beauty, the Seelie could be pretty ugly when it came to their ideas about honor and insult.
"I know that look," the boy said. "It means we're about to get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble."
"So, what else is new for you three?" came a voice from the other side of the hedge. After a moment, a slender, black haired man came around the corner. His eyes were such a dark blue; they would have been black if not for the little gold-colored flecks that made them look like pieces of lapis. He wore midnight blue trews and a tunic flecked with silver to accentuate his eyes and his hair was tied back with a silver clip. The three relaxed when they recognized him.
"Van, what are you doing this side of Underhill? Last I heard, you were running with the Unseelie, just like your mother," asked Ashe. The newcomer looked at them as a slight smile graced his face.
"Yes, but my father is Seelie. I came to see him. He still looks lost. He has since Grania left. I know, he was forced to give her up, but I still think it would have been better to either let them be together or to just give him a final death. More merciful than this blasted fading he's been allowing himself!"
"He was forbidden to find her once she was gone. You know than Van. No one can go against the queen's orders." Seamus calmly said. They all felt pity for the other Elf's father. He was well liked by the young trio, being as much a misfit as the three of them were. Many of their 'banishments' had been spent listening to him play.
"Aye," began Rhiannon with a considering tone to her voice. "HE was forbidden to look for her. The queen never said anything about anyone ELSE looking, now, did she?" Ashe and Seamus groaned while Van thought about what she had said.
"You're right. No one else was banned, just my father. But he was the only one who might have looked. I was still in training with the warriors of the Unseelie Court. I didn't know about it until later."
"Does your father still have that locket Grania gave him?" Rhiannon asked.
"Aye, I have never seen him take it off. Just sits there when he's not performing and stares at it."
"So, if we find Grania, do you think he'd want her back? Or to at least talk to her?"
"I know he would. He still weeps her name when he's in his cups."
"Well, my friends, I do believe we have an 'endeavor' to keep us occupied far from court. Let's have at it!" The leader of their little group gleefully headed off, a new quest in mind. Grinning and shaking their heads, the other three quickly moved through the eternal twilight of Underhill to catch up with her. Sometimes, though, you should be careful what you look for…
****
"Stop it! Don't hurt her anymore! You're bigger than her and you could kill her!" The young man stood up to the older one that had been beating the red headed woman who still cowered in the corner of the small, cluttered living room. The lad, who was in his late teens or early twenties, had come to the house to see if his mother wanted to go out for lunch. Instead, he found his father beating her, again. This time, however, he was angry enough to try to stop him. The older man had spent years living in the bottom of a bottle and taking his anger and frustration out on his wife and son. The emergency room at the local hospital was never sure if each time they saw the woman and boy would be the last.
"Your whore of a mother is refusing her wifely duties," Zach Harris slurred out with a leer. "If you're so protective, you can give me what she won't!" Xander punched his father in the jaw and froze in terror at what he had done. If nothing had gotten him killed so far, that probably would. Sure enough, he hit Xander with a roundhouse that put him on the floor.
"That's it, you son of a whore! I've had enough, and you're finally gonna get what's coming to you!" Zach pulled a baseball bat from the corner behind him and lifted it to strike the younger man.
The blow never fell. Xander heard a grunt and looked up. In front of him was a black-haired woman who held his father's arm in a vise-like grip. Daring to look around, Xander saw three other strangers in his mother's house. One was a tall man with dark hair that looked familiar for some reason. He stared at Zach with such hatred that it made Xander vow never to be on his bad side. By his mother, he saw a smaller woman with pale white-blond hair. Not the color of Spike's bleach-blonde, but a true white-blonde. She appeared to be checking to see if his mother was injured. On his mother's other side, he saw a man closer to his size and looking almost the same age with pale brown hair and dark brown skin. His mother seemed to know most of them. Before he could ask any questions, the woman in front of him spoke.
"Lady Grania, is this boy the child of your husband?" His mother shook her head, then answered again, aloud. When she answered, the dark haired man looked at Xander, then at Zach Harris and hissed. Xander could have sworn his eyes started to glow.
"Allow me to put the dog down, Lady," he growled. The sound was different from anything Xander had ever heard. It almost echoed. Even vampires' growls didn't echo.
"Van, get Lady Grania and her son out of here and somewhere they consider safe. Ashe, fetch the bard. This has gone on long enough! I dare even the queen to interfere now." If Xander had been nervous before, this woman's voice made his blood run cold. Thankfully, she wanted his mother and him somewhere safe. He just couldn't figure out why she kept referring to his mom as "Grania."
The black haired man looked as if he would argue, but decided against it after looking at the woman. He bowed to his mother and helped Xander up from the floor where his father's punch had left him. Quietly, he told Mrs. Harris to gather up only what she truly wanted to keep from the house. When he asked if Xander wanted anything, he just shook his head. Anything that held happy memories was either at Willow's or Buffy's; there was nothing he wanted in this house. Outside, he was told to lead the way to somewhere he considered safe. It only took him a moment or two to head off in the direction of the Watcher's house, still confused about this latest turn in his life. Part of the way there, the taller man grabbed his arm and looked at his head, anger more evident every moment.
"Lady Grania, I know you have lived here for many years, but why did you let them mutilate your son?" asked the dark haired man.
"Mutilate?" she asked. She looked at Xander, bewildered. He looked the same as he always had.
"There are scars. Someone has bobbed his ears! How could you allow someone to bob his ears?"
"Zach told me that Xander had been born with a birth defect, but that they had corrected it before we left the hospital. I never asked what the defect was. They cut his ears?" She wept a strangled sob while Xander looked between the two of them, confusion evident on his face.
"I didn't know, Van, I swear I didn't know," she sobbed.
"Look at the sweep. He would have had glorious ears. Females of both Courts would have vied for him. Why did you not tell him you were with child?"
"Would it have made a difference?"
"Yes!" argued the taller man. As he shook his head in frustration, Xander noticed long, upswept ears for the first time.
"Holy shit! What are you? A…a Vulcan… or some kind of alien?" The other man chuckled.
"No, I am no 'Vulcan', I am Lavandel, noble of the Unseelie Court of Faerie. And," he looked pointedly at Xander's mother, "I am apparently your older brother. What is your full name, so I don't have to refer to you as lad?"
"Alexander Lavelle Harris," Xander answered.
"So, you do have part of father's name. Still a tragedy about your ears, you would have had to use charms to keep the ladies away from you, if they were what they should have been."
"Mom, Zachary isn't my father?" His mother shook her head. "You're telling me that my father is a…a…an ELF?" He was shouting before he finished. "And why is everyone calling you 'Grania'?"
"Your biological father is a lesser noble of the Seelie Court. Lavandel is his son by a noble of the Unseelie Court, so he is your half brother. Grania is the old Celtic form of my name, Grace," the woman sighed and looked at her son. "I never told you because Queen Titania had forbidden your father to look for me once he was ordered to give up his human lover. She was trying to 'encourage' the shee to have full-blooded children. I didn't think there would ever be a reason to tell you when nothing could come of it." Now she turned toward Van.
"So, what has changed that the queen sends warriors to find me? Tearing us apart wasn't enough for her?" Van stepped back at the anger in the woman's expression.
"The queen has no idea we're here. Neither does King Oberon. Rhi got herself kicked out again and told to find herself an 'endeavor'. She likes my father and decided to find you. As she pointed out to us, Lavellan was the only one forbidden to look for you. Ashe, Seamus, and I came along for the adventure. Rhiannon has sent Ashe to fetch my father. He has taken to fading because he doesn't think a long life is worth it without you."
"Fading!" Grace gasped. "He can't, that's death for a Fae. Do you think Ashe will be able to convince him to come?"
"She can, if anyone," came the response from behind the group. The taller woman from his house approached them. "Lady Grania, I am please to see you, though I am sorry for the circumstances." She turned towards Xander, "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Rhiannon Zephyr MacUriel. And, from what I've overheard, your cousin. Now, shall we head for your safe house before dark? This place appears to be on a Hellmouth. As interesting as that is, I'm not in any mood to have to fight nightwalkers tonight."
With that, they continued to head for Rupert Giles' apartment. Xander had no idea what he would say to the watcher when he appeared on the doorstep with his mother and elves. Only in Sunnydale!
Author: Ravynsword
Date: March 19, 2004
Rating: PG for some implied violence.
Disclaimer: Usual stuff. Don't own, never will. No harm intended, nothing to get if you do sue me but an obnoxious cat and energetic yellow lab.
Note: Even on the Hellmouth, there are a few surprises left.
*****
Chapter One
"Do you purposely do stuff to get yourself tossed out of court?" laughed the petite silver-haired girl to the woman walking beside her down the pathway of a formal garden. The two were a study in contrasts. One was slight of stature with short silvery white-blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and dressed in a light pearl colored gown. The other was much taller and had raven-black hair past her waist, silver grey eyes, and tended to dress in darker shades, such as the crimson gown she wore. Up ahead, the two could see a sandy-haired man who looked about their age waiting for them by the exit from the garden.
"I don't know, Ashe, sometimes I think I do and sometimes it just happens," answered the dark-haired woman as she swept her hair out of her face in the light breeze that played through the bushes around them. The two friends wound their way through the garden maze behind the crystalline palace of the Seelie Court of Faerie.
Queen Titania had the maze built to mimic one she had once seen at a mortal court. The outer edges of the maze were a riot of colors from the various flowers planted there, but the center was a large hedge-maze where many of the Fae came to rendezvous with their lovers. The friends used it as a way to keep from being tracked by the queen's guards. They considered it too much of a hassle to try to keep up with them.
Rhiannon, the darker haired of the two had, once again, gotten herself told to find anywhere else to be but at court. Apparently, the noble who had found all of her green gowns turned into moss was quite upset at what the girls considered an innocent prank. No sense of humor, they thought.
As a result, Titania, Queen of the Seelie Court of Faerie had suggested, firmly, that her granddaughter should find something else to occupy her time at court. Something, that is, that would keep her out of sight and, hopefully, out of mind of the various nobles her second oldest grandchild had upset over the years.
Nearing the entrance to the maze, the two women met up with the third member of their rambunctious trio. Seamus was somewhere between the two women in height and had long, pale brown hair the color of a fawn. With his tan skin and the deep green clothing he preferred, he looked like a creature from the forests. He stood as Ashe and Rhiannon joined him, wondering what all the ruckus he had heard from the garden had been. Of course, it was probably some prank designed by Rhi. The formality of court, any court, bored her silly, so she acted up to relieve the boredom…and he and Ashe went right along with her.
"So, what was it this time? No one turned sourpuss's wine into ink again, did they?" he asked with a grin as they drew even with him.
"No," answered Ashe, "Miss Creative here turned her court gown into moss, complete with water and a beetle or two." The three of them laughed. "Now, we're to find some sort of endeavor to keep ourselves occupied until everything has cooled off."
"With the water, she shouldn't be that warm to begin with," retorted Rhiannon. Stopping in the path, her eyes widened and then narrowed. Ashe and Seamus had seen this before. Trouble was on the way! The only time they saw that face was when Rhi had thought up some scheme. They only hoped it was far away from the court. For all their beauty, the Seelie could be pretty ugly when it came to their ideas about honor and insult.
"I know that look," the boy said. "It means we're about to get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble."
"So, what else is new for you three?" came a voice from the other side of the hedge. After a moment, a slender, black haired man came around the corner. His eyes were such a dark blue; they would have been black if not for the little gold-colored flecks that made them look like pieces of lapis. He wore midnight blue trews and a tunic flecked with silver to accentuate his eyes and his hair was tied back with a silver clip. The three relaxed when they recognized him.
"Van, what are you doing this side of Underhill? Last I heard, you were running with the Unseelie, just like your mother," asked Ashe. The newcomer looked at them as a slight smile graced his face.
"Yes, but my father is Seelie. I came to see him. He still looks lost. He has since Grania left. I know, he was forced to give her up, but I still think it would have been better to either let them be together or to just give him a final death. More merciful than this blasted fading he's been allowing himself!"
"He was forbidden to find her once she was gone. You know than Van. No one can go against the queen's orders." Seamus calmly said. They all felt pity for the other Elf's father. He was well liked by the young trio, being as much a misfit as the three of them were. Many of their 'banishments' had been spent listening to him play.
"Aye," began Rhiannon with a considering tone to her voice. "HE was forbidden to look for her. The queen never said anything about anyone ELSE looking, now, did she?" Ashe and Seamus groaned while Van thought about what she had said.
"You're right. No one else was banned, just my father. But he was the only one who might have looked. I was still in training with the warriors of the Unseelie Court. I didn't know about it until later."
"Does your father still have that locket Grania gave him?" Rhiannon asked.
"Aye, I have never seen him take it off. Just sits there when he's not performing and stares at it."
"So, if we find Grania, do you think he'd want her back? Or to at least talk to her?"
"I know he would. He still weeps her name when he's in his cups."
"Well, my friends, I do believe we have an 'endeavor' to keep us occupied far from court. Let's have at it!" The leader of their little group gleefully headed off, a new quest in mind. Grinning and shaking their heads, the other three quickly moved through the eternal twilight of Underhill to catch up with her. Sometimes, though, you should be careful what you look for…
****
"Stop it! Don't hurt her anymore! You're bigger than her and you could kill her!" The young man stood up to the older one that had been beating the red headed woman who still cowered in the corner of the small, cluttered living room. The lad, who was in his late teens or early twenties, had come to the house to see if his mother wanted to go out for lunch. Instead, he found his father beating her, again. This time, however, he was angry enough to try to stop him. The older man had spent years living in the bottom of a bottle and taking his anger and frustration out on his wife and son. The emergency room at the local hospital was never sure if each time they saw the woman and boy would be the last.
"Your whore of a mother is refusing her wifely duties," Zach Harris slurred out with a leer. "If you're so protective, you can give me what she won't!" Xander punched his father in the jaw and froze in terror at what he had done. If nothing had gotten him killed so far, that probably would. Sure enough, he hit Xander with a roundhouse that put him on the floor.
"That's it, you son of a whore! I've had enough, and you're finally gonna get what's coming to you!" Zach pulled a baseball bat from the corner behind him and lifted it to strike the younger man.
The blow never fell. Xander heard a grunt and looked up. In front of him was a black-haired woman who held his father's arm in a vise-like grip. Daring to look around, Xander saw three other strangers in his mother's house. One was a tall man with dark hair that looked familiar for some reason. He stared at Zach with such hatred that it made Xander vow never to be on his bad side. By his mother, he saw a smaller woman with pale white-blond hair. Not the color of Spike's bleach-blonde, but a true white-blonde. She appeared to be checking to see if his mother was injured. On his mother's other side, he saw a man closer to his size and looking almost the same age with pale brown hair and dark brown skin. His mother seemed to know most of them. Before he could ask any questions, the woman in front of him spoke.
"Lady Grania, is this boy the child of your husband?" His mother shook her head, then answered again, aloud. When she answered, the dark haired man looked at Xander, then at Zach Harris and hissed. Xander could have sworn his eyes started to glow.
"Allow me to put the dog down, Lady," he growled. The sound was different from anything Xander had ever heard. It almost echoed. Even vampires' growls didn't echo.
"Van, get Lady Grania and her son out of here and somewhere they consider safe. Ashe, fetch the bard. This has gone on long enough! I dare even the queen to interfere now." If Xander had been nervous before, this woman's voice made his blood run cold. Thankfully, she wanted his mother and him somewhere safe. He just couldn't figure out why she kept referring to his mom as "Grania."
The black haired man looked as if he would argue, but decided against it after looking at the woman. He bowed to his mother and helped Xander up from the floor where his father's punch had left him. Quietly, he told Mrs. Harris to gather up only what she truly wanted to keep from the house. When he asked if Xander wanted anything, he just shook his head. Anything that held happy memories was either at Willow's or Buffy's; there was nothing he wanted in this house. Outside, he was told to lead the way to somewhere he considered safe. It only took him a moment or two to head off in the direction of the Watcher's house, still confused about this latest turn in his life. Part of the way there, the taller man grabbed his arm and looked at his head, anger more evident every moment.
"Lady Grania, I know you have lived here for many years, but why did you let them mutilate your son?" asked the dark haired man.
"Mutilate?" she asked. She looked at Xander, bewildered. He looked the same as he always had.
"There are scars. Someone has bobbed his ears! How could you allow someone to bob his ears?"
"Zach told me that Xander had been born with a birth defect, but that they had corrected it before we left the hospital. I never asked what the defect was. They cut his ears?" She wept a strangled sob while Xander looked between the two of them, confusion evident on his face.
"I didn't know, Van, I swear I didn't know," she sobbed.
"Look at the sweep. He would have had glorious ears. Females of both Courts would have vied for him. Why did you not tell him you were with child?"
"Would it have made a difference?"
"Yes!" argued the taller man. As he shook his head in frustration, Xander noticed long, upswept ears for the first time.
"Holy shit! What are you? A…a Vulcan… or some kind of alien?" The other man chuckled.
"No, I am no 'Vulcan', I am Lavandel, noble of the Unseelie Court of Faerie. And," he looked pointedly at Xander's mother, "I am apparently your older brother. What is your full name, so I don't have to refer to you as lad?"
"Alexander Lavelle Harris," Xander answered.
"So, you do have part of father's name. Still a tragedy about your ears, you would have had to use charms to keep the ladies away from you, if they were what they should have been."
"Mom, Zachary isn't my father?" His mother shook her head. "You're telling me that my father is a…a…an ELF?" He was shouting before he finished. "And why is everyone calling you 'Grania'?"
"Your biological father is a lesser noble of the Seelie Court. Lavandel is his son by a noble of the Unseelie Court, so he is your half brother. Grania is the old Celtic form of my name, Grace," the woman sighed and looked at her son. "I never told you because Queen Titania had forbidden your father to look for me once he was ordered to give up his human lover. She was trying to 'encourage' the shee to have full-blooded children. I didn't think there would ever be a reason to tell you when nothing could come of it." Now she turned toward Van.
"So, what has changed that the queen sends warriors to find me? Tearing us apart wasn't enough for her?" Van stepped back at the anger in the woman's expression.
"The queen has no idea we're here. Neither does King Oberon. Rhi got herself kicked out again and told to find herself an 'endeavor'. She likes my father and decided to find you. As she pointed out to us, Lavellan was the only one forbidden to look for you. Ashe, Seamus, and I came along for the adventure. Rhiannon has sent Ashe to fetch my father. He has taken to fading because he doesn't think a long life is worth it without you."
"Fading!" Grace gasped. "He can't, that's death for a Fae. Do you think Ashe will be able to convince him to come?"
"She can, if anyone," came the response from behind the group. The taller woman from his house approached them. "Lady Grania, I am please to see you, though I am sorry for the circumstances." She turned towards Xander, "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Rhiannon Zephyr MacUriel. And, from what I've overheard, your cousin. Now, shall we head for your safe house before dark? This place appears to be on a Hellmouth. As interesting as that is, I'm not in any mood to have to fight nightwalkers tonight."
With that, they continued to head for Rupert Giles' apartment. Xander had no idea what he would say to the watcher when he appeared on the doorstep with his mother and elves. Only in Sunnydale!
