The Winter Lady appeared in the short of overt, wasteful, and incautious display of power I'd come to expect from Winter's heir apparent. The water of the arboretum froze in an instant, the sudden explosion of heat from the room turning the balmy climate into a subarctic snowscape. What had previously been humidity in the air coalesced into angry clouds, sleet and hail pelting the ground.

I would have expected the cold to be just one hurt to add to the litany I was currently undergoing, but I barely noticed it. Winter's touch upon my mantle welcomed the cold - the sleet upon my skin a welcome balm against the pain of crucifixion.

Maeve was as I had seen her at the battle for the stone table in fairie. Her dreadlocks were tightly bound so as to provide minimal opportunities for someone to grab them but battle had since knocked several of them loose. They hung down over the stylized, snowflake like armor - a rainbow of blue across what had once been pure white.

They were pure white no longer. Her gauntlets and breast plate were stained red with the coppery shades of frozen human blood. Lloyd Slate's blood unless I missed my guess.

It occurred to me that it was odd that Mab had been the one to have Lloyd Slate with her when the offer had been made to make me the Winter Knight. I hadn't really thought about in the moment, but it had been Maeve who hired Lloyd. That meant that he'd betrayed Maeve as much as he'd betrayed Mab. Hell's bells, probably more than Mab. Aurora was Maeve's direct opposite in Fairy.

Siding with her wouldn't just have been treason, it would have been public humiliation. She should have been obligated to mete out vengeance at a scale commensurate with that insult before her mother would even consider interfering in her daughter's efforts to balance the scales.

So either Maeve had been unable to deal with that debt of vengeance owed, or there had been an even more important debt to her than the defection of the Winter Knight.

My eyes narrowed at that, several details connecting in my head as a plan began to form. My plotting was interrupted by the literal apple that Koschei pulled from his pocket and wedged deep enough into my mouth that I couldn't bite down. My eyes bulged as he plopped my head down onto a literal, silver platter - serving me up to the woman standing in the middle of the glowing circle.

"Winter Lady, I believe introductions are in order." Koschei bowed deeply. "I am Koschei, Lord of Buyan."

Maeve's exaggerated eye roll managed to combine contempt, exhaustion, boredom, and confusion into seconds. She pulled a white cloth from her belt and wiped at the blood coating her armor, the frozen crimson melting as she ran the silk over it. "Uncle… must you go through this exhausting process with every Winter Lady?"

Koschei's lip twitched, the madness in his eyes pronounced as he clutched the silver platter hard enough for it to bend under his fingers. His voice never wavered as he talked but it held the mad tenor to it that had marked his fits back in Archangel. "Child - I tolerate that you have adopted the role of my niece, but you are not her."

"Semantics." Maeve scoffed. "I am Maeve, your niece."

"You are not my niece." Koschei snarled, unable to contain a screech of contempt. Family drama dating back to pre-history coloring his words, the Deathless one's voice went deadly quiet. "You can't just replace family."

"No? Odd that you've elected to discard it so readily then, Uncle." Maeve cocked her hips, grinning with devil may care glee. "Do you have any idea what you've taken me from? This insult will not be easily forgotten by our Queen or the Mothers. But I suppose you've made a policy of insulting them at every chance you get."

Koschei grinned wolfishly. "I had no idea that summoning you would inconvenience your mother. I wouldn't dare to involve myself in matters from which I've been excluded by Winter Law."

"You've missed your window to do harm rather than insult, Uncle." Maeve cackled. The frozen surface of the lake cracked and shifted under the weight of her malice, spikes and spires of frost rising out like serrated stalagmites. "Winter is victorious. The table is ours. And not only have we won that prissy little bitch Aurora is dead as a doornail. And once you break this circle I will return to revel in my victory before you've so much as considered doing me actual harm."

"Then, Lady Maeve, allow me to sweeten the glory of victory." Koschei lifted the platter, jostling my severed head as he held it out to her. "Consider this a testament to your victory."

"And why should I accept a present from you dear Uncle?" Maeve gestured to my crucified form on the tree. My armored body was trapped in an agonized rictus of mortal pain. Star flecked galaxies bled out from my body, seeping across my skin to turn to vapor as they touched the frozen ground. The billowing vapor shimmered, stars and planets hovering in the mist as they returned to my crucified flesh. "What assurance do I have that I will not end up positioned on that tree?"

"Maeve, I offer you a pledge of safe conduct. For the next day I will make no attempt to harm you by action or inaction as long as you stand within my arboretum." He bowed graciously. "You are my guest and will suffer no undue harm."

Maeve considered that for a moment. "And that creature - who is he?"

"Heka, my lady." I don't know if that smile could have been more creepy if I'd also been able to see the erection that I was positive accompanied it as Koschei spoke. "He who is owed most glorious torment at your hands."

It was probably the skeeviest thing I'd ever heard spoken. Or at least it was right up till Maeve replied with a single word that spoke volumes. "Heka."

The Winter Lady's pupils dilated reflexively, matching the purr of lust in her voice as she spoke that name. There are entire schools of magic that had less power to them than that word did. Obligation, rage, and the lust for vengeance played upon her frosty lips. "I would have your pledge that once you have given me him, you will do nothing to prevent me from giving him what is owed, Lord Koschei. Heka caused my predecessor great hurt. I will not tolerate any interruptions in the settlement of debts owed for old hurts upon my station."

Koschei clackled madly as he broke the circle by passing the platter over the summoning circle. "Done."

My heart raced furiously as lithe fingers grabbed me by the head, holding me up to eye level so that I could stare into the merciless pits of the Winter Lady. She disregarded Koschei entirely as she addressed my head, talons of ice extending from her armored gauntlets. She sliced away a piece of the apple in my mouth, popping it into her ice-blue lips. I listened to it shatter between her teeth, the sub-zero of her body turning it solid in seconds.

"I am not the master of torture my mother is, Lord Warden." Maeve purred, licking bits of frozen apple from her lips. "I am not fond of waiting. I have neither the patience nor the inclination to make pain last for the ages. But for the hurt done at Djer - the insult, the humiliation, I would see the one responsible suffer for eternity and a day."

She rolled my head between her talons of ice, idly examining it from all sides. I had to clench my eyes shut to stop the dizzy unnatural feeling of my head spinning independently from my body. "I have nightmares about it sometimes. Memories from the Lady who was. She was kinder than I - better in so many ways. And just to make a point - just to prove that they were a threat to Winter's power, the Goa'uld bound her in iron and violated her with the bane. A simple cut would have proved their point but they wanted to prove that they were stronger, to own her essence as much as her flesh."

Her lips virtually frothed with rage as she cut off another slice of apple. "Do you know what that's like, Warden? To be truly helpless? To have all the power in the world but only greater pain in your future. He broke her. He wounded her so deeply that the Winter Queen was forced to kill her own daughter to save her kingdom."

She turned to Koschei, her voice quivering with near sexual anticipation. "Heka is owned more violence and retribution than every favor I could add together could have bought me. The one who delivered that vengeance upon him is owed more than I could even begin to deliver."

"We can discuss obligation later - dear niece." The family word curled from Koschei's lips with contemptuous glee. "I do have a favor in mind."

Maeve looked up at her Uncle in mock confusion. "Oh - Uncle, I'm afraid you've misunderstood."

Koschei stiffened, power pooling at his fingertips reflexively. "Misunderstood?"

"Why yes, Uncle." Maeve ripped the apple from my lips. "Because this isn't Heka."

Koschei didn't have time to screech in fury before a lance of ice the length of a city bus rocketed out of the Winter Lady's hand. The baffled deathless one skittered across the ice, his tea-kettle screech of air echoing within the arboretum as he was projected back through the razor-sharp protrusions of ice.

I felt cold lips upon mine as skin the color of frozen berries met my own, an icy wave of healing cold shimmering through me before Maeve slammed my head back atop my crucified body. I gasped in shock as my neck healed in an instant, the power of Winter invigorating me with the primal need to survive. I hissed in shock as Maeve grinned at me with victory and lust in her eyes. "Maeve?"

"Yes beloved?" Maeve purred, licking her lips in a gesture would probably have been censored on daytime TV.

"Uh - thank you?"

"A debt is owed, beloved." Maeve moaned. "We can figure out payment later. For now, get yourself off this tree. I will protect you from my Uncle."

"How?" I snarled. "I'm stuck."

"Are you a god or not?" Maeve replied, a bored tone to her voice even as she protected me from a blast of caustic black light. It detonated with horrific power against her wall of frost and Maeve interposed herself between me and her Uncle as he tried to toss another spell at me.

Koschei hissed in fury, throwing foul insults at Maeve as she continued to provide a barrier between Koschei and the tree. The Deathless One's eyes bugged out in manic hatred as she did so, unable to harm her without breaking his pledge of safe passage. That wasn't the sort of thing that beings of power did - period. It would damage their power badly, and for someone who would be pissing off a Queen of Fairy in the process, damaged was as good as dead.

I struggled against my bonds, but there was just no way that I could get out of them without doing horrific pain and damage to myself. I'd have to rip my flesh to shreds to even try. It would kill me.

Wait a second.

Stars and stones, it would have killed Harry the Wizard. But I wasn't that wizard any more - was I? I was in a lot of pain but the winter power raging through just seemed to regard that power as an annoyance. Pain that didn't kill you was just noise. Focusing on that simple truth, I bent my legs against the tree.

The Oak grasped at me, flowering branches and boughs intertwining within my organs in protest to my movement. But even in the mystical world, put enough muscle into something and it will move forward. I kicked upward, casting a blast of magical force through my feet to ensure that the job was done.

If you've never forced a sword down through your abdomen and into your groin while a tree eviscerates your flesh and organs, I would strongly suggest avoiding it. Even if you have a body that puts itself back together, it's what I would describe as a suboptimal solution.

My body re-formed mid-air and I used a gust of ensorcelled air to re-direct my fall so that my foot collided with Koschei's jaw as he made a mad grab for the mordite blade still stuck in the tree. He flattened against the ground, ploughing a deep furrow in the frozen earth with his screaming face. "Cheaters! You damned cheats!"

I was blasted back by a bolt of force, tumbling up and into the tree's outstretched branches. The Oak tried to force me down, clearly intending to impale me a second time. I snarled "Fuck that!"

I crooked my fingers, pointing the ruby foci at the tree as I let the mantle of the Warden take control as I shouted, "Fuego!"

Silver-white fire spread out across the Oaks branches, igniting every inch of it in glowing flames. The oak howled, echoing with agony as ensorcelled flames ate into it. I didn't know exactly what sort of creature of construct it was, but when it doubt - burn it to the ground.

I fell to the ground painfully, groaning as my back broke against the frozen ground. Stars flashed in my eyes as my body knit them back together.

"No!" Koschei howled, turning a block of ice into water and flinging it at the oak. It re-directed itself back onto the frozen lake from a crook of Maeve's fingers.

"No, dear Uncle - not this time." Maeve cackled. "Today is the day that I take everything from you."

"Hateful slut." Koschei crowed. He moved across the ground, quick as a flash. I lifted my foci to blast him away from it, only for a cylinder to soar through the air and collide with the Son of Winter's head. He caught it in his hands, looking down at it in momentary confusion before the flash-bang grenade exploded in the man's face. I had only an instant to cover my ears and eyes before a handheld can of sensory overload went off.

Koschei screeched in pain and fury, staggering back from the blade as Marchenko whooped with glee. I'd practically forgotten the Russian was there, but the ornery Russian wasn't about to miss an opportunity to stick it to Koschei. The Son of Winter had barely gotten his bearings before another flash-bang landed at his feet and a lance of ice flung him away from his blade.

He stood up from the icy surface of the lake, utter hatred in his voice as he said. "You fools - you think you've won? You think you've proved anything? By the time you even realize your doom it will be too late."

And then, he was gone in a billowing mess of cloaks and jewelry. He soared up and into the hole he'd cut in the ceiling to enter. As he did so there was a shift in power, a taste on the air that was sickly sweet. Everything felt heavier, as though I were moving through molasses.

I looked at the Winter Lady. "What did he just do."

"He slowed down time, of course." Maeve sighed in exasperation. "It is a very practical course. The spell will increase in power as he moves away from us. We have only moments before it will be hours or even days passing for every second we are in here."

"Hell's Bells." Koschei had been a nightmare to fight even when he hadn't had advance notice to prepare wards and spells to kill me. "Can you counter it."

"No, beloved." Maeve replied calmly. "But it is inconsequential."

"It kind of feels important." I replied. "That whole time thing is a bitch and a half."

"You are not mortal, beloved." Maeve chuckled. "It is adorable how you still think in the terms of your chattel. Koschei has all but killed himself by taking your High Priestess."

"Because it pissed me off?" I walked over to the still burning oak, yanking Koschei's bade from it and considering it idly.

"Because she is your high priestess." The Winter Lady purred in amusement, emphasizing the last two words with significant implication. "And was praying for salvation."

"And her god can be summoned to her side in an instant." I replied breathlessly, almost dropping the sword. "I - I don't know… I've never summoned my entire body further than line of sight. I've just astral projected before. I don't even know if I can."

"You are incomplete." Maeve agreed, running a gauntleted finger across my pauldron lovingly. Her voice was utter sex as she crooned. "But there is enough winter in you to allow you to move once with minimal damage."

"Define minimal." I gulped, already knowing I was going to do it regardless. Damned conscience - always getting in the way.

"I know not, your mantle will protect you but there is always a price." Maeve shrugged. "I will show you how. But before you go, there is the matter of the blade."

"About that?" I hefted the green black of the blade. "Where the hell did Koschei get this much mordite?"

"He needed the protection." Maeve shifted away from the deathstone reflexively. Apparently Koschei's ability to touch the stuff didn't come from the Fairy side of the family.

I whistled long and low. "Mordite is one hell of a self defense."

"No, beloved." Maeve giggled girlishly, playing with one of her dreadlocks in amusement. "The mordite is there to prevent others from accessing what is within the blade."

I looked down at the deathstone saber - if I were looking for a guaranteed way to keep other people from messing with something I didn't want them to touch, mordite would definitely do the job. I grabbed the blade by the hilt and smashed it against the burning oak, sending a wave of magical force up it as I did so to direct the shrapnel. The stone, made brittle by the silver fire, shattered. Deathstone projectiles hammered into the scorching oak, revealing the blade beneath it.

It looked to be a blade of medieval make, designed for war rather than to impress people with the wealth of its wielder. But the simplicity of the weapon belied the power that seemed to be within it. If anything, the mordite exterior had been there to camouflage the blade within it. My eyes bulged as I read the lettering inscribed within the blade's hilt. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Clarent, the Sword of Peace." Maeve replied. "The blade Koschei stole from Mordred."

"The fucking Coward's Blade?" How was this thing fucking scarier without the mordite. "The weapon that killed freaking King Arthur?"

"It is a weapon made by Merlin's own hand." Maeve replied. "A weapon that even a Gate Builder must fear. It is no more evil than the one who wields it."

"You are going to be murder on my PR." I groaned as I grabbed my staff off the ground.

"I will be murder for many things for you." Maeve replied in a voice that was appetizing and terrifying at once. "But for now, I will simply protect your companions and free them from the spells afflicting them. I dare not leave this room. I am no equal for Koschei."

"And I am by my freaking self? He wiped the floor with me." I groaned. "Can't you come with me?"

"No." Maeve replied, her voice utter frost. "I have given you all that I may. Forget not that I am a guest within Buyan. But you are clever. I am confident that you will prevail."

The Coward's blade felt hungry in my hand as I swallowed nervously. "How do I allow myself to be summoned?"

"Why, beloved, that is the simplest part." Maeve purred. "One simply has to truly know how to listen."