Episode 28: Part 1

It had been a day since the ferocious duel in front of the Winter Court but Laura Gremory remained in her guest room lying in bed with a blanket draped over her. One of Queen Mab's physicians had come to magically heal her wounds from the fight but she continued to brood alone, refusing to speak to anyone else. The cold air of the realm clawed at her and no matter how much she tried, she kept feeling cold both inside and out. No blankets or fires were helping the awful feeling inside of her as she lay staring up at the frozen ceiling.

She had killed Sir Tamlin in her duel. While she had earned the respect of the Winter Court and a chance to negotiate an alliance with them, at the moment she didn't care because she felt more sick instead. She didn't want to have to kill Tamlin but he forced her hand and she did it in a moment of fury. Whether that was what he wanted all along, she still couldn't be sure. All she was sure of at the moment was the eerily calm look in his eyes when she did strike the final lethal blow. At that moment, the door knocked but Laura remained where she was.

"Laura? Are you in there? Are you decent?" It was Stephen. Of all people, she especially didn't want to face him.

"Go away!" Laura called from her bed. "I don't want to talk to anyone!"

The door opened slowly and Stephen carefully entered, "Well... that's just too damn bad. I'm going to talk to you whether you like it or not."

He walked inside and looked around seeing her still in bed, "Are you all right? Are your injuries..."

"They're fine, but do I look all right to you?" Laura said irritably kicking off her covers and rolling out of bed. "Are you really going to ask me that right now?"

Stephen looked away for a moment causing her to stop and lower her head apologetically, "I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you. You must have a lot to deal with right now too."

Stephen shrugged and gave a stoic nod before turning back to her, "Yes, but I'll manage. Lord Sigurd was generous enough to let his servants handle the details of Tamlin's burial."

Laura sighed and nodded while keeping her eyes from him, "Oh, that's good then. Umm... what about the others?"

"Connor, Quinton, and Noelle are off hunting down that Fomorian assassin again. They went out this morning into the city with several patrols of Winter guards to assist them. Queen Mab seems to think that it's best we catch this troublemaker before she tries to kill anyone here too."

"She tried and failed," Laura noted ruefully, "I was the one who actually killed someone in cold blood."

"Laura..."

The Winter Knight balled her fists and looked directly at her friend before she began to break down and cry bitterly, "I'm sorry Stephen! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to kill him. I really didn't want to."

The Silver Knight slowly approached and put his arms around her in a comforting hug, "It's okay."

"No! It's not okay! Hell, I come from a noble family! I should know better! Real knights don't do those kinds of things! In a fight like that, they show restraint and honor. There are rules!"

Stephen shook his head as she continued to cry into his chest, "But the rules here are not the same as the rules in our world. Tamlin knew that and so did you. You did what had to be done."

"And I hate myself for it! I hate having been put into that situation in the first place... but most of all, I'm afraid."

Stephen frowned in confusion as she shifted in his arms, "Afraid? Of what?"

"That I might really be no better than the Winter fey after all," Laura said, "That underneath the cool and collected surface, there's just a lot of rage and savagery... savagery inside me."

He shook his head, "No. I don't believe that. If you were really like them, this wouldn't be bothering you right now. Don't you see? The fact that you care is what affirms that you're human... and a moral one too. Over the course of this past year with us, I've seen you grow and change into someone more caring and compassionate... into a good knight who wants to protect others, and into a good friend who cares about her own family here too."

"You really think so? Do you mean that?" she said while relaxing a little and sniffling.

He kissed the side of her head and continued to comfort her, "I do."

A long companionable silence passed before Laura settled down and spoke again, her cheek resting against his shoulder, "Stephen... you don't hate me, or think any less of me for what I did... do you?"

He stopped and looked down a moment, "What? No. Of course not. I mean... I'm still sad about what happened, but I don't blame you for anything. I understand, and so do the rest of our friends. They were very concerned about you too."

"Still, Tamlin was your father."

"A father I barely knew," Stephen grimaced, "I have two adopted mothers back home who raised me... parents who I love very much. I know it's a little cold of me to say, but I can't feel too upset over losing someone I didn't really know. But Tamlin did what he thought was right and in the end, tried to help us in our mission here. He was even helping you in a way too."

"He was?"

Stephen nodded, "Yeah. Consider this his test to you. I'm sure he'd want you to try and overcome this and become stronger. The people of our home and the Faerie Realm are counting on us to unify the Four Courts against Balor and we can't let them down. There are too many lives at stake for us to sit feeling sorry for ourselves over some of the tough choices we've had to make."

Laura sniffled and nodded, "I... suppose you're right about that. But, I uh... did have something else I wanted to ask you about."

"Oh? What's that?"

Laura glanced away in mild embarrassment as she dried her eyes and nose, "During the fight, Sir Tamlin may have intimated that I might have had my judgment clouded because of... well, feelings for you."

Stephen calmly watched her, "Well... do you?"

She flushed and kept her eyes averted, "What? I... I don't know! Why are you asking me such a silly question right now?"

"You were the one who brought it up, and is it really such a silly question?" he asked while she looked up at him in surprise, "If you won't talk about it, then I will because if anyone has been put under a spell, it's me! It's because I have feelings for you Laura!"

She blinked in surprise and remained frozen in place, "I... you do?"

"Yes," he nodded, "Since I met you, and seeing you hurting and torn up right now... well, it hurts me too and it makes me want to help you even more. I uh... guess I'm kinda like you in a way. I don't like to put all my feelings on display but I thought this was as good a time as any."

With growing confidence he drew her close to him and leaned down toward her. They both hesitated for a moment before Stephen caught her lips and kissed her. Gently at first, Laura reached up and touched his cheek, reciprocating the kiss and drawing him in even closer. For a long moment, the two knights stood in the warmth of each others arms sharing a fiery passionate kiss before parting and catching their breath. As they parted, Laura gave a sigh and patted her red cheeks, "Oh... wow..."

"Yeah," Stephen said with an equally flushed face, "About what happened just now..."

She put a finger to his lips to silence him, "It's okay. I wanted it too, but there's still a lot of work to be done here. Maybe... when this whole faerie war is over, we can sort this out afterward?"

"I'd like that," he nodded as they shared one more kiss before a knock at the door was heard.

Stephen and Laura quickly parted and straightened out their appearance before walking back into the common room. Once they had regained some semblance of composure, Laura called, "Enter."

The door opened and an Elven messenger entered from the doorway. He gave a quick bow of respect to the two knights before addressing Laura, "Lady Gremory, I hope you're feeling better. I've come with a message from the Queen. Once you are ready, she would like to speak with you and your companions about your bid for the alliance."

"Thank you. You can tell the Queen that Sir Stephen and I will be along in a little while."

Laura nodded and dismissed the messenger before closing the door. She turned back into the common room and looked at herself in an ice mirror while Stephen threw a log on the fireplace and poked some of the coals. She gave a thoughtful frown, "This is going to be a very important meeting. Like you said, a lot of people are going to be counting on us. I can't help but wonder about Kristen and the others..."

"They're off doing their parts to make this alliance happen right now," Stephen said reassuringly, We should trust that they'll do their job, just like they're trusting you now... and I'll be here to help."

Laura looked across the room to him before giving a faint smile and nodding quietly, "Thanks again Stephen... now, let's go win this war, shall we?"

Meanwhile, the other knights made their way into a tavern at the other end of the city. Upon entering, the three spread out and caught sight of the dryad assassin Leucifia who had been laying low since her escape from the Summer lands. She had put on a heavy dark purple cloak to try and fit in with some of the other locals while she sat alone at a table eating a meal. After getting drink from the front counter, Connor walked over and sat down at the table across from her, using the dark blue cloak he had borrowed to obscure his face. "Mind if I sit here?"

Leucifia looked up in surprise with a suspicious frown, "And just who the hell are you?"

Connor chuckled and took a sip of his drink while keeping his head down, "Oh, just someone who's been looking for you. You see... there are some very important people who'd like to talk to you."

Leucifia snorted derisively and reclined in her seat, "Oh yeah? About what?"

"About the botched hatchet job you pulled on the Summer Court. About how you tried to disrupt the peace talks there and throw me and my friends under the bus."

The dryad assassin's eyes went wide in shock as Connor slowly removed his hood, "Wait... you're human! You're one of those knights I saw in Solas."

"And I'm here to take you in. You're going to answer for your crimes against the Lord and Lady of Spring."

Leucifia kicked over the table and flipped backwards in her chair to make an escape out the side entrance of the tavern. She stopped abruptly when she saw squads of Winter soldiers close in and block the doorways forcing her to retreat back inside. Amid the commotion that now erupted in the bar, Leucifia moved to try and head for a window but she didn't see Quinton sitting at another table and extend his foot out to trip her. The dryad gave an angry cry as she stumbled on Quinton's ankle and toppled over to the ground.

She sprung to her feet and pulled a small blade from an ankle sheath but she was caught by surprise as Noelle jumped up from her own table and grabbed her arm. The Autumn Knight viciously twisted the assassin's arm and forced her to drop the dagger before she used her weight to slam Leucifia down face first into a table. As Noelle used one of her martial arts moves to restrain the dryad's wrist from behind in a painful arm lock, Connor ambled over and gave a genial smile while holding his drink, "Now... are you ready to come quietly? The Summer Court is already very upset with you, and since you caused a mess in this tavern here, I'm sure the authorities here in Winter won't be too pleased with you either."

"You can go to hell Tuathan!" the dryad spat before Noelle twisted her wrist and silenced her.

"Good thing the fey don't have Miranda rights here," Connor smirked as he nodded to the Winter soldiers to come and take their prisoner, "She's all yours guys."

As the armored Winter guards restrained the assassin and took her away, Quinton came over and dusted off his hands, "Well... that settles that. Summer's going to want to prosecute that dryad and it'll give Winter an opening to start a dialogue with them for a prisoner exchange."

Connor nodded, "Fingers crossed. Right now, I'm hoping Stephen can get Laura back on her feet. The two of them are going to be critical if we're going to get the Winter Court on our side. With any luck, Kristen will be able to smooth things over in Summer too."

Noelle scratched her chin thoughtfully as the three walked out of the tavern, "As long as we don't have to chase down any more assassins. We got kinda lucky today that the Fomorian was still hanging around here in Arctis Tor."

"Lucky? Nonsense," Connor laughed while putting an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, "We had an elite member of the Erlking's Wylde Hunt on our side today. Honestly, the way you took down that assassin just now was like something out of a prime time cop show. It was pretty awesome."

"Not to mention kinda hot too," Quinton added helpfully while giving her a teasing poke in the side.

"Yeah... now that you mention it, I guess it kinda was, huh?" Connor smiled playing along while Noelle gave an exaggerated huff and hooked her arms around those of her two friends. As they continued to walk down the streets of Arctis Tor back towards the palace, she simply shook her head to herself.

"Seriously... what am I going to do with you two?"