The thing – monster, demon, nightmare – oh, Allen knew exactly what it was – took a deep breath. Scenting him, his fear and nausea and useless rage at being so stupid and so trapped again.

"Apologies," the nightmare said, voice familiar and as smooth as the slide into hypothermia. "I didn't mean to wake you."

This close, he could feel the cold radiating off it in waves, a chill that sunk teeth into his bones, gnawing at the very marrow of him. Now the half-light fell on its face, and it looked inhuman, Riliane's face carved by some mad craftsman – it reached for him and slid two fingers tipped with wicked claws under his chin, tilting his head up so he couldn't help but meet its blue eyes. Shaking, breathless, Allen fell into them.

Associations came quickly – sharp ice and empty winter skies and wild forests choked by snow and hunger, hunger so ancient and powerful, no end and no possibility of satiation, hunger almost alive – Allen couldn't breathe, sweat freezing on his skin, and the fae whose home he walked into like a lamb to slaughter smiled at him, amused and almost fond-

Icy lips settled over his own. He gasped and choked, drawing in deep drowning breaths and shaking from the cold. Somehow, it wasn't numbing – he could still feel it everywhere, inside him even, leeched into his lungs through the air and soaked into his blood.

"Remarkable boy," she said from above him, the sound drifting down his ears like snow. "I think want your heart."

She licked him, running her tongue over his cheek to collect fear-sweat and, god, tears, he had been crying without even noticing it.

"Then take it." Allen forced through chattering teeth.

She chuckled. "All in due time."

And then, warmth.

He woke with a scream. His bed was covered in frost and leaves and roses.

While the servant boy awakened from an early night nightmare, Yukina Freezis had decided to spend the time before the ball indulging in expanding her pet project.

"I'm interested in how faeries live, you see? And I thought, what better way to gain inspiration for my stories than to ask faes about their lives. If... If you don't mind, that is."

The blue-haired man, who had identified himself as both Joseph and Carlos, was quite busy with preparing the food. Yukina decided to look elsewhere.

"Oh, I don't mind a bit, dear," Banica replied with a smile that looked far, far too practiced. "You're adorable, you know that? I could just eat you right up," she added with a laugh, and the blue-haired man stiffened momentarily. "Anyway, what do you want to ask?"

The girl glanced at her notes. "We could start with some general facts if that's alright, Miss Conchita?"

"All right... Yukina, was it? What sort of things were you curious about?"

"Who are you, what do you do, some things about your life." she had to gauge what sort of person this Banica was after all.

"Oh, so you want to know about me... well, my name, as you already know, is Banica Conchita, and I am a minor member of the Unseelie Court... Do? Darling, I don't really do anything. Except eat-Carlos is a wonderful chef and always makes the most delightful things for me... I only gave him a vacation one time, and then the princess snatched him up. Not that I can blame her. At least he still mostly only cooks for me, unless she wants him to make something else..."

"So Carlos is your personal chef?"

"Most of the time, yes. Unless, of course, the princess wants him, in which case... well, it's not like I can ask him to cook her, now, can I?" She laughed, covering her mouth with one hand as she did so, and smiled in a ghoulish manner-just a little bit too wide, a little too bright, and not quite reaching her eyes. "She's off-limits, even if I am a little curious. Though, a little thing like you would make a delicious appetizer, I'm sure..."

Her smile had frozen on her face. "You- you cook people."

Banica tilted her head, looking genuinely confused as to Yukina's response. "You cook animals."

"That's different. Animals can't talk, for one, and why would you cook people if you have animals that's cannibalism!"

"...No, it's not. Cooking another faerie would be cannibalism, silly girl. Cooking a human is nothing worse than you eating venison... The animals have their own languages, dear. You humans just don't understand them. Since you're Kyle's favorite, I suppose I'll have to leave you alone... but you look like you have an excellent flavor... what a pity."

Kyle had told her it was dangerous to go to the Unseelie part of the realm alone, but she wasn't expecting something like this. With a half stammered something, she made it for the door, not stopping until she was a distance away.

Yukina frowned as she tried to decide who to ask next. There was a judge, a doctor, a tailor, some of the maids, the boy from her homeland...

And if she was feeling brave, the princess herself. She decided to talk to the Tailor.

As usual, Kayo was sewing, hemming a red dress and humming something to herself. When Yukina entered the room, she looked up and smiled.

"Ah, hello. Yukina, isn't it? What brings you here?"

Yukina paused, furrowing her brows. "I never told you my name."

"I've heard about you from Ren, you know. Thank you for being his friend, by the way... he does get lonely sometimes." Her expression was clouded, but her hands continued to move with the same skill and dexterity as always.

"Ren?" she was sure she didn't know anyone by that name.

"Yes, of course. Ren, my s-" Her eyes cleared, and she shook her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I got distracted for a moment, I suppose. Now, where was I? Ah, that's right. I've heard about you from Allen. And I wanted to thank you for being his friend... he doesn't have many of those, here."

"I do what I can," she shrugged. She was seriously starting to consider Kyle's request -not that she would tell Allen. She knew enough of him to know how against it he would be-. "May you tell me some general information about you? I am working on some stories, you see, and besides, I can't keep referring to you as 'the tailor'. If you're not busy, that is." She had seen enough of the pink-haired woman to know that unlike Banica, she did work. Quite hard, in fact.

"Oh! Of course, I'd be happy to. My name is Kayo, Kayo Sudou. As I assume you already know, I'm Princess Riliane's personal tailor. Though, when she doesn't require anything, I will take jobs for some of the other members of the court-a good set of clothes is always desirable, so I'm often quite busy. But, I'm also quite capable of multitasking, so don't worry about being a bother..."

She looked at the clothing displayed in wonder. "The designs look so complicated... And you made all those yourself?"

"That's right," Kayo replied proudly, tilting her head slightly and smiling. "Hmm... None of the ones on display are orders, they're just things I created for fun," she mused, half to herself, "and you are one of the prince's guests... Yes," she continued, her voice growing a bit louder. "I think that would be all right. If you'd like," she added, addressing Yukina, "you can choose one of those for yourself. I don't mind at all." Something in her eyes was wistful, nostalgic-lonely.

The girl's eyes widened as she forgot her next question. That was awfully generous of her. "How much would it cost?"

"Normally? It would most likely be a lot more than you could afford at home... however, since you're staying with the prince, you can probably afford anything. But you don't need to worry about that, it's my pleasure... it's quite rare that I have someone your age around, who appreciates my work. If you like it, then you should have some of it. After all, I can know it will have a good owner to take care of it that way..."

The 'thank you' was lodged in her throat. That was one of the rules. Never, ever, say 'thank you' to a faerie, or it was a debt owed.

"Je suis revenue, Maman!" Yukina startled and whirled around as the servant boy paused in his movements. His face was the picture of shock as he caught sight of the girl. "What are you doing here?"

Kayo's face lit up, and she started out of her chair, casting cloth and scissors aside and sweeping the boy into a hug, seemingly heedless of her surroundings. "You're back," she murmured, and buried her face in his hair, clinging to him tighter as if trying to keep him from leaving again. "There you are. Finally you're back, Ren."

"Of course I am. I wouldn't leave you alone." he hugged just as tightly. Yukina watched with narrowed eyes as the boy turned his head to her, completely unbothered by it all. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to ask some questions," Yukina replied flatly. "And now I have another one. What's going on?"

Allen sighed. Great. Just great. He couldn't send her on her way because he knew she would find a way to corner him later. "Fine, come outside."

"Okay," she said, a bit suspiciously, and followed him out, seeing the thoroughly lost look on Kayo's face out of the corner of her eye, as the tailor mechanically sat back down and took up her work. "What's the deal, then, 'Ren'?"

"List- Hey." he grabbed her arm to steady her as she swayed. "Are you okay?"

"I just...I haven't been sleeping much. I'm tired of fairy balls." Her face was light, but her voice was fear-filled. "How long do I have to keep dancing?"

Allen didn't reply, changed the topic.

"Listen, she just- Kayo used to have a kid. I don't know what happened to him, I don't know where he is, I do know that he looked like me and that his loss really shook Kayo up. I won't ask about it and I would advise you to not ask either." he dragged a hand over his face as he sighed once more. "When I first- When I came here, when I realized I couldn't leave, I started visiting Kayo a lot, if only to stay away from Riliane. And- and sometimes, she would just... call me by the wrong name. I didn't think anything of it at first since I thought it was because she didn't know me for long. It continued happening, and I asked around and found out why, and- Why do you care?"

"...Because it's kinda weird," Yukina responded, tilting her head in thought. "And she seems nice, but she's still a faerie. You know what'll happen if you get too close to one of them, right? Even if they're nice like her and Kyle, you can't just get attached like that."

"Never heard that one before," he huffed. "She is the only nice faerie I've seen so far. Yukina, I haven't seen my family for twenty years. At least Kayo doesn't-" he cut himself off and averted her gaze, biting his lip so hard she was afraid it would break the skin. "She's nice. That's all."

Yukina kept her gaze on him, even though he didn't meet her eyes.

"...Doesn't what, Allen?"

"...it doesn't matter. Don't worry."

"You're not acting like it doesn't matter."

He shook his head violently. "I- Fine! It does matter, but there are some things that you really don't want to know."

"...If you're sure," she said, suspicion in her tone. Maybe I should look into that later... I don't think he's going to tell me, no matter what I say.

The servants were known gossipers, even she, a newcomer, knew that. It wouldn't hurt to ask around while she went to interrogate someone else.

It wasn't long before she came across two maids. Red hair, blonde hair, one engrossed in cleaning a window, the other cleaning up something she had apparently let fall. Well, she guessed they were as good as any. "Excuse me, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Eh? What's up, kid?" The redheaded one turned around first, while the blonde one continued her work. "You need somethin'?"

"Yes, I need to ask you something. It will only be a minute, I swear. It's about a boy here, I don't know if you've met him. His name's Allen."

"Allen? Y'mean the princess's new special friend? What do you want to know about that kid?"

"The princess has friends? I-I mean- What do you mean with special friend? I thought he was just her servant."

The two maids looked at each other, and then broke into giggles.

"Well, he definitely serves her," one of them choked out, barely able to breathe, before her words dissolved into another fit of laughter.

"...I'm afraid I don't understand."

"They're just doing a bit of the old in-out, in-out."

"Making a beast with two backs."

"The service of Venus."

"Doing the Devil's dance."

"Gland-to-gland combat."

"Shooting twixt, wind and water."

"Hauling their ashes."

"...What?"

Actually, some of those sounded vaguely familiar. But, at the same time...

Her eyes went wide, and she barely had time to turn away before her stomach revolted, and expelled its contents onto the floor-she could hear one of the maids groaning, "but we just cleaned that," but she didn't care, she didn't care.

They couldn't have meant that, could they?

But even as she thought it, the awful, wicked gleaming in their eyes told her the truth.

That was... disgusting.

And Kyle was marrying that-that-monster?!

Kyle, who was sensitive and fragile and not often all that bright, trying his best to be a good prince but never quite getting it-

With someone like that?!

Then again, Kyle wasn't the best judge of character by a long shot. Now, that created a dilemma for the writer. The situation was obviously an open secret for the inhabitants of the palace. The question was, should she tell him what she had discovered?

It might break him. It'd almost certainly break the engagement, and then-well, then there was no way of knowing what would happen.

But to let him find out on his own… That wouldn't go well at all.

She had gotten somewhat lost when Allen sought her out.

"You went to ask the maids behind my back." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Yukina turned to face the boy that should have been older than her. "I did. You wouldn't tell me."

"You're quite the tattletaller, are you not?" She could see cold anger inside those eyes, diminishing fast, apparently not too bothered by her invasion of his privacy. She reflected how strange it was that the princess' anger burned hot, yet Allen's burned cold.

Yukina was expecting a lecture about privacy or about rumors, but she didn't get one. Allen moved away from the ice wall.

She regarded their differences. With only a few days she had spent in the Seelie Court, she had a slight tan that puzzled her father. Felt a bit more energized. Allen, on the other hand, was as pale as a corpse with deep shadows under his eyes. Every time she saw him, she was stuck with the impression he was in the process of dying of cold.

The boy absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair. He had already come to terms with that part of his life, yet it was something he never wanted her to know. Not because of the shame, but he didn't want her to look at him differently, or God forbid, in disgust.

"Allen, I understand why it happened, you didn't know anything about this realm after all, but that's exactly what I meant about not getting close to a fae-"

A scolding wasn't something he had expected. It was so far off of the truth that Allen let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

"Oh, so it's my fault now? For a storyteller, you sure like to talk about things you don't understand." he hissed icily.

Knowing he was about to leave, Yukina reached into her left pocket. "I have something for-"

"Consider that you have it backwards."

"...Eh?" She blinked, and stared after him, but didn't receive a reply.

What was that about?

Margarita Blankenheim was next. Yukina didn't know much about her, only that she was a member of the Unseelie Court, that she went by many names, and that her husband wasn't around much. Allen's words and situation kept going to the forefront of her thoughts, and she shook her head to clear her mind. She would interview Margarita, then the Judge, then she would either go to Kyle or think of what Allen told her.

Yukina shoved those thoughts back and she went right to where the green-haired woman resided, throwing politeness out of the window. The fae were making her dance to death, she could allow being rude.

Margarita was... asleep. She turned onto her side, mumbling something inaudible. The girl stood there, wondering if she should wake her or leave, before cleared her throat. "Mrs. Bankenheim?"

"...unh... I'm awake, I'm awake! Just... just a minute..." she muttered, before moving a little too far to the side and falling right out of bed, landing on the floor with a harsh "...unh... thud. "Oh!" Her eyes snapped open, and she blinked a few times, looking quite confused. Her long hair was all over the place, including in her eyes, and she pushed it back, blinking yet again. "What...? Who is it?" she asked, still half-asleep.

"I'm Yukina Freezis." the fifteen-year-old girl said. "I'm here to ask you some questions... Sorry for interrupting your nap."

"No, no, it's all right... I get lots of sleep anyway... I don't really have a lot to do these days, with the children gone, all gone..." Her voice trailed off, and she tilted her head to the side slightly, before her face brightened and she beamed at the young girl. "Yukina Freezis? That's such a pretty, pretty name... Oh, you have such lovely hair-" She reached out, then paused, uncertainty crossing her face. "...may I?" she asked, sounding almost like a child herself.

"I...guess?"

"Thank you!" Margarita beamed, and only a moment later was back on the bed, having pulled Yukina up with her. Her hands fiddled with the girl's dark hair, fingers deftly combing through it, humming a soft tune as she did so. "So soft," she praised. "So pretty. Your parents must be very, very proud of you. Mhm, very proud indeed. Parents should always be proud of their precious babies, of course... Did you come here just to talk to me? That's so sweet of you..."

Had she gotten extremely lucky and been taken by a sane faerie? She was beginning to wonder if all them were this odd. "I wanted to know about your life, Mrs. Blankenheim. I'm writing a book, you see."

"Oh! My life... Well, I'm a doctor, you see! I take care of lots and lots of people. I like to help them." She started separating Yukina's hair into strands, weaving them together in a braid. "They look so, so happy. Like my babies used to look. They smile, and laugh, and then they leave... Everyone always leaves. Adam left. Kaspar left. My sweet children left. You're not going to leave, right? I get so lonely. So very lonely. But you won't leave me, will you? I, I'm sure you'd be happy here..."

By now alarm bells were ringing in her head. "I have a family, you see, two siblings...they would miss me if I left-" she hurriedly redirected the conversation, hoping that this woman wasn't someone who would take changelings. The last thing she needed was for Shaw and Aile to end up here.

"...Oh..." Margarita sounded absolutely heartbroken, and her fingers stopped moving for a moment. "I see. But-" Her tone brightened again. "They could come stay here, too! You all could! You'd be happy, I promise, I would make sure of it. Oh, absolutely sure. You'd never worry about anything again, so, why would you want to go back to the human world at all? There's no need for that... You'd be happier here, all of you would." Her movements grew less fluid, a little harsher, and started to pull slightly on Yukina's scalp. "Just... don't ever leave..."

"Prince Kyle told me I have to make some errands- But I-I'll visit you!" she lied through her teeth

"...My babies said that... my sweet little twins used to say that." She stopped braiding Yukina's hair, then, her hands lifeless and unmoving. "They left with that awful woman, said 'We'll come and visit you, Mama,' but then they never came back, never, ever came back. I was so lonely... Please, can't someone else do those things? I don't want you to leave... Please don't leave me..."

"If I ever see them around, I'll make sure to tell them to visit you." she said, proud of herself when her voice didn't tremble. "What are their names?"

"Oh, would you? That would be lovely," Margarita replied eagerly. "Their names-their names are Hansel and Gretel! Though that woman called them Arte and Pollo... and I think they got different names again... oh, but you'll know them when you see them, they're the most beautiful children. They have the most wonderful golden hair, and their eyes are blue, blue like Adam and Kaspar's eyes, so beautiful, so sweet and charming and funny. They're amazing. My wonderful babies... I love them so much..."

"I'll tell them to come visit you, I promise." Now, if she could just leave, that would be great.

"Thank you, you're such a sweet girl... Oh, are you going to stay longer? Just a little bit longer, please? Just a few more minutes. Or, or would you stay an hour? A day? You don't have to leave right now, do you? You don't, right?"

"I do, I'm sorry." Yukina leaped out.

"N-no you don't," Margarita started, but by then Yukina was already out the door. "No!" Her voice pitched higher, and higher, and even when Yukina had gotten a fair distance away, her gut-wrenching screams and sobs were still audible.

"Please, please, don't leave me-"

But eventually, her cries died down, and were replaced by an almost unsettling silence.

That was it. One more and she was done. There had to be sane people in this palace. "Ugh, a pox on me..."

"You've met Mama, I see."

The voice to her left made Yukina whirl around. She recognized one of the maids she had talked to earlier. The blonde one.

She glanced one more time at the door she had just escaped from, before turning her gaze to the older girl. Her eyes flickered to her ears. Round, like any mortal. "Are you Gretel?"

"Yes and no. My friends call me Ney," she explained, far too calm in contrast to the giggling girl she had been some time prior.

"Are you a mortal too?"

"My brother and I grew up here. Eve and Adam took care of us. I mean, Margarita," she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Stars above, faes with changing names are so complicated…"

Raising her eyebrows at the maid, thinking about hypocrites, Yukina walked on.

She had expected to find the Judge in the courtroom, not wandering the hallways. The blue haired man (who, Yukina noted, bore more than a passing resemblance to Kyle and Carlos) and a green-haired girl - a young woman, perhaps- behind him.

Yukina checked the shape of the girl's ears, a habit she had developed here. Round, like any mortal. Still wary because of her experience with Margarita, she slowly approached the duo.

The man in black turned, tilting his head slightly and looking down at her with a gaze that fell somewhere between disdain and curiosity. "Yes?"

"Gallerian Marlon, Judge of the Unseelie Court? I'm Yukina Freezis, ward of the Seelie Court." she curtsied for good measure. "I am writing a book and am quite interested in how faeries live, as well as how the law differs from the mortal one."

His face softened ever-so-slightly. "Well, you're respectful, at least. A young woman should always know proper manners, whether she be mortal or fae." The green-haired girl behind him made an audible noise of disgust at this, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner. "Writing a book, you say? What an... interesting pursuit, for a girl of your age. You seem rather ambitious."

"Thank you." Yukina smiled. "This will be my third book published. But enough about me. Could you tell me something about yourself?"

"Your third?!" His eyes widened for a moment. "You are quite the ambitious one, aren't you? Very well. With determination like that, how could I say no?" He smiled-a very faint smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Is there anything in specific you would like to know?"

"Your life, your family, how does the Unseelie Court handles law matters. Do you and the princess discuss the final verdict or something like that?

"The princess trusts me to make the correct decisions," he replied immediately. The green-haired girl muttered something inaudible, and he leveled a curt glare at her. "Control yourself, please," he said acidly, to which she just rolled her eyes again, folding her arms in a clearly contemptuous manner.

"I see." she looked to the girl. "Is she your daughter?" even though she obviously wasn't, she didn't know how else to breach the issue of family. It seemed to be a sensitive subject among fae. Kayo and Margarita, to name a few.

"Ugh, no," the girl replied, her face twisting into a scowl. "I'd rather die. If this guy was my father, I'd have no recourse but to destroy the entire world, because it clearly no longer deserves to exist."

What an extremist view. She guessed she wasn't treated well, like Allen.

"So you're his guest, Miss...?"

"Eight. Themis Eight. And you could say that, I suppose. For a given value of 'guest', at least."

Yukina's eyes went from him to her, and she made a decision. "I'll leave you be, as I'm sure you must be busy." she walked away from them fifteen steps before pausing. "How do I get to the exit from here?"

As she heard the judge commanding Themis to help her, she inwardly grinned. As soon as she was close, she put a hand in her pocket, not before checking she was at an angle such that their exchange wouldn't be seen.

"I think I have something that can help you," she whispered before the woman could get a word out. "My father is a merchant."

The woman felt something cold and solid slide into her hand. She didn't dare look down.

"I stole it before I was taken again. It's an awl. It's iron."

Themis' eyebrows shot up.

Yukina put a finger to her lips. "It will hurt him. Not kill him, it's not big enough. But if you use it at the right time…" it was fine, she told herself. She could always steal another. She could still help Allen too.

She could fix this.