The lights were flickering off the golden ornamentations on the walls, which only helped illuminate the hallway of the Seelie Court Palace Arthur was being led down by a servant. It wasn't entirely unheard of for the Seelie Court and their Royal Family to call on assistance from the Kirkland family, but today's summon for him specifically came out of the blue.
Many times in the past, the Kirklands had been of service to the Seelie Court, usually in times of strife and animosity caused by the Unseelie Court. It was in recognition of providing assistance to the Royal Family that the Kirkland family had achieved its nobler status and prestige among the Seelie fae. However, the two fae factions had been in a cooperative peace for some time, there had been no inkling of conflict.
The timing was of particular concern for Arthur, given the current drama among the humans in Niba. Natalya's rescue plan was still entirely dependent on where in Tivalon they could set up a faerie ring portal, so that the human rescue party could arrive close enough to where she was. He had received no satisfying leads in his network of colleagues, and neither had Vladimiar, Tolys or Feliks.
This summons may also interfere directly with his plans for later today, depending on what the Seelie Royal Family requires of him. Erzsébet was set to ride into Niba today, while Madeline's ship would arrive later in the afternoon. He had hoped to meet with both of them to discuss the situation, before they retired to their quarters for the night after their lengthy travel. Meeting Erzsébet was of particular intrigue, as the witch may have more ideas to help the rescue attempt.
At the end of the hallway, Arthur followed the servant as they turned left, and a short ways before them was a set of oak doors with two guards standing out front. The servant paused a few feet in front of them, prompting Arthur to stop shortly behind him.
"Arthur Kirkland," the servant introduced, "His Highness has summoned him."
"Proceed."
Arthur nodded to himself as the servant approached the door and knocked it three times. The Royal Family often ventured out of the palace for key festivals, and those of higher prestige were often invited to the same parties. As such, Arthur had briefly met the Royal Family before, and had a good idea which Seelie Prince had summoned him specifically.
After the gentle knocks, the servant opened the wide doors to reveal the room and stepped inside. Arthur nodded respectfully at the guards as he followed the servant into the parlour painted in a light yellow, and the servant halted about ten feet in before stepping to the side.
"Arthur Kirkland, your Highness," the servant announced.
"Thank you, Roderich, you are dismissed," the Prince instructed, "Arthur Kirkland, please come forward."
Arthur stepped forward past Roderich, and heard the servant depart the room and close the doors behind him. The middle of the room had a large table, adorned in a red tablecloth and currently set with cups and a teapot for tea. There sat a royal bodyguard on each side of the table, both built strong with muscle and dark brown wings relaxed behind them.
At the head of the table was Prince Kiku of the Seelie Court, wearing pale green robes and black wings outstretched comfortably behind him.
"Your Highness," Arthur greeted with a bow from behind the empty chair out front.
"Arthur," Prince Kiku welcomed, "Please have a seat, and a cup of tea."
"It is an honour to share tea with you, your Highness," Arthur accepted as he sat down, "I was surprised and bewildered to receive your summons."
"It has indeed been a while since a Seelie Prince has requested the presence of a Kirkland, even if just for tea," Kiku recognized, "Before we begin, I will introduce my companions here at the table. To my right is Sadik, the strongest and wisest of my loyal personal bodyguards. To my left is Heracles, another loyal bodyguard who is also a trusted confidant and is highly skilled with soothsaying and clairvoyance."
"I am pleased to meet you, gentlemen," Arthur acknowledged as he nodded at each one in turn.
"To the matter at hand," Kiku began as he took the pot and poured tea into the four cups, "I received a concerning report from the Unseelie Court about you, directly from King Gilbert himself. He claims that you have been misbehaving in the human realm and causing havoc for the Unseelie Court, to the point where I should have you restrained in Sovalon as punishment."
"That is quite the claim," Arthur inquired, "Were my misdemeanours specified at all?"
"They were not, which was our clue to deem this report as suspicious," Kiku continued as he put down the pot of tea, "Heracles used his soothsaying to determine that this report was a complete ruse, and that you had not actually done anything to warrant being restrained to Sovalon and prevent your travels to the human realm."
"Well, that is a relief," Arthur remarked as Kiku passed him a cup, "I greatly appreciate your due diligence on the matter."
"The nature of his claim is why I summoned you," Kiku addressed as he passed cups to each of his guards, "It is unlike King Gilbert to accuse a Seelie fae of misbehaviour in such a manner. Have you recently done something to irritate and provoke King Gilbert? Any altercations that the Seelie Court should know about?"
"We have not interacted directly, I can assure you of that," Arthur deliberated, "However, a series of events in the human realm may be of concern. There's a group of humans, a few of whom are royalty, where I am trying to help them find their fates. It seems that King Gilbert has decided to interfere and mess with them, and thwart all our plans."
"A human matter," Sadik determined, "So no immediate concern to the Seelie Court then."
"It has been some time since I last interacted with humans," Kiku considered, "What is the dilemma?"
"King Gilbert has abducted a young woman, she is now his captive in Tivalon," Arthur detailed, "Natalya had been promised to King Gilbert as a human bride by her adoptive brother, in exchange for protection when King Gilbert apparently takes over the human realm."
"Taking over the human realm?" Heracles repeated.
"I don't know the exact details about that part of the deal," Arthur elaborated, "However, I do know that Natalya should not be here in Yuvalon. I had done soothsaying for my cousin, Prince Alfred of Aegaimore, and identified Natalya as being his true love. She had been trapped in a tower for thirteen years at the base of the Tailian Mountains, so I sent Alfred to find her. Our intentions were for Alfred to marry Natalya and take the throne of Aegaimore upon his safe return to Thagia."
Just as Arthur finished his sentence, Heracles sat up straight in his chair, channeled turquoise magic to his fingertips, and created a vision circle mid-air.
"So this young lady should be the future Queen of Aegaimore?" Kiku summarized as Heracles used the vision circle, "And not the next Unseelie Queen?"
"As far as I can see," Arthur disclaimed, "It does not make sense for her to be both Queen of Aegaimore and Queen of the Unseelie -"
"She's not meant to be the next Unseelie Queen," Heracles interrupted.
"What do you see, Heracles?" Kiku requested.
"The next Unseelie Queen is fae-blessed, and Natalya is not," Heracles identified, "When the time comes, the true queen will reveal herself to Arthur and ask for his help reaching Tivalon. This will require our assistance as well, your Highness, and we will also need to help him with the rescue efforts before then."
"Rescue efforts?" Sadik reiterated, "Who will we be helping to rescue?"
"Natalya," Heracles answered, "The human lady currently captive in Tivalon."
"So we are meant to get involved then," Kiku declared, "Do you have a rescue planned, Arthur?"
"Yes, we're working on it," Arthur illustrated, "Several humans, including Natalya's siblings and the Princes of Aegaimore and Solyra, are willing to travel to Yuvalon to rescue her. Our plan is to build a powerful faerie ring, capable of sending more humans back to the human realm than the number that came into Yuvalon. However, the part we're stumped at is getting the arrival point in Tivalon as close to Natalya as possible."
"The Unseelie Court would keep her under tight supervision in the Tivalon palace," Sadik judged, "They won't let just anyone near her -"
"Unless it's someone whose presence they absolutely cannot refuse," Kiku amended, "Such as a member of the Seelie Court's Royal Family."
"Are you considering it, Your Highness?" Heracles checked.
"I have not yet found anyone else that can get us close enough," Arthur pleaded, "If you are willing to participate, Your Highness, we would all greatly appreciate your assistance."
"The Kirkland family has proven true to the Seelie Royal Family for centuries now, it's about time the favour was returned," Kiku resolved, "Please tell me your entire plan in detail."