14 Winter Queen

Sael crept along one of the crumbling walls towards the open drawbridge. Peeking around the corner he found the slanted hallway beyond empty except for a bit of rubble strewn across the entranceway. Spreading his awareness out he focused expecting to find a castle full of monsters. As the seconds ticked by he found nothing and was about to move on when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Spinning around he pointed his spear the way he'd come from expecting to find an enemy. Nothing moved, not even a breeze brushed past as he sharpened his senses once again. After several hundred heart beats he glared the way he'd come before shifting his attention back towards the entranceway.

From further back the shadow watched him cautiously, surprised at his actions. Within its depths, Shel wondered if it was coincidence or if somehow he'd actually managed to sense her from such a distance. For now, she decided to play it safe and moved no closer, she wondered why this strange human would seek out the Winter Court's fallen castle. The thought of the two courts warring with one another and using humans to tip the scale made her mouth water with excitement.

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With one last glance back behind him, Sael slipped into the entranceway. At the heart of the castle sitting on a stone throne shaped to appear made of vines, a silver haired fairy looked up. She wore an elegant gown of black embroidered with silver. Her skin was so pristinely pale as to appear like porcelain as she sat up straighter in surprise. Her grey eyes went wide and she pressed a slender finger to pale lips watching through the eyes of the castle sentry. Entering her castle was a human armored in green lizard-like leathers. The thing that caught her attention most wasn't simply the unexpected visitor but the familiar spear he was carrying.

Using her link with the castle she inspected him with all the magical senses available to the ancient fortress. Through their link, she could see the flow of life force through his body like a raging force that pulled in more life from the very air around him. Out loud she muttered in shock. "Summer's Vitality flows through a human?" Even more interested she looked closer trying to judge the strength of this human and was terrified at what she found. His physical prowess was seen as a crimson flow running through his body like raging rapids flowing through bone and muscle as a torrent she would expect from only the mightiest of warriors.

Yet even more shocking was his mana flow, it was vast as it was still and unmoving. A tremendous amount of magical energy lay dormant and untapped. "He has the physical power of a mighty warrior and magical energies nearly as strong. Who is this human? What has the Summer Court been up to?" Nee the Winter Queen sat alone on her throne within the empty decrepit castle and watched the strange human lost in thought.

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Sael leaned against the wall then glanced around the corner finding another dead end. Every passageway he'd come across had led to a dead end after only a few feet forcing him along a straight path. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up again making him back up while watching the path forward. 'Too easy and why are all the side passages dead ends. Something is wrong here. Time to head out before…' his back pushed against a wall that hadn't been there just a moment before. '....something bad happens.' Looking around he spread his awareness once again trying to sense the presence of any threats. What annoyed him the most was he hadn't sensed the wall appearing behind him. 'How does a wall just appear without any signs? I should have noticed something.'

Dismissing his spear into his inventory afraid to sit it down he took a wide stance and pulled back his right fist. His armor stretched as his arm bulged as he pushed his newfound strength to its limit. Twisting his whole body and putting everything into a single punch he was rewarded with the sound of shattering stone. The wall that had appeared behind him wasn't very thick and he'd punched a basketball sized hole in it. Before he could rejoice the hole he'd made in the wall shrunk closing up in just a few heart beats. "Well fuck me sideways."

Pulling his spear from his inventory he was still debating what to do when the wall behind him started moving forward. Taking several steps away the wall sped up until it was almost on him again. When he stopped glaring at the wall it generated countless spikes before moving forward in a sudden burst of speed. Hopping back he said "Alright. Alright. I get it. You want me to head forward. Not like I have any choice." He turned and started striding deeper into the castle. 'Let's play nice until we see what we are up against.'

After nearly ten minutes of being herded through the castle, he came to an enormous room barren of any decorations. Except a single chair occupied by what he recognized as a fairy woman. Behind him, the spikes receded into the wall as it came to a stop. Sael took several steps forward, his spear held lightly at his side in what he hoped wasn't a threatening manner. "I take it the wall was your way of asking me to come in?"

The fairy girl on the throne approached him or more accurately the throne she sat on approached him. Gliding along the floor as if the stone beneath it wasn't solid until she sat just a few feet away from him. She sat straight backed in the throne made of stone vines and flowers gazing up at him like a doll. Her face was blank showing no emotion making it impossible for him to determine if she was angry, curious, or happy to see him. "Tell me human, how is it you have the Vitality of Summer flowing through you?"

Her voice was quiet and calm yet he had no trouble hearing her as her gaze seemed to pierce through him. "Um well, it is a bit of a long story." Was his reply, though he realized thinking back it really wasn't.

She made a gesture with one hand and he fell back as a chair rose from beneath him knocking him off his feet. "I would love to hear your story. I have no other plans today, as you can see we are alone." With another gesture, a table rose up beside them, and a tea set formed on top. "Care for some tea?"

Sael glanced around while gripping his spear tightly checking if they were truly alone. Spreading his awareness out around him he sensed no one else.    Sadly, he couldn't trust his senses as he'd had one too many failures with it for his liking that day. The silvery fairy slid a cup of tea across the table towards him before sitting back to sip hers. She suddenly lowered her cup as her face tinted slightly with a blush. "Where are my manners? Forgive me. My name is Nee the Winter Queen. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She sat down her cup and held out her hand.

Sael glanced down at her tiny hand held forward, the way she held it out with her fingers down and back of her hand raised reminded him of movies where a queen expected her hand to be kissed. Glancing around again he mentally shrugged, 'When in Rome…' He leaned forward and kissed the top of her hand in what he hoped was the appropriate manner. Glancing up he found the blush in her cheeks stood out against the porcelain white of her skin.

"A handshake would have been expected. But I thank you for the interesting new experience." Other than the blush she acted unphased and he mentally kicked himself for the mistake. 'I blame Ara, I just expected all fairies to be sex crazed maniacs….' he mentally blamed the Summer Princess.

With a small smile, she interrupted his mental blame game. "It is normal to introduce oneself at this stage of the conversation is it not?"

"Er, I'm Sael."

Her sharp grey eyes gazed directly into his. "Well met Summer Prince Sael. Now tell me how a human became a Summer Prince and what brings you to my castle."

'Like hell, I'm telling her I'm here to conquer her castle. But I can tell her about Ara. That should buy me some time at least.' Clearing his throat he began weaving his version of Ara's rescue.

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Shel circled the fallen castle for what seemed like the hundredth time. She knew better than to try and sneak in, there was no invading a fairy castle undetected. That said she could only sense two living beings inside. Alone a fairy queen even within her castle couldn't stop her, but the human was a wild card. Still after debating on what move she should take she knew there was no way she could pass up such a golden opportunity. Her shadow began spreading, slowly moving to surround the entire castle. Within its depths, Shel literally drooled at the thought of the upcoming slaughter.