The cold

Once upon a magic table

Neil was staring at the myna in awe. It couldn't be called beautiful, far from it actually, but there was something very majestic about it. It was an ugly bird , with startling grey eyes and a beak that was a very bright yellow.There was something oddly human about it, it looked smug , it's grey eyes trained on Neil with a haughty expression, like it was better than him. Neil felt weird accusing a bird of attitude, but he really couldn't help it. Perhaps the bird , just like the dragon, was educated. 

The queen chuckled as she got up from her throne and walked towards Neil, her walk like a panther, graceful but predatory. As she came closer, um , Neil couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of female parts in her body, this made him gasp, "You're a man" he exclaimed ,startled. Damien took in a quick breath, his action telling Neil that he had said something he shouldn't have. The queen's smile turned into a slight frown for a second before promptly putting itself back on her face,. She came very very close to Neil, invading his personal space in a way that made his spine stiffen, her minty breath falling on his face, a long pointy nail of hers at his chin, lifting his face up.  "I'm a lady because I prefer to be one, Lady Legasus, Queen Legasus, what have you. In fact I've been a lady for so long no one actually knows me as a man, which I'm not, I'm a lady in their very thoughts and so  I will be in yours. 

Neil gulped, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Despite the bell like sweet voice the queen had used to drive the message, it was as good as drilled and branded on him. There were stranger things in the world than a cross dressing queen, he wondered what possessed him to think it was okay to ask such a rude question, especially to the queen. What he did was beyond silly, he was lucky she didn't hang him with Santa Clause right this minute. "Now ,now , enough small talk, let's get to business, the queen said happily, clapping her hands together like a child. A table and three chairs popped out of no where, two on one side and one on the other. As expected the queen sat on the lone chair, gesturing at both of them to follow suit. Neil was surprised when the queen started talking about the murders in Sailee, the gruesome acts clearly committed by fey as far as she was concerned. It seemed most of the victims were fey, some very powerful, some of the spells used very ancient, some even unheard of , dark knowledge that was destroyed eons ago. The chain of events looked like they were a part of something much bigger and far more sinister. Neil wondered why she was telling this to them, sure, he knew for a fact that the king had a bunch of people investigating the murders, he couldn't not have one, especially considering just how public some of them were, but why tell them. 

The queen looked at him for a second or two, like she was expecting him to answer something. "I hope you don't plan to cross me in the future little one, you are far too pretty to be made to stand next to Clause, though I do like the idea of keeping one of your pretty eyes for my collection, I generally keep most of them in a jar in my closet but I'd keep your's right at my bedside table." Neil looked at her like she'd strangled his dog, his face turning a slight shade of green, feeling positively disturbed. She huffed, amused "I was just pulling your leg fledgling, not about the warning , but about the eyes, the only thing in the closet being clothes and the likes. " 

Neil didn't know how to respond to that, the queen's sense of humor a bit too dark for his liking, he had actually thought she meant it considering all the animal heads mounted on her walls , it wasn't that far fetched, Santa Clause was mounted on her wall.  The queen and Damian discussed a little politics, Neil not understanding much of what was being exchanged, it was all "X happened in Fiora , Y seems unstable, Z's tax policies are dumb , so on, so forth. They did this for about an hour , Neil sitting there completely bored, counting the number of times the queen had used the word 'the' in said hour. Seventy three times in total,pretty impressive he'd say! 

On their way back Neil couldn't help but ask Damien why the queen actually wanted to see him. "Character assessment maybe, hard to know what goes on in her brain, Neil and  she's not actually a man by the way, she's a Finoba, a really powerful fey that's pretty much sexless and she's quite sensitive about it , there was a time when she really wanted a child, it wouldn't really be wise to bring up the topic when in her presence " Neil winced at that, he'd been so rude! He hoped she didn't harbor hate towards him for it , she already warned him not to cross her, he wondered what she meant by that? Did she think he was behind any of the murders, it was a ridiculous thought, him actually taking a life.

 Damien couldn't help but laugh when Neil voiced his speculation, some of the spells were far too complex for a just born fey, it was silly to think that the boy could do it even if he tried. He did know where the warning came from though, blood fey were usually powerful, many of them had in the past let their power get to their heads, wreaking havoc when they tried to force changes in the society. It was very unlikely that Neil would be anything like that though, the boy not having a single power needy bone in his body.