The Iron Seer

Chapter 4: Cinderella

The sound of trumpets drew all eyes to the entrance of the throne room.

Summer had arrived.

First were a pair of Seelie knights, dressed in dark green armor, both bearing the banner of the Seelie Court, a magnificent stag. Following them was a gigantic troll, glaring menacingly at the ogre guards stationed in the corners of the room, who glowered back.

Piskies fluttered in, trailing long strands of flowers and bells; centaurs and satyrs trotted behind them, their hooves clacking on the frost-covered floor; gnomes, dwarves, leprechauns, kitsunes, sylphs, sprites, wisps, even a pair of rock giants, entered the room, sweeping in with the smell of flowers and sunshine. There were so many, I could scarcely believe my eyes. I'd never seen a single Summer faery, never before in my short life, and seeing this many in one place was almost too much for me to take in at once.

The Seelie nobles came in, bright hair of gold, copper, chestnut, and amber done up elaborately with ribbons and jewels, in beautiful dresses and tunics made of everything from gemstones to butterflies and colorful flowers, to strands of woven grass, their skin glowing and warm from the eternal sunshine of Summer.

I was well aware that I was gawking, but no one was looking at me anyway. The Unseelie fey tensed, not mingling with the Seelie fey, due to an eternity of hatred interspersed with battle and bloodshed and shaky truces that lasted only a few centuries at a time. It was a horrible feeling, this hatred, pulsing through the throne room, a sleeping beast that could awaken at any moment. Though it was against the laws of Elysium to engage in violence, it still lingered just beneath the surface. Waiting to strike.

"His Majesty King Oberon, King of the Seelie Court, and Her Majesty Queen Titania, Queen of the Seelie Court," a voice announced.

The Seelie rulers entered, along with a legion of Summer knights.

King Oberon, the Erlking, was tall, slender as the limb of a willow tree, his long silver hair shining like moonlight. Green eyes smoldered beneath his antlered crown, and an aura of flickering, immense Summer glamour thrummed around him with the deep, ancient presence of an old forest. His presence was about as subtle as an earthquake.

Queen Titania stood beside him, dressed in a gown of glittering sapphires that matched the blue of her eyes, her pale, luminous gold hair piled on her head and topped with a diamond-encrusted silver crown. Her power was a deadly summer storm roaring around her, snapping with lightning and thunder.

Mab stood and floated gracefully down from her throne, her ruby gown pooling around her like freshly spilled blood, to take a seat at the head of the long white table in the center of the room, and began talking with Oberon and Titania, welcoming them to the Court.

Elysium was a show; by attending it you demonstrated your dedication to Winter and to Queen Mab. There were no official proceedings except for the discussion of treaties between Seelie and Unseelie rulers.

Music began to play in the corner, beautiful, dark, passionate music that drew my eyes away from the fey rulers to a corner stage, where an orchestra played their instruments. But the musicians weren't fey. I did double take and squinted at them, then glanced in surprise to Ash. "Humans?" I asked, entranced in the lovely song and my first sight of what had been, until now, only myth to me.

He nodded, his gaze following mine. "Mab collects some of the best musicians in the mortal world. They'll have no memory of this when they return," he said, then amended, "If they return." His voice was dismissive.

I shuddered as I saw a group of goblins eyeing the humans hungrily. "That doesn't seem fair," I said, still watching the glazed eyes of the mortals as they played with sparking, passionate emotion. It rose off of them in waves, dizzying in its intensity. I already felt stronger. "Taking them away from their homes and families to serve us."