Life After Death

Hazel/Guinevere: Mikaela's party

                  (I think this is 10 Years later? I'll have to consult my chart, haha)

{Hazel}

For her birthday, Mom wanted a family reunion. It didn't matter that we all lived nearby or that faeries didn't celebrate birthdays. She wanted all her children and grandchildren there. She even invited our spouses' parents, though no one but Westley arrived at the Torninc. I imagined that being invited to arguably the most magical place in Otherworld by the most powerful faery family would be a bit intimidating.

Neither Dagonet nor I had children, though Tristan and I were all right with that. It meant we weren't tied down to Vercyne, and could travel across Otherworld unencumbered. It was just as well that Nimue and Dagonet didn't have children, they were separated four to six months out of the year, unable to stand each other.

Galahad and Dinadan were unmarried, and both in their own way, were unmarriageable. Dagonet hadn't found a cure for Galahad's spell, and so every full moon we locked my brother away, hoping that he wouldn't break out and kill us all. Dinadan wanted to live in Martel, but it was lonely for him. There, he would never age. Here, he couldn't go anywhere without spreading panic, nausea, and broken spells.

Lancelot had married Mirael, a beautiful white haired girl from Donlin. Not a noble, but it didn't end well to tell either Lancelot or Parsifal that about their wives.

Lionel and Gawain were the old fathers, with preteens or teenagers. It seemed so strange to me that my big brothers had kids at all; it felt like only a couple of years ago we were children ourselves.

The only one missing was Arthur, but no one had seen him in seven years. Larachime and he had vanished into the expanse of Otherworld, and no one had been able to find them. Corryn could track them for a little while as could Porphia, but they always moved. Mom was disappointed, but there was little we could do.

"This is a good spot you picked."

Lionel came up behind me; glass in hand. I smiled at him.

"Too many faeries are in this manor," I said. "I'm not related to them; it's overwhelming."

"It's exciting," he corrected. "All the cousins zooming in and out of the rooms like we did as children? I miss that sometimes."

"I don't miss the twins sending shaped spiders into my room or frogs in my shoes," I replied. "Watch your wings, Lionel."

Gawain's girl narrowly avoided my brother's wings as he tucked them close to his body. She smiled and then raced down another hall.

"I forget, you're up at the boring old castle listening to speeches for fun," he grinned. "You've forgotten what excitement is."

"I'll make you sing for two hours and we'll see how exciting that is," I countered.

Lionel made a face. "Well, at least come downstairs and eat dinner," he cajoled. "Tristan is looking for you and Ryon has made crab cakes."

We passed Lancelot's boys heading up as we were heading down the stairs. The children must have already eaten. The entry hall was filled with my brothers and their wives, though all of these faeries fell silent when we heard knocking at the front door. We weren't expecting anyone more. Whoever it was knocked a second time, the sound resonating through the manor. Mom pushed through to the front door and frowned.

Carefully, she opened the door, only to gasp. She threw it open wider and it showed Arthur and Larachime.

"Happy Birthday, Mom," he said sheepishly. "Porphia told us about this."

"I don't know whether to slap you or hug you," our mother told him. "I'll make up my mind later. Why don't you introduce us to your family?"

He blinked, and I realized that he had kept the brown eyes. Having only seen Lancelot for the last seven years, Arthur looked almost weird.