War of Winter (Iron Fey Fanfiction)

Chapter 37 - Kingdoms United

               Crystal remembered the first time she saw blood. She remembered being fascinated by the thick, red substance and wanting to touch it. She had, and it had been warm and sticky, coating her small pale hand like a red glove. She'd started to bring her hand up to her mouth, wanting to taste it. 

              Her mother had quickly yanked her hand away, hurriedly wiping Crystal's hand clean of the blood. "We do not drink it," her mother had chastised her. "It is the substance that holds us together, that fuels us, makes us. We do not soil it, Crystallis lesmad Soturi." 

            Crystal nodded and never wished for the taste of blood after that. 

                                                                          *************

            The clear, blue sky dappled with only a few wispy clouds greeted their small entourage as Crystal, her mother, Queen Mab, Prince Sage, and Winterbrey made their way to the middle of the battlefield, only equipped with a single weapon each. 

          Mab had sent a messenger to Oberon to communicate Winter's wishes of parler.  No one had particularly liked this plan when it had been decided on in the war tent, but they all knew it was really their only option, if they wanted to defeat the order of the Black Roses. 

         Crystal swallowed and squinted against the bright rays of the sun beating down on them. It was uncharacteristically warm for a day in the end of December, bordering on January. Then again, for a faery who lived predominantly in weather twenty degrees Fahrenheit and below, even forty degrees could make a winter sidhe break a sweat. 

         "Do you think they'll agree to the plan?" Crystal asked Sage, who was walking beside her, looking only mildly concerned and slightly bored. She noticed he was also limping slightly, favoring his right leg. 

         "Oberon would be wise to. Titania would never, even if it meant for the good of all Faery. She is too wrapped up in her pride to side with Winter," Sage responded, his icy green eyes glinting against the sun. 

         Crystal only hoped Oberon would agree. She didn't much like the idea of fighting alongside those who had created a weapon that had injured and killed many of Winter's soldiers, but if it meant saving Faery in the long run...

        They came to a stop in the middle of the battlefield, waiting and watching the smaller entourage approach them from the opposite side. Crystal leveled her gaze into one of stony calm, fighting the urge to palm her single knife hiding in her coat sleeve. 

         Oberon, dressed in a robe of what seemed like liquid silver and an antler crown adorning his silvery blonde head, came to a halt only a few feet from Mab, who regarded him with her beetle black eyes, calculating and cold. Stepping up beside the Elven King, was a general dressed in gold armor on his left, and the one and only Robin Goodfellow on his right. Puck, standing directly across from Crystal, gave her a small smile and friendly wave. 

        Crystal simply glared icicles at him. "Lady Mab, you have sent a messenger to invoke the right of parler, so I assume the topic you wish to speak of is of utmost importance, is it not?" Oberon said, looking down on the Winter queen as if she'd caused him a major inconvenience. 

         "One of my soldiers has informed me about a new threat to Faery, Lord Oberon," Mab replied, sending frost over the tips of the grass at their feet. "A threat that concerns both courts."

          Puck smirked and crossed his arms. "If this so called threat concerned both courts, wouldn't we have heard about it by now?" Crystal didn't know how he wasn't cold; he was dressed only in brown pants, brown boots, and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Crystal sent a small chill his way, and in response, sweat began to gather on her skin and she had the sudden urge to remove her coat. 

         "This threat has only begun to appear, Goodfellow," Crystal snapped, in many ways interrupting Mab, who the question had been addressed to. Yet, the Winter queen only glanced at her with mild annoyance in response. "There are thousands of Black Rose soldiers out their plotting our demise as we sit here chewing each other's asses and wasting time when we could be uniting and saving our home!" 

          Crystal snapped her mouth shut when she realized what she'd just said. She swallowed and looked at the ground when she saw all eyes were on her, some aghast, some amused (Puck), and others showing interest. She hadn't meant to say all those things so quickly, but frustration and a slight bit of fear had wormed its way into her mind, making her speak openly. 

         "Wait, hold your panties on, Ice Princess," Puck said, holding up his hands. She cringed at the nickname but let him continue. "You said the name of this threat is what?"

          "The Black Roses," she said, after a moment's hesitation. "They plan to overthrow both Summer and Winter and rule the Nevernever one day." She spoke these words quieter, as she could feel her mother's almost furious gaze digging into her. 

         "Interesting name for an organization," the Summer general spoke up, his brow furrowed in thought. "Black roses generally symbolize death and foreboding. What, or who, exactly, is this organization comprised of?"

        This time, Crystal looked to her mother and the Queen for permission to speak. When Mab gave her a slight nod, she said, "both Summer and Winter fey, thought not all of them are a part of the army willingly."

          "And how do you know this, Lady?" Oberon's demeaning voice cut through the discussion. "Do you have proof of this?"

          "I was kidnapped by their king and offered a royal position, your Majesty," Crystal responded. "I declined and was able to kill their king but learned enough of their motives in the process."

           Puck scratched his cheek and frowned. "So, they had a king...and no queen? Surely, these Black Roses have some sort of leader now..." 

          "We suspect there is another," Queen Mab said, regarding Puck with a dark look. "Crystal refused the position of Queen offered by their king, but we suspect there is another Queen that we do not yet know of."

            Oberon glanced at Crystal and narrowed his eyes. "You say you were kidnapped and offered the position of Queen. Why?" Crystal did her best to harden her gaze under his. 

            "Their king was-" she might have finished her sentence had it not been for the black arrow that streaked through the air, landing a hairsbreadth away from Mab's foot. The Duchess let out a startled cry and Sage, Puck, Winterbrey, and the Summer general all drew their weapons. 

           Crystal whirled, searching for the perpetrator of the arrow, the perpetrator who would dare try to harm her queen. She didn't see anyone beyond or in the trees, despite her keen eyesight. And then, the screams began. They sounded like they were coming from Winter's encampment; screams of agony and terror. 

          Mab fashioned an ice spear with her glamour and began to hurry back towards the camp. Crystal followed close behind her mother, Sage, and Winterbrey as they raced back towards the line of trees where Winter's camp was located. Suddenly Crystal halted and frowned. The screams sounded not only close, but also far away, as if they were also coming from over the hill...

            She turned just in time to see Oberon turn and race back toward his own encampment, Puck and his general in tow, and to the hoards of black pouring over the green hills into the Summer camp.