Winter Court

Brew me a cup for a winter's night. For the wind howls loud and the furies fight; Spice it with love and stir it with care, And I'll toast our bright eyes, my sweetheart fair. ~Minna Thomas Antrim

Winter in the Heart
There is no place that will fall so deeply into the season of winter as that place where Maeve, the Lady of Air and Darkness decides to make her home. Kansas City is the heart of the country, and so Lady Winter has settled her home in the hollows and rivers of that heart. Her Court is a thing of splendor, with balls and magic and beauty abiding in every moment. At the same time it is all the terrible stories that the brothers Grimm told us about tricksters and things with sharp teeth that crunch the bone and suck the marrow.

The Court of Winter
The following is an excerpt from the point of view of a woman (Daphne Laurel) as she enters Court for the first time, to pay a call with her fae friend (Theo Behrii), on the Lady Winter.

"There was a bit of a hill that lifted the house on it up from the others in the neighborhood, and it was set far enough back from the street that the driveway was more like a private drive. Daphne stopped before turning down it, parking on the other side of the street and eyeing the mansion.

It was brick and stone, with white columns that held up a patio that stretched in a half circle over the front entryway. There were a few cars parked underneath. It had three floors though, and the third had an old fashioned widow's walk off the side of the house, its view overlooking the city. They were far enough away that the glow of the city lights reached this far, but the sounds did not. The front yard that framed the curving drive was all gardens and stone fountains, kept well enough but the vine plants had begun to take over, and the box hedges were getting their own ideas on what shape to be. Daphne didn't look too hard at the gardens, though. She could see things moving in them.

The colors had begun to change in this yard, more so than the neighbors'. Though neighbors was kind of a loose term. The property took up enough in size, that if you were at one edge you wouldn't be understood shouting to a person at the other edge. There was fencing around the property, but it wasn't wrought iron. Untarnished wrought silver shone under broad-leaf vines. A passerby might think it painted and fake, because who in their right mind would make their fence out of silver? But the work was unmistakably brilliant, the half-hidden design snowflakes, each unique of course. And if one got close enough to lean in, there were inscribed ones as well on the metal. It gave the finish a kind of matte look, keeping it from reflecting under the streetlamps. Pretty it might be, but the motif was finished off with silver icicles pointing with deceptive delicacy up from the top."

"The guy at the door was human. Now, at least. He unfolded his arms as Theo came up, looked him over and sniffed the air like a dog. His eyes weren't human. That was the only physical tell. They were dog too. Daphne didn't take too long a look at him though, keeping an eye out around them as well. But they seemed to pass the litmus test, because the guard dog guy opened the door for them.

Inside was as opulent as could be expected. It was a wide hallway, perhaps fifteen feet across, tiled with Italian marble with columns set into the wall that went all the way up. She thought it should be cold, and it was cooler but not uncomfortable at all. Staircases on each side wound upwards to a balcony that had French doors all along it, and hallways that disappeared into either side of the house. The hallway kept on in front of them, between the staircases to a set of double doors where another set of similar guards hung out.

But the place wasn't empty. There were people here. Or rather... things that looked kind of like people. They weren't trying so hard in here, obviously. Daphne felt the air shift as they crossed the threshold, a kind of hum. Theo would feel the native magics floating about as an ambient energy, like a warming tray. There were two bird-people off to one side by a closed door, with feathers making up half their long hair and too-long faces, dark eyes glancing toward them as they entered. One of them lifted a hand and gave a light gesture with extra-long fingers, the nails black. A greeting. The other offered a slight nod and a smile, looking Theo over in interest. Daphne couldn't tell whether they were male or female. She didn't suppose that mattered here.

There was a pair of girls off by one staircase, with hair the color of cotton candy, bedecked in outfits that were made of paper-thin crystal. She thought it was sequins but they resonated when the girls moved. Small, four legged cat-type things with scales crept along the banister rails, stalking fluttering pixie type things. Everyone looked to see who was coming in, gave some manner of greeting and went back to their conversations or activities."

"There was sound coming from the other side of the double doors ahead of them. Music, ethereal and beautiful and completely perfect. Daphne fought the urge to move to it, thanking her god for the gift of some of his willpower. She wouldn’t be able to stop once she started. Thankfully she was more than only human.

The two guard dogmen at the next door weren't as stiff as the guy outside. More like the dog that lays across the doorway hoping to trip the bad guy as he's breaking in. They looked the two of them over before one of them would open the door, well before they got close.

It was an actual ballroom, like the great houses in Europe tended to have. Like Beauty and the Beast, she thought, complete with windows along the back wall. It was two of the three stories high, with crystalline chandeliers giving off blue-white light. There was a fireplace on one side, big enough to stand in, with a roaring fire a seating area. There was a similar seating section on the other side, with couches and devans to recline upon. Only that seemed to be where the orgy was taking place. A lazy sort of orgy, though, with a dozen fairies in various states of undress and of various types taking advantage of each other. The fireplace was where the musicians were playing, near enough to it to keep warm. They looked human. And they looked like they might be the only other ones in this room besides her who were. An equal number of fairies sat or stood and listened to them playing, though the musicians seemed strained. This room was cooler but not quite enough to chill her, and colder above judging by the snowflakes drifting down from the ceiling but not reaching them. Still more fairies were ahead of them, a trio of them on a low dais that was against the back windows. There was an ornate silver and wood chair in the center, where a dark haired woman sat watching the music and orgy alternately, commenting on them to the long-haired man standing to the back left of her seat. He alone in the room was armed, with a basket-handled rapier. The two appeared the most human of the fairies, though they both had ears that came to thin points and eyes that were almond shaped and cat-like. The third fairy was sitting on the edge of the dais, and he looked more like a monster than the others she saw here. He had skin the color of pencil lead, and dark wiry hair poked out from under a black knit cap. His eyes were red and black, and he wore only a tartan kilt of green and grey with a sash of the same material over a shoulder, pinned at the waist with a celtic knot of gold. He would get to his feet as they came in, and move to intercept them. She expected his expression to be serious, but he was clearly fighting off a yawn before he got close. It was gone by the time he was near enough to speak.

"Hail. Welcome to the Court of Winter-in-the-Heart, presided over by the Lady Maeve." His voice didn't really fit either. It was too tenor, though it had a rough quality to it as well. "As her... appointed... Herald for this eve, I would ask that I may present you to her." Introductions then. It was very... King Arthur. If old Artie ever had an orgy in his throne room."