Autumn Fury (Milada, Hrimveig, ST) (Winter 2013)

Page 1
Songbird

Nov 06, 2014#1

Before Onawa stumbles from the Hedge, the Autumn Queen of Fort Worth is a lovely but unsettling woman named Undine. Her hair is as black as death, save where the fae have dyed it an electric blue--brighter than the sky, lighter than deep waters, her colors seem ominous and venomous, even in spite of her obvious beauty. Her skin is as pale as any Darkling's, but she's as soft as a petal and the enchanting fragrances that waft in her wake are a telltale sign of her Fairest Flowering nature.

She's been queen for quite some time when Milada and Hrimveig arrive at the Freeholds--they're told, in voices that never seem entirely comfortable with these questions, that Undine has reigned in Fort Worth for as long as Liam has reigned in Dallas. There are even rumors that she would prefer to reign in Dallas--the restrictive codes of behavior in Fort Worth don't seem to fit well with the frightening Autumn Queen--but there is a rumor that King Liam the Oracle always scries that the wyrd would choose him over her, and so she keeps to Fort Worth and retains her crown.

But there is something clearly not quite right about Undine. She watches everyone with cool disdain, almost bordering on flashes of outright cold hatred. She doesn't abuse her powers--at least not that anyone can see--but the atmosphere crackles dangerously when she enters a room, and there's a tangible sense of raw power always in the air around her. Her mantle is like a Texas thunderstorm, heavy and menacing, a force of nature that is quick to lash out at random and wont to start prairie fires that might rage for days and destroy indiscriminately.

She interacts very little with the other Freehold members, and avoids her fellow monarchs as much as possible. She seems to particularly hate King Ash, but her ire simmers only barely less for Queen Rivah and King Eric. Eric does not even try to seduce her, as far as Milada can observe, and Hrimveig will once overhear Rivah speaking in a sharp voice to Undine (though Hrimveig does not catch the actual words), and this display of temper is unusual for the calm Summer Ogre. Ash, for his part, seems even more sad and gentle than usual when Undine is in the same room as he--which is rarely--and all his sad placation only seems to provoke her further. She is always, always outwardly the soul of calm, but tangible menace hovers about her and she glories in the sensations of fear and anxiety that she provokes in many of the Freehold members.

On the winter solstice of 2013, Undine holds court with Liam in the Autumn ballroom, preparing to go through the ceremonial changing of the crown. Milada and Hrimveig have both attended these ceremonies before: the crowns are supposed to shift from the current monarchs to the new ones, at which point the gathered Freehold will march in a somber parade to the Winter ballroom for feasting and elegant dance and at least one sad country song about broken hearts and Texas. Undine has gone through this ceremony many times before; Milada and Hrim have watched her perform with quiet menacing grace each year they've been here.

Yet this time, the woman who always crackles with menace and who always seems not quite right, not quite there, seems distracted and not mentally present for the ceremony she's done so many times before. Her dark eyes watch the window outside and her lips move in a repetitive motion, even as no sound seems to issue from her mouth. The Freehold members politely ignore this indecorous behavior--it's already widely known that Queen Undine either isn't quite all there, or perhaps pretends not to be in order to frighten her subjects. Yet there is a pause in the ceremony when an explosion of thunder booms in the sky over the building and the heavens open in a sudden fierce hailstorm, as hard and dangerous as only a Texas storm can be.

Then, without warning or provocation, the lovely woman looks Fort Worth Winter King Ash straight in the eye as the crown transfers from her head to his, and she says in a voice like bitter frost and dark blood-stained earth and poisonous plants that will kill a man with their touch, "Gentry! Fuck. You."

Several things happen at once.

King Ash's kind sad eyes widen in unexpected pain. He clutches his throat with one hand and crumples to the ballroom dais in what seems a near-faint. Undine explodes in a whirlwind of dry dead brown leaves, and a nearby window shatters into a thousand jagged pieces. A shard of flying glass cuts Milada across the forearm, drawing blood, but she doesn't even notice this as she leaps forward to attend to the fallen king.

All eyes are on Ash and the other monarchs remaining on the dais--King Liam and Queen Imani--but Hrimveig, who has an almost sixth sense for treachery, will notice nearby Summer Queen Aisha slump against the wall, her own hand clutching at her throat in pain. Hrimveig will push her way to the petite woman, pushing a healing potion down the girl's throat almost before she has a chance to react.

A search party will be instantly sent out for missing Queen Undine by order of Queen Imani. But no one will ever see or hear of Undine again. And--very quickly, considering the drama of the event--people will stop talking about it entirely, preferring not to dwell on what was certainly a textbook case of a clarity breakdown. No one will be able to locate the missing queen, and it's almost certain that she was killed, either in the Hedge or on earth, no one knows.

Ash will be fine after Milada's attentions--he clearly was not seriously injured--but he will be extremely weakened and tired, even after courtiers apply healing magic. Queen Imani will order him to bed, to be attended by Violet, and will gently-but-firmly order Milada to go home--Darryl will escort her, the Autumn courtier looking profoundly shaken. No one else will notice that Aisha was wounded in the attack, and Hrimveig will accompany her to the private Summer rooms.

---Songbird

Aisha is furious after the attack by Undine, but allows herself to be shuffled off by Hrimveig to the Summer Queens' private room behind their ballroom. Hrimveig knows by now to never ever touch Aisha without permission, but the woman is grateful for the healing potion and doesn't mention any manhandling that may have been needed in the moment--an emergency is an emergency, after all.

The private room of the Summer Queens is dominated by a war table that seems to shimmer with raw magic--the giant table is clearly a token, and a powerful one. Miniature changelings are dotted about the table, which holds a perfect miniature model of the Freehold Hollow. Aisha stalks to the corner of the room, where a hedgespun coffee maker has been installed on top of some relatively shabby counters.

She pours a draught of something hot and caffeinated and takes a long sip, letting the heat pour down her raw, wounded throat. "God," she sighs after. "I needed that. Fucking tired as hell now. Bitch." She takes a thoughtful sip. "You want a cup?" she asks, looking at the Snowskin with uncertainty.

---fruitbat

Hrimveig nods. "Thank you." She takes a sip and grimaces at the initial temperature. "Why you? She made the cause of her displeasure with Ash clear, if not the reason, but what quarrel did she have with you?"

---Songbird

Aisha snorts and looks away. "Who even knows?" she grumbles bitterly. "She hates everyone. Only barely tolerates Liam, and can't be bothered to notice Yakone. I'm surprised she didn't go after Rivah and Eric, too, and Imani to boot." She takes another sip and looks thoughtful. "Maybe she planned on it, but realized she needed to hoof it once folks started reacting."

Then she laughs bitterly. "Oh, for fuck's sake. Ash and Aisha. She was probably going alphabetically. Fucking Undine."

---fruitbat

Hrimveig grins briefly. "She got you the wrong way round, then. Just how powerful is she?"

---Songbird

Aisha scowls. "Powerful enough that I'm gonna be sleeping with two cold iron blades for awhile rather than just the one. I dunno what kinda contracts and tokens you kids have in Autumn--", she gives Hrimveig a wry grin at this, "but Summer knows nothing stops cold iron coming at your heart."

She sighs and takes another long sip of coffee, and the woman looks profoundly tired.

[OOC: Hrimveig has Eternal Autumn 3 (Brother to the Ague) as one of her contracts, and could hazard a guess that this is what Queen Undine used, as there aren't too many attack-spells in Autumn. She would know that in addition to the bashing damage Aisha took, she's going to be genuinely non-magically fatigued in the wake of the spell--and that the strength of the fatigue is a direct function of the strength of Undine's connection to the wyrd.]

---fruitbat

"Powerful enough that you may be sleeping for some time, then; the curse she used against you will keep you tired for some time." There is a moment of silence, and then, "If you truly fear her returning tonight, I would be willing to stand guard."

---Songbird

Aisha gives her a startled look, and then turns thoughtful. "I..." She pauses. "Yeah, okay," she finally says with a sigh. "Tyrone and Skyler really ought to be on the search team, we've got to find her before she gets herself killed."

She frowns. "I won't go home, just... I'll sleep in here. I can pull in one of the mats and you can... you can stay in here if you like. Just." She frowns a little. "Don't touch me while I'm asleep, I cut people that way."

Then, belatedly: "Thank you."

(Go back to Worth Hollow)