In the High Court of Seelie, meetings were rare but whenever there were, it was always tense.

Lady Auraline watched as two of the faerie nobles quarelled from their seats, Ridlocke and Cassius. She rolled her eyes at the sight, the outburst had been expected from her two bruttish cousins. Ridlocke and his pride, Cassius and his ego - it was never a good combination. And yet alas, they were representatives on the Council just as much as her.

When in fact, she had been the one to deliver the crucial information.

"We have been too lenient on them!" Ridlocke bursted out. "If what Auraline said is true, then we are truly at the brink of war with Unseelie," 

"We all know your intentions, Ridlocke," Cassius shot back. "War is exactly what you'd like to get us into. A Redcap's bloodthirst is in you, despite being born into royalty,"

Ridlocke snarled and was about to draw his sword, "How dare you insult me? While you sit in your hollow halls and indulge in pleasure-"

"Silence all of you!" a bellowing voice responded, echoing through the grand halls of the High Court. Seated above the rows of the other faerie royals, was King Kovan. Auraline wondered what her uncle truly thought about all this, he didn't seem fazed by Ridlocke and Cassius quarelling despite him being the one stopping them from fighting. 

Intelligent as an owl, he considered the situation carefully, meanwhile every Court representative stood to speak their mind; to his right was his current lover, this time a prim young water pixie with eyes as blue as the Lunar Lake out far north of the rolling hills, hair hues of indigo and sapphire and in her arms was a toddler with cute pointy ears and tuffs of curly hair. His third son since last spring, she thought to herself. 

Though his ever-multiplying offspring was truly none of her concern, as long as he was competent as High King.

It was common practice for the fae to have multiple lovers at a time, but for her love was always something much more sacred.

"Lady Auraline, you may speak," the seneschal on duty said as part of formality. 

"My King, fellow members of our Court," Auraline greeted everyone with poise. "The situation at hand, the reason we are all gathered here, is not for quarrels," she shot a look at Ridlocke and Cassius. "But we must come together, we do not know what it is that Unseelie is planning. We had our finest sibyls read the stars, the tides, trying times, not necessarily war—is imminent. We know, my King, how Unseelie hides their schemes in plain sight. We have been careless, even when I was present during the banishment of Jocelyn,"

Cassius gasped, "Are you insulting the King, cousin? Do not forget you were eye-witness to Jocelyn's betrayal, you were just as complicit,"

It was Lady Hypatia, Septimus's mother who defended Auraline. "She never claimed otherwise, Cassius. Do listen before jumping to conclusions," she snapped briskly before resuming her indifferent stance. 

"I admit I was complicit to Serafia and Unseelie's deception," Auraline continued. "We know of their wickedness, and yet we stood and watched without taking action. And now they plan to use Serafia, the product of one of their own and a witch of the human race, as their tool,"

King Kovan leaned forward, "But how would that be a threat to us, Auraline? Even if Unseelie concealed their plans to not fully banish Serafia, how does that concern us? Jocelyn is dead, a former scribe of your Court had been killed but that is not a means to raise concerns-"

"My guards witnessed it all, Ealdhun, in his last breath he said to them 'Warn them all, Unseelie has begun their games, Serafia is their pawn. Bring your knights, your rooks, peace be upon Seelie or may the stars help us all!'" she raised her voice sharply. 

Collective gasps echoed off the walls, a few nobles were standing in an outburst of shock at that statement, there was disbelief, the whole meeting was in chaos. Still she soldiered on and look King Kovan in the eye, "You know I cannot lie, Your Highness. This is not just a warning, it is a prophecy."

This time King Kovan did stand up, and regarded her with seriousness. She couldn't recall the number of times her uncle had looked at her that way, only that it was rare. Once when she was much younger, in her youth and had outsmarted all her cousins in a game of faerie chess; the second when she had fallen in love with a human soldier and gave him a son, she remembered vaguely him calling her a foolish naive girl; and now there was this.

"And what about you, Auraline? Do you—fear for us all?" he asked.

"Where there is fear, there is hope. And I feel both things for Seelie, my King."

"What do you mean Lady Auraline will be back by sundown?" Septimus for once, sounded panicked.

The messenger sprite seemed to shrink timidly, "T-that is the news I've come to deliver, Prince Septimus. She has instructed me to notify you regarding the ball to be hosted by the Rose Court tomorrow at dusk-"

Septimus sighed and held up a hand, "Yes yes, I understand. You don't need to repeat it,"

The sprite nodded before glancing anxiously past him, towards the bed where Jongho lay, still and asleep and very much weak.

"Is there anything else you would like me to deliver, Your Highness?"

Septimus considered carefully for a moment, and shook his head. "Nono, that will be all. Tell Lady Auraline all is in good hands," and the sprite fluttered away, out the window of the bedroom. 

The sickly paleness of Jongho's skin had improved from the previous night, some colour returning to his cheeks - but the unhealthy pallor was still there. If Mingi squinted his eyes, he could see the faint veins from underneath. 

After his condition had stabilised the night before (involving hours of monitoring and constant feeding of tonics for iron poisoning brewed by the servants), they had him moved to a private bedroom, the one he was supposed to have, if he had been living in Faerie.

Oddly enough, and Mingi knew this was probably the last thing to notice anyway: The room didn't seem as blank and vacant as it should've been, given the fact Jongho had never lived in the Court. It had its usual pastel walls, intricately carved windows, the canopy bed with its elaborate curtains; but other details caught his eye too. On the dressing table were toy cars and a few crayons, the velvet carpet at the corner of the room had a section for musical instruments specially sized for children. There was an organ, a flute, even a classical guitar which he found quite odd.

But then again, that was the least important thing to notice.

"What can we do?" Mingi heard Hongjoong ask when he left Jongho's side. He and Elise had taken refuge to the side of the balcony window, unsure of what else to do. Despite all the tiredness, Elise seemed unfazed as always. Her hair had come undone, her eyes were staring into a distance, as what most would do when there was nothing to do at all.

"His recovery is on himself, you cannot help that," Septimus replied, his tone surprisingly soft as he answered Hongjoong. "I understand that you are worried, we all are. But...he seems to be recovering steadily, Joyeuse will be fine. And he'll be safer here under the care of our medics, how Auraline's response will be to this is another issue. I just hopes she doesn't murder anyone,"

Mingi felt Elise's shoulder brush his, and she laid her head on it. "We can't stay here forever, Mingi," she said quietly. "Yunho, remember?" 

Mingi tensed again, he ran an exhausted hand down his face. "I know, I know..."

"Indeed," Septimus apparently had the sense of hearing of a bat. "All of the recent happenings with Serafia do indeed have some connection to Unseelie, but I have a feeling most of her motivation is personal. Whatever happened to your ghost friend might not be connected with Faerie, and therefore I apologise but it is out of my command to assist you beyond it,"

With a dejected nod, Mingi accepted it. Elise had told him before as well, the fae somehow followed an odd code of conduct, especially when it came to their politics - and assisting humans one too many times was crossing that line. It was miraculous enough none of them had asked for anything in return, as most favours were in nature, bargains. He was about to answer, "No, we understand-"

"I'm really sorry for asking again," Hongjoong suddenly cut in, slowly walking up to Septimus who was leaning against the wall. Septimus looked like he hadn't anticipated it either, he maintained his casual composure, but his arms were folded across his chest, the signet ring he wore glinted in the breaking light of dawn. "But Ara's my sister, and she's involved in all this as well and I know this is her own story to write,"

Septimus raised an eyebrow, "I remember her telling about that wild fey bestowing her with a cursed gift, a prophecy of her future, her now."

"We hardly know each other, so this is probably a meaningless request. I mean, you're a faerie prince and I'm...not that," he trailed. "But I'm still her brother and I'd do anything to protect her, I'd trade anything for that, even this. I think you're a good person, Prince Septimus and you would help, if someone asked," and he stopped talking, regarding Prince Septimus with great, steady measure. 

Mingi wondered if this was the first human who looked at Septimus without flinching away, because the faerie prince wasn't a human, neither was his beauty. It was like bright imagery in a kaleidoscope, jarringly beutiful if you looked at it for too long. But that didn't happen. 

Instead, Septimus returned the same measured gaze, his dark blue eyes steady and...there was something else more cryptic. The prince pushed himself off the walls and pursed his lips, "Alright, maybe there is something that would be of help for you. Come with me,"

"Where are you taking me? Who are we meeting?" Ara demanded as Edith pulled her by the hand through the maze-like corridors of the Witch Elm. 

She had been rudely interrupted mid-sleep by the the infernal knocking of one of the witches (was her name Anya?), telling her to put on her cloak and to look presentable. Whatever that meant.

And she was now getting dragged into the upper floors, which was odd considering she had never gone up there since her arrival here. It was definitely more put together than any other floor, there were polished floorboards and even Persian rugs, hung on the walls in frames. It looked like a place formally for people to meet.

"We're about to meet an old friend of yours," Edith said with malice, like Ara was supposed to catch on to the joke.

She knew she did, but she hoped she was wrong. 

"Why is she here?" Ara stopped dead in her tracks, and yanked her had out of Edith's grip, much to the Witch Mother's annoyance. 

"You are wasting, time." 

But Ara didn't budge, "If you don't tell me what she's doing here, I will not follow you,"

"Acting like a brat now is unwise, Araminta,"

Still, she stuck out her chin, the way she did when she'd rather get er-punched than forced to do something she didn't want to. It was like a drug, the more she defied someone, the more bold she became. Getting on Edith's nerves gave her that adrenaline rush, she wasn't sure if it was good.

"Tell me what I want to know."

And so she did.

When the doors swung open and Serafia walked in, Ara promised herself she wouldn't look like a scared little girl.

She wanted to look intimidating beyond the red veil of the Whispering Chamber, the room where the Corpsewitch would usually reside, her seated on the throne built. 

Serafia did look shocked upon seeing her, her eyes widening. "You?" she hissed. "You're the Corpsewitch? That can't be-"

Ara raised a brow, "For what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?"

Serafia  sputtered, "B-but at the warehouse, your brother-"

Ara stopped fiddling with her hair, "Enough. Yes, I'm the Corpsewitch. That's me. Now I'm wondering for what reason could you possibly give me to help you, after all you have done?" The temperature of the room dropped drastically, the whispers now were just audible to her. Serafia noticed it too. 

Serafia blinked, "I..." but she was speechless. "I can give you what you want,"

"Hmm, that sentence sounds awfully familiar. I'm not stupid for falling for tha twice, you know,"

"I swear," she let out a breath before continuing. "I swear I'll do anything you ask, if you agree,"

Edith had briefed her about everything necessary before this moment. Serafia had sent a message about coming the previous morning, about something urgent she needed from the Witch Elm. Knowing the Corpsewitch had returned, Serafia knew she no longer had the upper hand but seeing that she still came, she was clearly desperate. "And if I betray her? You know I will," she had asked Edith when she was getting ready, putting dark red lipstick and kohl. 

"Betray her all you want, witchling," Edith had chuckled before shuffling out the room. "We're not people with honour, neither are we fae who are bound by truths and oaths. Remember, this is all in your nature to be ruthless,"

"Anything, anything at all?" Ara finally spoke. "I suppose I can put past the fact that you wanted to kill me, with the right price,"

Just the the door to the chamber swung open once more, Edith and two other witches had returned, this time with something in tow. 

It wasn't something, it was someone.

"It is something only you can do with ease, I will full price for it," Serafia said.

But Ara was no longer focusing what she had to say, as the sack containing that person was lifted and showed who was bound by ropes and gagged underneath.

Yunho.