PRIVATE RP ( for Libitine + [-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-] )

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

Excalibur lay shimmering like a piece of silver in Mab's lap. Leah gazed at it transfixed by the power that burned within it. A sword forged of ancient star steel and sorcery. Star steel was molten metal taken from the heart of a star and formed into the desired shape by elemental power. No other metal on earth was stronger. In the Old Days, Mab was always the one who presented the sword to the next King.
Sky had even crept out of hiding for a little while to look at the sword closer. Soon it would be presented to Dustin and then he would use it to put an end to Ambrosius.

--------------------------------------

Leah..Leah the sea moaned at her. It was Merlin's voice. She raced outside thinking he was somehow here, but was faced with a terrifying Viviane. "Come to me, Leah. I can help you save Merlin. Don't you care about him? I do. We must save him."


-------

Leah walked up to water's edge to face the lady that stood there.
The Lady smiled at her, "Welcome to my land Leah." The water parted to show a path downward into the sea. Leah cast one final glance backward, betraying her fear only to Tintagel's dark silhouette behind her and then she began her descent into another world.

The water rose around her until the height of it was incredible. She wondered how much further it was to the true bottom of the sea, when the water walls above turned and dumped themselves upon her. Her scream was cut off mid-way as she was drowned to the bottom.

-----

Leah awoke with no awareness of how much time had passed. She choked and sputtered the last of the water in her lungs onto the transparent glass floor. Lake water and colorful fish could be see through the glass floor. She gazed around her with awe. It was an underwater palace. Every last inch was carved from transparent white glass. There was no surface that couldn't be seen through to the water outside.
"Normally my home would be full of water as well, but I'm holding back for your sake Leah." the Lady's strange echoy voice cut through the air.
Leah glared at her, wondering if this lady was psycho. "You almost drowned me."
The Lady smiled mysteriously, "Maybe one day you won't need air to breathe."

Leah was shown to her room. Her lip curled with distaste at the pile of kelp on the floor that was supposed to pass for a bed. "I am not a fish."
But the Lady had left her.

She wandered through the glass palace under the sea, but saw nothing. There was very little furniture or other objects and what was there was carved out of that same white glass. Leah decided if the place was normally flooded with water like the Lady had told her then it would make sense that there was very little that could be kept in the palace that would not quickly ruin underwater. The thought-messages she attempted to send Mab only bounced off the glass walls. Leah guessed if her messages were not able to leave, there was little doubt messages could be received here either unless the Lady allowed it. She was in a different domain. Mab's power held no sway here.

She turned a corner and heard high girlish laughter. She whipped around only to see the tails of silver fish disappear behind another corner. She raced after the sign of life and found a chamber with a large pool in the floor that ultimately led to the outside water if one could hold their breathe long enough to swim out. The creature who had laughed at her was sunning itself on the glass shore. "A mermaid...?" Leah asked hesitantly. The mermaid shook back her wet golden hair and flicked water at Leah with her long silver fish tail. The fish-girl giggled at her again like a naughty child.
"What's your name?" Leah stood her ground.
"Name? No name. Names are unnecessary."
"Then how do people get your attention?" asked Leah with bewilderment.
"Like this." and the mermaid opened her mouth to let out an unearthly song.
Leah was transfixed until she stopped singing moments later.
"Any mermaid will answer your call if you sing beautifully, yes?" the mermaid giggled. "Will you sing for me, pretty daughter of the Air?"
"Maybe later." Leah maneuvered. "On the surface, it is customary to have a name. May I give you a name?"
"You may do as you please." the mermaid shrugged.
"How about Ariel?" Leah offered, thinking of a faery story she had heard of long ago.
"Ariel?" the mermaid shrieked with laughter. "The story of the fish-princess? I think I like you." And with that, Ariel kicked off and dived to the outside waters leaving Leah alone again.

--

It was a very good thing Leah could go without food and sleep now. With no real bed to sleep in and no food to speak of, she would have been in quite the predicament if she were still mortal. She hadn't seen the Lady of this strange realm in days. Did she plan to leave Leah here to rot? She had promised to help Leah save Merlin.
"You know what your problem is?" Ariel's melodic voice broke through her grim thoughts. "You are like a fish out of water so to speak." Ariel's giddy laughter echoed off the glass ceiling.
"Come swim with me today?" Ariel's innocent face pleaded.
"Perhaps tomorrow." Leah countered vaguely again. She was right to be hesitate she told herself. No matter how innocent they appeared, mermaids were known to drown people, intentionally or not she wasn't sure.
Ariel scoffed in irritation. "Tomorrow you say? That's what you say everyday. You will not sing for me. You will not play with me. What reason do I have to come see you then?" Ariel began to swim away.
"Wait!" Leah urged, not wanting to be left alone in this unnerving place. "If I sing for you, will you answer some questions?"
Ariel smiled at her, her eyes glowing a strange yellow. "Depends what the questions are, but yes, if I like your voice I will try my best to answer any questions faery-girl may have."

Leah took a few deep breathes to buy herself some time to decide what to sing.
What kind of song would Ariel like?

Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be
Who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea.

My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,
There is nothing that can console me but my jolly sailor bold.


By the third line, Ariel had joined in with the song. Leah stopped, Ariel continued to sing the other lines of the song and her voice echoed ominously through the room. She was drawing other mermaids to her. Leah backed away quickly from water's edge as at least ten other mermaids appeared from the waters. All of them were naked, all of them as beautiful and seductive as Ariel. But her voice rang by itself strong and confident while the other mermaids eyed her like she was dinner.

"Enough!" the Lady's harsh command cut the song short, "Away with you!"
The mermaids scattered like leaves blown by the wind.

Leah turned to meet the Lady. Her silvery hair waved slowly as though she were underwater. "You mustn't provoke them. They're fascinated by pretty things. All of them are collectors at heart really."
"And what about you?" Leah challenged.
The Lady smiled devilishly. "My collection is the most exquisite of them all."

---

"Poor little faery-fish, caught in her nets. Beware, beware, she does not throw back her catches frequently." someone was combing fingers gently through her hair. When had she fallen unconscious? But Leah's thoughts moved like sludge. She couldn't pull them together. She felt the scrap of wet scales against her bare legs. And then cold, wet lips pressed against her own as though to give her some air. But what she got was water instead. Leah coughed and shoved the mermaid away, fully awake now. It was Ariel again.
"You are beautiful." Ariel reached out to trail clammy fingers along Leah's arm. Leah flinched back. Ariel pouted like a child. "I am so jealous. I want you to stay with me. Be only mine."
"You promised you would answer my questions if I sang for you." Leah distracted her.
It was dark now, the moon was out. It barely shown down through the waters to where they were. But Leah's eyes glowed green in the darkness. She could see and she knew Ariel could see in her own way as well. "What questions do you have then?"
"Why am I here? What does the Lady want from me?"
Ariel looked serious for once. "I do not know what is happening right now in the surface world, but my mistress is angry. Most of all she is angry with her sister."
And as for why the Lady wants you..." Ariel glanced slyly at her, "she likes pretty things."

---

Leah groaned in pain and tried to move, but she could not. It felt like every bone in her body had been painstakingly rearranged and everything ached. She cracked her eyes open and all she could see was water.
"Stubborn, foolish girl. You should have stayed asleep." the Lady's voice sounded...normal. The next thing Leah realized was that both of them were underwater. The palace was filled to the brim with lake water.
But for some reason Leah did not feel like she was drowning. Her dark hair floated in the water around her and she watched it hazily, her mind and body aching.
The Lady's voice sounded normal...because they were underwater. Her voice only echoed in the air. The pieces finally fell into place. Leah tried to open her mouth to speak, but could not. The Lady smiled at her. "I've been feeding you parts of my power for some time now. If only you had remained asleep, this final gift wouldn't have had to hurt so much." The Lady's eyes glowed silver and her power shot through the water and swam down Leah's throat by force while she screamed silently in agony.

---

"'Little fish..little fish, time to wake up." a singsong voice chanted teasingly.

"I have a tail." Leah was surprised her observation didn't make her faint.
Ariel giggled. "When you go back to the surface, you can grow legs again. But let's play together first."
Ariel tugged Leah further into the water out into the lake to swim free.

After plenty of swimming and frolicking to keep Ariel happy, Leah waited until the girl was fascinated with some shiny stones and then attempted to make her escape to the surface. Leah wasn't sure what the Lady had done to her, but she'd had enough of this. She was going home. But Ariel grabbed her arm, "No you can't go that way."
"Let go of me." Leah shrieked, but Ariel restrained her.

---

Kelp was twisted around her neck, her wrists, and her silver tail like ropes. It held her to the floor of the glass palace as she fought uselessly against it.
"Where do you think you will go Leah?" the Lady asked sadly, watching her struggle. "You are mine now."
"I am not yours." Leah grounded out through clenched teeth. She could still feel her fae-magic. It was still there. Its power was dampened only because she was so far underwater, so far from her true queen.
"Your true queen?" the lady laughed derisively apparently able to hear Leah's thoughts now. She reached out to stroke Leah's new silvery white hair. Leah gnashed her teeth at her in frustration and fury at what had been done to her.
The lady continued to gloat over her. "You abandoned your humanity, half of who you were. Which means there was only half of you left. So I was able to insert half of my own seed into that void."
"That still does not make you my queen."
"It most certainly does." She gripped Leah's face in an iron grip so the girl could not look away from her. "I will snap Sky's neck, kill Merlin and Dustin, and destroy the child currently growing in my sister's womb if you do not obey me."
Leah froze in fear. "You know I have the power to do it Leah. Do not disappoint me."

---

Ariel showed her to the surface and sent her off with a cheery "Have fun and come back to see me soon!"
Once she reached the surface, her tail had grown into legs and she stood naked on the edge of the lake, long silver-white hair streaming down her back.
She was forbidden to approach Mab for aid. She was ordered to rescue Merlin from Ambrosius' clutches, likely to be used as another pawn in Viviane's cruel game.

[Libitine]

The winter wind whisked through the walls of Tintagel castle, and the sound it made cutting over the brick walls echoed the crash of the sea waves over the jagged rocks. Mab had drifted off to sleep in her wing, which was a rare occurrence indeed. She had found herself tired lately, physically as oppose to her usual mental drag. She needed the sleep desperately, to help the child grow. Without sleep, or food, Mab would function normally, but the child would become incredibly weak, perhaps even discontinue life altogether.

She had fashioned a protective column for Excalibur before retiring for the evening. Mab had brought together the common element of Air she shared with the sword, and built a cyclone of wind around the floating weapon. Upon viewing it for the first time, Dustin had requested it reside with him. So the cyclone whirled in his bedroom and lulled him to sleep.

Mab had grown used to the sound of Excalibur’s wind, but the sound she was hearing in her sleep was far different. It had an angry tone, and the manner with which it moved through the castle was foreign. Her brow wrinkled in her sleep, and she turned on her side, the light from her green eyes shimmering in the moonlight.

I’m winning.

The Queen sat up in the dark at the sound of her sister’s voice. She pulled the covers from her body and went to the window, looking out to the ocean. The water seemed to have parted and swelled. As Mab squinted in the darkness, she thought she saw a golden glint. Vivianne. Her sister was looking at something, but what?

She cranked open the balcony door and moved quickly to the banister, craning her neck to try and get a better view. The clouds had eclipsed the moon and the stars, so her sister had been cloaked in darkness. Mab’s heart beat quickly, anticipating her sister’s scheme.

The wind cut through Mab’s hair, tossing it about in the wind and knotting it violently. The shear black nightdress she was wearing pressed tightly against her skin. And then she saw her. Leah.

Mab’s stomach lurched, and she lunged forward, her hands gripping the stone rail. “Leah!” she shouted, but the wind carried her voice away. Vivianne looked up toward Mab, and closed the ocean.

----------------


Her head was spinning. Moira had been killed, in part by weakness, and in part by Mab’s arrogance, and neglect. Had the Queen not been so set on punishing Leah, her daughter would be alive. Now, the very girl she had wished dead not weeks before, had been submerged into the Lady of the Lake’s icy waters. All because Mab felt tired, and had fallen asleep. But she had made her promise not to venture near the water, had she not? She had. Despite their prior differences, it was unlike Leah to disobey an order, especially now, when Mab was all she had in the world.

The Queen appeared on the shore, her fists clenched. She walked to where the sand was wet, and the ocean waves splashed up on the hem of her nightdress. It was freezing, and the wind seemed even more ferocious. The water was roaring as it crashed onto the shore, and Mab could only guess that the brutality of the weather was a result of Vivanne’s torturous game.

“Vivianne appear to me now!” Mab shouted into the distance, her eyes scanning the ocean for any sign of her dead daughter’ daughter. Her thoughts were frantic; Mab was so panicked that for a moment she thought she would transform into a sea dragon and search the ocean for Leah herself.

The idea, though at first ridiculous, seemed the most logical, and Mab went to move further into the water. As she stuck her foot into the waves, however, she felt an electric shock unlike anything she had ever experienced. Jumping back, and clamping her hand on her stomach, Mab’s eyes grew wide and hopeless. Her sister had made it so she could not enter the water. The Mistress of Magic had no power here.

“You have no right!” she shouted into the empty wind. “Leah is mine; the sword Excalibur is mine. Your childish jealousy will not prevail!”

The ocean swelled, and the Lady appeared, her scales glittering a bright gold that Mab’s soaked black nightdress could not compete with. Vivianne’s eyes shone brightly, and her face was twisted into a mask of hate. She moved her arms quickly, treading through air that was moving faster than she could stay afloat in. She hunched over slightly, tensing as if she would lunge at her sister Mab.

“If Leah is yours, Mab, and I have taken her unjustly, than follow me into the water and claim her,” she said, her voice chillingly calm. “She is right beneath the surface. Reach in and take her.”

“Enjoy your game whilst it lasts, Vivianne,” Mab said, lowering her eyes and growling deeply. “For it will end as swiftly as your life.”

Vivianne rode a wave and moved closer to her sister, floating mere inches from Mab’s face. She laughed deeply, the sound of her glee echoing across the mountains and causing Mab to wrinkle her brow.

“I can make threats too, Mab,” she said. “It is easy, as easy as twisting the life in your belly, and causing the bouncing baby to turn to bubbling water. All it would take is the flick of my wrist, and it would give me great satisfaction.”

“Not as great as the satisfaction I will get, Vivianne, when I use the sword Excalibur to slice off your head,” Mab snapped, baring teeth. “If you harm any of my children, I will kill you.”

“You cannot kill outright, fae,” Vivianne said with a gruesome smile. “Your kind are pacifists.”

“Elemental Kings are a breed of their own,” Mab responded sharply. “We are each other’s end!”

Mab’s final statement to her sister was coupled with a snarl, and a slice across Vivianne’s chest. The Queen’s fingernails cut through the Lady’s scales, scattering them on the surface of the water. Blood oozed up from inside the Lady, and Mab licked her fingers. Vivianne looked down at her chest, touching the drops of blood lightly. Her eyes traveled up at Mab.

“It appears to be my move, sister,” she said simply, and disappeared into the sea.

----------------

Dustin was dreaming of Excalibur when Mab shook him away. He had smelled the salt of the sea when she entered the room, and thought it was Sky, as his twin often enjoyed late night walks, but it was Mab’s raspy whisper that gave her away. She sounded on the edge of tears.

“What is it?” he muttered, rubbing his eyes as he pulled himself up in bed. She helped him, supporting his weak shoulder. “Why have you woken me?”

“Leah is gone, stolen,” Mab said, looking over her shoulder as if waiting for someone to enter. “By my sister, the Lady of the Lake; she wants Excalibur. We have to get Leah back before Vivianne kills her.”

Suddenly, Mab’s hands were on his neck. She did not mean to strangle him, and her grip was far from tight. She merely placed them there to get his full attention, as if she did not have it already. His eyes were wide and terrified.

“You must swear on the life of your sister, Sky, and on your love for Leah that you will not go near the ocean. That you will not go near any type of water. No baths. No walks on the sea shore. No drinks of water. Nothing. She will take you. Do you understand that?” Mab was pleading. “You must also swear to make Sky understand this.”

“I-I swear,” he said, his voice full of fear. “But what will I drink?”

Mab exhaled sharply, having forgotten that humans need water to survive. “You can drink tea.”

“You have to boil water to make tea,” Dustin said.

“We will cross that bridge when we get to it!” Mab snapped, leaping up from her seat on his bed. “Have you listened to anything I have said?” she bellowed. “You have to help me, Dustin. You have to help me this instant. We must save Leah.”

“Excalibur is ready,” Dustin said, throwing back the sheets on his bed, and running to the wind column. The protective winds around the weapon calmed and he took hold of the handle. “I am ready. Are we going to her Land?”

“No,” Mab said gravely. “We are going to Ambrosius.”

----------------

Merlin had been bound to a pole for nearly three days now. His hands were tied behind his back with a rope, and his back was up against a thick, large pole that supported Ambrosius’ tent. He had been offered food and water, but accepted nothing, relying on the fae part of him to survive without mortal nourishment. The way Ambrosius regarded him now made Merlin think he expected him to perish at any moment, but the wizard lived on, sleeping only when Ambrosius punched his cheek and sent Merlin into blackness.

The wizard had also refused to use his magic to escape, for the simple reason that he was no longer using his magic. He had won against Vortigern with his wits the last time he was imprisoned by him, so he expected that to work this time around. A new body had not made the King any smarter.

At the present moment, Merlin was observing Ambrosius while he messily ate mutton. Caliban was across his lap, in place of a cloth napkin. Merlin had not expected Vortigern to be the type to place a napkin in his lap.

Merlin’s secondary dilemma was what to call his captor. The body Merlin was looking at was the body of a man who had been named Ambrosius, but the person who spoke was Vortigern. The King had his temperament and memories and goals, but lived the life of a twenty-something warrior. Merlin supposed he could do what he had been, and refer to Ambrosius when observing the man in physical form, and Vortigern for everything else, like speech, temperament, and et cetera.

A large piece of meat fell from Ambrosius’ mouth and onto the sword, but he did not seem to notice. Merlin had always prided himself in his manners, a value Ambrosia had instilled in her adopted son early on.

“While the use of a sword in place of a napkin is ferocious, my lord,” Merlin said, lifting his head. “It will require you to polish the metal much more frequently.”

Ambrosius turned to Merlin, dropping his piece of mutton. “Is that why I tied you to that post, wizard,” he said, Vortigern’s diction ringing clearly. “To have you teach me table manners?”

“No,” Merlin answered. “No, my Lord; you captured me to attract Queen Mab.” Merlin knew of their alliance, their history, and while he doubted that Mab was the actual reason for his capture, he trusted the mention of her name would send Vortigern into a tailspin.

In his typical fashion, Vortigern had no immediate verbal response. He simply tightened his leather gloves, causing a crack to sound from his knuckles. After moment of thought, Ambrosius opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the intrusion of a young messenger boy.

“Master Ambrosius,” the boy said from under a cloak that hid the majority of his face. “My Mistress beckons. May I present, the Princess Maeve, the rarest and greatest Celtic beauty.” The boy stepped aside and a woman slipped through the opening of the tent.

“What is this . . .?” Vortigern whispered, wiping his mouth on his glove as he looked upon the girl for the first time. She was young, not even twenty, with bright red ringlets that went all the way down her spine. Her dress was a deep blue, like the color of the sky at dusk before the sun paints it red. She had golden paint up her arms that featured traditional Celtic designs, a triquetrous, a snake, vines, and knots. Her eyes were a bright green, and shone with an intensity Vortigern had only seen once before. She entered his tent and her page boy moved to the center of the structure.

“My Lord Ambrosius,” she said in a voice that was soft like honey. “I traveled outside my region for the first time to meet you, braving the witches and thieves of the world, with only a page boy at my side. You visited me in a dream that I long to make a reality.”

“And what might you have dreamt, Princess Maeve?” Vortigern asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“That you took me to your bed,” she answered plainly, though her cheeks flushed pink. “I have visions, my Lord, I pray you permit me to speak of such an enchantment; I dreamt you took me to your bed, and permit me wear your crown.”

“Tell me,” Vortigern said, shifting in his chair. “Why does your page boy hide his face? Is he an outlaw I should fear?”

“He is disfigured,” the princess responded, walking closer to Ambrosius. She seemed to glide, as if walking on ice. “It is taboo in your culture to be seen with a disfigured man, is it not? I wanted to be sure his scars would not inhibit my journey to you, for it was long enough.”

Merlin saw beneath the curls, recognizing fully the dance that was being performed for his viewing pleasure. His stomach was aching and his eyes were swollen and red. The bruises on his face were no better. He longed for the charade to be brief, but he knew better than to believe in his longing. The page boy nudged his shoulder, and he glanced at him. The boy angled his hood in such a way that the wizard could see his face. Dustin winked at him from under the brown hood and Merlin’s suspicions were confirmed.

Not wanting to give Vortigern any ideas, Merlin turned back to look at him, only to find that Mab was seated on his lap, the sword Caliban now on the table behind her back. At that moment, Merlin found Mab a genius, not for constructing such a plan, for the plan was very simple, but for recognizing that all Vortigern needed was a simple plan.

“I was right,” she said, touching his chest. “You are strong. I adore a strong man. Wrap your arms around me, even strike me, for what I have done in fleeing from my father and entering your tent must surely be wicked of me.” Her lips touched his. At first, Ambrosius returned the kiss, but after a few passionate embraces, he pulled away.

“You are prepared to perform this deed before my hostage and your page boy?” he chuckled.

“Certainly,” she smiled, “Your hostage will consider this the highlight of his stay with you, and my page boy is doomed to live a celibate life. This shall be a treat for them both.”

As their lips touched again, Merlin felt Dustin tug on his ropes. The wizard nodded, preparing to surrender his vow and use his magic for Dustin’s life. The boy had brought Mab to save him, after all.

Vortigern’s hands moved down Mab’s back and rested at the base of her spine. Disgusted with the taste of mutton on his lips and in his breath, she considered now a better time than ever to finish the job. She moved her hand backwards, as if to caress his, or direct him further down, and Dustin sliced Merlin’s ropes. The sound of breaking cord snapped Ambrosius’ neck in that direction, and in an instant he put the pieces together.

Ambrosius reached for Caliban, but it was already in Mab’s hands. She drove the blade into his chest as she shed her girlish figure.

“For Moira,” she whispered and yanked the sword from his ribcage.

“Mab!” Vortigern screamed, throwing her from his lap. She hit the ground hard, losing her grip on Caliban. He was bleeding heavily, but still managed to stand, hovering over her almost protectively. She waved her hand, sending Dustin and Merlin to Tintagel castle.

“I will rip your heart from your dress,” he hissed, stumbling and nearly crashing onto her. “And eat it before all who you love.”

Caliban shot into her hand, and Mab disappeared.

----------------

When Mab appeared at Tintagel, Merlin was sitting in a chair by the fire, and Sky was applying cold rags to his wrists. Mab rushed to Merlin’s feet, and picked up the bowl of water Sky had poured, throwing it into the roaring fire. The flames did not dampen, they raged on, and Mab wiped the blade on her dress.

“No water,” she said sternly, pointing her finger at Sky. The girl shrunk down, hiding her face behind Merlin’s bent knees. He patted Sky’s head, looking at Mab cautiously.

“The events of this evening are no cause for paranoia, Mab,” he said. “You needn’t frighten Dustin or Sky. Besides, I have had nothing to drink in days.”

“Drink ale,” Mab snapped, clicking her fingers and creating a column of black shadow. She tossed Caliban through the air and it landed in the middle of the column, protected. A pint of ale appeared on the arm of Merlin’s chair, as well as a hot meat pie.

“I do not drink ale,” Merlin said bitterly. “And how is that you can touch both swords? The swords chose, Mab.”

“Drink the ale, or do not drink at all. None of the three of you will be in contact with any water,” she said. “Not until I have Vivianne’s head. And Moira can touch both swords. I use her.”

Merlin regarded Mab carefully as she began to pace, splitting the meat pie in half and handing some to Sky. The girl’s eyes widened tremendously, and she took a large bite of the food. Merlin ate gingerly.

“So you are pregnant,” Merlin muttered.

“Yes,” Mab hissed, stopping in her tracks to glare at him. “Have you any more comments, wizard, or shall we discuss Leah’s return? I rescued you so you could aid me, Merlin. I refuse to have you sit here while I do this myself.”

He took a sip of ale. He needed it. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

----------------

“I can blame no one but myself,” Mab said softly, gazing into the fire. “I mistreated her for decades.”

She was sitting on the rug by Merlin’s feet, where Sky had previously been nuzzled. When Mab and her creation had begun to plot, Dustin had taken Sky to her room so she would rest. It was probably in his better interest to scheme alongside the witch and her wizard, but he was terribly frightened, more so than Sky; telling her stories until she fell asleep and staying to watch her breathe was what he needed more than anything that evening.

Merlin had finished his pie, and drank a third of the ale, and felt much better. Though time was of the essence, he could sense a great unrest in Mab that had surprisingly little to do with Leah’s capture. They had been enemies for so many years, he and his creator, at this moment they found themselves with a common interest and a shared need for each other’s strength. So he listened.

“This was Mordred’s home,” she said, knowing full well that Merlin knew this. “I came to put him to bed every single night of his childhood, and in his toddler years, I would sit out here by the fire and year his tiny feet slap against the stone floor as he ran out to sit with me. Many a night did he doze off in my lap and I dreamt of the day when he would wear the crown. Moira would be there too, tucked into a bed down the hall from Mordred in a much smaller room. Frik would put her to sleep and if she crept out I scolded her.”

Merlin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You gave her so much though, Mab,” he said softly.

“When Mordred was killed in battle, I hated Moira more than I hated you for allowing Arthur to kill him,” she continued, a dreamy look in her eyes. “I hated her deeply for taking my time and energy from Mordred. I could have given him magic had I not become pregnant with her; I could have spent more time with him and trained him better. Little did I realize that her death would pain me twofold what both of his deaths caused me to feel.”

Merlin knew he was the only person in the world to hear such things. The first person, and the last.

“She moves inside me Merlin,” Mab whispered, looking over at him. “She moves inside me even as I speak.” Mab paused, her chest swelling with breath. Her exhale was a welcome sound to them both. “I have to get Leah back.”

What Merlin saw in that moment was something he never dreamed he would see: Mab, admitting to her faults, and loving her daughter, and trying to be a mother to them all. But even as Merlin realized this, and felt her pains within his chest and stomach, he had no idea what lead him to the promise he made to her that evening.

“But I have nothing,” Mab said with a shrug. “I never thought I would be left with nothing.”

“You have me,” Merlin said. “I will trade myself.”

----------------

“I love Leah,” Sky said, her eyes opening with a start. Dustin straightened in his chair, looking at her curiously. His eyes were heavy with exhaustion.

“I know,” he said. “I love her too. I am willing to do anything to bring her back to us.”

“She was in my dream,” Sky said. “She is almost always in my dream. She was beautiful. She came to my bedroom as she used to when she was here and I was in Camelot. I laid her down and kissed her forehead and whispered to her all my secrets. I told her all about Mordred and how he made me bleed.

"I told her about how Mab came to me cloaked in darkness and dropped me in Merlin’s tent. He named me, did you know that? Merlin named me. I love the name he gave me. It is infinite, yet simple. Sky. I am Sky. I am blue, but sometimes I am gray. Sometimes my thoughts are clear, but most times they are riddled with clouds. And I have birds inside me, Dustin, birds. One is you. He is a great golden hawk. You will be a wonderful King, brother. You will protect the people in a way Mordred woud not, and Galahad could not. You are strong and true, and handsome.”

She sat up at this point and her blonde hair tumbled down her shoulders like waves over rocks. Her blue eyes were filled to the brim with tears, and as she spoke they fell. Dustin moved to the end of her bed, watching her without blinking and listening to her without thinking. He had not seen her since knowing she was his sister. He had not ever seen her this way and he was still in a deep longing to make her his wife.

“I can never be great,” Sky whispered, twisting her fingers in his hand. “I feel like a grieving heart. I will always be slammed shut, even to myself. I am a mystery to myself and I am broken. I am meant to be great. I am meant to be an heir and continue Mordred’s bloodline. I am meant to touch one of the swords and fight beside you, because you are my brother with whom I used to hold hands in the womb. I love you, Dustin, and I love Leah desperately because she loved me tenderly, in a way Mordred could not. Galahad could not. When we are safe, in the caves, in the dark, I will let you love me, but for now, I cannot. I will never be great, Dustin. I must try for the last time to do one great thing.”

“But I love you endlessly,” Dustin said. “I am in a great longing for you.”

“And so is the sea,” Sky whispered and shed her final tear. She leaned forward and kissed her brother’s lips, before lying back down against her pillow and succumbing to a deep sleep.

----------------

The way one feels,
Could be likened to an opening,
Or a slamming,
Or a grieving
Heart

The sea foam tickled Sky’s toes. She had let her hair down her back and arrived on the shore in a simple white linen dress. One of Sky’s dreams had been her death. She had been floating peacefully under the surface of the ocean while a white dress fanned out in all directions. Now, she stood at her Death. She was completely at peace and each breath she took felt like her first. She loved Leah. By the gods, she loved her dearly.

All of them
All of them
I have seen
Inside my mouth

She sang a song she heard only once before, from Leah’s lips, and she sang it in the prayer that her sister would come to her, and the Lady of the Lake would emerge.

One day I’ll be
My own wet belly
And I will have a
Baby

Sky knew her death would be very painful. If the Lady would have her way, which Sky knew she would, her body would be ripped to shreds and fed to mermaids. They would tear at her broken flesh savagely, their pointed teeth scraping against bone. Her bones would be scattered all across the ocean floor, and animals of all sorts would come to suck on them. Sky’s spirit would be consumed by the Lady herself, which would feel like a great tearing. At least, that is how she dreamt it.

Oh he will move
So swiftly
And hold me
Completely

The Lady appeared, intrigued by Sky’s song and the energy she was lending to the ocean. She knew why Sky was at her shore, and understood the gravity of her death. Sky was a prophecy unfulfilled, a damaged good Mab had half-heartedly fashioned from her most prized possession. Within Sky, was Mordred, and within Mordred, was Mab’s heart. The slaughter of his only daughter would certainly end Mab’s days.

“A present from the Mistress of Magic,” Sky said, bowing to Vivianne.

All of them
All of them
I’ve pushed
Into the
Air

“Come into the water, child,” Vivianne said, opening her arms to display the vast seas beyond her. Sky slowly waded into the water. It was freezing cold, and stung her skin like beestings. Her breathing seemed shallow, much more difficult, due to the harsh salt air. Sky waded deeper into the water, which seemed oddly calm for the ocean, and looked up anxiously at the Lady. She ignored the screams of Dustin and Merlin behind her.

Sky was suddenly lifted from the water and twisted about, her neck breaking almost instantly. Her body fell to the surface of the water like a rock a child could not skip, and the mermaids from below caught her in their claws and began to tear her apart.

And somewhere on the shore, Leah felt a tearing inside her.

All of them
All of them
Will be with me
In the salty
Caves

----------------

Idath met Sky inside his castle. She was soaking wet, but smiling. She had a truly beautiful spirit. He extended his hand to her, and she took it. With his other hand, he created an opening to a world Sky had never dreamt. This was the part of the story she did not know. Idath looked at her, waiting for her to give him the sign, show him she was prepared. Sky nodded, and Idath lead her through the door, and into the bright blue sky.

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

Leah pulled Ariel out of the water and they fell down together in a tangle of hair, skin, and scales. Ariel's fingernails grazed the underside of her breast and Leah inhaled deeply. This was perfect, perfect and magical. Their legs tangled together in the soft green moss carpet underneath them. Ariel placed tantalizing kisses along Leah's neck.
Leah arched her back, offering her chest to Ariel's hungry lips.
Leah's fingers dug into the moss and ripped it out as Ariel did things to her body no one had ever done, not even Sky. It was the way of things, who knew how old Ariel actually was. But she was very experienced. As Ariel tasted her, Leah thought she could hear siren song in the distance.

-------------

Leah felt Sky die. She felt every second of torture as Sky was torn to pieces by the other mermaids. Leah was pinned to the ocean floor where Viviane's rage and delight could course through her entire body. Sometimes Leah was screaming, or times she was laughing hysterically, while caught up in two different sets of emotions.
Sky's death was her punishment for failing to deliver Merlin to the Lady.
If only Mab hadn't rescued Merlin before her, Sky might still be alive. her insanity and bitterness told her.

---------------------

Leah was sobbing on the beach. She had finally been released with new orders from Viviane. She lay on the wet, sandy shore crying her heart out as the ocean tide came in to brush against her body and slick tail over and over again. She eventually noticed someone was patting her back and trying to talk to her. Leah looked up through pearly tears and realized it was Ariel attempting to comfort her.
Ariel settled down in the sand next to Leah while her tail twisted around Leah's like a child clinging to something important.
"Hush, I'll tell you a story Leah." Ariel spoke softly. "You named me Ariel. But, my little fish, I think the name applies to you more. Ariel is the fish-princess who didn't know her place and constantly longed for another world above the water. "

"I was not born here. She stole me away against my will." Leah countered tearfully.

"And do you know how the story ends..." Ariel continued, completely ignoring her, "..the fish-princess eventually dies for being so foolish as to stray above the waves."

"Yes, she dies horribly and then becomes a creature of the Air." Leah finished the story with growing irritation at this stupidity. Then Leah blinked at her, struck by the story's ending.

Ariel smiled at her and then swam away with a warning, "Be careful."

-------------

Mab stepped into the room behind Leah. Leah's hair had turned silvery white. It would have been beautiful to almost anyone else, but to Mab it was the completely wrong color from before.

"You turned yourself into a fish?" Dustin chuckled mirthlessly.
That was the last straw for Leah's stress level. Her eyes flashed silver and water rose around him and encased him in a suffocating bubble. She was going to drown him. She didn't want to hear another word from him. "How dare you.." Her voice low and cold. "How dare you let Sky enter the water. What were you thinking?" Leah's voice cracked.
"Leah, drop him." a stern command.
The fury of water left her at the sound of that voice and the water bubble collapsed and spilled its contents to the ground.
The fishy magic went into temporary hiding and the faery magic took back control as she turned to face her former queen.
Merlin was with her. How strange to see the two of them standing together like that. She sauntered closer to them, ever so slowly.

Merlin watched the girl approach him. He sensed anger and the promise of violence rolling just beneath the surface of her calm mask.
He didn't recognize her... or maybe he did. She seemed to have Leah's face, but that was the only thing familiar about her. She was clearly not human like the Leah he had known and Merlin could sense Viviane's power on the girl as well. What was going on? Mab had told him Leah needed help. She hadn't mentioned any of this.

Mab and Viviane, twin sisters but opposing elements. Both of them cruel in their own special way. And here was Leah, a combination of both cruelties.
With a terrible scream of rage, Leah sunk her fangs into Mab. Mab flinched but didn't stop her. Though Leah had been ordered by Viviane to attack and steal Merlin away, this target was the one she wanted to attack. Leah would make her scream...somehow. She bit deeper.
Merlin shouted something and ripped Leah away from Mab. She turned on him and knocked him to the ground with a surprising strength.
Leah stood there panting for several seconds, staring down at Merlin, then at Mab, then back to Merlin again.

There was one thing that did not go unnoticed...how often Leah's eyes strayed towards Mab's midsection.

-------


The sea howled and twisted itself, writhing in potent anger.
Leah ran into the tempest, with Merlin chasing after her, trying to convince her not to leave. He stopped before he reached water's edge. Leah had vanished so quickly into the waves. Merlin suddenly noticed the water was encroaching upon the shore. He backed away quickly. But the water kept moving rapidly inland . Apparently Viviane had decided to drown everything.
Then Merlin realized its true target. Mab The Lady was trying to drown Mab. Mab disappeared beneath the water as Dustin screamed her name.
Merlin felt the earth groan and push back, rejecting Viviane's tirade. What was the Lady thinking while blinded by her rage? She was upsetting all of the elements. The world would collapse if the elements were not in harmony with one another.

Mab was sure she was indeed drowning. Her sister had done nothing for centuries... or at least it had seemed like it. Viviane had actually been saving her energy for releasing the world's largest storm. The last time she had been like this she had dragged the entire continent of Atlantis to the bottom of the ocean.

Mab sank deeper into the abyss, but then someone grabbed her and she felt the scrap of scales against her body. This person pressed their lips against hers and fed her clean, cold air from the surface.
Mab opened her eyes and saw silvery hair floating in the water before her. Leah.
Leah had apparently changed her mind about attacking her. There was another mermaid with her as well. This one had long golden blonde hair.
The blonde one began to drag her labouriously through the water while Leah swam away.
She returned a minute later with more air from the surface.


----

Leah dived in without hesitation. All of her clothing melted away at the water's touch and her legs fused together into a powerful silver fish tail. She reached Mab and untangled her from seaweed. Pressing her lips against Mab's, she breathed air into her and began pulling her through the water, swimming as fast as she could. Ariel showed up to help her.
The two mermaids alternated between pulling the faery through the water and bringing her air from the surface. While one continued to swim Mab forward, the other went to the surface to collect some air.
The storm would calm itself eventually, but they had to bring Mab somewhere safe.
Finally, they reached their destination. They pulled Mab up through an underwater hole into a small cave. It had no exits other than the water hole in the center, but at least there was air.
Leah crawled onto the rock and her legs returned, but her clothes did not. She reached out a hand for Ariel and the mermaid reluctantly left the water too. Ariel's tail turned into legs instantly as well.
Ariel curled up next to Leah's body to keep warm.
"If it gets too cold, we can go back into the water but I'd rather not risk it. If she calms down enough, Viviane may be able to sense our location if we're in the water." Leah comforted Ariel.
Mab thought about lighting a fire. "No! No fire!" Leah exclaimed picking up the thought. "Not with Ariel here."

----

They were trapped in the cave for quite awhile. Ariel became bored and began to sing in her alluring voice. Leah clapped a hand over her mouth. "No, my sweet, you'll draw the other mermaids to us if you do that."
Ariel gently sank her fangs into Leah and Leah wondered if that was supposed to be some kind of mermaid form of affection.
"If you ask it of me, I will leave the water for good and come with you." Ariel offered.


-----

"How do you kill a goddess?" Merlin asked rhetorically.
"With a sword." Dustin replied. He pointed at Air and Darkness, Excalibur and Caliban.

[Libitine]

On the evening of Sky’s death, Merlin found Mab in her bedroom. The fire was on, but her windows were shut. The room smelled strongly of burnt wood and lilac. He assumed the lilac was her own scent, but something made him unsure. She was sitting at her vanity, spinning a rounded crystal on the surface of the table. Her right hand was propping up her head, and her breathing was very slow.

“Mab,” Merlin whispered, glancing at the dark shadow column that housed Caliban. She had set it up near her dresser so she could watch it while she slept. Something within him gave Merlin the feeling Mab was fascinated by the blade.

She had been accustomed to rules and regulations her entire existence. In the past few weeks, the rules had changed completely. Mab had known she could never touch Caliban, and she had known that Vivianne’s power was confined to the ocean. She had known that Leah was half-mortal and half-fae. She had known that Moira was alive. Everything she knew was different; everything she had believed was wrong. So what was the point of believing?

Faith, she decided at that moment, as the crystal left her fingertips and fell onto the table, was overrated. Belief in anything did nothing but fill a person with false hope.

“Merlin,” Mab whispered finally, covering her eyes with her hand. “Has sleep evaded you? I have found I cannot eat or sleep. It is quite disturbing.”

“Yes,” Merlin said, closing the door to her bedroom behind him and approaching her vanity.

“You may take a seat on the bed,” Mab said, putting her face in the palms of her hands. She was not crying; he would have been able to sense her distress. Mab was exhausted. Merlin fully understood her physical state; pregnant or not, the stress alone would have sent her to this end. Merlin took a seat on the bed.

“I just left the library,” he said softly. “I got into the habit of reading when I could not sleep when I was at your castle for the first time. I wandered to the library here about an hour ago. I recognized a few of the volumes from your Land, one in particular about the Elemental Kings.”

Mab lifted her head, looking at him in the mirror. The black makeup under her eye was ever so slightly smudged.

“I did not know your world crumbled when you died,” Merlin whispered, his swollen eyes staring into Mab’s reflection.

“Yes,” she whispered, turning in her chair to look at him. Her left hand was wrapped around her stomach. “My faes died when I did, and my Land crumbled. Moira witnessed it all, but I could feel it. I heard one thousand screams of anguish, and I felt the weight of the rocks of my kingdom crashing down upon me.”
Merlin looked at Mab in wonder, filled with remorse. He had been the one to send her to her grave. He never wondered what it was like to die. More than once, Merlin had watched a mortal die, but never had he wondered what it felt like. If he had, he would have reconsidered her demise. It was painful for him to think of Death, partly because he was so familiar with it. The frequency with which he was faced with the concept had desensitized him, so any analysis of Death would destroy him.

“Hypothetically,” he said. “If we were to destroy the Lady of the Lake, perhaps Leah would be coughed up by the ocean.”

Mab covered her face with her hands. “Caliban is right over there.”

------------------------

Leah's hair was terrifying. Mab wanted nothing more than to reach out and cut it all off, then cross her fingers and pray it would grow back in ebony. She was very tempted to extend her hand and touch Leah's new mane. It was disgusting, absolutely disgusting; the exact color of Vivianne's hair. The Lady of the Lake had completely infected her.

Infected. Exactly that. Leah was cursed with a disease of which Mab could not cure her. The girl had whiter skin, as if untouched by sunlight, but it had a roughness to it, as if constantly battered by a storm, or the churning of the ocean. Her eyes even looked more hazel. Mab was terrified.

She observed Leah closely, not saying a word. When the girl lunged at Dustin, Mab waited silently. Something within the queen told her Dustin would not be killed. Merlin, however, did not get that feeling, and put an end to Leah's display of power. Her powers were not very intimidating at all. A bubble of water here, a sprout of tail there, nothing compared to what Leah had before. Part of Mab thought that Leah was only so powerful because of her existing fae talent. Leah owed a lot to Queen Mab.

The fae fish sunk her teeth into the Queen's wrist. The pain was sudden, and it stung deeply, but settled on Mab's skin nicely. She relaxed her tense wrist, enjoying the feeling as deep purple blood filled Leah's mouth. Mab smiled, and Dusting thought he would vomit.

Merlin, ever the one to intervene, grabbed Leah by the ear and pulled her off of the Queen. Mab had not been afraid. She would not be afraid.

And then, Leah ran.

------------------------

The rest of it, including the drowning, was a blur. Mab remembered next to nothing about being submerged into the depths, and preferred it that way. She was wet and cold in the cave under the ocean and very annoyed with her sister, and with Leah's behavior.

Vivianne was passive and she was peaceful. She was a stable element that usually needed coaxing to act out in any sense. She had been given the lake as her home for that very reason, in stead of the sea. Yes, she had always governed the sea, because it was comprised of water, but the lake had been where Vivianne was comfortable. The secondary point Mab was holding on to, was that Mab had not done anything to stir up all of this anger in her sister. Sure, she had some beginnings of a family, and a sword or two, and power, and the ability to socialize with humans, but that was all because Mab had made those things for herself. Vivianne had always been content with a simple, stationary life. She could not fault Mab for enjoying excitement and extravagance.

Leah was aggravating Mab, but not in a detrimental sense. In reality, Mab was perturbed by the chill and the fact that she was still damp, and she knew everyone else would be feeling the repercussions of that. At this moment, Leah's obvious intimacy with Ariel bothered the Queen. First of all, Leah should not be looking at women that way. She should be looking to men, and attracting herself to men, for she had a duty to continue Mab's bloodline.

Secondly, Sky was not twenty-four hours dead and Sky had been the object of Leah's dramatic affections for years. Did Leah not care, or had Vivianne's icy spell taken the last of Leah's humanity away? And the obvious thought struck Mab that perhaps Leah's humanity was lost when she turned fae, and this fish behavior was only an extension of that. Perhaps Leah had lost the way to love weeks ago.

And here, here at the instant after that thought exited her head, Mab became incredibly more frustrated, and disappointed. Leah, while agitating at times, had been the link to mortality and humanity that Mab desperately needed to connect with her people. Leah had been fascinating, and almost free in her love, and Mab needed that to understand. If Leah was another mythical being, like Mab, and like the baby would be, than the Queen would be surrounded with cold hearts, and further removed from the people who kept her alive.

Leah needed her humanity back.

"Where are your wings?" Ariel's voice broke the silence, and Mab looked at her skeptically.

"My wings?" she asked, pointing to herself. "Whatever do you mean?"

Ariel put her palms flat down on the cave floor, leaning forward as if to get a closer look at Mab. The two mermaids were separated from the fae queen by the opening to the ocean.

"You are a faery, aren't you?" Ariel asked. "Don't faeries have wings?"

"I was born with wings," Mab said softly. "I was born with them and used them in my youth, because I had not mastered magic yet. Once I had the power to travel from place to place by using my mind, I no longer needed wings." How carefully crafted were Mab's lies, so that they only held what was true.

"You're lying," Ariel said with a sweet smile. "You are trying to lie at least. You lost your wings. You did not give them up. I can feel it."

The muscles in Mab's back twitched and she exhaled slowly, looking up at the ceiling of the cave.

------------------------

Dustin emerged from the tub of water with a start, coughing and desperate to breathe. His long hair stuck to his eyes as hair does when wet. He brushed it away as Merlin slapped him on the back.

"You are going to have to expand your lungs more. Deepen your breaths, Dustin. You will have to build a tolerance to the water." Merlin said, handing the boy a cloth to wipe his face. Dustin breathed heavily, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I do not want to drown," he said, covering his face with the hot towel. The water in the bath was so cold, and his clothes clung to him like extra skin. "And it is enough I have to swim with Caliban in hand, and my boots on my feet. Sky drowned and when she did I could not breathe. I do not want to drown."

"I will not let you drown," Merlin said, taking the cloth away and putting it back inside the pot over the fire. "And the fish skins are not too heavy. You won't be weighed down by them."

"You really think she won't sense me?" Dustin asked, looking at Merlin. "I mean, I will still be Dustin, a human, I will just be wearing a suit of scales."

"I have my doubts, but they are few. I will distract the Lady. She will not sense you," Merlin assured, shifting he weight so he sat on his knees. "Let's go over the plan once more."

Dustin inhaled deeply. "Okay," he began. "I go to the south side of the castle and get into the water while--"

"Is that really what you do first?" Merlin questioned, rising to his feet.

"Wait," Dustin said slowly. "First, you help me dress in my suit of fish scales, the one that we are making. Then, I fashion Caliban in the fin I will have on my back, so I can use my arms to swim freely. Then you walk to the west side of the castle, and summon the Lady. I walk to the south side and jump into the water, and begin to swim to you. You tell her you are trading yourself for Leah and Mab's safe release," Dustin paused. "Do you think she will fall for that?"

"Say whatever you like about Mab," Merlin said. "But she has always been and will always be the more clever sister. Mab schemes, so she can always sense when she is apart of another scheme. She looks ahead. Vivianne is the balancer, and has never been involved in something like this. She will think she has the upper hand."

"What do you think the repercussions will be?" Dustin whispered.

"I have no idea," Merlin said. "But I feel empowered, and prepared to find out."

------------------------

"I did not realize you could hear my thoughts," Mab said, looking at Ariel. "I should have guessed, though, by the way you two have been looking at each other and not speaking. You looked to have been communicating these past few hours. Have they been hours?" The Queen sighed, undoing the clasp of the cloak around her neck. The garment was still soaking wet, and she saw no use to keep it tight around her neck.

"And yet, I stray from the topic," she said, curling her legs up under her body. "While I did not deliver the full story of my wings earlier, I did not lie, Ariel. I cannot lie. I can only walk around the direct truth. I also cannot kill outright. No creature of magic can," Mab explained, gazing at the red ring on her left hand. It was something seldom noticed, and seldom thought about, and yet, it never left her left ring finger.

"I was born with my wings, and I was born a sprite. I came forth from the petals of a white rose, but I doubt it was the rose who birthed me. We elemental kings all began as small versions of what we govern. Vivianne was a golden fish, able to escape the teeth of sharks. I was a dragonfly."

"You govern dragonflies?" Ariel asked. Mab simply looked up and smiled.

"I grew from a dragonfly to a fae, slowly, over time. One morning, I was in incredible pain, and had to seek shelter in a hole in the dirt that a snake had made. I was hidden in that whole for a year while I shed my insect shell and learned to stand on two feet. I do not know how it was for Vivianne for I did not know her then," Mab looked at the opening in the cave which led to the ocean.

"I began to learn to use magic, slowly, but certainly," she paused. "I am telling this much too slowly. I suppose there are one too many elements in my story to attempt at cutting it down. I will try."

"I grew to rely on the will of the people for magical strength, as I do today. I got word from one of my mages that the Roman gods were deeply jealous of the spread of my religion, paganism, to their territory. I never had a good relationship with Jupiter. I suppose I never formally spoke to him either, but I ignored the signs and visions my mages had and continued to preach and appear in Rome. Well, after a century or so, I got wind of a general, Julius Caesar, traveling to Briton to lay waste to pagans in the name of the Roman gods. I got wind of this movement, and sent a terrible winter upon him, so he was forced to turn around. I continued to keep my eye on Caesar."

"Caesar was like Vortigern," Mab continued, not pausing to explain who Vortigern was and why they were similar, "And eventually, he gained too much power. The people began to turn on him and his decisions caused much chaos both on land, and in the sky. I intervened, bitter still after his plot on my people, and manipulated his chamber into assassinating him."

Leah's eyes widened.

"I was brought before Jupiter, and the whole lot of them, after one of the members of council prayed to Pluto and told him of the voice he had heard the day he stabbed beloved Caesar. I was told I had to pay a terrible price, and the Messenger, Mercury, was not getting around as quickly as he would have liked. So Vulcan, the Smith, set them aflame while they were still on my back. From the ashes, he pulled a new pair, and fashioned them to Mercury's sandals."

She sighed, brushing her skirt.

"And that is how I lost my wings."

------------------------

Dustin dove into the water. The waves were freezing, but much more calm than they had been the night prior. He was thankful for that, for he was not a strong swimmer as of yet. The fish scales he wore had been stitched together by Merlin, and then the wizard had used his magic to bind them to the boy's body.

"It is just a trick," Merlin had said, as Dustin felt a permanent stick on his skin, but the boy was not so sure. He did not want to be a fish forever, and depend on the element that drowned his love.

Caliban was heavy on his back, and he desperately wished he could have strapped it to a belt around his waist, but Merlin was insistent that a belted sword would be more likely to be stolen, and would inhibit his leg movement. Perhaps the old man was right, but Dustin was still the one who had to brave half a mile's swim in the angry ocean. He had been at it for about fifteen minutes, and could hear Merlin's voice on the shore.

"My Lady of the Lake!" Merlin called, stepping into the ocean. "It is I, Merlin! I have come to give myself unto you, in exchange for the lives of Leah, and your sister, Mab."

Vivianne burst forth from the ocean, sea foam dripping off her dress. "I have been waiting for you, Merlin," she said. "Step closer to me, and I will make the exchange."

"Will you do me the courtesy of answering me one question first?" he asked.

"Does answering this question count, Merlin?" she smiled. Perhaps she was more clever than he had expected.

Merlin smirked. "Please Lady," he said. "You have always been gracious. Allow me one question."

She nodded.

"Which do you think will hit the water first," he said, looking into her golden eyes. "Your head, or your body?"

Dustin lept from the water at that moment, ripping the sword from the fin on his spine and slashing it through the air. In one slice, the Lady of the Lake lost her head. Dustin grabbed hold of the head, while her body crashed into the waves.

And everything shook.

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

Ariel looked at Mab with horror and sadness after Mab's story was told. Losing one's wings...Ariel considered that as horrible as getting one's tail cut off or equal to a brutal form of castration.
Ariel glanced over at Leah for help. Leah met her gaze and nodded slightly.
"Did you know a mermaid's tear can heal that sort of injury?" Ariel asked the Queen. "But she can only shed one healing tear in her entire life. Unfortunately, I already used mine long ago. But Leah has not yet used hers."

Ariel peeled off the wet clothing herself to bare the pale skin of Mab's back. There were faint scar lines on her back, clearly marking what had once been there.
Leah pressed her face against the scars and tried to cry. It wasn't difficult. She had had plenty of reasons to cry for awhile now. Moira and Sky were gone, Dustin had almost died, she had had to sacrifice half of herself to save Dustin, and then she had been tortured, transformed, and manipulated by the sea witch Viviane. The frigid wall of denial and shock finally broke and she found herself crying hysterically into Mab's back. The scars vanished.


----------

The ocean floor shook as if a volcano had just erupted. The water swelled and crashed against the shore in massive waves. Ariel suddenly gasped in shock and trembled slightly.
Leah had felt it too. "Viviane is dead." Leah spoke aloud with bewilderment.
Then a terrible wave of pain struck her as Viviane's power inside of her died.

Ariel's earlier story had been correct.
"..the fish-princess eventually dies for being so foolish as to stray above the waves."

"Yes, she dies horribly and then becomes a creature of the Air."

--

Dying was painful enough. Transformation was agony untold.
The death of a mermaid resulted in them transforming into a fae. The death of a fae was true death.
But no mermaid wished to willingly suffer the transformation nor to leave the sea, her home.
Except for the old story of Ariel. The story told to all mermaids and manner of sea creatures to warn them of the dangers of desiring something other than the water.

Leah screamed as it felt like each individual scale was ripped from her body.
Water ran down her body, but it did nothing to quell the hideous fire that coursed across her flesh and through her veins.

Ariel hadn't wanted her to suffer like this. That's why she had tried to convince Leah to stay in the water. But Leah had believed that nothing could be worse than an eternity with the sea witch Viviane. How wrong she was. She would have gone crawling back on her knees to Viviane if the pain would stop. But it was too late now.

When Viviane's power finally reached the end of its transition into the power of Air, a new kind of pain ensued. Her back burned, stretched, and then ripped open.
Her throat was destroyed from screaming too much already, so she was silent.
Finally, merciful darkness claimed her mind.


-------------

Leah shifted uncomfortably with a groan. Her throat was sore, her face and back felt stiff and hot. However, someone gripped her shoulders and forced her into a sitting position and pressed a cup to her lips. The liquid went down like ice, freezing the pain a little and clearing her mind.
She cracked her eyes open and squinted at the dawn light coming in through the window.
Everything was too bright and her eyes too sensitive, she snapped them shut again.

"Where does it hurt?" the question came unbidden.

Everywhere she wanted to say, but couldn't find the strength.

Icy hands wrapped around her throat, then over her face, and down her back, cooling down everything they touched. She started to lay back down. "No, lay on your side for now."

So Leah found herself on her side instead. Mab was stroking something on her back. It was a bizarre feeling because she knew Mab was touching her, but whatever she was touching was definitely not her back.

Mab slid her fingers through the slick, but velvety fold of Leah's wings. Newborn dew still dripped off of them. The wings were a brilliant sapphire blue with black edges. They had the typical butterfly-similar shape of most fae.
To Leah they still felt like a bundle of cramped muscles. But they twitched and shuddered slightly under Mab's careful massage.

Fae did not wear their wings openly, except amongst their own kind. But even among their own kind, it was basically taboo to touch another's wings without express permission.
Wings were very delicate and therefore fae felt naturally protective of that part of their body. They often didn't wear their wings in an effort to avoid being touched in such an intimate way by an ignorant person. What mortal could resist the desire to touch a pretty pair of wings?

And what Mab was doing was practically akin to sticking one's fingers between another's legs. But Mab didn't care. She would do anything to relieve some of Leah's pain. Leah had returned her wings to her.
Their wings could be used for flight if they chose, but more importantly they were symbolic of what sort of creatures they were, creatures of the element of Air.
She had been the wingless Queen of Fae for centuries. She was fully aware of what her own people thought about that, though none had dared say it to her face.

Mab tenderly touched Leah's midnight-colored hair that was sprawled across the pillow, clearly happy to have her little girl back.


------------

The dew had melted from her wings. The aching, cramping muscles feeling had vanished. The wings fluttered occasionally in reaction to whatever thought had crossed her mind. Ariel slid up behind her to touch "those pretty things" as she called it. Leah flinched at the first touch of Ariel, but then relaxed. The wave of fear passing away as quickly as it had come. But she doubted she would feel relaxed with that many people touching her new wings. If Moira or Mab touched her in that way, it would be ok. But the idea of Merlin or Dustin wanting to touch her wings, didn't sit well at all.
She would have let Sky touch them for sure. Sky would have loved them.

Ariel's fingers slid over soft velvet satin and delicate veins as she traced the design patterns on her wings. Leah moaned in pleasure when the fingers slid between the layers of slick satin. Her body shuddered involuntarily as those fingers made their way down to her legs and brushed against her core.

--------------

It was hard to keep them hidden. She wore a cloak over them in public, but it was difficult to hold them still for long periods of time and they felt cramped afterwards.
But until she "moulted" for the first time, as Mab had told her, she wouldn't have any control over her wings to will them into being or wish them away yet.

Mab hadn't yet shown her wings to Leah. They were healed, but she was hiding them. Maybe it was because they were still in the human world that she didn't want to wear them yet. But in the meantime, Leah was dying of curiosity wondering what they looked like.
"Will Moira be born with wings or do the wings come later?" Leah asked her curiously.

[Libitine]

The ceiling of the cavern cracked, and a large stone fell down amongst the women, covering the exit into the water. Mab stood, opening her hand and exploding one side of the cavern, water rushed in, and the Queen ran to Leah's side, touching her shoulder. The girl howled and Ariel could not help but cover her ears. The water was quickly filling the cave, and Mab gathered Leah into her arms in preparation for their transport.

"Go," Mab said to Ariel. "Try to meet us to the shore safely."

Upon arrival to the sand, Mab placed Leah down. The girl twisted in pain, crying out and clawing at her chest. Mab took a step back from the scene, knowing there was nothing to be done. Merlin rushed to her, searching for the source of the girl's anguish.

"Keep your hands off her!" Mab snapped, turning just in time to see a group of mermaids poke their heads and claws above the surface and drag her sister's headless body underneath.

There was a coughing behind Mab, from the ocean, and Merlin sprinted to the waves, plucking Dustin from beneath them. As the boy began to stand and walk out from the water, clumps of bloodied fish scales from his skin. He clutched Caliban in his right hand, and something golden in his left. He walked to Mab, his head bowed, and shivering from cold, and extended his hand. She held hers out to him, and open, and he dropped something metal into her palm. She looked down, and he dropped the sword Caliban at her feet, and walked past Leah's moaning form, Merlin, and the Queen herself. Dustin was finished.

Merlin approached Leah once again. The girl had curled into a ball, every muscle tense, and shut her eyes. She was no longer screaming, but her face was twisted into a mask of agony. Carefully, Merlin lifted her from the sand and walked toward Tintagel.

In Mab's palm was a single golden scale.

------------------------

The Queen tossed Caliban through the air, and he reentered his protective column. Dustin's door had been locked when she checked, and Merlin had been keeping watch over Leah, even though Mab had instructed him to sleep, for there was nothing that could be done for her. Besides, the Queen herself would be tending to her in mere moments, or so she had thought.

There was a flurry of black smoke, and Idath appeared before her. "Mab," he said, walking over to his former lover. "I am afraid this evening requires an explanation."

"Ask Merlin," she said wearily, placing a golden something in a small box on her vanity. "This 'evening', as you call it, is a product of one of his schemes."

"Mab," Idath said sternly. "I do not think you understand what you have caused. The entire balance of things has been thrown to pieces. You do realize the Lady of the Lake is dead. An Elemental King is dead, Mab."

"Stop speaking to me as if I were a child!" Mab snapped, turning to face him. Her hands were at her side, all of her fingers spread apart in frustration. "I know! I understand fully what has happened, but Vivianne was prepared to kill us all if we did not beat her to it. I have no time for this, Idath, and I possess less patience for it than I do time. I have no patience for your lectures!"

He stood and gazed at her for a moment. Half of him was waiting for her to release a shaky breath and burst into tears. The other half expected her to strike him. Idath saw a glimpse of a great downward spiral for his lover in the eyes of the Lady when her ghost appeared at his gate. As much as he desired to comfort Mab, Idath knew his task was to impress upon her the gravity of her sister's death. And then the fire heaved a sigh, and flames burst up from the hearth, and a third body filled the room.

"You have got to be stark raving mad," a deep voice said.

"Lord Loke," Idath said, addressing a man who stood just below Idath in height, something that was not uncommon due to Death's massive stance, and dressed entirely in blood red.

"Idath," Loke sighed, raising his bushy red eyebrows. "It appears you have beaten me to her, but I beg the question, have you beaten some sense into my little sister?"

Mab narrowed her eyes, her hands turning to fists at her side. She faced Loke, Maestro of Ember, and breathed sharply out her nose. His wild red hair curled out in all directions, and he wore a similar ring to Mab's on his left hand, only the stone in his was black.

"If you speak once more, Loke," Mab growled, "I will light you aflame."

He smiled. "Is that a threat?" Loke chided. "I would mind yourself, sprite."

The Queen stomped her foot like a child. "I will not be spoken to this way!" she bellowed and, as promised, Loke's cloak burst into flames. He laughed a deep laugh that encouraged the fire to grow. It heated the room to a temperature that made Mab uncomfortable, and for a moment she decided she gave up and wanted to put it out, but it extinguished the next instant at Loke's command.

"When I heard you had impregnated yourself with this phoenix child, I raised an eyebrow," he began, stepping toward his sister. "When I learned you had stolen Mordred's heir and kidnapped Merlin to train him, I shook my head. When I discovered you had captured both of the swords, I decided to keep an eye on you. Now, now that I see you have killed Vivianne, I am deeply concerned."

"I care not about your concern, Loke, I have things to do," Mab snipped, turning away from both of the men and walking to the door of her room.

"You need to be concerned as well, madame," Loke said, pulling his cloak around his body in the preparation for his departure. "For Water cannot go ungoverned. Your minions slayed the Lady of the Lake. It is your responsibility, and no one else's, to conjure up a replacement."

The smell of smoke filled the room, and he was gone.

------------------------

Freezing water dripped from the towel in Mab's hand as she lifted it from the wooden bowl and moved it over Leah's back. The girl did not move as the Queen dabbed the cloth on her skin. Leah had been in this catatonic state for nearly a week now. Her sapphire wings was constantly in motion; the motions were subtle, but nevertheless, continuous, and Mab imagined Leah would come into their movements easily.

It was utterly fascinating the transformations the two women had undergone. Leah had began her journey as the b*****d child of Arthur Pendragon, fighting her fae lineage. She had grown to accept the magic she was given, only to be punished with its removal. She had lost the mother she knew, and gained a mother she despised. She had sacrificed her humanity, and been captured to the sea. Before Mab now, Leah was a fae, and the closest thing Mab had to a child of her own. Their bond was deep, and every time Mab combed Leah's infant wings, it grew deeper. The combing Mab did with her fingers was purely to stimulate movement, so as to encourage the muscles to strengthen while Leah remained in darkness.

The Queen had discovered puddles of water on the floor of Leah's bedroom from time to time, and suspected Ariel had crept in unannounced to pay Leah visits. Mab did not mind; Ariel was trustworthy. She only hoped the mermaid's disruptions would not disturb Leah's healing.

Dustin had been eerily quiet, spending most of his time with Merlin. He did not resent Mab in the least, but he had lost his childhood in a short time. His blood was gone, spilled when Sky was murdered, and his first love was replaced with a fae. He identified with Merlin, who also had come to lose everything he cared for, and used his training for battle with Ambrosius as excuse to shadow the wizard everywhere he went.

------------------------

Leah grew stronger, and eventually came to, opening her bright blue eyes on the last day of the summer season. Mab watched her as she pulled herself from bed, stretching her fingers and toes, and discovering her wings for the first time.

"Wait a while to try a fly," Mab said gently. "You need to take time to become familiar with them. You need to learn control. You'll molt in about three months, and then they will adapt and you will form commands."

The girl adored her wings, Mab could read it easily on her face, but she kept them hidden most of the time, especially in front of Merlin and Dustin. Perhaps she thought it would be painful for Dustin to see her fully transformed. Perhaps she simply adored them too much to share them with anyone else. For whatever reason, Leah kept her wings under a deep blue cape, save the moments she was alone with Mab.

The two spent a great deal of time together. Mab was absorbed in Leah's long, black locks, and played with them endlessly. The two women would sit and talk for hours while Merlin trained Dustin. Most of their conversation consisted of Mab answered the girl's seemingly endless questions about her history. The story of Mab's wings had sparked a curiosity in Leah, as at the moment the girl had realized just who exactly her mother's mother was, and the vastness of her sight and experience. She wanted to know everything, and "everything" now included information about the child.

"She had wings when she was last born," Mab answered simply. "But they were not emerged. She was born with them under her skin, but they appeared as small lumps, so I knew they were there. Had she been born with wings, the delivery would have been complicated, and her infancy would have been risky. There are so many ways an infant can damage his or her delicate wings."

Mab's fingers moved quickly, braiding Leah's hair. "As she grew, the skin which covered her wings grew thinner, until you could see them clearly. They were white, sort of, with a green sheen to them. They were very pretty. After she learned to walk, and all her teeth came in, the skin popped like blisters and the wings were born. It was painful for her, and I had to stay up two nights and ice her back. She liked them though; Mordred was so jealous, and she would spend their days together teasing him for his lacking them."

Mab smiled at the memory of Moira and Mordred in their childhood.

"She gave them up in her adolescence, as a form of rebellion," the Queen sighed. "Moira and I grew apart as Mordred grew closer to . . . confronting Arthur. She wanted to seem less of a fae, so she gave them up. My subjects did not appreciate the gesture much, as they resented me for centuries for losing mine, because they thought I did so willingly, but they were infatuated with Moira as she was, so their grudge did not last long."

Her fingers moved through the folds of Leah's wings.

"I like yours," Mab said, kissing the girl on the top of her head. "I would not give them up. You should keep them. Won't you keep them, Leah? It would . . . well, it would mean a great deal to me if you did."

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

Autumn was still in full swing, but winter was fast approaching. It looked as though the impending battle with Ambrosius would happen in the winter, the most difficult of seasons.
Autumn leaves of vibrant color littered the ground as Merlin trudged through them with Dustin in tow. Merlin had Excalibur on his belt and Dustin had Caliban on his. "Will two swords be enough to defeat Ambrosius?" Dustin asked.
"Maybe, but I do not know what powers he possesses. I thought for sure Mab had killed him before." Merlin responded, "She stabbed Ambrosius through the chest with Caliban and yet he still lives. That is no light feat."

"I'm wondering if he can be killed. Maybe he's already dead and therefore cannot die again."

"You killed a goddess with Caliban, Dustin. These swords are not worthless. They can kill things that supposedly cannot be killed." Merlin countered. "But they depend on the belief of the wielder. Which is why I did not immediately hand the sword over to Uther in the old days. I defeated Vortigern myself because I already believed in Excalibur's power. Uther did not believe in its power until I defeated Vortigern with it."

Merlin stopped and turned to look at Dustin, "You already have all the power you need. You just need to have a little faith."


------------

Mab had been out and about countless times sneaking around Ambrosius' camp in disguise while gathering information on the enemy.
But now she was back in Tintagel playing cards with Leah. "That mermaid sneaked into your room last night again, didn't she?" Mab eyed a bite mark pointedly on Leah's wrist.
Leah's left hand snapped over the top of her wrist to hide it while she blushed furiously.
Loke had told Mab she needed to find a replacement for Viviane's elemental throne and she knew he was correct. Why not this Ariel girl? She had no anger against faes nor the element of air. In addition, the mermaid was clearly gifted with siren song. She had more control over the other mermaids than anyone else if she chose to use it.
But, Mab guessed, Leah would not be entirely pleased if Ariel accepted the position because it would mean Ariel would be too busy to come visit her most of the time.

Leah took a card from the deck and placed another on the table. Mab eyed this new strategy and pulled another card from the deck for herself in preparation. "You haven't won yet, my dear." Mab teased her. They had been playing every night since Leah regained consciousness.
"I like that I haven't won yet. It means you aren't cheating. When I win, I want it to be real."
Mab noticed with a smirk that Leah had used "when" instead of "if I win", as if she thought she was going to win in this century.

---------

Leah pulled another brilliant stripe of color off of her wings. Her wings looked liked paper-mâché as they shed themselves. It didn't hurt, but it itched like crazy and no matter how many pieces she pulled off there always seemed to be more.

Moulting...ugh.. Leah thought and shook her wings to knock more pieces off.

The good news was moulting only ever happened once. It was a sign of the maturation of wings. The bads news was it itched like crazy for a few weeks.
But once this was over, she would have full control over them and be able to grow them at will or hide them away.

Mab came into the room, her stomach bulging now. Very soon Moira would be born again. A pouting Leah looked up at a smirking Mab. Thinking Mab had come to laugh at her again, Leah responded with a low growl. Mab walked over and pacified her by massaging her wings which did make them feel better. "Don't be that way, it will be over soon."


-----------------

Who are you? Mab had asked him the first time they had crossed paths.
I am Death. he had responded ominously.
She continued to ask for a name, claiming Lord of Death was a title not a name. But he insisted he was death itself and therefore Death was his name.
Why can you not understand this? I'm Death. he argued with her.
I am Death. I am Death. I'm Death. ImDeath. Imdath... Idath. the chanting rose and slurred together. "Idath!" she gasped amidst her labor pains.

"Why does it hurt so much?" she gasped.
"You're giving birth to a phoenix child just as Loke said. Someone who can rise from their own death to live again. I am master of death. And Moira the daughter of Death, if you had not kept her from me originally, would have had another name, melania, daughter of darkness."
"Moira melania..." he whispered, his lips hovering tantalizingly over hers.
She pulled Death into bed with her. "Might as well have death present while I create life."

"Death and Life together create Resurrection." he said, kissing her stomach.

[Libitine]

Ambrosius' body was dying. The blow Mab had delivered to his chest had never healed, and yet Vortigern had made a fully recovery. The body of Ambrosius had been dead for some time, early a year, and while it had survived thus far, his wound had caused his vessel to deteriorate. He lived in a perpetual state of pain, day in and day out, and had to conceal his form within a suit of armor at all times. His arm had grown numb, and limp, and no matter how much he practiced, he could not improve his state. And so he had his gaping wound filled, so as not to run the risk of losing the body Vortigern's soul so badly needed.

When he called his henchmen into his tent, and instructed them to fill his wound with tar, they had viewed him as psychotic, but followed through nonetheless. The pain had been unbearable, a searing heat that filled him to the core and never left. His body had become a walking shell for the black mold inside of him, and it was difficult to move, but still he was intact.

Caliban was lost. The sword had been his only defense, as it was the only piece of metal capable of separating a soul from a body. His soul. Perhaps he did not have a soul, only an energy that Caliban could not detect, and he would survive, and infect another human. Mab had planned ahead, he imagined.

He had sensed her around his camp, night after night, but heard not one rumor of her appearance, nor strange tale of a misplaced woman wandering through the tents. And yet, she was there, every night, for when she grew close the tar began to burn and Vortigern was forced to stumble for ale to quell the fire.

Vortigern would murder Dustin, one way or another, and take his crown. The girl was dead, he had heard so in a dream, so the boy and his noble crown remained. It was no matter to Vortigern that slaying heirs and stealing crowns was no longer the practice. It was his practice. What did he care of customs in the modern age?

He had the beginnings of a plan.

---------------------

Dustin was polishing his boots when she appeared to him, as she had eight months ago, on the eve of his last meeting with Ambrosius. Her stomach was large now, and she carried it low on her body. Her time was near, in fact, Merlin had come to Dustin this morning to report that the labor had begun. And yet, she walked the halls, as if her pains were only nightmares, or distant memories of the labor before.

"Madame," he said, dropping his boots and walking quickly to her. "Please sit; rest your feet." Dustin pulled a chair close to her, and while she initially shook her head, a shallow breath accepted, and she sat in spite of her stubbornness.

"Are you in pain?" he asked, placing his hand on her knee. "You look exhausted. Can I help you to your room?"

"This will last days," she answered, rubbing her side. "It is no matter, besides, you ride into battle in an hour or so, and I must be up and around to send you off."

Dustin shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Regardless of the longevity of her pains, he could see she was greatly disturbed, and nearing the point of anxiety. Every movement she made, even twitches in the muscles of her fingers, caused her brow to wrinkle.

"I never thanked you for rescuing Leah," Mab said, looking at him out of eyes that were filled with pain. "She has become my world, since Moira has been gone from us, and she means a great deal to me."

"I could not have continued life, had I not saved you," Dustin whispered. "Not after Sky's death. I could not leave you and Leah there to . . . but I feel terribly guilty, my Queen. I must confess. It is eating me alive. I cannot sleep. I can touch nothing more than bread and water, and the guilt, not the winter, has frozen me to my core. I struggle to take pride in your salvation, when I know I have removed your sister from you, majesty."

He clasped her hand and she tensed. "You are my salvation," Dustin whispered, leaning close to her. "I have been arrogant and proud, my Lady, but it is at your hand that I breathe. You could have left my sister and I to starve in Camelot. It was entirely up to you if we lived. Regardless of what you say, it is. You gave me a loving father and mother, and then delivered me unto Merlin, who . . . who has created of me a noble gentleman. Even in the end, you were on the side of Sky, because Leah loved her, and because you still love my father, even for his faults. You love us all, Madame, despite our humanity."

"Not despite," Mab whispered, her breathing growing more shallow and more labored. There was a band of dull pain across her stomach, and in her heart was the throbbing she had felt when she kissed Mordred's cheek and watched his boat sail out of her cavern below. Then she knew he was lost, and now, that great feeling of dread had come over her again. Dustin was just a boy.

"No," she whispered. "Because of your humanity. Because you are greater than your father could have ever been. You will ride through the snow tomorrow, Dustin, and you will take rightly the justice you deserve."

---------------------

Idath wandered through Tintagel castle, swinging a velvet sack at his side. The walls were cold, and all was silent.

He had been with Mab the night before, when her pains had begun, but one of Vortigern's slaughters has called him away from her. The monster was prone to antebellum outbursts. He would tear through towns, setting fire to tents and turning the inhabitants out. Their throats would be slit and he would grab the smaller ones and take them for a ride on his horse, sipping their blood as he traveled.

Idath had gone and collected stones to decorate Mab's room with while she was stuck in bed. He knew everything about Death, and nothing about childbirth, but it was Idath's best guess that the crystals would do her good. She had vowed last night to include him, as they lay together in the darkness, she alongside him, her hand wrapped around his. He was overjoyed.

He reached her room, and found Mab sitting in front of her mirror, brushing her hair as Leah tried to coax her into bed. The fae child was standing behind her mother's mother, her hands on Mab's chair, desperate to get her to lay down. Mab was stubbornly protesting, but by the ash color on her cheeks, Idath knew Mab required rest.

"What is this?" Idath said, dropping the sack of stones at his feet. Leah's wings disappeared from sight instantly, hidden behind a black cloak that Idath had recognized as belonging to Mab.

"I am trying," the girl said softly. Mab put her brush down on the table, making a small noise of pain. Idath walked to her, bending down at her side.

"Mab," he whispered. "Please, can Leah and I help you to your bed? You have reached the end. You need to get into bed, and try and be comfortable."

"I have to watch the battle," she said softly. "Look, I can see it in my mirror."

It was true. Her mirror did not show her reflection, but rather, the snowy hills scattered with bodies dressed in black. There was a great deal of soldiers left on the battlefield, among them Dustin and Ambrosius. She was transfixed, he could see that, but this was not healthy for their child.

"Mab," Idath said, his fingers in her long black hair. "I will lay with you. Leah will get you towels and cold cloths."

"Stop," she hissed, her arms wrapped around her stomach. "I have to watch."

---------------------

Dustin spotted Ambrosius from a few yards away and charged toward him with Caliban held high. He released a battle cry, raising the sword even higher. Vortigern heard him and turned, clashing his weapon with Dustin's. The boy jumped backward, pointing his sword at Ambrosius' chest.

"You have a spunk that Merlin lacks," Vortigern said. "I like you. I will feel amiss in taking your life."

Sensing the ambush, Ambrosius turned again, colliding swords with Merlin and sending the wizard to the ground. With a second turn, Vortigern opened Merlin's right leg.

Dustin reacted instantly, unwilling to watch is teacher die. He knocked Vortigern's helmet from his head and tripped the great demon before he could deliver a second blow to the wizard. Merlin clutched his knee. Their plan was unfolding, and quickly.

The boy tried to stand in the deep snow. He had fallen to his knees to trip his enemy monster, and was jumping up to stand and finish him off. Ambrosius had lost his sword in the fall, and Dustin kicked it away, but in his scramble to organize the pieces of this puzzle, he forgot Caliban, and Vortigern scooped it up.

"Even in Death . . ." Vortigern growled, and raised Caliban. Before his sentence could be complete, Merlin drove Excalibur into Ambrosius' back. The great man staggered, trying to gain balance, but it was in vain. He fell, but as a final attempt to evade his falter, he thought only to ram the sword into the ground. Instead, he broke Dustin's armor and cut through his chest.

Dustin coughed up blood, and then wiped the fluid on his sleeve, reaching out to grab the end of the blade. He pulled Caliban from his chest and then stood, his knees shaking, and cut off the head of his fallen enemy. The spirit of Vortigern floated into the air, and Dustin raised the sword a final time, sucking the demon into Caliban's blade.

The boy's body hit the snow, his eyes gazing up at the white sky.

---------------------

In her chamber, Mab let out a scream, jumping up from her seat and grabbing the mirror. She was seeing it all over again, Mordred's face, and in her anguish, her stomach tightened and released its fluids. Blood and water covered the black stone floor, and Mab fell to her knees.

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

Mab wouldn't sit still. She alternated between pacing and staring into her mirror. Leah watched her anxiously, wishing Mab would rest herself. Her fear increased when Idath appeared and tried to coax Mab into bed too. Then Mab screamed as Dustin fell and her water broke.

Idath laid her on the bed as Leah ran to fetch the midwife and supplies. Her breathing was heavy as he lifted up her dress and got it out of the way. Leah appeared seconds later with the midwife and Idath backed out of the way immediately, leaving the work to more capable hands.
The labour was long and hard. Leah did everything the midwife asked her to do. Finally, the woman was able to pull the infant from Mab's pain-wrecked body. After cleaning it off, she laid the baby against the mother's skin.
"Dustin is..." Mab coughed out.
She's still thinking about that?! Leah's mind shrieked, but calmly she said, "I'll go take care of that right now myself. You stay here and rest." Leah smirked slightly. “That's an order.”

-----

Merlin thought he heard a shriek of fury as he lay on the dead grass clutching his leg. He looked over at Dustin who lay very still on the ground, staring glassy-eyed at the open sky. Then he felt it. The presence of Death. "No!" Merlin coughed.
"Easy wizard, I'm not here for the boy yet." Idath's voice echoed across the battlefield.
This was Idath's domain. Merlin could see the soul collectors moving through the dead men. They were cloaked and had no faces. They also smelled of blood and decay. But the lord of these demons was more terrifying still. Idath wrapped his hand around the hilt of Caliban. "I've come to reclaim what is mine." he announced.
As Idath held Caliban aloft, a blue flame ran down its edge. Idath swung it through the air and expelled Vortigern's spirit from the sword. One of Idath's soul collectors caught the wayward soul in its grasp with a bloody delight. Idath walked away through the field of death, Caliban gleaming happily in its master's hand.

Despite still being stuck on the ground, Merlin gripped Excalibur as he felt the approach of another deity, one he had never felt before. It seemed as though a transparent ocean of light coursed over the land. It reached Dustin and Merlin in moments. Merlin held Excalibur in front of him and the light moved around him unable to touch the blade. But this was unnecessary because the wave passed over and through objects harmlessly. Afterwards, everything had a fresher look to it, as though it had just rained on a nice spring morning.
A woman appeared, following this wave of purification, and she walked with a floaty grace in a sky blue dress that sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight. She was barefoot and her golden hair was very damp. A young girl with grey eyes followed behind her. "I've brought you something, Merlin. A gift from Leah to Dustin." the woman with the blue dress explained while the girl with grey eyes knelt down next to Dustin and began to cry. Merlin didn't understand how sending a grieving young girl to Dustin was supposed to be a gift. But as her tears fell upon Dustin's chest , the wounds slowly disappeared. Merlin's mouth fell open in disbelief.

----

Leah reentered the room and found Mab was already out of bed and standing by the window, gazing at the infant in her arms. Mab's wings were out, Leah realized with surprise. There they were for all to see, glimmering in the light of the day. Her wings were glorious beyond compare.
"Leah, you will not hide your wings anymore. That's an order."

[Libitine]

Mab had not remembered the pain to be this intense in her previous labor. When her muscles tensed, they burned, and as the baby moved downward, the flames moved downward as well. Leah allowed her to squeeze her hand to offer some relief, but the burning continued, and towards the end, when the moon was high, Mab thought she would pass out. She was burning hot all over, and she had Leah open the windows and let the cold air in, but then it began to snow and the midwife said the windows had to be shut, so the baby's cradle would not be frigid when she was first laid into it.

The Queen just wanted the baby to be born, pulled out of her, so she could go to Dustin. Watching him fall to the ground had been utterly unbearable, for he did not deserve such a fate, and she was not prepared to watch another child die.

Ariel would get to him, she prayed. Mab had gone to the ocean after sending Dustin to bed the night before, and offered up the power and position the Lady of the Lake had possessed. Mab had overestimated Leah's feelings about the matter; the girl had appeared content with the decision, as Mab had consulted her before making the offer. Ariel had been puzzled.

"Why, madame?" the young mermaid had whispered. "Why me? There are scores of maidens who know the sea better than I and are more eloquent than I could ever hope to be."

"I find you plenty eloquent," Mab had shrugged. "Though diction is not something I look for in my choosing. You protected Leah when she was in the ocean, and you continue to be a part of her life, even after so many months. You have shown your loyalty to me, and the ocean, as well, trying to restore order in the wake of the storm, and your siren song is beautiful. You have so much passion."

"I do not know if I want it," Ariel said, shifting her tail on the sand. "I am overwhelmed by the kindness in your words, Queen Mab, but I fear this is too much for me to bear."

"I will grant you the power for one month's time," Mab said, refusing to let Ariel swim away without the title. "I will not allow you to decline without wearing the crown first."

She felt the girl would consent, as Mab watched Ariel's eyes grow huge at the sight of the rainbow ball of water enter her chest. If all went well, the water would not evaporate. If all went well, Dustin would not die, and Mab would not be at the mercy of the people.

------------

Mab let out a cry, her first and last during the labor, as the child's shoulders slipped out of her, and the rest of the body fell into the warm hands of the midwife. The baby was declared a girl and placed on Mab's lap while she took her first breaths. She body was small and hot and Mab could feel her daughter's chest expand against hers with every harsh breath. The Queen placed a hand on the child's back, muttered something she would not remember, and then closed her eyes.

She felt the midwife removed the baby from her chest and severed the cord that bound her baby to her body. Mab could not keep her close any more.

------------

Idath helped Merlin into a chair, propping his leg up onto a smaller wooden seat across from them. The wizard was freezing cold, as evident by his purpled lips and bright red cheeks. Idath could see that it was hard for him to breathe.

"I do not know much about medicine," Idath said. "I have never been much of a healing man; I do, however, know how to keep my fellow man warm." He moved across the room to the fire and placed more wood on the hearth, encouraging it to grow. "Do you need a blanket?" Death asked, but the wizard shook his head.

"The fire is sufficient," he said, and tried to move his leg. Blood gushed up and filled the wound, causing Merlin to wince. "I can clean myself up. The nuns in Avalon taught me a thing or two about first aid whilst Nimue was being healed. I just need a few things. A needle, thread, a bowl of hot water, and a towel, please."

Idath fetched for Merlin the items he required, and pulled up a chair beside him while the wizard worked on the gash in his thigh.

"You fought a good fight," Idath said. "I was able to watch the entire event in Mab's looking glass. She will be relieved to know you and Dustin are safe, and returned to Tintagel, though she can probably already sense you both are here."

"Where is Mab?" Merlin asked, soaking the towel in hot water and laying it over his wound.

"She began her labor when the battle ended," Idath said simply. "I pray she has given birth by now; a longer labor may do her or the child in."

"It was odd to see her so big," Merlin smirked. "She has such a small frame; you know, despite the selfish things Mab did back in the day, the way she has cared for Leah has been very noble. Perhaps I will change my mind about her."

"I hope you do, Merlin," Idath said, threading the needle Merlin would use to close his skin. "For she weighs you above the whole lot of us."

------------

Mab left her bed a few hours after Moira Melania had her first meal. The Queen had not put a child to her breast in many years, but had seen Moira feed Leah that way before they were separated. Moira had not been fed naturally by her mother, because Mab had chosen to feed Mordred her milk. Morgan had been absolutely horrified when Mab had taken him to her breast; the woman had screamed and cried and kicked and begged for mercy form the Queen, but Mab had given her none. He had looked up at Mab and decided she was his salvation.

In the end, that had been a grave mistake. Mordred had grown to feed solely off of Mab, and no one else, physically and metaphorically, and Morgan had cracked and lost all remnants of control. Mab had also become much too attached to Mordred. She grieved his loss each and every day, though she would admit that some days were better than others. It was her guilt that slayed her, and it was the same guilt she felt when Moira's body failed her. Everything would change.

When Mab woke, she saw that the child was sleeping in a cradle beside her bed. She marveled at her a moment, trying desperately to remember if the child looked exactly as Moira had when she had first been born. Something told the Queen she looked similar, but not identical, though Mab's memory for details of her infant daughter was expected to be poor.

She shifted in her bed, still in a great deal of throbbing pain, and moved her feet to the floor. It was then, she realized she was exposed. Her wings fluttered behind her, stretching enthusiastically. They were modeled after those of a butterfly, but not exact, looking more like rounded fragments with a long, thin train. At first glance, they appeared purple, but as Mab moved, and as the onlooker stared more intensely at them, it was apparent that her wings also contained great amounts of green, gold, blue, and even red, though, it was dependent on both the subject's interpretation, and the Queen's mood. The colors shifted in waves, as if thousands of tiny wings were fluttering to create the change.

Mab picked up the child and crossed to the window, leaving her wings out, when she heard Leah enter. Her order came shift, and without much thought. Mab's own words shocked her, but as they sat in the still, silent air, Madame reasoned with herself, and spoke again.

"You are not to be fearful or embarrassed any more."

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

Leah's blue wings tentatively made themselves known to the room. She moved closer to examine Mab's wings and the new baby. There was a small intake of breath from Mab when Leah ran her fingers down the glittering purple of Mab's wings. The wings were very soft, satin soft. She felt a sudden urge to bury her hands in them. There was a slight shift of Mab's body and a deeper intake of breath when Leah followed through with this urge.
"You're going to make me drop the child." Mab warned.
"Sorry" came Leah's sheepish reply from behind her as she extracted her hands.

Mab passed her the child though. Leah gazed down at her mother in infant form. Would she look the same as she always had once she was grown up? Leah hoped so. Mab had been like a replacement mother to her for months, but it wasn't the same. She had been pulled from Moira's body when she was born, not Mab's. It was Moira she had the deepest connection to through blood and birth.

---

Idath came to them a few hours later. Mab was sitting with Moira melania in her lap and Leah curled up at her feet. Leah's wings did not go into hiding when he appeared. Mab was gazing at Moira and stroking the thin membrane of Leah's wings at the same time. The girl, Leah, looked lost in some wonderful daydream while her wings twitched. Idath cleared his throat to get their attention.
The baby was handed to Leah and she was dismissed from the room.
"Madame.." Idath spoke with an unusual grin. Before she knew it, he was upon her with a grasp on her wings. "Now here's a pretty thing I haven't seen in awhile."
"Hands off." Her voice commanded him.
"No...." he pushed her back to the bed. "You were always so much more docile during sex when I had my hands on these."
"Are you telling me you like tame sex?" she hissed from underneath him.
"No, of course not." he shook is head with humour. "But I prefer not to be injured by you just yet. I'd rather make some pretty marks on your skin first."
And with that he removed her dress and feasted his eyes upon her white flesh. He kept a good grip on her wings with one hand, but massaged them with the other hand. She writhed with undeniable pleasure.
He lost his clothes and pressed himself against her but didn't enter her body yet. She snarled in frustration at the taunting expression on his face as he continued to merely rub himself against her but not commit fully.
"The moment you let go of my wings I will make you pay." she threatened him darkly.
"I won't be letting go anytime soon then." he declared.
"Oh you won't?" she smiled sweetly and then grabbed him down below. He released her instantly with a gasp.
"My dear Idath," she breathed in his ear because he was frozen to the spot by her touch, "You should have learned by now not to taunt me."
The tables were turned and he was now at her mercy. He fell to his knees in front of her. Her purple talons curled around his face as she closed in for the kill.

-----

Leah put the baby to bed in a room far away from the action. The diabolical laughter and shrieks coming from that room made her both want to laugh and flinch.
She wandered into the great hall after that. Dustin and Merlin should be safe if Ariel had looked after them. Now it was only a matter of time before things hopefully got back to normal. But Leah wasn't sure what would constitute "normal" anymore. So many things had changed and her life would never be the same again. What she didn't know was it was about to get even stranger.


The presence of another person entered the room and Leah turned to face him.
He seemed to be fae and yet she felt like an omen of Death had entered the room. A beautiful young man, dark hair and dark-eyed, but he carried a certain chill in the air around him.

"I am called Far Dorocha. I have a request."

"What is it?" Leah asked hesitantly of the strange fae.

"May I have permission to caress your face? The recently-mortal have always been fascinating to me."

Leah was unnerved even further and only wished to flee, but instead she asked, "What will you give me in return?"

If he was a fae, then he would play by fae bargaining rules.

Far Dorocha smiled devilishly. "A favour or aid you may ask for at any time as long as it is within my power to give."

"And you promise no harm will come to me from your touch?" Leah tried to make certain he wasn't tricking her in some way.

"I promise you no harm will come to you in the next five minutes." he assured her.

"You have permission to touch me for two minutes."

He wasted not a second of it, stepping forward suddenly and taking her face in his hands. The moment he did all light and sound was cut off from her and she felt like she was standing in some kind of void. The only thing she could feel was his hands on her face, softly caressing. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She tried to scream, but felt like she had swallowed darkness instead. His tongue was moving in her mouth, stroking every silken crevice and then he gently bit her lips and her legs collapsed.

Light and sound returned to her instantly as she sat panting on the ground, shaking from the encounter. She looked up at Far dorocha, "You said you only wanted to touch me."

"Thank you. I enjoyed that." he replied ignoring her accusation, and began to walk away.

"What about my favour?" Leah managed to string a sentence together.

"Just call my name whenever you're ready and I'll come."


-------------------------


"Who is Far dorocha?" Leah asked her.

"Far dorocha? The Ankou? He is the messenger of Death. He rides in the Wild Hunt and calls out the name of the person who is about to die. Then Idath takes their soul."

"So why would someone like that pay me a visit?"

Mab eyed her shrewdly for a few seconds.

"He is known for having a fascination with mortals because they are subject to death. I suppose he's fascinated with you because you are now beyond his reach." she chuckled with derision. "He used to work for me, but decided to change his employer to Idath a few centuries ago."

[Libitine]

"Do you think you control me?" Mab whispered, her face slightly upturned as she looked at Idath. He was on his knees in her bed, trying to keep his breathing from being too labored. Her hand was wrapped around him, and with every breath, her grip seemed to get tighter and tighter.

"Majesty I would give you the answer you desire," Idath said with a smirk. "But I just witnessed how you melt with my touch."

Mab looked like a great demon before him, wings outspread as she hoovered, and reddish purple in the late afternoon light. She tugged hard at him and as he bent down a bit in welcomed pain, she opened her legs before him. His mouth opened to exhale, but she pushed him down to pleasure her there. Ever relished in his own capability for cruelty, he drew away as she reached her point, kissing her on the lips. Her hands dug at his back, leaving long lines in his skin. Idath was forced to break the embrace, calling out in pain. Mab laughed and pulled him back to her.

"Mab," Idath whispered as she took hold of him once more, this time to have him enter her. "All this is fun, but you gave birth not too long ago. I do not want to hurt--"

Before he could finish, she pushed him off of her, and he rolled to the floor. There was an old, familiar, flapping noise, and the naked Queen floated above her lover. Idath was on his knees on the bearskin rug, gazing up at her. She was within his touch, but he feared a touch with his hands would only send her closer to the ceiling.

"Pull me back to you," she commanded.

Idath scooted closer; he had a firm grasp on himself, and bent in such a way that she would be able to grab onto him once more. The position he was in did not allow him to see her, though he expected to feel her talons along his very tender skin. Instead, he felt the warmth of her inside, and he released a moan of pleasure.

Her wings lowered her as they continued their act. After a brief moment, Idath was flat against the rug, and Mab was perched on top of him.

"Idath . . ."

His hand reached up and he tugged on a bit of her hair, pulling Mab's face closer to his. She had never liked kissing once they reached this point, but he wanted to see her, as it had been some time since they had slept together purely for pleasure, and not for business. Idath began to suck on her neck and she shivered.

"Idath."

She was nursing, which he found to be both beautiful, and very lucky for him. His hand fondled her skin, tugging at her ever so slightly. She moaned, her neck bending back and her eyes closing. His mouth formed around where his infant daughter suckled and Idath bit her. The bite set Mab over the edge, and she pulled his mouth from her breast, kissing him passionately. He could feel her reach her point, which made him thankful, for he had been holding on for much too long. Mab pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him before she was forced to pull away.

"Idath!"

-------------------------

As Mab dressed, she folded her wings down against her back, and covered the marks Idath had left on her body. The had lain together on the rug an hour after the peak of their passion, listening to each other's breathing, and the beating of their hearts. They had shortly spoken of Leah and Moira Melania, but the majority of the sound they made had been the sounds of breathing, and a few puckered sounds of Idath kissing Mab's head amidst her mess of black hair.

He had never erased her marks, any marks she ever gave him, whether they had been in passionate ecstasy or violent anger, so Idath pulled his shirt over the bloody lines down his back. Blood touched the linen and stained it. Idath seemed so proud to wear her marks, or to eager to, as if she would up and leave him and the scars would be his only trace of her.

Idath approached her from behind, as she held her hand over her eye, where the ring he wore of a deer's head, complete with antlers, had scratched her skin. He kissed the top of her head, placing his hands on her small shoulders. Idath kissed her ear. Idath kissed her cheek. Idath kissed her lips. Mab bit him.

Blood pooled in the mark on Idath's lip and he slapped her backside so hard that her eyes widened. She guessed it had left a mark, and decided not to tamper with it.

-------------------------

The wax from Merlin's candle dripped onto the yellow pages of the book he was engrossed in. He waved his hand over the hot pool as it began to harden, removing it from the pages of Mab's hand-written volume. He had been fortunate to stumble upon this memoir of sorts when searching for an old book on malevolent creatures that he had shelved in his memory. Merlin had also stumbled upon a man with Leah. He was clearly fae, for he had decided not to humanize his form when speaking with the girl. He had kissed her, and Merlin had seen an expression on Leah's face that he had no idea existed. Merlin had not made his presence known.

Something about him had been familiar to the wizard, so he had hobbled to the library in search of a book Mab had placed on top of a pile of volumes Frik had given him to learn in his youth.

"Memorize these names and faces," she had said simply, plopping the book on the top of the pile and flickering away.

While that book was absent form her Tintagel library, Merlin had discovered other's that described the Anku, as he now remembered, so he was content. This particular book was not one Mab ever would have given him. It was titled "Faery Stories" and he had originally chosen it for the Anku was a faery, and Merlin was sure there would be stories about him, but this book did not include faeries as a species, but instead, one particular faery. Each story centered around the Faery Queen, and each story was written in the first person. It was an odd memoir of sorts of Mab's, from before Merlin was even a thought in her head. The stories were less musings, but rather, accurate and detailed descriptions of moments in her life she had found significant, or fascinating. They began unassuming, the moment of her birth, her first confusing brush with Death, and the first time she had delivered a child, as used to be Mab's occupation.

Quickly, the stories became darker, and Merlin could tell that the gaps between them were more than decades, perhaps centuries. She discussed Cleopatra, and the Egyptians, how Mab wished to be a Queen such as she, educated and learned, but also, how she envied how much hatred the general public had for Cleopatra. This story began the start of her musings, and was the oddest of all Mab's stories.

Drawn by nothing but intuition, Merlin flipped the pages to the final story.

Rome is turning on Jupiter, dispelling him from this temples, and his mountain, praise the gods.

The first story of Christianity. Though he hadn't read the others, Merlin knew. He began to skim, phrases like "cruel disfigurement" and "taste of Idath" popped out for him, but he was looking for something specific, something he only prayed would appear to him.

And above all, I pray that England does not betray me, as Rome has betrayed Jupiter. In the end, after all is finished, I assert that I would prefer complete atheism in England before Christianity. I could never survive such betrayal.

-------------------------

Mab picked up Moira Melania, cradling her softly near breast. The infant uncurled her fingers, grabbing onto some beading that dangled from her mother's corset. She had dark hair and perfect fingernails. She wasn't a very long baby, as Mordred had been; she was very compact.

"I would pay no mind to the Anku," Mab said, trying to reassure her daughter's daughter, as odd as that was now. "He is governed by Idath, and has a long history with me. You are well protected."

Leah shifted in stance, looking with worry at Moira Melania. "But," she said softly. "What if he wants the baby?"

"The baby?" Mab said, cocking her head. "Oh, oh dear . . ."

The Queen looked as though a terrible idea had struck her, for it had, that very instant. The Anku pronounced Death, warned it, and Moira had died, sacrificed herself. Leah had held her spirit away from Idath, and then Mab had cradled her in her womb. Moira had cheated Death, and that did not well please the Anku. He required a payment, and he had always been so fond of capturing children.

"Oh, Leah, dear," Mab said, pulling the baby closer. "Do not worry your pretty little self about Moira Melania. I have her with me."

-------------------------

The Queen was fascinated with her infant daughter. She was always so full of life, of excitement, and she had never once cried, not even at the moment of her birth. It was as if she knew, was fully aware, of how much Mab and tried and how lucky she was. Mab placed her on the bed, on a fur cloak that Idath had left after their escapade. It smelled strongly of him, and the baby tried to turn her head and bury her nose in the fur, but Mab gently turned her face upward, so she would not suffocate.

"If he wants to see you, he can see you," Mab murmured, stepping away from the bed.

"Anku."

There was a howl of wind, like a muffled screech, and he appeared before the Queen. It had been centuries, but his appearance had not changed, or at least, the appearance he used for her, for his face was changed quite often.

"Majesty," Far Dorcha said, lowering his head and taking her hand, kissing the red ring she wore. "It has been many, many moons since I viewed you. You look to be in good health."

"I heard you appeared to my . . . to Leah," she said. "You have frightened her, and I am curious as to why an apparition to her was necessary at all."

"I was curious myself, Madame," he replied, his eyes staring deep into her. "I was curious as to how the members of your camp continue to evade me."

"You?" she said. "I was unaware Idath had passed his duties onto you. I suggest you mind your place, Anku."

"My place," Far Dorcha responded. "Is at the alert of a death. I have alerted Idath to Moira, Dustin, Merlin, and Leah just within the past year, and he has captured none of them."

"I am not in debt to anyone, least of all you," Mab snapped. "You were able to collect Sky and the Lady of the Lake. Besides them even, Vortigern was returned. More to the point, had Idath any concerns, he would have voiced them to me, and he has been very vocal lately," she smirked.

"Yes, the entire castle heard," Far Dorcha said simply. "It was a quite disturbing, and yet very alluring sound. I enjoyed it," he paused, looking at the wiggly pink lump on Idath's cloak.

"Moira Melania is very beautiful," the fae said. "I am sure she has a breathtaking soul."

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

Things were going extremely well for Mab these days. It was a return to the renaissance of the past. Both Merlin and Dust had healed from their injuries. Ambrosius, otherwise known as Vortigern, was now dead and in Idath's keeping.
A few days later, Dustin was crowned king of Camelot. Like Vortigern, Dustin allowed both pagans and christians in his court as long as they swore loyalty to the king. But unlike Vortigern, Dustin was not a tyrant and because of this there was a steady peace at last in the kingdom of Britain.
But some disturbance wore at the edges of Far Dorocha's mind. It was not the lack of death in the mortal realm that made him uneasy, but something else entirely. Something strange was moving in the shadows of Anoeth and the faerie realm. People were disappearing. And not ordinary mortals, but people of Idath's court and Ariel's court. What was going on? This was unprecedented. Magical folk did not vanish into thin air when their leader and court was strong. What was happening?
"Have you noticed any of your people missing, recently?" Far dorocha asked Queen Mab.

--------------

"She's beautiful, Idath. When you do think she will visit us here? Moira melania belongs to our court as well." Far dorocha asked his master.
"I doubt Mab would be willing to part with her so soon. But in time, yes I think I can convince her." Idath replied, and swept his dark cloak about him. "In the meantime, I expect to be with her quite often."
"Why not invite them all for a little vacation here in Anoeth? Then the others can get a glimpse of Moira's face. And then you can play with Mab and I.." he smiled mischievously, "..can play with Leah."

--------------

"When is the last time you took a ride with me? The last time you rode with the Slaugh?" Idath asked her.
"Chasing mortals with the Wild Hunt, that nearly peaks my interest." her sardonic reply.
"Come now. When was the last time you did anything for fun? Now you have the time."

-----------

Leah gazed around at the desolate grey landscape. The sky above was grey and flat as well. Well this is a cheery place for vacation. The land of the dead.
But next her eye was caught by the dark, but majestic castle of Idath, lord of death. A world of death it was, but there was some plant life curled around the fence and in the courtyard. Idath was busy readying his hunt. Horsemen and horses of all shapes and colors were spilling out of the stables to line up at the gates. Leah was put into the saddle of a storm grey horse. Sitting up high, she could see at the front of the line, Idath standing next to a fierce red charger and Mab already on a beautiful black one.
"Greetings, fair lady." Leah turned in her saddle to find Far dorocha next to her with his own horse. "This should be a good ride this evening for we have the Lady of Ravens with us tonight."
"How does that make a difference?" Leah asked him.
"Ravens? Carrion-crows? well its not one of the more glamorous aspects of her, but it does have a strong connection with death." Far dorocha mused to himself.
A trumpet sounded in the distance. Far dorocha grinned at her, "Careful, fair Leah. Make sure you keep your seat. We stop for no one."
Two more trumpets sounded following this warning.
Leah gripped her saddle tightly. The tension and excitement was palpable in the other riders. White hounds with red eyes howled and bayed at the feet of the horses, clamouring to be set loose.
The minute the third trumpet sounded, the gates opened and the hunt surged forward in an instant. Her horse took off and the shrieks of excitement from the other riders filled the night.

As the hunt raced through the night sky of the mortal realm, the riders' appearances began to morph and change before her eyes. A man with no head and a jack-o'-lantern under one arm rode past her. Another rider had the head of a skull with green flames for eyes. Many of the riders had the heads of wild beasts. The screams that echoed through the pack no longer sounded human. Idath and Mab rode at the head of this carnival of nightmares brought to life. Far dorocha was further ahead and like a herald shouted out many names. His skin looked jet black in the unearthly light of the moon and he wielded a wickedly curved sword that he used to cut the night in half in front of him.
Long forgotten terrors rode the air and answered to only one being, the man named Death that rode at the front with glowing red eyes.
Excitement spilled into Leah and she let loose a shriek of her own that joined the cacophony they were creating.
The hounds and horsemen were hunting souls. But there were also ravens in the mix tonight. They were hunting flesh.

-----------------------

Leah was exhausted. The hunt had lasted all night. She just wasn't strong enough to keep up with them. Why not? She was pure fae. Why did other fae and other magical beings continue to outclass her? It wasn't fair.
"I'll tell you why. It's because you are still a child." Far dorocha had appeared in her room.

"A virgin-fae never has as much power as a full-blooded fae." he told her. "Until you become a woman, you are nothing more than a child."

"I am not a virgin!" Leah protested.

"Technically you are until you sleep with your own kind. I am aware you have had relationships in the past, but none of your partners were fae." He drew closer to her. "Your body is still....undefiled. You have shared flesh, but never mind and magic, soul and power."

"And I suppose you think you should be the one to do it." she glared at him.

"Of course." he purred into her ear.

"Why?"

"I'm willing, able, and available." he smiled at her innocently.

Leah made a disbelieving noise in her throat, but a smile pulled at her lips.

"Don't you want it? The power to protect Moira, to protect everyone you care about?" Far dorocha suggested to her. "I can give that to you. All it takes is one night."
He pulled her subtly closer and she didn't fight him.
Far dorocha took that as permission to pull her against his body and started planting kisses along her collarbone.
"I've never had sex with another fae before. What might happen?" she asked him nervously.

"You might enjoy it." was his humourous reply.

He helped her out of her dress. His fingers brushed the underside of her breast and she inhaled deeply. This was mere lust between them and nothing more, but he was right, it was time to sacrifice the last of her innocence.

Their bodies fit together like a dream, a meshed puzzle piece. His skin literally glowed with an otherworldly light, as though there was a flame lit inside him. Leah was glowing too. His fingers froze her skin and his kisses scalded, but there was no pain. Her touch left marks upon his body as well. The air around them felt ripe with magical power. Leah breathed it in, drunk on the taste of it. His teeth settled on her skin and left marks when she came.

-------------------

Cool morning air caressed the naked bodies still wrapped around each other in the bed. Leah opened her eyes and stretched luxuriously. She felt alive. Her magic was alive like never before. She left the bed to her resting lover and examined herself in the mirror. No..she didn't look any different from yesterday except for the marks he had left on her body. The change she felt was purely internal.
Far dorocha wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and ran his tongue over marks made from teeth and lips. "I'm afraid I can't stay any longer, Idath will start to wonder where I am."
Leah nodded slightly and he vanished. Now Leah just had to figure out if she wanted to hide the marks or display them proudly.

She hid most of them with clothes, but she couldn't resist leaving the one on her neck highly visible. However, she was still glowing like a lighting rod with too much charge. She rubbed at her skin as if that would make it go away. Hopefully this would vanish soon, otherwise people were bound to stare.

When Mab had seen Leah glowing like a lightning bug, she had suggested a bath to "calm Leah down", whatever that was supposed to mean.
Mab also seemed to be using the bath as an excuse to check Leah's marks from last night, as though she thought Far dorocha might have injured her.
Talk about over-bearing protectiveness. Leah thought dryly, as Mab's fingers examined the bruises along her ribcage.
"Why am I being meticulously examined?" she voiced aloud.
"Where else did he bite you?"
Leah blushed and in a barely audible whisper, "my inner thigh..."
As Mab began to reach for that part of her, Leah flinched away, "I don't think..."
Mab paused and smiled like a cat. "Leah you know I would never hurt you right?"
Leah gave a tiny nod. "Then hold still." Mab commanded.

--------------

Mab's fingers were whisper soft on the wound, tracing the outline of the teeth marks. Then she went further than Leah ever dreamed she would go. She felt the opening of Leah, then went deeper. Leah had one hand with a death-grip on the edge of the bathtub, the other hand settled on Mab's wrist as she stroked Leah's insides. Mab pulled back after a few moments, but Leah's hand on her wrist urged her to stay.

"The bath is to calm you, not make you worse." Mab's dry chuckle from behind. "I've found no serious injuries, external or internal. You are sound."

"Please..." was Leah's tentative urging and after a moment's pause, Mab decided to humour her. Mab began to make strokes long and deep inside her child. Small sounds escaped Leah's mouth from time to time as she leaned back with her eyes closed.

"If this wasn't the beginning of your sexual awakening as a fae, I wouldn't..." Mab whispered to her. "But I know how strong it is at first. And I fear Far dorocha may not cater to you as much as he should. He simply wanted to take advantage of a virgin."

Soft kisses across her shoulders, a delicate touch to her breasts teasing the tips, and fingers that ceaselessly pushed her higher and higher into the clouds. For someone who only seemed to sleep with men, Mab knew her way around the female body.

Leah released into the water with a shriek of delight and Mab withdrew her talented fingers.

"That was amazing. Thank you." Leah spoke honestly.

[Libitine]

Mab was furious, but decided not to let Leah know it just yet. Losing her virginity to Far Dorcha was a grave mistake that would follow her daughter (Mab had decided Leah would be her daughter) for longer than Leah realized. The Anku, as he was titled, found the most pleasure in wrapping his hand around the neck of a child and dragging it from its bed, leaving a fae token in its place. He certainly had left some sort of tag or charm in the marks on Leah's skin, Mab was sure of it, and desperate to catch them.

The Queen was not so angry that the child had lost her purity; that Mab had come to expect after watching Moira and Mordred grow, as well as scores of other children she and Far Dorcha had nursed. The Queen was angry at the child's selection. There were many stones unturned in Leah's knowledge on fae life, and the more Mab brooded, the more she began to blame herself for leaving Leah so greatly unprepared.

On the one hand, however, Leah had never expressed interest in the male sex, especially since as far as Mab knew, she had some brand of feeling for Ariel. Mab would be the last person to judge her daughter's freely given affections. After Mab's virginity was taken from her, she developed an insatiable thirst for the male organ, a thirst Idath had beaten out of her when he insisted on becoming a more serious part of her existence.

"You best not ever expect me to serve you in that sense again," Mab snapped, chucking a towel in Leah's direction. "You know next to nothing about life as a fae, or life as one of my subjects. You are a subject of mine now that you possess wings and you also are one of my daughters. There are rules."

She could see Leah getting progressively more upset which each word that hissed from her lips. Mab knew it was imperative to drill protocol into Leah's head, but she would greatly regret angering the child or sending her away.

"Alright," Mab sighed. "I have to nurse Moira Melania. I very much do not wish to have a temper with you, so please, Leah, give me a minute to start her feeding; you dry off a bit, dress yourself, and then come to see me and we can chat."

They parted, and Mab crossed her fingers that the girl would reappear in her bedroom soon.

-------------------

He had inquired after the health of her people, and she had answered him poorly. His question, which Far Dorcha had considered of the utmost importance, had been evaded, and that did not suit him well.

After the Slaugh, but before he had taken Leah, Far Dorcha approached the Queen in Idath's throne room. She had beautifully transformed herself for the event, donning a dark green netted dress with long sleeves and tufts of fur on the shoulders. The fur was from a small animal of some sort, something similar to a fox, and the entire creature was nestled on her shoulder, head and all, with the eyes sewn shut. The only makeup on her face was a silver and black painted mask that looked like a skull decorated with tribal markings. She had a pair of antlers on her hair to match Idath's helm, and her long black hair in a single fishtail braid.

"Have you noticed any of your people missing, recently?"

"I have not," she replied, examining her long black fingernails. "Though I do not have many children in my court."

"'tis a shame about the lack of fae children," Far Dorcha replied sarcastically. "For I have run through the absolute abundance of Anoeth's children."

Mab gave him that look that she used to give him when he brought another child home, or when he dropped a crystal. It was the same look for all things, a look that made him believe she was holding back from using her powers to melt the flesh off his face.

"Anoeth has had a problem with missing soldiers," the Anku said. "As has the water kingdom. While you and Loke do not seem to be having any problems thus far, the Mountain King is now isolated and alone on his plot of land."

"That is because he reeks of dirt," Mab chided. "Maybe if he took the time to freshen his breath, more people would pay him visits."

"You greatly underestimate the severity of this problem," her former servant said with an odd calmness. "After decades of struggle, you seem to finally be on top. What will you do when your faes begin dropping like apples in spring, and you do not have any one to go to?"

"What will you do," Mab whispered, leaning in closer to him. "When I make you eunuch for staring at Leah the way you do?"

The Queen crossed her arms, signalling the end of the conversation.

"You are dismissed."

-------------------

Moira Melania sucked almost desperately at Mab's breast. The princess was nearing her one month birthday, and with each feeding that arrived, she seemed more and more aggressive for Mab's milk. Fae milk was notoriously addictive, especially within the species. It was indescribably sweet, and naturally possessed a charm that made the drinker never feel full of it. Now, that typically occurred with mortals, and often was a sneaky way to lead to their death, but Mab could see sometimes in Moira Melania's eyes that once she was pulled from her mother she was starving.

There was a knock at the door and it swung open. Leah tentatively entered, holding her hands at her sides.

"I can come back," the girl said. "If you are feeding her."

"Please, come and sit down," Mab said softly. "She is tugging at me like an animal. You have this odd calming effect on her. If you sit perhaps she will nurse much more tamely."

Leah came and sat at the foot of Mab's bed and Moira Melania turned her head to gaze at her, Mab's n****e hanging out of her mouth.

"Praise the gods," Mab sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. The infant's sucking was visibly calmed, and Moira Melania's eyes were beginning to close.

"It is odd to watch you feed her," Leah said, reaching out to touch the baby's thick dark hair. "I suppose I never envisioned you as the nursing type."

"I want her to have the best of everything," Mab said, looking down at the infant. "And I want the same for you, which is why I must set some guidelines."

"I thought her cuteness had distracted you from setting rules," Leah said, a hopeful expression on her face. Mab smirked, shaking her head.

"Rule number one," the Queen began, placing a finger on her baby's cheek. "Under no circumstances are you permitted to gallivant through my kingdom bedding faes of either sex. I was extremely promiscuous in my youth and I gained a terrible reputation for it. Besides the reputation, it broke poor Idath's heart and you will not want to have to convince someone special that you are faithful. It is a heartbreaking thing to have defend your faith in anything."

"Second, and probably final rule, as I am tired of rules already," Mab said. "You are not to flip back and forth between a committed deal with Far Dorcha, and a casual relationship. You must decide this moment whether or not you will go to bed with him again, and I highly recommend deciding against it. He is a malevolent spirit, as I am, and he will stop at nothing to get his way. I refuse to watch him hurt you."

Mab paused a moment, and then looked as though she remembered something.

"This will be the final rule," she declared, reaching out to touch Leah's hand. "I think it would be highly beneficial for you to educate yourself on fae life. You are grossly unaware of the complexity of our spirit and our emotion. You are in a completely different body, whether or not you recognize it, and you must know yourself. I will answer any questions you have. You must not be afraid to inquire."

"Is all this understood?"

[[-R.a.i.n.b.o.w-]]

"You best not ever expect me to serve you in that sense again"
Leah looked at her with a hurt expression unsure why Mab was so angry.
But she dried herself off and found some clothes, hiding her marks, suddenly feeling ashamed of them.

----
Mab was nursing the baby when she entered the room.

"Under no circumstances are you permitted to gallivant through my kingdom bedding faes of either sex. I was extremely promiscuous in my youth and I gained a terrible reputation for it.
Leah smiled. "Now that sounds like too much fun."

"Then what fae am I permitted to bed if not Far Dorcha? Can I not use him as he uses me?" Leah suggested. "He still owes me a promise I can make use of at any time."

----------


Idath sensed a shadow hanging over his land. The ride of the Slaugh in their strength had not chased away the ominous presence. He counted the souls he could sense within his kingdom. Five less than yesterday. Each day was the same. More people were missing. "Far Dorocha" Idath summoned.
"Yes, milord?" the dark man had appeared behind him on bended knee.
"I have Vortigern's soul in my keeping." Idath lightly touched a dark blue jar in front of him. "But where is Viviane's soul? I assume you must have seen it pass the gates."
"I am not sure, milord. I sense the shadow has been collecting certain souls that pass through the gates as well as our own people."
"Do you think this nameless menance is building an army somewhere?"
"Possibly."
"It may be time to form an alliance between the elements once more."
"Water and Air are in accord for the first time in a long time." Far dorcha offered. "But I do not know if Earth can be woken or if Fire wants to come out and play."
"Mab may not feel the need to move until she feels the pressure on her own kind." Idath mused. "Perhaps the shadow does not wish to attract her attention right away."
Idath shook his head. "I am loath to draw her into this anyway, it could put Moira in danger."


------------

Ariel, Queen of Water and Light, watched Leah's image in a bubble of water. A single tear slid down her face as she watched Leah and Far dorcha make love.
True, they had parted ways because of Ariel's duties as a new queen, but it still hurt to watch.
Ariel's mermaids were scattered around her, basking in the twilight of the water. Her people were disappearing and other than reassuring the ones that were left, she didn't know what to do. Darkness she had never known swam through the waters of the world now, and her Light didn't seem to have any affect on it.
She stood up, her white diamond gown swished around her legs and bare feet, and began to pace. The light that reflected off her dress darted around the crystal palace at the bottom of the lake. Her thoughts bounced around her head as quickly as the reflections of light and water.
Was it time to call on the Queen of Air and Darkness for help? But whatever aid she asked would have to be repaid in the future. Was she willing to put herself in debt to another ruler so quickly? Was there a better option she was overlooking?

--------

Loke, lord of Fire and Emotions, tapped a foot on the rock below. His fiery impatience was well-known, only matched by his sister Queen Mab. With a glance, fire sprouted and burned its way in lines down the rock face.
But the rocks did not burn.
It would take more power than this to wake the sleeping Mountain King, lord of Earth and the Will.
If the Mountain King's will was to remain asleep, then asleep he would remain. Nothing could match his insufferable stubbornness and unmoving, unchanging character.
Well, perhaps Mab could. Loke thought with a sardonic smile. If the Mountain King and Queen Mab ever decided to have a contest of stubbornness, Loke suspected they would wait to the end of time or longer to win.
Viviane, the Mountain King's old friend, was dead, and Loke wasn't sure if the Mountain King would take to Ariel as well as he had taken to Viviane. Ariel was more proactive, more like Mab in that respect. Viviane had been mostly passive, just like the Mountain King.
Loke sighed. In any case, it would take more than one elemental power to get stone-head to wake up.