QUEEN ATLA WAS A very cold woman, but very beautiful. Eurion struggled to keep her eyes anywhere else, and she was hardly grasping the conversation happening around her. Last time she saw her, Eurion was too scared to really realize how beautiful she was.
"Yeah, it's weird," Mab said. "The Grand Unseelie Queen had a child and didn't bother to hide her. You know, your perception of things would be a lot different if you put in the work to find out what really goes on."
"The Seelie Queen has children," Atla said, pulling the attention of the others. "She has them all with poor men and offers them youth if they keep the child and hide them."
"I hear her version of 'youth' means killing them," Morgana poked. "I didn't think she actually had children, though."
"She's been alive longer than time has existed," Mab said. "The real phenomenon would be if she never had a child in all those years. I have plenty of children myself, but Atla is the only one that came from my loins."
"Why doesn't she want people to know of her children?" Eurion asked.
All the faeries in the room turned to look at her, and she shrunk in embarrassment.
"She's a queen. If she has a child, she would have an heir. And if everyone knew she had an heir, they could get tired of her and insist the heir take the throne. The last thing Titania--"
"Mother, that name," Atla hissed. "Don't say it."
"Right. The last thing the Seelie Queen wants is to be dethroned. If she ever died, she'd take the entire Seelie Court with her, and try to take down mine. She can't stand not being the one in charge, even in death," Mab explained, tearing apart a golden citrus fruit, one Eurion hadn't seen since she was home in the South.
"But you didn't get dethroned," Kit said.
Mab laughed. "Oh, they sure tried it. But when the regions split into their own separate states, no one wanted to rule the Winter Kingdom. It wouldn't have been fair of me to be a Grand Queen while also ruling the winter, because I knew the Seelie Queen would try to do the same with the Summer Court."
"So I stepped up," Atla said. She looked like ice, the blue tinge of her skin and the perfect sculpture of her bone structure, the chilling look of her silver eyes. Eurion couldn't look away. "It was a fair trade. Most people listened to me, and we let Mab fade. No one knows who she really is, and it's a good thing."
"What do you do all by yourself?" asked Eurion. "Surely you'd get bored."
Mab laughed. "Dragons," she said. "Lots of them. They're my other children. Sometimes I ride them, sometimes I tame them, sometimes I just play with them."
"We're lucky we didn't kill that one," Kit muttered with a shudder.
Mab pointed a fork at him. "You are correct, I'd have your collective heads for that. Your thief friend here was smart."
Eurion blushed when everyone turned to look at her, and she held up a hand. "It's nothing," she said. "I didn't want to hurt such a beautiful creature. I hope his little horn is alright, tell him I'm sorry about that."
"Ah, he'll be fine, he's a big boy," Mab said.
She had her plate cleared before Kit, but not by much. She stood up from her seat just as Kit was shoving the last of his meal into his face like an animal.
"Would you all like a tour?" she asked.
Morgana stood eagerly. "I would love one," he said.
The prince fidgeted in his seat. "We really need to get back--"
"Now, Your Highness," the Queen said. "You can't fight a war without good sleep. If you spend the night and let me help you sleep, I'll give you a ride to No Man's Land."
The table was silent, looks being exchanged in search for an answer.
"Fine," Kit said. "You can help us sleep well?"
"I made Atla steal your dreams. And she looked for your desires, at that. That was what her compensation dinner was for," Mab said, to everyone's confusion. "I'll give you dreams so wonderful, you don't wake up until your body is at its best."
Selene squinted. "You knew we were coming."
"Oh, well of course. I see everyone who steps into the Unseelie kingdom. I knew what you folk were up to a long time ago," she said. "Mostly. Either way, I haven't had fun with dreams in so long." She clapped her hands. "Oh, this will be so much fun."
Eurion tossed another glance to Atla, then back to her mostly empty plate. The food was delicious, but her mind was in too many places to think about food. "So you know our desires?" she asked.
"Of course," she said. "Some of you are so noble, but some of you--" she looked at Kit-- "are embarrassing."
"Why are you looking at me?"
Everyone chuckled at his expense.
"I want to get Excalibur back, that's what I want, that is not embarrassing," said Kit.
"I said desires, not ambitions," Mab said. "You won't have a fun dream if you're bringing back a sword and being a hero, that's boring. I like your other one better."
Kit looked angry. "I have nothing else."
Mab winked. "Sure, Kristofer."
The prince huffed and rose to his feet. "Whatever. Are we getting a tour or not?"
The palace felt endless. For a woman who lived alone, she sure had plenty of space. Too much space, really. It felt empty.
As if reading her mind, Mab spoke again. "When I'm by myself, I can scream all I want. I have an eternity of baggage, it's very therapeutic. Wanna try?"
She was looking at Eurion.
"Huh?"
"Try it," Mab said, gesturing towards the railing. "Scream, let out your stress. You'll be at your best when you aren't full of pent up feelings."
Eurion didn't think she pent up her feelings, but maybe she did. She moved on from one emotion to the next so fast, she didn't bother to process anything. She was good at forgetting, of feeling something else.
But maybe that wasn't good. She avoided her feelings, and by doing that, she left them trapped inside, locked away where she didn't have to face them.
When she screamed, those feelings came out. She thought of it all. Of the regret, the grief, the self-doubt, the anger, the loneliness. It came back up, but she screamed it out until she felt okay again.
"Damn, Eurion, you have some lungs," said Selene. "Can I try?"
Mab gestured to the railing.
Selene leaned over and screamed. At first, it was angry. And then it got sadder, more desperate, like she was screaming for someone she lost. Selene definitely kept her emotions close to heart, and it was so strange to see her scream like this.
"Kit, wanna scream?" Lionel asked, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the rails.
"I'm alright, kid."
"I wanna scream with you," he said. "Come on, it'll be fun!"
Kit took a deep breath. He couldn't say no to his son.
It was cute at first, watching the two scream out their feelings with each other. But even when Lionel was done, Kit carried on until his voice was gone and he fell to his knees.
It went silent.
"You've got a lot in there, little one," Mab said, knocking playfully on his chest as he stood back up. "Feel better?"
Kit ran his hands over his face and nodded his approval.
"Anyone else?" Mab asked. Everyone else said no. Chalice kept their emotions even closer than Selene, Giselle wasn't a screamer, and Morgana wasn't going to give away anything he was feeling, Eurion knew that from the way he crossed his arms. He didn't just keep his feelings close, he buried them in a hole in the ground and never looked back.
They resumed their tour. It took forever to make a full round, and even longer for the second floor. They went out to the courtyard last, and found Atla in a pool in nothing but a thin white dress. Eurion was enchanted.
"Fountain of Youth," Mab said. "She doesn't need it but she likes it."
Kit's mouth hung open. "Fountain of Youth?"
"It's not a fountain of immortality, just gives your skin enough moisture and magic to keep you looking young," said Mab. "I choose not to use it. I don't like the idea of looking the same my whole life. My wrinkles are beautiful."
Eurion wasn't paying attention, because Atla was winking at her now.
"Don't follow her, she's just messing with you," Mab whispered. "She might drown you."
The thief swallowed. The fact didn't scare her away one bit, but she wouldn't say that out loud, not to Atla's mother.
"Right, then," the Queen went on. "Let me show you your rooms. You'll need to get to sleep soon so you can get as much rest as possible."
The Queen was oddly excited about this. Eurion supposed it made sense, though, when someone was alone so much and their favorite pastime required people, an opportunity like this might be exciting.
She just had to pray it wouldn't be dangerous.
Their rooms were breathtaking, and there were enough that they could have their own. Naturally, Giselle and Selene wanted to share. Mab insisted Lionel stay with Chalice instead of Kit, and Eurion didn't want to think about what the reason could be.
It had been so long since Eurion slept alone. It might've been unwise, putting a kleptomaniac in a room full of jewels by herself. The only thing stopping her was the horror of what Mab would do if she found out she was stealing from her.
She sat down on the big, soft bed and let her hands travel the sheets.
The door creaked open to Atla, and Eurion froze.
"Hi," she breathed.
"Hello," said Atla. "I'm just making sure you're all set. My mother will be here soon to put you to sleep."
"Why is she doing all this?" Eurion asked. "Why--why are you doing all this?"
Atla grinned, then put a freezing hand on Eurion's cheek. "The Winter Kingdom is cold and lonely empty. You're the first people in centuries that actually wanted to see us. Do you know how it feels, to finally not be alone anymore?"
Eurion tried not to look too hard at her lips. "I think... I think I do now."
"I'm fond of you strange humans," she said, playing with Eurion's hair. "I feel loneliness in you. I understand that. They make you feel at home, but you still feel... expendable."
Eurion swallowed. "How do you know?"
"Well, I was in your head. But mostly, I see myself in you. Lonely, doubting myself, feeling like I could be thrown out and nothing would happen," she said. "It's hard when the whole world thinks you committed a mass genocide."
Eurion gave her a tight smile. "Well, I never committed mass genocide or had rumors spread about me doing so, but I have stolen at least three royally protected items so I don't have good things said of me, either."
"It's isolating," Atla agreed before stepping away. "Right then. Good talk. I'm heading out. Mother will be here soon."
Eurion watched her walk to the door, but called out before she could open it. "Sorry," she said. "But um... what's the holiday?"
"Pardon?"
"Your mother says you only visit on holidays. What holiday is it?"
Atla grinned. "You. You're the holiday."
"Oh. Nice," Eurion muttered. "Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Eurion."
Shortly after she left, Mab came into the room. She looked as giddy as before. "It's time to rest, my dear."
Eurion laid back, pulling up the sheets and snuggling into the blankets. She was so exhausted, she didn't even hesitate. "Are you going to do something sketchy to me?"
"Of course not, child. I'm giving you good rest, my treat," she said.
Her long fingers found Eurion's temples, and they both closed their eyes.
"Sleep, child, and dream well."
The world fell dark around Eurion, and she drifted off into a heavenly sleep.