I watched as Aithne leveled her blade at Spaulder. I couldn't see much of his expression, since he was faced away from me, but I could only imagine the dragon's wrath unleashing on this Summer court fae.
Spaulder stepped out from the doorway, a rumble in his chest that was nearly a laugh as he walked right up to Aithne and her blade. "This is not a fight you want, fae. We will leave now, and you will stay and conduct whatever business brought you here in the first place."
Aithne hissed, stepping back and moving her sword upright between them.
One of Aithne's company, the green water sprite with the halberd, pointed his weapon at Spaulder as well. "You dare you speak to Lady Aithne that way? She has deemed you enough threat to even draw her blade at you, the least you could do is accept the honor and fight her!"
"Enough, Hayat," Aithne said calmly, narrowing her eyes to Spaulder. "Old one, what are you?"
A dark laugh came from Spaulder. I would hate to be on the other end of his defensive anger.
"Your elder, and the guardian of these two you intend to take against their will," Spaulder answered coldly. "I warn you one more time, step away before I fight you in earnest."
I took the few steps between me and the doorway, pushing outside in the space that Spaulder had just left.
Aithne's eyes flicked to me and back down to Spaulder.
"And you must be the elven witch, Wren," she spat her words at me with distaste. "If it weren't for you, Schula would not be in this situation."
Anger flared in me briefly, flickering to life in the form of purple flames that licked my fingers. "Do not think that I am someone you can threaten lightly! I may not be a fae, but I will fight with everything I have to protect her."
All three sets of eyes darted to me and my small display of power. I was barely containing it in my anger, but I had so much more to show if they dared to lay a hand on Schula.
"I would do it all again, Aithne," Schula said, her voice trembling. "I would do anything to be with my triquetram. You should know that."
I looked at Aithne's hands. No obsidian rings sat on her thumbs. Were the two beside her truly her triquetram, or in all her years had she still not found them?
"I don't want to fight you, Schula," Aithne said. "Come with us peacefully, we only wish to sort out the truth."
"Watch your words, fae," Spaulder warned.
My heart was pounding. How could this possibly end? Spaulder had a terrifying power within, but he was still physically weak from his time imprisoned and it was hard for me to reconcile this fierce anger with the gentle dragon that had traveled with me across the world.
Then again, you don't receive a name like the Night Ender lightly.
"Aithne, you don't have to do this," Schula said. "We're on our way to the summit, we're prepared to cooperate with the courts to share the truth."
Aithne didn't turn her head, her red scale-patterned skin vivid in the morning light. "I don't think you understand. The summit only proved to win favor for DuVarick's claims. The general consensus is to your guilt, but my Queen demands a true trial above all else."
"A trial?" Schula asked, clutching her fist against her heart. "My word against a king's is a death sentence and you know it."
"My Queen is just," Aithne answered. "Baeleon still defends you, even if only in his thinly veiled lust to set the Wyldes ablaze in a fight for power. Still, it's a king's word in your favor. But he refuses a trial, and insists the other courts side with his court in retaliation to DuVarick. A battle nearly broke out, right there at the table."
Schula gasped. "Are you serious?"
"You think this hasn't been building for months? My Queen is tired of talk, she wants the truth for herself before we join the fray one way or another. Baeleon and DuVarick have already had several petty fights break out in the unclaimed Wyldes that sit between them, but the worst of it is sure to begin soon. Queen Peyorla is no friend of the Winter court, but if she finds your actions truly criminal, the Summer court will surely align with DuVarick."
"Enough!"
A roar of anger erupted from behind Aithne. All heads turned to face the horizon as a dark blue figure approached, an entire stag on his shoulder as he walked. It's antlers at least as long as Spaulder's outspread arms.
Thain's pace was calm, but his sharp eyes could have sliced the Summer fae to ribbons as he shrewdly assessed the scene before him. Aithne still held her blade between herself and Spaulder, the two that accompanied her looked near a fight as well. Schula and I were distraught, and Spaulder was ready to raise his strength against Aithne.
All were silent as Thain walked to the edge of the yard, set down his hunting bounty, and carefully turned toward Aithne with dangerous eyes.
"What is this, Aithne?" he asked.
"Thainalan the ravager. I take it you're involved with this lot?" Aithne asked, then sighed through her nose. "Of course you are, I nearly forgot your association with Schula."
She lowered her sword, sliding it in it's sheath with a hush of steel.
"Aithne?" Her other companion, the red one with the obnoxious smirk, spoke up.
"I am not about to put us in a situation when we are outnumbered. Against Thain no less. We are of no use to the Summer court if we are..." Aithne's answer trailed off. "Thain, explain."
I realized in that moment that Aithne, in all her seeming power, admitted that Thain was a force she didn't want to fight. At least not lightly.
Thain moved to stand with his back to us, a clear indication of taking our side as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared town Aithne and her companions.
"It is as Schula said, we are heading to the summit. I have no orders from King Baeleon right now, but I have been absent from Thanantholl for some time," Thain said. "If you must, you can tell your queen they have been taken into Autumn custody. That is all I will say on the matter."
I exchanged a look with Schula. If what Aithne says is true, it would then really fall to Baeleon to submit us to a trial or not. My lineage probably boded ill for my own fate, unless Eberon has worked a miracle with Baeleon in my absence. Schula, however, seemed a convenient tool in justifying this war, if that's truly what the king of the Autumn court was after.
"By all rights we are at war, Thain," Aithne said. "You should be more careful. If I had more fae with me today I could not justify standing down from this fight to my Queen."
"Yet here you stand, sword sheathed and mouth open," Thain snapped. "The courts are never on stable terms for long, you and I are both old enough to have seen this again and again."
Aithne looked irked at Thain's words, but the age I saw in Thain's eyes was reflected in her's in that moment. How long exactly had these two known each other? How many battles had they survived together? How many wars had they seen?
"The royals are on the edge of their seats, hungry for a violence we haven't seen in an age," Aithne said, her tone low and her eyes narrowed. "Baeleon may seem a frivolous lord on the surface, they all do to a point, but you would do well to remember the height of their powers. You and I are but pawns for the battlefield, Thain. Our worth is directly linked to our usefulness to our crowns. The moment you forget that will be the moment your king consumes you whole."
"My king is more to me than a war hungry tyrant, and I am sorry you see your queen in such a light," Thain said softly. "But if your words are true that the courts seek the presence of my friends here, then I lay first claim on their audience with my king."
"Think what you will, I suppose," she answered, then her eyes slid to Schula. "You could have been great in the Summer court, if only you hadn't left. I am sorry to see you at the heart of such a conflict. May my Queen have mercy on your soul when she gets her trial."
Schula's gaze met hers with sorrow. "I want to believe you would not have actually taken me as a prisoner before your queen, but it always was Peyorla before anyone else, wasn't it? Even before your own heart."
Aithne nodded. "My life for my queen. Now and forever."
"Tell your court what you will," Thain said. "We will leave now. Let Peyorla sit on her throne and play judge if she must, but I promise you that DuVarick is the true wrong in this war."
"That is not for us to decide," Aithne said.
"Yet your queen who was not a part of the situation in Icehold pretends herself the judge of it," Thain replied.
That earned him a cold look from all of the Summer court, and Aithne's hand moved enough that I wondered if she would raise her sword against Thain for his comments, despite her earlier hesitations. The water sprite certainly seemed at the ready if Aithne so much as breathed the command.
I looked to Spaulder, who seemed pleased enough with this outcome. He would either fight the Summer fae, or they would back down completely. Either way, he got his wish of them, because I could see it in his eyes that he was absolute in the confidence that he would win.
"May the Stars shine their light of truth," Aithne said. "And may Queen Peyorla's justice be swift. Pray it is not against you."
"Beg the Stars you don't face me on the battlefield, Aithne. No amount of time in this world together will excuse your blade against my loved ones." Thain eyed her a moment longer before turning to Schula and Spaulder. "How quickly can you gather your things?"
"It's done," Nassir spoke up, picking up the nearest bag to him. I looked down to the floor in the entrance of the outpost where, luckily, we had already assembled all of our belongings.
I followed Nassir's lead and soon we all took our things and left the outpost, Schula's welcoming breakfast still on the table.
'It would seem I need to understand a bit more about the political climate you fae have here,' Spaulder said, his thought entering my mind and presumably also Schula's.
"We will tell you everything as we travel today," Schula said softly.
Spaulder nodded, and we followed Thain away from the outpost. Overhead, Puko cawed and swooped down to join us.
"Coward," I accused him. "You were going to stay well away from the fight, weren't you?"
"Caw," Puko answered.
Aithne turned as we left, and Schula paused to meet her gaze. I stopped just after her, looking back to see what was happening.
"Truth be found," Aithne said. "May you survive it."
Schula looked tired as she stared at Aithne for a long breath.
"The only truth in all this misery is that DuVarick has gone mad. You may not see it yet. In fact, none but us may see it yet, but he must be stopped," Schula replied. "Do not let his words cloud your judgement, Aithne. Do not let Peyorla, cloud your judgement."
Schula turned her back on the Summer fae, and with no more words between any of us, we left the outpost behind us and the Summer fae with it.