Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 163: Battle Part 1

The combination of my assuming the throne and the System announcement acted as the signal to release those that had been frozen. The tableau of horror and fear from watching the clash of Powers between Mab and me when we had killed a half dozen petitioners had given pause to those in attendance. I felt a small sense of guilt over that, but not enough to alter my path.

The announcement released those that had been frozen in disbelief, as if the Sithern itself had exhaled, real battle was joined. My guards moved to protect me from the sycophants and Powers that were in attendance. The Slaugh clinging to ceilings and columns their tentacles tasting and testing the air for fluctuations in magic launched themselves targeting any of the people casting ranged spells in my direction.

The Redcaps were not mine even though they stood with me. I had offered them freedom when I'd released my people, and they choose to use that freedom for vengeance. The two Ranked: Knights, Aleiu and Xant took up positions to protect, each flanking my left and right side, barring the passage of anyone that would attempt to attack. The Redcap Duke, Yonte, waded into the fray, his course set, ignoring everyone in his path so that he could attack. The fact that he ignored so many as he forced his way through the crowd suggested that this specific Seelie may have been instrumental for the tender mercies he had enjoyed while restrained in the Dungeon.

The Volar-fey spread their wings and took flight, giving lift and rides to the Aziza and dispersing around the entirety of the Court. Most here would see them as lesser and discount them, but they were anything but. Their magics were strong enough to be formidable, but it was their skills in stealth that they employed. They used glamour and illusion to hide their assault as they delved into pockets and satchels, digging out any tidbits of information that would come in handy. And robbing both sides blindly.

But it was the movement of the Cernunnos that caused the largest reaction. The Volar-fey were known. They were assumed to have been extinct, but it was possible a hidden hive had been discovered. The Cernunnos was unfamiliar. The first of their kind, and as such, unpredictable. There was no way to gauge their skill sets or power-level. Because they remained an unknown quantity, they were ignored, no one brave or foolish enough to engage them. As such, they remained beside me, watching stoically at the events that unfolded.

I wondered what they thought of all of this. They were created to protect the fields and forests. What did they think watching as the Sidhe who were the children of Danu and resonated with the secrets of nature devolved into a swarming mass of utter chaos and disharmony?

The Morrigu; Queen Moriggan, Queen Bodb, and Queen Macha moved as one, they had refused to descend the dais that would place the on the same level as Mab, Lugh, and Puck until now. A brief flash of confusion, so quick that I wasn't certain I hadn't imagined it crossed Bodb's face.

"We are certainly enjoying your little drama and watching Mab once more out of control," the three said as one, "but we wonder why so many of our Unseelie are aligned with you?"

The actions of the three women were so in-sync that they acted as one, moved as one, and spoke as one. They had their own identities, but they had fought and fucked together for so long that they had learned each other's mannerisms and incorporated them into a united front.

"Your Unseelie?" I said mockingly. "Perhaps the Redcap, I found them in the dungeon being tortured along with my people.

"If you want to know why your Redcap were there, address your questions to Mab. As for the other's they are no longer Unseelie. They are Tuatha de Danaan and are mine. Mine to protect. I have sworn Benefice with the Slaugh Queen, the Volar-fey King, the Knocker Duchess, and Princess Liotonis of the Selkie."

The Morrigu had reached the peak of their Rank; they were on the cusp of leveling to the Demi-God Rank. They were battle goddesses, those who had seen their Death's dance feared them. Their combat abilities had eclipsed any that they fought against for eons. But that was against armies. They had honed their skills in fields of battle, very seldom engaging in one-on-one contests, they preferred the slaughter that could only be found in the killing fields.

But that honing, the willowing of enemies in fields of slaughter didn't detract or make them any weaker when forced to duel. That intensity, that dedication came with a killing intent that was able to manifest physically. When the Morrigu heard that Queen Mab had kept her Unseelie for torture, that killing intent exploded. A reddish haze of battle-lust that filled the chamber and forced Seelie and Unseelie alike to step back.

"Today. Our fates are joined. Our people see past Unseelie and Seelie. We are Tuatha de Danaan. We are Sidhe," I proclaimed. "We reject the Seelie that would torture and keep captive the Vassals and House members of a Ranked King.

"A Monarchy so lost to madness that they would ignore the gift of a paired Anam Cara, the first in how many years? Blessed by Danu, two souls forged as one, instead of celebrated they were chained. My House member was tortured, his wounds permanent, his body taking lasting damage. Just how badly or cruel do you have to be when torturing for a Sidhe not to be able to heal?

"The Seelie and Unseelie are dying. Each generation produces fewer children, and when a chance to increase fertility is ignored? We will not allow ourselves to fade away lost to the apathy that has invaded every segment of society," I proclaimed.

"I say, 'No more'! The Tuatha de Danaan will be what the Seelie and Unseelie should have been. A beacon of hope. A Power for good and ill that will work to wake the Gods that have been lost to Sleep, instead of sitting on thrones resting on our laurels, spinning illusions and remembering our those days of glory and battle that we have turned from.

"Join us today or stand aside. Because Mab will answer for her actions," I swore.

The echo of my words was still resounding when the Unseelie struck. King Lugh and Consort Puck who had been guarding against attacks directed by me were now forced to split their attention between the Unseelie that had been roused by my words and any attacks I may make.

"It appears the Seelie Court has decided to ignore and forgo the rules of convention and treaty that our factions have agreed too," Moriggan said as they began stalking towards Queen Mab.

"We thought it strange that a Ranked Prince's Vassals were being paraded around the Court as pets or toys for that Court to laugh and taunt. Our Court councilors warned us that this was against conventions and accords that were ratified by the original Seelie and Unseelie Monarchs when the Kingdoms were formed.

"But we stayed our hands and held our council, thinking it possible that the Prince had died, and covenants and oaths no longer applied.

"But the Unseelie faction exists and will continue to exist despite a change of rulers. If for some reason we had died, there are those that would assume our throne, still you would be barred by convention from torturing our people. The Seelie is a signature to those treaties, and yet, you detain and torture our people. You never acknowledged their capture, nor petitioned Us for permission to act.

"This we find not only most strange but completely unacceptable.

"We would like to know, Mab, is war your intent?"

"War?" Mab sneered. "Over a few Redcaps? They aren't any more Unseelie than the Kelpie is Seelie. They are lesser, insignificant. What we do with those lesser animals has no bearing on convention or treaty."

The tension in the room only needed that final spark to conflate the simmering resentments into full-throated anger. And Mab had lit that final spark.

"That is the difference between Unseelie and Seelie," the Morrigu said as they drew weapons. "The Unseelie acknowledges that they may be lesser, but they are not animals. We accept any that would flee your animosity. Those you would cast off, those you think lesser, we welcome. They may or may not be our equal, but if they are aligned and part of our faction, we do not ignore or disparage their contributions.

"I think you have forgotten it was the Slaugh and Redcap that painted the fields in Seelie blood the last time we warred. If Queen Titania had not made a life's sacrifice to destroy most of our armies, there would be no Seelie court today.

"It is past time that you are reminded that conventions were signed to protect both sides," the Morrigu said, and as they finished their statement they struck. The three combining into a whirling dervish of frenzied blade, weapons of death that pierced and slashed, and where they landed blood flowed.

Those that had been sidelined, that had been too cowed to confront either side were forced into action. Oaths of an alliance would not allow them to sit back as the Monarchs battled, even though the Seelie drastically out-numbered the Unseelie. Court and the perfidy of bootlicking that was the norm when Court was in session was not something most Unseelie cared to endure, so few bothered to attend. It meant the disparity in numbers was significant. The Seelie had almost twice as many people to defend and attack.

If things had remained fixed, it is possible the Unseelie may have lost this battle. Mab alone was an instrument of destruction. Her domain was light, and she could control that element, focusing, and narrowing the frequency of light with deadly consequence. Mab's blasts of light were nothing less than laser beams that decapitated and cauterized.

King Lugh True-Sight had gained his name because of his ability to foresee the future, he was able to anticipate, to see where an attack was going to strike before it was actually made. This foresight allowed him to defend effortlessly and see weaknesses that his weapon could take advantage of.

And Puck. The Seelie trickster, able to employ a look-away glamour so powerful that not even the Morrigu could find him. His ability to dart in and out of combat, to strike from behind allowed him to turn the outcome of more than a few battles as Seelie that were hard-pressed found their opponents sporting debilitating wounds.

The scene of battle, the fury of long-held grievances finally being released may have never happened, the Unseelie content to watch as Mab and I fought for supremacy. Except Queen Mab had broken covenant. The Redcaps that were still part of the Unseelie faction where theirs. An excuse. A reason to finally release all the restrained slights and anger to hit back at the Seelie.

But Irvin, Cedric, Uron, and Lohne were mine to protect.

And I would not shirk from that duty, I thought, as I entered the jumbled mess of blood and blade.