The meeting with Blayney didn’t begin well. As soon as we entered his office, he reacted violently. He had been seated behind his desk, but that minor impediment did nothing to stop him from attacking me. Leaping across the desk, the minutia of doing business scattered and sent crashing to the floor, his fist was like a sledgehammer as it connected with my jaw.

The strike was powerful enough that it actually shattered the ice mask that I had crafted to conceal my features. I was more surprised by that than his attack. I hadn’t thought the mask could be broken, but the shattered bits of ice falling to the floor proved me wrong.

I could have warded off the blow. The difference in our levels was such, that it was like watching him react in slow motion. Combat perceived as if the blow was stymied by oceans of molasses. Still, I allowed him to strike me. He needed this, and I not only felt I owed it to him, I felt I deserved it. Irvin wouldn’t be where he was if I had put more thought into my plan to shutter CERN. Or if I had taken precautions to have him and the others escape and hide.

But I’d given no thought to the tricks that Summerland played with time. I hadn’t planned for that eventuality. And they bore the brunt of Seelie fury when Queen Mab responded to my provocation.

Unfortunately, breaking my mask exposed him and those with me to the full force of my refined features, the enhancement to the beauty I had been gifted or cursed with. An iridescent glow that exposed and glorified the best the Seelie and Unseelie could be. A combination of genetics so perfect that they became spellbinding and mesmerizing. Those with weak will unable to break free of the influence my full unfettered countenance projected.

This was not like when I first returned after fighting and dying with Gwyn ap Nudd. My features had evolved at that point, beauty enhanced. Those who did have the will to resist enchanted. Kel’s council and staff would have been affected if I had not also been poisoned by the iron weapons of the Ismenian Drakon. The iron had yet to be purged completely from my bloodstream, and because my body hadn’t fully recovered, the curse of beauty was diminished. t was unable to reveal fully the changes I had undergone.

Today, there was no poison limiting or restricting the changes that had been made. With my mask shattered there was nothing to obstruct or obscure my features. And for those that looked upon my face, they became entranced, unable or unwilling to look away. The effects were frightening, and I understood for the first time why this gift of beauty was considered a curse.

I quickly applied glamour recreating the ice mask. Now that I knew that the mask made of ice could be shattered and destroyed, I decided it best to change practice. Glamour would not be lost unless the illusion was forcibly stripped, and if that happened, then I would make use of the curse of beauty as my weapon.

I created something more as I reconstructed the mask with wisps of magic. I included a hint of look-away during construction. Using the contours and shadows to add another dimension and practicality to the illusion. For those less skilled and with lower mind affinities, my features would blur, my features becoming unremarkable. It was almost as effective as the look away illusion that allowed me to become invisible.

Where the ice mask had been a work of art, it had been less than subtle. It was a glimmering creation of diamond-like brilliance that invited the eye to examine and detail the uniqueness of each gleaming snowflake that was layered to conceal. The glamour I created was more functional, using the shadows to conceal, making it difficult to remember my passage. A tool to allow me to blend and move amongst the Sidhe without drawing attention to myself.

It still took a moment for the effects of beauty to be broken after I fashioned a new mask made of glamour. The Duchess broke free first, the smallest of shudders signaling her return to awareness and control. Lord Blayney was next, forcefully shaking his head and clenching his fists to regain control of his body. Eventually, everyone was aware of their surroundings and in control once more.

It was Aspen and Pine who had the most profound reaction. After falling to their knees, they bowed deeply before me. “Mother Danu has gifted you greatly,” Aspen said reverently.

Their words broke the spell the rest of the room was under. Blayney regained his anger but managed to contain himself. No further attacks were made, and he stepped back behind his desk, taking deep breaths in an obvious attempt to maintain control. Una was clearly embarrassed and concerned about what my reaction might be to the unprovoked attack.

Strictly speaking, I was a Ranked King now. Although complete functionality would only become active and available after I claimed my land and Kingdom, those were technicalities. My stats. My abilities. Those were mine to claim and use from the moment I had Ranked up. If as a Prince I was formidable, as a King my powers were only magnified. How I responded to Blayney’s provocation would be telling, setting a precedence for how I planned to eventually rule.

But Blayney and I were tied by blood. He had claimed me, brother. And I was not so petty as to retaliate or hold a grudge against a strike made out of anger, fear, and frustration. Allowing him to gain his center, to once more marshal his control, I ignored him for the moment and concentrated on Aspen and Pine.

“Stand,” I said reaching down to help Aspen up, “you are children of Danu, you bow or kneel to no one. No matter the blessing or gifts Danu has bestowed to others, you are the Mother’s gift to the world, her blessing to all of us. Always reflect that gift, stand tall and true, be the living testament that Danu’s love and will are unyielding. That the Tuatha de Danann are still cherished, and that even in Sleep they work to aid the Sidhe.”

Blayney cleared his voice embarrassed at my words; more at my pronouncement I think than the attack. There was nothing in them that would target him specifically, but they were a stark contrast to the violence he had greeted me with. Even if he felt it warranted, his actions should have been held in abeyance until after we had had our discussion. Words of love and forgiveness following the one-sided attack he’d unleashed further unbalanced the harmony that existed between us.

“Your Majesty,” Blayney said when the silence after my pronouncement had lingered too long. His words drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

Duchess Wynne was on guard immediately, seething with fury, angry that she had underestimated his response and failed to protect me. She took her duties as my Benefice seriously and was chagrined that the first time a confrontation and challenge had transpired, she had been lost to complacency, to slow to react.

“Stop,” I told Blayney interrupting whatever it was he was about to say. “I am still Teigh. Still tied to you by blood. We will ignore the previous provocation; it is if it never happened. Between brothers these small misunderstandings are nothing. Brothers ignore Rank and level, you have anointed me as Herd friend, I would not be so indifferent to this honor by cloaking myself in the power of Rank.

“I want you to know. Before we begin our discussion, that I did not desert Irvin. From my perspective, only hours had passed between the time I entered the dungeon and before I returned to Talahm. I fully expected Irvin and the others to be waiting for me after my sojourn.

“Summerlands was fickle during our return, a quirk of fate that meant I was lost to time for over a year. I should have remembered Summerland's proclivity to twist the knots of time and send travelers back haphazardly.

“There are no words that can fully convey the sorrow I feel that Irvin has been forced to endure torment and torture because he was adopted as a member of my House. My sorrow is only constrained by my fury.

“Queen Mab and her Court twist the rules and protocols of Politics, wringing any concession or obscure precedent to punish what is mine because I am beyond their reach. But in so doing, they open themselves to retaliation and vengeance.

“Justice will be served.

“Irvin will be restored.

“And I will form a Kingdom, a place of opportunity that frees Sidhe from the Machiavellian maneuvering of those that have forgotten or ignored the tenets of decency and honor,” I said my voice echoing with the Power of Kings.

Before anyone could respond, before the echo of my voice had softened, the door to Blayney’s office crashed open. Three Seelie entered the room, their actions clearly radiating the entitled aura that was endemic of Seelie. They projected an attitude, that it was they, not Blayney who truly ruled here.

Two of the Seelie broke off, standing to either side of the door as soon as they had entered, obviously the guard detail. My perception check registered them as Ranked Lords. I wondered who they had offended to be placed on guard duty. But it was the third person, the one they were deferring to, that became the target for my rage.

Supercilious. He was a fop and dandy. A stooge sent by the Seelie Monarchs. He was pompous, entitled, and emboldened with his certainty that no one would dare dispute Seelie rule.

His clothing was well-tailored and elegant. He was immaculately dressed and adorned with subtle gems and accouterments that spoke of breeding and taste. He was a member of a House that had deep roots and close association with those in Power.

Not quite a Power in his own right, he brandished the borrowed authority the Seelie Monarchs gifted him with as a weapon. It would seem Lord Blayney’s receptionist spoke truly when she warned that she would inform the Seelie overlord. She was firmly entrenched within his camp and had wasted no time of notifying him of this meeting.

Ranked Seelie Lord Craig g’Tach had graced us with his presence, and he was not happy.