I wasn't chained, but it was a fairly close thing even though the year was trending warm and the Winter Court must be in descent. I don't know my name, or even where I had been moments before stumbling from that dark and bloody woods into the twilight edge of Forever. They walk me through thorns which scream quietly in the dark, through mushrooms grown high on magic which sprinkle down sparkling death, past bamboo which whispers the names of those whose blood fed them. The Cathedral is less built than grown, leaves sprouting from the edges and keeping the door in a lovers' embrace, the curious denizens of the dark emerging from among haunted foliage to gather in rows along the pathway to the throne.
I can tell the Queen - resplendent in her furs and satins - knows not what to do with me. The crowd shifts, whispering and staring, and I know several moments of shyness as some of the words filter through the murmuring to my ears. The stone is hard on my knees, my neck craned back to look up to the Privy Council as they conferred in voices too soft to carry over the gentle trickle of blood in the fountain.The rebuke for staring came without warning, bamboo slicing across my skin, and from thence I studied the patterns worn into the floor by feet and knees and, no doubt, bodies devoid of life. I barely hear my sentence when it is passed down, my eyes to full of horror to hear.
The shift from Winter to Summer makes me stumble, toes bruised against stone, and the whisper of Lotus calls me to a cool pool, the crystal water soothing as I wade in, uncaring now for any vestige of nobility. Gentle lily-pads float closer, the power of this court no less in evidence despite the casualness of it's approach. I kneel again, am drawn up with whispers of wonder, and the next few moments are a flood of emotions, less mine than those of the quiet community drawing near. The Queen, her eyes full of secrets, draws close and I drown in her gaze.
"You must go on." Through the fog of thought, I emerge near the edge of the Summer Court, my head turned back at the trailing kin who watch my departure. Unhealed but bound, my wounds ache with unknown memories, carrying a few more for those moments of wide eyes and sibilant whispers. Across the lake I can see where I entered, gates marking the edges of territory around the World Tree. That faint feeling of recognition, of having found home, fades as I step into the forest beyond. This may have been a home, but it is no where I can stay.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Location: The Faery Court
Light Settings: Places, Abracadabra
Water Settings: Mirror Water
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only
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