Fire and Ice

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The summer court of the fae was still in the throws of the summer solstice feast, despite their queen having fallen ill only a few short days ago. The smell of fresh flowers and apple cider wafted through the air, it was a scent even a human nose would have followed to its blissful end. But not this fae. No, Demetria despised it. Her delicate nose was wrinkled slightly at the smell that assaulted it as the heels of her boots made a dull click against the warm wooden floors with each stride she took. The summer palace had never held any beauty for her. It was everything her own home in the winter court wasn’t, and was everything that humans loved about the spring and summer. The winter palace was forever scented with pine and had the same silence to it that came with a night of fresh snowfall. If not for Yule, she doubted the humans would ever have worshipped her own people at all. But here she was, approaching their banquet hall, silken hair as dark as the long winter nights swaying with each purposeful stride she took. The moment the doors opened, all the frivolity turned suddenly silent, fae grabbing hold of the ones next to them as though she were some kind of harbinger. 
“Oh please, don’t stop on my account.” Her velvety voice purred, lips pulled into a sardonic smile.

Though their mother was angry, the look in his sister’s eyes was nothing but betrayal. He was her twin, the other half of her, and now she would never again get to simply sit with him doing dumb things like counting the times their mother had screamed one of their names that day. “How could you?” Demetria whispered, for once seeming like the kind hearted fae she had been before whatever it was corrupting her had taken hold. 
“I think the bigger question, is how could you?” Aster replied sadly, still holding Autumn safely behind him.

"Take care of this." The queen said, motioning her daughter to her son. "You have embarrassed your family for the last time." She snorted. "You get what you deserve."
"Aster, please... Put a stop to this. " Autmn whispered in her lover's ear.

Sister knew his sister wouldn’t back down now, it wasn’t in her nature, even when they had been children. “Demi, you know something is wrong here.” He implored. “I don’t want to hurt you, but...”
“Hurt me?” Demetria interrupted with a snort. “You were always second best, little brother.” She sneered, doing everything she could not to look at Ash’s unmoving form. “But by all means, listen to your pathetic little mouse, and try.”

"No. I didn't mean that...I meant for him to leave..." Autumn whispered. 
Rhea appeared behind her and grabbed a handful of her hair. "Do you see? The entire family oozes weakness. They  want you to run. The winter royalty does not run!" She roared, giving the small far a violent shake.

Aster was torn, knowing better than to turn his back on either of the winter fae females. But the sound of Autumn’s frightened voice forced him to turn his back on Demetria and face his mother. “No, they just kill everything they touch!” He snarled, knowing he would have to sink even lower if he were to keep Autumn alive. “Every last one of you needs putting down!” He growled, fingers closing around his sister’s throat before she could react.

The queen smiled wolfishly. "Finish her, boy. Be the man your father raised you to be. You both know only one of you can rule the kingdoms." The Queen's ebony eyes were glittering. "Let's see if you have what it takes, Aster."

Demetria could see her vision clouding at the edges as her brother cut off her air. Her mother’s voice seemed so far away, but she heard the words clearly. Her final act of self defence was to slide a small blade from within the layers of her skirt and jab it upwards between her attacker’s ribs. 
Aster sucked a pain filled breath in between his teeth when his sister proved how capable she was. He didn’t let go right away however, he squeezed even harder until finally her body went limp and his tossed it to the ground, not even watching where it slid across the ground to crash into Lillian. The younger of the winter twins met his mother’s gaze only briefly, then he took Autumn’s hand, needing to hide her somewhere safe.

Ash opened his eyes sucking in a deep breath. "Autumn?" Not to his credit he called for his sister instead of the woman he'd brought into the Summer realm.

Autumn had no idea her brother was calling for her. She was nervously sitting outside a place Aster called an emergency room. The healers we're working on him while she waited. They hadn't let her go in with him.

Lillian was terrified. She had come here straight from her marriage to Ash, which was nothing more than collecting the official documents to say it had in fact happened. Then everything had gone to shit, these Women she didn’t even know had shown up, and she hadn’t liked the way one of them looked at Ash even before the bloodshed started. Currently she was cradling his head in her lap, a hand again pressed to his bleeding wound as she sobbed, refusing to look at the unmoving female form that had crashed into her moments ago. She was so lost. This wasn’t her world, she had no idea how to help her husband, matters only made worse when he breathed a name that wasn’t her own.

Aster hadn’t wanted to come here. He had been adamant on getting Autumn somewhere safe and then seeing to the wound himself. But sadly, now he was a betrayer of his people, and had potentially murdered his sister and future queen, his magic was fading. He couldn’t fix this without help, and had been forced to come here to seek human assistance.

Ash was in pain but he finally realized he where he was. However, his warm azure eyes fell on Demetria first and he smiled. He reached out for her, his fingers brushing through her hair. "My ice queen." He breathed. "Why are you so cruel?"

Autmn paced the room with the chairs, her fingers shaking. She didn't know why this room existed or what it was for. No one had come for hours. She had heard nothing or seen nothing except from a talking box on the far side of the room. She was terrified.

Demetria didn’t stir. The winter fae was lost in the darkness, having never believed her brother could turn on her like this. And Ash... how could her mother hurt him? Why did it hurt her to see him lying in his own blood anyway?
Lillian screwed her eyes shut when Ash not only reached out for the cruel looking woman who lay close by, but spoke to her in a way he never had Lillian herself. His voice was filled with such emotion, something she had never known from him.

The box spoke of a sudden end to autumn, snow falling across different countries, despite it only being the first week of September. It was unprecedented, and the people speaking claimed it was a perhaps a result of something humans had done to their planet. The fae knew better. The fae knew the war had just shifted in favour of the winter court.
“Excuse me, miss?” A flame haired nurse was smiling at Autumn, concern in her deep brown eyes. “You’ve been here a while now, can I get you something to drink? To eat maybe?”

Rhea grabbed Ash's fingers, cracking them as she yanked them away from her daughter's hair. "Leave her be, boy." She hissed. "You've done enough." Her black eyes swept to Lillian and she smiled. "Silly human. You made such a mistake coming here. Your beauty won't last much longer." The winter queen snarled.

Autumn backed away from the woman, shaking her head. "I...no...I only need information..." She said softly. "No one will talk to me."

Lillian shook like a leaf as the fae Queen addressed her. She couldn’t fathom how she could be considered beautiful beside these creatures. 
Demetria groaned, trying to force her eyes open when she heard her mother’s voice. “Ash...” She breathed the other fae’s name without even realising it. 

“Have you tried talking to them?” The nurse asked with a slight smile. “We don’t bite, girl.” She added with a chuckle. “He’s been calling for you.” She confessed with her next breath, patting Autumn’s shoulder gently. “The doctor is still patching him up. I know you probably won’t want to tell me... but what happened to him?”