Oh, Baltimore, Charm City, place of her birth, her kidnapping, her found freedom, marriage, motherhood, and now a place where death has found people she once cared about. The city had been dealing with political dramas for as long as she can remember. You were part of it whether you liked it or not. People always say ‘if you don’t like the game, don’t play it’, but they fail to see the reality of it. Not playing is just refusing to act, which in itself is a play in the grand scheme of the game.


Fatalities within the game were uncommon, but not unheard of. To some, particularly those that subscribe to an unseelie way of thinking, others are just fodder to be used and discarded when it suits a need. If you were in someone’s way…


It sounds worse than it really was. Or maybe it was worse than she feels it was. To Cassandra, all she knew was that she needed to keep up with the tides or be swallowed up by the waves. She’d been Phillip’s spy for a good while, after he promised to help her find Triss - which was unsuccessful. Her duties as a spy, however, were easy enough. Be an ear around the Spring and Autumn Courts and make friends in high places. Making those friends came with costs, however and her grip on reality has been shaky ever since.


Being back in Baltimore now is a strange experience. This had been her home for nearly 25 some years, even with the time displacement, yet now she felt like an outsider. She even perhaps felt some guilt, as if she’d run away from it all. Then again, she kind of did.


Walking up to the American Brewery, the turned headquarters of the Winter Court, Cassandra steps into the main lobby where she is greeted by a familiar face. Nick Famoles, a tall and rather mousy man with dark hair and dark eyes, “C-Cassandra,” His voice was always timid, but his stutter saying the Fairest’s name was not from that shyness.


In her mind, she can see herself at a table, Nick across from her as she holds his precious camera in her hands. “Here’s the deal, Nick. You give me what I need and you get this back. If not…” The gray skinned woman stares down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at him, a blank expression on her face. Which, perhaps to Nick, made her all the more terrifying.


The Scarlet-haired woman tries to offer a friendly smile and she can only hope it doesn’t come off as menacing, “Hello, Nick. I hope you’re having a pleasant day.”


“Uh, yes, I-um. What are you doing here? I thought you’d moved out west?” She wondered if he was offended somehow that he didn’t know why she’d come. She’d thought it would have been obvious given the situation.


“My best friend was killed protecting this Freehold last week. Why do you think I’m back?” There is almost a hissing venom that comes from her voice; pain. She hasn’t been immediately cross with anyone in a very long time, so it feels strange.


Nick shrinks back a little, “Right. Blodwyn. Uh-Are you here then to speak to-”


“You sure do have a lot of questions, Nick. I’m here to speak with Dai- I mean, Black-Eyed Susan.” How long had she been calling Susan Daisy behind her back? Then again, considering the Flowering’s appearance, it was never far off.


“Her schedule is quite full-”


“Give her a call and she’ll see me.” Am I already dancing? Barely five minutes back and the games have already begun.


It isn’t long before Nick is showing Cassandra up to Black-Eyed Susan’s office, not that she needed directions. When she knocks on the door, she feels this sensation of nerves. It’s the same sensation she felt every time she had to report false details to her, hoping she wouldn’t see right through her lies. A gentle voice beckons her in and she opens the door, walking inside.


The office is exactly how she remembers it. Neat, orderly, practically mechanical. Bookshelves decorate the walls with hundreds of books filled with cyphers she’d always wanted to crack. In the back of the room sits Black-Eyed Susan, Queen of Winter. Her blonde hair is down in delicate waves, longer than it had been the last time they’d seen each other. Freckles on her face along with the way her hair sits almost makes her appear as a flower, yet her mantle speaks of a freezing drizzle. It’s stronger than when they’d last met as well.


“Cassandra Moore. Or do you go by your maiden name nowadays?” Daisy’s voice might be delicate, but it is firm, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”


The question of her name makes her a little queasy. Of course the first thing out of the Winter Queen’s mouth would be cutting. “Either works. I’m not attached either way.” There is a coolness in Cassandra’s tone. She will not give Daisy the satisfaction of seeing her bothered. “I’m here to request a room in one of the safe havens for a week or so. I plan on being here for Blodwyn’s funeral.”


There is an oddly long silence, as if the Queen had been pondering something, “We could make an exchange for that.”


Of course it couldn’t be as easy as asking; there is always a price. “What do you want?”


“I need someone to investigate an old Hollow. It’s opportune that you’ve come back, given you’re likely one of the two people who can access it.”


Ah. So, that’s what she wants. “You want an entry into Phillip’s tower.”


“There’s rumor of some tokens he’d been keeping there that aided his duties as Lord of the Inhospitable Chamber.” The Flowering gives Cassandra a look, the kind that speaks louder than the words. There will be consequences if she doesn’t open this tower for her.


“Opening that hollow is worth far more than a stay at one of our havens. You’ll let me take a look inside first and keep whatever I need to bring home with me. In exchange, you may have whatever tokens lay inside. I wouldn’t let an outsider step into the tower without me, however. I don’t know how to disarm all of the trappings.” Of course, why would she need to know? They have no effect on her.


Another long silence. Finally, the Queen says, “Fine. We can make that work.” She then raises her voice a little, calling out to Nick on the other side of the door. “Escort Cassandra to lot 1B.”


The mousy man nods. 1B? She considers her briefings from years ago. Which one is that? She’s not entirely sure. Maybe they’d changed the system. That wouldn’t be too surprising. Cassandra gives a small nod to Daisy before exiting.


Nick directs her to follow him in her car and she does so. It’s odd driving through Baltimore traffic again. It’s different somehow from Sacramento’s drivers and the general congestion. When they get to a certain point in the route, Cassandra knows exactly where they are going.


That bitch.


When they pull up to the apartment complex, she feels this cold sense of dread. This is her old apartment, mostly empty. What has Daisy been doing with it? Then again, does she really want to know? She thanks Nick, but it’s just a cold platitude. He doesn’t even offer a goodbye before leaving in his car.


Key in hand, she heads into the building and makes a beeline for the elevator. Memories flash again. This had been an everyday experience for her, going home and relaxing. Up until the incident, this action of opening the door to the apartment gave her a sense of warmth. Now, she only feels cold anxiety.


When she opens up the door to the apartment and walks inside, she finds it is still fairly furnished with what had been there before, what she’d brought back to Sacramento hadn’t really been much at all, it seems. Aside from the mostly lack of dishes and other long term living items, one could assume someone still lived here.


Walking into the living room, she sees the couch she’d refused to bring with her. It makes her stomach turn. She can see Phillip down on one knee, promising to love her and no other for the rest of their lives. Then a memory of snuggling up with Eliza during some children’s movie about an ice princess, her falling asleep and Phillip carrying her to bed.


She doesn’t realize it at first, but tears have already begun streaming down her face. Wiping the tears away as quickly as she can, she holds back a sob. There is so much negative energy in this home, she doesn’t know how she is going to survive here for a week.


She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Just think about John and everyone else back at Sacramento. I’m loved and missed now, something I haven’t experienced in a long time. Everything will be fine. I will be fine.


Instead of sleeping in the main bedroom, Cassandra opts for sleeping in Eliza’s room. In some ways, it still smelled like her, even years later. Though, that’s how things go when they’re untouched, right? Next to the bed on the nightstand there is a picture that has been placed face down. She doesn’t even need to think to remember what the picture was. Slowly, she picks it up, wanting to look at it, even though she knows it’ll hurt.


The picture is a day at Hershey Park and Phillip is helping Eliza hold this oversized Hershey bar, Cassandra laughing in the background just beside them. Someone had snapped a picture of them and gave them a link to the picture. It was perfect, and aside from the picture on the wall of Eliza in her Rapunzel Halloween costume, it was her favorite picture.


Soon, Cassandra finds herself falling asleep, the picture frame clutched to her chest. She didn’t expect it, but for once, she slept through the night without a nightmare or vision.