Autumnal Gathering

[Lucifer]

The building that had once been Edna's boarding house, now Edna's Haunted House, was lit from within by flickering candles beneath the midnight sky. The ancient meal table, the wood weathered by countless diners and stained from the countless surgeries performed there by the Witch of the Bitter Winds, Betony Rue Jasons, had been prepared for the gathering of the Leaden Mirror, empty chairs waiting to be filled, a plate of cold meats and cheeses waiting to be eaten.

Lucifer, the self-proclaimed Autumn Queen lounged in the most regal of the chairs, the wooden seat high backed and expertly carved with motifs of leaves and snarling hounds. She was dressed much as she had been the night of the Summer coronation, her hedgespun gown of shadow and storm clouds swirling about her form, with jewels glittering about her throat and her wrist.

The door was open, now she simply waited for the others to arrive...

[Rhodes]

Edna's. The Haunted House. A little on the nose, perhaps, but anything that made the Harvest easier was always beneficial. The lights in the window showed that someone was already making themselves at home. Rhodes still wasn't sure what to expect, so his guard was up. But this.... this was his arena. It was Lucifer's too. A cut and thrust of debate, of rhetoric. If anything, he was relishing the challenge.

Strolling up to the door, the Autumn courtier puts on his charming smile, a leather-bound suitcase in one hand. He opens the door, and enters, following the light. Seeing Lucifer lounging at the head of the table as if she was already queen. His eyebrow arched. A couple of months in a location wasn't enough. She could overawe, that much had been assured. But could she be indirect? Subtle? Intelligent? Rhodes was skeptical. So many Fairest put so much stock in appearance, it was all they had.

The Flowering Fairest was dressed much as he was for the summer coronation, this time in a scarlet shirt matching his innate laurel of flowers. Rhodes' Mantle sends a chill through the room, helping his smile become more natural. He walked up along the side of the table, his own hedgespun coat churning like broiling thunderclouds. The Fairest observed the meal laid out with some measure of approval, though he was careful not to let it show. He stops halfway along the table, close enough for his mantle to reach, yet not so close as to present himself.

"So." His greeting was curt. "Lady Lucifer. Perhaps this time we can begin like civilized beings?" The Fairest sets the suitcase flat on the table and opens it, taking out a bottle of red wine in both hands. "A Chateaunerf du Pape twenty-ten. Hardly Arcadian fare, of course, but nothing truly is. Good year. Strong, full-bodied, hints of cherries, blackberries and plums... with an oak finish. A little heavy perhaps. But without knowing the manner of this meeting, a more refined choice was really quite difficult..." He sets the bottle gently among the platters of meats, cheese and fruit, "however looking at the selection of cuisine I think I did reasonably well." The male Fairest closes the case, and looks back to the would-be Queen, face passive.

[Lucifer]

Lucifer only smiled as her rival entered the room, lush lips sliding off of cruelly pointed teeth, her capricorn eyes alive with dancing candleflame. Before the games could truly begin, however, a stranger entered the room, a quite ill-formed severely formed woman with strange seams upon her skin and disturbingly medical looking protrusions coming from her fingernails. Court of Fear indeed...

Then, of course, was the brash thing from the Coronation, strolling in once more with the swagger of a drunkard, and all the social graces of one to boot. Nevertheless, now was not the time to pounce upon him once more. She'd already made him bleed before the Freehold, and what was more, she needed allies. It would be hard enough to win him over as it was...If only there had been an ogre or two that she could have wrapped around her little finger...

Yes, now was not the time to pick fights. Now was the time forge something where, moments before, there had been nothing.

"Greetings, all, and welcome to Edna's, the current home of our most venerable Court," Lucifer declared, fingers fanning out as she spread her arms wide. "Please feel free to help yourselves to the food," she continued, as though Wolfgang hadn't already done so, "and I trust Sir Rhodes has brought something to open his marvelous bottle of wine. Truly, I'm sure the Queen of Spring would be positively jealous that she wasn't treated to such fine fare. But alas, let us not talk of the other Courts quite yet. I wished to meet all of you, and to allow us all to share our ideas for how to build our Court so that we might embody its tenants. I have a plan in place already, but if possible, I wish to accommodate us all."

[Rhodes]

A plan for yourself, perhaps. You did not think you would have others to consider when you strolled out to claim our crown. Rhodes watches Lucifer, his casual smile fixed. That light.... more potent that before... Her Mantle has grown in line with her ego. Interesting.

"Fortunately, I do," Rhodes' smile stretches into a smirk. He reopens the case and extracts a sparkling corkscrew, and begins opening the wine. "So important to have the right tools for the task at hand." The jibe is passive as he sets the wine back down to breath.

The Flowering smiles serenely at the other courtiers, inclining his head in turn. "Good evening, both of you. Wolfgang. And Lady...?" He leaves the question for Nana to answer. "A pleasure." He turns to Wolfgang. "You truly think so? A Freehold so small, I find that hard to believe. We have all appeared, reviving our Court where scant months ago there was a void. They are intimidated by such growth. But if they have a measure of fear against us, that is only proper. I see no issue there." Rhodes spreads his hands addresses the group, continuing in a voice like honey. "Perhaps if we knew a little more about one another, to break the ice, as it were. Our interests and skills - what we bring to the table. I, for example, like many of our brethren, actively work on studying our gifts, supernatural beings and objects in general. It is such that drew me to Autumn." He looks around, waiting for someone to carry on.

[Rhodes]

Rhodes looks almost offended. "Wolfgang, I'd hate for us to fall into generalizations. I, for one, am very interested in all our Court's opinions." The views of the Court dictate the Crown. "We need to work together, after all. Marketing your services benefit both you and our Court's standing."

The Fairest applauds lightly ad Wolfgang completes the story of his Fetch's murder. "Kudos. The Fetches stole our lives - it is only just we take theirs in return." His grin is haunting.

"I think that does as an introduction, though I'd be very keen to know what crafts you specialize in. In a Freehold like this one where the Artists are few, I'm sure you can provide a unique resource." He looks around. "Nana." Though Rhodes' expression doesn't change, he feels a chill in the pit of his stomach. That may never be comfortable to say.... "Perhaps you would like to go next? What talents do you bring to the Sacramento Autumn?"

[Lucifer]

A peal of laughter spilled from Lucifer's lush lips, the discordant sound weaving notes of feminine amusement with sandpaper on iron.

"Oh, yes, just. So well spoken, Sir Rhodes, yet so incorrect," the shadowed beauty continued, the candlelight dancing cruelly in her eyes. "No Fetch has ever stolen a life on its own. They are only tools of the Gentry, and it is the Gentry who control them. I would have expected a former Witch of the Bitter Winds to have been better informed, but alas, we all make mistakes. Still, I would recommend that you shift your priorities from wishing to speak to wishing to listen. Not just hear, but truly listen. Lady Nana has already told us her specialty. 'Humpty Dumpty should have called me first?' Clearly, she is a master of medicine, and quite adept at using her curious mind at putting others ill at ease. Most excellent for Autumn.

"However, our individual skills are only a component," she continued, leaning forward, the sharp points of her sparkling, black lacquered nails We must focus on how to blend them into a coherent hole. For, as the owl eyed Wolfgang has said, the Queen of Spring has already declared her enmity for one of us. And yes, I understand that I, personally, am not the whole of court. I understand that, despite my ambitions, I might not wear the Dread Crown," Lucifer confessed, her flame lit eyes falling squarely upon Rhodes.

"But, that is what makes it worse," she argued, her hands pressing against the table as she stood. "The Queen of another Court, the so-called Director of the Freehold, singled out one of our number and expressed her enmity. Is that not an attack upon our Court? Does that not show that we must unite if we are to accomplish what we must? Our Court has lain silent for too long within this Freehold. Within this City. We must remind them of the taste of Fear, and all the lessons that it teaches."