Chapter 7 Kieran
KIERAN
General Winter,
Three sunsets. I told you, I have three sunsets.
I will be back in just that amount of time.
It is not a very long amount of time. And yet you have written to me, spent your valuable time and mine because you could not wait three sunsets to know whether I prefer velvet in midnight blue or in “more of an eggplant,” I believe was your phrase.
Forgive me my temper. I am not really angry with you.
I am somewhat out of sorts this morning, after a night of merriment and whimsy on the streets of London-Town, along with my Nephilim friends.
Now, obviously any faerie revel contains such dark delights as mortals can only dream, and so on.
But after the previous night I must concede a grudging respect for the reveling capacities of an unexpected group: London businessmen of late middle-age.
In our journeys we encountered what is known here as a “Retirement Party,” a kind of movable feast in which these businessmen traverse the city in celebration of a chosen one.
In this case I knew him only as “Kraig.”
We met his Party thrice last night! The first time, at the Tongue Mark and I had to carry her back to the Institute.
She is awake now, and demanding coffee with rather more force than usual.
Given that my time is short, I shall endeavor to answer your queries as well as I can.
I like the midnight blue for the throne room.
I think it sets off the creeping vines well, and also I think you were hinting you prefer it as well.
Next, I am in general agreement that the overall aesthetic of the throne rooms should move in the direction of an opulent Gothic feel, rather than its previous occupant’s preferred theme of “blasted hellscape.” Let us remind our Court that we are the Moon, as the Seelie Court is the Sun; rather than that they are Beauty and we Tackiness.
However, I disagree about the skulls. I think they should remain.
Skulls are perfectly appropriate in an opulent Gothic setting.
In fact, I am hard-pressed to think of a style in which skulls would not be an improving presence.
If such a style exists, it would definitely not be a good choice for the throne rooms of the Unseelie Lord, let us at least agree upon that.
Lastly, I am disturbed to hear the Seelie Court continues to rebuff my requests for a summit of peace.
You were right when you noted your suspicions earlier; they have become more secretive in this past year, even for them.
We will see if our scouts manage to learn anything, although, in my experience, our scouts mostly seem to fall into forbidden romances with Seelie scouts and then they run off together; we lose something like four out of five that way.
I suppose what I am saying is I am not exactly holding my breath.
(A charming human expression, is it not?)
You do not need to suggest to me that I contact Adaon; he is my own brother and I speak with him often.
Whenever I bring up the possibility of a united court, or a meeting between myself and the Seelie Queen, he says the same thing: Now is not the time for a summit that might lead to discord, now is the time to preserve the fragile peace between the two courts by leaving well enough alone.
He has the Queen’s ear, so I must trust he knows what I do not.
Still, you know it is not in my nature to do nothing and call it progress.
Speaking of that fragile peace, I must inquire—have your redcaps learned any more about the strange presence noted in Faerie, and whether it is beneficial or antagonistic to our interests?
I feel it through my connection to the Land—I am woken sometimes, feeling a presence I cannot define, knowing it is both of Faerie and not of it, and that the Land itself is afraid.
Enough of that. I trust you can manage to keep the Court in working order for the thirty-six remaining hours I will be gone. If more color selection is necessary before my return, I trust you to go with your instincts, which have always served you well.
Until then I have the honor to remain Your Eternal Sovereign, Master of the Hob and the Domovoi, Breaker of the Broken Lands, Crown Under the Hill, Dark Star of the Evening, Friend of Kraig, and King of the Unseelie Court—
Kieran