The Maiden. The Mother. The Crone.

This trinity of female fey have always been the leaders among the Summer and Winter Courts, themselves the strongest factions among the Seelie and the Unseelie. Each one plays a different role, working in concert with the others to maintain their court’s standing.

The Maiden is the passion of the Court. With the vigor of youth, she is the one who is at the forefront of whatever actions her faction takes. When they host a celebration, she oversees the festivities. When they go to war, she leads the charge. When they pass judgment, she carries out the sentence.

The Mother is the mind of the Court. With the vigilance of maturity, she is the one who sets her faction’s agenda. She decides when to form an alliance, and when to break it. She decides if a subordinate fey deserves to be exalted, or rebuked. She decides whether a visitor to her court will find wonders, or horrors.

The Crone is the soul of the Court. With the wisdom of age, she is the one who maintains the integrity of her faction’s nature. Hers is the magic that grants each office its power. Hers is the name which makes sworn oaths binding. Hers is the will which connects the court to its season.

These are the roles that have held since time immemorial, dating back to the great schism that formed the Seelie and the Unseelie. Perhaps even before then.

But while these roles are eternal and unchanging, the ones who fulfill them are not. Maidens have been slain in battle. Mothers have been assassinated. And though no Crone is ever known to have died, there have been occasions when they’ve into seclusion for long periods of time, reportedly evincing different mannerisms and attitudes when they reappeared.

Only once, however, has a member of this trinity – in either Court – ever been cast out.

That condemned figure is the Queen of Air and Darkness.

Before she held that moniker, however, she was the Winter Mother, and legend says that she fulfilled her duties admirably. The Winter Court thrived under her leadership, and all of the Unseelie prospered. So powerful was her influence, it was whispered, that some thought she would be the one to heal the ancient rift between the two Great Courts, returning the fey – Seelie, Unseelie, and Wyld – to being a unified people.

But it was not to be.

No one today – save perhaps for Morgana, the Winter Crone – knows for certain what it was that drove the Winter Mother to seek even more power. Some say she foresaw a great disaster that would befall her people, and sought the strength to avert it. Others believe that she wished to offset the advantage that the Llys Seren’s fealty gave the Seelie. A few even purport that her plan to unify the fey was to be achieved through war, and that she went looking for a weapon of grand design.

All, however, agree on three points:

That she left in search of this power voluntarily.

That she sought it out alone.

And most of all, that she returned...changed.

For the Winter Mother had found that which she’d gone looking for, bringing back an artifact such as none had ever seen:

The Black Diamond.

Even today, none can say with certainty what it truly is or where it came from. But what is known is that this man-sized gemstone, pure ebony in coloration and perfectly cut to have ten facets, evoked a profound change in the Winter Mother.

Her physical form was no more. Whereas before she had been a vision of the winter season itself, having features that showed both the power of a blizzard and the beauty of a snowbound forest, she was now existed only as cloying darkness, a spectral figure wrapped in an umbral aura which clung to the Black Diamond like a cloak.

Far worse was what had happened to her mind. Gone was the woman of great acumen, dedicated to the welfare of her people. In her place was a being of spite and cruelty, finding fault with all that she beheld. A sibilant voice of callous disdain and malicious contempt replaced what had once been a clarion call of strength and vision, and the change wrought a shudder in all who heard it.

They were right to be afraid.

Those fey who questioned the Winter Mother’s decisions were transmuted into beasts, becoming creatures of gleeful malice and vicious bloodthirst who could do naught but obey her will. Those fey who opposed her were sentenced to a far worse fate, finding themselves slain and their consciousness bound to their reanimated bodies, her obedient soldiers for all eternity. Only those who unhesitatingly carried out her wishes – no matter how dark or twisted the orders they were given – were spared, and even then eventually showcased some flaw or failing that turned her ire toward them.

It was only a matter of time before all of Winter rose in rebellion, with the other Unseelie factions rallying to their side. Led by Mab, the Winter Maiden, they set upon the transformed Winter Mother in wrath, no longer able to abide by what she had become.

But the bearer of the Black Diamond would not be so easily defeated.

Empowered by the artifact that she had brought back, the Winter Mother took to the field, backed by her monstrous soldiers and undead thralls. Though not a warrior, the power she now wielded put her beyond the reach of any, such that even as her hordes were slain, she alone was enough to turn the battle in her favor. With the power of the Black Diamond, her enemies turned on each other, maddened by visions of horror. Others were warped just as their kin had been, replenishing her stock of bestial slaves. And all of the recently dead were bound to her will, made into new undead.

Soon, Mab had no choice but to sound a retreat, and it seemed as though all of Winter would fall, and the Unseelie with it.

But as the fey fell back, a new participant took to the field at last.

Morgana, the Winter Crone.

Alone, she approached the Winter Mother, and a great snowstorm arose as she – the soul of Winter itself – brought her power to bear against her wayward subordinate.

What happened within that maelstrom none could say. But when it eventually dissipated, Morgana stood alone, the Winter Mother and the Black Diamond gone, along with her doomed servitors.

Morgana declared that the civil war that had rocked their court was over at last. Mab would be the new Winter Mother, and her predecessor’s name would never be spoken of again, on pain of death. Instead, the bearer of the Black Diamond would be known only as the Queen of Air and Darkness, a reference to the shadowy figure she had become. Appointing her daughter, Maeve, to be the new Winter Maiden, Mab then began the arduous process of restoring the devastated Winter Court.

But that was not the end of the Winter Court’s exiled Mother.

Still a member of the Unseelie, she now dwells within the subterranean redoubt she carved, its likeness said to be a twisted version of her prior demesne. Many of the monsters she twisted her former subjects into have bred true, and now answer her call of their own accord. And her legions of undead grow whenever a would-be hero or overconfident spy attempts to infiltrate her kingdom.

And yet the Queen does not make war on her brethren as she once did.

Instead, she seems to have tempered the scorn she once gave free reign to, and begun working to solidify her new position. An entreaty to the Lady of Spiders – the leader of the Dark Seldarine, pantheon of the benighted elves that also live underground – bore unexpected fruit, the two goddesses working together to drive one of the lesser elven gods mad and slaughter his own worshipers, losing a great deal of power before his brethren were able to intervene.

A more enduring alliance is thought to exist between the Queen and Cegilune, the hag goddess. Known for being one of the largest brokers in the daemons’ soul markets, Cegilune has made numerous trips to the Queen’s dominion, and rumor has it that she’s trading souls to be able to study the Black Diamond itself.

But the most surprising evidence of the Queen’s new appreciation for cooperation was the aid she provided when Eschaton – the beast with seven heads and ten horns – attacked.

Had she stopped at merely sending her minions – living and undead alike – to serve as fodder, that would have still been a remarkable act on her part, buying time for the beleaguered forces of Autumn – chosen to lead the charge of the allied Courts due to Eschaton’s attack having happened during their season – to rally.

That, however, was not the full extent of the Queen’s involvement.

Instead, she allowed Fionn, the Autumn King, and his wife Olwen to each borrow a single facet of the Black Diamond.

Using the shards as bladed weapons, the facets cut through Eschaton’s defenses like nothing else had, allowing Fionn to slice off two of the creature’s heads, and Olwen a third, forcing the creature to retreat back to the netherworld it had come from.

And although the monarchs of Autumn both succumbed to their wounds, everyone agreed that the intervention by the Queen of Air and Darkness – who had been quick to reclaim the facets after the battle ended – had made all the difference.

Combined with the alliances she’d been seeking – which were seen as expanding the influence of all the Unseelie – it was enough to rehabilitate much of the Queen’s image. While Winter still continues to ignore her, other factions of the Unseelie have begun to traffic with her, albeit very cautiously. Particularly the subsequent rulers of Autumn, who have repeatedly made successful overtures to her in times of great need.

All while she continues to lurk below the surface, waiting...

Lex found himself with a great deal to consider as Branwen finished her tale.

First and foremost were the disturbing parallels between himself and the Queen of Air and Darkness.

The similarities were too numerous to be overlooked. The way she’d lost her physical body in favor of becoming a shadow. A bitter disposition to dominate others. A massive black crystal. While none of those were identical matches – there was no mention of green or purple eyes, he had nothing but contempt for the undead, and all of the crystals he created fell to dust within an hour unless he went out of his way to reinforce them – the overall resemblance was enough to make him reluctant to ascribe it to an unlikely series of coincidences.

Particularly since the Queen had been able to provide Iubdan with a description of him immediately after his wife had disappeared.

That alone was enough to make Lex uneasy. For all that he’d rushed through creating the demiplane where he’d summoned the lesser titans that he’d rutted, he had put a great deal of work into its structure, ensuring that whatever entered it wouldn’t be able to leave. It was why those seven had been able to summon reinforcements, but not escape. By that same token, whatever scrying magic the Queen of Air and Darkness had used should have been able to enter the demiplane, but not transmit any information back to her.

And yet it had.

What, if anything, that had to do with the similitude between himself and the Queen, Lex had no idea. If might simply have been that she was powerful enough to break through the wards he’d created. But even if that was the case, it didn’t change the fact that the Queen’s powers and disposition resembled his own more than he was comfortable with.

There was another, no less disquieting possibility as well:

The so-called “facets” of the Black Diamond had been able to injure that Eschaton creature, apparently when nothing else had. The very fact that it was apparently an artifact of ebony coloration, with incredible prowess as a weapon, was enough to turn Lex’s thoughts toward Belligerence.

Odin had said that he was aware of one other void weapon, and that it was even more powerful than the one Lex now carried. That likely wasn’t the Black Diamond, if for no other reason than the Autumn King and Queen had both been able to touch it. But it wasn’t inconceivable that a stronger weapon could have alternate powers, possibly splitting it into pieces or even granting someone else the ability to safely interact with it. Especially if the Queen had managed to assert greater control over the entity that it contained.

Nor was that the only thing Lex had picked up on, having heard in Branwen’s thoughts what she’d omitted from her story.

“You didn’t tell me that you were the daughter of Fionn and Olwen.”

That was enough to make Mei Li’s eyes widen, looking between him and Branwen before settling on the latter. “You’re a princess?”

“There are no princesses in the Autumn Court,” sneered the vilderavn. “A position among their hierarchy is something you earn, either by appointment of the King or Queen, or by killing your way up the ranks.”

“Be that as it may,” rumbled Lex, “you still kept your parentage from me.”

“Because you wouldn’t have torn my armor off, bent me over, and used my body like a plaything if you’d known?” snapped Branwen, clenching her hands into fists. “You were willing to humiliate Queen Penelope herself – the only person who ever gave a damn about me! – right there in front of everyone. Would you have given a dead queen’s daughter any more consideration?”

Even with his foresight telling him what she was about to say, Lex was still stung by the words. How could he not be, after what Kara had showed him about himself? And while there had been numerous lust-inducing and libido-enhancing spells thrown around by the lesser titans and their retinues – all of whom had thought the others had pulled them there as part of an ambush – right before the orgy had started, the harsh truth was that what he’d been overwhelmed by his bestial side, treating them the same way it had treated females back in Darkest Night.

Branwen was right to castigate him for that.

“You’re wrong.”

Beneath her raven-shaped helmet, Branwen narrowed her eyes at Mei Li. “What?”

“Your queen is not the only one who ‘gives a damn’ about you,” replied the kumiho calmly. “Those words dishonor the lengths my husband went to in order to resurrect you, as well as the tears that Elder Sister Nenet shed when she couldn’t protect you, even after she found out that your ki was laced with death.”

It was Branwen’s turn to be shamed into silence then.

“As one who also lost her parents while still young, you and I should be able to understand each other,” continued the vixen. “Although I am his wife and you are his concubine, we’re both bound to one who wishes to honor us, and has brought us to meet others who have come to care for us deeply as well.”

She smiled at Lex then, an open display of the feelings he registered from her across their bond.

“After the anguish of losing ones who love us, are we not fortunate to have found others who are willing to hold us in their hearts?” she continued, belatedly shifting her eyes back toward Branwen. “Is that not reason to be thankful?”

The vilderavn turned her head away, refusing to make eye contact with either of them.

“...I’m not his damned concubine,” she muttered as she stalked toward the door.

Lex knew that if he called her back, she’d have stayed, and for a moment he almost did...

Then he caught a glimpse of what was about to go through her thoughts.

It wasn’t anguish over the sexual encounter they’d had in the demiplane that he’d made. Nor was it anger about Penelope’s having assigned her to obey him in all things. Instead, it was about her appearance, shaken by what Mei Li had said about her ki being “laced with death.”

Branwen had been there when her parents died, had been the first one to approach their bodies.

And she had laid her hand – her left hand – on the facet of the Black Diamond that her father had been holding.

That was what had caused the left side of her body to calcify the way it had, replacing the positive energy in her body with negative energy while still leaving her alive.

Doing nothing to stop the vilderavn as she left, Lex instead watched her go, suddenly certain that the connection between him and the Queen of Air and Darkness wasn’t just their disposition or their powers...

It was Branwen.

Author's Note

As Branwen relates the history of the Queen of Air and Darkness, Lex realizes that there are a number of connections between himself and the fey monarch...not the least of which is Branwen herself!

Is there a deeper meaning to the parallels between Lex and the Queen? Or are they just coincidences?