Jason knew he had done this to himself,and yet he knew what he had said was his own binds. He had said to Ash that if he made it he would 'pop in and say hi' and so he did. He came back,sticking to his word that dragons held to so strongly that if one said they would protect another with their life they would do it,even if that meant taking a punishment for them,till the point of execution. Dragons held close the the honor of their word,and so had he. Only half dragon and yet he had stuck to it,to the words 'If I make it I'll pop in and say hi'. The sentence that had spelled his own doom. He watched the reactions to the scepter and felt the need to back away a bit as well. He was multi wing,part ice dragon night dragon and camo dragon. True,hybrid yet a breed bred to the point where it was one of its own. And so the ice dragon in him also wished to back away,as the winter abounders in his realm would.

At the foot of the throne, the lady knelt and held out the scepter in both hands, bowing her head. For a moment, Mab did nothing, simply watching the faery with an unreadable expression on her face. The rest of the Winter Court seemed to hold their breath. Then, with deliberate slowness, Mab stood and plucked the scepter from the woman's hands. Holding it before her, the queen studied it, then raised it up for all to see. The scepter flared, the golden aura swallowed up by icy blue. The leaves and flowers shriveled and fell away. Bees and butterflies spiraled lifelessly to the ground, their gossamer wings coated in frost. The scepter flared once more and turned to ice, sending sparkling prisms of light over the courtyard.


The faery kneeling before the queen jerked and then she, too, shriveled away. Her gorgeous robe withered, the flowers turning black and falling to the ground. Her hair curled, becoming dry and brittle, before flaking off her scalp. Jason could hear the snapping of twigs as her legs broke at the knees, unable to hold her up any longer. She pitched forward into the snow, twitched once, and was still.

"It is done," said Oberon, his voice weary. He raised his head and met Mab's gaze. "The Exchange is complete, until the summer equinox. Now, if you will excuse us, Queen Mab. We must return to Arcadia." Mab shot him a look that was purely predatory. "You will not stay, Lord Oberon?" she crooned. "Celebrate with us?"


"I think not, Lady." If Oberon was disturbed by the way Mab looked at him, he didn't show it. "The ending of summer is not something we look forward to. I'm afraid we will have to decline. But, be warned, Queen Mab, this is not yet over. One way or another, I will get that dragon's freedom."

He sighed inside,Shade patting his neck with wide little ice eyes tinted gold as Shade's had been before he had lost it. "Eee~?" He crooed,trying to lift him up. Fatespeaker shook her little head and Shade gave up. He had stuck to his word and that was that. He said that Ash would bring a dragon to his queen,and so he did. But....had he said he was going to stay? Had he said that he would stay by their choice? He couldn't remember,and so he wasn't sure.

Maybe Oberon would come through for Jason after all. But Mab's gaze narrowed, and she stroked the handle of the scepter. "That sounds uncomfortably close to a threat, Erlking."


"Merely a promise, my lady." With Mab still glaring at him, Oberon deliberately turned his back on the Winter Queen and strode to the carriage. A troll opened the door for him, and the Erlking entered without a backward glance. The driver shook the reins, and the Summer entourage was off, growing smaller and smaller until the darkness swallowed them up. Mab smiled.


"Summer is over," she announced in her raspy voice, raising her other arm as if to embrace her waiting subjects. "Winter has come. Now, let the Revel begin!"


The Unseelie went berserk, howling, roaring and screaming into the night. Music started from somewhere, wild and dark, drums pounding out a fast, frenzied rhythm. The fey swarmed together in a chaotic, writhing mass, leaping, howling and twirling madly, rejoicing in the coming of winter.

Jason gently cuddled little icey Shade as Fatespeaker huffed a snowflaked sigh as she clambered up and curled up on his hood covered head. "Rrrrr-." She "said" as if in dismissal. Shade was just shaken by the raging enthusiasm. He knew that the ice dragons back home would be happy to join in here,that is if they weren't fighting. If they hadn't lost so many to the war they would pleasure in a break,but he also knew that wasn't a good thought. He knew that the dragons wouldn't be welcome nor would it be the best thing for these winter fey because of the short tempers that the cream colored sleek beasts had.

From his spot he could see a group of drunk, glamour-high redcaps swarm a boggart and tear it limb from limb. Mab would probably think he was being rude if he went back to his room. The frozen statues of humans and fey scattered throughout the courtyard were probably a warning for him not to.
At least Rowan was absent from the celebrations or lurking somewhere he couldn't see. Ash was also mysteriously absent.

He wondered why the two brothers weren't there,but he made sure not to think of it. He wasn't one to get drunk or party hard,so he wasn't sure what to do. He gently set Fatespeaker and Shade down,patting their little heads. "You guys go back to the room,I don't want you stomped on.I don't have much ice left in this fractured chest so I wouldn't be able to help." He said softly to them and they nodded,little Fatespeaker having to drag Shade by the tail as he whimpered not to leave Jason's side. But soon he gave in and clung close to Fatespeaker as they scampered off,side by side. He rolled his fractured shoulders and pulled his hood sucruly on farther.

"Excuse me, Prince." The voice was a soft, deep one. The voice that could either be Rowan's or Ash's, they sounded so much alike.

He lifted his eyes and was ready to bow his head. His hazel and purple eyes now had the golden flecks again. His lips parted,ready to say 'I'm not a prince here.Just a dragon.'

It wasn't Ash standing there. Thankfully, it wasn't Rowan, either. It was the other brother, the oldest of the three. Sage. He's gorgeous also. What was with this family, that all the sons were so freaking handsome it hurt to look at them? Sage had his brother's pale face and high cheekbones, and his eyes were chips of green ice, peering out beneath slender brows. Long black hair rippled behind him, like a waterfall of ink. His wolf sat a few paces away, watching him with intelligent golden eyes.