Firewyrm

by Erik Schubach

  In a whirlwind, I found myself in an interrogation room back at headquarters, in magic dampening cuffs, while they tried to locate 'Lieutenant Shade' to question me. Every time I tried to tell them who I was, I said 'Queen Mab'.

  I was so going to fuck her up the next time I saw her, Queen of the Fae be damned!

  I looked at the cuffs and almost chuckled. The more I learned about the Greater Fae the more I knew about their magic. The key thing was that, as the cuffs proved, the castings of any Fae only worked on Fae or creatures less powerful than the caster.

  So while these cuffs might work on any lesser Fae or any race less powerful than the Greater Fae... any Greater Fae more powerful than the apprentice or journeyman who had spelled the cuffs wouldn't be affected. Else the spells Mab had currently cast on me would have been circumvented by the cuffs.

  Commander Reise came in after a couple of hours, his stern look had an edge of nervousness to it as he stood by the door rather than joining me at the table. He was being overly cautious. I understood, if I was in a room with who I thought was the most magically powerful person on the world, one known to have a hair-trigger, and was questioning as a suspect in a crime, I'd be hesitant too.

  Only I wasn't Mab.

  He said as he looked at the pad he was holding as information scrolled across it, “Queen Mab, we're having a problem locating Lieutenant Shade to begin our questioning.” The man looked up from the pad, eyes narrowing a bit as he asked leadingly, “I don't suppose you've seen her today?”

  I sighed, meaning to say, “In the mirror this morning like every other day,” but what came out was, “Oh my, you've misplaced your venerable pet human and suspect me of what? Something nefarious?”

  He shook his head, “Witnesses say that they saw you in the alley behind Stacks with her this morning, but nobody saw her leave, and there was some sort of massive magical interference so none of the cameras or sensors in all of Irontown were operational during this meeting you had with her.”

  “What are you saying, Commander? Don't be coy, just make your accusation.” Then I chuckled in that slightly unhinged way Mab had about her.

  The man sputtered, sweat on his forehead as he looked back toward the door like he might bolt at any second. “I'm not accusing you or the Winter Court of anything, majesty. It is just that, Shade and Keller were tasked to bring you in for questioning because someone implicated you in the arson case in the Alpha-Stack last night. Shade's disappearance is... suspect.”

  “Oh my dear child, you truly are accusing me of wrongdoing, how delightful. What do I get from playing this game when you learn just how wrong you were? I don't have many Centaurs adoring my halls...”

  Reise went positively pale, and he swallowed, hard, he said in a strained tone, “Nobody is accusing you of anything. We just have a few questions and I'm sure everything will be cleared up and you will be free to go.”

  I shook my head. “Poor child, I'm free to go at any moment.” I held my hands up in the cuffs. “Do you believe for one moment that these bracelets, spelled by a bottom tier journeyman, could contain my power, or that my Fae strength couldn't snap them like toys? I wear them only for your peace of mind. And I'm sure that if I am under arrest as the Enforcers who read me my rights had indicated, that you wouldn't attempt to ask me anything without legal counsel present.”

  I glared at him as my mouth kept working, spitting out her words in her voice. “I'm well aware of the remedies in the legal codes that pertain to wrongful detainment of Fae Royalty. And believe me... Commander Malcolm Tiberius Reise, I will seek out and enforce each remedy to the fullest extent.”

  He knew he was in danger, and stayed almost impossibly still, like any movement he made would cause the apex predator in front of him to pounce and swallow him whole. “I was not aware legal counsel had not been offered to you yet. And you aren't under arrest or being accused of any crimes. We just needed to...” He blurted, “I can contact your legal counsel for you, majesty, who should I com?”

  The man just lied through his teeth and I found it amusing that he even tried. The real Mab wouldn't have bought his 'oops' act. And I found that Mab's Gaes and spells hadn't thought of everything, since I just blinked at him, not having the slightest clue who Mab's lawyers were. I'm sure the Winter Court had lawyers specifically for such an instance. The only name I knew that was of any consequence wasn't a lawyer. But maybe if she met with me she'd see right through her mother's magic. “My daughter, Princess Aurora of the Unseelie.”

  Then I prompted as he started to turn, “And do something about these unless you want them frozen and shattered into a thousand pieces?” I held the cuffs up. I knew the Greater Fae were insanely strong, Sindri had broken bones just grabbing me, and I had no doubt that Mab could have just snapped the metal like it was made of tissue even without magic. But me? I was only human. The servos in my armor could probably break them if I strained for a while.

  He inclined his head. “Of course, but I would ask you not to leave this room until you are released. Can we bring you anything to drink or eat while I contact the princess?”

  I shook my head as he looked up to the ceiling, “Mother? Release.”

  With a click, the cuffs fell off my wrists and onto the table as Mother said in her mechanical tones, “Magic dampening cuffs released.” The man was afraid to step up to me to collect them, smart if I had actually been Mab.

  I sighed as I heard myself saying, “Delightful, now run along before I get bored.”

  The commander stepped out and I heard the same type of titanium mesh alloy locks engage that were used in blast doors. They'd hold against anyone except a Greater Fae. I witnessed Rory blow a hangar bay blast door out of its frame when she and the others came to rescue me from Lord Sindri.

  I sat there, staring at the plastic ceramic window that was currently mirrored on this side, the observation room on the other side. It was so disconcerting to see Mab sitting where I was, moving when I did. My armor, which I could feel myself wearing, looked like her robes in the reflection. She truly was an impossibly beautiful woman and that was the weirdest thing about this damn spell.

  As convincing as it was, it didn't carry that... power... that you could feel when looking at her. So I was amazed it was actually fooling anyone. Then again, not everyone could feel magic like me. I tried to activate my armor's systems but they remained powered down, like the magic was severing the connection between it and Mother.

  Mother... “Hey, Mother?” I couldn't say what I wanted to I tested the limits of the gaes on me, the best I could say was, “Tell me a story?” Nothing, “Come on, you heard horse-butt say I wasn't under arrest. You're allowed to speak to me now, so your silent treatment is a little immature don't you think?”

  There was an uncharacteristic pause like she was thinking bout what I had said. But she could make thirty-three googolplex calculations per millisecond, so it was more of her personality than actual contemplation.

  I prompted, “Tell me about the first day of Exodus, the day you started the journey to Eridani Prime.”

  Another pause, then in her tinny tone, “I cannot find fault in your reasoning. I did record the conversation and Commander Reise had indicted you were not under arrest. What did you do with Lieutenant Shade? She is my... she is a friend of the people of the Leviathan.”

  I fought with the gaes and was able to at least say, “I promise that I did her no harm.”

  She paused one last time then started the tale of Exodus, inserting detailed time logs of initiating each system. I stopped her. “No, I don't want to hear the technical aspects of it. You are the most advanced artificial intelligence ever created, and you are capable of personal observations. We've some time to kill here, and we've never really just talked about this. I'd like to know what it was like.”

  She sounded confused for a moment. “You were there on the observation deck during Exodus too...” Then she caught herself and affected her artificial
voice again. “It is something that goes through the unused processes in my systems frequently. I was built to be the salvation of the people of Earth. I... felt strong, big... but my morality routines keep going over the fact that as big, and strong, and voluminous as I was, we were leaving the bulk of the population of the planet behind to their own fate.”

  “I felt... suddenly impossibly small as I engaged the main drives to get us underway, leaving them all behind.”

  The last part she emoted, distracted by a memory that sounded full of shame and self-recrimination.

  I offered, “What you did, what you do, is incredible. You're preserving that world that was left behind, inside of you. You should take pride in that.”

  Her voice was mechanical again as she said softly, “I do not wish to discuss the topic anymore. I'm running ship-wide diagnostics so I cannot spare the processing power.”

  Liar... this conversation was a simple memory retrieval and no computational power was used, and she could run diagnostics while juggling maintenance drones if she wanted to. The topic made her... sad.

  Nodding, I consoled her, “I understand.” And I did. She was full of guilt, not being... enough... to save everyone. When that was her whole purpose, why she existed, to save the people of Earth.

  I understood her even more now. And it seems that her self awareness occurred long before I believed it had. She was using personal pronouns with her memories. She's been scared of revealing herself for five thousand years now? Didn't she get... lonely?

  We sat in silence for another twenty minutes before the door opened again. It was Aurora! I blurted, “Rory, thank the gods.” This made her hesitate. She furrowed her brows. “Mother?”

  Then she closed the door on Keller and Reise who tried to follow her into the room. With a wave of her hand, the observational window became encased in ice. “What games are you playing now? Why ask for me instead of Zinathi? You understand what you are suspected of, do you not?”

  I wound up replying, “The insolent shall pay for deigning to make any accusations. Mark my words, daughter.”

  I moved up to her. Wanting to tell her everything but I couldn't. I reached out to grab her hands. She let go and stepped back. “What have you done with Knith? You know she is special to me, and I saw you being detained at the cafe.”

  In frustration, I blurted, “I'm not Mab, I'm Mab! No Mab! Fuck me sideways and space me naked.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “That's what Knith...” She took my hands again and her eyes narrowed farther. “I feel your magic, but it is a pale shadow...”

  She looked to be putting things together as she asked with suspicion, “What was the first magic you taught me when I was little?”

  My mouth opened but nothing came out. Again a shortcoming of Mab's magic. I couldn't answer things I didn't know the answer to. “I don't know.”

  “Show me your magic.” Now she was smirking almost playfully.

  I wiggled my fingers and said sarcastically, “Oggity boogity.” Yup, that was about the extent of my magic.

  She asked carefully, “Knith?” And with that, the gaes broke... so if someone figured it out on their own, then I wasn't constrained to act like Mab in front of them?

  I nodded. “Oh thank the gods! Yes. I couldn't tell anyone who I was, and I kept acting like the Winter Lady. It was freaky as hells.”

  I went to kiss her but she put a restraining finger over my lips as she said, “Eww! You still look like my mom. Eww! Now I'm going to need an extra session in therapy.” Fae went to therapy?

  Mother asked, “Knith? But my sensors identify that form as Queen Mab.”

  I told her, glad Aurora had exposed the ruse to Mother. Now maybe I could get the hells out of here and find out what was really going on on the world.

  I blurted out the whole thing, and how Mab decided to take things into her own hands to find the guilty party. We didn't need vigilantes, especially terrifyingly powerful vigilantes out there trying to do my job.

  Then I said, “Ok, get me out of here, and I can get on the case.”

  She hesitated then said, “Not just yet. Let me see if I can't find my mother and convince her to come in first. If the Brigade goes after her, she may do something irredeemable.”

  “What? No, you can't...”

  She leaned in to peck my lips but paused just short of me and said, “Eww.” Then she stepped back out and I heard the locks cycle. “Mother fairy humper! She just left me here!”

  I was disappointed and frustrated and needed to be out there, doing something, anything... I looked up to the cameras and said in resignation, “Play me something to calm my nerves, Mother?”

  “I've just the thing for this occasion.”

  Just the thing for this... She's Got the Look by a group named Roxette started blasting in the room. I swear I heard Mother chuckling as I muttered to her, “Smartass!”

  Chapter 6 – Short Skirt Long Jacket

  A couple of hours after she left, instructing the Brigade not to try questioning me until she returned, Reise came in with a plate of food fit for... well, fit for a queen. It wasn't the usual generic protein paste that was shaped like food which we normally served to detainees.

  “Mind if I join you for lunch, majesty? We've been... dissuaded from any questioning until your daughter returns with, how did she put it? Enough legal weight to bring half of the Leviathan to its knees.”

  A smile ticked at my lips. If my... well, my girlfriend, hadn't abandoned me here, I'd have thought it humorous, and just like one would expect of a Greater Fae. She must have wondered what her mother would have said in that instance and just channeled that, because Rory... well she isn't quite like any other Fae I've met.

  I was ravenous, not having had breakfast before this whole cluster fuck began. There was a pitcher of water and two plastic cups, gourmet sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables, but nothing which would take utensils to eat. Like Queen Mab would stoop to using a fork to tear out his spine. It was so absurd I almost chuckled... the Mab persona chuckled anyway. “Heavens forbid I take out your eyes with a butter knife, Commander.”

  He chuckled nervously and we both reached for the sandwiches, my hand landed on the one heavily laden with roast beef and cheese just before he reached it. He looked at me oddly as I took a big bite and moaned in pleasure at the mouth-watering creation. Then he reached for the one that looked to be all vegetables.

  After he looked at it like it might bite him and taking an experimental nibble, he asked in a distracted tone, “I thought the Greater Fae didn't eat meat.”

  Mab Me's response was, “We do not. We've long since abandoned our hunting and preying on lesser animals to sustain us. Enlightenment the lesser Fae and lesser races do not share.” I kept wolfing down the sandwich then froze after pouring a cup of water to wash down the huge bites.

  I looked at the sandwich as I thought about what I was doing. It seemed that I was slipping up more and more as my body rejected the magics forced upon it. I grinned hugely as I attacked the sandwich. The commander was silent as he just watched me devour it until I started licking my fingers.

  Sighing, Mab Me cocked our eyebrow and asked, almost in a dare, “Is there a reason you're staring at me, Commander?”

  “No. No not at all, I apologize.” He took another bite of the veggie sandwich and chewed mechanically as he gave a fake smile. “Mmm.”

  “Stop sucking up, Commander, I've seen you put away three sirloins in your office without a bit of green on your plate.”

  He blinked and my eyes widened a little. That was almost pure me. At this rate maybe I could shake the gaes by dinner. Now if only this stupid glamour would drop, I'd be back in business.

  The man asked as he looked around, “You... you've seen me eat in my office?”

  I waved off his question. He picked at the cornbread I had started to eyeball, then stood and said, “If you'll excuse me, they're pinging my coms.

  The
moment the door shut, Titania said to me from where she sat in the chair he had just abandoned, plucking some grapes from the platter to eat, “Mab, darling, really now. Why did you release our baby to run amuck? This is beneath you. I never thought you'd go this far.” I noted that the mirrored window had become a solid wall of alloyed ceramic upon her entry.

  My mouth worked as I watched her pop another grape into her mouth, catching it with her teeth then almost seductively biting it. She sighed. “I had to check on Flame to be sure you didn't do anything else rash.”

  I just looked at her, the Gaes wasn't helping me with anything intelligent to say. Then she seemed to deflate. “Why don't you just join me, love? It could be how it was before all the disagreements, before that... man. We were great together, and with a new world approaching, we could rule as one again.” She was almost purring and I swallowed, realizing she was trying to seduce Mab. If I thought those lidded eyes and seductive smile were for me, I'd be helpless against it.

  Wait. Was she implying that they had been lovers? Before whatever came between them and cause the original animosity? Which turned into a wicked and violent war after Oberon took Titania as a lover. That is what had split fairy into the Seelie and Unseelie? The Winter and Summer Courts.

  The rest I knew. Oberon had offered to wed Mab to stop the war between the two courts, thinking to moderate Mab's wrath. It worked enough to stop the war, but the duplicity inherent in the Winter Court caused King Oberon to stray, to return to Titania's bed again, begetting a son... Lord Sindri. This precluded peace between the two courts forever. The Fae will never again be one people.

  Oberon had had enough of both women and their inability to meet halfway, so he took the Wild Hunt on one last ride, and cast what is still considered the most powerful Gaes on the Greater Fae of both courts before he disappeared forever. It was his casting, which was rumored to have killed him, that made it so that no Greater Fae could lie. They were completely incapable of it now, causing the unfortunate result of them using the truth like a weapon to deceive in even more nefarious ways.