It was perfect. Everything was in its place. There was a weight to the trees this deep into the forest. So few of the ancient trees remained that finding this junction of ash, oak, and thorn was almost too good to be true. He scattered rose petals across the altar, gently dropping them between the candles, the honeyed milk, and his mother’s pearl necklace. He sighed softly when he looked at it, unsure if he should really be doing this. He looked up through the canopy of turning fall leaves into the darkening sky above him. The moon would rise full in half an hour. He had no room for regrets or hesitation.

Picking up the matches, he lit the candles in the order he had memorized, chanting the words he had read over and over until he could speak them without a single mistake. Finally, a soft glow overtook the altar and lit up a small patch of the forest surrounding him, the candlelight casting eerie shadows in the branches of the trees. He reached for the book, noticing his hands were shaking slightly. He swallowed hard and gathered the book, turning to the correct page. He had practiced several times, from the safety of home, and knew it would take awhile to get through all eight pages of the verse, assuming he didn’t falter. He pushed his fear of failure to the back of his mind and began.

After what seemed like an eternity of chanting and reading, he looked up to see the moon had just cleared the horizon. He cleared his throat, realizing it was now or never. A chill went through his body as he spoke her name.

The candles in the alter flickered as a sudden wind washed over the clearing, dimming the light, then extinguishing it completely. The wind seemed to gust harder, knocking him backwards off his feet. The wind swirled suddenly, gathering a small collection of dry leaves at its base. It found the center of the circle and he backed away, just far enough to let the wind whip and still stay within the toadstool circle he had found at the base of the trees.

The whirlwind drew air into the small clearing, calling the fallen leaves to it. Lifting them higher and higher before a blue light began to radiate from its top, level with where his head would be if he had still been standing. The wind began to spin the leaves faster and faster until they seemed to blur, making it almost impossible for him to focus on just one. Each leaf was a black blur around the growing blue light.

The light stretched slowly downward, growing in intensity as it lengthened. He felt what little warmth had been in the autumn air get sucked from it. He shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself and sat watching the paranormal lightshow before him.

As the ball of light touched the ground, it exploded into a thousand shards of twinkling sparks shooting outward in every direction. He covered his eyes and face with his forearm, waiting for some indication of pain. When none came, he blinked twice, noticing that the light was gone. He looked up to see the toadstools were glowing with a pale yellow light. Illuminated in the soft light his eyes found her standing in the center of the clearing. She was not happy and her glare froze him in place.

“What have you done?” Her voice was low, heated with anger as her black eyes stared unblinking at him, no indication of movement from her once she stopped speaking. The clearing was eerily quiet, with no indication of wind.

His eyes moved from her feet upwards, following the curve of her legs under the layers of sheer, flowing material that formed a skirt. It began as red, fading to a light grey, then darkening to black at her waist. Her top was covered by a black corset, shining with the reflected lights of the toadstools. She wore nothing apparent below it, but sleeve of black sheer fabric billowed from her biceps. Her hair was a deep red, almost brown, crowned with a ring of black flowers that seemed in full bloom. Her face help sharp angles and features as she finally blinked once, lowering her head to look over him again.

“What have you done?” There was rage in her words, but her features remained calm, almost emotionless.

“I…I…” He fought for words under the intensity of her gaze, his voice just a whisper. “I summoned you.”

She threw her head back and laughed. The sound seemed to echo around the forest, being picked up by birds of the night and carried into the distance. She looked back at him, humor in her eyes as she shook her head once. “No, you did not.” There was no argument to her words, just fact.

He realized he had been clutching the book to his chest and he held it out for her to see. “But, I did.” He opened the book, turning to the pages he had read over and over. “It’s all here. The candles, the honeyed milk, the words to use.” He held the book up to her again, open to the pages he had just read from.

She snatched it from him, holding it closer to her as she looked from it, to the altar behind her, to the man still lying on the ground. She clenched her jaw as the realization hit her. “Puck.” She said the word with venom and fury. Her features hardened, anger creating harsher angles and lines. She snapped the book closed and turned to look fully at the altar, picking up one of the rose petals and rubbing it through her fingers. “Oh, you little bastard.” She spoke to no one within hearing distance.

“I…I’m sorry.” He said as he slowly rose, brushing the leaves from his clothing as he turned to look at her. She stood almost a foot taller than he, approaching nearly seven feet as she whirled around, as if suddenly remembering him.

Her voice was gravel as she hissed through clenched teeth. “No, but you will be.” She moved like a flash of lightning and grabbed the collar of his shirt. The world morphed into flashes of blue and black. Everything swam and distorted in his vision. Everything was blurred and seemed to warp around them as they moved. He felt sick to his stomach and closed his eyes, which made the dizzying sensation that much worse. He was about to open his eyes again when he felt everything come to a sudden, abrupt stop. He felt himself land roughly on hard ground as he heard her feet touch the same ground a few steps away.

When he finally opened his eyes, he was blinded by the intensity of white light around him. It didn’t seem to come from a specific location, but just glowed from everywhere and nowhere. He looked to her as she unwrapped a black velvet cloak from around her. He hadn’t remembered her having one. Gasps echoed around the room and he noticed they were not alone.

A crowd of men and women were dispersed through the room, some in small groups that looked as though they were interrupted from private conversations. Two thrones sat at the head of the room, each occupied by two of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. The woman rose, approaching them with her hands outstretched and her face lighting up in a smile. “Sister, it is so good to see you.”

The woman beside him froze, her eyes narrowing as if the bright light was hurting her vision. She squinted at the woman approaching and only nodded, with a slight bow. “Sister.” It was the first time he had remembered her voice not booming with strength.

The woman approaching seemed dressed in all whites and gold. She was covered in sheer layers of material that billowed as she moved, her bodice was pure white, and her light blonde hair was crowned with golden flowers forming a circlet. He had to squint to look directly at her, as white radiance seemed to emanate from her.

The woman in white lowered her arms with an almost dejected look. “What brings you to our court, sister? Your kind do not regain the reign until the fall equinox.”

“I realize that, sister. I also realize that the fall equinox is not for three more days.” The woman in black shot back. “But I have come to speak to one of your kind.” Her voice was regaining its strength, regaining the anger he had heard earlier. “Where is Puck?” She almost spat the words, dropping the book to the ground and letting it slide the few feet that separated her from the woman in gold.

The woman looked down at the book, her face taking on a regal, almost bored look. “I’m afraid I do not know.”

“Try again.” The woman in black shot back. “This…” She pointed to the man still on the floor, trying his best to be ignored. “This summoned me with the aid of that.” She pointed to the book at her sister’s feet.

The golden woman looked back down at the book and recognition struck her features. “That…” She cut the words off before the rest of the court could hear them. She turned back to the man still sitting on the throne. “Find Puck.” And with a snap of her fingers, the book, the woman in black, and the man were all flashed to her private quarters.

The woman in gold picked the book up from the floor and dropped it to a nearby table. “How did a mortal summon you? How did Puck get this into their realm?” There was no question of innocence; he was the only member of her court that would risk something so absurd, something so…stupid. She sighed and looked back to the human and her sister. “What of him?”

The woman in black flinched. “If my court were in session, I would have killed him the instant he summoned me.” She looked down to the human with disgust. “As your court is currently in session, I will leave his fate in your hands.”

The woman in gold bent at the knees, leaning down to look at the man and poking his shoulder with one finger. “I…I always thought humans could walk. Why does he just lie there?”

Not your typical court, granted, but I think the seelie and unseelie are far more entertaining than human royalty. Message me and see if we can mesh out where the story goes from here.