“The deed is done my queen.” A diminutive man knelt before a throne upon which a fiercely beautiful woman was lounging. No other word could properly describe the way she had her legs lazily draped over the side of the chair, or the casual nonchalance that played across her features. She looked down at the man with a bored expression.

“Please, do try and refrain from such melodramatic clichés. I have heard them a million times before, and they no longer hold any sort of thrill. So, next time, say something a little more creative.” Her face was warmed by a more thoughtful look. “I do believe that next time you bring me news, I would like it to be in the form of poetry. The rhyming type. Yes, I am sure that would garner me a moment of amusement.” She stared at the little man expectantly for a moment, as he studied the ground to hide his confusion. Dysark had served the queen for many hundreds of years, and would have thought she could no longer say anything to surprise him, but somehow she always managed.

“I… I will make sure to do so next time my lady. However, this news is rather pressing?” Dysark looked up, hoping that she would let him make his report in the normal manner. A fairly intelligent sort, he could no doubt make the news into some sort of rhyme, but it would waste valuable time, and it was hard enough to get the queen to take things seriously even when they were delivered in the most cut and dry manner possible. Dysark loved his queen, and was endlessly patient through her flights of fancy, but his news involved the safety of that self same queen, and he desperately needed her to hear it and react in a somewhat sensible manner.

Her face rearranged itself into a mask of petulance. “Oh FINE Dysark. Be boring if you are so inclined. You may proceed to regale me with whatever boring facts you have returned from your task bearing.” The queen proceeded to slide off the throne and on to the ground, her white hair swirling about her like waves of pearl. She immediately began trying to do a hand stand, her delicate dress falling away, revealing her flawless legs in their entirety. It was impossible to not notice that the queen had failed to wear any stockings that day.

Dysark sighed, gathering his patience in like armor against the queen’s inability to pay attention to anything that didn’t amuse her. He didn’t flinch at the expanse of unmarked, almost translucent, flesh that the queen was actively waving through the air. She was perfectly gorgeous, but he had been with her for many a year, and such undeniable beauty mixed with power and immortality had made her deliciously immodest. He had seen much worse.

Staring straight ahead, consequently also staring at the queen’s wiggling toes, he clasped his arms behind his back and launched into his report. “I travelled into the mortal kingdom of your selection, and have set the plans into play.”

At this start, the queen abruptly ended her head stand and was sitting upright on her throne with a serious expression before Dysark could notice she had moved at all. Her girlish visage suddenly took on the weight of the immeasurable time she had spent ruling the creatures of the Summer Court. The laughter faded from her eyes, to quickly be replaced with the wisdom her great age granted her. It should have looked strange on someone who appeared so young, but it somehow only served to make her more beautiful. Dysark smiled as he watched the transformation, knowing that THIS was the side of the queen that the situation required.

“The mortal in charge has a very strong will,” Dysark continued, “but I think I laid enough influence on him that he will be forced to succumb. I am sure that Winter has also picked their mortal nation, and the war shall certainly commence.” The queen uttered a sigh that rivaled Dysark’s, and rested her finely sculpted face into her hands. Dysark furrowed his brow before asking, “Is this not happy news? Did I not succeed?”

The queen smiled a sad sort of smile before answering. “Dysark, I do hate war. The mortals are in abundant supply, and they reproduce so very quickly, but I dislike the waste of lives.”