I nodded and went through the door, nodding at Glitch to follow, leaving my knight to turn and face the trailing crowd. I heard the rasp of his ice-blade as it was unsheathed, and the shouts of the mob in the courtyard. Footsteps scuffled over the ground, no doubt Winter fey scrambling to attack…or flee. I felt an icy burst of glamour, probably from Ash, and another yell of utter shock.

“What are you?” something howled, and then there was a crash, and the sound of shattered icicles tinkling to the ground. Laughter rang out, Ash’s laughter, jubilant and defiant, making me pause.

What are you?

A good question. One that I’d asked myself on more then one occasion. Physically, Ash was no different than before; lean and graceful, with the same command of Winter magic and sword skills that made him such a lethal warrior. He was still fierce, loyal, protective and could level an icy glare that could make your insides freeze. In that regard, he hadn’t changed.

And yet, sometimes, he was so different. It would be insane to ever think of Ash as soft, but the frozen shell that had always surrounded the Winter prince was gone. He was…kinder now, able to empathize in ways he couldn’t as a pure Unseelie. There were times when he seemed so human in little, subtle ways I’d never noticed before, that I’d forget he had ever belonged to the Winter Court.

It made me wonder. Was Ash human like me, a mortal with faery glamour and magic left over from his life as a Winter prince? Or was he still fey? A faery…with a human soul?

I didn’t know. And really, I didn’t care. Ash was Ash. You couldn’t put a descriptor on him; there was no one who had done what he had, no other like him in the entire realm of Faery. He was…unique.

Another yell echoed through the door. I continued down the hall with Glitch and the knights as the clamor of battle rang out behind me, followed by howls of pain and dismay. And I smiled to myself. Whatever Ash was, he was the best at what he did. It wouldn’t take him long.

* * *

This year’s Elysium was held in Queen Mab’s ballroom, and the place was already filled with fey. I left Glitch and the knights in the hall just outside the entrance, and an Unseelie herald announced my arrival in clear, high tones: “Her majesty Meghan Chase, monarch of Mag Tuiredh, sovereign of the Iron territories and Queen of the Iron Fey.”

He paused, as if expecting to announce Ash as well, but of course Ash was not with me at the moment. After a heartbeat, the herald nodded, and I stepped into the room, to the stares of dozens of fey.