Midwinter

Once, at the dawn of memory, the two great Faerie kingdoms were one: a massive empire that stretched from the Northern Islands to the desert wastes of the south, from the Eastern Sea to the mountains in the West where the great dragons ruled from their rocky keeps. The emperor Uvenchaud united the wild Fae clans under his iron rule, ushering in the Rauane Envedun-e, the Age of Purest Silver. It was during the Rauane that the Fae philosopher Alpaurle wrote his Magus, the first book of magic. It was during the Rauane that the Great Reshaping took place, when the mountains spoke and the sky rained wine and the flowers sang odes of tender longing to the morning sun. And it was during the Rauane that the Stone Queen, Regina Titania, was born, and it was she that brought that thousand-year reign of peace to an end.

Now Titania was the daughter of a simple farmer from the high country, in a small town called Nyera. Beautiful and poised, wise beyond her years, she brought suitors from all over the Faerie lands to bid for her hand, and she would have none of them.

"I will take the hand," she said, "of the one who will give the very land to me, and no less." At this, her many suitors flushed and scoffed, rolling their eyes. But one man did not. His name was Auberon, and he was a son of the great god, Aba. Aba had many sons and all were forbidden to interfere in the affairs of mortals, but Auberon was smitten with Titania from his first glance. He vowed upon hearing her proclamation that he would present the Faerie land itself to her as a wedding gift.

Auberon went to his father's great palace in the sky; far, far above the land and he knelt, saying, "Great father, all things and all lands are yours, and many are your strengths. I wish but one small land in all the many worlds at your feet. Give it to me and I will ask nothing further for all my days."

Aba, the wise one, looked his son in the eye and a great sadness filled him. "You are my son," he said, "and for that I will always love you, but what you ask, I cannot give."

Auberon stood his ground. "I know, father, that you think me immature and unworthy, but whatever you ask in return, I will give you."

Aba did not turn. "My son, if I give you what you ask, a mighty kingdom will fall, and another will spring up in its place that will cease to know me. They will toil for a thousand years times a thousand under the rule of a usurper, and her rule will be hard, indeed."

Auberon said, "I will bear their wrath."

"Your love is that strong?" said Aba.

"It is, my lord."

"Then take the land, but know that you will be a plague to my people and they will curse your name through the centuries, and you will be known as their Adversary, even though they forget the name of him who fathered you."

"So be it," said Auberon.

"And so it is," said Aba, and his face became dark.

Auberon returned to the land from the castle of his father and found that he could now hear the voice of each sparrow, that in his fingers rippled the tides and winds, and that his feet were rooted deep within the earth. These things he laid at the feet of the fair Titania and she accepted him, saying, "All this time I have waited for the one who would bring the land and lay it at my feet, and now I find the son of Aba has done this thing. I will marry you."

They were married in the Seelie Grove under the full moon, and when the vows were spoken and the wreath tied, Titania took the power of the land and wrested it from her husband, saying, "Auberon, you were unwise to grant me such power, for now your father's people will curse your name and call you Adversary. And you will be my slave down through the ages, for I will not suffer fools gladly." And when she spoke, Auberon was struck blind and dumb, and a veil fell over his eyes. Titania then caused the Great Seelie Keep to be erected, ordering the stones themselves to bend to her will, and she led Auberon to the throne room, which is like a cavern, and placed him upon the first throne and herself upon the other.

When Aba's people heard the news, some of them said, "Aba is our father and would not lead us astray. Let us stay within this land and toil for the Arcadia our father has promised us if we remain." And they stayed.

But some of the others said, "Look, over there to the north, there is a land that does not bow to the will of the Usurper and the Adversary. Let us go there and make for ourselves a home." And they left. And when they reached their new home, they passed out of the Stone Queen's influence and were free of her. But when Aba saw what they had done, he became angry and said, "Look how little faith my people have in me! I will lay a curse upon those that have gone, that the ground will not remain still beneath their feet, and they will not be able to raise up stones to shelter themselves."