Sleep did not elude the Fae....she was swept into that sweet embrace of slumber. Exhausted with recent events even though slowly she was beginning to relax. Her past Yuletide experiences had not been so pleasant.

How many Yules did she spend at the hands of the Executioner, locked within the dungeon. She would never scream out for mercy...but oh how she screamed. Would scream till her throat was a ragged, torn mess that was a mimicry of the welts, bruises, and cuts that decorated her flesh from her recent punishment. The Queen always had a pleasant excuse for punishing the Flame. Perhaps it was for the fact the Sithean seemed more willing to answer Rummington then the Queen herself....or it was the idea that she burned too brightly within the Queen's chambers when the glamour was dropped.

In the Dark Courts the fleeting glances of Quaid...the draw to him....that beckoning call of a life mate to her consort as perfect match was so easily destroyed. Snuffed out as a flame within the swallowing darkness of the Queen's torments.

Her spirit never broke and for that, Rummington suffered. Now within the confines of her shared bed chambers she dreamed. Her dreams had drawn her from the protective shield of Quaid's arms as in her dream world she was back within the Dark Courts.

Bare feet touched marble as she moved silently, tri-colored eyes smoldering as they danced over the festive decorations of the UnSeelie court preparing for Yule. The Courts were strangely silent. She remembered a promise made that she would return when they were safe....which would mean one thing.

Fingers brushed her stomach, caressing the red silk of the courtly dress the Queen had always dressed her in. There was no additional spark there that the Flame felt....for the bond of a Sidhe with their child was a bond and awareness from the start.

Worry creased her features when there was no such answer to her mental outreach to the child. She could only assume she would be with child if she was back within the courts....but within....she was a barren hollow.

Terror licked at her eyes as she began to run, screaming out the name of her friend as she ran to her chambers. Blaire's door was slammed open and her breath was nearly punched out of her as she doubled over at the sight before her. "Goddess, no..." In the dream she trembled at the images before her. Her childhood friend was a brutal mess....destroyed in only one of the very few ways that could truly end the life of a Sidhe.

The bloody scene was a brutal slaughter. Rummy backed out of the room, covering her mouth with her hand to swallow the scream threatening. She ran once more as the Flame of her powers sparked within her. A dangerous wildfire that left her burning more so then glowing.

The chambers of the crown room were unearthly quiet. She slowed to a walk, stalking as fingers clenched...dug pain into her flesh to awaken that hand of power so rarely used...Fire was to her beck and call....but the Hand of Blood bore the price of pain.

She did not wait to knock or the notion of a Raven to escort her to the Queen. The Flame within Shadows cast enough glow of fury and hatred with the death of the Queen in her eyes that the entire room was as visible as daylight warming the Queen's chambers.

Perhaps it was not with this Light that Rummington wished to see. The Queen as ever was so insanely calm. Serene as she looked over to the Flame within Shadows with a knowing smile. The Queen was upon her bed, bare skinned and joined with a Raven.

Even with company the Queen did not have the courtesy to stop or pause in her actions. She after all treated her men like Stallions.

Shadows played a glow in the Queen's chambers that quickly devoured the glow of the Flame's fury. Sickness twisted within the belly of the redheaded Fae as she wrapped her arms around her waist. Sudden to feel so alone and hollow. That wild despair captured her eyes as the Queen made one subtle motion, leaving strong hands ensnaring her arms in an unbreakable grasp.

She fought against them for she would not plead. "No..."

The cry from the Queen was a twisting sound of corrupted enjoyment as the woman had enough respect to remove herself from her bed and Raven to pace toward the Flame.

Defiant her chin raised, waiting for the blow that she expected. Waiting for the command to face the Executioner for another Yule punishment but such did not happen. The Queen just stood there....victorious. Satisfied and triumphant.

Confusion tortured the depths of her eyes before it quickly ebbed into horror. The Queen's Raven was none other then the Dark Storm himself....the glow of him a defiant one, but a weakening one at that. His body was a bloody ruin...it was only by face and by the source of his power that Rummy knew him.

"I think I shall keep him, my little Flame, he has pleased me well in the challenges I have given him."

And it was just like that the Queen easily broke the Spirit of the Flame. Legs collapsed underneath her as the other Ravens held her securely in their grasp. There was no will to fight. Nothing to fight for now. Tears fell down her golden visage as she was shaking with those silent screams of grief and horror.

The face of the Queen haunted her "Silly Flame....I will always win."

The whisper broke the dream that had quick to become nightmare. Sweat dappled the Fae woke up with a start, fingers curling in her hair as she woke up screaming, those tears an unsoothed force to reckon with. The nightmare left her consumed with grief ...broken spirited the Fae's mind was unwilling to check the truth of Reality against that of the dreamscape the Queen of Air and Darkness had forged for the Flame.

Knees were drawn to chest as she sobbed in the ways that could break the hearts of any that crossed her in such a condition. It was a heart wrenching sound....the Fae had never felt so alone...so hollow. The very vision in that dream of Quaid taken and used in such a way. Her Dark Storm was unbearable for her to face. The loss of him was a tearing within her very soul....a brutal clawing of her heart.

It was just another Yule that the Queen had claimed from her....and the dream had left her so caught to the very core of her being that she couldn't pull from it's grasp....

Wings quivered as his touch comforted her. Broke her from the nightmare. "Quaid." A shaky cry as those sobs broke her voice. She trembled within the Darkness even as the sense of his presence, the touch of his skin against hers reassured her.

Soothed the presence of her mind and those images in her head that still dared to torment her.

She sank into his embrace,wrapping her form against his as flesh touched to flesh. Her body needed to be as close to his as possible.

Her head was buried into his shoulder as she became subdued. "It was so horrible...a ghra."

She eased into shaky silence as he comforted her, tri-colored eyes dancing over all four walls to reassure her this was not just another nightmare.

"If only they would stop....these nightmares....they torture me so..."

Slowly she had relaxed in his companionship. Sighing she leaned against him as he asked her of what her nightmare had made her see.

"I thought we were safe...and that I was with child....but when I touched my body....it felt so empty....hollow, like something had been torn and taken from me."

Brows dipped down. "I went to find Blaire because I thought we were safe....and then I went into her room." A choked sob...."And she was....all over the room. In pieces. It was so horrible."

Hands covered her eyes and pressed there as if the motion would take the vision from her memory.

"I continued to walk in the halls till I was in the throne room....and it was decorated for the Yule celebrations...and the Winter Solstice. The room was empty."

Those eyes went haunted then, near in a catatonic state even as the words still continued.

"I went into her chambers...and she was....taking care of one of her Ravens." The words snarled even as a spark of flame flared in her Hand of Flame.

"Then....she was finished...and it was you....and you were dying. So much blood."

She was shaking again, holding back those sobs.

"There was so much blood...and the Ravens grabbed me...and I was screaming....I thought I had lost you. It was so real...a ghra. I cannot bear the loss of you. It would kill me....the thought just broke my spirit."

She looked at him with such somber eyes. "I love you, a ghra. I would die if I lost you..."

"As I love you, Quaid." The familiar comfort of Gaelic tongue was abandoned for the moment, afraid that the familiar words would summon the dark haunt of the Queen. She curled into his embrace as she sighed softly.

"I have considered bringing Blaire here....but I fear that every attempt to withdraw more and more of her court will only anger her more.

Her tri-colored eyes closed as she smiled softly up to him. "It be almost Yule....it is best to not press the worry of what could be. Better to focus on what is."

A light squeeze of his arms in reassurance. They would survive this as they had so many wars and battles before

She grinned at his words as she looked up at him. "Mm....a blessing? Och I'm sure there would be some to dispute with you on that. Perhaps even the Goddess and Consort themselves."

Truly Rummington was starting to feel more and more like herself the more she stayed in his embrace. Fingers caressed his wrist as she considered the consequences of her life. Surely she was UnSeelie and comfortable with those emotions so related to Flame....passion, desire....the heat of fire was something that smoldered within her very core....but around Quaid she was wild fire.

Since parting ways with the Drow, the Fae had been content with the idea of just being alone taking the world and living to the fullest potential. Keeping her distance from the court, living the life of an Outcast. Then there was the gift of the Sithean....and with it came Quaid.

Captivated from day one, she had been an ignorant fool to not realize that he was her consort. Tri-colored eyes shone as the Forest of Spring. "You give me a reason to remain, Quaid....a reason to live."

A soft whisper as fingers touched to his jaw then a tense of shoulders, with his claim as giving himself as her Raven. She expected for the world to come into destruction with that statement....to infuriate the Queen. But she found it did not matter.

Hand left his wrist as her hands went to his neck, curled into his hair. "And I am your Flame." Lips found his in that smoldering promise. Words held power and these ones would bind....and perhaps change the entire world as they knew it