Every race, every realm, every world, has its share of politics and infighting. The lands where the Fae hold court are no exception, and are at times perhaps far worse than the Outer Worlds, for their wars can sway the course of all the worlds, magic spilling out into the mundane, the very borders that separate the dreaming lands from the lands where humans walk thinning, fragile, and...

...if you know where to find the gateways, the weak spots...

...crossable.

There has been a change in the Queen's Court, Mab Herself disposed, replaced by a Lord who, as have the Lords and Ladies who came before him, before Mab, took on the title of Queen when he assumed the throne. Mab was sent into a comfortable, if unwanted, exile, her favorites at court chased away or placed in lesser positions, her elfblood lover banished... and that last with good cause as the anger which was at the heart of her lover's magics was swiftly being turned toward the new Queen. It was a bloodless revolution and the worst effects of it were not felt within the Court itself, but in the Outer Worlds.

Mab's daughter, older now, adapting slowly to the sights she's seen since she was old enough to see at all, for the first time can feel a new urgency as she passes through the borderlands. Something new, some drawing force, leaving her impatient, unsatisfied. Wandering, she settles finally against a tumbledown house, trying her best to ignore the glimpses of an elegant, light-filled ballroom within, unable to keep from breathing a bit easier, her heart a bit lighter, as she rests here close to the world she wishes she could call home. Her thoughts are tangled, mind wandering as relentlessly as her feet did moments earlier.

Her hand, tucked within a pocket, is wrapped tight around a small wax-sealed bottle.

- - - - - -

*nearly bouncing off the walls* Hehehe... I knew this was going somewhere, I knew it wasn't just one picture and done, I KNEW there was going to be more to this... I hadn't realized how much more, though! Three hints dropped, surely someone will realize where this is going...

...and be able to guess the name of Mab's Daughter...

*poingpoingpoing* Yes, I'm excited about this. I'd thought that particular project was going to just remain unfinished for gods-know-how-long, but no, no, apparently it is reappearing. Can I just again say YAY for random stock and the inspiration it can bring?

Stock credits: Mab's Daughter is a nifty lass who let me take a few pictures of her yesterday, the sparkly bits are as always from ~rL-Brushes, and other stock is courtesy of ~black-heaven-stock, ~Tracie76Stock, and ~poison-stock112. Story fragment (and the tale it apparently fits into) are m'own invention, though I think technically Mab is someone else's fault Way Back When. I really should do some research. >.>