None of them saw it coming.
At first, it seemed like a minor skirmish—a heated exchange between a Winter Court Faerie and a Summer Court Faerie, just another instance of the age-old rivalry that had always simmered beneath the surface.
It began shortly after Aldric encased Prince Valerie in ice, priming him for the kill. The Winter Court Fae, emboldened by Aldric’s victory, taunted his Summer counterpart, his voice dripping with condescension.
"Behold the power of the Winter Court! Your precious Summer Prince is useless! A weakling who was never fit to rule." the Winter Fae sneered, his eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction as he gestured to the frozen Valerie.
Pissed off, the Summer Court Faerie snarled back, "Hold your tongue, you frost-face bastard. What gives you the right to rejoice in Prince Aldric’s victory when he isn’t even fully Winter Faerie? He’s nothing but a dark Fae scum, crawling from the depths of hell."
The insult was a dagger aimed at Aldric’s lineage, a sore point for many in the Winter Court.
But the Winter Fae only laughed, leaning in closer. "Better a dark Fae than your pathetic prince, who gets his dick sucked by that human girl. To think he started this fight for her and lost in the end."
The insult cut deep. The Summer Court Faerie, already seething, could handle many slights against Valerie, but not this. Not an accusation that their crown prince was frolicking with humans.
To the Summer Fae, humans were weak, inferior, barely tolerated in Astaria. They were seen as servants, as tools. For Valerie, their proud, reverend and powerful prince, to be reduced to a plaything for a human was unthinkable.
"You take that back," the Summer Faerie hissed. His body shook with fury, and for a second, it seemed like he might restrain himself.
But the Winter Faerie chuckled darkly. "Why? Are you jealous? That a human girl can make your prince’s dick get hard so easily?"
The Summer Fae snapped.
Without a second thought, he swung his fist at the Winter Fae, landing a solid punch across his jaw.
And that single act of violence was the spark that ignited a powder keg.
All hell broke loose.
It spread like wildfire, the fight erupting in a matter of seconds. Other faeries, both Spring and autumn, who had been on edge from the tense battle below, now found themselves drawn into the chaos.
A single insult had turned into a brawl, and then the brawl spread like a disease, infecting multiple areas of the arena. Summer Faeries threw themselves at Winter Faeries, and vice versa, each side blaming the other, fueled by centuries of hatred.
Blades were drawn, magic crackled in the air, and within moments, the once orderly arena had devolved into chaos. The spectators who had come to witness the death duel were now part of a much larger, much bloodier spectacle. Fae on both sides were pushed into the fray, their powers flashing across the arena, creating a deadly display of elemental forces.
Meanwhile, Aldric, still in the arena, was preparing to end Valerie’s life. He deliberately moved slowly, savoring the moment as he grasped his weapon. He knew Queen Maeve was watching, counting down the seconds to the moment he would take her son’s head. Valerie, encased in ice, was burnt out and powerless, unable to summon the inner heat that had once made him formidable. Without it, he was already beginning to die, his breath slowing as the ice seeped deeper into his veins.
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