A Decade of Decline

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. Raindrops leapt from puddles and took to the sky. In the hills, snowflakes drifted upward to rejoin the clouds, and avalanches climbed to the mountain peaks. On the coast, the sea un-lapped the sand, crested backward, and waved goodbye.

The King wasted no time. He called his knights to him in the very hour the Queen vanished.

"She must be found," the King declared. "Our realm unravels as we speak. If she is not found soon, I fear the worst."

Fox, the court jester, danced in and among them, his little white dog yapping in tow. He sniffed a white peony as he went. "And where will you look for her, my King? The Queen has vanished without a trace."

"I will look to the sea," said Sir Hope, their armor a resplendent blue.

Fox giggled. "You shall find naught but sand and shells."

"I will look to the hills," said Sir Valor, their armor ruby red.

Fox cartwheeled. "You shall find naught but grass and stone."

"Where would you have us look, Fox?" the King demanded.

"A riddle indeed, my King. How do you find what cannot be found beneath wave and rock and sky?"

"Do you know the answer? If so, speak plainly. My patience runs thin."

"As you wish." Fox transformed before their eyes. His hair flowed into an auburn mane. His ears grew long and pointed. His garb became elegant beyond compare, and his cap of bells sprouted into a crown of amber and gold. The small white dog that trailed at Fox's heels grew into an antlered white wolf nearly the size of a horse.

"An Archfey," the King gasped. "'Tis the King of the Autumn Court."

The Kings of the Realm drew their steel.

"Sheath your weapons!" the King stood and shouted. "Your steel is of no use here. Cold iron is needed to strike down such a foe."

"A wise King, indeed." The King of Autumn winked. "May it serve you well in the trails to come."

"Did you steal our Queen from us, Archfey?"

"Steal your Queen? I wouldn't dream of it."

"Does it speak the truth?" said Sir Justice, her war maul still drawn and ready. Her armor gleamed black and specked with light like the night sky.

"I cannot lie to mortals," King Autumn shrugged. "My tongue is bound against such trickery."

"That does not mean you speak the truth," said Sir Justice venomously.

"Aha! Clever girl."

"Stand down, Sir Justice," the King said. "Let us hear what Lord Autumn has to say."

Lord Autumn gave a courtly bow, practiced and perfect, and the antlered wolf bowed as well. "Thank you, your Grace."

"It is a fateful day for an Archfey to show their face in the realm of humankind. State your purpose."

Lord Autumn spread their hands in feigned innocence. "I wish only to help. A gift." Lord Autumn snapped their fingers. A whorl of wind rose in the chamber. Autumn leaves spun and snaped. Then, standing tall and wide in the center of the King's courtroom, was a gilded mirror. "With this mirror, you may send one champion of your choice into the Fey realm to recover your Queen."

"You said you had nothing to do with her disappearance."

"Ah-ah-ah," Lord Autumn wagged his finger. "I said I wouldn't dream of it. And indeed I wouldn't. The devil lies in the details—that is important for you to remember. But there are Archfey with less discretion than I. Your Queen was taken by the Lord of another court."

"Who would dare?"

"I cannot reveal them to you. Courtly conduct and contracts, you understand."

"And yet, you would conspire against them?"

Lord Autumn reeled his head back and laughed with such mirth it echoed within the hall. The smell of spiced wine and the sound of a crackling hearth filled the courtroom. These sensations subsided with Lord Autumn's laughter. "We always do, my King. It is in our nature. We can't help it. My time, however, runs short. These things three you must remember." The Lord Autumn held up a finger as he listed off each item. "First, you may send only one champion each year on the anniversary of this day. Second, once they cross through this mirror, they shall not return unless accompanied by your Queen. And lastly, you have ten years to complete this task. If, by midnight, ten years hence, your Queen is not recovered, she will be lost forever to the Fey. Fare thee well, and good luck!"

With that, the King of the Autumn Court vanished along with his antlered wolf, leaving a magical mirror in the center of the courtroom.

The rest is a well-known tragedy. First, Sir Strength vanished into the mirror. The next year, Sir Mercy. For nine years, the knights of the King's court volunteered to quest forth and rescue the Queen from the Fey Realm, never to return.

As the tenth anniversary of the Queen's disappearance neared, few held hope that the human realm would ever be the same. But there were those who still hoped a hero would rise to save the lost Queen from the world of the Fey on the last day the Decade of Decline.