where: the ice gardens
when: post-crowning
status: closed
who: @castaliafairbank
nothing is ever simple in faerie. even in her old life faye had known this to be true. her father had wandered her that faeries long lives were just an everlasting dance of trickery and betrayal. yet she still found herself half surprised by the ever turning wheel of scandal that echoed throughout her new existence. the little brunette wasn’t titillated by the scandal, if anything it was a chore to her. another thing that she had to try to protect eleanor from, another treat that would make the winter court ever more paranoid, and make her plan of leaving all of it behind her even harder. how could she leave the credulous behind when they could be drawn into yet another scheme.
castalia was the one person who’s advice that she actually wanted at a time like this, and the ice gardens had always been her favourite hide away. the glistening ice lakes reminded her of the only part of her old life that she really cared to remember. skating. by the time she was perched on a bench waiting for castlias arrival there were already spiralling loop marks in the ice that signalled the circles that she’d skated. it had felt good to be free once more, to practice a talent that had only become more pronounced with her new grace and power.
the crunch of footsteps in the snow pulled her from her thoughts. “is everyone a flutter with panic? will there be blood in the throne room?” she asks castalia as she draws close, with the air of something close to humour.
name: faye aster ( formerly xi-hu )
faceclaim: sun yihan
label: the magnate
role: winter fae and high court representative
sexuality: bisexuality
gender identity: she/her
full biography
born on a snowy night under the stars fayes early childhood was characterised by a father who loved too hard, and a mother who struggled to love anything for for longer than a wine drunk summer. the couple were unconventional at best and completely unsustainable at worse. before faye was even born her father bohai had already chased her ideal fuelled mother from college in new york city to the rural town of zhouzhuang in eastern china. bohai had hoped that fayes birth would bring him and marissa closer together, that a dependent daughter would be enough to hold marissa in one place for more than a season. it was a false hope, in the first four years of fayes life the small family wandered further across the globe than most people could manage in a lifetime. along the way marissa couldn’t help but let her eye wander, lovers came and went, each with the promise that this one was her last. until the morning that the sunlight crept into fayes bedroom only to find that her mother had disappeared into the darkness of the night before.
marissa left faye a few photographs that faded in the sunlight, and a father who was always searching for a face in the crowd. for a little while they stayed in that house that hosted the ghost of marissas laugh, and half painted walls that were supposed to make them a home for all time. but eventually even the ever optimistic bohai lost hope that marissa would ever return and so he packed up his paints and his daughter and they left their wandering life behind
despite the missing link bohai and faye found a way to be happy, they settled in a small town covered with snow where bohai sold his paintings and faye learned for the first time what it was like to make friends. she loved the crisp landscape of white that they were now surrounded with, and she fell in love with skating. she channelled all of the uncertainty and loss of her early childhood into routine lessons and training schedules. pushing herself to become better and better, and becoming more of a perfectionist with every spin. she loved that she could create something beautiful with her body, that she could be both strong and delicate all at the same time. her father encouraged her passions, and so the two of them began to journey again to competitions across the country.
faye claimed she would do anything to become the best, to add more medals to her already swollen collection. but there was something that she wanted more underneath her cool competition facade. her first friend. the one who welcomed her into her new life. every second that she wanted on the ice faye was chasing the credulous, like her father had once chased her mother. there was nothing that she wouldn’t do to win their affection, to feed off the warm feeling that they gave her. she’d vowed it a million times through whiskey stained smiles. she didn’t realise how far that promise would carry her.
at first faye was jealous of her friends new admirer, she held their hand a little tighter and whispered a few extra secrets in their ear. she would slide off the ice straight into their arms, trying to scream to the world that they belonged next to one another. but the eyes never disappeared from her friends back, and faye saw something dangerous in that gaze. her butterscotch hearted friend melted for everyone, but faye was suspicious. though she’d never been more devastated to be right, than the day that she was faced with the reality that she would loose them forever.
she’d had warnings of the fae in her travels as a child, and from her father as she bloomed into a woman. don’t trust them, and never promise them anything. those had been the most important lessons, and yet faye threw all of those warnings into the wind when she thought of the fate of her friend. she who planned so carefully, who spoke with a roll of her eyes about her flight risk of a mother. promised herself for eternity without a second thought.
make it look as if i died. was her first request when she awoke in her new life. she couldn’t bear to think of her father searching for her forever, believing that she’d simply grown tired of him the way her mother had. she shed her old name in this new place, hoping that she could leave her mortal self in the snow that she had loved so much. for her first few months in the court she remained detached from everything, gaining a reputation as cold and haughty. though she acted as if nothing impressed her faye couldn’t help but marvel at this new world that she was surrounded by. she loved the talent of the fae, their magic was a whole new craft that she wanted to admire.
reluctantly she allowed a select few fae into her heart, though she tried to swear to herself that she would never truly trust them. she found herself protecting them almost as fiercely as she had once protected the one who had landed her there. slowly she began to allow herself to melt just a little, granting her friends the whisper of a smile at the corner of her mouth, drinking a little extra at revels and experimenting with her newly given faerie talents.
this slow melting of her exterior came to a shuddering halt when they wandered into the court. while faye had spent long nights dreaming of their face, she had hoped that she would never have to see it again. not for her sake, but for theirs. their reappearance was felt like a betrayal, both from the faeries that she made her promises to but also by them. she couldn’t help but fear that they have made their own promises, that her sacrifice was for nothing. yet she didn’t dare ask, she knew that if she allowed herself even a few words with her old friend that her heart would melt once more. so instead she shut them out and whispered with someone else instead. hoping that perhaps her cruelty might make them leave, make them go back to safety. but now the high king is dead, and faye can see that’s probably a pipe dream.
❛ Is it strange? ❜ The question had been on the tip of his tongue since he had gotten close enough to the cage. He had heard about what they’d done, though he assumed it was nothing more than rumor. Eventually, Axel had to bring himself to seek out the woman.
She’s not fond of questions such as these. She hates to feel the eyes upon her. “Of course, I stand in skin that was not made for me.” She always reverts to a cold way of speaking when confronted abruptly.
He looks over at her and raised a brow. He shook his head and
sigh as his arms wrap around her. “Fine you win . Next time I’ll
call.” He told her and smiles, He leans his chin against the top
of her head but only a few moments later. “Come on lets get
back to your sisters before they start freaking out. Please tell
me you guys got along while i was gone?” He asked her,
“Good I don’t like the sky boats.” Blue couldn’t help but
smile as her fathers arms wrapped around her, pack
mentality had remained with her. She didn’t like distance.
“We all got along okay. Food was weird. But other
than that we coexisted.”
