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Welcome to the Afterword!

PART ONE is set up for fandom blind readers who want to get more details on the Magiford universe and/or original story to aid their interpretation of the FF.

PART TWO is a list of my chapter suggestions for anyone who wants to jump to a fun part without reading the whole 100k beast this FF became.

PART THREE is my thesis  explanation of why I made some of the choices I did to the extent I have expanded a little bit of the Magiford realm, for anyone who is curious. Feel free to add additional questions in the comments if you have them!

I’ve labeled each part heading in all caps and bold. Subheadings are also bold but not all caps. Scroll through as you choose to get where you want to go!

Update: I've changed this to "encyclopedia" because it got way longer and detailed than I expected. 

PART ONE: FOR FANDOM BLIND READERS

Welcome! I’m thrilled you were willing to give this story a chance. I hope it gives you enough drama, suspense, sap, and laughter that you walk away enjoying it.

First: Can you read this without having read the underlying trilogy?

Yes! The first two chapters contain a fair amount of exposition and character/world descriptors to orient you. I tried to build the story like an author would build their exposition for the fourth book in a series. Honestly, you'll probably get what you need to know from there for all of the fae stuff. BUT if you are still confused, or want more detailed data about the world/a character that you like, there is a lot of detail below. I would give the first two chapters a go, and if you are still confused, come back. That should also significantly refresh anyone who just hasn't read the books in a while.

If you liked this story and want to read the original, go to https://kmshea.com/ (the author’s website) for more links and information on where to buy the books/audiobooks as you choose. The series featured here (Court of Midnight and Deception, part of the Magiford universe) are available on Kindle Unlimited if you have that. I’d definitely give them a read!

General world info comes first. Court of Midnight and Deception (trilogy focused data) comes second.

The world of Magiford

Location: Magiford (Supernatural city) is “the powerhouse of the Midwest.” The city is located halfway between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois. It was set up where it is because it was close to large cities, lake Michigan, and already had a strong magical community present, though was rural enough to keep from scaring humans that magical people were trying to take over anything.

Knowledge of Magic: In this universe, humans are aware of supernaturals, which appear to have revealed themselves at some point in the last few centuries. Plain humans have no magic, though “wild magic” exists in this universe and has slowly been dying out. Supernaturals do not know why, and the theme of “what has happened to magic and how do we fix it” plays out across all of the Magiford series books. Each one gives us a little more detail into the problem. The Magiford universe is still in progress with several more trilogies planned, so we don’t have all the answers or lore just yet ourselves.

Government: There is a Human Government (think U.S. federal/state government), and a Magical government. The magical government is split into regions. Magiford is the capital of the Midwest Region, and the main building and location of Governance is the Curia Cloisters. The Cloisters house the sub government divisions for the supernatural communities, which handle their own affairs (Wizards do Wizard stuff, Vampires do Vampire stuff, etc.). The Cloisters handles inter-race issues if needed. They also host the Magiford Representative Council, which includes one representative from each major supernatural community that speaks for that community: The Elite (Wizards), The Eminence (Vampire), the PreDominant (Werewolf) and the Fae Rep (Fae.).

A side note about associations: Supernaturals tend to be loyal to their “family” but each community permits a supernatural to be “unclaimed” if they choose. Unfortunately, these supernatural’s are often targeted by others because they have no power structure protecting them, or lack necessary assets to assist their survival, particularly with the dying state of magic.

Supernatural Types and abilities: Four categories generally: Wizards, Vampires, Werewolves/shifters, and Fae.

Wizards: Organized into “Houses” that are lead by an Adept. “House” here can mean two things: the organization of wizards (male and female, related or not), OR the actual sentient house they live in (think Casita from Encanto). Wizards can filter wild magic through their blood into elemental expressions (fire, water, air, etc.). They don’t need any tools to do it, though it can take time for it to manifest depending on their skill and power levels. They are immune to most, but importantly not all, fae magic. Because they can use magic, wizards can also sense magic (though sensitivities vary).  Wizards are born, not made, but lateral into sub types where blood has crossed (Vampire/Werewolf hunters, oracles). Generally Wizards are considered “human” but are still “supernaturals.”

Vampires: Organized into “families” that are lead by an Elder. Vampires are turned and can theoretically live forever. They often wear the attire (and prefer entertainment/lifestyle modes) from their original time. They are typically pale, have red to black eyes, and drink blood to sustain themselves. They can eat human food but it is a preference, not a need. Vampires are exceptionally fast, have increased strength, and incredible healing capabilities. They are weakened but not killed by the sun. Finally, they are magical but they do not have the ability to control or sense magic. Some powerful, older vampires have evidenced a form of aura or pressure they can exert on others, but not much is written in the text.

Werewolves/Shifters: Werewolves seem to be the top dogs (ha ha) of the shifter community, but other shifters exist. Werewolves/Shifters can be born, but it is rare. Most are turned, but the process can only be attempted once. The individual either successfully turns, dies, or develops an immunity to the proteins/etc. that change the DNA and make the person capable of shifting. If successful, the shift is done at the will of the shifter (though the initial shifts are hardest).  Werewolves have improved senses, particularly hearing and smell, which aids them in both tracking and detecting deception. They are also exceptionally strong. Shifts typically take around 40 seconds for all the bones and muscles to reorganize, and are not instantaneous. Werewolves are organized into packs, which are lead by an Alpha. Alphas have “alpha powers” that allow them to control their subordinate wolves. Members can choose to leave packs but will forcibly respond to their leaders orders when in a pack. Most members enjoy being part of a pack, which provides a close bonding experience.  Werewolves, like vampires, are magical but cannot wield magic themselves and cannot sense when it is being used against them. Werewolves can, but may not, have a mate bond. Mates connect magically with their mate and can feel their mate’s emotions, location, and a bunch of other nifty things.

Fae: Oh goodness, the fae. Most critical to this story but I’ve left them last because SO MUCH.

Fae are organized into courts. Each Region has a “landed” seasonal court (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). The United States has one Day Court and one Night Court, which are somehow intertwined. Each court has its own rules for succession. Fae belonging to a court cannot directly attack their ruler to harm them, but they can do some things that might somehow accidentally “maybe” put the ruler in peril. Fae can also be compelled by their rulers to do something, though they can try to wordsmith around the order.

Most Fae elect to join a court because the courts have access to the fae realm, which is on a parallel plane but is smaller than the earth. The fae need to periodically go back to the fae realm for their health and magical abilities. The fae realms reflect the “state of their court.” If a court is doing well, the realm will appear healthy and fine. If a court is doing poorly, the realm will be a husk of itself. The court realms are protected by extensive wards, which keep back a toxic miasma of death that culls everything it touches and corrupts creatures that somehow manage to survive there. Some fae nobles do manage to pay for wards that can push back the toxic sludge but it is expensive, so most fae just use the public grounds available to the court they have subjugated themselves to.

In the original trilogy, you get to see the landed fae courts in all their toxic glory. Monarchs kill each other to gain the throne, people try to kill other court monarchs, fae will kill each other for failing to pay for items, and there are plenty of insults, snide comments, one upmanship, etc. You bring yourself up by pulling someone down and trodding on them with a smile, ideally without getting an ounce of dirt on your impeccably tailored clothes. The system is a battle for power and the fae trade in blood and lives to get it if they need to. This starts changing at the end of the trilogy, but it’s a difficult system to break because it’s been going on for centuries.

There are also Seelie and Unseelie courts, but they aren’t the good vs. underhanded system used in other legends. They’re more like…competing mobs, struggling for control over city streets. They have no access to the realm themselves and are susceptible to being pushed around by the landed courts or higher ranking/stronger fae.

Fae come in a variety of species, but all fall under the heading of “Fae.” The “fae nobles” look like beautiful people, typically with olive skin tones and slightly pointed ears. The rest of everything varies from there. Fae are magical by nature and can both wield and sense magic, though the power and type may vary. Critically, they need an artifact to wield their magic. Artifacts come in many shapes and sizes and though they may be tailored or specialized to have a particular strength, artifacts can be used to wield a variety of spells. To this end, though fae cannot pull magic through their blood like a wizard, they are infinitely more able to customize it and change it into something they need, or to enchant an item with it to cause an effect/capability of some kind.

Fae nobles may, but do not necessarily, have a “natural magic” that operates independent of an artifact. They also have wings, but wings are closely guarded secrets for most fae because it reveals details about the fae’s true nature and power levels.

Currently in the Shae-verse, we’ve run into fae (the people appearing ones get the general title), dryads, naiads, brownies, trolls, pixies, banshees, etc. there are others too…but I’ll leave it there.

There are also fae creatures in the fae realms. Fae creatures tend to be smarter than the average animal, though again it varies, and they may be passive, tameable, wild, or dangerous. So far we’ve seen mantasps, hydras, glooms (look like large cats) shades (kind of wolf like), night mares, sun stallions, griffins, super sized polar bears, oversized wolves…and more. Each court will have at least one fae animal that is the symbol of its realm, and whose appearance (much as the realm does) changes with the ”health” of the realm. The Night Court’s symbol is the night mare, but the glooms and shades also change. The poorer the realm, the more diseased and sickly they look. The healthier, the more regal.

A note regarding all fae: they can’t lie, but they can wordsmith with the best of them to hide meanings and twist out of promises. They are also bound by rules of equal exchange: you don’t give a gift to a fae without them being indebted to you, so fae tend to be careful about asking for favors without working out the details or saying “thank you” which could indicate a debt to another. They can always forgo demanding an exchange, or can accept an unequal exchange, but it’s rarer and often a sign of friendship or love if they do. These rules do not  apply to half-fae, half humans. Half-fae also do not have to form a connection with the fae realm to sustain themselves, but this also means they can’t connect to the realm either, which can be a problem in certain situations.

...I'll note that writing the "thank you" part of this afterword reminded me go back through the story to count up how many I had used. I have made some edits, so if you saw them in earlier chapters, they may have changed now. Gestures don't seem to bind fae (physical wordsmithing I would argue) so nods, handwaves, etc. are often used in their stead. Humans that don't interact with the fae often and know their rules are much more free with their language (ex: Rhonda says thank you plenty). Leila is a lot more free with thanking Rigel, but she does that in the original trilogy too, even if she is more careful with other fae.

I think there is only one significant spoken use now, and I left that in intentionally. It underscores how serious Rigel is about what he's doing and also the positive relationship with the Day Court. It is unusual, but it's supposed to be.

Bonus: Elves: We’re still learning about elves in the main trilogy, but so far, we know that Elves used to be a superpowerful supernatural race that is rumored to have been able to create magic. Unfortunately, the elves became corrupt and began subjugating the other supernatural races. Shifters were given a potion called “wolfsbane” that would tame them like real animals, and they were kept as pets. Fae were forced into servanthood. We don’t really get much about vampires under the elves. Several centuries ago, elves considered subjugating the human population as well, despite how humanity vastly outnumbered supernaturals and could likely kill all of them if things went awry. The rest of supernatural society finally snapped and banded together to exterminate the elves. This extermination is suspected to be related to the slow death of magic (which is dwindling). However, elven artifacts and darker magics have been popping up in Magiford, usually related to some nefarious purpose, and have some pretty nasty effects. (Note: Gate of Myth and Power is the most recent Magiford series and is most closely tied to the matters of the elves. Book 1 came out Dec 22. Books 2 and 3 are tagged for release Jan 23 and Mar 23).

Magic across the races: Wizards and Fae can use magic, which vampires and werewolves cannot innately sense or defend against. To that end, those two races are weak to magic successfully unleashed on them. However, Werewolves and Vampires tend to be physically superior to wizards and fae. If they can get to the magic users first, they can do some heavy physical damage. Wizards can only use elemental magic and filter it through their blood, which usually makes them slower to spellcast than a fae (though this can improve with training). Fae magic has many uses but is harder to manipulate into pure damage style spells, though it is effective for things like traps, AOE spells, compulsions, healing potions, effects on a person generally, and improving an object or giving it a magical effect, etc.  Fae are also DOA if they don’t have an artifact because they cannot just use magic on their own (excluding their “natural magic” if they have one). Werewolves are stronger than vampires and may have better hearing (point unknown at present in book), but Vampire healing and longevity outshines the others.

Magiford Series Order: The Magiford Supernatural City universe extends as a series across several trilogies. Each book has an independent plot, but the mystery of the elves and magic crosses through all of them. Characters from earlier series are often referenced in later series. See teasers below, with more thorough description of the original trilogy after.

Series 1: Hall of Blood and Mercy (Wizard/Vampire focus). Hazel Medeis is named Adept of House Medeis after her parents untimely death, however a rival wizard in her house attempts to usurp her position. Driven out of her home, and with no wizard allies to aid her, Hazel is forced to seek refuge with a most unlikely hero: Vampire Killian Drake, the Eminence of the Midwest Region. Over this trilogy, Hazel works with Killian to track down who is attacking vampires in Magiford, release herself from a seal on her powers, reclaim her house, and resolve a heavy dispute with the Night Court’s monarch Queen Nyte. If a super strong vampire with a penchant for throwing her off his roof happens to catch feelings for her during the process…well, Hazel doesn’t exactly complain.

Series 2: Court of Midnight and Deception (Fae focus, detailed book plot summary below. After Queen Nyte’s passing, Leila is surprisingly crowned ruler of the U.S. Night Court, completely disrupting her own life plans on how to be a Responsible Adult. Worse, her court is horrified that she is only a half fae, its up to its ears in debt, and several people are already coming for her head. The cherry on top? The realm is in a disastrous state with failing wards and the other landed courts would be only too thrilled to watch her fail. Assistance comes from the strangest of places, namely the silent assassin who first tried to kill her.

Series 3: Pack of Dawn and Destiny (werewolf focus): Phillipa Sabre, otherwise known as “Pip” is a werewolf hunter that ends up adopted by werewolves. She doesn’t quite fit in, because she’s not really “pack,” and werewolf hunters typically handle the whole bringing-wolves-to-justice thing. While living with the Northern Lakes Pack community she has come to love, a feral werewolf stumbles into their territory. After figuring out the wolf was dosed with wolfsbane, she and the pack leader, Greyson, have to figure out what exactly is going on. She and Greyson are forced to face down rogue hunters, find the wolfsbane source, and handle a surprise rare power Pip didn’t even know she had. On top of everything, there’s a taboo mate bond thrown in. Can a hunter love a wolf?

Court of Midnight And Deception Summaries and Character Data (SPOILERS). Seriously there is no way for me to give you a book summary that isn't just a teaser, so if you don't want spoilers, stop reading here. You can skip to Part Two.

Book One: Book One focuses on Leila and her immediate court. Leila, a half fae, half human, unaffiliated with any fae court, welcomes several scraggly looking horses that suddenly show up on her lawn over the course of several days. They seem to keep brushing her brow, and after the sixth one does it, she gets a vision of the Night. Not more than five minutes later, someone shoots at her from the top of her barn, and when that fails, tries to stab her. A weird pressure keeps the attack from succeeding and the individual calls her "Queen." Just after that, a car full of strange fae suddenly arrive at her house and she is informed that the horses are actually night mares, the symbol of the Magiford Night Court, and they have (essentially) crowned her queen.

Leila arrives at the Night Court mansion and at first trolls her court, displeased with being forced into a role of Queen, which she cannot abdicate. Fae are tricky and toxic, and she has developed rules for interacting with them: Don't believe what they say because all though they can't lie, they can wordsmith around anything; don't accept food or drink from them which can be spelled; don't make bargains or deals, because they'll twist those too. She delights in infuriating her court with her human tendencies, particularly after they insult her for being half human.

While wandering her grounds she runs into the man who tried to kill her. His name is Lord Rigel, a noble from the court. Because she had JUST been crowned by the night mares, he became bound by the magic that prevents him from causing her immediate harm. She learns he is known as the Wraith, a feared assassin whose murderous abilities are openly known, but because he is so good at what he does, no one can pin him with any crimes.

Leila also learns that her court is an absolute mess. Her predecessors practically bankrupted the court with their bad fiscal tendencies and war funding. In fact the prior Queen of the Night Court-Queen Nyte- was killed by the Vampire Eminence Killian Drake after she attacked him (Leila and Killian were neighbors). The horrible state of the court is reflected in the physical fae realm that all fae must go to in order to restore their magic, and the heraldic animals (night mares, glooms, and shades) are in horrible condition. 

Leila also learns she is required to get married, a rule specific to the Night Court in the United States. It is her option to name them only Consort (still royal but with less power) or King (who can rule in her stead). After her court tries to kill her several times, she decides she is going to end the toxic nature of the fae. To do that, she needs someone without any political ties that also won't get in her way. Who meets that description?

Bingo. Mr. Wraith himself. Leila invites Rigel to be her Consort and he accepts. The pair acknowledge that they aren't in love and Rigel asks if Leila intends to use him to kill her enemies. She declines and says at best she'll use his name to dissuade people from bothering her. He accepts the proposal, asserting that it will make it easier to kill her if she ends up acting so eccentric that it makes the court even worse off than it already is.

Leila resolves the mystery of one of the court members trying to kill her and warns others off from trying, telling them that if she dies, Scary Mr. Wraith is going to be their next King. The book ends with their wedding, and Rigel actually defends Leila from a spider monster trying to attack her. The alliance sets the court in a frenzy, and Leila finally gets them under her control.

Book Two: Book two focuses on Leila interacting with the other Landed/Seasonal courts and picks up not long after their wedding. Rigel and Leila still hold each other at arms length but he doesn't try to kill her. The pair end up attending several court events together, and Rigel can see that Leila is in her own way trying to improve the lives of the fae, even if he believes her goal to "end the toxic games of the court" is naive. When the other fae court rulers insult her, Leila fakes that she and Rigel are desperately in love. Finding Leila's antics both interesting and amusing, Rigel plays along, which shocks the other courts.

One of Leila's persistent challenges are the wards outside her realm. The wards can only be buffered by their ruler and hold back a toxic miasma of death caused by the death of the elves century ago. When the wards fail, they grow smaller, cutting the fae off from very critical land. Just as the realm reflects the health of the court ine, the wards are more apt to fail if the realm is not doing well. Leila suffers through several ward failures that constrict the size of the Night Realm. She investigates how to improve her warding abilities, particularly because her artifact (a small prism) doesn't seem to channel the level of power she needs to support the wards.

One of Leila's most vocal critics is King Fell, ruler of the Autumn court and second most powerful ruler in the Magiford realm. He directs the Spring Court to provide a Spring Stag for an annual hunt, because killing a Spring Stag gives the killer the opportunity to make a wish. He and the Summer King (Birch) regularly kill the animal when they capture it. The other courts spare the stag. When Leila discovers that the animal is both intelligent AND a symbol of the Spring court, she demands Fell call off the hunt. Fell declines and threatens Leila. Rigel comes to her defense and offers to kill King Fell then and there, though Leila declines. Rigel tells Fell if he ever tries to come after "my Queen," he'll kill him where he sleeps.

The pair bond further and Leila realizes that somehow, with all of their outings and antics, she's actually fallen in love with Rigel. She confesses to him but he believes she's simply lying and teasing him, much as she pretends in front of the other monarchs. Leila resolves to find a way to show Rigel her feelings are sincere. 

The fae monarchs are summoned to a meeting and Leila learns that they are all horribly afraid of the failing state of magic and the threats to their families and their realms, but the meeting is held in a manner that the other monarchs cannot remember their discussion. The end of the book involves someone dropping a massive monster into the Night Court realm. Leila defeats it (with the help of a very fun fae creature, you'll have to read to see). She calls in a favor from the Day Court to hold a meeting with the other fae (who respect King Solis more than her). At the meeting, she posits that she would like to be the Fae Representative for the region so they can begin improving things for all courts. After some debate the other monarchs agree.

The book closes with Rigel watching Leila sleep. She sometimes comes over to his room when she's feeling stressed and they talk through her concerns about the court, next steps for her plans, and banter back and forth. As he watches her sleep, Rigel comes to realize that he values spending time with Leila and he grows more uncomfortable with the ongoing attacks against her life. Because he was hired to kill her before, he knows who the offender is, but because he is under the effect of a geas (a spell that keeps him from communicating about a subject), he is unable to tell her who is threatening her. He leaves to try to take care of the threat himself. Not long after he departs, someone spells his own weapons to attack Leila in her room. Leila also learns that her father, Lord Linus, has zero regrets about abandoning her as a child. The admission deeply hurts her.

Book Three: Book three resolves the ongoing attacks against Leila and cements her relationship with Rigel. The book opens with Leila crying. Rigel has been gone for two months without any kind of call, letter, or explanation. She's heartbroken at his disappearance and also hasn't resolved things with her father.

In truth, Rigel has been gone for two months hunting down the organization attacking Leila and trying to kill her main offender, the man who hired Rigel way back in the start of Book One. Unfortunately, not only does the geas prevent Rigel from communicating about his contracts, it protects both parties from being injured by the other. Because of the way the contractor and organization are set up, Rigel is unable to just exterminate the threats against Leila. He does what he can and returns, ecstatic to finally be coming home to see her.

When he arrives, Leila is less than pleased to see him. Rather than shouting at him like he expected, she cries instead. Rigel is flabbergasted and doesn't understand why Leila is upset. No one has legitimately cared about him or his absence. He learns of the attack against Leila in his absence and declares he was not involved. She and her advisors believe him, but it doesn't wholly repair her broken heart. She asks why he left but the geas prevents his answer, and they part on less than steller terms.

Someone attacks Leila at the mansion not long after and in her despair, she calls out for Rigel's help. He responds and the attack is successfully repelled, and they return to their adjoining rooms to talk about where they are. Leila tells Rigel his leaving didn't just make her angry but actually hurt her because she loves him. Rigel is unsettled by the admission and leaves her be.

Now that he is back the pair begin attending court events together again. Leila's mother encourages her to talk to both Rigel and her father (Lord Linus) about why they did what they did. Skye also encourages Leila to talk to Lord Linus about his comments. Leila finally does so and learns that Linus had also been marked as a candidate for the Night Court Monarchy by the night mares. Knowing how toxic and dangerous the world of the fae was, and knowing that even being a candidate would put him on the political radar forever, he left Leila and her mother to protect them from being targeted. He doesn't regret his actions because it kept Leila safe.

Despite having fixed her artifact (Leila learns in book 2 that her prism is actually part of a very significant staff, and part of her issues before were that it was an incomplete artifact) the wards fail again. Leila questions why the state of the realm isn't improving even though the court itself is definitely better off than it was. She learns that as a half fae, her ability to connect to the realm is limited. This is good to the extent she does not need to go to the realm to recharge her magic, but it is also preventing her from connecting to the realm. because she can't connect to the realm, she is unable to support the wards, and might not ever be able to do so, putting her people and realm in continued peril unless they find another way.

Leila takes the news hard and sobs quietly in her bedroom. Rigel, sitting in the adjoining room, hears her and wonders why she isn't coming over for reassurance like she had previously. He ruminates on how his absence must have affected their relationship more than he ever expected. When he hears Leila crying again in her room, he is compelled to enter. The pair talk about the wards before turning again to discussions about where "they" stand. Leila notes that Rigel has been pulling away from her ever since she confessed her love to him on his return and she has noticed him deliberately pulling away from her when things seem to be going well. She tells him it's okay if he doesn't return her feelings, but wants to know if "they are okay." Rigel asks her if she honestly believes fae can love. He doesn't believe he is capable of love.

Leila asks him why he would think that and Rigel confesses more to her about the volume of killing he's done. Leila hugs him and him she has seen positive qualities in him too, and that he's making different choices now that there is space for him to do so. The pair settle down to bed after all and Leila is finally able to sleep despite her distress. They share more moments together at court affairs (there is a truly wonderful tobogganing scene you HAVE to read) and continue reconciling. Eventually Rigel confesses that he became "Lord Rigel" because his brother killed their parents, and he killed his brother. Leila pegs that it must have been in self defense and Rigel agrees but notes he could have found another way as the better fighter. Leila invites Rigel to be King, surprising him after his confessions of murder. The pair share their first kiss and he accepts, because there are some events only the true monarchs are allowed to go to, not the Consorts.

Leila figures out that's a clue to whoever has been attacking her. Not long after another attack against her pops up and Leila learns both who hired Rigel AND about the organization backing that individual. She and Rigel are able to work together to bring them down. It turns out that the primary offender for sending people or things to kill her is actually one of the other fae court monarchs, and they were twisted into the position after providing an open ended contact while their realm was failing under the prior Night Court monarchs. They had no real interest in harming Leila so they deliberately dragged their feet and tried to kill her as incompetently as they could.

Leila and her inner circle learn that the backing organization may have connection to elves, which may not have been exterminated after all, and the organization is interfering with inter-supernatural relationships and improvements. The Paragon proffers that Leila's ability to connect the various fae courts together is impressive, and wonders if she might be able to unify all the courts of the United States to be Fae Emperor/Empress.

Leila and Rigel return to the Night Realm, and Rigel realizes that through everything, he has fallen in love with Leila. He tries to think about how he can prove to her that he loves her, which is difficult because he is not an overtly emotional fae.

The wards begin failing again. This time, the entire Night Realm present move to assist Leila with the wards, as well as the visiting fae monarchs. The unity of the fae builds a bridge between Leila, the Night Court, and the wards, and her magic is finally able to penetrate the barrier. The barrier is supercharged and moves back several miles, granting the Night Court significant new land. The realm also transforms from its prior husk into a lush paradise, and the sun rises for the first time in decades. The animals transform into their regal versions.

During the ward power up, Leila actually grows an ethereal pair of wings as part of her "power up." Rigel says it's disgraceful that the court got to see Leila's wings, normally a very personal and vulnerable part of fae. Leila looks up to tease him back and sees Rigel is showing his own wings to her. Leila thanks Rigel for letting her in, and Rigel thanks Leila for trusting him. The pair share an embrace.

The book closes with Leila attending a Regional Committee of Magic meeting, while Rigel waits for her to finish in the audience. They go home and embrace again, Rigel bringing out his wings (which Leila loooves). The pair discuss the notion of Leila becoming Fae Empress. Leila doubts she'd ever make the cut for that. Rigel says she certainly might, it just might take a few decades.

The staff enter with tea, a much beloved beverage by the fae because it is one of the few ways they have been able to relax despite all of the toxicity and power games they usually play. Leila has been stubbornly refusing to drink any because the fae stubbornly refuse to make her coffee. She decides to give in, in light of all the help and sacrifice they've done for her. Then, surprise! They celebrate Leila's first anniversary of her arrival to the Night Court with a coffee machine just for her. She and Rigel have a private moment after where Leila directs Rigel to make sure their children also have beautiful fae wings. Rigel tells her that's not how genetics work but is intrigued that Leila is already thinking of children. He draws her into him with her wings and the book closes out suggesting that the pair will be getting much closer in the near future.

Leila cameos in the Pack of Dawn and Destiny books which largely take place during her second year of ruling. She and Rigel are very much in love and getting along when she pops up, and tease each other in the brief scenes they share. It's clear that they have a very loving relationship and Rigel is keeping an eye on her to ensure her safety.

Detailed Court of Midnight and Deception Character Summaries: 

Again, I give you a fair amount in the actual text itself, but if you want more details about a character, then the below are summaries of their traits.

Queen Leila: Half Human, Half Fae, Queen of the Night Realm. Leila was raised in the human world and originally disliked her fae blood because fae are notoriously toxic, tricky, and dangerous. However, after the night mares (heraldic symbol of the Night Court) bound her to the sovereignty, she literally has no choice but to become queen. They bound her, so she actually already is! Part of the rules of her court require her to get married before she can be coronated, thus how she gets married to Lord Rigel even though they aren't in love. That changes over the course of 3 books, and they are besotted by the end. Because she had to support her ward's realms she spent the better part of a year specifically studying them and has been observed to be exceptionally good at them now. She also has a natural magic with animals, which makes them both like her more easily and makes them smarter over time. Because she is queen, she has the ability to force her court to follow her orders (if she pushes hard enough). Leila rejects abusing her position in this way and does not often use it, though if her will is strong enough it can leak out of her accidentally. She also is protected from direct injury by her court: they can help make "accidents" happen that can kill her, but it is difficult to lodge a direct attack.

King/Lord Rigel: Also known as "the Wraith," Rigel is one of the most feared fae in all of North America. His family prepared him to be a tool of death, and he became the Lord of his house when he killed his brother (in self defense; brother killed their parents before he tried to kill Rigel). He is an openly acknowledged assassin, but he's so good at it no one has ever been able to catch him. The first book opens with him trying to kill Leila per a contract, but she was JUST made queen by the night mares and it fails. Instead of trying to throw himin jail over it, the pair verbally spar across several court events. Leila surprisingly picks him to be her Consort (husband) because she needs someone with no political baggage, and she knows she can use his name to keep her court in line until she can end their toxicity through policy improvements. At first Rigel decides he will marry Leila so he can keep an eye on her, and if she starts making the court worse off than it already is, can kill her more easily. When he sees that Leila is honestly trying to improve things, and when her policies do actually start improving the court, he gets much more supportive. Eventually they become friends and he actually heads out to try to take out the people attacking her (which he knows since he was the first hire to kill her). He can't take them out because he enters a "geas," or an agreement not to speak about something when he makes a contract. That protects both he and the buyer from turning each other in over the crime, but it also means neither can kill the other. When he can't just off her killer, he protects her to the best of his ability instead. By the end of the trilogy, he actually shows her his wings, which if you've read the notes above, is a very personal thing. 

Lord Linus: Leila's biological fae father. Linus fell in love with a human woman (Leila's mom) and they had Leila. One day a night mare popped up on their lawn, signaling that Linus was a candidate for the Night Court throne. The candidacy alone was enough to mark him as a fae to watch, so he left his wife and child to protect them from the toxicity of the fae, and never looked back. When Leila is crowned Queen (wholly by surprise), he steps in to act as her fae advisor. He helps teach her magic, assists her with fae culture, and basically helps shield her from the nastiness of the fae and fae courts. He is a powerful fae in his own right and is well respected by the Night Court, though he likes to pretend to be a sly gambler to disarm people. Linus loves Leila fiercely, and when Rigel makes her cry, actually gets in a fight with him. They made up now. Linus wants grandbabies.

Director Chase Washington: Leila's werewolf director of Security. Chase is competent and good people. He runs the show on Leila's security, though he and Rigel discuss it generally once Rigel picks up the Consortship. He does whatever he needs to in order to keep Leila safe. He often accompanies Leila on her outings away from the Night Court, but she has more leeway to walk freely when she is on Night Court mansion/palace grounds (though the security guards will still brief checkpoints on her location to him). He's very professional and doesn't take time off unless someone else is actively watching Leila. he does accept Linus and Rigel stepping in as personal body guards for her in his absence. He has also wired her truck with a remote camera to the extent she sometimes insists on going places by herself regardless.

Indigo: Indigo is a brownie and Leila's court-designated "companion." She helps Leila with organizing her personal affairs since Leila is of course busy being a ruler. She organizes Leila's warddrobe, gets her food/water/coffee, and is basically her close friend. Indigo signed up for the position "for the salary, and the holiday bonus" because she LOVES human memorabilia for fantasy and sci fi style shows. She and Leila bonded after one of the fae noblewomen shot an arrow at Brownie, so Leila shot at them with a pistol in response. After that, Indigo started making Leila's meals for her personally (when Leila was paranoid about being killed by fae-spelled food). They only grew closer as the trilogy progressed.

Skye: Skye is Leila's steward, who basically helps her with any and all government related tasks that Leila needs help with. Skye is also half-human, half-fae, but was raised by her fae family, and acts very much as a fae does. She is very knowledgeable about politics, tradition, and customs and helps Leila figure out all the traditions and customs related duties she is responsible for, and helps organize her day. Skye actually starts eating tons of antacids because Leila's brashness and disregard for fae customs gives her naseau. She swaps to exercising, before trying to embrace that Leila just does best when the world is burning down around her, and her eccentric style of rule is netting positive results, so she will go with the flow. But she still likes tradition.

Dion: Dion is a fae lawyer most notable for being Rigel's long time friend. Rigel acknowledges him as an actual friend in the original trilogy, even though we only see so much of them together, so the relationship is significant. Dion is originally set up by the Paragon as a possible husband for Leila due to his generally kind nature, knowledge of fae affairs, and ability to basically help her rule as Queen. Leila ends up rejecting him because Dion is essentially loyal to the Paragon and probably would get in her way of the changes she wants to enact. Dion is only all too happy with how things turned out and actually starts courting Skye. He is surprised by her rejection but doesn't give up. He offers to be the Night Court lawyer, particularly if anyone ever actually brings Rigel up on a murder charge some day (he is very aware of Rigel's job as an assassin).

The Paragon: The Paragon is a national representative for the fae but insists he is NOT a ruler. THAT would be the Fae Emperor. He helps all the fae courts get along. His true appearance is currently unknown, but he appears to use a very strong fae glamor to make himself appear to be an old man complete with mustache, beard, and robes. It is understood that he is probably much younger than he makes himself appear. He's a rather eccentric character but very strong, very talented, and very knowledgeable (though his apprenticeship appears to be shorter and he admits there are things he could have been better trained on). He is currently working with the other national representative to try to address the death of magic, but they are also tracking a shadow organization that appears to be interfering with inter-supernatural race relations.

Aphrodite: The paragon's hairless cat whom he loves. Aphrodite is supposedly smarter than your average cat. We don't know if she's only a cat, but she is often carried about by the paragon in some style of baby carrier, and often put into onesies. She is sometimes used to select tea for the Paragon's pocket realm visitors, though all his teas appear to be charmed to have some kind of effect...

King Solis: Ruler of the Day Court, whose fate is entwined with the Night Court. In the original trilogy (SPOILER SPOILER), the prior Night Court rulers made so many bad decisions that their realm started failing, and it leaked in to cause HIS realm to start failing too. He got desperate and cut a bad bargain with two nasty fae from the aforementioned shadow organization. They asked him to kill of Queen Leila, but since he didn't want to do that, he dragged his feet and tried to be as incompetent about it as he could. Eventually the team figures this out and Leila forgives him. He has openly confirmed his friendship to Leila in the original trilogy and is the most supportive of the other fae court rulers for her initiatives. The Day Court's heraldic/symbolic animal are the sun stallions (I always envision ponyta, but I think their flames are blue...). The sun stallions are exceptionally friendly.

King Fell: Ruler of the Autumn Court (he hates it being called "Fall"). He believes that fae need rulers that value tradition and can rule through power and fear, which is how he has kept his court. His is considered the second strongest court in the Midwest, though we don't get a ton of details as to why in the original trilogy. His court is doing well enough, but his own heraldic animal (griffins) hate him. He is crushing on Leila and Rigel has threatened to break his nose if he continues.

Killian Drake: the Eminence of the Midwest, he is the top ranking Vampire in the region. Killian is at least a few centuries old though his current age is unknown. He looks to be late twenties/early thirties I would hazard based on the book cover? Killian is concerned about the death of magic and how it is affecting vampires, which is only worsened by the melancholic state older vampires get in when they start wishing for the good-old-days. Killian is thus fiercely dedicated to keeping up to date, whether with technology or fashion. He also trains his family of vampires into lean mean fighting machines. He is exceptionally wily and manipulative, and is not above using threats and underhanded maneuvering to achieve his goals. However, his goals tend to be to produce some kind of good (Very much an ends justifies the means kind of guy).  He's very clever and perceptive. In the Hall of Blood and Mercy series, he accepts Hazel's offer of servitude when she breaks into a vampire meeting to beg for sanctuary. He trains her so that he can use her as a fighter and initially intends to use her as another way into Wizard politics. The pair get close while she's staying in his mansion with the rest of the Drake vampires, and of course he ends up falling in love. He's still wily, but his approach softens a little. Killian loves Hazel and he is dedicated to his own family. His mansion (Drake Hall) happens to be next to Leila's parents' hobby farm. Killian gets dogs to irritate the local werewolves and asks Leila to work with them periodically so they can become smarter. The dogs are of course attracted to Leila because of her natural magic and she frequently has to return them to the house. They end up being good neighbors, and Leila has an open invitation to visit Drake Hall whenever she wants. She attends a party Killian throws after the prior Night Queen (Queen Nyte) threatens Hazel and attacks Killian. Nyte is mad because Killian revealed she killed her husband to take the throne. Killian told on her because he wanted the fae reps to be too busy to come in and vote against a law he wanted passed.

Hazel Medeis: Adept of House Medeis, Hazel took over the house at a young age after her parents were likely murdered. Not long after their death, her claim on the house is contested by a distant relative, who allies with several other Wizard Houses to run Hazel out in a coup. Hazel prostrates herself before the vampires hoping someone will take her in as a servant so she can survive the initial coup, and then try to regain her House. Killian Drake, the most powerful vampire in the region, accepts her offer. While under Killian she starts training in offense and defense, and starts to question her house motto of pacifism. She ends up killing off a vampire that had been killing off a variety of individuals in retaliation for a law Killian passed. When she does so, it unlocks a seal on her magic, revealing she is much more powerful than she originally believed. She ends up recovering her house and helping Killian rebuff Queen Nyte, fae queen of the Night Court before Leila. She meets Leila when, in a moment of absolute loss and abandonment, Leila finds her on the side of the road and gives her a ride. The pair stay in touch and develop a close friendship. Hazel ends up being proteged to Elite Bellus. She and Killian eventually get married, and she is rumored to be the one person who can bring him to heel in the Regional meetings (sometimes to Bellus's chagrin).

Celestina Drake: Killian Drake's right hand vampire. She enjoys dressing up after the stress of her job. 

Josh Drake: Killian Drake's left hand vampire. Known for being obsessed with death and bladed weapons.

Predominant Harka:  The (purportedly) strongest werewolf in the midwest. She approves Chase to work as Leila's security director, and is generally friendly with Leila, but the pair aren't exceptionally close. Her protege, Greyson, is strong enough that Harka has reacted to his Alpha powers herself.

Elite Bellus:  The wizard representative for the region.

Greyson: Leader of the exceptionally large Northern Lakes Pack.  Currently studying under Harka to become the Predominant.

Phillipa Saber: Werewolf hunter that was adopted and lives with the Northern Lakes Pack. Mate to Greyson.

Chrysanthe: A fae noblewoman who ends up dating Director Chase Washington. She originally hated Leila when Leila was first coronated. When another fae framed her for attempted murder of Queen Leila, she was released when Leila looked into it enough to figure out Chrysanthe was not the culprit. After that, she turns over a new leaf and starts helping Leila. The pair end up becoming much closer, and she is all too happy to kick the other nobles out in a much more brash manner than her prior court personality.

Night mares: The heraldic symbol of the night court. They are both male and female (they aren't all mares actually). When a Night Court ruler dies, the night mares are released to the wild to find the next ruler. Candidates need not be pledged to the night court, just have some level of night court blood. The night mares find and choose Leila. Although two night mares signal candidacy for the throne, if six of them come together and give their "blessing" on a candidate, that person is automatically bound to the Night Court and becomes the next ruler. They inherit the title and all the powers (and responsibilities) immediately. The selected candidate still has customs they need to do (like the marriage) to ensure the health of the court. Because the night mares are court-tied animals, their appearance is reflected by the health of the court. If things are great, they look like silver unicorns with black horns, blue eyes with yellow flecks like galaxies, and black or flaxen hair (and black socks). If things are bad, they look like demonic horses. They can also flash to their demonic form if they dislike someone.

Glooms: Glooms are also night court animals. I tend to think of them like panthers or Persian from the pokemon games myself. Their appearance is reflected by the night court itself: if the court is doing poorly, they have patch sick looking dark colored fur. When the court is healthy, their fur is white with gray and yellow dapples and crescent moons on the tips of their ears. Their eyes are yellow like a full moon.

Shades: Shades are also night court animals I picture wolves. Just like the night mares and glooms, if the court is doing poorly, the shades look poorly and a little ghostly/wispy. If the court is doing well, they look well. Their fur right now is a deep purple blue fur with soft silver stars and moons on their back. They hav esilver tipped tails or paws and their eyes are silver like stars. 

All of the night court animals like Leila (night mares, glooms, shades) and Rigel. They will growl/hiss/etc. anyone who threatens her or the realm.

If you are coming in fandom blind but enjoyed this fic, trust me that you will so love the books. A direct link to the book section of the authors website is https://kmshea.com/book-series/urban-fantasy/. Again, they are on Kindle Unlimited!

PART TWO: CHAPTER RECOMMENDATIONS (And Table of Contents)


Table of Contents:

Day 1:

Ch. 1: Decisions, Decisions.                                             Rigel encounters the ward and decides to enter.

Ch 2: A Letter for the King                                                The Night Court receives notice of an attack on Queen Leila.

Ch 3: You get what you ask for                                        Battle within the ward commences with a terrible result.

Ch 4: When Darkness Falls                                               Leila is attacked in Queen’s Court Café.

Ch. 5: Discovery                                                                  The injury to Leila becomes apparent to her inner circle.

Ch. 6: Karma                                                                       Rigel discovers the attack’s effects on Leila.

Ch. 7: Implications                                                             The inner circle discusses how this affects the Night Court.

Ch.8: Leila                                                                            Rigel and Leila have a heart to heart about where they stand.

Ch. 9: Security                                                                     Initial observations about the attack and offenders.

Ch 10: We’re Off to See the Ward Now                         Rigel investigates the scene for clues.

Ch. 11: The Real Mission Impossible – Dinner             Rigel tries to reconcile as able w/ Leila.

Day 2

Ch. 1: Planning                                                      Rigel and Leila discuss what to do given the day’s obligations

Ch. 2: Not So Hidden In Plain...Smell?             The Midwest Representatives know something is off

Ch. 3: The Curious Case of Killian Drake        Killian digs into the mystery. Because he is nosy.

Ch. 4: The Day Court                                         Rigel visits the Day King to ask for a favor.

Ch. 5: The Paragon                                             Pocket Realms are nothing when love is on the line.

Ch. 6: Coffee                                                       Rigel tries to woo Leila with coffee, and they talk.

Ch. 7: Evening                                                     Rigel mulls over the attack. Leila mulls over the mystery of Rigel.

Day 3

Ch. 1: Breakfast                                                  The pair bond in the morning.

Ch. 2: Updates                                                     Rigel updates Leila and Chase on what he’s found so far.

Ch. 3: The Seven Deadly Sins                           Rigel visits a fae underbelly establishment hoping for leads.

Ch.4: The Autumn Court                                   Fell remains a suspect; Rigel sneaks in for intelligence.

Ch. 5: The First Piece of the Puzzle                 The Autumn Fae’s identity comes through.

Ch. 6: Dion’s Discovery                                     Dion figures out something is up between Leila and Rigel.

Ch.7: Dion’s Home                                            Dion pulls Rigel away for a mental break.

Ch.8: Dinner                                                         Leila and Rigel bond. Mild steamyness in this one.

Day 4

Ch. 1:The Good, the Bad, and the Misty         The Paragon visits Leila to check her. He has bad news.

Ch. 2:The Picture Emerges                                Rigel scours the Autumn Fae’s apartment looking for the backer.

Ch. 3:The Blueberry Festival                            Leila and Rigel attend the Social, despite her ailment.

Ch. 4:The Wrong Kind of Fireworks               The third fae returns.

Ch. 5:Moving Forward                                       Rigel and Leila finish the Social and visit the hospital.

Ch. 6: Delilah                                                       Rigel discovers the full effect of the attack when he finds a prior victim.

Scene recommendations:

If you read nothing else in this fiction, read:

 Day 3, Ch. 6: Dion’s Discovery: Dion pushes Rigel to explain the gap between he and Leila, then literally pushes him to take an afternoon off.

Day 3, Ch. 7:  Dion’s Home: Dion chatters at Rigel while he discusses his woes about Skye’s courtship progress. He gives Rigel some good advice about repairing the rift with Leila.

Day 3, Ch. 8, Dinner: Leila sorts through her memories of Rigel. They meet in their bedrooms before heading down to dinner and for a lovely walk in the garden.

  If you are looking for Sappy Rigel/Leila Scenes:

Day 1, Ch 8, Leila: Leila and Rigel talk in private about the effects of the attack and how it affects them. They come to a softer understanding of what their expectations for each other are.

Day 1, Ch. 11, The Real Mission Impossible – Dinner:  Rigel comes back after investigating and tries to reconnect with Leila. When she is tense, he helps her relax with a good lesson on how to kick Fell in the butt.

Day 2, Ch. 2, Not So Hidden in Plain…Smell?: Rigel and Leila share a few moments of husband/wifeness as they prepare for cloister meetings.

Day 2: Ch. 6, Coffee: Rigel starts the chapter in the coffee shop with Rhonda and Landon, but ends with Leila as he helps illuminate some of their history for her.

Day 3, Ch. 1, Breakfast: With dinner being skipped the night before, Rigel waits to make sure he has breakfast with Leila. They share a conversation between their rooms.

Day 3, Ch 2, Updates: Rigel updates Leila and Chase on his investigation, and the pair chat again before departing.

Day 3, Ch. 8, Dinner: Leila sorts through her memories of Rigel. They meet in their bedrooms before heading down to dinner and for a lovely walk in the garden.

Day 4, Ch. 3, The Blueberry Festival: The Night Court Social arrives. Rigel and Leila wander the event together.

Day 4, Ch. 4, The Wrong Kind of Fireworks: The third attacker returns. Rigel aims to protect Leila, but his method concerns her.

Day 4, Ch. 5, Moving Forward:  Rigel and Leila reconnect after the fight to address the Night Court

Day 4, Ch. 6, Delilah: The pair judge the flower and topiary contests and move to the hospital for Leila’s tax write off donations.

If you are looking for Funny Scenes:

Day 2, Ch. 2: Not So Hidden in Plain…Smell?: Killian and PreDominant Harka quiz Leila on why she doesn’t smell like the Night King today. Poor Bellus is dragged along for the ride.

Day 2, Ch. 3: The Curious Case of Killian Drake. Killian needles Rigel about questions raised during the Summit Prep meeting. Hazel orders the Drake vampires around. Greyson loses a phone.

Day 2, Ch. 5: The Paragon: The start and end of Rigel’s uninvited arrival to the Paragon’s pocket realm are littered with humor.

Day 2, Ch. 6: Coffee. Landon gets a few quips in when Rigel pops in for coffee. Rhonda has her own suspicions about what’s going on between Rigel and Leila.

Day 2, Ch. 7: Evening: Rigel is challenged to a race by the glooms. Leila observes from her office, while Indigo makes some very interesting observations about the Night King.

Day 3, Ch. 6: Dion’s Discovery: Dion pushes Rigel to explain the gap between he and Leila, then literally pushes him to take an afternoon off.

Day 3, Ch. 7:  Dion’s Home: Dion chatters at Rigel while he discusses his woes about Skye’s courtship progress. He gives Rigel some good advice about repairing the rift with Leila.

If you are looking for Action Scenes:

Day 1, Ch 3: You get what you ask for. Initial attack against Rigel.

Day 1, Ch 4: When Darkness Falls. Initial attack against Leila.

Day 1, Ch. 5: the Wrong Kind of Fireworks. Final attack by the third fae.

If you are looking for Rigel/Fell Scenes:

Day 2, Ch. 7, Evening: No direct confrontation, but Rigel puzzles over Fell’s possible invovlement in the attack.

Day 3, Ch. 5, The Autumn Court: Rigel sneaks into Fell’s court to observe him for possible connection to the attacks.

Day 3, Ch. 5, The First Piece of the Puzzle: Rigel confronts Fell about the Autumn Fae and warns him off of Leila.

If you are looking for Leila/Indigo/Skye Scenes:

 Day 1, Ch. 7, Implications:  The Inner Circle discusses the results of the attack.

Day 2, 7: Evening: Skye and Rigel have a brief discussion. Indigo, Skye, and Leila talk more directly in the privacy of Leila’s office.

If you are looking for Rigel/Dion Scenes:

Day 3, Ch. 6: Dion’s Discovery: Dion pushes Rigel to explain the gap between he and Leila, then literally pushes him to take an afternoon off.

Day 3, Ch. 7:  Dion’s Home: Dion chatters at Rigel while he discusses his woes about Skye’s courtship progress. He gives Rigel some good advice about repairing the rift with Leila.

If you are looking for Magiford Cameo Scenes:

Day 2, Ch. 2: Not So Hidden in Plain…Smell?: Killian and PreDominant Harka quiz Leila on why she doesn’t smell like the Night King today. Poor Bellus is dragged along for the ride.

Day 2, Ch. 3: The Curious Case of Killian Drake. Killian needles Rigel about questions raised during the Summit Prep meeting. Hazel orders the Drake vampires around. Greyson loses a phone.

Day 3, Ch. 3, The Seven Deadly Sins: Josh and Rigel go to a shop that serves Magiford’s criminal world. Josh cameos at the start and end of the chapter.

  If you are looking for Exposition/Investigative Development scenes:

Day 1, Ch. 1, Decisions Decisions: Details the current status of the Night Court and its standing in Magiford.

Day 1, Ch. 2,  A Letter for the King: Details how Rigel got the letter. More data about the Night Court and its status, as well as Leila and Rigel’s starting relationship before things go awary.

Day 1, Ch. 7, Implications: Leila and Rigel discuss where they’ve come from and what they plan to do now.

Day 1, Ch. 8, Leila: Rigel and Leila come to a softer understanding of their expectations for each other.

Day 2, Ch. 5, The Paragon: The Paragon helps Rigel learn more about the odd mist encountered in the attack.

Day 3, Ch. 3, The Seven Deadly Sins: Rigel learns about the third fae and gleans some info about the contract.

Day 3, Ch. 5, The First Piece of the Puzzle: Rigel confirms whether or not Fell was involved in the attack.

Day 4, Ch. 1, The Good, The Bad, and the Misty: The Paragon arrives to evaluate Leila and updates her on what is going on inside her after the attack.

Day 4, Ch. 2: The Picture Emerges: Rigel examines the Autumn Fae’s apartment and identifies why the Fae may have accepted a contract to attack them.

Day 4, Ch. 6: Delilah: Rigel learns the full potential of Leila’s ailment when he finds a prior victim.

PART THREE: CHOICES.

Styled as FAQ’s that aren’t actually  FAQ’s because they 1. aren’t yet F and 2. may never be A’d, but I have opted to phrase them as a Q because it’s easier.

OTP/QOP. Question: Where is the punching Fell Scene?

I KNOW, RIGHT? I have it, I swear. It got moved to Part 2. Part 1 kind of grew into its own beast and it comes after the Summit Ball. Sorry it got pushed, but it’ll be here probably next Month, or March. This part ended up with a stay-away-from-my-wife scene. Nurse your wounded heart with that for now.

Where are all my European Fae?

ALSO I KNOW. AH You see from the first chapter how excited I was to get into the European stuff, right? BUT THEN THIS IS 100K WORDS ON ITS OWN. And I really didn’t want to cut anything because I wanted everyone to navigate through the possibilities of what could be going on. Don’t worry, Part 2 is all about the Night Court and the European fae/Summit. They have a few scenes with the other supernaturals but it’s fae-based. You will be sick of fae, there is so much fae.

Why does Rigel talk so much (or alternatively, so little)?

Rigel is a quiet character generally who uses his scary reputation and exterior to ward everyone off. I view him as a very introverted character who is much more willing to listen than lead a conversation if he has a choice. However, he does talk:

1. If he has a point. If he has a question he wants answered, or something he needs someone to do, he does ask questions or tell them to do something.
2. To Dion. He references Dion as his only friend and they seem to make a point to attend the socials together, to the extent they are together at every single one before he is Consort. Dion also comes to look for Rigel after the wedding. He also clues him in on his thought processes, even if it’s not super verbose.
3. To Leila. From the start of the series, he pushes her buttons because he thinks she’s funny when she squawks and he’s trying to figure out her train of thought. Then he talks to her because they start to become friends. Finally we see him talk to her more naturally as they open up to each other and become close.
4. To Chase, to a degree. Rigel tells us in book 3 that he learned every aspect of Leila’s security after accepting the Consort position, and he and Chase walk together fairly naturally upon his return.

This FF is set one year after he has managed to get more comfortable with everyone. I think he’d be a little more familiar with Chase and Linus by then. The staff are probably less jumpy around him but not wholly forgetful of his past. Indigo and Skye are braver than they were before; Eventide and Azure still have trouble. The fae nobles only push their luck so far.

Everyone else, if he talks to them, it’s because he has a point or Leila likes them and he doesn’t want Leila to be mad at him for being rude to her friends. He’s still quiet though.

You seem so funny on the Discord. Where is the funny?

First, thank you.

Second, although this is written from third person POV, most of the scenes still follow Rigel specifically. Rigel only jokes so much. He gets a few zingers in here or there but because he’s so focused on figuring this out now, and since he’s not with Leila nearly as much as he usually would be, he has a few less humorous lines. Since he’s also a loner introvert, it was a little more difficult to pair him with the people who could step in and be humorous in place of him. Hopefully you enjoy the parts that are there.

You added stuff to the Fae Emperor role.

Yeah, a bit. CoMaD tells us that the emperor (or empress) get their power from the other courts, not necessarily from being a full fae or being independently powerful/strong themselves. We also learn that they are in charge of their continent and the last one died about 50 years ago.  BUT this is the ruling monarch (we know the Paragon insists he is a representative, NOT a ruler). So I threw in a few standard monarch powers to explain why it's a big deal. It's a logical leap, but I think it makes sense. When Leila remarks on how she has her court under control but only that, Rigel also tells her "two or three decades" is plausible for her to "sway the world." He's teasing her a bit, but still. It's a big deal.

Fae Portals to Private Realms?

Yeah! So when I read the HoBaM and CoMaD books, I remember reading that people used the portals in the Cloisters to get to the fae realm generally, but that fae nobles might be able to afford personal wards of their own (they’re just super expensive). We know the Landed courts have their own realms and they provide the ward support for those (Leila’s whole series battles against their collapse). There is no mention of collecting fees from nobles for it even though we hear about taxes and debts.

Therefore, I extrapolate that fae CAN push back the wards to uncover additional territory, it is just very expensive and difficult. That land would be theirs (the noble paying for the wards), though I presume their sovereigns could demand taxes, etc. from them on it if they chose to. I took the term "lords" to be similar to feudal lords...so tenants.

If you have private realms, you need a private gate to access it. You also need to limit how other people access your gates for security (otherwise people could just pop into your house), but you also need to let your tenants in (or other fae visitors, and the fact that we have court portals at all says our average fae can't just make one willy nilly). Leila also asks if she needs a password for the Night Court’s mansion gate, and the Paragon tells her as Queen it will recognize her. That tells me the gates would likely usually need some direction (say from a visitor or lower fae), but because Leila is in charge, it bends to her whim.

Re creation of temporary gates to the fae realm (or private realms) and why they are or are not in this story, Consort Ira in HoBaM likely opened up gates to the fae realm when he was tracking Killian and Hazel at one point, and someone asks to “open a gate to the fae realm” at the end of the Cloister fight in HoBaM book 3. That gave me the idea that the monarchs likely can open gates, but it could also have been something specific to Ira (we don't see it any other times in the book). Presumably Rigel, as King now, can access any Night Court portal he chooses, just like Leila can (bending to her whim, highest fae of their court). I didn’t extend him the power to create a gate at will because we’ve never seen him use it otherwise. Also, since neither Rigel nor Leila really need a gate aside from the convenient one they already have behind the mansion or the ones the night mares can create if they are riding (which we can presume Ira/Nyte did not have since the court was in such bad shape and the Paragon had to hunt them down to select the next monarch), I presume they haven’t tried to make any temporary portals. Lack of practice means lack of skill. Between that and the ease of just driving, they just do that.

Magic Sensitivity: Why do only some people notice the “stain”?

So in HoBaM, Hazel comments that magic sensitivity is not a trained skill, but a sensitivity. Hazel observes wizard magic as tangy, and fae magic as floral. Leila remarks that fae magic feels like slightly sticky cobwebs, wizard magic is a bit more tingling, and dragon shifter magic is like a sauna.  They make comments that the shadowy creatures they face feel old, arcane, etc. a few times as well (my guess is this is the elven item/elf magic component they are sensing, they just don’t know elves are involved).

That sense can extend to magical objects as well as actual spells, whether or not the spell is completed. Hazel is able to sense Consort Ira preparing spells before they are completed, and senses the wards and traps at TuTu’s.  Rigel senses the statue anchoring the death ward when he goes to meet with the unseelie. The night mares stomp out another dangerous artifact during his absence.

Combine that with Rigel’s dedication to Leila’s safety and probable knowledge that someone tried to spell her food to kill her (CoMaD book 1), as well as her constant paranoia that someone will do so again at fae events (refusing to eat at events in CoMaD Book 2). Now that they are buddies, I can’t see him not trying to hone in on whatever sense he has to keep her safe. I don’t think he can really improve it overmuch (you can only train your eyes so well, right?) but if he works to exclude distractions so he can pick up on things he would otherwise miss, that seems reasonable.

That would also make it more like a sense of smell than a spell. He wouldn’t need an artifact to do it. We know he scans Leila already for tension, and checks her pulse to see if she’s doing okay when she casually gives him her hand at one point. To me it seemed like something he would do, and once he knew something was going on, he would check on her repeatedly.

Because the ~forgetfulnes~ is still active, I figure anyone who touches her will be able to notice if they are a) sensitive enough (bit easier on Leila due to how extensive it is, less so on Rigel's) or b) hold on long enough to “taste” it. This is why Hazel figures it out when she hugs her but Killian and Harka (who can’t sense magic) and Bellus and other fae (who never touch her) do not.

Since her own ward is helping to contain it, it’s probably also dampened a bit so ambient sensing is a no go. Finally, fae glamours and enchanted items are definitely a thing in this world, so I figure any little magic leaking out of Leila isn’t going to make people go wild. She's not cruel and vindictive so no one would have cause for alarm if they felt a trickle of her magic releasing. 

I have a beef. Killian would not think he’s friends with Rigel.

No, he wouldn’t. Also, he doesn’t. He’s just using the line to try to get information from Rigel. He’s Killian. He also obviously doesn’t expect to get anything critical or sensitive in nature since he’s asking in an open hallway in full sight and earshot of whoever happens to be at the Cloisters. If Killian was really serious and thought something was wrong, he’d demand they see him in his office, whether or not they came kicking and screaming, and interrogate them there to the best of his ability, or send one of his vampires off to make inquiries with the fae contacts he has. In that scene, he’s poking them for fun.

He’s Killian.

Re friendship generally though, I do think Killian would make more of an effort to be at least civil to Rigel because Hazel is good friends with Leila (as is, to an extent, Killian). He wouldn’t bend over backwards for him, and I don’t think he’d be hurt or try hard when Rigel refuses, of course. I see it as a case of two wives pulling their recalcitrant husbands by the ears to get them together, and they’re resisting just shy of getting yelled at by their respective spouses.

Ironically I think the Paragon is a real friend of Killians, even though Killian treats him horribly. Rigel doesn’t wail at the top of his lungs when Killian isn’t giving him attention though so he doesn’t get the same treatment.

Why did you make a front shop?

I wanted to give Rigel a way to come into information that was still partially incomplete.  I debated back and forth whether he would be familiar with it and ultimately decided no. He was too good and too well known, he wouldn’t have needed one. But then why isn’t he just passively aware of where to go?

If it’s warded from being discovered, that would do it. How to lead him there? I gave him a golden ticket.

I am toying with the idea of making a HoBaM fiction in the future. It’s a nice jumping off point if I do.

Oh! Also, “The Death of Conversation” is a photo compilation that highlights people being on their cell phones instead of talking to each other. That’s what Josh is referencing by the “technological” comment, if you didn’t know before.

Why did you pick a schooling background for Rigel/Dion?

They had to meet and get close somehow. With how little Rigel speaks, Dion has probably known Rigel for quite a while if he’s willing to stick with him through the whole silent assassin chapter of his life, and still be so genial with him at the functions.

From the little we have in the text, “Our father molded [Rigel’s brother] to be power hungry and conniving—to be a tool to earn more influence for the family [and court life].… our parents had forged me into a weapon of death and destruction.” I’m also betting Rigel’s life at home was rather awful.

So I toyed with the idea of this one. Really rich families with enough money to own their own wards could simply send for tutors for their children, BUT if they did that, they would have less opportunity to show up other families through their children. I got the idea that maybe there was a private fae academy for the nobles children (horridly expensive of course to prove you are worth attendance). That would allow them to mingle with the others, forge useful alliances, get intelligence on other families, and compete through their children.

If Rigel is being trained to be deadly, I would see his father pushing him to be on lethality training sports teams, like fencing, skeet shooting, etc. Dion would probably also want to show off his own prowess, so I could see him joining some of the clubs with Rigel, as well as the debate team.

In my head I see their relationship as older than that. I think Dion “adopted” Rigel when they were in the equivalent of elementary school, probably because Rigel ignored him when Dion was trying to show something off. Dion wanted to impress Rigel and by trying to show off to him, started insistently hanging around him more and more (kind of Paragon/Killian as children?). Rigel would ignore him but eventually came to enjoy Dion’s prattle. I think he’d keep the other kids from messing with Dion.

But that wouldn’t be enough for Rigel’s dad  to let them hang out otherwise. If Dion’s family ran an important fae construct though, like banking or investments, that might be the final push needed to justify heading over sometimes to build an alliance. And Rigel would get a break from his hellish training.

With that head canon background, I thought Dion could be a little pushy he in the office when it was just he and Rigel. Dion would never do that in front of other people.

Where was the sniper’s spotter?

Listen. It’s a fantasy story. Give me a break. Do you need to know the caliber of the rifle too?

That’s not how accounting works.

You can go play with the sniper’s spotter. You’ll make great friends.

Why did Leila panic over Rigel during the last attack?

Regular Leila had months to hear about how deadly Rigel is, see people be scared of him, and witness him in actual combat. They also faced magical foes or close up foes, his specialty. Current Leila has no memory of that. She saw her hubby, who she is finally connecting with, taking a knife to a gun fight. (He doesn't draw his own until he's lead the other Leila away so she isn't tracking he has one, but even then, it's just a pistol).

She’s also very tired and stressed at this point and she couldn’t do much to help without risking him further. Do you want to stand there and do nothing and watch people run off to possibly die for you?

NO CHRYSANTHE?

SORRY! She didn't fit into this one. She gets screen time in part 2 with the European fae, I promise. Maybe I will make some shorts of her hanging out with Chase's family.

WHY SO LITTLE GREYSON? Also why is he a lil awkward?

Greyson didn’t really fit into the story much. He gets a brief cameo because of the way I split up the monarchs to handle the Summit organization business. I’ll be honest, I’ve bonded to his character less than the others so aside from teasing him, I don’t have many plans for him.

Here I figure Harka would ping him to see what details he could get or help with, and to the extent he has gotten help from Leila, he’d be willing to give it a go. I just don’t see Rigel trying at all with Greyson, which would make any attempted heart to heart a little awkward. Greyson’s good people, so I don’t think he would taunt Rigel like Killian does. He gives him his minimal tip and leaves them alone.

WHAT IS the ~forgetfulness~?!

You find out the rest of the details in Part 2 – coming End of Feb/Mar 2023. There is a reason it worked out the way it did. It’s not random and I have a method. Roll with me on this.

Why a memory trope?

Yeah, I know. But here’s how I got there.

I loved the books. I loved watching Leila slowly but surely draw Rigel out, and his personal growth of opening up to see that yes, it is possible for someone to legitimately love him. It took him 3 books to get there, and our boy was crushing hard before he realized it himself.

But because of that, we really don’t get any moments of Rigel deliberately courting Leila. He responds to some of her antics and goes to Court events, but aside from his stabbing and killing trips, and his wing reveal, we don’t see much active romance from him. Rigel’s love is shown in all the little things he does with Leila, just by simply being there and looking out for her while following her lead.

And honestly? That’s what Leila needs. She’s the aggressive, driven, I-will-conquer-this-obstacle force of nature. She comes up with a plan and pushes ahead, and things are great until they aren’t. In those moments, she needs that quiet support to fall back on. And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that he can really help dissuade people from killing her or wasting her time.

BUT that doesn’t mean I don’t WANT to see Rigel try! IT’S RIGEL! Mr. Sexy Faebae Assassin! Who WOULDN’T want to see him actually try?

By end of book 3, Rigel figured out 1) he loves Leila and 2) he loves Leila. He supports her and talks with her when she wants to run through options about the court, and he’s proactive about her safety (exs: he actively finds the leather doublet for her before the hunt, tells her to go to her room to change now after the spider attack, learns the security system, likes falling asleep beside her, doesn’t want to let her go and elects to sit with her, etc.).  He has a strong sense of responsibility. When he realizes he made Leila cry it got to him. Later, he felt physically compelled to see her when he heard her crying in her room over the wards. He’s too dedicated to hurt her purposefully, he’s on alert to not hurt her accidentally.

Even if he did, Leila has a good head on her shoulders, and it took her AAAAGGEEESSSS to break through to Rigel. She knows he has a lot of emotional baggage that he’s got to sort through when it comes to trust, love, and relationships. Basically, I can’t see Leila dropping Rigel unless it’s something absolutely huge, and I can’t see him doing something that huge.

So if I can't make an event/action that will push the characters into the situation, I have to fiddle with the characters. I don't want to just use a "make them angry" spell, so I was like well...there are some evidences of things that can affect someone's mentality. Let's do that. Then it was all about making it work in a way that was plausible given the rules of the universe…which I do resolve in Part 2, though I’ve laid some of the groundwork here in Part 1.

And it worked out well. If we pull Rigel’s love of Leila, we’re back to square one with him, and his untrusting butt may well skip out too early to reach him. I didn’t want to just do COMAD remix or a hunting-Rigel-down fic.

If we pull Leila’s love of Rigel, well. We have something we can actually work with. But emotions alone won’t do it, she’d still remember everything. She's logical, she'd probably stay with him out of the principle that she’s mad someone is messing with her. But if she can’t remember any of it? Now we’re back to I don’t want to get married Leila.

Rigel’s going to have to work for it, because he’s certainly not walking away from her. Leila’s going to struggle with it but she’s a lot more flexible and open, even if it takes her a bit of time to get the mental reorientation down. Thus, the fiction!

Side note that I can see Rigel doing small acts of love, like taking her on a ride just the 2 of them. Hint.

How do you rank the Magiford Trilogy Series?

I think it's great fun. My favorite is Court of Midnight and Deception (if you couldn't tell). After that, Hall of Blood and Mercy, then the ongoing Gate of Myth and Power (ELVES!), then the Pack of Dawn and Destiny. The werewolf books are fine they just are my least favorite.

…And I think I’ll leave this here for now! If anyone has additional questions feel free to post them in the comments. I’d also love to hear if there are any parts people really enjoyed.