Chapter Text
Magnus could still remember that night vividly.
The dimmed candlelight, the cloying scent of heavy perfume that hung in the heat of too many bodies in a single room, wide painted smiles and whispers behind fans. He even remembered what he’d been wearing that night, how he’d complained to anyone who would listen that his new silk brocade jacket hadn’t come in and he’d had to settle for the burgundy velvet. The compliments on his attire had only marginally mitigated his displeasure. The clinking of glasses, the rich taste of brandy on his tongue and the burn of it going down his throat. The coy smile of the gentleman next to him, Magnus had forgotten the man’s name but remembered the fetching curl to his hair, who whispered indecent things in his ear. All of it was preserved in his memory, like a diorama under glass. A perfect memory of a Magnus Bane party.
Anyone who was anyone attended a Magnus Bane party. Unless you were of the type that saw yourself as above the simple pleasures of the flesh, and even then, you probably still attended. The rich, the famous, the royalty, indulged to their heart’s content. They drank wine and gossiped, found someone to pull upstairs to one of the many rooms of the large manor, danced, gambled, made political allies, made political enemies, any sort of entertainment could be found at one of the extravagant parties. No one knew for sure how or why they had started, only that they needed to be there.
Magnus Bane himself was something of an enigma. Everyone was sure he must have a title, with his large house and importance in society, yet no one could tell anyone for sure what it was. It was quite obvious that their host was a magic user, no one could miss the glowing blue sparks on his fingertips, but no one seemed to care. Even if some of them spoke about the dangers of magic outside of the parties, no one dared breath a word of protest inside. That was another thing, no one knew for sure just how old their host really was, his young face didn’t betray any of his years. Some of the party goers had been coming here for years, and while their faces grew lines, his did not. The only thing anyone seemed to know for sure about the over the top host, was that he loved pleasure in excess. Women, men, drink, game, fashion, Magnus Bane indulged in everything. He never had the same lover twice, but anyone who had the pleasure swore it had been the best night of their life.
That night, Magnus had just turned to the man beside him, thumb lingering along an elegant cheekbone when there had been a knock on the door. The hush that had slowly swept through the room was like fog slowly rolling over the moors, until you heard every rustle of fabric or slosh of liquid in a cup. It was late enough in the evening that every guest had arrived, it was unheard of to come to a party so late. While Magnus was a fan of dramatic entrances, and had made quite a few of them himself, being hours late was tacky, and he’d been known to turn people away at the door. No one had ever said that he was a kind man, he was a charming man, and didn’t fall under the category of cruel, but he also never seemed terribly interested in anyone beyond his conquests. Every eye turned to him as another knock sounded on the heavy wooden doors.
With a heavy, dramatic sigh, Magnus dropped his hand from the face of what might have been his latest paramour and straightened his waistcoat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw several ladies hide their smiles behind their fans, clearly anticipating something theatrical in nature. Magnus was never one to disappoint. Sweeping across the room with his coat tails fanning behind him, Magnus Bane paused in front of the large ornate doors for only a second before pulling them open. Anticipating a late party guest dressed to the nines, he was brought up short by the woman dressed in rags standing on his doorstep.
She was frail looking, weathered hands gripping what was probably once a bag but now looked like nothing more than a lump of tattered cloth. It was a cold night, and her body looked like it might at any moment be blown away with a strong gust of wind. Skin sagged over bones, pale in the places where the chill hadn’t brushed it red. Her eyes were the only thing about her that didn’t seem feeble, they stared up at Magnus with determination.
“Can I help you?” The words were tersely spoken, as the young man draped himself on the open door, a picture of decadence. He was irritated at being interrupted, and perhaps even a little irate at not being able to dramatically scold a late party guest. This woman was certainly not an intended guest, not dressed like she was. No one would show up to one of his parties dressed in rags, that was just insulting.
“Sir, might I take shelter in your home for the night? I’ve been walking all day and my weary bones won’t make it much longer” Even her quivering voice spoke to her frailty.
“I’m afraid tonight is a bad night, all the rooms in the house are occupied” Magnus wasn’t entirely sure if that was true, but surely most of them would be filled by his party guests by the time that the night was over.
“Surely you have just one room for an old woman such as me? Anything will do, the servants quarters perhaps?” Her fingers curled around her bag as she spoke, clutching so that her knuckles turned white.
“I’m sorry, there’s no room for you here. I’m in the middle of a large gathering and this isn’t a hotel” Magnus’ voice grew firmer, angling his body a bit more so that his guests wouldn’t be able to see the woman from inside. He threw a charming grin over his shoulder toward the crowd to reassure them, catching sight of the fetching young man from earlier and sending him a wink. The sooner this was over, the sooner he could get back to the party.
“Nothing at all?” The woman’s eyes bore into him as she stared up at him, a breeze blew by that picked up her long ratty grey hair and blew it across her face.
“For the last time, there’s no room for you here. You’ve interrupted my night and I don’t care for my guests to see you” Magnus let his gaze roll over her tattered garments to emphasize exactly why that would be a problem, “Begone, or I’ll have you escorted off the premises.”
Taking a step back, Magnus’ ring covered fingers gripped the edge of the door with the intent to shut it on his unwelcome guest. That was, until another hand shot forward, halting the large door from closing completely. Harsh words were at the tip of his tongue, eyes narrowing in on the old woman’s hand where it was pressed to the door and preventing him from returning to his evening. Only, it was no longer an old woman’s hand. The fingers pressed to his door were slim and elegant, a young woman’s hand, with delicately inked vines that crawled from the tips of her fingers to her wrists. Magnus followed those vines up her arm to find a woman no longer dressed in rags. Indeed, the woman in front of him was beautiful and youthful. Long red hair spilled over her shoulders, and her figure was wrapped in an elegant green dress that seemed to shimmer even in the dull light spilling from inside the manor. The eyes were the only thing that felt familiar to the old woman Magnus had seen only moments ago, still burning brightly as they looked up at him. He should have recognized them. The Seelie Queen.
“Magnus Bane, the high warlock. You have shown your true nature this night. Long had I heard the whispers of your nature, your pleasures, your indecencies. You care for no one but yourself. Drifting through this life from one thing to the next. There is power in you, but what good is power if you only use it selfishly? Tonight shall be the beginning of your punishment” Her voice carried, authority ringing in every note. She was ethereal, standing tall and proud in the doorstep.
“What do you mean?” Magnus asked, and flinched when his voice echoed. The space behind him was no longer filled with guests. Instead the darkened halls behind him loomed with their emptiness, closing in on Magnus where he still stood in the doorway.
“This manor, in which you hosted parties to proclaim your greatness will now be your prison. It will be but a happy dream to those you once entertained, a place they remember in vague memories and won’t be able to find again. Your magic, which you used so frivolously, will be that of a child still learning” The Seelie Queen’s eyes bore into his as she made her proclamation. A shiver ran down his spine, and even though he was perhaps a foot taller than the queen he suddenly felt so small. He didn’t want to believe that she could do something like this.
“I’m just to rot inside my own house? For not letting an old woman inside my home, that seems excessive” He pushed for irritation, not wanting to belay just how scared he really was. This was all he had for himself, his parties, his magic, the glamour of both, and here she was threatening to take away both of them.
“There is a way out. Though I am not sure if it is even possible for you. To be free of this curse, you must love another romantically, and be loved in return. To care for another being enough that you are able to see beyond your own selfishness.” In that moment, the Seelie Queen was gone, vanished into thin air, as if she had never been there in the first place. Yet the dark echoes of the space behind Magnus spoke to her presence, of the impact she had in the short amount of time that she had been here.
The door closed too loudly in the empty space. Magnus’ back pressed into the carved wood as he slid down to the floor. His ringed fingers clasped around his knees as he took short labored breaths. Looming loneliness closed in around him, as the wind howled outside.
No, it was not a night that one forgot so easily.