{Collab with TemplarKnight07}


Arys looked up as the doors opened. She nodded to the Ogre. [color=6ecff6]"Go," [/color]she said, not bothering with more than the simple command. She had better things to do than waste words on the ugly beast.

Her face composed into a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. They never did anymore. [color=6ecff6]"My Winter Knight. It has been years, hasn't it?"[/color] Walking towards him, she let her eyes trail up and down his frame noting every bruise, every scar, every mark, every sign of his torture. She had to stifle the smile. Her dungeons were not a place many survived.

"Many years, your grace. Though I must confess I lost track of time eventually. Whether it was forty years or over four hundred, I cannot say."

Dagon held his gaze under her scrutiny, his breathing steady, and despite the cold temperatures, no mist came from his nostrils, as a Winterborn he was as cold as Winter itself. Good thing too, considering that it removed some of the tell-tale capacities of giving away one's emotions, such as nervousness. And although his heart could no longer react the same way as a human's could to nervousness, he still felt that sensation. 

[color=6ecff6]"I have decided to forgive you Dagon,"[/color] she said, placing a hand on his arm lightly. He felt as cold as she always was.[color=6ecff6] "You served me well before. I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself and earn your place at my side once again. No other has taken it,"[/color] she added in a demure voice, giving him the full benefit of her soft glowing blue eyes.
Turning away she walked towards the sword suspended in ice, running a hand along the frozen surface. [color=6ecff6]"Some things have happened,"[/color] she said. [color=6ecff6]"Things that made me realize how much I need someone such as you by my side. Even though you failed me before, I know I can trust you to help me now in my hour of greatest need."[/color]
Taking a breath, she began. [color=6ecff6]"The pain from Feroas breaking my heart was too much for me to bear. So I invoked ancient magic and froze my heart. I cannot feel as I used to. It was the best way to protect myself. But now I am in danger,"[/color] she looked at Dagon with an emotion he had likely never seen in her before : Fear.
[color=6ecff6]"Lord Falk, the Ruler of the Fall Realm, has asked for my hand in marriage. I gave him a task to complete before I would consent. He must reverse the spell and unfreeze my heart."[/color]

Arys waved her hand gracefully until the sword lay in a mound of soft powdery snow.[color=6ecff6] "I ask you, Dagon, Knight of the Winter Realm, to take up your sword and defend me should this come to pass. I... I fear what will happen once I can feel again."
[/color]
Just her admitting such a thing, in an almost whispered tone, was astounding. She did not fear Falk, per say. No. She feared feeling. It was so easy now, disregarding everything and everyone. Nothing or no one could ever hurt her.
But once she could feel again, all of the pain and anguish from Feroas' betrayel would return in full force. How was she to survive such a thing?

Dagon was astounded and speechless for a moment, not only by the fact that his Queen was releasing him and returning him to his station, but because he couldn't believe all that transpired in his absence. His Queen, proposed to by Falk? Sure, the Fall King was perhaps the most likely candidate of the Seasonal Monarchs, barring a member of the Winter Court itself, and he was an Unseelie by definition, but even so, the King had made a name for himself for being a particularly devious trickster and schemer as much as a ruthless and iron-willed fae, he obviously had a game he was playing, and marriage of this sort was always a political game in Faerie, but what was his aim?

Whatever it was, it made no difference to Dagon, whether it was the Fall King, or even the Summer King himself he would stand by Arys. He nodded slightly and looked over at the accursed sword that had cost him so many years because of his weak will. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Though he was also curious as to whether or not Sioc had been through suffering of equal magnitude in his absence? Perhaps now the two of them would finally have something in common besides both being bound to the Winter Court. He looked back over at Arys, smiling slightly.

"You ask me to challenge and duel the Fall King, should he succeed in obtaining whatever means he seeks to complete his task? My Queen  puts forth tasks of truly Arthurian calibre to both her Knight and her Suitor. None have bested the Fall King, nor has there been a King of the Fall Court other than Falk in living memory. I am to wonder even if I am a capable match for him with Sioc alone. For what is a Winterborn Knight, even one wielding an ancient and powerful Unseelie sword, against one perhaps even more ancient and powerful than you, your grace?"

Nonetheless, Dagon stepped forward and kneeled before Arys. Reaching over, he picked up Sioc out of the snow and felt the sword's spirit stirring lazily and sluggishly, its power radiating sleepily from the black and icily silver blade. Nothing like it had been before so long ago, not even thoughts were fully formed yet. Looks like Sioc had been frozen along with the blade itself and was only just waking up. He lay the hilt flat on his right hand, and laid the flat of the blade on his left hand and presented the blade before Arys as he looked up to speak again. His eyes determined despite his earlier comments.

"But if this is your wish, then like Lord Falk it shall be my task to accomplish the impossible, my Queen. Or die trying. Such is my duty. I am yours to command."