the hedglings go to get schooled by the winter queen

The car pulls up outside said house. Everyone is walked up to the front door where Leto looks at Lyla. "Should you knock or....?"

Scalpel waits next to Scratch and waits patiently.

lyla smiles at leto, then knocks on the door, her metallic knuckles making a surprisingly solid sound.

a few moments later the door is opened by a striking woman who, despite her young appearance has an almost motherly aura about her (http://cedarboundwhispers.wikia.com/wiki/Dahl]http://cedarboundwhispers.wikia.com/wiki/Dahl). slowly there is the creeping feeling of sorrow, when was the last time you were held by your own mother? no matter what your actual mother was like, you feel a sense of nostalgia and longing for that idealic sense of warm comfort.

"oh hello ^^ why don't you all come in?" she opens the door wider so that everyone can enter and leads the party into a small but comfortable living room. there is a tea pot and enough cups for everyone, along with honey and milk, on the coffee table. there is also a tray of small sandwiches and sweets.
"go ahead and make yourselves comfortable, help yourselves." she motions to the chairs and the coffee table." she sits down gracefully in a large, high backed arm chair, a pleasant smile on her face.

Scalpel doesn't feel any sort of warm comfort, he only feels the cold, sorrowful sense of loss. He puts on a bright, though utterly fake smile and bows before the queen. "Your majesty, it is a pleasure to meet a monarch who exemplifies the frigid sorrow of winter. Perhaps I should check my temperature to make sure I'm not suffering from hypothermia due to your icy radiance," he chuckled with false mirth as he sat down (( lots of subterfuge like crazy)) "I am a simple doctor who goes by the name of Scalpel, M.D., how may I be of service?"

she chuckles. "well aren't you charming," there is a slightly cold tone to her voice now.

"this meeting is not for how you can be of service to me. you both have just returned from arcadia, as lyla tells me. i'm sure you have a lot of questions. i am here to answer those questions, along with my husband if he decides to join us." she looks over her shoulder briefly.

Scalpel took a little sandwich and nibbled it. that one sandwich turned to two, then three, then four. Scalpel was hungrier than he thought as he finished off a fifth sandwich. " Apologies.. it's just been so long since I've had a meal..." he said as he poured himself a drink. " But questions! What is the date milady?"

Jack took one of the sandwiches and ate in silence.He was trying to ignore the feelings that were coming off the Winter Queen.He already had enough problems as it was,trying to remember his family was not something he wanted to think about.He finally decided to say something when the Winter Queen asked if they had any questions.

"What was that hell hole we escaped from?And how many are there like that?I had thought my little slice of it was the only one but apparently there were others..."He trailed off when he looked over to Lyra then quickly adds "I,uh,would very much like to know anything else you could tell me,err,us.It would be much appreciated,um,Ma'am."

"There's no need to apologize. Eat as much as you need, both of you. The date is February 10th, 2013."

She adjusts her sitting position a little, drawing her legs up to curl around her in the chair and smoothing her long skirts over them. Even these small motions seem to be done with a great amount of care.

"That place you escaped from is known as Arcadia. I do not know how large it is, one could assume it has an infinite number of locations, but that is not for me to say one way or the other. What I do know is that it seems a fairly rare occurrence to find multiple changelings in the same Freehold who have come from the same Durance, though we do have a few here." She pauses for a moment to see if either of them have any questions or comments.

Scalpel ate another sandwich and mulled that over before something clicked "wait.. that means I've been gone 19 years..." he whispered as he looked up "What city is this?"

"Wolf Marsh Cove. We're not far from the Canadian boarder, in Northwest Washingon."

Scalpel was up to his feet in an instant " This is too far away, I want to go home, I want... no, NEED to see my wife.." he said as he looked for a telephone " Where is a phone? I have to call a taxi, I need to get to my family, let them know I'm still alive..."

Jack mood sours a bit more when he hears the date.He has been gone for some time it seems.He can't help but wonder if his family are still looking for him.They probably thought him dead.

"So I take it that we can't really return to our families?Or our old life as it were...We kinda stand out a bit...People kinda tend to notice such like us..."

Dahl gives Lyla and Leto a look like, please be ready to intervene if they get to crazy. Leto discretely adjusts something in her purse.

"No, you can't really go back to your families. Some people do but in general it's not a good idea. Namely because, in most cases, though you were taken, you family may not have actually realized you were gone. The Keepers usually leave something in your place. We call it a Fetch. It's made up of all kinds of things, twigs, old toys, pieces of meat, hedgestuff, anything really. All these random bits hold them together in a human form with a little sliver of your soul as the glue. And they are generally like you in every way, though they can be a little different. In general they are passing replicants. They also tend to not be aware of what they are. Sometimes a fetch isn't left behind or it breaks apart shortly after, but that tends to happen most if you were about to die anyway at the time you were taken. Though sometimes the Gentry simply don't care enough to bother with one, but this tends to be rare. You should both assume you have one."

lyla nods at her queen's look and pulls up her hands, seemingly picking at her metallic painted fingernails.

lyla speaks quietly but her voice is easily heard in the otherwise quiet house, "it's usually best to just not deal with your fetch. most of them, as her majesty said, never cause problems and think they're, well, you. that's who your family thinks they are too." lyla tries not to come off as too ominous, but her tone is still clearly serious.

On the outside Jack's expression seems to be largely neutral towards this news,on the inside his heart just sinks.So,not only can he not remember who he used to be,his family doesn't even know he is gone.And someone else has taken his place in their lives.He shoves these emotions aside so he can try to keep a hold of himself.Far better that he doesn't give away what he is feeling right now.

"I see" He takes another sandwich and lightly nibbles on it for a bit before adding"So,where does that leave us then?No home.No...family.I don't know about my friend here,but I doubt my skills would be much use to you."

Scalpel merely drank his tea, his face a peaceful, serene canvas. He then looked at the Winter Queen " Do you have any sort of firearm? Do any of your people?"

recognizing scalpel's look, she sighs. "look, it's not all bad. it's pretty bad, but you're part of something bigger now. you're already gone and nothing you can do will change that, but you can go forward. you know now that no human is safe in a way that only people like can do something about. being this way, it has its perks too. you're a doctor, right? a changeling doctor can heal a person from near death in a matter of minutes. at one point in your life you took an oath and now more than ever can you uphold it. maybe it came at the cost of your own life and past, but that cost has already been paid. now you get to do something about it." lyla's voice has a bit more passion than before.

Scalpel regarded Lyla with cool indifference at first, but then put on a warm, yet still utterly fake smile. "I take it you will not allow me to have a firearm then? It would certainly put me out of my miserable agony." he said with faux cheer.

The Winter queen regards Scalpel coldly. "If death is truly your desire then perhaps Miss Leto will assist you at another place, preferably not in my living room while my children sleep upstairs. However, you will find neither I, nor my courtiers, helpful in this matter. While we believe in the tenants of Sorrow, we do not succumb to it. Yes, we are lost in this world, we are the Lost, but that does not mean our lives are without meaning and should be throw away just because we no longer have what we once did. And that is not to say we are alone, we have each other." Her gaze returns to Jack.

"We find new homes, new families. And don't sell yourself short. Anyone can be of use. I've only encountered one, maybe two truly useless individuals and even they seemed to out live some of the more remarkable individuals I've known..." She sounds a bit sad at her own last statement.

Scalpel smiled as he shook his head "No, the moment is gone, I no longer feel like I should die." his smile grew more frigid and malicious as he mulled over what she said about the Lost relying on each other and how Winter worked.

"We have each other eh? What a sad, pathetic notion. Victims do not heal be being around other victims, nor do suicidal people find solace with being with other would-be suicides. Tenants of Sorrow.. ridiculous. You are right, I would never accept help from you, especially since you obviously have no idea what sorrow truly is. You say we all lose something, you're right about that... but I can ensure you that I lost far more than anyone in this room. Him for example," he pointed to Jack "What did he lose? Absolutely nothing from what I can tell. None of you have lost anything in my eyes. When you can say that every single shred of what makes you you has been lost over and over and over again... then I could find some sort of kinship. Until then, good day your majesty," he smiled warmly as he bowed "May I one day see you as an equal, kindred spirit." he then turned to leave. "Assuming I don't outlive you." he chuckled coldly as he started walking to the doors.

The air suddenly super chills and Scalpel's feet freeze to the floor.

"I will not tolerate such talk from a child such as yourself." Dahl's voice is calm, dangerously so.

"You would do well to not so flippantly dismiss the pain of others, especially when you know nothing about someone. I realize that you have lost everything, everyone of us has lost everything, just as you have," she enunciates clearly. "Do you truly believe yourself to be the only one who lost their loved ones, who was torn apart is Arcadia, who had every shred of your self twisted until you resembled nothing of who you once were? And I will thank you to not mock my court. As it stands, this crown," and now you can see around her head a floating aura of snow and ice crystals, "did not jump off my head the moment you entered the room. If it had that would be one thing, but as it stands, do not think yourself more versed in the ways of sorrow than myself. And you will stay here until I have finished explaining how our society works. Despite the fact that you have been incredibly disrespectful, not only to myself and my hospitality, but to my court, I would not want you to run into an Autumn or Summer courtier uninformed. I will ask that if you cannot speak respectfully, do not speak at all." Scalpel can feel ice growing up his leg.

Jack just watches the whole display with a bit of weariness,doing his best to resist the urge to run and hide.Jack does get a little annoyed at the other person he was brought in with.How has he not lost something?He doesn't even know who he himself is!

He shakes his head to calm himself down,trying to focus on the event unfolding.He has to admit to himself that he now has a bit of respect for the Winter Queen.He decided to try to defuse this situation.

"Forgive for interrupting the...moment..Ma'am,but what are Summer and Autumn?Two more Courts from what I'm guessing?And are there other Courts or just three?"

Scalpel sighed and looked at the ice. "Your majesty... a crown means nothing to me, there are corrupt and evil rulers everywhere who use their authority to commit atrocity. I'm sorry if that is offensive, but you using your power to restrain me against me will.. that is a Keeper way to behave. But, I guess freedom is just another lie.. so I'll sit and listen.. so I do not offend the others. And I apologize for my actions." he said with a resigned tone

"Yes, Summer and Autumn are both courts. In all, there are 12 courts, or 13 if you count Solstice, and 4 court systems. This Freehold, that's what we call groups of us Changelings when we bind together into a community, uses the Seasonal Court system. Our courts are Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. Each season, the crown passes to the monarch of the corresponding court. Since it is Winter, I am currently the reigning monarch of the Freehold. This passing of power, confuses the Keepers, which keeps us safe and hidden from them. At least for the most part. This Freehold has so far been lucky and had few incidents with the Gentry, unlike other Freeholds I have lived in.

Each court follows an emotion. This emotion symbolizes a philosophy on life and how to guard ourselves and mortals from being taken, or retaken. Summers, is wrath. They are our fighters, our militia, though they tend to be more like thugs than an actual military. Autumn is the court of fear. They tend to be generally unsavory in their methods of scaring mortals away from areas of danger, but they provide a valuable service. They are also the keepers of the darker forms of arcane knowledge. Winter is the court of sorrow and secrets. We gather information, hide away things or people that need to be hidden, spy," she smiles a little, "we have a reputation for being assassins. Spring is the court of desire. I would prefer my husband to talk more about his own court, but I can give you a brief description. Spring tends to get a reputation as a court of drunks and whores. This can be true, but they also believe in fulfilling the desires of others, and not always of a sexual kind. I suppose you could always speak more on the subject if you cared to Leto." She looks back behind the couch at the white haired woman who just shakes her head and eyes the hedglings.

"Maybe in a bit." Leto says.

During this time, the Queen has not addressed Scalpel's further remarks, though the ice on his feet does melt, allowing him to sit if he wants, and the room returns to normal temperature.