Sera's eyes cracked open and she could hear Rayce laughing softly out in the sitting room, presumably with Seraphine. She stretched out an arm to where he had lain the night before, silent and accepting in the darkness. Letting him see her, really see her, had been so hard. It would have been easier to have been completely naked with a glamour than half-clothed without. And then she had slept without a hint of a dream, no flashes of their deaths, no running through endless tunnels searching for the one that would lead them to safety. On one hand, she felt guilty that she hadn't been working to see everything she could to help them, but on the other hand, she couldn't remember the last time she had just slept.

She dug through the pile of clothes from last night for her bra and wrinkled her nose at the smell coming from her jeans where she had soaked them wading across the water in the underpass. Balling up what was left, she tossed it into the hamper in the closet. She was over often enough that she kept clothes here for when she and Seraphine were particularly engrossed in their studies. She pulled on a fresh pair of dark jeans and a white tank top, her hand wavering over the spot on her left shoulder where she typically applied her glamour rune. She exhaled. Not yet.

The smells wafting from the kitchen were mouth-watering, and she smiled when she saw Seraphine hovering over the stove and watching a pair of grilled-cheese sandwiches browning slowly in her frying pan. Rayce was sitting at the counter, already munching down a sandwich with a look of rapture on his face.

"I hope one of those is for me," Sera said as she crossed the threshold, and the tiny warlock waved her spatula at the open bag of bread and pile of cheese slices on the counter next to her.

"Of course, yours are right there. Some assembly required, though!" She seemed to be in high spirits, likely the result of having actually had more than two hours of sleep, just as she had threatened the night before. Sera rolled her eyes and set to making her own, surprised to see the clock on the stove said it was already noon.

"You guys could have woken me sooner, you know."

Rayce's expression was inscrutable when he looked at her. "One of the first things Seraphine told me was to not wake you up unless it was important. I was very quiet when I left."

"Then I think you're underestimating how important grilled-cheese is to me." Sera waited as Seraphine flipped her perfectly golden brown sandwiches onto a plate and left her to try her luck with her own.

"There was no rush, love. The two of you will be in and out long before that coronation takes place if everything goes well." Seraphine dunked her sandwich into a swirl of ketchup on her plate before taking a dainty bite.

Sera made a noise of agreement and poked at the sandwiches in the pan.

"And besides, you continue to forget how to make use of a washing machine, Sera."

Sera groaned, remembering the garbage bag of Faerie finery in the front hall.

The warlock clucked her tongue. "Don't worry, I've already taken care of it. Cleaning blood out of the hall carpet, washing it out of stolen Faerie clothes, fixing meals at all hours of the night; Heavens, I'm positively domesticated." Her cat ears flicked irritably.

"I did the guestroom! And dinner!" Rayce interjected.

"Yes, dear," Seraphine patted his arm, "That was very kind of you." Right on cue, a musical beeping came from the laundry closet to signal that the load was finished, and Sera waved off her friend to go get it herself.

As she was pulling the pixie's dress out of the dryer she smelled her sandwiches crossing the point of no return, and she dropped the clothes to dash back to the kitchen. Rayce was already hastily flipping them in the pan and she flashed him a grateful smile before going back to the laundry. She didn't see his breath catch as she did so, and he continued to wrestle with his expression while he listened to her finish gathering the load of clothes. He was determined not to show any undue interest in her appearance and act like it was completely natural to stand in the presence of such radiance.

Sera hopped up into the bar stool Rayce had just vacated and let him slide a plate with her mostly-saved sandwiches on it. He cleared the kitchen while she and Seraphine finished eating quietly, the upcoming events now starting to sink in a bit.

When she had finished, she took the pixie's dress and vanished into the guest room to change. It was a floaty, strapless periwinkle dress of chiffon and some other material Sera couldn't identify. Its high, empire waist accentuated Sera's trim frame, and from there the lengths of the dress fell almost to the floor. She chose a pair of flip flops that she wasn't particularly attached to from the bottom of the closet, knowing that they would be discarded before they went into the realm of the Fey. After pushing a change of clothes for each of them into Rayce's pack on the floor (she had taken a bit of guilty pleasure in picking out some Mundane clothes for Rayce a few weeks ago and hoped he wouldn't mind terribly), she tossed in a few more items and then shouldered the bag to leave.

She opened the door and Rayce brushed past her quickly to switch into the knight's clothing, not even glancing at her. He was acting strangely. A knot tightened in her stomach as she worried about the previous night. This was exactly what she had seen would happen if he saw her too soon – she mentally kicked herself for her carelessness. She shrugged it off. They had to focus on the mission now.

Sera had just finished packing a bit of food into the bag when Rayce stepped out of the guestroom. The faerie knight had been nearly as tall as Rayce, so the fit was good. He was dressed almost entirely in white leather with deep green accents setting off the look. He seemed completely unconcerned as he picked up and donned the white scale-mail from the floor of the sitting room where he had been cleaning it that morning. The finished look was startling against his own colouring and he grinned rakishly at the two women staring at him.

"Problem, ladies?"

Their nervous laughter broke the tension and he went to retrieve the harness for his staff.

"I'm glad it's you and not me in the armour," Sera called. "You're going to roast to death out there!"

Rayce and Sera had bid farewell to Seraphine with hugs and best wishes, everything packed carefully and Rayce's staff slung across his back once more. He looked much more complete with it. They weren't anticipating any trouble while getting to the entrance to the Seelie Court, so he had slipped his arms through the straps of the pack in a fit of chivalry, despite how silly it looked with a half-cloak draped over one shoulder and his staff sticking up over the other. Sera had pressed common mendelin runes onto each of their arms and they vanished from Mundane view.

Seraphine's condo building was so close to the ferry terminal that they just walked along the path that bordered the lake, invisible in the bright sunlight. The breeze by the water was just a touch cooler and Sera watched Rayce for any sign that he even noticed the heat, but she was disappointed. She felt completely out of sorts bearing her true appearance, however invisible, strolling along the shore of Lake Ontario with a prince of the Courts. For all she could tell from his relaxed expression, he did this every day.

Sunlight sparkled off the water blindingly and they kept as far to the right as possible to avoid being run down by cyclists. There were so many Mundanes out enjoying the day that they needed to be careful not to cause any alarm by bumping into anyone.

The Hanlon's Point ferry departed every half hour for the Toronto islands to land just south of the Billy Bishop airport, and it was easy to slip on board just as it was about to launch. The ferry chugged along out into the water and they were treated to a gorgeous view of the CN Tower and the city skyline behind them.

Rayce and Sera leaped off the ferry as it approached the landing, avoiding the Mundane foot traffic, and then they were on the path that led around the island to their destination. They passed a covered pavilion on the left and then they were swallowed up by the greenery, the city vanishing behind the screen of trees, even if the noise from the airport didn't.

"Are you nervous?" Rayce broke the comfortable silence between them, casting a look down and sideways at Sera.

"Nervous? Psh," she waved her hand dismissively. "I break into Faerie Courts all the time. This is actually a bit of a dull Wednesday for me, to be honest. We should probably also make a quick stopover in Alicante for tea with the Consul while we're at it."

Rayce shook his head and smiled, then unconsciously reached over to lace the fingers of his left hand through those on her right. She looked at him in surprise, but didn't pull away.

Sera wished that they could just keep walking, a mismatched bridesmaid and faerie warrior, just like any other couple enjoying the promenade along the lake. She had enough money now that they could just disappear and never be found by the Clave or the Courts. A chill ran through her and she could almost hear the echo of her mother's voice promising that the Clave would never find her. A lot of good that had done her. Sera shook the thoughts away. She wouldn't run.

It wasn't long before they turned off onto the small path that led to the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse and it came into view ahead of them. The aged, grey stones rose in a tower that had a red wooden door set into it. A balcony ran all the way around the glass windows high above where the light would shine out at night.

Sera took a deep breath and turned to Rayce, gently lifting her hand out of his to lay it on the side of his neck, her brows knitted with concentration as she recalled the dead Faerie knight's features. Her stomach twisted as she thought about Rayce wearing a dead man's face, but she shoved the image out of her mind and finished the glamour rune to complete his disguise. She poured strength into it so that it could hold up in the Court against those who were naturally born with the Sight. The clothing would help ease the burden on the runes they were using, helping to build the illusion more strongly, but she was prepared for the possibility of needing to reapply them while they were still within the Seelie Court.

When she dropped her hand, Daerion lived and breathed once more, and it took her only another few moments to turn her thoughts to her own appearance, a much more familiar practice. Risellea's vibrant blue skin bloomed along Sera's own and her hair darkened into a long, straight fall of navy locks. Sera turned her now heart-shaped face up at Rayce and nodded. It would hold for a time, and they both needed to watch each other for any signs that they were fading. The more eyes that watched them, the faster the runes would burn through.

Rayce passed the pack to Sera and it vanished under a strong mendelin rune, settling into place on her back now so that Rayce would be free to fight if things got out of hand. She ran her hand down the length of the double-bladed staff and it shimmered, becoming a much more ordinary quarterstaff. The closer it stayed to its true appearance, the easier it would be to maintain the illusion. He could hardly remain unnoticed with his distinctive weapon – it was well-recognized within the Court.

Their final preparations complete, they nodded to each other and Sera placed her hand against the red door, an opening rune flaring quickly and allowing them to vanish into the dark interior. Neither one of them saw the dark shadows watching from up in trees.

Inside, Rayce could feel the entrance to the Court tugging at his Faerie blood, and he pointed silently to the east wall and nodded. He touched the stones where the mortar was beginning to crumble and the entrance revealed itself to him. Sera followed after and they descended into a wide tunnel that was lit on both sides by suspended will-'o-the-wisp lights burning brightly.

They hadn't gone far when a pair of Faerie knights stepped away from the walls and barred the way forward. Sera's heart leaped into her throat. If only she could have seen this! She cursed the magic of the Land Under the Hill that kept her blind and her hand twitched toward where she had a pair of blades strapped to her thigh under the dress.

Rayce stopped and twisted his right hand in a intricate gesture over his breast and bowed with his left hand tucked behind his back. He lifted his head and greeted the two knights easily, "Honour to the throne, brothers. My companion and I have come as bidden for the coronation." He produced the scroll of birch that Sera had scavenged from the real Daerion and Risellea, and handed it to the guard smoothly.

The one on the left took the invitation and gave it only a quick glance before he nodded. "Your names? For the census, of course."

Rayce provided their stolen identities without a hint of deceit on his face, and Sera had to school her own expression to hide the surprise that she was feeling as she watched Rayce back in his own world. The man who had been scarfing down grilled-cheeses just a few hours ago was gone, replaced by a prince in truth. She silently thanked the Angel that half-Faeries could lie.

They passed through the checkpoint without issue and Sera dared to start breathing again. Rayce leaned down just slightly to whisper to her, "Have faith."

The tunnels were more empty than she had thought they would be with so many trapped here, and she whispered as much to Rayce.

He nodded and whispered back, "Everyone will be shuttered away behind closed doors looking for the best way to profit from this situation. If they are going to make any moves, they will keep them hidden from common eyes."

Sera's heart pounded as they delved deeper and deeper into the Faerie realm. Soon they began passing great caverns that opened off the main path, beautifully striated stalagmites rising out of the ground while stalactites dripped down from the ceiling, shot through with streaks of mica. She wondered wildly where the hot springs cavern was that Daerion had mentioned, and then had to forcefully reel her thoughts away from exactly how sinful they could be with Rayce. She felt a wave of gratitude that her blue complexion probably wouldn't show that she was blushing madly.

Rayce touched her arm lightly and gestured ahead of them, whispering, "We're getting close. Is there any way to test how much time we have left on the glamours?"

Sera shook her head. "No. I don't think they've been tested very much, I think we're okay."

He nodded and led the way forward once more. He was angling them toward the side entrance to the throne room, the one his mother had often used when she held Court. It felt strange to walk in her footsteps now, having always used the more common entrance at the far end of the chamber, but they needed to get as close as they could before straining their glamour runes. He could feel his palms starting to sweat a bit as he visualized what they were about to do.

His first reaction to Sera's news last night had been to find a way to free Bael and Zeke from Malchezed's clutches. Once they were safe, it would remove any chance that the Crown Prince could be used as a hostage in the future if the Seelie warriors could be rallied to oust the invaders.

But hearing about her flash of a vision had changed that. Seraphine had been the one to point out that they were exceedingly unlikely to be able to rescue such a well-guarded prisoner as Bael, and there was no way of telling what shape Zeke would be in. Sera had agreed, and Rayce had been forced to concede the point.

They had focused instead on how to delay Malchezed's ascent to power until they could rally support with Arynessa for a revolt, and the best way to ensure that was to steal the Seelie crown. Steal my mother's crown, Rayce thought. Sera's flash had shown him holding an ugly circlet, and he had been pleased to realize what that had meant.

The Seelie crown was extraordinarily powerful; it allowed the ruler of the Seelie Court to draw on the earth's own power to significantly augment their own. The coronation was more than just an empty ceremony as it was for Mundanes. It was the bonding of the crown's power to the ruler. There were very few Faeries who would be able to remember when Rayce's mother had first ascended the Seelie throne and had the crown created, but it had been done by tempering the power of Heaven in the forges of Hell, the children of angels and demons binding their legacy to a wondrous relic.

The crown had been conceived to reflect the heart of the wearer so that the Fey would not be deceived by evasive words and cleverly crafted half-truths; the crown's appearance would shift to match the regard for the Court of whosoever held it. In the hands of the Seelie Queen, it had shone brilliantly and dazzled with its beauty as she proudly ruled the people she loved so dearly. To know that Sera had seen nothing but a battered circlet of scrap metal in Rayce's hands had brought a smile to his lips. He had certainly never had a desire to rule, and the years he had spent prize-fighting for his mother had soured him on his own people. They refused to recognize the part of him that was Fey; they were blinded by the Shadowhunter in him.

He drew level with the side entrance to the throne room and stopped. The crown would have to be on the throne for the coronation later that evening, and it would be on display right now for the visiting courtiers to see.

Rayce shot one last questioning look at Sera and she nodded back that she was ready. They slipped through the entrance.

The throne room was darker than Rayce could ever remember seeing it, its appearance more closely mirroring the black cavern that he had seen through the scrying mirror so many years ago. Stark white Faerie lights lent a washed out glow to the dark stone walls that closed around the Seelie throne menacingly and Rayce felt his heart tighten in his chest. His mother's rolling woodland throne room with butterflies was a thing of the past now, it would seem, but the pragmatist in him noted that darkness would only help their plan.

Unseelie warriors dotted the cavern, keeping watch over the small groups of Seelie courtiers who had come to see the crown and whisper among themselves. Rayce looked up at the twisted oak throne and saw a shining crown nestled on a purple cushion there. He breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been pretty confident about what would happen, having learned from his brother what a coronation would entail after their mother had named Bael to be the Crown prince a few years ago, but anything could have happened to it. A hostile takeover was not exactly what his mother had been planning for when she had made arrangements with Bael. Or was it? Rayce wondered.

He watched as Sera took a good long look at the crown, and they casually drifted closer to afford her a better view. He leaned over, trailing his fingers down her arms for the benefit of anyone watching. Maybe a little bit for his own benefit. He whispered in her ear. "Can you do it?"

"Yes," she breathed back.

He turned her back toward the doorway and they slipped out unnoticed.

Sera was already shrugging off the invisible pack and cancelling the mendelin on it, crouching down to drop it to the floor. She untied the top and pulled out a costume jewelry tiara that Seraphine had dug up, turning it in her hands thoughtfully. Rayce turned to keep watch over the doorway and tunnel in case they had any unexpected company.

Last night, the argument about how to successfully carry off the heist had gone in circles until Sera had suggested making use of her gift with runes to buy them a lead. Rayce would get her close enough to see the crown and then she would be able to cloak a fake in its image. She would give him the strongest mendelin she could manage so that he could pass through the onlookers unseen and make the swap. It sounded horrifyingly simple, risky, and dangerous all at the same time. Sera had argued that simplicity was the best option. Complicated plans had too many things that could go wrong, and if there was one thing they didn't need, it was more things to go wrong.

Rayce looked down and saw a duplicate of his mother's crown in Sera's hands. She made the pack vanish again and stood.

"You'll have to be fast," she whispered to Rayce. He nodded and took the fake from her. She reached up to cup his face in her hands gently, then slid them down around the back of his neck. He felt her fingers stiffen and her palms warm sharply. She gasped and staggered back against the wall. Even she couldn't see him now, but she could still feel him there. "Go!" She whispered hoarsely, sliding down until she was sitting on the hard-packed dirt of the tunnel in her beautiful dress. Her breathing was laboured and dark spots bloomed on the edge of her vision. No! Fight it!

Weakness raced through her limbs and her head lolled to the side. She felt drunk. She ordered her arms to push herself back up, but had only managed to make it to all fours when Rayce's panicked whisper spoke in her ear, "Sera! We have to go!"

She nodded weakly and tried to rise again but failed. Invisible arms swept under her and lifted her back to her feet. She leaned against Rayce heavily. "I'm such an idiot," she whispered, dispelling his invisibility so that she wouldn't look quite so strange leaning against thin air to any observers. He had unceremoniously looped his belt through the circlet of the Seelie crown and it rested against his hip carelessly, just peeking out from under the half-cloak that hung from one shoulder.

"You're brilliant. Come on, lean on me."

They shuffled away from the throne room and Sera tried to force some clarity back into her mind. She raised her left hand and dragged it across the base of her throat, an energy rune racing away from her fingertips, and she felt it beginning to take effect. She dropped her arm from around Rayce and started to stride forward more quickly, but he caught her hand and pulled her back.

"Slowly," he whispered. "Only guilty people run."

He took the lead and started retracing their route, but shouts up ahead near the common entrance to the throne room brought them up short. He shook his head and turned back, taking a different branching instead, trying to navigate around the rising noise.

Faint shouts about the Seelie crown reached his ears and he knew the game was up. His mind started racing. They couldn't be caught down here, but he also didn't want to lead a horde of angry Fey back to Seraphine's doorstep if they were discovered and needed to make a run for it. His mind flickered to the ley line terminus, but it would surely still be under close guard, and he might not be able to shield Sera from its magic. Think!  He howled at himself. Where could the Fey not follow?

Something Sera had said earlier flashed across his memory and he made up his mind, adjusting their course.

Sera was completely lost by now, poorly-drawn sketches utterly unhelpful, and she had to trust Rayce's guidance. Her visions were still obscured by the magic of the Court, or else she might have seen what Rayce was planning and put a stop to it.

They kept moving steadily, but unhurriedly, and the commotion behind them faded until they were alone again in the Faerie-lit tunnels. Time felt like it was stretching and Sera felt disoriented, putting a hand to her head as it started throbbing in protest against whatever was happening.

"It's okay," Rayce said reassuringly. "The headache is caused by the way the realm of Faerie bends around the Mortal world. They don't connect seamlessly, and it can be strange to cross one of those seams."

Sera nodded and rubbed at her temples as the ache increased. Rayce was presumably more accustomed to it or protected by his Faerie heritage. She lost track of worrying about where they were going as the pain increased, and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

She didn't know how much time had passed as they crossed the seam, but she noticed when the quality of the light shifted around them and the tunnel started angling upward again.

They turned around a bend in the tunnel and stumbled into four Faerie knights guarding another checkpoint.

The guards turned as one at the unexpected intrusion and their hands shot to the hilts of their weapons when they saw Sera. She gasped and looked down, seeing her pale gold skin instead of Risellea's blue.

Rayce didn't hesitate for a moment, whipping his staff off his back and shifting himself forward to reappear behind the checkpoint. He cut down two of the guards before they could even draw their swords, and the other two spun around to face him. It was a wasted effort on their part as he shifted again, one end of his staff slicing across the third guard's throat before he shifted away from the fourth's slash and materialized behind him. The fourth guard fell silently, his blood seeping into the hard-packed earth of the tunnel floor.

Sera was stunned by the speed and violence of his attack. She hadn't even had time to hike up her dress to snatch the blades from her thigh sheath.

Rayce flipped the staff back over his shoulder and stretched out his hand to her. "Let's go, we're almost out." She walked forward and placed her hand in his. Whatever it takes.

She gathered the folds of her dress up in her right hand and started running with him, her bare feet slapping the tunnel floor. Rayce ran easily at her side and she saw that his glamour rune was expiring now, white streaking through Daerion's hair as it returned to Rayce's natural colour.

Sunlight brightened ahead and they burst out of the tunnel from the giant bole of a monstrous tree. Sera looked back as they passed through and was astounded at the exit. The limbs of the tree were bowed with age, and some dipped nearly all the way back down to the earth. It looked like a tree that had been there since the birth of the world.

Rayce had continued forward to the edge of a lake, the late afternoon sun shining down over the tops of the trees that surrounded it, and he unclasped his belt to slide the Seelie crown into his hands.

Sera caught up to him, huffing a bit, and looked at him holding the ugly circlet, recognizing the vision she had seen the night before. She sighed with relief, and then looked around curiously. This wasn't Lake Ontario.

"Where are we, Rayce?" she asked.

He looked down at her with a touch of guilt in his eyes. "The one place I could think of where the Fey wouldn't follow."

Sera's eyes darkened and she tilted her head in warning for him to continue.

"Idris."