<strong>The Kane estate, the gardens</strong><br/><br/>Selene help up her left hand, a pair of barely seen scars were seen in the morning like. One seemed to be a faint line of blue and the other was a much more golden tone to it. Each crossed her hand and the end points met just above her wrist. They were of equal length but didn't quite meet.<br/><br/>"Graymalkin is a faerie. That means he doesn't lie, but he can leave out things. I'm not of the courts, but I'm a 'sister' by a blood oath to both the Queens. I stepped in many years ago and stopped Ephraim from seizing the power of both queens. It had been a plan of his taking the better part of two centuries in planning and dozens of spells and rites to trap them at the point that both are at their most vulnerable. The changing of seasons when one court is waning and the other is starting to climb to primacy." She closed her eyes as she recalled that battle. It was trying and terrifying. She had spent six years with the aid of her family to find him in time. A desperate spell got her to the place she needed to be. A small girl in the middle of the elemental forces of the two courts. A less foolhardy person would have brought allies or had a plan. She was still full of fury at her loss and a thirst for vengeance.<br/><br/>"The courts, both of them, owed me a boon. You cannot imagine the implication. The two queens.. Summer and Winter, owing a MORTAL a debt in front of both of their full forces." Selene smiled wryly. "I came out of that fight with Ephraim with one clear fact. He was a more powerful sorcerer, with centuries of experience and bargains. I could mortgage my soul and gain the power to match his, but it would be power without knowledge. Or vice versa. And my soul wouldn't be mine, which would put me at a disadvantage. So I demanded to be made a 'sister' of both courts. A blood oath."<br/><br/>Selene stopped talking for a moment as she sipped her coffee for long moments.<br/><br/>"A sharing of blood, power and purpose. I was to be the hound for their hunt, the one that they would use to run Ephraim to ground since he had planned for any other tool of either court. A wild card he couldn't have seen coming." She turned back to him. "Me. I'm the one weapon each Queen cannot use against the other. The bridge between each court. There are only two mortals who bear the power of the Faerie Courts, aside from me, and they are beholding to the Queens of that court. I'm the only being who is blessed by both." Her smile takes a sardonic grin as she says that. "I gained a lot from my oath, two powerful fonts of knowledge and power. I also have to account to two masters. Every time I use one of my gifts of power, they send someone to ask what I have been doing. Was it in pursuit of the Usurper? What news of him do I have? The Queens are powerful, long lived and about as patient as a mayfly."<br/><br/>She turns as the sword reacts. Her hand tightening around the head of her staff as he mentions the witch Lucas was hunting was casting a spell that tied to him somehow. She knew the Knights of the Swords were touched in ways no other were. As the crusading arm of the Lord, they were driven by His Will like no others. She gestured for Hightower to come to the gazebo as he told her what was happening.<br/><br/>"Fetch my secure valise from the vault, and the<em>Maleficeum</em>from it's shelf. Put it in my study and telegraph the agents to find the best travel arrangements for our friend here. I'll be in the study. Tell the cook I need a lunch for us both, more coffee and privacy once I start my research." Turning back to Lucas, her face is serious. "Well it's like this, that sort of spell has to be cast at night, preferably starting or ending at midnight. It's safe to say given the time of day we're at, that she's not in the British Isles."<br/><br/>Selene gestured for Lucas to follow her and led the way into the house.