"We will release you from your bonds. In exchange, you, those you control, and those who serve you will immediately go to Faerie to serve the Winter Court so long as Erika Einardottir, oathsworn of Var, your daughter, deems your service necessary.
In addition, those you control and those who serve you will never return to Binordheim"
This is the agreement spoken to Einar Elderblood, lord of the Hanging Tower and former Ulfur Jarl, by our adventurers. And it is the agreement, without additional clause or argument that Einar (who was never a wise man) agreed to, putting him effectively into the hands of the Winter Court of Faerie as a tool of their will so long as Erika, his daughter sees fit to allow such a thing.
This did not stop Einar from attempting to have one final meal before leaving his tower. An attempt that was poorly thought out and immediately halted as the Will of Winter halted his advance. It was then that Queen Mahb, the Winter Queen, Queen of Air and Darkness, entered having felt the contract close over her intended target. After all, Einar was not capable of making his way to Faerie along with his pets and thralls, and she had no intention of waiting. Besides, Lady Neve had made clear the part the adventurer's had played in the fall of one of the Summer Knights, a likely brief but well timed boon for Winter to achieve their goals without as much involvement from their rival. While she would normally favor the balance between the sidhe courts, there were events in motion that made having one less Knight around to police Winter a benefit.
Mahb despises being in someone else’s debt, and when her lesser, the Winter Lady, mentioned the benefit they had been to Winter, seemingly as a sign of trust and favor to Winter, in front of the Lady of Winter no less, Mahb could not let it stand. Neve has ever had a soft spot for mortals, something Winter had yet to rid her of, but she had a fair point and such debts must be paid in full otherwise risk such debt rearing its head when other parties were involved. Had it been anyone else, Mahb would have written it off, but Neve is a Queen of Faerie as well and, her youth and naivety aside, she knows the value and importance of even the most minor favor to a fey. And so, she came in person.
But first, the vampire must be dealt with. Erika, insistent that she hold her father in check and unknowledgeable of the Winter Court, attempted to make demands of Queen Mahb on her father's duties and treatment under her bondage. But no one demands anything of Mahb.
To Erika's credit, her deal will succeed in doing what her oath requires. Einar will not enjoy his time in Winter. It will be an experience that at times will make him long for the centuries of starvation and loneliness that he spent in his former home. But nowhere in his contract does it state that Erika has any say in his actions and if she were to break him of his bondage to Winter she would effectively be breaking her oath to Var, damning her soul and allowing her father to run free once again. So perhaps Mahb will consult her, but by no means does Erika have the power in this deal. Whether it was the adventurers' intent for this to be the case is unseen, but intent and spirit matter not to Mahb. There is no "spirit of the law" in Winter.
Erika will enjoy her time watching Einar's service to Winter less than Einar will enjoy his own service at times. Because Winter needs strong pawns and are more than willing to find their new pets a meal so they may maintain their strength. She will watch her father turn into a blood-thirsty pet of Winter. A vicious attack dog. When he disobeys he will be punished. When he gets greedy he will be starved. But when he serves well he will be rewarded. Winter will turn Einar into a weapon dependent on their “generosity” and after so long in their bondage, even if Erika is willing to break her oath, it may be too late to give her father freedom from Winter's clutches. Sometimes people make oaths too great to see through to the end...
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