[h2][color=Black]Nyx[/color][/h2]
Nyx saw the eyes of the Autumn King narrow as the Mara entered his view. He smiled slightly at Falk's annoyance. The Mara as a people had no allegiance to any one Court however the ease with which most brought out the most horrible nightmares in their meals rather than any other emotion to feed on meant the majority of Nyx's people lived in the Unseelie Courts. Of these a large population was under Falk's rule. It must have irked the Fall King to know that what should have been one of [i]his[/i] subjects now stood as his equal, commanding the Court in direct opposition to his own.

Though his guileful smile betrayed how Falk's annoyance pleased the Archon Nyx was not fool enough to challenge or disrespect him openly. Even Cernunnos who most would say matched Falk in both power and age never challenged the Autumn Lord directly. Not that the former Archon feared Falk but Cernunnos respected the power he held and Nyx would have been a fool if he was not just as wary of that power.

Falk discarded his wine without offering any to Nyx. Not that the Archon expected any less, it was still impolite. The Fall King called the Moot to its official opening and offered the Winter Queen the role of the first offer. Nyx was surprised by the items she brought in trade. Blood Pearls. They were precious ancient stones that were a key component to some very old magicks. Not something to be pedaled lightly. Which meant one of two things. Either Arys didn't know their worth or she had far more than the number she brought to the bargaining table. It was never wise to bank on the stupidity of others which meant that Nyx had to assume however many Blood Pearls Arys was offering in trade she had at least twice that number in her personal stockpile.

Nyx would have some of the Blood Pearls for his kingdom, they were rare and he could make good use of them. Blood rituals were often temperamental and thus rarely attempted lest they end in disaster. He was somewhat less interested in the Unicorn tears of the Summer King. They were uncommon but by no means rare, perhaps the Unseelie Courts would be interested but Spring had its own stock of Unicorns. If Nyx truly wanted some of their tears he need not trade for them.

[color=Black]"My Winter Lady, in exchange for a small selection of Blood Pearls I can offer you this."[/color] Nyx pulled from his cloak a container of clearest crystal. It was tinted darkest red with the color of the liquid inside. The colors seemed to shift and dance like a burning flame. [color=Black]"Taken from the darkest part of the Spring Realm, water from the River Phlegethon.[/color] The Spring Fae had many names for this substance, Fire Water, Soul Flames, Scourge, Liquid Damnation. It tasted of liquid fire and burned the throats of any that drunk it but it also strengthened them, those that drank of it needed not food nor sleep, nor any other drink for several days. In Cernunnos time when he had tortured a prisoner to the point of death the Archon would force feed this substance to him to give the prisoner strength so that he might endue more pain without dying.

[color=Black]"I'm sure Lady Arys you could find many uses for such a substance, you have after all many [i]enemies[/i]."[/color] As he said that word Nyx's eyes flicked almost imperceptibly to Feoras for a fraction of a second before he looked back at the Winter Queen with a cheshire grin on his face. [color=Black]"In addition to this limited commodity I would wish to renew our trade agreements of years past. As usual Spring can provide you one half of the textile material your people need."[/color] In this respect Nyx could not budge. Unlike Spring whose inhabitants wore cloths mostly made from plant material if they wore clothes at all Winter required something more substantial. In such a cold climate as their's Arys' people required leather and furs for their clothing. The animal population of Spring was considerably less than that of their Seelie neighbor and Nyx had no interest in hunting the species of his Court to extinction. He made available to Winter what he could in that regard but no more than that.

[color=Black]"In exchange for the furs and skins of Spring animals I would require the excretions of the Behemoths of your Court."[/color] It was of essentially no value to Winter while in Spring it served as an unparalleled fertilizer for the nature fae. It helped them grow larger and increased their abilities over time. This act allowed Nyx to keep control over the dryad population as well as increasing the strength of the nature fae in his army if war were to be visited on the land. [color=Black]"Spring can also provide the Winter Court with food in exchange for weapons grade iron ore extracts for armament and other purposes."[/color]

Nyx was rather pleased with the rift that was between Summer and Winter. Though the two courts under any ruler had never been considered allies by an definition in peace times they would often trade. With Arys' frozen heart Feoras couldn't hope to establish any trade relations with her which meant that anything that Winter needed which could only be supplied by a Seelie Court had to come through Nyx. His position at the bargaining table lent him a decent advantage over both Summer and Winter. Fall was much more slippery. Trades between Autumn and Spring were a rare occurrence usually only for very specific and unique items and they were always one time deals. Never a renewal of contract between Falk and Nyx. 
[@Belle][@BlackPanther][@LadyRunic]