Christiane stirred on her fainting couch. She had been reading, a crystal
pitcher of lemonade on the small marble and wrought iron
table at her elbow. It was warm in the conservatory. Roses of many kinds scented
the air, perpetually blooming. The only noises
were the chirps of finches and the plashing of the Fountain.

She had spent the entire spring and summer in the Conservatory. The excitement
of the Winter Feast and the attack by the Unseelie
Court had been unsettling. She and Zophiel had retreated to the gardens for time
alone. But there was the problem with the Unicorn,
and Zophiel had gone on another quest and a fog of forgetfulness had settled
over her. She gardened, entertained the occasional guest,
attended to the needs of the Lady of the Fountain. A cottage had appeared
miraculously in the Conservatory about the time when she
thought she'd rather sleep in the Conservatory than go back to the chill
emptiness of the rooms she had shared with Zophiel. She
understood, most of the time, that immortal mates had immortal concerns which
could their mortal loved ones to their own devices.
So she waited, a princess in a palace of crystal and greenery, and dreamed.

Now she was starting to feel restless. She closed her book ("Wormwood" by Marie
Corelli) and went into the cottage. She donned a
peasant blouse and skirt of black linen and put sandals on her feet, and left
the Conservatory.

Once in the hallways, she blinked in astonishment at their emptiness, the dust,
the feel of abandonment. What had happened? Where
was Zophiel?

Hearing voices and music from the main clubroom, she went in that direction. The
strains of Britney Spears nearly made her
shriek. Had the Goth House been taken over by Carson Daly. She advanced angrily,
ready to blast whoever it was who was so
presumptuous. She spotted Bantrobel and a man unknown to her chatting by the
bar. The comforting frostiness of Winter was
woefully absent. If the stalwart bartender had abandoned the Goth House, then
things were really wrong. Tears came to her eyes as
she stood in the doorway and stared.