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Will found himself in a gorgeous hall filled with people, no not people, filled with the fae. The room was lit with candles everywhere creating a soft eerie glow among denizens milling about. The room was painted in a dark deep red color and tapestries depicting beautiful and horrifying images. Some where of Lucifer’s fall, and the rape of Persephone, but more often the tapestry showed the fae, either in their revelry or doing unpleasant things. One tapestry Will viewed showed a kelpie disguised as a beautiful woman kissing a human man as she pulled him down into the depths of the lake. The artwork sent a surprisingly clear message that humans entered the realm of the faerie at their own risk, and that it’s very likely a human could lose themselves in its depths. Will watched as faerie servants wondered the room with trays of goblets filled with what looked like dark red wine that in which floated small pomegranate seeds. On the tables were the most delicious and exotic looking foods Will had ever seen. Apples that appeared to be made of gold, silver pears, black read cherries that seemed to shine in the candlelight. There was sweet smelling meats glazed with honey and cooked with all manner of spices, while the table center piece was a stunning floral arrangement with what looked like bones as accents. The faerie band was playing a soulful melancholy tune and many patrons danced about the hall.Everything about the place urged Will to relax, rest, drink, eat, dance, and be merry, but Will knew better.“We must not look at goblin men, we must not buy their fruits: Who knows upon what soil they fed their hungry thirsty roots,” Will recited to himself as he looked about the extravagant display. “I can’t believe I let you talk me in to coming here,” Will said this time speaking to Jack Crawford.“Yes, you’ve said, several times in fact,” Jack picked up a silver pear from the table along with a bronze knife. He peeled off a piece of the silvery skin and revealed the pear had rich brown flesh like coffee underneath it. He frowned and set the fruit back down. “You could always leave.”Will scoffed. “You know I won’t.” He wasn’t able to not after seeing the body. A human girl had been found in a parking lot half transformed into a tree. Branches sprouted from her head and arms, and the bottoms of her legs had transformed into a deep-rooted trunk that took forever to dig out of the asphalt. From her chest and a variety of flowers bloomed and seemed to grow naturally from her organs, the one that were still there anyway. It had been a methodic and cold killing one that was clearly supernatural. For the most the Day Sidhe and Night Sidhe kept to themselves. They existed a long side humans, but kept their own rules and court. If a fae were to kill another fae, Jack and the FBI would not be allowed to get involved as it was seen as a fae matter only. But when humans were obviously killed by a faerie only then could human justice be allowed by the fae. Not that it happened often. Will saw fae constantly harming humans in a variety of ways but it was legally allowed by the government. It was taught in schools that you should never eat, drink, or dance with the fae. Some states even went so far as to say humans should never even look upon them. This is because the government made concessions with the fae that they could not seek retribution if humans willingly became a thrall and lost themselves in the faerie court. Of course the problem with this was that it was nearly impossible to tell if someone had been enthralled willing or not. Will found it hard to believe that anyone would choose to give up control. The faeries viewed humans as little more than amusing pets. To be a human in the faerie realm seemed akin to being drugged and trapped in a dream for the rest of your days. Of course not everyone felt that way. If Alana was around and could hear his thoughts she probably would have smacked him. Alana had married a princess of the Day Sidhe, Margot Verger. It was rare that any fae ever married a human. Alana and Margot had caused a scandal in the Day Court over such a thing. Will still wasn’t certain how Alana and Margot had convinced Margot’s brother to allow the marriage to stand and not kill them. But then the Day Sidhe where often seen to be more merciful and less barbaric than the Night Sidhe. And it was just Will’s luck that he now found himself surrounded by the Night Court.“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Jack said. He sounded far to pleased with his abilities to obtain Will’s assistance. If they weren’t friends, Will would be annoyed—no, fuck it, Will was still annoyed. A young woman of Japanese descent with solid black eyes and pointed ears approached them. “Lord Lecter will speak with you now,” she said in a clipped tone that relayed how little she appreciated their presence here. The woman led them out of the large hall and deeper into the estate of the Night Court. She turned corners quickly and kept her pace just slightly above that of a normal human jog, forcing them to keep up or be very literally lost in the halls. Finally they came to a set of double doors that looked to be craved of cherry wood when Will was nearly out of breath, Jack didn’t look like he faired much better. The woman knocked, and a voice bid them to enter. The room before them was obviously a large study. Books filled the shelves of an upper balcony that could only be reached by climbing up a ladder. On the ground there were a few more shelves with books but the area was mostly lined with art, painting and sculptures alike. There was a large desk with several rolls of parchment paper on top. Three chairs were placed just a little farther way from the desk with a ornate gold coffee table in the center. This was clearly where Lecter entertained and met with guests more privately. It was inviting without feeling as dizzying and overwhelming as the main hall had.Lord Lecter himself leaned against the front of his desk dressed immaculately in a blue and paisley blue tie, his dark blonde hair slicked back and combed to perfection. He looked stunning. Not like a male model but it looked more like he had stepped out of classic oil painting. What surprised Will the most was how human he looked. While his features where angular and sharp like most of the fae there was no other obvious way to tell that Lord Lecter was one of the fae folk, let alone the Lord of the Dark Sidhe. Will purposefully tried to avoid the man’s eyes though he could feel his gaze on him. It was when Will attempted to look any where but at Lord Lecter that he noticed that there was a young girl in the room.She would have been considered a teenager by human standards, but she was probably still a child to the fae. She was pale with long brown hair and elegantly curling horns on either side of her head like that of a ram. She wore pointed black stiletto heals and an gorgeous red dress that fell just above her knee. She looked different than when Will had last seen her, but he would recognize Abigail Hobbs anywhere.Abigail’s face lit up when she saw him. “Will!” She sprang up unnaturally fast and enveloped him in a hug. “Abigail,” Will said a little breathlessly. “How are you. I heard you had been adopted by a another fae family.”Abigail pulled away and nodded gesturing to Lord Lecter. “Hannibal adopted me.”“Really, I had no idea.” Will tried to keep the shock from his voice. If Lord Lecter had adopted Abigail that meant that she was his heir, the heir of the entire Night Court. Not that it matter much with how long the fae folk lived, but if Hannibal were killed then Abigail would immediately become the new ruler. It was shocking considering her background.Abigail Hobbs was a young fae girl whose family was connected to the night court, but was practically considered peasants. Only one wrung above the solitary fae that roamed the wild. Abigail’s father had been kidnapping, killing, and eating human women that looked similar to his daughter. Will had killed him and barely managed to stop him from killing Abigail when the FBI showed up. Will was so concerned for Abigail and felt immense grief over murdering her father. He reached out to her, tried to help, and take care of her after all that had happened, but human’s where not allowed to adopt fae children so Will could do little more than visit her in foster care until she was eventually adopted, apparently by the Lord of the Dark Court.“Let me introduce you,” Abigail said with a smile taking Will’s hand and leading him to Lord Lector. Will pointedly stare at the especially shiny buttons on the man’s waistcoat. “Father, this is Will Graham, the FBI agent who saved my life.”“I’m just a profiler actually. I’m not real FBI.” Will said in a hurry before offering his hand to Lecter. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m glad Abigail is being well cared for.”Lecter took his hand gently but firmly in his. “I promise you the pleasure is all mine. Its an honor to finally meet the man who saved my dear Abigail.” Lecter released his hand and turned to Jack. “And Agent Crawford, it has been too long. How is Bella?”“She’s busy, as always, I’m sad to say we haven’t talked too much recently.” Will could tell that Jack had some thoughts on the issues with his wife, but didn’t want to talk about it at the moment when there was an investigation that needed attending too. “Please, gentleman, have a seat.” Lecter then turned the back to the woman who had led them to his study. “Chiyoh, please leave us, I’ll summon you if you are needed.”Chiyoh gave Lecter what Will thought was a baleful look that he didn’t quite understand, though it was harder for him to read Chiyoh black eyes, before she left closing the doors behind her.Hannibal eventually joined them seating in the third last chair while Abigail seated herself on the armrest of his chair. Jack looked at the girl uncertainly.“I hope you don’t mind Abigail staying for this meeting. She needs to learn the process of working with the human authorities when events such as these arise. It pains me to hear that this is not a social call. I have missed your company, Jack, and I have been longing to meet Mr. Graham since all the unpleasantness with Garrett happened.”Will eyed Jack dubiously you pointedly kept his eyes on Lecter. Jack hadn’t told him that he already knew Lecter, nor did he mention that Hannibal was interested in meeting him. No wonder it had been so easy to gain access to the Night Court. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Hannibal. The recent murder of Elizabeth Cane is an awful matter and we are happy to have your cooperation, especially since we were pointed in your direction in particular.”Hannibal merely tilted his head at that and Abigail looked alarmed. “Are you saying I’m a suspect?”“The body was found near the Day Court’s territory, but the manner of killing looks vaguely similar to some curses that are almost exclusively used by the Night Sidhe.” Jack said keeping his voice even has spoke not wanting Lecter to become defensive. “The girl’s back was branded, claimed by Mason Verger, apparently she was one of his favorite thralls. He believes one of your court killed the girl to send him a message.”Jack handed Lecter the file with pictures of the girl’s murder. He perused the pictures while Abigail leaned over his shoulder and looked at the horrifying tableau. Will wanted to shield from the scene but knew he had no right to do so. It was Abigail who spoke next. “This is all circumstantial. This particular curse is more common among our people but not unheard in the Day Court. And everyone knows that Mason Verger practically tortures his thralls. I’m surprised you haven’t found one dead before this.”Will looked at Abigail and saw a vibrant confidence in her that hadn’t been there when they first met. Will quickly looked at Lecter and saw him gazing at Abigail with unrestrained pride.“I assure that the FBI is also thoroughly investigating the Day Court as well, but we have to cover all our bases,” Will said wanting to assure Abigail that he new family wasn’t being unjustly targeted. Hannibal’s gaze turned to Will at his words and Will quickly looked away. We must not look at goblin men, Will recited to himself, the Lord of the Dark Sidhe just felt different. Something felt off. Will found him wanted to gaze back, which was an unnerving and new feeling in general.“Not found of eye contact, Mr. Graham?”Will bristled at the invasive question from Lord Lecter. “Eyes are distracting at the best of times, even among human. Fae eyes even more so.”Lecter smiled and even Abigail placed her hand over her mouth to muffle a giggle. Will resisted the urge to role his eyes, annoyed at being the center of amusement. Lecter turned his stare back to Jack. “I wholeheartedly agree with Abigail, however I will admit that this act could have easily been done by someone in my court, and I understand the need to cooperate with the investigation.” Lecter closed the file and returned it to Jack before continuing.
“I admit that I have,” he paused, “scolded Mason Verger before. We are certainly not on the best of terms. But I have no desire for a war, especially not right now.”“And why is that,” Will asked.“The Solstice is nearly upon us, as such, it is during this time that each of the courts reestablishes their rule over the solitary fae that live within our territory. It’s a dangerous time. If any part of the ritual were to go wrong it could mean that things may become… unstable. However it is also during this time that the courts attempt to challenge each other and potentially cause harm to the rulers power.”“Which means that you or Mason are still high on the list of suspects,” Jack pointed out.Lecter was pensive for a moment before responding in a most shocking way. “I don’t wish for you to believe that I am guilty of this act so you may ask me directly if I killed her and I promise to answer truthfully.”The fae were unable to break their promises and for Lecter to offer such a thing was almost unheard of.Jack leaned forward and locked eyes with Lecter. “Did you kill Elizabeth Cane in order to rattle or harm the Verger family and Day Court?”Hannibal returned Jack’s gaze unflinchingly. “I did not. However, I cannot say with certainty that no one else in my court did. I can think of a few in my court that might wish to cause a scandal and usurp me. That is of course if this isn’t the Day Court’s doing to begin with.”“I already have an agent in the Day Court covertly looking into things with Verger’s permission and protection.”Hannibal nodded. “You are welcome to do so here as well with an agent of your choosing.”Will watched as Abigail leaned down and whispered in to Hannibal’s her long hair obscuring mouth so that Will could not make out anything that she said. Hannibal smiled. “An excellent idea,” he said smiling at Abigail before turning to Will. “Abigail, would like me to suggest, that you be the agent to join us Mr. Graham.”“What?” Will froze while Abigail beamed at him.“It makes the most sense. It would be hard to hide a human agent around here. People would be suspicious, but we have a connection, you saved my life, so it would make sense for me and my father to welcome you openly into the court.” Abigail explained breathlessly seemingly excited by the very thought of Will being in the Night Court with her.“That’s not a bad idea,” Jack said.Will let out an anxious breath. “Can you excuse us a moment to discuss this?”Hannibal stood along with Abigail. “Certainly, take all the time you need. I will have Chiyoh wait by the door to take you back to the great hall once you have come to a decision.” The two fae moved gracefully out of the room and as soon as the door closed Will rounded on Jack.“You set me up!”“Will, let me explain—““You insistent I come here with and not just to the crime scene. You know Abigail was here and that Lecter was interested in me because of her. You already worked out that I had the perfect cover to hide among the Night Sidhe.”“Will, I am trying to catch a murderer, and excuse me for thinking you wouldn’t be too miffed by the situation. I know you care about Abigail.”Will paced about the room. “I care about Abigail, but the fae are dangerous, and the Dark Court tends to follow less… conventional human standards than even the Day Court does.”Jack stood and placed his hands on Will’s shoulder’s forcing Will to focus on him. “Look, you’re our best shot here, and Lecter will protect you. Katz is in the Verger household and I need you here to your gift.”“Jack, its an empathy disorder and a vivid imagination, its not like I can psychically read any fae I come into contact here.”“But you’ll be able to tell more than most, and the Night Sidhe and notoriously more cagey. I need you here.”Will thought of the poor girl’s body so unnaturally transformed. He thought of Abigail’s smiling face and Hannibal’s intense stare. Will walked straight into the Night Court, saw all the warning signs, and still ventured deeper into its depths. He was warned and now despite his best efforts he felt trapped. “Ok, I’ll do it.”
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Will was allowed to return home to pack some of things, but he struggled to find someone to watch the dogs for him. At first he thought of calling Alana, but Jack suggested that asking someone from the Day Court to watch his dogs while he was in the Night Court could look… weird. Jack didn’t have a solution either not being able to watch them himself, and it wasn’t like Will had an abundance of friends he could call for help. Jack ended up calling Hannibal who agreed to let Will bring the dogs, though Will had no idea how he had space for them. While the mansion itself was huge Will hadn’t noticed any yard or even a park near by. It would certainly make taking care of them difficult. The next day a limo pulled up in front of his home and Will grabbed his bags thinking it was Chiyoh, but when he stepped out of the house he was greeted with the sight of Mason Verger.“Good morning Mr. Graham, I hope you don’t mind me dropping by after all I feel like we’re family.”Mason Verger was dressed in a neat gray suit and carrying a silver cane. He had large pointed ears, small horns nestled in his hair, and the legs and feet of a goat that were largely hidden by his suit pants, but the most startling thing about Mason was his scarred and disfigured face. His scarred skin, missing nose, and mouth were horrifying to look at, but it wasn’t Mason’s disfigured appearance that made him so repulsive, but rather his erratic and often violent mannerisms, along with his power made him a threat to whom ever was in his presence. “Family? How so?”Mason walked up the steps to his house and pushed passed Will on the porch and into his home. Will eyed the ogre looking bodyguards Mason brought with him before following Mason back into his house. “You are BFF with my sister-in-law. I know you and Alana have been… close.” Mason says very suggestively despite the fact that Will is certain he knows that he and Alana were never anything more than friends. Mason looks about Will’s small country home with something like disdain. He pokes and prods at various items in Will’s home knocking over some of Will’s things with little care or concern. “And now Alana is my family, you’re sort of like her family, and so I think that makes us something like family. Don’t you think?”Will opens his mouth to reply with a rather boldly rude remark that was sure to get him cursed by some sort of fae magic, but Mason barrels on clearly not needing any real input from. Mason is here to exert power, to make a very clear point and maybe, maybe, even threaten Will, and put him on edge.“And one thing my father always taught me, Mr. Graham, was that family always sticks together. After all, to turn your back on your family would be akin to cutting off, let’s say, your hands and feet. You’d certainly have a hard time without those wouldn’t you, Mr. Graham. Just like if you lost your family.” Mason turned around then and faced Will with a sickening grin on his disfigured face.There it is, thought Will, there is the threat he came to deliver.“I never knew my mother, and my father and I no don’t really talk to one another so I’m afraid I don’t have the same feelings on the situation.”Mason waves his hand in irritation and stomps a cloven hoof on the wooden floor. “Don’t play coy now, Mr. Graham, I know you are going to be staying with Hannibal Lecter for some time and I can’t help but worry about my dear sister-in-law’s closest friend.”Will says nothing and just looks straight ahead almost looking through Mason with a disapproving and unamused look. “I just came to give you a warning, and an opportunity. First, the warning, don’t fall prey to the Night Court. Oh, they can be sweet and seductive like any fae, but they are far more deadly and blood thirsty than those of us in the Day Court. Less civilized one might say.”Will arches an eyebrow at Mason, considering some of the rumors he’s heard about Mason, and some outright facts from Alana, Will really doubts that the Light and Dark Courts are much different when it comes to violence. “I see,” is all Will says, trying to get out of this situation quickly and as far away from Mason as possible.“And now the opportunity,” Mason walks close to Will and leans into his personal space, placing the hand not gripping his cane on to Will’s shoulder and pulling him in close.“If you find the fae that killed my human and bring them to me instead of the police I will grant you a boon. An answered wish from a fae with no strings attached. I don’t think I need to tell you how rare that is.”Mason’s breath smelled like foul rotten meat making Will wince, though he was surprised by such an offer. He doubted that Mason actually cared that much about the girl’s death, but something else about her must have been important for him to offer such a prize. Though Will didn’t believe for a second that any wish he got from Mason wouldn’t turn sour. Will open his mouth to explain that his loyalty was to the FBI when suddenly there were several screams outside and the sound of fighting before the door was kicked open and Chiyoh stepped forward. Behind her Will could see that one of Mason’s men was holding his hand over a gash on his forehead and the other clutched his knee in pain and was struggling to stand up. Mason stepped away from Will and smiled.“Chiyoh, you saucy minx, still showing off what a capable girl you are.”Chiyoh narrowed her as clearly not pleased at being called a saucy minx or a girl. “I’m merely here to pick up my charge. Are you ready to go, Mr. Graham?”But once again before Will could respond that he was more than ready to leave, Mason grabbed his hand to get Will’s attention and said, “Don’t forget what we talked about.”Will then hand to quickly jump back because Chiyoh had pulled out a sword and thrust it between them, nearly hitting them both. Mason didn’t jump like Will did and just leered at Chiyoh. The sword had a sliver handle but the blade itself looked like clear glass or maybe crystal.“You will remove yourself from this place at once,” Chiyoh spat, voice quiet and deadly. Mason leaned into the sword, opened his mouth, and then licked up the blade with his tongue. The clear blade sliced open his tongue slightly leaving it stained red before Mason pulled back. “Oh Chiyoh, I could have such fun with you. If you keep flirting with me like this I might have to steal you away from Hannibal.”Mason moved around Chiyoh to the door and Chiyoh turned closer toward Will never once turning her back on the leader of the Light Court.“And do tell Hannibal that I send my regards, to him and dear Mischa—oh, sorry, I meant Abigail. Hannibal just goes through family so quickly it’s hard to keep track some days.”Mason grinned and walked out of Will’s home, but Chiyoh didn’t relax until they heard Mason’s limo drive away. Then Chiyoh let out a shriek and swung her sword taking a large chunk out of Will’s doorframe.“Gee, thanks,” Will said dryly.“Get your things. We need to get to Hannibal quickly.” Will grabs the one small suitcase he packed and then whistled for the dogs that all came bounding in. Chiyoh looked at all the animals in exasperation.“You have seven dogs?”“Yes…”“Seven?”“Yes, seven dogs, I thought Jack talked to Lord Lecter about this, and he said I could bring them.”Chiyoh let out a sigh. “Come along then.”And so Will prepared himself to enter the world of the Dark Court. Hannibal went through the documents on his desk. There were forms, letters, and drawings preparing for the solstice, and for the evitable sacrifice that was meant to appease his subjects. Hannibal smiled. The solstice sacrifice had never been one of his favorite things. Despite slacking the bloodlust of his people Hannibal usually found the whole sacrifice so artless. It was far less enjoyable then his usual kills, but this year, this year it would be…Beautiful, Hannibal mused, as he imagined dark curls splayed on the altar, stormy blue eyes staring up at him, and pale skin covered in crimson as Hannibal gently held a soft fluttering heart in his hands.Simply stunning.A knocked sounded on his office door and with a wave of his hand the door opened to reveal Abigail.“Everything is prepared for Will’s arrival. His room is set up and the banquet for tonight is prepared.” Abigail glided around his office a little skip in her step.“You must be pleased to have Will here,” He said thoughtfully. Abigail’s relationship with Will had always been a curious one to him, and of the many reasons he had adopted her. “I’m very excited. It’s going to be nice to have him around.”“Despite the fact that he killed your father?”“You would have killed him father had Will not gotten there first.”“True, but that doesn’t change the facts.”Abigail paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’m not going to lie that the sacrifice makes me feel better about the whole. To finally be able to have Will close, but also… to see him bleed… Is that so wrong?”Hannibal gave Abigail a rare genuine smile. He had definitely chosen well when he picked her as his heir and daughter. “Not at all, you are simply following your nature. You desire to see Will hurt to appease the pain you feel over the death of your biological father, while also wishing Will close to you to love and cherish as a surrogate parent.”Abigail looked at him with pleading tearful eyes.Hannibal stood from his desk and moved quickly toward Abigail enveloping her in a hug. “Don’t fret over your feelings. You are in a rare position to have your cake and eat it too. And that is a rare thing. Even for the fae.” Abigail pulled away and wiped her eyes on the flared sleeve of her elegant midnight blue dress. And for a brief moment Hannibal saw another young girl, blonde, and elegant with deep maroon eyes and tall black antlers, but in a blink of an eye the vision was gone.“Have you finished your studies for today?” Hannibal asked still keeping a gentle hand on Abigail’s shoulder.“No, I still have my harpsichord lessons, but my teacher has been to busy to instruct me lately.” Abigail gave Hannibal a pointed and playful look and he smiled in return, his eyes crinkling with laugh lines. “How very rude of him,” He said with a slight laugh. “But I’m afraid your lesson will have to be delayed a little longer. I still have much to prepare.”The door to his office burst open then in a remarkably rude way that Hannibal would have been enraged over if it had been anyone other than Chiyoh. She was followed quickly several barking, sniffing, loud, and rambunctious dogs who began enthusiastically exploring Hannibal’s office.Abigail squealed and bent down to pet a small little dog with an under bite. Hannibal watched the dogs tear through his office and sent a sly smile toward Chiyoh.“I take it this is payback.” Hannibal addressed Chiyoh.“He has seven dogs.”“Yes.”“Seven.”“I was aware, yes.”“And you didn’t tell me,” Chiyoh snapped and her black eyes narrowing.Hannibal nodded. “Indeed I didn’t.”“Then yes this is payback.” One of the calmer dogs, a brown and white speckled mutt sniffed at Hannibal’s hand before licking his fingers. Hannibal ran a quick hand through the dogs fur before cleaning his fingers with a handkerchief. “And where is Mr. Graham?”“In his room unpacking. Unpacking his one suitcase. One suitcase and seven dogs.”“Speaking of could you please take the dogs out to the garden. I will go and welcome our new guest.”Chiyoh nodded though she looked annoyed and whistled for the dogs who followed her out relatively quickly except for the little white dog with the under bite whom was now being held in Abigail’s arms. “I’ll go with Chiyoh. Leave you and Will some time to get acquainted.”“We will meet you in the garden before adjourning for dinner.” Abigail smiled at the little dog in her arm as she followed Hannibal out of the office. “Sounds good.”Hannibal navigated the labyrinth that was the halls and corridors of his home to where he knew Will would be located. He knocked on the cherry wood door and heard Will call “come in” and Hannibal opened the door ready to put his plans into motion.
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“Down the hill I went, and then, I forgot the ways of men, For night-scents, heady and damp and cool Wakened ecstasy ” ― Sara Teasdale, Flame and Shadow Hannibal entered his room and Will quickly avoided his eyes. There was something about the King of the Night Sidhe that intrigued and frightened him. The ruler of any fae, but particularly the Night Court, had to be ruthless in order to maintain control. Otherwise the ruler would be over thrown by any upstart who wished to claim their place, but wasn’t just the fact that Hannibal had more than likely murdered many people in order to maintain his position. It was the fact that unlike many of the other fae Hannibal came off as eerily human. Will wasn’t certain that he would have pegged him as a fae. And while Hannibal did have some features more common to the fae such has his sharp cheekbones and too bright eyes, they weren’t exactly uncommon human traits either. Hannibal could slip easily into a human gathering and no one would be the wiser that there was a fae in their midst.“Mr. Graham, I’m delighted to see you again. I just the accommodations are up to your standards.”Will snorted. “I’m not a creature of comfort Lord Lecter, my own home is fairly Spartan so the room is well above and beyond my standards, and you can call me Will.” Will was aware he was being rude by not thanking Hannibal for the lavish bedroom, but he wasn’t exactly here to make friends or bond with anyone. He was here to solve a murder.Hannibal for his part seemed completely unfazed by Will’s rudeness. “Then, Will, you must call me Hannibal.”“Would that really be appropriate?”“You are a guest in my home and a friend of Abigail’s. It would seem inappropriate for you to call me by my title.”“I’m here to solve a murder not socialize despite the pretenses. Let’s just keep it professional.” Hannibal titled his head and regard Will with a piercing gaze that made Will feel like the man was seeing into his very soul. It was only when Will blinked that he realized he had been drawn into Hannibal’s eyes. Will quickly looked away again as Hannibal stepped closer. Not close enough to considered impolite but certainly close enough that Will had a hard time not focusing on the man before him. Despite himself Will found himself staring into the fae’s eyes once again.“Or we could socialize like adults. God forbid we become friendly.”“I don’t find you that interesting,” Will said still not breaking eye contact and suddenly he realized how stupid he was being. While the fae did have differing social standards than humans one of the many things that humans had always been warned about was to be polite to the fae. Rudeness was how many human’s ended up in dire situations. Will wasn’t particularly good at being polite to other humans, and now he was in the world of the fae. Where any fae could take offense to Will’s manners and here he was offending the one person whose very name could protect him from harm. Instead of cursing him by turning him into a teapot or just outright killing him Hannibal just gave one of his barely there smiles. “You will.” He held Will’s gaze longer and Will swore for a moment that he was pulled into Hannibal’s mind through those maroon depths. Will felt overwhelmingly cold and sharp like the edge of a knife. Hannibal was calculated and pragmatic, but underneath was a deep wound of utter loneliness that pierced Will like a blade. And further beyond that was a glimmering light that felt vaguely like hope.Will closed his eyes and backed up slightly nearly hitting into the edge of his bed. He built forts up in his mind trying to block on the emotions that leaked from Hannibal. Will only started to feel like he was able to regain some sense of himself when Hannibal offered him his arm to take.“Come, Abigail is out in the garden with Chiyoh and your dogs.”Will hesitated, but decided that he reached his quota on rudeness for the day and took Hannibal’s arm. He knew fae didn’t have the same gender roles as humans, but he still felt ridiculously like some fair maiden in a bodice ripper novel.Hannibal escorted Will through the various corridors and much like last time when Chiyoh lead them to Hannibal’s office Will found the corridors to be a dizzy maze.“How does anyone find their way around this place? It’s like some maze.”“The fae have other senses to guide them through these halls. You will need to be careful. More humans have died attempting to navigate these halls on their own than you could believe. I would suggest for your own safety that you make sure you are always with myself, Abigail, or Chiyoh when walking about. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”Will looked dubiously at Hannibal who stared impassively back revealing nothing. Will didn’t like the idea of having little to no freedom of movement but he guessed he should have suspected that the fae wouldn’t be keen on letting some random human working for the FBI just wander around their kingdom. Hannibal stopped before shimmering crystal doors and with a wave of his hand it opened revealing a dazzling garden and a massive forest beyond it.“Jesus!” Will gasped, “Are we even still in Baltimore?”“Yes and no, you are under the hill now as the humans say. You have crossed the barrier and entered a new world that is ready to receive you.”Will gave Hannibal a puzzled looked confused by what exactly that meant but before he could ask Hannibal pointed to a spot deeper in the garden. “I can hear Abigail with your pack let’s meet up with them, shall we?”The garden was huge and seemed to grow in a more natural way as if nothing had been specifically planned or planted but that the flowers themselves had bent to Hannibal’s will and grew close to Hannibal’s home just to please him. Will noticed that there was not just flowers but a variety of strange looking fae fruits and vegetables, as well as human looking ones. There was also a unnatural abundance of snails and fireflies that that crawled and flitted about everywhere. They came to a large open grassy area where Abigail was running about with the dogs while Chiyoh looked on with her watchful presence. In the center of the field though was a statue of a young girl who looked to be about Abigail’s age, but had large antlers towering out of her head. Will didn’t have time to inspect the statue further however when he was mobbed by the dogs and an enthusiastic Abigail.“Will,” Abigail yelled as she embraced him, and Will wrapped his arms around her slight form in turn thankful once again that Abigail hadn’t died at the hands of her father.“I’m so excited that you decided to stay with us.”“It’s only for a short time, but I’m happy to have you for company while I work on the investigation.”Abigail just smiled and continued playing with the dogs. Will could tell that she wanted more time with him than just the investigation. But staying with the Dark Sidhe on a permanent basis was not exactly safe for any human. Not really.Will turned back to Hannibal intent on getting on with his work and leaving the fae world as soon as possible. He could meet Abigail more often outside of the fae world when the investigation was over.“You mentioned to Jack and I before that there are a few of your people that you could see doing something like this. Can you tell me who that would be?”Hannibal nodded. “You will meet them soon enough anyway to feel them out at the feast tonight.”“…Feast?”“Yes of course, we are having a feast in your honor. To introduce you to the court and formally welcoming you as my particular guest.”“Th-that’s… not really necessary…”“Nonsense, fae hospitality demands it. Besides it is also so that the court can know who you are and know you are off limits.”Will wanted to ask, “off limits from what?” But decided ultimately that it was better not to know the specifics especially since he had seen first hand what fae could do to humans that wandered into their world. He supposed it would be smart for Hannibal to publically announce that he was not to be harmed. Though Will deeply wished that he could forgo the social gathering.“I have a few ideas about who could be the cause of this little outburst if it is indeed someone from my court ” Hannibal continued. “Abel Gideon has the power to do such a thing, but it’s not really his style, though he is still someone worth questioning. Tobias Budge, has often tried to disrupt my plans, he prefers outlandish displays, and has a strong revulsion of humans. “Hannibal paused and seemed to consider things for a moment.“Bedelia could also be behind this, though she is human. She knows enough magic now to be able to pull off a curse such as that.”Will noticed how both Chiyoh and Abigail looked at Hannibal sharply and with a puzzled expression when he mentioned Bedelia. Will saw a slight twinkle of mischief in Hannibal’s eyes though he otherwise revealed nothing. Will couldn’t help but feel like mentioning Bedelia was some kind of joke, but he would still at least need to speak with her. Plus Will was intrigued to hear she was human. While some humans did live with the fae without being a thrall they were rarely, if ever, taught magic. Will was curious. What had given Bedelia such privileges?“You can only think of three of your people that may do something like this?”Hannibal shook his head slightly. “There could be others, but they are far less likely and capable. For the recorder Mr. Graham I still maintain that Mason Verger could be behind this and merely trying to pin things on me.”Will nodded. “Mason showed up at my house before I came here. He wanted me to work for him. He even offered me a boon if you could perform his own brand of justice.”Will expected this news to ruffle Hannibal or at least make him angry, but Hannibal was as stoic as ever. “Understandable. Whether innocent of this or guilty Mason would certainly want to court the loyalty of a skilled empath. I don’t blame him.”Will scoffed. “Everyone keeps making me sound magical or exceptional. I can assure you, Hannibal, I am none of those things.”Hannibal appraised him coolly. “I sincerely doubt that.” Hannibal checked his watched briefly before saying. “I’m afraid I must go and prepare for tonight’s feast. I will see you tonight, Will. Abigail, please keep our guest company in my absence.”“Of course, father,” Abigail smiled, gave Hannibal a slight nod, and looped her arm through Will’s. “Let’s take a walk around the garden.”Will let Abigail pull him away while he watched Hannibal leave. Chiyoh following after him ready to assist with anything Hannibal might need. Will had lied. Hannibal was interesting. In fact he was fascinating. Will just wished he wasn’t interested.Abigail led him deeper into the gardens and Will was still in awe of the dark beauty of the garden. There was a whole field of mushrooms growing. Once or twice Will thought he saw a hand sticking up from the ground around the mushrooms, but when he looked again it would always be gone. Occasionally some of the statues in the garden appeared to blink or follow them with their eyes. And along the edge of the garden in the forest Will seeing a large black creature following them. This was the problem with being a human in the world of the fae. You could never be sure if what you were seeing was your imagination or something more… extraordinary.“Will, I shouldn’t tell you this but I owe you a debt for saving my life—““You don’t owe me anything, Abigail,” Will quickly said though he was curious as to what Abigail wanted to tell him.“No I do, and so I feel you should know that—Hannibal didn’t bring you here just for my benefit, and not because of the investigation either…” She trailed off looking away. She tilted her head in such a way that her large curling horns hid her face.“What is it, Abigail? Whatever it is I know you aren’t responsible. You don’t have to be scared. You can tell me anything.”Abigail shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know that Hannibal is very interested in you and has been since you saved me.” Abigail reached over and hugged Will tightly. “I care about Hannibal but I care about you too. I just thought you should know that Hannibal has other motives for having you here.”Will ran his hands through Abigail’s hair. “Thank you, Abigail. I’ll be careful.”Abigail pulled away and gave him a sad smile before showing him more of the garden. But Will’s thoughts were far away. What could Hannibal want with him? He had nothing to offer a man like Hannibal.It seemed like in no time at all Abigail was leading him back through the maze of corridors and into the main hall were the feast was being held. Will was about to attend his first faerie feast.