On June 21, 2007, at the height of his reign, Grandfather Thunder announced that by virtue of its climate and the general essence of the city’s character, Miami would henceforth be known as the City of Endless Summer, and that the seasonal governance of the Courts was dissolved. He would allow the other Courts to continue their existence, to maintain their territories, and even to recruit new members, as long as they swore oaths acknowledging the primacy of the Iron Spear. Only Jeremiah Sleet, the King of Winter, agreed to Thunder’s terms, on the stipulation that the Court of Sorrow would not be forced to take sides in the dispute.

Unsurprisingly, many in the Spring and Autumn Courts vowed instead to see Grandfather Thunder’s head on a spike. Had Tom Hood and Isabel Espina combined their forces, or even practiced rudimentary coordination, they might have easily defeated Thunder, and his coup would have become a minor footnote in the history of the Trident. As it was, both courts made their own plays, and each was soundly defeated by the knights of Summer. In the shadows and half-light of neon and street lamps, an invisible war was carried out, masked by gang violence and swept under the rug by a jaded and overworked police force.

It is difficult to say whether Spring or Autumn came out worse. Tom Hood was killed by Summer’s chief enforcer, Deathless Ivan, and the Spring Court was utterly routed and driven from the city. Isabel Espina escaped into the Everglades, where she later regrouped with a small band of her most trusted advisors. Recently, a semi-independent Spring Court has returned to Miami Beach, derisively called “Vichy Spring” by Isabel’s loyalists. The faction, much smaller than the original Spring Court, is led by Maria Espina, Isabel’s “daughter”. Whether her title is meant to be taken figuratively or literally is anyone’s guess.

The Autumn Court, meanwhile, has withdrawn to its holdings in and around the University of Miami, in an attempt to deal with their grief over the loss of their beloved leader. In 2007, after years of bickering and infighting, the Leaden Mirror finally selected a new leader in Queen Naamah, one of Tom Hood’s protégés.