Midge stared down at the white star-shaped flowers dotting the green tumble of vines that climbed up the side of the dune and curled over her bare feet. With each quick breath, she took in the intoxicating scent of jasmine.

Rita shifted from one hoof to the other in a quiet display of her own nerves, and Midge shot her a glance, reaching down to squeeze her shoulder.

"When is it officially considered 'gloaming,' anyway?" Emory asked, voice plaintive from behind Midge. He planted one hand on his side, panting briefly to recover his breath from the steep climb. She stepped up a little higher, to the flatter top of the sand dune, making room for Emory to join them.

The three of them stared out across the sun-streaked ocean, watching the slice of orange disappear into billowing purple and pink clouds at the horizon. Midge shook her head. "Not yet. It's always gloaming in the Faewild, and it's never this beautiful."

"Wait for it to get a bit more dim, then," Emory said with a nod. "The Raven Queen prefers midnight for her mysterious summons. If you were a deity what would be the time of day you demanded to speak to your subjects, Midge?"

Midge blinked, pulling her mind back from the anxiety to focus on the question. "I... I don't know." Then she was caught on the memory of the cobalt blue sky, studded with puffy white clouds, and the perfect heat of the sun bathing the whole island in warmth and life. "Perhaps midday. What about you, Rita?"

Rita shook her head. "I wouldn't like to be a deity or have subjects, or a time of day to be in charge of... it sounds exhausting."

They fell silent for a moment before Midge spoke up again. "If Chevalier tries to take me back to the Faewild, I don't want you to fight him. He's more powerful than all of us."

"I thought you said you wouldn't go back," Emory said from beneath his thick protective hood.

"I won't give up, but if you and Rita get into a fight with an Eladrin, there's only one outcome possible, and it won't be a helpful one to anybody." Midge nodded, meeting Rita's eyes, then Emory's to make sure they got her point. "Maybe you can stage a diplomatic rescue mission or some such, but don't try to fight."

Midge hoped to get an agreement out of them verbally, but before they had a chance to reply, the last bit of that burning disc of light slipped over the horizon, and the jasmine patch erupted into a vortex of arcane energy.

Swaying in the buffeting wind that swept out from the opening portal, Midge reached out to steady herself against Rita and Emory's shoulders, lifting her chin and squinting through the flurry of leaves and scented petals. The center of the jasmine patch ripped away, swirling into the endless, twisting nether visible through the tornado of magic; then the air snapped into quivering tension, the tumultuous portal disappeared, and in its place stood a pair that had not graced the Material plane in generations.

Queen Titania herself, her short hair brushing her temples and neck with tight curls, slender body clad in a pale, opalescent gown that draped artfully across her shoulders and down her breasts, cutting away to expose the dark, smooth skin across her ribs and down to her hips, then dropping in a glittering skirt that brushed the torn grass. Her eyes narrowed, lit with the dangerous glimmer of the night sky, though her rose-red lips curved into a genuine smile.

At her side stood the Eladrin who had started this whole mess; Chevalier, his milk-white skin gleaming in the meagre light of dusk, his long red hair bound back into a knot at the base of his neck and his flowing garments exchanged for a pair of tight leather trousers and a shimmery-green, loose button-up shirt, reminiscent of something the human musician Emory was so fond of, David Bowie, might have worn onstage.

The two beautiful fae creatures exchanged a knowing glance and a smile, stepping forward onto the softer grass, causing Midge and her companions to edge back just a little, before Midge met the hard gaze of Queen Titania.

"Your Majesty, Queen of Air and Darkness, Bearer of the Black Diamond," she said, some long-forgotten part of her recalling the niceties expected in the Unseelie Court. "Welcome to the Material Plane. Despite the circumstances, I am honored. We had not expected such a guest."

"I thought it was high time." Queen Titania's voice fell like thick snow over the group, soft, effortless, yet reaching every ear with crystal clarity. "Especially after what you did to my poor assassin. He was quite discomfited."

Midge lost control of her facial expression and glared at the queen. It had been terrifying, to think that such a powerful fae had wanted her dead and had sent a royal assassin, and to see the queen wave it off with such an air...

"You'll understand if I don't feel the urge to apologize," she said. "We have chased away your ambassador with their kidnapping attempt, and we have defeated your assassin. I will not return home, and if you continue attempting to bring me back, it will only lead to greater conflict. I have found a place where I belong, and I will not stop until all the grey folk are free and have found their purpose, just like me. I may not have the power that you do, and you may find my threats laughable, but I never thought you a tyrant who would bully and enslave her subjects, my queen."

Queen Titania lifted her delicate, dark brows, looking astonished at Midge's outburst. "Well. I must say, I did not intend for you to die, my dear. I wanted to either frighten you enough to come home where it was safe, or to test your ability to protect yourself on your own. You certainly proved your power to me, and I can see that I must reluctantly admit; Chevalier was right all along."

Midge blinked rapidly, glancing up at Chevalier's sheepish smile, then back to the queen. "What are you talking about? You sent an assassin to... test me?"

"He was never going to kill anyone, darling," Queen Titania said, and she shed a smile upon Midge that a grey folk had never been the recipient of before, Midge was sure. A smile the Queen would save for a subject, a true child of the Faewild.

Part of Midge wanted to warm to it, to be grateful for it, but the idea of coming home still sent a shiver of distaste through her. "You'll forgive me if I don't exactly believe you. Peacebloom tried to hurt us, too."

"I've sent Peacebloom to the hag for reconditioning," Queen Titania said with a wave of her hand. "And the Shadowfae recovers from his wounds in the palace. I knew that if you could hold your own against them, Chevalier must be right. There must be more to the grey folk than I ever knew, and it is my own hubris that blinded me to it. Look at you, child. You've blossomed. You're beautiful. It is clear you have found your place, as you said. Don't fear that I will continue trying to take you from it. I only want my children to be happy."

Chevalier cleared his throat delicately. "I am sorry for my part in this as well, Midge. But as you can see, the gracious queen needed proof that your kind could flourish, if sent on your way. I opened a portal and let the Faewild decide where you ought to go, and you found a place that suits you like a glove."

Midge shook her head, frowning deeply. "Why me, Chevalier? Why not Cricket, or Ladybug, or any of the others?"

"You were just the lucky one, I suppose," Chevalier said, one shoulder lifting along with the corner of his mouth in a shrug and a smirk. "You seemed to have more of a spark about you than the others. You went off alone long enough to push you into the portal. Take your pick, I had no particular reason."

"Oh." Midge supposed that made sense. She was silent for a moment, glancing down at Rita and Emory. Rita quailed a little at the grand visitors, her gaze averted and posture submissive, but Emory smiled up at Midge and gave her hand a little pat where it rested in his, and her tight chest eased with another breath.

Midge lifted her head again to meet Queen Titania's eyes. "What about my friends, then? The rest of the grey folk? You'll let them go free, and find their purpose like I found mine?"

"You believe they will all be dryads, nymphs, servants of nature on the Material Plane?" Queen Titania asked, appraising Midge with a once-over.

"I do not know. We've only had one test so far," Chevalier answered for Midge. "It seems likely, but there is really only one way to find out."

"Keep setting them loose through random portals and hope they find a safe place to grow?" Queen Titania looked dubious. The very air around her seemed to change in mild reflection of her mood, growing cold and damp with her worry. "They have served me loyally and without complaint for too long. Some of them will be frightened to go, I am sure. You would have them forced to leave their homes? And what of their duties? Who will serve in their stead?"

Midge squinted at Queen Titania, weighing her response. Now that she knew the attacks had been a test, she wondered if this, too, was some way of weighing Midge's intellect and empathy, something she had never been certain the grey folk possessed.

"Your control of the Faewild's chaos is legendary, and the mundane tasks the grey folk perform could easily be performed by your eagerly employed fauns, satyrs, or simply replaced by magic. All it will take is a little extra effort on your part. But if it would ease your mind, you could keep an open line of contact between yourself an the grey folk you send abroad. If any of them wish to return home to the Faewild after their excursion, they certainly would be allowed. But I am telling you now, if the rest of my friends feel the same way as I do, none will choose to come back to what you call their home."

Queen Titania listened politely, but the air dampened even further, a soft mist appearing around her head and shoulders, and she took a deep breath through her nose. "Fair point, Midge, dear. Such spells and employment takes time to arrange. Surely you will agree, a mass exodus of the grey folk will be too upsetting of the balance. Give me time, and I will release them one at a time, and continue testing to ensure that this method will work again. Perhaps Midge was merely a fluke."

"Mm, I do hate to say it, my Queen, but now that Midge has proven me right, the rest of the Eladrin will never settle for the continued enslavement of the grey folk," Chevalier said, looking genuinely regretful. "If they do have a purpose, and you are keeping them from it, that will directly violate everything the Eladrin stand for. When they raised you to be queen, they did so with the understanding that you would keep every creature of the Faewild's best interest at heart."

Rita gave a little gasp and clamped her hand over her mouth. Midge smiled at Chevalier, tilting her head in a slight nod. She knew the Eladrin had a role in Queen Titania's coronation generations ago, but she didn't know if it was a strong enough connection to issue such threats, and she had certainly never heard anyone be so bold as to reference such a connection to Titania's face. It could be just another one of Chevalier's bluffing games. Still, it was enough to draw Queen Titania's attention as she sent him a razor-sharp look.

"I do not intend to keep them from their purpose," she said with a long sigh. "You have made your point. You have all made your points. Fine. I will release the grey folk, send them out into this wild multiverse, and allow fate to find them, or for them to find their fates. I suppose it is fitting. You are a speck of the Faewild's own chaos, thrown into the works of my creation to vex me. But you are beautiful, Midge. I am sorry it has taken me so long to see it."

"I am too," Midge said, but still her heart swelled at the acceptance from this powerful Fae, from her creator, from the one who was ultimately responsible for Midge's life, though she had nothing to do with her current happiness and the strength she had found here.

"Very well. I will depart this place, and allow you to stay here unmolested, Midge, if that is truly what you desire," Queen Titania said, taking a step back and drawing Chevalier with her. "But we shall miss having you grey folk drifting around the castle. I do hope some of you do choose to return, at least for a visit."

"I may do that," Midge said, hardly daring to believe the circumstances. "In time. I have one last request. I know you will not be able to open so many portals in a single day, and it will take at least a little time. Will you send my friend Cricket through first? He deserves... to be happy."

Queen Titania paused, looking back at Midge for a long moment. "I don't know why I'm still surprised, grey folk," she said at last, and a genuine smile spread over her features, banishing the chill in the air and allowing the tropical warmth to suffuse the jasmine patch once more. "Very well. I will do this for you, Midge. Be well."

"Be well," Midge called out, but her words were sucked into the vortex that opened, the wind once more plucking at her clothing, swaying her forward, before both the fae figures and the portal vanished for good.