«I see.» her voice was delicate but thundering, at the same time. It was incredibly confusing for whoever listened to it. «The Mages come crawling to the Fairies.»

«We are honored and humbled by the grace of Her Majesty, and bask in her incredible beauty and wisdom.» Thanatos still bent over in a deep bow, greeted her as manners request, trying to feign tranquility he was far from feeling.

Beside Titania, something started to break through the floorboards. Black vines started to sprout right under the Queen, and under the amazed gazes of the Enforcers, a convoluted, elaborated throne was born right there, ready to accommodate the gracious figure of the fairy. The throne had many swirls, and three ovals pointing right, left and up, forming its seatback. It was creepy and majestic at the same time. Titania sat down with catlike movements and lazily leaned her cheek on the back of her hand, her eyes transfixed on the men and women in front of her.

«Basking is a privilege I don't offer for nothing, Enforcer Commander Thanatos.» she said, with boredom in her tone. «I hope the Order has something to offer to me, for such an outrageous request.»

«Gracious Queen, your benevolence in according us to an earlier meeting...»

«Quit, quit this, obvious pleasantries bore me. Tell me, why do you beseech the Fairy Queen and her eyes, Enforcer Commander? Be brief, and I could consider giving you something you actually need, apart from basking in my perfection.»

«Have you heard, oh gracious Queen...»

«Hm. No. You are always so pompous. You remind me of my court, and I'm so bored with my court. If I graciously come here to answer your prayer, you could at least make it worth my while.» The Queen interrupted him.

«I... of course, Your Majesty. What could we do to... make it worth your while?» Thanatos was taken aback. He had direct dealings with the Fairy Queen just twice before, and it had been quite different. She had come to the Finnegan's Wake, just like now. She had asked what he wanted, listened to his request and granted it, barely looking at him, barely letting a hunchback goblin take what she had asked in return and left. Time spent: five minutes, three of which of general courtesy and title-calling. Plus, he was with Della Rovere at the time, not solo like this one, and the Councilor had made most of the talking.

Today she was remarkably different, with a strange light in her grey eyes, and a smirk fighting not to appear on her thin pale lips.

«Do I have to explain everything? I'm sure you know how to please a Queen. I must have already told you.» she said, moving a hand gently in the air. «Haven't I? Of course, I have.»

Thanatos started to feel the anxiety rise. There were tons of lore about pleasing the Fairies, but the same folklore was quite clear about what could happen if the method was chosen unwisely. A streak of fear started to go around, as Titania's eyes went around, stopping in each and every one of the Enforcers'. Everyone was waiting for Thanatos to make the first move.

«Should I bring you something rare from the deepest of our Vaults? Such a marvel everyone would envy Your Majesty?» he offered, remembering the long essays about the Fairy Court need for dark pleasures. The disgusted noise coming from Titania's mouth declared his failure. Last time, she clearly requested something in exchange for the information they needed, and there had been none of these theatricals.

«O, what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, alone and palely loitering? The sedge has withered from the lake, and no birds sing. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, so haggard and so woe-begone? The squirrel's granary is full, and the harvest's done.» exceptionally good pronunciation and rhythm made everyone turn and stare.

Here he was. Pale as a dead man already, trying to save the situation from the farthest of his memories, Garaham put his English Literature Minor at use. «I see a lily on thy brow, with anguish moist and fever-dew, and on thy cheeks, a fading rose, fast withereth too. I met a lady in the meads, full beautiful—a faery's child, her hair was long, her foot was light, and her eyes were wild.»

Thanatos shot him an intimidating glare, but everyone could see the ghost of a smile blossom on the Fairy Queen's face, as the verses of the poem poured out from Garaham's lips. She savored each and every one of them, her index finger discreetly beating the time on her throne's armrest.

«Aaaah, see? That's what I meant. Some good old remembrances of those funny days. Good old John, what a sport he was.» she sighed, apparently fulfilled, interrupting the declamation with a small gesture. «That is something I dearly needed. Very thoughtful, Enforcer. I'm glad to see you surround yourself with competent people, Thanatos. Very well, I kindly appreciate your homage. Let's get to the point. I don't have time to waste!» the sudden change in her demeanor was unsettling, as she stood up from the throne and made it disappear with the gentle tap of one of her thorned heels. The floor itself went back to normal as if nothing had ever grown there before. Everyone could swear they had heard an approving grunt coming from behind the counter, but nobody could take his eyes away from the Fairy Queen to look at the Innkeeper, at that moment.

Thanatos snapped out of it.

«Gracious Queen, we beseech a question to you.»

«Thanks to the acculturate Enforcer, I'll grant you two. And, as you perfectly know, I cannot lie. I'm listening.» she said. Her voice had changed her sound, now colder and more decisive, different from the disquieting but almost playful demeanor of some instants before.

That's why you don't trust the Good People.

«Werepeople are unsettling the balance of the Supernatural world, My Queen...»

«So, they're hunting you down.» she spat, without the littlest concern.

«...They're hunting us down. They have been gathering artifacts they shouldn't, getting information they shouldn't. We merely want to ascertain where do those come from, who should we guard our shoulders from.»

«Hm. Let me see.» she put a finger against her cheek and looked up to the ceiling, with a theatrical thinking pose. She took her time before talking again. «Well, let's say that: there is great unrest in the Undertide for their cause: some just want to watch, but others are meddling and helping. But, rest assured, their fight is not ours. But, and that is true, you should always look behind your back, because there are, indeed, knives put against them.»

«Whose knives, My Queen?» asked Thanatos. She smiled again and put a finger across her lips.

«Oh no, dear Director. You have already had your two answers.»

«My Queen...» Thanatos tried no to swear under his breath. «...my questions called for a grade of precision in their answers...»

«Yes, they did indeed. I can't lie, but you can't force me to answer as you'd wish, human mage, only to answer. Be grateful I shared with you even those straws because I could have denied those as well.» this time, her voice lost any playfulness, or even indifference, to turn to a peal of thunder. Not roaring, but a quiet rumbling, like a storm in the making dawdling in the clouds before discharging all its violence on the world. «Don't mistake my inclination to amuse my days with your presence as a duty to obey your requests. Far is the day we will be asked to give more than our hearts commands.»

As everyone looked at her in awe and terror, she, again, suddenly smiled, right to Garaham.

«But know you this. Whoever is helping them, is really dear to my heart.»

And with those last words, she was swallowed by the smoke of her dress and disappeared into the Ripple behind her. It close with a blue-violet violent flash, blinding them all for some moments. When they opened their eyes again, the room was back to normal, up to the Innkeeper behind the counter.

«Nice touch Keats. Well done. She's a sucker for Fairy poems. When she's not a sucker for something else.» he clapped slowly. «How did ye come up with that?»

«University remembrances. It was particularly hard not to overthink fairy poems more than my classmates at the time. I knew they were quite good reports of sightings. The Fairies love negative satisfactions. Death, envy. And nostalgia.» Garaham explained to the Innkeeper, who raised a brow. If he believed it, he didn't say. But to him, there was something off in that explanation.

«Are you mad? What if she didn't like it? You could have killed us all!» Mariposa jumped up, gesticulating. «You put us all in direct danger! Why didn't you let Director Thanatos do the talking?»

«Because he was in a panic. Luckily for you all, I am good at solving bad situations. I have quite the training.» he answered. But Thanatos didn't look particularly happy or grateful for the saving.

«This has broken so many contact rules, Garaham!»

«I'm well aware. But we're all alive.»

«Titania would have never killed us, not really. Not here.»

«Not us. How sure could we be she wouldn't send some trolls to devastate some pacific little town? The Fairies, you yourself teach me, aren't straightforward. Not in thinking, nor in acting.»

«Last time she was well down pleased with a boon. I don't know what happened this time.» Thanatos said, with a deep breath. «At least we got something out of this. We'll discuss consequences back at home. Mariposa, thank you for keeping the Enforcers calm during the hearing. I saw you maintaining the situation under control. You're a precious addition to these missions.»

Garaham opened his mouth, then closed it. Mariposa had done absolutely nothing of the sort. But he just wanted to go home.

He saw her gleam, slightly, as they opened the portal to go back to Boston. He waved politely to the Innkeeper, who waved back with a crooked smile and disappeared.