"You are of interest to my queen," she said, shrugging. "We know much of you. I would have some bread, if any is available."
I rose from the table and automatically sliced bread, my mind going a million miles per minute. The queen knew much of me? Which queen? It had to be Viviette, didn't it? And why?
Why, why, why?
I had so many questions, but I didn't know if I'd offend her or break some rule of hosting if I asked them. Instead, I asked a simple one. "Would you like butter or honey or jam on your bread?"
She clapped her hands together. "Oh, please, honey. And jam, but only if it is freshly made from summer strawberries. I do so love strawberries."
I felt terrible about disappointing her. "I'm so sorry, but I only have strawberry jam in a jar that came from a store. But I have honey."
I put an inch-square slice of bread on the smallest dessert plate I had—at least it was a lovely rose-patterned china I'd gotten in on pawn—and poured a few drops of honey next to it. I put a quarter-teaspoon of jam on the very edge, too.
"Just in case you'd like to try this. It's not freshly made, but it is very sweet and tastes of strawberries."
Then I buttered my own slice of bread, and the two of us sat in companionable silence at possibly the most unusual breakfast I'd ever had.
"This jam is acceptable, but I would prefer fresh jam when I visit again."
I blinked. She planned to visit again? I loved the idea so much I resolved to learn how to make homemade jam.
"If you let me know in advance, I will learn to make jam and have some ready for you," I said cautiously.
"You are not horrible at all," she trilled, and that was a stumper. I mean, I was glad not to be horrible, but I had a sinking suspicion about who'd called me that.
"May I ask your name?" I finally asked, sidestepping my horribleness for the time being.
She studied my face for a moment or two and then clapped her hands again. "You can call me Frazzle!"
I had to grin. I'd never named a faery before. I knew there were prohibitions about giving one's true name, so if she wanted me to call her Frazzle, I was happy to do so.
"Okay, Frazzle, may I ask you a few questions?"
She gave me a regal nod and then stuffed another crumb of honey-soaked bread in her mouth.
"First, I see that you're hurt. Your wing. Is there anything I can do to help?"
She glanced back at her bent wing and delicately shuddered. "No. But my queen will heal me when she finds me."
I thought rapidly. If her queen was Viviette, and she'd be searching for her missing … Frazzle, then I had a hostage of sorts.
I looked at the faery, currently petting Lou with one small hand, and dismissed the idea as soon as I'd thought of it. There was no way I'd become someone who held an injured person hostage.
I sighed. "Do you know how you got here? Or how to get back? I'm delighted to have you as my guest, but I'm sure you want to go home. Your family must miss you."
Her wings fluttered and shaded from silver to a lovely rose gold. "Yes, they will miss me. I have seventy-three sisters and one brother."
Wow. And I thought the odds on dating apps were bad.
"Are there not many male Fae?"
She laughed again, clearly amused by my ignorance. "My true love has eighty-nine brothers and two sisters. The numbers work out."
I didn't even want tothinkabout how a family had ninety-two children, so I moved on. "And how you got here?"
Her wings faded back to silver. "I do not know. I went to sleep in my bed in our tree at home in the Autumn Court, listening to the sound of the orchestra tuning their instruments one moment and asleep the next. When I woke up, I was where you found me. But my tree is not near a portal, nor is your home. I do not understand."
I didn't understand, either, and I figured it was time I called in someone who might.
