I woke up as light seeped in through the window and hit me in the eyes. As I tried to sit up, I felt something weigh me down. Oh… right. “Honey, time to wake up.” My voice was raspy with sleep as I stifled a yawn. I leaned over and kissed Rathina gently. She grumbled weakly. “Mrhgh? Morning already?” She gave me a sleepy smile as she untangled herself from me. “That it is, we should get going.” I sat up and my tail reached up to scratch an itch on my back. Movement behind me told me Rathina was up as well. “Hmm, if we hurry we might have time for some breakfast before the meet-and-greet.”

  A few minutes later, I was out in the hallway. The door next to me opened, and Nettle exited with an enormous yawn. “Oh, morning, you slept in too, Morgana?” I rolled my shoulders to get some of the morning stiffness out. “Yeah, long day yesterday. And if the soft growls from Meleri’s door are anything to go by, we’re not the only ones.”

  Nettle looked down the hallway. “Is that what that rumbling is?” Rathina walked past. “It is. Now, how about we head to breakfast, I’d rather not get to the meet and greet hungry, it ruins my mood.” A few minutes after we began to eat we were joined by Jaira, Soot, Winter and Midnight. Winter flew over to my shoulder and gave me a loving headbutt. “Good morning, Mother.” I reached over and scratched her as I finished another slice of bread with ham. “Morning to you as well, Winter, sleep well?” She cooed in response as she nibbled at parts of my breakfast.

  Soot and Midnight padded over to the food counter with Jaira, and soon the three returned with their food. “Well, I hope the whole meet-and-greet will go well. Want us to join you?” I glanced over at Nettle, who shrugged. “It’s fine if they want but it will probably be boring as it’s just a bunch of Fae nobles mingling.”

  Jaira seemed to consider it for a moment. “I think I will just chaperone these three around the village in your place, Mother, if it’s alright for you. Fae rarely like what my caravan peddles anyhow, so I really don’t see a reason to network here.” The idea of Jaira trying to peddle her stock to Trym flashed before my eyes. “That’s… a wise idea. Trym would likely flatten you on the spot if you did. And if he somehow didn’t, then I can assure you áine would curse you to death in short order.”

  Jaira gave me a curious glance. “Trym and áine?” Oh, right, she wouldn’t know. “Trym and áine rule Court Winter Glen, áine is also a relative of Erydhe. And I’ll be blunt, Trym and áine are more powerful than Erydhe and Ilmahir.“ Nettle downed her cup of juice and licked her lips. “Well, you would expect Erydhe’s grandparents to be stronger, now wouldn’t you?” I glanced over and shrugged. “I suppose that’s true. Either way, we should get going.” Nettle nodded as she downed the rest of her breakfast in a single mouthful. “Right.”

  I rose, and so did Rathina. “I’m coming with, I have no reason to saunter around the village alone, after all.” She gave me a brilliant smile as she took my hand. “Sounds good, though I warn you the greeting will probably be dull.” Rathina waved me off. “I doubt it’s much worse than my father’s court.” Right, Rathina was a noble as well. “Never been to your father’s court, so I can’t really comment on that, but I will take your word for it. Well then, let’s go shall we?”

  The three of us walked outside and towards the largest mushroom in town, a trip that would take a while thanks to our current size. Rathina looked towards the mushroom in the distance. “This would be faster if we were back to normal, wouldn’t it?” Nettle looked over at her. “It would, but the enchantment on the doors only stops working if we leave town, and that would be quite a detour for something so minor. That aside, it would probably be faster if we used the carpet.”

  Nettle wasn’t wrong about that. “Good idea.” I pulled out the carpet, which thankfully was shrunken as well, something that I was curious about as I grabbed for it. As we flew across the village, Rathina was hugging me from behind. “This is so much better.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Perhaps, but this makes it a bit difficult to control the damn thing.” Rathina let out a mirthful laugh, then gave my cheek a kiss. “Oh, I am sure you can manage.”

  It didn’t take long for us to reach our destination, the largest mushroom in town. It towered over all the other houses and mushrooms in town, even dwarfing some trees in the nearby wood by its sheer size. Rathina looked up at the giant mushroom. “Hmm, I can feel some kind of spatial magic on that mushroom, ancient, powerful.” Nettle’s antennae trilled a sudden sharp tone. “You can sense that? Impressive. Well, the mushroom itself is just the portal leading to the court itself. In fact, all the mushroom houses use spatial magic, as they would be pretty cramped otherwise.”

  As we neared the portal, Nettle tapped my shoulder. “I’d recommend landing, flying through the portal would be ill advised, enchantments or no.” I knew better than to disregard Nettle’s advice. “Alright.” I brought us in for landing near the threshold, and we all hopped off.

  From this angle, the mushroom was like a giant cliff compared to our small size. “Well, here goes, after you, Nettle.” She nodded and led the way through the massive doorway on foot. As we crossed over the threshold, there was a sense of disorientation as the world itself inverted and we found ourselves elsewhere.

  Rathina staggered a step or two as she moved up beside me. “Ugh, that’s just as unpleasant as summoning.” She then looked around and her brows shot upward. We were in an absolutely massive subterranean stone hall. Large tables dominated parts of the hall where a large amount of trolls were busy eating, chatting and discussing the upcoming feast.

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  In the other half the cavern was more like a verdant cavern filled with many plants, small shallow pools and a huge amount of interesting animals and insects of all shapes and sizes. And among the animals were sprites, nymphs, dryads, and plenty of other spirit and fae creatures.

  A shadow fell over us where we stood. “Well, what have we here? Little vermin sneaking inside the hall?” The voice was soft with a sly tone to it. I turned towards the speaker, a massive black and grey cat. “Back off Mjurn, unless you want me to snap another fang.” Mjurn let out a hiss. “Morgana, just looking at you makes my tooth ache. I am stronger now. What’s stopping me from hunting you now, eh?”

  Before I could respond, there was a thunderous *THUMP* as a massive granite grey boot slammed down beside us, followed by another. I looked up at the new arrival that arrived from the outside. “Morning, Your Highnesses, sorry about the delay.” The boot, which was about to move on hesitated. “Hmm, I could have, oh!”

  From far up in the distance I could see Trym lean down to look at us. “Well now, the delegation from Sirdis Fae Court, here at last.” The voice was a deep rumble, like a distant rockslide or the grinding of boulders. “Let me undo the shrinking spell on you and your friend, Lady Morgana, you’d be quite easy to step on otherwise.”

  Nettle took to the air and got some distance, and Mjurn stepped back with an angry growl as he reached out with a massive hand and snapped. A few moments later, instead of looking at the sole of Trym’s boot, both Rathina and I were now looking at his kneecaps. I looked up at him and gave a respectful curtsy.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty, and on behalf of both myself and Lady Nettle, I apologize for being late, we were surprised by an ice storm while crossing the Three Teeth. By the time it passed and we got under way again, so much time passed that the court was adjourned for the day by the time we arrived.”

  Nettle flew up beside me and gave a curtsy on her own. “Queen áine, King Trym, Queen Erydhe sends her well wishes and hopes that you are doing well.” I followed Nettle’s gaze towards Trym’s right shoulder, where a tall woman who seemed to be made of wood was sitting, her dress were large beautiful viridian leaves, and her hair was long ferns filled with various flowers. Her eyes opened to emerald pools, ancient and filled with knowledge and wisdom I couldn’t even begin to guess at.

  She smiled down at us. “Thank you, Lady Nettle, our granddaughter is doing well, I hope?” Her voice was melodious, like birdsong in spring, yet serene like a small brook running through a summer forest. A duality that wouldn’t make any sense if it wasn’t attributed to a Fae. Before Nettle could answer, Trym cleared his throat. “Let’s speak about these matters elsewhere, we are blocking the entryway, after all.” I nodded. “After you, your Highness.” Trym began to move again, each step of the large troll sending minor tremors through the floor. I glanced down at Mjurn, who gave me an angry hiss and ran off.

  Rathina looked after the cat. “She didn’t seem to like you.” I took a deep breath. “Mjurn decided I looked tasty the last time I was here, and her subsequent attempt to eat me cost her a fang. She never forgave me for that, and it would seem Trym didn’t see fit to restore it either, likely as a lesson to not attack guests.”

  We arrived at the throne and Trym sat down, which let me get a good look at him for the first time. He was much the same as the last time I saw him. Several times my height, with a thickset build, legs like tree trunks, gnarled brownish-grey skin like the bark of an old oak, and deep-set grey eyes that shone with an ancient cunning and intelligence that spoke of centuries, if not millennia of life beyond what would be normal for one of his kind, yet his gaze was warm and kind, like a grandfather who was happy to see a beloved grandchild. From the right side of his lower lip poked a large, blunt tooth.

  His face was covered in a massive bushy beard that looked a lot like old man’s beard lichen, both in texture and color. His long grey hair was maybe a bit more silvery than last time I was here, but it was difficult to tell for sure. However, his most prominent feature was beyond doubt his nose. An uneven thing, even longer than I was, as it bent downward like a beak with bumps and small bends like an old crooked branch. His clothes were grey woven wool which was covered in rime that never melted.

  áine jumped from Trym’s shoulder and floated down into his lap, where she sat down with her legs crossed. “Now then, an ice storm you say.” Her emerald pools gazed down at the three of us. Then she seemed to notice Rathina. “Hmm, I don’t recognize this one, mind introducing us?” Before I could respond, Rathina stepped up beside me and gave a respectful and elaborate courtesy. “Greetings, Your Majesties, I am Rathina Terindine Ashatara Infernus Sharadore. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  Nettle landed on my shoulder. “Did you know she was of House Sharadore?” I glanced at Nettle and gently shook my head. I knew that she was from a noble family, she was served by a personal butler, after all. But I didn’t expect literal infernal royalty. That one was on me though, I could have asked for her full name. No wonder her Blerrix hated my guts. In his eyes, I was just some lesser upstart noble in the middle of nowhere who dared to covet the princess he served. Well, his loss, not mine.

  I turned my attention back to the conversation between Rathina and áine. “… And that’s how I met Morgana.” áine looked up at Trym then back at Rathina. “I can understand how difficult it is to fall in love with someone not of your own kin. It took over a century for the Trolls of these mountains to integrate with us fae once I married Trym.” She turned her attention back to me and Nettle. “That aside, you said you were delayed by an ice storm?”

  Nettle flew up to her and pressed her antennae to áine’s forehead. A few moments later, they separated. “Oh my, such a vicious one at that. I can see why you would be delayed after that.” Her gaze fell on me again. “I take it your shoulder was healed properly?” So Nettle took a page out of my book, eh?

  “Yes, Your Highness. It’s good as new.” áine seemed satisfied with my simple answer as she gave me a nod. “In that case, I will say we let you get back to mingling, don’t you agree, dear?” Trym’s gaze fell upon us and a low rumbling escaped him. “Indeed. I am certain our guests want to get the pleasantries out of the way and return to their companions, after all.” Trolls and their insight. “Thank you for your consideration, Your Highnesses. We will speak again during the feast, I am sure.” I put my hand around Rathina’s waist as the three of us turned and headed into the hall proper.