Page 23 of Kiss of Smoke

“Queens?” I guessed, and we brought it all to Titania.

She picked up the quill first, looked at it, then tossed it aside and took the pen. Within moments, she was scribbling furiously.

“Will you find a Herald?” I asked Jack, unaccountably nervous. Titania’s lips were set in a thin line, and she’d already filled half the parchment.

He nodded tersely, vanishing in a swirl of cold wind.

We needed Robin. I glanced once more at Titania, then scurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Gwyn was pounding on his door, yelling for him. I stifled a laugh and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s probably enchanted, being the Forbidden Room and all.”

“Why is it forbidden?” he growled, lowering his fist.

I shrugged. “Well, I don’t think his original intention was to sleep with his employees, so I was told I wasn’t allowed in here.”

There was no time to explain the rest of the story to Gwyn, or why the Forbidden Room, by virtue of being forbidden, was immediately the one room in Avilion I’d wanted to bust my way into.

But now, Robin’s enchantments encompassed me. I turned the knob easily and stepped in.

Robin was still wearing his old clothes, in exactly the spot we’d left him. I reached out, touching his hand and working my way up to squeezing his shoulder. “Boss. Wake up, we need you.”

His eyes flicked open almost immediately, looking up at the ceiling. The dark circles were gone, and he was paler than usual, which stood out starkly against his black hair and beard, but at least he looked like he wasn’t run ragged anymore.

Of course, he scowled immediately. “What happened toone hour?”

Clearly he felt the effects of a good night’s sleep and knew exactly what that meant.

“It’s been more like eight,” I said contritely, “You needed it. But right now, we’ve got much more pressing matters.”

Gwyn filled him in on our little search party while Robin changed into a new suit, keeping his back to the room. Robin’s scowl grew deeper and deeper, and by the time he was buttoning a clean shirt, I could practically see the lightning flashing in his eyes, a prelude to the storm.

“And she asked for aHerald?” he asked, pinning his badge on his chest. “Fuck. Hopefully Jack took his time.”

We went back to the kitchen together, where the delicious smell of pasta filled my nose—Jack was there, leaning against the counter as he drank from a water bottle.

But there was no parchment in front of Titania, and she wore an almost cat-like look of satisfaction.

"There you are, dear,” she said to Robin. The brandy bottles were gone, and now she had a steaming teacup of chamomile in front of her. “I hope you’re ready to get your hands bloody again.”

Robin sat across from her, folding his hands in front of him. “What was the decree, my Queen?”

I glanced at Jack, who shook his head minutely. He didn’t look very happy, either.

But Titania smiled. “All humans must be out of Avilion by the end of the week. I issued an order revoking all visas and citizenships. If they haven’t left by then, well…” She let out a cold laugh. “I suppose Noctifer’s sword will be busy.”

Horror flooded through me in cold tendrils.

“Titania.” Robin looked at her evenly, and the lack of an honorific didn’t seem to bother her. Robin was probably the only Fae in Avilion who could speak to her like that. “There are only so many ships. Many Fae are refusing to allow humans aboard. How are these people going to leave, exactly? You must rescind this and come up with a plan that will work.”

Titania stared at him, her eyes narrowed into slits. “The wellbeing of humanity is no longer my concern. I have included a provision: if Tanaquill is returned to me alive and unharmed, I will allow them to leave unscathed. There are consequences for kidnapping a princess, Robin. Mychild.”

He shook his head, but Titania interrupted before he could speak. “I will not rescind it. You have always given me good advice before, but our time of peace is at an end. I have done everything I could to protect the humans here, no matter how many times they encroached on our hospitality. My patience has worn out. They can leave, or they can die.”

“Then we’ll clean up this mess for you,” Robin said, his eyes flashing blue fire. “Because that’s what it’ll be: a bloody mess for everyone else to deal with.”

The queen and the fixer stared at each other, both with set jaws and determined in their ways, but fortunately Thistletop rang a dinner bell, cutting through the tension.

The brownie slid a plate of noodles with creamy sauce in front of me, and I was just about to eat at top speed when something tapped the window.

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