"Your Majesty," she began upon reaching the silver-haired trio at the table. "I think it has been a while since you performed queenly duty. I do not say this to ornament the morning. I say it because the morning has already been ornamented enough. It may not seem so, but Her Majesty is quite popular amongst the fairies she rules.
"They speak of you in the market lanes when the stalls open. They leave offerings at the foot of the palace steps: honey in thimbles, braided grass, the first white berry of the season. Your Majesty—are you listening?"
Titania took one long sip.
The steam from the cup curled around her face and softened the edges of her smile without erasing it.
She held the pause as if silence were another kind of joke.
