“Mmmm,” I said, giving Pierce a look to make him cringe. “Do you want to sit down?”

Sidereal sighed. “It must be bad,” he said. “I never ask anyone to sit unless it is bad.”

A faint smile quirked my lips, and I moved to a pixy-size bench. Nearby was a loom and a vat where Matalina had soaked spider nests for the silk. It made me heartsick. The bench was too small for Sidereal, and after looking at it and indicating that he’d rather stand, I sat, bringing one cold foot up onto the bench to try to warm it. The soles of my feet were black, but I didn’t care; there was no demon mark on them.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, and a flash of pain crossed Sidereal as he winced. I belatedly realized he had tried to shift his wings, a fairy’s version of a shrug.

“Better now that my middle is full and I can pee without people watching,” he said dryly.

I nodded, my memory of Alcatraz surfacing for a moment. “If you were able to live in a secure space with room to grow, could you stay as you are?” I asked, and Sidereal stiffened.

“I won’t ask my people to exist at the mercy of pixies. You can make us whole. You owe us—”

“Nothing,” I interrupted calmly, setting one foot down to bring up the other. “I was defending my garden. You attacked, and I spared your life. I don’t owe you anything but what my conscience demands, and you’ll be happy with what I give you.”

He hissed at me with those long teeth, and I lowered my voice before Jenks stormed over and cut his tongue out. “I want to ask a favor,” I said softly.

Sidereal’s hiss cut off, and his silver eyebrows rose. “A favor? Of your vanquished?”

My insides quivered. God, I hoped he’d go for it. I really needed to make something good come out of this. “What do you think about her?” I said, pointing with my chin to Ceri, now standing next to Ivy and talking to three of Jenks’s kids.

Sidereal’s expression became guarded. “She twisted the curse that made you small.”

I nodded. “She was also a third of the spell that would have killed you. She’s mad at me because I stopped it. What do you think about that?”

“I’d be angry, too, if a trusted warrior stayed my hand,” he said cautiously. I could understand his dilemma. Ceri had tried to kill him, but she also had the skill to make them whole, and he knew it. “I’ve heard it said that elves were once valiant savages,” he added.