Yeah, it did, didn’t it? This sounded exactly like one of my pranks, and truthfully, under other circumstances, I’d be more than eager. Titania wasn’t fond of me, and the feeling was mutual. Any chance I got to annoy, irritate or piss off the Summer Queen, I’d jump at the opportunity. It wasn’t that I hated her, she was my queen after all, but she really needed to lighten up. Besides, I’d heard about what she did to Meghan the first time they met, and that needed a little payback. No one turns my Summer princess into a deer and gets away with it, even if it is the Seelie Queen. Even if Meghan would never know that I’d defended her.

Right now, however, I understood Ash’s impatience. The vow he made to Meghan, his promise to return to her, didn’t really have an expiration date, but I figured it would be a long, arduous adventure without all these annoying side quests. We needed to be searching for a certain obnoxious furball, not pranking the Seelie Queen, no matter how entertaining that sounded.

Except, Lea really wasn’t giving us a choice.

“So, if you two could get right on that—” she smiled, waving her cigarette flute at us “—I’d be ever so grateful. When you have the violin, just meet me back here, darlings. I’ll have my spies monitor your progress. But now, you must excuse me. I’m afraid I left Razor Dan in charge of security while I was gone, and I must return quickly before he or his motley eats someone. Good luck, pets! Don’t get yourselves turned into a rosebush!”

Another swirl of glitter and lights, and the Exile Queen was gone.

Ash sighed. “Don’t say anything, Goodfellow.”

“What? Me?” I grinned at him. “Say something? I’m not the type who would point out that, for once, this absurd situation isn’t my fault. Of course, I know better than to make deals with crazy Exile Queens with goddess complexes. And if I did, I would expect them to call in the favor at the worst possible time. But I’m certainly not one to rub it in. That would just be wrong.”

Ash pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m beginning to regret inviting you.”

“You wound me deeply, Prince.” I laced my hands behind my head, enjoying myself. “Especially since you’re gonna need my help to get into Summer. Don’t think Oberon and Titania won’t notice a Winter prince strolling right into the heart of Arcadia. You’d stick out like an ogre in a china shop.”

He scowled, whether from the seemingly impossible task of sneaking into Arcadia or because I just compared him to an ogre, I didn’t know. “I assume you have a plan?” he muttered, crossing his arms.