"Claire, ma'am." She smiles up at the woman.

She smiled, vicious and challenging, appraising her. "And whats a cutie like you going to do if I want that abomination out of my home? Thats quite the binding youve got there, dove. I doubt you can scrape up the glamour to light my cigarette."

"Not that you'd care but I'd probably just leave with him." She shrugged.

"I know that, darling." Leanansidhe continued to hold her stare, smiling all the while. "Im not worried about that. Im worried I wont be able to get his stink out of my carpets. But, no matter." She straightened, releasing Claire from her gaze. "Now, come darling. Dinner first, then we can talk. Oh, and please tell your iron pet not to touch anything while hes here. I dont want him melting the glamour."

Leanansidhe led them down several long corridors carpeted in red and black velvet, past portraits whose eyes seemed to follow them as they walked by. Leanansidhe didnt stop talking, a mindless, bubbly stream, as she led them through her home, spouting names, places and creatures.

They entered a vast dining hall, where a long table took up most of the left wall, surrounded by chairs of glass and wood. Candelabra floated down the length of the surface, hovering over a feast that could feed an army. Platters of meat and fish, raw fruits and vegetables, tiny cakes, candies, bottles of wine, and a huge roast pig with an apple in its mouth as the centerpiece. Except for the flickering candlelight, the room was pitch-black, and they could hear things scurrying about, muttering in the darkness.

Leanansidhe breezed into the room, trailing smoke from her cigarette, and stood at the head of the table. "Come, darlings," she called, beckoning them with the back of her gloved hand. "You look famished. Sit. Eat. And please dont be so rude as to think the food glamoured or enchanted. What kind of host do you think I am?" She sniffed, as though the very thought annoyed her, and looked away into the shadows. "Excuse me," she called, "minions? I have guests, and you are making me look impolite. I will not be pleased if my reputation is soured, darlings."

She sat down next to Puck, looking around at the decor.

Movement in the shadows, muttering and low shuffles, as a group of little men edged into the light. They were redcaps, evil-eyed and shark-toothed, with their hats dipped in the blood of their victims, but they were also dressed in matching butler suits with pink bow ties. Sullen and scowling, they emerged from the darkness, glaring for all they were worth. Laugh and die, their eyes warned, but Puck took one look at them and started cracking up. The redcaps glared at him like they were going to bite his head off.

One of them caught sight of Ironhorse and let out a piercing hiss that sent all of them scrambling back. "Iron!" he screeched, baring his jagged fangs. "Thats one of them stinking Iron faeries! Kill it! Kill it now!"

Ironhorse roared, and Pucks dagger flashed out, a devilish grin stretching his face at the thought of violence. The redcaps surged forward, snarling and gnashing their teeth, just as eager.

She sat back, watching them silently, waiting for an excuse to pull her sword out on these fools.

The redcaps lunged forward. One of them leaped onto the table, gathering his short legs under him to launch himself at them, fangs gleaming.

"That is enough!"

They froze. Even the redcap on the table locked up, then fell into a bowl of fruit salad.

Leanansidhe stood at the end of the table, glowering at them all. Her eyes glowed amber, her hair whipped away from her face, and the candelabra flames danced wildly. For a heart-stopping moment, she stood there, alien and terrifying. Then she sighed, smoothed back her hair and reached for her cigarette holder, taking a long drag. As she blew out the smoke, things returned to normal, including the redcaps' ability to move, but no one, least of all the redcaps, had any aggressive thoughts left.

"Well?" she finally said, looking to the redcaps as if nothing had happened.

"What are you minions standing about for? My seat isnt going to move itself."

The largest redcap, a burly fellow with a bone fishhook through his nose, shook himself and crept forward, pulling Leanansidhes chair away from the table. The others followed suit, looking like theyd rather beat the trio to death with their own arms, but wordlessly drew out their chairs. The one attending Ironhorse growled and bared his teeth at the Iron faery, then darted away as quickly as he could.

She sat down silently, watching the redcaps cautiously before looking at Puck and Ironhorse.

"I apologize for the minions," Leanansidhe said. She touched her fingers to her temple, as if she had a headache. "Its so hard to find good help these days, darlings. You have no idea."

"I thought I recognized them," Puck said, casually reaching for a pear near the center of the table. "Isnt the leader Razor Dan, or something like that? Caused a bit of a stir during the Goblin Wars, when they tried selling information to both sides?"

"Nasty business, darling." Leanansidhe snapped her fingers twice, and a brownie melted out of the darkness with a wine flute and a bottle, scrambling onto a stool to fill her glass. "Everyone knows you dont cheat the goblin tribes if you know whats good for you. Like poking a stick down an ant nest." She sipped the wine the brownie poured her and sighed. "They came to me for asylum, after making every goblin tribe in the wyldwood mad, so I put them to work. Thats the rule here, darling. You stay, you work."