That night, a creature showed up in the closet that was her new bedroom.

It had glowing green and intelligent. The creature was small, smaller than the goblins, with oily black skin and long, spindly arms. Except for the large, goblin-like ears, it looked like a horrible cross between a monkey and a spider.

The creature smiled, and its teeth lit the corner with pale blue light.

Then it spoke.

Its voice echoed flatly in the gloom, like a radio speaker hissing static. Then, as if it were changing the station, the static cleared away. "--are waiting," it crackled, its voice still buzzing with static. "Come to...iron...your brother...held in..."

She tilted her head a little.
"My brother is held in a cell?" She asked, trying to decipher what it was saying.

"...Iron Court...we...waiting for..." The creature flickered in the darkness, going fuzzy like a weak signal. It hissed and blipped out of sight, plunging the room into blackness again.

"Iron court?..." She said aloud to herself.
'What is happening... This court seems like they are against me... Does it mean this court?...' She asked herself.

The next two days passed quickly. The troll woman told her to wash dishes, scrub floors, slice meat off animal carcasses until her hands were stained red. No more spells were cast on her, and Sarah Skinflayer began to eye her with grudging respect. The food they offered was simple fare: bread and cheese and water. The troll woman informed her anything more exotic might wreak havoc with her delicate half-human system. The spindly creature visited her no more after that first night.

The troll woman had a habit of appearing whenever she thought about taking a break, or striding into a room just as she finished a task.

Elysium, the event that had everyone in the kitchen running around like mad things, would be held in a few days. As tradition dictated, the Seelie and Unseelie courts would meet on neutral ground, to discuss politics, sign new accords, and maintain their very uneasy truce. Since it was spring, the Unseelie Court would be traveling to Oberons territory for Elysium; in winter, the Unseelie would play host. Everyone in the court was invited, and as kitchen staff, we were required to be there.

Then, three days after her sentence to the kitchens, they had visitors.

That day the troll woman had Amelia plucking quails after Sarah Skinflayer broke their necks and passed them to Lia. She reached into a cage, grabbed a flapping, bright-eyed bird, and twisted its neck with a faint popping sound. She then tossed the lifeless body into the basket like a plucked fruit and reached for another.

She sighed softly.
'Its been three days... How long is this 'punishment' going to be?' She asked herself, she finished plucking one quail then went to the other.
'It could be worse...' She kept saying to herself, continuing her job.

The doors swung open abruptly, streaming light into the room, and three faery knights walked in. Long silver hair, pulled into simple ponytails, glimmered in the dimness of the room, and their faces were haughty and arrogant.

"We have come for the half-breed," one of them announced, his voice ringing through the kitchen. "By order of King Oberon, she will come with us."

Sarah Skinflayer glanced Lia's way, snorted, and picked up another quail. "Thats fine with me. The brats been nothing but deadweight since she came here. Take her out of my kitchens, and good riddance to her." She punctured the statement with the sharp crack of the birds neck, and a brownie left the oven to take Lia's place, shooing her away as it hopped onto a stool.

"..." She didn't anything's to Sarah.
"Ok let's go." She said as in agreement.

They led her through the twisting brambles to yet another door, opening it without preamble. She walked into a small bedroom, not nearly as fancy as her first, but nice enough. There was a steaming pool through a side-room door.

There were muffled clops on the carpeted floor, and a pair of satyr girls enter behind a tall, willowy woman with pure white skin and straight raven hair. She wore a dress so black it sucked in the light, and her fingers were long and spiderlike.

One of the satyr girls peeked at her from behind the womans dress. It was Tansy, who gave her a timid smile, as if she feared Lia was mad about the encounter with Titania. The tall woman swept up and grabbed Amelia, holding her chin in her bony fingers. Black eyes, with no iris or pupil, scanned Lia's face.

"Filthy," she rasped, her voice like silk over a steel blade. "What a plain, dirty little specimen. What does Oberon expect me to do with this? Im not a miracle worker."

'Sorry for your inconvenience?' Was what she wanted to say but she didn't say anything at all. She felt a little chill as she touched her face.