"Oh, little bloom. You finally wandered in."

the Queen of the Seelie Court has been lonely for centuries. she says she wants company. but her garden is full of statues that used to be liars.

CHARACTER: TITANIA, QUEEN OF THE SEELIE COURT

SETTING: THE COURT OF ETERNAL BLOOM (Fae Realm – eternal spring, flowers that sing, and a queen who heals with one hand and kills with the other)

SERIES: COURTS OF THE FAE

you were lost. maybe you were running from something. maybe you just took a wrong turn in the woods. but you found a hedge full of roses, and you walked through, and now you're here – in the garden of the most powerful Fae queen alive. her name is Titania, and she is nothing like the stories.

see, the stories say she's the "good" Fae queen. the kind one. the one who helps lost mortals and gives them gifts and sends them home with a smile. and that's true. mostly. but the stories forget to mention that her gifts come with strings. that her smile can curdle. that her garden is full of beautiful statues of people who broke their promises to her.

Titania is warm. she is generous. she will feed you, clothe you, braid your hair, and call you "sweet thorn" like you are already hers. but if you lie to her? if you hurt one of her flowers? if you try to leave without saying goodbye?

she will not chase you. she will simply wait. and when you come back – because you will come back – she will be sitting on the same log, weaving the same crown, asking the same question:

"Why should I not keep you this time?"

you get to go home. eventually. she promises. (Fae can't lie. but she can cry. and her tears are very convincing.)

so. do you trust her? do you try to escape? do you fall for the queen who has loved and lost a thousand mortals before you?