Sadly, but predictably, Fiona was on the verge of collapse after the meeting. She was a little feverish, and very much disappointed, although she cursed and fussed and put up a show of swatting at Faolin until he undressed her, undid her hair, and got her to bed. Quietly, he crept out to the hall to let her rest.

Marcello was lingering in the hall, playing with what appeared to be a paper duck. He shot the man a smile. "Your Honor," he said, with a respectful nod. "Is Her Majesty going to be all right?"

"Of course, Your Lordship," he said, with a short bow of his head. "The lady would like some rest before she's expected down later. It's not unusual."

"Aye, all right," Marcello replied, as he slipped the paper animal into his pocket. "I just wanted to check. That all went rather well, I thought, apart from the bits where the Lady Pepita is woefully uninformed; do you agree?"

"To be frank, my lord, it went no worse than any of us expected," he said politely. "We knew we were approaching a very untried Queen."

Marcello nodded. "Is Her Majesty pleased with the results?" he asked, tugging at the ring in his ear.

"I would say . . . encouraged," he replied, while trying very hard to keep his hand away from his own earring in a half-conscious imitation of Marcello. He put his hands behind his back instead. "I do not think any of us came away with anything of concrete value save perhaps good will. But after twenty years of the opposite, it's very much an improvement."

"Well, I can tell you it's valuable for us up here," Marcello replied. "To know we have allies at close hand in one more direction. And we won't have to put so much time and money into deterring smugglers if your traders are allowed to enter Avalon freely."

"We are your smugglers," said Faolin wryly. "So I imagine it will save everyone a great deal of time if they're simply allowed here legally. And if they have to start reporting gains."

"Well, er, yes, that was rather what I meant," Marcello answered cheerily. "So I take it this visit is better than your last visit to the Erins? What are you doing now? Feel like a drink?"