Suzi dropped her peach, startled, when one of the other wisps darted up the tree-trunk hand-over-hand, visibly agitated. It didn't even fall far enough to land in the translucent silk webbing that extended beneath them: the dragonfly-winged consort caught the fruit mid-air, his other hand clinging to the branch that he was currently using as a sort of theoretical seat, and handed it back to her with a quick smile. Then his attention, like that of the feather-winged queen, went to the bat-winged one who had just returned.

“What happened?” the queen demanded. As near as Suzi could tell, she remembered that there was more to reality than the island but recalled little detail, and her own name was one of the forgotten details. Nor did she seem to feel any desire for a name or any other identity. She was simply the wisp queen. Similarly, her consort who had once been queen was content to simply be the queen's consort, though he remembered fragments different from those of the queen. The other two appeared to lack any human memories at all, and she found them harder to relate to—they lacked even as much individuality as the queen and her consort, identifying only as part of the flock.

That had been a subject of much interest to Suzi and her friends. So far, among any fae they'd actually interacted with, those who had any recollection of outside life persistently stood out, whether as leaders or as individuals who were given cautious respect. It seemed unlikely that memories would, in and of themselves, be much advantage here, unless they involved specific survival skills or, as with Paz and Orfeo and Dulce, allowed a strong and dependable friendship to remain. As Erica had said, correlation did not imply causation. More likely, retaining some memory was an indication that for one reason or another, Isabel's drugs had failed to be completely effective. The suppression drugs could have done correspondingly less damage, allowing a smoother integration of less-weakened fae abilities. Thus, leaders who had more memories and less inhibited gifts.

Worryingly, JC and Des had found references in Isabel's journal to those being exactly the fae they were most likely to remove as potentially disruptive despite their being being the closest to true fae. Green fae sometimes caught on to the drugs, but house fae did even more often, which was why any remaining house fae had fled rather than lingering near the centre of the island, despite that being the only real house as such. Several of them had created a safe haven among the ruins where others were welcome to come for cooked food and secure beds, with the house fae insisting on absolute neutrality—and they were quite able to back that up. All had at least some memories of having been human and living in the real world. All deeply feared coming to Isabel's notice.

But, here and now, the bat-winged wisp spun a rapid account of having been trapped and tormented, with one threatening to slash the membrane of its wings. Then others had come, a violet dragon and a black cat and a green fae that it recognized as having been in this area to visit Suzi previously, and they had fought the hostile fae and won.

*Ali!* Suzi called. *Are Zach and Des and Erica okay?*

*As far as I know, everyone's fine,* Alison said. *What's wrong, Suze?*

*Apparently they just got in a fight to protect one of the other wisps from something bad.*

*They did? Zach, Des, Erica, you all intact? How bad was this fight?* There was a pause. *Three against six? They're mostly all talk, Zach says, although Erica and Des don't entirely agree. A couple of them took a swim in deep muck, the others got thumped on until they fell down. Erica scored three pigeons they'd hunted, that can go to the other house fae. Okay, fair enough. Please be careful, guys, but way to go, protecting a wisp from bullies.*

The queen shot a thoughtful look in Suzi's direction. “Your friends remember altruism.”

Suzi shrugged. “Zach, the dragon... that's what comes naturally. Protecting what matters. And people matter.” There was danger in anyone knowing just how much they all remembered, so she hedged and stayed carefully vague, but had admitted that she and her friends remembered coming here together and still cared about each other. Cautiously, she did trust queen and consort, whose first priority was the wellbeing of the flock, but she was reluctant to place her friends at risk of betrayal.

She just hoped they believed her that, despite still considering herself to be a woman, she had zero interest in displacing either of them. She'd held leadership positions before. They were too demanding and she didn't know enough about survival here to do it well. Since they were doing such a good job, they were welcome to it.

Queen and consort traded glances, while the consort absently handed the bat-winged wisp a peach from the silk bag hanging from a branch near him. The bat-winged wisp bit into it hungrily.

“We always need allies,” the consort said. “They've been respectful. This further proves intentions.”

“It helps to,” the queen conceded. “We don't know motivation, but the actions are positive.”

“How many would take the time to help even at no risk and little inconvenience?”

“True. But we have nothing to offer them.”

“Yes you do,” Suzi said. “Experience, for one thing. A safe place to go, for another. Des and Erica, the cat and the green fae, especially need safe places where they can sleep. They'd call that a fair trade, especially for the sake of making friends. I certainly would.”

The queen considered that. “And three are coming here to see you again?”

“Probably. They're my friends.” They'd agreed that absolutely no one was to know about Alison's ability to communicate with the rest of them. That was just too valuable a secret to give away, and it could put Alison at risk.

“And there are three others. The unicorn who serves as a draught animal, the house fae who is in the house itself, and a water fae? How can we trust them if they are friendly with the humans?”

“They are not,” Suzi said firmly. “The house fae is spying on them to learn their secrets. The unicorn obeys so she can stay near the house fae. The humans think she's broken and they trust her. They're wrong.”

“What use are secrets against the humans, hm?” the queen asked. “We cannot escape the island, and while we wear these,” she tapped the glassy band around one narrow wrist, “they hold great power over us. They create charms that can block our abilities and they make fae disappear forever. And you and your friends believe that knowing their secrets and winning their trust will have any benefit?”

“Let them try,” the consort said. “If they learn something of use, we can hope they'll share that with allies. It's unlikely that punishment would extend far, if they get caught. We don't need to actively support anything dangerous to be friendly.”

“They would not put you in danger,” Suzi said firmly.

Both regarded her speculatively.

Then the queen shrugged. “What we do not ask you, we do not have to lie about if we're asked, hm? I would like to trust that you will be as loyal to us as we will be to you...”

“Of course I will.”

“... and that it will not conflict with your loyalty to your old friends. That would be a problem.”

“There is less chance of any conflict if we're friendly with them,” the consort pointed out.

The queen smiled and gestured with one hand in surrender. “We will watch for them.”

The bat-winged one and the frilly-winged one had, in theory, been out on the edges of the swamp to gather fruit. In autumn already, there was some concern about the necessity to go much farther, outside the relative safety of the swamp, for the sweet but relatively fragile fruits they loved best. That food kept poorly and would soon be out of season. The humans did supplement it somewhat, but mostly with whatever they'd found easy to gather, usually larger items like apples or peaches or watermelons, sometimes less-sweet items that were better than nothing but not what any of them wanted—and some days there was more than others.

There was another swamp, apparently, directly opposite this one, that they could migrate to so they could start over in spring, but it would take time before the local vegetation reached the point of offering anything edible. That made the timing of relocation a delicate matter. As long as anything remained near this swamp, the queen would not declare it time to move.

While the other two checked for food, queen and consort had told Suzi to stay with them, reluctant to have her away from one or the other until they were sure she knew how to stay safe—or at least reduce the chances of danger.

The frilly-winged wisp returned with a silk bag of blackberries, which was offered to the queen of course. She had the first handful, and smiled in approval.

“We should go there tomorrow and harvest all we can.”

Suzi regarded the frilly-winged wisp's arms and hands in concern. They were covered with thin scratches. “That looks painful.”

“Some food defends itself,” the consort said. “Go wash it clean in the spring.”

The frilly-winged wisp obediently fluttered off in the direction of the clear cold fresh spring that provided their drinking water.

It returned wet, but also reported that Suzi's friends were very close, that they had stopped on a bit of high ground and seemed to be waiting.

Given Des' discomfort with mud and Erica's solidity making her sink deeper on soft ground, it was probably a sensible approach. They wouldn't shout, that could draw the wrong attention. Presumably, they just assumed they'd be found, and if necessary, they could ask Alison to prompt Suzi.

“Then let us go see them,” the queen said. “All of us. At the very least, I need to thank them.”

*Ali? Can you tell Zach and all to be very polite? I think the queen's considering some sort of official alliance.*

*An official alliance with the rest of the wisps sounds cool, and being very polite should be easy. The more friends we have, the better. Erica says that she's glad she brought a gift, then.*

*We're coming to them. Stay there.*

The novelty of being nearly weightless had worn off fast. Given time and all else being equal, they would drift gradually downwards, but other forces were nearly always stronger. That meant that moving quickly was a matter of pulling oneself along by branches or whatever else might offer itself. It had never occurred to her that walking depended so heavily on gravity pulling one back down after muscle strength pushed upwards and forward. It was, well, interesting in ways, and she'd probably miss it if she lost the ability, but considering that a Chihuahua puppy would be able to drag her, it was also going to be problematic.

She couldn't help but wonder: if humans saw a faintly-glowing wisp floating in the air, maybe one with feathery wings like the queen but white instead of colourful, wrapped only in weightless translucent silk and quite possibly sexless, and impossible to look away from... would they assume they were seeing an angel? Were angels really some kind of fae? Or did humans just sometimes confuse two separate things? If angels were fae, did that mean that God watched over fae, or even that fae came first before humans evolved? Were true full fae actually angels that fell out of Heaven but not all the way to Hell?

Was she a bad person even for wondering about these things? Probably not. People had been speculating about the nature of angels for a very long time, and she didn't really believe God got upset over questions, even hypothetical ones. But she had no more answers than they did, only more questions.

The five wisps made it to the small patch of high ground with no further trouble and respectable speed.

The queen drew herself down to the ground and stepped out of the trees; her consort took up position beside her and a step behind. Suzi hesitated, then decided that it would be more diplomatic to wait in the trees with the other two. Approaching might imply that she was challenging the queen, or at least considered herself an equal. In a sense she did, but she had no intentions of creating friction. She needed the wisp flock to continue to accept her, for multiple reasons.

Des greeted them with a cheerful-sounding trill, which drew Zach and Erica's attention.

“You saved one of my flock from being mistreated,” the queen said. “Thank you.”

“Welcome,” Zach said. “Don't like bullies.”

Erica picked up the silk bag that lay next to her, one Suzi had made and given to her last time they'd seen each other, and offered it.

Zach glanced at her, then back at the queen. “Can't talk, sorry. Brought you a gift.”

The consort glanced at the queen for permission, then came forward to take the bag. The weight of it was enough to keep him more or less on the ground as he opened it.

Smiling, he brought it to the queen and held it out, open.

She reached in and withdrew a handful of small wild strawberries and green grapes, with a single cherry in the middle of it. She tilted her head questioningly to one side.

“Sweet fruits,” Zach said. “From all over.” Erica nodded agreement.

“Hope no' squish',” Des said.

The queen regarded them thoughtfully. “Thank you. There is less here in this season. It's hard to count on human help.”

Erica nodded again, and gestured with one long-fingered hand, to her own chest, then to the flock.

“Will help,” Zach said. “Is lots the humans overlooked. Sometimes better.”

“To keep your friend from going hungry?”

“Hungry is bad. For any.”

“More free,” Des said. “Is easy an' safe.”

“Thank you,” the queen said, after a moment. “What can we give you?”

*Ali, tell them not to say nothing! Ask for a safe place to rest sometimes! Ask for information! Not nothing!*

Alison hastily repeated that.

“We nee' frenz,” Des said. “Nee' more 'sperience. Are new here. Nee' safe place to sleep. Mos'ly jus' nee' frenz.”

“Friendships,” the queen said, “often work better here when terms and expectations are defined. I'm not certain that offering advice and a place to sleep are in balance with rescues and food.”

“Probably not frequent rescues,” Zach pointed out. “Erica gathers food anyway for other friends. We think it balances.”

Erica tapped Des' shoulder, then caught his hand and drew something on one dark palm with a fingertip, then pointed at the bag.

Des grinned. “Maybe more than frui' in bag.”

Puzzled, the queen searched the contents more thoroughly.

And produced a small jam-jar, Erica estimated it held around a cup, full of something clear and golden as Des' eyes.

“What...” She handed the jar to her consort, who opened it and sniffed.

“Honey,” he said. “I can't even remember the last time.”

A further search turned up five oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies wrapped in waxed paper and a sandwich bag half-full of chocolate-covered raisins and nuts.

“Where...?” the queen asked.

“House-fae fren',” Des said. She rolled her eyes. “Always has noms for me. Is careful.”

“Not a trade,” Zach said. “Good-will gift. To friends.”

That neatly countered the anxiety of the queen and consort about how they could possibly repay a gift of something not normally available to the island fae.

“That's an extraordinary gift,” the queen said.

“Are helpin' our fren,” Des said reasonably. “Are nice. We like you.” She tilted her head to one side. “Be frenz? Both have somethin' other nee's. Both wan' peace.”

The queen sighed. “You are innocent, altruistic, idealistic, kind, and generous. Those are not traits that survive well here. Or, alternatively, those who cling to them tightly do not survive well here, and sometimes those too close suffer as well. However, as I'm sure my consort would say, you are strong individually and more so by supporting each other. Friendships between fae of different natures rarely last long. Needs and instincts come into conflict more when the association is closer. If you can overcome that, you will collectively be a powerful force—and if the humans realize that, they will remove the threat by removing you.”

“Will be frenz always,” Des said firmly. “Have been frenz always.”

“Humans won't know,” Zach said shortly. “Being careful many ways.”

The consort said something quietly to the queen, who sighed and nodded.

“I'm reminded that there are exceptions to some of what I've said. The house fae in the ruins have some of those traits, although they share common instincts. There is a trio who manage to remain a family of sorts despite being of different kinds.”

“We know them,” Des said. “Frenz with them. An' with house fae.”

“You waste no time. I suppose everyone finds their own way to survive here. Or they do not.” A brief pause from the queen, then she nodded. “We're cautious of friends. We don't know you well. But allies, certainly. We'll help with whatever information we can, and you can come to us when you need to rest. We can hide you or at least keep watch.”

“Thank you,” Zach said.

*Officially allies of the wisp flock?* Alison said. *Within just a few days on our own, even. Sounds cool. And treats from JC helped... awesome. Hope they enjoy. Sounds like a lot of stress on measurable exchange. Can't just be friends because it's better to know who doesn't want to be an enemy? Oh well. Let's just be happy about it.*

The queen turned to look in the trees. Catching Suzi's eye, she inclined her head towards the other three. “We'll save your share. We won't go far.”

Suzi bounced down to hug her friends, while the other wisps faded back into the swampy forest.

They could talk without being in the same location, and in many ways that was easier than trying to communicate verbally, but it just wasn't the same as being able to see her friends in person and collect hugs. So what if Zach's involved scales against her skin, Des' included fur, and Erica's flesh felt strangely firm and cool? She was hardly in any position to complain, considering her own quirks, and they didn't mind if she kept a hand on one or another to stabilize herself.

There really wasn't much to say, barring new information, but it was comforting just being together. That was probably what had drawn the others here: pure social instinct.

They settled down together. Suzi found two dead branches and Zach drove them into the ground for her, at a distance she indicated, before she snuggled cozily against him with his arm loosely around her. She dropped one hand to her navel, teasing it with her fingers, until she felt the wetness of raw silk; Erica would need at least one more bag for gathering food, and this was the simplest source. Wisp silk made useful hammocks high in the trees, a safe place to sleep; it made something that passed for clothing, although she really had nothing to be modest about and it was mostly for protection against superficial scratches. It had odd optical properties, distorting outlines when used properly, such as spreading thin sheets of it between branches to keep the wisps above it from being so visible. For something as prosaic as a bag or two, it simply looked sometimes silvery, sometimes faintly blue, but more often slightly pink, thanks to some inexplicable characteristic of the structure. With a framework of some kind to stretch it on, she was getting reasonably good at shaping it into whatever she needed, making use of her experience with spinning and weaving more mundane fibres.

Was that what had attracted her to that hobby in particular? Some tiny little wisp voice in the back of her mind finding it natural and satisfying?

Did it matter?

“The queen wants to pick blackberries tomorrow,” she told Erica. “I think at a patch that way?” She waved approximately in the direction the frilly-winged wisp had approached from. “We're all going to get scratched to pieces.”

Erica nodded calmly, and gestured to herself with one hand—the other was absently scritching around Des' ears and along her spine, as the cat sprawled next to her, purring softly with eyes half-closed. Suzi figured that meant she'd be there to help. The spiky brambles of the blackberries would be no threat to her.

*I know, Des,* Alison said. *I wish we were all there, too. We haven't been all in the same place since we went full fae. Some of you haven't even seen each other, although there's really no one who's any stranger than anyone else. Shut up, Jace, if I repeat that everyone will yell at you, not just me.*

*So maybe we can all get together tomorrow night,* Erica suggested. *At Theo's lake, obviously. That shouldn't be unbearably risky, if Jace and Ali are careful, right?*

*Mostly Jace,* Alison said. *They never come looking for me at night.*

*And they look over me when they do get up at night,* JC said. *If they get up but don't see me, they won't think anything of it. I suppose it's a little risky anyway, but it's been the better part of a week and I've only actually seen Des and Ali and Erica in all that time. I miss you guys.*

*It doesn't get us any closer to escaping,* Theo said, via Alison, *and sure, it's non-zero risk, but that's true of everything here. It's going to be important to look after ourselves on all levels. As near as we can tell, it's only mid-afternoon there. We need to allow them some time to figure out what to do. And we need to keep planning our side. We might be here a while, and we need to stay sane and remember who we are, regardless of what.*

*We need a lot,* Zach said. *But sure, if we're careful.*

*How would you feel about my bringing something?* JC said. *While I've been searching for and undoing every lock-spell I can find, I found a hiding place in Isabel's study. She had it magically locked on top of being physically hidden, I would've missed it except I could see the spell over it. And the only thing in it is a binder of notes. I haven't had time to go through it in much detail yet, but I think I see why she really does not want anyone to see it except her and the wizards. They've been lying to the staff all along. I'm pretty sure it's going to answer all the questions we've been asking about how exactly this research project is supposed to work. I can steal it overnight. She won't miss it as long as it's back by morning.*

*That is one binder I would love to get my hands on,* Erica said. *But only if you're absolutely sure.*

*As long as there's no fuss outside overnight, she'll sleep straight through. And it seems rather unlikely that her response to that would involve this binder anyway. I checked it out thoroughly, there are no tracking spells or alarm spells on the binder itself.*

*We need to see what's in that,* Theo said. *That could make all the difference in what we do.*

*Someone'll have to come get Suze, though,* Zach said. *Don't want her running into those bullies alone. Any pair will probably make them think twice, but stay alert. We have official allies but we also made enemies. No loss but they could be dangerous.*

*Yes, please,* Suzi said meekly. *I'm sorry.* Being small and relatively helpless was frustrating. Not that she wanted to fight, or would know where to begin. She had begun to wonder: was her deep aversion to violence part of her fae nature that had always bled through, or was it a straightforward personality trait, or a reflection of her religious beliefs? Or was anything really that easily defined as one or another, rather than some of this, some of that?

But she wished her friends didn't have the extra responsibility of protecting her, and she was reasonably sure that God would forgive her for acting any way that she had to, in order to protect her friends and her self and to prevent more lives from being ruined and to get home—she just hoped they didn't need to use Plan X to avert mass slaughter as well. At least, she fervently hoped that He would forgive her, because she knew she was going to have to take the chance. These weren't conditions under which being a conscientious objector would be anything like the right thing to do. Getting home to Levi and the dogs, getting her friends home, making sure that no more faelings went through this... that was a good reason for doing things that otherwise might be unthinkable. Right?

Not that there was anyone she was going to be able to ask. She rather doubted that clergy of any kind who were familiar with fae were terribly common. Reverend Fiona would listen, but could she believe any of it, and would it be fair to ask her to accept it and have coherent applicable support to offer on something so outrageous? She was probably on her own, and she'd have to just hope God could forgive her for her doubts and her actions.

*Suze,* Alison said patiently. *I can't leave this damned pasture unless someone opens the stable door. Theo can't be away from water. Et cetera. Don't sweat it if you need an escort. Different strengths, different weaknesses. It would be more helpful to figure out the best way to arrange tomorrow night.*