The party atmosphere in the clearing was so infectious that I ended up staying out with my new fairy guard until after lunch. The fairies were thrilled to have my company for an extended period now that they were mine (which felt profoundly strange to think), and vied to be close to me until Sparkle, Spice and Shine took the situation in hand and got the ball rolling on building their new settlement. I gave up trying to count them after just a few minutes…with all of the comings and goings, it was simply impossible.

I was surprised by the maturity with which Sparkle approached the situation. She was very careful to maintain her post on my shoulder for most of the morning, making it clear that she was In Charge…but at the same time, was equally careful not to step on Spice and Shine's toes as they organized the fairies and oversaw what passed for industry. When I quietly asked Sparkle about it, she murmured in my ear that she wasn't going to be there any more than I was, and Spice and Shine had to have the authority and respect they needed to lead in her stead.

I couldn't help but agree. But it was still a little weird to see my darling little fairy being such a mature leader. It was something of a wake-up call…for all her apparent innocence, naiveté, and short attention span, Sparkle was significantly older and more experienced than I was.

I also quickly discovered that my connection to the Fairies of the Hall was nothing like my connection to Sparkle, and in that difference came to understand just how profoundly she was mine. I could sense the other fairies distantly if I concentrated on doing so, but without any particular clarity…except for Spice and Shine, from whom I got brief impressions of happiness and satisfaction.

From Sparkle…for the first time I realized that much of my seemingly instinctive understanding of her moods and feelings was because I was literally sensing them somehow. It must have been some magic in the ring I inherited from my mother, which I resolved to ask Ken about when the opportunity presented itself. In the meantime, I loved Sparkle so much that I couldn't find it in myself to be in any way worried about the ability.

Though I did wonder if it went both ways…certain events in the recent past suggested that it must. Which, I supposed, was as it should be.

Ken was kind enough to bring both breakfast and lunch to my room so I could eat outside, and at my request brought a plate of large cookies for the fairies at lunchtime. Sparkle, of course, got her own cookie. Spice and Shine shared one. The rest of the cookies were shared among the rest of the fairies. The pecking order I had set was clearly going to be rigidly adhered to.

By the time I finally went back inside - after showing Spice and Shine how to open one of the smaller windows so they could get in if they needed to - an actual fairy ring had sprung up around the perimeter of the clearing, made up of every type of mushroom I'd ever seen, many that I hadn't, and a few that I was pretty sure had never grown on Earth at all. It wasn't right up against the edge of the woods, but was instead about a meter in, like a second defensive perimeter.

As I climbed back inside and closed the window, Ken smiled at me. "Not the way I expected to start the day, but it was worth doing, and done well." He nodded to the industry outside…tiny houses made of mushrooms, short lengths of fallen tree trunks, and more, were already beginning to spring up not far from the window and off to one side. "It doesn't look like much, but that fairy ring they raised will add another layer of protection to the clearing. I feel a lot better about you going outside there now."

"Really?" I asked as I sat down on the window bench and toweled some grass and dirt off my feet.

Sparkle flew over to and flopped onto the bed. "Oh yeah," she said. "Fairies are great at raising strong defenses. Nothing will get into the clearing now unless they let it."

"Or unless it's too powerful for them to stop," Ken clarified. "Mind you, that would take some doing…I count no less than thirty fairies out there right now. Working together, they can probably keep out some pretty nasty customers. That ogre, for example, wouldn't have been able to get past that fairy ring."

"Huh." I tossed him the towel, and he did something with it that made it vanish. Or maybe one of the Brownies had zipped through to collect it. "Speaking of which," I said, "that ogre…"

Ken grimaced. "Yes…from what I recall, and there are some holes in my memories, the deal your grandmother made for that clearing to be safe for your mother was, and I quote, 'None may enter the clearing if they mean harm to any blood of the Hall.'" He frowned a little. "I don't remember who the deal was made with, but I know it was someone high up in the Seelie Court hierarchy."

"So we're dealing with literal wording," I said. "The ogre was trying to harm the fairies at first, and didn't even know I was there, so it couldn't mean to harm me."

"And thus was able to enter the clearing," Ken nodded. "Exactly."

"Of course, once it was there, it was…what, not held to the letter of the agreement?" I asked.

Ken sighed. "Deals made with the Sidhe - Seelie or Unseelie - are dangerous, even if they seem simple. The ogre had already entered the clearing - "

"So was exempt from the exact wording of the agreement," I said, sighing. "I'm going to hate dealing with the Sidhe, aren't I."

"Yup," Sparkle said, folding her arms behind her head and relaxing in the thick quilt.

Ken smiled lopsidedly. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure this gap in the clearing's basic defense wasn't meant maliciously by the Sidhe. Loopholes in deals are practically a way of life with them."

"Speaking of which," I said, "I really need to ask about the soda." I smiled. "The 'bubbly-sweetwater.'"

Ken chuckled. "What about it?"

I turned a little and glanced over my shoulder at the busy fairies outside. "Before, they were taking it without any kind of exchange, without knowing who was putting it out there. Wouldn't that have put them in debt to some stranger?"

Ken chuckled again. "Yes, it would have. But fairies can be very impulsive and short-sighted - "

"Hey!" Sparkle interrupted, sitting up and glaring at him. "We're not stupid!"

Ken smiled at her. "I didn't say you were. But fairies - and please take no offense, dear Sparkle - are very much like gamblers. In this instance, they took the soda partly because it was a tradition they remembered from a long time ago, and partly in the hopes that whoever left it either wouldn't notice or wouldn't bother calling in a debt from such tiny creatures. Or, perhaps, that whatever was asked of them in return wouldn't be too onerous. They were, after all, dancing in the field for you most evenings. In their minds, that was probably an equal exchange."

I considered that in silence for a moment. "That…still seems a bit naive…" I said it carefully, but still earned myself a small frown from Sparkle. She didn't argue though, and after a moment she sighed and nodded a little.

"It pays off more than you might think," Ken said. "I'd say it worked out pretty well for them this time, wouldn't you?"`

"Yeah!" Sparkle said happily.

"I can't argue with that," I agreed.

Ken folded his arms and stared out the window for a minute, before turning back to me. "Consider this a lesson about dealing with the Fey Folk in general, from simple field fairies all the way up to the kings and queens of the Sidhe - "

Sparkle coughed pointedly.

"Not simple intellectually, Sparkle," he said gently, "just by comparison."

"Oh," she said, then flopped back on the quilt again. "That's all right, then. Continue!"

Ken and I shared an amused look before he began again. "This is a good reminder for all of us that the Fey don't always get their way…they can be tricked and trapped just as well as mortals can. Though it often takes quite a bit more planning and forethought. But take it to heart: the Sidhe especially will often take risks if they think the payoff is worth it. And the higher up the food chain you go, the better they are at playing the game and the higher the stakes tend to be.

"It's also worth remembering," Ken added after a moment's consideration, "that these rules of equivalent exchange and debt really only apply to the residents of Faerie. Every realm in Otherworld has its own own rules…some are nearly identical to the mortal world, like Barsoom, and some are even stranger than Faerie, like Wonderland. Not that you'll be doing any traveling anytime soon."

I nodded slowly. "All right…setting that aside for now, can I add more defenses to the clearing?"

Ken looked thoughtful. "You know, you could. I could teach you to build wardstones, and you could raise some substantial protections. It'd be a good lesson, and good experience for you…I think with your memory and analytical mind, you should take to wards like a fish to water."

I smiled. "All right, then. Put it on the To Do list." I made a little twirling gesture with one finger, and Ken quickly turned away from me, giving me at least the appearance of privacy as I started to undress. "What's on the agenda for this afternoon, once I've showered?"

"I think," Ken said slowly, "you and I should have a conversation about your unwillingness to kill that ogre. And then get in some fencing practice."

"Oh," I said, and headed toward the bathroom, "joy."

Thankfully, he left me alone while I showered, which gave me time to consider the subject myself before tackling it with him. Why had I been so reluctant to simply blast the obviously monstrous creature. It had been attacking my fairies, and had been eyeing me like a particularly tender side of beef. Ken had said that ogres considered humans food, and from the way he said it - and the ogre's reactions - I suspected the word 'food' could be swapped for 'delicacy' without trouble.

It had been my first monster…and I'd let it get away. Why?

I frowned up at the shower head and wasn't at all surprised to see Sparkle lounging on it, her chin propped in her hands as she watched me. She just smiled and remained quiet, perhaps sensing my desire for time to think.

The momentary distraction passed, and I set about washing my hair and resumed pondering the question.

As I emerged from the bathroom a little while later, belting my robe, my hair bundled up in a towel, I looked at Ken. "I really don't know why I was so reluctant to kill it. It was an intruder, it was hurting my fairies, and it clearly wanted to straight-up eat me. I was acting in self-defense, and it was most assuredly a monster."

Ken smiled faintly. "I can't fault your logic. Would you like me to dry your hair?"

"Please," I said gratefully, settling onto the writing desk's chair. That was one chore I didn't miss.

"And may I offer my thoughts on the subject?" He asked as he unwound the towel from around my hair.

"Yes, please," I said.

"It's honestly not that hard to understand," he said as he began to leech the water out of my hair with gentle strokes. "You're reluctant to commit to acts of violence at all…it's simply not natural to you. So it doesn't surprise me that you're just as reluctant to commit the ultimate act of violence."

He sighed a little. "I think that sooner or later you'll be forced to kill. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory. Based on my memories of previous Guardians, I can honestly say that killing changed each of them in subtle ways. I sincerely hope that it never becomes second nature to you…but you will be pushed to it eventually."

My turn to sigh. "That doesn't give me a lot of hope for the future."

"Don't look at it that way," Ken said gently. "Knowing you as well as I do now, I can honestly say that when you do finally kill something, it will be because you were pushed to it, and not because you want to. That makes all the difference in the world. And whether it happens tomorrow, or ten years from now, Sparkle and I will be here to help you deal with it."

"You betcha!" Sparkle chimed in from where she'd settled on the bed again.

"Have any of my ancestors ever…really become killers?" I asked with a frisson of unease.

"Two of them, actually," Ken said quietly. "One fought in a war between the Sidhe courts, taking on both sides on behalf of the Wildfae caught between, and brought peace back to the courts…but only after a great deal of violence and death. Another ventured to London to help Ariana Pendragon end the…the career and life of Jack the Ripper, then indulged in a bit of harsh vigilante justice on her own for a while before returning home and settling down."

Lots of people went to fight in wars when they felt it was their duty to do so. That wasn't too unsettling. And while vigilantism sounded a bit shady, I knew the history of Jack the Ripper well and couldn't disagree that he, she or they (depending on your preferred theory about Jack's identity) had needed to be stopped. And so too - probably - had whatever other criminals she'd ended.

"Does that mean you know who Jack the Ripper was?" Honestly, the question just popped out of my mouth. Any history buff would've asked the same question.

I heard Ken huff an amused sound. "I may have at one time, but I don't seem to anymore. Perhaps she made me forget to protect someone's public identity."

I sighed. "Darn."

Ken finished braiding my hair and came around to stand in front of me. "What is it you're really trying to ask?" he said gently.

I thought about it for a moment, then smiled faintly. "Are there any of my ancestors who avoided having to kill."

Ken shook his head. "No. Though for most of them, it was the last resort, and the exception rather than the rule." He crouched a little to be at eye level with me. "As, I think, it will be with you." He rested an insubstantial hand on my left knee. "Don't worry about it this time. In the end, I don't think letting that ogre go has done any damage. The Sidhe Courts undoubtedly already know that the Hall is inhabited again, and while they're pretty stupid, ogres do learn from pain. He won't be back."

He patted my knee gently. "Now," he straightened, "get dressed and let's do some fencing and staff training. Tomorrow, we'll pick up your magic lessons again."

I rose and nodded, heading for the closet. "After the last couple of days, I definitely understand better than ever why it's necessary."

That evening, when I settled onto the window bench to watch the fairies, their little village was well-established and colorfully lit. Tiny candles and lanterns that appeared to be lit with magic rather than fire were everywhere, and the dancing multi-colored lights of my fairies were everywhere in the field.

It did not escape my notice that there were a number of lights out at the new fairy ring that circled the clearing, moving slowly around its circumference. My field had a tiny guard, and they were taking their duties seriously.

Feeling quite safe now, and certain that my presence would no longer disturb the nightly festivities, I opened the glass door I usually went out through and sat in it with my feet brushing the grass. Sparkle sat on my lap and, to my surprise, was quickly joined by Spice and Shine, who sat cuddled together quite adorably. After a few minutes, I felt across my shoulders the faint, tingly sensation I associated with Ken's touch. Turning my head a little, I saw him leaning against the window frame. He had an arm around my shoulders, and was smiling as he watched the fairies with me.

None of us said anything. What was there to say? We just shared the moment of happy tranquility.

For all the talk of having to fight and kill monsters, I hoped that my duties as Guardian, beyond protecting the Hall, would end this way - peacefully, not with me owning more fairies - more often than not. Watching the fairies finishing their little houses, dancing in the field…and yes, even patrolling their new border…gave me a sense of contentment I'd never felt before. I had made their lives better, and their presence enriched mine in return.

It really was a lovely way to end the day.