The fairy doesn't float in on wings or sparkle like she's stepped out of a children's storybook. Suppose someone passed her on a city sidewalk. In that case, they'd assume she was another unnervingly pretty influencer on her way to brunch, not an ancient creature capable of rewriting magic rules.
But then she smiles. And that smile is too flawless, and too… symmetrical. Heidi feels her stomach twist.
Humans don't smile like that. That's the kind of smile you see carved into marble statues—the smile that knows something you don't.
"Moon Blessed," the Headmaster announces, his voice now filled with pomp as if he hadn't just crushed them under Corvin's power. "As I said, today, you are fortunate. The Lady Mirenia of the Fair Courts honors you with her presence. She is an acquaintance of this pack, and it is by her people's magic that you will enter the labyrinth safely."
