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“Have I finally gone on to my Next Great Adventure?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. You’re still alive,” I said as I magically moved a chair from the parlor to the cage. “I’m terribly sorry to bring you here. Something must have gone wrong with my spell to summon the fairy queen.”

Groaning with the effort to move, the woman sat down in the chair, folded her hands in her lap, and mildly glared at me. “Well, who in seven hells do you think I am?”

“But...” I looked at Jezel. “She’s not the right one, though. Are you as confused as I am?”

Jezel grunted at me... or at everything. She was such a negative witch I couldn’t tell. She ran a ghostly hand over her perfectly pinned-up hairdo and sighed loudly. “The inn did not make a mistake, and neither did you. Since Elsbeth still lives, she’s technically still the fairy queen. I guess her daughter is acting in her stead. Normally, that doesn’t happen until death.”

“I might not be as dead as you, Lady Ghost, but I’m close enough to see the afterlife,” Queen Elsbeth said with a crone-like cackle.

I turned back to stare at the woman. “Are you Princess Peace and Harmony’s grandmother?”

“Yes. Are you her champion?”

“Uh... more like I’m a concerned friend.”

Queen Elsbeth breathed out so hard that she deflated until she looked skeletal. “Good Goddess, what has my daughter done to her eldest child now? Can’t she leave the girl be for a few centuries? I told Margotta over and over that she needed to butt out of the girl’s life and do something about her wicked second child. Peace is going to have to kill her sister one day. That’s a terrible way to prove you’re the rightful queen.”

Well, now, that made sense. “So, your daughter, Margotta, is the one pretending to be Gertruda the Barracuda. I mean, the one pretending to be Lady Gertruda.”

“Pretending?” Queen Elsbeth repeated. Then she rolled her eyes. “She’s spying on Peace and Robin, isn’t she?”

I blew out a breath and nodded. “Yes, she’s here pretending to be someone she’s not. Plus, she ordered Peace to work for me so she would look bad to Robin. Peace has nothing good to say about her mother.”

“Ah... sweet little Prince Robin. Is he well? They were the best of friends as children, you know. They deflowered each other behind Margotta’s back. I was quite proud of their rebellion. Peace confided in me because she couldn’t confess to her mother.”

“Your daughter had recently cursed Prince Robin and turned him into a centaur. His new attractiveness drew a lot of unwanted attention to him. I thought it was to make him Peace’s equal, because she’s a woman who knows her mind about males, but then I discovered from Prince William...”

“Ah... handsome Prince William. How is that strapping young fairy? His mother and father produced such handsome sons. Robin is the youngest of their brood.”

“Uh... well, when Prince William came here, he was leading an army.”

Queen Elsbeth quietly clapped her wrinkled hands. “I heard he got married too.”

“Yes, I believe that is correct. He asked to come stay at the inn sometime.”

“Oh? Is this an inn?”

“Yes, and I’m the innkeeper—at least for now.”

A locket hung around Queen Elsbeth’s neck chimed loudly. “Time for my medicine. May I have some tea, Innkeeper? Do you have a name?”

“My name is Selene.”

“What a wonderful witch name... and perfect for an innkeeper. Yes, Innkeeper Selene—that has a delightful sound to it. I take my tea with honey and a bit of clover milk. If you don’t have clover milk, regular dairy will do.”

“I have almond milk.”

“Sounds delightful. Bring tea and we’ll discuss what to do about my family. Since I’m not dead, I might as well help sort this crap out. Right?”

The smile bloomed slowly on my face, but it soon took over. Goddess, I could only hope to be this self-possessed and confident at her age. “May I move you to the parlor. It hasn’t been renovated yet, but you don’t belong in this cage. I feel bad for bringing you here.”

“Nonsense,” she said, waving a hand. “This will make a great story to tell my friends later. Adventures don’t come to me as often anymore.”

“Okay… well… before I go, I need to warn you that I turned Peace into a centaur. I’m not turning her back until your daughter removes the curse from Robin.”

Queen Elsbeth laughed. “You’re devious, and I appreciate that. You should have turned Margotta into something.”