Gertrude grinned uncharacteristically, seemingly pleased that the princesses were taking an interest. She wasn't very socially adept still, but she could at least pull herself together enough to act cordial in front of royalty. Well, that and she had a soft spot for kids around Maletha's age. She scooched a little closer.

"Well, I can't say whether or not any other fairy has self-applied the title, but this one was more than powerful enough for me to believe it. As we would discover, she had her own fey realm and presided over a number of unique subjects. But before we could be granted audience, we had to contend with the gatekeeper," Gertrude said ominously, spreading her arms in a theatrical manner.

"A great serpent with skin of bark and sinew of vine! It lunged with its great fangs, each tooth as big as... well, the mistress, at least. Arken and I flung spells from the rear, shooting for an ever-moving magical core. With each piece blasted off, the weak point became larger. Then, when the other knights had pinned it down, Fionn called upon his newly-awoken magical ability to let loose an enormous slash!"

Yeah, this was sounding [i]good[/i]. She would have mentioned the meeting with the sister, but she wasn't there for that, and it would bog down the narrative. She'd let herself editorialize a bit.

"That done, we finally gained access to the realm of The Moonlit Queen."

---

Gretchen nodded along with Yaya's explanation. She hadn't been present for the beginning of the relationship, but her own dealings with the Niyar made it clear that the fairy at least considered herself wedded. And Fionn certainly never disabused her of the notion.

"Yes... I'm certain the wedding would be quite lovely indeed. I'm sure you'll be invited, since you're so well-behaved," Gretchen said, smiling. It wouldn't hurt to latch a little extra incentive onto the woman keeping her cool at the tournament.

"I don't know what everyone plans to do, but if I had to guess... the mistress seems well-suited to a duel. I don't know how well Fionn would do, but he'll probably participate anyway. Gerard is almost a certainty, and I think it will be expected that Renar takes part. Fleuri would likely concentrate on the joust, though who knows? Maybe he'll go for more than one. It doesn't seem Rolan's specialty, so I doubt he will."

Slowly, carefully, Gretchen reached out to pat Haizea's head.

"But we'll have to wait and see for sure, won't we? I'm certain spectating will be quite fun."