made him laugh harder—and more like a donkey—and that set me off in turn.
It was a good two or three minutes before we settled down.
“They tell children stories about you guys, you know,” I said.
“Still?” he said.
I nodded. “Stories about clever little billy goats outsmarting big mean trolls until their bigger, stronger brothers come along and put the trolls in their place.”
The gruff grunted. He said, “We hear tales of thee, young wizard.”
I blinked. “You, uh?”
“We too like stories about…” His eyes searched his memory for a moment before he smiled, pleased. The gesture looked pleasantly nonviolent on his face. “Underdogs.”
I snorted. “Well. I guess this is another one.”
The gruff ’s smile faded. “I dislike being cast as the troll.”
“So change the role,” I said.
The gruff shook his head. “That I cannot do. I serve Summer. I serve my Queen.”
“But it’s over,” I said. “Marcone is already free. So’s Ivy.”
“But thou art still here, upon the field of conflict,” the gruff said gently. “As am I. And so the matter is not closed. And so I must fulfill my obligations—to my great regret, wizard. I have only admiration for thee, in a personal sense.”
I tilted my head and stared hard at him. “You say that you serve Summer and the Queen. In that order?”
The gruff mirrored my gesture, his eyes questioning.
I fumbled in my pocket and came out with the other thing I had grabbed back at my apartment—the little silver oak leaf pin Mister had been batting all over Little Chicago. I’d figured that they’d stopped using it to chase me, once they’d gotten tired of Mister having his catnipped way with them.
The gruff ’s eyes widened. “The confounding enchantment thou didst employ upon our tracking spell was most efficacious. I had hoped to ask thee how it was done.”
“Trade secret,” I said. “But you know what came with this pin.”
“Indeed,” he said. “You were made an Esquire of Summer, and granted a boon, but…” He shook his head. “A boon can be a matter of importance, but not one this grave. Thou canst not ask me to yield to thee in a matter of conflict between the Courts themselves.”
“I won’t,” I said. “But just so we’re clear. Once both of us have left this island, the matter is closed?”
“Once thou art safe again in Chicago, aye, it would be.”
“Then I ask for Summer to honor its pledge to me, and the debt it incurred to me when I struck at Winter’s heart on its behalf.”
The gruff ’s ears stood up, facing me. “Aye?”
“I want you,” I said, “to get me a doughnut. A real, genuine, Chicago doughnut. Not some glamoured doughnut. An actual one. Freshly made.”
The gruff ’s teeth began to show as he smiled again.
“Of course,” I said, “you could deny me the boon I rightfully earned in blood and fire and kill me instead, thus ensuring that Summer would renege on a debt and never be able to make good on it. But I don’t think that would be very good for Summer and its honor. Do you?”
“Indeed not, wizard,” the gruff said. “Indeed it would not be.” He bowed his head to me. “Likest thou jelly within thy doughnut?”
“Nay, but prithee, with sprinkles ’pon it instead,” I said solemnly, “and frosting of white.”
“It could take some time to locate such a pastry,” the gruff said seriously.
I bowed my head to him. “I trust in the honor of Summer’s champions that it will arrive in good time.”
He bowed his head in reply. “Understand, young wizard, I may not aid thee further.”
“You’re pushing the rules enough already,” I said dryly. “Believe me. I know how that is.”
Eldest Gruff ’s golden eyes glittered. Then he lifted the staff and thumped it quietly onto the floorboards. Once again there was a pulse of green light and a surge of gentle thunder—and he was simply gone.
So was the silver oak leaf pin. Just gone from my fingers, and I hadn’t felt a thing. Give it up for the fae; they can do disappearing like nobody’s business.
Maybe I should have taken some lessons. It might have helped me get out of this mess alive.
I made my way carefully back across the creaking floor to the body of the young man. He looked relaxed in death, peaceful. I had the impression that whatever Eldest Gruff had done to him, it had been painless. It seemed like the sort of thing the old faerie would do. I reached down with my gloved left