Free Imperative: A Quinn Larson Quest by P. A. Wilson

party.
    Olan flew up to my shoulder. I guess we were back to being on the same side in this fight. Unfortunately that wasn’t likely to continue. This fight had too many sides: Sidhe versus Fairy, Fairy versus Human, Morrigan versus Olan. And probably ten more I had no idea about.
    I opened a can of soup and put it on the stove. Olan perched on the back of a chair and watched me prepare. “Did you already eat?” I asked.
    “I am not hungry yet. Hurry up. We need to be on our way.”
    “Where?” I guessed what he meant but it was time he took some responsibility for planning this fight.
    “To the Sidhe court. It is time to talk to Fionuir.”
    “Yes, but we can’t just barge in. First of all she’ll have guards set around to stop unwanted visitors.”
    “You can handle that.” Olan walked back and forth along the top rail of the chair. I couldn’t help thinking of my old mentor in full lecture mode.
    “Maybe, but I can’t handle Fionuir that way. She won’t just stop because we asked her. We need some leverage.”
    “Well, we could threaten to back her opponent.”
    I poured the soup into a bowl and took a sip. “I don’t think that will count. Even if all the Real Folk backed her opponent, the election is Sidhe business. She only has to convince enough Sidhe that status quo is better than promises of future changes and she’ll win.”
    Olan continued to pace. “Do you think she is giving everyone access to the human’s spirit?”
    “Maybe she’s offering it for votes.”
    We sat quietly while I ate the rest of the soup. I grabbed beer from the fridge after I finished. “We don’t know enough to use leverage. What we think we can use is based on guesses and second hand information. Princess didn’t see the amulet, her lover did. She didn’t tell me who he was so we can’t ask him. Melbe’s information is probably right but Sidhe politics is convoluted and full of grudges from the time they lost Ireland to the Milesians.”
    “My throat is parched. Pour some of that into a saucer.” Olan flapped his wing toward the beer. I did as he asked, or rather demanded. He sipped some of the amber liquid before speaking again. “What if we gave her something?”
    “Who is this ‘we’ you mean?”
    “That is, you. I don’t think they will want anything that I have. As a pixie, or as I am now.”
    I just knew this was going to turn out bad for me, but Olan had a point. “It’s worth a try. I draw the line at giving her anything that will do harm, though.”
    “You have things that will do harm?” Olan sipped some more beer. “I thought you were one of those spirit wizards. Do no harm, kind of thing.”
    “I am. But, some of the things I have can do harm in enough concentration. You know that. You saw the belladonna in my workroom.”
    “I don’t think she’ll ask for something she can get from the fairies for nothing.”
    “No, but I have some amulets that shouldn’t get into her hands.” I’m not sure why we were arguing this point. It was up to me what I gave Fionuir. And, Olan had come up with a good plan, or as good a plan as I could. “How do we get an audience with Fionuir?”
    Olan shrugged. “I think the best way is the direct one. Let’s go tap at her door.”
     
     
Chapter Eleven
     
     
    It took me a day to get ready to visit the Queen of the Sidhe. I’m not usually prone to vanity, but Fionuir would expect me to dress as though I respected her position. I went to my barber and said goodbye to the scruffy magic geek look. A nice shave and a trendy haircut and I had to admit I looked better.
    I had some court clothes in my closet, they were from the nineteenth century, but a good preservation spell had kept them in perfect shape. I couldn’t say the same for my body. Olan and I looked at the clothes hanging on back of the closet and back at my body. “It’s going to be close,” I said.
    “Mayhap we should go shopping. I don’t like the idea that you suffocate because