seventeen

Sylva flew out of the Bell sisters’ fairy house and down toward Foggy Bottom, which was a funny name for a pretty place. It was always misty and cool down there, even on a clear spring day like this. Sylva thought the mist and the breeze might help her think.

When she arrived at Foggy Bottom, she was surprised to see Queen Mab sitting on a rock, looking out onto the water. Sylva didn’t want to disturb her, but Queen Mab must have heard Sylva’s wings fluttering, because she turned toward her and smiled.

“Sylva, dear,” said Queen Mab, “what brings you here?”

“I’m so sorry, my queen,” said Sylva. She kept making mistakes around Queen Mab!

“Not to worry,” said Queen Mab. “I’ve actually been thinking about you.”

Sylva could hardly believe it. “Thinking about me?” she asked.

Queen Mab patted a space on the rock next to her. Sylva sat down. “Yes,” said the queen. “I’ve been thinking about you and Poppy, and what good friends you are. I could learn a thing or two from you.”

Sylva didn’t say anything, but she hung her head.

“What is it, Sylva?”

“I don’t think you could learn anything from me,” said Sylva. “I told Poppy I didn’t want to be her friend.”

Queen Mab shook her head. “Oh no,” she said. “That dollhouse—”

“It’s not the dollhouse’s fault!” cried Sylva. “It’s just that we found a cat—”

“A ginger cat?” asked Queen Mab.

“No, a little gray kitten. And it came to life! And I should have said that I’d be happy to share, but I wasn’t happy to share and so I was mean to Poppy and now I don’t have a kitten or a best friend.”

“Oh, Sylva,” said Queen Mab. “Sharing can be so hard. So very hard.”

The queen found Sylva’s hand and squeezed it tight.

“That’s what came between Nia and me. Only it wasn’t a dollhouse we had to share.” Queen Mab’s voice was very low. But Sylva could have sworn she said, “It was Fairyland itself.”