“Make room, Cobweb, it’s my turn!” Peasblossom screeches.

Cobweb says nothing as she does a backstroke in the wine, and only sticks her tongue out. Peasblossom points his wand towards the liquid’s surface, blasting it with a twinkle that splashes a ruby-red wave everywhere, including across the other two seated on the far edge of the chalice.

“Your bickering would drive a donkey to drink,” Moth grumbles, taking off her cap and wringing wine back into the glass.

“Cobweb promised!” Peasblossom continues. “Mustardseed, she promised it would be my turn soon!”

Mustardseed stands imperiously on the far edge of the chalice, vanishing the stains out of his costume with a wave of his hand.

“Cobweb, you lied. Peasblossom, you are a nuisance. These are crimes of the most severe nature, and verily you both must be drowned.”

“No fair! It’s still my turn! Drown Peasblossom!” Cobweb cries, and then four voices are chattering like a rushing wind.

The chalice shakes, and Oberon’s face rises over them all. They are tiny to him; scarcely bigger than his fingernail. Immediately, the four sprites line up on the edge of the chalice.

“Something the matter, sire?” ventures Mustardseed.

“I prefer my wine unswemt in,” says the king of the Seelie court. “And I have an errand for you.”

“Will there be anything shiny to nab?” Mustardseed asks.

“Fingers to bite?” Peasblossom interrupts.

“Eyes to poke?” adds Moth.

“Teeth to pluck?” says Cobweb.

“All of the above, I am sure,” Oberon sighs, and after he gives them their task, he watches as the four twinkling lights zip into the sky like arrows. He smiles wryly. Back in the First Age, he believed they were immature children who would someday grow up into proper fey. But tens of thousands of years later, they are still themselves. Timeless, ageless, shapeless like all fey, changing from one form to the next as easily as a dream, defined only by single-minded purpose. And just as it is Oberon’s purpose to architect the future of the fey, it is the courtiers’ lot to trick, to distract, to ensnare, to mischief. To keep the enemy busy until a masterful plan is ready to bloom.

The Seelie Courtiers are available in the Seelie Court of the Verdant Pact army expansion. Pre-order now for a February 2027 release!