Since the failed attack by the men in iron, the enemy had not returned to the city, so Mab had little occasion to exercise her power save for the rare whim of Rowland. He wanted to ensure her powers remained at his command. She hated him bitterly and yet she longed for his presence as her treatment was better whenever he was around. Perhaps it was not so different than her marriage to Oberon. At times, she wondered if she ever loved him, but the thought of being anything other than his first wife and Queen was unbearable.

She had to be going deranged if she found herself comparing a mere human like Rowland to the great Faerie King. She must have truly lost her mind when for a moment she thought Rowland may have been preferable to her husband. It was Oberon's fault for banishing her if he did not like where her addled thoughts were taking her.

She set aside her distractions and stretched out with her senses. Her powers had been partially released for the task before her, so her antennae had sprouted anew and she could easily perceive every single life within the city walls. More importantly, she could sense the iron of the land called Zephyr. Routed as they were, Rowland's enemies resorted to a new trick. Men of this land were made to do Zephyr's fighting and currently a force some three hundred strong had filtered into the city. Their numbers were too few to take and hold the city, but they could work much mischief and so it fell to Mab to find clever ways to deal with them.

A watchman was making his patrol through the narrow streets. Little did he realize that three men were following him. No matter how skilled he was—and from what she was told, few of them were particularly skilled at arms—, he stood little chance of surviving a sneak attack of three against one. One of the attackers in waiting stepped in a puddle along the way. Though it no deeper than the tip of the finger, all it took was a word from Mab to become an infinite abyss. Connected to a realm outside this lifeless city, she could call upon the Undines to take hold of the man and drag him down into the depths.

After seeing the fate that befell their partner, the other two men abandoned their hunt and fled. A smile crossed Mab's lips. Mere insects though they were, there could be some amusement in crushing them. Her mind went to work exploring the possibilities.

She had Gnomes open up the maw of the earth to swallow them. She had Salamanders spew out their own fires to burn them. The Sylphs could pick up all manner of objects with the wind to strike and pierce them. And these were only the things she could do with the Elementals at her call. There were many others she could command. If only they would wander into a place where the Fae's hold was stronger, such as the forest to the south, then the possibilities for their torment would be nearly endless.

It was not common, but at times the Fae would draw mortals into the Barrier Realm that divided their worlds for sport. Rare as the event was and rarer still for Mab to participate, there was enjoyment to be had. She was coming to understand that more and more with each one she killed.

Her mind then turned to Rowland. How would she repay him for the humiliation of these chains? Now there was something to set her mind to work. She could use the enemy to experiment so that she would find the perfect way to make her captor suffer. Yes, it would be her masterpiece.