**Words in the Air is a feminist fairy tale, told in the old style but with modern attitudes.**

When they drew near the front door, it opened, and a woman who could only be the fairy that had the goblet appeared. Her skin was a pale shade of lavender, and she was wearing a translucent gown made of what appeared to be spiderwebs. Her hair was wild, and her eyes, rather than having color at the irises, were iridescent, with colors always shifting beneath.

“You must be Naromin,” she said. “I see you have met my daughter, Miranda.”

“Met and fallen in love with,” Naromin said. “You must help me to convince Miranda to marry me.”

The fairy’s face changed, and Naromin caught a glimpse of her enormous wings as they shifted behind her. “I do not convince my daughter to do anything,” she said with a trace of venom. “She has a mind of her own, and she can make it up as she chooses.”

Naromin, who had used his wit as well as his sword to defeat his enemies, immediately saw how best to behave in this situation. “Of course,” he said. “I only meant that I wish she would make her mind up to marry me, because she would gain so much by having me as her husband. She would be married to the bravest and most handsome man in the world.”

“And certainly the least modest,” sniffed the fairy. “What does she have to say about you?”

Miranda raised her hands, and dust from the air, the floor, and the nearby surfaces raised itself to form words. “I politely refused him, Mother,” she said.

“Well, then, that’s the end of it,” the fairy said. “She will not have you. Come, let me show you inside, and I’ll get that dratted goblet for you.”

“Wait, please,” said Naromin, and reached out to touch the fairy just as she turned around. His hand accidentally brushed one of her wings, and he felt a shock of unbelievable pain. The fairy whirled, her iridescent eyes blazing.

“You cannot push this situation, Naromin,” she snarled. “I am not a fairy of agreeable temperament. If my daughter refuses you, I refuse you as well, and you are fortunate that I have not simply asked you to return to Lady Allyn without the goblet. You will adhere to my wishes while you are a guest in my home, or I will make it so that you will wish you returned home without even your life intact. Is that clear?”

Naromin, who had faced a thousand dangers, but never a protective mother who was also a fairy, nodded, with as much dignity as he could muster. But for the first time, he found himself afraid.