The Fae court had fallen silent, its revelers had wandered off into the maze of the queen's mansion or dozed off to sleep, in their chairs or on the floor. The queen's musician slumped against the arm of the throne, her head level with her liege's lap, her instrument under one folded and protective arm. The queen had willed it all so.

She alone remained awake, and she turned her head as though attending a distant sound. Her long golden hair, held away from her face by strands of silver strung with diamonds, fell down her back in curls. Her pale robes gleamed in the candlelight, and in her lap, her hands idly plaited her musician's hair. She smiled as she listened to the sound only she could hear.

The queen lifted her fingers from her musician's hair, beckoning the empty air. "Come, little one," she said. "Why does a member of the Host seek an audience with me?"

A sound like bells, like shattering glass, echoed from a far corner of the court. Some of the sleeping courtiers stirred, moving away from the sound or flinging their arms over their ears. The queen tilted her head, considering. "Personal matters? I was not aware that the Host believed in personal matters." She smiled a cold smile, for she had amused herself. "A personal request, at any rate, should require an introduction, do you not agree?"

There was a pause, and then the sound rang out again, softer and plaintive.

"Milton? I hear the lie in this name," the queen said. "This is not your own." She frowned, "But for the moment, perhaps it will suffice. Come closer, and tell me what you will have of me. And the price you offer."

The sound travelled over the sleepers, across the court to the queen, but before it reached the steps of the queen's dais, the ruler lifted her hand to quiet it. "This is surely a tiresome form of speech." She waved a hand over her musician's head. "You may borrow Katya's voice." When the air fell silent, she spoke more sharply. "Let us not scruple over the means of conversation. She is my servant, and I myself give you leave to use her as you must. Either accept my offer, or depart with your request unspoken."

After a long pause, Katya's head tilted forward as her body shifted to the side, pulling itself jerkily upright as if it were a marionette on strings. Head still tilted towards the floor, she spoke. "My thanks, your highness."

"Better." The queen smiled once more. "Now, what is your plea, little angel?"

"May I ask if-do you remember me? We helped each other once before."

"Did we? I do not recall assisting a Milton."

"Yes. I needed my mother to become pregnant and provide my human vessel. You received a vial of my grace in return."

"Ah-h-" The queen tapped her lip with her long fingernail. "That grace is gone now, I fear."

"That's not why I'm here." Katya's head suddenly snapped up and swiveled towards the queen. Her eyes opened, and for a moment they were a brilliant shining blue, before they faded back to a shade of brown. "I also assisted you, once, to enter heaven undetected."

"So you did."

"In light, and in the comfort, of our past arrangements, I have come to ask your advice with a problem."

"I gathered as much." A corner of the queen's mouth twitched up, even as she sighed. "Come, Milton, enough of the formalities. You seek a favor of the court."

"I do." Katya's head dropped again.

The queen's fingers tapped against the arm of her throne, but she waited in silence until the angel spoke in a voice just above a whisper.

"I've shed my vessel. It was-necessary. But now I find that I need it. I've grown-attached, and-" the angel stopped.

The queen leaned over, a gleam in her eye, and gently lifted Katya's chin. The angel inside held her gaze, but the borrowed voice trembled. "I've discovered an unforeseen complication." The musician's head jerked away from her liege's grasp and the angel pulled her back away from the throne until she was sitting at the edge of the stone dais, arms wrapped around her torso protectively. "My vessel was-is-a young female."

"So I recall."

A shaky nod. "Can you restore her body to life?"

The queen did not answer immediately, and the silence stretched between them as she regarded the back of Katya's neck. Finally she tilted her head and said, "Perhaps. But well you know, this is no small favor. Why do you wish to retrieve a body, a mere collection of bones, so fervently?"

"Before I regained my grace-before I burned away my vessel-I had-I lay with a mortal boy."

"Yes?"

"It should not have happened, and now-" The angel filled Katya's lungs with a deep breath. "It's impossible, but now, I think I-I find that-"

"She was quick with child."

The rest of her breath came out in a rush, as if the queen had punched her in the stomach instead of making a calm assumption. "Yes. She-I-was pregnant. And there's a, a spark, I guess, that is still traveling with me, even though it should not have survived the shedding."

"Shed it now, then, T'would be easily done, spirit creature that you are."

The angel nodded. "Well, yes. You see, it's strange, but-." The angel pulled Katya's shoulders up but did not turn to look at the queen. "But I don't want to."

"Are you in love with the child's father, then?"

"No!" Katya's shoulders slumped once more. "I barely knew him."

"And yet, even as you regained your divine self, you protected his possible child and shielded it from the burning."

"It's not just HIS. Not at all. It's mine-MY 'possible' child," the angel said with some heat.

"Of course." The queen stood swiftly from her throne and brushed past the angel, descending the stone steps until she stood in front of her guest, her face inches from Katya's. "And if I create this body for you, what then? The child, if you are capable of bearing it, will be hunted by your kind as an abomination, will it not? Even more, it will be sought by witches and their ilk, for its blood will be grace-touched, and therefore priceless."

"But it's not a Nephilim! I was human when I got her, and her father is human, too!"

"Her?"

The angel said nothing.

The queen pulled back, to her full height. "Why ask for so little, a mere vessel, when so much more might be won?"

"What do you mean?"

The Fae sighed. "Perhaps our debt might be settled, if I grant your request." She tilted her head again, birdlike. "But perhaps there is more I might provide. A new arrangement between us-that would keep the child hidden, and thus safe?"

"Safe-" the angel whispered. She stared at the queen, who gazed back without expression, and did not deign to elaborate.

Finally, the angel asked, an edge of acid to her tone, "What do you want, then? How do I keep her safe?"

"Want? Why, nothing very taxing. Simply your eyes and your ears."

"Not literally, I hope." The angel huffed out a mirthless laugh.

The corner of the queen's mouth turned up. "A small price, in truth, are they not? But no. If we come to agreement, I would simply assist you in the creation of a worthy, fertile vessel-"

"The same as I had before. It has to be the same."

"Even so." The queen acquiesced to this with a single nod of her head. "Thus, would our debt be reconciled. Should you desire it, though, I would vouchsafe the safety of your child, here in my realm, in exchange for what information you may gather among your brethren regarding Heaven's plans or-" her mouth curled up in distaste, "politics."

"You want me to spy on the angels?" The possessed girl's head snapped back as if she'd taken a blow. "You know, I'm not exactly welcome in Heaven, right? They'll kill me if they catch me." She dropped her gaze to the step at the queen's feet. "Why?"

"Surely you have heard it. A battle cry beckons the forces of both Heaven and Hell. Such a conflict would have consequences spanning many worlds, including mine own. Let us say simply that I wish to be-prepared."

"And if I do this, you will keep her safe?"

"To the extent of my power."

"How long?"

"As long as the child wishes to stay."

The angel smiled her bitter smile. "And when would my service be complete?"

"My dear," the queen paused. "Until you are no longer useful. Or until the battle has come to pass."

Once again the angel fell silent, and the queen waited, until in a small voice, the angel who was no longer Anna Milton said, "I agree."

The queen's accepting smile was fierce.