"Fairies are supposed to be playful," she said, smiling. Like cats, there was an element of sadism in it, curious and curiously unrepentant. "That's where 'fey' comes from, isn't it? Otherworldly and unpredictable. I guess they use that word for a lot of things, though, which fits as well."

Not that she was, admittedly, an expert on her nature in the wider sense.