Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan

Lune, a fairy, serves Invidiana, the Cruel Fairy Queen of London in the Catacombs below the human city. Michael Deven, a human, serves Gloriana, better known as Elizabeth Tudor, the Queen of England, in the city above. Michael serves from devotion. Lune serves out of fear of what Invidiana or one of her servants could do to her should she fail the Queen.

Lune is currently out of favor with Invidiana, as her mission as ambassador to the Fae of the Sea did not have the results that Invidiana had hoped. Once formerly one of Invidiana's lady maids, Lune has been dismissed from that position, but not from court. Now, without the favor of her queen, she is vulnerable to those who would sharpen their knives for a quick backstabbing, hoping to endear themselves to the Queen.

But she has hope to regain her former high place by serving as a spy to the human court, on the doings of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's formost spy. But Lune, who has served in this capacity before, asks to craft her own persona in the court, seeing as she is the one who has the most experience there and in human affairs. This is granted, and she slips into court in the Person of Anne Montrose, lady servant to Lady Warwick.

While there, she meets and falls in love with Michael Deven, and through him, she recieves news of Walsingham. But with their love growing, he seeks permission to marry her, which is difficult because of the Queen, who has given up love for her country and resents those of her courtiers who find it while she remains alone and loveless on the throne. She says she has asked her mistress to help persuade the Queen, and he leaves it at that.

But while Walsingham seeks Michael's advice on an unknown agent who seems to have influence at court but remains unknown, Lune is approached by one of Invidiana's human servants, a seer nicknamed Tiresias who tells her that she must seek a human named Merriman if she wishes to win free of the queen. She does so, but to no avail, and when Michael asks Lady Warwick how it goes with his marriage petition to Anne Montrose, she tells him that Anne has not asked her. He and Anne have a falling out, and she tells him she cannot marry him, which breaks them apart for good.

Having lost her line to Walsingham doesn't endear her to the Queen, and she is imprisoned by Invidiana for treason and failure. After some time in prison, she manages to win free with the aid of the French fairy ambassadress, who quizzes her about the fae of the sea. Eventually, she wins some measure of freedom, but has even less influence at court, and spends much of her time hiding out. There, she discovers that is is Tiresias who used to be Francis Merriman, and that Invidiana made a pact that is hurting both courts, and the bargain must be broken to free the courts. But since Invidiana laid a curse on him to die if he revealed this information, saying it kills him.

Lune flees to the home of the Goodmeade sisters, who are Brownies who live outside the court. But she is tracked there by Michael, who discovers that Anne was a false persona. When he discovers that Lune is a fairy, he is taken aback, but hearing about the Bargain between the courts, he knows now what the influence on the Queen actually was, and sets out, with Lune, to break the bargain. But to do so, they will have to learn more about Invidiana and why she was cursed, and the bargain between the two Queens.

Invidiana will not give up her power lightly, and since her Queenship has put her at odds with the four previous fairy kings of England, who have formed the Wild Hunt to bring down Invidiana, toppling her from the throne may mean death for all the fairies at Invidiana's court and political turbulence, and perhaps the overthrow of Queen Elizabeth. But with both realms harmed by the pact, and the sake of England and the Underworld at stake, do either of them have any choice? And when Invidiana learns of their plans, can they end the pact before she has them both put to death?

I've loved Marie Brennan's work since I first read "Warrior", her debut novel. With each book she writes, her prose gets better and more self-assured and much, much more readable. This book, her third, is the pinnacle of her prose so far and promises only to get better in the future. This book is excellent, skillfully weaving the story of the two protagonists and the two courts so that they perfectly intertwine.

Revealed in the story is not only the story of Lune and Michael, but Invidiana and Francis Merriman, and the story of how and why Invidiana was cursed. The ending is both welcome and surprising, with peace assured for the fairy realm, the curse broken, and a prospect of some peace for England. All the characters win some measure of sympathy from the readers, even the cold and cruel Invidiana.

I don't know if there will be a sequel to this book, but if there will, I definitely want to read it.. You can count on Marie Brennan not to disappoint, and she's certainly in top form in this book.