Indeed, between the courts, truly the differences are more superficial than one would think. A winter court poison you'd go painfully and slowly.. A summer court poison you'd die blissfully begging for more of the sweet honeyed taste of your own death.

But he sent an absolutely inept assassin, which is more to warn her to stay away. Make no mistake, if he'd wanted her truly dead, a Fae court has no shortage of highly skilled assassins, ones that have honed their talent over centuries.

You missed the principle of obscuring her name - To know a being's true name is th have power over that being.

Her word was part, but she also, I think, might have grasped the gravitas of threatening to torch the forest. Many who have interest in the Fae know how much their forests are important to them. Threatening such scorched earth tactics is a declaration to practically the entire court that any hostile act by in honesty any Fae of that court would cost them all quite gravely. At that point, make no mistake, the crown would know, and declare you off limits.

I think more that Brio measured the risk carefully, as some can blend amongst a crowd quite easily when they wish, donning a mask of unremarkableness to move about amongst humans. You noticed him because he Wanted you to see him, to see his applause, attempting to make a gesture of amelioration, showing he was still proud of your talents, of you.

The Ice Duchess, as I highly doubt she was the queen, probably made her move to hurt both of you, to be honest. He'd tipped his hand showing you as his prodigy, revealing your importance to him. Her words were more directed at Brio, attacking on his age, his pride (and by the gods if nothing the Fae are proud) and his own talent, while outwardly praising you, perhaps to gain influence over you. He soured on her veiled insults, and lashed out, giving her part of what she wanted, to sever you two. At that point, however, she had no more moves to play, perhaps her actions were even at the behest of another who wanted to strike indirectly at him.

Never take the words of the Fae at face value, there's always a subtext or two. They won't lie, but the rather cutthroat nature of Fae court life very quickly teaches them to obfuscate so intricately you could read countless meanings from a simple sentence.