CHAPTER 200

"That's fair." When his gaze swept over the others, it stopped on Naia. She was smiling, and the runes tattooed on her body were glowing fiercely beneath her dress. "I challenged you to a duel, but maybe we can do something more productive, find some common ground to stand on. Come on, Your Majesty. Come inside my home and learn what it means to live, and see what it means to love. See it from our point of view."

"What trap is this? Are you trying to seduce me, to convince me to join your harem of spiritual concubines?" There was anger in her voice, and he felt her grip tighten like iron. "I would rather fight and lose than indulge in your erotic fantasy."

"That's not what this is about. I want you to see what Cecilia sees, what the others see. Learn that it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."

"I hate human idioms," she muttered. "I almost would have preferred live, laugh, and love."

Despite her protests, when he pulled her toward the house, she went willingly.

Once they were inside, the home brightened as if it was a beautiful summer day outside, and he led her to the dining room where Sofia had laid out a feast for him.

"Look through my memories," he told the queen. "See how I met her, how we connected. We didn't get along at first, but we found a way to connect. I'm an open book, I want you to have it all."

"But try not to linger on some of the memories," Sofia added, her forehead furrowed. "They're a little embarrassing. Oh, and I hope you like pie."

The queen sat quietly and watched as the others came in and chatted with each other. None of them spoke to her, and Mike just allowed her to sit and observe. The meal proceeded with laughter and smiles as they all talked and had a good time. Even Zel and Abella were there, for his Dreamscape home could accommodate everyone.

After dinner, they went for a walk out back by the fountain. Naia danced and sang for the birds while Tink challenged Lily to a game of horseshoes. It was clear that both of them were cheating, but nobody seemed to mind. At one point, Daisy appeared and swatted horseshoes out of the air.

"This is so saccharine that I'm going to be sick," noted the queen. "There is no chance you actually live this way."

"When I'm not about to be murdered or fixing the house, it kind of is. I like spending time with everyone, and I love them all in my own way. Obviously, I love some of them differently, which is why the others aren't in here, so..."

"Husband likes us best," Tink interrupted, then lined up a shot that rang the stake when it struck. The sound rippled into the sky, causing it to shift in color for a few seconds. Looking disgruntled, the queen wandered out into the Dreamscape, and Mike worried when she stayed gone.

When the sun went down, Mike sat with Cecilia on the porch and watched the sky turn dark as technicolor stars dotted the sky like sparkling confetti. They were quiet, and held hands as he watched the sky, waiting for the queen's return.

The next day, she showed up around lunch and watched as Mike had a water fight with Naia, and then went fishing on the beach with Abella. The gargoyle was reeling in a massive fish that had no business existing in the real world, and when lunch came, Sofia made fish sandwiches for everybody. The queen was silent as she watched them, but Mike didn't mind. He was happy for the peace and quiet.

When he went flying with Abella the next day, the queen came along, staying just out of sight behind them. Once they landed, she approached him with a frown on her face.

"Is it truly possible that you can love all of them? Do none of them suffer as you favor another?"

Mike shrugged. "I can only do the best that I can do."

He wasn't sure if the answer satisfied her or not, for she remained silent the rest of the day. The next morning, he was awoken by Tink, who was playfully biting his thigh. Figuring he should just be upfront about it, he made love to her for almost an hour before they migrated into the tub to join Naia. At one point, he looked up to see that the queen was in his bathroom watching them, but left her to her thoughts.

Days passed, and then a week. The queen watched silently for most of the time, and he couldn't tell if she was gaining anything from the experience. She started taking long walks by herself, and he was wary that she might be planning something.

However, one day she invited Cecilia to go with her. While the two of them were gone, he felt a slight pressure inside his head as the queen looked through the banshee's memories and his own. He could feel her silent judgment, but made no effort to disrupt her search.

Nightly walks with Cecilia became a tradition, and he was surprised when the queen asked Abella to go flying with her. The two of them made regular trips off the island, and he wondered how far they could go over the water before Abella was forced to turn back. He assumed that she was bound to the island much like he was.

Lily assured him that because of the sleeping powder, only a few hours had passed in the real world, but it made him nervous. At some point, his body would need water to survive. Would Cecilia spoon it into his mouth? Or was the queen playing the long game now, intending to turn his kindness against him?

It was something he would have to figure out if things went sideways. For now, it was peaceful in the Dreamscape. Despite the queen's foreboding presence, he wasn't actively fighting anyone, or repairing his house. He spent plenty of time with the women inside his head. Ratu taught him how to play Go, which was difficult at first, because the Dreamscape kept misplacing pieces when he looked away. Zel taught him about some of the plants, but the names sounded made up and would change from day to day. Such was the chaotic nature of the human mind.