CHAPTER 205

"Interesting take. You aren't lured by the promise of power?"

Mike shook his head. "Not really. I'm plenty happy as it is, and I've seen what happened to Emily when she pursued it. But now I have a question. Why is it called the Great Game?"

"Ah, that's a great question. I can only speak second-hand, but here is what I know. At some point, the other Caretakers found a way to communicate with each other. Though they all sought the same prize, they discovered that they enjoyed the collaborative effort of sharing clues and ideas with each other. It was a friendly competition, and they genuinely looked out for each other."

"Boy, I bet that didn't last." They had exited the forest and were now on the beach.

"You are correct. It was discovered that if a Caretaker killed another one, they would take control of the dead Caretaker's property. These new places would act as an extension of the original home."

"Wait, really? So this shadow, if he killed me, would he take the house?"

The queen shrugged. "A good question, considering that you've already appointed heirs. I don't know if your death would bypass the laws of the human world."

"Damn." He didn't like that idea at all, but something else occurred to him. "Wait a minute! I know that I own some land in other places. Are those...former homes, or whatever?"

The queen nodded. "They were taken by previous Caretakers. Emily was ambitious, but she wasn't responsible for their acquisition."

His head swam at the implications, and he suddenly remembered a conversation with the shadow. He had been standing in a magnificent garden that was empty of others, but the shadow told him that it had once been full of life. Had that been the meeting place for the others?

"You look troubled." The queen frowned when she said this.

"I am. The idea that there may be others out there like me is exciting, but what if they are like the shadow? What if they want to conquer and dominate instead of collaborating? I wouldn't mind having someone to talk to about running things, but I don't want to put the others in danger."

"On this, we see eye to eye." The queen let out a sigh. "Oberon and I had ruled the faerie lands since the beginning of time. When he died, I didn't just lose the love of my life. I lost my partner, my support, the person I could go to when I couldn't make a decision. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but it was much lighter when there were two to wear it."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Your Majesty."

The queen looked at him, her face scrunched up as if deciding something.

"Call me Titania," she said. "When we are alone, anyway. It isn't my true name, but it's one that the humans are fond of calling me, and I don't mind it. In fact, I was surprised you never referred to me as such."

Mike chuckled. "I saw that you had a few different names, but didn't want to call you the wrong one and piss you off."

"So you've been polite all this time out of self-preservation?" The corner of her lips curled up into a smile.

"You are queen of the fae, after all."

"Indeed I am." They were walking on the beach where the water drifted onto the shore. The water was cool and rolled just over Mike's ankles as the two of them continued along the beach.

"Since we're being so informal, you can call me Mike," he told her. "But only when we're alone."

Titania laughed, and all of the tension in her body seemed to disappear. Her wings hung off of her back like a floating cloak, and he wondered what it would feel like to touch them.

"I have to say, this has definitely been an interesting experience for me," she told him. "Not so much the fighting. I am used to being angry and getting my way."

"Naturally," he agreed.

"I'm more referring to the fact that I've spent so many days in your head without a care in the world. It has been quite some time since I've been able to let my guard down, to not worry about what is happening in my realm." She stopped and looked out at the water. "Without Oberon, I've had to make the tough calls by myself. In some ways, he was the light-hearted one, the regent who understood what made his people happy. In the same way that Sulyvahn and Cecilia are counterparts, he was mine. His weaknesses were my strengths, but that was by design. Between the two of us, we made the perfect team."

Mike nodded. "I've never had a second half, not in that sense, anyway. I was too messed up as a kid, and that carried over into adulthood. Naia is the closest thing to one, but only because she smoothed all of my rough edges so that I could function. Everyone in the house contributes in some manner, but I'm sure you understand that."

"I have enjoyed spending time with them myself." She looked at him, her face suddenly serious. "If I asked you if I could move into your home, would you let me?"

Mike shrugged. "Personally, I'm all about second chances, but the others would also get a vote. I'm not technically their leader, I'm just the guy who turns the sundial and keeps the bills paid, and most of those have been automated already. But I would be willing to put in a good word for you."

"Could you imagine it, though? A former queen, being able to live in your home, free of her burden?" Her eyes were closed now, and the wind from the ocean tousled her golden hair. Fireflies had emerged from the sand and flitted around them blinking yellow, blue, and green. "These are ideas I can never confess to another being, but I feel I can safely speak of them here."