Outside the window, the artificial sun orb had begun turning a deep, warm orange, signaling it would turn off any minute now and plunge the realm into its magnificent artificial night.
But Titania?
She was still talking.
And sohow—through all the stories and pauses and quiet monts—I was now sitting at the head of her bed, my back resting comfortably against the flat branches that served as the headboard.
My legs were spread wide enough for her to fit between them.
And she sat with her back pressed fully against my chest, her small body nestled right into , and my arms wrapped loosely around her torso, hands resting on her stomach.
It was an incredibly heartwarming position to be in—very intimate without demand, and comforting without expectation.
So hours ago I had been lying flat on the bed while she lay draped across my chest, her cheek against my heartbeat, idly tracing invisible patterns on my palm with one fingertip as she spoke of Namadris’s favorite constellations.
A while before that she had been straddling my lap, with her arms looped around my neck, her face inches from mine, and her breaths coming in sweet candy-mint puffs against my lips as she told about the ti he tried to cook for all his wives and nearly burned down their poor kitchens.
I cannot recall exactly how we managed to keep switching positions like that—subtle shifts, small adjustnts, her moving and following without ever breaking the flow of her words.
Ack!
Saying "switching positions" like that made it sound lewd sohow!
But actually, it wasn’t. Not really. It was just... closeness. Trust slowly building itself brick by bric—
"Hey, are you listening?" Titania suddenly raised her head upward to look at , her silver lashes fluttering twice in quick succession, violet eyes searching mine for any sign of distraction.
"Yes, yes. I’m still here," I answered, smiling down at her. I lifted one hand and patted her head gently, with my fingers threading lightly through her silver hair. "I’m hearing every word. Keep going."
But surprisingly, she didn’t bite my hand like I feared she might.
Instead she pushed her head up into my palm more insistently, almost purring like a contented kitten under the touch, her eyes half-closing for a second in pure, unguarded pleasure.
Shit...
I want to squeeze her into a hug so badly right now, wrap my arms tighter and never let go, but I best not push my luck.
Not yet, and not when she’s finally opening up like this.
"So... Namadris promised all of us wives that he would return..." She trailed off, her voice growing quieter, thinner. "But we all knew—deep down, even if we pretended otherwise—that he was lying. There was no way an individual, that wasn’t a god, could preempt their own reincarnation. It doesn’t work that way. The rules of the world don’t bend for love, no matter how fierce it is."
Her voice began to weaken and break, cracking on the last few words.
I began to feel liquid drops landing on my hands—warm, silent tears—where they were still clasped around her small waist.
Her entire body began to tremble against , tiny shudders that grew stronger with every breath.
"I... I fought alongside him in battle," she whispered, "knowing... kn-knowing in my heart that I would never see him again after that day..."
Then she twisted herself around in my arms, pressing her head and both hands flat against my chest, her fingers curling into my shirt as though anchoring herself there.
"Tell , Benjamin..." She sniffed hard against my chest, with her voice muffled and raw. "Why do they always leave? Why do they lie and say they’ll stay with you forever, promise it with their whole heart, but they leave at the end anyway...?
"And now... now I can no longer see Namadris again, no matter how hard I search the world, no matter how many generations I wait, no matter how long..."
I didn’t know much of what to say.
No, I swear, I didn’t know what to say!!
I an, Titania had just finished narrating an entire epic saga that stretched back millions of years—sothing so vast, so layered with love, betrayal, war, joy, and unimaginable loss that it could easily have been its own standalone novel!
Except this ti, it was real; every word of it etched into her mory and now shared with !
She had poured out her heart without holding back, yet she had only touched on the parts that directly concerned her and her first family: Namadris, their children, the wives, the quiet monts, and monts of the final battle.
The rest of the story—the wider wars, the politics of realms, the fall of empires, and whatnot—she had skimd over or left unspoken.
Ch-Cheapskate...
I was a little curious about those missing pieces, the bigger picture she had lived through, but admittedly right now that didn’t matter.
What mattered was the little woman in my arms still trembling from the weight of everything she had just relived.
...And she expected to say sothing wise in response?!
"That Namadris guy is a total jerk for dying, as humans normally do, and leaving you behind!" Should I actually say that out loud to try and cheer her up?
Or like snap her out of the grief with so blunt humor?
No. That would be pure hypocrisy coming from .
I had no right to call him a jerk when I couldn’t even imagine carrying the kind of love she had carried for millions of years.
Not to ntion, as a human, I died as well in my forr world.
So instead I simply rubbed her head softly, my fingers moving in slow, soothing rolls through her silver hair.
Then I internally praised whatever gods might be responsible for that the old thod of letting soone rant to their heart’s content.
It had sohow worked again.
Titania had softened toward —noticeably and quite dramatically—after hours of uninterrupted talking.
Imagine touching this drama Queen’s hair so Chapters ago... She’d kill .
But I still didn’t have the perfect words to make her happy, or even calr. Nothing felt big enough for this kind of pain.
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