2

A lot happened over the next few weeks. That was always my life, but I wouldn’t bury my potential mother-in-law and the woman who killed my mother ever again… So not the same as normal.

We kept it low-key which wasn’t normal for a queen, but no one could forget what she’d done either. Neldor and Taeral seemed at a loss because if this day ever came, it wasn’t what they’d expected. She didn’t have the fanfare and… It was tough.

It was really, really tough on both of them. Katrina and I were both worried and there for them every step of the process.

I did an interview with our media and told our people what happened. I was honest and said that I wouldn’t blame people if they found it hard to believe—there were still things like that for me—but all I asked was people be respectful. They could have their doubts that I missed something or didn’t fully understand, but if they overstepped into calling me a liar…

I wouldn’t let that go. The woman had killed my mother and caused me to be raised in a way no fairy should. I didn’t forgive her.

I simply understood her better, and we all needed to be a bit better to each other. And it had nothing to do with Neldor or him being my fated mate. I could separate like that.

I was very proud of Faerie though. People turned up in droves to leave flowers at Elora’s castle. They did interviews saying that they didn’t forgive her either, but they were sorry they hadn’t done better by her. She was their shield and they hadn’t supported her and had ignored the signs she was in a bad place.

That helped Neldor and Taeral—all of the dark fairies who had loved Elora a lot. It was a start to the healing we all needed to have some real closure.

At least in my mind.

Neldor and others close to Elora seemed a bit lighter after it was over. The service was small but still held to most of the traditions. They just seemed… Relieved? I think Onas especially thought there was going to be some sort of attack or uprising because they were giving her a sendoff when she was a criminal.

I think everyone understood it was more complicated than that now. It was why I kept giving interviews which I fucking hated.

“I know you guys don’t have funerals like humans—I understand the traditions, but I think there’s a part of what humans do that’s important,” I told them all after it was done. “Come with me.”

Fairies were too curious to not do as I said. Katrina and a few others knew since they’d helped me set it all up. “It” being the luncheon after. Fairies didn’t really have that. Once the tomb was sealed, it was done and that was the end. They had a lot more preparation and lead-up.

It was nice. Very focused on the circle of life, but… Sometimes you needed a bit to decompress too.

“You are a wonderful woman,” Taeral praised when we arrived at my house on Earth and he saw what was set up. He gave me a half hug and kissed my hair before going right over to the bar.

It might still have been cold out, but with the fire pits and heat lamps set up, being outside was no big deal.

Plus, we had magic.

“This is perfect and Mother would love it,” Neldor rasped as he took in the spread. “Yeah, we need today for sure. Everything can’t just go back to business as usual.”

No, no it couldn’t, and fairies were a bit too hard on themselves like that sometimes. So instead, the dark fairies got pretty hammered, and those of us who cared about them kept feeding them to soak up the booze.

Two days after, I did another interview to distract people from the topic and let the reporter and film crew into my castle to see the updates. I made it clear that the focus the people of Faerie should have was on the future.

A future of their leader not trapped by corruption, the planet, and outdated beliefs of her role. That now we were going to do it better and be one united people like we were originally and the gods wanted.

Julian and I also did several events so normal people could congratulate us on our wedding. As much as I was an introvert and hated to be the center of attention, the mood was so joyful that it healed my soul a bit. Every time.

I basically came home or went back to school and cried happy tears. People were so happy for me and glad I was loved. It… Yeah, it healed me.

So saying a lot happened over the next few weeks was an understatement and not my normal life. But there was a lot of that too.

There had been an explosion at Artemis. A magical mistake that went severely wrong. Luckily, there had been a fairy in that class, and he’d immediately blocked everyone, people astounded at how fast he’d reacted and handled the situation.

I’d heard it and immediately gone there with my security, all of us helping to evacuate and help.

“We could have died,” a witch whispered, completely shaken. “He saved us.”

It took me a bit to get caught up, and I immediately found the man, checking he was okay and didn’t push too hard. He was shocked at my reaction but promised he was fine. I hugged him and praised him—again, shocking him.

My security was too busy chuckling.

“Auntie Tamsin is checking on the kids again,” Ara joked under her breath so only we heard.

Brat.

She wasn’t wrong, but… Brat. Seriously.

Just in case, I ordered him to be done with class for the day and returned to Faerie. I wanted a healer to check him out and for the hobgoblins to dote on him at one of the rest stops.

All the fairies on campus were waiting outside to clap for their hero classmate, and it wasn’t lost on me that both light and dark fairies praised the dark fairy. That was all I’d ever wanted when I’d learned about the hate between them. Each of these little steps meant so much that I felt it in my soul.

It was a packed few weeks like that, and when Izzy asked to spend some time together, I’d thought it would be just to relax and she missed that as much as I did her.

Apparently, I was wrong. She was waiting for me at home with Claudia.

And they were both nervous.

Izzy immediately realized her mistake, probably from whatever was on my face. “Tams, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mislead you. I meant more I needed to talk with you.”

“Right, sorry, you probably said that, but I was—I’m always in the middle of forty things.” I wiggled the bags of food from her favorite little hole-in-the-wall place which was awesome Mexican food. “Let’s eat and talk then. I don’t know what you like best, Claudia. Sorry, I thought we were doing a roomie night.”

“I can get back to work after we talk, Your Highness,” Claudia immediately offered.

“No! No, don’t be silly. You can chill with us and again, I’m just Tamsin at home. Please. Leave that all out there.” I started bringing out containers and thanked the fairies who brought in more bags. I shrugged when Izzy chuckled. “You should be used to this by now.”

“Tams, I’m not sure I can ever get used to how fun you are,” she said with a wink, cooing when I handed her what was her favorite.

“So what’s up?” I asked when we were settled in.

Izzy cleared her throat as she cut into her enchiladas. “We’ve been discussing moving in together after graduation.”

“At the castle?” I hedged, glancing between them.

No, not there. It was all over their faces, and Izzy’s eyes were full of worry.

“Iz, you fight constantly to make me focus on what I need and so no one pushes me into things I’m not comfortable with. I would never, not ever do anything but the same. So just tell me, boo, and I promise I’ll be cool with it.”

She nodded, letting out a slow breath. “I want to stay here in this house. Take over the master suite that was Mel’s. For Claudia and me.”

“I’m totally fine with that, but this—”

“There’s more,” she cut in, probably knowing where my head was. “We want more of a role in Freya’s life.”

I was not ready for her to have said that. “I’m not the one you should talk to about that, Izzy. Darby’s her guardian and—”

“We know. We’re not asking for your permission on that,” Claudia clarified. “And we’re not even asking legally like to adopt her or become her guardians.”

“We were hoping official aunts and we could…” Izzy cleared her throat.

“I hadn’t realized you’d become so close with Freya?” I asked? It was more a statement but with a question under it.

“I realized that, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Izzy said with a sigh. “Claudia pointed out that when I’m not at school for the night, you probably think we go to her place. We don’t. We come here, and part of that is Freya.”

“We enjoy having breakfast with her, or at least I do, and Izzy helps feed her before joining you for breakfast. That’s why you wouldn’t have noticed and—”

“You run a whole world, Tams. I can’t keep track of everything you do, and there’s no way you could know everything about us.” She hurried on when I opened my mouth. “I could have told you. You ask how I am, how school is. It was an oversight and not—I feel bad like I’ve been hiding how attached I am to Freya.”

“There’s no reason for you to feel bad.” I cleared my throat. “But I feel uncomfortable having this discussion without Darby.” I sighed when they both flinched. “I’m sorry, but this is—he should be here.”

“We didn’t mean anything like that or to overstep,” Izzy whispered, seeming a bit hurt. “I’m talking to you as my best friend about where my head is and some ideas. I’m not trying to take his sister from him, Tams.”

“That’s not what she meant, and I see her point, darling,” Claudia said to Izzy. “Think about someone talking to her about our relationship and we weren’t there. You know she wouldn’t allow that either, right?”

“That’s where my head is,” I promised. “I will support whatever you want. I’m always on your side, but Darby is too. He adores you as a friend and part of this family we’ve made. I’m fine with the house. Whatever you want. Let’s just call him about the rest. Please? Even if we’re just talking ideas and where you are.”

Especially because I didn’t think he knew they had become so attached to Freya. I was out of my depth here, and… Darby should be there.

Izzy nodded, apologizing for getting upset when I put it like that. She clearly had thought it was more separate and wasn’t so much with me in the middle. I was shocked Claudia hadn’t seen it that way, but then I saw in her eyes that she had.

And she’d done what Izzy had wanted. Fair enough.

Darby was a bit surprised since I’d told the guys it was a roommate night, but when I said there were enchiladas, he was in. Seriously, Izzy and Darby had bonded over their love for the damn dish. It would be fine.

I hoped it would be fine and there wasn’t some issue between my best friend and mate.

That was seriously the last thing I needed.

He was a bit hesitant when he arrived, but he didn’t seem all that curious as if maybe having a clue what this was about?

Maybe?

Izzy repeated what she’d said to me and looked even more uncomfortable.

“I was actually thinking of asking you to become Freya’s guardian with me so you could make decisions if there’s an emergency,” Darby said to Izzy, shocking the shit out of me. He gave Claudia a hesitant look. “You know I hope things work out with Izzy. I’m your guy’s biggest supporter but—”

“But in case we don’t, you don’t want your sister in the middle of something that can become ugly,” she finished for him.

“No, no, I don’t,” he confirmed.

Which was awkward because she was his superior at his internship—his job. Yikes.

“I fully understand and agree ,” Claudia said firmly, probably worried about whatever she was sensing off of me.

Mostly worry.

“I saw this coming, agra ,” Darby said gently, nodding when I did a double take. “They see Freya more than I do, and I live here too and at school like Izzy. More than that, they are fully invested in her life and future. I still have—I see too much of the past still when I focus on her. I hate that, and I don’t want it for her.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek.

He wanted to focus on our future.

I smiled at him. “I support whatever you guys want. If you wanted me to fight for Freya to stay in the castle with us, I would.”

“No, I don’t want that, and I also agree with the commanders on how people would take it. They barely accept me, but for their queen to raise a vampire that’s not her child, and—I don’t want that boat rocked. I believe Freya is a good enough soul that she will agree when she’s older.”

“And I would prefer she not deal with the scrutiny it would mean for her,” Izzy said quietly. “This world is harsh enough. It will be for her as things are, but she’s not a newborn anymore. And she’s still…”

I flinched at what I heard from her mind. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for things to turn out this way or—”

“I was trying to think of a better way to say it, Tams,” Izzy said gently. “She’s not locked up here. That’s too harsh. And Darby is the one in charge of her, so it’s not your fault.” She shared a look with Claudia. “We’re worried that she’ll have issues if she doesn’t start getting proper socialization.”

“And we don’t think her current nanny is up for that,” Claudia added. She cleared her throat when I winced. “I asked the fairies guarding the property to put them in a bubble for a bit. We can hear anything, but they can’t hear us.”

Good.

“You think her nanny is underqualified?” I asked, worried because we’d gone through a lot to find the right people.

“No, we think she’s gotten lazy and fat off such a nice gig,” Izzy grumbled. “She acts like she doesn’t have to put in more effort than simply the basics since—she makes comments like she watches the dirty secret and bastard even if she doesn’t say it like that.”

“That’s not what—I was worried people would think Darby and I had a baby and we agreed not to—”

“You can’t have a baby yet,” Darby cut in.

I gave him the look he deserved. “How many fucking people have ignored that truth. Or just brushed it off because my father’s a demigod who too many supes say is a human lying that he’s a demigod and that’s why I’m weak and unworthy to be queen.”

“Okay, forget the delulu people,” Izzy cut in. “We get it. This is not some roast or—we’re focused on the future.” She was begging me with her eyes to believe her and not let this hurt me.

I nodded. “Okay, we can always do better, and I can more than admit that the ball has been dropped. Lots of them have because of all we have.”

“So you want a new nanny?” Darby checked.

“Yes, we want to live here with Freya and be more involved,” Izzy said firmly. “Auntie’s or whatever—”

“She calls you Momma most days, Isabella,” Claudia reminded her.

But that was news to me… And Izzy blushed, clearly loving it. Wow, I had been completely oblivious to all of this.

“There’s no reason she can’t, right?” I asked Darby, hating to be pushy or overstep, but… It was Izzy. I’d give her a wing if she needed it.

“No, but—the problem is five steps ahead of where we are,” Darby said with a sigh. “Vampires know about Freya and—”

“Wait, what does that matter?” I cut in, glancing between them. “It’s not like they’re talking about fostering Freya.” I frowned. “Are you?”

“That’s what being her guardian would mean even if Darby is in the picture,” Izzy hedged. “His place is with you in Faerie. Freya’s place isn’t there and she doesn’t really have one.” She gestured between herself and Claudia. “We want to be her place. Here, but with us.”

I sat back in my chair heavily. “You’re such a fucking adult.” I winced at how bad that sounded. “I mean…”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know, Tams. We blinked and you’re twenty-five and about to be queen of a different world. I’m twenty-four and found my dream woman and we want to protect a child, be her moms mostly. We’re not those twits anymore, are we?”

“No, I guess not,” I chuckled, tears in my voice, glad she was the same. “You’re going to make a great mom, Izzy. Hell, you raised me well.”

It was the joke and laugh we needed.

But then we had to get back down to details.

“Vampires know about Freya and tried to out her, but there was always other news that took over instead of one of your mates having a sister,” Darby explained. “But you can’t just foster a vampire without them sticking their heads in. That would be the possible problem.”

I snorted. “Not if they like living. You’re a future prince of Faerie. They thought I was ruthless before, but the moment I become queen, I have all the power.”

“If I’m her guardian then she becomes a citizen of Faerie like I am,” Izzy reminded Darby. “That protects her too. And we don’t want to take her from you. We just—this is the reality.”

Fair enough.

Darby was all for it. He was fine with Izzy being Freya’s mom basically even if it was more a foster parent situation for now. And Claudia could be an auntie like I was until they were mated or at least married?

“We want to look at preschools and—”

I choked on my bite, and Darby chuckled as he patted me on the back.

“Preschool doesn’t start at just four anymore, Tams,” Izzy chuckled. “Freya’s not a baby anymore. She talks. She walks. She gets into trouble and needs more.”

“Yeah, no, I know, I just…” Wow, this was crazy, but she was right.

“There’s a human one that—” Izzy started to say.

“It’s against vampire laws for any of us to be in any human school until our college is completed and with good reason,” Darby cut in.

“We’ve never seen any issue to—” Claudia replied, but then sighed. “Of course, you would know better, and we don’t want problems. Okay, so I need to read up on the vampire laws more closely. We haven’t had many of them as clients.”

Darby sighed. “But given my position with vampires, there’s no chance she’ll be accepted at any of their preschools. I’m sorry.”

“I should be the one to apologize,” I grumbled.

“No, neither of you should, and the vampire leadership are assholes,” Izzy snapped. “I was going to ask about how things were going since I haven’t heard about your stalker or any of her bullshit.”

Darby snorted. “She got tossed from school.” He nodded when they couldn’t hide their shock, but I already knew this. “She cheated to get in and was dumb as shit. She kept using powers on professors to change grades, and rumors started she was fucking them for her spot. It got so bad a dean stepped in and a professor said she’d threatened him and she got booted.”

“Wow. And she didn’t get into any trouble, right?” Izzy drawled.

“No, she did. We submitted a ton of proof to her council and reminded them that they wanted things from me, plus they had given me shit about doing livestreams of kitesurfing and she was pulling this? Yeah, she’s in shit.” I sighed. “Not as deep of shit as she should be, but in shit.”

“Well, that’s finally something over.” Izzy looked at me and sighed. “I honestly can’t keep up with all the drama we’ve all had. It just never ends, and I can’t keep up.”

“Me neither, Izzy,” I told her honestly. I smiled at her. “Seems like we have two remodeling projects to manage then, huh?”

“We don’t need anything remodeled,” Claudia hedged.

I shrugged. “Everything was picked by Mel. If you’re moving in, we can get it set up differently and handle anything you guys want. Make this place your own.” I focused on Izzy. “I’ll always keep my room here so I can run away to where my bestie is if I need to, but my home will be in Faerie soon. We know it.”

“Yeah, we do, Tams. I’m really glad you’re safe there now.”

Me too.