Authors: Christina Bell
Tonight, Titania was dressed in a short, black Vivienne Tam, cap-sleeved dress and Jimmy Choo stilletos that showed off her long, tan, Pilates-toned legs. For a moment, it crossed Miles’ mind to reconsider the divorce, but he knew that he couldn’t correctly educate his India with Titania in the house, watching his every move.
Titania approached the desk with careful deliberate steps that would have been fabulous on any runway. “What the hell is this?” she demanded, waving a manila envelope in the air. Miles recognized the return address as that of his attorney.
“Good evening, darling,” he taunted. “Did you not realize that we were getting a divorce?” He walked to the bar and pulled a bottle of scotch off the shelf. “Just because you refuse to vacate the premises does not mean that we are reconciled.”
Titania opened the envelope and removed the document it carried. “Mr. Oberon will retain full custody of the minor child, India Oberon,” she read, her voice trembling with hostility. She slapped the papers back onto his desk. “You will not take my child from me.”
“Are you sure? I’m pretty sure that what you just read said ‘full custody.’” He reached into the top drawer of the desk and pulled out a leather checkbook case. “Tell me, how much will it take to settle this? Forget the lawyers. Give me a number.”
In a flash, Titania reached across his desk, snatched up the checkbook and threw it at the wall behind him. The pages fluttered as it flipped through the air before it hit the wall with a thud and dropped to the floor. “I don’t want it settled, you idiot. I don’t even know why you’re divorcing me.”
Miles took a drink of his scotch and smiled quietly. How long had it been since he and Titania slept together? Did that stop on the day he decided to get rid of her? He couldn’t remember. He actually missed her, but
his mind was made up.
“Miles, this is not good for anyone. Our son is confused, and you’re trying to buy him from me like a piece of livestock.”
“You could always move out.”
“My lawyer has advised against it.” Titania stood her ground.
“So you plan to live here indefinitely?” he asked.
“I don’t think you really want me to leave. This is all too sudden. There is more to this than you’re admitting.”
“So,” he asked again, “how long do you plan to stay?”
Titania smiled and crossed around the side of the desk to his chair. She perched herself on the edge, so that she leaned in toward him, her hair draped across his chest as her lips came close to his without actually touching. “I’m going to stay until after Theo’s wedding. When you’re ready to tell me what’s really going on, we can talk about how to save this marriage. If you decide to continue with this divorce, I will take your son to the far reaches of the Earth, and you’ll never find us. Remember, my people have money, too.” As she stood, she intentionally paused long enough to let him get a good look down her dress. He could feel his hand instinctually reach out for her, but he stopped himself.
Titania opened the door to leave, revealing Puck, who was standing outside the door with one hand raised as if it were poised to knock.
“Puck! Come in, close the door behind you.” Miles stood to greet his son, despite the fact that he had just seen him an hour ago at Theo’s dinner table. As Titania left, Miles took a moment to enjoy the sight of her walking away. When she was gone, Puck closed the door.
Puck headed straight for the bar. “How is it possible,” he asked, pouring himself a scotch without even looking up at his father, “that a girl I’ve been able to influence many times could suddenly resist me tonight?”
“Who? Ana?” Miles held his glass toward Puck for a refill. As Puck slid a portion of the amber liquid into his father’s glass, Miles continued. “I see you’ve come head to head with my personal nemesis: free will. We can cast shadows that cause others to follow their true desires, we can confuse them until they are sure that our desires are theirs. In the end, our power is limited by the strength a person’s convictions. If a person truly does not want to submit, they can resist, no matter how hard we try to bend their will. If I didn’t think that Ana wanted to be with you, I would have put a stop to your pursuit of her immediately. If she’s resisting you now, then that’s what she truly wants. I expect you to respect that.”
Puck grinned. “Are you having an ethics talk with me, Father?”
“Yes, I suppose I am.” It occurred to Miles that he had given Puck a great deal of technical know-how in regard to his abilities, but had spent precious little time guiding him in the matter of responsible usage. It was as if he had given him a powerful sports car and neglected to tell him not to drive it drunk. “I guess ethics have been on my mind quite a bit the last few days. This whole Titania situation is making me tread in territory I never thought I’d even consider.”
“She’s completely immune to your influence, isn’t she?” Puck asked.
“Titania never once, in our history together, has been susceptible to my powers of suggestion. I stopped trying years ago. She’s her own person. She’s never asked for anything but love, and she’s never sacrificed any of herself to be here. She and Grace have a lot in common. They are both unimpressed by wealth and prestige.” Miles ran his hand through his graying hair as he continued. “It’s different with Grace, though. Eventually, she will know everything and then she’ll be more willing to comply. Maybe. Maybe not. She’s a tough nut to crack. Having strong opinions is a quality that I normally admire, but today, it’s a pain in my ass.”
“Why don’t you tell her what’s really happening here? For that matter, why don’t you tell me so that I can help?”
“Trust me, son,” Miles smiled, “I will tell Grace before I tell you. And still, that will only happen if I am out of choices. She’s a headstrong young woman. If I’m very lucky, she’ll listen to what I have to say, but if I’m not, I risk alienating her. There’s too much at stake to run that risk.”
“What if she turns out to be like Cam?” Puck asked.
“Their children can still inherit the gift.” Miles felt that he had shared more than enough information with his sons for the time being. It would be nice if someone around here did what he asked without asking a bunch of questions.
“I have to tell you, she didn’t seem very interested in him. Maybe I should give things a try,” Puck persisted.
“Absolutely not. For you to be with Grace would be an abomination.” Miles fixed a hard stare on his son. He hoped to avoid disclosing the relationship between his family and Theo’s, but Puck’s jealousy was forcing his hand. He just needed one more night of total compliance from his boys.
Puck returned his father’s stare. “Tell me why,” he said calmly, directly.
“All in good time, Puck. Everyone will get what is determined by fate.” Miles sat back in his chair slowly, leaning his head upon the padded leather headrest. “I need a favor tonight.”
Puck grinned. “Of course,” he said, “as soon as you explain this alleged abomination.”
While Miles fully appreciated his son’s tenacity, he was too tired to play games. “I want you to go to Queens.” He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small address book. After flipping some pages, he found what he was looking for and grabbed a small piece of paper from his desktop and began to write on it. “I’m giving you an address. Take the car. Give the address to the driver. I want you to go there and pick up a package for me.”
“Why don’t you send Cam the Golden Boy?” Puck sneered.
“Don’t be petulant, Percival,” Miles commanded. He saw Puck shudder at the sound of his given name. That had been his mother’s idea; a small concession on Miles’ part. “I have another job for Cameron tonight.”
“Does it have to do with Grace?”
“Just get the package,” Miles said. The more trouble everyone gave him tonight, the more he was plagued by the nagging feeling that this night was going to be more complicated than he had anticipated.
“What’s in it?” Puck asked.
“A flower. Actually, an extract from a flower.” He took Puck’s glass and headed for the bar to refill it. “It’s actually quite an interesting story. Allegedly, many years ago, in the days of Roman Gods and faeries, Cupid set his sights upon some maiden or another. I can’t remember if he wanted her for himself or someone else. But, the point is, this one time, the unthinkable happened. Cupid, whose entire existence revolved around his true aim at lovers, missed. The arrow that was intended to coerce true love lay in futility upon a bed of small white flowers. Slowly, as the magic bled from its shaft, the blooms of the unremarkable little plant on which the shaft landed became gradually tinged with violet, eventually turning completely purple. Magicians who specialize in botany now call it love-in-idleness because of its hidden power.”
“Which is?” Puck inquired.
“The extract of this flower, when inhaled by a mortal, causes that person to fall deeply in love with the first creature that crosses her path. With Titania spending the next few nights here, it should be easy to cause her to fall deeply in love with anyone but me. “
Puck waited for a moment before he spoke again. He looked more thoughtful than usual. “How is this different than the free will issue with Ana? You’ve said that you would have stopped anything that was against her will, but now you’re going way outside the box to do the same to Titania.”
Miles had to laugh out loud. “By all means, Puck, speak your mind,” he said. When he finished being amused by his son’s impudence, he began to speak again, this time choosing his words carefully. “That’s exactly why I’ve been thinking so much about this. Yes, Titania has never based her actions on my desires. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with her. There are a lot of people, both male and female, who will drop their convictions in a heartbeat if it means pleasing our family. The problem with sycophants is that they don’t see how obvious and disingenuous they really seem. Anyway, you’re right. I’m in a bind and I’m pushing the boundaries of my own convictions. But, before you judge me, ask yourself a question. What is love? It’s not a concrete thing. It can’t be possessed indefinitely, and its intensity can change on a passing whim, so doesn’t that make it nothing more than an illusion? If I provide Titania with a new lover, someone she will truly love beyond question, does it matter that it’s an illusion created by magic? To her, it’s real. So, it could be argued that I have given her the happiness of new love in the place of the sadness of a failed marriage.”
Puck shook his head. “Or,” he suggested, “it could be argued that I would be providing Ana with an opportunity if I convinced her that my bed was the place she most wanted to be in the world.”
“You would have just won this argument if it weren’t for one thing.” Miles lingered for dramatic effect before he continued. “You’re talking about sex. I’m talking about love.”
“An illusion is an illusion, and if we’re operating under that conviction that belief is all the rationalization that we need, I don’t see the difference.”
Miles shook his head. “Well, as valid as your point may be, I have no choice. Titania has absolutely no desire to give India to me. So, I’m forced to look outside the family for assistance.”
“Who will she be falling in love with?”
“I don’t care. Maybe she’ll see Ana,” Miles teased.
“Perish the thought!” Puck cried in mock horror.
“I don’t care if she falls in love with the dog, as long as she is so blinded by devotion that she will gladly hand me India in favor of her new love.” Miles grinned at the thought of his beautiful wife falling in love with the family pet. Damn the ethics. He wanted his son. Guilt fades. “Go get me that potion, and I’ll consider telling you more about Grace.”
Cameron Oberon was thoroughly pissed off. While his household had been filled with a lot of angry people over the years, he was usually not one of them. He’d weathered Miles’s wives storming about, angry and heartbroken. Puck spent the better part of his life provoking Cam, but Cam considered it his role, as the mild-tempered brother, to work toward peace. He endured any torments his brother dished out, excusing them as Puck’s way of adjusting to powers that were larger than his ability to handle them appropriately. In short, he prided himself on being the voice of reason within his family.