"Or a different view of the concept of bootstrapping. I just don't feel that it applies to a situation where so many of the strongest options for gathering more resources are so trivial to accomplish."

"If you like. Still, I will not rule Fairyland this week."

"True. Probably. Might depend how urgently you want to rule Fairyland."

"Not very. It's important, but it's been important for a long time."

"Then you might as well wait. I'm in no hurry, certainly."

"Well, I'd rather it get done before some sort of accident inevitably befalls you as the years pile up and you succumb to your slightly reduced mortality, but it's worth taking the time to get right."

"It's not going to be an accident."

"No?"

"Murder or suicide, I'm not sure which. But it would take a hell of an accident."

"One would happen eventually if nobody including yourself got you, but I'll take your word for it on the relative risks."

"'Eventually if nobody including myself got me' is precisely the thing that isn't going to happen, yes."

"...I will make sure to have backup mortals securing my control of the Queen, I guess."

"There's some distant chance that something will manage to catch my attention in a permanent enough fashion, but then I'm also pretty likely to seek out better forms of immortality."

"Like what?"

"There's a legendary artifact that makes a vampire impossible to kill while they are wearing it. As the first example I can think of."

"Why would someone make that and then permit it to fall into obscurity instead of wearing it?"

"The answer to that is also lost in obscurity, but as a plausible theory, consider that it is not reputed to stop anyone from stealing it or to remove the need for sleep. So presumably it was passed around from vampire to vampire until someone who didn't like vampires got their hands on it and threw it down a deep dark hole."

"Ah, I see."

"But if I dug it up I'd expect to keep it a while."

"Does it only make you immortal to the degree a fairy is or does it also protect you from the things that normally would kill you outright?"

"Not specified."

"Well, I'll probably want backup mortals anyway but that would be helpful."

Shrug. "I'll happily find and wear the Gem of Amara for convenience's sake while the conquest of Fairyland is ongoing, and if I decide to set myself on fire afterward I'll give you advance notice."

"Thank you."