Page 18 of Vibing Unity

“You need to remove the normal problems,” Shael warned.

I met the gazes of those three normal issue councilmen. “I will come question you this time and file charges. I’m done.” I was glad that I heard them all accept that in their minds. They would always hate me.

But they believed me.

Yeah, well, I hated them too.

6

I waited until the room was cleared as much as possible. “Julian and I are getting married this weekend. We were going to elope, but apparently that’s not allowed, but it is a very small, quiet ceremony. Even if I have to toss a dragon queen in the ocean.”

I ignored the snickers or sighs at that last part.

“As such, part of our filing is to officially remove Mary Craftsman from the Craftsman family,” I told them, nodding when people couldn’t hide their shock. “I and all of my advisors want the connection cut. She can go back to her maiden name—whatever the legal side is. But she cannot be the legal parent of or tied to the future prince of Faerie.”

“We want to make it clear that she will not be allowed the niceties of being the mother-in-law of the Queen of Faerie,” Shael added. “Plus, any legal issues that could arise later from their possibly having children. We all know that she is a threat and would throw a fit, maybe even try to sue for custody of their witch or warlock child.

“She is already banned from Faerie, but—this is all preventative and understandable given she attacked our heir. No matter the reason—she’s lucky our princess is kind and showed mercy. It’s a death sentence. The people of Faerie are veryaccepting of Dr. Craftsman and the love he has shown for the princessas long ashis mother is removed from the equation.”

One councilman who very rarely spoke cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, but are you sure this is what you want, Dr. Craftsman? I must—in good conscience—check that you are not being forced to do this.”

I moved my hand to Julian’s arm when I immediately felt his rage. “He should check, Julian. He’s doing his job to protect you, not insult me. The fact he just risked pissing us off to make sure this is your choice means he’s the right person for the job. His job is to protect you and he just did.”

Julian blew out a slow breath and nodded before kissing my hair. “I’m so used to everyone just taking any chance to kick you that it’s a knee-jerk reaction now.” He faced the councilman and nodded. “But my mate is right, and I thank you for checking.” He swallowed loudly. “Yes, I—well, I would have wanted my mother to love me more than her own…”

“Idea of what you should be,” Anya said for him. She gave him a kind look when he nodded. “You’ve come so far, Julian. I’m glad you recognize the burden your relationship with Mary is instead of the love you needed. You always deserved better than that family, and part of me hoped you would just walk away from them. But we needed you to keep them in line.”

“And he still will,” I promised. “Our witch or warlock child will. It’s in the new charter, and they will have the Craftsman name as a middle name. Whoever pops out first will be the heir and always keep that family in line. Or the next one if one doesn’t want it.”

“Not for many,manyyears,” Julian comforted, chuckling as I probably turned a bit green at even talking about having kids.

Most definitely did.

“This is my choice,” Julian confirmed. “Even if it wasn’t Princess Tamsin as my mate, this is a move I would make. Iagree with Commander Shael that my mother has lost her way and maybe was broken in a way that cannot be fixed after my father died. I don’t know, but my fear is she would try to sue for custody of my child no matter the mother.”

“If you ever have children with anyone else, you are going to meet the sharks of Faerie,” I warned him.

“It’s a hypothetical, my sweet mate,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, well, add ‘not that it will ever happen’ next time.” I elbowed him when he tried to hug me. Stupid warlock.

The council approved the new Craftsman charter, already having reviewed the document. The one main problem councilman had tried to make a few objections but was overruled. It was all fair and Geiger had done an amazing job.

They also approved our request and Mary Craftsman would go back to her maiden name, stripped of the Craftsman name by the head of the family. Julian had that right.

He was basically disowning his mother.

“What changes with her sentence?” Anya asked. “I’m still in charge of that, so we can talk later or discuss how you want to proceed since she won’t be at the Craftsman estate.”

“We bought her a nice cottage in the English countryside,” I answered, letting them all hear. “She’ll have Guardians to watch and protect her, but—maybe she can find peace. Have her garden and heal. She tried to get in touch with the media to slander me the moment she was feeling better, so she’s lost her internet and phone. If she ever cuts the shit, she can have it back.”

“That’s more than she deserves after all she’s done to both of you,” one councilwoman said firmly. “Retire in peace or she goes to prison. If she’s not an absolute bitter moron, she’ll choose the first.”

I gave it a fifty-fifty shot. She really hated me still and probably thought she would forever be a stain against me if she rotted in prison.

She wasn’t important enough for people to really care. Most heard she attacked me and wrote her crazy ass off.

I had several messages from Sasha after the meeting apologizing profusely.Butshe lost it when Julian was an idiot man and cut her off and didn’t listen to what she was trying to say… And please listen to her because it was important and significant.

---