Page 22 of Vibing Unity

I let out a slow breath and tried to calm down. Needing a second one to manage it.

“You can hate that only women can rule in Faerie. You can object to our ways. That’s your right, but the law is the law. It is against the law to have aking. Only a queenruleris allowed. The law is the oldest female of the queen. My mother was queen. He was never an option. As a member of the Vale family, hewouldhave been the head of our family lands, Theripolis.

“That is nowmootbecause he is a criminal. He tried to kill me and almost killed one of our most decorated and strongest commanders. She threw herself in front of me, knowing she would probably die. I willnotlet that go unpunished, and I will punish any who help him. I don’t understand how that is too complicated for some people to understand, but it shouldn’t be.”

Someone tried to lead me away, but I knocked off their arm and ignored the tears streaming down my face.

“You made a mistake touching my people, Mario. Not just Stefanie but even the guards you knocked out. You should have kept your focus on me and trying to kill me if you could which we both know you’re not powerful enough to do. You shouldn’t have tried to breach Faerie that I protect. Enjoy your remaining hours because that’s all you’ll get.”

7

The next day, there was the new and huge monthly meeting with all of the nobles and hobgoblins managing areas of Faerie. Also, the commanders, high-ranking officers, and... A lot of fucking people. It was honestly ridiculous how many people right then, and I made a mental note to start trimming it down. Not every noble needed to attend.

But then again, did I trust the information to be passed along accurately?

Probably not.

I did a double take when I saw Leigh—the head of the new Faerie network—and cameras set up all over.

And she was frowning at my reaction, hurrying over to me. “You approved this. I was told you approved this and going forward, Your Highness.”

“I don’t know that I didn’t,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “There’s a lot, Leigh. Who did you hear it from?”

“Me, Your Highness,” Izzy said as she joined us.

I nodded. “Then I approved it.” I swallowed a sigh when Leigh wasn’t convinced, glancing between us as if seeing a cover-up right before her eyes. “Izzy never assumes or just answers for me. That’s my answer. She can absolutely pinpoint where and when we discussed this.”

“Two weeks ago when—”

I saw sandwiches being brought in and groaned. “That’s why you asked if we still wanted lunch during the meeting. You wanted to make sure we all wanted to be eating on camera. I remember that but missed it was for this. Right, okay, I thought clips of decisions or—I didn’t think the whole thing.” I rubbed my neck.

“Yes, live.”

“Oh boy,” I chuckled darkly. “Okay, well, might as well just get the possible issues out of the way then.”

“I was hoping there would be less of them and everyone would behave if we did it recorded and live for all fairies to see,” Izzy grumbled.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m normally the problem.”

“No, you are not, Your Highness.” She chuckled when I rolled my eyes again. “You normally just cuss first.”

“Amen to that, Sister.”

We all got settled, and I verified everything was working and live broadcasting to the town center of each city of Faerie.

“Thank you for the people who are catching this live and so dedicated to the news of our world and progress,” I said in greeting. “Eventually, we will move forward from just this one screen for so many. We have priorities first, but it is on the agenda as we always want the people of Faerie well informed. On that note, these meetings—we cover a lot.”

I relaxed when several people chuckled.

“And we forgo the normal formalities and cut each other a lot of slack because of that,” I continued. “I will forget people’s names, and Neldor and I will absolutely just be informal with each other. Even the commanders will slip—please accept that. Our focus is where it should be and getting things done and not court-perfect politeness.

“Also, not everyone was ready for this to be shown live, and a lot of us don’t get the sleep we need. So I ask everyone to pleasenot be sticklers and keep their focus where it needs to be and on the amount we handle.” I thought that pretty much covered it. “Okay, so as we’ve been doing, I open the floor to pressing issues before we move on to updates.”

“The most pressing issue is the last awakening, Your Highness, Your Grace,” Morgan said firmly as he stood after I took my seat.

I swallowed a flinch. “I apologize again for not being able to control how many. I didn’t think it would be so many and—”

“Forgive me for interrupting you, Your Highness, but you misunderstand me,” he cut in, bowing to me. “The fact you woke over three hundred and fifty thousand fairies at once is a miracle and weshouldhave been ready. We prepared for way more than the last numbers.”

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