Page 23 of Vibing Unity

I was pleasantly surprised for once there was a problem and it wasn’t my fault or couldn’t be blamed on me. “What part of the system broke down, Commander?”

“From what we can tell, there were too many family volunteers,” Shael answered. “One family of fifty put down to be volunteers to help but all focused on their one family member who got separated from them in the war and frozen somewhere else. So then we actually didn’t have fifty volunteers, but one group for that single fairy.”

“There was also a lot of discourse in the instructions,” Morgan added. “People not listening or the families so excited that they found their loved one that they rushed to take them home and the fairy collapsed because they didn’t immediately start refueling. We had seventy emergencies that way and then a mess because healers were being dispatched.”

“So now that more people are awake, we’re having too many cooks in the kitchen,” I muttered. “To say it bluntly and make something complicated simple.”

“Yes, a lot of people were overruling ours or—we had a lot of messes we haven’t before, and someone could have died,” Shael confirmed.

I nodded, having thought this could be an issue earlier, but people were always so scared and worried about the awakenings going wrong. Now, years of there not being a problem, people were becoming lax or acting like it was no big thing.

“Going forward, one person per fairy being awoken is allowed, not a parent,” I declared. “Sibling, cousin, bestie, lover, aunts, uncles—not a parent.”

“I think a lot of people will take issue with that, Your Highness,” Morgan hedged.

I snorted, finding Calarel in the group. “How many times has Izzy yelled at you about my care? Hudson? Darby? Katrina?”

“None, Your Highness,” she chuckled, clearly knowing where my head was.

“Now how often has myfather?”

“Too many times to count,” she confirmed.

I spread my hands to say “I rest my case” as over a dozen people chuckled. “This time we had messes, next time we could have conflicts or problems, and I won’t risk that. People have waited this long, the parents can wait another few hours so we can do itcorrectlyand not have seventy fairies almost die because steps were ignored.

“It helps to have someone there that they know, but it’s not needed, and if it’s going to be a hinderance, then we have to cut it out. I’m also not going to risk problems with our healers killing themselves. People have to keep not being selfish for a bit longer. We’re almost there, and any delays keep others from their loved ones.

“And I hope that others hear me on that, and more people volunteer to help that have no vested interest in the area we’re focusing on next. I’m hoping to do the same tomorrow morning.We could be done waking fairies by the end of next month if we stay on task. I ask people hang on a bit longer.”

The people in the room seemed to accept that at least, and Shael sent word to the right coordinators to get started on that since the captains heading everything with her were in the meeting as well. They could at least start on the lists of volunteers and cut down family members, etc.

I was more excited about the awesome sandwiches that were brought in instead of the list of other issues. Most were fairly small besides having to find a new provider of building materials since the human company finally figured out we were buying a lot and now were trying to put the screws to us. They were suddenly out of what we needed and wanted to talk about a new contract.

Geiger was all over it, but until then we needed more supplies or too much was on hold.

“How did everything go with the fairies who went to human colleges?” I asked.

The nobles and I had agreed that getting our best and brightest engineers and more reeducated on everything updated in the last twenty years was a priority now. Some could afford their own tuition but needed the help with papers, covers, and getting into the human system. The nobles gave scholarships to others, one focused mostly on culinary.

I didn’t oppose it, but engineering was definitely the priority, especially with everything we were bringing into Faerie now.

“Very well, Your Highness,” one of the captains overseeing it all replied. “We had one drop out, but her sister died when awoken, and the extent of her injuries wasn’t known, so it was a shock.”

“More than understandable,” I accepted. “Give our condolences and make sure she knows her spot in the program isthere for her whenever she’s ready. We have someone checking in on her?”

“Yes, I personally spoke to her two days ago. She’s helping on her friend’s farm and needs a bit of peace.”

Again, more than understandable. As long as she had people checking on her and she could turn to.

I didn’t need to know specifically about grades, but everyone was doing well, and it was clearly worth getting our people updated. It was nice when something I wanted and pushed for panned out like that.

Juan took over the meeting when it was time for updates and started with the calendar project that had expanded… And more than I realized.

“I apologize, but I thought you were read in on this, Your Highness,” he hedged when people noted my shock.

I smiled at him. “Juan, this is all within your purview. You’re my guy to help bring funds into Faerie, and you’re doing better than I could. You had the authority to do all of this.”

“We’ve been incredibly focused on local ordinances and what will change when Princess Tamsin becomes queen,” Neldor added. “Neither of us knew there was so much corruption and very specific rules in place to—we’ve got a lot on our plates. We both gave you free rein because you deserve it.”

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