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Trinity
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Everyone started to show up immediately. Every shifter in the world that could fight, every magic user, every vampire, everyone who was able to help us fight back against the possible hordes of dark Fae. Among those that were showing up were my council members. They were the first to arrive and I immediately called them all in to discuss things with me and Aunt Glory.
I was sitting at the head of the table in the large meeting room. All of my council members were scattered around the rectangular table and looking at me and Aunt Glory who was sitting right next to me. Reece was on my right, at the very end of that side of the table. Trevor was on Aunt Glory's left at the end of that side of the table. Directly across from me and Aunt Glory were Athair mòr and Daciana. They were sitting side by side and most likely holding hands under the table.
With the group assembled and the addition of Aunt Glory there were twenty-nine of us in the room. I should have brought Gabriel inside, then it would have been an even number. I laughed about that inside my head for just a brief moment before I took a breath and started the meeting.
"Thank you all for getting here so quickly. This threat that we are facing needs our full attention right now, and I plan to make sure that we come out on top in this battle."
"Who are we up against?" Analise Rivers gave me a firm look as she spoke in a calm voice.
"We will be fighting against the dark Fae that have been sealed away for centuries. They are being led by a kelpie named Solanum Black."
That caused more than a few of the people sitting around the table to tense and a couple of them to laugh. Rahim, the Djinn, was among those that laughed.
"So, we are fighting against the woman who was most likely the inspiration for naming the poisonous plant. That is a little ironic. Is she as deadly as the berries and flowers that grow wild around its various habitats?"
"She can be." Athair mòr was the one to answer. "As mentioned before, she is a kelpie, so she has her water horse form. If you touch her while in that form you will essentially be glued to her, and she can drag you into the water to drown. That was what she used to do to her human victims."
"Oh, isn't that pleasant?" Nathair, the snake, looked as though he was sickened by the thought. "Even we predators that turn into animals large enough to eat humans, do not consume them. That is wrong."
"Agreed." The blonde vampire, Tatia, spoke after Nathair. "I forbid my people from taking a human life. They are only allowed to feed on willing victims. It is why we did not make so many new vampires when we were starting out. It would have resulted in the loss of too many human lives. There are, however, many among us that do not follow those same rules, and I believe that there are some that still kill humans. Those ones are hunted down by others of our kind so that they cannot cause problems for the rest of us."
"I appreciate that view into the way things are run." Reece nodded at her. "We do not desire the loss of innocent life at all. That is why we are here. We need to stop this woman and make sure the dark and evil beings from the lands of Fae are not released onto an unsuspecting populace."
I knew that everyone would come together and want to fight this evil. They wouldn't be on the council if they didn't. Everyone here was someone that wanted what was best for their people, and an enemy like this was against us all.
"Let us continue." I brought them all back to attention with just those three words. "The first thing that we need to do is decide who will be leading a regimen in this war. Who will be the commanders, or generals so to speak?"
"I am already one of your generals, so I will be stepping up here as well." Landon was on his feet first and spoke immediately.
"As am I." Trevor was next.
"You know that I will be commanding my own group of troops." Reece followed him.
"I refuse to sit this out since it is part of my past that is rearing its ugly head." Athair mòr stood as well.
"I will join you in this endeavor." Dietrich was the next to stand and offer his assistance to command troops.
"Allow me to help as well." Nathair stood.
"I will do my duty as well." Rahim rose next.
"I am willing to offer my assistance." Crawford firmed his voice and rose with the others. More stood after him.
"I am willing to aid both of my Queens." Anastasia stood and bowed her head.
"I will take to the skies to fight against the enemy." Noir's sharp eyes pierced me and Aunt Glory.
"Thank you, all of you. I am sure we have enough now." I saw that there were others that were ready to stand and offer their assistance as commander. "The ten of you will be the ones that lead each group of soldiers. The remaining seventeen of you will offer assistance to them and help in whatever way you can. As Grand Nobles, it is your duty to lead the others."
"Yes, my Queen." The words were echoed by almost the entire gathering. The only ones who didn't say it were Anastasia, Aunt Glory, Athair mòr and Dietrich to whom I was not their Queen.
"What will you be doing?" Aunt Glory asked me as she thought about the upcoming battle.
"I will be leading my own regimen. I will not sit back and let this happen without doing something about it personally."
"No, Trinity, you can't-."
"No offense, Reece my love, but shut the fuck up." I glared at my mate not as his wife but as his Queen. "I may be a Queen and you may think that me being a woman means that I can't fight, but I think I have proven myself time and time again. I will not be made to sit on the sidelines and watch this fight when I am stronger than you and can make a major impact on the outcome."
"But what if you get hurt? What will we all do if our Queen gets hurt or dies?" I could see the fear and panic in his eyes as he asked me that question.
"Reece, my dear sweet husband, if I am so easily killed in this battle, it will mean that I was not meant to be Queen in the first place. I promise you that I will do my best to stay uninjured and alive."
"I will never forgive you if you die in this battle." He frowned at me. "So you better not get hurt." Reece hid the rest of his emotions as best as he could so that he was able to give me his warning.
"I have no intention of letting myself be hurt so that is not a problem at all.
"Well, I will not sit back and do nothing either. These are my people and my lands. I will lead an army into the war as any true warrior Queen would."
"Gloriana?" Athair mòr was almost as shocked as Reece had been, but oddly enough Trevor did not object.
"I will not try to stop you, my glorious Glory, but I do ask that you do not take too many risks and make sure you come back to me."
"I will, Trevor my dear. And you make sure you come back to me. We still have to get married."
With that, the meeting was called to an end. We were going to be assembling the troops and addressing them once they were all here, or mostly here. From there, they would be divided up among the twelve regimens that they were to be in. Once they were set, the battle would commence as soon as possible. I didn't want to give Solanum the time to attack us first.. I would not let us be at a disadvantage here.
