The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (5 page)

When we walked through the lobby to the meeting area, Grant and Morgan were already waiting in a pew seated toward the front.  We had all been making more of an effort to make our presence a lasting one because we all had the same goals.  One was to get Adam off of house arrest, and the other was for our ideas to be heard and taken mor
e seriously when it came to
dealing with the
Famorii
.  Finding a counter spell to Liam’s false
sealments
was only half of the battle.  Even if we were successful, we would need the help from the Court to invade Liam’s lair and use the spell on him.

I couldn’t do it alone when Liam had an army of
Famorii
helping him, and I refused to force the Court to go into battle without them volunteering.  I wouldn’t force them when it meant risking their lives in the process,
and even though
Draíochta
was
technically a monarchy, there were still systems in place that could overthrow my title if I was seen as unfit.  Besides, I didn’t want to be that kind of Queen.  I wanted them to trust in me as their Queen, their Trinity
Fae
, and their leader.  I wanted them to believe that I was the one who could bring
Draíochta
peace, once and for all.

Kayla went to sit with Grant and Morgan, but I continued walking a couple of rows up to sit by Aileen in the front.  King Bryan’s wife has consistently been one of my biggest supporters, and I found that I felt braver to speak-up when I knew she had my back sitting next to me.

“Aria, how are you?  I feel like I
haven’t seen you in days,” s
he said with a tired smile, and I realized she was right.  I had not seen her since the last defense meeting a few days ago, and that was very unusual.  Normally I would bump into her around town, or at least see her in
passing when I went through the main house to borrow books from the King’s collection.  I sat down and gave her a hug.

“Where is King Bryan?”  I asked as I pulled away from our hug, immediately noticing his absence.

“The King sends his regrets that he will be unable to make today’s defense meeting
,” s
he said with a small smile, trying to hide the pain behind her eyes.  That was Aileen’s eloquent way of saying that his condition was getting worse, and he was too sick to come to the meeting today.  That would make it the second meeting in a week that he was too sick to attend.  I suddenly felt a huge lump in my throat.

The King was getting worse every day and that scared me.  It scared me for so many reasons that my head was spinning.  I swallowed down my emotion, knowing that Aileen’s own composure was a thin veil, and she didn’t need me falling apart on her.  She needed stre
ngth and support just as she has
given me.

I cringed, though, realizing that William would be the one to lead today’s meeting.  As my spine buzzed with electricity, I instinctively turned over my shoulder to see Clay in my peripheral vision coming up the center aisle.  He didn’t stop at the front pew to sit with us as usual, though.  Instead he strode right up to the podium and cleared his throat, preparing to speak into the microphone.  I looked behind me to find the girls and Grant, and they both shrugged, just as surprised as I was to see Clay leading the meeting.

Generally speaking, Clay didn’t like anything to do with royal titles and had mastered the art of the quiet, confident Prince who stayed out of Court business.  I didn’t think he even liked being considered a Prince.  He had become too used to being alone in the shadows, with no one to answer to, except the occasional order from his Father, and a single job, to keep me alive.  I suddenly felt an emotion well up inside me that I thought I had successfully buried this morning.  I looked at my seat, at Aileen, and then searched for Jeremy, needing any distraction, while I told my heart to stuff my feelings out of sight where they belonged.  I landed on Jeremy sitting by his Father, and smiled, giving a little wave.  He waved back and stood up to come sit by me.

“Hey, Ari.
  I’m glad to see you got the ketchup out of your hair.”  Jeremy said, smiling when recalling his weapon of choice during our group’s food fight last night.

I laughed, “Ditto
.”  My smile widened, remembering when I rung the ketchup out of my hair right onto Jeremy’s shirt.

“Look at my Father, this should be interesting.  I’m sure my brother and I will be getting more than an earful at the family dinner on Sunday.”  Jeremy stated, looking over at him with amusement.  William’s expression had turned irate when Clay arrived and walked up to the podium, clearly bumping him from filling in for the King which he usually did if it was needed.

“Hello everyone, and thank you for coming,” Clay began in a surprisingly confident, silky voice that astounded me.  I thought he would sound resentful and annoyed for having to be up there, but he took to it quite easily.  Why did he always have to intrigue me so?  I wanted to look up at him but refused to give into my earlier conviction.  So I listened contently while concentrating on staring at my hands folded in my lap.

***

“This is outrageous.  Adam should be freed!  Isn’t that what
Draíochta
is all about, letting our kind be free!  I move that the house arrest be lifted immediately.  He has been nothing but helpful since he arrived,” I shouted at William, as I hovered off the ground so we would be eye-to-eye when I yelled in his face.

“You still cannot prove that he isn’t here for another reason. 
What if his presence here is part of a bigger, more elaborate plot to destroy us?!”
  William yelled back, now hovering above the ground too; so he could be taller than me again.  I one upped him and then he countered, over-and-over until our heads almost hit the vaulted ceiling of the building thirty feet high.  Jeremy rocketed up to where his Father and I hovered, staring each other down in an unblinking face-off.

“Come on, Ari.  He’s never going to change his mind.  Why don’t we let the Court decide for
themselves
,” Jeremy said gently, and William shot him a death stare for once again intervening against his wishes.  Jeremy rested his hand on my shoulder ignoring his Father, and I looked at him and sighed with a reluctant nod.  I closed my eyes and felt a rush to my stomach
when I teleported Jeremy and I back to the ground in a blink.  I looked up at William with a small, satisfied smirk, uncaring if I was showing off.  William’s eyes turned to slits when he looked at me and lowered himself back down to rejoin the Court meeting.

“Let us continue.  Because this matter is related to the direct safety and knowledge of
Draíochta
, we will be putting it to a vote out of respect for the Court and your families.”  Clay said,
moving past our heated outburst
which William had provoked with his
cont
inuous
underhanded comments
about my brother as the Court discussed his freedom.

“Who here agrees that Adam should be released from house arrest and begin his assimilation into our community?”  Clay asked, and I immediately shot my hand up.  I scanned the room, and my heart sank at the lack of hands that had joined me besides those expected.

“Now, who here thinks that the risk is too great in this frightening and uncertain time, and that Adam should remain under house arrest,” William interjected before Clay could continue.  I shot him a dirty look, and he gave me a cocky smile of satisfaction when his hand and two-thirds of the rest of the Court’s hands went into the air.  He was poisoning their minds with his cynical words and demeaning comments about my brother.  I was so
mad,
it took every ounce of control I had not to zap William into stardust in front of the entire Court.  No, that wasn’t the answer.  I knew exactly what to do to hit him where it hurts.

I pivoted away from William and walked up the stairs to stand at the podium next to Clay.  I could feel Clay looking at me, wondering what the hell I was doing, but I didn’t meet his gaze.  Instead, I turned again facing the Court with a gracious smile.

“I respect our Court and can appreciate the concern you have for the safety of your families and for
Draíochta
.  I will not overthrow this vote and my brother will remain under house arrest until you are comfortable with making Adam a part of our community.  With that said, I would like to make a special announcement.  Now that I have become a permanent member of
Draíochta
, I believe the time has come to hold my Crowning Ceremony.  I turned down King Bryan’s request when first arriving in
Draíochta
, because it was unnecessary at the time since my departure was considered inevitable.  However, I am here now, and I am here to stay.  I think the King would agree that these meetings would be better served if the Court members had a clear leader to conduct city business and help guide our Kingdom through this
difficult time.  I will make the proper arrangements with the King, and you will hear word of when the official ceremony will take place, but I expect it to be no later than the end of the week.  Thank you all for coming.  This meeting is adjourned.”  I took a deep breath in the pause that followed, allowing my sudden announcement to sink into the Court members.

To my surprise the crowd erupted with applause, and I smiled with relief.  Some were clearly more enthusiastic then others, as I watched Kayla jumping up and down clapping with joy, and Morgan sharply whistled with the sound bouncing off the vaulted ceiling.  Others like William, barley clapped their hands together in a slow, lazy fashion as if we were all doomed by this news, and he shook his head with disapproving resentment which I took a little pleasure in.  I tried to ignore the doubt on some of their faces and focus on the positive excited ones.  I smiled happily and waved as I began to walk down the aisle slowly exiting, wanting to end the meeting with this upbeat, contagious energy.

When I left the building, I quickly teleported back to the cottage needing a moment to myself before everyone came bursting through the door to talk about what I had just done.  Oh god
,
what
did
I just do?  My breathing had become ragged, and I forced myself to sit down and take some deep breaths.  Having the title of
Aira
Queen was one thing, but the Crowning meant acting as Queen, conducting meetings, fulfilling my duties and making crucial decisions that affected people’s lives was entirely different.

“Here goes nothing,” I said under my breath, talking rhetorically to Queen Danu as I rubbed the emerald gemstone on my necklace with my thumb.  I believed in her as a Queen and as a leader.  Her strength and her sacrifice had saved the Kingdom.  As her great granddaughter many times over, and as the prophecy she saw in her final breaths, I felt her deep in my heart, running through my blood.  I believed in her
vision
and it was about time I started acting like it.

I quickly changed into some workout gear and teleported to the training center before my friends could get back to the cottage.  I wanted to put this coursing adrenaline to good use, and I knew I would have been stuck answering questions for hours about my sudden crowning announcement if I didn’t bail now.  I had teleported into the girl’s locker room of the Arts and Training Center behind a discrete corner as usual, so I didn’t scare anyone to death when I suddenly appeared.

“Oh my god, you will never guess what Hanna just texted me,”
Penni
said behind a set of lockers as I hesitated to step out of my hiding place.

“What?” 
Penni’s
friend asked.

“She said that Aria flipped out at William O’Connor during the Court meeting again and up and announced her own crowning.  Can you believe her?  What a head case!”
Penni
said with a catty sneer.  I had half a mind to rip her head right off!

“
Shhh
!
  Don’t say things like that here.  You’ll get us in trouble,”
Penni’s
friend answered quietly in a worried voice.

“Whatever, I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking.  I can’t believe I have to compete with her for Clay, not that I consider her competition,”
Penni
words held a bitter
edge,
and my breathing instantly stopped.

“I thought you said you were over him.”

“I changed my mind, okay!  I am sick of this chick flying into my city
and
taking everything over.  I might have to accidently bump into Clay tonight and see where the evening takes us.  Aria’s clumsy, innocent routine might be making Clay smile, but I’ll be the one making him swoon.  William is the least of her problems, because after tonight she’ll know who
really rules this town, and Clay will reap all the benefits of my generous nature.” 
Penni
ended with a little laugh that sounded like a devilishly motivated cackle, making my skin crawl.  I knew I was right about her.  What a phony!  This is the real
Penni
that only a select few of her bratty inner circle got to see.  I took a couple of deep breaths before I stepped out and turned the corner to face them.