Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

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Trinity

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Thankfully, there was nothing else that seemed to go wrong for the rest of the banquet. There was a live band that consisted of Fae-styled instruments. There were discussions and the squeals of excitement about the upcoming festivals. During all of that, we ate the delicious food that had been prepared. And then, thankfully, the night ended without incident. 

Athair mór walked with us back to the residence we were staying in for the time being. Roisin greeted us outside with a smile.

"Welcome back home, my lady. I hope you enjoyed the banquet." I had forgotten to ask Aunt Glory about her, I would have to do that later.

"Yes, Roisin, we all quite enjoyed it, thank you."

"It is my pleasure, my lady." She opened the door for us to enter the home, and Athair mór waved goodbye to us before we walked it. "My lady, I have already prepared the beds for the evening. The cribs have been warmed to help the children sleep, and water is warming in the kitchen to prepare a bottle if need be."

"Thank you, but I don't think that will be necessary, they're already asleep. We will prep one in the night if need be."

Since the babies were all asleep we just put them to bed and then went to sleep ourselves. There was no need for us to stay up and delay our rest. We had a busy schedule ahead of us in the coming weeks, plus we were somewhere other than home so we would be a little less than comfortable no matter what the surroundings were.

Over the next several days and weeks, I would be having meetings with Aunt Glory and taking part in the festivities. The order of the magic celebrations that were coming were done in the order that the corresponding Fae was born. Apparently, Gloriana, Sorrel, and Valerian were triplets, but Gloriana was born first, and Valerian was born last. So that made the order of the festivals go light, nature, and then water. That told me which type of magic I was going to see first.

First thing the next morning, we all sat down to eat a breakfast that Roisin made, and Waverly tested for poison just like he did at the banquet last night. So far, no one had tried to poison anything, and that was comforting. The food that Roisin made was delicious, and I had no complaints about the way that she was handling things so far.

The first event in the light celebration for the Yule time events was a display of shadow puppetry for the kids to see during the day, and some displays at night for the older Fae. There were also concerts, special food stalls, and random performances that would apparently break out when people were feeling inspired.

Mom, Lila, Nikki, Emmalee, and Lotus, Acacia's mom, were taking the kids to see the puppets while Reece and the other guys learned the different ways that the Fae used light to fight. During that time, I was going to have a conversation with just Aunt Glory.

After seeing that the kids were all settled in, I was escorted to Aunt Glory's private study once again. She was waiting for me in a chair next to the fireplace with a cup of cocoa in her hands.

"Would you like some, Trinity? It is an ancient Fae recipe."

"Really? I didn't think hot cocoa had been around that long." I tilted my head to the side as I sat across from her.

"It wasn't, but it's fun to tease the younger folk about it. Some of them are so gullible that they believe it every time. This is actually just my favorite brand that I send someone into town to get me a few times a year. It's my private stock."

"Sounds good. I think I will have some."

With a wave of her hand, the shining silver pitcher rose into the air, and a cup followed it. The steaming hot cocoa poured itself and flew over to me. I had to be careful when I took the cup; I didn't want to burn myself if it spilled accidentally.

"Before I forget, Aunt Glory, what do you think of Roisin? She is managing the house that we are staying in right now."

"Ah, so you've noticed that she is quite taken with the Shifter Queen? She is a good person, she was in awe of you without ever meeting you. I think she would do anything for you. And you don't have to worry, she is as honest as they come. She cannot hide her emotions, it is the only drawback to being her." Well that was good. I guess I didn't have to worry about her at all.

"So, Aunt Glory, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" I had been curious since she invited me to come see her.

"This conversation is going to go back to one we started having when you were here last year. I heard from Reece that you still do not have your kingdom set up."

"Well, that is true, yes. It's just, I don't really know what to do about it. And will they even accept it? I mean, I am literally coming in and changing the way things have been done for the last couple millenia. This isn't the easiest thing for someone to accomplish. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to push back with it. I don't want to alienate my people."

"You need to go about this carefully, Trinity. You have not one, but two kingdoms. That is two sets of people to rule. You need to think about whether or not you want to rule them as one entity or two."

I thought about her words, what it would mean for me to do this as one group and two groups. Either way it was going to be hard. And I just didn't know how to go about fixing it. 

"Aunt Glory?" I looked at her with eyes that were filled with nerves and worry.

"Yes, Trinity?"

"Will you help me figure all of this out?"

"Trinity, dear, why do you think you're here."