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Trinity

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The daycare was finally staffed. That had taken me almost longer than deciding who should be on my council. I mean, I couldn't trust just anyone with all of those children. They had to prove to us that they were trustworthy and good with kids. Though the good thing is we had gotten it done within just about two and a half weeks. OK, it wasn't anywhere near as long as it took to fill in the council, but it felt like it.

During the time that we were working on staffing the daycare, Athair mòr had gone back home to the Fae compound. He wanted to see Gloriana in person and find out what had happened the day of the ball. Aunt Glory hadn't told me what happened during the call at all.

Roisin had gone home with him as well.. She was going to find out what her family knew about the incident. She was going back under the guise of needing to get some more of her things so that she could live more comfortably in the castle. She was just as smart and efficient as Gabriel was when it came to doing her job. They truly were a perfect pair.

I was hoping they had gotten some good information for me. I know that sounded selfish of me, but I still wanted it to be true. And the good thing is, they're due back at almost any moment.

I was expecting them so right now, Reagan and Rika were in the daycare, and Reece and I were in my office waiting for them to arrive. We were trying to be more 'regal' than usual so at the current moment we were having afternoon tea in the office, waiting for them. I personally liked tea, Reece, however, not so much.

"Blegh." He said as he tasted the tea. "This one is just as bad as all the others." He complained.

"You just need to find the right blend." I smiled at him as I set my cup down.

"I will find a different one for you to try next time, my King." Gabriel bowed and took the cup away.

"Don't worry about it Reece. We don't need to have tea." I laughed at him.

"But that's what they always do in books and movies. It's the royal thing to do."

"You're an idiot, you know that, right?" I laughed at him as I shook my head.

"It's what they do." He said again.

"That's them, not us." I pointed it out to him. "We can just set our own royal traditions. Why do we need to follow someone else's example?"

He looked shocked when he heard that; it was like he hadn't thought about it at all.

"You're absolutely right." He grinned. "We will be trailblazers. Instead of tea, we'll drink something else. Bring out the vodka." He laughed.

"Let's spare ourselves the future AA meetings and just drink juice or something else that we might like. Perhaps juice, coffee, soda, something that won't make us look like a bunch of drunkards."

"You're no fun." He pretended to pout. "But fine, let's have whatever we like to drink."

Just then the bell to the office door rang. Yes, my office had a doorbell. Gabriel walked to the door to check who was there through the one way window. Yes, Athair mòr had thought of everything when he built my office.

"My Queen, it is Valerian and Roisin." He had a smile on his face as he spoke, most likely because his mate was outside the door.

"Let them in." I nodded at him.

When the door opened, I saw Roisin, my personal maid and Gabriel's mate, as well as my Athair mòr, Valerian. They were both smiling, but I could tell that there was something that had happened while they were gone. Despite the smiles they were both wearing, their eyes were holding the truth of it all with tense unease.

"Gariníon, I've missed you." Athair mòr smiled as he came into the room and walked up to me for a quick hug.

"We have missed you as well, Athair mòr. I hope your trip was a good one."

"Indeed it was." He answered in a warm voice and sat down in the chair across from me.

"Roisin, please have a seat so that we might talk about your trip as well." She knew that I was basically saying, 'OK, let's cut to the chase, I want to know what the two of you found out already'."

"Yes, my lady." She nodded and sat in the chair that was next to Athair mòr's.

"Don't worry." I heard Gabriel whisper to her before he walked to stand behind me.

"Roisin, won't you please start us off. How was your family? How were things back home?"

"My family is doing great, Queen Trinity." She nodded at me. "They were not affected at all by the recent events, but they were very gossipy about it." She giggled as she worked her way into the story.

"Oh, really? I wonder just what it was." I put a finger on my chin as if I were thinking about it very intently.

"Oh dear, it was something quite major. It seems that someone tried to break Curtis out of the prison cells. The Queen was quite furious since he had not completed his punishments yet."

"That does sound like something quite major." I felt myself frown on the inside. I wonder what their goal was in trying to free the former consort to the queen. They have to know that being with him would only draw the ire of the Queen herself.

"Was the culprit caught?" I had to know that part.

"Unfortunately, my family has not found that out yet. It is being kept a secret from the rest of the court at the moment. I would assume they were, since Curtis is still locked up in his cell."

"Is that so? Hmm." I thought about this for a moment. If the person was caught then they most definitely were not part of the future issue, that is, unless they get free and come back with a vengeance. I think this is going to take some more information gathering before I can decide. "Thank you, Roisin. That will be all for now. Gabriel, will you see her to her quarters? I am sure that she is very exhausted from her travels. You may return when you finish up there."

"Yes, my Queen." Gabriel nodded at me and then took Roisin's hand. "Please, come with me." He smiled at her, and the two of them left the room.

I knew that Gabriel had missed his mate while she was away so I was giving him some time alone with her while the rest of us talked in private. I would share important information with him later.

Now it was just me, Athair mòr, and Reece. It was time to get down to business and find out what it was that the Queen had to say about this whole situation. I just knew that there was more to the story, and I was determined to find out what it was.