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"Of course not. Our concerns lie not with the decree itself, just the timing. Mayhap, she was distracted by events surrounding her son and missed evidence of a growing hostile faction." His eyes darted to where Meryn sat. "After all, discovering that you have human niece could bewilder anyone."
Meryn smiled. "Tyrien, have you met Portia Kilardin or Cord Danual?"
Tyrien sneered up at her. "I haven't had the pleasure."
Meryn giggled, throwing Brie for a loop, Meryn was not a giggler. "How silly of me, besides this Tribunal, why would you have reason to enter the Royal Palace." She waved her hand in front of her. "If you had the chance to meet either of these amazing individuals, you would have known how inane your concerns were. Neither Portia or Cord would ever allow my aunt to become distracted to the point of negligence." She gasped as her small hands went to her mouth. "Is it because you don't have a squire that you didn't realize how marvelous they truly are?" She turned to the queen and, in a whisper that could clearly be heard by everyone, she asked. "Do Founding Families not use squires here?"
The queen's face was a mask of politeness, but having spent time with her, Brie knew she had to be laughing on the inside. She turned to her niece. "Many Founding Families employ squires here in Éire Danu, Meryn."
Meryn face screwed up in confusion. "Then I don't see why he was so concerned."
Despite the severity of the situation, small titters were heard around the room as Tyrien's face darkened to an unhealthy shade of red.
"Whether or not my house employs a squire is irrelevant."
Meryn tilted her head. "You missed the point, didn't you?"
Brennus chuckled. "He did, sweet Meryn, but the others have not."
"Oh. Good." She sat back, smiling.
Portia's cheeks were still glowing from Meryn's praise when she turned to the room. "To speed things along, I will ask that Deputy Brie Wilson, mate to Ari Lionhart of House Lionhart, step forward and present what we currently know as fact in regards to our peoples' deaths."
Brie froze. Had she known she was going to be presenting she would have worn her own robes. Standing, she walked over to where Portia stood; the woman handed her a portfolio and stepped back. Inside were most of the notes they had gone over the night before.
"Ladies and gentleman, as Portia said, my name is Brie Wilson. Until very recently, I worked under Cameron Rathais, a Vanguard warrior, serving as Sheriff in Monroe." Brie knew that Rathais being a paranormal would carry weight here. "Yesterday afternoon, Sheriff Rathais received a call from the Unit Commander to immediately come to a warehouse to secure and process the scene of a gruesome mass murder. As there are family members in attendance, I will spare you the more grisly details, but from the multiple conversations I overheard from the warriors there, it was one of the worst things they had ever seen, and considering their mission is to hunt and kill ferals, their statements brought home just how terrible the scene was." She prayed she was using all these new terms correctly. She flipped open the portfolio as if she were reviewing the notes. In actuality, she was trying to organize her thoughts.
"I will only present what we know to be fact. Seventy-two bodies of varying ages were recovered. The bodies were all placed together in the warehouse that had been spelled so that the deaths of the individuals didn't register with family trees in Éire Danu. The medical examiner, River Carlisle, a vampire and also a member of the Vanguard, was the one who worked meticulously in gathering every piece of evidence he could. He has determined that the time of death for these poor souls was well over a week ago and prior to the emergence of the shadow portal that appeared outside the Border City." She looked up from the notes to peer out at the crowd. "I haven't been in your world long, but I can tell you unequivocally that Queen Aleksandra would never become so engrossed in something that she would lose sight of her children."
Tyrien pointed to her. "Another point made by the lady herself. She hasn't even been in Éire Danu twenty-four hours. How could she possibly know what is best for us." He looked over to where her mate sat with the Tau and Chi units. "Her own mate is the youngest warrior to serve in Éire Danu. That was fine as the warriors played soldier, but now that we have a real threat looming against us, we need real warriors to stand in defense of our people."
Brie shifted her hand to her gun's hilt and felt a small surge of satisfaction when he stepped back. "I am the least qualified to respond to that drivel." She turned to Aiden. "Unit Commander, would you like to address these fine people?"
Aiden stood, his face a large scowl. He stepped up beside her and faced the crowd. "As you all know, I am the Unit Commander and have been for hundreds of years. I take my duty seriously, so if anyone believes that I have no idea what I am doing and that the men I train are useless, please see me after the Tribunal," he said, in short clipped tones. "Every single warrior that serves has my complete confidence, regardless of age." He eyed Tyrien. "Some things such as loyalty, sacrifice, and skill cannot be bought."
Ouch! That one had to sting, she thought gleefully.
She looked at the crowd, who was visibly shrinking back from the angered commander and smiled. "What it boils down to folks is this: Either you believe your queen to be a flake that lets her children die and that your Unit Commander is an incompetent fool that has no idea what he is doing, or you can believe that these two leaders with impeccable track records are doing the very best they can, in the first twenty-four hours of a tragedy. A case of No Confidence is positively ridiculous when the persons you're stating you have no confidence in hasn't had a chance to do anything yet." As Aiden took his seat, Brie was certain she could have heard a pin drop, then low murmurs filled the room.
Portia raised her hand, and everyone quieted. "As usual, everyone here has a voice and will be heard. If you truly feel as if your concerns have not been addressed please stand. It's why we're all here today."
No one stood, which left Tyrien the only one on his feet as he was the one addressing the Tribunal. "Well, Tyrien Ri'Aileanach, have you anything else to bring forward?" Portia asked sweetly.
"Not at this time," he answered, through clenched teeth.
"Very well." She turned to Jedrek. "If you would?"
Her father-in-law stood. "I declare this case of No Confidence to be resolved and the Tribunal session closed." As one, the queen and Brennus stood, followed by Meryn and Darian and everyone began to file out.
Aiden held out his arm, and he escorted her back to Ari's side. Ari placed her hand in his elbow, and they followed the party back to the queen's personal chambers.
*****
Upon walking in, Brie didn't expect to find Amelia holding Meryn in a headlock, raking her knuckles across her scalp. "Were you trying to kill us?! Do you have any idea how hard it was not to laugh?"
"Get offa me, Amelia. I was just doing politics," Meryn complained, pushing at her cousin.
The queen collapsed into a chair. "I thought for sure I wasn't going to make it." She eyed her niece. "And she just kept going."
