Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Yes. This March will be twenty years since I have been the queen. However, it took me a little more than two years to get things in order for the kingdom. I had a lot of help to get things set up. The Fae kingdom that I visited first while I was pregnant with my twins.” I turned to look at the twins in question and then continued to explain to the reporters. “I had visited with the queen there and struck up a friendship. Shortly after that, when I was learning more about myself and my history, where my family came from and all that, I learned that I was part Fae. The connection to that kingdom was my great great great grandfather, Valerian. He is still alive, one of the original immortals in this world. He and my aunt, Queen Gloriana, helped to teach me what it meant to run a kingdom. I do not run my kingdom the same as theirs, because we are different people, but I have learned a lot from their guidance.”
“That is fair.” Lucas was nodding with a smile. “What I want to know, Mrs. Gray, is how many people are there in your kingdom. You said there were a lot, but how many exactly?”
“Well, I don’t have an exact number on me right now, Lucas, but as I said earlier, more than half of the people on this planet.”
“You were serious about that?” he looked shocked by this statement. “There are more people that aren’t human than there are people that actually are human? Is that what you are telling me?”
“Yes, that is what I am telling you, Lucas. There are more nonhumans in the world than there are humans. And all we want is to live in peace and harmony with you all like we have been. The only difference here is that you will all know of our existence now.”
“Wow.” Tabitha breathed in surprise. “So, we are more than outnumbered, but we aren’t going to be taken over.”
“No, you won’t be taken over. That is not what we are after.”
A wave of relief washed over several of the reporters. I think that they were still iffy and wary about this whole thing, but knowing that we weren’t going to try and take over the world was a major relief for them all. Why they even thought that we would, now of all times, was beyond me.
The questions continued. They wanted to know more about us and the different types of powers that we had. I didn’t go into details about anyone’s powers specifically, but I did mention that we had healing abilities that worked on the mind and the body. I told them that we had elemental and other magical abilities, as they had seen me use. I told them that the shifters and others among us had rapid healing, fast metabolisms, and heightened senses. They wanted to know what set us apart from them, and I did my best to explain it to them.
Of course, the standard questions about the myths came up as well. They wanted to know about full moons, garlic, silver, and all the other things that are supposed to harm our kind. They were shocked that almost none of the myths and legends had any of that correct, and that we were essentially just altered versions of humans. We were just stronger, faster, and lived longer. That was the main difference between us and them.
The more that I explained to these people, the more it seemed like they were accepting and understanding what it was that I had to tell them. The information was flowing freely, and hardly ever did I refuse to tell them something that they wanted to know. They learned pretty quickly not to ask about someone’s personal life, but other than that they were free to ask whatever it was that they wanted to.
This impromptu Q & A session lasted us a good portion of the day, but it was necessary in my opinion. The more that they knew and were comfortable with us, the more that they were to share in a positive light with the world. I wasn’t going to delude myself into thinking that all thirteen of these people were going to sing our complete praises and tell the world, but I was hoping that at least half of them would share the positivity about us all. The more allies that we had at this point in time, the easier it would be to transition into a world with no secrets.
Finally, when all the questions seemed to be over with, or at least all that they were able to think of at this time, it was time to call an end to this meeting. I knew that there was a little more that I wanted to talk about though, so I sent Gabriel to ask one of the reporters to stay while the others left.
And thankfully they agreed, because Lara only pretended to be leaving with the others before she turned back to face me with a grin. I had told Gabriel to take her upstairs to my office. That was where I would talk to her about one last thing that I had in mind. With my fingers crossed, I headed upstairs to wait for her. I, of course, was taking a magical door to get there before her. I mean, why else have magic if you couldn’t use it to your advantage from time to time. Not that I would ever say that to a human. Goddess no.
****
Riviana
****
I was sitting at my desk when there was a knock on the door. I heard Lara’s voice from the hall as she spoke to Gabriel.
“She was still in the throne room when we left. Why would you think that she is in the office already? Aren’t we here before her?” With a grin, I called out to the two of them.
“Come in.”
“Huh?” She was shaken for a moment before I heard the sound of flesh on flesh. I had a mental image of her slapping her forehead in realization. “She used another magical door.”
“Yes, she did.” Gabriel spoke calmly as he opened the door. There was absolutely no shock on the woman’s face when she entered my office and saw me, Joaquin, and my entourage of guards. We had gotten here long before she had and were now sitting comfortably.
“Why did I have to walk here if you were all taking a door?” She didn’t look upset at all, actually, she was grinning like this was all very fun to think about.
…..
“I didn’t want the others to wonder why you were traveling somewhere else with me. I wanted them to think that it was Gabriel that needed to talk to you.”
“So, I take it that this is a private conversation then. Well, as private as it can get for a queen with an entourage.”
“Yes.” I nodded and pointed toward a chair. “Please, have a seat here. I wish to discuss something with you.”
“Alright.”
She wasn’t nervous. She wasn’t scared. She had no reservations whatsoever. In fact, it seemed that Lara was having the time of her life right now. Was this what it was like when a reporter was excited about something? I had a feeling that it was.
“Now, Lara, when you were talking earlier, telling me how you will never spread lies about me, I actually had someone check to see if you were being honest with me. Not that I doubted you, that wasn’t it at all. It’s just that, as you might understand, a queen needs to know for certain, especially in times like these.”
“I understand.” She nodded as she crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward in curiosity. “How did you have them check to see if I was telling the truth though? It’s not like I took a lie detector test.”
“Well, you can consider it to be like that.” Vincent spoke up as Gabriel took his place opposite him. They were standing behind me as the right and left hand men that assisted me.
“Come again?” Lara was confused.
“Gabriel and I are somewhat like lie detectors. We can tell if someone is lying to Queen Riviana. And we are able to detect if someone will betray her as well. We are very essential to her, especially when working with people that are new.”
“Wow. That is amazing. I am going to guess that is something that you want to keep a secret from the rest of the world. If that were the case, then you lose the advantage.”
“Precisely.” I agreed. She was smart, that was going to make this easier. “Now, since I know that you will not betray us and you are only interested in publishing the truth, I would like to offer a partnership with you. I might add another of your colleagues sometime in the future, but you will be the first among them all.”
“A partnership?” She raised a brow, but not in confusion. I think this was more intrigue than anything.
“Yes. You see, we need to get our story out there and in the best possible light. While I know that manipulating the press is wrong, there is nothing wrong with having someone that has an exclusive inside track for information. I am offering this first to you, Lara. I want you to help us get the general populace on our side.”