Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
He thought I should leave the interviewing process to those that were running the house, and then we could meet with their choices to give them our seal of approval before they started their work. I guess I could see the merit in that. It would be Abigail, Julie, and Peter who would be dealing with them so I guess it could be them that interviewed them. That would help to assure that there was a smooth and comfortable working relationship for everyone.
Since I was letting the others handle that, I was focusing on the meetings with the other supernatural types. I thought I would get the magic users out of the way first since there were less of them. Also, I was contacting the people that were suggested to me by the others and having them come for a meeting as well.
Not all of the council members could be here right away so I was going to be meeting with them on an individual basis. As for filling the council with the people I knew nothing about, I would need to spend time with and talk to them all while I tried to make my decision. I figured I would give a sort of trial period to the members that we knew nothing about, to all of them really. I expected this to be a committee that would strive for universal peace among our collective people. I did not want constant fighting, though I did expect them to stand up for their opinions. It was really hard to explain, I guess.
I started with calling in the leader of every clan and coven for the witches and warlocks, genies, djinn, witch doctors, and gypsies. There were a lot of them in the country with us, but the majority of them were actually back in Europe or in South America. I helped to arrange travel plans for them all in advance, or rather Gabriel did, so things were made easy for them. All they needed to do was pack and leave.
I was a bit forceful with them and didn’t give them much leeway to take their time. They knew who I was because the legend of the new Queen had spread so I didn’t need to make them believe what I had to say. The problem I had though was that several of them wanted more time before they left their homes. Some of them wanted as much as a week.. I gave them twenty-four hours until their planes took off. I needed to assert my authority over these people, I knew that I had a tendency to be too soft at times, and I was trying to be better.
Upon hearing how I had handled them, Athair m贸r had only encouraging words for me.
“You did wonderfully. You needed to show them that next to you they hold no status as of yet. They need to accept and understand your orders as facts and not to think of them as suggestions.” It was really nice to have him on my side.
The night after I had spoken to the initial council members, the leaders of the magic users started to arrive. Those at the Aerie Convento were the first to show, and Crawford had never left. And since I wasn’t inviting everyone from their covens and clans, just the leaders, I didn’t need to prepare as much for them.
Abigail had decided to use these gatherings as sort of a hands on job interview for her candidates. Since we needed to be hospitable to our guests while they were here, they would just do the job like they normally would. From there she would pick the best people for the job. Julie and Peter soon took on the same idea and were making it more of a selection process. I could imagine it all felt like a really weird reality TV show. But hey, whatever worked for them.
The guests that had arrived were greeted by the staff and led to their rooms. They were all told that I would greet them all once they had all arrived and assembled in the throne room. Since this was the first time that they were meeting me and I needed to show my position and power to them, I was holding that meeting in the throne room. I would do the same for everyone else when it was their turn as well.
Not everyone arrived at a decent hour that first night, so their introduction was scheduled for the first thing after breakfast. I had received reports that they had all looked nervous when they arrived, and that they didn’t know what to think or even do. All of them, understandably, stayed in their rooms without even trying to leave. I was glad though since I didn’t need them snooping around my castle.
They were all waiting for me when I was being dressed. Yes, I do mean dressed. Gina and Ella had taken it upon themselves to make me several ‘Queen’ gowns that they wanted to have at the ready for when I needed them. They had been told at some point that I was going to be building a kingdom and that I would need to ‘hold court’ before my people. I had too many suspicions on who could have told them that, so I didn’t know who exactly to blame, but I thought it was annoying. Not to mention the fact that they had made these dresses so that one woman couldn’t put them on by herself. Damn them.
The current dress, or gown as they called it, was really pretty, that wasn’t the issue. It had a tightly laced bodice that just happened to tie in the back so I couldn’t reach it. The bodice was in a dark, midnight blue, and it was a bit low cut so that the tops of my breasts seemed to show. The sleeves were a little different, at the top they were just the normal off the shoulders that a lot of gowns and dresses have, but there was a long, sheer blue sleeve that went to the tips of my fingers that was made with a soft silk material. The skirt of the dress wasn’t as full as it could be, thank the Goddess, I didn’t want it to be a full ball gown, and this would be a lot easier to sit in. The skirt was also mostly white with small silver designs that were in the shape of crescent moons, paw prints, and trinity knots. Over the white skirt was a dark blue layer of sheer silk that added some more color to it. It was really nice, to be honest, and I liked how it looked, but I wouldn’t have bought it for myself.
Then, no sooner had they finished putting me into the dress, when I was about to leave the room, Joaquin came to see me.
“You look stunning.” he smiled at me. “I am glad I had these made, and that they were ready in time, or at least some of them were.”
“Just how many of these did you order?” I glared at him, half playfully half not.
“Enough to get you by for now. Not too many really.” he was smiling at me, but I also noticed that he had his hands behind his back like he was hiding something from me.
“Joaquin, what do you have there?” I lifted an eyebrow and fixed my eyes on him.
“Just something that you need before you start meeting the masses..” He grinned,? brought the item forward so I could see it, and my eyes just about popped out of my head.
****
Riviana
****
“Oh my Goddess! Joaquin, what the hell did you do?!” I yelled at him when I saw the item he had brought out for me.
“What, baby?” I thought you needed one.” He was smiling innocently at me.
“You thought I needed a fucking crown? Seriously? A fucking crown?!” I was flabbergasted.
“Riviana, you are a Queen, you know. And think about it, every time that Gloriana was with her subjects outside of her private quarters, she was wearing her crown. You needed it.”
“You didn’t buy this after we got back. How long have you been planning this?” There was no way it had been made after we got back from the Fae compound.
“Well, to be honest, Valerian and I had it done. We went to see a jeweler while you were in a meeting with Gloriana, and now just seems like the perfect time to give it to you.”
“Oh my Goddess, Joaquin.” I just put my head in my hands and shook it from side to side.
“Come on, let me put it on you. After we had it made, Valerian enchanted it with Fae magic. It won’t fall off your head at all, no matter what you do. It will always stay on until you take it off.” Why was I seeing an inappropriate look in his eyes right now? I could just imagine what was going through his head, and oddly enough, and as kinky as the thought was, I liked it.
“Come on and stop being a spoilsport about this.” He walked toward me and held me in place with those gorgeous eyes of his.
“Let me guess, you got one for yourself too, didn’t you.”
“Nope, I didn’t. However, when it was delivered Valerian had one for me too, so he must have done it himself after I was done placing your order.” He looked like he was telling the truth, but part of me just wanted to give him a hard time.
“Uh huh, sure.” I rolled my eyes as I said it, then I looked more closely at the crown in his hands.
The crown was simple in its design, but it was anything but simple with the way that it had been made. The crown was actually a tiara that was pointed a little at the top and curved down until the top and bottom met. The centerpiece of the crown was made of three large blue sapphires that I could tell at a glance were really, really expensive. They were in the same shape that was on my wedding dress, the two crescent moons facing away from the full moon or just a circle. Above and below the sapphires was a filigree of those trinity knots like the one on the forehead of my wolf. They were linked together and so intricately designed that they all looked like a vine instead. That filigree went along the entire top and bottom edges of the crown. And that filigree was also entirely adorned with diamonds. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how much the crown must have cost.
“Joaquin, it’s beautiful and all, but don’t you think this is too much?”
“Not at all, you should have seen what Valerian wanted to do. This is much more reasonable.” I could see the look in his eyes and knowing what I did of my Athair m贸r I could definitely see what he meant.
“Alright, put it on me.” I leaned forward and let him set the tiara-like crown on my head. “By the way, how much did this thing cost you?”
