Brie nodded. "If I know him, he's already sent the Sheriff his findings. I'll have Rathais forward them to me." She sent a text off to her boss requesting the official preliminary report.
Portia exhaled slightly. "That alone should quiet most concerns."
"I want a list of names of those who are 'concerned'," Meryn requested, her eyes narrowing.
Around the table a chorus of "No, Meryn," was heard from nearly everyone. Brie caught it, only because she was still looking at Portia, but the prim fae inclined her head slightly to Meryn, before turning to the queen. "I will get everyone seated. We should have this wrapped before lunch."
Brie's phone pinged. "Portia, can I forward this to you?"
Portia nodded. "That would be greatly appreciated. I can print and have these documents ready in twenty minutes." Brie handed the fae her phone so that she could input her email and then forwarded the reports on to her. Portia opened the document on her phone, scrolled, then nodded. "I will see you all at Tribunal."
"We shouldn't have to go at all," Brennus grumbled, his arm wrapped around his mate.
Brie shrugged. "They are scared and hurting. I would have been surprised if we didn't receive pushback of some kind."
"They are pulling us away from getting any work done," Ari countered.
"True, but you can't change emotions. It's actually a blessing in disguise that they acted so quickly in bringing their concerns forward. We can address each item, reiterate what we're doing, and send them on their way. Moving forward, you can always say, 'as we previously discussed', and squash incidents before they blow up."
Meryn tapped her lips with her finger. "So, basically, we're pre-telling them fuck off?"
Brie winked. "Something like that."
"Me likey. I wonder if Beth knows about pre-emptive fuck offs."
The queen chuckled. "That child was raised in Noctem Falls; she can do that in multiple languages, my dear."
"Then why hasn't she told me about that method yet?"
"Probably because you're still learning subtlety and finesse," Law suggested.
Meryn sighed. "It'd be so much easier if we could just shoot people."
"You'll get there, baby," Aiden said encouragingly.
Ari turned to Cord. "We hate to bother you, but we left the warrior villa before breakfast. Is there anything pre-made we could have?"
Cord stared at Ari in horror. "Pre-made? You mean like those small meals wrapped in plastic?" he shuddered. "Give me five minutes." He raced toward the kitchen.
Meryn looked at her plate and sighed. "I bet he brings you fruit."
Ari grinned. "Shifters get served more eggs and bacon," he pointed to Aiden's plate.
Meryn stared, looking shocked. "It's so simple. Why didn't I think of it?" She reached over and dragged Aiden's plate in front of her, causing his mouth to drop. "Real food." Meryn lifted two pieces of bacon and shoved them in her mouth.
When Aiden reached for a piece of bacon, she picked up a blueberry and flicked it at him, hitting his forehead. "You eat that and be 'healthy for the baby'."
"Meryn," he said, reaching for the bacon again.
Meryn hunched over her plate and growled at her mate. "My bacon!"
Cord walked into the room, chuckling as he pushed a service cart behind Ari. "Little Meryn, if you didn't want any more fruit, all you had to do was tell me," he chided
Meryn shrugged. "I didn't want to appear non-fae cuz I wasn't raised here."
Cord just melted on the spot. "You order whatever you are craving for you and your baby, and I will make it, and if anyone has the audacity to say anything because of your food choices, I'll see to it personally."
Meryn smiled shyly. "Then can I have a huge burger for lunch?"