The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

Chapter Sixty-Five: Taking Charge

"My Queen, I must advise against this. We should make her come to us."

Frustrated, I shook my head, "No. I let her come to me the last time and I lost."

"But My Queen, the outcome of this attack is too unpredictable. Anything could go wrong."

"It's already been put into motion, Erick."

This caused many sitting at the long table to pause and then a loud buzz of voices erupted inside the large tent. Earlier this morning, I had a group of soldiers line up three large tents back to back. Creating a long makeshift room that was adequate enough for me to hold a council meeting with both the Unseelie and Seelie representatives. Two of each species in the realm sat at the table, the Seelie on the left and the Unseelie on the right, and listened to me explain what needed to be done. Though not everyone was happy about it.

"The purpose of this council was to give each of us a voice in decisions that directly pertain to us! She has stolen our voice already!" A Seelie Troll barked. "Who's to say this isn't our future!"

His Unseelie counterpart, Coaimhe, yelled her own opinion from her position across from him, "This is a war, you idiot! One that is taking the lives of our people everyday! She doesn't have time to take everyone's opinion into account!"

"I second that!" Grumpy snapped, slamming his little fist into the wood. "The quicker this war is over with, the longer my Dwarves live! If Macha thinks this is the right call, then it's the right call!"

"Of course, you'd agree with her! You're Unseelie! How can we know this plan will even work? This isn't another battle, it's going to spark the climax of the war! Is the Divine even ready to face Mab? How can we be certain she'll win?" Screeched a Seelie Pixie, the high pitched voice nearly lost in the chaos.

"It has to be done!" The Seelie Lamia hissed, purple eyes glaring down her side of the table. "We can't afford to drag out the war any longer! Our people grow weary and the number of dead rises everyday! We need to be aggressive! I agree with the Divine's decision, we need to attack the city!"

"This is insane! We cannot attack Mab in her own Kingdom! She'll have the upper hand, how can-"

"Enough!" I shouted, banging my hand on the wooden table to gather their attention. "I have already put things into play that cannot be undone! As we speak, our allies within the Unseelie Territories and the Kingdom itself are mobilizing. Half the troops here are already marching their way to the outskirts of the Kingdom. The water Fae have been given orders to disrupt the Kingdom's water supply and to defend our allies along the coast. This meeting is to get us all on the same page, not to debate the decision. It's done. By dusk, we will be inside the city. Our forces will hold the kingdom as Mab and I finally put an end to this."

"Dusk! You mean to face Mab tonight!" The Seelie Troll snapped, brown eyes wide. "We should have been told before you put our soldiers in danger!"

Fed up with this assholes negative attitude, I jerked upright in my seat and pointed at him, "What the fuck is your name? Cause you got a lot to fucking say but I bet, I bet! I won't see your low wall looking ass on the battlefield later."

"Excuse me? I have never been so-"

"You're excused." I snapped, rising to my feet and glaring at them all. "You all agreed to put me on the throne for a multitude of reasons. You all knew the kind of Fae I was, heard the rumors about me and how I do things. Yet, you put me on the throne. And while I will always try to take your opinions into account, this is not one of those times. We're in the midst of a war for the realm. Now, is not the time to second guess or pussy foot around. This is what we're doing, we go to war for the realm tonight. And after this if you want me off the throne, that's fine." Giving them a hard look, I finished with, "But keep in mind, I have no room for weak Fae on my council who'd rather spend their time talking than doing something to save the lives of their people."