Page 19 of Microburst

“Consort?” she hedged.

I snorted. “I never promised any of them the title of prince. They have all announced and assumed that’s what they’ll be. There are several De la Rosa queen rulers who never give their mate the title of prince.

“Only if they mate another royal. With the sexism in this world? InThovudin?It seems pretty stupid to me. Let them be Royal Consort like other queens have allowed. Like Alpha Mate to Alphas.”

“Wowwwwww,” Myriam whispered, blinking at me like she’d never seen me as she set down her tray. “Okay, right, so… Sagan 2.0, here we go.”

I almost snorted at her sarcasm, but then I realized maybe she wasn’t wrong.

So why correct her?

“Okay, write up a ‘mating prospects rule book,’” Velle muttered. “Are we doing it with the good wine?”

“That’s almost gone. We’re going to need more,” I muttered. I sighed when they all looked at me. “I didn’t drink it all. I had help.”

“Moving on,” Treena said when Velle and Myriam seemed like they were going to press me on it. “It’s a good idea and we’ll work on it. What else?”

“Lots, always lots. I need to handle something first and then a moment to think to get all the updates,” I admitted. I met her gaze. “I’m changing everything. If people are always going to be unhappy anyways, then I’m just going to do what I want and think is best. They can deal with it or not.”

No one seemed to know what to do with that, and they mostly just watched me as they ate as if waiting for me to crack or give them more.

I caught Onyx staring at me from a few tables away and it made me think of something. “Where are we on the lawsuit with Kole? All of the lawsuits even?”

Myriam cleared her throat and shared a look with Treena before answering. “They’re reviewing it all, but it was made clear that the priority is Kole’s plea deal and damage control, especially now that the text messages were leaked.”

“Get the attorney to file something with more proof to speed up the process and maybe for more damages,” I told her. “The longer this goes on, the more it harms my reputation. The cost of the reputation of the leader of Thovudin is actually priceless and I was being kind. If they want to play games, I will stop being kind and be petty like them.”

“About fucking time,” Velle muttered.

“The network that bought the picture of you in the tank top said the lawsuit will be thrown out now that there are blurredpictures of you naked and they’re willing to go to court,” Myriam said next.

“Good. Maple or Fraser can help you with that, and I want the network to be prosecuted.” I nodded when people froze. “It’s illegal to take pictures inside private homes like that. They bought one knowing it was illegally taken. That’s always been a gray area. I don’t want itgrayanymore. I want the courts to make it crystal clear what they did was wrong.”

I listened to some other updates and then steeled myself for what I needed to do next. Thanking them and standing.

I faced everyone else in the dining hall, the conversation going quiet as if knowing something big was going on. “All candidates who are working on projects for me or are going to be of use going forward meet at the training grounds and wear appropriate attire. Meetings will now be during my daily runs or training.

“I understand too many of you think you’re worthy of really being in charge, me being ruler in name only, but only one of you is better educated than me. It’s time to show how far behind you are in the rest so the ridiculous fantasies are put to rest and I stop having to waste my time with them. Mating the leader of Thovudin is serious and for mature adults, not children.”

Someone dropped a piece of silverware that clanged loudly before I thanked everyone and left.

Oh, they hadn’t seen anything yet because I walked right out the front doors and to where the press were always gathered. The guards looked a bit panicked since no one had warned them that I was going to be making statements.

“Quiet,” I said loudly when people started shouting an array of everything at me. I waited until they all stopped, several shooting the last one annoyed looks because he was just wasting all of our time and it was obvious that I wasn’t going to cave.“Going forward, you will behave with manners and respect. This is myhomeand you will remember that.

“Even if you hate me, even if you speak ill of me, your broadcasts go out to theworld, and you present this picture of dragons being rabid beasts who cannot behave. It’s crossed into embarrassing and I’m no longer the only one who feels that way. You represent our nation as our media and I will not tolerate it anymore.”

I stared down a few specifically and dared them to be the first to say something when everyone would hear it.

“Thank you,” I said evenly when they stayed quiet. “As I announced before, we are adding a press briefing room and I want you to hear it from my lips that it’s being made a priority.” I gestured to the growing storm clouds. “It’s ridiculous for you to endure the weather when you are not reporting on it. The goal is to get accurate information to the citizens of our nation and you can be comfortable doing it.”

I let out a slow breath.

“It was brought to my attention that several of the prospective mating candidates were under the false impression that whichever five lasted until the end would become my mates.

“I never agreed to that, but I also learned many Alphas made it clear that pickingonecandidate could lead to war. I never agreed to thateither. I said I wouldstartwith someone from each of their families to be fair. I never, noteversaid in the end I would mateanyof them.”

I held up my hand to hold them off when just about everyone opened up their mouths.