"Now then, since everyone has finally decided to grace us with their presence," I said, trying to catch my breath, "there's something important we need to deal with—preferably right this instant."
Getting them all in one place had been nothing short of a miracle. Honestly, it felt like trying to wrangle a pack of toddlers into bed—if said toddlers were grumpy, overpowered, and some of them literally asleep when I barged into their rooms. It had taken everything I had to drag them here, and now that they were gathered, they looked as miserable as they were uncooperative.
"I've been putting this matter aside for a while now," I continued, shooting a tired glance around the room, "but this is something we can't afford to ignore any longer."
"So," Eliana drawled as she yawned loudly, still in her nightwear, "what was so catastrophically urgent that you had to drag us here at the crack of dawn? In pajamas?"
Waking her up had taken me *thirty entire minutes—and two pillows to the face.
