I adored how the shifter king’s eyes pinched at the corners.
King Elon’s nose scrunched, grumbling, “That means we must continue to stay united during our quests.”
King Traevon hummed deep in his throat, peeking from the corner of his eyes to the gorgon king, his tone droll. “That is a splendid notion. No one should try to kill a royal off right now.”
I snorted softly.
King Elon really wanted Father dead.
King Athon rubbed his hands over his face hard, chafing his skin to wake himself up. “That is all I have to say. We’re done here for now.”
I tilted my head back and stared at the colorful glass.
Natural sunshine was starting to shine through the ceiling; the Fae night lighting gradually waned.
I asked bluntly, “Do you think our Fae-gifts are here yet?”
“I hope to Fairy they are,” Queen Alora grouched. “I am ready to sleep without my door being broken down.”
* * *
“Father!” I shouted over the rushing wind blowing my hair all over my face—the dips and rises on a pegasus’s back were Fae awful for your hair. The rolling hills of the Elf Kingdom passed by far below us while we flew from High Pointe. “I am going to see Caspian. I’m fairly positive that I owe him an apology.”
My king would not have gone easy on my cousin when I hadn’t returned home as I should have—interrogations regarding my whereabouts were sure to have transpired. In my defense, a dragon had captured me. There was no arriving home on time when a dragon’s talons swoop you out of the sky.
King Traevon glared from his flying saddle, bellowing, “Are you really going to see him? Or are you running off with a lover again?”
Red Louie was a dick. A green, winking dick.
Huh…
Gross. That was not a visual I wanted.
I huffed. “I swear to you that I am going straight to Caspian’s. I will probably sleep there today.” The last decent sleep I had was when he was lying next to me. It was harder than expected to be away from him for too long—that, and dangerous quests bashed any uninterrupted slumber from my schedule. “In fact, I’ll most likely be sleeping into tomorrow.”
King Traevon’s scowl stayed in full force, yelling, “If I find out you went anywhere else, you won’t be allowed to leave your castle for years.”
I ground my teeth together and squinted in irritation. “You are being bloody ridiculous! I’m not going anywhere else.” I didn’t wait for his approval, instantly steering my Fae-gift away from him in a sharp left—Penelope obeying my prodding without rebuke after what happened the last time she didn’t do as ordered.
My king did not appreciate my antics.
The entire flight to Caspian’s I had a stalking king following in the distance, watching my every deviated path I veered on—I did it to irk him—until I landed safely in front of my cousin’s extremely private mansion, his dwelling set inside the side of a knoll.
I patted Penelope’s flank when I jumped down and gifted my king a curt wave in the air where he hovered on Javon’s back. To the stable hand, who raced in my direction, I rumbled, “She needs to be groomed.” I kissed my Fae-gift’s nose and stalked in the direction of the back entrance, ignoring the servant as he bowed so low his hideously sharp nose touched the prickly grass.
Behind me, he breathed in reverence, “Yes, Your Highness.”
I jimmied the back door until it unlocked, hidden in the base of the lush, green hillock. I yawned and stumbled inside, trudging up each step of the small, spiral staircase, up to the top floor. I nodded to a house servant who literally fell to her knees at my appearance in the back hallway, apparently remembering me from when I was younger. I hadn’t the vaguest idea who she was.
I strolled right into Caspian’s bedchamber.
I halted in place at the view, and I grumbled, “Please tell me this is not an urge.”
The two females underneath my cousin screamed.
Caspian whipped his head around from a pair of tits, his bare ass staring me in the face. “Trix! What the fuck! A little warning would be appreciated.”
The women grabbed desperately for blankets to cover themselves, doing a poor job of it, too. One of them pointed a finger at me, and she shouted, “Who the fuck is this?”
I dropped my traveling bag on the ground and sighed heavily, my emerald eyes holding my cousin’s dark blue gaze. I was too tired for this bullshit. I asked bluntly once more, “Is this an urge?”
“No.” Caspian leaned back on his knees and knocked the woman’s pointed finger down, away from me. His gaze narrowed as he calmed and looked at my weary face, and then his eyes swung to the two furious beauties before him. He hooked a finger over his shoulder. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Thank goodness.” I started walking to his closet to find him pajama pants.
“Are you jesting right now?” the vocal one screeched.
“Not in the slightest.” Caspian jumped off the bed, stalking in my direction. “You have two minutes to be out of here. Hurry the Fairy up.”
I stepped inside his closet and stared blindly at his clothes.
They were right there in front of me, and yet, I didn’t have the energy to lift my arms and sort through them for the pair I knew were his favorite—white linen, cut off below the knees, with worn holes in the legs. A real shit pair of pajamas, but he loved them dearly.
Caspian leaned over me and snagged a pair of blue pajama bottoms, his head of white hair flashing in my peripheral vision and then gone. Behind me, as he got dressed, he asked, “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“I can’t,” I whimpered, so very tired of the lies.
He questioned evenly, “King Traevon?”
I sighed and dropped my head forward, my chin on my chest. “That situation has nothing to do with this.”
My cousin chuckled softly under his breath, still not pressuring me to turn around and look at him. “The headboard.”
“Fuck you.” He was too smart.
After a long moment, he asked with dark purpose, “How much trouble are you really in? Is it something I can help with?”
“No,” I whispered in terrible acceptance, only responding to one of his questions. Assassinating King Athon would not help the situation. I raised my head back up and blinked at his neatly displayed clothes. “There’s nothing you can do.”
Caspian pulled me back against his bare chest and enveloped me in his arms, placing his chin on top of my head. He faced us toward his room, which was thankfully now empty. With our bodies pressed close like dried mortar pasted us together, we walked to his bed and plopped down on top of the mattress, lying there haphazardly—and not giving a Fae shit.
“Caspian? I’m sorry you got in trouble for lying for me.” It wasn’t a question of if he had. It’d most assuredly happened.
“Our king wasn’t truly angry with me. He was simply worried. I only spent fifteen minutes in the dungeon while he questioned me. Although, he did say you weren’t allowed over here until he gave his approval.”
“That sounds like our king.” I snorted and picked at the sheet below us, held warm inside his comforting embrace. “Caspian?”