The merfolk queen huffed. “This is exceedingly unusual for someone so young to be here.”
“And, yet, she is here. And here, she will stay.” King Traevon pivoted to the side and gestured with his left hand to the back of the room. “Since you have finally arrived, shall we begin our meeting?”
Queen Alora chose to concede her argument—because Father was right—and whooshed her way around King Traevon, taking the lead. “All right, everyone, we should get down to business. This will probably take us a while.”
Fucking Fae fabulous. I needed a drink.
Preferably with a side of shifter cock.
I groaned inwardly. I needed mental help, too.
All of the royals started toward the back door. Their personal guards stayed behind, not allowed in the private meetings.
I dutifully followed Father.
Behind the main greeting room, the conference room was situated. It was directly in the center of High Pointe, the stained glass domed ceiling reaching its apex and casting glorious light all throughout the circular room. Five large desks sat facing each other in a circle, the desk made of fused thick glass shards and depicting colorful visions of all of the kingdoms’ people, each desk specifically for an elf, a shifter, a merfolk, a gorgon, and a caster.
I tried not to gape too hard as my eyes ran over the entire room—since it was entirely unbecoming in present company—the circular wall surrounding the desks even made of the same shards of colored glass. The brilliant white marble beneath our feet danced with the multi-hued light sprinkling in from the sun. At the sun’s peak of day, this royal meeting room would positively glow with beauty.
Father asked delicately, “Trixie, would you like to take a seat?”
I blinked and turned my focus to the royals.
Oh Fae. They were all already seated.
This was humiliating.
It was a possibility I hadn’t been as covert as I thought in my ogling. I had fairly lost myself in Fae’s creation. It was blindingly hypnotic, and I had fallen prey to its charms.
“Of course, Father.” I cleared my throat and quickly moved to the elven desk. Two royal seats sat behind each desk, so I took the one remaining next to my father. “My apologies.”
Queen Alora snickered to our right. “Her eyes were sparkling as much as that belt she’s wearing.”
“What is the belt supposed to depict from her kingdom?” King Elon queried, directly next to her in the circle. “I can’t quite figure that out.”
My cheeks flamed red on my porcelain skin.
I should have taken it off.
To our left, Queen Mikko pondered aloud, “Possibly, it’s supposed to be all of the elven powers?”
King Traevon lifted a bored eyebrow and stared at the individual directly across from us. “Would you like to comment on my daughter’s belt, King Athon? Everyone else seems to be having so much fun.”
King Athon appeared to be just as bored as Father with this conversation. He shrugged one shoulder, and rumbled, “It’s simply a glittery belt a young woman enjoys. Anyone with eyes can see that.”
All eyes did, in fact, turn to look at me for confirmation.
I could not believe this was a topic of paramount importance.
Father lifted one eyebrow, prompting me to speak.
By the Fae, I was actually going to have to explain this, and I would really rather not. I sighed heavily, my face crimson now. “I purchased the belt on the coastline from a traveling caster. The colors represent all five kingdoms.”
King Elon’s head tipped to the side, staring at what he could see of my belt over the edge of our desk. “Well, now. I can see it. That is marvelous, Princess Trixie.”
“Thank you, Your Royal Highness,” I sputtered.
“I want one of those.” Queen Alora pouted prettily. “Do you have the name of the traveling merchant?”
“I do. It was Lasmi Cazor.”
“Oh, I know her personally,” Queen Mikko stated happily. “She does fabulous work, just like that belt, on many items.”
Why in the Fae fuck were we still talking about my belt?
Seemingly, King Athon was of the same opinion. “May we get started with why we are actually here? I would like to leave sometime today.”
The others snubbed him and kept talking about my attire, and how I should be commended for wearing this belt to my first royal summit. Father tackled it with aplomb, with prideful boasts about my tremendous fashion sense.
I was still bloody stuck on King Athon, my mouth shut.
His voice had not helped my libido. The tenor of his brutally dark, unique tone was akin to a sensual blast inside my mind, making me resituate myself on my seat. When his nostrils flared, and he sank lower in his chair and widened his legs, a sneer formed on his previously blank features.
Did he really need to sit like that?
And could the shifter please put on a shirt?
His soft leather pants stretched hard over his powerful thighs and his muscles on his arms bulged obscenely. I wasn’t even attracted to a man so abnormal looking compared to my kind—he looked rather disgusting, honestly—but all I wanted to do was crawl across the room and stuff my face between his legs.
King Athon caught the scowl on my face. A section of his long white hair fell over his shoulder to lie upon his chest, and I was jealous of his Fae damned hair. He swiftly glanced at the others, and then properly shot a death glare right at me when he deemed no one was paying us any attention, their conversation still stuck on my freaking Fae fabulous belt.
I flashed my fangs in return.
He lifted a black brow, and ever so slightly parted his mouth—just a little—showing me long, sharp tiger fangs.
I sniffed…and closed my mouth.
Properly, his fangs were bigger.
But I had mine all the time, whereas, he had to shift partially to show me his. My fangs were far superior to his, even if tiny. There was no need to poke the beast, though.
I just wish he’d poke me…
Oh my Fae, I needed help in the head.
Father leaned toward me, and whispered, “Is everything all right, my daughter? You look troubled. If you need a break, you can always leave the room for a few minutes.”
Leaving the room was not going to help my ‘trouble.’
“I am fine, but thank you.” I smiled, reassuring him. Sweat trickled down between my breasts, hidden underneath leather from anyone’s view, thank the Fae. I winked. “But we should probably talk about the actual issue we came here for. I think we’ve gotten off track.”
“Utterly so,” Father agreed, returning his attention to the others. King Traevon interrupted their talk of which colors of their kingdoms should lie atop the other on the belts they were soon to purchase, and stated, “King Athon was correct. We need to focus on what we are all avoiding if we have any hope of leaving here today.”
King Elon grunted. “First, we should agree on the number of earthquakes there have been so far recently.”
“There have been two,” Queen Mikko answered.
I nodded in agreement, as did the others.
King Elon looked to the merfolk queen. “Do you think the earthquakes originated under the ocean?”
“No, the quakes originated from under the inland. I can confirm that much,” Queen Alora stated, flipping her multi-hued ponytail over the back of her chair to stop it from brushing her bronzed skin—she did have much skin showing. “All of the ocean was impacted at the same time, so I believe the earthquakes are originating directly under the center of our realm.”
King Athon pointed a finger down onto his table. “You’re suggesting it’s starting here at High Pointe?”
Our world was flat, a perfectly even flat circle, so that would make sense if it originated in the center—land in the middle and a thin ocean surrounding the island, all equal space for each kingdom. If you tried to swim or take a boat too far, you simply dropped off the realm where the Fae gifted ocean po
ured over into the deep black void and disappeared forever. Some have done this, even though they could feel the Fae barrier warning in your bones—Father had taken me close to it once, flying on our Fae-gifts, and the chill that attacked my body was not pleasant—and we lost those souls forever.
Queen Alora nodded. “Yes, I am confident it is coming from under High Pointe.”
The entire room went quiet.
If an earthquake was massive enough…
High Pointe might fall. That would be the end of us.
Queen Mikko’s onyx black skin crinkled on her face. “Does that mean the Fae are trying to destroy us?”
“If they were truly trying to destroy us, they could do that in the blink of an eye,” Father soothed her worries. “They would extinguish our Fae-sparks, and we would all perish. No, this is something else.”
King Athon scratched at his strong jawline, and asked, “You are the oldest of all of us, King Elon. Have you ever felt this power before?”
King Elon shook his head, his long, shamrock green braids swaying around him. “I have not. The power is far older than even I.”
All the power did was make me ill.
I didn’t think I could add to the discussion at all.
I crossed my legs under the table and pretended like I wasn’t a child playing in the deep water when I shouldn’t be. I couldn’t even tell that whatever I sensed was old. It simply felt like my insides were readjusting to different places—dreadful, that.
“There are no soothsayers alive right now to ask, either,” Queen Alora grouched. Her solid sky blue eyes with white sparkles may have glanced in the shifter king’s direction, before she added, “King Traevon, did your mother keep any books of our history that we could review?”
“She did,” Father answered. “But I scoured the texts last night, and I could not find any mention of earthquakes with power behind them. If I could ask her, I am fairly positive she wouldn’t have said anything different from what I read.”
Interesting. Grandmother wasn’t giving out information freely to Father. That, or she no longer had her soothsayer power now that her body was gone. I was betting on the former since she had known my belt would get so much attention.
The brown mist of Queen Mikko’s eyes swirled faster in her distress. “Who has the oldest individual in their kingdom? We could bring them in and question them.”
King Athon responded, “There is a four-thousand-year-old in my kingdom. Does anyone have a soul older than that?”
I positively wanted to stuff a rag in his mouth.
He needed to quit speaking.
A shudder of pleasure waved down my spine, melting hot and stroking like soft fur. I bit my bottom lip to keep from groaning aloud. I closed my eyes and breathed through it the best I could.
My panties were soaked now.
With a silent exhale, I opened my eyes.
King Athon looked far from fine. The side of his head was now resting on his right fist, leaning on his arm where his elbow took the brunt of the weight on the glass shard tabletop. His white hair hid half of his face, fanning over it. His cheeks were dusky pink through his warm russet skin tone, the blushing color currently matching his lush lips.
I was sure I had heat to my cheeks, too.
The Fae were going to kill us. Literally.
Queen Alora shook her head. “I have no one older than that. Anyone else?”
The rest of the rulers shook their heads.
King Traevon stated, “If you are awake over there, King Athon, why don’t you bring this person—”
The door to the room opened, banging hard against the glass wall, cutting off my father’s words.
The rulers looked in that direction, to whoever had interrupted their shared royal time, scowls of reprimand washing their pleasant features away. However, one and all instantly lost every expression on their faces, neutrality the common mien, only their eyes widening gave away their shock.
I turned on my chair and peered over my shoulder.
I instantly stiffened where I sat.
Father placed a gentle hand on my left shoulder and squeezed it, reminding me he was there next to me, that I was safe…and for me to behave accordingly in light of what had just walked into the room.
Four gruesome gremlins stared back at all of us.
The Misfits were here.
CHAPTER SIX
Confession of a princess:
The giants can kiss my elven ass.
The urge can kiss my elven ass.
King Athon can kiss my elven ass…pretty, please?
All four Misfits were named Louie. Originally, there had only been three of the dark Fae, born triplets. The Fae were not supposed to visit our realm unless it was necessary for punishment. But the gremlin triplets had decided to break the law. The Blood Forest is a passage for the light Fae and the dark Fae, above and below, to travel to their counterpart’s realm, a hallway for them to the two different wings of their kingdom. If they stepped outside the Blood Forest, they would be entering our realm. That is precisely what the gremlin triplets did.
Long ago, too far for anyone on this realm to remember without texts, the gremlin triplets met the three Fae-gifted Fates who lived in any kingdom they wished, celebrated by all. The Fates decided who was born, how their destinies wove through time, and when they died. The gremlin triplets were fascinated with the Fates to the extreme point of obsession. Their greed to have what the Fates had led them to eat our Fae-gifted Fates.
By doing so, the gremlin triplets gained what they desired.
They now controlled all that the Fates once had.
However, little did they know, by consuming the Fates’ power, it would lock them to our realm where the Fae had created the Fates. They were trapped here by their own greed and obsession, and, ultimately, their own lack of forethought.
The Fae took notice of the illegal actions the gremlin triplets had taken and sent a punisher to handle the issue. That Fae punisher watched and waited, patiently searching for what would hurt the gremlin triplets the most. What he witnessed was the gremlin triplets staying true to their nature and destroying our realm one quick death at a time, freely doing as they wished and creating havoc.
The Fae punisher had found the weakness he was looking for. The gremlin triplets needed their precious dark freedom taken away, and he knew just how to do it. He created a fourth gremlin that was indestructible and identical in looks to the other three, except this gremlin had no soul; it could not be swayed or swindled or care for anyone. In the place where a soul would have resided, the Fae punisher put the power of prophesied protection for our kingdoms and the power to deviate any of the gremlin triplets’ dark actions.
The fourth gremlin now held all of the power for all of the creatures in this realm—a creation that could not care.
The Fae punisher stayed a thousand years, observing and judging, making sure his creation was punishing enough for the gremlin triplets, and yet, still fair to all of the people of the kingdoms. The Fae punisher only noticed one problem. The fourth gremlin sheltered only the kingdoms, not caring what the Fae had planned for us. The Fae punisher tried to destroy the fourth gremlin, but he had made the gremlin indestructible. There was no rescinding his creation, only a Fae more powerful than he could do it. So the Fae punisher traveled back to Fairy to speak with the rulers. The Fae king and queen did not believe it was in the best interest of our realm to destroy the gremlin, so the Fae punisher’s job was complete. The Fae were still all-powerful over their created children, and there was now a power in our land that could keep us safe from destroying ourselves—less work for them.
The fact that the Misfits were here meant the bloody issue we were discussing was tremendously fatal for our realm.
The Misfits walked to stand between our desks.
I turned back around in my chair and sat straight at attention, trying my absolute hardest to focus past the urge pounding me from the inside out. King Athon no longer appear
ed to be sleeping, either, which was excellent since he and Father were the most powerful people in all the kingdoms.
The dark green skin on the Misfits wrinkled even more than it already was as they surveyed us—three did, anyway. The raised, large brown moles all over their three-feet-tall bodies showed in terrible clarity under the colorful rays shining down on them. Their heads that were two times too large for their skeletal bodies, looking heavy on their scrawny necks, as did their overlarge pointed noses on their faces. Large, brown owl-like eyes darted from each royal in the room. Their tattered old clothing colors were the only way to tell them apart—red, blue, gold, and black.
Black Louie had to be the fourth gremlin.
He was the lone dark Fae that was staring straight ahead, with an old tomb under his right arm, done appraising us and not having any facial airs at all while doing it—a blank slate of any feelings.
Red Louie tittered. “Don’t you all look so pleased to see us.”
“You would think I was here to end their lives,” Blue Louie joked in a voice so deep it was barely distinguishable.
“They are all here, so I did my job right.” Gold Louie pumped his scrawny fists in the air. His tone was high-pitched and child-like, grating on my already frayed nerves. “Louie, I told you I’d get it right.”
Red Louie griped, “Hush, Louie! Louie needs to say something.”
Gold Louie muttered, “You’re just sore because I was right.”
Black Louie stepped forward, his voice carrying like a slap of authority. “I must speak now.”
The room went quiet. Thank the Fae for that.
“Do you know anything about giants?” Black Louie asked, peering blandly around the magnificent room, not looking at anyone in particular. “And, yes, you heard me correctly. I said giants.”
I peered at the other royals, waiting for them to speak.
But not one opened their mouths.
I blinked quickly in the silence.
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