“I slept the entire way. I’ll be fine to speak with you.” I yanked my attention away from him and tilted my head back to look up at the spires on his castle. “You changed the color.”
“That was your mother’s doing.” King Traevon gently looked away from me and up to view what I did. He pointed at the far right tower. “Minnie wanted that one green, but I put my foot down. I have not one inkling why she would want one tower to be green when she had the rest painted in gold.”
I snorted. “It’s Mother. She defies all odds.”
“True enough.” Father waved a servant over and spoke to her, “Have a stable hand take Penelope to the stables for brushing and give her ten blue apples afterward. And take the princess’s bags to her room.”
With a quick curtsey, she was off racing across the yard.
“I see they’re still afraid of you.” My lips twitched. “It wouldn’t hurt if you smiled at them every so often.”
The king lifted one red eyebrow. “Does that work for you?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“Indeed. It’s a lost cause, as I’m sure you have learned by now.” Father leaned to the side and delicately sniffed in my direction. “Is that…my two-hundred-year-old gorgon wine from my spell-locked cellar I’m smelling on you?”
I sniffed at my shoulder and then shrugged. “Probably. We cracked that cellar open a year into our banishment after some poor schmuck lost his hands and his eyesight for a short while trying to rip it apart. There isn’t much left down there now. You’ll need to refill it whenever you plan to visit Sugar Cove.” No apology was given, none would be forthcoming either.
The king grunted, his eyes not leaving my face. His voice was droll when he asked, “Is there anything left of my summer home? Or is it in complete shambles?”
“I don’t know. You tell me,” I stated evenly, and turned to face him fully. I waved my right hand in front of my face. “After all, I left here when I was eighteen years old, and now I’m thirty. I’ve aged twelve years, from a child to an adult. And you don’t seem at all surprised by my appearance.”
His arms crossed over his chest. “I didn’t hear a question in there. Ask.”
“Were you spying on me while I’ve been gone?” I kept my facial features utterly blank, hiding my hope he had been paying attention to me deep down in a place he would never find.
“I wouldn’t intrude on your privacy,” the king answered. “I sent you there to have your freedom while you could. That does not include me hiding in the darkness to watch you.”
I scanned his face.
I couldn’t tell if he was lying or not.
Either way, he hadn’t contacted me.
Only one of my parents had kept in touch. My mother.
I sniffed and turned toward the heir’s castle in the distance, and started a clipped walk to my destination. “I’ll take a quick shower and change before we talk.”
And it would be quick. I didn’t want to be in that castle any longer than I had to. My grandmother wouldn’t be there, but too many memories of her would be. Nothing was the same as it was before—including me.
Father ordered behind me, “Meet me in my study when you’re done. And wear something comfortable. I plan for us to spar afterward.”
I asked over my shoulder, “You didn’t throw away my favorite short sword, did you?”
“Never.”
“Excellent. I plan to kick your royal ass.”
CHAPTER THREE
Confession of a princess:
Father is throwing me into the deep end.
I wonder, though, if I will sink or swim.
If I started to drown, would he rescue me?
Or am I strong enough to save myself now?
Perhaps, I will become the water instead, consuming and destroying everything in its path. That sounds much more pleasant.
I guess I will see.
The king’s study hadn’t changed at all. The colors were still muted and dark, burgundy and navy and gold. It was too much gold, now that Mother had painted the outside of the castle that glaring color, but it did suit my father. Elegant, powerful, and arrogant, all mixed together in a tasteful décor.
I sat down opposite him and crossed my ankles, tucking my feet back against the navy sofa. Perfectly prim and proper. “What did you want to discuss, Father?”
King Traevon’s posture relaxed back against his stuffed leather chair, much less formal away from his desk. “First, I’d like to talk about your time away. How was it?”
I flipped a lazy circle with my pointer finger in the air, as if I were lassoing a rope. “It was a vacation. Caspian and I were complete shitheads the entire time, and enjoyed ourselves as much as possible.”
Father puffed on his shifter-made cigar. He claimed they made the best in all five kingdoms. “Was there any trouble?”
“Nothing we didn’t handle.” My eyes cast down to the floor, searching for any flower petals. There were none—odd, that. My gaze swung back up to his. “Where is Mother?”
“She went shopping in Jarisbur. She left this morning.”
“Oh.” Well, that wasn’t expected.
“Your mother didn’t know I sent for you.” Smoke billowed above his head, his emerald eyes staring without faltering through the cloudy haze. “I wanted to speak with you alone before she tried to intervene.”
I tilted my head to the side in silent query.
“Ask, Trixie. Communicate with your words.”
My teeth ground together. “What do you wish to discuss with me, without Mother’s commentary derailing your ultimate plan?”
King Traevon’s lips curled up at the edges around his cigar. “I like you all grown up, my daughter. You’re much feistier, more royal than you even know.”
I hid the way I preened inside, his compliment hitting me hard right in the chest. “Answer my question, Father.”
“Yes, well, you’ve reached your majority.” Two more puffs from the bloody cigar, and then he pointed it straight at me, the long ash precariously hanging on its edge. “You’ll start coming with me to the royal summits. I wish for you to start learning how I deal with the other rulers, to know what they are really like.”
Quite improper now, my jaw hung open. “Do you think you’re going to die soon or some other Fae blasted thing? I thought you’d start with the small parts of being a ruler, not throw me to the damned kings and queens first! This is unheard of!”
“I’m making it heard now.” Father ashed his cigar and flicked an errant, dark red lock off of his forehead. Those steady eyes didn’t release me. “Tell me something, my heir. Did you feel the ground shake last night?”
“I did.” I closed my mouth, done gawking.
Visibly, anyway.
“Did it feel odd to you at all?” He took a long pull off his cigar, watching me over the burning ember. “Did you feel anything other than the earth moving?”
I scrunched my brows in thought, but, eventually, shook my head. “I was too drunk last night to notice anything else. Why do you ask?”
“Because, my daughter, the tremor held power. Only the most powerful of us felt the whiplash. It leaked up into the air and punched me right in the gut. The power was old, and I have no clue what it was, or even what kind of being it could have come from. In all of my years, I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”
I sat still for a long moment, my heart pounding brutally in my chest, before I stated quietly, “You want me to start coming to the royal summits because you are afraid you might die soon.”
Father stubbed out his cigar and leaned forward. He placed his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together gently. “It’s best to have the most important bases covered when dealing with an unknown powerful threat. You will need to know the rulers, that is a must to protect our people.”
I sucked in a lungful of oxygen and slowly exhaled, waiting to speak until I was calmer—when my heart was not beating so hard in fear for my father.
“When is the next royal summit? How long do I have to prepare myself?”
Without inflection, Father stated bluntly, “Tomorrow.”
“What?” My question was guttural and quiet.
“As I said, the most powerful felt the power in the quake, which only includes the rulers. An emergency meeting has been called so we might discuss the issue together.”
I lost all decorum and ran my fingers through my red hair, yanking it back from my face. My eyes widened as I tried to control my breathing, sputtering and stopping far too much. I gasped, “Tell me what I need to know. The hard details. There’s no time for much else.”
“My mother taught you ample information about them already, but I will tell you more.” He smiled, just the tips of his lips lifting, his emerald regard as patient as I had remembered. “Calm yourself first. If you are not breathing, then you’re most certainly not listening.”
“Har har,” I growled.
But I did close my eyes and concentrated on regulating my air intake, seeing as it was complete Fae shit right now. It took a good five minutes, times between ruined by me freaking out at a wayward thought, but I ultimately got myself under control. I opened my eyes and cracked my neck before peering back up to my father with a calm demeanor.
“Ready?” he asked evenly.
“Yes.”
“I will introduce you to everyone individually at the royal summit. If someone tries to take you aside to speak privately, decline their offer. Only speak to them when I am next to you. Do you understand that? It’s extremely important.”
“I understand. Don’t screw up and let a ruler weasel me into making some backhanded deal. Keep my mouth shut unless you’re able to overhear the conversation and dictate the outcome.”
Father grunted and then chuckled quietly. His eyes lighted with humor, crinkling at the edges. “I think we’re understanding each other perfectly.”
“I prefer the straightforward method of speech, but I can pretty it up for you if you prefer? Yours did sound much more diplomatic than my version.” I grinned when he merely shook his head in exasperation. I sat back on the sofa, tossing my arms over the top of it for comfort, done with playing the perfect role of a submissive princess—it was time for business. “What else should I know?”
“Your ultimate reason for being there is to watch and learn. That is what you should know and do.”
I flicked a dismissive hand on the top of the couch. “Done and done. Keep going. That one was too obvious.”
“Queen Alora and King Elon are incredibly close. They almost always vote the same way, and they’ve ruled the longest of any of us. It’s near impossible to break them apart, and even harder to disagree with them—because they always back each other’s ideas. They’ve seen too many rulers come and go, except for themselves. The two believe they are better than everyone else. Simple as that.”
“Egotistical and a superiority complex. Understood. Those are their weaknesses.”
“By the Fae, she’s really catching on.” Father smirked and winked. “Next, don’t let Queen Mikko’s mere fifty years as a queen fool you. She’s three hundred years old and brilliant. Her only folly is her heart.”
“What of it?” I didn’t comprehend his meaning.
“She cares too much. She cares about everything. Queen Mikko votes yes for every bill put before her and every treaty her people beg for, no matter how low her kingdom’s coffers become. If she’s not careful and doesn’t start using that brain of hers, her tender heart will be her undoing and her younger sister will kill her off to take her place.”
I nodded slowly. “All right. Queen Gives-All will probably be dead soon.”
“Believe me, we’d rather have her as their queen than her sister, so pray to the Fae that she changes her ways soon. Her sister is a real pain in the ass to handle. She has a very small brain, but a very large mouth. A combination none of the other rulers, including myself, want to deal with constantly.” Father leaned back and lit another cigar with his firepower. “That brings me to King Athon.”
“Are you two still fighting? Since neither of you died after I left, I thought you’d worked out your issues.”
“We will continuously fight.” A puff of smoke gathered in a haze between us once more. “Do you want the truth on why it will be this way forever? The real truth?”
“Now is as bad a time as any.” I lifted a red brow.
“Cute, my heir.” The fire burned bright at the end of his cigar, just as bold as his hair, as he inhaled heavily. He finally let the captured smoke release in a slow stream past his lips. “It is because I screwed up. Had I known just how powerful he was, I would have left his vile father on that throne.”
I cleared my smug expression from my face. “How powerful is he?”
“Although I sit right in the middle of longest to shortest years on the throne compared to the other rulers, I have always had the most power in my Fae-spark—until King Athon took the throne. He is only five hundred years old, less than half my age, and his power rivals my own. I fear to think how powerful he will be when he is my current age, if I’m not around then to keep him in check.”
I swallowed on a dry throat, and questioned, “Why don’t you kill him now? You’ve already assassinated his father.”
“A few reasons, my heir. One, he has no direct heir. Two, he has no siblings to take his place. Three, his father killed off the rest of his extended family before I could kill him. Four, despite how ruthless and cruel he can be, he is a great ruler to his people. He keeps the shifters in check, which is hard to do with such an unruly kind.”
I nodded gradually. “So there are no more shifters with his royal bloodline power to take the throne, and he isn’t killable on a moral level. Understood. So what is his weakness?”
My father grunted quietly, and said even more softly, “I haven’t found one yet.”
“You have got to be kidding. He’s been on the throne for three hundred years, Father. There has to be something.”
“He’s a very secretive man. The asshole doesn’t give much away that isn’t already obvious.” King Traevon stabbed out his smoke, not even halfway done with it. “I would kick myself in the ass if I could, believe me. If I had only been more patient and waited for him to produce an heir, I could have wiped him and his father out at the same time.”
“Lesson learned,” I groused. I shook my head, feeling my father’s own aggravation for a missed opportunity. “So, Father, what is your weakness? What do they all know about you?”
His emerald eyes disappeared and reappeared in an extremely slow blink. “You should know this.”
“I don’t. Just tell me, oh perfect one.”
Father snorted and shook his head in exasperation. “It’s my family, Trixie. I am the only ruler who is soul-mated so far, and I have a daughter I cherish, that child who I hid away from everyone else so that she would be kept safe. My weakness is my family. If they want to get to me, they will somehow attack you or Minnie, just as King Athon killed my mother.”
I blinked. “Did you end up approving that trade embargo?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then your weakness is not your family.”
The king’s laughter was humorless. “She was already dead. I wasn’t giving him shit.”
“I’m right here, King Traevon. How can I be dead if I’m here?” Grandmother Isabella’s voice snapped behind me.
Father sighed and dropped his forehead into his hands and started rubbing his temples. “Just for one night, Mother, can I have some privacy? It is bad enough you bother me while I’m on the toilet every stinking Fae chance you get, but I specifically asked you to stay away tonight.”
Both of my eyebrows lifted high on my forehead. I turned my head to the side, glancing behind me. Sure enough, my grandmother’s spirit form was standing there with a glare on her translucent face.
She griped, “It’s the only place you’re alone when I’m around. It’s not like I can sm
ell your stink while we’re talking. And if it bothers you so much, put a damned curtain around the pot.”
Father groaned under his breath.
I asked in a mild tone, “So this is where you’ve been for the last twelve years? With my father, watching him shit, and chatting away like you didn’t have a granddaughter who might have wanted to see you during that time?”
Her silver eyes flicked down to me. “Oh no! I was not watching him shit. My son makes me turn around and talk to the wall, as if I didn’t change his disgusting diapers when he was a babe. Anything he’s got I’ve seen already. He needs to act like the damned king he is and shit with pride.”
I blinked. “I think you’re missing my point.”
“Shit with pride?” Father choked and looked up at her—with crazy eyes. “What in the Fae fuck does that even mean?”
I stood and placed stopping hands in each of their directions. “Enough fighting. I’ve never seen two people, who love each other so much, able to bicker like light Fae and dark Fae. Both of you have always had the most absurd fights…and, I’ll admit, it’s slightly soothing to see that it hasn’t changed even when one of you has a corpse six feet under already.”
King Traevon crinkled his nose. “That was a little much, my daughter.”
“Yes, most definitely a bit much.” Grandmother still couldn’t fight the laughter that entered her eyes at my antics. “Are you done here, my dearheart? I thought we might go over some of the old lessons I taught you about the rulers before you fall asleep tonight.”
I hesitated, but asked anyway, “Will you stay in our castle with me tonight? I’ll review with you if you’ll stay afterward.” It would be much better to have her there with me, even in her spirit form.
“Of course, I will.”
“Trixie was supposed to spar with me.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ll save it for another time. And, truly, you sent me away with your best blades assassin for twelve years. Did you think we didn’t practice regularly?”
Marvels and Misfits Page 5