Lexi Monarch

by T. K. Perry

  “Do you have to practice to be this annoying?” Lexi demanded with an outraged laugh.

  “Yes. Up until about a month ago, I practiced every day,” Tiger quipped, grinning at his own wit.

  “You know, I can be annoying. I whine rather well,” Lexi threatened with a mischievous smile.

  “Weren’t you already doing that?”

  “Tiger!” Lexi yelled, stomping. “Let me out!”

  Tiger broke into a full laugh, leaning forward with the force of it, while his beautiful yellow and black wings shook.

  Lexi darted to the balcony doors, simultaneously pulling out the rug with her foot while she yanked the door open. A cascade of raindrops hit her face as she slipped out onto the balcony and jumped over the rail with a delighted shriek. She flew rapidly over the courtyard, feeling the increasing drag on her wings as the heavy rain pelted and soaked her. She knew it was ridiculous, but a delighted burble of laughter kept escaping, fueled by her freedom and the familiarity of the game. Where flagstones returned to forest, she landed, tucked her drenched wings behind her, and ran down the nearest trail. The path was slick and her water shoes slipped with every step, flinging mud up the back of her long dress.

  “Stupid dress,” she panted, hitching it up as she ran. She could hear Tiger’s rough breathing behind her, gaining, and it spurred her forward with another involuntary giggle.

  Tiger’s throaty laugh answered. His hand grazed her elbow and she shrieked, increasing her pace. Matching it, he pulled alongside her. “I can’t really tackle you. It would break your wings,” he panted. “How am I supposed to win this game?”

  “You can’t!” Lexi laughed. “And I am free from the tyranny of Tiger!”

  “I’m tyrannical?”

  Lexi nodded with a gasp. “As bad as my mother!”

  Tiger let out a threatening growl as his arm shot out in front of her, his fingertips curling around her waist and forcing her to slow down. Lexi fought to remove his arm, then resorted to pulling his arm hair until he released her. Her triumphant chortle was cut short when he leapt into her path, catching her up in his arms. He staggered as she crashed into his chest, then regained his balance.

  “Take it back,” he commanded, his arms tightly folded around her waist as he held her aloft.

  “No!” she yelled, then laughed. The tree canopy was open above the trail, affording little protection from the deluge, and it ran down their faces in rivulets. “At least your hair looks better,” she giggled, tousling the locks that lay plastered to his head.

  “Say I’m not a tyrant!” he insisted, squeezing tighter.

  Lexi collapsed against him in helpless giggles, her head laying comfortably on his shoulder. Abruptly, he released her, steadying her at arm’s length when she stumbled.

  “You’re giving up?” she asked, her giggles dying out.

  “We should go back. It’s cold and you’re wet,” he said, without meeting her gaze. “Come on.” Stepping around her, he began to walk back.

  “Does this mean I can call you Tiger the Tyrannical?” she teased, turning to follow him.

  “Yeah,” he said, staring at the muddy path in front of him.

  Lexi frowned and laid a hand on his arm. “What’s the matter?”

  “We probably shouldn’t spend so much time together up here.”

  Lexi let her hand drop and laughed merrily. “Well, that’s hardly my fault.”

  Tiger grimaced, his eyes still tracking the ground ahead of him. “I know that,” he said, sulkily. “But you’ll have two guards now, Talan and Wes are in the dungeon...you should be fine.”

  “I never thought I wasn’t.”

  Tiger turned to look at her. “That’s the problem.”

  Lexi laid her hand back on his arm. “Could we not have this argument again? We never fight this much.”

  Tiger’s jaw tightened and he stared back at the sodden ground.

  “Guess it’s the hormones,” she commented, letting her hand fall.

  He shot a look at her, but she only shrugged. “What?”

  Turning away, he shook his head.

  “Maybe my pheromones make you grumpy,” she teased, smiling to herself.

  “Your smell is...distinctive,” he allowed.

  “Distinctive,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Distinctive like popcorn or distinctive like a skunk?”

  Tiger laughed. “Neither.”

  She punched his arm lightly. “That’s not helpful. Talan said I smell like apple blossoms.”

  “That’s nice,” he said irritably.

  “Well, do I?”

  Tiger let out a weak laugh. “It’s a very subjective thing, Lex.”

  “So tell me what I smell like to you.”

  Tiger shifted his shoulders awkwardly, his mouth opening and closing several times. “No,” he finally said.

  Lexi laughed, tugging at his arm. “Why not?”

  Tiger pulled away from her, increasing his pace so that she had to jog to catch up to him.

  Lexi laughed again, hanging on his arm this time until he stopped walking and faced her. “Come on, Tiger, tell me,” she coaxed.

  “You stink, okay?” he blurted, then abruptly began walking again. “Like nauseating rotten things that force me to breathe through my mouth,” he added over his shoulder as he stomped away.

  Lexi stood, blinking away the rain that ran through her lashes until Tiger was only a bobbing dark blur against the pale gray stone of the castle.

  Glancing back, he stopped and turned around with a heavy sigh. “See? I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

  Lexi forced herself to start walking again. “You should have told me sooner; I would have stayed downwind.”

  “Lex, it’s not that big of a deal. I’m getting used to it.”

  “It’s good you told me before a meal. Imagine what I would do to your appetite.” Lexi could hear the bitterness in her voice, but couldn’t seem to stop it.

  Tiger’s expression was pained as she passed him. “Just forget I said anything, okay? You smell fine.”

  “Yeah. I’ll be sure to do that,” she said, hurrying away from him.

  “Are you going to have a bath now?” he asked, catching up to her. “You need one,” he commented, eyeing the mud splatters that covered her legs and dress.

  “No,” she said breezily, “I think the mud improves my scent.”

  “Lex,” he protested, helping her open one of the heavy front doors, then pulling it shut behind them. “Don’t be like that. It doesn’t bother me that much.”

  Lexi sped ahead of him, waving away his comments with an irritated hand. Each time she caught glimpses of him following her, she felt a surge of irrational irritation. She wiped impatiently at the water on her face, finally realizing that her eyes were replenishing it. Outside her door two uniformed guards waited expectantly, and she steeled herself to receive them.

  The two men exchanged a few low words before the yellow-winged guard spoke. “Are you Miss Fritillary?”

  Lexi rose to her full height, looking remarkably regal though soaked and muddy. “Yes, I am.”

  “The Governor has sent us to guard you,” he announced, looking deferentially away as he resumed his post.

  “Thank you,” Lexi answered graciously. “What are your names?”

  “I’m Erid,” the yellow-winged guard said, and this is Avell.” He nodded at the smirking flame-winged guard beside him.

  Lexi took the measure of both men. Avell met her gaze brazenly, his wing tips swinging down, grotesquely broken. Erid carefully averted his gaze, blushing when he realized she was looking at him. If Limen hadn’t told him who she was, he had at least guessed.

  “Erid, I’m in need of a change of clothes. A young man locked up in your dungeon carried some of my clothing here for me. Would you please retrieve them from Talan Admiral?”

  “Yes, Miss Fritillary,” he answered with a quick bow, and hurried away. Avell stared after him open-mouthed, his dumbfounded gaze only returnin
g to her when she opened the door.

  “I’m not your errand boy,” Avell protested.

  “I’ll remember that,” Lexi said evenly, shutting the door behind her.

  Quickly stripping off her sodden clothes, Lexi used them to wipe the mud from her legs, then dropped them into a soggy pile and put on her bathing suit. She sniffed curiously at her hair, and then her arm, smelling only the outdoors. A sulky frown creased her features as she pulled out her bag, her mind running an inventory of all the scents that made her feel nauseated, then wondering which scent was most similar to her own. When she retrieved her dripping clothes from the floor, she held them to her nose first, but wet earth was all she could detect. Sighing, she left her room, holding her wet laundry at arms' length. She was momentarily tempted to fling it at Avell when she saw his tightly folded arms and defiant expression, but she restrained herself and hurried past him. She could hear his reluctant footfalls behind her, but they were oddly comforting; it was unnerving walking around in her bathing suit. Fortunately, the halls were nearly empty, and she only passed two others before reaching the laundry room.

  An older woman with charcoal-smudged white wings was just pulling the door shut. She glanced at the muddy clump of clothing that Lexi held gingerly away from her and frowned.

  “You’ll have to wash it yourself; we’re done for the day,” the laundry woman said blandly, then nodded to the guard. “Avell.”

  Lexi stared down at the sodden mass in her hand. “Could I just leave them somewhere, for tomorrow?”

  The laundress cackled. “Haven’t you washed your own clothes before? Your mother did you a disservice not teaching you. Look at you: helpless as the day you were born. And with Avell following you around, you must be a noblewoman,” she surmised, glaring at Avell when he snorted in derision. “Well then, I guess I better make an exception or the Governor will have my hide.”

  Lexi smiled with relief as the older woman took the filthy clothing. “Thank you.”

  “What’s your name?” The laundress asked as she retreated into the laundry.

  “Raven Fritillary.”

  The laundry woman looked back with a strangled snort. “Sure it is.”

  Lexi squared her shoulders and turned resolutely towards the pool. She could hear Avell muttering behind her as she walked, but couldn't make out his words. She regretted not flinging her laundry at him.

  The pool was nearly empty. A couple was hurrying out as she stepped into the water, and the last remaining occupant stared at her steadily. Lexi flashed him a polite smile, noting that his protruding blue eyes and oversized lips rather reminded her of a frog. His green and gray wings somehow exaggerated the effect rather than diminishing it. He returned her smile enthusiastically, his unblinking stare sending an involuntary little shudder down her back as the stench of summer kitchen refuse caught her nose.

  “What’s with the guard?” he asked, flicking his uncomfortable gaze up to Avell.

  Lexi ran through several plausible explanations as she unwound her braid.

  “Governor’s new favorite,” Avell drawled.

  Lexi whirled to glare at him, her wings dragging unpleasantly through the water. “You are mistaken.”

  “Am I?” Avell shrugged flippantly. “You won’t last long; they never do.”

  Lexi took several slow, deep breaths as she tried to regain her temper.

  “So, does that mean you get special dinners in his chambers?” frog man asked, his lips curling back into a sneer.

  “No,” Lexi said icily.

  “You’re skipping dinner, you know,” frog man continued, his sneer fading into a toothy grin. “Last chance to eat for twelve hours.” Without warning, he lurched towards her.

  Lexi sped up her already hurried washing, loathing her two companions equally.

  “I have food—if you’re not the Governor’s mate,” frog man offered, gliding up next to her.

  “Back off,” Avell whined irritably.

  Frog man moved back grudgingly as Lexi gave her hair a final rinse and bolted from the water. “Nice bruise,” he jeered. Avell snickered.

  Out in the corridor, Lexi gagged several times; the reek of rotting garbage seemed to follow her. She straightened as soon as Avell joined her, her face hardening into a frozen mask.

  “I don’t wish for your protection. Leave,” she ordered.

  Avell sputtered an unpleasant laugh as he glanced up and down the corridor to ensure he had no audience. “I don’t want to give you my protection, believe me, but I have orders.”

  “Where is the Governor now?” Lexi demanded.

  Avell glared at her sulkily. “At dinner. Weren’t you invited?”

  “Yes, I was. Take me there, please,” Lexi requested, the please more warning than pleasantry.

  Avell shrugged, sending his broken wings waving, then sullenly led the way. He stopped before ornate double doors and gave an odd-patterned knock. The door opened a crack, and Avell rolled his eyes as he nodded back at her. Charis quickly swung the door open and ushered them through with a deferential nod to Lexi. Dominating the left side of the room was an enormous bed with an ancient-looking burgundy spread bedecked with golden tassels. Assorted furniture ran along the back wall until it met a poorly-constructed corner room of unpainted pine. Directly in front of the protruding addition, an ornate banquet table ran the length of the room, set with various dishes at only one end. Limen abruptly stood, folding a moth-eaten robe more tightly around him.

  “I didn’t think you were coming,” he apologized, two spots of color dotting his pale cheeks.

  “Avell believes me to be your mistress, and is sharing his supposition with others,” Lexi announced without preamble.

  Limen’s pale mien gradually assumed a mottled purple as she spoke. “Avell, you are relieved of duty. Report to Pol, and ask him to lock you in his wettest cell,” he commanded, his voice disturbingly calm. “Charis, Apollo, out.”

  “I don’t intend to stay,” Lexi said, her tone clipped as she turned to follow the retreating guards.

  Limen moved quickly to her side, his arm halting her as the door shut.

  “This is inappropriate, Limen,” she chided, staring at his arm until he dropped it.

  “Psyche said you didn’t wish to speak to me, because...because,” Limen floundered, his voice sounding young and lost.

  Lexi looked up with surprise, further startled at his unusual pallor. “I didn’t send her to speak for me.”

  Limen blinked his confusion, “but she said...”

  Lexi released an angry breath. “I sent her to you because she tried to blackmail me, Limen.”

  “Oh.” Limen meandered away from her, rubbing his face with a weak laugh. “She’s rather clever. At your fictitious request, I have granted her life servant meals delivered to your room, exemption from pregnancy tests, and snacks from the kitchen at any hour.” He turned around to look at her. “Do you want any of those things?”

  “I want to go,” Lexi answered, crossing to the door.

  Limen flew across the room and landed in her path, his face desperate. “I didn’t mean to! I was faithful to her for six months, and then my season just kept dragging on and on, and I missed her!”

  Lexi frowned her distaste and stepped around him.

  “Please don’t tell her! What good can it do?” he begged, blocking her way again.

  Lexi met his gaze, eyes blazing. “Maybe she would stop mourning the loss of you! Maybe she would stop talking about you like you’re the most perfect man God ever created! Maybe it would be less painful if I tell her what you are than it will be the day one of your pregnant mistresses stumbles to her door!”

  “That won’t happen! I provide for them! I arranged it so Mona never has to know...just don’t,” he pled, “don’t tell her.”

  Pushing around him, Lexi yanked open the door and stalked furiously away, too angry to hear the undignified squeaking her wet shoes made with each hasty step. Her trembling rage had subsided by the
time she reached Cam’s door, leaving behind an exhausted melancholy.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she greeted, slipping past him and falling heavily onto the little stool. She inhaled deeply, the scent of stolen cookies calming her.

  “You had another bath?” he asked, glancing out into the hallway before shutting the door.

  “I got muddy outside,” she began, then let the whole story slip out while she absently picked at the food he had laid out on the table. She hardly noticed when he slipped behind her and began combing out her wet hair. When she stopped speaking, he continued to run the comb through her hair with soothing strokes.

  “You’ve had a bad day.” The humor ran through Cam's voice until it erupted in a pleasant, low chuckle. Then he leaned down and inhaled deeply. “You know that smell when a fruit is perfectly ripe, and you’ve just picked it off the tree, and brought it up to your mouth?”

  Lexi looked back at him with a puzzled smile.

  “That’s what you smell like.”

  Lexi’s face lit up with a slow smile, and he answered with his dimpled one.

  “Come on, I’ll take you back to your room.”

  Lexi shook her head decidedly. “I’d rather stay here. I don’t want to see any guards or Psyche or Tiger. And...” She looked down at the food in front of her with sudden realization. “You haven’t eaten anything.”

  “I’m not hungry,” he said smiling.

  Lexi stood and faced him, her hands firmly on his shoulders, though he was a few inches taller. “There are enough dishonest people in my life. You have to promise to always be truthful.”

  “Okay,” he agreed, tipping his forehead against hers. “I’m starving,” he confessed with a low laugh.

  Lexi laughed with him a moment, feeling the zing of electricity between them as she looked down at his lips, just inches away. Still he hesitated, and when she looked into his eyes, she saw the question there. Smiling, she gave him the slightest of nods, sliding her hands up his broad arms as he caressed her cheek, the brush of his fingertips on her ear sending a little thrill shooting down her arm. Leaning forward, he found her lips, kissing her so gently and sweetly that it somehow made her want to cry. She swallowed down the lump in her throat as he pulled back, and kept her eyes down so he wouldn’t see the tears.