I stood off to the side and chewed on my thumbnail. I eyed the Blood Forest with contempt, not wanting to step any closer. The Blood Forest was there for a reason. I’d rather leave the deadly forest to its dangerous games and let the rulers handle this.
But the Misfits said I needed to be there.
So there I shall go—albeit, reluctantly.
I sighed and peered at the queens and kings. “Are we just going to stare at it all day?”
“The sun hasn’t reached its zenith yet,” Queen Mikko stated in her quiet voice. “Just a few more minutes.”
Wrong answer. If I was doing this, I was doing it right.
I shifted my long fur coat back and palmed the handle of one of my daggers sheathed on my thigh. I slid it out and let my coat drape back over my leg. I sucked in a large lungful of oxygen and started hiking forward.
“Trixie!” Father barked in panic. “Get back here!”
“No,” I stated calmly. I didn’t glance back. “The sun will only be at its zenith for a literal second. We need to be ready.”
While it turned silent behind me, I kept walking.
Suddenly, Father was beside me, marching with me. He eyed the Blood Forest warily and palmed his own dagger. My king didn’t say a word, but he strolled next to me in solidarity.
The others were still behind us.
King Elon hissed, “I think Princess Trixie is correct.”
“They haven’t been killed yet,” Queen Alora remarked, her high-pitched voice screeching over my eardrums. “We should probably hurry.”
The other four rulers swiftly caught up and fanned out around us, all of us walking together now in a tight group.
King Athon cast a sneer in my direction. “Are you damned suicidal?”
“Not in the least. I’m merely more informed than you.” I lifted a red brow. The shifter king could feel that I wasn’t depressed. “If you’d like my counsel on anything else, go through my king first for permission. That isprotocol, after all.”
Perhaps, I was a wee bit pissed at him.
He had embarrassed me too many times.
Father muttered under his breath, “Quit saying funny shit, my daughter. This is serious, and I’d rather not laugh in the face of the Blood Forest right now.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. “But he’s such an asshole.”
“I am literally right next to you,” King Athon growled. “Are you trying to piss me off again?”
“Is it working?”
“You tell me,” he muttered.
Yes, he was just as pissed off as I was.
I knew for a fact in my little, precious Fae-spark.
I murmured, “My apologies. Protocol forbids me from answering since you didn’t go through the correct channel.”
Father choked on a laugh. “Shut up, Trixie.”
I closed my mouth. I had gotten my point across.
King Traevon arrived first, taking a giant step directly in front of me. He stared forward, the tips of his boots almost touching a trunk of a dark red tree. Only when he wasn’t killed did he allow me to step beside him again.
