“Trixie!” Father’s voice was muffled. “Where are you?”
“King Athon!” Queen Alora must be underwater because her voice was actually quiet. “Can you hear us?”
I raised my brows as my eyes creaked opened. I stared up at a red mushroom two inches from the tip of my nose. My teeth were chattering, and my entire body was shaking. My eyelashes had little ice particles on them, brushing against my cheeks with every blink I made. I couldn’t move because my entire body was stiff and frozen.
“I think I see something,” King Elon said, much closer than the others had been. “Yes! Over here. There’s clothing sticking out from under this mushroom.”
I opened my mouth…but nothing came out.
My throat was even frozen.
The only sound made was theclick click clickof my teeth.
Had I even slept?
I think I just passed out from the cold.
Boots crunched on frozen leaves near my mushroom, but the others soon passed by my hidden location, and then their trekking stopped. They had surely found where King Athon had taken shelter. A few grunts rent the air, and then the silence came for an awfully long moment.
“Oh my Fae.” Queen Alora asked softly, “Is he dead?”
“I can’t tell,” Father stated bluntly, his tone utterly serious. “King Athon, can you hear me?”
No response came that I could hear.
I opened my mouth…and still nothing came out.
King Elon muttered, “I’ll get under there and check him. If he’s still alive, we need to get him to camp and near the warmth of the fire.”
Many snaps of twigs and grunts occurred until King Elon finally spoke again. His voice was stifled. “I’m bringing him out. I think he’s alive. He just can’t speak or move.”
Queen Alora sighed with relief. “He’s alive.”
“Barely,” Father snapped. Two minutes later of much shuffling, and my father asked, “King Athon, where is my daughter?”
“M-mushroom,” King Athon’s raspy voice whispered, barely able to touch my ears. “Over…t-there.”
“Holy Fairy,” Queen Alora muttered.
Running boots pounded the frozen ground.
Father fell to his knees outside of my shelter and quickly lowered to his stomach. His emerald eyes shimmered in the sunshine right outside the edge of the mushroom, staring into my one eye I had peeked over at him.
Father stated with extreme calm, “Trixie, I’m getting you out of there. Hold on.”
His left hand reached under the mushroom, and he jerked my bag out from underneath it, tossing the strap over his shoulder. Then he reached back under and grabbed onto my blanket with a tight fist. Father carefully pulled me out into the muted sunshine, my body dragging along the hard earth but finally free.
King Traevon lifted me into his arms and stood quickly. He started walking immediately, growling, “She’s as bad as he is. Let us hurry.”
“Queen Mikko had better have kept the fire going,” Queen Alora grunted—and sneezed hard. “He’s frozen solid.”
“She probably passed out,” Father muttered, marching at a fast pace next to the other king and the queen. “She lost a lot of blood in the fall.”
King Elon grunted, sounding breathless. “This Fae damned shifter is heavy. Queen Alora, get over here and help me.”
They stopped, but my father didn’t.
He stated simply, “I’ll see you back at camp.”
