I wasn’t done yet. “I want a damned apology first.”
Instant. “Not fucking happening.”
“Then you don’t get a tale.” I sniffed.
“Trixie…” Father shook his head, cautioning.
I kept my arms crossed and raised one of my eyebrows. “King Athon was rude. I’m not going to back down on this, King Traevon. His people’s most horrible mystery could be solved for the low, low cost of a simple apologywhenhe was wrongto speak to me, and you, that way.” My attention returned to the shifter king, my eyebrow still lifted high.
“You are really pissing me off,” King Athon stated quietly.
I waited. I was owed an apology. I would get one.
The shifter king bared his tiger fangs.
My fangs were still better. I licked over the tip of my left one, letting him see the action. I wasn’t intimated by him right now. I’d meet him head on if he wanted a fight.
Queen Mikko hissed under her breath. “Just apologize, King Athon, so we may move on to why the four days allowed will be problematic.”
My dreadful soul mate’s nostrils flared, his tiger fangs still visible. A tiger’s growl rumbled deep in his chest. He muttered one word. “Sorry.”
I tipped my head slightly to him in silent thanks. “The tale begins with the original shifter’s pride. He believed he could beat anyone—even the Fae. He boasted so much about his greatness that the Fae eventually heard his words. And the Fae struck back.
“When the original shifter was flying his Fae-gifted pegasus over the highest mountain in the Shifter Kingdom, where the city Trumbalay now resides, a fierce dragon appeared. They fought high in the sky, where the original shifter—a lion shifter—was vulnerable. Even when the original shifter understood the dragon was Fae, he still fought. And lost. He fell from his Fae-gift, plummeting to his death on the top of that mountain, his pride dying with him.”
I snapped my mouth shut, not wanting to say the rest.
Let them think that was it. It was enough.
King Athon’s dark eyes skewered my person. “Is that all?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes.”
His nostrils flared in wrath. “Finish it!”
I grimaced and glanced away to stare out into the night sky, past the clawed balustrade of his balcony. I finished the tale quietly, somberly, “From that day forward, no shifter would be born with wings, a punishment to the Shifter Kingdom for daring to think they were greater than the mighty Fae.”
I looked back to our group. It had the effect I’d thought.
In the horrified silence that followed, Red Louie wiggled his bony fingers at us, and stated cheerfully, “If any of you are wondering, that is where you’re going. Princess Trixie is correct once again.” He winked at me.
I really wished he’d quit doing that. It looked horrible on him.
King Athon’s rugged face was completely blank.
My Fae-spark informed me he wasmortified.
I chewed on my thumbnail and glanced away.
The King of Shifters needed a moment to himself. Knowing that the original to your people had acted so brazenly and had caused the extinction of winged shifters would shame me as well.
I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, not able to leave it alone, and mumbled quietly, “If it helps you, King Athon, the original elf wasn’t any better.”
“Mine was horrible, too,” Queen Alora grumbled.
King Elon chuckled quietly. “Don’t even get me started on mine. She was a damned mess.”
“Yes, same here.” Queen Mikko shook her head with exasperation. “I won’t even repeat what mine did. Pathetic, really.”
