CHAPTER ELEVEN
Confession of a princess:
I behaved poorly.
I know this.
But if I had to do it all over again?
I would have bitten harder.
“WAKE UP,”FATHERordered. He shook my right shoulder firmly.
My eyes shot open wide with a start, grass poking the side of my face. I groaned under my breath and rolled stiffly on the hard ground to lie on my back. I repeatedly blinked up at the leaves of an aspen tree, sunshine peeking through the limbs. I grumbled, “It is not time. The sun is still too bright.”
King Elon hissed, “Your heir sleeps too much.”
“Princess Trixie’s been studying insistently for ten days in preparation for this quest,” King Traevon retorted rigidly. “She has barely had any time to rest.”
I tossed my arm over my face, covering my eyes. “Will you two argue more quietly, please?” I’d barely gotten a decent nap in since we arrived in the Caster Kingdom and sent our Fae-gifts away. “I can sleep for just a while longer.”
Father patted the top of my head. “Louie said, ‘When the moon kisses the sun.’ That does not mean when the eclipse is full, my heir. It means when it first begins.”
“That does make sense,” I mumbled reluctantly. I moved my arm and pushed on my hands to sit up. The grumpy expression I wore wouldn’t be disappearing anytime soon. My king had told the truth. I’d barely slept, holed up in Father’s study, reading everything I could on the Caster Kingdom. I glared sleepily into his eyes, where he sat next to me. “I am tired of being woken by you, my king.”
Father’s chin trembled in humor. “I couldn’t help that I walked in every morning to you passed out on my chair. You did need to eat sometimes.”
Queen Mikko tapped her cheek, sitting across from me. “You have a little dirt right there, Princess Trixie.”
“And grass in your hair,” King Athon rumbled, sitting on the other side of my person. His back rested against the trunk of the aspen tree, his left arm lying over his bent left knee. He waggled a finger at my red locks, chuckling quietly—evilly. “There may be a bug in there, too.”
I blinked and then scrubbed at my cheek roughly. I glowered at the shifter king, but my eyes darted back to my father. “Do I really have a bug in my hair?”
Father leaned to the side, inspecting my head, his emerald gaze scanning quickly. He raised his left hand, snatched something from my hair, and tossed it far behind me before I could see it. “Not anymore, my daughter.”
I shuddered.Gross.
King Traevon continued to examine my head, picking blades of grass out of my hair one by one—there were many.
“I suppose we should remove our crowns now,” Queen Alora complained in her high-pitched voice—loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. Luckily, there was no one in close proximity. The edge of this swamp was a perfect location for a clandestine meeting point, the caster queen choosing well. Queen Alora reluctantly took off her crown and placed it carefully in her traveling bag. She sighed, “The kiss is nigh.”
I looked down at the green grass beside my right leg, hiding my smile as the other rulers grumbled and removed their own crowns.
The King of Shifters placed the strap of his traveling bag over his shoulder and swung the satchel behind him as he leaned forward to stand—smacking me right in the shoulder with its heavy contents.
I glared up at him as he rose to his full height. My mouth stayed shut, though. The longer I’d had to think of his “plan,” the crosser I’d become. I’d been stewing forten days, wanting to rip his dick off every time I thought about our disagreement that night. I hadn’t said one word to him since we arrived, and I planned to keep it that way until Ihadto speak to him for the quest.
If I opened my mouth otherwise…it would not be civil.
And we needed unity right now, not fighting.
“Is there something you want to say to me, Princess Trixie?” King Athon taunted in his rough shifter accent. He lifted a snarky black eyebrow, his solid black shifter eyes staring down at me under his eyelashes—like a tiger creeping below tall grass.
Pinching my lips into a thin line, I silently turned my head away from him, finding my traveling bag and standing as the other rulers had. I looked at my father, stating evenly, “We won’t be able to see the sun clearly from under this foliage. We should move.”
“No,” Queen Mikko argued instantly. “This is supposed to be the path that Kera takes once a month. I wasn’t able to divine anything abnormal in the province she frequents, so we must follow her.”
King Elon’s back straightened sharply. He hissed, “Are you positive your sister is traveling today?”
