Scales and Skeletons (Trixie Towers Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  About the Author

  Scales and Skeletons

  A TRIXIE TOWERS NOVEL

  SCARLETT DAWN

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  SCALES AND SKELETONS

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright 2019 © Scarlett Dawn

  Cover - Manuela Serra Book Cover Design

  Editing - RMJ Editing And Manuscript Service

  Format - Down Write Nuts Book Service

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

  The mighty Fae are tricksters. They love their games, their intrigues, and their own kind. Until they don’t…

  What in the realm have I gotten myself into this time?

  I was merely curious. I thought it would be a splendid idea to sneak into the Shifter Kingdom. I had a plan.

  Then it all went to Fairy and back.

  The Misfits did not help matters.

  The gremlins have given us four days to find the second artifact, an artifact that will help save our realm.

  Four. Days.

  It is simply not possible.

  My name is Trixie Towers. I am the elven princess who is soul mated to the shifter king. My life is so dreadfully complicated now.

  DEDICATION

  To my grandmother,

  Did He ask you to be my guardian angel?

  I think He did.

  Love forever,

  S.D.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Confession of a princess:

  When flower petals fall, I no longer mind. I am used to their tiny deaths. One after another. Or, occasionally, many sweet-scented petals drop in a clump, as if they don’t wish to leave this realm alone. All colors of the beautiful rainbow eventually fall. They flutter to the ground, saying their final goodbyes on a breeze.

  Unless they are black flower petals.

  Those, I don’t particularly like…

  THE ELF KINGDOM is splayed far below King Traevon and me as we fly, making our way back from High Pointe—our retrieval of the Key of Kingdoms a success. Our Fae-gifts gently lift our filthy bodies up and down with each powerful beat of their wings, our perch a perfect distance between the woodland grounds and the hovering clouds. The magnificent beauty of Gatlin Grove, the capital of the Elf Kingdom, will forever make me smile from this viewpoint, even if I wear the dirt of the Blood Forest on my clothes…and in my hair, under my fingernails, and between my teeth.

  I readjust on my flying saddle—and scratch my ass.

  Perhaps, I have the Blood Forest’s dirt in unmentionable places, too, but that still doesn’t crush my contentment.

  My heart sings with happiness watching my people go about their merry day under the sunshine, completely unaware of the real danger threatening not just the elves but the entire realm—and what the rulers have done to combat it thus far. That is what royals do. And, oddest of oddities, it is what I do now, even though I’ve barely stumbled over into my majority.

  A royal protects their people from any foe.

  Even a foe we’ve never seen before. Giants.

  I will do whatever is demanded of me. Always.

  Even if I don’t think I’m ready for this responsibility.

  Royals are at the mercy of the populace. We belong to the people just as they belong to us. They have their jobs, and we have ours. Together, we are one.

  And the royals will not fail the realm…hopefully.

  Father steered his Fae-gift, Javon, to the north to our castles that lay nearby. He glanced over his shoulder, and shouted in a fury, “There is something wrong!”

  Penelope kept pace with her sire, keeping us a proper head length behind the elf king. I leaned forward on my flying saddle that kept my lower body strapped to her back, and bellowed, “What are you talking about, Father?”

  King Traevon sharply pointed a finger toward the palace grounds. “Look!”

  I squinted at my smaller castle first, but there was nothing special to note about it. It still looked the same. But then my vision snagged on the main castle—my father and my mother’s home—and I couldn’t quite understand what I was seeing. The castle itself appeared normal, the stone unharmed and the golden spires reaching high into the air intact.

  What held me stiffly in place was the ground around it.

  It was black. Where green, lush grass should be…black.

  The shadowy hue reached far out, almost to the gates.

  My heart rate sped up, pounding against my breastbone. I screeched, “Is Mother all right?”

  Father rubbed against his chest, right over his heart where his Fae-spark lay—where he would be able to feel his soul mate’s emotions. My king didn’t respond quickly enough for my liking. He took his time before shouting, “It is peculiar! She feels happy, but it is not normal. I cannot feel her as strongly as I always do. It is quiet, hiding!”

  My brows puckered. “Is that from the drug?”

  King Traevon nodded his head slowly. “I believe so!”

  I lowered my tensed shoulders, relief zinging through my veins, knowing my mother wasn’t hurt. I bellowed, “That is good!”

  “Indeed!” Father’s head tilted to the side as we slowly started to descend to his castle’s front yard—now black. Then his face jerked back in shock, and he barked in alarm, “The blackness is moving! Don’t land, Trixie! Pull up, pull up!”

  “Penelope!” I shrieked, hauling back on her black and red mane. “Do as Father said!”

  Javon managed to right his flight safely with my king.

  Penelope did not. We touched down onto the land in one of the most pitiful landings I’ve ever had—even as a child. My pegasus’s left legs landed first, her right legs still kicking wildly into the air. As one, we tipped over, utterly not graceful, her neigh of fright and my shriek of fear blasting the air all around. Penelope yanked her wings in at the last minute, protecting my upper body as we hit the unforgiving ground with a solid thunk-thunk.

  “Ow!” I screamed. My eyes grew wide as I lay in dazed pain and draped in black and red feathers. With my fingers tangled in my Fae-gift’s mane, I started tapping on her neck in a frantic beat. “Up, Penelope! Stand up!”

  My leg was fucking broken, trapped under her.

  She shook her head hard, clearly shocked herself at this snafu, and swiftly tilted her body up, managing to get her legs back under herself. In one massive heave, she was standing back on her blood-red hooves, tall and proud.

  “Trixie!” Father shouted. “Are you all right?”

  Javon’s black and red wings beat heavily in the air ten feet above us, holding them off the ground, causing the blackness on the lawn to stir and lift into the air.

  I grimaced as the bone in my leg snapped back together, mending itself, but caught a piece of the blackness that flew right in front of my face. I rubbed it between my fingers and brought it closer to my eyes, studying it carefully.

  Oh my Fae.

  “I am fine, Father. But you need to land!” I tilted my head back to look up at him and held the object high into the air. “It’s a flower petal!”

  And it was black.

  Father’s expression completely blanked. “Javon, land now.”

  Mother’s elven power was with flora. Flower petals falling from her hair was a regular occurrence, especially when she was overly emotional. But never before had I seen a black petal plunge from her seafoam green locks. Black like death. The castle floors were always littered with colorful hues of petals, but this was extreme in the amount if the servants were sweeping them onto the front lawn.

  Plainly, she hadn’t taken Father’s time in the Blood Forest well, her heart in horrible agony from the severed Fae-spark link between them.

  I dropped the black petal and began unstrapping my body from the flying saddle. “At least, she made it back here for this. If she were still in Jarisbur shopping, this would be problematic.”

  Our people would have thought their king was dead.

  Father grunted but didn’t speak. His emerald green eyes were hard on his straps as he released his waist and legs. His chest pumped laboriously, although his features remained empty.

  “You said she’s happy right now,” I stated quietly, jumping down next to him. Black flower petals crushed beneath our boots. “Take comfort in that.”

  Father simply grunted again.

  Oh…he was upset.

  I decided now was an excellent time to be quiet.

  We started marching to the castle’s doors at a punishing clip, our traveling b
ags bouncing against our hips, and our swords tucked tight against our backs.

  I stayed at a safe distance from his fury—three feet behind him.

  King Traevon took ahold of the castle’s door handles and threw the large wooden doors open wide. At the top of his lungs, he bellowed inside the vast space—covered with black petals, “Where the fuck are my servants?”

  A scraping stopped in the room to our right.

  Lo and behold…

  A pig trotted out. It…stared at us.

  “What in the Fae fuck,” I muttered under my breath.

  The pig’s nose twitched, and then its mouth opened.

  Oink.

  Thank the Fae above and below servants raced into the grand foyer from all angles at that moment. I was reasonably sure Father was about to unleash his royal firepower—and not because he planned it. The air was boiling around his body with deadly heat, the simmer visible to the eye. The servants, with cleaning tools in hand and as harried as the intruding pig, all stooped low into nervous curtseys.

  Father ground his teeth together in the silence, yanking his gaze away from the pig trotting across the royal room, and glaring at the shaking elves below him.

  With extreme patience, he growled, “Where is my soul mate?”

  One of the twenty—not sure which one—stated quickly, “She is in the barn, Your Royal Highness.”

  Father blinked. “Why?”

  A throat cleared to my left, but I didn’t look.

  The same servant’s voice called out, “She is trying to decide what the menu should be for your five hundredth soul-mated anniversary that is to occur at the end of the month.”

  I jerked my head to look at the pig that was currently munching on an expensive plant that heralded from the Caster Kingdom, but Father turned on his heel and stomped back outside. I swiftly followed close behind him, a semblance of relief shining in my eyes as our boots started trampling colorful flower petals the closer we walked to the barn. Little by little, the black petals completely disappeared and were replaced with yellows and pinks.

  Father’s shoulders were still stiff.

  Javon and Penelope scampered behind us, curious as I was.

  Another pig trotted by, heading toward the castle.

  My lips twitched. Mother was up to no good.

  Father held the barn door open for me.

  I swiftly shut it behind us, keeping our Fae-gifts out…

  Because all of the animals were loose. Feathers and fur flew through the air, along with squawks and chirps and neighs attacking my ears. The barn cat wound its way through my legs, meowing up at me for comfort in this maelstrom.

  I quickly set the kitty outside and shut the door again. I plucked a feather off my mouth that landed there and tossed it aside in disgust. I grumbled, “Father, where do we even start looking?”

  “You go left. I’ll go right,” he growled.

  I nodded and started lifting my legs over animals, maneuvering between the larger ones, and batting away horses’ tails that whacked me in the face. I slid on feces and righted myself on a cow that shouldn’t even be in the barn—the creature rewarded me with a dark scowl. I patted its dirt-crusted side and pouted in disgust as I passed along, dragging my right boot on the ground to rid myself of the literal shit.

  Seafoam green hair sparkled in a muted light that passed through a slit in the barn’s wooden side. I narrowed my gaze right at it and headed in that direction, the far left corner. I hopped over a chicken and shooed a pesky rooster until I finally landed right next to my mother.

  She was hugging a pig…

  While Uncle Marlon lounged on a long bale of hay.

  He twirled a piece of the hay between his fingers, and his lips were tipped up in an amused smile as he watched over her. Mother hadn’t noticed me yet, but my uncle stated, “Minnie, you have a visitor.”

  “Who?” Mother’s head popped up from the pig’s back, her many thick braids flying behind her. Her golden, expressive eyes lightened on me. “Oh! My Trixie!”

  “Hello, Mother. I see you’re making new friends.” I grinned full out, unable to contain it. “I take it pork will not be on the menu for your anniversary?”

  “Fae no.” Mother patted the pig’s head and stood, with a twinkle in her eyes. She swayed to the right, and I quickly grabbed her shoulders to steady her. She didn’t even notice, smiling from ear to ear with her blinding beauty. “Marlon here has decided to name this pig.”

  Uncle Marlon snorted. “I did no such thing.”

  She waggled a finger at him, still inside my steadying hold. “But you will! I know you were getting close.”

  My uncle chuckled under his breath and kept twirling the piece of hay. His violet eyes captured my gaze. “Where’s your father, Trixie?”

  “It’s good to see you again, too, Uncle Marlon. Yes, I’m doing just fine. Twelve years, you say? I guess it has been that long since I’ve seen you. Imagine that.” I shook my head and scrunched my nose at him, teasing as I always did with my quiet relative. Then I tipped my head to the right. “He’s over there searching.”

  “Sassy as always.” Uncle Marlon winked and tossed his silver braids over his left shoulder, turning his head to the side. “Traevon! We’re over this way.”

  I quickly hugged my mother, knowing Father would be wrapping her in his arms shortly. Against her ear, I whispered, “I missed you.”

  “You saw me not even a full moon ago.” She chuckled and kissed my temple. Mother shook me in her arms, gifting me a little wiggle. “But I missed you too. I’m glad you’re home now, where you belong.”

  A heavy body charged right into my left side.

  “Oomph.” I coughed, almost landing on my ass. Uncle Marlon reached out a quick hand and gripped the back of my torn shirt to steady me. I lifted my brows high on my forehead when he released me, crossing my arms over my chest. “Father, you could have just asked me to move.”

  King Traevon’s face was smashed against my mother’s neck, her entire body enveloped inside his protective embrace. His voice was muffled against her skin. “My apologies, my daughter.”

  Mother snickered softly, holding him close. “I am fine now. You don’t need to worry. I only feel as if I’ve drunk an entire bottle of shifter wine…maybe three bottles. I took another pill not long before your Fae-spark lit up my heart again.”

  My brows stayed raised. “How long do they last?”

  “About a day,” she stated in a singsong voice.

  “Have fun with that, Father.” I snickered and turned away but stopped a moment and glanced at my uncle. “Actually, Uncle Marlon, do you have a moment to speak with me?”

  He lifted a brow. “If it is important.”

  I waggled my dirty hand in the air, ignoring the wet sounds of my parents kissing behind me. “It is more of a curiosity.”

  “I am intrigued then.” Uncle Marlon slid his lithe, toned body off the bale of hay, his dark red robe as the king’s advisor utterly covered in animal fur from the roaming creatures. He walked next to me as we maneuvered our way back to the barn’s front door, glancing in my direction. “You’ll need to make it quick, though. As you can imagine with what you’ve seen so far, I wasn’t able to get a lot of work done around here while you and my brother were gone.”

  “Was she as bad as the petals indicated?” I asked quietly.

  “It was worse than that.” He ruffled my hair on top of my head. “But don’t fret. Minnie is fine now, as she said. Your mother is extremely strong.”

  I stepped outside the barn, nodding to the servant who was tending to Father’s and my Fae-gifts. I ordered brusquely, “Make sure to give Penelope as many blue apples as she wishes.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” The servant bowed low.

  I kicked at the yellow and pink petals as we walked, pulling my thoughts together. My uncle didn’t push. He was the quiet type, always watching and speaking only when he felt the need. I tipped my head back and subtly acted as if I had changed my mind about what I wanted to speak on. “Never mind my curiosity. It is unimportant. I wish to talk about you.”

  His silver braids swayed behind him as he strolled peacefully beside me. He turned those violet eyes on my emerald green gaze, patiently observing me. “Go on.”