Scales and Skeletons (Trixie Towers Book 2) Read online

  We’d reached the black petals now. I pointed down at them. “You said that my mother was worse than this emotional mess. So how is it that you function so well after you lost your soul mate during Caspian’s birth? What is your secret?”

  Uncle Marlon stared for a few moments, and then stated evenly, “That is a bit blunt, even for you, Trixie.”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “I know that over time, the pain in a Fae-spark decreases, but I thought that took thousands of years. Caspian isn’t quite five hundred years old yet.”

  I needed to know his secret.

  My uncle turned his attention back to where we were walking, his features shutting down to a coolness that sent a shiver down my spine—the face he showed to everyone else outside our family. “The pain does lessen as you said, but it never goes away completely. Some hide the pain better than others.”

  My stomach churned, and nausea rose in my throat.

  I would have to keep my soul mate alive.

  My shoulders sagged in defeat.

  “It’s still bad for you?” I asked cautiously.

  He didn’t answer, his jaw hardening.

  That was answer enough for me.

  I placed my right hand on his left arm, and stated gently, “I apologize for bringing it up. I believed you were doing better than others who have experienced what you have. I didn’t mean to offend.”

  Uncle Marlon growled softly and then sighed. He yanked me into a tight hug and kissed the top of my head. “Don’t trouble yourself over my welfare…but you do stink. That, you can apologize for.”

  I laughed up at his handsome face. “You are one to talk. You smell like… Well, Uncle, you smell like you rolled around in a barn.”

  He winked and released me, throwing my earlier words back at me. “Imagine that.”

  I shook my head and turned toward my smaller castle. Heading in that direction, I waved over my shoulder, saying, “If Father untangles himself from Mother anytime soon, tell him I went to shower and sleep.”

  Uncle Marlon snorted. “I doubt it’ll be anytime soon.”

  Gross.

  * * *

  I walked through the quiet halls of my castle. All of my servants were missing, more than likely helping the others at the main palace. I planted my dirty boots in front of my grandmother’s bedchamber door and opened it slowly. The air stirred inside, causing little dust particles to fly up from the white-cloth covered furniture. The sunlight crept around the closed curtains enough to add its loneliness to the abandoned bedroom, absent rays highlighting the now hidden trinkets of my grandmother’s life in this realm.

  I clenched my fingers around the bedchamber’s door handle. Why I opened this door, I didn’t know. Actually, yes, I did. I missed her. I wanted to talk with her about the Blood Forest.

  I swallowed down the lump in my throat. It burned.

  Just like my eyes fucking burned from looking at her desolate bedchamber that was once so full of life. I shook my head hard, not about to cry today. I was stronger than this.

  But it didn’t hurt to try something…

  I grumbled, “Grandmother? Are you there?”

  Silence. Only silence met my question.

  “I hope what you’re doing is more important than speaking with me.” My brows drew together with disappointment—and some annoyance. I slammed the door shut and hiked the rest of the way to my own bedchamber. Only to stop in my tracks right inside my room in surprise. I stared, and then muttered, “Really, Caspian? Miss me already? It has only been a few days.”

  “My humble abode isn’t ready yet. My servants were ill-prepared for my arrival, so I’m crashing here tonight.” Caspian peeked open one dark blue eye to glare from where he lay on my bed. But he instantly sat up, my covers dropping down to his waist. A new, deadly intensity twisted his attractive features, and he hissed, “What in the Fairy happened to you? Who touched you?”

  I shook my head and tossed my bag onto the floor, kicking my bedchamber door shut. “Calm yourself. No one did this to me.”

  His expression didn’t change. “Then what happened?”

  I hesitated, not liking what I had to say. “I don’t think I can tell you. It’s official royal business.”

  Caspian didn’t like it either. “Are you bloody well jesting? That’s bullshit. We tell each other everything.”

  I lifted my brows at him as I trudged my way to my bathroom. “The last time we told each other everything, we ended up being banished for over a decade.”

  My cousin pouted and rubbed at the disheveled white hair adorning his head. “That might be true, but still…”

  “My lips are sealed, my friend,” I muttered. “I will not be spilling royal secrets, so don’t even try.”

  Caspian flopped back down onto my bed. “One day, we won’t have to do this. I’ll be the queen’s advisor, and we’ll be able to talk freely about our work.”

  “Not too soon, I hope,” I whispered under my breath. I turned and stood at the doorway to the bathroom, and stated louder, “Don’t hog the whole bed. After my bath, I’m going to sleep the day away.”

  He yawned wide and rolled onto his side. “Fine. But don’t kick me in your sleep either. You are terrible at that.”

  I sniffed down my nose at him. “I do not kick.”

  “You do. And it’s useless to argue. You know you do.”

  My lips twitched as I shut the bathroom door. Maybe I kicked occasionally, but that only happened if he took my covers from me. I liked being warm while I slept—and the Blood Forest sure as Fairy hadn’t provided that…even with a disgusting shifter soul mate for warmth.

  While my bathwater ran hot into the tub, I managed to remove my sword and grimy clothing. My servants would clean it all up tomorrow, so I kicked it to the corner and sank into the tub. I groaned loudly and poured unique beads, which were purchased from the Merfolk Kingdom, into my bathwater. Soon I had fragrant bubbles up to my chin. I toed the nozzle, turning it and shutting the water off, and leaned back to enjoy my first real moment of peace in days.

  Of course, that’s when the ground started to shake.

  I hissed like a beast, pissed off.

  I grabbed my stomach and tried to will the queasiness to go away, remembering King Athon’s rude comment about me learning to hold it down. I gulped in the fragrant air before me and focused on an individual tile on the wall.

  My bathroom door banged open.

  Caspian rushed inside just as the quake ended. He landed on his knees right in front of my toilet…and proceeded to throw up everything he must have had for the last several days based on how long he spewed.

  Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

  Fucking Fae, don’t breathe in his stench.

  I stuck my face down into the bubbles, each one popping around my face, and breathed there.

  Caspian coughed and spat into the toilet. “There is something not right with these earthquakes.”

  I managed a decent reply—holding myself together, “You’re right. It interrupted my bath time. Now, get out. And flush the damned toilet.”

  “My apologies that I got sick,” he griped.

  “Ugh. Just go. It smells gross in here now.”

  He snickered, enjoying that far too much—the smarmy rat. The toilet flushed, and soon the bathroom door slammed behind him. Outside the door, he stated, “Make sure your hair is dry before you come to bed. I don’t want you flicking it in my face.”

  I rolled my eyes and lifted my head. “I’ll put it in a Fae damned bun, all right?”

  “Thank you, Trix!” he called sweetly.

  I leaned my head back and stared at the bubbles before me.

  Because… well, because this was serious.

  Caspian had felt the power in the earthquake. And if memory served correctly, on my birthday, he had thrown up then, too. My cousin was even more powerful than I had thought.

  I swished my hand under the water, thinking about this firsthand information. It wasn’t a negative that he wa
s this powerful, not necessarily. Not with the situation I was currently in with my soul mate. If the Fae didn’t eventually reverse this soul mating or if they killed me for the offense, then Caspian could rule—the elves would be safe. But for now, my father didn’t need to know about this.

  King Traevon might consider his nephew a threat.

  I would keep my mouth shut until I needed to open it.

  Even so, it was interesting…

  I finished my bath, put my hair up into a bun, and found a nightgown in my large bathroom closet. Brushing my teeth with clean water, that I didn’t need to worry about using too much of, felt like a special treat. I sighed in contentment as I flopped down onto my bed…where a certain elf had already stolen the covers.

  I yanked on the edge—and maybe kicked him. “I’m freezing, Caspian. Give me some blanket.”

  He grumbled in his sleep, but let his grip loosen, though his eyes opened, and he mumbled absently, “Don’t let me forget. I must talk to the king tomorrow.”

  “Why?” My red brows scrunched as I fluffed the blanket.

  “I ran into some trouble getting home.”

  “I told you to behave on your travels.”

  “It wasn’t my fault. They attacked me.” He yawned.

  “Are they dead?” I blinked.

  “Hush.” Caspian’s eyes dipped closed again, out cold.

  I sighed heavily. Of course, his attackers were dead.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Confession of a princess:

  I despise that I must know more about my ghastly soul mate. Why did I get bound to that repulsive shifter? This is making my life so much more complicated. And deadly. The situation is entirely disgraceful.

  My Fae, I wish I hadn’t sneezed.

  “CASPIAN,” I GRUMBLED, shaking his shoulder. “It’s morning. You wanted to speak to my father, remember?”

  My cousin blinked open his eyes, squinting in the early light. “We slept all day and night?”

  “We did.” I yawned and stretched in bed, adoring the soft mattress under my body. It was a dream compared to the Blood Forest’s frozen ground. “You may take the bathroom first. I’m going to enjoy the bed for a moment.”

  “Don’t enjoy it too much.” Caspian chuckled as he rolled off the mattress. He waved his hand at the headboard while he slinked to my bathroom. “It looks like you already broke it.”

  I groaned and tossed the blanket over my head. I lied, “The earthquake before yesterday’s did that.”

  “That earthquake wasn’t that bad.” Caspian snorted and closed himself into my bathroom.

  “They don’t make furniture like they used to,” I called loudly. I pulled the blanket down and scowled at the jagged crack in my headboard that King Athon had put there. “This fractured bed is like a soul mate you don’t want. A cheap impression of what you always hoped you’d get.”

  His laughter rang out loud inside the bathroom. “That’s fairly brutal. I like it!”

  I almost sobbed but, instead, specified cheerfully, “You are a fool, my friend.”

  “The best fool you’ve got,” he shouted.

  I battled away my melancholy with a long-suffering sigh and snuggled back down into my mattress, waiting patiently for my turn for the bathroom. I played with the comforter until I heard a tap-tapping at my window—a window that is four stories high off the ground. I jerked my head up from my pillow and peered through the sunlight.

  I stared at the stone lizard messenger perched precariously outside on the edge of my floor to ceiling windows.

  I muttered to myself, “This can’t be good.”

  I quickly jumped off my bed and dashed across the room. I rolled open the window, and a gust of wind battered my nightgown, blowing it to and fro. I knelt on one knee and placed my hand on top of the lizard’s gnarly head, messengers caster-spelled by blood of the originals for sending communications in kingdoms—and between kingdoms.

  Its pebble eyes glowed red at my touch, and it opened its mouth full of sharp, rocky teeth. Inside, lay a simple sheet of thick paper, folded once, with a red, wax seal that didn’t indicate its origins.

  I plucked the missive from its mouth.

  The messenger didn’t leave. It waited.

  Wonderful. The person who sent it wanted a response.

  I cracked the seal and looked directly to the signature first.

  My lungs seized. I glanced at the bathroom door.

  The shower was still running. Hopefully, I had time for this.

  Elf,

  I have an official challenge tomorrow night.

  Do not, under any circumstances, try to heal me. It will be hard until we learn to control this shit show that the Fae cursed us with, but I am ordering you not to help me. I know this personally as you fucking hurt yourself yesterday while I was taking a soak—my one enjoyable moment ruined by you. Our bond will pull you to heal me, but do not do it. I managed. You can, too. It may be allowed in a challenge for a soul mate to help in this way, but for obvious reasons, that I hope your addle-minded brain can figure out, it won’t be safe to do so.

  Don’t fuck this up,

  Athon

  I glared down at his peculiarly elegant handwriting. He was a Fae damned prick even through a letter. I read it once more, and my scowl didn’t decrease any, but I quickly moved to my writing table and flipped the paper over. I snagged a pencil from the drawer and wrote back to my awful soul mate.

  Shifter,

  Message received. You are an asshole.

  Don’t die,

  Trixie

  I didn’t bother to seal it. The caster-spelled messenger wouldn’t allow anyone else but him to receive it. I simply balled it up like it was a piece of trash and placed it back into the messenger’s mouth.

  The lizard’s jaws snapped shut.

  I shuddered as it slithered down the side of my castle, blending into the rocks so that I could barely see it. Once it hit the ground, it moved so fast I was no longer able to track it. It was gone within a blink of the eye, traveling back to the monster who’d sent it. I rolled my window shut and latched it with finality.

  I stared out at the morning sky for far too long.

  When the water was turned off in my bathroom, I rested back against the thick glass and crossed my arms. I glanced at my closet. The thoughts rolling through my head were madness…but I did have enough different clothing items that I could pull it off—plenty of disguises from my younger years.

  As much as it pained me, the King of Shifters was my soul mate. I needed to know as much as possible about him. Not just for political reasons, but because we were bound together. And if I did happen upon a juicy morsel of concealed royal information in the Shifter Kingdom, it wouldn’t hurt to have it.

  My reluctant reasoning was sound.

  I needed to go to the Shifter Kingdom.

  I needed to watch a challenge. I needed to know exactly what a challenge entailed. Obviously death—a challenge was to the death. But I needed to know the fine details of a challenge to help keep…fuck me…my bloody soul mate alive without lending my power to heal him. If that was even possible for me, I hadn’t the foggiest idea. But I would study tomorrow and apply those lessons toward his future challenges. I was an excellent student, after all.

  King Athon was correct on one account in his letter.

  This was a shit show that the Fae cursed us with.

  I growled under my breath and stalked to my closet.

  I needed to be prepared to travel tonight at full dark.

  * * *

  With my bag packed once more—a disguise fit for an elven merchant tucked inside it—I walked through the grand hallways of my father’s castle. I searched for my king in all the regular places he usually frequented, but I was coming up short. The palace was clean of all the black flower petals now, and, seemingly, also of the King of Elves.

  Where in the Fairy was he?

  Eventually, I stopped a servant bustling by with an armful of linens. I was
reasonably positive he had worked here as long as I had been alive. I couldn’t remember his name for the life of me, though. Shame that. I asked curtly, “Do you know where King Traevon is?”

  He dipped low into a formal bow, the bulk of white sheets spilling over his arms onto the floor. “I believe he is in the sparring room, Your Highness. That is where my king and the-man-who-is-not-spoken-of were headed just now.”

  “Thank you. What is your name again?”

  “Polsha, Your Highness.”

  I wouldn’t have guessed that at all.

  He looked like a Wylan or a Wyon to me.

  “That is all I need, Polsha.”

  I waited until he scurried away—with linens now wrinkled and in need of another ironing—before I quickly trotted toward the stairway that led to the lower level of the castle. On silent feet, I rushed down the stairs to the bottom landing. I crept around the corner and held my breath near the sparring room’s entrance, listening closely to the two men already speaking inside.

  Father’s voice was quiet but harsh. “Are you certain they were Fae?”

  “I’m positive, my king,” Caspian stated clearly. “They were wearing thick cloaks with large hoods, but their skin sparkled with light under a cloudy night sky. No one in our realm looks as such.”

  I grabbed at my throat to keep from gasping aloud.

  The Fae…were here.

  “Why did they attack you?” Father asked softly.

  Caspian muttered with bewilderment, “My food. It was most bizarre. They were traveling without provisions and attacked me for my Fae damned food. It was as if…they didn’t know where to get any in our realm or some such nonsense. They felt the need to slice me in the gut instead of asking for help.”

  “The Fae aren’t known for asking. They simply take.” Father hummed loudly into the silence, both quiet for a long moment. “It has been much time since a Fae was in our realm. But it is bizarre they were ill-prepared for their travels.”