Marvels and Misfits (Trixie Towers #1) - Scarlett Dawn Page 0,1
were cut off sharply.
Worry instantly crinkled my forehead. “Grandmother?”
Her blink was slow.
Closing…then finally opening.
Grandmother’s ordinarily silver eyes reflected with gold.
I quickly grabbed her around the waist right before her entire body went rigid in my arms, her limbs beginning to quake with uncontrolled movements. Trying to lie her down on the cool grass knocked the breath out of me, one of her elbows spiking right into my chest with enough power that I heard one of my ribs break—then snap back into place a moment later.
The soft ground cushioned her body as she flailed, lost in one of her visions. I positioned myself above her head and kept my hands gently on her cheeks so I would be the first thing she saw when she broke free. No matter that my grandmother was over two thousand years old, the soothsayer was always frightened when she came to.
My father may be the king of our people, but I still fully believed my grandmother had more power in terms of position in life. Both were unbelievably daunting, but hers was harder, in my humble opinion.
In other words, my grandmother was an elven badass.
Moonbeams gently swayed over the two of us, directed by passing clouds, as the green grass tickled my bare knees planted on the soft soil. My black skirt fanned around my body, and my thumbs brushed against my grandmother’s tormented face. I hummed a soft, soothing tune while I waited for her vision to end, trying my hardest to ignore the pain she was inflicting on herself while she thrashed and beat at the ground with her arms and legs. It always took a few minutes afterward for her body to heal all the broken bones. Not being tied down helped—that only made the injuries worse.
The elven nursery song I sang flew away on the night’s breeze as her vision subsided in slow increments. Her arms and legs fell helplessly to the ground, her arched back smacked down with labored breathing. Her fingers and feet still twitched a rhythm I would never know, until her eyes blinked once more.
Grandmother’s striking silver eyes, the gold evanescent, stared up at me. Her harsh intake of breath was nothing new. But the scream that escaped her mouth was.
I stopped petting her hair, asking quickly, “What’s wrong?”
Bones popped back together, even as she started to roll onto her side to hold my regard with absolute conviction. “Go to your father now. Run, Trixie. Run. And bring my son back here.”
“Why?” I whispered, my adrenaline spiking.
“Now, Trixie. There is no time for questions.” She pulled up onto her knees and shoved my left shoulder. “Do it now. That is an order from your family elder.”
My chin trembled for the barest beat, and my two tiny fangs bit into my bottom lip. Then I nodded, not about to disobey. I jumped to my feet and started running to the king’s castle.
I bellowed my harsh command over my shoulder, “Penelope! I need you. Don’t give me any of your Fae shit, and hurry!”
For once, my pegasus actually submitted.
Penelope’s hooves beat the ground behind me until she caught up, her whinny loud in the air as she ran next to me.
Without stopping, I grabbed her red and black mane and hefted myself onto her black back. Her black and red wings pulled in to cover my legs since I wasn’t wearing a saddle, holding me safely in place. There was no need to fly. The takeoff taking too long, my Fae-gift ran full speed toward the only open back door on the castle.
Penelope jumped inside, and we skidded against the tiles in the kitchen as she tried to slow down. Her left flank slammed into a wall, not brutal enough to break any of my bones or hers, but the pots hanging on the wall did clatter down to the floor around us—and there was a nice Penelope-sized dent in the wall now.
The late night meant there were few kitchen staffers. The three here held themselves against their workstations, gripping the steel with white knuckles after their scramble to get out of the way. Their silly, white poufy hats were askew on their heads, and their jaws hung wide open.
“Where is my father?” I questioned.
The three workers merely stared, nothing emitting from their throats. Their shock still held them at bay.
“My father!” I shouted and jutted out my chin. I glared down at them like the crown heir to the kingdom that I was. “Where is he?”