Tabitha - Royal Rebel by Kiana Dreamfairy (most read book in the world .TXT) đ
- Author: Kiana Dreamfairy
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âSheâs three hundred and thirty-seven years old. Thatâs a bit late to be running away from home.â âShe arenât running away from home. She just taking a vacation.â
âIt looks a lot like running.â
âAnd how does you know what running look like, you big pansy? You is too old to get faster than a hobbles!â
âShush!â The hiss is Tabithaâs voice got her companionsâ attention, and they fell into a tense, bristling silence. âSilentâ or âsnipingâ described how Squit and Binkie spent nearly all their time together, but at the moment, Tabitha had other things to worry about.
She couldnât afford a distraction. âI told the both of you that if you wanted to come see me off, you were going to have to be quiet. If you canât manage that, I can always send you back to the palace.â
The pixie and the imp exchanged fulminating glares, one from the spot where he fluttered beside Tabithaâs head, the other from his perch on her shoulder. She ignored them both, concentrating on making sure they werenât being followed as she picked a path through the dense, cool forest north of the Palace. Normally, no one would have cared that sheâd gone and certainly no one would of stopped her, but as she had recently realized, very few things these days were ânormalâ at Court.
âYour Highness,â the pixie broke in again, his tone clearly disapproving, âI really think it would be better ââ
She fixed him with a sweetly dangerous smile. âBinkie, my dear friend, if you donât shut up in the next five seconds, I might just change my mind and take you with me.â
The resulting silence lent a genuine curve to her smile. She could hear Squit chortling beside her ear, but she ignored him. Sheâd learned long ago not to encourage the imp. Or any imp. It only gave them ideas.
The pixie continued to flutter beside her head and cast disapproving glares in her direction, but disapproval didnât bother Tabitha. Sheâd grown far too used to it over the years. Binkie, on the other hand, lived in mortal fear of Queen Trinityâs disapproval, which was why the threat of bringing him along to the human world had shut him up in such a hurry. Tabithaâs mom had decreed this particular vacation destination off-limits to her people ages ago, and Binkie had never been one to disobey a direct order. Unlike Tabitha.
Turning away from examining the trail behind her for followers, Tabitha started forward again, her violet eyes scanning the forest on either side of the trail for any sign of pursuit. All remained eerily quiet. For about fifteen seconds.
âPersonally, I think a little vacation are a fine idea, Princess,â Squit piped up, and Tabitha didnât have to glance over at his perch on her shoulder to know heâd be grinning tauntingly at Binkie as he spoke. âThings has been getting real...complicated at court. A nice refreshing tour of boring human land are just whats we needs for lifting our spirits.â
Tabitha shot him a sideways glance. âWho said anything about we?â
The imp looked shocked. âBut Missy Tabitha! You has to take us with you! Who will protects you if Iâs not there? The human land cans be a hideous, dangerous places.â
âI think I can handle it, Squit. It cant be any more dangerous than court is becoming.â
She grimaced at the truth of her own words. For someone who had grown up at court, as she had, a certain amount of danger was to be expected. There were always intrigues and deceptions to deal with, enemies to avoid and loyalties to question, but these days, the perils of politics had grown unexpected teeth. Ones that had just yesterday attempted to clamp down on Tabithaâs unwitting head.
Her mouth firmed into a line of displeasure as she recalled the experience of being cornered in a remote alcove by a particularly ambitious courtier. The entire population of Faerie knew the queen was planning on naming her heir from among one of her two dozen or so sisterâs and brotherâs before the next Passing Moon, and apparently the odds on Tabitha were high enough to make her an attractive target of would-be-consorts. No one seemed to believe her protestations that she had no interest in ascending to the throne. It had taken a snapped temper and a knee to the groin to get the message across well enough to make her escape, but it had taken significantly less to convince Tabitha it was time to take a nice, long, remote vacation.
Too bad her chosen spot was on the banned-travel list.
Ever since an incident a few years ago when the queenâs nephew had been spotted by several humans as he gallivanted around New York, Her Majesty had gotten a lot tougher about enforcing the ban on travel between Faerie and the human world. Most people tried to stay away from upsetting Queen Trinity.
There hadnât been much chance that anything would come of the sightings, considering most humans had stopped believing in the existence of the FaeâFaeries, as they called themâmany humans centuries ago, but Queen Trinity did not like to be thwarted.
Tabitha didnât see how anyone could consider a quick little vacation to the human world as âthwarting,â though. After all, it wasnât like your average human would be expecting to see a Fae walking among them, and with a little glamourâthe smallest form of Fae magicâshe could make sure all they did see when they looked at her would be a perfectly normal human woman.
Even without magic, her basic appearance didnât give her away. She was human shaped, with one head, two arms, two legs, and the requisite number of eyes and noses and such, and at five feet, four inches, tall she fell easily in the acceptable height range for a human female. Her black hair might be a bit long, since she wore it to her hips as most Fae did, but itâs not like it hissed or anything. And if her skin was paler than the average human, well, she could always say she was afraid of skin cancer. The Fae were immune to it, but sheâd read that it was a big concern for mortals. The real need for the glamour came from the subtle, luminous bits of magic that nature had woven into her being. The glow that made her skin look more like moonlight than peaches and cream. The bright glitter of starshine in her pure violet eyes. Those were the things that might give her away, but humans, in her experience, were not that tough to fool. And while the world full of mortals went about its business in blissful ignorance, sheâd be able to do some shopping and take in a few concerts. Sheâd done it before with no problems. She didnât forsee any this time, either.
âIâm telling you, I have a bad feeling about this,â Binkie grumbled, apparently unable to bear the living silence of the forest clearing a moment longer. Heâd lasted longer than Tabitha had expected. Pixies were not well-known for their taciturn natures. âIf you step through that gate, youâll be sorry.â
âYou is always feeling bad,â Squit grumbled. âThat ainât nothing new.â
âThe only reason why I would be sorry would be if the queen found out,â Tabitha said. âAnd the only way my mom could possibly find out something like that would be if you told her. Which youâre not going to do. Are you, Binkie?â
The pixie remained stubbornly silent. For once in his life.
Tabithaâs hand darted out, pinching his gossamer tunic between her thumb and forefinger and hauling him right up to her face. âAre you, Binkie?â
He glanced from her to the gate on the other side of the clearing and back again. His wings drooped at the edges. âNo, Princess Tabitha. I will not tell the queen of your rash and ill-advised excursion into forbidden territory.â
âIâve asked you not to call me âPrincess,ââ she said, and released him with a flick of her fingers.
From her shoulder, Squit stuck his tongue out at the pixie.
Binkie flew back a couple of feet and gave a wounded sniff. âYou are a princess.â
âSure, along with ten of my female cousins, and thatâs not counting the others who happen to be princes.â
She peered around the trunk of an old oak tree and scanned the break in the thick vegetation for any signs of movement. Just because she wouldnât let the fear of getting caught stop her from going through the gate didnât mean she wasnât going to try to avoid it.
âNone of them had parents who died and left their care directly in the hands of the queen.â
âBinkie, do you want me to take you with me?â
âYou can takes me!â Squit shouted, jumping up and down excitedly.
The renewed threat shut the pixie up, but the damage had already been done. Heâd reminded her of something she spend a great deal of her time trying to forget, and now sheâd spend at least the rest of the day with it hanging over her head. Pesky pixie pest.
Tabitha knew that ignoring the truth wasnât going to make it go away, but that didnât keep her from trying. On a daily basis. She despised court life, whether it was at her auntâs Court or at the other Court that was ruled by Trinityâs former husband and Tabithaâs still officially uncle, Adonis. The idea of taking the throne when the peace between the two courts had been uneasy at best for most of her lifetime made her break out in hives. And that was exactly the reason that she needed to take
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