Trix & the Faerie Queen by Alethea Kontis

Author:Alethea Kontis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alethea Kontis

8

The Blood Court

Having heard one too many tales of devious leprechauns, Trix woke every few minutes to keep an eye on Vick. He made sure that Trebald was safely hidden in Lizinia’s hair before using his meager pack as a makeshift pillow. He hooked his arm through his bow, and placed his foot strategically beside Lizinia’s. The little man would back out of his offer to help them sneak into Faerie at the first opportunity; Trix didn’t expect to see him come sunrise. But he didn’t want to risk losing their weapons and what few supplies they had left to a light-finger in the process.

And yet, dawn came and Vick remained. The leprechaun not only graced them with his presence, but he’d also collected two pockets full of nuts, persimmons and crab apples. Trix was so famished that he’d forgotten he’d sworn off apples forever and gushed over the bounty. He reached for a crab apple, only to have it snatched from his fingers by a deceptively stealthy Trebald. “I saw it first, you rat!” cried Trix.

“That doesn’t look like any rat I’ve ever seen,” said Vick.

Trebald stuck his nose in the air and gave a definitive sniff in Vick’s direction, whiskers twitching all the while. “Charlatan,” he said to Trix. “Yes, yes.”

“Be nice,” warned Trix.

Trebald sank his pointed teeth into the meat of the apple and scurried back up Lizinia’s arm to his hiding place.

“My pet,” lied Lizinia. “You’ll have to excuse him. He’s shy.” The sound of contented munching began to emanate from the back of her neck.

Vick, however, was more interested in Trix. “It spoke to you, didn’t it?”

Trix didn’t see any way to dodge the answer. “He said he was pleased to meet you.”

“Oh, I highly doubt that.” Vick waggled his finger at Trix. “You can talk to the animals. I’ve heard about you.”

Trix shrugged. “It’s not as impressive as it sounds.” It would have been far more impressive had his ability been able to save them from the spriggans last night. Or the bumble bugs. Or the fetch. Trix considered their adventures of the evening before and weighed them against Vick’s observation. Had the leprechaun been testing him?

Trix shook his head and reached for a persimmon. Exhaustion and hunger and the Faerie Queen’s incessant compulsion were driving him positively mad. As if to illustrate the point, Trix looked up to see Papa Gatto perched on a branch of the tree, swinging his tail lazily and grinning deviously down upon them.

“What is he up to?” Trix said to Lizinia as she leaned in to retrieve a chestnut from the fire.

“Mischief,” Lizinia said without looking up into the trees. She clearly did not feel it was wise to draw undue attention to her ethereal feline godfather.

Vick froze and his eyes widened. He turned to search the Wood behind him, but not before Papa Gatto had allowed the rays of the morning sun to erase him. When he turned back, he eyed Trix and Lizinia warily. “Please don’t tell me there’s some other bugaboo after us.

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