The Queen's Crown by Shea K. M

Author:Shea, K. M. [Shea, K. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Young Adult, Contemporary
Amazon: B08Q7RM3RC
Goodreads: 56341399
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Published: 2021-01-15T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Leila

The summer hawks cruised over the palace and were now flapping their wings to slow themselves down.

They touched down in the middle of the courtyard, flapping their wings one last time—throwing dust in the air that stung my eyes—before they folded their immense wings against their bodies.

I held my breath, in awe of them.

They were so different from Fell’s griffins.

The griffins had an exotic beauty to them, the hawks were fiercely gorgeous.

Of course they were awe inspiring because of their size—they both were taller than me when they stood on their talon tipped feet. But they also looked beautiful.

Their underbellies were a creamy white color with a few orange-ish feathers, but a lot of their wing feathers and the feathers on their backs were a dark brown color that had an almost glazed blue hue to them. Unlike most hawks, these guys had light hazel eyes that held more intelligence than I’d ever seen in a bird before.

The hawks inspected the courtyard, clearly observing every person and item.

They ignored the night mares, who ignored them in return. And although Kevin and Steve sniffed in their directions, they stayed lying down in the shallow stream they’d taken over after drinking their fill.

The hawks continued their inspection, stopping when they reached my huddle with Skye, Indigo, Solis, and Rigel.

The closest hawk released a screech—a long-held and almost jagged sound that made my ears ring.

It—and the second hawk—took a few very short steps.

Indigo squeaked—she was closest to them.

I’d better intervene. I don’t know what they want, but I suspect I’m the only one here with animal magic.

Most fae found plants, animals, and nature in general easier to deal with, but I had natural animal magic that made it a lot easier for me to soothe and train animals.

I felt this magic surge up in my skin as I stepped out of our circle and approached them, holding my hands up.

“Hello, you beautiful…boys,” I guessed. “We are not your enemy. Perhaps someone could tell Birch that?” I asked a little louder.

Over the hawks’ sweeping tailfeathers, I saw a banshee slip out of the courtyard, hopefully to tell Birch.

My stomach flopped in my gut when both of the hawks crowded around me, moving their heads in small, jerky motions as they scrutinized me.

I stayed calm—that was the trick with horses, dogs, and cats, to stay calm.

I’ve never tested it out on giant birds of prey, but let’s hope the same philosophy works.

“Is something wrong?” I asked the hawks as they peered down at me.

They looked at each other and one of them screeched again, almost blasting me onto my rear with the power of it, even though it wasn’t directed at me.

Abruptly, one of the hawks leaned over and ran its ginormous, sword-sharp beak through my sweaty hair.

Um…what?

I stayed still, but relaxed a little—I didn’t think they were going to kill me if they were grooming me. I didn’t know a lot about hawks, but I was pretty sure they didn’t preen one another unless it was a parent with a chick.

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