The Story of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book One

Chapter Twenty-Nine

When I finally stopped trying to bite through Luis's hand, I realized my short temper almost landed us in hot water. Once he let my mouth go, I was already apologizing to everyone. Who knew what Regina and Marisol might have come up with as a bet if I'd taken the bait.

"Appreciate it, Luis," I said with a grimace, my argument with him forgotten in my embarrassment. If I kept flying off the handle, I was only proving him right.

"Start thinking, Matt," Luis said as he wiped my spit off his hand. All my embarrassment fled when he said that, and I clenched my jaw. He had that superior tone he got when he scolded me on Earth. 

"You're right," I said through my clenched teeth, then I saw that everyone wore worried expressions, and my face flamed. 

"Elect Madeline!" A male voice called from below.

I looked down towards the voice's source and saw five men lying prone at the bottom of the steps.

As I was already embarrassed by my outburst, I clattered down the steps to stop them. Strangers were already gawking. "Hey, don't do that!" - I said as soon as I reached them - "Uh... rise, please!"

Because I kept insisting, the men stood up, and I wished I hadn't been so hasty. Three of the men wore attire that was so scanty that Luke clapped a hand over my eyes. However, the damage to my retinas was done. All of their scandalous outfits had been seared into them.  I peeled his fingers away from my face and continued to gawk.

Two of the males weren't dressed crazily, but one of them was a centaur, and well, neither the human nor horse part of him had a stitch of clothing on.

I recognized the only decently dressed man. It was the man with the small goat's horns and slightly pointed ears who'd been kicked and beaten. He wore a shabby brown tunic and short, loose pants that showed his tiny, goat-like legs. The goat boy was about two inches shorter than me, making it difficult to address him without getting an eyeful of someone else.  So I kept staring at the tallest point between them all, which was the forehead of a male giant wearing a bodysuit of gold lamé. 

The lamé clung to the giant like saran wrap and revealed how thin he was, as well as any assets that he still possessed. Although he looked the most human, he was about nine feet tall with legs and arms that bore scars. He was rail-thin, but I could tell he could have a long swimmer's physique with enough food. With his shock of silvery-blue hair, silver eyes, and a handsome, angular face, he had an appeal that explained why he was dressed like that, even though I didn't like it. He had been severely abused, and my heart clenched. 

I kept my eyes up top, and my expression blank so that I wouldn't humiliate him more than he already was. "So uh, what can I do for you, gentlemen?"

"Ah! She called me a gentleman!" A small, winged man wearing  'artful rags' swooned, and it broke my determination not to look at him. Although he resembled a Sidhe in ethereal beauty, he was far shorter, with less of a point to his ears. His eyes were tilted high at the corners and were the color of a peat bog. That may seem like an ugly color, but if one looked for a picture of a peat bog, the merging of green and yellow is rather pretty.  He was frail-looking and had membranous, translucent wings on his back that looked like a mosquito's. His skin was the blue-white of fine bone china, and... there was a lot of skin to see. His outfit was nothing but two gauzy, frayed strips of midnight blue silk that twined around him.   I felt a new blush creeping from my face to my toes as I registered that his outfit covered nothing, and I caught Dominic's attempt to hide his amusement behind a cough.

I nudged Dominic's ribs, which released his amusement. He softly chuckled as he slung his arm around me and turned my body so that I could address the men while facing Dom's side.