Page 100 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

Tavish interjected,By the dragons that visited our land. I see them, and I’m trying to get there.Pain coursed through our bond like he’d been injured.

A lump formed in my throat. His worry for me must be distracting him. He was being harmedbecauseof me.

The king and the queen landed on my right side, and their bodies began to morph smaller. The other four dragons stood behind us, hemming us in. If we attempted to fly away, the four of them could take us down easily.

“Pyralis, what are you doing?” Queen Sintara spat. “Your father and I have been growing suspicious, but we never imagined you’d be capable ofthis. Were you going to letbothof them go?”

My head tilted back before I could stop it. Something had created a rift between him and his parents… but what?

Pyralis tugged Eiric behind him. “It doesn’t matter anymore. The fae know what you did.”

King Ignathor smirked. “It doesn’t matter. None of that changes that the princess is on our land, and I declare we shall keep her. She will be your wife and breed your heirs. Everything before that merely served to get her here.”

“I willnevermarry him.” The idea of being with someone besides Tavish made me want to vomit. “There’s nothing in this world that could make me do that.”

“Nothing?” The queen tilted her head and arched a brow.

A chill raced down my spine just as a dragon flew over the side of the mountain with Tavish in its grasp. His arm and side ofhis face were burned, and his shirt was tattered. His body hung limp.

Fate no.

My heart ached so hard that my chest wanted to explode.Tavish?

Despite our bond feeling warm, he didn’t respond. I clutched my chest.

“You have a choice, Princess. Either we torment your mate every day for the rest of his existence, or you agree to marry Pyralis and birth his heirs. We’ll allow the Unseelie king to go back to his miserable existence—without his wings. That will keep the Unseelie royal magic alive so it doesn’t threaten the balance of our world, and he can live out a semi-healthy life in Cuil Dorcha.”

Tavish lifted his head and linked,Lira, I’d rather be tortured forever than have you marry him.

No. The dragons couldn’t win, not like this. They didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as us. Something had to give.

“Pyralis, do something,” Eiric wailed.

He shook his head. “I can’t. There’s too much at risk.”

Her face paled, and I realized that he was a prisoner to his parents, the same way they intended me to be. I hadn’t gotten that impression before, but something had fundamentally changed.

Eiric.

Could they be fated mates? No. They weren’t even the same species.

That’s when I realized the dragons’ biggest mistake. They didn’t know how strong Tavish and I were together. Digging deep, I yanked at my healing magic. The comforting thrum soared through me, and I pushed the magic through our bond the way I’d done before.

Lira, no! You need your strength to get free of them.Tavish locked gazes with me.

We aren’t doing this choose one or the other business anymore.It was always me trying to protect Tavish or him trying to protect me. One of us sacrificing everything for the other.This time, we save each other. We truly work as one.

His brows furrowed, but he nodded faintly. Then he opened the bond on his end, allowing my magic to flow into him with ease, the sensation similar to when we had sex and merged our souls.

The strain on my magic slackened, and my water magic sang inside us.

“Are you done fighting us, Princess?” The queen lifted a hand, and I realized she was the one in charge and not the king, as had been portrayed when we first arrived. “Or do we need to torture yourfated mateto get the message across?”

I could feel Tavish’s strength returning, and my own knee was healing again in the process. The storm-gray color returned to his eyes, and I knew this had to be it.

“You know we could live in peace. It’s not too late, but you need to stand down now and stop more blood from spilling,” I stalled, wanting to give him a little more time to recover.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Finnian, Caelan, Sorcha, Mom, Dad, and Lorne hovering in the trees nearby. They’d no doubt chased after Tavish when he’d been captured. They must have heard my offer and wanted to see if the dragons took it.

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