Page 26 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

He was right. I needed to be armed, and even in Gleann Solas, it wouldn’t have been a horrible decision to carry a weapon. Since coming back to Ardanos, I’d learned that enemies could be anywhere, even in the guise of your closest family member.

I took the sword in its sheath, realizing how silly it’d appear over my gown, but I didn’t care. This was about survival, not vanity. Tavish and I both fastened our weapons around ourselves.

“Lira, don’t worry about your safety. We can provide guards to protect you if he can’t.” Father placed a hand on his chest, his forehead lined with concern. “There’s no need for you to carry a weapon, and the fact that the night—”

“If you’re about to hurl an insult at my fated mate, I’d advise you not to.” Tavish’s guilt pulsed through the bond, so I had to shut my father up. “Not only is he the person who means the most to me, but you’re the one who forced him and his people to these ruined land. The fact that you stole their homeland is bad enough, but to come here and speak ill of Tavish after all the Unseelie pain and suffering at your hands is more than an insult. It’s repulsive and vile.”

Nostrils flaring, Father fisted his hands at his sides. Mother laid a hand on his shoulder once again like she constantly needed to provide him comfort.

Warmth spread through our bond as Tavish connected,You’re blasting sexy, especially right now.

Don’t distract me. You can show me how attractive I am later.I didn’t want to seem like I crumbled under Father’s glare.

“Tavish isn’t thrilled with giving me this weapon, believe me. I can feel his trepidation, but unlike you, he respects my wishes and knows that I’m more than capable of protecting myself and wielding a sword.” I lifted my chin, wanting Father to truly feel my defiance.

“She’s right, dear.” Mother turned toward him and continued, “Nothing is lost by her carrying a weapon, or even me for that matter. Besides, she was trained with a sword until she went to Earth.”

“And on Earth, we trained for self-defense even when we didn’t remember our fae lives.” Dad smiled. “She and Eiric were both naturals at it. That’s the one thing saving me from going insane while thinking about Eiric with the dragons.”

E.

My eyes burned from the threat of tears. We needed to unearth a way to break the contract between Prince Pyralis and me and get my sister back.

It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since we lost her, but it felt like months. Each second that passed made me even more anxious about her remaining with the dragons. “And the dragons already made it clear they feel as if the Seelie insulted them twice. Eiric’s trick of glamouring herself as me will make them that much angrier.” I would give anything, even my own freedom, for Eiric to be here.

Father stretched out his fingers and wings as if he was trying to release his anger. He took in a steady breath. “We need to get your cousin to tell us how to break the contract so we don’t risk Lira.”

“Fate, yes.” Caelan placed his sword back at his side and rubbed his temples. “Because I suspect I know what the demand will be when the time comes, and if we can’t prevent it, my king will lose all sense of rationale like he does anytime it comes toher.” He glanced at me, but instead of the twisted expression of disgust he usually threw my way, he hung his head as if he’d given up on fighting my place here.

“We have to make Eldrin suffer. Right now, he thinks he’s in control,” Tavish spat. “He already gloated this morning. We need to break his confidence.”

I stretched out my wings, the pain where the woman had shot me still twinging. It was odd. Even when I’d been near death after the gauntlet, my magic had healed me quickly. Now it seemed to be hindered somehow. My magic thrummed a little, but not nearly as strong as normal.

Still, I needed to see Finnian and Lorne and try to heal them both enough to make a difference. “We could pull one of Father’s tricks and not feed him or allow him water.”

“Tricks?” Father rocked back on his heels. “Withholding food and water isn’t a trick at all. It’s about making the other person weak. It’s common knowledge.”

Mom snickered, sounding a little more like herself.

There went my smart-ass comment. It clearly hadn’t hit the mark with anyone besides her and Dad.

“I’m all for allowing the thornling to starve.” Caelan frowned. “Our food supply is already strained, especially with all the extra mouths to feed, and I haven’t heard back from the village fae I sent out to assess the damage to the cave.”

I’d forgotten about the blast behind the village. Worse, he was right. The three thousand Unseelie here could eat only twice a day. With the Seelie who joined us doubling our numbers, we would be reduced to once a day, and that was if the cave wasn’t damaged.

“Get an update on that and inform the guards Eldrin is to receive no sustenance.” Tavish took my hand and tugged me toward the hallway as he continued, “Lira and I are going to check on Finnian and Lorne. We can all reconvene here in two hours to provide updates if that works for the Seelie king and queen?” His eyes narrowed, but that was the only sign that he’d forced himself to be respectful of my parents.

“We’re agreeable to that.” Father puffed out his chest. “Hestia and Brenin will watch over the Seelie weapons and make sure the counts haven’t changed.”

Now that our tasks had been decided, Tavish and I walked down the hallway in the opposite direction of our bedchamber. As we strolled into the area, the walls seemed to darken, and the floor grew uneven.

We reached a door to the left, and Tavish led me inside. As soon as I entered, my feet dragged like weights were wrapped around my ankles. Finnian lay shirtless in the middle of a king-sized bed, his face, chest, and arms still charred. Frost-blueblankets, almost the shade of his eyes, covered him from the waist down. His chest rose slowly as if his breathing was labored.

I thought he’d be more healed than this.I’d expected him to not be in great condition but at least sitting up and making a jab as soon as we entered.

Dragon fire is hard to heal, so it takes more time.Tavish scowled.And the dragon prince knew it. It’s easy for fae to lose their lives when engulfed by it.

Dragon magic was different from that of the faes’, and before I’d left for Earth, my parents had avoided the dragons and rarely spoken of them. Clearly, that had changed after the alliance.

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