Page 31 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

The frantic pace had me turning and looking out the window. I half expected to see a crimson dragon winging his way back, but instead, I noted the mix of Seelie and Unseelie guards calmly watching the island perimeter. They didn’t look worried, which meant something else was happening.

Caelan appeared around the corner, followed by two other Unseelie guards.

“Thank Fate you’re here.” Caelan sighed as he landed beside the queen. “We have a huge problem.”

11

TAVISH

My body coiled, and I glanced at Lira sleeping peacefully on her side. She needed her rest; I couldn’t allow anyone to wake her. The Seelie queen was right. Lira wouldn’t wait long before going after her sister, which meant I needed her to heal to reduce the risk of the dragon prince catching her.

“The—” Caelan started, and I lifted a hand, wordlessly telling him to stop.

I eased into the hallway and shut the door behind me.

Caelan’s jaw dropped. “You’re worried about waking her when I just informed you that we have a serious problem?”

My wings spasmed, but with the two other Unseelie guards here, I needed to maintain my calm. “Of course. Lira is injured, and her healing is a priority for me. The dragon will be back sooner rather than later, and I need her at full strength. Besides, two seconds won’t make a drastic change with whatever you have to alert me of.”

He scowled, clearly disliking the answer. But then he shook his head. “The cave. It was damaged in the attack.”

Now I understood his concern. Our food supply was already limited, and the mushrooms from the cave were the one thingthat provided us with what fae truly needed to survive. The fish only helped us feel fuller and held off the pangs of starvation. “How bad?”

Buidhean, the guard with dark-yellow hair, flinched, giving me the answer I didn’t want. Caelan gulped at the question.

“How much of the food supply was impacted?” The walls seemed to close in on me, but I forced myself to remain upright without shaking. A king’s fear or desperation had to stay hidden because if the people saw their leader reacting negatively, the situation would grow worse exponentially.

“The majority of it.” Buidhean placed a hand on his sword as if his weapon would help solve the issue. “We have a two- or three-day food reserve, tops, with the number of Seelie here with us. After that, we’re all going to starve.”

Queen Sylphia gasped. “How is that possible? There have to be other places where mushrooms grow. Some of our guards can help you retrieve more if it’s a difficult location.”

I arched a brow. “The cave Caelan mentioned is the only place where the mushrooms grow, and it took twelve years to produce enough that we could eat two meals a day. For a long time, we ate one, which is why over half of my people perished. There’s no getting them back unless your Earth Seelie are willing to regenerate the land.”

“But how can that be?” The queen’s brows furrowed. “We instructed our guards to ensure you had the means to grow them before they left you here. They should’ve become more abundant.”

“They regenerated the land just enough for us to have half a meal each day.” The memories of starvation and parents sacrificing their own needs for their children sprang into my head. So many had starved so that their children could survive. People had stolen from each other, blaming me for my role in how they wound up here. It had hardened my heart andturned my focus toward vengeance. Yet, here the Seelie were, encroaching on our land, and I was allowing it because of one woman.

Though I had no regrets about completing the bond with Lira, the part of me that blamed the Seelie foreverythingsurged inside me again.

I pushed it away because if I did anything to the Seelie, Lira could be injured in the cross fire. Harming my mate was the one line I refused to cross ever again. “A lot of us died to make sure the survivors lived.”

Sylphia grimaced and bit her bottom lip. “That wasn’t the plan.”

I lifted a brow, unsure whether to believe her or not. “If you’d ever come back to check on us, we would have told you.”

She rocked back on her wooden heels. “You’d have fought us if we’d appeared in front of you. Even with my daughter in your midst, your people rose against us, ignoring your command to end the attack.”

“You forced us to live on a ruined dragon island after you tore us from our home and the source of our magic!” Maybe they hadn’t murdered my parents, but they’d still taken away everything that was mine, including Lira, and caused thousands of my people to die. “Would you expect us to welcome you here?” I wanted to say more, but I closed my mouth for Lira’s sake. Even though she wasn’t awake, she’d learn of the disagreement if it went too far.

Arguing wouldn’t change anything. I turned to Caelan. “Cut everyone’s meals back to one and a half.” I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to keep my frustration and anger from becoming too intense.

“No need.” The Seelie queen flapped her wings, rising into the air. “Let me locate Erdan—we will have a few of our guardsreplenish the health of the cave and grow what was lost and then some. None of us can afford to go without nourishment.”

“It would be a blasting shame if you and your people were forced to starve like the Unseelie have for years.” Caelan wrinkled his nose.

I understood the sentiment far too well.

The queen tossed her long, light-blonde hair over her shoulder. “We didn’t have to come, and yet, here we are, assisting in protecting your land.”

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