Page 61 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

More awkward silence.

Tavish flew from his seat in the direction of the foyer.

Not wanting to be left behind, I followed, and as soon as he entered the room with the others, he said, “He was my responsibility, and I took care of him.”

“That is one way of putting it.” Finnian rolled his eyes. “But it might have been beneficial to not kill him within the first five minutes.”

Tavish’s wings expanded. “Are you questioning my judgment?”

I couldn’t stand back and let Tavish’s fear control him once more.

I pushed around his wings so that the others could see me. “He’s dead. Arguing won’t bring him back to life. We need to turn our focus forward and not argue over something that can’t be changed.”

Dad turned toward me, lifting both his hands. “Lira, I understand your point, but have you noticed how many times you’ve had to say that very thing about him?”

Now rage spiked inside me, boiling my blood. “And about you all too. Don’t forget, you aren’t innocent in this either. Maybe you didn’t kill Tavish’s parents, butnoneof this is Tavish’s or my fault. We were children when all this happened, and we’re handling each situation the best we can. Casting judgment is easy, but taking responsibility for your own actions takes a strong person, which, right now, none of you seem to be doingexceptTavish. He isn’t blaming someone else for making him kill the traitor, so maybe you all should take a hard look at yourselves!”

All four of them recoiled, and the comforting warmth of love floated through our connection from Tavish. The sense of fury disappeared, and some of the stress left my body.

Chuckling, Caelan bowed his head. “Lira is right. We need to discuss strategy. The four of us have been up all night, trying to devise a plan that will work against Eldrin. We couldn’t think of anything. All Eldrin cares about is himself. Hurting someone else won’t break him, and if we injure him, he’ll enjoy it, knowing we’re doing it because we need information.”

Father stroked his beard. “Does he have any children? A lover?”

“The only lover he’s ever had is himself.” Finnian snorted. “I mean, he’s fornicated with men and women, but he doesn’t care for anyone. He wouldn’t blink if you killed them.”

“We haven’t eaten this morning, and our people delivered food to the castle last night.” Mother curtseyed. “Why don’t we all move into the dining hall where we can have breakfast and strategize? I’d prefer to get away from the blood on the floor.”

I could hug Mother for giving Tavish the respect he deserved as the ruler here, but I didn’t want to make her feel more uncomfortable than she already was.

Tavish placed his hand on my shoulder, the buzz springing up between us. “Yes, we can move it in there and continue this conversation.”

“Perfect,” Father said and patted my shoulder.

Finnian cleared his throat, and when I looked in his direction, he mouthed,Need to talk to you alone.

Taking my wrist, Tavish tugged, wanting me to walk beside him to the dining area.

I need to check on Nightbane and run to the bathroom.At that moment, I realized I would have to make a pit stop, so I wasn’t lying.Go on, and I’ll join you in a minute.

Let me know if you need me,he replied, releasing me and leading my parents to the dining hall.

I moved to the stairwell and headed upstairs to follow through on my promise.

Caelan and Finnian followed me, and I flew into our bedchamber to lower the risk of being overheard. I opened the door to find Nightbane lying on the bed, snoring, and turned to face Tavish’s best friends.

“What’s going on? Why do you want to talk to me without Tavish?” I leaned back on my heels and crossed my arms.

“We’re worried about him.” Finnian bit his bottom lip. “The way he acted this morning at the mention of you and the dragon prince—it’s only going to get worse if we don’t get answers from Eldrin about how to break that vow.”

“You calmed him down, but the closer we get to the deadline, the harder that will be.” Caelan rubbed his hands together. “We need to figure out a plan quickly because you’re the only thing that grounds him.”

No pressure. “And you’re concerned about how my parents might react if they knew.” The last unhinged Unseelie king had killed himself and his wife. Fuck.

But then the answer hit me. I knew what to do to get Eldrin to come clean. Something Buidhean had said earlier had given me the answer.

I surged forward, swiping Finnian’s sword, and flew over their heads and out the nearest window.

With determination like nothing I’d ever felt before, I flew to the dungeon and pounded on the door. It cracked open, and Struan tilted his head back. “Lira?”

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