10. Tavish

10

TAVISH

I should've known that someone I'd decided I could trust would be allied with Eldrin. I'd allowed his young daughter, Isla, to influence me with her words, but he could've said those things to her strategically to have her vouch for him.

I lifted my father's sword high, ready to end the threat before us. The part of me that used to crave bloodshed sparked back to life.

Tavish, it's not what you think. Lira placed a hand on my chest, and some of the bloodlust receded.

Even though I cherished my mate, she had a tendency toward forgiveness. Something I was incapable of at this moment.

Lifting both hands, Struan pressed himself against the wall. His bottom lip quivered. "I told her no, but what was I supposed to do? She jumped into my arms, and if I hadn't caught her, she would've been hurt, and that would've angered you more."

My mind stopped. I'd expected him to explain his loyalty to Eldrin, not… My blood turned to ice as realization settled deep within my bones. In all the chaos, I hadn't considered how Lira had managed to get to the prison cells so quickly. Her wings were still injured, and she couldn't have flown, yet she'd arrived there mere minutes after me.

My vision darkened, thinking of his hands touching my mate. "You're not allowed to touch her. I made that clear the day I brought her back here, yet you carried her to me?"

"Because you left me behind," Lira said, blocking me from the thornling traitor. "I didn't give him a choice. I threw myself on him, knowing he wouldn't let me fall."

The image of her legs wrapped around Struan while his arms held her body tight against his had my chest heaving. "You did what ?"

Struan swallowed loudly. "Should I have let her fall instead? Just so I know what is expected of me next—"

"There won't be a blasting next time." I flew over Lira's head, about to stab the wildling in the throat.

My mate grabbed my boot and yanked me back down to the floor. Pain flashed through the bond, reminding me of her injury, and I bit back a snarl, not liking her protecting him.

Before I could move toward him once more, she cupped my face with her hands.

"Tavish, stop. I hung on to his shoulders, and he just held my waist, trying not to touch me. Nothing nefarious happened, and the contact was as minimal as possible." The normal warmth in her eyes vanished, making the color turn navy. "It wouldn't have even happened if you hadn't left me behind, which is one reason I had that pointed conversation with you earlier. If you're going to be mad at someone, you should stare at your reflection."

The jolt of our connection grounded me, but the need for violence still lingered in the back of my mind. "No other man should touch you," I rasped. "You're mine ."

"That won't be a problem if you stick with our agreement." She arched a brow. "And of course I'm yours. The whole time, both Struan and I were ready for the situation to be over." She shuddered like the memory was a nightmare.

Somehow, that made me feel better.

"I didn't enjoy it at all." Struan placed a hand over his chest. "I swear, and I hope to never touch her again."

His words thawed my anger, but the urge to stab him on principle clung to me, making me feel more like the man I'd been before Lira and I completed our bond. I exhaled, trying to center myself, and sheathed the sword.

Struan's shoulders sagged, and he leaned his head against the wall.

"This is your one pass." I spoke the words through clenched teeth.

Excuse you. Lira dropped her hands to her sides and arched a brow.

Of course, she'd be here to bind my wings if I stepped out of line. I should've known that I wouldn't get anything past her. "Because there won't be a need to do something like that again." For the past twelve years of my life, I'd refused to allow anyone to speak to me the way Lira did, but with her, everything was different. She was my other half. And blighted abyss, she held me accountable for everything. I wouldn't change that for the realm, though sometimes it was tiring.

Lira smiled, and I could sense how proud she was of me.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Struan rolled his shoulders, and his wings relaxed.

Now that the tension was resolved, Lira began swaying. I wanted to lecture her, but it wouldn't accomplish anything. I hated how she always risked her own well-being for others, but in this instance, I understood completely. She wanted to retrieve Eiric, and I refused to allow Pyralis to capture Lira, so we needed a strong team behind us.

Still, I couldn't let Struan get away with touching my mate. As I took her hand, preparing to carry her to our room, I shifted in front of Struan and punched him in the chin. I didn't use all my strength, but I needed to leave a mark so no one else believed they could go unpunished for touching Lira.

His head jerked back, and black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He rubbed his jaw and winced but didn't say a thing.

Lira cut her eyes at me and frowned. I thought we agreed.

We did. I kissed her cheek, hating the look she'd given me. I didn't stab or kill him.

Are you going to punch me then? She pursed her lips.

Fate, no. You were worried about me, so even though I'm not thrilled about what you did, I understand why you did it. I bent down and picked her up gently, treating her like the precious gift that she was.

I looked at Struan. "It's over now. You don't need to hide from me anymore."

"Good to know, My King." Struan smirked. "I wouldn't expect anything less. This actually brings comfort to me."

Lira turned her body toward me, the side of her face touching my chest and heightening the buzz of our connection. She grumbled, I'll never understand men.

The corners of my mouth tilted upward. We're actually quite simple, sprite. And sometimes, a punch is what's needed to put the issue behind us.

I headed out of the bedchamber and took flight in the hallway, heading back to our room. Our bond cooled slightly, informing me even before her breathing leveled that she'd fallen asleep.

Today, my wings had strengthened more than I expected, and I was able to make it back to our room in seconds. I wasn't surprised when I entered the room and found Nightbane lying at the bottom of the bed. That seemed to be the spot the cù-sìth had claimed in the castle, and I wouldn't shoo him out because of his loyalty to Lira. He would die to protect her. I'd never dreamed a beast could care about a fae even half as much as he did her.

I placed her gently on the bed, making sure that her injured wings didn't get crushed underneath her. She needed her rest to recover and heal her own body. I didn't want to contemplate what would happen if Pyralis came back and tried to take her again. She was too weak to fight him. That was one reason that I'd provided her with the sword that lay against her hip as she slept.

My lungs expanded uncomfortably, my heart feeling as if it were too big for my chest. I'd never understood the stories of how much fated mates cared for each other. Some claimed that love was the greatest and most painful experience of all, and that hadn't made sense until she'd walked back into my existence.

The love I felt for her was so powerful that even my magic paled in comparison.

I tucked a piece of hair behind her pointed ear and knew that seeing her like this every day for the rest of eternity wouldn't be enough. I'd do anything for her, even lose my magic or wings, as long as she remained by my side. Her touch, smell, and taste were the only things I required to be truly happy.

A fluttering sounded outside the open door to the bedchamber, and Nightbane leapt to the floor and growled. I lifted my head to find Queen Sylphia leaning against the doorframe, watching me.

She tilted her head. "You truly care for her."

"Of course I do." I straightened and quietly strolled to the queen. "She's my fated mate… my everything."

"That's what she kept insisting, but I didn't believe it was true." She exhaled slowly and looked over my shoulder. "Yet, I've seen the way you two are with one another, and that tenderness I saw on your face just now can't be faked."

Her acknowledgment kindled something akin to hope in my chest—a dangerous feeling after living the way we had for the past twelve years. "But you vowed her to an ashbreath when she was intended to be mine from the very start." As a child, I'd known the two of us would be together, but then she'd vanished from this realm.

"I understand you're frustrated and upset with us." She stood straighter, looking every inch a royal. "However, at the time, we weren't sure what else to do. And the dragons came to us, offering a solution. Our crops were dying; we couldn't hover idly in the sky and allow it to continue."

Unfortunately, I understood. That had been one of the main reasons I'd spent the last twelve years hunting through dreams to locate Lira. We'd been starving, and I hadn't hesitated to consider taking someone's life if it would help my people survive. In fact, if Lira hadn't been my fated mate, I would've killed her without remorse. "You could've tried to have a discussion with my father. Given him a chance to correct his ways."

"We did, Tavish." She wrung her hands. "And he laughed at us and returned to Unseelie. That was when we knew we had to act for the good of our people. Our guards attacked a couple of weeks later."

My father had come back from the Seelie land acting strange, and Mother feared leaving him alone. Unfortunately, some things that hadn't made sense to me before were becoming clear the more I learned. "He never made me aware of blanketing the entire realm in darkness." And a selfish part of me was thankful because I wasn't sure what I would've done. I'd like to believe that I would've tried to stop my father, but I couldn't be sure. The Unseelie loved the darkness and thrived in it, and we'd been used to it in Cuil Dorcha.

"Your guards put me into a holding cell and didn't allow any sort of healing. They left me to sleep on the floor." That was what Eldrin had told me over the years, and Lira had confirmed that portion of the story.

I wondered what would've happened if she hadn't healed me back then.

"The healer said you'd recover, and we wanted you to remain weak so we wouldn't have to bind your wings. Our goal was to allow you to live and spend time with us."

"As your prisoner," I spat. A foul taste filled my mouth. I wasn't foolish. I understood they'd needed me alive only to keep the balance of magic in this realm.

She sighed. "We can rehash all of this if you want, but I think at this point, we can agree that we've all done things that were unwise. You kidnapped our daughter to kill her."

I winced, and my wings drooped. She was right, and she didn't even know the worst part—the gauntlet. All things I wished I could take back and not put Lira through. "What do you propose then?"

"That we move forward and determine a way to get Lira out of that vow with the ashbreath." She tensed and ran a hand down the front of her dress. "And then I'll influence my husband to bless the union between the two of you."

I wrinkled my nose. "We don't need his blessing. We're fated mates, and the bond has been consummated."

"True, but it would be good for it to happen for Lira's sake. She's still reacclimating to Ardanos, but I know my daughter's spirit, and she'll want us in her life. Besides, she's our only heir. She'll take the crown if the time ever comes."

Both valid reasons, though I didn't have to be happy about it. But I would do anything to make sure Lira didn't feel as if she had to choose between her parents and me. I also understood that Eiric, Hestia, and Brenin were people she'd want to spend time with.

Being with her meant I had to find a way to move past my resentment of the Seelie, but I wasn't sure how to do that, given the bitterness and hatred I'd harbored for them for the past twelve years. Understanding my father's role was the first step, but I struggled to understand how he covered all of Ardanos in darkness, let alone why. That didn't sound anything like the man I'd known my entire fourteen years before that.

"It'd be easier to get past the chasm between us if our people hadn't been cast out of our magical land, starved, and forced to live on this decimated, dragon-ruined island." I paused, taking a moment to ensure my voice remained level despite the pounding in my ears. "A lot has been taken from us, many have died, and that's something that I, along with my people, need to process. The only reason you're allowed in my land now is Lira and my need to keep her safe. Don't be fooled that my love for Lira means I'll accept your presence in the Unseelie kingdom permanently."

She blanched slightly but nodded.

"And the only reason I allowed my people's weapons to be confiscated was that I didn't want any more of them to die. It had nothing to do with us submitting to you." I needed that to also be clear.

"Understood." She took a step back and glanced in the direction of the prison cell. "I will say that I worry what will happen if we don't get your cousin to speak. Hestia, Brenin, and Lira won't wait much longer before they leave to retrieve Eiric."

In this instance, we had the same worry. Lira draining her magic hadn't been just for Finnian's and Lorne's sake. She would've pushed herself, but maybe not to the point she had today if Eiric weren't at risk. "My cousin is vain and needs to feel important. In chess, Eldrin gloated that he beat me most of the time because I couldn't see the big picture. He's counting on us being desperate for his knowledge because he knows Lira is our weakness. We can't allow him to believe that's the case, which means we must ignore him." Saying those words hurt, but I needed her to understand that having us going to him and demanding answers was exactly what he desired.

"This is a dangerous game with more than Eiric's life at stake." Queen Sylphia crossed her arms, her sparkly blue wings unfurling behind her. "However, you know Eldrin better than I, and he's Unseelie."

I bit the side of my mouth, trying to keep myself from speaking. Six months ago, I'd have agreed that I knew him best, but now I knew better. Eldrin had revealed to me only the parts of himself he'd wanted me to see. In fact, I hadn't known him well at all until the past few days, and now I hated him more than the Seelie. "If we want to free Lira from the betrothal," I growled, "then we need to make him suffer. We still have a little time before Lira loses her patience and demands we save Eiric. We need him to believe that we might not want the information he's trying to bargain with."

Wings flapped toward us, and the queen took a step back.

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."