Page 41 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

“I’m certain my parents would appreciate the gesture.” Prince Pyralis brushed the front of his golden-threaded shirt, which he wore with crimson slacks designed as if they were scales.

My heart dropped into my stomach as I realized why Gaelle had chosen this dress. The gold in my dress matched the color of his tunic.

Discomfort wafted through my bond with Tavish.

I hated that there wasn’t a way for me to reassure him. I could only imagine how he felt, knowing my betrothed stood before me. If I were in his shoes, I’d be going out of my mind.He’s leaving with Father. They’re going on a tour around the kingdom.

Father stood, his wings expanding to his sides. “Excellent.”

Prince Pyralis bowed his head ever so slightly at me and said, “It was interesting seeing you again, Lira. I hope when I see you next, we’ll have a more pleasant conversation.” His pupils elongated, emphasizing the dragon locked inside him.

A chill ran down my spine, and I tensed to hide my discomfort. There wasn’t a way to respond to that comment without upsetting him or my parents, so instead, I bowed my head back at him. I didn’t care if that gave him a sign of respect as long as it got him far away from me.

Seeming appeased by my gesture, he strolled to the end of the table, and when he stood next to my father, I realized how gigantic the dragon prince truly was.

He was at least eight feet tall.

When he exited through the doorway into the hallway with Father, he had to duck his head. Even though I didn’t find him attractive, I couldn’t look away. I’d never seen anyone that tall before.

As soon as they disappeared from sight, Mother turned her entire body toward me. “Are you trying to cause the dragons to go to war with us?”

I rolled my eyes. Mother did have a flair for the dramatics when we were alone with no onlookers. “We’re allies. They wouldn’t do that.”

“You haven’t been here for the past twelve years. Nor do you understand what happened before you left.” Mother huffed. “Our relationship with them is strained.”

“How would I know when you and Father never inform me of anything?” I refused to be the villain in her story.

“A woman should know better than to insult family and defy her future husband.” Mother’s face took on that golden hue that signified her flush. “That’s common knowledge, and we weren’t informed of his arrival until the dragon prince appeared at Caisteal Solais’s doors. We didn’t have a way to warn you without making Prince Pyralis suspicious.”

Fair. I hadn’t been here long, and a lot had happened since I’d arrived. My focus was on Tavish. “I can’t marry him—”

“Stop.” She lifted a hand. “What you want or desire doesn’t matter. The vow has been set, and there is no getting out of the agreement unless the dragons do something to negate it. It doesn’t matter if you and the Unseelie nightfiend are fated mates. A contract trumps everything, and youknowthat.” She dropped her hand, and a crease appeared between her eyes. “I swear we don’t recognize you anymore.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but a maid entered the dining room. I wanted to say a lot more, but that crease between Mother’s eyes always appeared right before I got into an extreme amount of trouble. I couldn’t risk them having me watched because then I’d risk not seeing Tavish.

The maid stopped. “Do you require anything while waiting on King Erdan?”

“The king won’t be eating with us.” Mother steepled her fingers. “It’ll just be Lira and me. Please bring out the food.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The maid curtseyed, looking down as she fluttered out of the room.

“For the love of Fate.” Mother pushed her long hair behind her shoulders. “Behave.”

Again, I couldn’t reconcile her with the woman I remembered. She’d been warm and loving.

I needed to bite my tongue if I wanted a chance to spend time with my mate.

The maids entered with various types of honey, bread, and fruit, and I settled in to eat. The less talking I did, the better.

Breakfast took forever, but as soon as Mother and I finished, I excused myself to find Eiric and practice my magic.

I’d expected Mother to complain, but she seemed rather relieved. She’d mentioned needing to oversee the preparations to transport the fruit back with Prince Pyralis. I didn’t want to get in the way of helping him leave Gleann Solas as quickly as possible.

It didn’t take long for me to locate Eiric, who was in the training room with Mom and Dad. As usual, Mom understood that I needed to get away and think, so she excused Eiric to spend the day with me so we could reconnect with our magic.

The waterfall was the perfect location. No one was there because everyone was working for the day. The clear water had my water magic pulsing while Eiric practiced sprouting flowers on the grassy embankment. I learned to make my magic pulse from my hand and even had the water falling up instead of down for a time.

After a couple of hours, Eiric and I returned to the castle, exhausted. I holed up in my room for the rest of the day, taking dinner alone in my chambers and spending the time checking in with Tavish. Between that and thinking about how to help him and Finnian escape, I couldn’t distract the guards long enough so they wouldn’t realize I’d taken the keys that would unlock the chains to Tavish’s and Finnian’s wings before I could make it down the secret passage.

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