Page 79 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

Caelan held a piece of the broken arrow in his hands and lifted it to his nose.

“Maybe we can poke their eyes out.” Finnian shrugged. “Or give it to Lira so she can stab Ecoar in the penis.”

“No.” Caelan dropped his hands. “This doesn’t make sense.”

Silence descended as we all stared at Caelan. What did he know?

24

LIRA

Tavish went as still as a statue while my chest heaved, though I was still in torment from the injury to my wings.

“See.” Finnian crossed his arms, shoving his hands under his armpits. “Even Caelan knows Ecoar’s penis is too small to be found. A two-inch arrowhead would still be too large to remove it.”

Forehead creasing, Eiric blinked. “I’m certain he wasn’t referring to that particular comment.”

Even Nightbane huffed at the end of Eiric’s sentence, adding to her point.

When things settled, I’d have to heal the poor beast. He didn’t deserve to be in misery. He’d become what Tavish and the others had forced him to be.

“It wasn’t.” Caelan frowned then grimaced. Blood dripped down his chin from the crack in his lip. “The wood here isn’t the dried bark of the ruined lands. It’s from the true Unseelie kingdom.”

Shock and concern swirled through Tavish. “Only the guards are supposed to use those weapons. How did a townsfae get hold of one?”

“Obviously someone provided it to her.” Finnian pursed his lips. “But they would know that doing something like that is punishable by death.”

“Death?” I choked. “That seems extreme for merely using an arrow from your homeland.”

“Those arrows are more deadly because they’re infused with Unseelie magic.” Tavish lifted a hand. His wings flexed, but the chains held them in place. He tensed, and I could see the flash of stormy gray in his eyes from his anger. He exhaled and continued, “They are the strongest weapons we have, more so than our swords, and are to be used only in dire circumstances. The metal isn’t as strong because it isn’t forged solely from Unseelie metals. It’s a mix of Seelie as well, which helped form the point the way we needed to.”

“If she was attacked with Unseelie magic, shouldn’t the damage be worse?” Eiric rolled her shoulders. “The cold out there alone had me turning into an icicle, and your magic wasn’t even centered on me.”

“I’m assuming it wasn’t worse because our fated-mate bond is complete.” Tavish took my hand. “I broke through the Seelie veil when Finnian couldn’t, but then the guards took down the veil temporarily to pull him through, and when we returned here, Lira got through while you couldn’t. Our fated-mate connection protected her, and the blood Eldrin stole from her must have created a veil strong enough to keep you out for a short time. Once it blocked you the first time, the veil came down because he didn’t take enough to form anything stronger.”

My gut lurched as if I’d been kicked. “Eldrin didn’t scold anyone for harming me until after the arrow was shot.” Had that been his intention? To damage my wings? But why? What was the point?

“She must have been aiming for the muscles at the base of your wing and missed.” Caelan shifted around and grunted. “That would’ve caused each flap to rip your muscles more.”

Finnian’s blue eyes widened. “The actual base of your wings, leaving you unable to fly ever again. A Seelie princess that can only walk would make the Seelie appear weak, especially to the dragons.”

That would be the only benefit.I almost wish they’d succeeded. Then Prince Pyralis wouldn’t be interested in me.

Wait. That wasn’t true. I enjoyed flying, and I refused to have another thing taken away. My parents and the dragons had already influenced my life too much.

Don’t speak like that.Tavish’s anger swirled within me.The fact that you want to sacrifice something so precious makes my hatred for the ashbreath grow more.His breathing quickened, and his jaw clenched.It’s bad enough that he touched you, but this makes it worse. I will kill him for even looking in your direction.

“I’m hoping you know a way to get out of here.” Eiric sighed. “Do you have a secret key or tunnel? Something no one knows about?”

Tavish shook his head. “I don’t know of another way out, but we didn’t build this castle. It belonged to the dragons. They lived on this island and ruined the lands before heading to the next island they now claim as their home.”

Eyes widening, Eiric glanced around the dark cell. “The prince lived here at one time?”

“All the dragon royals.” Caelan leaned his head against the wall. “Not just the prince.”

“Right. Of course.” She laughed breathily.

Nightbane lowered his head, a faint whimper coming from deep in his chest. Unable to handle it anymore, I released Tavish’s hand and squatted next to him. When I touched his fur,my wings screamed in torment, but I ignored the pain. My friend required comfort.

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