Page 88 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

I wanted to vow that she would be as well, but I couldn’t even if I tried. We had so many stakes against us that it could very well be a lie.I will do everything in my power to protect you. That is my priority.My people had come second to her, but they were no longer on my list. They’d turned on me after everything I’d done for them, and the fact I was the rightful heir made their betrayal worse. They should’ve supported me over that alone, but I’d done everything for them, including changing, which made their turning their back on me hurt more than I ever imagined.

Lira cupped my face, and the wind blew a few wavy, blonde tendrils of hair in her face. She pressed her lips into a line and sighed.I know that, but your safety is my priority as well. So if you do something stupid to protect me, just know I’ll follow you right into the lion’s den.

Lion?Even with her memories back, she spoke like a human.

I scanned the area for guards around the city. They should be stationed along the perimeter of the island in case the Seelie tried to attack us. As expected, twenty-five guards were stationed on the mountain peaks.

The snow I’d summoned when I’d arrived here had melted while my magic was bound. The temperature was almost as warm as it had been back at Glean Solas, but thankfully, it was nighttime, so we were blanketed in darkness. Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t have spared the extra magic to signify my power. I had to reserve it to cloak us.

We flew toward the center of town, which was vacant as most people had gone to bed. Every household slept with their weapons beside them in preparation for the Seelie’s arrival. Our people yearned for the day when they could fight the Seelie once again, and my goal had been to ensure that day would end in our victory.

I was no longer sure that was possible.

Caelan, Finnian, Eiric, Lorne, and I flew close together. Lira had stopped fighting me and nestled into my chest. Her wings hung limply, and even though I no longer sensed her torment, I could tell they bothered her from the way she flinched any time they brushed my arm.

“What do we do?” Eiric arched a brow. “We need weapons. You can’t use your darkness forever, and you need to kill Eldrin.”

She was right. I would soon be struggling to hide us. I could already feel my magic blipping. I needed to reserve it for whatever fight lay ahead of us.

“Before the Seelie arrive.” Finnian lifted a hand. “If we don’t, Eldrin will attack them, and we’re all going to die… except forher.” He gestured to Lira. “Not that I’m upset over it. Lira’s a rare Seelie that I like, but I’d prefer to live along with her.”

“Father won’t come for me.” Lira exhaled loudly. “Not after I helped you two escape and chose the Unseelie over them.”

Eiric snorted. “Your parents love you, believe me. But even if the king and queen cut you loose, Mom and Dad won’t tolerate leaving us here, knowing the Unseelie could attack us.”

I found myself approving more of Lira’s Earth parents than her royal ones, though it wasn’t hard since they’d had my parents killed.

“If we attack the guards for weapons, they’ll alert the others.” Caelan frowned. “And Eldrin will find us quickly.”

Sheathing his sword, Lorne rubbed his hands together. “I know where weapons are stored outside the castle. They’re guard grade and meant to serve a larger purpose. Even when he came into power under the ruse that Tavish had died, we kept the weapons. Eldrin suspected that Tavish would return and wanted his loyalists to have access to guard weapons. That’s how the woman who hit Lira in the wings managed to have guard-grade weapons. A handful of guards pretended to remain on Eldrin’s side and hid a few weapons in one of our homes, hopingyou’d come back with Lira. Our hope was that she would be an ally and aid us in returning to our homeland without war.”

“Loyalists?” My body tensed.

“He has coveted power since before your father died, Your Majesty. I know because I used to believe in his cause, thinking war was the only way to respond against the Seelie.” Lorne rolled his shoulders back. “He had a group of followers even then and a plan to take the crown, but now isn’t the time to discuss this.”

As if Fate wanted to reinforce his point, Eldrin shouted so loudly that we could hear him even as far away as we were as he flew out of the window, “They’re somewhere out here! I feel the faint pulse of his magic.”

“I can lead you to the guard’s house where we stored some of the weapons. He is loyal to you. No one outside our trusted group knows where they are. No one will betray us to Eldrin because watching Lira during the gauntlet changed their perception of her, the same as she convinced me she was worth having on our side.”

Even at fifteen, I hadn’t felt like everything was working against me like I did now. I should’ve seen that Eldrin had coveted my position before I even held it. At least there was a group of Unseelie who supported Lira, which meant they wouldn’t have an issue with us ruling over them together. “Fine. I’ll cloak us until we get there, but we need to hurry.”

Lorne took the lead, and the rest of us followed. When I glanced behind us, I could see Eldrin searching the open area.

Our group flew low through the town, keeping to the shadows so there wasn’t a dark spot moving through the light of the flickering street lanterns. My arms were growing tired from carrying Lira, but there was no way I would put her down.

As we flew past the darkened houses, I noticed that some fae were sleeping on the floor near their windows, ready to fightat the slightest alarm. It would’ve been comforting if I hadn’t known many were prepared to kill Lira and me.

I couldn’t hear Eldrin anymore, and a chill of warning ran down my spine. I pushed it away. My emotions were getting the best of me. We’d moved fast enough to put distance between us, and he’d have a harder time tracking us. He wouldn’t expect us to head into the village.

Maybe we should get as far away as possible, but I couldn’t run off and let the Seelie slaughter the innocent while searching for Lira and me. They’d have to find her because of their vow to the dragon prince.

Lira tensed, and I couldn’t fathom her being withhim. I refused to allow it. At the thought, blind rage wanted to take over, but I closed my eyes and focused on her touch and her wild roses, moonlight mist, and vanilla scent—my favorite in the entire realm. My body relaxed, but then a slight bulge grew in my pants, causing a whole different kind of problem.

“We’re almost there,” Lorne whispered, bringing my attention back to the present.

We reached a home in the center of the village, and Lorne dropped to the top-floor window. Even though I knew most of my people by name, I didn’t know where everyone lived and wasn’t sure whose home it was.

I followed close behind Lorne, wanting to shut off my magic so that Eldrin couldn’t track us here. Moments after landing, I bent and set Lira down on the smooth floor, giving my arms some relief.

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