Page 11 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

Disgust oozed into our bond as Tavish’s hand clenched mine tighter. He said, “If you hadn’t kidnapped your daughter and imprisoned me, then what happened here would have been avoided. Because of your meddling, my cousin tried to overthrow me.”

“Kidnappedmydaughter?How is that possible when she’s Seelie? And if you were truly a strong leader, you would have nothing to prove to your people, and your cousin wouldn’t have dared risk betraying you.” Father wrinkled his nose like Tavish was beneath him.

“Whoa.” I lifted my hands, needing to stop this pissing match between two kings. I should’ve known this would happen. “Everyone, take a deep breath. Tossing insults at each other isn’t going to make things better.” I placed my hands on my hips, trying to ignore the way my back muscles protested. I wanted to hunch over. “Father, the only reason Eldrin even believed he had a chance of stealing the crown was due to the horrible conditions forced upon the Unseelie fae.”

“Because of whathis fatherdid to the realm.” Mother placed a hand on her chest. “You make it sound like we are the villains.We did what needed to be done to ensure that the Seelie magic remained strong. Our magic requires both the sun and the moon. It cannot work cloaked in complete darkness.”

“Forgive me if I believe that coming onto our land, killing my parents, taking me while I was injured and unable to protect myself, and throwing me into a holding cell makes you the villains in my mind.” The heartbreak that haunted Tavish daily came back to the forefront.

I couldn’t imagine waking up to find my parents murdered.

Father sucked in a breath, his brown wings tensing. “Why would you accuse us of killing your parents? You know better. You were there when it all happened.”

My mouth dried, and the walls closed in on me. I couldn’t believe that my father would try to wordsmith and dance around the fact that our people had killed them. “Father, this isn’t something to be political about. Tavish woke up with the Seelie guards standing over him.”

“One of the guards was me, Lira.” Mom ran a hand over her outfit. “No Seelie killed them. Our orders were to take the king alive.”

Tavish shook his head. “I don’t understand how you can say that. That’s a lie. I was there, and you were standing over them with blood on your sword.”

“Unseelie guards attacked us, and we fought them off. That’s where the blood came from.” Mom blinked and then winced, recalling the memory. “We had to fight our way into the royal chambers. You must have been knocked unconscious during the scuffle. Our intent was to capture both your mother and father, not for them to die. One of our guards captured Queen Morven, and we tried to use her to capture King Dunach without more bloodshed. Your father only pretended he was going to surrender. Then, when he got close to us, he stabbed the queen in the heart before shoving the blade through hisstomach, ending both their lives. It was chaotic, and the Unseelie retaliated with a vengeance.

“When you regained consciousness, you screamed, and I noticed a pool of blood underneath you. I knew I needed to get you away from the battle, so I carried you back to Seelie. We couldn’t risk the true heir dying and the magic becoming unbalanced.”

A strange emotion I couldn’t read crashed through the bond to me. Tavish’s shoulders sagged as if his understanding of his entire world had just crumbled. He spun around, addressing his guards. “How did we not know this?”

A guard with mustard-colored hair cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, as you know, we locked all four of the royals in the king’s chambers. The Seelie weren’t able to come through the windows since they were sealed, so they fought their way to you. Torcall and Lorne stayed behind to guard the door, but when the Seelie breached the bedchambers, they were both injured in the battle.”

“Four?” My lungs seized. I suspected I knew who the fourth person was, but I needed confirmation.

“The king, the queen, Prince Tavish, and Eldrin. The four remaining members of the royal family. The king had taken Eldrin in when he was a small boy and raised him like his own until Tavish came along, but even then, they remained close. Tavish’s father demanded that Eldrin be included in the family’s protection,” the guard explained.

Understanding slammed into me. Eldrin felt that he was the firstborn and entitled to lead. My stomach revolted. “Was he injured?”

Tavish shook his head. “He hid under the bed. Dad tried to get me to do the same, but I didn’t want to look weak. I stayed out there beside them.”

My brows furrowed. “Why didn’t the three of you hide too?” I didn’t mention his hidden bunker because I already knew why they couldn’t reach it. Especially since we might need to use it again one day if we couldn’t determine a way to break the contract my parents had made with the dragons and I might have to turn myself over to Pyralis to save my sister.

Tavish pinched the bridge of his nose. “The Seelie wouldn’t leave until we’d been located, and Father refused to be a coward.”

That one day had set Tavish’s and my lives on a whole different course than we’d expected. He wound up alone, trying to rule and trusting his one remaining family member, who tried to take the throne from him. Whereas I’d been promised to a dragon and sent to Earth to live with no memories of my childhood. It was a mess, and now my sister was the one paying the price. She hadn’t done a damn thing wrong and was an innocent.

“A coward cloaks the sky in darkness while remaining in his castle in his kingdom,” Father spat. “And forces us to ally with dragons in order to survive.”

Tavish braced, but I’d had enough. We were dwelling on facts that couldn’t be changed, and at least now, we understood that the Seelie hadn’t killed his parents.

“We need to deal with the past, but right now, there’s a more important threat.” I karate chopped the air, needing them to focus on me. “Prince Pyralis came here and killed some Unseelie before attempting to kidnap me.” I was beginning to see a theme.

“Thank Fate he didn’t get you.” Mother’s wings lowered.

“Only because of Eiric.” I licked my lips, preparing for my next words. I wasn’t sure how they’d react to the news, but we needed their help to get her back.

Dad grinned proudly. “That’s my girl. Where is she?”

I swallowed, and Tavish stepped closer to me, our arms brushing. Our proximity eased his turmoil but emphasized that my emotions were a strangled mess. Because of that, I understood something I hadn’t realized ’til now.

I didn’t want to see their disappointment and anger at me when they found out it was my fault Eiric was taken. I should’ve done better. “When Prince Pyralis appeared, she glamoured us both. I didn’t realize she had. The dragon prince took her instead of me.” A tear trickled down my cheek, but I couldn’t stop talking. “Tavish, Finnian, and Lorne went after the dragon, but they all got hurt. Tavish was hit by the dragon’s tail, and Finnian and Lorne…they’re charred from the flames.”

“Blighted abyss.” Mom’s chest heaved.

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