8. Lira
8
LIRA
M y eyes fluttered open, and instead of finding myself in Tavish’s dark and frosty room with windows overhead that overlooked the sky, I found myself staring at a white ceiling.
My mind fuzzed as panic clenched my throat. I turned my head to the left and found a large open window the size of the wall. A tall tree grew through it right inside the room, full of flowers with pink petals that reminded me of cherry blossoms from back home but were called silathair here in Ardanos.
This was my childhood bedroom. But even though it held good memories, I needed to get back to Tavish. It felt strange and wrong being here without him.
“Lira,” a familiar feminine voice gasped. “You finally awoke. We were worried.”
Mother?
I blinked, my attention drawn to the other side of the room to find Mother, Mom, and Eiric sitting on pink-rose-petal cushions made from the gigantic flowers that had been grown in my room for seating.
Some of the tension released from my chest as I sat up, the room spinning slightly. “You’re safe! Thank goodness. Did Finnian find you? And where’s Dad?”
Something tingled in the back of my mind, like I was missing something important, but I couldn’t yet grasp it.
“Finnian?” Mom’s brows furrowed. “Who’s that?”
“The person Tavish sent…” I trailed off, my mind still misfiring.
“The Unseelie king sent someone for you.” Mother turned to Mom and Eiric, lips pursed. “We need to alert Erdan and Brenin that Lira has awoken.”
“I’ll locate someone to inform the king. I’ll be back momentarily,” Mom replied, heading toward the door.
“Thank you, Hestia.” Mother ran her hands over her long sky-blue dress.
Eiric glided over to me, her forest-green wings spread out behind her. Even though she still looked like my sister, the wings, pointed ears, and glistening skin threw me off.
Was this a dream or reality? And if it was reality, how had I gotten here? I scanned the room again for Tavish.
Eiric sat on the edge of my bed, like she’d done back on Earth, and took my hand while saying, “Olvin, Alor, and Talise retrieved us. Granted, we didn’t remember them, and we assumed the people who kidnapped you had come back for the rest of us, but once we made it back to Gleann Solas, our memories returned. We’ve been so worried about you, and it took us a bit to track you down via your magic.”
Mom returned just in time for my head to clear and the room to come into precise focus. I’d been knocked out, and Tavish had been stabbed. He was injured badly, and I needed to be there with him. “Tavish.” His name flowed off my tongue, and a sob built in my chest.
“Oh, love.” Mother’s sparkly blue wings fluttered as she flew to the other side of my bed. “Don’t worry. He can’t come here. The veil will protect us—not that the Unseelie can rival our magic.” She leaned over and squeezed my hand.
I shook my head as the room closed in around me. “That’s the problem. I need to go to him.” The image of the way the guard had stabbed him in the neck flashed into my mind, and my breathing became erratic. “He’s hurt. I need to be with him!”
“Hopefully, the nightfiend is dead.” Mom’s nose wrinkled as she marched to the end of the bed and stood in front of a large opening to the bathroom. “If he’s not, it’ll be my pleasure to end him myself. But don’t fret, Lira. We can’t watch him die, but we won’t allow him or anyone else to harm you again.”
“ Harm me? That’s not what I’m worried about.” I searched our bond and found it muted, and I raised my left hand and saw that our fated-mate tattoo was still in place. Tavish? I connected, needing to hear his voice even if only in my mind. I had to know he was safe, but all I got was silence. I threw the emerald-green covers from my body, preparing to leave and go find him. If he couldn’t answer, I had to make sure I was by his side, especially if he was injured.
“What are you doing?” Eiric’s eyebrows rose.
“Going to check on him. He was hurt.” My chest ached uncomfortably from my worry over what Eldrin could be doing to him if Tavish was on his deathbed. “I need to be beside him.”
Mom pushed me back onto the bed. “Lira, you need rest. You were given a sedative, and it knocked you out longer than it should have. We aren’t sure what the Unseelie nightfiends did to you, but—”
I didn’t have time for this. “Stop talking about them like that. Tavish means everything to me.” I raised my hand, pointing at the magical tattoos. “He’s my fated mate.”
“Blighted abyss.” Mother shook her head as a breeze blew into the room and floated around her. “I had hoped that getting you away from him would undo the illusion, but he has stronger magic than we suspected. He located you on Earth and messed with your mind, and he has managed to keep an illusion of a fated-mate tattoo on your body.”
“What are you talking about?” My back straightened, and I tried to calm my breathing. Overreacting would make getting out of here take even longer. I needed to bide my time until I could search for him.
Mother’s wings fluttered as she perched on the bed next to me. “Fated mates are rare. So rare there are only ten known in all of fae existence. Do you really believe that the man who kidnapped you would wind up being your fated mate?”
“He didn’t want us to be fated mates.” My pulse quickened. I didn’t enjoy the way she’d downplayed my emotions. “Me being his mate has made things far more challenging for him.”
“Lira, illusions are the Unseelies’ strongest form of magic, and Tavish is the expert on creating them.” She shuddered. “More so than we expected, especially without ties to their native lands. Had we known that, we never would have hidden you on Earth. A decision that proved futile, seeing as you still wound up in his possession.”
I wanted to kick and shout, but I gritted my teeth. With my royal parents, any sign of irrationality would turn them deaf to anything I had to say. I knew what I felt for Tavish. Those emotions couldn’t be manipulated. “Mother—” I started, but the double doors to my room burst open, and Father and Dad hurried in.
At the sight of the two very striking men standing next to each other, a flashback of Tavish and me as kids surged into my brain. “Thank Fates,” Father sighed as he hurried to me.
Eiric moved from beside me, allowing Father to take her spot. He threw his large arms around me, and his earthy scent filled my nose, grounding me. My vision blurred with happy tears. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about him.
He held me close to his chest, where I could hear his steady heartbeat.
Then his hands froze. “What did the Unseelie wildling do to you?”
“We were just discussing that.” Mother tsk ed. “She’s under the illusion that the blazing Unseelie king is her fated mate.”
I stiffened and pulled away so that Father’s warm brown eyes could see the truth in mine.
“He is my fated mate,” I said slowly and confidently so there was no question that I spoke the truth. After all, a fae couldn’t lie.
Father dropped his arms and furrowed his brows, then burst out laughing. “You’ve always been one to make the perfect joke. How I’ve missed that.”
My stomach clenched, and I looked at Dad. He knew me better than either of them now.
His amber eyes darkened in disappointment. “She’s not jesting, My King.”
Laughter cut short, Father frowned. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. The illusion will wear off, and you’ve been promised to the dragon prince. So, fated mate or not, you can’t be with him.”
Skin crawling, I inched away from him, putting me closer to Mother. Once upon a time, the three of us had been close, but that wasn’t the case anymore. “Tavish is the only man I want to be with. I won’t marry the dragon prince. Besides, I didn’t make any vow to the flamers.” I had the right to choose who I wanted to marry and be with.
Father took a few steps back from me. He glanced at Dad then Mom. “Did the Unseelie fiend bring the right person back because that can’t be my Lira? She’d know better than to make an asinine statement like that.”
“That’s Lira, Your Majesty.” Dad bowed his head. “She’s lived on Earth longer than Ardanos at this point and may need time to reacclimate to this realm.”
“And you know how good the Unseelie are with their illusions,” Mother added, patting my arm. “I’m sure it’ll wear off the longer she’s away from him.”
I hated how they were all speaking as if I wasn’t present. I’d opened my mouth to tell them they were all wrong when Eiric caught my eye and shook her head faintly. She mouthed, Not now .
A part of me didn’t want to listen to her, but she was good at reading the room and knowing when to push and when to back off. For Tavish, I needed to handle this situation right for us .
Tavish.
Our bond was lukewarm, the way it felt when he was asleep. I wished I could talk to him, Finnian, or Caelan—someone who could update me on everything.
“The guards informed me that there was no way Tavish could survive, so none of this matters.” Father beamed. “The Unseelie will weaken more and never cast our lands into darkness ever again.”
Darkness.
That was what had caused the attack. The former Unseelie king—Tavish’s father—had cloaked the dragons’ land and ours in darkness, like Tavish had his kingdom. But the Seelie and the dragons weren’t meant to live in complete darkness. We required light.
“You do realize that the king and queen who cast the darkness over our lands have died?” As soon as the words were out, I knew Eiric would be scowling at me, but I didn’t regret saying this. “None of the living Unseelie actually harmed us.”
Eiric hung her head, confirming my suspicions. I had a way of running my mouth, but I couldn’t remain silent while he spoke so harshly of my mate’s people. They’d become what they were because of their circumstances.
“The wrongs and rights of the royals pass on to their people.” Father’s forehead was lined with confusion. “Every person in this realm understands this, and you’re the Seelie princess . You shouldn’t be speaking such nonsense.”
“It’s Earth, my king.” Mom pressed her lips together. “They believe in those foolish ideologies she speaks of, and we lost our memories, so we couldn’t make sure she was raised in the proper way of the Seelie.”
Mother sighed and pressed her shaky fingers to her lips. “Maybe the dragons were right to be angry with us. She would’ve been better off staying here.”
A memory flashed through my mind of me as a little girl, begging my parents to allow me to stay. Even though a portion of me had wanted to experience the human world, I hadn’t wanted to forget them or my place in Gleann Solas. They’d been fearful for me ever since Eldrin had injured me while I’d been healing Tavish.
My blood froze.
I’d saved Tavish, not Eldrin. Eldrin had merely taken Tavish from the holding cell, cloaking him in shadows.
The life debt Tavish believed he owed his cousin wasn’t legitimate. Eldrin had used the situation to his own benefit. No wonder he wanted me dead before I regained my memories.
A guard rushed into the room, and his face blanched. I didn’t recognize this guard, but there was something oddly familiar about him… like he might be someone I knew.
“King Erdan and Queen Sylphia, guards near the eastern veil have arrived with two Unseelie fae in their midst. They’re taking them to the prison cells.” The male guard’s rich blue eyes sparkled. “One of them came through the veil on his own, though we aren’t certain how or why.”
My stomach dropped. “It must be Eldrin.”
Dad’s head snapped toward me. “Why do you say that?”
I swallowed, trying not to relive Eldrin’s attack on me in the tub. “He cut me and took some of my blood in a vial.”
“And Tavish allowed that to happen?” Mom asked, lifting her chin. Her dark-brown eyes turned almost onyx, and her fingertips turned red, evidence of her fire magic.
That question was a punch to the gut, though he deserved the censure. “He didn’t know it was happening.” Even as I provided the answer, I knew they wouldn’t believe me.
“Another illusion spell.” Mother shook her head. “It was probably Tavish himself who did it.”
I clenched my hands, wanting to punch something. Everything I said, they refused to believe, making me feel like I was still ten, though I’d been gone for over twelve years.
“It’s time we get some answers.” Father expanded his huge chestnut-brown wings that matched the color of his hair and darted out.
Mother, Mom, and Dad followed, leaving me alone with Eiric.
Eiric flew to the door and shut it then returned to my side. She took my hand, linking her fingers with mine.
That was all it took for the sob that had been caught in my chest to release and the tears to stream down my face. Fae weren’t supposed to show emotions—the belief was that it made us look weak—but I didn’t agree. Emotions also made us strong, and right now, I needed to let my feelings out before I did something more rash and exploded.
“L, what happened with him?” she asked, clearly wanting to hear what I had to say.
I sniffled as I looked her in the eye and whispered, “He kidnapped me, and things were rough for both of us for a while, but then he saved my life while risking his people turning against him. It’s not an illusion. He’s my fated mate.”
“Okay.” Eiric nodded, squeezing my hand tighter.
My breath caught. “You believe me?”
“You may be impulsive, but your intuition is like no one else’s I’ve ever known.” She leaned her head against my shoulder. “If you say he’s your mate, I believe you. That doesn’t make anything easier—in fact, it’s going to make all of this harder—but we’ll figure it out together.”
I smiled, though my chest ached with agony and longing. “Because that’s what sisters do.” I couldn’t fathom Eiric not being here beside me. I loved her so much.
“You might be a princess, and I might be the daughter of the two highest royal guards, but you aren’t getting rid of me.” She lifted her head, narrowing her eyes at me. “You still feel like as much of a sister here in Gleann Solas as you did on Earth, and I know my parents still think of you as their daughter.”
“I’d never want to get rid of you three. You’re my family too.”
I hugged her tightly, thankful she was safe and sound. I’d been so fearful that Eldrin had taken her and I’d never see her again.
Eldrin.
The bastard was here.
Hot rage spread throughout my body, causing my limbs to stiffen. I needed to see the pompous prick now that he was captive here. I didn’t want anyone else to have the privilege of killing him.
Determination flooded me, and I dropped my hands.
“What’s wrong?” Eiric tilted her head.
“If Eldrin is in the holding cell, I need to see him and confirm it with my own eyes.” I flapped my wings, heading toward the wooden double doors.
“As long as we don’t get in the way,” she replied, following me.
Opening the doors, I glanced back at my room. It hadn’t changed at all since I’d left. It looked like a shrine to the child they had given up. The walls were painted pink, and the lanterns danced with blue flames.
It represented a version of myself I barely remembered anymore.
Pushing the nostalgia from my mind, I found my door unguarded. I wasn’t a prisoner here… yet.
We flew down white hallways with flowers of every color growing along the walls. The floral scents soothed some of the anxiety inside me as we took the long hallways to the prison area. Unlike the layout of Tavish’s castle, Seelie prisoners were held at the opposite end of the castle, nowhere near my parents’ room or mine.
When the white walls morphed into the gray stone used for the prison cells, I heard the murmur of voices ahead.
“You’re sure the veil went back up after you brought them in?” Father asked. “We need to ensure they can’t enter and surprise us.”
“We’re sure, Your Majesty,” a male guard responded. “We used some of the reserved dead Unseelie royal blood to recover the break.”
“Then it’s time to wake the nightfiends up,” Father commanded.
The answering chuckles reminded me of the way the Unseelie had sounded when they were preparing to torture me. My skin crawled, but I tried to push past that trauma.
“Let me have the first kick,” a guard said.
My fated-mate connection with Tavish warmed.
Kicking noises began, and the fated-mate bond came to life. Pain flowed from Tavish into me, and a lump formed in my throat.
Tavish? I mind-melded, desperate to know what was happening. You’re alive?
Lira? Tavish replied, the warmth of his hope surging inside me. Stay in your room. I’ll find a way to reach you. Trust me.
“That’s not just an Unseelie.” Mother gasped. “I can feel his power. That has to be the Unseelie king.”
A guard inhaled sharply. “That’s impossible. Brielle said she killed him.”
“Yet here I stand,” Tavish growled. “Here to take back what you stole from me.”
My mouth dried, and my wings moved faster than ever before as I soared down the hallway to reach him.
“Though I’m relieved you’re breathing for the fate of magic, our guard didn’t intend to stab you the way he had. He’d only meant to incapacitate you, but still, you stole my daughter. There is nothing here for you,” Father growled. “Move, everyone. This is personal, and I will handle it on my own.”
“Aw, Tavish. The Seelie king is going to get his hands dirty.” Finnian chuckled, but his voice seemed stilted, betraying his nerves.
Of course they were both here. Now I had to determine a way to get both of them out.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed had my blood boiling. I reached the door and took a sharp right just as Father raised his sword.
Tavish stood with his chin high and back straight until his stormy eyes focused on me.
Father’s gaze was locked on Tavish with hatred glistening in his eyes.
Mom, Dad, Mother, and the guards turned their heads my way. I reached Tavish just as my father jabbed the sword forward, aiming for Tavish’s arm.
No . I refused to let him injure my mate.