17. Tavish
17
TAVISH
M y heart pounded in my ears as I clutched the edge of my seat. Every muscle in my body wanted to charge toward the stadium and get Lira out of this mess. However, with nine fae staring her down and several more that would soon follow, I couldn’t determine a way for her to make it out alive.
This was my doing. I needed her to die … but something inside me couldn’t stand for it to happen and kept demanding I help her.
The gas was receding, which would allow them to surround her. She needed to hold on for mere seconds longer, which I mouthed to her, though she looked at me with disgust.
The sentiment was fair. I was acting the fool, but I couldn’t remain logical when it came to her.
Finnian leaned over to me and whispered, “Time is up. Why isn’t the guard blowing the horn?”
I glanced at the moon, noting its place in the sky. Time was up.
My gaze turned to the guard with the horn, but instead of it being in his mouth as it should have been, he was grinning maliciously.
Then I realized why, and my world halted.
The nine of them had ganged up on Lira. I jumped to my feet, wings ready to fly and save her, but Finnian grasped my arm.
“Get him to blow the horn,” Finnian rasped. “Don’t swoop down there and grab her. That will only make things harder on her in the long run.”
Right. I could encourage the guard to blow the horn.
I allowed the nightmare magic to funnel from me, the thrill of the fear making my blood buzz in a way that used to scare me. I pushed the magic toward the guard, and his eyes widened. His asinine smirk fell. I made sure the illusion I created catered to his worst fears and told him to blow the damn horn. Fortunately, dreams occurred faster than reality.
The guard put the horn to his lips just as Rona strung her arrow and took aim at Lira.
No .
The horn blew, but Rona didn’t falter. She was going to kill Lira despite the time being up.
I flew upward while pushing the cool darkness toward her. The darkness came on quickly, and her twin brother, Bran, shoved her in the side before they disappeared from sight.
The arrow shot from the darkness across the opening and lodged into Lorne’s messed-up leg. Rona must have released it as her brother tackled her, causing it to miss Lira and hit Lorne.
Lorne groaned and crumpled to the ground, and I flapped my wings forward, finally able to move now that Lira was no longer in trouble. I knew I had to make the rules clear so it didn’t seem like I was intervening only for Lira. Thankfully, everyone knew I was a stickler for rules. I had to be to make my people respect me.
“No!” Lira shouted from below, running to Lorne and dropping beside him. She touched right above his injury as she yanked the arrow out of his leg.
My heart hammered. What was she doing? Was she going to kill him?
Yanking back the darkness from the twins, I pushed it toward Lira. If she was breaking the rules, she’d have to experience the same thing as the others.
“Everyone, stop,” I commanded, my voice echoing around the arena. “The horn has sounded, and this round of the game is over. If anyone disobeys that signal, there is only one punishment available …” I paused for dramatic effect. “ Death !”
I tugged the darkness back inside me, allowing all twelve remaining contestants to see once more. I was shocked to see Lira still touching Lorne, the bloody arrow at her side and both hands on his leg. The man watched her but didn’t say a word.
What in the blasted snow was she doing?
I flew down and landed beside her then yanked her away from the man. She stumbled backward but tried to go to him again. Her hands were covered in blood.
“She’s hurting him,” the guard who hadn’t blown the horn cried. “She must die.”
Lira shook her head. “I’m not. He’s hurt, and I’m trying to stop the bleeding. He took an arrow that was meant for me. I need to help him.”
I grabbed her by the waist, yanking her against my chest. The jolt that I felt every time we touched warmed that dark place inside me and made me feel like the boy I used to be … the one I couldn’t be anymore, not after what the Seelie took from me and my people. “Sprite, you need to stop.”
“Someone needs to help him,” she said, trying to lunge from my arms.
I tightened my grip to contain her, and my people stood in silence. A Seelie was trying to save an Unseelie—something none of us had imagined we’d see—but here Lira was, doing just that after all these contestants had wanted to kill her.
How could she be so stupid? The people would use that weakness to exploit her.
None of this would’ve happened if the guard had blown the horn as required. My glare landed on the guard, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
He knew he’d made a grave mistake, and he’d pay for it.
The wildling would die. Tonight. Fortunately, I could hide the real reason for doing it.
He’d put Lira in harm’s way and, worse, knowingly. He couldn’t come back from that, not with me.
“Get someone to help Lorne and make sure that Rona sleeps in solitude tonight.” I had to get Lira out of here before she made things worse for herself. There was only so much I could do to save her.
I should’ve never taken her from Earth.
I stiffened, the errant thought catching me off guard. Of course I should have. I had to save my people, or more would die. There hadn’t been a choice!
Ten guards flew down, ready to take the contestants back. One of them came to me, waiting for me to release Lira. My arms tightened around her like there was no chance I’d let her go.
Her body shook, so I leaned in and whispered, “Don’t cry. You’re safe for now.” I forced myself to release her so she could follow the rest of the prisoners inside. “Don’t harm any prisoners. They need time to rest and heal before the next game … everyone but Rona, for not abiding by the rules of the game.”
Rona tensed, but the guards shoved and pushed the prisoners out.
Lira’s body shook as she gave the arena one final glance.
Death was everywhere, and some who had drowned in the gritty quicksand could be seen, their skin shredded and bloody. Even I had a hard time stomaching this amount of death, but this was the price of not abiding by the rules. Everyone here was guilty of treason. Well, everyone but Lira. She’d just abandoned me when her parents turned against the Unseelie.
As the prisoners were hurried off, I didn’t hesitate. I looked at the guard with the horn, who moved back a few feet at my gaze. His cowardliness caused my blood to boil, making it warmer than I was comfortable feeling. I removed my sword, and a few spectators gasped.
I needed to make a point to each and every one of them.
I twisted my hand, allowing frost to trickle from it, and froze the guard’s wings. His face turned purple as he strained to move them. Eventually, he dropped the twenty-ish feet to the arena floor, surrounded by five prisoners killed by the exploding lava rocks retrieved from the nearest volcano. He toppled onto his back, unable to stand.
When he didn’t explode, I let out a relieved sigh. He needed to die by my hands for his crime against Lira. That hadn’t been his decision to make, and everyone needed to know they weren’t above the laws of their king.
I held out my sword and flew toward him.
“My king, the sunscorched was about to die.” The guard’s lips trembled as he turned his head toward me. “We all deserve to see her blood spill for everything her people have done to us. I never dreamed—”
“What are the two things I hold sacred under my reign?” This wasn’t a trick question. When I took over at the tender age of fourteen, needing to learn how to put grown men in their place to secure my crown, I had made two important rules to ensure we never became like them —the Seelie.
The guard swallowed. “We obey the king’s command or suffer death, and we don’t harm innocents.”
“Two simple rules.” With my left hand, I lifted two fingers. “If someone does you wrong, you’re allowed to be as vicious as you want as long as it doesn’t go against something I specifically commanded. I established the rules of the gauntlet, and you ignored them because you decided you’d rather see something that wasn’t yours to allow.”
I stood over him and lifted my sword so he and all the other Unseelie could see. When I was young and had to discipline or execute someone, I’d been composed, but afterward, I would hurry to my room to fall apart. Then, I’d hardened my heart and learned to soak in the fear of people who knew their time would come to an end at my hand. Now, under Lira’s influence, I merely wanted to kill him so this lesson could end. He’d sealed his own fate.
“My King, I’m—” he started.
I stabbed him in the heart. My blade cut through his skin as easily as when I doused it in the sea to clean it.
His eyes widened, and I held his gaze, wanting my eyes to be the last thing he saw as he faded into the dark—the dark that even I couldn’t access because his magic would leave and return to the land we couldn’t access because of the Seelie .
With how silent the arena had become, a person could assume everyone had left.
But not me.
This was what happened when I made my point. When my people forgot I could be vicious, I had to remind them.
Once he stopped breathing, I placed my foot on the man’s stomach, yanked out my sword, and sheathed it back in place. I wanted my people to see that blood didn’t affect me, though I hated how it dripped onto my pants legs. That was a problem for later.
Standing upright, I took a moment to turn in a slow circle, taking in the entire arena. I wanted my people to feel that I was looking at them even though there wasn’t any possible way for me to see everyone. “If anyone forgets these rules again, I won’t be as kind as dealing a quick death. I hope everyone hears and remembers this.”
Caelan and Finnian stood beside each other and nodded while Eldrin scowled. He wasn’t pleased that I’d interfered and would have rather I’d shown leniency and allowed Lira to die. But we couldn’t be like the Seelie and change our beliefs because it suddenly worked in our favor. The fact that we didn’t change and stood firmly by our moral code would be the very thing that would cause the Seelie to lose against us because we were going to take back our land and theirs.
Without another word, I flew out of the arena, heading toward my bedroom. Even though the guards would learn what had happened, I didn’t trust any of them with Lira. Too many wanted her dead, and I suspected they’d risk their own death to achieve it.
When I flew out the top, I realized I’d allowed the sky to darken to the point where the moon was no longer visible. The darkness coursed out of me and into the sky, reflecting my turmoil. My people could gauge my state of mind and say it’d been darker since Lira’s arrival, a gross understatement.
Two sets of wings flapped faster than the rest, informing me that Finnian and Caelan were catching up to me. They flanked me, and Caelan sighed. “Was that necessary?”
I jerked my head in his direction and arched a brow. “Yes. How dare you ask me that?”
“I fear the rules weren’t the problem and more that a particular woman was almost harmed.” Caelan inhaled deeply. “But please, don’t answer that. I’d rather not know. You do need to realize she won’t make it through the entire trial, and if she does, you’ll be forced to kill her.”
I wanted to flinch but gritted my teeth, fighting the reaction. I worried whether I’d be able to manage that, but I forced the thought away. I didn’t have a choice, so my concerns didn’t matter.
“At least she kept it entertaining.” Finnian laughed loudly to lighten the mood. “She used that sling like she’d done it at least a few times.”
My chest tightened uncomfortably. “She loved playing with the sling her father got her when she was a little girl. She enjoyed helping animals by knocking down their food from trees.” I’d always liked to watch her because she’d always been kind to everything … much like she had been kind to a man who wanted her dead.
“Shall we head to dinner and celebrate the end of the first trial?” Caelan asked.
I didn’t want to. The one thing I desired was the worst thing I could do right at this moment—check on Lira. However, I knew that if I didn’t eat with Eldrin, Finnian, and Caelan, especially after killing a guard, they’d wonder why and ask questions I didn’t want them to entertain. “Of course. I’m starving.”
As the three of us flew toward the dining hall, I tried to think about anything other than the woman who was becoming far more of a complication than I’d ever expected.
Dinner lasted forever, and it didn’t help that Finnian demanded a second plate of food in the spirit of celebration and proceeded to take it to his room, leaving me with Caelan and Eldrin.
Fortunately, Eldrin didn’t voice his discontent with my actions, and we all had a civil conversation about when the next game would happen. It would be in two days to give all the prisoners a chance to recover for a more entertaining match.
Half of me was sickened over that because Lira would be up against others who were back to almost full strength and, therefore, stronger than her. I suspected that was the point.
Finally, I excused myself because Caelan and Eldrin wanted to begin plotting the next game. It had to be more entertaining than the last.
However, I had a plan of my own. I would get clean and check on Lira.
I eagerly flew toward my room and found my personal guards already standing outside.
“What are you doing here?” They should’ve been keeping an eye on Lira in the holding cell. My voice lowered. “You’re—”
“She’s inside,” Finola interjected and lifted a hand. “We didn’t realize you hadn’t authorized her to come here. We can—”
My breath caught, and I shoved between the two, opening my door. “Under whose authority?” Who would dare make a decision of that magnitude for me?
“Mine.” Finnian sat at the table, his second plate of food across from him. “I thought you’d be happy that I retrieved her. It helps that the guards don’t notice me as much as they do you. So you’re welcome.”
Of course it’d be the wildling, but I couldn’t find the anger or annoyance that should’ve been within my grasp. Instead, I relaxed more than I had since the gauntlet had started. He was right—I would’ve retrieved her myself. I didn’t trust anyone else to watch her because no one cared like I did… or, unfortunately, like Finnian. “I didn’t say thank you.” I had to be clear so that he didn’t believe that I owed him a favor.
I scanned the room, not seeing Lira anywhere, though I could smell her unique, alluring scent in the air. “Where is she?”
“In the bath.” He gestured to the closed door. “She needed it. I’d planned on her eating first, but when I saw the state she was in …” He trailed off. “She couldn’t handle it.”
“What do you mean?” I tensed again, ready to destroy whatever was bothering Lira. “What happened?”
“She’s upset that she hurt people.” Finnian shook his head. “She needed to relax.”
For the first time since my childhood, I felt helpless. Violence was how I solved things, but if she was upset with herself, I wasn’t sure what to do with that. “She’s a water Seelie, so the bath should help her.” She’d be able to connect with her element and hopefully regain a sense of calm even if she didn’t understand why .
“I’m hoping so. She’s been in there for a while.” Finnian frowned. “I wanted to check on her, but I didn’t want to—”
I snarled at the thought of him walking in on her naked.
“—upset you.” He snickered. “Apparently, that was a good call.”
I ignored him, stalking to the doorway, and heard a sound that shattered everything inside me.
She was crying.
“You need to go.” I pointed to the door and glared at him.
Unlike usual, he stood and marched to the door, his forehead lined with worry. “Go take care of our girl.”
I gritted my teeth at the word our but he left just as another sob came from the other side of the door.
I knocked on it gently and heard Lira suck in a breath like she was scared.
Something was wrong, so I didn’t ask for permission. I opened the door, and my world fell apart.