Page 95 of Why Broken Wings Fray

My body ached, splitting itself into two. The side of me that would never allow harm to come to Raegan, that would threaten all that dared to suggest it. Then there was the side that felt pity for Tadgh, who would have felt the same way if my parents had been killed, inadvertently, at Raegan’s hand.

“He is not a bad king,” I said.

Tadgh’s smile was small. “You might be the only being in all of Saoghal who believes that.” I stared at him for a long while, the two of us sinking into that truth. “But I was inclined to believe it, too. What he did with Choilltean and Cluaineach, how do the others not see it? It was the lesser of two evils.”

There was a strange sort of relief at hearing someone not drag Raegan’s name through the mud.

“But my mother is dead.”

“I know. I am sorry. Truly, I did not know. I did not know any of this would happen.”

“I believe you,” he whispered, moving even closer to the bars until I was sure we shared the same air. “But it changes nothing.”

“I know that, too.”

“So don’t let me out.”

I shook my head several times, unsure of what to say in response. How twisted had the ways of Saoghal become that Princes begged to be locked up before they had to take to their thrones? Would Raegan have begged another, just as Tadgh did now, if it meant he could have avoided taking Choilltean and Cluaineach?

I knew the answer was yes. That’s why I let pity alter my decision.

“Why did you come, Olivia?” Tadgh asked, his head cocked to the side.

“Well… Because…” I trailed off, my brows pressed tight as I contemplated that. “Because it—”

His smile was small and knowing as he nodded. “Because it is who you are.”

My eyes were overly round as I stared at him.

“Why? Why are you so… kind?”

Swallowing, I at last had some sort of parting wisdom for the Prince of Uisge. “I am kind because the world has tried to make me cruel.”

A small collection of moisture in his eye, Tadgh smiled at me. His mouth opened, some horror likely on the end of it, only for him to be silenced by an echoing voice down the length of the dungeon.

“Olivia?”

Liam.

I glanced back at Tadgh, nervous and panicked, only to see him smiling at me. He leaned closer, his lips nearly touching the bars. “Thank you, dearest human, for your kindness.”

And then he retreated back into his cell, finding himself a comfortable position on the chair within that he sat down in and turned away from me, as if we had not spoken a word to one another.

“What are you doing down here?” Liam called, his voice too familiar and too innocent that I lost the ability to lie. My mind raked through thought after thought, trying my best to come up with something to say, even if it wasn’t completely believable.

“I was… Looking for Killian,” I spat out, too quickly and too nervously, as I finally looked away from Tadgh and glanced down the length of the dungeons. Liam, illuminated by a swarm of fireflies that had offered their assistance and followed him into the damp place, continued towards me.

“Killian? You thought he would be down here?”

Stop asking questions.

“Well he dropped me off in my room and then left, I couldn’t think of where else he would be but guarding the Prince of Uisge.”

Liam flinched at mention of Tadgh, nodding slowly. “Though I suppose he is the Heir of Uisge, now.”

It was my turn to flinch, nodding slowly as I tried to let that thought pass. “What are you doing down here?”

He looked humoured as a smile crept through, before he motioned to his body. “I am a member of the ceadan, if you have forgotten?”