CHAPTER 67
For once, everything on Eris’s desk seemed to be in order. No messages to send, no meetings to call to order, no fires to stamp out. The trivialities had ceased to matter in these last days, so he had no squabbles to settle. Not even his own.
He and Dahlia mostly avoided each other, and that freed up time too.
Evenings were spent at his desk now, instead of with her.
She only seemed to grow angrier at his decision, digging in her heels that everything about their relationship had been just fine—that he was the one who had broken something that didn’t need fixing.
She hadn’t actually said anything of consequence to him since he gathered his things from her room, but he knew all her ways, her silences, her glances, even the soft beat of her heart. But she didn’t know his.
He shuffled through a few parchments that needed to be filed into the archives, but they weren’t urgent. There was no rush—
There was a brief knock, and his door flew open. Tyghan walked in, disheveled, both in grooming and spirit. He was breathless, his hair uncombed. “Busy?” he asked.
“No. I—”
“Good. Was your offer in jest? I need a First Officer.”
Eris studied Tyghan. Clearly something had transpired since they talked earlier. “I never make offers I can’t deliver on. What happened?”
“Something else came up. Kasta is on limited duty until she can communicate all her responsibilities to you.”
“And after that?”
“She’ll be dismissed.”
Eris nodded, wondering what further offense Kasta had committed. Dismissal was at least better than the punishment that the council would inflict. “What about Melizan or Sloan stepping in?”
“They’re both leading critical regiments.
Quin and Dalagorn too. I think you’re the only one who can pull together all the duties Kasta handled.
I’ve already set up a meeting between you and Commander Maddox at the garrison.
Right now, in fact. She’s waiting. She’ll help outfit you—unless this is something that—”
“I’ll do it.” Old feelings came to life in Eris, like no time had passed since he last commanded troops at the Elphame court all those years ago.
“Good. I’ll let her know.”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
Tyghan looked at him, perplexed. “I’ve always believed in you. If you say you can do it, you can. You always have. You found Bristol for us at the eleventh hour. Come down to the garrison as soon as you can.” He turned to leave, but Eris called out to him.
“Tyghan, if you have just a moment, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Tyghan froze, his back to Eris. He knew what Eris was about to say. He heard it in his tone. His heart pounded. Afraid to believe it. Afraid not to.
“It’s something I’ve put off for too long.”
Tyghan gripped the latch, still facing the door. “I know,” he said, and turned. Eris’s eyes were locked on his. “I know you’re my father.”
Eris looked like he’d been punched in the gut. His mouth fell open, a question hanging in it that he couldn’t even utter.
“I’ve suspected for a long time. Probably first when I was a child and my parents were gone and I didn’t want to be alone—”
“You were never alone.”
“I know. Even then I noticed you were always there for me. For everything. But you never said anything, so I assumed I was wrong. And you always talked so highly of my father too. Like you revered him.”
“I did revere him. He was a good and respected man—and I wasn’t. And he was raising my son with love and devotion.” Eris swallowed, his expression stricken, and he motioned to the chairs by his desk. “Please. I know we need to go, but I’ll make this quick.”
Even though Commander Maddox was waiting for them, Tyghan nodded, and they sat down opposite each other.
Eris told the story he began a week ago on the rooftop, but this time he shared details he had held back before.
Everything he had wanted to say poured out, including the first time he held Tyghan, just hours after his birth.
“I loved you the first time I held you in my arms, and when you opened your eyes and peered at me, I thought I was going to die with joy and grief because I wanted to tell the world I had a son, but I couldn’t.
In the years that followed, I ached to tell you, but it wasn’t my place.
Your mother had been through so much, and she was finally happy again, and Lord Jannison was a good man who adored you. ”
“What about my mother . . . Did you love her?” Tyghan asked.
Eris’s composure faltered. “I—”
“Did you love her? Not as a queen but the way a man loves a woman.”
The question swelled in Eris’s chest. His chin finally dipped once in affirmation. “It was a brief affair. We were only together for a few months, but it seemed like a lifetime. Yes, I loved her very much.”
“I always thought so,” Tyghan said. “Whenever you mentioned her, there was something different about you. You never said her name in haste. Caroline. You’d bite the corner of your lip and pause like you were remembering some tender detail about her.”
“I remember many things about her, things she told only me, and I’ll share them with you one day when we have more time. Commander Maddox is waiting.”
They both rose from their chairs, but then Tyghan paused, facing the man who had been there for Danu and for him for twenty-six years. “I just want you to know, you’re wrong, Eris. You are a good and respected man.”
Dahlia swept into Ivy’s office. “Eris isn’t in his study. I have an important matter to discuss with him. Where is he?”
Ivy hesitated, aware something was going on between the counselor and the High Witch. Something as prickly as a pine cone.
“Ivy!” the High Witch snapped.
Ivy swallowed. “It’s a delicate matter.”
“And I am the senior-most member of the council, just below the king. I expect an answer, now.”
“He left an hour ago. He was on his way to the garrison to meet with Commander Maddox and to get outfitted for the ceremony.”
Dahlia was flummoxed. Outfitted? What else did he need besides his formal robes? And what could Commander Maddox have to do with it? She hovered over Ivy’s desk. “Outfitted for what?”
Ivy’s wings fluttered nervously. “No one is supposed to know yet, but . . . he is the king’s new First Officer.”