CHAPTER 47
This time Bristol caught Willow in the act. She was heading back to her room to change for the wedding when she spotted her hooking a posy of flowers on her door latch. Willow turned and saw her.
Bristol froze, then put her hand out in a stopping motion. She eased closer. “Please, Willow. Don’t disappear. I need to talk to you.”
Willow looked the same as she had that last day in Bowskeep. Her long, tangled hair trailed behind her. She was gaunt, dark circles beneath eyes that were still bloodshot, but this time tears streamed down her face.
“Are you all right?” Bristol asked.
“No!” Willow shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls. “He’s missing! Your father is still missing!”
Bristol’s heart pounded. She wasn’t sure if it was safe to approach Willow.
What was she capable of? In Bowskeep, she had always been meek and soft-spoken.
Now she sounded angry and disoriented. But Bristol had questions.
How was Willow wrapped up with her father?
She had to know. She stepped closer. “Why are you always stalking my father? Who is he to you?”
“I saved him. When he was a baby toddling in a meadow, I saved him from a wolf. I snatched him before the beast could.”
Bristol’s lips parted. “You? You were the fairy who took him from the mortal world?”
“Yes. I was the one who found him. I brought him home to keep him safe,” she said in one long, sobbing breath. “He was my baby, and they took him from me. It was Reuben’s idea, but then he made me give him to the queen.”
At the mention of Reuben’s name, Bristol could barely think. “What does he have to do with this?”
Tears dripped from Willow’s chin. “Nothing now. He is cruel, that one. He tore my heart out. But even when the baby wasn’t mine anymore, I still watched out for him and the wolves.” She sobbed into her hands.
“My father’s not missing, Willow. And trows didn’t take him. He’s somewhere here in Elphame. He came here on his own to find my mother.”
Willow shook her head, her expression changing. Her tone went from tearful to angry. “You’re wrong. If I can’t find him, he isn’t here. He’s nowhere. Nowhere.”
Bristol hesitated, afraid to ask. “Are you saying you think he’s dead?”
“No one dies here in Elphame. They just change.”
And that was what Willow began to do. Change. The edges around her softened, dissolving like they had the last time she made a quick departure.
“No!” Bristol said. She still had questions, and reached out to stop her, wrapping her hand around Willow’s bony wrist. A bright light flashed from Willow’s arm, and Bristol flew back through the air, slamming to the floor and sliding down the hallway, catching a brief glimpse of Willow before she vanished again.
Bristol lay there, stunned, her shoulder aching, but as soon as her head cleared, she had one thought: Reuben. He would be at the wedding. This conversation wasn’t over.
Before she could get to her feet, footsteps pounded in the hallway, and hands slipped beneath her arms, lifting her. “What happened?”
It was Cael.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she got her footing.
“I came to escort you to the wedding.”
“Like that?” she said, noting he wasn’t in disguise.
“I shed my glamour when I ran to you. Are you all right?” he asked, one hand rubbing her shoulder like she was injured.
She nudged him away. “I’m fine. Just a little tumble. You can go on to the wedding without me. I still need to change.”
He grabbed her hand, stroking it with his thumb. “I could help you?” he said. “If you’d like help, that is.” He glanced at her chamber door. “I could come inside with you and—”
She yanked her hand away. “Are you hitting on me?”
“Hitting? No, of course not!” he said with offense. “I would never raise a hand to you! I’m just trying to prove to you I am not the demanding pain in the ass that you once called me. I’m trying to show you I can be helpful too. I can be pleasant, if you give me the chance.”
She eyed him carefully, wondering if she had overreacted again. Was he as clueless as he appeared, or was it an act? If it was an act, he was nailing it.
“My mistake,” she finally said. “I will see you at the wedding, Cael. Goodbye.” She went into her room to change, and bolted the door behind her.