CHAPTER 54 #2
Sweat was broken that time. Hollis suffered a bruised chin, but she was valiant, protecting Bristol’s back with her life.
When they landed in the valley again, Tyghan nodded. “Better than I expected.”
“Why do you always have such low expectations of us?” Sashka asked.
“Just the opposite, Sashka,” he replied. “I have the very highest expectations. When you exceed them, I am happily surprised.”
The squad glowed. The Knight Commander did not offer empty praise. If he said it, he meant it. They were ready.
“And now,” Tyghan said, taking Bristol’s hand, “I need to show you the coordinates on this end.” These were the places the garrison portals would open, sending thousands of knights to defend Elphame.
The opening of the portals would happen at the last possible moment, so no one and nothing could stumble through it, alerting Fomoria that something was amiss.
It also required extra concentration on Bristol’s part, riding high above the valley to set the coordinates in her mind’s eye.
She used rock ledges, stands of oak, and ravines along the valley rim to mark coordinates high above them.
From there, the knights would swarm from the skies to subdue Fomoria.
She closed her eyes for moment, sealing the places into her memory, her heart fluttering.
It was sinking in. She wasn’t going to war only against Fomoria but against her mother too.
“Isn’t she a beauty?’ Bristol said when they returned to the stables. She scratched Zandra’s soft muzzle, and the horse flicked her tail in appreciation.
“I thought you two would be a good match,” Tyghan replied, handing off August’s reins to a stable hand. “Where were you this morning?” he asked as they walked out of the barn. “My meeting ended early, and my punishment of Ivy was brief, so I was back before—”
“Punishment? You didn’t—”
“No,” Tyghan answered regretfully. “Instead, I thanked her and gave her the afternoon off, but I had a few choice words stored in my head.”
“So the wedding swayed you?”
He sighed. “I’ve never seen Melizan smiling for a full minute, much less a whole evening. And I danced with almost all of Cosette’s relatives. Even the wet ones. They were actually all . . .” He shrugged. “Pleasant. They might even turn out to be helpful allies.”
Bristol’s brows pulled together. “Oh, what a disappointment that must have been.”
His arms circled around her. “There’s nothing I hate more than admitting I’m wrong.”
“Obviously. You do it so rarely.”
Tyghan scowled and scooped her up, carrying her toward the water trough. “Is that so?”
She screamed and laughed, trying to wriggle free as he held her over it. “Don’t you dare!” she ordered.
He spun around and set her down on the ground again. “See? I’m very compliant.” He kissed her, his mouth hungry, but quickly, a frustrated rumble grew in his chest, and he pulled away. “Unfortunately, the rest will have to wait for later.”
“Another meeting?”
He nodded. “And I’m late.” He told her briefly about the docket and the special assignment he gave Kasta.
The last days before the Choosing Ceremony were packed with endless details, and new ones kept cropping up.
“But I’ll walk with you as far as the rotunda.
” They took off in brisk strides. “Whatever you did this morning, I hope it at least included a leisurely breakfast.”
“Not exactly,” she said, “I had an encounter with Willow yesterday, so this morning I went to ask Reuben about her.”
Tyghan’s long strides came to an abrupt halt. “Willow was here? You saw her and didn’t mention it?”
Bristol looped her arm through his and kept walking, pulling him along. “When? I found her outside my room right before the wedding. Was I supposed to tell you as you performed the wedding ritual? And then this morning, you left so early, I was barely coherent.”
“What did she want?”
“She was leaving flowers on my door, and when I intercepted her, she became agitated and said that she couldn’t find my father anywhere.
I guess she’s been looking for him ever since he disappeared from Bowskeep.
She mentioned Reuben, and after that, she disappeared. I saw her for less than a minute.”
“What does Reuben have to do with Willow?”
She could hear the ire rising in Tyghan’s voice, like he was ready to tear every bit of information out of Reuben himself. Fae, even the good ones, didn’t like secrets.
“Nothing anymore, but years ago, Reuben and Willow had an affair. Who would’ve guessed?”
Tyghan was shocked silent for a moment. “Reuben? Are you certain you heard right?”
“Willow implied it, and he confirmed it. I never would have guessed that he had a secret like that. He told me he hadn’t seen her in decades.”
“I still don’t understand why Willow is obsessed with your father.”
Bristol hesitated. “She still worries about him because she was the fairy who stole him from the mortal world.”
She was glad that Tyghan was in a rush. He mumbled a few disbelieving words but didn’t belabor the subject, only asking her to stay away from Willow.
“She sounds unstable and possibly dangerous.” Bristol couldn’t disagree, remembering how easily Willow had flung her down her hallway.
Though it had seemed more like a frightened response than a deliberate action.
How different she had been from the quiet, quirky woman who wandered the streets of Bowskeep.
She touched his arm as he turned to leave.
“Tyghan—” She hesitated. “I know my father isn’t a subject that you like to talk about, but I can’t help worrying about him now.
Willow’s distress worries me. What if she knows something?
What if he’s been captured by Kormick—or worse?
He was so adamant about finding my mother. ”
She noted the momentary clenching of his jaw. Yes, a subject he hated. But then he put his hands on her shoulders. “Stop. I don’t want you to worry about your father. Understand? I’m certain he’s safe.”
Her heart sped. “You know something?”
He quickly put the brakes on her hope. “No. I don’t know anything. But I do know your father isn’t stupid enough to walk straight into Kormick’s hands.”
“Not stupid, but maybe desperate enough. He’s done desperate things before.”
He stared at her, a storm rising in his eyes. They never talked about what her father had done to him after their last bitter argument. All of their words had been so vicious, all of them right, and all of them wrong. It remained a dilemma with no sure answer except to avoid thinking about.
“He won’t do anything desperate this time,” he answered, his voice barely a whisper.
She slid into his arms, her cheek pressed to his shoulder. “Thank you. Thank you for believing in him, at least in some small way. I know it’s not easy for you. Even if it may not be true, I needed to hear it, that someone else thinks he’s safe too.”
“We’ll talk more later,” he said, then kissed her and left.