Page 15 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
Tyghan shrugged. “We have a few minutes to kill. Why not?”
“And a last meal? Is that coming too?”
“It can be arranged if that’s what you want.”
Kierus swallowed, then shook his head. “A drink is enough.”
Tyghan sat down opposite him and pulled the stopper from the whiskey. He filled both shots. “This used to be your favorite.”
Kierus lifted his glass and sipped, a low, approving rumble rolling from his chest. “They don’t make whiskey like this in the mortal world.”
“If I’d had your address, I would have sent you some.”
Kierus smiled. “I’m sure you would have. Next time.”
Tyghan didn’t reply, the charade of friendship already wearing on him. This wasn’t a game he wanted to play, and yet he didn’t want to move forward either. He wanted something he couldn’t have, something that didn’t exist anymore. “Who helped you get a note to Bristol inside the palace?” he finally asked.
“Come on, brother, you know I can’t tell you that.”
“Even if they’re a traitor to the Crown?”
Kierus’s dark eyes drilled into him, scrutinizing, superior. Older. “Is that all you are now, Tyghan? A crown? Aren’t you a man anymore?”
Tyghan ignored the taunt. “A knight’s oath used to mean something to you.”
“A friend’s oath. That’s what you mean. Isn’t that what this is all about?”
The ache that had plagued him all these months swelled, tearing at his insides, but instead of the pent-up words he had planned, he only poured more whiskey for them both. Carefully. He worked hard to keep his hand steady, to not spill a drop, in spite of the tremor shaking beneath his ribs. Kierus had over twenty years to get past his betrayal. For Tyghan it had only been a few months. His wound was still fresh.
Kierus leaned forward, his hands protectively cupping the shot glass, and a flood of words poured out. “I know what I did was wrong. Is that what you want to hear from me? That I know? But what ifeverychoice I had was wrong? That day . . . it haunted me. I relived it over and over, trying to think of all the ways I could have done something different. Things I could have said, done. Begged harder? Begged more? But I knew you, Tygh. I knew you too well. I used to finish your sentences, and you mine. You know that’s true. And that day—” He shook his head, as though the memory was fresh and alive in his head. Like it was making something inside him tear in half too. “That day, I looked into your eyes. The resolve, I saw it. It was already done in your mind. I saw the knight inme, insideyou. I knew what you had to do, the oath you had to honor. I didn’t know how I was going to stop you, and I only had a split second to decide.”
“You decided wrong.”
Kierus leaned back, his eyes darkening. “Really?” he said, his superior air returning. He wasn’t ready to back down from his choices. “I’ve had a life now, Tygh. The life I always wanted. My art. A woman I loved and who loved me. Three beautiful daughters. What about them? What aboutBristol? Do you think she’s a mistake?”
Tyghan’s fist tightened. He would not discuss Bristol with him. “Any thief can sow a field of wheat. That doesn’t pardon him from what he stole.”
“What haveyoustolen? Her trust? She thinks you love her. Or are you only using her to get at me?”
Tyghan shook his head. “I won’t discuss Bristol.”
Kierus’s chains rattled as he strained against them, his fist pounding the table. “She’s my daughter, dammit! I have a right to know!”
“You abandoned her. Don’t talk to me about rights. This is not about me and Bristol. It’s about you and what you did!”
“Who made me the Butcher of Celwyth? Your brother? Sloan? You? All the knights who lifted me up on their shoulders? Praising my kills. I was the amusing mortal who exceeded everyone’s expectations. As long as I was doing these things for you, I was your hero.”
That much was true. He had been the charming hero, quick of tongue, who delivered his lethal blows with finesse. His fellow knights brought back stories of his exploits.
Tyghan shrugged. “All knights do their share of killing to defend the kingdom. You weren’t special in that regard.”
“But what if I never wanted to be that person at all? What if I wanted to be something else? Someone else. That’s all I wanted. A second chance. That’s what Maire wanted too.”
“And you got it. You’ve had twenty-three more years than you deserved. Your time is up on that second chance.”
“So I’m going to die.”
“No, Kierus . . . you’re not.”
