Page 44 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
Scales.
She worked to steady her voice. “Have you felt them?”
“Yes,” Tyghan whispered, the single syllable apologetic, like he was invading some deep personal moment. “They feel soft like your skin now, but the ridges are growing more pronounced.”
Ridges. Every word stole a piece of her, leaving her numb. She forced in another breath.
Hubris, she thought,fucking hubris, to think she could face this without the world tilting beneath her feet. She stared for a long while at the scales trailing down her back like tears, trying to imagine them as something else. Anything else. A rash. Even an illusion. She flexed her shoulder blades, and the marks shimmered in the light, moving together like armor. Her stomach tumbled again. This much had surfaced just by pricking the tick. Once it was removed entirely—
“What will I become?” she asked, her voice flat, like it belonged to someone else. “A fish? A mermaid? Something halfway between?”
“I don’t know.”
His voice broke something inside her, something that was still trying to be strong, and her thoughts went into freefall. What if the changes weren’t only on the outside? What if—
“Will I remember who I was?” And then another thought before he could answer. “Will I remember you, Tyghan? Will I remember that I love you?”
His hands fell to his sides, the waterfall rushing once more, the image of scales vanishing, and he turned her around to face him. His expression was as determined and desperate as when he had faced down Braegor in the maze. “Yes,” he answered, “yes, you will,” and he pulled her into his arms, whispering against her temple. “And if you don’t remember me, I will dance with you in the moon shadows every night for the rest of my days, until you fall in love with me again.”
CHAPTER 34
It was a sight to see, and it never ceased to inspire and sober Tyghan. He stilled, like a stalled wind changing course, taking in the rolling terrain of Badbe Garrison and the thousands of knights moving in unison. The low, haunting bellow of the carnyx carried for miles, vibrating through flesh and bone. The rumble of the six-foot trumpets sounded like the warning of a fearsome beast approaching. The beast that was the Danu army. The faster notes were just as mysterious and menacing, messages that couldn’t be deciphered by the enemy but guided the troops. Tyghan watched Quin and other officers on the rise just below him stop at the sounds that could hollow out a heart.
The regiments moved in mesmerizing precision, their steps like an ancient dance, no matter the weapons or magics they bore. Shields interlocked in unison, spears lifted, swords poised, and arrows nocked on bowstrings. Mounted lancers, swordsmen, and archers streamed into the air above them like hawks set on prey. Summoners poised to call on their kinships with fire, water, and wind. There were no wasted moves, and heeding the trumpets’ call, they pivoted in perfected harmony. North. South. East. West. The synchronized heft of their movement thumped in the air like a hand on a drum.
It made Tyghan’s chest ache in a way it never had before. No matter how perfect and prepared they were, some would still die.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Kasta said, coming to stand beside him. “It’s a sight I’ll never tire of.” She drew in a deep, satisfied breath. “I knew from the first time I saw these maneuvers, I was meant to be a knight.” She nudged Tyghan’s shoulder with her own. “You too, right?”
Tyghan nodded, but his attention had returned to Bristol, wondering what she thought. She’d been hard to read ever since they got back to her room last night. Or maybe her manner just surprised him. She seemed calm. Too calm. The first thing she had done was sit down and write a letter to her sisters. Her expression changed as she wrote it, her lips pursing in concentration, her brows rising as she reread it, crossing something out and adding something else, then a crease between her brows before she called for a servant to deliver it to Eris in the middle of the night.Urgent?he had asked.No, just an update, she answered. After they went to bed to get a few precious hours of sleep, she curled into his arms.Do you want to talk?he had whispered. She only said,I’m all right. Let’s sleep.
He thought maybe she just needed time to absorb what she saw, but in the morning, as they dressed, she still didn’t speak about it, like she had completely accepted the idea—or was completely avoiding it. Should he have told her sooner? Or had he made a mistake by telling her at all?Are you all right?he asked, too many times, until she finally forbid him from asking again. And then she produced another letter she had written during the night and gave it to the hob who delivered their breakfast trays. It was a message for the Lumessa. The scales hadn’t deterred her: She still wanted the tick removed as soon as possible.
That morning, when he stepped forward to address the waiting troops, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the crest with him. With only two weeks until the ceremony, he wanted to be sure everyone saw her at his side. When he proclaimed the strength of the Danu army, he lifted Bristol’s hand with his, holding it aloft, shouting the accolades of the gods. With the delivery of Glennis’s head on the palace steps, Bristol’s parentage was now a matter of record, and he wanted to present a unified and powerful image to the troops to dispel any lingering doubts about her loyalties—especially after Cully’s remarks the night before. There was no room for doubt. She was not Maire or Kierus. The troops had responded with thunderous cheers.
Bristol now stood on the rise just below him, along with her squad, being instructed on the complexities of the horns’ messages. While technically they wouldn’t be part of the regiments, they still had to know who was where and who was approaching, so they could respond accordingly. Assuming all this came down to the worst-case scenario of a battle, instead of the best-case scenario—with the Abyss permanently closed and Kormick forfeiting his claim. That was probably as likely as Tyghan sprouting a tail.
Kasta’s next words sent his thoughts barreling in a different direction. “I saw Melizan and Cosette this morning before maneuvers, whispering plans. What’s the rush with this wedding, now of all times? I’m surprised you agreed to it.”
He wiped a line of sweat from his hairline, not wanting to get into it with Kasta. They’d been more at odds these past few weeks than they had ever been before. It was the tension, he told himself. Everyone had been pushed too hard for too long. “It’s only a fifteen-minute ceremony,” he answered, “and it will make my sister happy.”
She snorted. “Fifteen minutes.” A long pause followed, her mouth twisting like she was trying to swallow rotten meat. “Okay. Good enough.”
The dripping disapproval in those few words snapped something in him. He shook his head, fighting with his thoughts, but they spilled out anyway. “We’re ready, Kasta. We’ve been training nonstop for months. We’re as ready as we will ever be. We can’t just prepare to fight. Sometimes we have to prepare to live too. We have to remember what we’re fightingandliving for.”
Her gaze darted sideways at him, like it had been a personal admonishment. “Just so you know, I still have dreams, Tygh,” she finally said. “I’ve just learned to put them on hold. Priorities, remember?” She set off down the hill to the officers gathered below, his reply abandoned on his tongue.
Maybe you shouldn’t put them on hold.
Maneuvers ended at noon. Bristol’s squad gathered their gear, including their new swords, all of them walking just a little bit taller as they headed for the garrison pavilion to eat before returning for afternoon assignments. When they noticed Hollis lagging behind, talking with Quin, they slowed.
“Should we wait for her?” Rose asked.
Avery set her gear down, the alert crown of leaves and twigs on her head settling in for rest too. “Wars are won on full stomachs, or something like that. We should wait.”
“Agree,” Julia said. “And Hollis has more the appetite of a lion than a mouse. She’ll be along soon, I’m sure.”
Bristol set her gear down too. “But she also has an appetite for Quin. I think he wins over her stomach.”
