Page 46 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
They had only gone a few more steps when they were intercepted by a shout. “Hold up!” It was Tyghan, with Quin and Dalagorn on his heels.
“What now?” Julia whispered as they approached.
Hollis groaned and rubbed her stomach.
“We were about to go eat,” Julia called back.
Tyghan stopped in front of them. “I just wanted to remind you about dinner with Cael tonight in the Winterwood Palace. Formal attire.”
Some low-grade moans were swallowed. Knights, especially brand-spanking-new ones, weren’t supposed to complain.
“One other thing. I’ve spoken with my officers, and we’ve realized that in these past months, you’ve had very little free time.”
Hollis snorted. “As in none?”
“Zzzip,” Avery concurred.
Sashka formed her thumb and finger into a big zero and punched the air with it.
“Unless you count evening festivities,” Julia said, “which we wererequiredto attend.”
Tyghan cleared his throat, eyeing Sashka’s big zero still hanging in the air. “Your point is made and so is mine. From now until the Choosing Ceremony, your afternoons will be free.”
Bristol let out a disbelieving laugh. “Who are you, and what have you done with the real Knight Commander?”
Tyghan’s eyes narrowed, but a grin lifted the corners of his mouth. “I promise you, morning drills will be twice as brutal to make up for it.”
“Whew, what a relief,” Bristol answered. “I’d really miss that full array of cuts and bruises.”
“Then you have nothing to be worried about.”
“And this starts today?” Julia asked.
“Right now,” Tyghan confirmed. “And another matter—”
“Oh, here it comes,” Bristol moaned. “The other shoe.”
“Being a full-fledged knight comes with a salary.” He nodded to Dalagorn, who pulled six small pouches from his vest, handing one to each of them.
“You’ll find gold and silver coins inside. Don’t spend them all in one place. It will be a month before you get another.”
They all quickly calculated the days until the Choosing Ceremony and made a unanimous decision. “We’ll spend it all today,” Julia said.
“Now, quick,” Bristol said, glancing over her shoulder, “let’s all get out of here before the real Knight Commander shows up. But you,” she said, grabbing Tyghan by his weapons belt and yanking him closer, “you I’d like to catch up with later.”
Tyghan leaned over and kissed her. “You can count on it, soldier.”
CHAPTER 35
The teapots trembled, and their lids rattled with unease. They knew something was brewing and it wasn’t tea.
“Quiet!” Camille ordered. Her nerves were already on edge without the porcelain pots adding to her distress. “Let us think! When did those wretched things become sentient?”
“Last century, I think,” Izzy replied, “probably from spending too many decades crowded between four brilliant witches as they drank tea and discussed kingdom woes.”
“Not so brilliant, or we wouldn’t be in this pickle,” Adela commented.
The lids settled at Camille’s harsh order, but the spouts huffed out two last puffs of steam.
