Page 20 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
“No!” Bristol yelled, realizing her intent. “Let go!” She had read accounts of what happened to mortals who went back through a portal to their own world without a timemark. They could lose years, decades, or even centuries. One man even turned to dust the minute his feet touched back on mortal ground. She struggled fiercely against her mother’s grip, digging her boots into the sand, twisting her arm until she broke free, just inches from the portal opening. She scrambled back, her heart hammering. “What’s the matter with you?” she screamed. “I’m not fully fae! I’m half mortal! If I go through that wall, I could end up decades or centuries away from Harper and Cat.”
Her mother’s mouth fell open. “You don’t have a timemark?”
“Not here!” Bristol shouted. “They gave me one, but it’s back at the palace. It—”
It’s back at the palace.
A thought uncoiled beneath her ribs, dark and cunning.
“They’re keeping it there. They’ll only give it back to me once I fulfill my end of our bargain.”
“You made a bargain?” Maire shook her head and growled. “Never make deals with the lower gods! What did you promise them?”
“To help them protect Danu. They thought I might have your powers. Unfortunately, they’ve discovered that I don’t, so now I must give them something else of value.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Right now, it’s basic servitude, but they want something important, something big and worthy of their help. Something like . . .” Bristol shrugged. “Maybe something like Cael—”
Maire instantly balked. “No,” she answered. “Kormick is using him to keep Danu in line. They are prideful and arrogant and refuse to acknowledge his right to reign.”
“Hisright? Isn’t it the Stone of Destiny that chooses the rightful heir to the throne?”
“The Stone will choose Kormick.”
Because he was forcing that decision through threat, but that was a different argument.
“You already said that Kormick never comes here,” Bristol said instead. “He wouldn’t even know if you gave Cael to me. And together, you already lead an unbeatable army. What difference does Cael really make to him?”
Maire’s brow knotted. “Because after Fomoria, Danu is the most powerful kingdom in Elphame, and the other kingdoms follow their lead. Without Danu’s compliance, it will be a far messier transition. Kormick prefers for his coronation to go down in history as a grand celebration, not as a bloody massacre. What good is becoming king if all your subjects die in the process?”
“Danu doesn’t want a massacre either, Mother. Yes they are prideful and arrogant—what kingdom isn’t? But they’re not fools. They know they have no chance against Fomoria’s army of the dead. Kormick has made that clear to them. Don’t you think they’d be attacking Fomoria right now if they thought they could win? They only want their king returned, a small token of pride tossed back to them. And if I was the one who gave them that, I’m certain they’d give me my timemark—and more. I could leave. I could take Father and go back to Cat and Harper.Home.”
Maire’s face lost all expression, like she was doubling down on her final decision. “No,” she said quietly. “Cael is one of those kings who ignored my screams. His carriage slowed when I cried out, but then he continued on because rescuing a filthy peasant girl was too much bother.” Her lashes fluttered. “Cael’s also the one who shamed your father in the middle of the throne room for wanting to return to his art. If not for Cael, both of our lives would have turned out differently. That man deserves a worse end than this. He will get that worse end.”
A worse end like her uncles? She and Kormick never intended to let him go. Was that the only goal that consumed her now? To make everyone in Elphame pay, including those who got in her way, like Glennis? Like Cully, who she regretted not killing? Her scarves and loom were forgotten. Had her hunger for revenge erased her family too? She had already given Bristol two firm nos, but there had been a slight tremor, a sign that she was more than cold stone inside. A sign that Kormick couldn’t steal every last piece of Leanna Keats. She studied her mother, trying to find some way to reach her. Trying to find—
Slow down, Brije, watch, listen. Her father’s long-ago advice crept into her head.In order to win over a crowd, you have to watch them, understand them. Search their eyes. Every one of them has dreams. Speak to their dreams, and you will win them over.
Somewhere buried deep inside, her mother still had dreams, even if they were hidden beneath mountains of blood and hate and gold-tipped horns. Even if she had traded them away for revenge, and a false sense of safety and power. Those dreams still lurked somewhere. Kormick had made the ultimate sale. Bristol had to best him. She had to make the best sale of her life.
“You’re right, Mother, he does deserve worse, but is his worse end more important to you than your family? More important than me getting back home to Harper and Cat? Is Cael really worth that? Doesn’t Kormick allow you to make any decisions? Wouldn’t this be a good one? Let’s talk. Give me something, and I will give you something back.”
CHAPTER 15
There!” Rose shouted. “She’s coming!”
The others strained to see where Rose pointed, their vision not as sharp as her hawkish gaze, but a few seconds later, Bristol came into view for them too. They heaved a collective sigh.
“Thank the gods,” Hollis said, but then angled her head, puzzled. “Why is she riding so slowly?”
“Should we ride to meet her?” Avery asked, even though they had been ordered not to cross the border.
Julia urged her horse a few paces forward, puzzled by Bristol’s slow pace too. Her palm curled around the hilt of her sword. Her insides hummed, ready to shape-shift.
“What’s that behind her?” Sashka asked.
Bristol was cast in shadow by the surrounding trees, and they all squinted, trying to make out the dark blur.
