Page 64 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
“Shouldn’t you be changing?” Cully asked. “The schedule says it starts in an hour.”
Melizan looked down at her clothes—her plainest tunic and trousers, slightly dirty from maneuvers that morning. Minutes ago, these clothes had seemed fine, but now they were out of the question. She ran to her room.
Tyghan took the sheet of parchment from Eris. “Thank you. I want to make sure I say everything, and include all the right words. I didn’t have time to compose my own.”
“Understandable,” Eris answered.
“Are you coming to the ritual?”
“I’ll stop by as a witness. Don’t forget the contract for them to sign.” He pushed it across his desk.
Tyghan picked it up, noting Eris’s quiet demeanor. “The other night you were telling me how close you and my mother were—that you comforted her. I appreciate that. Thank you. I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish your story.”
Eris’s brow furrowed. “Another time.”
“Were you at her binding ceremony to my father?”
“I performed it. It was a rather hasty affair, and the kingdom counselor was away, so I stepped in.”
“Hasty? Why?”
“Your mother was eager. That’s all.”
Tyghan waved the parchment. “Did you perform it with these words?”
“Yes. Those words.”
Tyghan had never seen Eris so tight-lipped. He studied him for a moment, wanting to prod him a little more, but he didn’t have the time. Still, he stopped at the door of Eris’s study and looked back. The counselor’s gaze was locked on his.
“You saved these words for all these years? Why?”
“Because I spent quite some time composing them. As you’ve already noted, it’s important to get all the words just right.”
CHAPTER 47
This time Bristol caught Willow in the act. She was heading back to her room to change for the wedding when she spotted her hooking a posy of flowers on her door latch. Willow turned and saw her.
Bristol froze, then put her hand out in a stopping motion. She eased closer. “Please, Willow. Don’t disappear. I need to talk to you.”
Willow looked the same as she had that last day in Bowskeep. Her long, tangled hair trailed behind her. She was gaunt, dark circles beneath eyes that were still bloodshot, but this time tears streamed down her face.
“Are you all right?” Bristol asked.
“No!” Willow shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls. “He’s missing! Your father is still missing!”
Bristol’s heart pounded. She wasn’t sure if it was safe to approach Willow. What was she capable of? In Bowskeep, she had always been meek and soft-spoken. Now she sounded angry and disoriented. But Bristol had questions. How was Willow wrapped up with her father? She had to know. She stepped closer. “Why are you always stalking my father? Who is he to you?”
“I saved him. When he was a baby toddling in a meadow, I saved him from a wolf. I snatched him before the beast could.”
Bristol’s lips parted. “You?You were the fairy who took him from the mortal world?”
“Yes. I was the one who found him. I brought him home to keep him safe,” she said in one long, sobbing breath. “He wasmybaby, and they took him from me. It was Reuben’s idea, but then he made me give him to the queen.”
At the mention of Reuben’s name, Bristol could barely think. “What does he have to do with this?”
Tears dripped from Willow’s chin. “Nothing now. He is cruel, that one. He tore my heart out. But even when the baby wasn’t mine anymore, I still watched out for him and the wolves.” She sobbed into her hands.
“My father’s not missing, Willow. And trows didn’t take him. He’s somewhere here in Elphame. He came here on his own to find my mother.”
