Page 74 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
Quin hissed. “Miserable tick.”
Only unstable magic. It was what Tyghan wanted to believe, but the worry he had seen in Jasmine’s eyes continued to circle his mind. Worry for what?
“All done here?” Dalagorn said. “Horses need grazing.”
What he meant was that he was hungry, and they returned to the valley floor to await Bristol’s squad—and so Dalagorn could quiet his ogre-size stomach.
Tyghan stood beside August, searching through his pack. Master Woodhouse always wrapped up light provisions for them before they left on a journey of any length. Kasta was not far away, doing the same. Tyghan pulled two apples from his pack and gave one to August, who whickered his appreciation before trotting off to graze with the other horses. Tyghan bit into his own apple, then turned to Kasta. “Where were you last night?” he asked. “I didn’t see you at the wedding.”
She was already sitting on the grass with a handful of fresh figs. “I was there,” she answered. “Mostly staying in the shadows. You know me, that’s where I like to be, just like you.”
Tyghan got the gentle jab. Kasta was still irked at him, like he had strayed too far from the rules—and he had. First his affair with Bristol, then Kierus’s shortened sentence, and then Melizan’s wedding on the eve of war. Not to mention his cold words to her:Remember your place. He and Kasta weren’t only king and subject, they were close friends and fellow knights. They grew up together, and they’d never been this out of step before. He couldn’t regret the things he had done, but he didn’t want it to be this way between them either. They had too much history.
He took another bite of his apple and sat down on a rock, not far away, trying to think of some sort of order to give her. Something that showed his trust. Work always seemed to brighten her, and for Kasta, the harder the better.
“I need you to do something for me,” he said, “and it has to be done quickly. Handpick twenty knights at the garrison to be our extra witnesses at the parley. Outfit them as nobles—shallow and curious. Every detail matters. They must be able to play the roles believably—but be skilled and useful too, when the time comes. We can’t be everywhere. They’ll be our on-the-ground eyes and help direct incoming regiments through portals. I know it’s short notice and you already have a lot—”
“Done,” Kasta answered. And she did brighten, her eyes glowing with anticipation. He really did need the job done quickly and done well by someone he trusted, but seeing his old friend sitting across from him, instead of a distant one, was something he needed too.
When Bristol and the others arrived, most of Tyghan’s instructions were for her fellow squad members. “She’ll be concentrating on closing the Abyss portal, possibly multiple times if Maire reopens it, and she won’t be able to watch for threats. You’ll be her constant eyes, ears, and shield.”
“That’s something we already do for each other,” Rose said.
“But this time you’ll have no cover, and possibly be hundreds of feet in the air on the backs of horses. We don’t know where Maire might reopen it.”
Bristol cringed as they spoke about her mother. “Ifshe reopens it,” she said, but heard the weakness of her reply and the uncomfortable silence that followed. She wished she hadn’t said it. She sounded so needy, so in denial. She wasn’t. Like them, she knew exactly who Maire was. The problem was, she also remembered who Leanna Keats had been.
“Of course. If she reopens it,” Tyghan said, easing the tension.
They took to the air, taking their positions around Bristol, and tackled their task with vigor as Tyghan tried to break through from every angle. They managed to block all his attempts.
“That was too easy,” Hollis said, rolling her eyes.
And then they did a second round with Tyghan—and Cully, Quin, Dalagorn, and Kasta—attacking them from all sides.
Sweat was broken that time. Hollis suffered a bruised chin, but she was valiant, protecting Bristol’s back with her life.
When they landed in the valley again, Tyghan nodded. “Better than I expected.”
“Why do you always have such low expectations of us?” Sashka asked.
“Just the opposite, Sashka,” he replied. “I have the very highest expectations. When you exceed them, I am happily surprised.”
The squad glowed. The Knight Commander did not offer empty praise. If he said it, he meant it. They were ready.
“And now,” Tyghan said, taking Bristol’s hand, “I need to show you the coordinates on this end.” These were the places the garrison portals would open, sending thousands of knights to defend Elphame. The opening of the portals would happen at the last possible moment, so no one and nothing could stumble through it, alerting Fomoria that something was amiss. It also required extra concentration on Bristol’s part, riding high above the valley to set the coordinates in her mind’s eye. She used rock ledges, stands of oak, and ravines along the valley rim to mark coordinates high above them. From there, the knights would swarm from the skies to subdue Fomoria. She closed her eyes for moment, sealing the places into her memory, her heart fluttering. It was sinking in. She wasn’t going to war only against Fomoria but against her mother too.
“Isn’t she a beauty?’ Bristol said when they returned to the stables. She scratched Zandra’s soft muzzle, and the horse flicked her tail in appreciation.
“I thought you two would be a good match,” Tyghan replied, handing off August’s reins to a stable hand. “Where were you this morning?” he asked as they walked out of the barn. “My meeting ended early, and my punishment of Ivy was brief, so I was back before—”
“Punishment? You didn’t—”
“No,” Tyghan answered regretfully. “Instead, I thanked her and gave her the afternoon off, but I had a few choice words stored in my head.”
“So the wedding swayed you?”
He sighed. “I’ve never seen Melizan smiling for a full minute, much less a whole evening. And I danced with almost all of Cosette’s relatives. Even the wet ones. They were actually all . . .” He shrugged. “Pleasant. They might even turn out to be helpful allies.”
