Page 80 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
“Well, that was quick,” Melizan said. “I thought you two would go at least a few more rounds.”
“Shut up, Melizan,” Cael snapped.
She walked over and scooped her hand under his arm and helped him to his feet. “Come on, brother, let’s get your face cleaned up. I’m sure if you grovel a bit, Tyghan will heal that darling fat lip of yours and make it kissable again.”
And Cael leaned on her all the way to his bath chamber, because he knew he could.
“Am I groveling enough?”
“Never enough,” Tyghan answered as he dabbed a small cut over Cael’s brow and then pressed his finger to it.
Cael winced. “I never wanted to be king, you know? At least not at age twelve. But I had no choice. Now it’s all I have. Without it, I’m nothing.” And then, even more glumly, he added, “I never had the same powers as you.”
It was a sore spot, the one thing they never talked about. Cael was decent enough at glamour and the standard array of spells. He could also control the air in small bursts by summoning an occasional strong gust, but it could barely be called a kinship, and he had no kinship whatsoever with the other elements. They had different fathers, and Tyghan attributed it to that. But he was good at parties, and that explained his favor with the kingdoms.
“You’ll be king again soon enough, but you’ll have to do better at keeping the council in line. You’re a good ruler when you stay focused.”
“I’m always a good ruler, little brother. I am fair. But even kings need to take breaks.”
“And you take more than your share.”
“Don’t question me on everything I do. Besides, when I step up on the Stone of Destiny, I’ll be spending a lot of time at the Elphame court, and when I’m away, you’ll be regent here. You’re the one who will need to keep the council in line.”
“Or Eris. He’s played that role before. I have my duties as Knight Commander.”
“You’re managing both jobs now,” Cael answered. “And if things are settled with Kormick and there’s peace in Elphame, there will be far less for you to do. What else could you want to be besides regent in my absence?”
A memory flashed behind Tyghan’s eyes. He saw a golden scythe clutched in his small hands, a field ripe with wheat, and Amaetheon, the only great god he had ever spoken with face-to-face, asking him a question:Will you help with the harvest?For a few weeks, being a farmer became Tyghan’s burning passion, but then after his father died and his mother left, it was the knighthood that consumed him. It was who and what he was now. But now he wanted even more. He wanted a life with Bristol too.
Cael didn’t wait for Tyghan to respond. “Yes, that’s what I want, you taking care of things here when I’m away. Together, the Trénallis brothers will watch over both ends of Elphame and make sure the likes of Kormick are never seen again. Until then, I will stay in my room.”
Tyghan wiped his hands with a towel and threw it in the basin. “When did you become so agreeable, Cael?”
“When your fist smashed into my face.”
“You threw the first punch.”
“Just trying to get a head start. That’s what kings do.”
CHAPTER 60
Bristol forced her hand to stop shaking. She couldn’t risk wasting a single drop. There were barely four left in the bottle. She carefully squeezed one drop at a time onto the marble, whispering the spell in her head, but not saying it until the last drop touched the stone.
“Aira mathemis.”
The drops smoked, as before, and then began spreading, searching for the prisoner within. “This has to be the right pillar,” she whispered.Please let it be the right one. How much time had she wasted already? What if someone came along and stopped her? She willed the glistening drops to move faster. Her nails dug into her palms.
The process repeated itself, and finally a human form pressed and stretched against the magic casing of the pillar. She still couldn’t tell if it was her father. But then an arm broke through . . . a leg, and then there was a horrible moan. It shivered through Bristol. Finally, a man fell to the walkway in front of her, on his hands and knees. He shook his head as if dazed, still looking down at the marble floor.
“Daddy,” Bristol said quietly. She grabbed his arm and tried to help him stand. “You’re free.You’re free.”
Logan Keats dragged himself to his feet, then looked into Bristol’s eyes like she was the whole of the universe. He drew her into his arms. “You’re safe,” he said, rubbing her back. “Thank the gods.” His chest jumped as he muffled a sob. “How long have I been in there? I tried to count the days, but it was impossible. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought another whole day had passed and knew I had a thousand years of them to go.”
Bristol shivered.A thousand years. How could they do this? “I don’t know how long you’ve been in there, but the Choosing Ceremony is in four days. You have to find a safe place to hide until it’s over. I’m bloodmarked, Daddy—just like Mother. I can stop all this.”
His face clouded over then, his dark eyes glistening, and Bristol’s heart stabbed with all the pain she saw in them. Even if he had made mistakes, in that moment she was certain there was never a man who loved his family more. He understood what being bloodmarked might mean for her. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “We didn’t want this for you. We never wanted this—”
She cupped his face in her hands, his skin damp with tears. “I’ll be fine, Daddy. I am not Mother, and Tyghan is not Kormick. I can handle this, but I need you safe. No one knows I’ve released you yet. They still want you imprisoned.” She couldn’t bring herself to mention Tyghan’s name. She refused to believe he was part of this. It had to have been the council. Tyghan would not do this to her. The pain of it burned inside her, a scream wanting to tear free. She grabbed the cloak and supplies from the floor. If there was one good thing she had learned from a lifetime of being on the run, it was to move faster than what hunted you, find the next safe place. “You need to go quickly. Take these and hide,” she said, handing her father the sword and pack. “In five days, return to the barn where we last met. From there, I will take you and Mother home.”
