Page 23 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
He snatched his cloak from the chair and whirled it over his shoulders. “I’d advise you to curb yourwitwhen you reach court. The fae there will not find your quips so clever. There could be unpleasant consequences.”
Her nerves were already raw, but the slight roll of his eyes was the match that set them afire. Even the rudest patron at Sal’s could only expect so much diplomacy and he had used up the last of hers. Her trepidation blew out in a string of sharp words. “You condescending ass! I think I already told you that this is all new to me, so let’s just get this straight right now, Mr. High and Mighty Who Never Smiles. When I’m nervous I might try to lighten the mood with a joke or two or maybe even act like a smart-ass, and I’m a little nervous right now, so if you stop acting like Lord of the Monsters, maybe I won’t have to curb my witty tongue.”
He finally smiled, but it wasn’t a lovely smile. The danger in it reached all the way up to his eyes that were now piercing her. “Well,” he said, huffing out a generous half chuckle, “I guess it’s good to know you’re only acting like something you’re not. I, on the other hand, am exactly who you think I am, Lord of the Monsters.”
Bristol looked down, struggling to compose herself. Even with a deal struck, he was still her means to an end until she could speak to Jasmine or Eris, or someone else in charge.
“Listen,” she said, glancing back up. “I think we’ve gotten off to a rocky start, and we’re going to be working together, right? Can we start over?” She held out her hand. “I’m Bristol Keats, but my friends call me Bri.”
He viewed her hand without taking it. “I’ll call you Keats.”
She silently stewed as she dropped her untouched hand back to her side. “And you are?” she prompted.
“Tyghan Trénallis of the Danu Nation. My friends call me Tygh. But you . . . you may call me Mr. High and Mighty.”
He took something out of his pocket and flipped it to her. A coin. She caught it in her palm. “Don’t lose it,” he said. “It’s your ticket back to this world.”
And with that, in a blink, he was gone, and the room was filled with a band of armed people and creatures who took her away.
CHAPTER 16
It was a world of ogres and trolls, demons and dragons, kings and queens, sprites and jesters—and the gods who walked among them.
And it was a world that went on forever.
That was all Bristol thought when she scanned the horizon of this land known as Elphame.Forever.
She didn’t know all the secrets this world held yet, nor the creatures, their schemes, or hungers—that part would come later. No, it was the vastness alone that bore down on her now. She stared across the land from a high rocky crag.They live beneath little hillswere the last words Harper had called out to her, still reading from her book as Bristol rode away on her bike.
“No, Harper,” Bristol whispered to herself now. They lived on majestic mountaintops and in sweeping valleys, in jewel-green forests and moorlands, beside twisting rivers that disappeared behind rocky peaks, in cities with spires that reached into purple-painted clouds, and they lived in the nearby woods that slithered with unknown shadows.
And somewhere in all this vastness was her father. Faerieland was not just one destination, but many. How would she ever find him?
Danu knights on enormous white steeds surrounded her. They were preparing their weapons. She rode with the one named Kasta. She said the easy part of their journey, the one that had already taken hours, was behind them—the part that left the world whirling past them in a breakneck blur, colors like flames spiraling beside them, at times their horses leaving the ground, taking flight though they had no wings, passing through Bowskeep, then over deep canyons and deeper oceans. Bristol’s eyes had watered from the wind, and her hips ached from the horse pounding ground and air beneath her. Sometimes it was hard to even breathe. She hadn’t been able to ask the knights any questions, the whir, the pounding making it impossible to think, much less talk. She held on to the horse’s mane until her knuckles were stiff and white.
And now the hard part was about to begin? They still needed to travel through the Wilds. Kasta’s dark eyes darted across the landscape, contemplating the moving shadows. Her pale fingers raked through her short black hair. “That way, I think,” she said, then nodded.
Quin, another of the knights, studied the vista below and concurred. He was short and stocky, and built like a muscled wall. He wore a sleeveless tunic and his brawny biceps shone in the sun like burnished bronze. Bristol wondered if it was flesh beneath his skin, or pure iron.
Kasta placed a cloak over Bristol’s shoulders. “This will keep you out of sight, if we’re lucky. Our enchantments won’t work on them all. Stay low on our horse. We’ll do our best to protect you.”
Theirbest?
Kasta drew her massive sword, its hilt encrusted with precious gems. Cully drew a long, lethal arrow from his quiver, and Quin and Glennis lifted glistening golden spears that could stop a train. What kinds of beasts lived in these Wilds? The creature, Dalagorn, who Kasta said was an ogre, rode forward, a small bow and quiver of tiny silver arrows strapped to his sprawling back. It was a humble and benign weapon compared to everyone else’s. Glennis sat high in her saddle, her hands rubbing her furred haunches, and her hooves pressed into the stirrups, eager to go. Kasta didn’t say what kind of creature Glennis was, and Bristol wasn’t sure if it was polite to ask, but based on the large white horns curling around her head, Bristol thought she might be part goat. But her face was entirely human—and beautiful. Thick white hair cascaded around her shoulders. And she was kind, at least Bristol thought she might be. She often glanced at Bristol with a reassuring smile or nod.
“She ready to go?” Cully called to Kasta. Tips of pointed ears peeked through his sleek copper hair.
“What do you think?” Kasta asked Bristol. “Feeling better?”
Surprisingly, other than being overwhelmed by the view that greeted her, Bristol felt mostly fine now. Her back still ached, but just minutes ago, she had fainted when they had passed through the portal that led to Elphame. Never before, in her entire life, had she fainted. The last thing she saw in the mortal world was the Eiffel Tower in the distance. When they leapt through a portal that looked like a massive tree, she was instantly gripped with unbearable pain, like a giant hand was trying to break her in half.
When she came to, she was slumped in Kasta’s arms and a thin line of blood trickled from her nose. Bristol asked if it was always so painful to pass through a portal.
Never, Kasta had answered, eyeing Bristol with confusion. Because of her fainting episode, they decided, as a precaution, to proceed by land at a slower pace.
“Well?” Kasta prompted, waiting for an answer.
Was she better?Bristol wasn’t sure. Her mind still reeled at a world that was steadily growing bigger.The Wilds. As the name implies, it’s not a place for a picnic.She pulled the cloak that Kasta placed on her shoulders closer, wishing it were made of armor instead of cloth, and answered, “Ready.”
