Page 30 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
“Hurry up and change. I’ll wait here,” he said. “And it’s only the pixie food you have to avoid. The rest is fine.”
Her eyes narrowed.
He grinned. “You think you’re the first mortal who ever stumbled in here afraid to eat the food?”
She slammed the door in his face and went to change.
CHAPTER 22
Tyghan tried to concentrate on the distant laughter and the pluck of a faraway harp—but all he heard was the mad beat of Keats’s dress flapping against her legs and the anger in her steps as she worked to match his long strides.
She had bathed and changed amazingly fast, and he was surprised when she emerged so soon from her room. He tried not to stare, but it was strange to see her in Danu clothing. He was fairly certain her dress was on backward, the laces in front that were meant to go in the back, but it wasn’t an unpleasant look.Semantics with curves.He hated the way Melizan’s words stuck in his head. He hoped Keats didn’t notice his gaze had lingered on her restrained breasts, the laces dipping low and tight. Or the cinch of the dress at her waist, revealing more curves. He was far from dead as Melizan liked to imply.
Her hair was damp and unkempt over her shoulders, but somehow, it had a certain appeal. He took in other details he hadn’t seen before, too. Her fingers were long and slender, but her nails were trimmed short and unpainted, their white half-moons distinct. A tiny freckle rested in the hollow of her throat, and a faint jagged scar disappeared into her hairline, just above her temple.
The bruise on her lower lip he had noticed earlier now seemed brighter, almost matching the deep blue of her dress. His eyes were drawn to it again, the swelling disturbing the perfect symmetry of her lips. A simple touch of his finger could heal it, but time would take care of it, too, without generating more questions from her. She already had too many.
She was silent for the length of one whole hallway, but as they rounded a corner, she finally spoke, not with a question but a demand. “I want the other piece of art now. Delivered to my sisters’ house.”
“That was not our agreement. When your task is finished—”
“This world is far bigger than I realized, and everything’s become more complicated. I couldn’t make an informed decision. If something happens to me, I want to be sure my sisters are well taken care of.”
“Is that what you came here for? Safety? Then you came to the wrong place.”
He looked sideways at her. Steam was practically rising from her head, and her mouth twitched like words were snarled on her tongue.
He sighed. “You’re not going to die.”
“Is that a promise?”
Bloody hell, he thought,she’s like the counselor, analyzing every word.
But this was not something he could promise. There were a thousand ways to die in Elphame that had nothing to do with her task. She could insult a short-tempered wizard, be trampled by a spooked horse, or choke on a fish bone. “I’ll think the art over,” he answered.
“Think fast. I want it delivered by tomorrow.”
Tyghan’s jaw clenched. Or she could be strangled by a king pushed past his limits. Kasta called hercharming? If she’d been this charming with Mae, she would have had her throat ripped out. “Being a poor sport about the pixie food?”
“You could have told me earlier if you already knew what I was thinking.”
“But that wouldn’t have been half as much fun.”
She stopped and faced him, her chest swelling against the laces. “I’m glad you could have some fun at my expense, Mr. High and Mighty, while I’m fighting for my father’s life!”
Tyghan’s blood ran just as hot.Welcome to my world, he fumed silently.I’m fighting for lives too.
Their iron stares remained fixed, she as unwilling to back down as he was, but as they weighed their choices, the angry heat between them dissipated.
“Well?” Tyghan finally said. “Shall we go get some food, or will I be forced to listen to your stomach grumble all night long?”
He waited for her stomach to rumble on cue, but she nodded before it could betray her again, and they continued down the hallway at a slower pace.
“Mae told me there’s a nest of trows on Mugwort Street, and she’s checking around for news about my father. Can we go back to the city in the morning? Kasta told me it was your promise, so your duty to take me there.”
“As it turns out, I’m busy with other matters tomorrow and you have orientation.”
“But—”
