Page 37 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
The oldest trow stunt in the book, Tyghan seethed as the sheriff was ushered out. Faking injured bodies at the side of the road was their standard ambush tactic.
Once the sheriff was gone and the door secure, he turned back to the others seated at the table. “He’s here. Somewhere in Elphame, Kierus is here. Alive and well.”
There was a long silence as everyone weighed what that meant, as they recalled Kierus’s skill at navigating the terrain, the favors he could call in. As they remembered just what he was capable of, and all the ways they had helped train him.
“He knows the Wilds as well as any of us,” Cully lamented. “And with trows helping him, we’ll never track him down.”
Quin cursed. “Those filthy trows. He had them eating out of his hand like trained rats.”
“Which we found useful at one time,” Eris reminded them. “And they revered his title—as did his fellow knights when they gave the title to him.”
“You promised Keats you’d help find her father,” Glennis said. “Now what?”
Everyone waited to see what Tyghan would do. This changed everything.
“My promise holds,” he said. “I will help her find her father, but I never promised what I would do once I found him.”
The knights nodded approvingly, glad for the vengeance they saw in his eyes. Kierus’s broken oath burned in all of them.
Kasta tapped her lips with a knuckle. “But why would he risk it? Why come back?”
Another long silence.
“Because she’s back,” Tyghan answered. “We’ve had four reported sightings and the door to the Abyss has been reopened. He came back for Maire.”
Orders were given. Every trow’s den outside the city was to be found. Every trow in the city to be hunted down and questioned. “Mugwort Street. Go there first. Mae told Keats there was a nest of them there. Kill them if you don’t like what they tell you. Let it be a lesson to the others. We want answers.”
When the knights were dispatched, Eris grabbed Tyghan by the arm, his voice cutting with a rare edge. “Wait, you’re going to let that order stand?”
“What choice do I have? He’s here, and the trows are malicious murderers colluding with him.”
“You don’t know that with certainty,” Eris said. “Don’t let the darkness decide who and what you will be.”
“The darkness has always been the one to decide.”
“You’re one of the gods.”
“A descendant, Eris. That’s all. I’m only their distant shadow.”
Eris hissed and threw his hands in the air. “The shadow of a thousand gods. You’ve become numb to your powers, Tyghan. You control the sun and the rain, the earth and the wind. You’re more powerful than your brother, and wiser too. You should have been king from the start. Everyone knows that.”
“Regardless of what youthinkeveryone knows, the Fomorian king has all the same powers I do. And he has a formidable monster in his ranks. While I have a finite number of soldiers, his army is now uncountable, which means his power is greater than mine by far.”
“There’s more to greatness than power alone. The greatness lies in how you use it.”
“Really, Eris? A clock is ticking, and there’s an ax hovering over all our necks. Look at my options. I don’t have time for greatness.”
CHAPTER 26
Avery was the first to speak up and ask Madame Chastain the obvious. “Will it be dangerous for us to close the Abyss door?”
“That’s what training is for. You’ll have the very best team protecting you, but you’ll still need basic skills of your own. We don’t want knights dying because of foolish mistakes.”
And recruits too?Bristol thought. She hoped theirvery best teamwas good enough.
The High Witch moved on, still in a hurry. “Let’s see what abilities you already have. I understand some of you are shape-shifters?”
Julia motioned with her hand. “A cat.” Bristol quickly learned it was an understatement. At first, she changed into an ordinary house-cat, small, white, and sleek, her meow cute and harmless. But then she continued to grow, her white fur growing thicker, her paws becoming enormous and clawed, until she was a large and lethal lioness. The wooden floors creaked under her weight as she gracefully circled the lectern, her tail twitching in the air. She stopped midway in her pacing, offering a bone-chilling roar, and displayed her sharp, deadly canines, then returned to her seat and her former self.
