Page 68 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
She ached.
Give it time.
And she whirled in his arms again.
CHAPTER 46
It was dawn, the air still dewy with mist. Madame Chastain neatly folded her hands in front of her, trying to restrain her growing irritation. Knights straggled into the rotunda, slouching into chairs.Late, every one of them, she thought, but with the king still not present, she could hardly chastise them. She wasn’t sure whether to blame it on the approach of Beltane and the lack of sleep—even the most disciplined of knights weren’t impervious to its allure—or simple weariness.
She had seen it in Eris last night as he lay in her bed, uncharacteristically quiet. Eris was a learned man, and though she’d had three husbands and a forgotten number of lovers, none were as skilled and knowledgeable in bed as Eris. He knew how to please a woman, and it brought him joy. But last night after their lovemaking, instead of being talkative and invigorated as he usually was, he lay quietly staring at the ceiling. When she asked what was wrong, he sighed and answered, “Just wondering how many will go home tomorrow.”
The review meeting was long overdue, and the question weighed on them all. Finding a candidate who was bloodmarked was their only hope of stopping Kormick. And with less than two months until the Choosing Ceremony, nerves were frayed. Eris held so much hope for this newest recruit, but the High Witch was against it from the start. The daughter of a traitor and a ruthless monster? That was not an auspicious birthright. She warned Eris, but he ignored her. It turned out her fears were unfounded. Miss Keats was mortalbound, no ability in her, but she didn’t have the heart yet to tell Eris—at least not until he found someone else he could pin their hopes on.
More footsteps echoed through the hall. Cael’s First Officer, Sloan, arrived and took a seat beside his two senior knights. Melizan and Cosette strolled in behind him. Eris rushed in on their heels, and finally, a good four minutes later, Tyghan arrived. Sloan sniffed at Tyghan’s tardiness. Melizan whispered to Cosette, and they both laughed. The rotunda door boomed as Dalagorn shut it. Tyghan was disheveled, his hair windblown, as he took the last remaining seat at the round council table, Kasta on one side of him, Glennis and Quin on the other. It was not like him to be late, and the High Witch wondered if his night torments had returned.
Tyghan surveyed those at the table, then met Sloan’s scornful gaze. He knew Sloan resented his position as king. Sloan believed the council had moved too soon to crown Tyghan after Cael was taken. With the power balance spinning out of control, the council was desperate to name another king quickly.What kind of nation has two kings?Sloan had protested vehemently.Cael is still alive!The council argued that they didn’t know with certainty if Cael was still alive, and if he was, whether they would ever get him back. The Fomorian king’s word was as trustworthy as a hungry wolf with a lamb in its sights. They maintained that in these trying times Danu needed a strong leader with the full title and power over the nation. Tyghan would relinquish the title of king if and when Cael was returned safely.
But Tyghan was sure it was Sloan’s loss of position that provoked him most. He was used to being the king’s First Officer. Now Kasta held that position, along with all the power that went with it. Sloan took orders from her now, instead of the other way around.
Tyghan looked away, refusing to be drawn into Sloan’s pettiness. He was glad that review meetings were generally short—he was already losing patience with this one. Once Madame Chastain called the meeting to order, Esmee and Olivia took over, reviewing the recruits’ progress on basic magical maneuvers—from simple levitations to summoning blinding mists. Their recommendations, as usual, fell into three categories: keep a recruit for further observation, advance them to join the ranks of knights-in-service, or send those with no potential back home. Sloan’s three recruits, while deemed not to be bloodmarked, were excelling and advanced to the garrison, along with one of Melizan’s. No one objected when one of her other recruits was recommended for dismissal, but Eris winced when Olivia began reporting Keats’s dismal attempts at even the simplest magics.
“Her field training has been dismal, too,” Sloan complained. “Let’s cut our losses now and be rid of her.”
Tyghan’s hand moved ever so slightly on the table. Kasta didn’t miss a beat. While the king had final say, protocol required he stay out of deliberations. She leaned forward in her seat. “No,” she said firmly. “It’s too soon to send her home. There is still—”
“It’s not too soon if she isn’t showing progress, and she isn’t,” Sloan argued. “Time is valuable. Why waste our energy—especially on the traitorous spawn of Celwyth?”
He spit out the last few words with accusation. Challenge vibrated across the table, and Glennis’s hooves scraped the stone floor like she was about to leap at him. Sloan’s knights bristled, sitting forward in their seats, ready to meet her.
Review meetings were often tense, but rarely erupted into physical confrontation. Eris stood, trying to draw their attention. “But she is precisely the one who may have the talents we need for—”
But Sloan wouldn’t let it go. “What talent? The talent to betray us? Who will get stabbed next? Haven’t we all learned our lesson by now? Send her on her way before—”
Melizan sighed. “Oh, Sloan, hush. Let Tygh keep his little troublemaker for a few more days. Besides, we’re all keeping an eye on her. She’ll be gone soon enough.”
Sloan’s chest rose with indignation, his gaze meeting Tyghan’s, but he finally conceded with a stiff nod. Even he didn’t want to tangle with Melizan, and her last words, uttered with certainty, had probably appeased him.
The rest of the meeting passed quickly, and as soon as Madame Chastain declared it finished, Tyghan bounded out the door.
Kasta caught up with him. “Last one in, first one out? Madame Chastain was barely holding her tongue at your lateness.”
“Eris and I were cornered on our way to the meeting by three council members. They were furious because they found out about Bristol’s parentage. They demanded we get rid of her.”
“Rid?”
“They didn’t specify how. They just want her gone. I suspect they found out through Sloan’s loose tongue.Fuck.By tomorrow the whole council will know. Break his nose or a rib during officer drills today, would you?”
“Gladly,” Kasta said, chuckling to herself as if already imagining how she would do it. “But really, Tygh, why not send her home? We need to concentrate on the few we have left who have potential to be knights-in-service or bloodmarked. She was a good find on Eris’s part, and the team has tried to work with her, but Sloan’s right, she’s not showing any promise.”
“You’re harder on her than the other recruits.”
“We have to be. She’s failing.”
“She’s good in some field drills.”
“Some? Is that your standard now? That’s not close to enough, and you know it.”
Tyghan was silent, his thoughts tangling as he wrestled with the truth. He searched for a way to quell Kasta’s line of thinking. Anything. He finally glanced over his shoulder to be sure no one followed too closely. “We need her. Even if she has no special ability, she still has value. She’s our last resort. She is Maire’s daughter.”
