Page 92 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
Nothing.
Julia finally banged on the door, saying they had nothing to lose. “Bri!” she called. “We need to see you!”
“We have a surprise!” Rose added. “Let us in!”
Bristol was half sleeping, half searching her locked-away memories when the knocking began. She hoped it would go away. She was a mess and didn’t want the others to see her, but when she heard Rose’s voice, she crawled from her bed.
When she opened her door, the recruits swarmed in like bees around a flower, but Bristol was no flower. Sashka wrinkled her nose. “You haven’t seen this side of a bath in days, have you?”
“We’ll fix that,” Avery said, and disappeared into the bath chamber.
Bristol heard water running. “No, I can’t—”
Julia grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “We heard about the tick. It will be taken care of in due course. In the meantime, you—”
“Need a bath!” Rose finished, and hugged Bristol with one arm, the other still in a sling. “You’d think with all the sorcerers around here someone could fix a simple broken shoulder, but I guess my bird bones are trickier than most.”
“But you’ll be all right?” Bristol asked.
“Yes. I’ll be flying in no time. Esmee says so.”
“It’s ready!” Avery called from the other room.
If moving things along quickly was their strategy to distract Bristol, it was working, but when it came time to disrobe, she hesitated. She didn’t want them to see her back. Their chatter quieted, and Julia held up her cloak as a curtain while Bristol slipped into the tub. A rainbow of colors swirled on the surface of the water. Bristol dipped below the long river of purple bubbles, working hot soapy water into her scalp. When she surfaced, Sashka and Hollis were holding up swatches of shimmering forest green brocade and gold satin.
“What do you think?” Avery asked.
“Hopefully you like them, because it’s too late to switch,” Rose said.
“We thought these fabrics would complement your hair and eyes,” Hollis added. “We had to choose for you since you didn’t come for the fabric selection. The tailors are eager to get started. Our dresses are going to be extra special, and Beltane Eve is only a few weeks away!”
“What are you talking about?” Bristol asked.
They explained that the Beltane Eve celebration for the kingdom courts was usually reserved only for royalty and select nobles—the only time the monarchs all got together—but this year Danu was bringing recruits to the celebration at Timbercrest Castle as a gesture of reassurance so the other kingdoms would know that Danu was not giving up the fight.
“Usas reassurance?” Bristol said. “Are they that desperate?”
“I know. Right?” Sashka laughed. “But I guess they think we performed admirably in the surprise attack.”
“Julia did manage to kill three of those foul-smelling creatures,” Avery said. “And the rest of us helped the archers or finished off downed demons. We never did go underground as they ordered.”
“Scandalous, aren’t we?” Hollis added, and fluttered her lashes. “Master Reuben would have self-combusted if he had seen us.”
Julia’s mouth twisted in a crooked smirk. “The truth is, we’re far from being the answer to their problems yet, but in one evening of tipsy revelry, the gentry won’t know if we’re skilled or skilled impostors. And Danu is hoping to rally support from the other kingdoms by instilling confidence in a positive outcome.”
“Hmm,” Bristol mused. Smoke and mirrors, her father called it, the many cons she saw on the fair circuit, a way of molding the truth to fit hopes and desires. The fae of Elphame needed heroes, and for one night that was what they would be. An illusion. It was a con Bristol understood with new clarity. She sank lower in the water.
“So . . .” Julia said, taking Bristol’s hand from the side of the tub, looking at her blue nailbeds. “What is this? Looks like you’re fae after all.”
“So they tell me,” Bristol answered, and pulled her hand away, submerging it beneath the rainbow swirls.
“And you’re not happy about that?” Sashka asked. She ran a finger along her jewel-colored jawline. “Blue is a lovely color.”
Bristol shook her head, unsure how to answer. “I don’t know what to think. Or what it means. The High Witch didn’t know either. She just called it irregular. I do know I’m not happy that I have an ugly creature living inside me. Or that my parents put it there.”
“Why would they do that?” Avery asked. “Why suppress your magic?”
“Because they were hiding and running in a mortal world, and I guess they were afraid my magic would betray their secret.”
