Page 136 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
The intruder circled the room. Twice. Then finally found the perfect spot and tucked the note where it was certain only she would find it. This might finally send her back to the mortal world. If not, there were other ways.
With the note in place, the intruder took another minute to remove every trace of the intrusion with a cleansing spell. White smoke circled the room, removing scent, footprints on carpet, even the intruder’s aura, which was exceptionally strong.
Mae was the one who had made the contact, knowing the intruder was in a certain trow’s debt. It was a silence that had to be paid for over and over again.
CHAPTER 92
By the time they returned to the palace, Tyghan was exhausted. Three days of parties and surprises had left little time for rest, even by his standards. He handed August’s reins to Master Woodhouse and headed straight to Lir Rotunda to work with his officers on strategies for rescuing Cael.
“We have a lot to decide,” he told Bristol before he kissed her goodbye.
She grabbed his arm. “Maybe I should come, too—”
“No. Just the officers. Go rest. You deserve it.” He had given all the recruits the rest of the day off, and they had rejoiced, eager for long naps, but Bristol had probably thought Tyghan would be joining her in bed.
“And stay in your room,” he added.
She balked. “My room? But I—” Her expression turned to stone. “Why? Do you have concerns?”
“We just don’t need any more surprises.”
“We?” Her weight shifted like she was ready to block his path. “Does this have anything to do with Kasta? I saw her whispering and grumbling. Is she angry with me?”
“Knights follow orders. They don’t act unilaterally. She—”
“They were all grumbling about that, weren’t they? I saw way too much huddling between all of you on the way to the farm. They were as subtle as an earthquake.”
Tyghan was surprised she had noticed, since she was riding ahead of them.
She waited for an answer, her lips pulled in a familiar hard line.
“They’re only concerned that—”
“What? That I closed the portal? That I found your brother? I thought those weregoodthings.”
“You danced with Kormick after being told explicitly to avoid him,” Tyghan snapped back. “Kasta feels you put everyone at risk.”
“Is that so? And what doyouthink?”
His ire rose, heat flushing his neck. “Yes, you did put everyone at risk, including yourself. You don’t know everything about this world, including what Kormick is capable of, and yet you walked right into his arms.”
“I had a plan.”
“That we knew nothing about.”
“There—wasn’t—time,” she spat out. “And what about you? You punched him in the face! Was that part of the plan?”
“I’m allowed to make changes to plans. I’m king, in case you haven’t heard.”
“Oh,the king,” she said, her eyes growing wide. “La. Di. Da.”
La-di-da?He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it probably wasn’t a compliment. “Bri, please,” he said, trying to reel back the strain escalating between them. “We’re both tired. I’m not saying I’m not pleased with the end result of what you did. Of course I am. But there are only a few weeks until the Choosing Ceremony. Nerves are wound tight. At this point, we have to be sure we’re all working together. Knights expect surprises from the enemy, but not from their own team. I need you to trust me with this. Please. Go to your room and rest.”
He reached out and took her hand, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb, and the fire faded from her eyes. “I’ll join you as soon as I can.”
As Bristol walked back to her room, she wondered if she and Tyghan had just had their first fight. Though their voices had never exactly been raised. And it had ended with their tongues in each other’s mouths.No, that wasn’t a fight, she thought,more of a brisk disagreement with a pleasant ending.
When she opened the door to her room, she was greeted by a tray of refreshments—apples, cheeses, a tall flask of golden wine—complete with a crystal vase of the deepest purple hyacinth she had ever seen. Her bed was already turned down like a tantalizing invitation.I’m being seduced by bedsheets, she thought, and she was perfectly okay with it. She would concede that much. She was tired and testy. When Tyghan reached out and took her hand, brushing his thumb over her knuckles, the fight in her had drained away. Even Sashka, who had the energy of a lightning bolt, announced she planned to sleep the entire afternoon.
