Page 154 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
“You were going to kill my mother!”
“She wasn’t your mother yet! She was a monster terrorizing Elphame!”
“Because she had no choice! Can’t a person ever start over? That’s all they wanted. To be something else than what you all made them be. A second chance.”
“There are no second chances! Not for what he did! You’re defending a stranger. A man you don’t even know. Don’t lecture us about conscience. He was going to kill your mother first! Did he tell you that? And look what he did to his own daughter! Did you tell him you nearly died trying to remove that tick?”
“He had to put it there because ofyou!”
“Don’t you dare put his actions on me!”
With each accusation they had inched closer, until they were toe to toe.
“They were in love, Tyghan,” Bristol said more softly. “They were young, scared, and in love.”
“You’re going to buy everything he’s said after the lifetime of lies he fed you?”
“I know what I saw! He loved my mother, and he loved her deeply!”
Tyghan shook, fury blinding him. “You’re telling me he threw away a lifetime of duty for a toss in a bed? He knew her for what? Three weeks? It wasn’t love! No one falls in love that fast! She was a good fuck! That’s all!”
Bristol stared at him, her mouth open, breathless.
The harshness of his words reverberated through the room.No one falls in love that fast.
She nodded. “Of course,” she answered. A numb glaze coated her voice. “Of course. I’m glad you made that clear. Your Majesty. Good to know.”
She turned to leave, but he caught her arm. “Bristol, wait. You know that’s not what I meant.”
She looked back at him, her pupils overwhelming her irises like she was in a deep, dark cave. “I think you spoke truthfully. Maybe it’s the first honest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
She pulled free of his grip and walked toward the door but turned one last time, returning to a picture of reserve, the chilling smile back on her face. “Assuming you meet my demands, I’ll see you all at drills tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
And then she was gone. The echo of her footsteps in the portico faded until the room was silent. Stifling.
“That’s it?” Kasta finally said. “You’re just going to let her walk away after she—”
“Let it be, Kasta,” Tyghan replied, still reeling from his incredibly bad choice of words.
“But she’s—”
“I said, let it be! I know what I’m doing!” he yelled. But he didn’t. This had all become too complicated, too impossible, just as Kasta had warned. He walked to the far side of the rotunda, trying to think of orders to yell, something to take the focus off his last words with Bristol. Instead, he stopped and leaned against the wall, pressing his palm to the stone, staring at the floor, trying to piece together one coherent thought. “Follow her,” he said to Cully. “Make sure she doesn’t leave the grounds.”
More awkward silence followed, and Eris stepped up to fill it. “Let’s not overreact. She’s still on our side. She just needs time.”
Madame Chastain slammed her hands down on the table. “Our side? Were you paying attention at all? Time is not going to cure this mess. Everything doesn’t always have a happy ending, Eris.”
“And everything doesn’t always end in doom and gloom either, Dahlia! I wish just once you would trust my judgment!”
“Your judgment is what got us here in the first place. I warned you she could be a problem and now it’s the eleventh hour—”
Eris threw his hands in the air. “I’m done for the day.” He headed for the door, his robe billowing behind him. “I suggest we all do as Miss Keats said, and not be late for drills in the morning.”
CHAPTER 105
Bristol’s plan had unraveled so quickly, she may as well have not had one at all. Her emotions had slipped out of seams she thought she had carefully sewn shut.
She managed to summon one last bit of calm before she left them all gaping in the rotunda, her last desperate grab at control, but it vanished as soon as she stepped into her room, like a cork popped free from a bottle.
