Page 25 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
“Not a chance, dear brother,” Melizan answered. “I already have twice as many recruits as you, in case you haven’t noticed, and that one is trouble. Resign your position as Knight Commander if you’re too busy. Or maybe you’re simply afraid of her? It’s understandable, considering who she is.”
“Don’t twist this around. I’m not afraid of her. I’m exactly what I said,busy. I need you to take her on, Melizan.”
“Is this a direct order?” Her aqua eyes locked on his, waiting. Tyghan could make it an order, but he knew if he did, his sister could make life difficult for him in other ways.
She chuckled. “I didn’t think so. Really, Tygh, don’t be such a wounded dog. It’s tiresome. You never dance anymore. You just nurse your whiskey in dark corners with your dreadful friends. You need to get out more. When was the last time you had a good f—”
“What I do in my private time is none of your business, Melizan.”
She shook her head with mock pity. “That long, huh?”
“It’s not the solution to everything.”
“Ho! Who are you? You used to work hardandplay hard. Oh, unless—” Her brows arched as she glanced at his crotch. “Maybe you aren’t capable anymore because of your injury?”
He only replied with a frigid stare.
She shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to play twice as hard for both of us.”
Cosette reached the top of the steps and walked toward them, a confident swagger in her steps that Tyghan interpreted in a dozen different ways. Melizan smiled. Cosette sidled close, laying a long, leisurely kiss on Melizan’s mouth, her thinly webbed fingers brushing his sister’s cheek with familiarity.
“Oh! Your Greatness, I’m so sorry,” Cosette said when she finally stepped back and gave Tyghan a token glance. “I didn’t notice you there.” She dutifully offered a minimal bow of her head and turned back to Melizan. “I’ll see you back in our—your chambers.”
She strolled away, Melizan’s eyes following her.
When she was out of earshot, Tyghan hissed through his teeth.
“Come now, brother, she’s an exceptional knight.”
“You could have any woman in court,” Tyghan grumbled. “Why does it have to beher?”
“Correction, I could have any woman or man in this entire kingdom. But I fancy her.”
“She’s merkind. I don’t trust her. She’s dangerous.”
“So am I. Besides, being dangerous is what makes her valuable.”
“We have traitors in this city, Melizan, and she slinks down to the river every night. We don’t know who is in that water.”
“Her family.” Melizan groaned. “She goes to see her family. That is all.”
Tyghan shook his head. His sister was impossible to corral. “That better be all. She’s your knight, and it’s your job to keep an eye on her. Make sure you do.”
“The way you kept an eye on Kierus?”
Tyghan was silent, feeling the hard punch of her words. Melizan never held back a fist that could be put to good use.
“We can’t always know what’s in someone’s heart,” he finally answered.
“My point exactly, dear brother,” she said, and kissed his cheek. “I suppose that means eventually we all have to take a chance on someone. I’m taking my chance on Cosette. And now I am going to my chambers to keep my eye on her just as you commanded—and I will enjoy every minute of it.”
CHAPTER 19
Seven stone bridges spanned the sleepy river that curled through the city. Each bridge was named for a god, and they were all cities in their own right, cornucopias of bustle and abundance, and the opposite of everything Bristol thought she knew. Her logic battled with the implausible. For the hundredth time, her nails dug into her palms to make sure she was awake, not drugged by the cakes she had eaten, or sleeping off a rough bout of food poisoning.It’s real, she reminded herself. But from that moment in the kitchen with Harper, her gut already knew it was true. A lifetime of question marks had hooked together in a chain and dragged her to this reality.
“What are they saying? Should I worry?” Bristol asked when groups of fae stepped close and erupted into animated chatter she couldn’t understand.
“Not as long as we’re with you,” Kasta answered, then solved Bristol’s communication problem with astonishing ease. She whispered words against her index finger, then pressed her finger to the side of Bristol’s forehead and drew it across. “Tugache rai,” she said. “That should take care of it. Now fae and other tongues will be your own.”
