Page 39 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
Would they take back the da Vinci sketch that was allowing her sisters to pay the bills? Or worse, send her home immediately without the chance to look for her father?
She weighed the costs. It was their mistake, not hers. She made a bargain in good faith and wouldn’t let their mistake send her on her way before she even got started. She shook off the panic and settled in, listening like every word applied to her, like all the magic and history was familiar, nodding at the appropriate times. A simple con.
She could do this. At least until she found her father.
CHAPTER 27
Tyghan suited up to join his knights.
Kierus. Bristol’s father. He’s here.
It was still sinking in. He should have seen it coming after Kierus turned their plan and Elphame on its head to save Maire. Theirfailedplan.
He couldn’t remember whose idea it was, if he or Kierus had come up with it. They’d both been as tight as corks in a jug, drunk on pixie wine trying to forget a miserable day and the dismembered dead they had to leave behind, not to mention the blistering tirade it unleashed in Cael.Devil’s hell, find a way to stop this monster! What good is an army of knights if they keep failing at their job?It pushed Tyghan and Kierus to take solace at a pub in the city and discuss the rumors. She was a hideous monster. She was a matchless beauty, hair shimmering to her knees. But everyone agreed, she had a reputation and weakness for taking mortal lovers.
Look here, Kierus said,I’m mortal and willing.
Tyghan and Kierus both laughed, but neither thought it an empty offer. Besides being a mortal, Kierus was the darling of the Danu court—an extremely skilled and charming warrior who could disarm both friend and foe. Every fae in Danu called him to their deathbed to gift him blessings, talents, and rare amulets. It made him more powerful than any mortal, and even many fae. He had a reputation, too. No doubt the Darkland monster, as she was already being called in the lowlands, would see him as an enticing challenge. The risk, of course, was that most of her lovers ended up dead once she was finished with them.
Together, through heavy lids and slurred words, they hatched a plan, their fellow knights listening on from the next table. Finally, Kasta paid their bill, and Dalagorn, Glennis, Cully, and Quin scooped them up under their arms to take them home. By the sharp light of morning, even with throbbing heads, surprisingly, the plan still seemed feasible. It could work. Kierus would lure the Darkland monster to a secret meeting place. A fresh mortal to add to her conquests would be too great a temptation for her to resist. The rest, seducing and killing her, would be the easy part.
At least, that was what Tyghan had once believed.
He believed other things now. Things about duplicity. And that maybe there was no one you could truly trust.
CHAPTER 28
How long could she fake it? Bristol wondered.
As long as it takes.
She eyed the other recruits and mirrored their expressions so she’d fit in. She was relieved when other instructors took over afternoon lessons so she could escape Madame Chastain’s exhausting scrutiny.
Olivia was a tall, slender sorceress with flawless dark brown skin, high cheekbones, and long hair braided with copper threads. Her voice was entrancing, deep and golden like amber honey, more soothing than Madame Chastain’s, and her gaze far less searing.
Esmee, her colleague, was similarly more approachable. She was a short, curvy witch, with pale freckled cheeks, a quick smile, and her sandy brown locks were piled haphazardly on her head. Tiny birds no larger than a walnut flew in and out of it like it was a nest.
Both Olivia and Esmee were senior council members, physicians, and accomplished in Danu magics, especially incantations and potions.
“We hope none of you need our services as physicians,” Olivia said, “but you’re in the best of hands if you do.”
“It’s a fact,” Esmee said in her melodic voice. “Not a boast.”
Olivia was explaining a syllabus of sorts when the lecture hall door opened. “Here he is,” she said. “Our fellow instructor.”
Bristol felt his noxious vibes the moment he entered the room, and that didn’t require any magic—only street sense.
“This is Master Reuben,” Esmee informed them. “He’ll be assisting us.”
Master Reuben entered, carrying a large, boxy satchel in each hand. He made a ritual out of setting them on the floor beside him in a slow, precise manner. Bristol wasn’t sure if he was a neat freak or if the satchels contained something explosive. When he straightened to face them, he didn’t speak right away, giving them time to admire him. He was certainly something to behold, in a troubling sort of way. He was tall and quite lean, a scarecrow of sharp angles that his loose robe only partially disguised. His perfectly combed sleek black hair reached his waist, and multiple chains strung with beads hung from his neck. Bristol found his deep-set eyes the most unsettling. Hard and birdlike, the whites barely showed.
Bristol winced when he forced a stiff smile onto his sallow face. It only soured his appearance more.
“I’m here to assist in your instruction,” he said. “You will refer to me as Master Reuben as I am the master alchemist of Danu. I’m accomplished at bonding spells to objects, and I specialize in amulets of protection.” He motioned to the hundreds of silver, copper, and gold beads adorning his chest. “But none of you will receive any amulets until you’ve earned them. No exceptions.” He waxed on for a good ten minutes about training and rules, but basically his message was no free rides until you learned to protect yourself. She noticed the other recruits fidgeting, and Julia all but rolled her eyes.
Thankfully, Olivia finally took over the lesson and said they’d work on levitation skills that day. “We’ll begin with the simplest of spells that even mere mortals can learn.”
“Just as a way to warm you up,” Esmee chirped more cheerfully. “We know in the mortal world it’s difficult to practice magic. Let’s get those muscles working again.”
