Page 56 of The Courting of Bristol Keats
Her knuckles whitened on the reins. “My father isalive,” she replied, like he had just implied otherwise.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t. Don’t twist my words.”
“I’m not twisting anything. But I’m not going to step around my words today, either. This is not the training grounds. You’re on my time now—the other side of our agreement.”
He stared at her for a long moment, his tongue sliding over his teeth. “Yourtime?” He didn’t know what burr was in her saddle, but he was about to help her extract it.
Cully rode on the other side of her and shot Tyghan a warning shake of his head.Back down.
Tyghan never backed down, and he especially didn’t take orders from a junior officer. But Cully’s warning collided with Eris’s last words to him.Don’t forget, we need her, and if all goes well today, she may leave the hunting to our knights. We don’t want her nosing around too much. It carries risk.
He gritted his teeth. “I’m sure your father’s alive, too.”
“Concur!” Cully quickly added.
Bristol nodded, like they had all come to an agreement. “Thank you,” she said quietly. Her fingers relaxed on her reins, and she changed the topic. “Finish telling me about the other kingdoms until we reach our next stop.”
Gladly, Tyghan thought. He wasn’t sure what had caused her foul mood, but he wanted to move past it. Today was supposed to be about easing her tension, not increasing it.
In their nightly chats, he had been giving her lessons on Elphame. He knew her interest wasn’t simple curiosity but also strategy, because she intended to navigate every inch of it until she found her father. Now he wondered if she was also out to kill every trow on her own. The look in her eyes a few minutes ago convinced him she was capable. She had the same expression Kierus sometimes got that said,Step wide.
As they rode he told her about the kingdoms, and in the deep Wilds, the caves of Stodderall that were actually the mouths of stone beasts. “Few who venture into them ever come out again. They become lunch.”
“I took a quick look inside once,” Cully said. “Bones are embedded in the sides of the caves.” He grimaced. “Didn’t stay long. I prefer my bones to stay inside my body.”
Tyghan explained that they were created by a long-ago wizard. “Many have tried, but no one knows how to undo the magic. By chance, some magics last forever.”
“Too bad,” Bristol said. “If it was made in the mortal world, it would only come with a one-year guarantee.”
Tyghan and Cully both looked at her uncertainly.
“It was a joke,” she said.
He and Cully forced a small laugh like they got it.
At least she was joking again.
“Braised boar shanks for the lady, and I’ll have your ribs,” Tyghan told the barkeep. “And two ales.” They had arrived at the coastal hamlet, and since it was midday, they decided to stop at a pub to eat before they nosed around. Cully wasn’t hungry and skipped out before Tyghan could insist that he stay. The pub was busy, the tables full, but they managed to find a small one available in the middle of the bustling room.
“It’s a beautiful little town,” Bristol said. “It reminds me of where my sister works on the coast. Except for the ogres, fauns, and unicorns, of course.”
“There are no unicorns here.”
“Oh, well, it’s just like Kestrel Cove, then. Thanks for the correction.”
“What is the matter with you?”
She sighed. “Nothing. I’m out of sorts today, I guess. I’m sure the boar shanks will take care of that.”
And maybe four ales.
Their food came, and they both dug in. It was easier to eat than to talk. Everything was so different from when they were together at night, alone in the sacred groves. He wished they were there now, instead of here, and had second thoughts about this escapade. She finished her ale and asked for another.
“Shanks good?” he asked.
She remained silent, sopping up the juices from the meat with a crusty slice of bread, but then her hand just hovered over her plate, the juices dripping. Her gaze shot up. “Why is my naked body the last thing you ever want to see? Is it only me, or do you find all of my kind repulsive? Or maybe it’s just the bright of day that’s the problem, when it’s easy to see every ugly detail. You even made a point to step away and make Cully help me up on my horse.”
The question punched Tyghan like a fist, and his mouth fell open.
