The declaration gave Bastion pause.Horrific things had befallen Rowan and yet, here he was only a few weeks later, facing down Bastion’s deepest disappointment with the simplest logic.
He glanced at Minato who gave him a meaningful look as if to say,if Rowan isn’t afraid to fail, why are you?
Chapter 24
“And you had no idea Cutthroat Buck was alive and followed you here?”Lord Valin asked.
Bastion did his best not to sigh.
He stood, again, in the council room between two puddles of sunlight.It was a sterile contrast to the hot springs, the memory of which still lingered, stinking of sulfur and blood.
Lords and advisors sat at the long tables, eyeing him like they couldn’t decide if he was a turnip or a potato.There were more today, and they’d asked him the same questions in different forms a dozen times.Every answer elicited a series of whispers that did nothing to temper Bastion’s annoyance.
“No,” he managed gruffly.“I, and many others, saw him fall into the sea the night of the siege.It’s a miracle he survived.”
“And how did you know where to find him?”Lord Edward asked.
Bastion lifted his toe to tap it.Hanniel’s eyes tracked the movement, and Bastion suppressed the urge to follow through.The last thing he expected was to do this twice, and he’d grown tired of the bureaucratic bullshit.
He pulled his Account out of his breast pocket and flapped it for them to see.“I didn’t.I went to retrieve my Account.He was there.”
“Why was your Account at the hot springs?”Lyanthis asked, his tone dripping with contempt.
“Ulla had it, and she was at the hot springs.”
“And why did my daughter have your Account?”
Anger crept into Bastion’s voice.“You know why.”
Lyanthis’s lip curled, his fangs gleaming while the rest of the room bristled.
“Answer the–”
“Haven’t you interrogated him enough, Lyanthis?”King Torvald asked.He sat on the dias, still as a statue with his fist pressed to his temple.
Lord Valin turned towards the king and said, “Your Majesty–”
The king held up a hand, and silence fell like a curtain.He stood and stepped off the dais.King Torvald was a big man, intimidating even when he was smiling.
He wasn’t smiling now.
“Bastion, you are one of the most skilled fighters to come through our ranks in my lifetime.Many of us observed that personally yesterday.”Torvald gestured to the room.Nods followed the remark, even a begrudging one from Lyanthis.“The knight's code is built on bravery, honor, duty…” Torvald paused.His expression held the gravity of an executioner.“And honesty.”
Those two words cleaved Bastion’s heart.All his annoyance and impatience evaporated.He was once again a scrawny child, standing in the practice yard with a new batch of recruits, wondering when he was going to be thrown back onto the streets.
“The war council and I will discuss this new development and make our final decision.Is there anything else we should know?”the king asked.Then, more softly, “You won’t get another chance.”
Bastion swallowed, his mouth suddenly bone dry.He thought about the imp and how every time he opened his mouth to bring him up, he bit back the words.Shame might have prevented Bastion from saying anything before, but now… he still didn’t know if it had been a figment of his imagination.
He looked around the room, at the faces watching him, most of them unfriendly.Their opinions already teetered on a knife's edge.He was damned if he did and damn if he didn’t.
“No, your Majesty.”
The king gave him an assessing look.“You are all dismissed.”
Bastion barely heard the scrape and shuffle of men rising and leaving the room.Torvald dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.Then, he returned to the dais.
Heart pounding, Bastion left before he became a piece of flotsam in the sea of counselors.In the hall, he collapsed onto a marble bench.Endre joined him, and together, they watched the council members filter out.Many side-eyed him as they departed.
