The Scholar's Heart (Chronicles of Tournai Book 3)

by Antonia Aquilante

Captain Loriot and Savarin both bowed and left the suite without another word, closing the door and leaving the four of them alone again. They were quiet for a few moments. Etan wasn’t sure about the others, but he was absorbing what he’d heard, trying to figure out what it all meant and if it could lead to Bria. Worrying about what would happen to Tristan if it didn’t.

  Another knock on the suite door made Etan’s heart kick. Had someone found something? But it was only Cathal and Flavian. Etan slumped back in his seat, the hope and anticipation draining out of him just as quickly as it had flooded into him. Cathal looked at him askance but only asked, “Anything yet?”

  Tristan propped his elbows on the table and dropped his head into them. Etan turned to Tristan, aware that Amory was doing the same as Philip told Cathal and Flavian of Captain Loriot and Savarin’s progress and plans. Etan ignored what Philip said and focused on Tristan.

  “Tris,” Amory said, putting a hand on Tristan’s shoulder, but Tristan only shook his head without lifting it from his hands. Amory looked at Etan over Tristan’s head, his dark eyes brimming with the same worry Etan felt.

  “Tristan.” Etan said it this time, low so only Tristan would hear. “Tristan, talk to me. Please.”

  When Tristan remained silent, Etan exchanged another look with Amory. The other three men stepped away without a word, giving Tristan privacy. The worry in Amory’s eyes was only getting stronger in the face of his friend’s distress. Amory moved a little closer to Tristan, his hand rubbing small circles on Tristan’s shoulders.

  “Tell me what you’re thinking, Tristan. Please tell me something,” Etan said again. “You’re scaring me. Scaring us.”

  Tristan said something but his hands muffled the words so Etan couldn’t understand them. He glanced at Amory who shook his head. Etan turned back to Tristan. “I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t understand that.”

  A moment passed. Then Tristan rubbed his hands over his face. “They aren’t any closer to finding Bria and Selene than they were yesterday. What if they don’t find them?”

  “They are, though. I know it doesn’t seem like it,” Amory said, “but they are. Captain Loriot believes they’re making progress, I can tell. And they have a plan.”

  “But she’s still out there somewhere.”

  “And they’re still looking for her,” Etan said. “Savarin will use the magic at his disposal too.”

  “He said it might not work.”

  “He said it wasn’t easy. He didn’t say the spell would be no help.” Etan rested a hand on the back of Tristan’s neck. “Neither Loriot nor Savarin is giving up. Neither of them is telling us this is hopeless or that they won’t be able to find Bria. So you can’t give up either.”

  Tristan’s breath caught on a sob, and he seemed to crumble in on himself. As he did, a huge crack opened in Etan’s heart. He tugged Tristan gently, turning him so he faced Etan and pulling him down to rest against Etan’s shoulder. He held Tristan there, firmly but gently all the same, circling Tristan with his arms and hoping they gave him some sense of support and safety. Tristan’s fingers came up and curled into Etan’s tunic. Amory rested a hand on Tristan’s back, giving him a connection with his friend but otherwise letting Etan hold Tristan and comfort him.

  Etan reflected idly that he should have probably felt some jealousy over Amory’s relationship with Tristan, now or in the past, but he never had, not even when he knew Tristan loved Amory. He couldn’t because Amory was too good a friend to him, and to Tristan, and it wasn’t Amory’s fault that Tristan had loved him when Etan met Tristan. He was glad Tristan had Amory now too. Tristan needed all their support. Besides, Amory was a father as Tristan was; as Etan was not despite how much he’d come to care for Bria. Maybe Tristan needed someone with children at this time, someone who might have a better ability to understand what Tristan was going through.

  Etan could only be there, holding Tristan as he tried to stifle tears, trying to keep his own hurt at Tristan’s pain from him.

  Time passed—how much, Etan wasn’t certain—as he and Amory tried to comfort Tristan. Of course there was no comfort, not really, not until Bria was back in Tristan’s arms, but they gave Tristan their presence, their love, letting him know he wasn’t alone and wouldn’t be. Etan hoped again, as he held on to Tristan and murmured nonsense in his ear, that what he did helped Tristan in some way.

  After a long while, Tristan quieted and shifted against Etan’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” Tristan said, his voice so quiet Etan almost didn’t hear him.

  “What do you have to be sorry for?” he asked.

  “I broke down in the middle of the princes’ sitting room and cried all over you.”

  “Tris, don’t even think it,” Amory said. “It doesn’t matter. Philip and I understand. We have a son. The terror you’re feeling… you should never have to go through this.”

  “And I told you already that I’m here for you, whatever you need,” Etan said, trying to make Tristan understand how sincere he was, how much he wanted to help. He only wished he could do more, wished he could find Bria and put her back in Tristan’s arms.

  “I know you did.” Tristan straightened up in his seat and wiped at his reddened eyes. Etan let him slide out of his arms but was pleased he didn’t go far. “Thank you. Both of you.”

  Amory smiled and leaned forward to hug Tristan quickly.

  “That was embarrassing, though. Crying in front of the prince,” Tristan said and glanced around. Etan did the same. He’d been so focused on Tristan he hadn’t given a thought to anyone else. Cathal and Philip had left, and Flavian was curled into a chair on the other side of the room, his nose buried in a book, his attention very obviously not on them.

  “Flavian,” Amory said, raising his voice enough for it to carry across the room, and the other man lifted his head, cerulean blue eyes flicking between Amory, Tristan, and Etan. Flavian was a bit sharp-edged, but he missed nothing, and he was more compassionate and tactful than many gave him credit for.

  “Cathal and Philip went into the study. I thought I’d wait and tell you. See if there was anything I could do,” Flavian said as he uncurled himself from the cushions of the chair.

  “You should go too if you need to. I’m sure there’s plenty waiting for you,” Tristan said to Amory and then flicked a glance to Etan to include him in the statement. Etan just shook his head; Tristan wasn’t getting rid of him so easily. Tristan gave him half a smile. “I should be at the offices this morning. I don’t think I would be any good to them, though.”

  “The company can limp along without you for a while. Do you need to notify anyone? Or would your brother have done that already?” Etan asked.

  “He might have, but I should send a note down with some instructions if I’m not going to go myself.”

  “You’re not,” Amory said. “You said it yourself. You won’t do any good there. Stay here for now. I’ll have a messenger run the note down.”

  “Thank you,” Tristan said. “And then you should get back to your day.”

  “My day is to be spent helping my friend.” Amory shook his head, hushing Tristan when he began to speak. “Yes, there are a couple of meetings I couldn’t reschedule, but other than those—and I will try to keep them brief—I’m here for you.”

  “I—thank you, Amory. I appreciate that.” Tristan glanced at Etan and whatever he saw in Etan’s expression must have told him Etan wasn’t changing his mind. “And you. Thank you.”

  Etan cupped a hand around Tristan’s cheek in a gentle touch. Tristan closed his eyes and nuzzled into Etan’s palm before they both pulled back. Etan was well aware of their company in the room, and while he knew Amory and Flavian wouldn’t mind their brief display of affection, Etan wasn’t ready to share those moments, not yet.

  Amory waited until Etan’s hand dropped away from Tristan’s cheek to speak. “I also sent a messenger to Adeline this morning to let her know.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that. She’s not even in
the city, is she?” Tristan didn’t wait for Amory to answer his question. “I wish you hadn’t bothered her.”

  Amory reached out for Tristan’s hand. “She would want to know. It won’t be a bother to her. She would be here now if she was in the city.”

  “You know he’s right,” Etan said. “And she’d murder us all if we didn’t tell her and she found out on her own.”

  “And she’ll find out. Not as if something like this can be hidden.” Tristan sighed. “All right, but I hope you told her not to rush back.”

  Etan saw his own incredulous feelings written all over Amory’s face. Tristan was obviously not thinking if he so badly misjudged Adeline.

  “You do know my sister, don’t you?” Amory asked. “Even if I had told her not to come, do you think that would stop her?”

  Tristan let out a short laugh. “No. I’m obviously not thinking clearly.”

  “You’re allowed.” Etan teased, “But don’t make a habit of it.”

  Tristan shook his head and smacked Etan’s arm weakly, but Etan was heartened to see a small spark in his eyes.

  “Well, now that we have that settled,” Amory said, “unfortunately, one of my meetings is this morning, so I’ll have to leave you for a while.”

  “It’s really all right—” Tristan was interrupted by another knock at the suite’s door.

  “Enter,” Amory called out.

  A guardsman entered the room and bowed. “Your Highness, a note from Captain Loriot.”

  “Thank you, Rivo.” Amory took the note, breaking the seal on it as the guardsman bowed and left the room. He scanned the note quickly, but Tristan still seemed ready to jump from his seat. Etan put a hand to his shoulder, trying to keep him steady and marginally calm as Flavian abandoned his book and chair and wandered over to the table. Etan wanted to tell Tristan that if it was bad news Captain Loriot would have come in person—if it was good news, if he had found Bria, Captain Loriot would have come in person as well. Which meant the note held a progress report.

  “Captain Loriot thinks he knows where she was taken from,” Amory said, looking up from the paper. He didn’t say a word, didn’t even startle, when Tristan snatched the note from his hands and turned it to read it himself. Etan shook his head but leaned forward to read over Tristan’s shoulder.

  Amory kept talking, probably more for Flavian’s benefit, as he was either too polite or too reticent with someone he didn’t know well to circle the table and read over Tristan’s other shoulder. “His guardsmen have been questioning residents of the surrounding streets and he believes they found someone who saw them taken.”

  “And they didn’t raise some sort of cry over it?” Flavian asked in what was, to Etan’s mind, a good question.

  “Apparently, it was all very smoothly done. The witness said it didn’t look like a kidnapping. He saw them hustled into a dark carriage, but Selene wasn’t screaming or struggling. If he’s telling the truth, Captain Loriot thinks they might have taken Selene and the baby too quickly for her to struggle. Or perhaps they threatened her in some way to get her into the carriage.”

  Amory’s voice dropped on the last, but it didn’t matter; Tristan was reading the words on the page. Etan winced anyway. The words seemed stark to him, and it wasn’t his daughter and sister who had been taken.

  “The witness is certain it was them?” Flavian asked.

  “As certain as he can be. The description of Selene matches, and he says she was carrying a baby,” Amory said. “They’re going to try to trace the route of the carriage now.”

  “He says it was a nondescript carriage, according to the witness,” Tristan said, looking up from the note. “Nothing special about it. Do you think they’ll really be able to track it?”

  “Captain Loriot is good at what he does,” Amory said. “If anyone can, it’s him and his men. Let them do their work.”

  “He says Savarin is beginning the spell too, and that knowing where they were taken from will help him. So that’s good,” Etan added, hating the way Tristan’s voice trembled. He’d do almost anything to never hear Tristan sound so scared, so discouraged, again.

  “True. That’s true.” Tristan took a deep breath. “All right. I have to let them work.”

  “Do that, Tris, please,” Amory said. “I hate to leave you….”

  “Go. I’ll be fine.”

  Etan nodded at Amory from behind Tristan’s back. He would make sure Tristan got through this.

  “All right, then. Don’t hesitate to come for me if you need me,” Amory said, pressing until he received their assurances that they would. Only then did he leave through the door to the study he shared with Philip.

  When the door shut behind Amory, Etan, Tristan, and Flavian all looked at one another. Etan wasn’t sure about the others, but he was at a bit of a loss for what to do next.

  “What now?” Flavian asked after a few moments of silence. Etan wished Flavian hadn’t asked because, today, he had to be the one with the answers and he didn’t know the answer to that question.

  “We wait,” Tristan said before Etan could even try to think of something reassuring.

  THEY LEFT the princes’ suite not long after Amory did. Tristan felt odd and awkward staying there without Amory present. Etan tried to tell him that neither Amory nor Philip expected them to leave, not today, but Tristan couldn’t stay. He already wanted to jump out of his own skin; staying somewhere he wasn’t comfortable would only make it worse. Etan didn’t argue, for which Tristan was grateful, but he did wonder about Etan’s being so accommodating. Last night he’d agreed to accept Etan’s support, but he didn’t want Etan’s pity. And he worried that his behavior that morning would only provoke pity, from Etan and from everyone else who’d witnessed it.

  Flavian walked with them, accompanying them from the princes’ suite without a word. Tristan wondered why. He wouldn’t consider them friends. Not that he had anything against the artist or thought he would make a bad friend. They just didn’t know each other well. Perhaps Flavian was there for Etan’s sake, in case Etan needed something.

  “You don’t have to stay, Flavian,” Tristan said, the words more blunt than they should be, but he possessed no ability to be tactful today. “I’m sure you have other obligations.”

  Flavian shrugged, a fluid, elegant motion. “Not really, or nothing pressing.”

  “Still, you must have more interesting things to do than follow us around today. I’m not exactly sterling company. I think I’ve demonstrated that amply by now.”

  “You have good reason for that. What happened to your daughter, what your own family—” Flavian stopped, something that might have been anger flashing in his eyes, there and then gone. He shook his head and regarded Tristan seriously, his head tilted to the side as if he was choosing his words carefully. “I don’t think any of us are very good company, not today, and not until they find your daughter. I don’t have a child, and I don’t see that changing, as I don’t really want children of my own, so I can’t truly imagine what you’re going through. But I have younger sisters and Cathal, and the thought of someone I love missing, in danger… it would make me crazy. I’m scared for you, and I’m angry at what happened to Bria. I’ll help if I can.”

  Tristan was speechless for a moment, then nodded.

  “Thank you, Flavian,” Etan said.

  They began walking again, winding their way through the wing where Philip and Amory’s suite was located. “Are your sisters all back in Ardunn?”

  “Yes,” Flavian said. “All married now. Well, all but one.” Flavian’s expression clouded briefly, but then he shook his head. “I’ll never see or hear from them again, but I know they’re settled and cared for. That’s all I can hope for. If I can do anything for you, I will.”

  “Thank you,” Tristan said, echoing Etan’s thanks.

  Flavian only nodded and glanced away. “Now, then, what should we do while we wait for news? A walk in the garden, perhaps? Some fresh air might help you clear
your head some.”

  Tristan agreed absently. He didn’t much care about the garden or fresh air, but it was as good a thing as any to do. Especially since it seemed Flavian and Etan were determined to keep him from staring at a wall and thinking of what could be happening to his baby girl.

  “I should be out there looking for her, for them.” The words burst out of him without his permission, but when Etan and Flavian looked at him with concern and surprise, he didn’t take them back. “I should be. I should be looking. I should be shaking that witness until he tells me more. I should be talking to everyone Captain Loriot is going to talk to and forcing them to tell me what they know about where Bria and Selene are. I’m her father, and I’m the head of my family, and it is my responsibility to find them.”

  Etan turned Tristan to face him, leaving his hands on Tristan’s upper arms once he did, his grip firm but not too tight, the heat of his fingers warming Tristan’s arms even through his clothes. “And you are. You are fulfilling your responsibility to both of them by finding the people who are best suited to look for Bria and Selene and bring them home again. You know that. You may feel that you should be doing more right now, but you know what you’re doing is right.”

  He shook his head, but he did know. He didn’t have Captain Loriot’s skills, or Savarin’s Talent. But neither of those facts kept him from feeling that he should be doing more.

  “It’s difficult.” Flavian’s voice came from behind him, but Tristan didn’t turn; he was too caught by Etan’s gaze. “Trusting other people to do something you feel you need to do yourself. But it’s the right thing sometimes. It’s the right thing now for your daughter. The captain knows best how to find her, better than you or I or Etan would.”

  “He’s right. You know he’s right, as much you want to go out there and look yourself. And I understand, some at least, because I care about Bria too and I want to be out looking for her, but we would only end up blundering around and getting in the way. Let Captain Loriot and Savarin do this. Let them find her.”

  Etan’s eyes seemed to glow gold with the intensity of his feelings, with how much he wanted Tristan to hear him. Tristan was frozen under that gaze, his mind warring between what he wanted and what was smart. But he did know what the smart thing to do was, what would be most likely to bring Bria, and Selene, home safely.