Page 85 of Harbinger

I shiver as I step to his side. “Do you bring all your guests here?”

He laughs, but there’s a bitter edge to it. “You’re the first.”

The sky is clear overhead, the rain having finally stopped, and thousands of stars glitter in the darkness, save for in the void of the Night’s Scar. A thick mist drifts up from the sea and rolls across the balcony. Bishop shrugs off his coat and drapes it over my shoulders. I want to give it back and insist I don’t need anything from him, but it’s warm, and I’ve drunk too much to pretend. Like it or not, I’m alive at the whim of Bishop Marius. But right now? I don’t hate it.

We stand like this for a long time, watching the sea batter the rocks below. My own thoughts churn just as violently, my wine-soaked brain compiling question after question that I shouldn’t ask him.

When he finally takes the bottle from me, he frowns. “You finished it.” He holds it upside down like there might be a few drops left.

“Hazard of drinking with company,” I point out. “The wine goes faster.”

He snorts. “It does. Hang on.”

He disappears inside. When he returns, he’s holding another bottle.

“I thought you didn’t drink alone,” I say as he passes it to me.

“I’m better at giving advice than following it.”

“And not used to having company,” I guess.

“Taliesin and Vessica—”

“Don’t count,” I stop him.

“They’ll be thrilled to hear that.”

I wave it off. “You can’t count people paid to follow your orders.”

“I suppose it’s good that you’re here, then. You wouldn’t follow my orders if I did pay you.” He sighs, but I could swear he wants to smile. “But that’s why I brought you here, where I never feel alone.”

“Because it was your family’s wing?” I ask him.

“My father was always gone, even when he was here,” he confesses. “My mother loved the sea. This wing used to be reserved for guests, but she wanted to wake up to the ocean.”

“And your father wasn’t around to stop her from claiming the western wing,” I guess.

“He loved her too much to say no.” He pauses, looking out into the endless abyss of night and ocean in front of us. “I thought he did it to make her happy, since he was always away on business and never home with us. I used to resent him for it.”

“What changed?” I ask.

“I became patron.” He sounds sad about it. “Now I understand.”

“Tell me about it. I thought my parents made us do everything at home, but once they were both gone …” I shake my head. “It’s a lot of responsibility.”

He glances over at me. “Do you miss it, though?”

“All the work?” My laugh is laced with bitterness. “No. But my family? The land?” Knowing where I belong? Having a place in the world? I swallow and nod. “I do. But mostly I feel like an asshole for leaving Broderic to handle everything by himself.”

“He’ll figure things out.” He picks up the bottle and takes a swig. “We all do.”

“That’s good news, because I don’t have anything figured out. If you do, feel free to share,” I say dryly.

“I work out most of my confusion on the proving grounds,” he says, and I instantly regret seeking advice. “It might help you, too. Unless you’d rather avoid the Bellatorum after what happened in Wolf’s Keep.”

“I’ll go back to the Bellatorum. I made a promise.” I can’t let fear lock me in this house forever, though I’m not about to join his army, either. “But you have enough conscripts to train, especially with all this talk of war coming and invading the Lost Continent.”

“There won’t be an invasion.” His voice is so quiet that I’m certain I’ve misheard him.