Metal kissed my fingertips. I glanced down—my left hand had wandered to the desk and stilled on the House of Ravenwood pin. I traced the raven’s beak with my index finger as Fatherturned around.
His dark brown eyes were rimmed with red. “The question now, Serafina, is will you be like your mother and do something? Or will you be like me anddo nothing?”
I did not like those choices—be the Duke’s whore or be weak and trampled on. I did not harden my heart into stone to melt into a puddle of tears or cower at the feet ofa tyrant.
I was a Ravenwood. I was goingto survive.
I gritted my teeth and lifted the pin off the desk. My fingers curled around the golden crest as it rested against my scar from the blood bond. “Maybe I am not like either of you. Have you everconsidered that?”
Father’s shining eyes let only a single tear loose down his wrinkled cheek. His thin lips flicked up in a tiny smile. “I have wished for it every day,Little Ember.”
My throat twitched with a fledgling sob, but I kept my mouth closed. I ran my thumb over the House of Ravenwood pin as mythoughts raced.
“If Riyan is General Hyton’s son,” I said slowly, “that makes him an heir to the Houseof Hyton.”
Father nodded grimly. “The only other one. Anders has worried about his younger brother’s impossibly powerful son for years. He would love nothing more than for the threat to disappear once andfor all.”
I swallowed. I had paid enough attention in history class to know the Dukes of Lycaster were not always the first-born son. Some ascended the throne because their elder brothers fell ill in childhood, others because the named heir died in battle, or…no, murder was never mentioned…but perhaps that wason purpose.
Just because the Ashmore matrons only taught us roses and smiles did not mean blood never stained the halls of theHyton Palace.
Was General Hyton a real threat to hisbrother’s throne?
General Hyton was never in line for the crown because he was unmarried and had no line of succession. But he didindeedhave an heir, and not just any heir, the exalted Heroof Lycaster.
The cheers and applause of the crowd in Hyton city square rang through my mind again. Would thousands champion Riyan as a future Duke over Derrick? If General Hyton really wanted to usurp the throne, could he take a page out of his older brother’s book and manipulate the peasants to believe Riyan was thebetter heir?
I imagined the crown on my head with Riyan at my side, but the glorious picture shattered in a heartbeat. No, Riyan could never be the heir. Lycaster would only rally around a usurper if he had a solid lineage and that meant a blood bond. And since he was the size of a giant…our blood bond enchantment would neverbecome permanent.
I was going to be the property of Duke Hyton no matter what I did. I clenched my jaw so tightly my head ached. Everything I had done to get the safety of the blood bond with Riyan ended up being for nothing. Playing in the lilies, dancing under starlight, kissing in the fires of passion…none ofit mattered.
I nearly let myself believe I was just like Father—stuck no matter what I did—, butI refused.
A cooling breath passed my lips but my muscles hardened. I cast away Riyan’s singing, the lilies in my braid, the sweetness of the elskaberry jam, and the warmth of his hand around mine. I had let myself live in a faerie story, but no more. I neededto focus.
Faerie princesses did not exist,after all.
I stacked all my knowledge of the House of Hyton like a deck of cards and then fanned it all out in my mind’s eye. Duke Hyton was an unyielding bull who fixated on problems. Duke Hyton saw Riyan as a threat. Duke Hyton would doanythingto keep controlof Lycaster.
Maybe Duke Hyton would even let me keep Ravenwood…if he owed mea favor.
I raised the House of Ravenwood pin, holding the symbolic power of my home province in my very hand. I was the Baroness of Bloodstone, but only for the next twenty-five days. Once the full moon was high in the sky, my marriage enchantment would fail and I would benothing again.
I could either go back to Hyton as little more than the smaller version of the Duke’s whore…or I could arrive with the most powerful man in Lycaster feeling indebtedto me.
My heart thumped heavily as everything clicked into place. Derrick had given me a lifeline, offered me a new blood bond marriage and leadership over Ravenwood. If Ravenwood and Bloodstone were under the control of one person, that meant whomever the Duke wanted to put in charge would have control of theNorthern provinces.
If I took that lifeline, I could keep control of the magic like Nikkolas wanted, I could get Ravenwood the food and resources it needed, I couldkeep Astrid…
My breath stilled in my chest. Astrid. She had no one to look after her with her parents dead. She was going to end up the property of Duke Hyton too. He would not know how to take care of her. He could throw her into a cell until she starved todeath…or worse.
I smoothed the raven’s golden feathers with my thumb as I solidified my decision. I would take Derrick’s lifeline—I would keep the magic, the North,and Astrid…
…the current Baron of Bloodstone just neededto die.
“Serafina?”
I looked up from the golden pin to Father’s withered face, lines of worry creasing between his brows. He took a step toward me. “I know everything seems dark right now, but I will figure something out. Ipromise you—”
