“Grandson,” he replied. “My mother is his daughter. I suppose I’mhis heir.”
No mention of a father. I was tempted to ask, but decided it was unwise. I tactfully changedthe subject.
“No need to use our family names now that we are…you know.” I took another drink of wine from my goblet and batted my eyelashes upat him.
“Married.”
“Yes,” I said as I choked on another gulp ofwine, “exactly.”
He was not one tomince words—noted.
I tipped the goblet back and emptied it into my mouth. Sir Bloodstone did the same with his bottle anddrained it.
He was not much for conversation and he certainly was not responding to my wiles like Derrick had. Maybe I needed change tactics, but I needed more information before I knew what would work best. Did he want to be flattered?Entertained? Reassured?
As long as he did not expect to be seduced, Icould manage.
My head buzzed and my eyelids drooped as sleepiness punched me in the eyes. I laid my head on the couch and the soft cushions against my face felt even sweeter thanthe wine.
But I could not sleep—not withoutknowing more.
“You know my name,” I said softly in an exhale. “But I know nothing of you other than your family name. It…does not seem fair,does it?”
A yawn forced its way out of my mouth. My eyes crashed shut. I drifted into slumber on the tides of my new husband’s deep voice ashe spoke.
“I have been in General Hyton’s academy since Iwas nine.”
I let out a breath through my nose. I inhaled his words as hespoke again.
“I killed ten giants nearly twoweeks ago.”
Right before sleep enveloped me in its embrace, the voice like satin caressed my ears and entered my mind onefinal time.
“My nameis Riyan.”
Sunlight slapped me in the face. I threw my arm over my closed eyes to block the rays, but I wasalready awake.
I groaned and forced myself to sit up on the couch. My head hurt, my body ached, and my stomach growled in fury. A soft knitted blanket covered my legs that I did not remember using thenight before.
The rumble of low and slow breaths echoed around the room. I turned toward the noise. Riyan Bloodstone was sound asleep face-down on the mattress with a blanket barely coveringhis legs.
The reality of what had happened the night before crashed down on me all at once. Derrick married Brietta. I was magically bound to a half-giant. I had less than a month to somehow consummate my marriage with him or else Duke Hyton wouldown me.
My heart raced, but I pressed my hand against the center of my chest and shut my eyes. I could not panic. No one was going to save me, so I had to keep aclear head.
At least I had survived the first night.
Someone gasped above us and I looked up at the spiral staircase across from my couch. Two young maids leaned over the iron railing at the top of the steps and looked down at Riyan. Their eyebrows almost disappeared into their hairlines as their mouths hung open. I made an obvious stretch accompanied with a wide yawn to let them know I was awake and they immediately scurried downthe steps.
They ran past the mattress and around to the back of the couch where I sat, putting as many obstacles between them and Riyan as possible. They bowed and told me they were going to prepare me for the celebration that afternoon. I left the couch and followed them in my nightgown and bare feet to theopposite staircase.
When we reached the top of the tall staircase, I took a quick glance at the sleeping half-giant. If I ignored all the normal-sized furniture around him, he looked almost like a regular man as I stood a story above him. He was almosthandsome too.
I did not dwell on him any longer and made my escape with the maids. They led me through another maze of hallways and doors until I reached a ladies’ dressing room. Squishy pink and purple lounging couches and dainty white chairs stood in the center of the room and against the wall. Multiple wardrobes and dressing tables lined the walls, fit for a dozen women to dress all at once. Gilded mirrors hung all over the walls of the room, but none as magnificent as the mirrors in the dressing room beforethe Presentation.
The maids led me to a purple lounger and then picked through a wardrobe in the corner of the room. I noticed a trunk bearing the House of Ravenwood crest near the wardrobe—Mother must have sent a trunk with all the outfits I would need for the post-SelectionNight festivities.
My ears perked up as the maids gossiped witheach other.
