The crown wasstill mine.
After the victory celebration was over, I boarded the Hyton carriage again with the Duke, the Duchess, and the General. Unfortunately, the ride back to the palace was worse than the ride tothe city.
Even though Duchess Hyton had hidden her drunkenness well during the celebration, Duke Hyton was still unsatisfied with her performance. He berated her the entire ride and accused her of undermining his control. I stared at the blue damask fabric lining the walls and wished I could disappear as the heat from the Duke’s rage fumed around me like I was trapped inan oven.
As soon as the carriage stopped, Duchess Hyton flew out of the door without accepting any help from the footman. Duke Hyton chased after her with his teeth bared and continued to yell at her. None of the servants outside so much as flinched as their Duke screamedpast them.
I held my breath and did not relax my chest until I was sure the Duke was gone. General Hyton quietly stepped out of the carriage and waited for me outside with an extended hand. I took his hand, but his help did not come withouta price.
He bent at the waist until his cheek grazed the side of my hair. “Forgive my brother for his lack of manners,” he whispered, his breath skating across the shell of my ear, “he locked you up last night before we could have a proper conversation. Shall weremedy that?”
I swallowed and silently nodded. I had no idea what General Hyton wanted out of me, but I would have rather gone anywhere with him than be near DukeHyton again.
General Hyton led me into the palace and took me into a room with portraits of Dukes and Duchesses from centuries past lining each of the walls. As I avoided General Hyton’s eyes, I noticed an empty spot on the wall where Duchess Ilsa’s portrait must have hungyears ago.
General Hyton cleared his throat. I turned to find him looking up at a portrait above the warm glow of thecrackling fireplace.
“My father, Alastar Derrick Pervale Hyton,” General Hyton said proudly. “Tenth Duke of Lycaster, known to history as Alastarthe Wise.”
The portrait of the murdered Duke looked down like he was still wise enough to see through us. Alastar the Wise had the same blue eyes and dark curls as Derrick but a square jaw identical tothe General’s.
I kept my hands from picking at my skirt, but still waited with baited breath for the General to make his point. He would not pull me aside for a merehistory lesson.
“His wisdom was great, obviously,” General Hyton said with a smile, turning his eyes to me. “His greatest lesson to me was that when your plan fails, simply change the plan. The rest will sortitself out.”
Of course it would always sort itself out. The Hytons had the entire Dukedom in their hands, able to change the course of lives ata whim.
“I know yesterday’s events went against your plan,Madame Bloodstone.”
Shit. He knew about Derrickand I.
“I do not know what you mean,” I lied, keeping calm despite myrising panic.
The firelight danced around the contours of General Hyton’s chiseled face as he smirked and raised an eyebrow. His voice dropped to a wicked tone I had never heard a gentleman use. “Come on, Ravenwood. Your kind always hasa plan.”
He was pushing me. Instead of pushing back, my hand fluttered up to my chest in anevasive maneuver.
“General Hyton,” I said in mock surprise, “I was merely a schoolgirl two nights ago, and you suspect me of plotting something? I only had a planto marry!”
The fire lit his Hyton Blue eyes and made them sparkle like diamonds. “But that is not good enough for you, is it? Do not lie to me, Ravenwood, I know you better than you think. You had higher ambitions than justsimply marrying.”
Even though my chest froze, I did not even blink as General Hyton saw right through me. I mirrored him, matching his quiet calm withmy own.
“I wanted to marry an heir, and now I have.” Fine, I would admit to being a little ambitious, but just to throw him off. No one else in the House of Hyton could know of Derrick and I’s plan to annul our marriages. “You make many assumptions, but you are mistaken about the nature of the House of Ravenwood. We do not plot or strive for great achievement. Wemerelysurvive.”
General Hyton responded with a smile that made me uneasy. “I may not know the House of Ravenwood, then, but I do know the House of Hyton. For more than four centuries, the House of Hyton has survived famines, wars, and every conflict imaginable. Do youknow why?”
I sensed an incoming threat, but kept a cool composure. “We did study Lycaster’s history in school, but pleaseilluminate me.”
General Hyton glanced up at the portrait of his father, but his quiet smile did not falter. “The House of Hyton embodies our emblem—the rearing bull. Like the bull, we are powerful, we fixate on problems, and we do not yield until we get whatwe want.”
Posturing. All I needed to do was sound impressed and he would back off. “How interesting, General. I trust the House of Hyton can handleanychallenge.”
“Madame Bloodstone,” he said in a hard voice, not letting me off his hook, “you need to understand that the House of Hyton and its lineage now rests on the success ofonemarriage. You have unwittingly stepped into adelicate situation.”
He squared his shoulders to me and only then did I realize his broad frame stood between me and the only door to the room. Between his tight jaw and his soft eyes, I could not tell if he was blocking my exit or shielding me from whatever was outside theportrait room.
General Hyton took a single step toward me and I sucked in a breath. He gently brushed my hair off the left side of my neck and his eyes gleamed when he revealed the marks Derrick had left. I kept still and looked as innocent as I could even though my kneeswere weak.
