His voice was low as an incoming tide. “My nephew was named after his grandfather, but he did not inherithis wisdom.”
General Hyton looked away from my neck and back up to my face. My throat twitched, desperate to choke out anything to fix the situation, but my strong wit and quick tongue failed me. He lowered his hand from my hair and locked both hands behindhis back.
“You do not want to play the games of the House of Hyton, Madame Bloodstone,” General Hyton said with concern in his eyes. “Just go to Bloodstone and save yourself. Ravenwoods do survive,after all.”
The meddling General thought this was all a game? A needle of flame flicked up my throat and I straightened my back and crossedmy arms.
I dropped the pretense and faced the bull head-on. “Survive? I saw today what Riyan Bloodstone can do to giants. Are you really going to stand there and tell me with a straight face that I can survive a moon cycle with ‘the Beast?’”
General Hyton put on a half-smile, clearly familiar with his soldier’s infamous moniker. “As General of His Excellency’s army, I can guarantee that you are safer with him than in this palace.” He chuckled and his voice lightened. “You know, all that boy has ever wanted is for someone like you to just give him a chance. Maybe consider that beforeyoumake assumptions.”
His words sat on top of my chest like boulders. Give him a chance? How did he expect me to give the Beast a chance?
Before I could ask, a furious voice echoed in thehallway outside.
“Father!”
Derrick.
“Damn it, boy!” Duke Hyton’s bellow responded. “Let me get a drink in before youconfront me!”
“No, you cannot run from me any longer,” Derrick yelled. “Howcould you?”
“Boy,not here!”
General Hyton’s half-smile turned into a full smirk. “Don’t believe me? Stick around to see the current state of the noble House of Hyton on full display.” He glanced at the windows on the far side of the room that were dressed in long blue drapes. “Your small stature is more of a boon than you think, you can hide prettymuchanywhere.”
Angry footsteps pattered closer. General Hyton turned his head to face the door. “But you hadbetter hurry.”
Without having time to weigh my options, I ran to the window and hid behind the curtains. The curtain was fastened far enough away from the wall that I concealed myself completely behind it, evenmy feet.
Two pairs of footsteps enteredthe room.
“Get out, Ragnar,” DukeHyton snarled.
“Gladly,” General Hyton replied. The heavy wooden door clicked shut as he leftthe room.
My heart thumped in my chest twice before Derrick’s roar filled the portrait room. “You gave Bloodstone the first selection just for winninga battle?”
“Calm the hell down,” Duke Hyton snapped. He slurped something that likely was not water before speaking again. “That Elvar girl you married comes from a powerful family. She is not bad to look at and she smells pretty nice,too. She will make fine heirs for the Houseof Hyton.”
“Oh,nowyou care for the House of Hyton?” Derrick snapped. “You made us look weak! The House of Hyton always has the first selection—we get the best brides, the strongest unions, and the best lineage. We yield to no man, but you just showed all of Lycaster that we will yield toUncleRagnar’s monster!”
Did General Hyton just want me to witness Derrick without his charming veneer, thinking it would disillusion me enough to want nothing to do with him? The General had underestimated my constitution—it would take much more than some righteous anger to scareme away.
If anything, Derrick’s fierceness awoke little butterflies in my belly. Nice to hear he was more than just the starry-eyed andsuave Midnight.
“Are you just upset because the Elvar girl is taller than you?” Duke Hyton teased. “Come on, son, women are always smaller when they arelying down.”
The crunch of a fist against muscle and metal clattering on the stone floor echoed in the room. I clamped down my teeth to hold back a gasp. Had Derrick lost his mind?
The Duke returned the punch, then another. Leather shoes scuffled on the wooden floor as the two menexchanged blows.
“You…miserable…drunk!” Derrick shouted between breaths. “Ilove Serafina!”
My head shook over and over. Stop,Derrick,stop!
A fist cracked into a jaw. “And you gave her tohim!” Derrick spat. “She is goingto die!”
