But I could not celebrate. I could not even smile. As I stood alone under the apple trees, holding Riyan’s cape around me with one hand and the half-eaten apple in the other, all I could feel was a strange andempty sadness.
My fist loosened and my apple fell in the dirt with a thud. All the sweetness left on my tonguehad vanished.
The sun had disappeared behind the tall pine trees and the sky bled purple and blue as we ascended Nordingaard mountain.
Riyan had said we would not make it to the fortress before nightfall, but my palms started to sweat as we traveled alone in the dark without Riyan toguard us.
What a prick, leaving us undefended just because he had abad temper.
I pulled Riyan’s cape up around my head and held it under my chin, giving myself a small refuge. The smell of nectar and wheat surrounded my face underneath the burning stenchof wine.
I searched my mind to figure out why I was unhappy with Riyan’s new agreement. He would make our blood bond permanent, but would also let me return to Derrick. Once back in Hyton, I could form a plan to get Ravenwood the help it needed without having to slit any throats and spend as many nights as I wanted in Derrick’s arms. I would just need to produce some Bloodstone heirs after a while to fulfill my duty as Baroness,easy enough.
In my head, the agreement all made perfect, logical sense. In my chest, however, a prevailing gloominess stopped me from being satisfied with the arrangement. Maybe that rain cloud inside me was what Brietta meant when she had blamed the marriage enchantment for having feelings she didnot want.
I hummed in the silence of the lonely carriage. What would Brietta say if she were with me? Although, did I really even know Brietta anymore? The Brietta I knew before the night of Annalisa’s ball would have told me to be careful, listen to my feelings, but to ultimately run to Derrick as fast as I could. But the new Brietta, the future Duchess Hyton, who fucked Derrick and yelled at me? Who knew what the new Brietta would say if I asked her about mystupid emotions.
Well, instead of Brietta, what if Annalisa had joined me on the trip to Bloodstone Fortress? I cracked a smile—Annalisa would have stormed after Riyan through the apple grove and yelled at him for throwing a tantrum likea toddler.
Weathered knuckles rapped on the front of the carriage and interruptedmy thoughts.
“We’re here, Madame Bloodstone,” the coachman said. “Welcome home.”
Home. I pulled back the burgundy curtains and looked through the glass. All I could see was a stone wall topped with battlements and lit up with torches. I slid back the glass window and stuck my head outside to get abetter look.
I squeezed my shoulders out of the window and pulled myself up, craning my neck to see the top of the wall. I met the eyes of a few men who talked on top of the wall, each one wearing a redmilitary uniform.
The first secret of the fortress revealed itself before I even passed through its walls—Bloodstone had itsown army.
A province having its own army was treason. Either the Duke did not know about the red-chested army of the mountain or he had made a special exception forBloodstone somehow.
We rode up to the only entrance into the fortress, a large iron gate. Riyan leaned on the wall next to the gate, seemingly waiting for us. He gave the gate guards a signal and chains clinked as the gate slowly started to rise. Riyan ducked to cross under the gate and went inside, not even bothering for the gate to rise allthe way.
As the carriage crossed through the gate, the massive fortress keep grew closer and closer. The keep was huge, built from chiseled mountain stone, with large square towers on each of its corners. A giant crimson flag bearing the snarling white bear hung above arched double-doors intothe keep.
My throat shook as I tried not to picture the iron gate slamming shutbehind me.
“March on!” commanded anunseen soldier.
The horses slowed down. Soldiers with swords on their hips marched in lines flanking the carriage and outpaced us as we approachedthe keep.
The carriage rolled to a stop and my stomach twisted with anticipation. I pulled myself back into the carriage and sat down as the door swung open. I expected to see Riyan’s hand lowered toward the door to help me out, but my heart sank a little when the raised hand of the footmanappeared instead.
I accepted the footman’s aid and Riyan’s cape dragged behind me as I stepped to the ground. I spotted Riyan’s large shadow out of the corner of my eye and looked around to find him standing behindthe carriage.
Riyan had his arms crossed and his eyes on the arched doors at the top of the tall stone steps into the keep. Gravel crunched beneath my feet as I walked over to stand beside him. He did not even glance inmy direction.
Bloodstone soldiers flanked either side of the tall stone steps with their right hands on the hilts oftheir swords.
“Salute the heir and Madame Bloodstone!” cried the same soldier from earlier, a lean man with a large scar acrosshis face.
The two lines of soldiers on either side of the steps raised their swords aloft in a salute. I smiled a little at the impressive display. Riyan scoffed and rolledhis eyes.
The two soldiers at the top of the steps tugged open the keep’s doors wide enough that a carriage could pass through. I picked up my skirt with one hand and raised the other to Riyan so he could help me up the steps. He ignored me and stomped toward the keep. My hand fell like a wilting flower as Riyan walked up the steps, taking them two at a time, and leaving me toclimb alone.
Asshole.
The scar-faced soldier appeared at my side and quickly wrapped my hand aroundhis forearm.
