I rose from the table. “Thank you for the delicious meal, Nikkolas and Hilda. The journey was long and tiring, so I need to be offto bed.”
“Well, listen to her,” Nikkolas said to his wife, jerking his thumb toward me. “Why are you so worried about me scaring her? She is just as eager to get to bed as anyRavenwood girl.”
My eyes fell to the birchwood floor and my cheeks blazed. I half-ran to a stairwell in the corner of the dining room and tried to ignore the embarrassment plunging through my stomach as Hilda chided her husband for his impropriety. I had no idea if that staircase led to the bedrooms—I did not even care if it led to a dungeon just so long as I did not have to look Nikkolas Bloodstone in the eye for the rest ofthe night.
I climbed the spiraling steps to the top story. Red runners on the wood floor pointed the way to a dark hallway decorated with tapestries and small portraits rather than weaponry—a good sign that I had found the family’sprivate quarters.
Might as well see if my bedroom was nearby. I walked up to the first wooden door on my right and cautiously pushed myway inside.
I found a bedroom, at least. The bedroom had a tall, vaulted ceiling and a huge square bed on a tall wooden frame. No one but Riyan would have a bed that large. I held my breath as I scanned the room looking for my trunk, not daring to take a singlestep inside.
I silently let out my breath with a smile when my trunk was nowhere in sight. As crass as Nikkolas was, he had at least blessed me with a separate bedroom. I turned around and tried the door on the opposite side ofthe hallway.
A much smaller bedroom waited for me on the other side of the door. The bedroom could only fit a small bed, a wardrobe, and a writing desk inside. I looked closer into the room and spotted my trunk squeezed in between the wardrobe and the writing desk. The room was tiny, probably by design so Riyan would not fitcomfortably inside.
I silently thanked Nikkolas for my little refuge from the brute as I undressed. After a good five minutes of struggling to unlace my bodice without maids to help, I finally wriggled out of my dress and slipped on a nightgown from my trunk. I untied the Hyton dagger from my garter ribbon and quickly shoved it under my pillow like it would catch fire if exposed to the air for more than a second. I put all my clothes back into my trunk and closed it with a pat on theRavenwood crest.
I sat on the soft mattress and tied my hair into a braid as I looked out the small window with diamond glass panes. Soldiers patrolled the top of the fortress wall while others led the white horses through the courtyard, over a small stream, and into stables near the wall. The waning moon glowed as ribbons of green light danced across theinky sky.
The celestial lights cast a soft green glow on the blankets. As much as I resented that I was on a glorified cot in a fortress instead of a four-poster bed in the palace, the lights brought a smile to my face. The lights never stretched down to Hyton, so I was finally far enough north to feel like I washome again.
Warm quilts and knitted blankets kept the mountain air out and I snuggled into my pillow, feeling the hilt of the dagger against my cheek. I took the small discomfort as a reminder of Derrick’s love and protection, just like hehad wanted.
Just a promise that I would not let Riyanhurt me.
The door creaked open and flickering candlelight crept in. I looked up from my pillow as shirtless Riyan ducked under the doorway into my bedroom. The wooden floor groaned underneath his bare feet and he bowed his head to avoid hitting the ceiling. His eyes were dark underneath the shadows of his brow. The dim firelight danced along the contours of his bare muscles as he approachedmy bed.
I squeezed my knees together and held my breath. He thought I was heartbroken and he still wanted to attempt sex? Whata prick.
I knew it would happen eventually, but I wanted to acclimate to a new province before he got under my skirt. Nikkolas had given Hilda three weeks—Duke Hyton had even given his Duchess a week—but the infamously savage Riyan could not even give meone nightof peace.
But I could not tell him no, Ashmore had made it clear brides never hadthat right.
Maybe I could fend him off by making him think I was dead tired. My right hand slowly slid under the pillow and wrapped around the hilt of the dagger, keeping a tight hold on my lifeline just in casehe turned…bellicose.
“Where did you go?” I asked sleepily, pretending he had just woken me up. I put on a yawn like a mew of an exhausted kitten and nuzzled my head intomy pillow.
“None of your concern.” His short snap was like a cudgel in the air. “Doesn’t matter, anyway. I’mhere now.”
He moved closer to the bed. My sweet yawn and heavy eyelashes did not throw him off his hunt. I glanced up at his pants and caught the hard outline of his…oh,shit.It was the size of my forearm. Sweat beaded on my palm around the bronze handle ofthe dagger.
The sleepy plan had failed. Time to distract him with thoughts of his kindlyold grandmother.
“Your grandmother set out a wonderful dinner,” I said with a false smile. “I cannot believe youleft us.”
“I wasn’t hungry then,” he replied in alow voice.
As soon as he shifted his weight to take another step closer, a coil in the back of my mind that had wound tighter every year I had been alive sprung loose and rancid resentment spread throughmy body.
A lifetime without choices or control all led to this—the moment where I had been trained to not say no. To always give in. To seal that precious blood bond nomatter what.
And I wasso tiredof not getting a choice. I could not choose who I married. I could not choose my home. I could not choose when I becamea mother.
But if I was not going to be given a choice, I wouldtakemy choice. I chose a night of peace, and if Riyan put a single hand on me, I wouldspill blood.
As I glared up at Riyan, I faced something larger than him, larger than even a real giant—but like a beast of the ocean depths, I did not even know whatit was.
But I was going to fightit anyway.
