My stomach dropped. “W-what do youmean, Father?”
Father kept his eyes on Nikkolas. “As punishment for acts of high treason, the Baronage of Ravenwood was dissolved, making Ravenwood and Bloodstone provinces under the sole leadership of the Baronof Bloodstone.”
My breath stilled in my throat. My heart did not even beat. Duke Hyton had finally decided on father’s sentence for high treason, but if Father was no longer Baron, what did that make him? What did thatmake Mother?
Father reached into his pocket and pulled out his golden House of Ravenwood pin. The golden raven gleamed in the noon sunlight as he held it out to Nikkolas. “I got to keep my head, but I losteverything else.”
Nikkolas looked down as if his silver eyes weighed exactly what the golden pin symbolized—full control of the Northern provinces. Before his tightly clenched fists could reach for it, a shriek of terror tore throughthe air.
“Go, you idiots!” Nikkolas shouted at his soldiers. All three soldiers turned on their heels and sprinted inside the courtyard. Nikkolas hurried after them as fast as he could and I only had to jog a few paces before I took in whatwas happening.
Riyan stood ten paces in front of the tree trunk near the eastern wall with a large bouquet of flowers in his hand and fear in hiswatery eyes.
Astrid trembled and screamed as she sat in her chair in front of him. Riyan took a step back and hunched his shoulders forward, but Astrid screamed like Riyan was going toattack her.
“Mother, please,” Riyan whispered. He took anotherstep back.
Hilda knelt beside her daughter and frantically patted her arm. “Astrid, it is your son, Riyan!” she cried. “Riyan is not going tohurt you!”
Riyan took another step back as his left hand grabbed his right sleeve—he was looking for the flowers. I took two steps through the grass to help calm Riyan down but Father grabbed my arm and heldme back.
“Wait—!”Father ordered.
Astrid cried out and fought against her mother, desperately thrashing in her chair like she was trying to escape. Astrid swung her left arm into Hilda’s chest and knocked her tothe ground.
“Hilda!” Nikkolas cried as he rushed to his fallen wife.
Hilda did not move. I tugged against Father’s grip to help Hilda up, but he pulled meback further.
Astrid’s throat trembled as she looked up at Riyan with terrified eyes. “M-Monster!” Astridscreamed. “Monster!”
“Mother…,” Riyan whispered. His voice broke. His eyes watered. He took another step back.Then another…
“Riyan, watch out for—!”I shouted.
But before I could finish, Riyan’s boot caught the edge of the tree trunk and he fell backward into theeastern wall.
Boom.
A cloud of dust rushed toward me and Father threw himself over my back. I shut my eyes. Pain worse than the blood bond enchantment exploded in my chest. My veins were thorny vines of ice, glowing with biting agony in every part of my body. I screamed from the torture as Father’s body shook on topof mine.
A single pained cry hit my ears and drowned out my own screaming—Riyan. The ground shook over and over with crashes like a thunder’s rage. Shards of rock hit my spine where Father did notshield me.
Just as I clenched my teeth so tightly I thought they would crack, the pain slowly seeped away. My muscles were still sore and my heartbeat pounded in my ears, but I could finallybreathe again.
“You bastard!”Nikkolas cried.
Father tried to keep me down, but I hurriedly fought my way up. I rubbed dust out of my eyes and coughed dirt out ofmy mouth.
I opened my eyes to chaos. Pieces of stone laid everywhere and dozens of soldiers sprinted to the eastern wall. Two maids ran to a screaming Astrid, took her out of her chair, and ran with her in their arms up the steps to the keep. Nikkolas kneeled next to his wife. Hilda was face-down in the grass with rocks and stones all around her. Blood poured from a gash in her head so quickly it stained her hairbright red.
A stone with a jagged edge lined with Hilda’s blood laid next to her in the grass. The stone was larger than both my fistsput together.
But maybe she survived. Maybe she just neededsome help.
As soon as I took a step in the grass, Nikkolas cried out in pain. Like a bolt of crimson lightning, a gash cracked across Nikkolas’s forehead—a twin to Hilda’s. His eyes slammed shut from pain as his hand flew up to his head. The moment Nikkolas opened his eyes to see blood on his fingertips, his face contorted into a snarl and hisbody trembled.
His face snapped toward the fallen wall and his silver eyes lit up with fury. “I should have drowned you when you were born! I should have fed you to the wolves! You killed her! You killedmy Hilda!”
